Tindie

Modern joysticks offer some handy features and more precise control, but they are often incompatible with older hardware. This is where your standard adapters come in, but even these fail to account for some aspects of the vintage hardware.

This OpenC16 JoyAdapter is an open hardware solution for the Commodore 264 family. Since these older machines have a different protocol and connector, the adapter’s design was created with these things in mind. It allows you to use modern joysticks while also protecting the TED chip.

This is done using a buffer IC and limiting the current on the joystick lines, a similar strategy to the joysticks of that era. Many other adapters fail to offer this feature, leaving your TED chip vulnerable.

That being said, they do advise that you never plug or unplug the joystick while the system is on. Even if the autofire feature works on newer joysticks, they also advise against using it here. Given that this is an open-source solution, modifications are encouraged and should be shared!

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Between badgelife and the circuit board sculpture contest, it’s clear that makers have an artistic side. As someone who loves hardware and art in equal measure, I want to see more designs that merge the two skill sets.

This PCB emoji smile is one such example that utilizes a dual-side design and a glossy surface. Combined with some electronics like a backlit LED, it could easily become a badge in and of itself.

With more designs on the way, this is one Tindarian to keep an eye on. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to show off your own artistic PCB designs. We would love to see them!

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If you were at Supercon 2018, or you read our recap post, then you’ll recall Brian Benchoff’s Tindie pad printing demo. It featured hilarious KISS themed Tindie PCB badges wearing the face paint for each of the four band members.

What it didn’t include was a body for the members of the band, so Roger Cheng decided to remedy this. Through a series of detailed blog posts, he covers the process through which he created the ensemble you see above.

All of this began in late December of 2018 when Roger took inspiration from the ongoing Hackaday Circuit Sculpture Contest. While he wasn’t eligible to enter, it got him thinking about how he could join in on the fun. After practicing with salvaged SMD LEDs, Roger moved on to create his own 3D-printed copper spool straightener.

With all of this in place, he started out with something simple: making a body for the standard Tindie blinky badge.

The badge itself is a soldering exercise. Roger takes things one step further by adding a third LED on the tail of the copper body. The sculpture consists of two wire loops: one connected to battery positive, and one to negative.

With this project successfully completed, Roger then turned to the KISS Tindies that he brought back from the 2018 Hackaday Superconference, and thus his follow-up project was born.

Thanks to Joe Kim, art already existed for the KISS Tindies and their respective bodies. Using this, Roger was able to create an entire band, complete with a drum set! Check out the video below to see the final creation in action!

My KISS #TindieBlinky band is ready to go on tour! Thanks to @asiwatch for @tindie art I referenced on this #circuitsculpture project, and @BBenchoff for handing out these PCBs at #supercon. Details at https://t.co/Q13NhxFDvD pic.twitter.com/TRRhVxDUZo

— Roger Cheng (@Regorlas) January 7, 2019

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If you like music in the park, on the beach, or on the move, this portable power amp is perfect to interface between your musical device and a set of speakers — making mobile music a simple and powerful reality. It supports up to 8 speakers with bidirectional Bluetooth control over the airwaves and is a highly efficient, low impedance drive device which can be powered from one battery!

The power amp will work with a vast range of speakers, old and modern, so it’s a chance to recycle and dust off that hardware in the attic and put them to good use! Hook up 2 speakers, 4 speakers, and even 8 if you plug in 24V power! It’s been designed to generate no heat even at high output levels and is capable of a very high SPL (Sound Pressure Level).

Controls include Play, Pause, Next, Previous, Volume+ and Volume- to operate the playback. It’ll connect to iOS, Android, Windows, and many other standards which use Bluetooth, and once paired will sync immediately. It uses a standard 3.5mm jack socket for input in addition to the Bluetooth connectivity and weighs around 33 grams.

Shipped from Portugal, you’ll find over 60 excellent gadgets on their Tindie Store!

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There comes a point in every gamer’s life where they consider creating their own games. It’s here that one of two things happen: either they embrace the complexity and skills required for such a feat, or they change their mind. If you came through this test with your resolve intact, the Edu-C board could be a great way to get your feet wet.

This board is a customized Arduino Uno/Duemilia with a specific combination of educational components and a set of I/0s for simple games. The board also includes a 200mAh Lipo and charger.

Learning how to program games with realtime C will help you learn valuable skills surrounding code optimization and interrupts. The board includes two push-buttons, two linear pots, white and red LEDs, and a 7-segment display.

While it’s not as robust as something like an Arduboy, it resembles the TI Booster pack but with an Arduino twist. For those looking to get into game development, or anyone looking to polish up their Arduino skills will find a lot to love about the Edu-C board.

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Kids love stories, almost as much as they love creating things. In order to fuel this creative spirit, and introduce them to the world of electronics, Ellie Saves the Day! combines both as a book/kit complete with a PCB, resistors, capacitors, a 555 timer, and a pair of LEDs.

The hero of the book, Ellie, is a light-emitting diode, or LED, whose job is to blink back and forth with her friend Ed at a train crossing when a train passes. As it so happens, the PCB that controls the blinking is missing components that Ellie—with a little help from readers—must complete before the train passes.

The book is illustrated, and could hold a child’s attention even without the electronics lesson that they learn and apply along the way via an included kit. This would be a great way for parents who aren’t electronics-savvy to introduce these concepts to kids (and to themselves). For those that do know something about electronics, it’s a great way to introduce things on a level appropriate for kids still in the single-digits or just beyond in age.

The book was a fully-funded Kickstarter, which, as discussed at 43 minutes into this podcast, was delivered on time. The original campaign is found here, including a video with a reenactment of a “certain” office movie by kids at just after 1:30 in the intro video.

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If you’ve built a PC gaming rig before, you know the kind of horsepower needed to run today’s games at their maximum settings. The most powerful computers are pushing resolutions past 4K and frame rates upwards of 140 FPS.

While today’s modern computers have 16+ gigabytes of RAM, the Atari 400 has a modest 16K. The Atari 800 offered an upgrade to 48K. With this handy upgrade card, you can make that same upgrade work for your original Atari 400 computer.

To get the full 48K, you need to install 4 wire links on the back of the 400 main board. You can still use the card without this, but you’ll only get 32K of RAM. With the standard version of this computer, the games you can run are limited, but the extra boost in memory will offer a wider selection of classic titles.

The upgrade is completely reversible as well. The kit comes with the PCB and all parts, including a pre-programmed GAL or a completed board ready to install. For those interested in further mods, this seller also offers a composite video output kit for the Atari series of systems.

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Relaxing outside on a hot summer evening you might catch a glimpse of fireflies as they perform an ethereal bioluminescent dance. Maybe you even been able to catch a few, trapping them in a jar for your entertainment. Recreate a bit of that magic with a DIY electronics project.

This FireFly Jar Kit presents a different, and much longer-lasting, bottle of blinkies. Instead of actual fireflies blinking, is emulates the bugs’ effect with tiny 0603 LEDs and 38 AWG wire. An ATtiny85V provides lighting control, and it should be able to function on its CR123A battery for 6 months or more.

While you can build this type of contraption yourself, the item listed here is available fully-assembled, as a kit, or a PCB only. In either case, you don’t have to mess about with making your own PCB or perf board assembly, which could be well worth the $30, $20, or $10 price tag. Personally, I much prefer to avoid soldering as much as possible, especially if the terms “0603” and “38 AWG” are involved. Soldering concerns aside, be sure to check out the representative video of this type of faux firefly effect below:

The jar presents a nice subtle LED effect, but for something on the opposite end of the spectrum, why not check out the AuraCube, with its 512 RGB LEDs flashing away to your heart’s content!

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Clocks are perhaps the best way for hackers to show off their creations to the wider world, and there are many unique timepieces up on Tindie. This particular type of 4-digit 7-segment electromechanical clock—or rather the board for one—will be new to many people. Each digit is a discreet flip “dot” unit that physically moves the needed segments into view to show the time.

The assembled clock board being sold here, leaves you to purchase the proper segment units and attach them, as well as come up with your own enclosure. This obviously gives you a huge amount of creative freedom to make it your own, and since the design is open source, you could even build upon what’s offered if you feel so inclined. The device runs on an ATmega328P, and is programmed using the Arduino IDE via FTDI headers, meaning that you could even make changes to how it works without any sort of hardware redesign.

Timekeeping is taken care of by a highly accurate DS3231 RTC chip, set with a small screwdriver. Check it out in operation in the video below, or you can find more details on the build in a separate clip about assembly, and in this project writeup.

For other unique clock options, I’ve written about a much different type of electromechanical split-flap display here, and have actually built the beautiful MSP430 Nixie Tube clock seen in this post.

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For some gamers, the controller is everything. You may feel right at home with a DualShock 4 in your hands. By that same token, others can only thrive on a keyboard and mouse. Whether it’s out of necessity or because you like the idea, this handy device turns your Game Boy into a wireless controller.

It’s compatible with the original model, the GBP, GBC, and GBA SP. The receiver comes in a few different options as well, ranging from standard USB to a convenient GameCube option. While the novelty itself is pretty cool, the real value here is for those who play Game Boy games on their Wii virtual console.

Beyond the carts, there is also a transmitter option, with a second one coming down the pipeline in the near future. The Game Boy TX cart transmits up to 8 meters indoors. Every 2ms it checks the keys and sends a packet to the receiver.

Upgrade your screen to something a little more modern without sacrificing the feel of playing on a Game Boy console. It’s the best of both worlds!

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