Sasa Karanovic posted detailed instructions of how to build a physical dashboard for your PC, that is available on GitHub: The overall architecture is very simple; There is a python script that is running on a PC and collects CPU, memory, network and GPU usage. Then, it sends that information over serial COM port to […]
Category Archives: DIY
The Annoying CAPS LOCK warning buzzer
Glen Akins made a USB notification device that make annoying warning noise when CAPS LOCK is enabled: The only way to make CAPS LOCK even more annoying was to make it audible! Now never type a password in all upper case, join 500 lines together in vi, or turn a harmless forum post into an […]
Sequence controller
Eric Gunnerson has been working on a sequence controller project: Yeah. Those pins are beautifully aligned a very precise 0.1” from where they are supposed to be… Pro tip: Print out your design and put your components on it so that you can check the design. Meta pro tip: Follow your pro tips. Anyway, that’s […]
DIY AD9833 signal generator
Daumemo has been working on a DIY signal generator based on an AD9833 IC: In this post I am going to continue with the DIY signal generator based on the AD9833 IC where I have left in the previous part. Earlier, I have talked how I had built my first analog signal generator’s stage – […]
Pogo pins + laser cutter = test fixture
Eric Gunnerson made this DIY pogo-pin test jig: I decided to build a pogo-pin test jig, and since the approach I came up with was different than the other approaches I’ve seen I thought it would be worth sharing. I’m going to be targeting my laser cutter for fabrication, though I could have chosen to […]
FM stereo radio receiver with RDS
Dilshan Jayakody has published a new build: This tuner circuit is a quick prototype which I build to test the RDA5807M FM radio tuner IC. RDA5807M is a single-chip tuner IC with RDS and MPX decoder, and it equipped with I2C interface for control. This receiver builds around Atmel’s ATmega16A 8-bit MCU. The output stage […]
“Cigarette Pack”- 14MHz SSB QRP Micro-Transceiver
Peter Rachow (DK7IH) built a 14MHz SSB QRP Micro-transceiver into a cigarette packet size case: This article describes the “Cigarette Pack” SSB QRP transceiver” for 14MHz that I first had mentioned some months before. Recently, when taking it from the shelf, the transceiver dropped to the floor and was severely damaged. This lead to serious […]
Building a DIY 2.4 GHz Helical feed for the QO-100/Es’Hail-2 satellite
In this video Adam 9A4QV demonstrates his 2.4 GHz homemade helical feed for the QO-100/Es’Hail-2 satellite. Via RTL-SDR.
Building a bluetooth DAC with Raspberry Pi Zero W
Sami Pietikainen has written an article detailing the build of his Bluetooth DAC using Raspberry Pi Zero W: My car comes with a built-in Bluetooth hands-free but unfortunately it does not support audio streaming. Luckily there is an AUX input available which uses a regular 3,5 mm jack. Perfect opportunity for a DIY project. I built the […]
A DIY SMD pick and place tool for electronics assembly
Here’s a DIY vacuum pick-up tool for SMD components: This video describes a DIY Vacuum Pick-up tool for picking and placing parts from an SMD component tape. The basic design for this tool involves using a vacuum pump and a solenoid to control the vacuum to a handpiece under control of a foot pedal. Via SDG […]
63 dB step attenuator
DuWayne published a new build: While I was working on the power meter function for the latest version of the SNA, I used several fixed attenuators for checking linearity and calibration. It would be a lot easier if I had a variable step attenuator. I have several digital controlled attenuator modules that I bought one […]
DC40 receiver
Michael LeBlanc has a nice write-up on building a direct conversion radio receiver: In the late winter of 2018-19, I decided to build a receiver that would provide a performance improvement to the regen I built a couple of years ago. I wanted the radio to receive AM and SSB signals between 160m and 20m […]
Temperature/weather station
B. Perry writes: I’ve always been fond of the popular Nixie clocks made from old surplus Soviet nixie tubes. Nixie tubes are no longer made, so they’re hard to acquire. Instead, I took inspiration from “Lixie” displays and made my own Nixie-inspired, LED-powered display. And in an unusual twist (for me, anyway), I didn’t make […]
6CY7 dual triode valve amplifier
Josh built this 6CY7 dual triode valve amplifier: I’ve always wanted to know what the “tube magic” was all about. There is much opinion in the science of music production, probably because music and its perception is highly personal and subjective. Ive always imagined that since transistor amplifiers were “perfect” with their large amounts of […]
Making a SPL dB meter
Shawon Shahryiar over at Embedded Lab shared a how-to on making a SPL dB meter: Sound needs a medium for propagation or travel. It can’t travel in vacuum. Normally air is that medium but sound can also propagate in liquids and other states of matter. I am not going to lecture on how sound travels […]
Building your own 555 timer IC
The classic 555 timer on a breadboard: Here, I will show how you can make your own version of the 555 timer using just NAND gates, opamps , a transistor and a few resistors! Now, you may think what is the purpose of building this when you can buy the IC at very cheap rates. […]
Fuzz Factory replica
Adam Zeloof made his own guitar pedal based on the Zvex Fuzz Factory: The Z.VEX Fuzz Factory is an amazing little fuzz pedal designed by musical and electrical wizard Zachary Vex. I was introduced to it through Matt Bellamy‘s unique guitar style, and fell in love with its out-of-this-world sound. While I was tempted to […]
Simple digital clock with PIC16F628A and DS1307 and 7-segment LED display
A simple digital clock with PIC16F628A + DS1307: In this new project I am again using PIC16F628A microcontroller. The goal is simple digital clock with 7-segment LED display and the clock will have no additional functionality – no alarm, no seconds digits, no date. The latter can be added in the software though. For the […]
Phase-locked inverter
Here’s a great write-up on building a phase-locked inverter from mitxela.com: The input is at 50Hz and the output is at 60Hz. So for every 5 input cycles, we want to generate 6 output cycles. We will be synthesizing a sine wave in software, and there’s no reason not to go with a conventional lookup […]
PortL2 – Portable electric vehicle charger
Here’s a project log covering the build of a portable level 2 electric vehicle charger by Andrew Rossignol: This is a battery-powered EV charger that allows destination charging where L2 charging is not ordinarily available. This can be used as a range extender for electric vehicles with smaller batteries. This system has a ~7kWh battery […]