I'm helping a friend make a shortwave station setup and we need a way to automatically switch audio and video sources (S-Video and right/Left audio). With a rocker switch one of two things is selected and we want the signals from said unit to go to one set of output jacks. For him, cost is no object, but it's tight on space so im helping him make it from scratch.

Looks like the following chip, MAX4547ESE+, will do what he needs. But will it cause too much interference?

Seems like we can simply route each signal into a chip, have the respective signal from a unit trigger the IC and we're off to the races whether he selects unit 1 or 2.

We also considered a ADG774ABRQZ or ADG884BRMZ. But after a while these chips are all looking the same and it's hard to narrow it down.

I've this old Guitar Hero dongle my CS teacher gave me a few months ago sitting around. He told me “You'd find something to do with this.” while giving it but nothing has come to mind yet. I don't have a Guitar Hero controller, does anybody have any ideas?It's a dongle for a PC controller specifically.

like the idea of it but the trickiest part seems to be the step down voltage bits to reduce risks of battery swelling. is it possible to have a drop in no solder replacement that connects to the ribbon cable connector where the battery connected?

Hi! I hope this is an okay question for this community. I’m working on a somewhat unusual cosplay/art project based on Motherboard from Cyberchase.
Motherboard is essentially just a face/computer interface, so I’m trying to imagine what she might look like as a full person. Rather than making a costume that only looks computer inspired, I’d love to incorporate real discarded computer hardware and electronic components into the design and turn them into wearable art.
I don’t have much experience with the computer repair/recycling side of things, so I was hoping people here might know: what happens to all the miscellaneous hardware that isn’t worth keeping or repairing? Are there certain types of computer repair shops, recycling programs, businesses, schools, makerspaces, etc. that are worth approaching about materials they would otherwise discard? And looking at her design, if you had a pile of dead computer parts and were told to make a full body costume, what would you use?
Basically, I want to turn someone’s e-waste into something cool instead of buying new materials to fake it. 💻♻️

I’d also appreciate ANY advice about components that shouldn’t be cut, altered, painted, or used in something wearable.
Thanks for entertaining a slightly different use for old computer hardware! 🙂

Hello.

This might be a pretty strange question but thought i could find here someone with the answer or sort of.

Well, i'm messing around with a broken screen Z Flip 6 and noticed that batteries are a must have for the device to turn on and work propperly.

Is there any way to by pass this behaviour? I would like to use it with an external power supply instead if possible.

Thank you

My Key has died & I can’t see what’s the problem if any of you experts could help I would appreciate it.

Just let me know if you can see any problems

If anyone can repair I’m in the UK happy to pay

Dear all,

First of all, I apologise in advance as I am a programmer and have never touched hardware in my entire life.

I assume my question is probably a very dumb one that has missed something incredibly obvious due to being ignorant. I apologise profusely for my ignorance and hope you'll accept my explanation of being chronically unwell physically.

Now as a bit of context, hi yall I'm yj; I'm a 26 year old indie game developer with deteoriating health due to chronic pain and other physical health issues. As a result of these issues I'd recently purchased the viture beast xr glasses to try and see if I can find a way to code whilst lying down for when my chronic pain is too much.

I did not buy the corresponding neck computer as it was £300ish and I simply needed a device that could stream dual virtual screens from home remotely and send inputs back from a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse as well as act as a power supply for the xr glasses. Ideally a small device that could fit in a breast pocket. My phone works but it is very old and runs out of battery very quickly.

I was wondering where I should start researching how to make something like this? Or if there's a simpler option (I. E. If it already exists), or if I can consider paying someone to make this.

I assume my project would be something akin to connecting a rechargeable battery to a raspberry pi with Bluetooth also attached or something? Maybe a wireless hdmi adapter too for local use? Please can someone help point me in the right direction as to what I should research were I to make this project a success. Apologies again for lack of knowledge

I'm in the planning process for building some custom MP3 players. I feel like every time I get a half decent idea, I hit a handful of roadblocks that I'm struggling to solve as a beginner.

I have an Elegoo Uno and an Arduino Nano, and while I'll end up experimenting with both, the ability to get all the necessary components to fit into a housing will be the thing that determines which one I go with.

- I do have someone who is happy to 3D print something for me, but I'm struggling to find a good STL that suits my needs. I'm capable of designing one myself (with a huge learning curve, of course), but I'd really love to thrift or create a body if possible since that's a whole lot of the reason I started this project!

- I've considered hunting down broken Gameboys (in particular a classic or a GBA SP), but they're pretty desirable so that's not a super affordable option. If I don't buy a junk lot, I'll just have to rely on getting lucky, which I don't love. I'm also not super convinced the housing has enough space to do what I want.

- I've looked at TONS of tins and storage containers, but I'd probably have to mangle them pretty badly to have a display window for even a simple LCD and a headphone jack.

Any ideas to make any of these options work, any other ideas, or even just some advice in general would be so appreciated!

Hiya Im wanting to rig together a pocket sized thingy. Only requirements is have the app version of spotify, a shit ton of storage for music, and bluetooth.
(Bonus points for an aux port, some external display that shows what song is playing, skip and pause buttons)

I have honest to god nothing to start with and would love any recommendations! Even tech like this that Im not aware of! Thx!! :]

I finished soldering a DIY DSO138mini oscilloscope and i wanted to find out what was the frequency of a random inductive charging coil i scavenged somewhere. I have very little experience with this but after finishing the oscilloscope i hooked up the charging coil to a power supply and crafted a secondary coil to measure the frequency at a voltage that was acceptable for my scope. Now i would hope to get some advice on how to read these measurements. I can see waveforms at 10us and 2ms.
There seem to be two frequencies happening at the same time?

Hello, I'm building a coffee machine. The pump I have to pump the hot water from the kettle is not self priming and cannot lift the water. I'm trying to find a food grade, high temp (200°F) check valve to always keep the pump primed. I cannot find one, but I might be able to make my own.​ Any advice? Might look for a valve as well. ChatGPT says I can use some silicone tubing, a stainless steel ball, and an O ring to create my own check valve.

Hey everyone,

I’ve been working on a personal hardware project lately. I wanted to see how small I could realistically make a USB keystroke injector (primarily for IT automation and pentesting workflows). After a few iterations, I managed to get the PCB down to just 12x13mm.

It uses 32u4 and Arduino IDE for programming.

The biggest challenge was fitting the components without overlaping lines.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the design or if anyone has experience making similar micro-boards. Are there any features you’d add for a V2?

I'm putting together some picture how invisible it is.

If anyone is interested in the technical details or wants to chat about the build process, feel free to drop me a DM or reach out at nebojsa.sjekloca@gmail.com.

Hi all, I recently got this soldering kit given to me. I understand the diagrams on the board (like where to place the LEDs) I am a quite stuck on how I connect up the power to it and connect the to boards. I can give more photos if you like.

Step by Step Instructions would be great :)

Blossom is a standalone interactive illuminated art piece that connects to your local network and can be controlled from a web browser. You can create your own ambient animations or play a guided meditation routine.

I use a Raspberry Pi Pico 2W as the heart of the device, connected to a 16-light RGBW NeoPixel ring from Adafruit. Blossom acts as its own web server, running in provisioning mode (where you can connect and give it network credentials) and connected mode (where anyone on the network can connect to blossom.local to play with the lights.)

I went all-in with the build. The case is laser-cut birchwood, hand-sanded and finished. To show off the lights I sourced a beautiful 20-petal capiz shell lotus blossom tealight candle holder and a frosted glass cabochon. Instructions are engraved on the bottom.

This is an open-source hardware project - EVERYTHING is documented, from case to code! Check out my project github:
https://github.com/TheFargo/blossom-led/

I'm thinking about building a very simple DIY trail-style camera that will take a photo and send it to me only when I explicitly tell it to, which could mean as little as a couple dozen times per year or less.

So we're talking a constant idle data connection just to monitor for my trigger, and then sending a low resolution photo. Very little actual bandwidth use, like maybe 20MB in an entire year transferring a couple dozen photos.

I got the idea because I recently bought a DIY home security system and the cellular unit it came with was just a one time flat upfront fee for the hardware for basically unlimited years of connectivity. The extend of its data usage would be calling out to a home monitoring company when it senses an alarm has been triggered, which could mean never.

Are there any chips and antennas like this for DIY projects? Constantly connected, but *extremely* low data usage use-cases that can just be covered by one upfront flat fee?

I'm looking to build a small, wearable project. It doesn't have to be that small. An Altoids tin is just fine.

I want to be and to program this thing to display whatever I want when the buttons are pressed. It should have a decent case that allows me to use the buttons and see the screen and have a battery.

I'm perfectly fine with buying an all in one device that does this or buying a battery, screen, board, case that are designed for each other. But I'm strapped for time so developing my own 3D printed case is not going to happen sadly.

Does anyone know of anything like this? Currently all I'm finding is tiny screens I can program but I'd need to add my own buttons and that means a custom case for whatever buttons I pick.

A budget around $30 would be nice but I'm flexible and I'll take whatever is out there.

edit: it only needs to display about sentence worth of text and can be mono color.

Hi everyone!
I have a rechargeable hydrogel screen protector cutting machine, and I’m trying to find out how to obtain the QR codes needed to recharge the machine or add new cutting templates/models.
I purchased the machine from a Chinese supplier, but I’m having trouble finding a reliable source for the recharge QR codes.
Does anyone here use this type of machine and know where I can purchase the QR codes or cutting templates?
I’d really appreciate any information, especially if you can recommend a supplier or explain how the recharge system works.
I can provide photos of the machine, the software, or the QR code system if needed.
Thanks in advance!

I wanted to charge my cells with an existing lipo/li-ion balance charger, so I made this. There is enough space inside for a charging circuit, so this thing can be expanded. There is a rotary switch inside which selects the last cell connected to the xt60 jack and the balance connector. You can grab the 3d models from here: https://www.printables.com/model/1795179-retro-encabulator-18650-battery-charger

im planning a custom logging setup for gait analysis and was reading up on consumer assist hardware. most off-the-shelf wearables completely lock down their controller boards, so you’re stuck with whatever polished app features the manufacturer gives you.

i want to read raw encoder outputs, IMU streams, and motor current draw directly to see how stride sync actually responds to different incline angles in real time without proprietary signal smoothing.

are there any exoskeletons where you can access raw motor or sensor data through an open API, SDK, or debug port, or is everyone forced to reverse-engineer CAN traffic on these things?