@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

timixretroplays

@timixretroplays@digipres.club

Aussie gamer making new memories from the old. He/him. Writing from Ngunnawal/Ngambri land.

I built a giant Gravis GamePad and am working on USB adapters for old controllers. I beta-tested Secret Agent HD and UnDune2. I once made Toshiba mad at me over copyright. I post mostly #retrogaming, #3dprinting and #arduino stuff here.

Projects:
#Plasbeams
#Thrixels
#CGAPrints
#SerialStinger
#SimpleBreakouts
#SolderingStation
#GravisGamePad

https://justmytoots.com/@timixretroplays@digipres.club

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timixretroplays, to windows
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

Is there a recommended #AirDrop equivalent for #Windows PCs? I'm sick of having to mess about with opaque network file share settings and permissions and folder settings and UAC prompts and rebooting because account credentials were cached and unspecified error 80004005 every time I just want to move a couple of files from one to another once in a blue moon. Copying files to and from a USB flash drive shouldn't be the quicker option for two networked computers owned by me in the same house.

jpm, to random
@jpm@aus.social avatar

“Or whatever” seems like a good starting point for assistive technology @voltagex ?
https://digipres.club/@foone/112324381293789851

timixretroplays,
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

@voltagex @jpm it'd be trivial to turn a $12 Pro Micro clone into an input device for up to 8x of those. It'd need a second USB connection as it wouldn't integrate at all with that keyboard abomination, but that's what hubs are for!

I've not played around with it yet, but there's an Xinput library for Arduino out there, so theoretically that part at least could talk to an Xbox like a regular controller as well.

foone, to random
@foone@digipres.club avatar

Here's an interesting "keyboard" for sale on aliexpress: It's a deconstructed keyboard matrix!
You can just plug in arcade buttons or whatever to each pair of pins.

timixretroplays,
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

@foone ok, I kind of want to buy this and make an arcade cabinet but for text adventures with it

timixretroplays, to random
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

Surely everyone's moved on to using Zip Barker instead? I would've thought Arj was quite obsolete by now

timixretroplays, to random
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

Taking a short side quest away from the photo box project to build some workshop infrastructure with my #plasbeams. Any guesses as to what this set of parts will become?

A photo of some 3D printed construction beams, four short beams form a square with hinges in each corner, and the square is bolted to the middle of a longer post.
A photo of some smaller 3D printed parts, one short beam and some parts with a cylindrical cutout.
Two of the cutout parts are now screwed to the beam and it's clear they're meant to carry or hold something that's about 2cm thick.

timixretroplays,
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

Making swift progress. I could also be making a total failure here, but documenting and reporting on those should always be part of the process.

timixretroplays,
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

Side quest complete! This weekend I have made a fully 3D printed jig for putting heat-set threaded inserts into plastic using a standard, unmodified soldering iron. Total cost is maybe $20 of threaded inserts, nuts, bolts, chicago screws, some big wood screws, and some very inexpensive PLA. (Plus a 20mm diameter soldering iron, and a single wooden shelf from IKEA.)

Photos here are stills from a video that will appear in the next post down!

#3DPrinting #maker #soldering @3dprinting @3dprinting

A photo of a jig for installing threaded inserts into plastic. The jig has been raised, with the soldering iron hinged backwards and away from the work surface.

timixretroplays,
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

And here's the video of it in action. This is the first time I've actually used it, and I'm very pleased with how it's turned out.

It's not quite as rigid as a full-blown metal jig would be, and it's not totally safe as-is (the next step is some kind of automatic retraction feature), but it does the job perfectly!

(I'm sorry the video ended up as a YouTube short, apparently that happens to <1min portrait videos. It was too big to upload to Mastodon.)

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Zq4pxL7RMyw

timixretroplays,
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

I will release files and stuff for this, but also... you need to use heat-set inserts to build it. I've free-handed all mine to date, but that's not sustainable for large-scale projects.

So: I'm thinking I could sell this as a completed kit, ready to add a soldering iron and a plank of wood from IKEA. What do you think, what would you pay for something like that - considering the Nukit, basically the Ferrari of heat-set presses, is AU$400? (https://cybernightmarket.com/products/heat-set-insert-press)

#3DPrinting

timixretroplays,
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

Speaking of documenting failures in the process, I'd been working on this concept for a few weeks now, and my first attempt was this straight replication of a traditional heat-set press, with a carriage that runs up and down a vertical beam. It took time to internalise the spirit of #plasbeams, which is to embrace new ways of thinking about old problems.

This was functional, and I'm proud of the design, but it was pretty wobbly and didn't do the job particularly well. #3DPrinting @3dprinting

timixretroplays,
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

I'm already making more parts for the jig, with the jig. Right now the soldering iron can only swing in a circular arc up and down, but with a few extra parts I should be able to give it linear reach back and forth, and possibly rotation side to side as well, making it as usable and versatile as possible.

timixretroplays,
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

Linear kinematics achieved.

A short video of a 3D printed assembly being manipulated and extended by hand.

timixretroplays,
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

And now, rotation! The hinge parts seem to be wearing quite quickly, no great surprise as they're just PLA, so I might reprint those in PETG. Even with some slop in the hinges, this thing still very effectively holds the soldering iron within a few degrees of upright, so I'm absurdly pleased with this thing.

I might also design new hinges around 688ZZ or similar bearings - they're used in fidget spinners and are trivial to get. For now, though, this thing is basically ready to use!

#3Dprinting

A short video of a 3D printed mechanism on a desk, it can expand and retract in one dimension and rotate in another, allowing the soldering iron mounted to it to be freely guided over a workspace while being held vertically.

timixretroplays,
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

I have a couple of functional hinges going now with 688ZZ bearings. They make a bulkier hinge than the chicago screws, but no printed parts wear against each other in this design, so they should last essentially forever.

Still plenty of tweaks to make before I print a bunch of them at once, but a working V1 is always a solid milestone. This design doesn't rely on heat-set inserts for assembly, so I don't have to keep rebuilding the jig to test anything. #3DPrinting

timixretroplays,
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

After a couple of days of tweaking and testing, the hinges are done! One half clamps around the outer ring of the bearing, the other clamps through and to the inner ring, the parts go together very consistently and the rotation is buttery smooth - and everything is printed at 0.2mm layer height with everything else left at default settings.

The only slop left in this mechanism is in the bearing itself, so if you somehow need more precision out of this part, buy better 688ZZs. #3DPrinting

A photo of the two hinges partially disassembled in different ways, showing how they go together.

timixretroplays, to bapcsalescanada
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

This is the Silverstone FT03, possibly the greatest case ever made IMHO. The layout looks confusing as hell, but the only important thing to get is that what would be the back of the case is actually the top - its height is also its length, so it can fit a super long graphics card in a tiny footprint, and the whole thing is one air tunnel from bottom to top. I've just spent my afternoon rebuilding the PC that was in it, and it's still just as great today as when I originally bought it.

Same case from a lower angle, showing the flow of air through the case from bottom to top.
Stock photo of the front profile of the case, showing it's a tall, narrow aluminium tower.
Stock photo of the top of the case, showing a very open air grille with spaces for cables to exit out the sides.

emmxyzzy, to VintageOSes
@emmxyzzy@mas.to avatar

Sometimes you might want a butt in your face, and sometimes you might not.

VERY excited to be playing Pantsmo today. It's a mod of Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure by eviltentacle and I, where we finally clothe that naked little alien boy. And... About half the other items in the game. So far.

Streaming now at https://twitch.tv/emmxyzzy

timixretroplays,
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

@emmxyzzy ??!? ok, I need to see this

timixretroplays, to 3DPrinting
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

From #fakerbeams to #Plasbeams! This is ten metres of fully #3DPrinting construction beams, plus some brackets and hinges to join them together.

You're looking at the skeleton of a huge, collapsible photo tent - the four 90cm beams are the uprights, while the pairs of 40cm beams will hinge in the middle and at the ends to allow the whole thing to fold up. Half a kilo of nuts, bolts and threaded inserts will arrive next week, and then I can start assembling this beast!

@3dprinting @3dprinting

timixretroplays, to random
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

Thanks, ASRock! As soon as I'm done building this computer with the CD drive that definitely exists and will also definitely be installed in this computer, I'll look at the manual on the CD to make sure I install the CPU correctl-- wait, which direction does time go in, again?

timixretroplays,
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

The "we shouldn't rush to blame things on computer illiteracy" guy the other day was 100% correct. Modern computers are an opaque mystery machine from every angle and this screen of completely unnecessary nonsense on the first POST gave even me a few moments' pause - and I've been doing this for decades, now.

timixretroplays,
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

I wanted the name of some software to read the Windows 10 key from a hard drive from a dead PC, so I searched for "windows 10 key reader", a query that would instantly make sense to anyone who's ever done this before. In response, Microsoft's flagship search product suggested I install Narrator to have my computer read my product key out aloud. I'm fucking gobsmacked by how utterly useless that is.

timixretroplays, to random
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

If you're the sort of person who's ever wondered why particularly long bolts aren't threaded through their entire length, or what using a torque wrench actually accomplishes, then I have the next 18 minutes of your life covered: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLzTB4KLCxU

timixretroplays, to 3DPrinting
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

I'm proud to announce the first public release of #Thrixels, my system for #3DPrinting pixel art! After several months of work, I think it's finally ready to inflict on other people - please give it a go if you're interested, and let me know how you get on with it.

https://www.printables.com/model/843125-thrixels-a-system-for-3d-printed-pixel-art

Boosts, suggestions, and any other feedback would be highly appreciated!

@3dprinting @3dprinting

moira, to random
@moira@mastodon.murkworks.net avatar

one must bike annoyingly far to get flaked sea salt but that’s what i get for living north I guess

#30daysofbiking

timixretroplays,
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

@moira worth it

timixretroplays, to random
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

I miss the days of spinning hard drives being the norm. It's not nostalgia this time, it's because they were noisy - that sound of rain on a tin roof and a flashing red light was a sign your PC was busy thinking, doing stuff in the background, please wait patiently. Stuff still makes you wait today, but with no feedback of any kind. Has outlook finished loading everything yet? Has teams had its traditional morning crash and reopen yet? Will clicking make things worse? Who can even tell anymore.

timixretroplays,
@timixretroplays@digipres.club avatar

@sysop408 hardware is getting faster for sure, but software efficiency is racing as fast as it can in the opposite direction - my work machine has ten CPU cores and a humongous amount of RAM, and struggles to log in and load what is effectively an email client, a HTTP client and a couple of chat clients in under five minutes. And all I can do is test-click occasionally, and just keep waiting until the lag between clicking and a thing changing drops to below a second before I try anything else.

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