Velocimaster V-33: An Omega Speedmaster X-33 Homage
The first time I saw the Omega Speedmaster X-33 analog-digital watch, I didn’t like it all that much. I had just started collecting Russian mechanical watches and was turning up my nose at quartz...
View ArticleWhy Negative LCDs Are So Hard to Read
Many watches have a so-called "negative" liquid crystal display (LCD), where the background is dark and the digits are light. I've often read complaints about them being difficult to read in less than...
View ArticleBlack Lagoon: An Homage to the Tudor Heritage Black Bay
The offerings from Rolex and Tudor have never appealed to me. There are so many Submariner look-alikes out there, that there's little to differentiate the real thing. Then, Tudor released the Heritage...
View ArticleMaking Custom Watch Dials
The selection of aftermarket dials available for customizing watches is growing steadily, but depends on the movement being used, with Seiko-compatible dials being most common. For other movements, the...
View ArticleChord EGG 2015: Remaking a PAiA Classic
The Stereo Chord EGG was a novel little circuit introduced in kit form by PAiA in 1976 as an interesting application of a then-new top octave generator chip. This kit hasn't been produced in decades,...
View ArticleBuilding a Musical Sunrise Quartz Alarm Clock
For the past twenty years, I've been waking up to an LED alarm clock, but the large glowing red digits disturb my sleep. As both an electronic hobbyist and amateur watchmaker, I decided to build my own...
View ArticleA Display Case for My Slide Rule Collection
I've been collecting slide rules since 2007, and until now, have kept my collection in a large shoebox in a drawer. I have been wanting to build a proper display case for them for a few years now, and...
View ArticleRebuilding a Hammond AO-29 Amplifier from the Ground Up
I've owned my Hammond organ for eight years now, and although working quite well, there was still an unresolved issue of a rumbling or rushing sound, whether or not anything was being played at the...
View ArticleA Compact Home-Made Raspberry Pi Tablet
After recently discovering the Raspberry Pi and its matching 7-inch touchscreen, the first thing that popped into my head was that I could build a tablet. Mine certainly isn’t the first Pi-based...
View ArticleMusicRack – A Digital Sheet Music Display System
MusicRack is a simple yet flexible digital sheet music display system that I developed for the Raspberry Pi, but which can also be built on other Linux systems, and probably Mac and Windows too. The...
View Article