A simple universal 800×600 VGA signal generation circuit

You may have seen this article where I discussed a 640×480 VGA signal generator that I designed and built. The signals, that circuit generated, were correct when measured with an oscilloscope. However, I concluded that I didn’t know why my display hardware had a hard time displaying an image and I found the reason for that and updated the circuit to generate the necessary signals for displaying an 800×600 image with a refresh rate of 60 Hertz.

Continue reading A simple universal 800×600 VGA signal generation circuit

VGA signal generation using discrete electronic components

Note: An updated version of this article is available here! However, this article remains valid and I placed a note in every section that got updated.

It’s been a while since I published this series of articles on nerdhut about monochrome video signals for an old Macintosh CRT. I wanted to post a short follow-up article about VGA and how to generate such signals. This article will also be a follow up to the custom CPU series and it will be another step towards the custom computer, I always wanted to design and build.

However, in this article, I only want to take a look at how the standard 640×480@60Hz VGA-Signal can be created using a screen testing device, made from discrete electronic components, which can be used to test monitors without the need of a computer being around. Continue reading VGA signal generation using discrete electronic components

DIY electronic riddle advent calendar

Oh yes, Christmas! It’s almost that season of the year again. And to shorten the time between the 1st of December and Christmas Eve’, I thought about a bit more interesting advent calendar than one, that only has chocolate in it. This electronic advent calendar offers a riddle that you can create for a loved one or a friend and give it to them so they can try to solve it before Christmas arrives. It offers a clue every day and it presents all unlocked clues on a website that runs on the device itself. The only two things it needs to work is a power supply and a WiFi network it can connect to. And the best thing is: It is really simple to build and it can be re-used every year and it can also be used for other occasions (for example Valentine’s Day)! Continue reading DIY electronic riddle advent calendar

PCB production/etching tutorial

Introduction

There are a lot of tutorials around that show you, how to etch your own PCBs, but either they use professional tools, that might cost a lot, or they do not give you a complete list of materials you will need. This really bothers me, so I want to show you how to produce your own PCBs at home, so you can make your DIY projects more professional and cut costs drastically when it comes to create a PCB.

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This might be you with your professionally crafted PCB

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