Ep 222: VCF East Special Edition

Hackaday Podcast · 9 Jun 2023 · 35m · Episode 222

What this episode covers

Managing Editor Tom Nardi hosts a special episode from the Vintage Computer Festival East, featuring interviews with David Lovett of Usagi Electric and Jerry Ellsworth, co-founder of Till5. Lovett details his vacuum tube-based recreation of the iconic 555 timer, explaining the analog/digital hybrid circuitry and the challenges of low-voltage tube operation. Ellsworth discusses his accidental discovery of a light-field AR technology while at Valve Software and his earlier work emulating Commodore 64 hardware on FPGAs.

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Embedded.fm · 1h 17m

    276: Playing a Song on a Potato

    Jesse Rutherford, founder of Bentronics.com and author of The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to the 555 Timer, explains the internal architecture of the 555 timer IC, detailing its comparators, flip-flop, and discharge transistor. He discusses how the chip's hysteresis and control voltage pin allow for creative applications like the Atari Punk Console and playing music on a potato, while offering advice to hobbyists to ignore credential barriers and start building. The conversation covers the transition from his early component store to writing a color-printed book with Fritzing breadboard layouts to help beginners bridge the gap between schematic and physical assembly.

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 03m

    555 Contest, Computer Museum, Octopart - The Green Pen Hornswoggle

    Hosts Dave Jones and Chris Gammell discuss the upcoming 555 Timer Design Contest, detailing its categories, judge Forrest Mims, and the March 1st deadline. They also explore the history of EPROMs and the 'green pen' audio hoax, review listener workbenches, and discuss the Computer History Museum and the revival of Popular Electronics magazine via Kickstarter.

  • 030 - Supercon 2019

    Jen Castillo and Alvaro interview Emily Velasco, who created the 'Death Clock' using a repurposed 1980s vacuum fluorescent display and an Arduino driver, and Jasmine Brackett, who runs Tindie and organizes the hardware swap at Hackaday Supercon 2019. The conversation covers Velasco's talk on making 'ugly, weird, and annoying things' and Brackett's insights on the growth of the hardware community, including the RC2014 retro computer kit. They also discuss the future of hacking with AI, the regret of certain technologies like the internet and personal listening devices, and the specific challenges of the German startup ecosystem.

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 47m

    Timing is Everything

    Dave Jones and Chris Gammell host a live Q&A for their 555th episode, discussing the history and engineering of the 555 timer, the safety constraints preventing rechargeable multimeters, and the PCB manufacturing economics of ground pours. Gammell recounts his time at Altium, detailing the failed 'NanoBoard' FPGA development platform and the company's strategic pivot away from hardware. The conversation also covers the challenges of home energy storage, the viability of hydrogen vehicles versus EVs, and the professional market dynamics between Altium and KiCad.

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 05m

    Bowie and The Brown Note

    Hosts Dave Jones and Chris Gammell discuss the community excitement surrounding the 555 timer contest, with Jones sharing his experience using a vintage 1976 Signetics triple 555 chip. The conversation shifts to industry news, including Intel's $700 million loss due to a chipset bug, National Instruments' R&D hiring plans, and the business models behind free EDA tools from Analog Devices and Microchip. The episode also features a 'Workbench of the Week' segment showcasing hobbyist setups and a discussion on the viability of plastic transistors and laser PCB cutting.

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