The answer is: Elliot Williams, Al Williams, and a dozen or so great hacks. The question? What do you get this week on the Hackaday podcast? This week’s hacks ran from smart ring hacking, to computerized tattoos. Keyboards, PCBs, and bicycles all make appearances, too.
Be sure to try to guess the “What’s that sound?” You could score a cool Hackaday Podcast T.
For the can’t miss this week, Hackaday talks about how to dispose of the body in outer space and when setting your ship’s clock involved watching a ball drop.
When the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, was put into orbit around Earth, anyone in the path of the satellite could receive the beeps transmitted by the satellite provided they had some simple radio equipment. Of course, there was no two-way communication with this satellite, and it only lasted a few weeks before its batteries died. Here in the future, though, there are many more satellites in orbit and a few are specifically meant for ham radio operators. And, like the ’50s, it doesn’t take too much specialized equipment to communicate with them, although now that communication can be two-way.
The first step in this guide by [W2PAK] is to know where these satellites are in the sky. The simplest way to do that is to use a smartphone app called GoSatWatch and, when configured for a specific location, shows the satellites currently overhead. After that it’s time to break out the radio gear, which can be surprisingly inexpensive. A dual-band handheld is required since satellite uplink and downlink can be on different bands, and the antenna can be made from simple parts as well as [W2PAK] demonstrates in a separate video. Combined, this can easily be done for less than $100. [W2PAK] also goes over the proper format and etiquette for a satellite contact as well, so a new operator can pick it up quickly.
Using satellites as repeaters opens up a lot of capabilities when compared to terrestrial communications. Especially for operators with entry-level licenses who are restricted to mostly VHF and UHF, it adds a challenge as well as significantly increased range compared to ground-based repeaters and line-of-sight communications. There are plenty of activities around satellites that don’t require a license at all, too, like this project which downloads weather imagery from weather satellites.
The seven-segment display is most well known in LED form, but the concept isn’t tied to that format. You can build a seven-segment display out of moving parts, too. [tin-foil-hat] has achieved just that with a remarkably elegant design.
As you might expect, the build relies heavily on 3D-printed components—produced in white and black plastic to create a high-contrast display. It’s a simple choice that makes the display easy to read in a wide variety of lighting conditions, and far less fussy than toying with LEDs and diffusers and all that.
Actuation of each display segment is achieved electromagnetically. Effectively, each segment behaves like a flip dot, with the orientation controlled by energizing one of two electromagnets per segment. Controlling the electromagnets is an ESP32, which is hooked up to the various segments via a Darlington transistor array, with multiplexing used to minimize the number of IO pins required. A shift register was also employed to let the microcontroller easily drive four of these electromechanical digits.
There’s a Blue Bendix in Texas, and thanks to [Usagi Electric] it’s the oldest operating computer in North America. The Bendix G-15, a vacuum tube computer originally released in 1956, is now booting, and running code from paper tape. [David, aka Usagi] received the G-15 about a year ago from The System Source museum. The goal was to get the computer running so museum patrons could interact with a real tube computer. We’ve been following along since the project began.
[Usagi’s] latest G-15 video covers the last few problems on the road to running code. The biggest hurdle was the fact that the system wasn’t responding properly to the GO button on the typewriter. [Usagi] was able to isolate the issue down to a flip flop and then to a particular signal on an AND gate — the RC signal. The gate appeared to be bad, but swapping the entire circuit card multiple times had no effect. Something else had to be going on.
Ever wonder how those scratch and sniff stickers manage to pack a punch of aroma into what looks like ordinary paper? The technology behind it is deceptively clever, and has been used everywhere from children’s books to compact discs.
Most Scratch and Sniff stickers are simple nose-based novelties, though they’ve seen other uses as diagnostic tools, too. As Baltimore Gas and Electric discovered in 1987, though, these stickers can also cause a whole lot of hullabaloo. Let’s explore how this nifty technology works, and how it can go—somewhat amusingly—wrong.
The Science
3M developed the scratch and sniff technology in the 1960s. It quickly gained iconic status in the decades that followed. via eBay
At its heart, scratch and sniff technology involves the microencapsulation of tiny smellable particles, which are then impregnated into stickers or other paper products. Microscopic amounts of aromatic materiale are trapped inside gelatin or plastic capsules, and then stuck to paper. When you scratch the surface, these capsules rupture, releasing their aromatic cargo into the air. It’s an elegant feat of materials engineering, originally developed by Gale W. Matson. Working at 3M in the 1960s, he’d been intending to create a new kind of carbonless copy paper.
Scratch and Sniff stickers soon became a popular novelty in the 1970s. The catchy name was perfect—it told you everything you need to know. A children’s book named Little Bunny Follows His Nose was one of the first widespread applications. Released in 1971, it was entirely based around the whole scratch and sniff concept. Children could read along and scratch various illustrations of peaches, roses and pine needles to see what they smelled like. The book was reprinted multiple times, remaining in publication for over three decades.
Other popular media soon followed. Pop rock band The Raspberries put a scratch and sniff sticker on their album cover in 1972. Director John Waters would go on to release his 1981 film Polyester with an accompanying “Odorama” card, which featured multiple smells for viewers to sniff during the movie. The concept still resurfaces occasionally, though the gimmick is now well-worn. In 2010, Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream album smelled like cotton candy thanks to a scratch-and-sniff treatment on the Deluxe Edition, and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard put a similar touch on 2017’s Flying Microtonal Banana. Continue reading “Scratch And Sniff Stickers And The Gas Panic Of ’87”→
This week on the Podcast, Hackaday’s Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos joined forces to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous week.
Kristina is getting tired of losing at What’s That Sound, so she’ll have to come up with some to stump you all. Can you get this week’s sound? If you can, and your number comes up, you get a special Hackaday Podcast t-shirt.
Then it’s on to the hacks and such, but first, there’s even more news and opinion to be had in Tom’s review of Prusa’s new printer, which happens to be closed-source. Then we’ll discuss another printer that prints upside-down, an elegant cyberdeck, and a cyberpunk pocket watch. Finally, we talk about the Great Redbox Cleanup, and take a look at man-made stalactites.
Check out the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!
Download in DRM-free MP3 and savor at your leisure.
