Category: General

I got hold of a new 128×160 LCD that uses a parallel interface. This is better in many ways, not least of which are that the image is stable and doesn’t flicker like the old one. Continue reading New LCD for 3D project

The Shop Now has both the pre-programmed PICs and the PCB ready for you to make a 1541-III-DTV.

I have added both SMT and DIP pics in case people want to breadboard their own PCB. There aren’t many in stock!

Looks like my mate Jim has done it again,

Here is a video of the Prop chip rendering full frame smooth 3D. It knocks my PIC stuff to the ground.

A friend of mine has just ported Manic Miner to the Parallax Propeller chip!

Apparently the game is playable, and only requires the Propeller chip and a few passive components to work.

Continue reading Manic Miner on a Propeller chip!

Not long ago I saw this link for a 3310 temp probe.
Now ive played with other LCD’s lots, but this one caught my attention because of the low power requirements (It runs from a single CR2032 Motherboard battery). I built the Temp probe as shown on the site and it worked well. I had several of the PCBs made, and decided that the others would be my own projects with the same hardware. I wondered what I could push this simple PIC and Nokia LCD into doing.

Continue reading 3310 Nokia LCD re-purposed

A long time ago I decided to build a controller that would direct a laser pointer, The idea was to have 2 speakers connected to mirrors so they deflect in the x/y range. This allows the laser to be aimed around at will.

A simple Pic 16f84 was the controller with an analog devices Dual DAC. The dac has a lock on the output so both x and y get updated at the same time. The pic simply loads an 8bit data value for x, then y, then updates the DAC output.

Continue reading X/Y Laser pointer controller

A while back when I was into Mame I decided that PC joypads and the keyboard sucked.

I wanted a controller that helped me live those old games properly, and so I took out an old Sega megadrive 6button Joystick. This was very sort after in the day, a must have for Sega owners. I decided it would do for the PC too.

I toyed with the idea of USB, but I finally decided I wanted it to be compatible with everything. The only PC input device I could think of that fit the bill was they keyboard. So I opened the arcadestick, and inserted an old pc Keyboard controller.

Continue reading Retro Sega Joystick controller for PC

Have you seen the www.sun.com site recently?

A huge banner showing the new Sun JavaFX phone! wow, except, its not their phone. The FIC handset in question is actualy being developed for openmoko as the first opensource handset.

check out the pic on www.sun.com (at the top) and this,

The handset from Openmoko…

So Sun are trying to steal the credit for the development work put into this hardware by FIC and OpenMoko. Nice work sun, steal opensource credit for your own. Im sure everybody will love you for it.

Ok. I love Monkeyball on the GC, but the Wii one kinda sucks.

I like the idea of a tilt sensor, but the Wii game is not as good as GC game, answer? Mod my GC pad into a Wiimote ! (Not the other way round).

I happen to have the exact same tilt sensor as used in the Wii pad, and set about removing the analogue joystick in my GC Wavebird. To cut a long story short, while it worked for a fashion, it wasnt playable.

Continue reading Wii Style Tilt controller for Gamecube

While I was playing with colour Nokia LCDs other people were playing with older displays. Roll on the 3310 crowd. This LCD is more suited to smaller projects, its only 84×48 resolution, has no built in backlight and is black and white only.
This means it takes a lot less power to both run it, and display things on it. This guy has taken a 1wire temp probe and 8pin pic to make a very nice standalone temperature monitor with the Nokia LCD.