Tindie

From the Game Boy to the PlayStation Vita to the Nintendo Switch, there have been some truly great gaming handhelds over the years. As a maker, the concept of building your own is quite enticing indeed.

The MyPi Premium Handheld Arcade Kit is here to put that kind of power at your fingertips. Using this kit, you can build a Raspberry Pi handheld using custom PCBs, a 5-inch display, and even stereo sound, all within a modular kit.

Soldering skills will be required, but everything you need comes in the kit, including a preconfigured micro SD card. The screen size makes it perfect for everything from PlayStation games to older retro titles as well. It can even display video directly to a TV, making it the ideal retro handheld.

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Much like the lights you put on the tree during the holidays, one bad LED can spoil the bunch. To prevent this kind of scenario, it’s important to test, test, and test again. That’s where this handy LED and diode testing tool comes in.

It provides a constant test current and reads out the diode forward voltage. This allows you to identify LED polarity and brightness at various current levels. Since most other instruments lack these features, it’s helpful to have a tool like this one on hand.

Other quality of life features include a large and easily read display, Arduino compatibility, and a lighted power switch with automatic shutoff. The entire product is also open-source, right down to the hardware itself.

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The DM77 Drum Synthesizer is an expressive eurorack module which functions equally well for percussion and effects as it does for drum sounds. It’s based on the Coron DS8 drum synth, but a completely redesigned circuit makes it more of a stand alone device than a clone.

It has a host of parameters to sculpt your sound, with two oscillators, an LFO, a noise source, sweep, release, frequency modulation, and audio input. The core oscillator works at 1V/Octave and is backed up by a second for angular percussive and metallic FM sounds. The audio input opens up possibilities for layering your drum hits with other gear, while the LFO, sweep and releases settings ensure each sound has its own unique character.

The DM77 has inputs for CV and Trigger, with a handy jumper setting for using it as a VCO. It’s 10HP wide and comes with a 2mm deep front panel in Matte Black with white silver silkscreen finish. It’s made in France by Electronic Things…and Stuff who have a whole range of sonic wizardary, particularly if you’re a eurorack owner.

See the development blog here and check out some of the sounds it makes in the demo below:

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The history of computers is a fascinating subject when you think about how much technology has progressed in a relatively short amount of time. If you were growing up in the dawn of the digital age, there was almost always something new and better around the corner.

Enter the Altair 8800. This piece of retro tech was first announced in 1975, and while it had its moment in the spotlight, new options quickly overwhelmed the market. The creator of this Altair-Duino never had the chance to get their own Altair 8800, but still recalls that spark of imagination that happened when it was first announced.

So, as is the maker way, he built it. After spotting a Altair 8800 emulator project online, the quest to build a faithful recreation began. While there are others who have gone to great lengths to recreate this hardware, they can be extremely pricey.

This new “standard” version has a blue laser-cut acrylic frame, along with a clear back and rear panel for style. It includes an RS232 serial port, and audio jack that emulates the Processor Technology Music System, a USB connector, SD card slot, a power jack, and even Bluetooth for a wireless serial connection.

The kit comes with a micro SD card that has software and games as well. The entire project is a cycle-accurate recreation of the original Altair 8800, meaning that the 8080 CPU is emulated, along with some of the I/O, disk drives, and serial ports.

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With vinyl records back in demand, setting up a record deck properly ensures you get a clean, undistorted sound without putting unnecessary wear on your beloved collection. The Turntable Protractor is an ideal tool for vinyl enthuiasts, allowing for accurate setup of the stylus, to ensure it runs parallel with each of the tracks – minimising pressure on the sides of the record groove.

The Turntable Protractor is made of fibreglass and comes with gold lines on a black background for precise visibility of each measurement. This video shows you all you need to know about setup of the stylus using a turntable protractor. For anyone who’s ever set up a record deck, you’ll be aware there are a number of variables and settings at play, including balancing tracking weights, choosing cartridge types, setting tonearms, and adjusting anti-skip wheels. Everything else you need to know is available in this guide from TechRadar.

The Turntable Protractor is a unique device which has high visibility and a simple design to ensure your records sound as good as they did on first playback! Set your deck up properly, and take care of your records with this handy tool – it’s newly available from Garrett’s Workshop based in Ohio.

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We’ve all been there. You’re spacing out at the office and you just need a break from spreadsheets or empty docs that require writing. Maybe you’ll just check Twitter, or browse Reddit for a minute. What’s the harm? Of course, you need to be on the lookout, because your boss could walk in at any moment.

The Daytripper removes this fear, allowing you to slack off in peace. This handy laser tripwire allows you to hide your windows, lock your computer, or execute a custom script every time someone trips it.

The kit comes with a tripwire module and a receiver. Mount the transmitter anywhere you like, and plug the receiver into your USB port on the computer. The sensor range is about four feet, and offers a 100 meter communication range between the two pieces in open air.

It even has a 40-hour battery life, with the option to recharge using USB-C. The kit comes in both DIY and fully assembled forms. Now, go forth and slack off with confidence!

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The micro:bit is an impressive piece of hardware that packs a bunch of features onto a board that’s half the size of a credit card. Between the programmable buttons, the LEDs, the motion detection, and the BLE support, it has a lot going for it.

In fact, it’s almost like it’s begging to be turned into a portable game system. Fellow Tindarian Fabien Chouteau had this exact thought, and so the Micro:Gamer was born. This expansion includes a 128×64 monochrome OLED screen, six buttons, a buzzer, and a AAA battery holder.

The micro:bit actually slides into the back of the board like a cartridge from the Game Boy era. Using the Arduino IDE and a library based on the Arduboy, it’s easy to port games from that system to this one, thanks to the identical button layout.

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We always like to assume that the air in our house or office is clean. After all, we change the filters and keep things as clean as we can, but without the right hardware, it’s hard to be absolutely sure the air you’re breathing is as safe as it could be. This is especially true for workshops where all manner of fumes and elements could find their way into the air.

The Mastak is an ecological sensor kit module that combines System on Modules (SoMs) like a processor, peripherals, sensors, and power circuitry, to give designers a platform for building their own air quality monitor solution. The modules even have additional IO interfaces beyond what is needed, to add even more flexibility to the platform.

The kit is ESP32 based, and supports 3G, NB-IoT, LoRa, BLE, and Wi-Fi for communication. The base version of the kit includes sensors for everything from CO2, to temperature, humidity, light, and even noise.

A few optional elements are also available, including an ultra-low power E-ink screen, a formaldehyde sensor, an Ozone sensor (not compatible with the former, it’s one or the other), or a dust sensor.

In terms of software, the Mastak also includes the ThingSpeak IoT platform with MATLAB Analytics, the ThingsBoard open IoT platform, and Android applications for setting up the Wi-Fi and adjusting the frequency of data collection.

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While 3D printers are an exciting technology, in many cases people leave them alone to work on their projects for hours at a time. As is the case with any kind of machinery, there’s an inherent risk of malfunction or fires. However small, it’s important to have something in place to shut down the printer.

3Dsmoke is designed for 3D printers using filament deposition, which involves electricity, high temperatures, and flammable elements. The device cuts off power to your printer when a wireless smoke detector senses the presence of smoke or a fire.

The kit includes a wirelessly controlled power outlet and a small wireless smoke detector to ensure an added layer of safety in your workspace. The 3Dsmoke can safely run and switch off printers up to 2500W. All you need are 2 AAA batteries to power it, and the expected lifetime for those is an entire year.

Mounting it on the top of the printer enclosure provides the best results. While a solution like this is designed to provide additional safety and peace of mind, there’s always an inherent risk, so buyers should still maintain a watchful eye on their printers as always.

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Despite the digitization of just about everything, it’s still quite common to see vending machines out in the wild that take cash and coins. While a DIY vending machine may not be your first pick for a project, you’re going to need a method for taking and confirming payment if you decide to build one.

This timer module offers a perfect niche solution for that very problem. Simply plug your coin acceptor pulse output into the coin input on the board. Program the price of pulses required to toggle the relay, and how long it should stay enabled using the buttons on the board, and you’re all set. The configurations are stored on the EEPROM, so they will remain the same even after power is turned off.

The board operates at 12V DC and accepts pulses from an open collector coin acceptor. Each pulse is equal to one credit. Something like this is useful in all manner of vending machines, whether you’re selling drinks or dispensing things like air or electricity.

If you have your own firmware in mind, it’s also possible to reprogram the board to meet your project’s needs.

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