I am seeking to make contact with anyone in the Poole (Dorset, UK) area who can advise and help me with a very small project. I am a total beginner and don't know where to begin!
Thank you. Simon
Welcome to the forum
Why restrict yourself to getting help in your local area when there are thousands of users of this forum that can potentially provide help. Assuming, of course, that it is an Arduino project that you need help with, but why would you be posting here if it wasn't ?
Thanks for the reply, that's a helpful hint. Where would you suggest is the best place on the Forum to promote my project and request for help?
My idea is to set up an arrangement whereby an 18th century signal cannon I have automatically 'fires', triggered by my phone via Bluetooth or an IR remote if that isn't possible. The firing mechanism needs to be housed in the barrel of the cannon and needs to be activated remotely. The firing will be smoke discharged from a small pump-assisted vape pen, 3 or 4 orange and red LEDs that light up momentarily, and the sound effect (MP3) of a real cannon firing. All triggered simultaneously. I hope this doesn't sound crazy?!
Thank you.
The forum works best when a user has a problem that has arisen with their hardware and/or software that they have already built/written
There is a forum section where you can seek help from scratch but its main purpose is to find help that you are prepared to pay for which is not what you want
What you want to do sounds quite feasible from the software point of view but I cannot comment on the hardware as it is beyond my experience
What programming and hardware experience have you got, if any, even if it is not Arduino related ?
It rather depends how much work you intend to put in. There is a section of the forum where you can request paid assistance and @UKHeliBob can move this thread there if desired.
Mostly though, if you're trying to build it yourself, you can get plenty of advice and assistance for free in the other parts of the forum.
Your project sounds viable - the only worrisome bit would be whether you can get a bluetooth signal into a metal cannon.
Thank you both @wildbill and @UKHeliBob .
I have absolutely no programming experience and have little knowledge on the hardware side either. I am not adverse to paying for a bit of advice to get me going, if after doing a bit of research, it still seems too overwhelming! Wish me luck 
Thanks Paul. Good idea. I'll see what the local library has to offer.
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