Items Tag › RIT Make Club Idea Stream

I posted to hackaday.com

Tube preamp with a dazzling wood case

http://hackaday.com/2010/08/28/tube-preamp-with-a-dazzling-wood-case/

It’s been a while since we’ve looked in on the world of vacuum tube audio equipment. [Bruce] just finished documenting a tube preamp he built. He actually made a couple of these with slightly different cases but they use the same circuit design. We found his discussion of common errors made when tying into ground quite interesting. It seems that many folks struggle with noise in their circuits because of ground loops. There’s some details about isolating the signal ground from a metal chassis, and also an admonition about not connecting the input or output jacks directly the chassis.

If you like this, don’t miss on of our favorite tube projects, [Bruce's] Poddwatt.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- tube
- wood
- Ground
- preamp
August 28 2010, 10:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Adventures in Consumer Electronics Control (CEC)

http://hackaday.com/2010/08/24/adventures-in-consumer-electronics-control-cec/

[Valkyrie-MT] was frustrated by the inability to control TrueHD audio volume from his computer. That’s because digital audio passes through the cable to the receiver where the volume adjustments are done. This meant that his RF computer remote was no good because the receiver uses an IR remote. He set out to find a way to get around this and ended up working with the Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) protocol.

The CEC protocol is a 1-wire serial bus built into the HDMI standard. The solution he settled up required one solder connection on the motherboard as well as the internal USB translator module seen above. That translator box, called the RainShadow, is a PIC 18F87J50 controlled board that translates incoming commands from the USB connection and sends them out as CEC hex codes. A bit of code writing and [Valkyrie-MT] is in business. You can see in the video after the break that it’s not just controlling audio, he can now control the entire entertainment center including turning on the TV and setting it to the appropriate input.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- pic
- audio
- hdmi
- cec
- consumer electronics control
- 18f87j50
- trueHD
August 24 2010, 2:24pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Giving an IR transmitter some strength

http://hackaday.com/2010/08/22/giving-an-ir-transmitter-some-strength/

[Jkx] was using a Thomson VS360U video transmitter to make a wireless connection between a cable box and his television. The system using an RF remote, but relies on an IR transmitter to communicate between the base station and the cable box. He found the IR module that comes with the device is under-powered and set out to fix the situation. Using a scope he found the pin that drives the IR LED. The board above contains a boost circuit that patches into voltage and ground, using the pin he sniffed out to control the base of a transistor. Now the device has enough power to reliably control the cable box.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- ir
- RF
- transmitter
- transistor
- thomson
- video sender
- vs360u
August 22 2010, 1:08pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Laminar water jet explained

http://hackaday.com/2010/08/22/laminar-water-jet-explained/

[Dave] has put together this laminar water jet, mainly from PVC and drinking straws. There isn’t a project page, but he does go into a little depth explaining how it works. The water enters at the bottom and is slowed down by a series of sponges, then forced through a column of drinking straws. It then pools at the top before being forced through a perfectly smooth and sharp nozzle. We did manage to find this other video, making one for $15 that has a ton of information and links. How long before we see a submission of a complete music synchronized fountain in one of our readers yard?
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- water
- fountain
August 22 2010, 9:34am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Cybraphon, rocks hard to the mood of the internet

http://hackaday.com/2010/08/13/cybraphon-rocks-hard-to-the-mood-of-the-internet/

Start off with a beat, wood sticks on cigar boxes will do. Add some chimes as accent, a Farfisa organ or record player for a voice, several other instruments for harmony and dissonance, and you’re still just on the tip of the iceberg for understanding Cybraphon.

Not only is this antique wardrobe completely autonomous, playing music with over 60 robotic instruments, its song are based on the current mood of the internet. You definitely don’t want to miss the video (or pictures) on this one, catch it after the rift.

[Thanks to PsychoNerd91]
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- organ
- internet
- beat
- record player
- mood
- cybraphon
- farfisa
- chimes
- cigar box
August 13 2010, 7:49am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Racing game uses a physical race track and vehicle

http://hackaday.com/2010/08/04/racing-game-uses-a-physical-race-track-and-vehicle/

Racer is a racing video game with a very real element. The player sits in an arcade-style console; wheel, pedals, shifter, and television display. But in what must be an homage to Tron the game taking place is very real. You can see the track above, designed in CAD and cut from cardboard, which is navigated by that little vehicle the gentleman holds in his hand. It’s wireless and broadcasts video back to the control console. What we have here is a homemade drone but for now it’s confined to the gaming grid. Don’t miss the demos after the break.

There’s a followup demo to the clip above but we were unable to embed it.

[Thanks Hideki]
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- cad
- rc
- cardboard
- video game
- racing
- tron
August 4 2010, 11:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Robot boxing with wrist watches

http://hackaday.com/2010/08/03/robot-boxing-with-wrist-watches/

The classic injection molded plastic Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots has been upgraded to use motion control. The project uses four TI Chronos watches, one on each wrist of both players. In the video after the break we get a good look at the guts of the base unit. We’re quite impressed with the quality craftsmanship that went into retrofitting the plastic bots with four servos each. The electronics include some bells and whistles such as an SD card that records scores and can replay a match via saved inputs. If you’ve got a couple of these watches on hand we’d love to see you port this project and make it a Punchout controller.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- Robots
- servo
- plastic
- watch
- ez430
- chronos
August 3 2010, 2:09pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Hardware hack 3D, software still needed

http://hackaday.com/2010/08/02/hardware-hack-3d-software-still-needed/

If you’re on the fence about 3D TV and related technologies [Anton B.] might be able to help you decide. No, he’s not going to shove pamphlets in your face and explain why its the wave of the future. Rather, by showing the hack-ability (its a word) of 3D shutter glasses. A simple bridge of wire across specific contacts can ‘trick’ the glasses into only displaying only the left or right picture.

Wouldn’t that make it just a regular 2D TV again? Yes, that’s the beauty of it. Person A could be watching a completely separate movie pr0n than person B, but all on the same TV. Or two people could be playing a video game, without dividing the screen in half. The only problem is the current lack of software that can interlace movies/games, who’s up for writing some C++ this weekend?
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- hardware
- glasses
- shutter
- softare
August 2 2010, 10:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Super simple gaming controller for Android or iPhone

http://hackaday.com/2010/07/29/super-simple-gaming-controller-for-android-or-iphone/

If you’ve got an iPhone or Android device that you use with a Wii remote when gaming, this quick hack will give you the third hand you need to manage all of that hardware. [Syanni85] mounted his Android phone to a Wii wheel for just a few dollars in parts. He ran across the wheel itself at the dollar store, and the phone is held in place using a universal mounting bracket. A small square pad sticks onto the back of any device and mates with a base. He cut off the unnecessary parts of the base and glued it to the back of the wheel.

If you haven’t tried using a Wii remote with your phone yet, find out how to do it with iPhone or with Android.
- Tags:
- cellphones hacks
- android
- home entertainment hacks
- iPhone
- remote
- wii
- iphone hacks
- nintendo hacks
- emulator
- wheel
July 29 2010, 11:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

All that’s needed is a retro paintjob, miniMAME

http://hackaday.com/2010/07/22/all-thats-needed-is-a-retro-paintjob-minimame/

[Tim's] miniMAME‘s construction follows the “light and cheap” approach, using foam core board and hot glue. Sure it won’t last a nuclear attack, but at least it’s light enough to carry to a friend’s house.

With a removable netbook at the core, CCFLs, speakers, trackball, and mini arcade fighting stick, the project completely surpassed our expectations. For those looking to build a miniMAME, [Tim] includes lots of pictures, details, and plans allowing anyone to make their own in about an afternoon.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- mame
- game
- netbook
- mini
- light
- cabinet
- fun
July 22 2010, 7:24pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Making mobile audio work at home

http://hackaday.com/2010/07/22/making-mobile-audio-work-at-home/

[Nikita] made a great find while cleaning out his garage: a set of audio amplifiers from a 1986 Volvo. After a bit of testing, he dislodged a stuck relay and set out to use these amps for a home audio system. He grabbed some left over brackets from his TV mount and used them as rail mounts. On the back he wired standard speaker connectors and RCA connectors to the wiring harness for the amplifiers. The final aspect is powering up the device, for which he used his ATX psu previously modified as a bench supply. 130-Watts of power for the cost of a few connectors.

We surprise to find we haven’t covered this common ATX bench-supply conversion before. What we have seen is an adapter to use one as a bench supply.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- amplifier
- atx
- psu
- amp
- volvo
July 22 2010, 12:54pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Nixie Sudoku: a look at the hardware

http://hackaday.com/2010/07/19/nixie-sudoku-a-look-at-the-hardware/

We’re always happy to receive a tour of the guts that make things work. [John Sarik] posted several pictures and descriptions of the hardware that makes up his Nixie Sudoku build. The modular design uses professionally made circuit boards which greatly improve the durability of a large set of circuits such as this.

The design draws on good ideas from similar hardware. The Nixie Duo kit from Ogi Lumen allows tubes to be mounted on top of driver boards with cascading shift registers for control of up to 8 tubes. The ArduiNIX shield makes the high voltages needed for Nixies easy to control with an Arduino. No, [John] didn’t just order these kits and plug them into each other. He designed his own boards to suit his needs. Each driver board can control 9 tubes in a 3×3 grid, all on one PCB. His high voltage board can supply enough juice for the whole system which is tied together with a single Arduino board.

His writeup is quite interesting so do take a look. He also filmed a walk through video which we’ve embedded after the break. It clears up some questions, such as showing the use of a blinking decimal point to indicate the current cursor position.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- pcb
- nixie
- sudoku
- classic hacks
- ArduiNIX
- ogi lumen
- nixie duo
July 19 2010, 12:09pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Shred air with Theremin Hero

http://hackaday.com/2010/07/13/shred-air-with-theremin-hero/

Remember those Ebay auctions of air guitars going for several thousands of dollars? We don’t either, but Theremin Hero (more info in the YouTube description) is about as legit as you can get to actually rocking on nothing but air.

Much like using a theremin to control Mario, the vertical antenna acts as the fret board while the horizontal one detects strumming. Combine the output of the theremin with some custom software (yet to be released) and Guitar Hero and you have Theremin Hero Air Guitar.

[via Bob's House of Video Games]
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- digital audio hacks
- theremin
- guitar hero
- game
- guitar
- air guitar
- fun
July 13 2010, 1:30pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Stylin’ HMD

http://hackaday.com/2010/07/08/stylin-hmd/

Watch out, these sunglasses are actually a head mounted display. [Staffan] says he’s wanted dataglasses since ’95, but whats currently out there makes the user look ridiculous, and we have to agree. While his forum posts are a little lacking in detail, he’s promised us more info soon. And for now lets us know at least the resolution, well sort of: Its either 480×1280 or 480x427x3, you can be the judge.

Regardless, [Staffan] is looking for help perfecting the glasses, with what in particular we’re not sure, but the project looks promising and we hope he keeps up the good work.
- Tags:
- wearable hacks
- home entertainment hacks
- hmd
- display
- head
- video hacks
- resolution
- sunglasses
- staffan
July 8 2010, 1:20pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Mini racing cabinet

http://hackaday.com/2010/07/06/mini-racing-cabinet/

Here’s another small arcade cabinet. This time around it’s the racing simulator Daytona USA. [Pocket_lucho's] cabinet work has been featured before and he did some fine work with the control interface on this build. The wheel is from the controller of an RC car and the gear lever from a heavily used toy. He fashioned two pedals using gate hinges and a couple of leaf switches. The guts pack quite a punch with a mini ITX motherboard running the show. This will look great next to Ms. Pac-Man. Check out the video after the break.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- mame
- arcade
- cabinet
- racing
- daytona
July 6 2010, 12:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Yukikaze, music visualizations

http://hackaday.com/2010/06/25/yukikaze-music-visualizations/

[Taichi Inoue] put together this beautiful visualization system called Yukikaze, japanese for “snow wind”. Basically a spectrum analyzer, Yukikaze is delightful to watch. We would love to see what kind of response he gets, as most of the footage shows very slowly changing smooth jazz. While we don’t think he gets crisp EQ visualizations out of this since it is a single large chamber, we still think it is amazing to watch.

[via MakeZine]
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- Music
- digital audio hacks
- eq
- spectrum
June 25 2010, 8:34am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Vuvuzela removal

http://hackaday.com/2010/06/15/vuvuzela-removal/

We’re hearing complaints everywhere about the noisemakers called Vuvuzelas during the world cup. Whether you are a fan of the sport or not, you can appreciate when a fellow hacker gets annoyed and start hacking. [Tube] has created a software filter that manages to remove the sound of the Vuvuzela from the videos. He shares the process of how it was all created, using Logic Express and a Mac mini (Google translation). Maybe this will also provide some relief from the constant stream of Vuvuzela whining as well.

[via DVice]
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- digital audio hacks
- soccer
- football
- futebal
- vuvuzela
June 15 2010, 9:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Distance measurement input device

http://hackaday.com/2010/06/14/distance-measurement-input-device/

[Larry] put a different spin on a television remote control. He used an Arduino and an IR receiver to learn the codes from the factory remote. Now that he can use an IR LED to playback these signals he worked on an alternative to pressing buttons as the input. The ultrasonic range finder seen above allows him to wave his hand in front of the device to change channels and alter the volume levels. Check it out after the break.

There are many other ways that gestures could be used with this system, including a laser based input method. We’d like to see [Larry's] system incorporated into a coffee table of some kind, as long as there was an opening for the range finder to work.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
June 14 2010, 1:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Child-sized cocktail cabinets

http://hackaday.com/2010/05/30/child-sized-cocktail-cabinets/

[Sam Seide] dropped us a line about his new arcade creation. We loved his Punch-Out build that used a punch dummy as a game controller. This time around he’s made some mini-cocktail style MAME cabinets. He removed the screen from a netbook and placed it face-up underneath the acrylic bezel. There are controls on either side for two players as we would expect from any quality cocktail cabinet. The control panels are interfaced through the now familiar iPac boards and are a bit unfinished on the underside but that doesn’t decrease our need to see one of these on the coffee table at home. Check out demo and an outline of the parts inside after the break.

Demonstration

Guts walk-through
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- mame
- arcade
- netbook hacks
- cocktail cabinet
May 30 2010, 2:30pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Adding SCART to a cheap CRT television

http://hackaday.com/2010/05/27/adding-scart-to-a-cheap-crt-television/

[133MHz] cracked open a cheap tube television to add a SCART connector. He knew he had a chance at success when he discovered all of the knock-outs on the back of the connector panel because one of them was exactly the right size for the connector. But it wasn’t quite as easy as soldering in one component. He ended up injecting his own RGB data from the SCART connector directly into the onscreen display, making an end run around the missing feature. [133MHz] removed some resistors in the circuit and used the empty lead holes to patch in his own circuit, feeding the RGB data from the SCART connector to the OSD chip in the format it needed.

This one takes you way down the rabbit hole. We’re glad he provided so much background about the hack but it’s going to take us a little while to fully wrap our heads around how he figured it out.

[Thanks Victor]
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- television
- rgb
- crt
- classic hacks
- scart
May 27 2010, 3:31pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

32-bit ARM7 gaming rig

http://hackaday.com/2010/05/26/32-bit-arm7-gaming%C2%A0rig/

Are you hardcore enough to build your own 32-bit ARM powered gaming console AND use point-to-point soldering to accomplish this? [Craig Bishop] did just that when building his GameSphere console project. First thing’s first, click through the jump and watch the game play video. He wrote that game in the C language in less than a day which in itself is quite remarkable. On the hardware side of things he’s got an interesting mix; an Ateml AT91R40008 chip drives this system with PIC 18F4682 for VGA signal generation and a PIC 18F2685 to interface with the N64 controller. We like what he’s done so far and would love to see this end up in its own game cabinet.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- Atmel
- pic
- arm
- n64
- video game
- classic hacks
- gamesphere
May 26 2010, 11:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Electromechanical game: Running with the bulls

http://hackaday.com/2010/05/14/electromechanical-game-running-with-the-bulls/

[vime0 =http://vimeo.com/11700747]

We’ve been watching the progress of this build for a while on Flickr. It looks like they’ve finally completed the electromechanical game, Running with the bulls. Based off of the event by the same name, you have to keep your guy from being trampled by the bulls as the charge. The entire bull structure is pulled forward on a timing chain with a stepper motor with each bulls individual side to side movement being servo driven. It actually looks kind of fun.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- game
- bull
- electromechanical
May 14 2010, 11:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Maze solving

http://hackaday.com/2010/05/11/maze-solving/

[Mitchel Humpherys] and his fellow developers didn’t just develop a maze-solving algorithm, they also built a ping-pong ball maze platform that is computer controlled. Using a webcam the computer picks up the high-contrast maze by peering down from above, calculates the solution, and moves the ping-pong ball to the goal using two different tilt servos controlled by an 8051 microcontroller. But wait, there’s more! Why have the computer solve it when you can make a game out of a maze? Once the PC was thrown into the mix it was pretty easy to add Wii remote and Wii balance board control too. See these alternative inputs in action after the break.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- servo
- ping pong
- maze
- 8051
May 11 2010, 1:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Chumby One becomes a 3g router

http://hackaday.com/2010/04/29/chumby-one-becomes-a-3g-router/

[bunnie] has taken a few moments to show us how to turn our Chumby One into a 3g router. As it turns out, there is an easter egg that allows it to communicate with certain models of 3g dongles. There’s no GUI for this trick, so you’ll be doing most of your configuration via SSH. That shouldn’t be a problem for this crowd though. The Chumby One just got a lot more appealing.
- Tags:
- cellphones hacks
- home entertainment hacks
- portable audio hacks
- cellular
- wireless hacks
- 3g
- pandora
- chumby
April 29 2010, 10:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Midi piano instructor

http://hackaday.com/2010/04/26/midi-piano-instructor/

The MIDI piano instructor is a tool aimed at those who wish to learn to play piano, but don’t want to take lessons. The LED bar mounted above the keys lights up to show you exactly what key to press and when. We’ve seen this available in some electronic keyboards for some time, but this unit would be able to fit any standard sized keyboard. Check the page for schematics and pictures.

[via Flickr]
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- digital audio hacks
- midi
- piano
- classic hacks
- musical hacks
April 26 2010, 4:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Driving the car without going anywhere

http://hackaday.com/2010/04/23/driving-the-car-without-going-anywhere/

This video game controller is a factory fresh VW. Much like the racing simulator from earlier in the week, the video game data is being displayed on the instrument panel. This takes us to a much higher level now because control for the game is taken from the car’s CANbus using and ODB-II connector. If you don’t speak in automotive jargon, that means that the sensor readings from the steering wheel, shifter, and pedals are being picked up and exported as joystick commands to the PC running the driving game. The only place the experience uses a substitute for the real thing is the sound, which is being played through speakers instead of emanating from under the hood. Looks like you just need to add a projector and screen to your garage in order to turn it into the hottest new gaming device.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- controller
- transportation hacks
- video game
- vw
- canbus
- odb-ii
April 23 2010, 2:40pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Build a foam machine

http://hackaday.com/2010/04/22/build-a-foam-machine/

Spice up your next house party with this diy foam machine. [Stephen Martin] posted his PDF plans for version 1 and version 2 of the device. It seems the deciding factor on the machine is the type of fabric screen used to create the suds from a bubble bath liquid. This is the reason he’s got two versions. They share a lot of the same components (especially the expensive ones) but the first version is easy to swap out different fabrics and the second is a more permanent installation. In the end, we’re looking at a sump pump feeding foam to a fabric net that is attached to a blower. This will be a nice addition to that fog machine you built last fall.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- foam
- bubble bath
- party
April 22 2010, 11:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Coin-op pays out when you win

http://hackaday.com/2010/04/16/coin-op-pays-out-when-you-win/

The days of plugging coins into a stand up arcade game are sadly dwindling. [Dirk] figured out a way to prolong the nostalgia by incorporating currency back into the experience in a useful way. He rebuilt the video game Raiden to pay out a prize when you win the game. Now it takes a coin for each play but if you make it to the end you can recoup the expense.

[Dirk] took an original cabinet game, did some dangerous work to replace the old CRT monitor, and retrofit a MAME machine to handle the gaming. He’s using Windows and had some problems because of it but, as you can see after the break, things worked out in the end. The hopper hardware that spits out coins went through several steps from the initial design to the finished product, but it has always been based around a PIC controller connected to the MAME box via parallel port. This is a fun addition to any MAME cabinet.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- pic
- mame
- coin
- hopper
April 16 2010, 11:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Mind controlled TV

http://hackaday.com/2010/04/11/mind-controlled-tv/

Finally, a good use for those EEG headsets. [Andrew] has set up a system that will turn his TV on and off if he focuses hard enough. He’s got the software set to trigger an IR LED when the “strength” gets high enough. When the action starts, around 4:30 in the video, you can see that when he raises his arm the meter on the screen begins to raise and the TV turns on. Though not immediately useful, we can’t help but get a little excited seeing him literally turn his TV on with a thought.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- tv
- arduino hacks
- eeg
- mindflex
April 11 2010, 12:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Strobe array for dance parties

http://hackaday.com/2010/04/09/strobe-array-for-dance-parties/

Check out this slick strobe array for dance parties. Controlled by a DMX512 interface, only a small modification was necessary to get the strobes working. If you’ve played with a small commercial strobe light, you’ll know there’s a potentiometer to control the strobe speed. He simply soldered a relay after the pot. This allows him to tune them to be charged and ready for when the relay is closed.

[via HackedGadgets]
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- dmx
- relay
- strobe
April 9 2010, 10:10am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Add USB playback to some European LG televisions

http://hackaday.com/2010/03/29/add-usb-playback-to-some-european-lg-televisions/

Here’s a pretty simple hack to enable playback from a USB drive on LG televisions. It only works on European hardware, the LH, LF, and some LU models. The hack consists of downgrading the firmware to version 3.15, then navigating through some service menus.

It’s not quite as hardcore as the Samsung firmware hacking, but the added functionality is really great.

[Thanks Jeton]
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- firmware
- usb
- european
- LG
March 29 2010, 6:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Update: Samsung TV firmware hacking

http://hackaday.com/2010/03/24/update-samsung-tv-firmware-hacking/

[Erdem] sent us an update on his work with the SamyGO project. You may remember this Samsung TV firmware hacking initiative from our post back in October. Since then many more TV models have been added to the compatible list. They have also worked out a way to defeat the AES encryption and RSA signature checking on the CI+ devices. Want to lend a hand? Take a look at the compatibility table on the main page and see if you have one of the TV models they need testers for. Otherwise, read the wiki, hit the downloads page, and unlock the hidden abilities of your boob tube.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- tv
- firmware
- samsung
- SamyGO
March 24 2010, 1:09pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Didgeridoo, now does real time video

http://hackaday.com/2010/03/23/didgeridoo-now-does-real-time-video/

Some of you may remember when we introduced you to [Kyle's] Electronically Modified Didgeridoo. Those same members will have their hearts warmed knowing he’s still playing and advancing on his Didgeridoo, now including real time video processing. There isn’t too many details aside from it being controlled by an ATMega168 and an unknown analog switching chip, and in its infancy it just looks like a bunch of dancing white lines but we expect this to turn into one amazing display.

Oh, and those determined on making their own Electronically Modified Didgeridoo should keep an eye out for the April ‘10 issue of Popular Science where the instrument will be featured.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- misc hacks
- ATmega168
- digital audio hacks
- popular science
- kyle
- modified
- didgeridoo
- analog chip
- electronic
March 23 2010, 5:38pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Bill Paxton pinball

http://hackaday.com/2010/03/17/bill-paxton-pinball/

No, your eyes do not deceive you, you are looking at a [Bill Paxton] pinball machine. [Ben Heck], commonly known for his portable gaming system modifications has finally finished his pinball machine build. We’ve had our eye on it ever since [Jeri Ellsworth] challenged him to see who got theirs done first. As you can see, he’s done a fantastic job on the machine itself. He has also documented it fantastically, there’s a build log, a gallery, demonstration videos etc.

[thanks Matt]
- Tags:
- news
- home entertainment hacks
- jeri ellsworth
- ben heck
- pinball
- bill paxton
March 17 2010, 8:25am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

DIY projector collection

http://hackaday.com/2010/03/04/diy-projector-collection/

Reader [Jan] came across a website all about building your own video projector. We’ve linked to five of the best projects for 2010 but there’s a ton more information if you dig a little deeper. Our favorite so far is the GohtanBox v3 and it’s giant LED panel that serves as the projection light.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- projector
- classic hacks
March 4 2010, 2:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Portable Squeezebox with serial

http://hackaday.com/2010/03/02/portable-squeezebox-with-serial/

The Squeezbox media streaming systems are compact Linux WiFi enabled radios that let you stream your collection anywhere,so long as you have an AC or USB outlet nearby. But [Achim Sack] wanted to stream his collection from anywhere with no wires attached (translation). Some poking and prodding revealed a connector actually designed for a battery and serial, but no commercially available battery yet.

The system requires a temperature sensor and if you want serial, a USB converter, but overall a simple process that could be done in an afternoon. Giving your box ~10 hour of life and even fits inside of a back compartment.

[Thanks Thomas]
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- wifi
- Linux
- digital audio hacks
- sensor
- battery
- tempurature
- extended
- logitech
- Squeezebox
March 2 2010, 8:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

A second life for dead hard drives

http://hackaday.com/2010/02/24/a-second-life-for-dead-hard-drives/

[AndyUU1CC] has put together directions on how he built an Iambic Paddle out of some old hard drives. The iambic paddle is a device for telegraphy. More specifically, it is that piece that you always see people clicking with their finger when they send a telegraph. We hadn’t seen an iambic or “dual lever” style before, but we now know that this is not an uncommon design. While it is ultimately just a fancy set of switches, we can’t help but be impressed with the looks of it.

[via instructables]
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- iambic
- telegraph
February 24 2010, 11:30am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Add pause button to the Atari 2600

http://hackaday.com/2010/02/23/add-pause-button-to-the-atari-2600/

We’re sure that if there had been a pause button on the Atari 2600 people would never have moved on to next-generation systems. Now you can dig the gaming relic out of the closet and pause your Atari games for some good old om nom nom.This hack is from the same person who pulled off the Atari 2600 jukebox. By reverse engineering the signals used on the Onyx Jr., which has a pause button, the halt method became clear.

The problem is that the Onyx Jr. uses a different processor than the 2600. A different processor means a different pin-out, and now the clock signal needed to synchronize the pause cycle was missing. But eureka, an abstract source was found. The ready signal from another chip can be used to judge the state of the processor. The small PCB above now interfaces with the Atari 2600 in order to patch in the pause circuit.

[Thanks again Yuppicide, keep 'em coming!]
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- atari 2600
- classic hacks
- pause
February 23 2010, 2:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Repairing your TV EDID

http://hackaday.com/2010/02/17/repairing-your-tv-edid/

[Andreas] found that his home theater PC would not boot one day. Oddly, if he disconnected his HDMI cable from his TV, it would boot fine. While most of us would have dug into the PC, he realized that it was a signal from the TV that was incorrect. Luckily, LG had included a full schematic with the TV. What he was able to figure out, using a home made snooper was that the EDID eeproms had somehow become corrupted. Not to worry, [Andreas] slapped together a full blown I2C interface and prepared to reprogram them with the correct data. He noticed, however, that the eeproms were write protected. On a whim, he decided to write to them any way and found that it was successful. He has some theories as to why they were writable, but says that he doesn’t want to pull the TV back apart to confirm.

[thanks evlapix]
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- tv
- video hacks
- htpc
- edid
February 17 2010, 8:16am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Propeller arcade

http://hackaday.com/2010/02/13/propeller-arcade/

This arcade cabinet has been saved from a gruesome death. [Oldbitcollector] picked the broken rig up for $50 and is building a Parallax Propeller based arcade machine. This began back in October and he’s just dropped in a newly painted control panel to replace the NES controller seen above. He pulled the replacement screen out of an old 19″ TV and found it to be a perfect fit. We didn’t find a complete list of available games but we know he’s got a menu system to choose the game and have seen Donkey Kong, Frogger, Defender, and at least one other in the videos. There’s less choices than a MAME cabinet but who needs more than a handful of the old 8-bit gems anyway?

Propeller Arcade walkthrough

Gameplay footage
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- parallax
- propeller
- mame
- arcade
- cabinet
- defender
- donkey kong
- frogger
February 13 2010, 11:00am | More »

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