Apple MagSafe Protocol Hacking

June 7, 2013 by 4 Comments

[Ken Shirriff] was interested in how the Apple MagSafe works. Specifically he wanted to know what controlled the LED on the connector itself so he tore one open to see what is inside. There’s a chip present and he didn’t waste time figuring out how the MagSafe communication protocol works.

The DS2413 chip he found on the MagSafe’s tiny little PCB has just six pins. Two of these control a pair of LEDs, which give the indicator its color range.  Another pin is used for 1-wire communications. When polled the charger will return a 64-bit identification number that includes a variety of information. [Ken] looks into what data is offered from several different models of charger by using the Arduino setup above. But the results are not entirely straight-forward as he discusses in his article. The 1-wire protocol is also used to switch the LEDs. This process is the responsibility of the computer being charged, but [Ken] shows how the colors can be cycled using an Arduino (with a couple of 9-volts as a source instead of a connection to mains).

Alarm Clock Uses Raspberry Pi To Poll Google Calendar

June 6, 2013 by 19 Comments

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We know a lot of people love using their smart phone as a bedside alarm clock. The problem is that a mobile phone is mobile by nature and eventually you’ll forget to put it in the bedroom one night. That’s why we like the solution that [Devon Bray] has chosen. He set up his Raspberry Pi as an alarm clock that is set using Google Calendar.

The setup which he shows off in his video is quite simple. The Raspberry Pi is connected to a set of powered computer speakers. It plays a song whenever an appointment called “wake” comes up on his Google Calendar. This is accomplished by using the Google Data APIs Python Client Library (isn’t that a mouthful?).

This only scratches the surface of what is possible. With this in place you could easily add LEDs to the room for a sunrise alarm. But if you’d prefer a more bare-bones hardware side of things that’s possible too.

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Sliding Gopro Rig For Timelapse

June 6, 2013 by 9 Comments

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This week I released a project for LIFE. involving a timelapse rig.

After seeing this super simple timelapse egg timer we had earlier this week, I wanted to have a try at doing a “no tools required” rig for moving timelapse.  I used an egg timer to pull it along a table.  It wasn’t perfect but it worked. Admittedly not as well as if I had just pulled out a teensy and a geared motor, but still ok.

 

Hacking The R-390A Military Shortwave Radio Receiver To Transmit As Well

June 6, 2013 by 12 Comments

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After getting his hands on this relic [Gregory Charvat] manage to hack it, converting the receiver into a transceiver.

It may be old, but the R-390A is nothing to scoff at. It’s abilities include AM, code, and FSK operation from 500 kHz to 32 MHz. But it is a receiver with no way of transmitting on the same bands. This is where [Gregory’s] hack comes into play. He rerouted the variable-frequency oscillator feed inside of the R-390A in order to use his 20M single-sideband unit. Basically what this does is allow him to control everything from the 390, using the microphone from the SSB — along with some switching hardware — to transmit his own messages.

His demo video starts with him making a few contacts using the hacked equipment. He then spends some time at the whiteboard explaning the changes. This portion went over our heads, but it becomes more clear when he cracks open the case and shows the actual modifications.

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Sugar Painting: Street Vendors Make Works Of Edible Art

June 6, 2013 by 4 Comments

Street vendors can sometimes show the best examples of refined skill. These street vendors in China have carved out a niche with a very specific type of candy. They pour heated sugar in various shapes and designs, then put it on a stick for your consumption. It doesn’t sound that impressive, but watch these videos and see the skill they show. As with many street vendors, you can tell these people have done this 10,000 times and the muscle memory could almost carry them on autopilot.

I would be happy to support street vendors like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=239GSmRW9XY

Making A Bow From Scratch

June 6, 2013 by 8 Comments

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With Hackaday’s new handmade category we have the option of covering a wide range of builds – everything from jet engines designed on paper and built on manual machines, to old-world crafts made with the most primitive tools. This time, we’ll be looking at making a longbow from scratch, the work of [Billy Berger], a project that covers everything from selecting a tree to tillering a bow to make the best possible weapon.

European-inspired longbows are usually constructed out of yew, but in [Billy]’s native east Texas yew is a little hard to come by. He eventually selected a small Osage orange tree for his bow, stripped the bark, split the log, and started crafting his handmade bow.

The most important part of making a bow is ensuring the back of the bow consists of only one growth ring. With a drawknife, [Billy] carefully planed down the back of the bow so only one of the tree’s growth rings was visible, then began shaping the belly and sides of the bow.

Wood is a natural material, and when freshly cut contains a lot of moisture. As [Billy] was working on his bow, some of the moisture left his piece of Osage, leading to some twists and turns in the lumber. There’s a solution to this that mankind has been doing for millennia – fire bending the wood. By covering the wood in some sort of animal fat ([Billy] used olive oil), you can hold a piece of wood over a small frame without scorching. Using the crook of a tree as a vice, [Billy] twisted the wood, giving him a perfectly straight bow.

There’s an amazing amount of work that went into this bow, not surprising given that [Billy] is only using hand tools and primitive woodworking methods. Still, the completed bow is a work of art and a masterpiece of craftsmanship. You can check out all four parts of [Billy]’s demo below.

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