Tindie

Nicely laid out on a black PCB, the 5V USB-C Dual Supply is a neat little device that takes two USB C inputs and safely combines the power lines and one of the data lines (port A) to a single output USB C connector.

Using MOSFETS to create an ideal diode arrangement it equalises the current draw across the two inputs, A and B, to share the workload of powering a connected device on the output. The ideal diode method prevents power from leaking back out through either of the input ports.

In use, this board can be called upon to create redundancy in power supplies, for example using a mixture of mains supplied USB and a battery or power bank. It also means that it’s possible to change the power supplied to a device without any interruption. Perfect for perhaps taking a Raspberry Pi for a walk on battery power after configuring the project using a mains supply.

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Pocket Operators are genuinely the most fun and accessible music gadgets you’ll find on planet earth, particularly the PO KO with its built-in microphone and sampler. The Pocket Operator MIDI Adapter seeks to extend that joy to the serious business of music production, putting the full range of front panel features at your control via glorious MIDI messages!

This new version of the adapter goes beyond its original sibling with an updated Teensy 4.1 processor at it’s heart, as well as a full sized MIDI-in socket and numerous tweaks. The Pocket Operator MIDI Adapter uses pogo pins to make contact with the exposed button pads to simulate button presses so that no permanent changes are made to the oerator. All 23 buttons on the PO can be triggered by MIDI notes – which can be sent via the MIDI ports or over MicroUSB. It will also convert MIDI clock-in to PO clock for synchronisation with other gear.

Unlike other mods for the Pocket Operators, this one requires no soldering! You can buy it as a partially assembled collection or fully assembled with (or without) a Teensy – will all the instructions you’ll need here. See a video of it in action below!

The Pocket Operator MIDI Adapter is made by Hanz Tech who are based in Canada

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If you are looking to convert a Denford MicroMill to GRBL this upgraded control board makes it completely painless.

The Denford MicroMill is a neat, small CNC milling machine popular with schools and colleges. They often find their way into the second hand market and are a good choice as they are often complete with enclosures and all safety cutouts. One problem with them is that they use a proprietary control system and software but often hit the second hand market separated from their ageing PC controller.

Upgrading to opensource GRBL control is a common conversion which usually involves stripping everything out to get back to the bare stepper motor wiring. However using this board it’s a simple plug and play conversion as this control board from Damped fits directly to the proprietary Denford 96pin connector. This same connector and protocol was also used on the Denford CNC lathes and it’s therefore useful for converting those machines as well.

You can purchase the control board on it’s own or you can add the option to include a pre-programmed microcontroller. Also offered is an additional Bluetooth module which means a wireless CNC milling machine conversion couldn’t be simpler!

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The Le Strum is a superb musical device which has the potential to be converted into a larger instrument by breaking out the connections within another enclosure – although the difficulty in doing this is the sheer amount of soldering required! The Le Strum Breakout Boards are a set of PCBs designed to alleviate the potential pitfalls of hundreds of solder points and make the construction of a new instrument a breeze.

This PCB set allows you to break out the Le Strum’s chord buttons, hack header, note panels and more – joining them neatly and reliably via a 20-way ribbon cable secured by IDC sockets and headers. This is an incredible improvement for stability, durability and reliability over soldering everything to create a magical MIDI instrument! You’ll receive a set of PCBs, Ribbon Cable, IDC Headers, IDC Sockets and 2 single-row headers to attach to the Le Strum. If you need a constructed Le Strum too you can buy a set here.

Earlier this year, seller midierror made a MIDI leg for artist Elizabete Balcus which inspired the creation of these PCBs. Find other examples of what’s been created prior to their release here.

If you’re feeling adventurous, you can get a Le Strum Kit from SixtyFourPixels and build the lot yourself. The PCBs are available from midierror who’s based in Brighton England.

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The IR2IO from rootfrogs is an incredibly simple way to add infrared controlled switching to a project without having to reverse engineer a particular remote controller. The process is simplified by an automated pairing system that means you don’t need to know the frequency or the protocol of your remote control to get up and running.

The IR2IO has four switch channels and each channel on the device has a corresponding momentary press button. To pair a particular switch with a particular button on any IR remote, you hold down the button on the IR2IO and then press the button on the remote. On release of the IR2IO button the corresponding switch channel should then be triggered every time that button is pressed on the remote control.

There are lots of use cases for this little device, from home automation to simple robot control and more. We love that it might mean some older devices remote controls, destined for landfill, might be repurposed to extend their useful life.

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DIY Synth Noise Laboratory are four words which sound like music to our ears, conjuring up images of experimental audio adventures built from the ground up! It happens that the DIY Synth Noise Lab Analog Semi Modular Synth includes exactly those words and more, and delivers on its promise on being an analog semi-modular synth you can make yourself, and make noise with!

This DIY synth kit comes with all the components you need to make some semi modular noise, and will require some soldering experience. The synth itself is a subtractive synthesizer, meaning it has elements to take away from the main tone, such as on-board filters and envelopes. It features a VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator) capable of outputting a squarewave or sawtooth waveform, with Low Pass Filter to curb the high end and output some serious sub bass! This particular tabletop synth is powered by 9V battery.

The synth features a noise generator, amplitude envelope LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) to add more texture and tone to your sounds. The DIY Synth Noise Lab Analog Semi Modular Synth is sold by Sandro’s DIY Synth Kit who are based in Italy and are already making a collection of seriously cool sound toys!

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The cyber sale continues! With Tindie’s deals running until December 6th, 2020, there’s still time to grab some of your favorite hardware and kits at great discounts! Cyber Monday is a perfect time to support the small businesses spread across the Tindie community.

Head over to tindie.com/sale to check out the full list, but in the meantime, here are a few sales to inspire your search:

• Set yourself up for open source Lipo battery charging with 15% off the LiPow.
• Practice your soldering skills while also creating a companion PCB for Doepfers DIY Synth board, thanks to a slick deal in mb’knobs!

Remember, these deals are running until December 6th, so get your orders in for the holidays, and happy soldering from all of us here at Tindie!

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The benefit of Tindie has always been the virtual setting. Long lines and massive crowds on Black Friday have always been difficult, but in 2020 they are strongly discouraged, leaving people to shop for deals online where the only obstacle is remembering your password so you can check out.

You can find all of Tindie’s Black Friday deals as tindie.com/sale, but we’ve got a few examples ready for you to get that cart nice and full like your stomach after Thanksgiving dinner:

• Save nearly $40 off an ACD52840 IoT Dev Board for ultra-low power operations, with a portable, credit card-sized form factor!
• Take a cool $30 off the price of a Mercury 2 DIP FPGA Board, bringing it down to the lowest price of the year!

Head on over to tindie.com/sale for the full list, and have safe, savings-filled holiday weekend!

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This year’s holidays look a lot different than most years. Most people will be isolating at home instead of spending them with family, but as we continue to get through this global health crisis together, technology continues to provide us with both the means to stay connected and the ability to create new and useful solutions. For some of us, a new project is just what’s needed to keep our mental health in check.

While we have dearly missed the opportunity to gather together with the greater Tindie community this year, we are pleased to announce this year’s Cyber Sales! This year’s deals begin November 26th and last until December 6th!

You can find all the latest sales and deals at tindie.com/sale! Curious to know what’s on offer? Here are a couple previews:

• Pixelblaze and its associated accessories are 15% off!
• Catch a great deal on a prior year’s Hackaday Prize Finalist project, the uRAD Monitor for automated air quality monitoring!

We’ll be featuring plenty more sales in posts across Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so stay tuned for more, and keep a tab open on tindie.com/sale for all the latest products!

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Looking to add battery power to a portable Raspberry Pi Zero device? The PiSugar2 may be just what you need.

The PiSugar2 is a clever design that uses a custom set of pogo pins enabling it to be fitted to a Pi Zero without any soldering. The clever spring interface will work whether the Pi Zero has the header pins soldered in place or not. PiSugar2 is available in medium or large battery sizes which equate to either 3-4 or 5-6 hours of battery life for your project.

With onboard micro USB charging, the team at PiSugar Kitchen have also created a software power management system that you can download. This software creates a small Raspbian shell within which you can monitor the Pi Zero battery supply and also perform neat power down operations. The PiSugar2 also includes a real time clock (RTC) which has a separate battery supply meaning that even when the Pi Zero is powered down and not connected to a network the RTC system is still active. With RTC functionality your Pi Zero project can perform scheduled power up and power downs etc. The PiSugar2 can also be considered for use as an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) as the on board charge management system seamlessly switches between the battery and the USB/charge supply.

Finally of note, it’s great that PiSugar Kitchen have created some opensource printable cases to accommodate various combinations of PiSugar, Pi Zero and displays, you can see some of these and check out the other PiSugar2 features in the video below.

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