Projects in music, video, art, technology and learning
Snapper was launched at EMF Camp 2026. Snapper logs every software event and button press to help with debugging. As EMFers love statistics here is some key data: Total games played: 1153 Dots eaten by Snapper: 154932 New High Scores: Position Name Score Day Time 1 JUN 14047 Saturday 22:10 2 PEY 13977 Sunday 18:54 [ ]
The first logic analyzers I used were behemoths from the old-style HP. They were physically daunting, brutally expensive, and massively complex. Now you can get PC-based logic analyzers from eBay and Aliexpress for a few quid which still offer amazing capabilities. I recently killed my Saleae 8 clone when a visible spark jumped to the [ ]
An old childhood book I found recently was Radio and Television from the Macdonald Junior Reference Library. Published in 1969, my copy was the 1972 reprint. It cost 45p new, but mine was bought for 20p in 1979 when it was withdrawn from stock at Rutland library. The illustrations are really nice. The text is [ ]
I’ve been looking for a scope that can be always on my bench for making quick assessments of circuits running at low frequencies. My electronics bench is also my work desk, so space is very much at a premium. My full-size analog and digital scopes are too big to leave set up there permanently (PS, [ ]
After a trip down south I recovered by old BBC from the loft recently. It started life as a Model A and was then upgraded to a B, and later a disk interface was added. It also has a big Sidewise ROM/RAM board fitted. (My dad was an IT manager for British Gas and was [ ]
Did I mention that I am learning to play the piano? When I started reading music I expected the hard part will be recognising the notes, but with practice I ve got that fairly sorted. The consistently hard part is recognising the rhythms and being able to play them right. I found having a metronome or [ ]
During Covid-19 lockdown one of the things I wanted to do was to revisit some of the old computers I used. I don t really have the space or inclination so collect the original hardware, so I decided to try out what emulation options exist now. I have been interested in trying some ASIC based projects, [ ]
My first computer was a BBC Micro Model A (early version with the linear PSU and bodge wires on the circuit board). Later we upgraded it to a Model B. I loved it, and even took it on holiday a few times (!) My parents must have been very understanding. I was amazed today to [ ]
(or an overkill solution to tracking the movements of a cat) I don’t mind cats, but we have one Top Cat (subsequently TC) living locally who thinks he (or she) is the boss of everything. After one too many cat shits and dead birds in our back garden I decided that TC was no longer [ ]
Bit of an odd one today while helping my dad clear our some of my old books we found this pamphlet from 1986 – “The Story of Pye Wireless” by Gordon Bussey. I can’t find any other references to it on the web, and it seems well researched with some nice photos. So, to [ ]