Restoring a 1949 Golden Throat Radio
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/09/restoring-a-1949-golden-throat-radio/
[Mr. Carlson] has a really beautiful old 1949-era radio to restore and you can watch him do it in a comprehensive video, below. We aren’t sure what we were more amused by: the odd speaker that looks like a ceiling air vent or the sticker on the back certifying that …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/09/restoring-a-1949-golden-throat-radio/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/09/restoring-a-1949-golden-throat-radio/
[Mr. Carlson] has a really beautiful old 1949-era radio to restore and you can watch him do it in a comprehensive video, below. We aren’t sure what we were more amused by: the odd speaker that looks like a ceiling air vent or the sticker on the back certifying that …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/09/restoring-a-1949-golden-throat-radio/)
Bring The Smithsonian Home With 3D Printing
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/09/bring-the-smithsonian-home-with-3d-printing/
If you’ve ever been to Washington DC, you know the Smithsonian isn’t just a building, instead it’s a collection of 19 museums, 21 libraries, 9 research centers, and a zoo. Even though there are hundreds of affiliated museums, there is a way to bring at least some of the museum …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/09/bring-the-smithsonian-home-with-3d-printing/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/09/bring-the-smithsonian-home-with-3d-printing/
If you’ve ever been to Washington DC, you know the Smithsonian isn’t just a building, instead it’s a collection of 19 museums, 21 libraries, 9 research centers, and a zoo. Even though there are hundreds of affiliated museums, there is a way to bring at least some of the museum …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/09/bring-the-smithsonian-home-with-3d-printing/)
Generating Random Numbers With a Fish Tank
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/09/generating-random-numbers-with-a-fish-tank/
While working towards his Computing and Information Systems degree at the University of London, [Jason Fenech] submitted an interesting proposal for generating random numbers using nothing more exotic than an aquarium and a sufficiently high resolution camera. Not only does his BubbleRNG make a rather relaxing sound while in operation, …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/09/generating-random-numbers-with-a-fish-tank/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/09/generating-random-numbers-with-a-fish-tank/
While working towards his Computing and Information Systems degree at the University of London, [Jason Fenech] submitted an interesting proposal for generating random numbers using nothing more exotic than an aquarium and a sufficiently high resolution camera. Not only does his BubbleRNG make a rather relaxing sound while in operation, …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/09/generating-random-numbers-with-a-fish-tank/)
Laptop Like It’s 1979 with a 16-Core Z80 on an FPGA
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/laptop-like-its-1979-with-a-16-core-z80-on-an-fpga/
When life hands you a ridiculously expensive and massively powerful FPGA dev board, your first reaction may not be to build a 16-core Z80 laptop with it. If it’s not, perhaps you should examine your priorities, because that’s what [Chris Fenton] did, with the result being the wonderfully impractical “ZedRipper.” …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/laptop-like-its-1979-with-a-16-core-z80-on-an-fpga/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/laptop-like-its-1979-with-a-16-core-z80-on-an-fpga/
When life hands you a ridiculously expensive and massively powerful FPGA dev board, your first reaction may not be to build a 16-core Z80 laptop with it. If it’s not, perhaps you should examine your priorities, because that’s what [Chris Fenton] did, with the result being the wonderfully impractical “ZedRipper.” …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/laptop-like-its-1979-with-a-16-core-z80-on-an-fpga/)
Journey Through the Inner Workings of a PCB
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/journey-through-the-inner-workings-of-a-pcb/
Most electronics we deal with day to day are comprised of circuit boards. No surprise there, right? But how do they work? This might seem like a simple question but we’ve all been in the place where those weird green or black sheets are little slices of magic. [Teddy Tablante] …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/journey-through-the-inner-workings-of-a-pcb/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/journey-through-the-inner-workings-of-a-pcb/
Most electronics we deal with day to day are comprised of circuit boards. No surprise there, right? But how do they work? This might seem like a simple question but we’ve all been in the place where those weird green or black sheets are little slices of magic. [Teddy Tablante] …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/journey-through-the-inner-workings-of-a-pcb/)
Patch, Or Your Solid State Drives Roll Over And Die
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/patch-or-your-solid-state-drives-roll-over-and-die/
Expiration dates for computer drives? That’s what a line of HP solid-state drives are facing as the variable for their uptime counter is running out. When it does, the drive “expires” and, well, no more data storage for you!
There are a series of stages in the evolution of a …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/patch-or-your-solid-state-drives-roll-over-and-die/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/patch-or-your-solid-state-drives-roll-over-and-die/
Expiration dates for computer drives? That’s what a line of HP solid-state drives are facing as the variable for their uptime counter is running out. When it does, the drive “expires” and, well, no more data storage for you!
There are a series of stages in the evolution of a …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/patch-or-your-solid-state-drives-roll-over-and-die/)
Don’t Hang Christmas Lights, Embed Them
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/dont-hang-christmas-lights-embed-them/
Finding it hard to get into the holiday spirit this year? Maybe you just need a timely project to light up the evenings until Santa (or Krampus) pays your house a visit. Whoever visits this season, delight or distract them with a 3D printed tree featuring embedded RGB LEDs.
[MakeTVee] …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/dont-hang-christmas-lights-embed-them/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/dont-hang-christmas-lights-embed-them/
Finding it hard to get into the holiday spirit this year? Maybe you just need a timely project to light up the evenings until Santa (or Krampus) pays your house a visit. Whoever visits this season, delight or distract them with a 3D printed tree featuring embedded RGB LEDs.
[MakeTVee] …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/dont-hang-christmas-lights-embed-them/)
New Contest: Tell Time
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/new-contest-tell-time/
Clocks. You love ’em, we certainly love ’em. So you hardly need a reason to take on a new clock build, but it makes it much sweeter when you know there’s a horde of people waiting to fawn over your creation. Hackaday’s Tell Time Contest is a celebration of interesting …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/new-contest-tell-time/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/new-contest-tell-time/
Clocks. You love ’em, we certainly love ’em. So you hardly need a reason to take on a new clock build, but it makes it much sweeter when you know there’s a horde of people waiting to fawn over your creation. Hackaday’s Tell Time Contest is a celebration of interesting …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/new-contest-tell-time/)
Weird Substances: Hagfish Slime
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/weird-substances-hagfish-slime/
In the cold, dark recesses of ocean floors around the world, hagfish slither around like sea snakes, searching for food. When a hagfish finds a suitable carcass, it devours the dead fish in two different ways. As it burrows face-first through the tissue, eating with its jaw-less, tentacled mouth, the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/weird-substances-hagfish-slime/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/weird-substances-hagfish-slime/
In the cold, dark recesses of ocean floors around the world, hagfish slither around like sea snakes, searching for food. When a hagfish finds a suitable carcass, it devours the dead fish in two different ways. As it burrows face-first through the tissue, eating with its jaw-less, tentacled mouth, the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/weird-substances-hagfish-slime/)
With PowerCore and FluxLamp, Reflow Is Possible
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/with-powercore-and-fluxlamp-reflow-is-possible/
[nathan] sends in this combo of projects which combine to make a very interesting reflow oven.
First is PowerCore which has two microcontrollers, an ATmega and a ESP8366 working in tandem to turn the AC on and off at set intervals. A GLCD displays the current profiles and WiFi allows …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/with-powercore-and-fluxlamp-reflow-is-possible/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/with-powercore-and-fluxlamp-reflow-is-possible/
[nathan] sends in this combo of projects which combine to make a very interesting reflow oven.
First is PowerCore which has two microcontrollers, an ATmega and a ESP8366 working in tandem to turn the AC on and off at set intervals. A GLCD displays the current profiles and WiFi allows …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/with-powercore-and-fluxlamp-reflow-is-possible/)
Chaining Together A 16×2 Bubble LED Display
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/chaining-together-a-16x2-bubble-led-display/
We’ve recently noticed an uptick of interest in so-called “bubble displays”: vintage alphanumeric LEDs which are probably best remembered as being used in watches and calculators before the LCD took over. Today they’re available as surplus or even salvage for literally pennies, but unfortunately they only provide four or five …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/chaining-together-a-16x2-bubble-led-display/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/chaining-together-a-16x2-bubble-led-display/
We’ve recently noticed an uptick of interest in so-called “bubble displays”: vintage alphanumeric LEDs which are probably best remembered as being used in watches and calculators before the LCD took over. Today they’re available as surplus or even salvage for literally pennies, but unfortunately they only provide four or five …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/chaining-together-a-16x2-bubble-led-display/)
Tracking Wasted Time With A Ferrofluid Clock
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/tracking-wasted-time-with-a-ferrofluid-clock/
We know this project is supposed to be about developing a fine-looking ferrofluid clock, and not about the value of procrastination. But after watching the video below, see if you don’t think that procrastination has taken these two students further than expected.
We first ran into [Simen] and [Amund] several …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/tracking-wasted-time-with-a-ferrofluid-clock/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/tracking-wasted-time-with-a-ferrofluid-clock/
We know this project is supposed to be about developing a fine-looking ferrofluid clock, and not about the value of procrastination. But after watching the video below, see if you don’t think that procrastination has taken these two students further than expected.
We first ran into [Simen] and [Amund] several …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/tracking-wasted-time-with-a-ferrofluid-clock/)
AI Knows If The Pitch Is On Target Before You Do
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/ai-knows-if-the-pitch-is-on-target-before-you-do/
Pitching a baseball is about accuracy and speed. A swift ball on target is the goal, allowing the pitcher to strike out the batter. [Nick Bild] created an AI system that can determine a ball’s trajectory in mid-flight, based on a camera feed.
The system uses an NVIDIA Jetson AGX …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/ai-knows-if-the-pitch-is-on-target-before-you-do/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/ai-knows-if-the-pitch-is-on-target-before-you-do/
Pitching a baseball is about accuracy and speed. A swift ball on target is the goal, allowing the pitcher to strike out the batter. [Nick Bild] created an AI system that can determine a ball’s trajectory in mid-flight, based on a camera feed.
The system uses an NVIDIA Jetson AGX …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/ai-knows-if-the-pitch-is-on-target-before-you-do/)
Globe Lamp Tracks The ISS For You
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/globe-lamp-tracks-the-iss-for-you/
Assuming you don’t work at a major space agency, you probably don’t really need to know the exact location of the International Space Station at all times. If you’d like to know just because it’s cool, this lamp is for you.
The lamp is driven by a Wemos D1, which …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/globe-lamp-tracks-the-iss-for-you/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/globe-lamp-tracks-the-iss-for-you/
Assuming you don’t work at a major space agency, you probably don’t really need to know the exact location of the International Space Station at all times. If you’d like to know just because it’s cool, this lamp is for you.
The lamp is driven by a Wemos D1, which …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/10/globe-lamp-tracks-the-iss-for-you/)
Cloned Gate Remote Does It (Slightly) Better
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/cloned-gate-remote-does-it-slightly-better/
Ever make something just to see if you could? Yeah, we thought so. [serverframeworks] wanted to see if he could clone the remote that opens his neighborhood gate, inspired by the long distance ding-dong-ditch efforts of [Samy Kamkar].
This clone uses an ATtiny85 and an RF module to emulate and …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/cloned-gate-remote-does-it-slightly-better/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/cloned-gate-remote-does-it-slightly-better/
Ever make something just to see if you could? Yeah, we thought so. [serverframeworks] wanted to see if he could clone the remote that opens his neighborhood gate, inspired by the long distance ding-dong-ditch efforts of [Samy Kamkar].
This clone uses an ATtiny85 and an RF module to emulate and …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/cloned-gate-remote-does-it-slightly-better/)
Rescue An Expensive Servo With Some Reverse Engineering
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/rescue-an-expensive-servo-with-some-reverse-engineering/
[Andrew] had a servo damaged by someone connecting the power supply to the wrong pins (whoops) which fried the microcontroller and a logic level shifter. With a bit of reverse engineering, he successfully restored basic servo functionality by writing some new code. The new code implements only basic features, but …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/rescue-an-expensive-servo-with-some-reverse-engineering/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/rescue-an-expensive-servo-with-some-reverse-engineering/
[Andrew] had a servo damaged by someone connecting the power supply to the wrong pins (whoops) which fried the microcontroller and a logic level shifter. With a bit of reverse engineering, he successfully restored basic servo functionality by writing some new code. The new code implements only basic features, but …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/rescue-an-expensive-servo-with-some-reverse-engineering/)
The Story Of The Quickening: Mercurial Metal
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/the-story-of-the-quickening-mercurial-metal/
Of all known metals, mercury is probably one of the most famous, if only for its lustrous, liquid form at room temperature. Over the centuries, it has been commonly used in a wide variety of applications, including industrial chemical processes, in cosmetics, for telescope mirrors, thermometers, fluorescent lamps, dental fillings, …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/the-story-of-the-quickening-mercurial-metal/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/the-story-of-the-quickening-mercurial-metal/
Of all known metals, mercury is probably one of the most famous, if only for its lustrous, liquid form at room temperature. Over the centuries, it has been commonly used in a wide variety of applications, including industrial chemical processes, in cosmetics, for telescope mirrors, thermometers, fluorescent lamps, dental fillings, …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/the-story-of-the-quickening-mercurial-metal/)
A Tree of LEDs That Blows Out Like a Candle
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/a-tree-of-leds-that-blows-out-like-a-candle/
The beautiful workmanship in [Andrew]’s LED tree is gorgeous all on its own, but of course there’s more going on than meets the eye. This LED tree can be blown out like a candle and it even playfully challenges a user to blow out all the lights at once in …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/a-tree-of-leds-that-blows-out-like-a-candle/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/a-tree-of-leds-that-blows-out-like-a-candle/
The beautiful workmanship in [Andrew]’s LED tree is gorgeous all on its own, but of course there’s more going on than meets the eye. This LED tree can be blown out like a candle and it even playfully challenges a user to blow out all the lights at once in …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/a-tree-of-leds-that-blows-out-like-a-candle/)
Linux Fu: Debugging Bash Scripts
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/linux-fu-debugging-bash-scripts/
A recent post about debugging constructs surprised me. There were quite a few comments about how you didn’t need a debugger, as long as you had printf. For that matter, we’ve all debugged systems where you had nothing but an LED to flash or otherwise turn on to communicate …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/linux-fu-debugging-bash-scripts/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/linux-fu-debugging-bash-scripts/
A recent post about debugging constructs surprised me. There were quite a few comments about how you didn’t need a debugger, as long as you had printf. For that matter, we’ve all debugged systems where you had nothing but an LED to flash or otherwise turn on to communicate …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/linux-fu-debugging-bash-scripts/)
Angela Sheehan is Developing Wearable Tech with Whimsy
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/angela-sheehan-is-developing-wearable-tech-with-whimsy/
As a concept, wearable technology excites many of us, but in practice, it’s been hard to nail down. Up to this point, the most high-tech thing the average person might reasonably wear has been a wrist watch. Devices like Google Glass tried to push the state-of-the-art, but it arguably raised …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/angela-sheehan-is-developing-wearable-tech-with-whimsy/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/angela-sheehan-is-developing-wearable-tech-with-whimsy/
As a concept, wearable technology excites many of us, but in practice, it’s been hard to nail down. Up to this point, the most high-tech thing the average person might reasonably wear has been a wrist watch. Devices like Google Glass tried to push the state-of-the-art, but it arguably raised …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/angela-sheehan-is-developing-wearable-tech-with-whimsy/)
Stackable Open Source 3D Printer Enclosure
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/stackable-open-source-3d-printer-enclosure/
One of the unfortunate realities of desktop FDM 3D printing is that environmental factors such as ambient temperature and humidity can have a big impact on your results. Even with the exact same settings, a part that printed beautifully in the summer can warp right off the bed during the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/stackable-open-source-3d-printer-enclosure/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/stackable-open-source-3d-printer-enclosure/
One of the unfortunate realities of desktop FDM 3D printing is that environmental factors such as ambient temperature and humidity can have a big impact on your results. Even with the exact same settings, a part that printed beautifully in the summer can warp right off the bed during the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/11/stackable-open-source-3d-printer-enclosure/)