Hacks, Mods & Circuitry: Page 9

Would it have been possible to build a rudimentary telegraph network in the stone age? Not too long ago, Jamie O'Sheathe of the Office for the Development of Substitute Materials set out to discover just that, venturing into the wilderness to determine whether a working telegraph might be built without the use of modern tools.

This video tutorial is in the Electronics category which will show you how to make a Beetlebot from your parts bin. The Beetlebot project can be found in Make Volume 12. You will need a couple of small motors, 2 momentary switches, 2 AA battery holders, a piece of metal, a small bead, 2 paper clips, heat ring tubing and a couple of connectors. Cut off two pieces of the tubing and using a soldering iron melt them over the ends of the motors. Hot glue the 2 momentary switches at an angle with the...

So, you can't decide— movie on your iPhone or web-surfing on your iPad— why not do both?

Jogging at night is risky, but with these LED sneakers, the odds of getting hit are drastically reduced. Creator Will Cruz wants you to be safe, so he has generously shared full instructions for making your own light up kicks.

If you want user friendly electronics projects, you'll need to build an enclosure case around it. Not only will this help it look cool, you can also protect it from dust, water or other kind of damage. This tutorial shows you how to make a great looking user intereface and enclosure box for your electronics projects.

Rockets can be made from things you can buy at any electronics store - like a can of compressed air. You can even buy your own kit, or assemble your own by following the instructions in this video. Once you've built the chassis, just insert a can of compressed air and let it ride!

Assemble a hammer, a number 43 drill bit, a turret setter, an X-acto knife or hobby knife, the plastic for the board and, of course, your layout! Once you have everything, this tutorial shows you how to build what you need to end up with a functional turret board.

Is your Droid always running out of power, and a charger isn't always convenient? Start with a hand cranked flashlight, then wire it up so you can charge your phone by hand! Great for pulling your dying phone out of emergencies.

Start with a toy bullhorn that alters the sound of your voice when you speak into it. Then mod it using a few potentimeters and a few resistors as demonstrated in this video. Now you have a toy with an even crazier pitch!

Let your creativity out by making your own sidewalk chalk, which you can color however you want. You'll need plaster of paris, a mixing bowl, powdered tempura paint, warm water, wax paper and tubular molds. Once you mix everything and colored with the paint, set your mold, let them dry and then start drawing!

Want to get started in rocketry? You can buy launch kits from a hobby store, as well as a few rocket engines and an igniter. Once you have acquired these items, this tutorial will show you how to make a rocket body and launch your creation into the sky.

You can make a laser diode driver extremely inexpensively - the materials in this tutorial cost less than three dollars in total. Find out what to buy, and then this tutorial shows you how to assemble your purchases for a laser diode. Awesome!

Want to start your own rebellion against the hegemony of the American media? You can set up your own FM radio station and start broadcasting what you want. This tutorial shows you everything you need to know to become a pirate radio producer.

You can construct your own burning red laser very easily and very cheaply. All you need are a soldering iron, Phillips head screwdriver, an LPC-815 laser diode, and a RKCSTR driver. Once you have everything together, follow this video to build a burning red laser.

You can actually build a burning red laster by assembling a few spare parts taken from old computers! This tutorial shows you what you'll need to look out for, and then how to build it. You'll probably need a diode, but that's likely the only thing to purchase!

Perfboard, or perforated board, is a simple board with evenly spaced holes and lined with metal which can be soldered on one side. The holes let you set up a board with circuits and wires as you need them for your own project. This tutorial shows you everything you need to know to build electronics on your own perfboard.

Here's a fun weekend project you can use to add to a common toy. Get a yo-yo with concave sides, a few pieces of thin plastic (like from a CD case) and a few lithium-powered LEDs. Then follow this tutorial and get a yo yo that lights up when you play with it!

You can certainly use Skype to make free Internet phone calls through your iPod Touch, though the microphone/headphone combo headset sold by Apple is thirty dollars. Make one for a fraction of that cost using a headphone splitter and the mod process outlined in this video.

Here's a creepy weekend project! Take an old analog rotary phone (which you can easily find in an antique or vintage store). Unscrew the earpiece and then alter the parts according to the tutorial so you can start 'talking to ghosts'.

In this clip, you'll learn how to convert a standard USB keyboard into a backlit keyboard with a little bit of el wire. It's an easy process and this video presents a complete guide. For more information, including a full demonstration and detailed, step-by-step instructions, watch this helpful home-computing how-to.

In this tutorial, we learn how to increase the power of a 5mw green laser pointer. First, you will need to gather the parts you will need, which include a vise, the laser, a soldering iron, and a block of wood. After this, cut the block of wood in half and then put your laser pointer in the middle. Pull and twist so the module comes out, then pull the foam protector off. Don't lose any small parts that come out. Next, unscrew the silver cap and then put on your new laser module. Replace all...

Materials needed: Altoid mint tin, 9 volt batter and connector, switch, 7812 voltage regulator, 12 volt computer fan, carbon filter and 2 pieces of screen. Wire the battery connectors. Solder all of the following: Negative connector to the switch, wire to the switch, ground wire of the voltage regulator to the middle wire, output for the 7812 to the fan, positive lead on the 9 volt connector to the input on the 7812 and the negative from the 7812 to the negative on the fan. Test. Put all...

This isn't so much of an evil mouse prank as it is an annoying mouse prank. By following the instructions in this video you'll learn how to take control of your co-worker's mouse so that no matter where he moves it, the cursor will always slant to the side and stay there.

Using just a few inexpensive pieces of hardware, you can construct your own rack designed for storing and organizing spools of wire. Bolt a dowel to a wall or another rack, then thread your spools on the dowel. You can still get the wire, and now they won't move!

Start with just a few hula hoops, and then get some polyethylene film and a small soldering iron. Fit the film to your hoops, then gently mod your soldering iron and make a few spot welds. Be careful not to melt anything! Make a few vent bubbles, and you now have a pool warmer!

Recycle your plastic CD or DVD cases into a holder for parts. This tutorial shows you how to make your own container. Remove the spindle, then mount to a piece of wood. Once mounted, you can use this to hold and organize small parts.

Earbuds can be great for filtering out distraction, but they certainly aren't built for every ear. This tutorial shows you how to create your own pair of custom fit earbuds using just a custom earplug kit. Follow the instructions, and you'll have your own pair of noise-cancelling headphones!

Get onto Xbox Live using your home computer. This tutorial shows you how to use your PC as a wireless adapter for your Xbox. All you need is a home computer with a spare ethernet plug and an ethernet cable. This tutorial shows you the rest.

Charge your cell phone, mp3 player or other USB-equipped device with the power of the Sun! All you need is a 6-volt solar panel and a female USB cable. Solder them together (this video demonstrates how), and then you have a solar powered USB charger!

Hack your remote control so you only need one battery to run it! All you need is one paper clip to let you complete the circuit between the battery and the hardware on your remote control. It'll run at a lower voltage, so you'll have to be closer to the TV, but it will still work!

You can make a very simple homopolar motor using just a basic clamp, two strong magnets, a battery and a little bit of wire. Once you've completed the circuit, you'll be able to suspend a drywall screw between the battery and the magnet. Then watch it go!

Here's a quick tutorial on how to set up a connection which will let your computer talk to a PS3 controller, so you can use it as an input device to play games on! All you need is to download the software and then update the driver!

Turn unused hard disk space on your computer into RAM! This will optimize the performance of your computer and give it more processing speed (useful for playing games). You can achieve this through Control Panel and settings, and this tutorial shows you how!

Crabfu demonstrates how to mod your iPhone with a microscope for just $5 (UPDATE: the $5 microscope from Amazon is now selling it for $12.50... read more). Incredibly simple to make! Check out the sample images taken below the video.

Here You will learn how to make the simplest and cheap 9v power supply easily. Things needed in making a 9v power supply are a 12v step down transformer, four diodes, a 220 micro Farad Capacitor, a project board or bread board and an IC (L7809CV) these all things are easily available in any electronic shop.

In order to stop Cydia from crashing on your iPhone or iPod Touch, you'll need an iPhone or iPod with firmware 3.1.1, 3.1, 3.0.1, or 3.0, SSH installed both in your computer and in your device. Now first SSH your device into your computer and navigate to /var/lib/dpkg/updates. Delete the files named as 0000, 0001, 0002 and so on. Now your Cydia should work fine. If that doesn't work, try reinstalling Cydia on your iPhone or iPod Touch, as it could be a different problem.

In this video, we learn how to understand circuit bending. Circuit bending is noodling around with circuitry to see how it sounds and get different noises out of it. When you go into a motherboard and see the circuits that are inside of it, these can make noise if you re-circuit them. This can help you be creative and turn the electronic circuit board into a canvas. This can let someone immediately create something out of this and use it as an art form. It takes trial and error to find...

We will be setting up a portable radio in the mountains. It will be established in a clearing with available rocks for setup. The equipment we will be using is a Yaso radio with microphone and headphone, coaxial cable, slight line and weight, 13.5 battery pack, 2o and 40 meter antenna, pen and paper to record contacts. The slight line with weight is tossed into the tree. This may take several attempts. Once the line is in the tree the weight is removed and connected to the antenna. Attach...

This video shows how to create an infrared heart sensor using an Arduino controller, a couple of resistors, and an infrared light emitter and detector. This device will be used on the subject's finger, detecting the amount of blood which is flowing through the subject's finger. The amount of oxygenation of the blood is shown in the finger, which will cause the infrared light to reflect off the skin and to the transmitter which is close by. The fluctuations of oxygenation are picked up by the...