Samwise Makers' News
Sunday, August 23, 2026
Open-Source ExpressLRS Receiver Reaches 5 km Through Forest
[Stan] designed four custom ELRS receivers combining an ESP32 microcontroller with an SX1281 radio chip. Rather than conventional RF modulation, the system uses Chirp Spread Spectrum — linearly rising frequency tones that provide an effective 24 dB gain, allowing signals to be decoded even below the noise floor. Two of the four receivers include dual 2.4 GHz and 900 MHz antennas. A notable design detail: unconventional vias connect the antenna without performance penalty due to surrounding ground-plane vias. Field testing confirmed all four units maintained connection over five kilometres through forest terrain. Hardware designs are published on GitHub under OpenDrone-hw/OpenRX.
3D-Printed Camera Uses Rubber-Band Shutter for Variable Exposure Speed
[Camera Things] engineered a 3D-printed film camera with a functional rubber-band-powered sliding shutter. What makes it remarkable is the variable-speed implementation: rather than fixed shutter speeds, the design allows a partial blind strip pullback to create variable-width light openings, mimicking the effect of different conventional shutter speeds. Space constraints limited the design to half-frame exposures only. The shutter mechanism is cocked by pulling strips across, then released to expose film. Files are not publicly available. The creator plans to follow up with a more mechanically complex vertical-travel leaf shutter design as the next iteration.
Sleeper E-Bike Hides Bafang Motor Behind Solenoid Pin Battery Display
[GRMNT] electrified a vintage Bianchi road bike built from high-quality Tange steel, converting it into a stealth e-bike with deliberately hidden modifications. The motor is a rebuilt second-hand Bafang mid-drive unit. Most striking is the custom display: four solenoid-actuated pins protrude from the handlebars to indicate battery charge percentage — a minimal, tactile interface invisible to casual observers. The battery pack is hand-built inside a leather case, and the motor actuation button is concealed. The result is an electric bicycle that gives no visual indication of its electrification, preserving the aesthetic of the original vintage frame.
All-Analog Geiger Counter Uses J306β Tube and Single AA Battery
[Ludens] built an entirely analog Geiger counter targeting low-level radiation sources and normal background levels. The detector uses a large Chinese J306β Geiger tube — 200 mm long, 18 mm in diameter — rated at 88 counts per minute at average background. The circuit runs on a single AA battery with a step-up power supply generating 5 V for the ICs and 400 V for the tube. CMOS Schmitt triggers process the pulse train, averaged through a low-pass filter to drive an analog meter with two measurement ranges: 1 μSv/h and 10 μSv/h. The Cold War-era analog aesthetic is entirely intentional.
555 Timer IC Builds 455 kHz Beat Frequency Oscillator for Ham Radio
Inexpensive ham radio receivers often lack the circuitry needed to decode CW (continuous-wave) and single-sideband suppressed-carrier transmissions. A simple fix: inject a beat frequency oscillator into the receiver's intermediate frequency chain. This build uses the venerable 555 timer IC, combined with a handful of resistors and capacitors, to produce a 455 kHz BFO signal. A potentiometer makes it tunable across roughly ±20% of centre frequency. The 555's wide operating voltage range — 4.5 V to 16 V — means it can be powered directly from most radio sets without adding a dedicated supply. Design reference via EDN.
Three Corroded, Bug-Infested WiiMotes Salvaged Into One Working Controller
[eWastelander] salvaged three heavily corroded, bug-infested Nintendo WiiMote controllers from a box of e-waste. Battery acid leakage had corroded PCBs across at least two hardware revisions; on one board, corrosion caused an IC to detach entirely. After neutralizing the acid residue and deep-cleaning all components, enough working parts were found to reassemble at least one functional controller. Two units remain candidates for further repair attempts. A creative suggestion from the project: repurpose the intact WiiMote shells with OpenMote boards — ESP32-S3-based replacement internals — repurposing the iconic controllers for home automation tasks.
EmuTOS (Open-Source Atari TOS) Ported to Sega Mega CD, GEOS Port Underway
[1d4r3k] has ported EmuTOS — an open-source drop-in replacement for Atari's TOS operating system — to the Sega Mega CD. The port currently supports a serial keyboard device, a printer, and audio output. Storage mounts include the CD or boot cartridge, a RAMdisk, internal backup RAM, and cartridge save RAM. The project can be tested by burning an ISO or flashing a cartridge on original hardware. Work is also underway to port the GEOS software suite to the platform, potentially bringing the full GEOS application library to Sega hardware. The project is hosted on GitHub at 1hedu/emuTOS-MCD.
EMF Camp 2026 Talk: Restoring a 1920s Foden Steam Lorry Found in a Field
In 1975, James Hervey-Bathurst discovered an abandoned Foden steam lorry in a Buckinghamshire field. As the owner of Eastnor Castle — the venue for Electromagnetic Field (EMF) Camp — he presented the vehicle's restoration story at EMF Camp 2026. The lorry dates from the 1920s and features a double-expansion compound steam engine, a three-speed gearbox, injectors, and a heat-recovery system routing exhaust steam through a heater to reduce visible steam output. Foden was a British manufacturer known for steam-powered road haulage before transitioning to diesel trucks. The talk documents the full journey from field discovery to running condition.
Bluetooth Shock Collar Reverse-Engineered to Punish Doomscrolling
Liam Kloppers reverse-engineered the Bluetooth protocol of a commercial dog shock collar to build a doomscrolling deterrent. A Python web server on his laptop receives triggers from MacroDroid running on his Android phone. When MacroDroid detects a doomscrolling criterion has been met, the web server activates the collar — worn on his leg. Even at low shock intensity, the response was immediate: the phone was tossed across the room. The project worked, but physical discomfort proved too significant for sustained use. Kloppers has since abandoned the shock approach and is now considering an audible alarm as a less painful alternative.
Top Crowdfunding
Kickstarter / Indiegogo
1. IFMAKER M5 5-Axis CNC Machine — $1,072,283 raised (Kickstarter)
2. HeyGears G1 Series 3D/UV Printer — $13,494,579 raised (Kickstarter)
3. Hanboost T1 Pocket Laser Engraver — $1,089,072 raised (Kickstarter, late pledge)
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