< Back to JetLib.com

classic

« Expand/Collapse

452 items tagged "classic"

Skip to page: 1 2

May 22, 2018
1:00
A Parallel Port Synthesiser For Your DOS PC
» ‎ Hack a Day

It is a great shame that back in the days when a typical home computer had easy low-level hardware access that is absent from today’s machines, the cost of taking advantage of it was so high. Professional PCBs were way out of reach of a home constructor, and many of the integrated circuits that might have been used were expensive and difficult to source in small quantities.

Here in the 21st century we have both cheap PCBs and easy access to a wealth of semiconductors, so enthusiasts for older hardware can set to work on projects that would have been …read more

Tags: classic hacks
May 21, 2018
8:31
Wireless Headphone Hack Dangles Batteries Like Earrings
» ‎ Hack a Day

Koss Porta Pro headphones are something of a rarity in the world of audio gear: they’re widely regarded as sounding great, but don’t cost an exorbitant amount of money. Since the line was introduced in 1984, they’ve been the go-to headphones for those who don’t subscribe to the idea that you should have to take out a loan from the bank just to enjoy your music.

[Jake Bickhard] is a confirmed Porta Pro disciple, owning enough pairs of them that he’s cagey about confirming how many are actually kicking around his home. The only thing he doesn’t like about them …read more

Tags: classic hacks
May 16, 2018
16:00
Prop WWII Machine Gun Courtesy of Home Depot
» ‎ Hack a Day

There’s perhaps nothing worse than working on a project and realizing you don’t have the part you need to complete it. You look through all your stuff twice, maybe three times, on the off chance it’s hiding somewhere. Perhaps even reach out to a few nearby friends to see if they might have something you can use. Forget local stores, what you need is so specific that nobody’s going to keep it in stock. You’re stuck, and now everything has to be put on hold.

That’s precisely what happened to [Nathan Cragun] recently. He needed a Japanese Type 96 Light …read more

Tags: classic hacks
May 15, 2018
16:01
Lucky Cat POV Display Ditches the Waving and Windmills Out of Control
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you’ve been in a Japanese restaurant, you’ve probably seen a maneki-neko, the lucky cat charm, where a cat welcomes you with a beckoning arm. It’s considered to bring good luck, but we’re not sure if [Martin Fitzpatrick] is pushing his luck with this Lucky Cat POV display. He hacked one of the figurines so the arm forms a persistence of vision (POV) display, where blinking LEDs on the paw create a dot-matrix style display.

Inside the hapless neko is a Wemos D1, motor driver, and a few other components that turn the cat into a working display. The five …read more

Tags: classic hacks
1:00
Windows for Workgroups 3.11 in 2018
» ‎ Hack a Day

It’s been 25 years since Microsoft released Windows for Workgroups 3.11. To take a trip back to the end of the 16-bit era of operating system, [Yeo Kheng Meng] got WFW 3.11 running on a modern Thinkpad.

To make things difficult, a few goals were set for the project. Obviously, this wouldn’t be much fun in a virtual machine, so those were banned. A video driver would be needed, since WFW 3.11 only supports resolutions up to 640×480 in software. Some basic support for sound would be desirable. Finally, TCP/IP networking is possible in WFW 3.11, so networking hardware would …read more

Tags: classic hacks
May 11, 2018
7:00
Scratch-Built Ornithopter: Here’s How I Flapped My Way to Flight
» ‎ Hack a Day

Enclosure: [download]

One of humankind’s dreams has always been to fly like a bird. For a hacker, an achievable step along the path to that dream is to make an ornithopter — a machine which flies by flapping its wings. An RC controlled one would be wonderful, controlled flight is what everyone wants. Building a flying machine from scratch is a big enough challenge, and a better jumping-off point is to make a rubber band driven one first.

I experimented with designs which are available on the internet, to learn as much as possible, but I started from scratch in terms of …read more

Tags: classic hacks
May 10, 2018
9:01
VCF East XIII is Right Around the Corner
» ‎ Hack a Day

The middle of May is a very special time at the Jersey Shore. It’s finally warm enough that business owners decide they might as well unlock their doors, but still cool enough that you can go on the boardwalk without having to bump into sweaty strangers. It’s a time for saltwater taffy without the risk of skin cancer, for hot dogs without seagulls trying to steal them from you. You get the idea.

This year it’s also when the Vintage Computer Festival East will be held in Wall, New Jersey. Running from May 18th to the 20th, VCF East XIII …read more

Tags: classic hacks
4:00
1960’s Console Stereo gets Raspberry Pi Touch Screen
» ‎ Hack a Day

When he was but a wee hacker, [WhiskeyDrinker] loved to play with the big console stereo his grandparents had. The idea of a functional piece of furniture always appealed to him, and he decided that when he grew up and had a place of his own he’d get a similar stereo. Fast forward to the present, and a Craigslist ad for a working Penncrest stereo seemed to be a dream come true. Until it wasn’t.

As difficult as it might be to believe, sometimes things we read on the Internet are not true. The “working” Penncrest radio turned out to …read more

Tags: classic hacks
May 09, 2018
4:00
8-bit game uses our favourite IC and Zero lines of code
» ‎ Hack a Day

If a hacker today wanted to build a simple game, he or she could whip it up using an Arduino board and a few other bits and pieces in about an hour, only to be greeted with “where’s the hack?” But when you look at [OiD]’s SPEBEG (Single Player Eight Bit Electronic Game), you’ll understand why building anything using old-skool 70s tech is so awesome and educational.

The SPEBEG is a simple 8-bit game where you aim with the joystick at the target and fire to gain points. As your score increases, so does the game speed. It doesn’t need …read more

Tags: classic hacks
May 07, 2018
13:01
Raspberry Pi Becomes Cycle Exact Commodore Drive Emulator
» ‎ Hack a Day

The Commodore 1541 disk drive is unlike anything you’ll ever see in modern computer hardware. At launch, the 1541 cost almost as much as the Commodore 64 it was attached to ($400, or about $1040 at today’s value). This drive had a CPU, and had its own built-in operating system. Of course, anyone using a Commodore 64 now doesn’t deal with this drive these days — you can buy an SD2IEC for twenty dollars and load all your C64 games off an SD card. If you’re cheap, there’s always the tape drive interface and a ten dollar Apple Lightning to …read more

Tags: classic hacks
May 04, 2018
4:00
Commodore 64 to Raspberry Pi Conversion is Respectful & Complete
» ‎ Hack a Day

We’re big fans of taking old computers and giving them a new lease on life, but only when it is done respectfully. That means no cutting, no hot glue, and no gouging out bits to make the new computer fit. It’s best if it can be done in a way that the original parts can be restored if required.

This Commodore 64 to Raspberry Pi conversion from [Mattsoft] definitely fits our criteria here, as it uses the old keyboard, joystick connectors and output portholes for the required authentic look. It does this through the clever use of a couple of …read more

Tags: classic hacks
May 02, 2018
16:00
Oddball Mercury Vapor Rectifier Is A Tube Geek’s Delight
» ‎ Hack a Day

Even if you aren’t a tube aficionado, you can’t help but be mesmerized by the blue glow inside a mercury vapor rectifier when it operates. It looks less like early 20th century tech and more like something that belongs on a Star Trek set. [Uniservo] acquired an 866 rectifier that was interesting due to the markings, which he explains in detail in the video below. Most people though will probably want to skip to closer to its end to see that distinctive blue glow. The exact hue depends on the mercury vapor pressure and usually contains a fair amount of …read more

Tags: classic hacks
8:00
The Internet of Claw Machines
» ‎ Hack a Day

Remote administration of machines is a very useful tool for all manner of commercial, industrial, and home applications. Now, it’s available for claw machines, too – thanks to [Code Your Venture Free].

The project uses an ESP32 board that includes a battery case on the back for a standard 18650 lithium battery that makes getting small battery powered projects off the ground much easier. You can find them at Banggood and AliExpress, but we’re not 100% sure that they’re kosher because they’re branded WeMos, but don’t show up on WeMos’ website or their official online retail store. Anyway, it’s a …read more

Tags: classic hacks
May 01, 2018
13:00
See-Through Rotary Engine Reveals Wankel Magic
» ‎ Hack a Day

The Wankel rotary engine is known for its troubled life in the mainstream automotive industry, its high power-to-weight ratio, and the intoxicating buzz it makes at full tilt. Popular with die-hard enthusiasts and punishing to casual owners, it stands as perhaps the most popular alternative internal combustion design to see the light of day. There are myriad diagrams out there to explain its operation, but what if you could see inside?

The video comes courtesy of [Warped Perception], and features a small Wankel rotary engine intended for model aircraft. The engine’s end plate is removed and replaced with a transparent …read more

Tags: classic hacks
8:30
Recycling and Casting Styrofoam with Solvents
» ‎ Hack a Day

Styrofoam is an ever-present waste material in modern society, being used to package everything from food to futons. It’s also not the easiest thing to deal with as a waste stream, either. With this in mind, [killbox] decided to have a go at recycling some styrofoam and putting it to better use.

The process starts by combining the EPS styrofoam with a solvent called D-limonene. This was specifically chosen due to its low toxicity and ease of use. The solvent liquifies the solid foam and the air bubbles are then allowed to make their way out of the solution. If …read more

Tags: classic hacks
April 28, 2018
19:00
The Interesting Fate Of Kenya’s First Computers
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you are an enthusiast for 1950s computer hardware, you are probably out of luck when it comes to owning a machine of your own. Your best chance will be to join the staff of one of the various museums that preserve and operate these machines, at which you can indulge your passion to your heart’s content. But what if we told you that there is a 1950s computer available for pick-up at any time, to whoever is prepared to go and get it and has suitable transport? You’d be making plans straight away, wouldn’t you? The computer in question …read more

Tags: classic hacks
April 25, 2018
13:00
Adventures In Gas Filled Tube Arrays
» ‎ Hack a Day

Vacuum tubes are awesome, and Nixies are even better. Numitrons are the new hotness, but there’s one type of tube out there that’s better than all the rest. It’s the ИГГ1-64/64M. This is a panel of tubes in a 64 by 64 grid, some with just green dots, some with green and orange, and even a red, green, blue 64 by 64 pixel matrix. They’re either phosphors or gas-filled tubes, but this is the king of all tube-based displays. Not even the RGB CRTs in a Jumbotron can match the absurdity of this tube array.

[Muth] got his hands on …read more

Tags: classic hacks
April 24, 2018
8:30
Making 3D Objects The Scroll Saw Way
» ‎ Hack a Day

These days most have come to think that if you want to make a complex 3D object with all curved surfaces then a 3D printer is the only way to go. Many have even forgotten that once such things could be hand carved. [JEPLANS], on the other hand, is a master at making these objects using only a scroll saw as he’s done with his latest, a miniature camel cut from a single block of maple.

His process has a lot of similarities to 3D printing. He starts with a computer drawn design, in this case for the camel’s front …read more

Tags: classic hacks
April 20, 2018
1:00
Tesla Coil Uses Vacuum Tube
» ‎ Hack a Day

What do you do when you find a 5 kW transmitting tube in your local electronics store? If you are [TannerTech], you build a vacuum tube tesla coil. This isn’t the usual little wimpy coil, but a big bad boy that would look at home in an old horror movie.

The first power up was a bit anticlimactic, although it was working, it wasn’t very spectacular other than the tube glowing brightly. A few adjustments and some mineral oil did the trick.

Honestly, the build details are a little sparse, but if you have any business building a coil this …read more

Tags: classic hacks
April 18, 2018
22:00
Browsing Modern Day BBS on the Epson PX-8 Laptop
» ‎ Hack a Day

As you read this, there are still people chatting away on Bulletin Board Systems all over the world. Running on newly written software and without the need to actually use a dial-up modem, these (slightly) more modern takes on the BBSs of yore can be compelling diversion for those who might want to decompress a bit from contemporary social networks.

[Blake Patterson] is one of these people, and he writes in to tell us about his recent experiments with using a particularly gorgeous example the Epson PX-8 “Geneva” laptop on modernized BBSs. The form factor of the device makes it …read more

Tags: classic hacks
16:00
Classic American Dial Phone Gets A GSM Makeover
» ‎ Hack a Day

For sturdy utilitarianism, there were few designs better than the Western Electric Model 500 desk phone. The 500 did one thing and did it well, and remained essentially unchanged from the mid-1940s until Touch Tone phones started appearing in the early 70s. That doesn’t mean it can’t have a place in the modern phone system, though, as long as you’re willing to convert it into a cellphone.

Luckily for [bicapitate], the Model 500 has plenty of room inside the case once the network interface is removed, because the new electronics take up a fair bit of space. There’s no build …read more

Tags: classic hacks
April 17, 2018
13:00
DIY Drill-Powered Water Pump
» ‎ Hack a Day

Whether you need to pump water out of your basement this spring, or just want to have fun shooting water around in the yard this summer, here’s a way to build a pump instead of buying one. This is a simple but ingenious build, and [NavinK30] did everything shy of machining his own hardware and making his own tools. Well, it looks as if he might have made that drill.

As you’ll see in his how-to after the break, this centrifugal pump is mostly acrylic, PVC, and fasteners. [Navin] cut two sides and a base for the paddles from acrylic, …read more

Tags: classic hacks
April 16, 2018
16:00
Polaroid Gets Thermal Printer and Raspberry Pi
» ‎ Hack a Day

Despite what you may have read in the comments, we here at Hackaday are not unaware that there’s something of a “Pi Fatigue” brewing. Similar to how “Arduino” was once a dirty word around these parts, projects that are built around the world’s most popular Linux SBC are occasionally getting dismissed as lazy. Hacker crams Raspberry Pi into an old electronic device, applies hot glue liberally, posts a gallery on Imgur, and boom! Lather, rinse, repeat.

We only mention this because the following project, despite featuring the Raspberry Pi Zero grafted into a vintage Polaroid camera, is anything but lazy. …read more

Tags: classic hacks
$Permalink for 'Delicious Optics, A Chocolate Diffraction Grating'$ 8:31
Delicious Optics, A Chocolate Diffraction Grating
» ‎ Hack a Day

Diffraction gratings are curious things. Score a series of equally spaced tiny lines in a surface, and it will cause reflected or transmitted light to bend and separate into its component wavelengths. This ability gives them all manner of important applications in the field of optics, but they’re also fun to play with. [Tech Ingredients] has done the hard work to find out how to make them out of candy!

The video starts with a basic discussion on the principles of diffraction gratings. The basis of the work is a commonly available diffraction grating, readily available online. It’s a plastic …read more

Tags: classic hacks
1:01
Custom Built Vacuum Tube Cassette Player
» ‎ Hack a Day

As we’ve said many times here on Hackaday, it’s not our place to question why people make the things they make. There’s a legitimate need or utility for many of the projects we cover, no doubt about it. But there’s also a large number of them which are so convoluted that they border on absurd. Not that we love the crazy ones any less, in fact, we usually like those the best.

So when we saw this incredible modification to a Panasonic RN-404 microcassette recorder which replaces the audio hardware with a custom built vacuum tube amplifier, we didn’t bother …read more

Tags: classic hacks
April 14, 2018
19:01
Neon Lamps Light Up Dim Ion Motor
» ‎ Hack a Day

Small pinwheel type ion motors fall into the category of a fun science experiment or something neat to do with high voltage, but Hackaday’s own [Manuel Rodriguez-Achach] added a neat twist that incorporates neon lamps.

Normally you’d take a straight wire and make 90 degree bends at either end but pointing in opposite directions, balance it on a pole, and apply a high voltage with a moderate amount of current. The wire starts spinning around at the top of the pole, provided the ends of the wire are sharp enough or the wire has a small enough diameter. If your …read more

Tags: classic hacks
April 13, 2018
22:00
Portable DVD Player gets Raspberry Pi Zero Upgrade
» ‎ Hack a Day

You might remember a time when people thought portable DVD players were a pretty neat idea. In the days before netbooks, cheap tablets, and arguably even the widespread adoption of smartphones, it seemed perfectly reasonable to lug around a device that did nothing but play movies. Today we look back at them as we would flip phones: a quaint precursor to the technology overload we find ourselves in currently. But the fact remains that millions of these comical little devices were pumped into the greedy maw of the consumer electronics market. They’re ripe for the hacking, all you need is …read more

Tags: classic hacks
April 12, 2018
16:00
Dumping Arcade ROMs the Hard Way
» ‎ Hack a Day

Nostalgia is a funny thing. That desire we all get to relive past memories can make you do things that in any other scenario would be out of the question. The effect seems even stronger when it comes to old video games. How else can you explain buying the same games over and over every time they get “remastered” for the next generation of consoles? But what if those remasters aren’t good enough?

If you have a burning desire to play a 100% accurate version of certain old arcade games, you might have your work cut out for you. Getting …read more

Tags: classic hacks
April 10, 2018
22:00
1920’s Claratone Radio Runs Windows 10
» ‎ Hack a Day

In the past we’ve mentioned how there are different schools of thought in terms of how to bring a vintage piece of hardware into the 21st century. You can go down the preservationist’s route, carefully grafting the original components with more modern ones, or you can take the nuclear option and blow all that dusty old gear out of the water. [Derek Traxler] clearly decided to go with the latter option on his recent conversion of 1920’s era Claratone tube radio to an Internet radio and podcast player. Not only is there little left of the original device beyond its …read more

Tags: classic hacks
April 08, 2018
19:00
Orbital Mechanics on a Vintage Kaypro
» ‎ Hack a Day

These days, a good proxy for hacking prowess is getting Doom playable on the oldest piece of hardware imaginable. While we respect and applaud these efforts, perhaps the bar should be set a bit higher. Like orbital mechanics on an early 80s Kaypro, perhaps?

At least that’s the hurdle [Chris Fenton] set for himself as a fun project for his spare time with his Kaypro 2/84, a vintage Z80 clocking in at a screaming 4 MHz and 64-kB of RAM. With its built-in 80×25, 9″ green phosphor CRT monitor and flip-top keyboard, the Kaypro fit into that loveable luggable category …read more

Tags: classic hacks
April 07, 2018
1:00
Reviving an Electron Microscope with Arduino
» ‎ Hack a Day

We don’t know about you, but when our friends ask us if we want to help them fix something, they’re usually talking about their computer, phone, or car. So far it’s never been about helping them rebuild an old electron microscope. But that’s exactly the request [Benjamin Blundell] got when a friend from a local hackerspace asked if he could take a look at a vintage Cambridge Stereoscan 200 they had found abandoned in a shed. Clearly we’re hanging out with the wrong group of people.

As you might imagine, the microscope was in desperate need of some love after …read more

Tags: classic hacks
April 05, 2018
19:00
Magic 8 Ball Business Card Will Answer All Your Questions
» ‎ Hack a Day

The PCB business card has long been a staple amongst the freelance EE set. It’s a way to show potential clients that you can do the job, as well as leave a great first impression. Some are simple blinkenlights devices, others have contact information on USB storage. We reckon that [Seamus] has really hit it out of the park with this one, though.

That’s right- this business card riffs on the classic Magic 8-ball toy. Ask a question, shake the card, and it’ll light an LED with the corresponding answer to your query. Use it as a desk toy, or …read more

Tags: classic hacks
April 04, 2018
22:00
3D Print a Thinner Car Key
» ‎ Hack a Day

Almost all modern cars come with keyless entry, some even come with keyless start. Of course, the price you pay for this technology is a bulky plastic keyfob that is an absolute pain to remove from your pockets, and generally spoils the lines of your carefully chosen outfit. [Jeremy] decided enough was enough.

The project begins with a careful disassembly of the original key. This is important to avoid damaging the PCB inside, particularly if there are any delicate wire links between different sections of the keyfob. With the piece disassembled, it was then time to start designing a replacement …read more

Tags: classic hacks
April 02, 2018
1:00
Pepper Mill Locks Your Door
» ‎ Hack a Day

Pepper! If you’ve ever tried to grind it, you’ve probably noticed it takes a bit of elbow grease. It’s actually possible to source electric pepper mills to grind it for you, in fact. It just so happens that [MarioM66] had one to hand, and a door lock that needed automating.

Seeing as grinding pepper requires at least as much torque as turning an average key in an average lock, the electric pepper mill makes perfect sense to use as a lock actuator. This build actually uses the electric pepper mill to directly turn the key in the lock, courtesy of …read more

Tags: classic hacks
March 31, 2018
22:00
An 8-Bit ALU, Entirely From NAND Gates
» ‎ Hack a Day

One of the things that every student of digital electronics learns, is that every single logic function can be made from a combination of NAND gates. But nobody is foolhardy enough to give it a try, after all that would require a truly huge number of gates!

Someone evidently forgot to tell [Notbookies], for he has made a complete 8-bit ALU using only 4011B quad NAND gates on a set of breadboards, and in doing so has created a minor masterpiece with his wiring. It’s inspired by a series of videos from [Ben Eater] describing the construction of a computer …read more

Tags: classic hacks
16:00
Build Your Own Antenna for Outdoor Monitoring with LoRa
» ‎ Hack a Day

LoRa and LPWANs (Low Power Wide Area Networks) are all the range (tee-hee!) in wireless these days. LoRa is a sub 1-GHz wireless technology using sophisticated signal processing and modulation techniques to achieve long-range communications.

With that simplified introduction, [Omkar Joglekar] designed his own LoRa node used for outdoor sensor monitoring based on the HopeRF RFM95 LoRa module. It’s housed in an IP68 weatherproof enclosure and features an antenna that was built from scratch using repurposed copper rods. He wrote up the complete build, materials, and description which makes it possible for others to try their hand at putting together …read more

Tags: classic hacks
March 30, 2018
1:00
This is How the Fonz Would Play MP3s
» ‎ Hack a Day

Here at Hackaday, we love to see old hardware treated with respect. A lovingly restored radio or TV that’s part of our electronic heritage is a joy to behold, and while we understand the desire to stream media from a funky retro case, it really grates when someone throws away the original guts to make room for new electronics.

Luckily, this Seeburg jukebox wall remote repurposing is not one of those projects. [Scott M. Baker] seems to have an appreciation for the finer things, and when he scored this classic piece of Mid-Century Americana, he knew just what to do. …read more

Tags: classic hacks
March 29, 2018
1:00
Eavesdropping on a VGA Monitor’s Conversations
» ‎ Hack a Day

Did you ever wonder what your monitor and your computer are talking about behind your back? As it turns out, there’s quite a conversation going on while the monitor and the computer decide how to get along, and sniffing out VGA communications can reveal some pretty fascinating stuff about the I²C protocol.

To reverse engineer the configuration information exchanged between a VGA monitor and a video card, [Ken Shirriff] began by lopping a VGA cable in two. The inside of such cables is surprisingly complex, with separate shielding wires for each color and sync channel and a host of control …read more

Tags: classic hacks
March 28, 2018
22:00
Emulating A Complete Commodore 64
» ‎ Hack a Day

When the Commodore 64 was released in 1982, it was a masterpiece of engineering. It had capabilities far outstripping other home computers, and that was all due to two fancy chips inside the C64. The VIC-II, the video chip for the C64, had sprites and scrolling, all stuffed into a single bit of silicon. The SID chip was a complete synthesizer on a chip. These bits of silicon made the C64 the best selling computer of all time, but have also stymied efforts to emulate a complete C64 system on a microcontroller.

[Frank Bösing] has just managed to emulate an …read more

Tags: classic hacks
March 25, 2018
22:00
An Amiga 500 For The 21st Century
» ‎ Hack a Day

There was a period in the late 1980s when the home computer to own did not come with an Apple logo and was not an IBM, Compaq, or any of the other clones, but instead sported a Commodore logo. The Amiga 500 was an all-in-one console-style cased machine that maybe wasn’t quite the computing powerhouse you might have wished it to be, but gave you enough of the capabilities of the more accomplished 16-bit machines of the day to be an object of desire while also having a games catalogue second to none.

A500s have survived in reasonable numbers, but …read more

Tags: classic hacks
March 22, 2018
16:00
Converting Power Supplies for Antique Computers
» ‎ Hack a Day

Just because something is “never used” doesn’t mean it’s good. [Inkoo Vintage Computing] learned that lesson while trying to repair an Amiga 500 and finding parts online that were claimed to be “new” in that they were old stock that had never been used. The problem was that in the last 30 years the capacitors had dried out, rendering these parts essentially worthless. The solution, though, was to adapt a modern PSU for use on the old equipment.

The first hurdle to getting this machine running again was finding the connector for the power supply. The parts seemed to have …read more

Tags: classic hacks
March 21, 2018
13:00
Neon Lamps Make For The Coolest Of Nixie Clocks
» ‎ Hack a Day

Enclosure: [download]

Revisiting old projects is always fun and this Nixie Clock by [pa3fwm] is just a classic. Instead of using transistors or microcontrollers, it uses neon lamps to clock and drive the Nixie Displays. The neon lamps themselves are the logic elements. Seriously, this masterpiece just oozes geekiness.

Inspired by the book “Electronic Counting Circuits” by J.B. Dance(ZIP), published in 1967, we covered the initial build a few years back. The fundamental concept of operation is similar to that of Neon Ring Counters. [Luc Small] has a write-up explaining the construction of such a device and some math associated with it. …read more

Tags: classic hacks
March 19, 2018
13:00
Building a Tricorder Prop Worthy of Mr Spock
» ‎ Hack a Day

We’ve all been there. You want to assemble a proper Star Trek: The Original Series landing party prop set, but the TOS tricorders you can find on the market are little more than overpriced toys. Imagine the embarrassment of beaming down to Cestus III with a plastic tricorder. The Metrons wouldn’t have even bothered with the trial by combat with such a sorry showing.

Unhappy with the state of Star Trek props, [Dean O] decided to take matters into his own hands. He purchased a TOS tricorder from Diamond Select Toys and set out to modify it into something a …read more

Tags: classic hacks
1:00
Making Fancy Dice PCBs at Home
» ‎ Hack a Day

These days, it’s easy to get high-quality custom PCBs made and shipped to your door for under $50. It’s something that was unfathomable only a decade ago, but now it’s commonplace. However, it doesn’t mean that the techniques of home PCB production are now completely obsolete. Maybe you live somewhere a little off the beaten track (Australia, even!) and need to iterate quickly on a project, or perhaps you’d like to tinker with the chemical processes involved. For your learning pleasure, [Emiliano] decided to share some tips on making SMD-ready PCBs with the TinyDice project.

The actual project is to …read more

Tags: classic hacks
March 17, 2018
22:00
RFID Unlock Your PC, Because You’re 1337
» ‎ Hack a Day

Ever wanted to feel like one of those movie hackers from the late 90s? Yes, your basement’s full of overclocked Linux rigs and you’ve made sure all your terminal windows are set to green text on a black background, but that’s not always enough. What you need is an RFID tag that unlocks your PC when you touch the reader with your RFID card. Only then may you resume blasting away at your many keyboards in your valiant attempts to hack the mainframe.

[Luke] brings us this build, having wanted an easier way to log in quickly without foregoing basic …read more

Tags: classic hacks
19:00
From Cop Car Data Terminal, To Retro Computer
» ‎ Hack a Day

It is possible that you will have lived your life without ever coming into contact with a Motorola MDT9100-T. The data terminal of choice for use in police cars across the globe was a computer with a full-sized QWERTY keyboard, a small CRT display, a mainboard sporting an Intel 386SX processor, and a custom version of Windows 3.1. [Trammell Hudson] and some friends from NYC Resistor scored some MDT9100s in an online auction and found them to be just too good an opportunity not to crack them open and see what could be done.

The custom Windows install could be …read more

Tags: classic hacks
March 14, 2018
10:00
Teardown: “The Oregon Trail” Handheld
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you were a school-age child in the 1980’s or 1990’s, you almost certainly played The Oregon Trail. Thanks to its vaguely educational nature, it was a staple of school computers until the early 2000’s, creating generations of fans. Now that those fans are old enough to have disposable incomes, we are naturally seeing a resurgence of The Oregon Trail merchandise to capitalize on one of humanity’s greatest weaknesses: nostalgia.

Enter the Target-exclusive The Oregon Trail handheld game. Priced at $24.99 USD and designed to look like the classic beige-box computers that everyone of a certain age remembers from …read more

Tags: classic hacks
March 12, 2018
16:00
Open Source Hardware Video Game Music Player
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Aidan Lawrence] likes classic synthesized video game music in the same way that other people “like” breathing and eating. He spent a good deal of 2017 working on a line of devices based on the Yamaha YM2612 used in the Sega Genesis to get his feet wet in the world of gaming synths, and is now ready to take the wraps off his latest and most refined creation.

The YM2151 Arcade Classic is an open source hardware player for Video Game Music (VGM) files. It uses no emulation, the files are played on the device’s YM2151 chip in the same …read more

Tags: classic hacks
January 02, 2013
6:24
Frankenstein, an all-tube home theater amplifier
» ‎ Hack a Day

Here’s an exercise in excess if we’ve ever seen one. While working on his undergrad at Michigan State, [Gregory] thought it would be a great idea to build an all-tube home theater system. He calls his seven-foot tall rack of amplifiers ‘Frankenstein,’ and we’ve got to agree this build is an impressive monstrosity of engineering prowess. [Gregory]‘s [...]
Tags: theater frankenstein home gregory michigan home-theater-system monstrosity prowess classic hacks
December 22, 2012
10:01
Fabricating hardware from the original arcade Pong schematics
» ‎ Hack a Day

This heavily populated PCB is a recreation of the original arcade version of Pong. That is an important distinction because the home version of Pong used a specialized chip to do much of the work. This is basically all stock logic, which explains the high component count. We wonder how many quarters it took just [...]
Tags: version arcade pong arcade-version component-count classic hacks
December 08, 2012
10:01
[Staci Elaan]‘s awesome portable tesla coils.
» ‎ Hack a Day

We stumbled onto [Staci's] videos a while ago when we posted this big tesla gun. While it wasn’t the first portable coil we had seen, it was certainly an impressive implementation. In the comments we found [Staci] had already been making these for a while. Hers were big and small, had awesome modulation, and looked [...]
Tags: while gun tesla staci staci-elaan tesla-coils elaan classic hacks
December 05, 2012
5:00
An introduction to vector displays
» ‎ Hack a Day

Unlike the CRTs found in big old televisions, vector displays are a bit of a historical oddity. Instead of sweeping an electron beam across the screen from left to right and top to bottom, a vector display draws lines between two points on a screen. Once used in arcade games such as Asteroids, Tempest, and old FAA [...]
Tags: introduction vector screen tempest vector-displays old-televisions electron-beam classic hacks
December 04, 2012
4:00
Cute little amplifier has a tube pre
» ‎ Hack a Day

While you won’t catch us in an argument with an audiophile regarding the sound quality of tube vs. solid state amps, there is a general consensus that tube amplifiers sound much better than their transistorized brethren. Actually building an all-tube amplifier, though, is a bit harder than one built around common ICs – there are transformers to deal [...]
Tags: amplifier cute tube state-amps tube-amplifier tube-amplifiers classic hacks
December 03, 2012
4:00
Teaching the Speak & Spell four (and more) letter words
» ‎ Hack a Day

Before it became the darling of circuit benders the world over, the Speak & Spell was a marvel of modern technology. Complete with a microprocessor and voice synthesizer, the Speak & Spell was able to speak a limited vocabulary that [Furrtek] thought should include words such as, “al qaeda”, “necrosis”, and “butt”. The Speak & [...]
Tags: spell teaching speak voice-synthesizer modern-technology necrosis classic hacks
November 26, 2012
3:00
Tiny MAME cabinet built from Raspberry Pi
» ‎ Hack a Day

It’s been a while since we’ve seen [Sprite_tm] pull a project from thin air, and we haven’t seen him do anything with a Raspberry Pi yet. All things must pass, and finally [Sprite] has unleashed his tiny, pocket-sized MAME machine to the world. The build uses a Raspi for all the Linux-ey and MAME goodness, [...]
Tags: sprite raspberry mame mame-machine mame-cabinet tiny-pocket classic hacks

November 15, 2012
16:00
Media Player Classic WebServer Cross Site Scripting and Denial of Service Vulnerabilities
» ‎ SecuriTeam

Media Player Classic WebServer is prone to a cross-site scripting vulnerability and a denial-of-service vulnerability.
Tags: classic player media service-vulnerability cross-site-scripting denial-of-service

November 14, 2012
7:23
Playing Led Zeppelin on a C64
» ‎ Hack a Day

In the C64 demoscene there are a ton of awesome software hacks that push the Commodore 64, the 1MHz 6510-based computer from 1982, to its limits. Most of these C64 demos are very much limited by the hardware inside the C64, but the demoscene is always coming up with new ways of pushing the envelope. [...]
Tags: demoscene zeppelin ton software-hacks commodore-64 classic hacks
November 09, 2012
5:00
Storing 32 bytes of data in a piece of glass
» ‎ Hack a Day

After finding an old piezoelectric delay line in an old TV, [Mike] decided to figure out how it works and in the process stored his name in sound waves reflecting inside a piece of glass [Mike] was intrigued by these old-fashioned delay lines after watching [Dave] from EEVblog’s teardown of an circa 1985 camcorder. [Dave] found [...]
Tags: piece delay glass mike dave sound-waves delay-lines delay-line classic hacks
November 06, 2012
6:00
Reliving 1977′s cutting-edge computer with the Pocket Mini Computer
» ‎ Hack a Day

Classic computers are just up [Jeff]‘s alley, so when he looked for a new project for his Pocket Mini Computer, he looked at one of the earliest microcomputers available: the COSMAC VIP, a 1.76 MHz beast from 1977. The COSMAC VIP was a single-board educational computer released by RCA in 1977. Priced at just a [...]
Tags: mini pocket computer jeff edge-computer educational-computer classic-computers classic hacks
October 30, 2012
4:17
Myst book plays Myst, doesn’t transport you to other ages
» ‎ Hack a Day

We shouldn’t have to remind you, but back in the early 90s one of the most popular computer games was Myst. Despite having the gameplay of a PowerPoint presentation, Myst went on to become one of the best-selling video games of all time and the killer app that made a CD-ROM drive a necessity rather than a luxury. [riumplus] [...]
Tags: myst book doesn cd-rom-drive popular-computer killer-app classic hacks
October 28, 2012
8:15
Hackaday Retro edition: The Macintosh SE/30
» ‎ Hack a Day

In 1988, Apple introduced the Macintosh IIx, an upgrade of the Mac II that included a Motorola 68030 CPU. The IIcx – a compact version of the IIx, also with a 68030 – was introduced in 1989. That same year, product designers at Apple created a more powerful version of the all-in-one Macintosh SE using [...]
Tags: macintosh iix apple macintosh-iix motorola-68030 product-designers classic hacks
October 27, 2012
9:43
Making a phono preamp for a first electronics project
» ‎ Hack a Day

Nearly everyone’s first electronic project is something that blinks a LED. There are a million ways to go about this ‘Hello World’ project of electronic design; 555 timers, microcontrollers, or maybe even discrete components if you’re really cool. When [miceuz] was asked by a friend to help with his first electronic project he eschewed the [...]
Tags: preamp phono project 555-timers phono-preamp electronic-project classic hacks
October 25, 2012
10:01
A beautiful pinhole camera takes wonderful photos
» ‎ Hack a Day

With digital cameras in everything and film slowly disappearing from shelves, everyone loses an awesome way to learn about photography. Pinhole cameras allow anyone to build a camera from scratch and also learn about those crazy f-stops, exposure times, and focal planes that Instagram just won’t teach you. [Matt] put up a great tutorial for building your [...]
Tags: everything camera pinhole matt pinhole-cameras pinhole-camera focal-planes classic hacks
October 19, 2012
6:01
Hackaday retro edition roundup
» ‎ Hack a Day

It’s time for another update chronicling the adventures and misadventures of getting really old computers to load our retro edition! First up is [Andrew Hull] and his brilliant use of a Raspberry Pi to get an old Psion 5mx PDA on the Internet. The Raspi served as a wireless bridge, taking in Internet from a WiFi dongle [...]
Tags: internet retro edition andrew-hull psion-5mx wireless-bridge old-computers classic hacks
October 18, 2012
5:00
Creating a MIDI synth from a Commodore SID
» ‎ Hack a Day

The Commodore SID was the audio chip in the venerable Commodore 64 and in the 30 years since release has attained classic status and become one of the best ways to get your chiptune on. Designed by famous synthesizer designer [Bob Yannes], it was only a matter of time before we saw a real, homebrew [...]
Tags: synth creating midi bob-yannes commodore-sid the midi-synth commodore-64 audio-chip classic
October 13, 2012
12:00
Making a Game Boy Color louder
» ‎ Hack a Day

When [Anton] picked up an old translucent purple Game Boy Color, he noticed a nearly complete lack of sound coming from the speaker. This simply would not do, so [Anton] replaced the speaker and soldered in a 2 Watt amp, making his Game Boy very loud indeed. After cracking open his Game Boy, [Anton] noticed [...]
Tags: color boy game anton game-boy-color watt-amp classic hacks
October 07, 2012
14:00
Hackaday retro roundup, this time with a PowerPC and a PET
» ‎ Hack a Day

Thought we forgot about this, didn’t you? Well, the Hackaday Retro Edition is still going strong, and this time we have a few more retro successes that were able to load our retro site with ancient hardware. First up is a submission by [rusbus]. He had a Power Macintosh 6100/60 lying around – the first Macintosh with [...]
Tags: retro hackaday time power-macintosh powerpc roundup classic hacks
October 04, 2012
8:01
Basking in the vintage glory of InfoAge
» ‎ Hack a Day

Last weekend’s Maker Faire wasn’t only about the latest and greatest. Some of the groups there brought up the latest and greatest from earlier eras. InfoAge is a historical science and technology learning center based out of the former Camp Evans in Wall, New Jersey, and they really know how to put on a show [...]
Tags: basking vintage infoage new-jersey camp-evans historical-science technology-learning-center classic hacks
September 29, 2012
13:05
Giving graphing calculators a new life
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Christopher] at Cemetech, ever frequent HaD feature for his hacked up graphing calculators, made it to the NYC Maker Faire. He already posted on his blog he was making the trip up to Maker Faire, but we were lucky enough to catch up with him. Two things: the name of his blog isn’t ‘cement tech’, but ‘chem [...]
Tags: maker blog faire christopher graphing-calculators cement classic hacks

September 26, 2012
14:00
[remote exploits] - Media player Classic .MPEG4 Heap overflow Vulnerability
» ‎ 0day.today (was: 1337day, Inj3ct0r, 1337db)

[remote exploits] - Media player Classic .MPEG4 Heap overflow Vulnerability
Tags: classic player media overflow-vulnerability heap exploits

September 22, 2012
14:00
Mechanical Donkey Kong features laser cut Mario
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Martin] just sent in a project he’s been working on that takes Donkey Kong out of the realm of pixels and sprites and puts our hero Mario into a world made of laser cut plywood. This mechanical version of Donkey Kong uses an Arduino stuffed into an old NES to control Mario jumping over ball bearing ‘barrels.’ [...]
Tags: kong laser donkey mario martin mario-martin donkey-kong mechanical-version classic hacks
September 20, 2012
9:01
VFX1 Virtual Reality Headset LinkBox
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Kevin Mellott's] take on the VFX1 was to update it so it can be used with modern computers requiring just a USB socket and VGA feed. The VFX1 is a Virtual Reality Headset that hit the market in the first half of the 90′s. The headset was the first of its kind to hit the home market and was [...]
Tags: headset virtual vfx kevin-mellott usb-socket mellott modern-computers classic hacks
September 15, 2012
12:01
Ask Hackaday: Who likes retrocomputing?
» ‎ Hack a Day

Last week we posted a link to Project Kiwi, a homebrew Motorola 68008-based microcomputer built by [Simon] that includes Ethernet, a very good display adapter, an interface for IDE hard disks, two Commodore SID chips (for stereo chiptunes), a floppy disk controller, and an already existent software library that will make it very easy to develop your [...]
Tags: week link hackaday simon commodore-sid floppy-disk-controller sid-chips classic hacks
September 11, 2012
7:00
Typewriter is USB keyboard, also awesome
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you’re a brooding author putting the finishing touches on the next Great American Novel™ while sipping a latte in Starbucks, a MacBook is far too common to impress uncultured proles guzzling caramel macchiatos. No, to impress the next [Joyce] or [T. S. Eliot] sitting at the table next to you, you’ll need something much more [...]
Tags: typewriter usb keyboard joyce t.-s.-eliot great-american-novel macbook finishing-touches classic hacks
September 08, 2012
7:00
Building the best homebrew computer ever
» ‎ Hack a Day

A few days ago when I posted a homebrew Motorola 68000 computer spectacular, I briefly mentioned a truly spectacular homebrew computer built by [Simon Ferber]. When I posted a link to a Youtube demo of his 68k board, he was working on a website to document the architecture design, hardware, and software. That website is now [...]
Tags: homebrew website computer simon-ferber homebrew-computer motorola-68000 architecture-design classic hacks
September 04, 2012
12:01
Homebrew 68k extravaganza
» ‎ Hack a Day

Introduced in 1979, the Motorola 68000 CPU was first used in very expensive and very high-end workstations from the likes of Sun and SGI. As the processor matured it became well-known for its use in the original Macintosh, early Amigas, and even the TI-89 graphing calculator and a few video game consoles such as the [...]
Tags: extravaganza homebrew motorola ti-89 motorola-68000 graphing-calculator classic hacks
September 01, 2012
13:00
Homebrew computer is 16 bits of awesome
» ‎ Hack a Day

We’ve seen our share of homebrew computers over the years. Usually, these bare-bone systems use a small, early 80s-era microprocessor such as the Z80 or 6502. These little 8-bit machines are awesome, but somewhat limited in their capability. [BigDumbDinosaur] sent in a computer he’s been working on for a few years now featuring the infamous [...]
Tags: homebrew share computer homebrew-computer 16-bits z80 classic hacks
August 24, 2012
10:01
Uncovering easter eggs in old Mac ROMs
» ‎ Hack a Day

The picture you see above is taken from the ROM of a Macintosh SE made in the late 1980s. This black and white image remained buried inside old Macs until [Adam] and [Trammell] at NYC Resistor reverse engineered these old Mac ROMs and found a few really cool Easter eggs. [Adam] and [Trammell] have been dumping ROMs [...]
Tags: easter uncovering trammell mac-roms adam old-macs easter-eggs resistor classic hacks
August 23, 2012
11:01
Hackaday retro edition roundup
» ‎ Hack a Day

In case you’ve forgotten about it, we still have a retro edition of Hackaday. It’s our simple, hand-coded HTML site featuring a few random hacks from Hackaday’s 8-year history. There’s also a retro successes page where our readers can log on with their old boxxen and claim their prize as a master of retrocomputing. Here’s a [...]
Tags: retro hackaday edition hacks roundup classic
August 20, 2012
8:30
Reliving the BBS days with a Propeller
» ‎ Hack a Day

Back before the world wide web, self-proclaimed geeks would get our compute on by dialing in to bulletin board systems. In their heyday, these BBSes were filled with interesting people and warez to fill the most capacious 10 Megabyte hard drive. In an attempt to relive the days of the Internet before the Eternal September, [Jeff [...]
Tags: propeller bbs reliving jeff bbs-days heyday classic hacks
August 07, 2012
14:00
Retrotechtacular: Simulating weather patterns with a logic chip computer
» ‎ Hack a Day

In 1975, [D. L. Slotnick], CS professor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign faced a problem: meteorologists were collecting a lot more data than current weather simulations could handle. [Slotnick]‘s solution was to build a faster computer to run these atmosphere circulation simulations. The only problem was the computer needed to be built quickly and cheaply, [...]
Tags: problem weather computer d.-l.-slotnick illinois champaign university-of-illinois-at-urbana-champaign weather-simulations atmosphere-circulation classic hacks
August 02, 2012
9:01
Digital zoetrope uses 18 LCD displays
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Jasper] sent in a project he, [Quinten], and [Mr. Stock] have been working on for a while. It’s called the Pristitrope and brings the classic 19th centrury paper-based animation device into the 21st century with 18 LCD displays. The lazy suzan portion of the build was fabricated out of plywood cut on a CNC router and [...]
Tags: lcd digital zoetrope mr.-stock jasper cnc-router lcd-displays classic hacks
9:01
Digital zoetrope uses 18 LCD displays
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Jasper] sent in a project he, [Quinten], and [Mr. Stock] have been working on for a while. It’s called the Pristitrope and brings the classic 19th centrury paper-based animation device into the 21st century with 18 LCD displays. The lazy suzan portion of the build was fabricated out of plywood cut on a CNC router and [...]
Tags: lcd digital zoetrope mr.-stock jasper cnc-router lcd-displays classic hacks
8:01
Giving the TRS-80 CoCo a 44 color display
» ‎ Hack a Day

As a relic of the early 80s, the TRS-80 Color Computer couldn’t display very many colors. By default, the CoCo could only display 8 colors on the screen at a time, but [John] figured out a way to increase the number of colors displayed using a very simple trick that surprisingly isn’t found in original CoCo [...]
Tags: display color coco john color-computer trs relic classic hacks
August 01, 2012
7:02
4004 ROM emulator allows fast development on slow computers
» ‎ Hack a Day

Developing for extremely old computers is a chore; not only are you limited by assembly or pure machine language, there’s also the issue of burning ROMs to actually run your programs. [Frank Buss] came up with a neat solution to developing for the venerable 4004 CPU – build a ROM emulator using a modern microcontroller. [...]
Tags: emulator development rom frank-buss rom-emulator neat-solution slow-computers classic hacks
July 23, 2012
9:00
Blinkenwall controlled by a C64
» ‎ Hack a Day

Looking for a dual monitor setup for your Commodore 64? Look no further than the C64 controlled Blinkenwall put together over at Metalab. The Blinkenwall is 45 glass blocks serving as a partition between the main room and the library over at Metalab in Vienna. Previously, the Blinkenwall was illuminated by 45 ShiftBrite RGB LED boards controlled by an Arduino [...]
Tags: blinkenwall metalab monitor vienna dual-monitor-setup commodore-64 arduino classic hacks
4:00
Retrotechtacular: Recovering lost moon images by dumpster diving
» ‎ Hack a Day

In 1966 and 67, NASA launched five probes to image the surface of the moon from orbit, eventually returning over two thousand high-resolution images of future Apollo landing sites and selenogical features to researchers on Earth. After taking its pictures of the moon, developing the film in orbit, and scanning the print with an electron gun and [...]
Tags: retrotechtacular orbit moon high-resolution-images electron-gun moon-images classic hacks
July 20, 2012
4:01
Using a watch to control Ms. Pacman
» ‎ Hack a Day

Recently, [Alan] broke out the ‘ol Atari 2600 to relive his childhood with a bit of Yar’s Revenge and Adventure, but after looking at his new TI EZ430 Chronos watch, he figured he could add a bit of motion control from this classic game system. He used the accelerometer in this watch to play Ms. Pacman by tilting his wrist, an [...]
Tags: watch atari bit ms.-pacman alan ms-pacman atari-2600 accelerometer classic hacks
July 19, 2012
14:07
Defense Against the Dog Arts
» ‎ Hack a Day

It’s possible that it was [Matt Meerian]‘s awesome pun that won us over, not his ultrasonic bicycle dog defense system, but that would be silly. [Matt] wanted an elegant solution to a common problem when riding a bicycle, dogs. While, obscenities, ammonia, water, pepper spray, and others were suggested, they all had cons that just [...]
Tags: bicycle defense dog matt matt-meerian ammonia-water water-pepper pepper-spray classic hacks
4:01
Small RC Car, Full Size Controller
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Noah Farrington] sent in his latest hack over at his intensely interesting blog; converting a racing wheel arcade controller to a remote control for his RC car. He picked up the arcade controller for free, and decided it would be much cooler to control an RC car he had handy with it. He elected not [...]
Tags: arcade controller car noah-farrington arcade-controller farrington noah classic hacks
July 17, 2012
4:01
ATX benchtop conversion retains safety features, delivers plenty of current.
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Bogin] was looking to add a benchtop power supply to his array of tools, but he didn’t really find any of the online tutorials helpful. Most of what he discovered were simple re-wiring jobs utilizing LM317 regulators and shorted PS-ON pins used to keep the PSUs happily chugging along as if nothing had been changed. [...]
Tags: atx benchtop conversion bogin psus safety-features classic hacks
July 16, 2012
5:00
Dealing with the horrors of PDFs by binding your own books
» ‎ Hack a Day

Looking at a few PDFs of data sheets, journal articles, or even complete books can be a pain. Not only do you have to deal with the torment of a PDF reader (we’re looking at you, Adobe), but a purely electronic document misses the beautiful tactile interface available in dead tree format. [samimy] put together an [...]
Tags: tactile-interface complete-books own-books classic hacks
July 12, 2012
8:10
Building a CRT and bathing yourself in x-rays
» ‎ Hack a Day

For the Milan design week held last April, [Patrick Stevenson Keating] made a cathode ray tube and exhibited it in a department store. The glass envelope of [Keating]‘s tube is a very thick hand-blown piece of glass. After coating the inside of the tube with a phosphorescent lining, [Keating] installed an electrode in a rubber plug and [...]
Tags: glass tube keating patrick-stevenson milan cathode-ray-tube milan-design classic hacks
July 09, 2012
12:01
Tearing through floppy drives to build a small-format dot matrix printer
» ‎ Hack a Day

The accuracy which [Mario] achieved in his pen plotter dot matrix printer is very remarkable. He tore through a pile of floppy drives to get the parts he wanted, and chose to go with a fine-point Sharpie marker as a print head. In the video after the break he flatters us with a printout of [...]
Tags: printer matrix tearing mario dot-matrix-printer pen-plotter floppy-drives classic hacks
8:03
Refurbing a C64 with a Raspberry Pi
» ‎ Hack a Day

When [Carl] first heard of the Raspberry Pi, he immeidatly though how freakin tiny this board is compared to a Mini ITX motherboard. After ordering a Raspi, [Carl] decided to put his barely-larger-than-a-credit-card computer inside a Commodore 64. [Carl]‘s updated C64 functions exactly like the original – the 30-year-old keyboard works thanks to the help [...]
Tags: mini-itx-motherboard commodore-64 card-computer classic hacks
July 05, 2012
15:01
Reverse engineering silicon
» ‎ Hack a Day

[John McMaster] is doing some pretty amazing work with figuring out how the circuitry in an integrated circuit works. Right now he’s reverse engineering a serial EEPROM chip one section at a time. This is a 24c02 made by ST, and he chose this particular portion of the die to examine because it looked like [...]
Tags: silicon engineering work john-mcmaster serial-eeprom 24c02 classic hacks
July 03, 2012
16:02
Levitating lightbulb does it all with no wires
» ‎ Hack a Day

It would be really fun to do an entire hallway of these levitating wireless lights. This a project on which [Chris Rieger] has been working for about six months. It uses magnetic levitation and wireless power transfer to create a really neat LED oddity. Levitation is managed by a permanent magnet on the light assembly [...]
Tags: levitating levitation lightbulb chris-rieger magnetic-levitation permanent-magnet light-assembly classic hacks
4:02
Dueling mechanical bulls
» ‎ Hack a Day

Do you have what it takes to stay on the mechanical bull longer than the next guy? Who cares! We want to know if you’ve got what it takes to build your own dueling mechanical bulls. After seeing the development stages in the video after the break we think you’ll agree that the construction part [...]
Tags: bull guy dueling mechanical-bulls mechanical-bull classic hacks
June 29, 2012
9:01
Two retro successes with a Commodore 64
» ‎ Hack a Day

Slowly but surely, Hackaday readers have been logging onto our retro edition with some very old hardware. Of course we’re featuring the coolest as retro successes. [azog] and [logik] entered the pantheon of brave souls who loaded up Hackaday with a Commodore 64 this week, and their builds are pretty impressive to say the least. [logik]‘s [...]
Tags: commodore retro hackaday commodore-64 azog old-hardware classic hacks
June 21, 2012
13:01
Turning the Wii Classic Controller into a gaming rig
» ‎ Hack a Day

A bit of clever design lets you mount a screen and gaming hardware right on this controller. [Valentin Ivanov] had already been using the Wii Classic Controller Pro as an input for his Gadgeteer-based projects. He wanted a way to marry the project board, display, and controller into one single unit. We’re huge fans the [...]
Tags: wii classic gaming controller-pro valentin-ivanov gaming-rig peripherals hacks
June 19, 2012
13:01
Hackaday retro submission: Browsing with an Apple IIc
» ‎ Hack a Day

We’ve had the retro edition of Hackaday up for about a week now, and already a few people have sent in a few neat builds that use an ancient computer to pull this page up. The latest comes from [RetroAppleFanToday] who used an Apple IIc to browse the Internet. To load our humble retro edition, [...]
Tags: retro hackaday edition apple-iic ancient-computer submission classic hacks
June 15, 2012
4:01
Putting an Atari POKEY in your pocket
» ‎ Hack a Day

The Atari POKEY served as the main I/O chip on the venerable Atari 400/800 and XL/XE 8-bit computers. While a chip designed to get voltages from game paddles and scanning a matrix of keyboard switches wouldn’t normally be remembered 30 years later, the POKEY had another function: generating very, very distinctive music and sound effects for [...]
Tags: pokey atari chip keyboard-switches distinctive-music bit-computers classic hacks
June 13, 2012
8:01
Turning an IBM Selectric into a printer.
» ‎ Hack a Day

In the days when computers took up an entire room, a CRT monitor was a luxury. Most of the time, input and output was handled with a teletype – a typewriter connected directly to the computer. [Josh] wanted his own typewriter terminal, so he took apart an IBM Selectric II and got to work. Instead [...]
Tags: selectric typewriter ibm josh ibm-selectric-ii crt-monitor time-input classic hacks
June 11, 2012
11:01
Calculating with 3D printed gears
» ‎ Hack a Day

Here’s a 3D printed electromechanical computer built by [Chris Fenton] over at NYCResistor. It uses plastic registers printed on a Makerbot, a bunch of pogo pins, and business-card sized punch cards capable of storing 32 bits of instructions and data. In case you’re wondering, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen [Chris]‘ FIBIAC. Since the last [...]
Tags: nycresistor plastic computer chris chris-fenton pogo-pins punch-cards fenton classic hacks
6:01
Adding a backlight to the ‘ol Game Boy brick
» ‎ Hack a Day

For being more than 20 years old, [Max]‘s old brick-sized Game boy still has a lot of life left in it. Even though his Game Boy was still in good condition, there were a few vertical lines in the display, making it a perfect candidate for a restoration. While he had his DMG-01 open on [...]
Tags: boy game backlight max ol-game sized-game perfect-candidate classic hacks
June 08, 2012
14:07
Using old phones as an intercom in your VW bus (or anywhere else)
» ‎ Hack a Day

In case you haven’t noticed from my many comments on the subject, I drive a VW bus. It is a 1976 Westfalia camper with sage green paint and green plaid upholstery. I absolutely love it and so does the rest of my family. We go for drives in the country as well as camping regularly. [...]
Tags: case intercom bus westfalia-camper old-phones vw-bus classic hacks
9:01
Building a 1980s microcomputer with a Parallax Propeller
» ‎ Hack a Day

The folks over at Gadget Gangster put up an Instructable to build a retro 80s 8-bit microcomputer. Even though they’re using modern components, it still hearkens back to a time when 10 year olds learned 6502 assembly, PEEKing and POKEing was the best way to program, and using a mouse was a novelty. The build uses a Parallax [...]
Tags: propeller parallax microcomputer retro-80s instructable 10-year-olds classic hacks
June 07, 2012
7:17
Putting every chiptune ever in an FPGA
» ‎ Hack a Day

Finally one device combines the power of the Commodore 64 SID, Atari ST YM2149, and Amiga MOD audio into one awesome box. It’s called the RetroCade Synth, and there’s a Kickstarter that is perfect for starting your chiptune composing journey. [Jack]‘s RetroCade synth is connects directly to the Papilio One 500k FPGA. All the classic chiptune ICs [...]
Tags: chiptune retrocade synth jack sid commodore-64 atari-st amiga-mod classic hacks
June 05, 2012
15:01
Retrotechtacular: The mother of all tech demos
» ‎ Hack a Day

Most bits of a computer we take for granted today – the mouse, hypertext, video conferencing, and word processing – were all invented by one team of researchers at Stanford in the late 60s. When the brains behind the operation, [Douglas Engelbart], showed this to 1000 computer researchers, the demo became known as The Mother [...]
Tags: retrotechtacular mother computer douglas-engelbart computer-researchers video-conferencing classic hacks
June 01, 2012
4:01
The Dronitar; a scrap made motorized sitar
» ‎ Hack a Day

This peculiar instrument, called the Dronitar, is completely made from scrap. Interestingly, it sounds pretty good. You can hear the dronitar in action in the video after the break.The call this a ”2 stringed” instrument,and most who are instrumentally savvy will find a bit of confusion here. They are referring to the string that you [...]
Tags: instrument scrap dronitar confusion classic hacks
May 31, 2012
9:01
Dot matrix printer spits out any tweet mentioning @KWF
» ‎ Hack a Day

Earlier this month, [Kenneth] picked up an old dot matrix printer at the Silicon Valley Flea Market and subsequently found two cases of tractor feed printer paper. It’s a marriage made in heaven for a dot matrix twitter printer. [Kenneth] used a BeagleBone - a tiny single board computer running Linux – to connect to the Internet [...]
Tags: printer matrix dot kenneth silicon-valley dot-matrix-printer single-board-computer marriage-made-in-heaven classic hacks
May 28, 2012
6:01
Fine tune your Morse Code skills with this mint tin practice keyer
» ‎ Hack a Day

Hackaday reader [svofski] wrote in to share a device he built, which would be useful to any ham operators out there trying to hone their CW skills. He calls his practice keyer the Morseshnik, and it is a combination of various items [svofski] found while digging through his parts drawer. He disassembled an old hard drive, [...]
Tags: svofski keyer practice morse-code fine-tune hard-drive classic hacks
May 25, 2012
9:01
Making Instagram with an old CRT
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you’re not familiar with Instagram, it’s a mobile app that takes pictures, applies low-fi ‘lomographic’ digital filters, and shares them on the Internet. For reasons we can’t comprehend, Instagram has been wildly successful as of late and was recently purchased by Facebook for a Billion dollars. [Martin Ström] figured he could do something much cooler than [...]
Tags: low-fi digital-filters facebook classic hacks
May 24, 2012
9:01
Cemetech’s ultimate calculator V2
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Christopher] piped up in our comments on a recent post about using laptop touch pads in other things, noting that he had done this on his Ultimate Calculator Version 2. What he’s done is upgraded his TI-83+ calculator to house a number of improvements and customizations. It now has a stronger RGB backlight so he [...]
Tags: cemetech calculator post christopher ti-83-calculator ultimate-calculator calculator-version classic hacks
May 20, 2012
9:01
Building a 6502 in Minecraft
» ‎ Hack a Day

We’ll admit that we haven’t been following Minecraft like we used to; its been a while since we’ve seen something amazing in Minecraft, but [eloraam]‘s 6502 emulator (part of her RedPower Minecraft mod) takes the cake. The RedPower mod adds a lot of industrial technology to Minecraft. Pumps, solar panels, and pneumatic tubes to move [...]
Tags: redpower mod minecraft pneumatic-tubes industrial-technology solar-panels classic hacks
May 18, 2012
7:01
A color Maximite for glorious 3-bit BASIC
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Kilian] sent in a link to a color version of a tiny educational computer. It’s called the Quantumite and it’s designed to be a throwback to the early 80s microcomputers we all grew up on. The Quantumite is a clone of the Maximite, the tiny single board computer / BASIC interpreter designed by [Geoff Graham]. Both [...]
Tags: single-board-computer basic-interpreter geoff-graham classic hacks
May 17, 2012
14:01
Giving a Powerpoint presentation with an Apple ][
» ‎ Hack a Day

When [Vince] saw a coworker give a presentation with an iPad, he thought to himself what a tremendous waste of computing resources he was witnessing; an iPad is just as powerful as an early Cray supercomputer, and displaying slides isn’t a computationally intensive task. We’re assuming [Vince]‘s train of thought went off the rails at [...]
Tags: powerpoint presentation ipad vince cray-supercomputer intensive-task classic hacks
May 15, 2012
16:01
Constant current dummy load
» ‎ Hack a Day

Inspired by a design he saw on the EEVblog, [George Graves] put together this constant current dummy load. You might need on of these if you’re testing power supplies or batteries. They pull a constant current regardless of the voltage of the supply. [George's] version extends the range of the original a little bit by [...]
Tags: design eevblog load george george-graves dummy-load little-bit classic hacks
14:01
Controlling robots with a TRS-80
» ‎ Hack a Day

[DJ Sures], mastermind behind the EZ-B Bluetooth Robot controller, sent in a really interesting build where he controls a robot with a 1983 TRS-80 computer. The robot in question is [DJ Sures]‘ adorable WALL-E we’ve seen before. WALL-E is controlled through a Bluetooth connection to a desktop PC with the EZ-Builder hardware and software package. To get the [...]
Tags: sures bluetooth robot robot-controller builder-hardware classic hacks
12:01
Building a 4-bit TTL computer
» ‎ Hack a Day

When [GG] was 12 years old, he was introduced to BugBooks, the wonderful ‘introduction to digital design’ books from the early 1970s. It has always been a dream of [GG] to build the TTL computer featured in the BugBooks, and now that he has the necessary time and money available to him, the Apollo181 has [...]
Tags: necessary-time time-and-money 1970s classic hacks
10:01
[Engineerguy] explains how a CCD works
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Bill] is back with another fantastic video explaining a piece of intriguing hardware. This time, he’s explaining how a CCD works. For many of us, these things are part of our daily life, but aside from the fact that they capture an image, we don’t put much thought into them. [Bill] breaks things down in [...]
Tags: video ccd engineerguy bill ccd-works classic hacks
4:01
You’ll throw your back out playing this analog TV synth
» ‎ Hack a Day

While CRT televisions fall to the wayside as more people adopt flat-panel TVs, the abundance of unused sets gives hacker/artist [Kyle Evans] an unlimited number of analog canvases on which to project his vision. He recently wrote in to share his latest creation which he dubs “de/Rastra”. The “CRT Performance Interface” as he calls it, [...]
Tags: analog synth crt performance-interface kyle-evans flat-panel-tvs classic hacks
May 14, 2012
7:01
Mapping the motor cortex
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Bruce] sent us another fantastic final project from the ECE4760 class at Cornell. What you see above is an array of 36 near infra red LEDs shining into this young man’s brain for the purpose of spectroscopy. Light bounces back differently based on brain activity (blood flow). For this project, they are mapping their motor [...]
Tags: brain motor project bruce motor-cortex brain-activity blood-flow classic hacks
May 10, 2012
8:01
Your guide to building a homebrew 6502 computer
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you’ve ever thought about getting down to bare metal and building a homebrew computer from scratch [Garth Wilson] put up a great primer to the 6502, the same CPU found in Apple ][ computers, BBC Micros, Vic-20s, and the venerable Commodore 64 (a 6510 in the C64, but it's close enough). In his guide [...]
Tags: homebrew computer guide vic garth-wilson homebrew-computer commodore-64 great-primer classic hacks
May 09, 2012
5:01
Hackaday Links May 9th 2012
» ‎ Hack a Day

Homecut – CNC Cutting Directory So you have a CNC machine that you use as a hobby, but would like to do some actual work on the side? Or maybe you have an idea you’d like made. Homecut is a map directory where you can maybe hook up with the right person. The Curta Mechanical [...]
Tags: directory cnc homecut cnc-machine map classic hacks
May 08, 2012
15:01
Tilt sensor toy is simple and mesmerizing
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Eiki] found himself in need of a project for his “simple machines” class. Another project had brought him in contact with some relatively cheap MEMS accelerometers and gyroscopes. He had the idea to create a simple tilt sensor based circuit that would light whatever LED was at the bottom. He’s using an Analog Devices ADXL202E accelerometer [...]
Tags: tilt-sensor gyroscopes accelerometers classic hacks
14:01
An excellent introduction to transmission lines
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Bertho] sent in a great tutorial on terminating transmission lines. If you’ve ever tried to send a high frequency signal a long way down a wire, you know the problems that can crop up due to electronic strangeness. Luckily [Bertho]‘s tutorial explains just about everything, from where and when to terminate a cable and why [...]
Tags: transmission-lines strangeness high-frequency classic hacks
6:46
Replicating the fancy touch sensor that uses anything
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Sprite_tm], a name many of you will recognize from these pages, has wasted no time in replicating the latest cool thing in a much simpler fashion. En Garde is a touch sensor that can detect up to 32 different points of contact on… whatever you use as the surface. He couldn’t sit idly by and [...]
Tags: fancy-touch touch-sensor cool-thing classic hacks
May 07, 2012
15:35
Pinball Stomp: Part 2
» ‎ Hack a Day

This is the 2nd and final part of this project. If you haven’t seen part 1 yet, jump back and check it out. Now that we have the controller box made and ready to go, we just have to build some simple stomp sensors. As I said before, I doubt this will hold anyones attention [...]
Tags: part stomp pinball sensors classic hacks
5:01
Build an 8-bit TTL computer
» ‎ Hack a Day

Very rarely do we see an Instructable so complete, and so informative, that it’s a paragon of tutorials that all Instructables should aspire to. [8 Bit Spaghetti]‘s How to Build an 8-bit computer is one of those tutorials. [8 Bit Spaghetti]‘s build began on his blog. He originally planned to build a 4-bit computer but decided a [...]
Tags: build bit computer instructable bit-computer instructables classic hacks
May 05, 2012
7:01
Using pinball score reels as wireless displays
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Scott] put together a system where he can use pinball score reels as a wireless display. As you can see in the video below, the result is really neat. The sound alone makes this shoot pretty high on our “things that are cool” radar. The display required 24V AC to operate the solenoids that actually [...]
Tags: display score pinball scott v-ac score-reels solenoids classic hacks
May 02, 2012
8:01
Using incandescent bulbs to compensate for a slow start cfl
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Dick], like most of us, likes some pretty strong light in his workshop. He’s using CFL flood lamps to save a little energy. Unfortunately, he found that they gradually become brighter instead of that instant light he was accustomed to with his previous incandescent bulbs. Not wanting to wait around for the lights to reach [...]
Tags: flood-lamps incandescent-bulbs dick classic hacks
April 27, 2012
15:01
Pinball Stomp: part1
» ‎ Hack a Day

Despite my atrociously short attention span, I’ve always loved pinball. Maybe it is something about all the flashing lights and clunking solenoids. Maybe it is just the simple physics at the center of it all. I’m not really sure. My kids, however, don’t share my enthusiasm. I suspect part of it is that they never [...]
Tags: short-attention-span flashing-lights pinball classic hacks
April 25, 2012
13:01
Controlling the power with bluetooth
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Mike] dropped us a tip to show off a system he has built to control some power sockets based on his proximity. Initially the project started as a parallel port controlled box to switch the mains power. Then he got the idea of turning this into a little more interactive of an automation tool. He [...]
Tags: controlling power bluetooth mike power-sockets mains-power automation-tool classic hacks
April 19, 2012
12:02
Building the mind of a robot overlord
» ‎ Hack a Day

The folks at the Louisville hackerspace LVL1 now have a fabulous piece of wall art that is also a speech synthesizer. The speech synthesizer is over two feet long and is made of nine panels of stripboard connected with right angle headers. An awesome piece of art if there ever was one. This speech synthesizer is actually 30 years [...]
Tags: piece speech synthesizer louisville speech-synthesizer stripboard right-angle classic hacks
11:01
Controlling blinkenlights with modern computers
» ‎ Hack a Day

A few old timers may remember that once, long ago, computers didn’t require keyboards. The earliest personal computers such as the Altair 8800 and the server rack-sized minicomputers like the PDP-11 could be controlled with a panel filled with switches and lights, giving us the term blinkenlights. Today, most of these machines have been thrown away [...]
Tags: didn server controlling altair altair-8800 pdp-11 old-timers classic hacks
April 17, 2012
13:01
Original Prince of Persia game source code released
» ‎ Hack a Day

The game that launched a multi-billion dollar franchise is now laid bare for your hacking pleasure. [Jordan Mechner] just posted the once-lost source code for Prince of Persia. This game was ground-breaking for its use of rotoscoping to mimic the movements of an actor (in this case it was his younger brother). Oh, and it’s [...]
Tags: persia game prince jordan game-source-code prince-of-persia-game prince-of-persia classic hacks
April 04, 2012
11:01
Giving an old Atari computer a much needed upgrade
» ‎ Hack a Day

As a kid, [Boisy] cut his teeth on the TRS-80 Color Computer. It was a wonderful machine for its day, featuring a relatively powerful Motorola 6809 CPU. Although his CoCo was theoretically more powerful than its Commodore and Apple contemporaries, the graphics and sound capabilities of [Boisy]‘s first love paled in comparison to his friends 6502-based [...]
Tags: boisy atari computer motorola-6809 atari-computer sound-capabilities classic hacks
April 03, 2012
14:14
Rabiscoscopio – Oscilloscope drawing made easy
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you own an oscilloscope, sooner or later the urge to see something other than signals on the screen will strike. Some people ignore the urge and go about their normal business while others give in, spending hours carefully crafting images, games, and more. The process is time consuming and tricky as our own [Kevin [...]
Tags: signals urge drawing classic hacks
April 02, 2012
9:01
The trials of digital design class
» ‎ Hack a Day

Late last week, we saw a rather clever combination lock build that used only a single 74xx logic chip. [J. Peterson] read this post, and in a battle royale of geek one upmanship sent us a write up of the logic chip computer he built nearly 30 years ago at the University of Utah. Around 1982 or [...]
Tags: design logic chip j.-peterson logic-chip clever-combination chip-computer classic hacks
March 31, 2012
6:06
Floppy autoloader takes the pain out of archiving 5000 Amiga disks
» ‎ Hack a Day

Archiving data from old floppy disks can be a tedious process at best. Poorly labeled disks combined with slow transfer speeds put it high on the list of things we would rather not do, and it turns out that [Dweller] was of the same opinion. With an estimated 5,000 floppies in his collection, he finally decided [...]
Tags: pain autoloader floppy transfer-speeds floppies classic hacks
March 26, 2012
12:30
Press play on tape for your Fignition
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Julian Skidmore] has been busy improving the Fignition, a tiny AVR-powered educational computer, to support loading programs from a cassette tape. We first saw the Fignition after the BBC decided to cover an old-school hacker dedicated to improving computer education with a simple ‘bare-metal’ computer. [Julian]‘s Fignition harkens back to the days of very simple computers [...]
Tags: tape fignition computer julian julian-skidmore simple-computers loading-programs educational-computer classic hacks
March 25, 2012
6:27
Antique Electromechanical Calculating Machines
» ‎ Hack a Day

The decision to use electronics for our calculating machines has long been decided. However, that doesn’t mean that mechanical engineers didn’t put up a valiant, if ultimately futile, fight. [Dvice.com] has an interesting article comparing the calculating technology of the 1960s, such as the [Haman 505], to today’s iPad. This comparison and pictures were made [...]
Tags: decision antique electromechanical ipad haman mechanical-engineers classic hacks
March 19, 2012
6:01
Getting a home built scanner from ’92 up and running again
» ‎ Hack a Day

In 1992, [Arpi] didn’t have much time for Ninja Turtles, Nintendos, and other wonderful wastes of time his fellow geeks were raised on. He was busy building a scanner for his Commodore 64. Although this very impressive build could have been lost to the sands of time, he pulled his project out of the attic [...]
Tags: fellow-geeks ninja-turtles commodore-64 classic hacks
March 17, 2012
11:57
Twittertape machine keeps track of your social media stock.
» ‎ Hack a Day

During the gilded age, oil magnates, entrepreneurs, and robber barons would have a ticker tape machine in their study. This machine would print stock and commodity prices and chart these men’s assets climbing higher and higher. A lot has changed in 100 years, as now [Adam] can be kept apprised of what @KimKardashian, @BarackObama and @stephenfry ate [...]
Tags: machine stock twittertape adam ticker-tape-machine robber-barons barackobama classic hacks
March 16, 2012
10:01
CRT vector graphics arcade game built from an FPGA board
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Sprite_TM] wanted to challenge his VHDL skills, and there’s no more satisfying way of doing this than making something that will be playable when you’re done. He decided to try his hand at creating a vector-based CRT arcade. The distinction here is that vector-based games take control of the magnetic ring that guides the electron [...]
Tags: arcade vector crt fpga-board vector-graphics magnetic-ring classic hacks
March 15, 2012
6:01
Bringing a 19th century stock ticker into the 21st century
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Ames]‘s father has had an old stock ticker sitting on a shelf for some time. He may have become quite listless over his spring break, because he decided connect a century-old stock ticker to his laptop. When stock tickers were in use, they were all connected to a stock ticker circuit that would broadcast stock prices [...]
Tags: stock-tickers stock-ticker sitting-on-a-shelf classic hacks
March 13, 2012
15:01
Fine-pitch SMD soldering with minimal tools
» ‎ Hack a Day

We try to stick to the 0805 parts because they’re still big enough to solder by hand. But [Scott] shows us that it doesn’t take too many special tools to reflow fine-pitch components at home. In this case he’s using 0402 resistors, a footprint that we consider functionally impossible to solder using an iron. The two parts [...]
Tags: smd fine-pitch solder scott minimal-tools special-tools resistors classic hacks
March 09, 2012
13:01
Tuna can and some other trash turned into a Sterling engine
» ‎ Hack a Day

Next time you’re making yourself a tunafish sandwich, try to figure out how to build a Stirling engine from the leftovers (translated). If you can pull it off as well as [Killerlot] did we’d say you’ve earned your hacker badge. The can used in this project was actually sardines in tomato sauce, but the former contents are moot. [...]
Tags: sardines-in-tomato-sauce sterling-engine tunafish-sandwich classic hacks
7:01
Going old school with an 8051
» ‎ Hack a Day

A while back, [Matt] bought a few 8051 MCUs and tucked them away for a future project. He just found these fabulous little chips in a component drawer and decided it was time to figure these guys out. Eventually, [Matt] stumbled across this awesome resource for 8051 programming. The 8051 featured a still reasonably respectable 4k of [...]
Tags: mcus school project matt future-project old-school classic hacks
March 07, 2012
9:01
Vintage VT100 terminal computing…with a Beaglebone
» ‎ Hack a Day

A cool little project came our way, which we thought might be of interest to some of you vintage computer buffs. [Joerg Hoppe] wrote in to share a DEC VT100 terminal he resurrected in a novel fashion. His “DECBox” system was created with a Beaglebone, which he uses to run a wide array of PDP11/VAX [...]
Tags: beaglebone vintage terminal dec-vt100-terminal novel-fashion computer-buffs classic hacks
March 05, 2012
15:24
Loading programs onto a TRS-80 Model 100
» ‎ Hack a Day

We’d guess that you don’t have a TRS-80 Model 100 computer sitting around. But we’ve heard that the decades-old hardware is built like a tank so if you search around you can probably get your hands on a working unit. The Model 100 boasted some nice features, one of which was a 300 baud modem [...]
Tags: loading model trs baud-modem loading-programs old-hardware classic hacks
March 01, 2012
12:18
Auto power circuit for an arcade machine
» ‎ Hack a Day

Some of the pinball machines which [Jeri Ellsworth] has restored have ended up in the break room at her work. We’re sure her coworkers are thankful for this, but sometimes they forget to turn off the power to the machines, and letting them run constantly means more frequent servicing will be necessary. She set out [...]
Tags: circuit power auto pinball-machines arcade-machine auto-power classic hacks
February 27, 2012
9:01
Visualizing a nanosecond
» ‎ Hack a Day

We’re so glad to have run across this video where [Rear Admiral Grace Hopper] explains how to visualize a nanosecond. Now we had never heard of [Grace Hopper] before, but once you watch the clip (also embedded after the break) you’ll want to know who this person is. We work with divisions of seconds all [...]
Tags: video visualizing nanosecond rear-admiral-grace-hopper grace-hopper admiral-grace-hopper classic hacks
February 25, 2012
12:03
Giving old appliances a second life with simple tweaks
» ‎ Hack a Day

Cruising estate sales can be a total crapshoot – sometimes you find a goldmine, other times nothing but junk. [John Ownby] recently found a sleek-looking old blender at such a sale and decided to take it home. The chrome plated base and fluted glass immediately caught his eye, but he didn’t buy the blender so [...]
Tags: blender life cruising john-ownby crapshoot second-life classic hacks
February 13, 2012
9:01
Wireless controllers for all your retro systems
» ‎ Hack a Day

Remember those old wireless controllers made for the consoles of our youth like the NES and Super Nintendo? They didn’t work well, mostly owing to the fact they were built using the same infrared technology that is found in a remote control. Now that all the modern consoles are wireless, [micro] over at the nftgames [...]
Tags: youth retro Wireless wireless-controllers retro-systems infrared-technology classic hacks
February 07, 2012
14:01
DIY Solid State Tesla Coil
» ‎ Hack a Day

Tesla Coils are always a blast to see and are relativity simple to build. While there are plenty of sites on the subject, [Michael's] newest instructable breaks building a solid state Tesla Coil down to 12 easy steps. Items that should be familiar to anyone who has even looked at a Tesla Coil include PVC [...]
Tags: solid-state-tesla-coil tesla-coils instructable classic hacks
February 05, 2012
7:00
Build your own self-driving car
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you’ve ever wanted your own self-driving car, this is your chance. [Sebastian Thrun], co-lecturer (along with the great [Peter Norvig]) of the Stanford AI class is opening up a new class that will teach everyone who enrolls how to program a self-driving car in seven weeks. The robotic car class is being taught alongside a [...]
Tags: class build car peter-norvig sebastian-thrun robotic-car classic hacks
February 02, 2012
11:00
Creating a Game for the CoCo
» ‎ Hack a Day

Retro is in the air today as [John] has tipped us off about a new game he has written for the Tandy Color Computer (CoCo), The game, inspired by the homebrew game DOWNFALL for the Atari Jaguar, features what looks like snappy game play, lots of bright colorful animation and has just entered the Alpha [...]
Tags: game creating coco john alpha tandy-color-computer atari-jaguar colorful-animation classic hacks
January 31, 2012
9:01
NAS firmware hack: Synology running on QNAP hardware
» ‎ Hack a Day

[XVortex] pulled off a pretty incredible firmware hack. He managed to get a firmware upgrade for Synology running on a QNAP machine. These are both Network Attached Storage devices, but apparently the Synology firmware is better than what QNAP supplies with their offerings. The nice thing is that this is not a one-off hack. You [...]
Tags: qnap synology firmware firmware-upgrade network-attached-storage-devices network-attached-storage classic hacks
January 25, 2012
8:01
Challenge: Figure out how this logic-based chaser works
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Andrea] built this LED chaser using one logic chip. It illuminates all but one of the six LEDs, with the dim bit moving back and forth along the row in a chase sequence. This is something like an inverse Larson Scanner without the fading tail. But doing it with a logic chip instead of a [...]
Tags: logic chaser chip andrea larson-scanner logic-chip leds classic hacks
6:01
Bending a printer control board to output POV messages
» ‎ Hack a Day

Confronted with the issue of finding a use for his mounting pile of junk electronics, [Rue] set out to build a persistence of vision device using a hardware state machine. We have a suspicion that his original link may go down if there’s too much traffic so here’s a cached link just in case. Any [...]
Tags: printer link bending pov persistence-of-vision hardware-state vision-device classic hacks
January 23, 2012
15:24
Investigating the generative properties of a stepper motor
» ‎ Hack a Day

You probably know that if you spin a motor (mechanically) it generates electricity on what would normally be the inputs. This can be a problem when you shut off a spinning motor and is the reason that protection diodes are built into motor driver circuits. But [Dino] isn’t interested in driving a motor, he wanted [...]
Tags: electricity motor stepper dino driver-circuits stepper-motor diodes classic hacks
10:01
Whac-A-Banker to relieve your frustration
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Tim Hunkin], builder extraordinaire and host of The Secret Life of Machines is a bit frustrated with the current economic climate and decided to take out his frustrations with a game of Whac-A-Banker. [Tim]‘s version of the classic Whac-A-Mole game uses tiny air cylinders to actuate five banker figurines up and down. The figures were cast with [...]
Tags: frustration game a-banker tim-hunkin tim whac-a-mole whac-a-mole-game classic hacks
7:01
Maximite harkens back to the days of BASIC
» ‎ Hack a Day

Any self-identified geek that spent some time in the 80s will tell you how they used to type out programs into their ‘microcomputer’ with BASIC. It was a simpler time when a computer’s raison d’etre was simply being a BASIC interpreter. These days are long past us now; you can’t simply turn on a computer and [...]
Tags: basic time computer basic-interpreter simpler-time raison-d classic hacks
7:01
Maximite harkens back to the days of BASIC
» ‎ Hack a Day

Any self-identified geek that spent some time in the 80s will tell you how they used to type out programs into their ‘microcomputer’ with BASIC. It was a simpler time when a computer’s raison d’etre was simply being a BASIC interpreter. These days are long past us now; you can’t simply turn on a computer and [...]
Tags: basic time computer basic-interpreter simpler-time raison-d classic hacks
January 20, 2012
14:09
Computing with the command line
» ‎ Hack a Day

Here’s something we thought we would never see: computing with just pipes, /dev/zero, and /dev/null. As a thought experiment, [Linus] imagined a null byte represented an electron. /dev/zero would have an infinite supply of electrons and /dev/null would make a wonderful positive power supply. With a very short program (named mosfet.c), [Linus] can use Linux pipes [...]
Tags: null computing dev linus null-byte infinite-supply classic hacks
January 19, 2012
9:01
Adding digital game indicators to a Neo Geo arcade cabinet
» ‎ Hack a Day

[George] is a Neo Geo aficionado, and among his collection of paraphernalia, he has a MVS-Mini game console. His mini “Multi Video System” is a 2-slot model, meaning that it can hold two game cartridges at a time, which are indicated by plastic cards inserted in the cabinet’s face plate. Instead of swapping those cards [...]
Tags: neo geo game george neo-geo-arcade slot-model arcade-cabinet classic hacks
January 16, 2012
7:01
Wii Nunchuck on an 80s computer
» ‎ Hack a Day

For a computer that debuted in the early 80s the MSX was a very respectable machine. Of course these were the days that superimposing graphics over a video was an amazing feat, but [Danjovic] and [Igor] are still having fun with their boxen. They designed a software interface for the Wii Nunchuck (translation) on their trusty MSX computer. [...]
Tags: wii nunchuck computer igor msx-computer software-interface classic hacks
6:01
The TIM-8 is the smallest 8-bit relay computer ever
» ‎ Hack a Day

Who wouldn’t want to build a computer out of relays? We do, but we’ve got too many projects on our plate already. It looks like [rory] has his priorities in order because his build is one of the most amazing we’ve ever seen. We’ve seen [Harry Porter]‘s amazing relay computer and we’re familiar with [Konrad Zuse]‘s WWII era endeavours. [...]
Tags: relay tim computer harry-porter konrad-zuse endeavours classic hacks
January 11, 2012
5:01
Universal Commodore 64 cartridge speeds up demo production
» ‎ Hack a Day

As a life long lover of his venerable Commodore 64, [Frank] was looking for a way to speed up the development time when writing C64 demos. His solution is a universal C64 cartridge that will connect to a PC over a USB port. The board is powered by a CLPD and a microcontroller loaded with code [...]
Tags: commodore universal cartridge frank commodore-64 demo-production clpd classic hacks
January 10, 2012
7:01
Help [Chris] boot his Cray-1 supercomputer
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Chris Fenton] needs your help. After constructing a 1/10th scale, cycle accurate Cray-1 supercomputer and finding a disk with Cray software on it, he’s ready to start loading the OS. There’s a small problem, though: no one knows how to boot the thing. [Chris] posted a disk image for a Cray-1/X-MP with the help of the people at [...]
Tags: supercomputer help boot chris chris-fenton cray-software cray-1 disk-image classic hacks
January 07, 2012
13:01
Using 555 timers to add “free play” functionality to classic arcade machines
» ‎ Hack a Day

[John Zitterkopf] is in the middle of restoring a vintage Sega Star Trek Captain’s Chair arcade game for the upcoming 2012 Texas Pinball festival, though one prerequisite for the show is that the game supports some sort of free play mode. At this point he doesn’t have the option of tracking down a freeplay ROM [...]
Tags: arcade game play john-zitterkopf texas classic-arcade-machines 555-timers star-trek-captain classic hacks
10:01
Ancient mouse teardown and repair
» ‎ Hack a Day

For a young geek in the 80s, the it computer was the IBM PCjr. On paper, it was a truly remarkable leap in technology. With a wireless keyboard, light pen, and optical mouse it was an impressive, if maligned, piece of hardware. There was a small problem with the optical mouse, though; it required a special [...]
Tags: teardown ancient mouse ibm-pcjr keyboard-light wireless-keyboard classic hacks
January 04, 2012
11:01
Power protection circuit tutorial
» ‎ Hack a Day

Building your first circuit is empowering, but make sure it’s not too empowering. [Jon] sent in a great tutorial of power protection circuits to make sure you don’t release the mystical blue smoke that make electronics work. There’s an in-depth tutorial of the classic series diode that’s the simplest of all power protection circuits. There’s not much to [...]
Tags: tutorial power protection jon protection-circuits blue-smoke classic hacks
December 29, 2011
9:01
[Bob] shows us how to make DIY calendars for vintage computer geeks
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Bob Alexander] wrote in to share a hobby of his that we thought was pretty timely considering the new year is quickly approaching. For several years now he has put together a custom calendar for himself, including both dates he finds important along with sweet pictures of vintage computer equipment. Friends and family found his [...]
Tags: vintage diy computer bob bob-alexander equipment-friends computer-geeks classic hacks
December 26, 2011
8:01
Ammo Tin ][
» ‎ Hack a Day

Ammo crate PCs have been around since Unreal Tournament LAN parties, but this one goes further back than that; [Simon] put an Apple II in an ammo crate. It’s a fitting anachronistic build from the same guy that built the TARDIS MAME cabinet. Thankfully, [Simon] didn’t tear apart an Apple IIc for this build. A [...]
Tags: crate tin ammo simon lan apple-iic mame-cabinet apple-ii classic hacks
December 24, 2011
9:00
We’re on an Atari Jaguar kick, apparently
» ‎ Hack a Day

We don’t know why, but the Atari Jaguar is getting a lot of attention this week. [10P6] just came up with this Jaguar/CD combo that reminds us what Atari could have come up with in 1993. The build itself is relatively simple once you get past [kevincal]‘s ‘April Fools’ type joke he played on the Atari [...]
Tags: jaguar lot atari atari-jaguar type-joke jaguar-cd classic hacks
December 21, 2011
8:01
Numitron tube tutorial
» ‎ Hack a Day

Nixies and VFDs are great displays, but when using them you’ve got to deal with some fairly high voltages, at least for the micro projects we see on Hack a Day. Luckily, there’s another ancient technology that can be driven at tiny voltages. [Kenneth] put up a great tutorial on Numitron tubes to show the Internet [...]
Tags: numitron tutorial tube kenneth tube-tutorial nixies micro-projects classic hacks
December 09, 2011
5:01
Rebuilding dried out capacitors
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you’ve ever torn into very old equipment for a little refurbishment, you’ve seen ancient capacitors among tube sockets and carbon resistors. These caps are long past their life expectancy and are dried out. Putting a brand-new metal can cap in a piece of equipment from the 40s just seems wrong, though. Luckily, [unixslave] posted [...]
Tags: equipment tube refurbishment tube-sockets capacitors resistors classic hacks
December 08, 2011
10:18
Hack a webcam and a film camera into a USB microscope
» ‎ Hack a Day

Most of you probably have a webcam sitting around somewhere, and after all the high voltage projects you’ve done using disposable cameras, we bet you have some camera lenses too. You could always do what [Butch] did and combine the lens from the camera with the webcam to do some up close inspection. This seems [...]
Tags: camera hack webcam voltage-projects disposable-cameras camera-lenses classic hacks
December 07, 2011
6:01
Aluminum bending tutorial and a DIY brake
» ‎ Hack a Day

What makes a project really exceptional? Part of it is a, ‘gee, that’s clever’ angle with a little bit of, ‘that’s actually possible.’ One thing the Hack a Day crew really appreciates is awesome enclosures. Altoids tins will get you far, but to step up to the big leagues you’ve got to bend some aluminum. [...]
Tags: tutorial aluminum diy tins hack classic hacks
December 06, 2011
7:01
Playing classic 60s tunes with an all electronic band
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you are considering repurposing some old computer equipment to create music, be aware that the bar has been raised just a tad. YouTube user [BD594] spent some time sifting through his bin of used electronics and put together a 5-piece band that plays a pretty awesome rendition of The Animals’ “House of the Rising [...]
Tags: equipment band computer electronic-band old-computer sifting-through classic hacks
6:01
This toy intercom system is way better than a pair of tin cans and some string
» ‎ Hack a Day

On his blog, [Kenneth Finnegan] recently showed off a replica of a fun toy he used to play with as a kid, a telephone intercom system. The setup is pretty simple, requiring little more than a pair of analog phones, a battery, and a resistor. The phones are connected to one another using a standard [...]
Tags: intercom toy system kenneth-finnegan telephone-intercom-system tin-cans analog-phones classic hacks
December 04, 2011
11:01
A keyboard for your FIGnition
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Carl] sent in his keyboard he made for his FIGnition microcomputer. At least now he has more than 8 buttons. The FIGnition is a tiny little microcomputer that harkens back to the 8-bit days of yore. Designed to be an educational computer like the Altair or Heathkit (sans blinkenlights), the FIGnition gives its students ‘bare metal’ access to everything in [...]
Tags: fignition keyboard microcomputer altair carl educational-computer heathkit bare-metal classic hacks
December 03, 2011
13:01
Reverse engineering a Korg Monotribe
» ‎ Hack a Day

Yesterday, Korg released a firmware update to their ribbon controller synth, the Monotribe. The firmware is just an audio file that needs to be played to the sync input of the box. [gravitronic] thought this was rather interesting, so he decided to decode the monotribe firmware. It’s the first step to custom Monotribe firmware, and [...]
Tags: monotribe korg firmware ribbon-controller firmware-update classic hacks
November 30, 2011
14:01
Building a computer around a 6502 processor
» ‎ Hack a Day

When it came time to try out some old-school computing [Quinn Dunki] grabbed a 6502 processor and got to work. For those that are unfamiliar, this is the first chip that was both powerful, affordable, and available to the hobby computing market back in the 1970′s. They were used in Apple computers, Commodore 64, and [...]
Tags: processor computing computer quinn-dunki commodore-64 apple-computers classic hacks
November 27, 2011
13:01
Earthquake detector could have helped during quakepocalypse
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Andrea] built a seismic wave detector that warns of a possible impending earthquake. Because P waves travel much faster than the “make everything shake” S waves, building a device that detects P waves serves as an early warning system that alerts building occupants to go under a door frame. [Andrea]‘s build detects these fast-moving P [...]
Tags: quakepocalypse detector earthquake andrea early-warning-system earthquake-detector s-waves classic hacks
November 16, 2011
5:01
Zero-G experiments will make some pretty pictures
» ‎ Hack a Day

Does a yo-yo work in zero-g? How about a paper airplane? These questions were answered in 1985 on the Space Shuttle Discovery, but reproduction of results is the cornerstone of the scientific method. [Rob] is about to reproduce some of the awesome zero-g pictures by riding on a vomit comet and taking a few pictures of [...]
Tags: zero paper work rob space-shuttle-discovery paper-airplane pretty-pictures classic hacks

November 03, 2011
15:48
CaupoShop Pro / Classic Local File Inclusion
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Exploits

CaupoShop Pro versions 2.x and 3.70 and CaupoShop Classic version 3.01 suffer from a local file inclusion vulnerability.
Tags: file classic cauposhop pro-versions vulnerability inclusion

15:48
CaupoShop Pro / Classic Local File Inclusion
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Recent Files

CaupoShop Pro versions 2.x and 3.70 and CaupoShop Classic version 3.01 suffer from a local file inclusion vulnerability.
Tags: file classic cauposhop pro-versions vulnerability inclusion

15:48
CaupoShop Pro / Classic Local File Inclusion
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Misc. Files

CaupoShop Pro versions 2.x and 3.70 and CaupoShop Classic version 3.01 suffer from a local file inclusion vulnerability.
Tags: file classic cauposhop pro-versions vulnerability inclusion

8:01
Halloween Hacks: A Jacob’s Lantern sure to win the carving contest
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Matt] entered himself in a pumpkin carving contest this year, even despite the fact that his artistic skills were a bit…lacking. He knew that he had very little chance of winning the contest unless he had a great gimmick to make his creation stand out, so he started brainstorming. [Matt] figured that since his design [...]
Tags: contest hacks halloween matt jacob artistic-skills pumpkin-carving-contest little-chance classic
October 31, 2011
8:15
Old-school projector turned digital
» ‎ Hack a Day

Who hasn’t thought about turning a 1950s slide projector into a digital projector? [Matt] did, but unlike most of us, he actually did it. [Matt]‘s friend [Angus] found an old, single-slide, sans-carousel slide projector in the trash. It’s a wonderful piece of ancient technology with a fabric insulated power cord and bakelite lamp socket. This [...]
Tags: slide old-school projector angus matt carousel-slide-projector digital-projector lamp-socket classic hacks
October 27, 2011
11:01
Recreating the Commodore PET with an FPGA
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Thomas’] love affair with Commodore computers spans well over 30 years, and not too long ago he decided to recreate one of his favorite Commodore offerings, the PET. As we have seen with similar undertakings, this sort of project is no easy task, but [Thomas] seems to be making his way along nicely. Using a [...]
Tags: fpga recreating love commodore-pet thomas commodore-computers love-affair classic hacks
October 20, 2011
12:01
Detecting DTMF tones from scratch
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you’ve ever wondered about the best way to detect dial and DTMF tones from a phone line, [Debraj] is your man. [Debraj] built a DTMF detector using the Goertzel algorithm. Normally, when we think about detecting tones, we pull FFT out of our bag of tricks. The Goertzel algorithm isn’t as computationally complex as [...]
Tags: debraj dtmf goertzel goertzel-algorithm dtmf-detector dtmf-tones classic hacks
October 18, 2011
9:01
Building the second tiniest Tetris
» ‎ Hack a Day

A few years ago, [Richard] pulled a crushed camcorder out of a junk box at a hamfest. After pulling the half-inch CRT out of the viewfinder, he needed to find a project. [Richard] ended up building the second tiniest game of Tetris we’ve ever seen. After futzing around with the CRT, [Richard] discovered that one [...]
Tags: junk camcorder crt richard tetris junk-box hamfest viewfinder classic hacks

October 17, 2011
8:00
Real Networks Netzip Classic 7.5.1 86 Buffer Overflow
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Exploits

This Metasploit module exploits a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in version 7.5.1 86 of Real Networks Netzip Classic. In order for the command to be executed, an attacker must convince someone to load a specially crafted zip file with NetZip Classic. By doing so, an attacker can execute arbitrary code as the victim user.
Tags: classic real netzip buffer-overflow-vulnerability based-buffer-overflow real-networks
8:00
Real Networks Netzip Classic 7.5.1 86 Buffer Overflow
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Exploits

This Metasploit module exploits a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in version 7.5.1 86 of Real Networks Netzip Classic. In order for the command to be executed, an attacker must convince someone to load a specially crafted zip file with NetZip Classic. By doing so, an attacker can execute arbitrary code as the victim user.
Tags: classic real netzip buffer-overflow-vulnerability based-buffer-overflow real-networks

8:00
Real Networks Netzip Classic 7.5.1 86 Buffer Overflow
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Recent Files

This Metasploit module exploits a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in version 7.5.1 86 of Real Networks Netzip Classic. In order for the command to be executed, an attacker must convince someone to load a specially crafted zip file with NetZip Classic. By doing so, an attacker can execute arbitrary code as the victim user.
Tags: classic real netzip buffer-overflow-vulnerability based-buffer-overflow real-networks
8:00
Real Networks Netzip Classic 7.5.1 86 Buffer Overflow
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Recent Files

This Metasploit module exploits a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in version 7.5.1 86 of Real Networks Netzip Classic. In order for the command to be executed, an attacker must convince someone to load a specially crafted zip file with NetZip Classic. By doing so, an attacker can execute arbitrary code as the victim user.
Tags: classic real netzip buffer-overflow-vulnerability based-buffer-overflow real-networks

8:00
Real Networks Netzip Classic 7.5.1 86 Buffer Overflow
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Misc. Files

This Metasploit module exploits a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in version 7.5.1 86 of Real Networks Netzip Classic. In order for the command to be executed, an attacker must convince someone to load a specially crafted zip file with NetZip Classic. By doing so, an attacker can execute arbitrary code as the victim user.
Tags: classic real netzip buffer-overflow-vulnerability based-buffer-overflow real-networks
8:00
Real Networks Netzip Classic 7.5.1 86 Buffer Overflow
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Misc. Files

This Metasploit module exploits a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in version 7.5.1 86 of Real Networks Netzip Classic. In order for the command to be executed, an attacker must convince someone to load a specially crafted zip file with NetZip Classic. By doing so, an attacker can execute arbitrary code as the victim user.
Tags: classic real netzip buffer-overflow-vulnerability based-buffer-overflow real-networks

October 16, 2011
9:00
Over engineering a game of Lights Out
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Bertho] might have outdone himself this time. He built a Lights Out clone for the 7400 logic competition. Lights Out is an electronic toy sold by Tiger in the mid 90s. The goal of the game is to turn a 5 by 5 grid of light up buttons off. There’s a catch, though – pressing [...]
Tags: electronic-toy mid-90s clone classic hacks
October 10, 2011
9:01
Retrofitting a 60-year old electric heater
» ‎ Hack a Day

[John] found an old Kenmore electric heater at a junk store one day, and thought it would look great in his bathroom. The only problem with the unit is that it was built back in the 1940s/1950s, so it lacked any sort of modern safeguards that you would expect from an indoor heater. There was [...]
Tags: junk-store electric-heater retrofitting classic hacks
October 06, 2011
13:01
A masochistic video card
» ‎ Hack a Day

Have a penchant for pain? Why not destroy your fingertips with a wire-wrap tool building a video card made entirely out of discrete components. When [Chris] decided to build an entry for the Dangerous Prototypes 7400 logic competition he already had his hands full. The 74xx chips he had on hand had a maximum clock [...]
Tags: penchant video card chris discrete-components video-card classic hacks
October 04, 2011
16:01
Very impressive steampunk keyboard
» ‎ Hack a Day

After spending more than 250 hours on his project, [Admiral Aaron Ravensdale]‘s steampunk keyboard is finally done. The keyboard mod was designed around a Model M. After removing the keycaps, [The Admrial] upcycled the keys from old Continental typewriters. Because his typewriters only had 47 keys and the Model M needs 104, three typewriters needed [...]
Tags: steampunk model keyboard m.-after admiral-aaron-ravensdale steampunk-keyboard admrial keycaps classic hacks
October 03, 2011
8:01
Resurrecting an XT
» ‎ Hack a Day

The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry. At least that’s what we’d tell ourselves if we couldn’t find a 30-year-old computer monitor. [Andrew] picked up an old IBM XT on eBay recently and tried to get the video working. He hasn’t seen any success yet, but the way he goes about [...]
Tags: oft couldn resurrecting andrew mice-and-men best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-men ebay classic hacks
September 29, 2011
15:01
Booting a 1989 Mac with Mario
» ‎ Hack a Day

As a new recruit to the 68k Macintosh Liberation Army, [dougg3] is really showing off his hardware hacking ability. He came up with a replacement ROM SIMM for his Mac IIci and made it play the Mario theme on boot instead of the normal chimes. Swapping out the ROM in these old macs isn’t an [...]
Tags: recruit booting rom mac-iici mario mac macintosh-liberation-army 68k-macintosh old-macs classic hacks
September 26, 2011
9:01
Capacitive sensing tutorial
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Bertho]‘s submission for the 74xx logic contest is really impressive. He designed a capacitive sensing touchpad using only 74xx and 40xx logic chips. We’re impressed with the build and his writeup is one of the best resources we’ve ever seen for capacitive sensing. There are two ways to go about designing a capacitive touchpad. The [...]
Tags: logic capacitive touchpad logic-chips writeup best-resources classic hacks
September 15, 2011
4:07
Record sound without a microcontroller
» ‎ Hack a Day

For his A-level electronic course work, [Andrew] decided to build a digital sound recorder that doesn’t use a microcontroller. [Andrew]‘s build captures audio from an on board microphone at 8000 samples/second. The audio is digitized into 8-bit sound data and sent to an SRAM. The recording and playback functions are controlled entirely by 4000-series logic chips. He [...]
Tags: sound record microcontroller andrew digital-sound-recorder logic-chips playback-functions classic hacks
September 08, 2011
4:04
Recovering data for a homemade Cray
» ‎ Hack a Day

In our hubris, we pat ourselves on the back when we’re able to pull data off our old SCSI drives. [Chris Fenton]‘s attempt to get an OS for a homebrew Cray-1 puts us rightfully to shame. Last year we saw [Chris]‘ fully functional 1/10th scale Cray-1 supercomputer built around FPGA. While the reproduction was nearly cycle-accurate, [Chris] hasn’t [...]
Tags: homemade back pat chris chris-fenton cray-1 recovering-data hubris classic hacks
September 01, 2011
11:01
Highway based soundtrack recordings
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Urpo Lankinen] has a father who is a huge movie buff, and once you care deeply about something it begins appearing everywhere you look. While driving on a back-country road one day, [Urpo]‘s dad noticed that the shadows of the trees on the road looked like an optical film soundtrack, so it was up to [...]
Tags: road urpo soundtrack movie-buff soundtrack-recordings optical-film classic hacks
August 20, 2011
6:00
High Voltage Hacks: shrinking coins
» ‎ Hack a Day

The anthem for the Great Recession might be something along the lines of, “That we’re gonna do it anyway, even if doesn’t pay.” Some men just want to watch the world burn, so Hackerbot Labs posted a great walkthrough about shrinking coins and in the process making our pocket change worth just a little bit [...]
Tags: high hacks voltage t-pay high-voltage recession classic
August 19, 2011
15:34
Adding wireless controls to vintage stereo equipment
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Jean] was shopping around for a vintage stereo receiver, and happened upon a broken, but repairable Marantz 4240. After getting things back to working order, he thought it would be great if he could use his iPhone to remotely control the unit (PDF Writeup, Schematics and Code). He scrounged around for parts, and after locating a [...]
Tags: equipment stereo vintage jean stereo-receiver iphone stereo-equipment classic hacks
August 16, 2011
6:01
Easy to build Z80 single board computer
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Alexis] sent in a single board computer he’s been working on. The project goal of his build was making it easily reproducible. From looking at the schematics, it’s one of the simplest fully-functional computers we’ve seen. The build runs CP/M 2.2 off of two 3.5 inch floppies. This opens up a lot of options as [...]
Tags: board easy computer single-board-computer inch-floppies project-goal classic hacks
August 14, 2011
6:00
Playing SNES with an R/C controller
» ‎ Hack a Day

Normally when we see an R/C transmitter used in a build we’re prepared for robots, quadcopters, or UAVs. [Alex] found a new use for his Futaba radio – hooking it up to his Super Nintendo. We’ve seen a lot of builds using game controllers as interfaces to other hardware. The N64 media remote comes to [...]
Tags: controller snes transmitter alex futaba-radio game-controllers super-nintendo classic hacks
August 12, 2011
10:01
Overhaul an old mechanical keyboard
» ‎ Hack a Day

Deskthority forum user [lowpoly] recently posted a writeup on his complete overhaul of an Apple M0110 mechanical keyboard. Any one familiar with the satisfying clack of a good mechanical key under their fingers can appreciate the effort put into this project. [lowpoly] removed the keyboard’s PCB, rewired the key matrix adding diodes, built in a [...]
Tags: overhaul deskthority keyboard apple mechanical-keyboard mechanical-key forum-user classic hacks
August 11, 2011
4:05
Add a real life hardware terminal to that newfangled computer of yours
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you find a crusty old IT guy and give him half a chance, he’ll probably regale you with stories of how things were done “in the old days” where no one had their own computer and everyone worked on mainframe-connected dumb terminals. [JSTN] yearned for a true to life terminal display that he could [...]
Tags: terminal life computer hardware-terminal dumb-terminals half-a-chance classic hacks
August 09, 2011
11:01
God’s own keyboard, now with Bluetooth
» ‎ Hack a Day

For decades a thunderous roar rose from the bowels of IBM keyboards like the animus of angry and forgotten gods. These keyboards have fallen silent of late, due only to incompatibility with newer hardware. Now, Model Ms have been given a reprieve from landfills or recycling centers because of the work of [wulax] of geekhack and his [...]
Tags: roar bluetooth keyboard god thunderous-roar forgotten-gods model-ms classic hacks
August 06, 2011
15:00
Quick and easy audio preamp
» ‎ Hack a Day

The most recent installment of [Dino Segovis’] Hack a Week covers the construction of a simple NPN transistor audio preamp. Some time ago, he built a small audio amplifier using an LM386 which worked well, but didn’t quite get his music as loud as he would like it. He decided to build a preamp to [...]
Tags: quick preamp installment dino-segovis npn-transistor audio-amplifier lm386 classic hacks
August 05, 2011
8:01
Building a computer out of 555 chips
» ‎ Hack a Day

[M. Eric Carr] came up with an interesting build for the 555 contest earlier this year, and we’re pretty sure that it would have kicked the winner of the complex category off the throne if it were completed. Although it’s a few months late, we’re happy to feature at least part of his 555-based computer [...]
Tags: year contest computer m.-eric-carr eric-carr building-a-computer based-computer classic hacks
August 03, 2011
14:01
Dedicated hacker adds USB capabilities to his Commodore 64
» ‎ Hack a Day

To say that Commodore 64 aficionados are a dedicated group would be quite the understatement. There are still quite a few individuals that spend all sorts of time building and programming for the C64 in order to make using them enjoyable, and to keep up to date with current technologies. [Luigi] is one of these [...]
Tags: commodore hacker dedicated luigi commodore-64 current-technologies understatement classic hacks
August 02, 2011
15:01
Classic game cabinet becomes a drivable car
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Garnet Hertz], a professor and “artist in residence” at UC Irvine, built a drivable Outrun arcade cabinet for an experiment in augmented reality. The old fiberglass and wood cabinet was hacked up and the motors, wheels, and drive train from an electric golf cart were stuffed inside. The original steering wheel and pedals were used [...]
Tags: game cabinet car garnet-hertz irvine electric-golf-cart arcade-cabinet classic hacks

August 01, 2011
17:49
Cooking With Mifare Classic
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Recent Files

This whitepaper gives a short inside of hacking Mifare Classic. Mifare Classic is a inexpensive, entry-level chip, based on ISO/IEC 14443 Type A, 1kB or 4kB. It uses the 13.56 Mhz contactless smartcard standard, proprietary CRYPTO1 with 48 bits keys. There is no protection against cloning or modifications. Anyone with 50 EUR reading can use this weakness against their infrastructure. This cookbook is a proof of concept demonstrating how easy it can be done.
Tags: cooking classic mifare proof-of-concept 1kb whitepaper

17:49
Cooking With Mifare Classic
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Misc. Files

This whitepaper gives a short inside of hacking Mifare Classic. Mifare Classic is a inexpensive, entry-level chip, based on ISO/IEC 14443 Type A, 1kB or 4kB. It uses the 13.56 Mhz contactless smartcard standard, proprietary CRYPTO1 with 48 bits keys. There is no protection against cloning or modifications. Anyone with 50 EUR reading can use this weakness against their infrastructure. This cookbook is a proof of concept demonstrating how easy it can be done.
Tags: cooking classic mifare proof-of-concept 1kb whitepaper

July 31, 2011
8:00
Commodore 64 USB controller adapter for your PC
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Frank], like many people, has a soft spot in his heart for the Commodore 64. He prefers to play his C64 games on his computer nowadays, but likes using his old school Competition Pro rather than some modern controller with remapped buttons. The only problem with using the controller is that his new computer doesn’t [...]
Tags: commodore controller computer frank commodore-64 controller-adapter c64-games classic hacks
July 29, 2011
11:58
IR communications tutorial
» ‎ Hack a Day

After seeing our communications via light post , reader [Chris] dropped this handy little link in our inbox. A very good tutorial about using infrared to enable communications between 2 pic micro controllers. The tutorial covers all the parts you will need, physical wiring and schematics with notes detailing each section of the circuit. It [...]
Tags: tutorial reader post chris pic-micro-controllers ir-communications schematics classic hacks
July 25, 2011
6:04
Clocks built from old aircraft surplus parts
» ‎ Hack a Day

A few years ago, Tube Clock forum member[Sine1040] bought a set of four brand new aircraft indicator units that were built some time in the early 70’s. He had no idea what the units were actually used for, but he did know that he could repurpose them into some pretty slick looking clocks. He disassembled [...]
Tags: surplus clocks aircraft clock-forum new-aircraft forum-member classic hacks
July 22, 2011
12:30
Resistor substitution box
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Vincent] on the EEVblog forums had an idea for an inexpensive resistor substitution decade box. The build uses cheap decimal thumbwheel switches he bought on eBay. Each switch is wired up with resistors for each digit, and each switch is wired up in series. The result is a small, easy to read resistor box with [...]
Tags: substitution box resistor vincent thumbwheel-switches resistors classic hacks
July 20, 2011
14:01
Followup: portable SID player is now PC output
» ‎ Hack a Day

When we first covered [Markus]‘ portable SID player we starting dreaming about an alternative universe circa 1987 that included a pocket-sized music player called the Commodore ePod. [Markus]‘ updated firmware that connects his SID player to a PC will have to do for now, we suppose. The new firmware boots the Portable SID player as either a [...]
Tags: followup player firmware markus commodore-epod sid sid-player sized-music epod classic hacks
July 19, 2011
9:01
[Jeri Ellsworth] builds a software radio
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Jeri Ellsworth] has been working on a direct conversion receiver using an FPGA as an oscillator and a PC sound card DSP. Being the excellent presenter she is, she first goes through the history and theory of radio reception (fast forward to 1:30), before digging into the meat of the build (parts 2 and 3 [...]
Tags: radio ellsworth jeri direct-conversion-receiver jeri-ellsworth software-radio classic hacks
July 07, 2011
10:07
Infrared control for appliances
» ‎ Hack a Day

[RB] at Embedded Lab sent in a great guide on how to control appliances with a remote control using a really clever implementation of a decade counter and IR receiver. The build itself is very simple – just a relay connected to mains power and a handful of resistors and transistors. The device is controlled [...]
Tags: clever-implementation decade-counter mains-power classic hacks
July 05, 2011
4:07
Augmented reality game could come from the seventies
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Niklas Roy] sent in a project he just completed called PING! Augmented Pixel. At first glance the entire build is just a plain jane retro video game stuffed into an ATmega8 but looks can be deceiving. The video game is actually an augmented reality device that inserts a pixel into a video feed. The bouncing [...]
Tags: video game augmented niklas-roy atmega8 reality-game first-glance classic hacks
June 29, 2011
7:50
Tesla coil bullet-time photography
» ‎ Hack a Day

One thing we can all probably agree on is that Tesla coils are one part high-voltage electricity and two parts pure awesome. [Rob Flickenger] thinks so too, and he built a pretty nice one in his workshop some time ago. He took a bunch of pictures showing off the coil’s capabilities, but he thought that [...]
Tags: photography tesla coil rob-flickenger tesla-coils voltage-electricity classic hacks
June 25, 2011
9:00
Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring Emotiphone!
» ‎ Hack a Day

Instructables user [zvizvi] was working on putting together a portfolio for his application into Industrial Design school, and thought it would be neat to repurpose an old rotary phone that used to belong to his grandmother. He originally had pretty lofty goals for the phone, but eventually pared back his vision to include one-way communications [...]
Tags: emotiphone ring phone old-rotary-phone lofty-goals way-communications classic hacks
June 24, 2011
10:30
“Zero overhead” Z80 computer focuses on performance
» ‎ Hack a Day

There’s something quite satisfying about building your own computer. Nowadays, constructing your own desktop PC is relatively easy, so if you really want to get your hands dirty, you have to take a step back in time and give some vintage hardware a spin. [YT2095] has spent a good portion of the last two months [...]
Tags: zero overhead computer building-your-own-computer vintage-hardware step-back-in-time classic hacks
June 23, 2011
5:06
Tiny Morse code trainer
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Eric] wanted to teach his kids Morse code, so he built a tiny Morse code trainer. [Eric] built the trainer around an ATtiny85, and the rest of the circuit follows this minimalist idea. After connecting a piezo beeper and 6-pin ISP header, the only thing left to do was write a little code and start [...]
Tags: trainer code tiny morse eric morse-code-trainer beeper classic hacks
June 19, 2011
8:12
Modding a car charger to a variable power supply
» ‎ Hack a Day

For an upcoming road trip, [Patrick] needed a small variable power supply. Instead of lugging around a bench supply, [Patrick] did the sensible thing and reverse engineered a cell phone charger to fit his requirements. After cracking open an old Kyocera car charger, [Patrick] found a small PCB with completely labeled, all through-hole components – [...]
Tags: supply charger car patrick variable-power-supply cell-phone-charger hole-components classic hacks
June 17, 2011
4:06
Homebrew TTL logic computer
» ‎ Hack a Day

Although [Jack] just graduated High School and doesn’t have much experience with electronics, that didn’t stop him from building the DUO Adept, a homebrew computer built entirely out of TTL logic chips. The DUO Adept has 64k of memory, 6K of which is dedicated to the video ram that outputs a 240×208 black and white [...]
Tags: logic ttl homebrew jack ttl-logic-chips homebrew-computer logic-computer classic hacks
June 14, 2011
16:01
Turning beer cans into bells with 35kV
» ‎ Hack a Day

It looks like we now have another way to annoy ourselves with extremely high voltage. The bells operate under the same principles as the electrostatic see-saw we covered last month. A voltage is applied to one can while the other can is grounded. An insulated pendulum is placed between each can, and with a little [...]
Tags: voltage turning beer beer-cans high-voltage pendulum classic hacks
June 10, 2011
4:06
Displaying graphics on an oscilloscope
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Andrew Rossignol] was curious one day and decided that he wanted to display graphics on an oscilloscope after playing around with the X and Y inputs. [Andrew] started out with a resistor ladder on the DAC of his AVR Butterfly. He was able to to draw a line on the oscilloscope’s screen but bandwidth limitations [...]
Tags: day displaying oscilloscope andrew andrew-rossignol bandwidth-limitations displaying-graphics curious-one classic hacks
June 09, 2011
15:01
Gigantic ball-manipulating binary computer
» ‎ Hack a Day

The folks at Evil Mad Scientist Labs just put up a post on the giant mechanical binary computer they brought to last month’s Maker Faire. As a faithful reproduction of the Digi-Comp II from the 1960s, every operation is powered by balls falling onto levers. Unlike the original, the larger version is powered by billiard [...]
Tags: gigantic evil computer faithful-reproduction mad-scientist levers classic hacks
11:01
Another Smarter Water Heater Timer
» ‎ Hack a Day

When notes stuck to the water heater failed [Ryan] decided to whip up “the world’s most expensive 240V relay” using a servo, a real time clock and of course an Arduino. All in an attempt to save a buck or two thanks to LA’s “Time-of-Use program”. Using a protoshield Ryan soldered up a RTC module [...]
Tags: real-time-clock arduino water-heater classic hacks
June 08, 2011
5:06
Vintage peripheral hacks roundup
» ‎ Hack a Day

A few days ago, we featured an Apple ][ USB keyboard mod, and several readers chimed in sharing their own retro conversions in the comments section. We had no idea that many of you had made similar modifications of your own, so here’s a quick roundup of what your fellow Hackaday readers have put together. [...]
Tags: vintage apple roundup apple-usb-keyboard hackaday comments-section classic hacks
June 06, 2011
16:01
Apple ][ converted into USB keyboard
» ‎ Hack a Day

Sometimes it’s apparent that there is no practical use for something featured on Hack a Day, but we don’t know if [Andrew Filer]‘s Apple ][ USB keyboard qualifies for this. After reading through the very thorough documentation available in electronic and dead tree formats, [Andrew] decided that Apple ][ would make a great USB keyboard. [...]
Tags: apple usb keyboard andrew-filer andrew apple-usb-keyboard filer hack classic hacks
8:01
DIY digital bench power supply
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Guido Socher] built himself a great little bench power supply that’s able to put out 30 Volts at 2 Amps. Instead of taking the easy way out by putting a few taps on an ATX power supply, this project was built around a generic 24 Volt laptop power brick. An ATmega8 generates a PWM signal [...]
Tags: supply power bench guido-socher atx-power-supply power-brick laptop-power classic hacks
June 04, 2011
10:13
Build your own panoramic pinhole camera
» ‎ Hack a Day

While it seems that the digital camera is king, some people still love shooting with good old 35mm film – [Costas Kaounas], a high school teacher and photographer certainly does. He recently published plans for a great-looking 35mm pinhole camera over at DIY photography that we thought you might enjoy. [Costas] put together a set [...]
Tags: camera pinhole costas high-school-teacher pinhole-camera classic hacks
June 03, 2011
12:37
[Dino] celebrates the 131st anniversary of the Photophone
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Dino Segovis] wrote in to share yet another installment of his Hack a Week series, though this one is quite timely. It was 131 years ago today that [Alexander Graham Bell] unveiled the Photophone to the world. A precursor to fiber optic technology, [Bell’s] incredibly important invention can be easily replicated in your garage, as [...]
Tags: photophone anniversary installment alexander-graham-bell dino dino-segovis fiber-optic-technology classic hacks
8:01
Portable SID plays chiptunes
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Markus] on the DangerousPrototypes forum came up with a great little SID player. The SID was (is?) the awesome sound generation chip inside the Commodore 64, and along with Game Boys and NESs laid the foundation for the chiptune scene. We’re happy to finally see a small SID player that doesn’t resort to SID emulation [...]
Tags: dangerousprototypes portable player markus sid sid-player commodore-64 generation-chip classic hacks