Author: Heidi Ulrich

143 Articles

Photo of Ceefax on a CRT television

Ceefax: The Original News On Demand

September 30, 2024 by 21 Comments

Long before we had internet newsfeeds or Twitter, Ceefax delivered up-to-the-minute news right to your television screen. Launched by the BBC in 1974, Ceefax was the world’s first teletext service, offering millions of viewers a mix of news, sports, weather, and entertainment on demand. Fast forward 50 years, and the iconic service is being honored with a special exhibition at the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge.

At its peak, Ceefax reached over 22 million users. [Ian Morton-Smith], one of Ceefax’s original journalists, remembers the thrill of breaking stories directly to viewers, bypassing scheduled TV bulletins. The teletext interface, with its limited 80-word entries, taught him to be concise, a skill crucial to news writing even today.

We’ve talked about Ceefax in the past, including in 2022 when we explored a project bringing Ceefax back to life using a Raspberry Pi. Prior to that, we delved into its broader influence on early text-based information systems in a 2021 article.

But Ceefax wasn’t just news—it was a global movement toward interactive media, preceding the internet age. Services like Viditel and the French Minitel carried forward the idea of interactive text and graphics on screen.

Bread Proofing Box For The Hungry Hacker

September 25, 2024 by 29 Comments

While normally more comfortable with a soldering iron, [LucidScience] recently took a dive into woodworking and hardware store electronics to build a DIY proofing box. It’s a clever design that doubles as furniture, with some cool problem-solving along the way. While it might not be your typical hack, repurposing seedling heat mats and working with insulation makes it a neat project for anyone who likes to tinker. Plus, the whole thing cranks out two loaves of sourdough bread each week!

The setup includes an 8 watt heat mat, typically used for aquariums or seedlings, and a temperature control box, so no complicated wiring is needed. The entire box is insulated with rigid foam, which makes it energy efficient—once the foam was installed, the heat mat only needed to turn on about a quarter of the time. To give it a more polished look, [LucidScience] hid the raw plywood edges with oak trim, and even added an adjustable vent for moisture control. Pretty slick for something built from basic materials and a few tools!

While this proofing box isn’t a groundbreaking electronics project, it shows how even simple hardware can be repurposed for entirely new applications. The combination of woodworking and basic electronics makes it an approachable project for DIYers looking to stretch their skills. Whether you’re into hacking, woodworking, or just love good bread, this build has something for everyone. [LucidScience]’s clear instructions and simple materials make this a great weekend project that can upgrade your baking game.

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A Space Walk Through ISS

September 24, 2024 by 15 Comments

The International Space Station (ISS) might not be breaking news, but this February, National Geographic released a documentary that dives into the station’s intricate engineering. It’s a solid reminder of what human ingenuity can achieve when you put a team of engineers, scientists, and astronauts together. While the ISS is no longer a new toy in space, for hackers and tinkerers, it’s still one of the coolest and most ambitious projects ever. And if you’re like us—always looking for fresh inspiration—you’ll want to check this one out.

The ISS is a masterpiece, built piece by piece in space, because why make things easy? With 16 pressurized modules, it’s got everything needed to keep humans alive and working in one of the harshest environments imaginable. Add in the $150 billion price tag (yes, billion), and it’s officially the most expensive thing humans have ever built. What makes it especially interesting to us hackers is its life support systems—recycling water, generating oxygen, and running on solar power. That’s the kind of closed-loop system we love to experiment with down here on Earth. Imagine the implications for long-term sustainability!

But it’s not just a survival bunker in space. It’s also a global science lab. The ISS gives researchers the chance to run experiments that could never happen under Earth’s gravity—everything from technology advancements to health experiments. Plus, it’s our testing ground for future missions to Mars. If you’re fascinated by the idea of hacking complex systems, or just appreciate a good build, the ISS is a dream project.

Catch the documentary and dive into the world of space-grade hacking. The ISS may be orbiting out of sight, but for those of us looking to push the boundaries of what’s possible, it’s still full of inspiration.

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Setup of a small lightbulb passing light through a thin film

Experimenting With Interference On Thin Layers

August 26, 2024 by No comments

[Stoppi] has taken on a fascinating project involving the interference of thin layers, a phenomenon often observed in everyday life but rarely explored in such depth. This project delves into the principles of interference, particularly focusing on how light waves interact with very thin films, like those seen in soap bubbles or oil slicks. The post is in German, but you can easily translate it using online tools.

Interference occurs when waves overlap, either reinforcing each other (constructive interference) or canceling each other out (destructive interference). In this project, [Stoppi] specifically examines how light behaves when passing through thin layers of air trapped between semi-transparent mirrors. When light waves reflect off these mirrors, the difference in path length leads to interference patterns that depend on the layer’s thickness and the wavelength of the light.

To visualize this, [Stoppi] used an interferometer made from semi-transparent mirrors and illuminated it with a bulb to ensure a continuous spectrum of light. By analyzing the transmitted light spectrum with a homemade spectrometer, he observed clear peaks corresponding to specific wavelengths that could pass through the interferometer. These experimental results align well with theoretical predictions, confirming the effectiveness of the setup.

If you like pretty patterns, soap bubbles are definitely good for several experiments. Don’t forget: pictures or it didn’t happen.

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Insides of a multimeter, improved with a custom backlight switch.

Backlight Switch For A Better Multimeter

August 26, 2024 by 28 Comments

Frustrated by his Aldi multimeter’s backlight turning off after just 15 seconds, [Steg Steg] took matters into his own hands. His solution? He added a manual toggle switch to control the backlight, allowing it to stay on as long as needed. He began by disassembling the multimeter—removing the outer bumper and a few screws—to access the backlight, labeled “BL.” He identified the voltage regulator outputting 2.8 V, desoldered the red wire, and extended it to install the switch.

On his first try, he successfully drilled a spot for the SPST switch. To fit the switch into the multimeter’s rubber bumper, he used a circular punch, although his second hole wasn’t as clean as the first. Despite this minor setback, the modification worked perfectly, giving him complete control over his multimeter’s backlight without the original 15-second timeout.

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PCB data sheet of a custom 4-bit microcontroller

Building A Microcontroller From Scratch: The B4 Thinker Project

August 25, 2024 by No comments

[Marius Taciuc’s] latest endeavor, the B4 Thinker, offers a captivating glimpse into microcontroller architecture through a modular approach. This proof-of-concept project is meticulously documented, with a detailed, step-by-step guide to each component and its function.

Launched in 2014, the B4 Thinker project began with the ambitious goal of building a microcontroller from scratch. The resulting design features a modular CPU architecture, including a base motherboard that can be expanded with various functional modules, such as an 8-LED port card. This setup enables practical experimentation, such as writing simple assembly programs to control dynamic light patterns. Each instruction within this system requires four clock pulses to execute, and the modular design allows for ongoing development and troubleshooting.

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An Amiga 2000 on a carpet floor

Amiga, Interrupted: A Fresh Take On Amiga OS

August 19, 2024 by 20 Comments

Serena OS is not just another operating system—it’s a playground for hackers, tinkerers, and Amiga enthusiasts pushing vintage hardware to new limits. Born from modern design principles and featuring pervasive preemptive concurrency and multi-user support, [dplanitzer]’s Serena OS is far from ordinary.

Running on Amiga systems with a 68030 or better CPU, it challenges traditional OS concepts by ditching threads in favor of dispatch queues, akin to Apple’s Grand Central Dispatch. The result? A dynamic, flexible kernel that combines forward-thinking design with retro charm.

The real innovation in Serena is its kernel, which uses a virtual processor concept to manage system resources efficiently. Instead of threads, Serena dynamically adjusts a pool of virtual processors based on dispatch queue needs, ensuring tasks are executed with precision and speed. Interrupt handling is also unique: interrupts are converted into semaphore signals, allowing the code to handle these signals at its convenience without missing any, making hardware interactions more controlled, especially where timing is critical.

For Amiga enthusiasts already customizing their setups, Serena OS offers new possibilities. It shares some spirit with projects like AROS (Amiga Research Operating System) but adds its own twist with object-oriented design and cross-platform goals. Whether you’re developing software for your classic Amiga or exploring new hardware interfaces, Serena OS provides a robust and adaptable foundation.