[ned]’s HandySwipe is a portable magnetic card reader. It runs on 4 AA batteries and collects data from track 2 cards. It uses a PIC 16F688 and displays the card’s data on a small LCD. It can store up to 50 cards and dump them in CSV format. It will also output the raw bitstream for use with Acidus’s StripeSnoop. Ned’s project write up is pretty interesting since he covers using a logic analyzer while swiping a card and driving the LCD with only three pins using a shift register.
The Holga is a cheap medium format film camera that has achieved cult status for its inconsistent, truly unique photographs featuring blur, light leaks, vignetting, and distortion. Poor quality digital photos aren’t nearly as interesting and [Joachim Guanzon] wanted to achieve the Holga effect without using robotic Photoshop filters. He constructed this lens for his Canon 20D. The base is an EOS body cap with the center drilled out. A tube is constructed from a white film canister and the Holga lens is mounted inside. The tube length increases the usable distance of the camera and the white body lets some light leak in. A lens cap with a 3/16th inch hole is snapped over the top. The hole creates a vignette and since it isn’t permanently attached the pattern will be more random. Check out Joachim’s sample photos.
[Francisco] had one simple goal with this project: access every pin in the dock connector. If you want to start experimenting with the iPod this will come in very handy. Francisco has provided a PDF schematic ready to etch. I’m surprised SparkFun isn’t selling something like this already.
[th0mas] has put together a concise how-to on forwarding Atom or RSS to you cellphone. In his example he grabs an Atom feed from his Gmail account then parses it to find the new messages. The new message list is compared to a file so that duplicate messages aren’t sent. All new messages are then sent to the phone’s email address. th0mas has provided enough information so that this script could be easily expanded. It looks like a decent introduction to PERL as well, so even if you aren’t looking to send stuff to your cellphone it might still be worth a look.
Usually when someone asks me how to build a USB charger I point them to Jason Striegel’s USB battery v2. It’ll work for a lot of things that only need 5V. Unfortunately [ian] has a 3G firewire iPod so he decided to build a switch mode power supply to generate the 8-30V required by firewire. The device is powered by 3 AA batteries and uses a PIC 12F683 microcontroller to regulate the output voltage. The device can power a dead 3G iPod, but it can’t charge it, so Ian is looking for some input from the community. Some have already suggested using FETs with a lower turn on voltage.
Vinyl cutters can be very expensive, so [vinyl hacker] decided to share with us the alternate route some people have taken. Here is what you need to get started: An old HP pen plotter with a serial connection. A compatible serial cable. A blade holder (Roland blade holders don’t fit). Some Roland vinyl blades. Cutting software like SignGo of DAHEDIsign. Vinyl (found in sign shop dumpsters). The main resource for these plotter/cutters seems to be luberth.com. It’s hard to navigate, but all of the info you need should be there. Now you can cut stickers, stencils, small signs for very little money.
Continue reading “Old Pen Plotter Converted To Vinyl Cutter”
[hackgadgets.com is back up… maybe]
[Alan] put together a list of the Top 5 Dead Hard Drive Projects. He suggested we post about the hard drive laser oscilloscope, since he couldn’t find the project anywhere else. I actually saw a similar project during dorkbot-sf‘s presentation at Maker Faire. A laser is mounted to the drive case. The beam is bounced off of a mirror connected to the read/write head. He’s got a video of it in action on his site. Have a look at the other hard drive projects as well.
