Just go to http://soldersmoke.com. On that archive page, just click on the blue hyperlinks and your audio player should play that episode.
http://soldersmoke.com
Even though it is outside my normal analog comfort zone, I really liked this video. Farhan sent it to me, along with this note:
--------------
As a kid, do you remember Don Lancaster's books? I learnt most of my digital electronics from him. I still have the 7 dollar video generator book on my shelf. He predates the Homebrew Computer Club. In fact, he is probably the reason for the HCC, because he put in the pieces that were used by others like the two Steves to build their own computers.
His most brilliant hack was to build a "TV typewriter" out of standard TTL parts that were just coming out in the surplus market. For $120, you could, if you build etched your own PCBs and managed to pry parts of fellow builder's dead fingers, build a circuit that, if you typed your name, it showed up on the TV screen! Never mind that dad wanted to get back to watching football or mom wanted the kitchen counter to be cleared out. Those days, parents had no appreciation for their kids being on TV, I guess.
In an earlier hack, he encouraged people through his articles in Radio Electronics to build their own Qwerty keyboard. With this in hand, you could, um .. um... well type something and sit back. There was nothing to connect it to. The fun thing was, there were no key switches available. You had to build those as well. Wind your own springs, make your own keytops, Once it was built, you could use a VOM to check that the ASCII bits corresponding to the key you held down would correctly show up on the 7 data lines. I guess the girls were surely impressed. You just needed to carry the power supply with +5, -5v, +12v, the keyboard itself, an ASCII chart and a VOM to school to show off.
Jokes apart, he kept building things and builds them to this day. His TTL cookbook and CMOS cookbooks were the goto books for almost all digital elecctronics hackers. It is a pity that no one acknowledges his knack. He has scanned in a few of his books on his 1990s www.tinaja.com. Check https://www.tinaja.com/ebooks/cmoscb.pdf
This keyboard is a very-cool example of what could be called *granular* or *fine-grain* homebrewing--breaking a project into very-small components for DIY fabrication (such as the keyboard switches). This allows for--or even requires--crossing *conceptual domains*. A keyboard switch is *electro*-*mechanical*, a TV screen is *electro*-*optical*, ASCII is *cyber*-*electronic*, and so forth. Here's another Ham-related example of granular homebrew that just now showed up in my email-- this one is "acousto-electric": https://www.instructables.com/DIY-Large-Diaphragm-True-Condenser-Microphone-Caps/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
Great stuff. Reading through that CMOS cookbook reminds me a lot of the construction/debugging techniques that were described in Kidder's "Soul of a New Machine."
"SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" is now available as an e-book for Amazon's Kindle.
Here's the site:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004V9FIVW
We’re a garage band, we come from garageland
-
Hi, FastRadioBurst 23 here letting you know of a couple of our shows this
week. On Sunday 28th April 2024 at 0900/1300 hrs UTC on 6160 kHz and then
at 2000...
Military Radios in the Wild
-
Was recently running the MUTT in the field on RTTY and voice, posted a
video over on the tube at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLxH3j8mzYs
Will have th...
Power standing wave null… more
-
Power standing wave null? discussed the “Power Standing Wave” concept
unfolding on social media. Already a correspondent has asked if the graphs
given in P...
April 25, 2024. Meter Magic
-
At times we need to include some form of metering in our homebrew rigs. No,
we will not be installing a Nano VNA in a transmitter. But often a current
mete...
Trying a $15 70cm transceiver HK-188
-
Peter, VK3YE, recently posted a video of a pair of 433Mhz transceivers he
bought at Aldi for $20. They worked OK but had a number of obvious annoying
probl...
An Inline RF Step Attenuator for QRPp Work
-
I don’t need to explain the attraction of low power operation; if you’re
reading this, the chances are that you are already a convert. I’ve been
operating ...
Using an external clock with the RX-888 (Mk2)
-
*The RX-888 (Mk2) and external clocking*
*Figure 1:*
The RX-888 with external clock input *(right)*
The enable/disable switch is barely
visible behind the...
A 51S-1 Restoration Story
-
I came across my Collins 51S-1 in a big junkyard in Ankara, Turkey around
2012. It was in a pile with a lot of other electronic scrap, probably from
one o...
New QRP Cluster Online From OM0ET and OM6APN
-
By DX EXPLORER
DX EXPLORER
Paul OM0ET and Peter OM6APN recently launched a new cluster dedicated to
QRP operations. Have a look and I hope you will enjoy...
3D Printing The Hadley 114mm Newtonian Telescope
-
Yes, we’re building a 3D Printed Newtonian Telescope called Hadley. It’s
being printed in PETG and in the video below, I give a quick tour. My build
isn’...
3D printed project boxes
-
I have been busy with some other things that have kept me away from
electronics projects for quite a while. Now I can get back to them, but
realize I n...
Daylight Again – An all Analog Radio
-
What’s all this? In 10 seconds, A high performance, 7MHz, 5 watt SSB rig
Draws just 24 mA of current 90 dB dynamic range, 80 dB close-in dynamic
range 3D ...
Adding Enclosure to your sBitx Boards Order
-
The early buyers of the sBitx board set who bought it for $270 USD might
want to also add the enclosure (box) for in the kit. What you will now get
is a f...
Digi-chirp! Digital synthesis of ‘nostalgic’ CW
-
The bottom ends of 80, 40 and 20m are not what they used to be. For
starters, the busiest part is the digital segment where computers talk to
computers – l...
-
A Simple Speech Processor
(For QRP/SSB Homebrew Transceivers )
Over the last few weeks I had been thinking to build a small AF speech
processor to add to...
A New Look for your uBitx!
-
Adding a "Cool Blue" Display to your uBitx!
The standard "green background" with black lettering frequently reminds me
that I suffer from Chronic seasickn...
N6ORS here, still have the ttl cookbook, also, didn't he author a timer cookbook?
ReplyDeleteThis keyboard is a very-cool example of what could be called *granular* or *fine-grain* homebrewing--breaking a project into very-small components for DIY fabrication (such as the keyboard switches). This allows for--or even requires--crossing *conceptual domains*. A keyboard switch is *electro*-*mechanical*, a TV screen is *electro*-*optical*, ASCII is *cyber*-*electronic*, and so forth. Here's another Ham-related example of granular homebrew that just now showed up in my email-- this one is "acousto-electric":
ReplyDeletehttps://www.instructables.com/DIY-Large-Diaphragm-True-Condenser-Microphone-Caps/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
Great stuff. Reading through that CMOS cookbook reminds me a lot of the construction/debugging techniques that were described in Kidder's "Soul of a New Machine."
ReplyDeleteFun, thanks! Just looked at Don Lancaster's blog. Still writing fun and interesting stuff in 2022. https://www.tinaja.com/whtnu22.shtml
ReplyDeleteDave WA1LBP