The Atari Flashback is a game system that includes 40 original Atari 2600 games for about $30. The games are placed on a rom chip just like the original except it is soldered inside the case instead of on a cartridge. You can bypass the rom chip with a couple toggle switches and add an external cartridge adapter to play any of the original 2600 games. All of the pinouts are marked on board and the site has links to get the proper connector. Time to start hitting up ebay for the big game lots.

[thanks hk-47]

Continue reading “Use Cartridges With Atari Flashback 2” →

Ah, back in Nebraska, back to work, and back to regular installments of hacking. For the musicians out there (I know there are quite a few of you) here is a guide to building electronic drum triggers. Full disclosure: they sell the parts on the site. So here is a different link for some free info.

[thanks patrick]

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Mister House is a long standing open source home automation project. It’s written entirely in Perl and works on almost any platform. It also supports many different home automation devices like X10. Control is driven through a web interface and has voice feedback and recognition. Lots of extra modules have been developed for this project so you’re sure to find something unique: from voice announced caller ID, to GPS vehicle tracking over FRS.

[thanks Clu]

Continue reading “Linux Home Automation” →

JT has written up how he modified his NAD T760 to run cooler. The goal is to extend the life of the components. The first test was to add an additional external fan. This is somewhat effective and because it is running at a lower voltage it isn’t that noisy. Not satisfied JT ventures inside and decides to modify the internal temperature sensor so that the built in fan turns on at a lower temp.  He makes sure to slow down the fan speed since it is now on when the amp is playing at lower volumes. The end result is a temperature only one degree above ambient.

Continue reading “Home Theater Amplifier Cooling” →

Yes, even the venerable Technics 1200 turntable can be improved. This simple, completely reversible, modification removes the automatic pitch lock from the mk2 model. If your decks have seen a lot of use the true zero point has probably drifted from the one marked on the scale. This is easy to tell by observing the strobe. If the large dots aren’t stationary when the zero is locked, you’re out of adjustment. The other nuisance is that you can’t do minor pitch adjustments when you are close to zero because it constantly wants to lock. Even if you don’t want to mod your turntables this article does show you where to go to move the zero pitch back to the actual zero.

Continue reading “Technics 1200 Pitch Lock Removal” →

Ah, yet another clever persistence of vision project. I think this is my favorite so far because of its interactive nature. Rickard provides the schematics and discusses some of the technical hurdles he encountered while putting this project together. All of the display and processing components are mounted to the rotating arm. The gamepad signal is transfered through ball bearings mounted on the shaft. He’s got it to play Tetris and Pong, display a clock and text from the serial port. It would be interesting to see a game that took advantage of the full 360 degree display; maybe an infinite side scroller. If you’re looking for a commercial POV game system you should read up on how the Virtual Boy worked.

[thanks kolwon]

Continue reading “POV Game System” →

I think I love this project solely for all of the little bits that are required to put it all together. The write up describes the construction of the necessary parts: laser unit, galvanometer scanners, servo amps, and controllers. All schematics included natch.

Continue reading “Home Built Laser Projector” →