Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 26/06/2026Wandering around Manhattan waiting to check in to my hotel I found this place. 8-bit Bites Chelsea, each table has 4 controllers and a whole load of games to choose from while you eat. www.8bitbitesbk.com Crossposted with @openvibe.social 1103
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 20/06/2026If you know someone with a broken one, I could probably fix it. I don't have one, but I know tech of this era backward and forward. 111
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 26/05/2026I got some cool stuff at the gift shop there once, they have lots of pins and books 000
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 17/03/2026An easy win for China. Send an army of engineers and solar panels and make the whole damn country solar powered. 110
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 04/02/2026I did a new spinner controller board from scratch, but I did it before I saw all the other buttons used in that game. My new plan is to have a spinner in-line with a standard controller that is comfortable and contains the main gameplay functions, the rest are offloaded to the standard controller 020
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 23/10/2025Design choices. Was there going to be a peoplemover track that got defunded and that's why it's not on this city's grid? What's up with that arch, where does it come from and why is it only common here? Stuff people look at every day, there is an answer, and almost no one knows the real reason. 000
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 30/08/2025This is just waiting for someone who's seen American Graffiti to realize they can do the funniest thing. 130
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 15/02/2025I'd offer to try some stuff but I just finally gave away all my spare parts. I mean, if it's just a power issue I could probably handle it. If there's no other more subtle stuff going on. The power supply is kinda interesting as it's a DIY switchmode power supply made out of a 4069 and a 2n3055. 010
Reposted by Evan AllenJustin Oaksford @justinoaksford.bsky.social · 08/02/2025Just a reminder: Seattle has until this Tuesday (Feb 11th) to turn in ballots that can both hit the wealthy where it hurts while also building the long term public-housing-for-all we've been waiting for. Please vote Yes on 1A, please tell your Seattle friends- turnout is only 15% right now. 51106947
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 22/07/2024If you want to test some old DRAM, I made a tester that does everything common in the DIP16 socket. The real hard part is the power supplies and remembering what each of the jumpers do. wp.me/pyBbS-YKwp.meCheap and cheerful DRAM testerWhile working on my Commodore PET 4032 I had a strange problem where it started chirping like it normally does in the boot up sequence and then crashed with some extra characters on the screen. There ... 040
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 19/07/2024I went through some effort to repair the screen on a broken transistor tester and went down the rabbit hole of finding the original project, modifying the code, and updating it to have features beyond the original cheap one wp.me/pyBbS-V8 wp.me/pyBbS-Wvwp.meChinesium Transistor tester repair (fail?)This works, believe it or not This is a post I'm writing mere minutes after completing the last bit (a rarity). Months back a friend bought one of those yellow chinese 'component tester' modules from ... 030
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 08/07/2024Two posts separated by 7 years, one hacking the billy bass and one putting it to use. It got it out of the parts bin and onto a shelf which is an improvement: wp.me/pyBbS-2g wp.me/pyBbS-WJwp.meBilly mouth billy bass hackingWell, here's a classic: hacking the old Billy M0uth Billy Bass! This is an absolute classic, it seems like everyone and their tin dog has done this one. I picked this thing up at a garage sale, the ... 040
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 03/07/2024Today I have some old s100 stuff. First is building a system from scraps, second is modding the ithica cpu board for a more modern ROM wp.me/pyBbS-Xz wp.me/pyBbS-Z4wp.mePoly-88 S100 system raised from the deadBack at Makerfaire Detroit I did a booth with my buddy Frank. We showed off a bunch of vintage computers we had fixed over the prior year and had them set up for use. Because of this a member of our h... 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 28/06/2024I did some reverse engineering of a vtech whiz kid computer. These days the schematics would be in kicad, but they're all there along with a clever way to configure the ROM carts wp.me/pyBbS-Zqwp.meVtech Whiz Kid reverse engineeringIn an effort to free up space and get some low hanging fruit projects done fast I took on this one. This is a small learning computer from the 1980s. It uses a custom segment LCD for display, an optic... 030
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 27/06/2024This is what it takes to add neo geo compatibility to your standard JAMMA harness (cheapie from ebay) wp.me/pyBbS-13ewp.meNeo Geo compatibility for my portable arcade test rigI figured I'd go over some mods done to make my arcade test rig Neo Geo compatible. The first thing to do was make a JAMMA fingerboard adapter. I have a 2-slot motherboard so it's not the vanilla JAMM... 040
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 12/06/2024Here's an old one that involves some reverse engineering to create a real neo geo cart using repro shells and salvage boards. wp.me/pyBbS-12Lwp.meSynthesizing a neo-geo game from scratch (ish)I recently decided to take on a project building a neo-geo MVS cart of a rather rare game, Twinkle Star Sprites. It is possible to buy this game for cheaper on the PS2 or Dreamcast, but why hack one o... 020
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 11/06/2024What do you do if you can't get a pink Konami Justifier? Build one! I also just set up a ko-fi, linked from my blog if anyone feels like contributing so I can do more cool hacks wp.me/pyBbS-13wwp.meHow to use a Sega Master System Light Phaser as the pink Konami JustifierThis is a simple hack that I put together from several places on the internet to get right. I don't know that anyone's done exactly this before, so I figured I'd share it here. The Pink player 2 Konam... 020
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 09/06/2024Last bout of posts about the Eagle, this is what I managed before I sold the thing. I'm particularly proud of the diagnostic box that decodes the signals using only logic chips. wp.me/pyBbS-L1 wp.me/pyBbS-UL wp.me/pyBbS-UY wp.me/pyBbS-14bwp.meAMC Eagle hatch repairThis is a combination fix, I decided to replace the hatch struts so I didn't have to haul around a stick to hold it open. That necessitated making sure I had quality hinges and replacement hinges if ... 020
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 08/06/2024Just got back from a business trip, now I can resume promoting my old posts. This isn't the last batch of AMC Eagle projects, but it's getting there. wp.me/pyBbS-UG wp.me/pyBbS-Sm wp.me/pyBbS-GH wp.me/pyBbS-Wnwp.meAMC Eagle Horn Replacement (very superfluous)There's a lot of cars I'd like to own for various reasons. Most of them are small parts I think are cool, like the electroluminescent hemispherical dash of some Chrysler 300s and the Nash fold flat re... 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 27/05/2024more electrical and lighting stuff from my ole Eagle wp.me/pyBbS-K2 wp.me/pyBbS-Ko wp.me/pyBbS-KM wp.me/pyBbS-Knwp.meAMC Eagle automotive breakersWhile replacing the dome light bulbs with LEDs (that post will be up when I've figured out what I broke to make them stay on all the time) I blew the dome light fuse, and I didn't have another one. Ra... 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 23/05/2024More Eagle stuff, some repair to bulbs and modification to LEDs wp.me/pyBbS-J8 wp.me/pyBbS-IJ wp.me/pyBbS-Jm wp.me/pyBbS-JEwp.meAMC Eagle LED marker lights (LEDs part two)This is a small post, but I think an important one. I had no idea how to safely get the marker lights off my car. I didn't know if just the lens came off, if there were screws under it, if the previ... 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 22/05/2024next batch of mods to the AMC Eagle (has since been sold though) wp.me/pyBbS-G3 wp.me/pyBbS-GM wp.me/pyBbS-HP wp.me/pyBbS-HCwp.meCompletely mandatory Eagle accessoriesThis one is just me showing off. All my life my dad has had a brass embellished american flag and eagle licence plate frame in the basement on a workbench. Last year he picked up some model paints a... 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 21/05/2024Continuing with the AMC Eagle, I have a few more small things I did almost as soon as I got the car wp.me/pyBbS-D7 wp.me/pyBbS-Dm wp.me/pyBbS-Dx wp.me/pyBbS-Dvwp.meKeys aplentyI am coming to terms with the fact that I got three keys with this car. I don't like it, but there's not a ton I can do about it right now. I have one key for the ignition, one key for the doors and... 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 20/05/2024Here's phase 1 of me getting an AMC eagle and documenting some things I did to it. wp.me/pyBbS-AB wp.me/pyBbS-BC wp.me/pyBbS-C0 wp.me/pyBbS-COwp.meMy new car!I bought a new car. This car has (or can have) just about everything I want in a vehicle. After working in the automotive industry since I got out of college I have become intimately familiar with t... 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 06/05/2024My mousebites post got picked up by @adafruit.com blog.adafruit.com/2024/05/06/m...blog.adafruit.comMaking a ‘mousebites’ PCB chip replacement adapter boardEvan’s Techie-blog is looking to dump all the TMS7000 series processors’ internal mask Read-Only Memory (ROM)s encountered. Not all are so easy, especially capturing communications with exter… 020
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 05/05/2024We were out for the first run of the year today in Royal Oak MI with the Great Lakes Live Steamers. Weather permitting we'll be doing it again tomorrow at Starr Jaycee Park. Noon to 4pm. www.greatlakeslivesteamers.orggreatlakeslivesteamers.orgGreat Lakes Live Steamers1/8 scale trains running in the cities of Southgate and Royal Oak 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 04/05/2024I just saw a video on durable east german glassware that failed in the west because of capitalism's planned obsolescence. I think it could work these days because the current corporate grift is short term profits at the expense of long term profitability: youtube.com/watch?v=vEvBpjCOBu0youtube.comHow Communists Made Unbreakable GlassTry Shopify for free and create your own online shop now: https://shopify.com/fern (ad)This is the story of how communists made nearly unbreakable glass. Why... 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 02/05/2024Working on this arduino controlled tv tuner to use old hardware on monitors that don't have a tuner. Not done yet, but the hardware should be alright as designed wp.me/pyBbS-1p7wp.mearduino-controlled-tv-tunerIn recent times I've come to want a standalone tuner that outputs composite video. This would be really nice because I have good composite monitors, but ones with tuners are not usually quite so conve... 020
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 01/05/2024This is actually a super useful device that sits right on a serial port and connects to an esp32. It transparently converts the serial to telnet. There's even some features after the enhancements I made. wp.me/pyBbS-151wp.meESP232 code enhancements/portingI did this a long time ago and am just now bothering to write something up for it. I was not super satisfied with the esp-link telnet adapter software, and I wanted to make some smaller simple boards.... 030
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 30/04/2024Over 10 years of trying to evolve the same crappy hacked diy logic analyzer. I don't actually recommend you do this, but I did so here it is wp.me/pyBbS-1u wp.me/pyBbS-100 wp.me/pyBbS-177wp.meSaleae Logic clone buildSo, I wanted a logic analyzer, and I wanted it cheap. After hearing about the Saleae Logic I was excited, after all what is a logic analyzer but a pile of IO and some nice software. The thing is, th... 041
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 28/04/2024I took a stab at casting epoxy instead of 3d printing to replicate things. It worked alright, and this 8088 works reasonably well with the covox sound card. wp.me/pyBbS-150wp.mecarry-1 covox sound card / cast epoxy keyFrank and I picked up a nice PC compatible computer at an estate sale, the Carry-1. It's (at the time at least) the world's smallest PC compatible computer. It takes an XT protocol keyboard, has the w... 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 26/04/2024Latest projdect is breaking out an SOIC to a DIP for the purposes of MITM-ing the processor. Actually more of taking complete control, but that's for another entry. This one was also sponsored by PCBWay wp.me/pyBbS-1Nfwp.me‘mousebites’ adapterThis is a somewhat generic idea, but I've implemented it for a specific purpose. In trying to be able to dump all the TMS7000 series processors' internal mask rom I've come across some pretty unique o... 020
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 25/04/2024I've been dumping the internal mask rom out of various tms7000 processors, I've almost got them all. Latest post sponsored by PCBWay wp.me/pyBbS-1MV wp.me/pyBbS-1agwp.meTMS7000 dumper rev. B sneak peek and obscure footprint processor dumpingDo not use git branches, this is a way to lose shit you've been working on. Do not use git stashes, this is a way to lose shit you've been working on *and it's not backed up anywhere*. Git is just too... 020
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 24/04/2024I built my own version of radio shack/archer/realistic's mini amplified speaker and discovered an issue with headphone jacks I'd been using. wp.me/syBbS-oops wp.me/pyBbS-1Muwp.meOops.I fucked up. One of my latest projects did not immediately work and it's for the dumbest reason. This also has implications on past projects too, so buckle in. This project will be featured next, but ... 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 23/04/2024I did some experimenting making wifi controlled Lego trains, I'm probably going to continue with Lego compatible trains, but maybe start 3d printing stuff wp.me/pyBbS-14d wp.me/pyBbS-16n 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 22/04/2024repurposing of some LED sign segments. The hardware is done, the userspace code needs doing though: wp.me/pyBbS-14Z 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 20/04/2024The other day I found out littlefuse of all places owns Zilog stuff like the Z80 and they're discontinuing it. That might make these adapters more useful in the future, use a PLCC Z80 for the spot that needs a DIP wp.me/pyBbS-174 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 19/04/2024Have a look at actually useful PCB ruler/coasters. I also have a list of stuff I want and stuff I don't want. I will pay/trade for stuff I want and if you pay shipping you can have the stuff I don't want. wp.me/pyBbS-1BG wp.me/PyBbS-1o6 wp.me/PyBbS-1r8 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 18/04/2024This DTMF decoder board works well, I have some spares but this one is for the DIP version, you could use my schematic to do one for the surface mount version that's still available NOS wp.me/pyBbS-1IL 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 16/04/2024After hacking together programmers, these are a really nice setup. I still have spare boards if anyone wants them wp.me/pyBbS-15G 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 11/04/2024Simple board for breaking out some old 5v CPLDs wp.me/pyBbS-175 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 10/04/2024I recreated the schematic and one board from an old Ramsey frequency counter. I also uploaded the manual wp.me/pyBbS-1p9 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 09/04/2024I forgot to post this when I did all the other chuck e cheese ones. This is a board that grabs onto two rows of wirewrap pins and adapts them to a standard 50 pin ribbon cable you can still buy today. wp.me/pyBbS-1EE 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 06/04/2024Turns out you can just double the capacity of some ISA cards by just populating them wp.me/pyBbS-159 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 05/04/2024After yesterday's doozy, I have a small project that reuses surplus processors while violating so many clearances wp.me/pyBbS-174 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 04/04/2024oh for sure, this version just has a linux driver already working 010
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 04/04/2024The biggest thing I've done recently. Recreation and deep dive on the 6502 cyberamic control computer for chuck-e-cheese pizza time theater wp.me/pyBbS-1Js wp.me/pyBbS-1JW wp.me/pyBbS-1Kw wp.me/pyBbS-1Lb wp.me/pyBbS-1LB 020
Evan Allen @abzman.bsky.social · 03/04/2024This is a real simple one, a GPIB adapter for the raspberry pi that uses proper GPIB transceivers for driving the fanout of a full bus. wp.me/pyBbS-15k 120
