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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A famous quote from Arthur C. Clarke reads: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. Sometimes even the most simplistic of concepts can make your imagination run wild. Take for example this Hearty Badge self-assembly kit

This badge has the shape of a heart and an etching of an anatomically correct one in the center. With a simple tap or a sharp movement, the heart lights up and glows briefly. It’s a simple concept, but when you see it in action it looks awesome:

I think I’m starting to have a @tindie addiction! Love this PCB I just got from @highenergybeams ❤️❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/yyJJc2WW3I

— Amie DD (@amiedoubleD) November 20, 2018

The goal of this project was to create the simplest circuit possible that was also interactive. A vibration sensing circuit reacts organically when moved or tapped, but never remains fully on or off. This results in an extremely low power consumption when you’re not using it.

This assembly kit is perfect for beginners who want to make something without the need to understand logic or pre-programmed microcontrollers. The kit comes with a capacitor, resistor, transistor, and switch.

Build yourself a sweet interactive badge and learn how basic electronic components work in the process.

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Check out this electromagnetic actuator, by Carl Bugeja, which opens a whole new realm of movement based on permanent magnets and an electronic circuit.

Consider how magnets work; attracting or repelling other magnets depending on how each is arranged. Electromagnets work in a similar manner. They’re traditionally made by wrapping wire around a metallic core. When electrified they create a magnetic field. Here Carl is demonstrating that those coils of wire can also be made out of flexible PCBs—no wrapping required. When electrified near a rare-earth magnet, they coil within the flexible PCB pushes away from the magnet.

The device is about the size of one’s fingertip, and if you need inspiration for what you could do with one (or many) be sure to check out the demo video below. The product listing has links to a few other pertinent videos as well, and his YouTube channel has lots of other electromagnetic experiments if you’d like to do a deeper dive into this fascinating subject.

More information on this build can be found on Hackaday.io, including Gerber files if you’d like to examine how it was made, modify the design, or even manufacture your own. While there are a multitude of things you could do with something like this, I can’t help but think that an electromagnetic propulsion system that progressively pushes a magnetic train around a track like an “unwrapped” stepper motor would be an especially interesting project. Carl’s most recent demo of the concept is a four-footed hopper that feels very much like an insect!

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New pedals are the spice of any guitar player’s life, and have multiple functions for vocals, synths, and lo-fi keyboards too. The F-Nation Guitar Fuzz Distortion Pedal is no exception to this rule, providing high fidelity fuzz to your guitar or any other input source – as well looking the part with a beautifully designed and durable case.

The F-Nation features a high-quality, low-noise circuit bringing 100% analogue fuzziness and high-gain distortions through the 1/4″ Jack input. It has a highly sensitive picking response and works well with a range of pick-ups. It has controls for Bass, Treble, Fuzz and Gain, allowing you to sculpt the sound to suit your needs. There are two switches – for boosting the Bass and adding a notch around 700Hz for some hefty rock presence.

As well as adding fuzzy feelings, it has true bypass for uninterrupted signal processing – switching between clean and crunchy in an instant! It comes with a unique and colorful front panel, in a super solid case and is powered by a 9-12v power supply (not included).

The F-Nation is shipped from Turkey by Minus Audio, who make another distortion pedal which you may also enjoy – check out their stuff for more!

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