Metal Forming with a 3D Printer
How do you use a 3D printer to bend metal? One way would be to take it to a machine shop and offer to trade the owner your printer for …read more Continue reading Metal Forming with a 3D Printer
Author Archives: Al Williams
Odd Retrocomputer Had a Graphics Coprocessor
[Noel’s Retro Lab] scored an unusual 1980s vintage computer sold in Japan and Spain. The Seconinsa FM-7 appears to be a popular Fujitsu Japanese computer altered to fit the Spanish …read more Continue reading Odd Retrocomputer Had a Graphics Coprocessor
Let’s Listen to a Tape — Paper Tape
These days, data is as likely as not to be “in the cloud.” Otherwise, it’s probably on a USB flash drive or SD card. But in the old days, paper …read more Continue reading Let’s Listen to a Tape — Paper Tape
Kalman Filters without the Math
If you program using values that represent anything in the real world, you have probably at least heard of the Kalman filter. The filter allows you to take multiple value …read more Continue reading Kalman Filters without the Math
The AI Engine that Fits in 100K
Running your own AI models is possible, but it requires a giant computer, right? Maybe not. Researchers at NVidia are showing off Perfusion, a text-to-image model they say is 100KB …read more Continue reading The AI Engine that Fits in 100K
Solar Power Your Pi
Running a Raspberry Pi with solar power sounds easy. Of course, like most things, the details are what get you. About a year ago, [Bystroushaa] tried it without success. But …read more Continue reading Solar Power Your Pi
All American Five Lives Again
If you haven’t heard of an “all-American five,” then you probably don’t dig through bins for old radios. The AA5 is a common design for old AM radios that use …read more Continue reading All American Five Lives Again
Examining Test Gear from Behind the Iron Curtain
Back in 1978, an oscilloscope was an exotic piece of gear for most homebrewers. We expect they were even more rare in private hands behind the iron curtain, and [Thomas …read more Continue reading Examining Test Gear from Behind the Iron Curtain
Retrotechtacular: The Computer Center of 1973
You might expect Bell Labs would have state-of-the-art computers, and they did. But it is jarring to realize just how little that was in 1973, fifty years ago. If you …read more Continue reading Retrotechtacular: The Computer Center of 1973
Retro Gadgets: The Real Desktop Computer
People argue about the first use of the computer desktop metaphor. Apple claims it. Xerox probably started it. Yet, when I think of computer desktops, I think of the NOVAL …read more Continue reading Retro Gadgets: The Real Desktop Computer