Tindie

Having battery backups for various devices around the house can be extremely useful. A couple of years ago, I installed a UPS for my ISP’s modem, my router/AP, and my Raspberry Pi running network services. Now when the power goes out, all our battery-powered devices still have internet access! This has been a lifesaver on multiple occasions. Commercial off-the-shelf UPSes are good, but often are too big (or too low capacity!) for the application you have in mind. Enter the DCzilla – a DIY UPS control board. Just add some batteries, a cheap DC/DC module, and you can easily power any DC-powered devices like my aforementioned modem/router/Raspberry Pi setup!

The DCzilla has some nice features. All the on-board fuses are the widely available automotive type, so replacements are inexpensive and easy to get. The board does require a small DC/DC module, but the product page lists options and where to get them. You can, of course, also spin your own! Another convenient feature is customizable cutoff voltages for each of the three outputs, allowing you to prioritize certain devices as the battery voltage drops over time.

Monitoring is achieved over both serial and via a NodeRED web dashboard, allowing you to view the status of the system from anywhere. This board is just one component of a full DIY system, allowing you to grow or shrink the size of your DC backup system depending on your use case. You could start with a single lead-acid battery and a single board, and later on add many more batteries in parallel with more control boards to power additional devices.

Be sure to contact the seller PicoTouch if you have any questions!

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Digital Equipment Corporation (more commonly known as DEC) was an extremely influential computer manufacturer from 1957 until their purchase by Compaq in 1998. Their line of PDP mainframes and minicomputers were extremely popular; their PDP-10 and PDP-11 machines led directly to the creation of UNIX. However, these machines are extremely rare, difficult to acquire and maintain, and so many projects like this PiDP-1 Console and/or Rack kit exists to allow hackers to play with these amazing machines!

This incredible kit is based directly on the incredibly accurate C and Verilog emulators written by Angelo Papenhoff, so it acts and feels just like an original PDP-1 in form and function! The PDP-1 is the machine that built the first true hacker collective, the group at MIT which led to the creation of the AI Lab there – leading to all sorts of things like Lisp Machines, the FSF, GNU and more.

Even simple programs can make very neat outputs on the original phosphor display (originally a converted radar scope) and many of the original programs written by the hackers at MIT are still available, demonstrating the capabilities of the machine. And, of course, there is the first interactive video game ever made – Spacewar! This incredible game is just as popular with people today as when it was first demonstrated in 1962.

Simply add any Pi, from the Pi Zero 2W up to the Pi 5 and you’re ready to compute like it’s 1959. The amazing console will amaze and delight hackers old and young. It’s an amazing display piece, while being fully functional and expandable. Add the RetroPie software and you’ve got yourself a full video game emulation machine in probably the coolest case you’ll ever see!

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Bytebeat synthesis is a very unique and strange way to create sounds. You simply take a variable, and then do whatever logical/mathematical operations you feel like doing to it. This will generate a pattern of output bytes that, when fed into a DAC, can sound like just about anything. That’s what the BT110 does — it packages up everything you need to create bytebeat synthesis into an easy to use module.

A neat feature is the visualizer – this shows you what the output bytes actually “look” like, so you can get an idea of how each additional logical function, multiplication, modulo addition, etc. changes the output.

The BT110 has exposed pins on the side for future expansion – ideas include video output, analog signal processing, additional control inputs and more. It’s really hard to put into words exactly what this module can do, so I think the best way to get it across is to watch their demonstration video (watch your volume!):

When I first discovered this method a few years ago, I gave it a try and the results were… very interesting.

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I have written enough things in LaTeX to know how incredibly powerful it is. The equation typesetting in particular is just magical, and is more or less the academic standard for scientific papers. However, entering mathematical symbols (both when editing LaTeX and outside) can be a real pain. Some are easy to remember, but I often find myself having to quickly search online for the less common ones (how do I do a definite integral again?) which slows things down. Enter the Mathpad: a macropad for students, academics and engineers who use mathematical symbols often and want to be able to enter them directly!

Fully open-source (and OSHWA certified!), you are free to hack on the device and customize it with whatever symbols or keystrokes you find best. As it comes, there are multiple different modes. The plaintext mode enters the symbol directly; the LaTeX mode enters the proper LaTeX syntax for the symbol; and there are also Microsoft/OpenOffice Equation Editor modes to allow easy insertion and editing in those environments.

A neat version of this might be to change some of the symbols to those commonly used by engineers: µ, Ω, ±, and things like the logical operators ⊼ ⊽∧. However, with the open firmware, changing these things is easy! So no matter what field you’re in, you can easily customize the symbols. Oh, and the best part? The Gateron switches are hot-swappable, so you can easily pop in your favourite clicky or tactile switches to get just the feel you want!

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California STEAM is back again with yet another gorgeous piece of illuminated jewelry. The Duonacci Pendant combines the mathematics of the Fibonacci numbers with 103 blue/green LEDs to create an entrancing, swirling pendant. California STEAM have a track record of making beautiful pieces of jewelry and the Duonacci lives up to their reputation.

Multiple different modes can be selected depending on your mood or the atmosphere you’re in. Patterns can be shown in a fixed order, generated by random numbers, updated at 120BPM (for house music), a swirling portal mode, and even more beyond those! The combinations are endless.

The coolest part of all is that the pendant does not use a battery. Instead it uses a 90F hybrid supercapacitor. 6 minutes of charging is all that’s needed to keep it running for 10 hours, or 8 minutes if it’s totally empty. That’s pretty amazing, and makes it more likely you’ll be able to use it at short notice. Instead of pulling it out and finding it loaded with a dead battery, just hook it up to USB-C while you’re getting ready to go out, and it’ll be ready when you are!

Of course, pictures don’t do it justice, so make sure to check out the video below to see it in action.

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The follow-up to the original Chatter is here! These easy to assemble, encrypted LoRa communicators are not only useful for their headline feature but also allow writing custom firmware and games. The pair of communicators comes pre-soldered, so all you need to do is assemble the housing around the completed board.

My brother and I each assembled one, and while there were some tricky steps (keeping the battery cable out of the way while trying to close the case), overall it was easy and could definitely be accomplished by young hackers with a little supervision and encouragement. For some reason my NiMh batteries didn’t quite fit the holder properly, though I’ve had this happen with other devices as I think the bump on the positive end of the battery isn’t as long as most alkaline batteries.

Powering the device from USB-C worked flawlessly for testing, and once the included lanyard was attached, we were able to get each other set up as friends and send a few messages! Typing out longer messages on the phone-style keypad could be improved by using a system like T9, but even so it works well, and knowing the unit doesn’t require any infrastructure like WiFi or LTE is super cool.

The other neat facet of this device is its programmability. Just like the original Chatter, you can program the device using CircuitBlocks or the Arduino environment. It’s a great way to explore and learn about wireless communication – especially LoRa, the long-range, low-power radio protocol used in the Chatter 2.0.

CircuitMess are so sure you’ll like the new Chatter 2.0 that they’ve offered a generous 35% off promo code – SECRET35OFF – that’s valid until December 5th, 2025! So if you need a gift for a hacker or teen who is interested in STEM, cryptography, wireless communication or programming, the Chatter 2.0 is bound to be a hit.

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For the young soon-to-be engineers out there, or anyone who wants to learn about the basics of transistors, logic circuits and how it all ties into modern computing, the Transistor Logic Pixie kit is a well-polished and easy to follow guide. Featuring a breadboard, pre-cut wires, and the “Pixie” itself (a small PCB with push buttons, resistors, transistors, capacitors, etc.) getting started is a breeze.

The guide walks you through setting up each circuit, using colour-coded wires to make it easy to follow. Starting with the simplest buffer circuits and moving up through all the standard logic gates, eventually arriving at multivibrators and flip-flops, all the essentials are covered. The spiral-bound printed guide has easy to follow diagrams and text which explain how each circuit works and how they can be used in combination to build more complex devices.

With the holiday season coming up, this might make a great gift for a young hacker interested in electronics, or anyone who wants to quench their curiosity about how computer circuits actually work at the fundamental level.

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Editor’s note: As always, either test equipment like this on devices you own, or gain the consent of others before attempting to attack their communications. It’s unethical, not to mention illegal, to do otherwise! Also, jamming can be illegal in many places — be sure to check your local laws before doing anything that might get you in trouble.

This compact and flexible wireless hacking/penetration test tool called the AeroSniff-X3 has just been launched on Tindie! It combines hardware for sniffing, modifying and jamming WiFi, BLE, drone protocols, and other 2.4GHz-based wireless communication channels.

An-onboard dual-color OLED screen makes using it in the field easy, with clear and sharp text. Manual, handheld use is possible, but there is also a fully integrated web UI for control and packet sniffing/analysis. Dual NRF24L01 devices allow advanced probing and sniffing across a wide range of protocols and frequencies. Built-in attacks such as Bad BLE allow you to test your systems to see if they are susceptible.

An on-board ESP32 module both controls the rest of the system and adds WiFi and BLE scanning and connectivity. For the price, you’re getting a decent package with a lot of flexibility. Writing and hacking on the firmware can open new analysis opportunities, plus you can customize the UI and design software specifically for your application! Writing code for the ESP32 is a cinch these days, with multiple platforms and languages available.

So if you want to add a portable, easy-to-use tool to your wireless hacking toolkit, checkout the AeroSniff-X3.

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A new seller has arrived on Tindie, and he’s brought some neat amateur radio tools to the platform! Whether you’re looking to temporarily mount a large vertical in your tow hitch, practice your CW keying with any USB-capable computer, phone or tablet, or teach others how to use Morse code in a group setting, KE9BOS_Radio has you covered!

The portable hitch receiver mast mount is a great way to quickly set up temporary, tall vertical antennas at a remote site, or in emergencies. With four tight velcro straps, the vertical is held firmly in place. Note that this design is not suitable for use while driving on public roads: while the attachment is secure, it’s not as secure as a permanent vehicle mount and you wouldn’t want to risk damaging your antenna or putting other drivers in danger!

The 11-to-1 CW key splitter could be used for all sorts of group teaching scenarios. Imagine a group of students all with their own keys, all attached to the same morse decoder projected onto a screen. The teach can demonstrate a letter or technique, and the students can then one by one try it out on the same system. This could also be useful if you have many different types of keys and you’d like to keep them ready to go without having to plug and unplug them all the time!

Finally, the USB CW Vail adapter is used to connect any type of key to computers or mobile devices, either for practice sessions, or for internet communication! With the advanced design, you also get a capacitive key built-in, as well as the ability to connect to any radio key inputs. So with all these neat amateur radio toys, be sure to keep an eye on KE9BOS_Radio’s store in the future!

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First off, 8BitFlux has just launched a new product: the Binary Keyboard, an 8-switch panel device reminiscent of classic computers like the Altair 8800, PDP-11, and many other amazing vintage machines. You can use it standalone to teach binary, or you can attach it to just about anything to enter in a byte of data at a time. Ones’ complement mode inverts all the bits if needed. An optional add-on can display the current switch settings on an LED display which can show hexadecimal or octal!

Not only that, but the entire 8BitFlux store currently has a sale running! Make sure to check out some of their other super cool projects, like this serial attachment for the Apple I/II that allows you to dump a text file in via the keyboard, as if it had been typed in. There are also other keyboard-related tools, like this ASCII Keyboard tester which shows the actual data coming from an ASCII-format keyboard. Or check out the Super Breadboard, which has built-in power rails and short-circuit protection, plus an obvious way to separate inputs and outputs from the circuit being prototyped.

In any case, take a look at what 8BitFlux has to offer and see if anything catches your eye! With holidays coming up, it’s always good to keep an eye out for interesting things for our hacker friends and family.

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