Tindie

As a collector of cleverly-themed t-shirts, this new product on Tindie caught my eye. What better way to show your love of all things hardware, tech, and California than by wearing a technology-themed graphic t-shirt with the state of California on it?

The Cali Tech Graphic T-shirt is created and sold by STORY SPARK, a lifestyle brand based in California that features technology-themed apparel. Show the world your dedication to tech with these graphic t-shirts.

All shirts are designed and silk-screened in California and manufactured in a WRAP (Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production) certified factory in Nicaragua. The Cali Tech shirt comes in black and is available in sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL, and XXL.

This product is made from a premium fitted shirt with a 60% ring-spun cotton and 40% polyester blend. They are also tagless, which I love! Itchy tags on your favorite shirt are pretty much the worst.

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The wide world of engineering, electronics design, robotics, and everything in between can be a scary place to dip your toes into. For an absolute beginner, it’s hard to find a place where you can start your journey.

In your search, you’ll probably come across Arduino, which offers plenty of beginner-friendly projects. In the spirit of that, this Intro to Arduino Shield offers one of the best entry points I’ve seen into the maker sphere.

The kit plugs into an Arduino Uno or similar and includes a button, light sensor, and RGB LED. You can control the LED with an analog (sensor) or digital (button) input. By following along with a video series on the seller’s YouTube channel, and using slides from their GitHub, you’ll learn to solder surface mount and through-hole computers as you build the shield.

Once built, you’ll learn to how to blink your first LED and even how to make it fade as well. The learning materials also cover buttons, sensor input, and non-blocking code.

All said and done, you’ll have a snazzy night light when you’re finished, but the real takeaway here is the fact that you’ll learn soldering and five core programming concepts that you can take into your future projects!

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Do you have an old Wii Nunchuck laying around? If you do, you’ll definitely want to check out the D1 Mini Nunchuck Shield on Tindie, and even if you don’t you might want to pick one up!

The Wii originally launched in 2006, and Nintendo has since released two new gaming consoles: the Wii U and the Switch. The Wii Nunchuck is slightly outdated for gaming consoles, but perfect for controlling a robot or as an input device for any project. It can currently be found from retailers such as eBay, Aliexpress, or used electronic stores for under $7.

This product is a shield kit that connects a Nintendo Wii Nunchuck controller to a D1 Mini ESP8266 or the Devkit Mini32. The PCB is designed to fit inside the port of the Nunchuck.

It turns out that the Wii Nunchuck makes a perfect input device for Arduino projects. With two digital buttons, an accelerometer, and an analog stick, the Nunchucks communicate over i2c devices so you only need to use two pins from your microcontroller. With such simple access to the data, and a slick looking case that will stand up to all kinds of abuse, this is quite useful for creating something new!

Created by Brian Lough, each basic kit includes one D1 Mini Nunchuck Shield PCB and two male headers to connect to the microcontroller board. A servo header option and a screw terminal option are available as add-ons as well.

Be sure to grab yours today, and share with us what fun and exciting new projects you create!

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I love all projects LED related, and clearly from all the amazing blinky LEDs out there I’m not alone. If you love all the pretty LEDs then you need to check out the GlassCube Kit on Tindie and add some fun lights to your home or workspace!

The GlassCube is a DIY kit for a 4x4x4 RGB LED Cube, but it’s different from what you’ve seen before. Instead of a framework of wire, it uses surface mount LEDs on glass PCBs! The housing for the cube is made from a laser-cut transparent acrylic with an engraved top plate.

This product is compatible with CircuitPython and already comes pre-programmed with a few animations, but feel free to go crazy! It can be powered and programmed using a micro-USB type B connector.

Each kit includes:

• 64x WS2812B 5050 SMD LEDs
• 4x glass PCBs with copper traces
• 1x control PCB (fully assembled, CircuitPython bootloader, preprogrammed with basic animations)
• 1x set of transparent acrylic parts for housing
• 4x M2x8 screws and nuts
• 1x ribbon cable

You will need a micro-USB cable as well as a soldering iron for assembly.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and let your LED projects shine!

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Wireless projects using the popular nRF24L01 transceivers are popping up everywhere. They are easy to configure, low-power, and reliable over surprisingly long distances. This tiny development board pairs the nRF24L01 with an STM32 microcontroller for a compact and easy to use platform!

This board features the STM32F042G6U6, a low-power ARM Cortex-M0 microcontroller from ST with 32kB of flash and 6kB of RAM. It can run at up to 48MHz, which is incredible for its low power consumption. It’s absolutely packed with peripherals, and development toolchains are freely available for all operating systems. The integrated bootloader means it can be programmed directly via the USB port, without the need for an external programmer — however, the SWD pads are also broken out in case you want to connect your existing debugger, or program your own bootloader. The high-speed SPI paired with DMA means you can easily keep up a high-speed data link.

An excellent addition to the board is the footprint for the RFM69, a different wireless transceiver that uses either the 868 or 915MHz bands, depending on your location. While this board currently is only available with the nRF24L01, having more development options is always nice.

This board can be used as a stand-alone project development platform, or used as a wireless base station to communicate with other devices in the field. It is useable with small single-board computers like the Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone Black, opening up a huge range of possible applications. The included clear Gainta enclosure is a nice touch — development boards with enclosures always seem to last longer (especially in my lab!).

If you’ve been wanting to play with the nRF24L01, this is the perfect board to get you started. Check out the System Workbench for STM32, a free IDE from ST that works on Windows, Mac and Linux. It’s a great way to get started. The source code and design files for this board are also freely available. Happy hacking!

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3D printing is a long and involved process, but when you combine it with time-lapse videos it allows you to showcase the production in an entirely different light.

Doing so with Prusa printers can be difficult due to the moving heatbed, and while Prusa themselves wrote a tutorial on how to accomplish it, the process requires a camera, separate trigger input, or an expensive Bluetooth board and your smartphone, none of which are ideal.

If you have a GoPro hanging around, this time-lapse trigger offers a wireless solution that doesn’t require any modifications to your printer. The PCB plugs directly into the Einsy board and uses WiFi to communicate with your GoPro.

Each purchase also comes with a 3D-printed bracket, made in Prusa’s original Black PETG materials to ensure proper heat resilience from the Einsy board. That, and it makes everything look uniform as well.

The trigger board works with all Prusa 3D printers that have Raspi support and with GoPro versions 4 and higher, including the Session versions.

You can use it with other 3D printers as well, so long as you have a 5V/GND and 1 GPIO available for programming. A manual is also offered on the store page to pair your GoPro with your printer. Check out the video below to see an example time-lapse.

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I’m no stranger to puzzles. From critical thinking puzzle games to memory games, I love them all! Many of you might remember the Simon Says game that we played as kids, where one player is the leader “Simon,” and the other players must follow their instructions, but only if the leader says, “Simon says.” Players are disqualified for not following instructions. As an adult I’m pretty sure the game was invented just to teach kids to listen.

The Simon says – DIY Learn to solder KIT, sold by e-r.io, is a great beginner’s kit for learning how to solder. Each kit comes all the parts for a working game:

• A PCB
• Attiny13 Microcontroller
• Foothill for the Microcontroller
• 4 LEDs
• 4 Pushbuttons
• 2 Switches
• 4 Resistors of 330ohm
• Battery holder & Battery (CR2032)

Once the kit is complete, the end product is a Simon says memory game, where players must press the colored buttons in the correct order they light up in. The game is set to increase in difficulty the longer it is played, and it can even be played multiplayer. And since the microcontroller is programmed using the Arduino IDE you can even customize your game.

This DIY Kit is perfect for someone learning how to solder, or just for fun, and it’s under $5 so you really can’t beat it!

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HAM Radio is one of the most thrilling and traditional methods of exploring and tapping into another world of transmitted communications. Famed for its association with pirate radio and other such peculiar non-commercial communications, its been an accessible source of interest for amateurs and musicians for many years. The DigiLink Nano is a device which allows you to access such transmissions from the comfort of your computer and rig, developed by an aficionado of radio communications who’s been doing it since 1995.

The DigiLink Nano allows you to use your computer to run any digital HAM Radio mode, including PSK31, ‍RTTY, ‍FT-4/FT-8/JT-9/JT-65, ‍Olivia and more, with an existing scanner. Its compact design, solid build quality, and affordable cost make it an accessible device for tuning into the airwaves – separating your system from any ground loops or RF interference using galvanic separation! Used by amateurs to communicate on spectrum reserved for the hobby, HAM Radio has grown in prominence thanks to artists like Robin Rimbaud aka Scanner.

Who knows what you might find going on in your town, once you’ve scanned the airwaves! The DigiLink Nano is sold by HB9ZHK, who are based in Switzerland and selling this as their first product! See the video below for a demo of it in action.

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RF still seems like a black art in many ways to me. When you look at the surface of this antenna, the mind simply boggles — how can this work as an effective antenna, especially across such a wide frequency range? Well, this 300MHz-3GHz Log Spiral Antenna might just be the perfect antenna for applications like LoRa, Bluetooth, and other ISM band applications.

For those of you not familiar with LoRa, it is a low-power wide-area network specification. It uses the ISM sub-gigahertz bands, meaning users don’t need a license to operate it. It can be very efficient over surprisingly long distances. It has proved extremely popular in IoT projects, especially those located outdoors, as the low power requirement fits perfectly with embedded devices. They form a network which reports back to a base station — a role this antenna would be perfect for.

The antenna was tested by a company called AntennaTestLab. The above image is the antenna being tested in their anechoic chamber! The results were very interesting. This animated GIF shows a Smith chart of the results by frequency — and I’m not ashamed to admit I spent far too long staring at it! I’m far from an RF expert, but I found it very interesting to note that the two polarizations are not always mirror images of each other. If you’re interested, Hex and Flex (the designer) has a lot more information about the test results on their website.

Of course, it also covers the 2.4GHz ISM band, which means it could be used as a bidirectional WiFi or Bluetooth antenna. While it doesn’t have a lot of gain at 2.4GHz, the directionality could be used to help cover a part of your home or property that isn’t reached well by your router. This antenna is also great for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) applications, such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou.

And finally, it just looks super cool! If you want to give a wireless project a bit of extra flair, having a cool looking antenna can be just the touch you need. Family and friends will be sure to ask “What the heck is that thing?!” every time they visit.

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The legacy of retro gaming lives on, thanks to the use of modern hardware and emulators to bridge the gap between the past and the present. While Tindie plays host to many different designs, there’s nothing quite like the portability of a Game Boy Pocket form factor.

From the makers of the Gaboze Pocaio, comes the Retro ESP32. The kit comes as a fully assembled PCB with a 2.6-inch LCD, USB port, brightness and volume control, power LED, heaphone jack, audio amp, and even speaker capability.

The pre-installed firmware is a base version that lets you run any of your other applications. Those who are looking to installer emulators can also find instructions on the store page.

The Retro ESP32 supports eleven different emulators as well, ranging from the Game Boy to the Atari 7800. The main board comes fully assembled and soldered, so the only thing you will need is a LiPo battery, an SD card for storing your games, and a Game Boy Pocket Shell to give it that finalized look.

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