Electronics designer from New Mexico. I build art from circuit boards and electronic components, and clocks. Creator of the Reference Circuits book series.
Public Key
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Published at
2026-07-30T00:51:06Z Event JSON
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Last Notes npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn That's a good find. A gold plated usbc, now I've seen it all. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Yea I think that's the same thing. Neat! npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Yes it works just fine. I find that unless you're board is something that is not electrical then there's no need for a schematic but not skipping the schematic will probably save you having to revise and re order your pcb if it's got any electrical functionality. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn I've had success swapping two adjacent pins by bending one pin up in the air and the other pin way over to the adjacent pad. Then use a resistor lead or something simmilar to connect the pin this up in the air to its pad. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn been there, done that! npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Are you cowdfunding something? npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn That's a good idea. I'll bet the power supply works. I think I'll dig into this sometime on a holiday when I need a project. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Thanks, that's good to know. That's shouldn't be very difficult to fix. I did notice a faint intermittent sound coming from the power supply, like it was overloaded and shutting itself off, then trying again about 2 seconds later. That adds up with the shorted tantalum caps. Thanks for the picture! npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Yea that's what I was thinking. I'm guessing I'll have to replace every aluminum electrolytic and tantalum capacitor. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn I just rescued this Compaq Portable II computer from the E-scrap pile at my local transfer station. I managed to snag 2 of 4 of them before I got chased away by the staff. No scavenging allowed. It's eating me alive thinking about the other cool stuff including 1 more of these computers that are still sitting there. At least I was able to snag 2 of them. It didn't power on, I suspect the capacitors will have to be replaced. Has anybody ever had any luck reviving one of these? npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn When it comes to board games and most competitions, I'm always the first to loose. But this is my kind of competition! I'm sorry I'm not there. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn I made this cool little binary clock on a whim. It was so easy it felt like cheating. It's got an Atmel 328PB for a brain, a DS1307 real time clock, and a string of 19 WS2812 addressable LEDs to display the time. I also added a switch to toggle between 12 and 24 hour modes. Sandwitched between the two PCBs is a coin cell that powers the RTC when its un-plugged, so you dont have to set the time every time you plug it in. It took about 5 minutes to write the firmware with AI and it worked on the first try. I made a YouTube video showing each step of the process, and I have my open source design is free for the taking on my website. I'll sell complete clocks as soon as I get more 328PB micro controllers. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Thanks for sharing. I love these naked pictures! npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn absolutely beautiful! npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Thanks Carrie! I'm seeing all sorts of posts about Teardown and Defcon and I'm totally feeling sorry for myself because I can't be there. I hope your talk goes well and you have a great time! npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn I wish I could be there! I'll defenantly watch your talk from here if it's recorded. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Thanks! npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn @npub13e2…n8tx Here's another one for you. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn I spitted the #mnt_reform Next laptop on crowdsupply about a week ago and I am really tempted to sign up for one. I love the modular design, the hackability and the georgeous CNC aluminum case. My only real hesitation is that I could get a much faster Framework laptop for the same money. Framework is repairable, but nowhere near as cool as the MNT. Does anybody out there have any experience with the MNT's SOM module, the #RK3588 as a daily driver? I'm a lifelong Ubuntu user. It sounds like Debian is better fit for this SOM, and I don't think I'd mind switching. I do occaisional video editing. Has anybody out there experemented with Kdenlive on Debian (or ubuntu) with the RK3588? Or have an opinion about the MNT laptop? npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Haha I love it! Honestly that may just be my favorite song. I listen to that soundtrack while I'm taking pictures and making artwork! npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn This is super cool! I'd like to see some more about your process and the boards you've made! npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn I've played with those, they are really nifty. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn I hope you have a great vacation. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Another one finished! I could use some help with a name for it. It's an eyeball. The outside is dark American Walnut, and it's supposed to represent the natural world. The inside is a circuit board, representing technology. I don't think it is too far fetched that people will have cybernetic eyeballs in the coming decades. The idea of a cybernetic eyeball is what inspired this piece. Most of the components on the pcb are for looks, but there's a string of ws2812 leds that I designed to look like Ethernet link lights. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn That's what everybody says, but unfortunately I have to take out the guts to make room for the clock. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Haha! I can't argue with that. Good point! Lol. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn I got started with Easy EDA and switched to kicad. I'd say that kicad has a slightly steeper learning curve but it's totally worth the effort. For board outlines my approach is to draw a square and change it to the edge.cuts layer. For anything more complicated than that I usually draw the outline in Inkscape and import it to kicad. Kicad does a great job of importing vector graphics. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Here's a #NixieTubeClock that I made. I just love these old Weston meters. They mostly sin in basements where nobody gets to appreciate or enjoy them. I think they are absolutely gorgeous. What better way to make them useful again by turning them into a Nixie clock? This one had a resistor in the top that apparently needed all those little holes to dissipate heat, so I stuck a Bluetooth speaker in there too. #electronics #clocks #steampunk npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Thanks Dade! npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoyoyng them. Yea, they are real images scratches and all. I do these in a pitch black room, camera on a tripod and all of the light is from the LED lights that I can precisely control. They are focus stacked with as many as 15 different images. The aperture still needs to be really small to get a sharp focus, so the shutter speed needs to be fairly long, so I need really precise control of the light. I usually have 1 or 2 colors, plus a white light. It's been a very long time in the making, but I finally started a youtube channel. I defenantly plan on making a video explaining how I make these images. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Here's today's circuit board picture. I use a few LED lights and focus stacking to get these images. I took this with my Olympus D E M5 MARK III and a M.Zuiko ED 30mm F3.5 macro lens. This is a raw image, with no post processing. I've got a years long backlog of these images I've never shared before. More coming soon. #electronics #photography #macro_photography #PCB_art npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn with the empty traces? I turned that on by mistake once. I didn't care for it. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Yes. This is a fairly old board that has those very unusual square vias. they are absolutely gorgeous lit up from the bottom! npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Circuit boards have a certain beauty that rarely gets appreciated. With the right lighting and the right lense they look like a busy city street. I took this with my Olympus D E M5 MARK III and a M.Zuiko ED 30mm F3.5 macro lens. This is a raw image, i didnt use any post processing. Follow me if you want to see more! #electronics #photography #macro_photography #PCB_art npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Thanks!!! I'm trying to get better about this social media stuff. I just recently signed up for Mastodon and I really like it. I've got a years long backlog of stuff I've never shared with the internet so I'm trying to post here regularly. If you want to see more I have some of my art on my website: www.iandunnart.com and my (not art) electronics stuff on my other website, www.boltind.com. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn I think maybe once a year I order a #PCB and it's perfect on the first try. That just happened to me with this project. I don't have anything to change on my board layout and my AI coded firmware worked perfectly on the very first shot. This christmas tree is one of several circuit board christmas ornaments I'm working on. I'll have them for sale in about October. The brain is an atmel 328pb microcontroller and the leds are ws2812-2020. Most of the other components are decorative. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Thanks!!! npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn Hey Dade, Sorry for the confusion. I put them in my Etsy store. https://www.etsy.com/shop/BoltIndustriesPCB npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn I’m really excited to share a piece of art that’s been two years in the making. I call it Algorithmic Precipitation. npub1t2arghqtm5dt7xtg28c8qgn0qh5j0gjrenpnt6nug24r6swt0wwspdf3fv Ian Dunn I found this Peerless Switch Dial Testing set on eBay a while back. I think it's some sort of telephone industry tool. I gave no idea how it works. My intention was to gut it and turn it into a nixie clock, but I just don't think I have the heart to do it. It's just too cool as it is. Does anybody know what it's for? It feels heavy enough that it must have a transformer inside.
