Over on his YouTube channel the vivacious [Stephen Hawes] tells us that we never need to buy solder stencils again! A big claim! And he is quick to admit that his printed solder paste isn’t presently quite as precise as solder stencils, but he is reporting good success with his technique so far. [Stephen] found […]
As hardware ages, it becomes harder and harder to keep it in service. Whether that’s because of physical aging or lack of support from the company who built it in the first place, time is not generally good for electronics, especially when it comes to our beloved retro gaming systems. The first Playstation, for example, […]
One of the categories we chose for the One Hertz Challenge is “Could Have Used a 555.” What about when you couldn’t have, but did anyway? The 555 is famously easy to use, but not exactly the most accurate timer out there — one “ticking” at 1 Hz will pulse just about once per second […]
There are a ton of Bluetooth speakers on the market. Just about none of them have any user-serviceable components or replacement parts available. When they break, they’re dead and gone, and you buy a new one. [Jonathan Mueller-Boruttau] wrote in to tell us about the latest speaker from Teufel Audio, which aims to break this cycle. […]
One of the earliest commercially-successful camera technologies was the rangefinder — a rather mechanically-complex system that allows a photographer to focus by triangulating a subject, often in a dedicated focusing window, and and frame the shot with another window, all without ever actually looking through the lens. Rangefinder photographers will give you any number of […]
Here’s something fun from our hacker [Piers]: Software Defined ROMs. In this series of three videos, [Piers] runs us through what a software defined ROM is, how to make them, and then how to use them. As [Piers] explains, one frustration a retro technician will face is a failed ROM chip. In the era he’s […]
Film maker [David Greelish] wrote in to let us know about his recent documentary: Before Macintosh: The Apple Lisa. The documentary covers the life of the Apple Lisa. It starts with the genesis of the Lisa Project at Apple, covering its creation, then its marketing, and finally its cancellation. It then discusses the Apple Lisa […]
Today in the submersibles department our hacker [Rupin Chheda] wrote in to tell us about their submarine project. This sub is made from a few lengths of PVC piping of various diameters. There is an inflation system comprised of a solenoid and a pump, and a deflation system, also comprised of a solenoid and a […]
Over on his YouTube channel [Tom Stanton] shows us how to build a Stirling Engine for a bike. A Stirling Engine is a heat engine, powered by the expansion and contraction of a working fluid (such as air) which is heated and cooled in a cycle. In the video [Tom] begins by demonstrating the Stirling […]