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Hackaday Podcast

Capacitor Plague, Wireless Power, and Tiny Everything

·55 min·5 clips
Elliot and Jenny recount the chaotic badge assembly at Hackaday Europe, where a custom programming jig saved the day.
The episode begins with hosts Elliot Williams and Jenny List sharing personal experiences from Hackaday Europe in Berlin, highlighting the Exane hackerspace and logistical issues with conference badges. They detail how volunteers like Voyager-Antonich fabricated a programming jig to save a problematic SAO. The first main topic is Asianometry's video investigating the capacitor plague of the early 2000s, exploring theories like stolen electrolyte formulas from Rubicon and thermal design failures. Next, a hack transforms an inexpensive thermal camera into a thermal microscope using germanium or zinc selenide lenses from CO2 laser cutters, allowing detailed imaging of component heat patterns. Hyperspace Pirate's video on wireless power transmission is discussed, showing experiments with large coils that achieve very low efficiency over distance, culminating in arcing and a small fire. The hosts note the historical context, including Nikola Tesla's ideas and the unintended invention of the Yagi antenna. They cover Decimo's resistance box badge using PCB spring contacts, similar to those in mobile phone antennas. Mike Roller's project creates a 3.2x1.6 mm blinking PCB with an ATtiny20 microcontroller, demonstrating extreme miniaturization with home fabrication techniques. Chris Doble's DIY GPS receiver using an RTL-SDR is highlighted for its educational value on GPS signal processing. Quick hacks include reviving a 1970s Maplin synthesizer, adapting SLA models for FDM printing, and a chemistry art piece using red cabbage indicator. News items mention the return of Pebble smartwatches, noise reduction in switch-mode power supplies, a 6502 emulator in shell script, and a Kodak kiosk containing a Sun workstation. The 'Can't Miss Articles' section features Dan Maloney's Ask Hackaday on the world's smallest microcontroller from TI, sparking discussion on applications like smart dust and hidden spy chips. The episode concludes with a resource extraction story about rare earth elements in coal fly ash, noting historical parallels like Roman lead mine tailings.

As heard by us

Berlin, hackerspaces, and wireless power keep the episode tied to real hardware.

Episode 313, Capacitor Plague, Wireless Power and Tiny Everything, starts in Berlin and quickly settles into the mix of place, hardware, and community that Hackaday handles well.

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Why you'd press play

If you want Berlin, coil experiments, and a hardware podcast with a little grime.

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