Arduino: Pololu USB AVR Programmer, Adding ISP Programmers to the Arduino IDE

This is a quick guide to show you how to add the Pololu USB AVR Programmer to the Arduino IDE, For burning bootloaders to blank chips or using the Arduino as a target board for programming in Atmel Studio or AVRDUDE.

This will work with all versions of the Arduino IDE, today we will be using Version 1.0.5 as of 22/05/2013

Hacks: Reuse a Laptop trackpad

A few months ago I scrapped a Toshiba's Satellite P25-S507. It was actually a rather nice laptop which had died prematurely. 

With a 17" screen size and an aluminium deck it was aimed more at the desktop replacement market. All I saved was the Aluminium deck which included the Trackpad and the LCD screen which, I will save for another project.

It occurred to me that the track pad could be put to some use!
Enter the CHOP SHOP !

Martindale Cyclone Industrial Handheld Blower

MARTINDALE Electric Co. LTD (LONDON

CYCLONE CE/2 Industrial Blower 

1000 Watts

1-4/10 h.p.,  Air Speed 389 m.p.h.; Air Volume 155 cubic feet

The other day I decided to get out my Martindale Cyclone blower to spring clean the inside of my computer.

Having used this blower since the 1980's, when I was a typewriter, photocopier engineer, It occurred to me that I should look up some information regarding its history, the information was few and far between.....

Hakko FX-888D Soldering Station Hi-Res Teardown Photos

Audio: Sennheiser HD580 Jubilee Headphone Woody Mod

In 1995 for Sennheiser’s 50th anniversary a special limited edition HD580 Jubilee was produced, which featured thermoplastic carbon fiber body parts, metal grills, and precisely matched drivers. The limited run were actually the prototypes for the legendary HD600.

Arduino: Nanino the DIY friendly shield compatible Arduino

Johan over at vonkonow.com has designed a nifty open source single sided Arduino development board which is also shield compatible called the Nanino.

Here is mine fresh out of the etching solution :) Thanks Johan!

Unfortunately there are no Eagle design files available.

Robelix's Nanino Eagle files

Guide: Samsung ML-2165 Toner Transfer Paper Alignment Fix

Although a cheap S.O.H.O laser printer, retailing at £79 or £45 on sale, the ML-2165 / Dell 1160 has a good toner composition conducive with good toner transfer. There is one however a downside, which does not affect the usefulness of the printer under normal circumstances, but does when used to make homebrew PCB's, 

Repeatability due to alignment issues when performing multiple passes!