A new Pi 500 was released today, the Pi500+. The keyboard is pretty nice and goes rather well with FatScreen #3. ☺️

I am speed. 😂

Found an old video of the time I was testing out resonance speakers. I'll use them for something one day but not this. 😂

I've been playing with an XY-SP5W this morning and it has instantly become my favourite amp module. It has all sorts of protections and built in filtering, it's switchable between class A/B and D and has enough power to drive a coil hard enough for a near square wave. It's tiny wee and 80p! 😍

Help!! My cassette advanture has hit a sticking point. No matter how clean the sighal is, the C64 deck will pick up pretty much any noise on the upswing of the wave. I'm looking for a simple circuit/method that'll turn a narrrow band sine into a wide band sine to add some noise. Does this exist?

I thought I'd give chatgpt a go to help with some formulas and stuff with the cassette build and it didn't go well. The last thing I saw was 'thinking for 58 seconds' and it seemed to have pooped its pants and gave up. 😂

I've been referencing the original cassette specs for a project and I'm really drawn to the blueprints. So much so that I've got a printed t-shirt on the way. ☺️

I've received a whole swathe of Delrin sheets in various thicknesses. As materials go, Delrin is in my top 3. ☺️

If you see this post a chef

Cassette testing has temporarily come to a halt thanks to a rather sickly C64. I'll take a look tonight. 🤔

Now the platform is rock solid, I've noticed something odd about tape images and loading through a deck. I've had some games that are really fussy but it turns out that the tape images will work fine on an emulator, but not in the 'real world'. A different capture of the same tap works fine. ☺️

Now I have some extra room and a reliable platform I'm going to add more gubbins. I'll need to do some experimentation to see what I can detect and how I can use it but the idea is to get it to react to a motor pause command and do 'something'. 🤔

I've been shuffling bits about to free up some space (which I'll need for V2) but I think this'll do it. I used an iron core for the coil, I was using steel which is apparently a terrible thing to do. I expect it to be too loud now but I can fix that. 🙂

Accidental Hitcher. 🙂

I will never get tired of watching the Laser-Goose work. ☺️

2 Men, a Drum Machine and a Cornet.

The lm386 modules are great but needed a bunch of tweaks to work with the coils and they take up a lot of space. I'm going to try to roll up the fixes into a 'coil driver' PCB and will get a basic version up and running first, then tune the output stage. 🙂

Couldn't resist. 😂

I've been after a Shadow of the Beast t-shirt for ever (Wore one until it pretty much fell off back in the day). I'm going to cheat, found an image online, upscaled and tidied it up and have a custom printed t-shirt arriving soon. 😁

+2 Rabbit hole side quest! Apparently, the Datacorder in the +2 issue 1 has always been problematic. The one I'm using is in terrible shape too so to give it a fair shake I'm going to give it a once over, then poke at it with a scope. 🤔

Using tape heads for transmission is fraught with issues so I'm going to do some experiments with coils. I'll start by with a bt401 Bluetooth module on usb power, then tweak volumes and distances. If this works as well as I hope, I have some more complex builds in mind. Rabbit hole alert.. 🙂

For some bizarre reason (probably a dream) I woke up convinced that it was Monday today. I mean fully 'double take at my watch and asking a highly amused partner if it really is Sunday or is my watch broken' convinced. I'm still discombobulated an hour later - weird. 😂

Made a new coil with 3d printed mounts. 250 turns seems to be the sweet spot, it comes out at 4.6Ohms which should be easy to drive with an amp. I've gone with a long coil to help with lateral head alignment and it gives loads of wiggle room. I might try a Bluetooth cassette. 🤔

I thought I'd see if I can simplify loading via a cassette head. 'Nailed' it first go. 😂

Solved the FatScreen high angle issue! I still have some shell fitment to tweak but I'm a happy old Hector. ☺️

I'm going to work on the bottom shell. It's leaking light all over the shop and I want a cleaner, crisp neon line rather than a glow. I'll tidy the wires when I'm done with that and after a final fettle, can close it up. 🙂

I have a new arrival - Crash issue 48. It's my first magazine 'appearance' & I was stuck with some adventure games. The weird thing is that I have absolutely no recollection whatsoever of the Sorcerer of Claymorgue Castle. 🤔

Thinking about the next major project to get elbows deep into and I have a shortlist: Curved screen, round arcade table TZXCassette V4 The 'Anxiatron' Speccy +2 input improvement Mini CrawlerBot I’ll see which project excites me most and make a start. 🙂

I can't wait for the Wonder Phase of AI to be over. It's being touted as some kind of panacea that can do anything. I expect it to go the same way as: Magnets Electricity Radium Quantum Computing Crypto If it could settle down and people could have their jobs back, that would be ace please.

Hah! Not today, Satan! 😂

My spinny table isn't big enough so this will have to do. I'm really happy with the fake CRT look for the most part. There's a lens geometry issue that shows at extreme angles but I think I know how to fix it. That'll be for the next build. 🙂

The face I'm submitting to BlueSky for verification.

Hello! I have a question regarding tablets. My partner is on the lookout for a gaming tablet to replace her old one that's chugging a bit. She mainly plays Clash of Clans on Android and if anyone had any recommendations for a replacement that would be lovely please? Ideally with plenty of oomph. 🙂

Gosh, it's rather warm... 😧

Accidental H.R. Giger.

I'm queueing up a fresh, pristine hunk of Perspex. I'll just get this out of the way... 😂

Round and round and round it goes, where it stops, nobody knows... 🙂

I had an operation on Friday and have been an eye down for a few days. I've muddled through but it gave me an excuse to rock a panel beaten steel eye patch for a bit. It should come off tonight. I kinda miss depth perception and my 3rd monitor. Also, Yarrr! 😂

Removing the lens from an arbour has always been tricky so I've added some holes and created a separator. It 'should' apply even force across the lens when tightened down, and over time, separate them. In theory anyway. ☺️

My lens arbour was getting a bit beaten up and wasn't running true. I got some honking great slabs of aluminium and made a new one. Normally, facing off large plates leads to resonance and chatter but I used a scooter wheel and a magnet bar to act as a damper. Simple but effective! ☺️

I'm sorted if I ever need to game in secret. (Apart from the massively bright panel, wearing sunglasses indoors and smashing buttons on a controller for 'no reason') 😂

An excellent chap, and an excellent cause.

I've actually found a decent use for A.I. I've been using it to remaster my old tracks from way back when. I can lob sounds together but can't remaster/produce for toffee. It's absolutely no substitute for a music professional or someone with actual talent but they do sound much better. 🙂

@shortcircuit.org.uk Hi, regarding #RetroFest2025 Can you tell me if a quiet room/quiet space would be available for Neurodiverse visitors please? There may be people who would want to attend but feel that the crowds etc. may be a little overwhelming.

And after 3 months of badgering, the printer has finally been picked up! 🎉🎉

I'm going to go for another FatScreen build but this time, it'll be using a 10.4 inch screen. The lens I'll need to build will only just fit in the lathe and it'll need to be spot on centered. I've got a spinning arbour and used a 3d printed guide to stick them together with thermal tape. 🙂

I've been fiddling with shell design and seem to have accidentally made an abstract Homer Simpson head. 😂

Some very large pieces of Perspex have arrived. I've got some interesting plans for them... 🙂

Experiments with finishing 3d prints went well. It turns out that, if you print it thick enough and use car body filler, it sands a treat. The filler powder binds to the loose pla and stops it balling up. It needs a super tough clear coat on top but it's a great start. ☺️

Meta AI hijinks - Apparently it's an optional service... That I can't opt out of... It was super cagey about the whole subject then finally admitted its uselessness. 😂