Vintage Game Rides Again Thanks To Modern Tech

April 18, 2025 by Dan Maloney 4 Comments

You have to admire the lengths designers went to back in the day to create engaging games and toys. One particularly clever game of this type was called GEE-WIZ, a horse racing game from the 1920s that seems like it might have been right at home at a bar or pub, and that caught [Michael Gardi]’s imagination enough that he built a modern version of the game.

GEE-WIZ imitates a horse race with an extremely clever mechanism powered by a flywheel on a square shaft. Play is started by pulling a ripcord, which spins up the flywheel to shoot steel balls up six tracks in a gently sloped playing field. The balls hit tin horses riding in each track, pushing them ever further up the track until they trip a flag to indicate the winner. We can practically hear the cheers.

As with many of his other retro-reimaginings, [Mike]’s 21st-century version of GEE-WIZ focuses on capturing the look and feel of the original as accurately as possible. To that end, he put a lot of work into the 3D prints that form the playing field, as well as labels that adorned the original. But the game wouldn’t be much good without the drive mechanism, so [Mike] had to put some work into reverse-engineering the flywheel. He had that machined out of stainless steel and mounted it to the base with some chunky printed bearing blocks. You can see the final product in the brief video below.

[Mike] says that vintage toy recreations aren’t exactly his usual fare, but some might argue that the Sol-20 and Minivac 601 very much count as toys. Either way, we really like the simplicity of GEE-WIZ and the quality of [Mike]’s reproduction.

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FlatMac: Building The 1980’s Apple IPad Concept

December 7, 2024 by Maya Posch 17 Comments

The Apple FlatMac was one of those 1980s concepts by designer [Hartmut Esslingers] that remained just a concept with no more than some physical prototypes created. That is, until [Kevin Noki] came across it in an Apple design book and contacted [Hartmut] to ask whether he would be okay with providing detailed measurements so that he could create his own.

Inside the 3D printed enclosure is a Raspberry Pi 4 running an appropriately emulated Macintosh, with a few modern features on the I/O side, including HDMI and USB. Ironically, the screen is from a 3rd generation iPad, which [Kevin] bought broken on EBay. There’s also an internal floppy drive that’s had its eject mechanism cleverly motorized, along with a modified USB battery bank that should keep the whole show running for about an hour. The enclosure itself is carefully glued, painted and sculpted to make it look as close to the original design as possible, which includes custom keycaps for the mechanical switches.

As far as DIY projects go, this one is definitely not for the faint of heart, but it’s fascinating to contrast this kind of project that’s possible for any determined hobbyist with the effort it would have taken forty years ago. The only question that’s left is whether or not the FlatMac would have actually been a practical system if it had made it to production. Although the keyboard seems decent, the ergonomics feel somewhat questionable compared to something more laptop-like.

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A Guide To Field Stripping Your Voyager Tricorder

August 14, 2023 by Tom Nardi 8 Comments

For the last few years, [Mangy_Dog] has been working on what is easily the most technically and aesthetically impressive Star Trek tricorder prop the world has ever seen. With each new version of the hardware we’ve gotten the occasional peek under the hood or source code walk-through, but these limited presentations have made it somewhat difficult to really appreciate the scale of this undertaking.

But now thanks to this epic hour-long tour of the hardware and software that makes up version 2.5 of his Voyager tricorder, we can finally see just how incredible the engineering that’s gone into this project really is. Every detail has been meticulously considered to deliver a final product that’s not only as visually accurate as possible, but reliable enough to actually carry around. Continue reading “A Guide To Field Stripping Your Voyager Tricorder” →

Spaying Cats In One Shot

June 12, 2023 by Navarre Bartz 61 Comments

Feral cats live a rough life, and programs like Trap, Neuter, Release (TNR) attempt to keep their populations from exploding in a humane way. Researchers in Massachusetts have found a non-surgical way to spay cats that will help these efforts.

A single dose of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) gene therapy suppresses ovarian follicle formation, essentially turning off the ovulation cycle. After following the test cats for two years, none had kittens, unlike the cats in the control group. Other major hormones like estrogen were unaffected in the cats and they didn’t exhibit any negative side effects. The researchers said it will be some time before the treatment can be widely deployed, but it offers hope for helping our internet overlords and the environs they ~~terrorize~~ inhabit.

For those of you doing TNR work, you might want to try this trap alert system to let you know you’ve caught a cat for spaying or neutering. If you’d rather use a cat treat dispenser to motivate your code monkeys, then check out this hack.

Tricorder Tutorial Isn’t Just For Starfleet Cadets

May 12, 2023 by Tom Nardi 30 Comments

For many of us, the most difficult aspect of a project comes when it’s time to document the thing. Did you take enough pictures? Did you remember all the little details that it took to put it together? Should you explain those handful of oddball quirks, even though you’re probably the only person in the world that knows how to trigger them?

Well, we can’t speak to how difficult it was for [Mangy_Dog] to put together this training video for his incredible Star Trek: Voyager tricorder replica, but we certainly approve of the final product. Presented with a faux-VHS intro that makes it feel like something that would have been shown to cast members during the legendary run the franchise had in the 1990s, the video covers the use and operation of this phenomenal prop in exquisite detail.

Replaceable batteries are standard again in the 2370s.

Now to be fair, [Mangy_Dog] has sold a few of his replicas to other Trek aficionados, and we’re willing to bet they went for a pretty penny. As such, maybe it’s not a huge surprise he’d need to put together a comprehensive guide on how to operate the device’s varied functions. Had this been a personal project there wouldn’t have been the need to record such a detailed walk-through of how it all works — so in that regard, we’re fortunate.

One of the most interesting things demonstrated in this video is how well [Mangy_Dog] managed to implement mundane features such as brightness and volume control without compromising the look of the prop itself. Rather than adding some incongruous switches or sliders, holding down various touch-sensitive buttons on the device brings up hidden menus that let you adjust system parameters. The project was impressive enough from the existing images and videos, but seeing just how deep the attention to detail goes is really a treat.

Previously we took a look at some of the work that [Mangy_Dog] has put into these gorgeous props, which (unsurprisingly) have taken years to develop. While they might not be able to contact an orbiting starship or diagnose somebody’s illness from across the room, it’s probably fair to say these are the most realistic tricorders ever produced — officially or otherwise.

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Smallest Discrete Transistor 555 Timer

May 11, 2021 by Chris Lott 28 Comments

Over at Tiny Transistor labs, [Robo] took it upon himself to reproduce the classic 555 timer in discrete transistor form. For bonus points, he also managed to put it in a package that’s the same basic size, pin compatible with, and a plug-in replacement for the original. The first task was deciding which 555 circuit to implement. He examined a handful of different implementations — and by examined, we mean dissected them and studied the die circuitry under a microscope. In the end, he went with Hans Camenzind’s original circuit, both as a tribute and because it used the fewest transistors — a point which helped manage the final size, which is only a little bit bigger than the IC!

Speaking of sizes, have you ever soldered an EIA 01005 resistor? We agree with [mbedded.ninja] who wrote on a post about standard chip resistor sizes, the 01005 is a “ridiculously small chip package that can barely be seen by the naked eye.” It is 16 thou x 8 thou (0.4 mm x 0.2 mm) in size, and despite its name and placement in the Imperial series, it is not half the size of an 0201. The transistors are your standard 2N3904 / 2N3906, but purchased in a not-so-standard DFN (Dual Flat Pack, No Leads). We might think a 1.0 x 0.6 mm component as small, but compared to its neighboring resistors in this circuit, it’s huge.

[Robo] has done this kind of project before, most recently making a discrete recreation of of the classic 741 op-amp. We covered a similar, but larger, discrete 555 timer project back in 2011. If you want to go really big-scale with your own reproduction project, check out the MOnSter 6502 from five years ago for further inspiration. Thanks to [Lucas] for the tip.

A Soyuz Space Clock Replica

March 8, 2021 by Chris Lott 16 Comments

If you like the retro look of old Soviet space hardware, then this replica of the model 774H Soyuz digital clock by [David Whitty] might be the perfect accessory for your desk. Forgoing the original stack of ten jam-packed circuit boards, [David] used an Arduino, a GPS receiver, and a handful of other common parts to create a convincing reproduction.

He also made some functional changes to make it better suited as an ordinary clock for us earthbound folk. If you want to take on this project yourself, be prepared for some real metalwork. No 3D printing filament was harmed in building this project. It’s based on a pair of heavily modified Hammond cast aluminum enclosures, with over 1 kg of lead ballast added to give it the appropriate heft of the original. The GPS patch antenna is cleverly hidden on the rear interface connector, but a discrete hole for a USB connector gives away the secret that this isn’t an original. The software (free for non-commercial use) and build notes are available on his GitHub repository.

We covered [Ken Shirriff]’s fascinating dive into the guts of a real Soyuz digital clock back in January. If old space hardware is your thing, you should definitely check out this teardown by [CuriousMarc] of the 653B, the 1960s-era electro-mechanical predecessor to the 774H. Thanks to [CuriousMarc] for bringing this project to our attention.

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