I've been thinking about this for a while, but this week I finally got around to making a prototype. I call it the eBells Hub. It's a gadget that you can plug a set of eBells into, and it makes the bell sounds. That's it. There's no configuration, you just start ringing rounds and it automatically assigns notes to the eBells in order. The idea is that if a group of ringers all have eBells but no real handbells, they can ring together just by buying an eBells Hub, which would probably cost about the same as one eBell - about £50. Another way of looking at it is that a set of 8 eBells and a Hub would cost about £450, in comparison with a new set of 8 handbells which I think would cost about £4000.

Here's a picture of the prototype configuration, with three generations of eBells. The Hub itself is based on a small hobbyist computer board called a Raspberry Pi Zero, with a couple of extra boards connected - one for audio, the other for some useful extra USB connections during development. The eBells are plugged into a standard USB hub which is connected to the eBells Hub. It took a while to find a suitable loudspeaker. The one in the picture is part of a hi fi system that I was given for my 18th birthday, which was (ahem) some years ago. Things were built to last in those days. The software is a small modification of Handbell Manager and the bell sounds are borrowed from Abel.

Here's a close-up of the Raspberry Pi Zero. You can judge the size in relation to the USB sockets on the front. I have started discussing with the eBells team whether we think it would be worth "productising" the system. It would need some extras such as a case (3D printed, of course), a reset button so that you can reassign eBells to notes, some LEDs to indicate status, and a volume control. Meanwhile, if anyone's interested, I can post detailed instructions and the software. Unfortunately Raspberry Pi boards are difficult to obtain at the moment, except at inflated prices, because of the global chip shortage - luckily I already had one. It is also possible to run the software on a PC or laptop (obviously if you have eBells you must also have a computer) and use it as an eBells Hub, but maybe less easy to put it in the middle of your ringing circle, depending on your computer set-up.

For some informal market research: if any eBells users are reading this, would you be interested in an eBells Hub? Potential uses I anticipate include:

• In-person ringing with a group of people who have eBells but not real handbells.
• Ringing on more bells than you have in your set of real handbells.
• Ringing in situations where you might worry about damaging real handbells, e.g. introductory sessions with groups of children.

Tim Hart suggested another application: tune-ringing, with software to allow the buttons on the eBell to change its note. That way, you could ring tunes on a larger range of notes without each ringer needing to pick up and put down different bells on a table, as is often seen.