Sign in

James L

@baldengineer.com
1.3K followers 229 following 121 posts

Fan of making things beep, blink, and fly. @addIohms.bsky.social video creator, KN6FGY. Oh, and Bald.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by James L
Jason Coon @evilgeniuslabs.org · 26/09/2026
Inspired by Mitxela's latest project, I added a FLIP fluid sim pattern to this little motion sensitive Fibonacci256, using code adapted from Ten Minute Physics: matthias-research.github.io/pages
13010
James L @baldengineer.com · 01/09/2026
One benefit of the AI era is that it'll soon be acceptable to say, "... oh, the AI made that [mistake]." The benefit is that I'm going to say it when *I* am the one who did it.
000
James L @baldengineer.com · 26/08/2026
Had a Star Trek II moment with a random word generator...
000
James L @baldengineer.com · 22/08/2026
I may or may not have used AI to generate this infographic warning you about AI-generated infographics.
280
Reposted by James L
Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 07/06/2026
Here's an easter egg in the new Lego Batman that I think all of you will REALLY appreciate. It's so good, I had to make a video.
116123463970
Reposted by James L
CosmoQuest @cosmoquest.org · 02/04/2026
There are now 10 toilets in Space International Space Station: 4 Crew Dragon Docked at ISS: 1 Soyuz Docked at ISS: 1 Tiangong Space Station: 2 Shenzhou Docked at TSS: 1 Artemis II on way around Moon: 1 This will be the first time a toilet has left low earth orbit!
15456731596
James L @baldengineer.com · 14/10/2025
Why and how to replace electrolytic capacitors in vintage computers -- my VCF Midwest 2025 talk www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMRC...
youtube.com
Replacing Ticking Time Bombs: Electrolytic Capacitors | VCFMW 20 (2025)
YouTube video by VCF Midwest
192
Reposted by James L
adafruit @adafruit.com · 29/09/2025
Build an MP3 audio player with #CircuitPython and parts from #Adafruit ! This personal music player features a tft display and mechanical key switches. Learn guide: learn.adafruit.com/walkmp3rson-... youtu.be/fgalBx2QSJ0 #3DPrinting
1505
Reposted by James L
Cyber City Circuits @handle.invalid · 31/07/2025
Before there were multimeters, there was the galvanometer. Born from Ørsted’s magnetic needle experiment, the galvanometer became the 19th century’s essential instrument for detecting and measuring electricity. This is the story of the Galvanometer. emedia.digikey.com/eMagazine-Vo...
001
James L @baldengineer.com · 08/07/2025
Just came across Visashot - A Python tool to create beautiful screenshots from vintage test equipment. Up to 120 instruments supported. damien.douxchamps.net/elec/visashot/
181
James L @baldengineer.com · 07/07/2025
TDK introduced a 1uF, 100V capacitance in an EIA 0603-sized case. The press release suggests it targets 48V systems (like data centers.) At 50V, the effective capacitance isn't even 200 nF. product.tdk.com/en/search/ca... That DC bias effect is real.
0132
James L @baldengineer.com · 07/07/2025
Before PDFs, you could order a Microfiche version of test equipment manuals to stay up-to-date.
Also listed on the title page of this manual is a Microfiche part number. This number can be used to order 4 x 6-inch microfilm transparencies of the manual. Each microfiche contains up to 60 photo-duplicates of the manual pages. The microfiche package also includes the latest Manual Changes supplement as well as all pertinent Service Notes.
040
James L @baldengineer.com · 07/07/2025
A fully open-source alternative to the Analogue Pocket is coming to a Crowd Supply campaign. Game Bub targets GB, GBC, and GBA games. It's an FPGA-based emulation platform. And it looks pretty slick. www.crowdsupply.com/second-bedro...
crowdsupply.com
Game Bub
An open-source FPGA retro-emulation handheld
0142
James L @baldengineer.com · 01/07/2025
Maker News June 2025 Update. Lots of cool stuff to check out from great makers: Kayaks on treadmills, rogue sparks in shielded boxes, and a payment terminal that gives up root in 30 seconds makernews.substack.com/p/maker-news...
020
James L @baldengineer.com · 01/07/2025
The RP2350pc appears to be an open-source single-board computer from @Olimex, based on the RP2350 microcontroller. Their shop lists it at 25 EUR. bald.ee/rp2350pcolimex
bald.ee
RP2350pc Open Source Hardware all in one computer with RP2350B, 8MB PSRAM, 16MB Flash, Four USB host, DVI/HDMI output and Audio Codec for retro computer emulation and education
RP2350pc is an Open Source Hardware complete computer with: RP2350B Dual Core ARM/RISCV processor build in 520KB RAM, 8MB PSRAM, 16MB Flash Four USB ports Two UEXT connectors DVI/HDMI output Audio …
140
James L @baldengineer.com · 01/07/2025
GuitarML on Github created an ESP32/Arduino-based Space Station Tracker. Add 2.8" LCD and watch its path around the world. github.com/GuitarML/Spa...
$20 "Yellow" LCD showing path of Space Station powered by an ESP32
030
James L @baldengineer.com · 16/06/2025
CT Scan of Switch 2 (Animated GIF), including the Tegra SoC via Reddit: www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/com...
CT Scan of Switch 2 with callouts for the 5220mAh Li-Ion battery, Realtek audience codec, SK Hynix 256GB UFS, Meditek WiFi/BT, 2x6GB RAM, and Nvidia Tegra SoC
010
James L @baldengineer.com · 03/06/2025
If there were a real-life Undo button... mine would have broken by now.
090
Reposted by James L
Ken Shirriff @righto.com · 30/05/2025
This photo of magnetic core memory popped up, taken by Ansel Adams. I investigated a bit: this memory holds 4000 bits, each stored in a tiny magnetized ferrite ring. It may be from an IBM 705 vacuum-tube business computer. 1/N
A photo with the caption "'Hands weaving magnetic-core memory, IBM, Poughkeepsie, New York', 1956. Photograph by Ansel Adams. This photograph was made on a commercial assignment for IBM."

This black-and-white photo shows a core memory plane being assembled. It consists of an 80 by 50 grid of wires in a frame with tiny toroids on the wire intersections. Each wire is attached to metal terminals on the frame. Someone is using tweezers to thread the tiny cores onto the wires. The plane is about 4/5 completed. One hand is below the plane, palm-up, visible through the wires. The other hand (with nail polish) is above the plane, holding tweezers.
1127682
James L @baldengineer.com · 22/05/2025
Found an LLM for the Commodore 64 (with 2MB REU). It isn't a chat bot, but it will tell you a story... like a 3 year old. github.com/ytmytm/llama...
C64 Screenshot. Prompt: Zoo, Output: Zoo was a little girl named Lily. She loved to play outside in the park. One day, she saw a big, red ball. She wanted to play with it, but she didn't want to play with
140
James L @baldengineer.com · 20/05/2025
Thinking of 3d printer hubs, I know of Thingiverse and Printables. What other ones are popular?
220
Reposted by James L
johndmcmaster.bsky.social @johndmcmaster.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Mountain View Reverse Engineering (mtvre) meetup Wed the 14th at Wagon Wheel BBQ, 7:00. Talks pending. See you there! www.meetup.com/mountain-vi...
024
Reposted by James L
Bradán Lane @bradanlane.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
For any given PCB design, I have a few ideas of what might fail. I add a legend along the break off rail so I just circle any issue detected by the smoketest. This makes test and rework quicker. (Ideally there would be no issues and no rework but I'm not THAT good 🫣)
161
Reposted by James L
Echoskope @echoskope.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
First time playing with a linear actuator. Controlling it with a UM FeatherS3 and an Adafruit Motor Featherwing.
081
James L @baldengineer.com · 01/04/2025
No. Way.
120
Reposted by James L
Kavrous Tech @kavrous.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
I’m really stepping up with this LSM6DSV CircuitPython driver *rim shot* @anneb.bsky.social (hopefully publishing the driver soon, potentially contributing to the official LSM6DS driver 👀)
RP Watchy display showing 19 steps taken as calculated by the LSM6DSV on the watch board.
2121
Reposted by James L
Anne @anneb.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
I'm scouring the interwebs to find the best content relating to Python on hardware. Please consider signing up so I can show you one of the best resources on the galactic internet.
1124
James L @baldengineer.com · 27/03/2025
Is there a browser plugin that will add "-ai" to google searches?
220
Reposted by James L
Paul Stoffregen @paulstoffregen.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
PJRC is partnering with @sparkfun.bsky.social for manufacturing of all Teensy products. We’re taking step with 2 main goals. 1: SparkFun has the manufacturing needed for Teensy's growth. 2: PJRC can renew focus on software & community. pjrc.com/sparkfun-to-... news.sparkfun.com/13308
pjrc.com
SparkFun To Manufacture Teensy
5579
Reposted by James L
OSHWA @oshwassociation.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
There's lots to look forward to at #OHS2025 like Alessia Romani's talk on RepMat, an Open Source Materials Library designed to share circular sustainable practices on new materials and technologies, especially 3D printing!
151
Reposted by James L
petur 😶🇺🇦🇵🇸🇹🇼 @peturdainn.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/03/2025
A coworker had the idea of making this resistance decade, then somebody decided to make a whole bunch of them and hand them out at different locations (and at customers). And now the gerber files are available for download! […] [Original post on mastodon.social]
picture of a PCB panel on the right and the assembled resistance decade on the left, in the form of a rectangular base plate with connection holes, and three gear-shaped discs with scales on, cone-shaped
57637
Reposted by James L
Solder Party @solder.party · 03/03/2025
Come and see us at @oshwassociation.bsky.social Summit in Edinburgh May 30-31! We’ll have a stand, showcasing products past, present, and future! 🎉
A graphic saying "come see us at" followed by the open hardware summit 2025 logo, and then "May 30-31, 2025 in Edinburgh"
4229
Reposted by James L
Cyber City Circuits @handle.invalid · 10/03/2025
241
Reposted by James L
Tomb💀Time @tubetime.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
what uhh exactly is this thing for?
bright red instrument with a round crt display. a label on the side says Snap-On Anal-O-Scope
1916125
Reposted by James L
Pingu, The plague penguin🐧 😷 @zanfr.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
A nice write up about the so called ESP32 backdoor Of course it is a nothingburger... but eh anything to raise FUD about chinese chips.... and let's just keep ignoring the blatant security issues in Intel's ME and AMD's ST... darkmentor.com/blog/esp32_n...
darkmentor.com
The ESP32
This post refutes the claim that researchers found a
173
Reposted by James L
Steph Piper @sjpiper145.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
New achievement stickers are now available! Excited that these have arrived and I had a great time adding these into my Skill Seeker book.
0143
Reposted by James L
Unexpected Maker @seonr.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
So this just happened... #TinyWATCHS3 Revision P10 - First panel paste and final assembly after reflow. I still have to finalise the new case, but this will be back in stock VERY SOON! #maker #manufacturing #opensource #esp32s3 #watch
0132
Reposted by James L
Ron’s Computer Videos 🧍‍♂️🖥️📼 @ronscompvids.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Leave me some greeting on my "/Uploads/- Put Greetings Here!" share out on RonsCompVids zone on #GlobalTalk! Happy #MARCHintosh!
1143
Reposted by James L
Hackster.io @hacksterio.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Alpenglow Industry's Carrie Sundra has designed a clever adapter board that turns coin-cell battery footprints into USB power inputs.
hackster.io
Alpenglow Industry's Carrie Sundra Designs a USB Replacement for Coin-Cell Batteries
Clever workaround lets board design based on CR2032 or CR2016 take USB power instead, no design change required.
0111
James L @baldengineer.com · 26/02/2025
What do you consider to be "high voltage"?
High Voltage Symbol
1220
Reposted by James L
Jen Costillo @rebelbotjen.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Bored? Midwest? Need your #reverseenginering? The Mad EE group is hosting Dmitry Grinberg March 12. Madison Wisconsin Central Library, room 104, 6:30-8:30pm Come on our, meet some other local hw/fw/sw peeps. Space is very limited so dm me if you are coming.
Mad EE logo: capital on an IC and pcb circuitry.
153
Reposted by James L
Crowd Supply @crowdsupply.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Join @helenleigh for a livestream with Zeke Wheeler this Thurssday at noon PT www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqiI...
youtube.com
Teardown Session 52: Zeke Wheeler speaks with the ISS
YouTube video by Crowd Supply
032
Reposted by James L
Alasdair Allan @alasdairallan.com · 18/02/2025
By me for @hacksterio.bsky.social, “The return of Pebble: you can’t keep a good watch down!” Some thoughts on @ericmigi.com’s announcement and the return of #Pebble. www.hackster.io/news/the-ret...
hackster.io
The Return of Pebble: You Can't Keep a Good Watch Down!
Eight years after the demise of the both the watch, and the company behind it, the Pebble smart watch is coming back from the dead.
1174
Reposted by James L
GeekMomProjects @geekmomprojects.com · 13/02/2025
Using p5.js to map the vertices of the truncated icosahedron build. I'm always too lazy to make 3D mapping part of a project's design phase and I always regret it later on!
A hand holding a black truncated icosahedron with translucent acrylic flowers inset each side, in front of a computer screen. The screen shows a 3D rendering of labelled points corresponding to each of the vertices of the truncated icosahedron, and a partially completed list of faces comprised of lists of vertices within the code.
2221
Reposted by James L
actioncookbook @actioncookbook.com · 13/02/2025
looking back, AOL had it right. 30 hours of internet per month was the right amount.
201351256141
Reposted by James L
Unexpected Maker @seonr.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Precision Solder Pasting... Not so good on the photography ;) #electronics #manufacturing #technique
1201
Reposted by James L
Amie DD @amiedd.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Paid my first tariff tax this week on order of PCBs for JLCPCB. My boards were $40 and tariff tax was $12 😡😡
media.tenor.com
a man in a plaid shirt and tie is typing on a keyboard with flames coming out of it
ALT: a man in a plaid shirt and tie is typing on a keyboard with flames coming out of it
7252
Reposted by James L
Cyber City Circuits @handle.invalid · 06/02/2025
Really?
221
Reposted by James L
Tomb💀Time @tubetime.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
this is the uA702, the first commercial analog chip (an op-amp). it was designed by the legendary Bob Widlar and went on the market in 1964 for $300 each. that's $2500 adjusting for inflation!
small rectangle of silicon against a gold background in soft focus. from the edges, eight bond wires shoot off in various directions. a delicate tracery of microscopic aluminum wire connects the nine transistors in the circuit. faint rectilinear outlines of diffusion regions can be seen -- these form transistors and resistors.
719030
James L @baldengineer.com · 05/02/2025
Electrochemical hour meter. (Saw it on Reddit). Current electrolyzes the mercury, which creates a moving dot... over time. www.reddit.com/r/AskElectro...
Fuse-like tube on a PCB. Under it is a scale. Silkscreen says 0, 1000H, 2000H. The fuse-object is filled with a thin line of mercury with a dot.
3227