When measuring temperature, you’re often concerned with an overall value. Baking a cake means setting the oven to a certain temperature, thermostats generally set a single house temperature, and even solder profiles assume a single consistent temperature. In reality, the temperature within an oven or other zone will vary, and one might especially wonder about the behavior of an infrared PCB heater, such as the T-962 reflow oven that seller VoltLog uses.
After finding that his oven did produce inconsistent heating, he decided to look into this further. To obtain the proper data, VoltLog created the Voltlogger temperature logging device, capable of recording data from 10 thermocouples simultaneously.
The board uses ESP32 for control, along with a Micro SD card reader for logging. Card functionality has been tested at up to 64 GB, and is set up to record temperature values once every second, allowing for a significant amount of logging. Timestamps are generated via NTP, thanks to the ESP32’s WiFi interface. This functionality would also allow for wireless control and logging, thought this appears to be a potential future innovation.
To use it, you’ll just need to provide a FAT-formatted Micro SD card, and as many K-type thermocouples as you wish to use. More explanation on the build is seen in the video below, and code/design files are on GitHub. As for the oven itself, VoltLog plans to discuss its performance performance after he gathers enough data:
Say you find an original NES at a garage sale or flea market for $5, as was the case for Long Island Retro Gaming (LIRG) in the video below. Unless you’re incredibly lucky, such a low-priced unit won’t work, which wasn’t a surprise here, especially considering its heavily yellowed outer shell. In this case, the internals were in very bad shape, which, according to LIRG, meant that it was submerged in water at one point during its lifetime. Therefore, restoring this particular NES to its former glory and/or state of neglect was a non-trivial matter.
Shot boards or not, the NES did provide two elements critical to the device’s operation, intact CPU and PPU chips. The rest, you might say, is just details. In reality, “details” here is just a bit of an understatement, but as it just so happens, Tindarian Low Budget sells something called the NESessity v1.3, a full replacement PCB package for the NES console. This board–or, more accurately, set of 3 boards–is available as a solder kit with components, or there’s a components list if you perfer to source things yourself. This allows you to build up you new NES with (almost) all modern components.
You will have to source the CPU, PPU, and possibly the crystal oscillator (as they can be hard to buy new), along with the actual shell and mechanical components like the 72-pin cartridge connector. Of course, if you don’t have an old Nintendo, clones of the CPU and PPU chips are available, though they may have some issues according to Low Budget. The finished LIRG build seen here features a Blinking Light Win aftermarket cartridge connector, which seems like a good option for your Frankensteined NES console.
A New NES in 2021?
In the video, LIRG goes through the assembly of the board, wisely starting with surface mount and other low-profile parts, before moving on to components that will interfere with the soldering operation. Once things are in place, the board + CPU/PPU chips become a more or less a drop-in replacement for the original NES internals. One does, however need to reverse the power LED leads to allow it to light up with this new board, a fairly trivial operation considering the circumstances.
The video does a good job of pointing out that while this method certainly is much easier than restoring a trashed NES PCB, it does take a significant amount of soldering work to get the board working. One would have to guess that most retro-gaming aficionados willing to open up a console wouldn’t want it to be too easy–or at least wouldn’t want to pay the money to have someone else put it together for them!
New – and Improved!
While you might call it a drop-in, this board isn’t a 1-for-1 replacement, as much an upgrade. It features a modern power supply with a massive heat sink, and an auxiliary switch that you can user for your own purposes. The new boards also feature composite video, along with stereo outputs. If you’d like to take things a few steps further, the device is compatible with NES RGB or Hi-Def NES mods. Either, will take a bit more hacking and sourcing on your end.
What a beautiful heat sink!
A series of 3 potentiometers modify the sound output, one of which is used to control Famicom expansion audio functionality. This allows for sound characteristics that you’ve likely never heard if you’re in the US, with everything able to be adjusted to your taste in terms of volume. The device has a Famicom-style expansion port for such accessories, and even features a microphone so that you can yell at it and have something actually happen (for example in the Japanese edition of Zelda). The system is region-free, and simply requires a cartridge adapter to play Famicom games.
All things considered, it’s an excellent video for what appears to be an excellent board. What’s shown in the LIRG build is the NESessity version 1.3, which has gone through multiple iterations. It’s clearly been a popular choice for many people; it’s currently sold out with new stock arriving soon. The second video below features Low Budget showing off the v1.1 NESessity board himself, which appears to be largely similar to the 1.3 version that LIRG put together.
Sometimes items on tindie raise a knowing smile and it’s often products that have been created to solve a very individual issue or frustration. As a case in point this product solves an annoying beep when carrying an over size load in a 2020 Toyota Highlander Hybrid.
The Toyota Highlander Hybrid is an SUV and as such gets called in for load carrying duties. As a HIghlander owner, JPElectron occasionally had the need to carry over size objects. Objects like ladders, timber or pipework sometimes needed to extend out of the tailgate of the vehicle. Securing the payloads is no problem, but the Highlander has an alarm system connected to the tailgate locking mechanism that indicates if it isn’t closed. Needless to say the prospect of a long journey accompanied by an alarm was the catalyst for creating this solution!
This simple 3D printed plug is designed to be inserted and grabbed by the lock mechanism. When inserted and locked the tailgate thinks it’s closed and the alarm is silenced. Toggling the lock the plug is ejected by the opening mechanism. The plug is printed in PETG which means it’s tough and durable and not likely to be effected by warm temperatures. The plug has a slot through which you can attach a cable tie, which can provide an anchor point for the tailgate or we could imagine it being used to hang the plug near the tailgate when not in use.
White noise is an element which is often included with synths in order to layer the existing sounds with a sharp burst of energy. This tiny Noise Generator is a small PCB which provides a simple solution to adding white noise or pink noise to your project, using an Electric Druid Noise2 chip.
White noise is a familar and soothing sound, often added to electronic dance floor hits to deliver impact and a sense of subconcious comfort. This PCB offers both white and pink noise using an established chip that utilises the Voss-McArtney Pink Noise Algorithm. Both elements are key features for music making devices, and a small PCB such as this can offer a simple solution to adding noise to any project.
This Noise Generator PCB runs on 12V of power and has a L7805 to regulate power to the Noise2 chip. You’ll find an interactive BOM provided by the seller here with the schematics, KiCAD files, gerbers and more also on their GitHub page. The Noise2 chips can be purchased directly from Electric Druid to fund development of future chips!
The Nosie Generator is sold by Sonosus who are based in Fife, Scotland! The English 20p coin is shown for scale and is not included.
Knowing the temperature, humidity, and light levels are critical to a number of automation tasks, such as reacting when a light switch comes on in a house, or to temperature changes. To facilitate this information gathering, the aptly-named JDomotic has come up with a tiny breakout board for the SHT30-DIS-B temperature/humidity sensor, along with the BH1730FVC ambient light sensor.
Communication with the board is via I2C, and since there wasn’t a library available for the BH1730, JDomotic has developed one for that exact purpose. The board is very small at 18mm x 6.5mm, allowing it to be tucked away where needed. You’ll just need to provide pullups for the I2C bus, along with, of course, your own Ardiuno/microcontroller/dev board.
For another easy-to-use sensor package, be sure to also check out this USB motion, light, and noise dongle. While it won’t give you temperature/humidity sensing, it does add a PIR (Passive Infra Red) sensor for motion detection, and plugs to your device via USB. While not exactly appropriate for Arduino use, in other more computer-centric applications it could save quite a bit of development time!
This is the first product by JDomotic who are based in the Netherlands – we look forward to seeing more soon!
If you like to play old-school video games, getting out an emulator once in a while may scratch that itch. For true retro fans, however, it’s hard to beat gaming on a dedicated console, such as the classic SNES. Assuming you can find the correct ccables, such systems are a matter of plugging in, turning on and mashing buttons! Perhaps, however, you’d like to go further and experiment with new firmware, or back up that valuable game in your collection to avoid potential damage.
If you’d like to burn new cartridges that can plug into your SNES, look no further than the M27C322 Pre-assembled Repro PCB SNES Homebrew SNES by Tindarian Michael Cardoza, AKA Ampere Sand. The process, as seen in the video below on a different iteration, involves programming an M27C322 EPROM chip with game data, and then attaching it to thePCB-cartridge via solder or headers. The device comes a programmed CIC (Checking Integrated Circuit, i.e. lockout) chip in order to allow your games to run. It also comes with pre-installed RGB LEDs with jumpers to select the color on display, and space for you to add your own LED if you so desire.
While the board by itself can’t save game states, it does have space to add SRAM and a battery to keep things alive if needed. Ampere Sand is also offering a similar M27C160 EPROM-based PCB-cart, though it doesn’t list the same saved game accommodations as its M27C322 cousin.
Portable sound devices are an accessible and fun way to get into making music – with many devices offering chance and probability settings to change the beat up. The Drumkid is a lofi aleatoric drum machine which uses random numbers to generate unpredictable beats, for live recording and performance! Let’s take a look at this pocket-sized hackable beat box:
The Drumkid is a MIDI-equipped drum machine capable of loading custom samples for playback, meaning it can replicate classic drum machines such as the Roland 909 and 808 – or equally, loaded up with any samples you choose for custom drum kits! It has 16 adjustable parameters, with 36 save slots, and MIDI controls for CCs (Control Changes), Notes and Clock (Tempo). Its probability features give you varying beatmaking possibilities with minute variations and more sporadic playback tuned to your taste.
The Drumkid is available as a kit or as a fully assembled unit – and is ripe for hacking and modifications, being completely open-source. You’ll find all you need to know on the sellers GitHub page, including the latest user manual. Drumkid is perfect for beat making on the move, as its powered by 3 x AAA batteries or via Micro USB cable.
It’s the first product sold by Matt Bradshaw Design who is based in Oxfordshire, England, what a great start!
MIDI devices and connections come in all shapes and sizes, with many hardware units shipping with smaller 3.5mm MIDI sockets over the larger 5-Pin method which has been the standard for nearly 4 decades. The Sharp X68000 Midi Cable Converter Adapter Mini is a product which fulfills a slightly different purpose; to connect your MIDI devices to a vintage Sharp X68000 computer!
The Sharp X68000 was a Japanese computer released in 1987, and contained a Yamaha YM2151 FM chip, which you’ll find housed in lots of Tindie products! The computer itself came with a mini MIDI port as standard, so requires conversion to connect it to conventional MIDI sockets. Each cable will come brand new, with possible colour variations and the assurance it’s been tested before posting.
Using this adapter, you can send MIDI notes and messages from a software sequencer on the X68000 and play sounds on an external MIDI module! Surely one of the rarest forms of music making in 2021, and a rare find for anyone in need of this exact cable!
The Sharp X68000 MIDI Cable Converter Adapter Mini is sold by La Cueva Retro, who are based in Mexico – and stock a couple of neat cable adapters we’re sure you’ll love.
We love this handheld Geiger counter purely for the excitement of trying to track down radioactive sources like old clock and watch faces. However, it’s easy to forget that for some areas a radiation detector is an essential bit of safety kit that can help keep you healthy.
In many parts of the world, foraging for found foodstuffs is widely enjoyed, but in areas (such as the Ukraine) there is the added complication of checking if fruits, berries or mushrooms contain a radioactive dose. Not only is this dangerous to someones health, there are heavy fines and even prison sentences if you introduce contaminated foodstuffs into the foodchain.
The GGreg20_V3 Ionizing radiation detector is supplied as a pre-built module and has a buzzer on board for that familiar Geiger counter pulsing. It’s designed to be used in conjunction with any microcontroller that can be used to log the pulses. Pretty much all popular microcontroller families can do this and we certainly know that Arduino, Trinkets, ESP32 and more have lots of examples out there to count pulses presented at a GPIO pin.
It can run on a range of voltages from 1 cell through to 3 cell and weighs a diminutive 30 grams. It’s highly likely you could build a full logging, battery powered, pocket scale device that wouldn’t weigh you down on your next foraging adventure.
If you use a computer regularly, there are likely keystrokes that you have to input over and over in sequence, or functions that would be better served by a single key than the operation you currently use. For hackers, this can mean creating a custom keyboard from scratch, perhaps with a development board and mechanical switches in a custom configuration made to your specs.
While this can be a great experience for many, and a productivity booster when you’re done, perhaps you don’t want to reinvent the wheel again. If you’re fairly new to electronics, a kit could be very helpful. For either purpose, Painless Prototyping has come up with the BYO [Build Your Own] 9 Key Keyboard Kit.
The kit takes the form of a PCB, which mounts 9 keyboard keys, along with an Adafruit ItsyBitsy M0 Express for interface duties. Keyboard switches, along with the requisite diodes and header pins must be soldered on, making it a fun project, or a useful introduction to soldering if you’re new to this pursuit. Once assembled, the M0 can be programmed to suit your particular computing needs, allowing you to access those once hard-to-input commands with ease!
Of course, if you’d prefer a few more keys, a couple of rotary encoders, and a USB hub, you might also check out the HUB 16 input device.
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