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Archive: Altoids and tin cases

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March 25, 2008

HOW TO - Altoids Tin Watercolors

Jean-Pierre Martineau made an instructable for making a pocket-sized watercolor set from an Altoids tin and some Fimo clay. Portable and practical!

March 24, 2008

Altoids tin guitar

Altoids Tin Guitar

March 10, 2008

The Minthesizer is a low voltage, low power, analog synthesizer. The board is almost entirely made from surface-mount components, so you better have a steady soldering hand if you try and make one for yourself. Check out the link for more information about the build, including the schematics. - Link

Related:

Matchbox Synthesizer - Link

February 25, 2008

Touchkeyer on Altoids-based HF radio

Check out this nifty touchkeyer (for CW or "continuous wave" Morse code) ham operator Jonathan Haynes ( KC7FYS) built into his Altoids-housed ATS-3b high-frequency CW radio transceiver:

I put whiteboard marker on my fingers and pressed them on a piece of paper to get this footprint. The idea of sculpting them from PCB material came to me when I was trying to sleep. Ha ha. Next time I'll use thicker copper with a thicker substrate.

Nice work on the whole project. The labels and green metalflake are swanky.

Touchkeyer Ergometrics - Link

January 27, 2008

Ybox 2 - Networked set-top box in an Altoids tin

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Pic-1135-Medium
Tarikh and Josh from Uncommon Projects write in about the new Ybox 2 (The ybox2 is the second-generation networked set-top box in an Altoids tin)

Hello friends and YBox enthusiasts! We have some exciting news to share. There is a new YBox on the block--the YBox 2!

The YBox made its debut as a quick and dirty prototype for Yahoo's first public Hackday. Then it reappeared as a kit, a series of workshops and a giveaway at last year's SF Maker's Faire. We had a great time sharing the project with folks, and so it's with real glee that we announce the YBox 2.

It was developed by Robert Quattlebaum a developer and classmate from the SF sessions. He's made a number of smart refinements to the project, including getting the cost down by replacing the Xport. Our secret (and admittedly improbable) goal was always to get this thing down to $10, and he managed to shave $50 off the cost with version 2! But there's more than just cost, including a speaker, a status light and countless tweaks. All in all a really exciting evolution. Congrats Robert.

Some of you have written to ask about new kits or to wonder why the wiki has been terrorized with spam. The kits are gone and we don't have time to make more. The good news is that the project continues and you can contact Robert if you'd like to purchase a new board or to download the board files and create your own Ybox 2. We'll work on getting the wiki cleaned up and we send a special thanks to all the folks who have put in countless hours scouring it.

OK that's it for now, happy hacking!

Ybox 2 - Networked set-top box in an Altoids tin - Link.

Related:

Ybox[1]
YBox in 60 Seconds - Link.

YBOX - turns a TV into a simple, web configurable ... - Link.

December 29, 2007

DIY Picaxe toothbrush timer

Picaxe Toothbrush 1
Chipwich writes -

We built a beeping flashing toothbrush timer like the one on the Philips SoniCare toothbrush for just a few dollars and plenty of experience and fun.

DIY Picaxe toothbrush timer - Link.

November 6, 2007

MintyPOV

Make Pt0029
How to make an Altoids tin version of the MiniPOV! -

It seems that everyone and their mother is cramming various projects into mint tins these days. Well, that's a bandwagon that I just couldn't resist jumping onto. The only question was what project to build?

I ordered a MiniPOV3 kit from the Makezine Store, a while back. After building it and playing with it, and letting my kids play with it, and repairing it a couple times after the kids played with it, I decided it needed a case to live in. Realization struck. The first thing I did was check Google to find out if it had been done before. As far as I could tell, it hadn't, so I started gathering parts.

Rather than mess up my original kit, I decided to scratch build the circuit on perfboard. I used LEDs that I had harvested from a string of LED christmas lights, resistors and other bits from various sources, and the requisite mint (Wintergreen flavor) tin.

MintyPOV - Link.

Related:
MiniPOV- An Inexpensive Persistence of Vision - Link.

October 29, 2007

Bill Gurstelle in the News

MAKE contributing editor and technical advisory board member Bill Gurstelle is profiled in a piece for the Twin Cities Pioneer Press. Bill talks about the current "Maker movement" and his upcoming Barrage Garage series of pyrotech tutorial DVDs.

The joy of making stuff - Link

October 6, 2007

Minty pre-amp freshens your ears

Yet another Altoids tin inspired project. This time the "MintyMic" case includes a powered microphone and preamp with line-level outputs and adjustable gain control. Best of all the whole project comes as a kit, or you can get your own parts and follow the instructions on the site, or it can even be shipped pre-assembled for the lazy maker.

Subatomicglue - mintymic work log - Link

August 14, 2007

Simple robot how-to

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David writes -

This tutorial will show you how to make a very simple robot that will avoid obstacles on the ground. It uses no microcontrollers, no servos, and there is no need to program. The simple design make its an ideal project for those wanting to tryout robotics and also makes a great weekend project. After building one you can probably make a second one in less than 10 minutes.

Simple Robot How-To - [via] Link.

QRPme - Tuna can kits

Ttt-Assembled
Tt2
Jason writes -

This amateur radio club provides kits uniquely packaged in tuna tins. When you build the kit, the tuna tin also serves as a chassis for your new project, complete with a nice label for the tin. Although most of the kits are geared towards QRP (low power ham radio) operators, Make readers might enjoy the "AXEme Picaxe Construction Kit". This is a Picaxe development board built into one of the famous tuna tins. It's a very unique and eye-catching way to work with microcontrollers.

QRPme - Link.

August 1, 2007

Dungeons of Doom by Greg Sanders

Tin1
Julian writes -

Coolest Altoids/Tin mod I've seen. This guy (Greg Sanders) made a portable game box that plays a rogue like game. He uses a Genesis controller to control the actual game, but I'd bet with a little work the entire unit could be entirely self-contained (by using a tipping-disk for directional control and one button for action). See here too (a pretty cool site itself) for useful controller schematics.

Dungeons of Doom by Greg Sanders - Link.

July 18, 2007

Switchable audio homebrew solution

Mintyswitch1
Mindtrip writes -

The Problem:
I recently installed a StarCom system for an upcoming tour of the Oregon/Washington coast. My girlfriend tours with me, and thus far we've used our own iPods with in-ear monitors for entertainment, and hand signals for communication. On this tour a buddy is coming along who wanted bike-to-bike communications; thus the StarCom. My girlfriend wanted to be able to listen to the radio conversations, as well as talk to me, but I realized that if I didn't do something, she was going to wind up running the iPod. We have different musical tastes, and while we both listen to audiobooks we're usually into different books at any given time. This meant I was going to have to listen to her stuff the whole time. Unacceptable!!!

The Solution:
We use in-ear monitors, so I got the StarCom headsets that allow the use of your own headphones. I quickly realized this would make it possible to rig up some kind of switch or patch cable system that would allow her to listen to her own iPod if she didn't want to listen to whatever I had running on mine, but switch over to the intercom if I needed to talk to her. I scoured the internet looking for solutions, as well as all my local electronics stores, to no avail. No one makes a switchable audio input for personal headset use. However, I DID find a switch at RadioShack that lets you switch between computer audio input and an auxilliary audio, as well as switching output between computer speakers and headsets (clicky. And for only $2!! I figured if it were small enough, she could stick this in her pocket and switch between the intercom and her iPod at will.

Switchable audio homebrew solution - Link.

All in an Altoids tin of course!

June 18, 2007

Doublet amplifier

Make 728
Octopart's hardware blog has a dual channel music player amp (in an Altoids tin, of course)...

Have you ever seen a couple sharing a single pair of ipod buds, each listening with only one ear? That was the problem I wanted to solve when I started building dual channel headphone amplifiers while I was back in grad school. After a long day of soldering krytrons and high voltage capacitors in the plasma physics lab I would come home and...solder some more.

Octopart - Link.

From the pages of MAKE:
Make 729
Mint-Tin Amp. Pocket amplifier punches up headphones. MAKE 04 - page 141. Subscribers--read this article now in your digital edition or get MAKE 04 @ the Maker store.

May 10, 2007

HOW TO - Make a Minty strobe

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PKM shows you how to a make a minty strobe, a simple trigger-able strobe for taking action photos with - Link.

Related:
Blog F06U02Ltn8Eqhoatjx.Medium
Phonograph turntable strobe zootrope - Link.

Blog F4Mjyxjg2Netvplgyl.Medium
HOW TO - Make a small portable strobe light - Link.

Blog Ca6402164 A
HOW TO - Make a "Slave Strobe" - Link.

HOW TO - Make a Strobe Out of a Monitor... - Link.
DIY Lightning strobe for Halloween projects - Link.

From the pages of MAKE:
Make 626
Homemade Strobe Photography. Take pictures of popping balloons, breaking glass, and water droplets. MAKE 04 - Page 102. Subscribers--read this article now in your digital edition or get MAKE 04 @ the Maker store or the kit!

May 7, 2007

HOW TO - Make a multifunction digital thermometer (in a mint tin)

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J_Hodgie writes -

This instructable will show you how to create a multifunction platform with a thermometer, chronograph (count up timer), count down timer, and light display. It is also intended to be a platform for other analog sensors or any other functions you can think of.

instructables : Multifunction Digital Thermometer - Link.

Related mint tin projects:
Blog Pintoidshutter
Pintoids - Pinhole cameras made from Altoid tins - Link.

Blog Usbisp-008
AVR ISP programmer in a mint tin... - Link.

Blog 389943092 E4D44F176C
My Little Pony musical Altoids keychain - Link.

Blog Alt24

Copper plating and etching Altoids tins - Link.

Blog 364335508 4C7E2892A5

Nintendo mint case - Link.

Blog P1010161
HOW TO - Make an Altoids tin morse code oscillator - Link.

Blog Fxp8Dn8V99Ewvv2Nlt.Medium
Guide to Field Soldering - Link.

Blog Di122Fig01
Disposable metal boxes make excellent shielded enclosures - Link.

More! - Link.

April 12, 2007

Voltoids: HOW TO - Make 5V from 1.5V

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Nice project from the PopSci folks on instructables -- how to take 1.5V to 5v, and of course jam it in an Altoids tin.

Yes, you read that project title right; this simple circuit will enable you to generate 5V DC from a single 1.5V DC AA battery. How can you pump 1.5V up to 5V, you ask? It's simple with a little piece of electronic steroids from MAXIM IC.
The MAX1674 IC is a DC-to-DC step-up converter that can take in voltages as low as .7V and crank out a digital circuit enriching 5V. Or, for more finicky projects, the MAX1674 can also output 3.3V. A simple pin-selectable preset determines the output voltage.

There is one small caveat with this project, however. Whether a blessing or a curse, the MAX1674 generates a steady-state output current ranging between 180-420 mA. Therefore, high current projects involving motors won't be able to benefit from this voltage amplifying circuit.

On the other hand, powering lightweight projects involving TTL/LS circuitry or LEDs are ideal applications for Voltoids. In fact, with such a low operating current, the MAX1674 is able to drive a 3.3V LED without the ubiquitous power-limiting resistor. All from a single 1.5V AA battery.

If this project seems beyond your talents, but the benefits of powering a digital circuit from a single 1.5V DC power source sounds enticing, you can opt to purchase a similar circuit from Spark Fun Electronics. Costing less than $10, this clever little device which is designed by Bodhilabs.com is housed discretely on the back of an AA battery holder.

Unfortunately, with this commercial product you are limited to a fixed 5V output and it isn't housed in a cool Altoids tin. Enter Voltoids.

instructables : Weekly Project: Voltoids; or, How to Make 5V from 1.5V - Link.

April 4, 2007

Pintoids - Pinhole cameras made from Altoid tins

Pintoidshutter
Merrill photo has a gallery, kits and a how-to on making your own pinhole camera from a mint tin -

Pintoids are pinhole cameras made from Altoid containers. A piece of pop culture transformed into something useful. An instrument to view the world with a dry, distorted, sense of humor. They tend to create curiously strong images.
The Great Pintoid Adventure is a continuing journey. This first series represents a trip I took with my dog across the northern plains to the north shore of Lake Superior. Imperfections in the negative come from loading film at a campsite each night using a dark bag. Both hands in a dark bag, loading cameras ... and it was mosquito season.

Pintoids - Pinhole Cameras made from Altoid tins - Link.

Related:

HOW TO - Make your own - Link.
Altoid camera kit - Link.

March 8, 2007

AVR ISP programmer in a mint tin...

Usbisp 008
Wow, a single sided AVR ISP programmer that fits in an Altoids tin, sweet, er, minty -

My simple inexpensive Parallel ISP programmer has done the job since I started working with AVR's, but it definitely has its problems. It doesn't work with some computers, it is slow, it is unreliable and it requires a parallel port which is getting less common. USB seemed the natural progression. I selected the AVR Doper project by Objective Development as the base for the new programmer. Below is a 3D model of the streamlined AVR Doper created in POV-Ray using Eagle3D. I only wanted to build an ISP so I was able to lose many of the components. I rounded the edges and scaled the board to fit in an Altoids tin.

Rototron - Thanks David! Link.

February 14, 2007

My Little Pony musical Altoids keychain

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Ok, so the sugar content will be a little high today as we cover homemade Valentine's Day projects...

Nicrosin writes -

My girlfriend loves My Little Pony stuff. She got a Balloon flyer for Christmas but didn't care for it, however she loved the music. So an idea clicked and I made a musical keychain from an Altoids tin. I gave this to her for Valentines Day.

My Little Pony Musical Altoids Keychain - a photoset on Flickr - Link.