Collaborate Disseminate
[M Caldeira] had a project in mind: replacing a common vacuum tube with a solid-state equivalent. The tube in question was an EABC80 or 6AK8 triple diode triode. The key …read more Continue reading Making a Solid State 6AK8 Tube
AVO meters — literally amp, volt, ohm meters — are not very common in North America but were staples in the UK. [TheHWcave] found an AVO 8 that is probably …read more Continue reading An AVO 8 Teardown
Suppose you decide you want to become a novelist. You enroll in the Hackaday Famous Novelists School where your instructor announces that since all truly great novels are written in …read more Continue reading Ask Hackaday: Should We Teach BASIC?
In the early days, PNP bipolar transistors were common, but the bulk of circuits you see today use NPN transistors. As [Aaron Danner] points out, many people think PNP transistors …read more Continue reading All About PNP Transistors
[The Engineering Experience] has an ambitious series of videos. He’s working through circuit examples from the awesome book “The Art of Electronics.” In the latest installment, he’s looking at a …read more Continue reading Working Through The Art of Electronics Exercises
Today, if you want a computer for a particular task, you go shopping. But in the early days of computing, exotic applications needed custom computers. What’s more is that with …read more Continue reading This Vintage Computing Device is No Baby Food
It is easy to think of a potentiometer as a simple device, but there are many nuances. For example, some pots are linear — a change of a few degrees …read more Continue reading How Ten Turn Pots Are Made
Back in 1976, when calculators were not common or cheap, a company named MEGO made the Star Trekulator: a calculator sporting a Star Trek theme. However, it was a bit …read more Continue reading Retro Calculator Panders to Trekkies… or Trekkers
[Mikrowave1] had a Unelco shortwave receiver as a kid. This was a typical simple radio for the 1960s using germanium and silicon transistors. It also had plug-in coils you had …read more Continue reading A Nostalgic Look at a Kid’s Shortwave Resistor
Designing combinatorial digital circuits seems like it should be easy. After all, you can do everything you want with just AND, OR, and NOT gates. Bonus points if you have …read more Continue reading Secrets of the Old Digital Design Titans