Like many makers, I took my first steps in hardware programming using the Arduino platform. And just as Atmel Microchip hoped, I am still pretty faithful to the AVR platform today. To program AVR microchips, you need some kind of (USB) programmer. I opted for a cheap USBasp clone, because it is cheap but still reliable. However, you still have… Read More →
Just in time for the season, I designed and made a nice decorative christmas star from paper, using my laser cutter. First, as always, I drew the design in CAD. This time, Fusion 360. Then, I laser cut the design. Each body needed 3 DIN-A4 pages of paper. After everything was cut, I assembled the star using some quality glue.… Read More →
I finally got around to document the build of my laser cutter! I will continue to update and refine the blog posts. Also, I dated them back in time, because the majority of work was done in 2016 and 2017. Building a Laser Cutter: Part 1 – Idea and Plan Building a Laser Cutter: Part 2 – Mechanical Build Building… Read More →
Do you remember the good times of LEGO? Or even LEGO Technic? Turns out that LEGO is a timeless classic and still very much fun. What is not timeless however, is battery technology. Several old LEGO models are powered by 9 Volts via six 1.5 AAA batteries. This proved to be cumbersome, because the batteries would drain quickly or even… Read More →
After two years of usage, the x carriage of my laser cutter became rather wobbly. Wobbling! My old nemesis! What should I do? First, I tried to use different bearings. I bought some DryLin PTFE self-lubricating plastic bearings: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B01M328GIR ~5€ But they were no use in my configuration. They tended to bind, and what’s worse, were a lot more flexible… Read More →
Adventures in tuning my Anet-A8 3D Printer. About a year ago, I purchased a rather inexpensive “DIY” 3D printer kit directly from the country that sells everything; China. My model of choice was the “Anet-A8” printer, due to its low price and big online support community. Not only the price and support led to my decision, but also the potential… Read More →
Recently, I visited an Anime and Cosplay convention. Although I rarely watch any Anime, I do enjoy crafting costumes and in particular steampunk-esque things. Of course, I could not let the opportunity pass. So I decided to dress up as a steampunk gentleman. Nixie Tubes I always wanted to build something with Nixie tubes. Those are cathode vacuum tubes, which… Read More →
Of course, there is always a Need for Speed in racing simulations. But sometimes, there is also the Need for Smooth Drifting Around Tight Corners. And pressing a button on my steering wheel controller just doesn’t cut it in terms of control and realism. So, I set out to acquire a handbrake controller, but quickly decided to build my own… Read More →
Hello dear reader, hello search engine crawler, hello XKeyscore! This will now be my personal blog – I will be writing about my software and DIY projects I build from time to time. Also I will use this blog to write about just anything I find worth publishing – still with a focus on technology (probably). The name CHRZ was literally chosen… Read More →
Sometimes, the folks over at the International Space Station (ISS) send greetings to earth, postcards encoded as SSTV images – transmitted at 145.800 MHz FM. Of course, I wanted to receive some. And in April 2018, I managed to. Hardware and Software I used the same hardware receiving stack as I used for receiving NOAA and Meteor weather satellites. In… Read More →
