Here at Tindie, we love the sound of retro games! Even better when we can make music of our own, and the DAFM Synth is a prime example of whats great about early FM sound architecture. Based on the Sega Genesis (or Megadrive) and its YM2612 / YM3438 integrated circuits, this synth delivers pure tones of nostalgia from a built-in 4-Operator FM chip – playable over MIDI.
The DAFM has 6 channels of sounds, each with 4-Operators to rearrange through 8 algorithms. The synth is operated by two rotary encoders, 4 OLED displays and a 12 note tactile keyboard – with the chance to save your sounds on an SD card or the built in RAM. Standard synth parameters allow you to sculpt the sounds, with ADSR envelopes and LFOs to wobble the bass and wibble the leads!
The synth comes with a stereo output, standard 5-Pin MIDI input and can be powered via micro USB. You have the option of buying a YM2612 or YM3438 chip – the latter bringing a ladder type distortion for the synth enthusiast, while retro gamers will more than likely enjoy the purity of the former. Either way its FM heaven for all! Check out the KASSER Tindie store for more details.
Augustin shows off his wares at the Orlando Hamfest.
With so many people selling here, you never know where you’ll happen to meet another Tindarian (especially at an electronics or maker-focused event). A few weeks ago, I displayed some of my creations at Maker Faire in Orlando, Florida. As it just so happened, Agustin Acosta and his wife were showing wares from their Ocala, Florida-based store, Nightfire Electronics. This is an actual brick-and-mortar electronics emporium, complete with components like LEDs, resistors, and transistors, as well as kits designed by Agustin himself.
My first thought upon seeing this was that if I lived closer to this store, I wouldn’t have to keep so many parts on-hand, though it’s still hard to beat having a good supply in your garage. The other benefit of having a store like that nearby would be Agustin himself. He holds a BSEE, has worked with the Army in a variety of roles involving radio transmission, and even has his name on multiple patents. Whether on an official basis—he’s available for consulting—or perhaps to steer you in a different direction if there’s a better way to do something, his in-store presence is certainly a great reason to stop in.
Agustin inspects his display at the Orlando Maker Faire, featuring a wide range of glorious components.
The business has been in operation since October 2000, and the name “Nightfire Electronics” came out of the fact that Agustin and his wife first started out selling ceramics. He was still working full time, so firing these piece was done at night, thus the moniker “Nightfire.” This sounded cool enough to stick around through their transition into selling electronics, thus the unique name. His wife, an ICU RN, works at the store on her days off, while his son is the store’s general manager, making it a true family business. Agustin reports that even with the three of them helping, keeping the store open 6 days a week is a challenge, especially since they do all of their own packaging.
While you might not be able to make the trip to the store, he also sells a wide range of kits on his Tindie storefront, taking up four separate pages. Seeing what was available at the Faire (in snap-closed plastic cases that would be familiar to many), it appears that he generally leaves the discreet electronics like resistors and capacitors as in-store items, while items that are unique to Nightfire are often available online.
As far as his experience selling on Tindie, Agustin notes that keeping the descriptions of his inventory up-to-date and properly described is the biggest challenge of selling on the platform, as is keeping his prices straight between different sales venues. Even so, he’s quick to cite the great community as being one of the benefits of working with Tindie, as well as the general ease of selling and—importantly—collecting money.
He notes that clear descriptions and great pictures are critical to getting sales here, which is certainly good advice for any platform. We wish Agustin and family continued success going forward, both here and through their physical shop!
When they first came out, the Game Boy models were the cream of the crop. Even the original DMG model, the screen looked stunning for the time. Despite nostalgia being a powerful thing, the screens haven’t aged well in our post-4K world.
A great way to breathe some life into that screen is to use a bivert module. These modules enhance the contrast of LCD displays by biverting/inverting the pixel orientation on the screen. The difference is pretty noticeable too, with a sharp blue appearance and better grayscale saturation.
This reworked version of a bivert module is available in DMG and Pocket versions. It fits perfectly on the Game Boy PCB without any need for wires. It’s a simple and easy soldering project, but your eyes will thank you when you’re finished. The lens of nostalgia can only take you so far, after all.
When we finally make contact with extraterrestrial life, I’m hoping they meet an engineer or a maker before anyone else. First impressions are everything after all. In the meantime, we can continue making cool gadgets while we wait.
We Come in Peace! is a clip-on badge that showcases a friendly alien in their spaceship. It has flashing eyes for the alien and a row of running lights across the bottom. A touch-sensitive switch at the base of the spaceship toggles the LEDs on and off, while different patterns of running lights are chosen at random.
While this kit does utilize through-hole components, the design itself is a little different. The designer calls it “pseudo SMD.” It’s easier to solder than a full surface-mount design, but slightly more difficult than a through-hole kit.
Despite this, the design allows the outward facing side of the board to be free from solder joints, which is cleaner overall. Have fun, and remember: the truth is out there!
Wireless technology is great, but there’s no denying that sometimes a good old fashioned Ethernet connection is the way to go. The ProDino Zero Ethernet board understands this, offering a powerful Arduino with 4 relays, 4 inputs, an RS485 port, and a GROVE connector.
This board is useful in a variety of scenarios, from home projects, to industrial application. It also represents a great opportunity to learn more about 32-bit application development. An Atmel SAMD21 MCU powers the board, which includes a 32-bit ARM Cortex MO+ and a W5500 Ethernet chip.
Any project that needs an internet connection could benefit from this board. Specifically, projects in areas where electromagnetic noise could interfere with a wireless connection, the Ethernet option is perfect.
For some inspiration, check out these examples of projects that utilized this board.
Just when you’d thought you’d seen every unique display method possible, Unexpected Maker has come up with something new and brilliant. The Laser Segment Display is available 7 or 14-segment versions, and shows characters using RGB LEDs behind the laser-cut pieces of clear acrylic—thus the “Laser” moniker. Segments are held in place by a black acrylic base and powered using a custom PCB.
The resulting display is properly described in the demo video below as having a “sci-fi” feel to it, only lighting up the edges of the clear acrylic segments when activated. Each display unit can be chained together, and everything is controlled using custom open-source libraries in conjunction with the Adafruit NeoPixel library. This allows 58 characters to be shown in the case of the 14-segment (or “X”) display, and 32 for the 7-segment version. The libraries can also be extended as needed for even more display options.
The PCBs for these kits are available unassembled, or soldered together if you’d rather not deal with that part of the process. Acrylic items are not put together in either case, saving you the joy of final assembly or peeling off the cut pieces’ protective paper!
The holidays are upon us, and while you may have decorated outside, your indoor space will also need some sprucing up. Whether for yourself, family, or friends, these unique Tindie items could be great for under, on, or as the tree itself!
Christmas 3 PCB
If you’re thinking that “Christmas 3” sounds a lot like “Christmas tree,” then you wouldn’t be far off from Brian Lough’s PCB. It’s the shape of a tree, and features reverse-mounted LEDs that cleverly diffuse through the PCB itself.
MP3 PCB Tree in Transparent Case
If you like your PCB trees to be “look but don’t touch,” this device could be a good option. It features a pair of PCBs that slide together for a 3D effect, and can play your favorite tunes as its lights flash away.
Electric Menorah Model II
As this device’s description puts it, “How would the story of Hanukkah have gone down if the Israelites had LEDs?” As a possible answer to that question, this PCB menorah uses LEDs, driven by a pair of shift registers and an ATtiny84A processor, flickering as if they were actual candles.
LED Snowman Kit
What could be better than a PCB snowman for the cold winter months? This PCB kit features an orange LED nose, along with flashing RGB LEDs on its chest. It would be great for a necklace, decoration, or as an introduction to soldering.
Super Snowflake
Before snow can be formed into snowballs, snowmen, and snow angels, it first must take the form of countless flakes. You can bring a flake indoors with this beautiful PCB snowflake ornament. It’s available fully or partially assembled, and shines beautiful white patterns as shown in its intro video.
Modular Synths come in many forms and guises, which makes them so appealing and without limits – but bringing them all together can sometimes mean that you need to rely on multiple sources, which take up valuable modular real estate. The Multi-Synth Power Bus delivers a range of possible formats together, making a hybrid power setup much easier to manage.
Designed and produced in the USA by TallDog, this unique device takes ±15V, +5V, and ground as inputs and sends out ±12V for far ranging compatibility with the big modular makers. Plug in a 5-Pin Din supply or use the on-board terminals and you’re ready to make some noise, with LEDs to show the status and an on/off switch to control the supply.
The Multi-Synth Power Bus has connections for Eurorack, Analogue Systems, Dotcom, MOTM and Modcan – giving you a more flexible selection of power for your noise! A power supply is required for the Bus, which is compatible with a range of Mean Well power supplies – see the product page for specifics.
It’s a beautifully designed functional tool which will work reliably in the background as you deliver sonic carnage to your adoring fans… or neighbors!
The vast majority of electronic components are hidden from the user’s eye. While this certainly provides a clean look for consumer products, there’s an inherent beauty to the structure of an electronic’s inner workings.
The Circuit Sculpture Contest celebrates this artistic potential by asking you to create something that is both visually striking and functional at the same time! The contest jsut began and runs until 12PM PST on January 8th, 2019. Contestants are eligible to win one of three $200 cash prizes for the top entries, or one of four $100 Tindie credits to the runners-up.
A Melding of Art and Functionality
The Circuit Sculpture Contest aims to find projects that combine aesthetic value with some sort of electronic purpose. It can be something as simple as a structure that powers some LEDs, but we encourage you to push the limits of what’s possible!
The judges will rate your project on the following categories:
Aesthetic – the look and artistic value of the piece
Creativity – does it do something different, how is it unique?
Execution – Are the details all there, is it built well from a technical standpoint?
Functionality – What does the circuit do? Does it do something unique?
Backstory – How did you document your journey? What inspired the piece?
Art may be subjective, but the judges will be looking at hard facts just as much as the aesthetic value of your project. Ready to enter your project?
How to Enter
Create a project page on Hackaday.io to documents your progress and show off images. Once your project is published, look for the “Submit Project to…” button on the right sidebar. Click this to enter your project in the Circuit Sculpture Contest.
While sharing schematics or source code isn’t required, keep in mind that transparency adds to your project’s backstory. The contest opened on December 4th, 2018, so let’s see what kind of electronic art the Tindie community has to offer!
Thanksgiving has come in gone in the US, meaning that the Holidays are official upon us. For many that means decorating Christmas trees, interior and exterior housing surface, one’s yard, and perhaps watching Christmas Vacation for inspiration on what (not) to do. Besides traditional lighting, it’s a great time to flex your light hacking muscles!
Hacked Lighting Displays
As inspiration for your lighting display, it’s hard to beat this MIDI-based light and sound show from Christian Kratky from 2016. The build is beautifully executed, using a Raspberry Pi 2 and an industrial-style controls setup. More details are available here, or just feast your eyes on the video below for inspiration:
If you, or perhaps your neighbors, would rather have a non-musical mostly static display, the decoration setup on display in the video below looks like a nice option. As seen on Hackaday, it coordinates RGB LED strips with a laser projector for enhanced lighting, along with an animated focus piece in the middle of the house’s second story.
If you were thinking, “I wonder if Tindie has anything to help with my insane lighting project?” I’m glad you asked. Here’s a few options picked out by Tindie’s own Jasmine Brackett. Incidentally, she would be happy to hear about your lighting projects on Twitter, whether using these devices or not!
ElectroMage Pixelblaxe V2 WiFi LED Controller
At a size not much larger than a quarter, the Pixelblaze V2 controller is truly a wonder of lighting control. It’s able to drive a variety of programmable LEDs using its ESP8266 module set at 160MHz, and features a powerful editor for pattern development. There’s even an optional sensor expansion board with a microphone, accelerometer, ambient light sensor, and 5 analog inputs to allow your project to react to its environment.
Evil Genius Labs Shields and Displays
In life, and especially in hacking, one size does not fit all. For a variety of light hacking board options, you can check out the Evil Genius Labs’ boards and ready-made displays, most of which are pictured above.
AllPixelMini Universal LED Controller
For a wired solution that requires no soldering, look no further than the AllPixel Mini. The device features a Micro USB connector, and will work with Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms—importantly including the Raspberry Pi. It’s able to control up to 700 LEDs at a high frame rate, and several can be linked together via software for a truly massive display.
F8-PB LED Pixel Controller for PocketBeagle
For those that enjoy using the tiny-yet-powerful PocketBeagle, the F8-PB cape looks like a great solution for driving your insane Christmas installation. It features 8 local ports that can drive over 500 pixels each (with power injection), along with 3 RJ45 ports for expansion… That is if 4000+ pixels driven locally isn’t quite enough!
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