If you own a modern amateur radio here’s an open source software project you’ll find useful. It’s called CHIRP, and supports programming of a large number of manufacturers and models, and provides a way to interface with multiple data sources and formats. Rigs included are ICOM (including D-Star models), Yaesu, Kenwood, TYT, Alinco, Baofeng and […]
Author Archives: the machinegeek
ATtiny45 project adds sound activation to PC
Here’s an interesting fun project for the ATtiny45 which lets you wake up your PC by just knocking. Joonas Pihlajamaa posted the detailed project log at CodeAndLife. He describes, “Hardware-wise it’s a simple thing – ATtiny45 emulating a PS/2 device, sending a keypress when three knocks are detected in the attached piezoelectric sensor (or piezo […]
Mouser free TI FRAM MCU webinar
Mouser is sponsoring a free webinar on MSP430 FRAM MCUs. This event will provide a technical introduction to embedded FRAM, and provide reference designs that can help with your next project. The sponsors state that attendees will be entered for a chance to win a TI FRAM MSP-EXP430 Experimenter Board Kit. The webinar is set […]
TI samples MSP430F5259 ultra-low power MCU
TI has announced they’re accepting requests for samples of their MSP430F5259 Ultra-Low Power MCU. It features 1.8V split-rail I/O architecture without need for level shifters, 128Kb flash memory and 32Kb RAM for wireless protocol integration and eight serial interfaces for communication to sensors or peripheral devices. The component is available in 5mm X 5mm BGA […]
DIY R-Pi based haunted mansion portrait
Brandon Etto designed this changing portrait Halloween prop. The hardware consists of a Raspberry Pi (Model B) and a 19″ widescreen LCD Monitor. Construction details and code links can be found on MAKE.
Blackhat Euro: cheap open source USB drive write blocker
At last year’s Blackhat Europe con, Philip A. Polstra, Sr. from the University of Dubuque gave a presentation detailing how to protect your USB security drive toolkit from auto erasure by the target machine. He describes the design of an open source USB flash drive write blocker based on the FTDI VNC2 MCU. His presentation […]
Propeller Halloween pumpkin project
This project uses a Parallax Propeller Project board with microSD card attached, PIR sensor, LM386 Audio Amp, IRL520 FET and associated discrete components to make an animated Halloween prop. The PIR inside the pumpkin senses motion and when triggered it plays a WAV file from a microSD Card while flashing an internal light, causing an […]
Dynamo powered LED bicycle taillight
Martin uses a dynamo to power his bicycle taillight and wanted to find a way for it to remain lit when the bicycle was not in motion. He sent in this quick hack he used, adding a supercap in the taillight circuit, which powers the light without the need for batteries. Via the contact form.
Simple Propeller GPS status display
If you’ve ever wanted to know how many GPS satellites are receivable at your location here’s a good beginneer’s Propller project that provides the answer. Its a GPS status display project Nick Ernst developed written in SPIN code and using a Propeller Mini Board, VPN11513 GPS Receiver, shift register and 7-Segment LED display. “The Propeller […]
libfitbit: open source Fitbit API
Today there are a number of wearable fitness monitoring products with the Fitbit family among the more popular choices. While Fitbit has made an API available for developers to interact with Fitbit data in their own applications, products and services, the product is not open source. There is an open source alternative API developed by […]
TI glass breakage detector design and sample kit offer
TI is making samples available of of components used in their new glass breakage detector. This simple glass-breakage detector solution describes a simple glass breakage detector using the MSP430F2274 and was developed to operate at low power, allowing long battery life. The algorithm is based on the spectral analysis of a typical glass breakage signal […]
How to choose an open source hardware license
Makers in the open source hardware community are usually more preoccupied with tech details, with licensing considerations being an afterthought. This can lead to unintended consequences resulting from releasing a design under what proves to be either too permissive or restrictive. Simone Cicero tries to clear up confusion over characteristics and implications of the various […]
Intro to Software Defined Radio (SDR) using cheap TV tuner dongles
If you see posts relating to USB dongle SDR’s and wonder what everyone’s talking about, this video is for you. In this presentation from last weekend’s Hack3rCon 4 conference in Charleston, WV, Justin Rogosky covers the basics relating to using the familiar RTL-SDR TV tuner dongles to monitor obscure portions of the radio spectrum.
Free download: SSTV Handbook
Drone found this while perusing the Southgate ARC site: Here is the 176 page E-book “Image Communication on Short Waves, ham radio handbook for SSTV, WEFAX and digital SSTV”, by Martin Bruchanov, OK2MNM. The book is offered as a free .pdf download. But a contribution is requested, and is well deserved. The book is a […]
Propeller II: Emulation of the P2 on DE0-NANO & DE2-115 FPGA boards
The Propeller 2 is Parallax’s next gen release of the popular Propeller multi-core MCU. The Parallax Forum has a thread discussing emulation of the P2 on DE0-NANO & DE2-115 FPGA boards. The latest code (FPGA, pnut.exe, documents) are all in one zip with info on this post in the Parallax forum.
Visual Studio Express 2013 downloads available
The Visual Studio Team shares the news that Visual Studio Express 2013 is now available for download. Visual Studio Express 2013 provides Microsoft’s latest version of this popular free software, which allows developers to quickly and easily create applications for devices, cloud, desktop, server and game console platforms, and includes integrated debugging tools. (While we […]
Receiving, decoding and decrypting GSM with RTL-SDR
Domi007 has been experimenting with using the RTL-SDR dongle to receive and analyze GSM signals for research and academic purposes. He has posted a four parttutorial explaining his use of GNU Radio companion, Wireshark and other open source software to receive and analyze and decode GSM packets. The above link is for part one of […]
VT100 BeagleBone Mod
Brendan Powers writes, “I’ve recently finished my DEC VT100 BeagleBone mod project. You can find the details, including schematic and board files here.” He’s designed an STP add-on board for the VT100 series terminals that allows the use of an internal BeageBone instead of an external serial connected computer. Via the contact form .
Hacking OTP/eTokens
Dmitry had a OTP/eToken in his gadget collection which he no longer needed. He decided to crack open the device to see what was inside and shares his findings in this blog post. He found a Microchip PIC16F913 and ICSP connect points, which allowed him to reprogram the device into a keychain-sized timer. Via the […]
App note: Propeller communication with a PC app
Abstract: Many embedded applications share information with external devices, and the preferred connection between devices is asynchronous serial communications. The multicore architecture of the P8X32A enables the designer to create and deploy device-to-device communications strategies with no impact on the primary application code. In this example a deployed communications support cog manages data between the […]