by Eric Archer Straight from the 1890s to the 1980s, I would like to suggest any of these fun bits of retro technology for the tinkerers, makers, and geeks on your shopping list. I’ve included plenty of affordable items to help you spread the good cheer. Some are kits that require assembly, others are enjoyable […]
The folks at Sparkle Labs have put up a cute project on their site. It’s a simple LED circuit on a breadboard (built with their Discover Electronics Kit), with some Turkey papercraft attached, to create a Thanksgiving table decoration. This is a great way to get your kids involved in a basic electronics project that […]
Bruce Heran made this prototyping board for his tube projects. He writes: This is a project that I made to take care of an ever increasing need to prototype vacuum tube (valve) circuits. As you can see from the photos, it really is a test “board.” I do a lot of work with tubes and […]
By way of Andrew Q Righter of HacDC comes word of this free PDF from Texas Instruments, a 41-page “cookbook” of circuit designs and application notes for TI’s LED-related components. [Thanks, Andrew!] LED Reference Design Cookbook [PDF]
Motherboard has this wonderful look inside the world (and workshop) of Ralph Baer, creator of Pong, Simon, and other electronic/video game classics. Ralph Baer and His All-Purpose Boxes
It’s the McLVDT, a linear variable differential transfomer, made from McDonald’s straws. The creator writes: I made a primary coil on a normal sized straw, and made two secondary coils on the outside of the larger McDonald’s straw. Since the McStraw is large-bore (perfect for those thick high calorie shakes), the smaller straw with the […]
Here’s a linear optical encoder made from printer parts, a PIC 18F4520 MCU, and an L298 motor controller: The goal of this tutorial is to create a way to know where the ‘stage’ is, accurate to about 1/4” using optical encoding. The stage is controlled via a 12v motor so we will use an L298 […]
