Open Hardware/Modding: SparkFun, Raspberry Pi, Radar, and More
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12 Days of Dev Boards - News - SparkFun Electronics
The 12 days of Dev Boards Sale is happening now, with up to 40 percent off product lines like the Artemis, Thing Plus, Raspberry Pi, RedBoard, and Qwiic Shields. This is a great opportunity to save on the development boards you need for your next project. Don't miss out on these amazing discounts, shop now while supplies last. To learn more about the sale and shipping times read the rules below.
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The Tech Bullies vs. Raspberry Pi - by Bryan Lunduke
We need to have a serious discussion about bullying within the computer nerd world. Because it has gotten absolutely way out of hand.
Case in point: The mass bullying campaign that is currently being waged against, of all organizations, Raspberry Pi. The adorable little ARM-based, single-board computers that took the Linux, Maker, and computer nerd worlds by storm back in 2012.
While this is certainly not the only example of bullying happening within Computer Nerd-dom, it is the most recent. And it has been both brutal and cruel. So we’re going to talk about it.
[...]
In a brief interview with Buzzfeed, Liz Upton (co-founder of Raspberry Pi), told Buzzfeed that both the new hire, and their social media person, had been doxxed and received death threats.
From Upton during that interview: “I think what we’re looking at is a dogpile that’s being organized somewhere. There’s obviously a Discord or a forum somewhere. I don’t think this is organic, but it’s very unpleasant, and extraordinarily unpleasant for the people involved.”
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Supply chain update - it’s good news! - Raspberry Pi
For the first time in a couple of years of semiconductor supply chain hell, we’ve got some good news for you.
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Pixhawk Baseboard compatible with Raspberry Pi CM4
The Pixhawk RPI CM4 Baseboard from Holybro is a Flight Controller platform supporting an RPi CM4 and the new Pixhawk 5X & 6X. The Baseboard provides support for Pixhawk/Ardupilot protocols (i.e. GPS, Telemetry, CAN, etc.) in addition to a Mini HDMI port, a CSI connector and dedicated power ports for the FC and the RPI CM4.
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over the horizon radar pt III
As I have previously mentioned, development of OTH radar proceeded in the USSR more or less in synchronization to developments on this side of the iron curtain. It's a bit difficult to nail down the Soviet history exactly due to a combination of lingering Cold War secrecy and the language barrier, but it appears that the USSR may have developed their first functional OTH radar somewhat before the US, at least as a pilot project. Soviet OTH radar did not become well known to the western world, though, until the commissioning of their first full-scale ballistic missile surveillance radar in 1972. This would become known as Duga-1.
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Ukrainian ingenuity is ushering in a new form of warfare at sea
All these projects, though—at least, all that are known of—have a slightly unimaginative feel to them. They are to the world of naval warfare what machines like the Predator and Reaper drones made by General Atomics are to aerial combat, namely redesigned, uncrewed versions of the existing way of doing things. What Ukraine seems to have demonstrated is the naval equivalent of the quadcopter. And that may make naval warfare asymmetric in a way which governments are unprepared to deal with.
None of the Ukrainian boat’s underlying technologies would be out of reach for a small military power or a reasonably competent non-state group. According to an analysis by Mr Sutton of available images, its engine appears to be from a Sea-Doo jet ski. Its bow-mounted camera looks like a device that cyclists might strap to their helmets (it has a larger one, pictured, mounted amidships). And its satellite receiver bears a strong resemblance to the Starlink terminals supplied by SpaceX.
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The State of IoT – October & November 2022
Welcome to the combined October & November edition of the monthly State of IoT series.
These past couple of months were packed with news and announcements. Let’s dive straight in!
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A Straightforward Old-Fashioned DAC
With modern microcontrollers, the process of interfacing with the analogue world is easy. Simply enable the on-board DAC or ADC, and talk to the world. If you’ve ever done this with a slightly older microprocessor, you might have encountered the DAC and ADC as chips in their own right, but how about the earliest generation of microprocessors? In those days, if an analogue component was needed, the circuit which would later be integrated on chip would have to be made from scratch. So it is that [Florian Wilhelm Dirnberger] has built a very old-style 6-bit DAC, using a circuit that would have been familiar back in the early 1970s.
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DIY Comparatron Helps Trace Tiny, Complex Objects
Hackers frequently find themselves reverse-engineering or interfacing to existing hardware and devices, and when that interface needs to be a physical one, it really pays to be able to take accurate measurements.