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The Commodore 64 holds a special place in many a computer enthusiast’s heart. That being said, the floppy disks used to load programs and files onto this computer can be less-than convenient, not to mention hard to find. If you’d like to step into the 21^st century with your storage, while still using retro C64 hardware, then endresz_eu may have just the solution with the SD2IEC floppy emulator.

The device allows you to store your 1s and 0s on a microSD card, which is plugged into a reader on the device. The SD2IEC then interfaces with the C64’s serial port as a virtual floppy drive, providing a quasi SD-to-floppy bridge. Power can be provided externally via a Micro USB port, or you can simply plug it into the Commodore’s cassette port for juice.

The virtual drive address is set to 8, but you can change it to 9, 10, or 11 via a pair of DIP switches. While an SD card up to 32GB can be used, since C64 programs are so small, a 1 GB disk should give you nearly all the storage you could ever want. Most games will run on this system, but according to its creator no Commodore floppy emulator is 100% perfect, so you might want to keep those floppys around as well!

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It’s December, meaning a variety of decorations can be put up to celebrate the holiday season. Christmas trees are perhaps the most prominent of such decorations, but cutting down a large healthy plant presents some practical obstacles. Some may also see it as wasteful, as they’ll be discarded in a month or so. For a reusable festive light show that won’t break your back (or budget) to set up, and doesn’t require refilling a bowl of water, check out this WiFi-Enabled Addressable LED Christmas Tree Kit from Moritz Wirger.

The tree uses an array of 14 APA106-F5 addressable LEDs for lighting, along with a Wemos D1 mini WiFi module for control. This setup makes it WiFi capable from the get-go, presenting a wide range of coordinated lighting possibilities. Another excellent feature of this lighting kit is it’s 3D design, featuring two concentric PCB lighting support circles, along with a third level of one LED on the top.

Of course, this isn’t the only Christmas tree on Tindie. In 2017 we examined another 3D kit that uses discreet components to flash at a set rate. Either option looks like a lot of educational fun, though the device here will give you a lot more control if needed!

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The Kenbak-1 was the first ever personal computer, released in 1971 and able to complete a variety of complex mathematical equations using binary input. This stunning full-size recreation by Adwater & Stir pays homage to the incredibly rare collectable original with this 50 piece limited run of their Kenbak-1 Replica.

Adwater & Stir have gone above and beyond to ensure this replica is as accurate as possible. In striving to create this precise remake they contacted the manufacturers of the originals outer shell, and were told that the case had been discontinued in the early 80s! The maker was ever hopeful, and asked for a limited run of the cases to be created – but was sadly denied. Thankfully, the manufacturers were more than happy to share the original engineering drawings – which Adwater & Stir took to a local metal shop to have recreated. This hard work and dedication shine through in the final product, a thoughtful recreation of an essential aspect of computing history.Having sold a micro and a nano version of this on Tindie in the past, it’s clear that Adwater & Stir know their stuff. Operated by an ATMEL processor, this more straightforward and modernised circuit runs the same way as the original Kenbak-1. It even has enhancements ranging from a real-time clock to a USB connection, which allows for uploading or downloading code.

Adwater & Stir is an independent electronics company based in Minnesota, USA, and has been selling their recreations on Tindie since 2018.

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The N-Synth Super was unveiled by Google Magenta labs in 2018 – an incredible open source sample playback machine which uses machine learning to crossfade accurately between any four sound sources! While all the schematics and PCB designs are available to make your own, it’s sometimes more appealing to buy a finished unit and that’s what the NSynth Super – Fully assembled is all about!

It comes as a sleek completed unit, with numerous controls to make and create sounds: the four outer knobs select the sound on each corner of the unit with the touch screen X-Y controller being used to sweep between them. It can be played via MIDI – meaning it can be sequenced, automated and controlled using any DAW or external sequencer. This model comes with a Raspberry Pi 3B and a 64GB Memory card inside to store your sounds on. It has USB connectivity too, and features a 3.5mm output socket to send the sounds to headphones, amplifiers and mixers.

This is the first product to be sold by lko who are based in Mosty, Poland. It’s a phenomenal synth which really encapsulates modern technology in one music making device. To have one fully made for you without sourcing parts is very convenient for those who want more time to rock out!

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Here at Tindie, we love the Raspberry Pi – it’s so diverse, portable, and affordable – who’d have thought that we could one day carry a quad core computer in our pocket? Here we have a fully featured housing to access the full potential of the Pi: the CrowPi2 – All in One Raspberry Pi Laptop! It’s designed to be an educational device to help young people learn electronics, programming, and basic computer skills – so let’s take a look!

The CrowPi2 can be equally used as a laptop or as a STEM learning tool – coming with 22 common sensor modules as well as independently developed software to make learning fun for young programmers. It’s a superb tool to learn many programming languages to expand anybody’s skills for the digital future – with accompanying pre-made lessons in Python, Scratch, Minecraft, AI, and small games. They have three options to choose from with a basic kit, advanced kit and deluxe kit – which you’ll see come with a wealth of accessories to inspire and delight users.

The CrowPi2 is sold by Elecrow, who are based in China and offer this along with the original version. It’s an exciting way to get into programming and computing, with a professional all in one solution to learning! There’s a quick video below outlining some of the uses of the CrowPi2:

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Over the next few days, Tindie Sellers are offering discounts on hundreds of items. It’s the perfect moment to order the parts for your next project and save money at the same time.

See all the deals at Tindie.com/Sale

Hundreds are Available Now and more will be added over the weekend and on Cyber Monday.

The sale highlights some of the best maker made devices, breakout boards and shields from our community. You will find unique electronics that you’ll not find on any other sites. And, when you buy on Tindie you’re supporting a community of independent inventors and tinkerers.

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The title alone may be enough to start you hovering your mouse over the buy button, so let’s take a look at the superb touch screen ESP32 Pacman themed Clock (assembly kit)!  This retro inspired timepiece comes in a range of colors, and is wholeheartedly inspired by the iconic dot-munching video game characters: Pacman and Ms Pacman!

The clock was the First prize winner in the 2021 Instructable Sound contest, with WIFI  synchronised timing and a choice of audio alarm track to get you started in the morning! It comes as a simple kit to assemble yourself, with three options, depending on what you need, including all the required components plus an enclosure. You’ll not only have an awesome clock on your bedside, but you’ll be able to watch the game unfold in the background – with options for customising the action, including changing Pacman to Ms Pacman!

They have shared their build instructions here on Instructables, so you can see what’s required.  This excellent Pacman clock is sold by Tech Kiwi Gadgets who are based in New Zealand and have just started selling on Tindie – what a superb start! See the clock in action in it’s full range of colours below:

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If you’d like to learn about the basics of electronics, or teach others how an electrical circuit works, then this solderless “Don’t touch the wire” maze kit looks like a great way to get started. The game involves moving a conductive washer from one end of a curved length of wire to the other without actually touching it. One large diameter washer is included, which looks challenging but doable, along with a smaller diameter washer that would certainly be more frustrating.

When playing the game, each washer is connected to an alligator clip, allowing it to complete a circuit when it touches the wire, then sound an alarm to indicate an error. The kit comes with the needed wires and a 2AA battery holder, along with lever nuts that allow builders to snap everything together securely without the use of a soldering iron.

While one would want to avoid getting snapped by these connectors, not having to deal with a dangerously hot soldering iron would eliminate an important barrier to early electronics experimentation. The kit comes with instructions, and after one builds the kit (and learns about completing a circuit) it can function as a fun toy and conversation piece!

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If you like your music glitchy, then this DIY chiptune synth could become vital to your music-making process! Create gritty bass or dial-up-inspired lead synths by controlling the complex mathematical layers of frequencies and soundscapes hiding inside the Glitch Storm MKII.

Based on Spherical Sound Society’s popular Glitch Storm, the new and upgraded Glitch Storm MKII provides a compact and effective sound-shaping solution. The glorious chiptune sounds this thing creates can add a brutally digitized aspect to any track! Listen to some of the unprocessed and mesmerising sounds straight from the synth in the video below this article.

This Arduino-powered synthesiser can be shipped either fully assembled or as a fun DIY kit, ready for you to build and add to your waveform manipulating arsenal. It features a clock out connection, allowing you to hook it up to your other hardware. As the Glitch Storm MKII is fully open source, you can even get into a bit of hacking and edit the Arduino code!

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Minitel, as described in this project’s listing, is a French great-uncle of the Internet appearing frequently in retro-computing projects. While generally not used outside of France and a handful of other countries, the system did run on millions of dedicated terminals and wasn’t officially retired until 2012. So if you’re in the right place (i.e. France) you might get lucky and pick up one of these devices for a song.

As shown in the video below, these terminals can actually be quite retro-chic, and with a ‘secret’ peripheral port, it’s possible to get them to do your bidding without actually opening up the housing. That being said, Minitel projects generally require some combination of the appropriate connector, an Arduino/Raspberry Pi/etc, breadboard, connectors ,and other such electronic tidbits.

Such a setup can be difficult to work with and transport, and not nearly as fashionable as the Minitel box itself. To help with this challenge iodeo created the Minitel ESP32 dev board. The device includes everything you need to get your terminal working, and is powered from the Minitel device itself. The ESP32 module allows for wireless network interface and OTA programming. So you can change the terminal’s behavior without actually touching anything, or use it as a terminal to interface with other networked devices like a Raspberry Pi.

While such a setup would be difficult to obtain where I reside in the US, if you’re in more Minitel-abundant regions, you’ll know what to do if you come across one of these boxes!

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