@battlecoder

Mad Data Scientist, 8-bit enthusiast and part-time maker. Digital mind, analog heart. High chances of being a Replicant.

damnsoft.org
Joined July 2010
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I haven't been here in a while, but it feels like yet another great time to tell you all that you can find me on 🐘 (@battlecoder@techhub.social ) and
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Replying to @FreyaHolmer
While that's a possibility, I'd like to add a couple of options to the discussion: B) The portal would resist movement due to effort required to rotate/translate what amounts to a sort of fold in space-time (?) C) ohno
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I've shared this a few times already, but I STILL can't get over the fact that we could all have "Oops!" instead of "Undo" in our programs, but someone, somewhere, made the wrong call. (This is the manual for TI-Writer, but even earlier word processors like TJ-2 also had "Oops")
A screen capture of a scanned document. There's a table with shortcuts for different operations like "Del Char", "Ins Char", "Reformat". At the top of the table, highlighted in yellow, it shows the information for "Oops!". The description reads: "This can be a real lifesaver. It recovers or backs up a function that you didn't mean to hit, as when you hit Delete Line instead of Insert Character, hitting Oops! will bring the line back."

ALT A screen capture of a scanned document. There's a table with shortcuts for different operations like "Del Char", "Ins Char", "Reformat". At the top of the table, highlighted in yellow, it shows the information for "Oops!". The description reads: "This can be a real lifesaver. It recovers or backs up a function that you didn't mean to hit, as when you hit Delete Line instead of Insert Character, hitting Oops! will bring the line back."

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I also wanted to determine whether it was possible to identify the frequency components of that signal without probing the traces, with a cheap non-invasive near field probe and a Spectrum Analyzer (in this case a TinySA Ultra), and the results were better than I expected.
A capture from the tinySA spectrum analyzer. Above the baseline noise two very clear peaks are present, and their frequency is shown up top: Peak 1: 6.996Mhz, Peak 2: 10.00 Mhz

ALT A capture from the tinySA spectrum analyzer. Above the baseline noise two very clear peaks are present, and their frequency is shown up top: Peak 1: 6.996Mhz, Peak 2: 10.00 Mhz

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Excuse the crude PCB, but the etching was done in a hurry. This is my small signal interference playground and for this demo I had a 7 Mhz sine wave running next to a 10 Mhz square wave. I was surprised to see how distorted the sine wave looked on the oscilloscope at the output.
A poorly etched PCB with 4 big pads on each side. The left pads connect to traces that start very far from each other but come together in the center of the board. Then they go separate ways again to meet 4 output pads at the right side. Several clip connectors can be seen to the left, and two oscilloscope probes to the right, probing the output pads. A small Near field probe hovers over one of the output traces.

ALT A poorly etched PCB with 4 big pads on each side. The left pads connect to traces that start very far from each other but come together in the center of the board. Then they go separate ways again to meet 4 output pads at the right side. Several clip connectors can be seen to the left, and two oscilloscope probes to the right, probing the output pads. A small Near field probe hovers over one of the output traces.

An oscilloscope capture showing a very distorted and noisy sine wave. The scope can't even determine its frequency.

ALT An oscilloscope capture showing a very distorted and noisy sine wave. The scope can't even determine its frequency.

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I have developed this very unhealthy obsession with decimal places and precision beyond my actual needs. Look at this 10Mhz reference. This is ridiculous, even for my unnecessarily high standards, and yet, this makes me happy in ways I can't quite describe.
A small green FA-2 frequency counter sitting on top of a cardboard box. The screen reads 10000000.000 Hz. In the background, a Rigol function generator in frequency counter mode, measuring the same signal and showing 10.000,000,000,0 Mhz

ALT A small green FA-2 frequency counter sitting on top of a cardboard box. The screen reads 10000000.000 Hz. In the background, a Rigol function generator in frequency counter mode, measuring the same signal and showing 10.000,000,000,0 Mhz

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Built a Buffered Colpitts Oscillator (from @AlanAtTek 's YT video #123). This circuit makes a crystal oscillate to its tuned frequency, and the output can be observed on an oscilloscope or a freq. counter. This was my first time using HCL+H₂O₂ as etchant, and it worked great!
Closeup of a 4 Mhz crystal inserted on a single-row, 5 pin socket on a home-made PCB.

ALT Closeup of a 4 Mhz crystal inserted on a single-row, 5 pin socket on a home-made PCB.

The home-made Oscillator circuit held on a spring-loaded PCB vice with power connected and the output being monitored by a small handheld radio frequency counter. A Crystal is inserted in the black single row socket at the top, and the frequency counter screen reads 4.0033 Mhz

ALT The home-made Oscillator circuit held on a spring-loaded PCB vice with power connected and the output being monitored by a small handheld radio frequency counter. A Crystal is inserted in the black single row socket at the top, and the frequency counter screen reads 4.0033 Mhz

Similar setup; home-made board held by a vice, but this time a 20 Mhz crystal is inserted in the socket. The frequency counter reads 19.993 Mhz

ALT Similar setup; home-made board held by a vice, but this time a 20 Mhz crystal is inserted in the socket. The frequency counter reads 19.993 Mhz

The bottom side of the small PCB once etched, resting over a light blue towel

ALT The bottom side of the small PCB once etched, resting over a light blue towel

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Gripper prototype for a small robotic arm. A DC motor with a reduction gear box drives one side of the claw while the other side is connected to a potentiometer that gives positional feedback. Despite its simple design it can detect when it's grabbing something (yellow LED)
Closeup of the claw mechanism. The body and both parts of the claw are 3D printed. The left side is driven by a DC motor with a reduction box, while the right side follows the right side movement (thanks to the geared claw rotation axis), turning a potentiometer as the claw opens or closes, providing positional feedback to the control board.

ALT Closeup of the claw mechanism. The body and both parts of the claw are 3D printed. The left side is driven by a DC motor with a reduction box, while the right side follows the right side movement (thanks to the geared claw rotation axis), turning a potentiometer as the claw opens or closes, providing positional feedback to the control board.

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I finally put together this figure and I love it. Dygenguar has always been my favorite robot from Super Robot Wars. Here's already fighting with Skelegod; a cool figure I got for Christmas from a friend.
A fully assembled Dygenguar robot placed on top the assembly guide, with some electronics repair equipment in the background. The spent runners from the gunpla kit are next to it.

ALT A fully assembled Dygenguar robot placed on top the assembly guide, with some electronics repair equipment in the background. The spent runners from the gunpla kit are next to it.

A figure of a powered-up Skeletor (from He-Man) is ready to attack Dygenguar, who assumes a fighting stance wielding his sword Zankantou in its expanded form.

ALT A figure of a powered-up Skeletor (from He-Man) is ready to attack Dygenguar, who assumes a fighting stance wielding his sword Zankantou in its expanded form.

A close encounter between Skelegod (from He-Man) against Dygenguar, who is wielding his sword in its katana form.

ALT A close encounter between Skelegod (from He-Man) against Dygenguar, who is wielding his sword in its katana form.

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I've had this Component Tester for a couple of years now, and it always bothered me that it needed a 9V to run. So I converted it to 3.7V with this small charger+booster module and a 3D-Printed base. Now it's a lot more convenient to use ~
A 18650 battery holder connected to a small charger PCB, connected to a more complex module (a component tested) all roughly placed on top of a white 3D-printed plastic base.

ALT A 18650 battery holder connected to a small charger PCB, connected to a more complex module (a component tested) all roughly placed on top of a white 3D-printed plastic base.

All modules mounted on the plastic base. A small metal tin transistor is placed in the component tester, that is displaying its main characteristics

ALT All modules mounted on the plastic base. A small metal tin transistor is placed in the component tester, that is displaying its main characteristics

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