2026-01-27 14:00:36
If you are interested in historical big computers, you probably think of IBM, with maybe a little thought of Sperry Rand or, if you go smaller, HP, DEC, and companies like Data General. But you may not have heard of Tandem Computers unless you have dealt with systems where downtime was unacceptable. Printing bills or payroll checks can afford some downtime while you reboot or replace a bad board. But if your computer services ATM machines, cash registers, or a factory, that’s another type of operation altogether. That was where Tandem computers made their mark, and [Asianometry] recounts their history in a recent video that you can watch below.
When IBM was king, your best bet for having a computer running nonstop was to have more than one computer. But that’s pricey. Computers might have some redundancy, but it is difficult to avoid single points of failure. For example, if you have two computers with a single network connection and a single disk drive. Then failures in the network connection or the disk drive will take the system down.
The idea started with an HP engineer, but HP wasn’t interested. Tandem was founded on the idea of building a computer that would run continuously. In fact, the name was “the non-stop.” The idea was that smaller computer systems could be combined to equal the performance of a big computer, while any single constituent system failing would still allow the computer to function. It was simply slower. Even the bus that tied the computers together was redundant. Power supplies had batteries so the machines would keep working even through short power failures.
Not only does this guard against failures, but it also allows you to take a single computer down for repair or maintenance without stopping the system. You could also scale performance by simply adding more computers.
Citibank was the first customer, and the ATM industry widely adopted the system. The only issue was that Tandem programs required special handling to leverage the hardware redundancy. Competitors were able to eat market share by providing hardware-only solutions.
The changing computer landscape didn’t help Tandem, either. Tandem was formed at a time when computer hardware was expensive, so using a mostly software solution to a problem made sense. But over time, hardware became both more reliable and less expensive. Software, meanwhile, got more expensive. You can see where this is going.
The company flailed and eventually would try to reinvent itself as a software company. Before that transition could work or fail, Compaq bought the company in 1997. Compaq, of course, would also buy DEC, and then it was all bought up by HP — oddly enough, where the idea for Tandem all started.
There’s a lot of detail in the video, and if you fondly remember Tandem, you’ll enjoy all the photos and details on the company. If you need redundancy down at the component level, you’ll probably need voting.
2026-01-27 11:00:48
Today marks an auspicious anniversary which might have passed us by had it not been for [Diamond Geezer], who reminds us that it’s a hundred years since the first public demonstration of television by John Logie Baird. In a room above what is today a rather famous Italian coffee shop in London’s Soho, he had assembled a complete mechanical TV system that he demonstrated to journalists.
Television is one of those inventions that owes its genesis to more than a single person, so while Baird was by no means the only one inventing in the field, he was the first to demonstrate a working system. With mechanical scanning and just 30 lines, it’s hardly HD or 4K, but it does have the advantage of being within the reach of the constructor.
Perhaps the saddest thing about Baird and his system is that while he was able to attract the interest of the BBC in it, when the time came for dedicated transmissions at a higher resolution, his by then partly mechanical system could not compete and he faded into relative obscurity. Brits instead received EMI’s 405 line system, which persisted until the very start of the 1980s, and eventually the German PAL colour system in the late 1960s.
So head on down to Bar Italia if you can to raise a coffee to his memory, and should you wish to have a go at Baird-style TV for yourself, then you may need to print yourself a disk.
Header image: Matt Brown, CC BY 2.0.
2026-01-27 05:00:21
An analog telephone adapter (ATA), or FXS gateway, is a device that allows traditional analog phones to be connected to a digital voice-over-IP (VoIP) network. In addition to this, you can even create a local phone exchange using just analog phones without connecting to a network as [Playful Technology] demonstrates in a recent video.
The ATA used in the video is the Grandstream HT802, which features one 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port and two RJ11 FXS ports for two POTS phones, allowing for two phones to be directly connected and configured using their own profiles.
By using a multi-FXS port ATA in this manner, you essentially can set up your own mini telephone exchange, with a long run of Cat-3 possible between an individual phone and the ATA. Use of the Ethernet port is necessary just once to configure the ATA, as demonstrated in the video. The IP address of the ATA is amusingly obtained by dialing *** on a connected phone and picking 02 as menu option after which a synthetic voice reads out the number. This IP address gets you into the administration interface.
To configure the ATA as an exchange, the local loopback address is used, along with a dial alias configured in the ‘Dial Plan’ section. This way dialing e.g. 102 gets internally converted to dial the other FXS port. By setting up a similar plan on the other FXS port both phones can call each other, but it’s also possible to auto-dial when you lift the handset off the hook.
The rather hacky configuration ought to make clear that the ATA was not designed to be used in this manner, but if your use case involves this kind of scenario, it’s probably one of the cheaper ways to set up a basic, small phone exchange. There are even ATA models that have more than two ports, opening up more possibilities. Just keep in mind that not every ATA may support this kind of tweaking.
2026-01-27 03:30:54
Before the refrigerator became a normal part of any kitchen, those with enough money to throw around could get an icebox, which used melting ice to cool food and drinks in a second compartment. As refrigerators became available for sale in the 1920s, this created somewhat awkward transition models, like the 1924 Frigidaire B-9 that [David Allen] recently got offered for a restoration. This was part of the restoration of a 1926 house, which foresaw putting this venerable unit back into operation.
As [David] explains, this refrigerator was still in use until about 1970 when it broke down, and repairs proved tricky. Clearly, the fault wasn’t that severe as [David] got it working again after a number of small repairs and a lot of maintenance. The running unit with its basic elements can be seen purring away in the completion video, with the journey to get there covered in a video series starting with the first episode.
What’s fascinating is that during this aforementioned transition period, the vapor compression electric cooling system was an optional extra, meaning that the basic layout is still that of an icebox. Correspondingly, instead of ice in the ice compartment, you find the low-side float evaporator, with the basement section containing the condensing unit, motor, and compressor. The temperature sensor is also a miracle of simplicity, using bellows that respond to the temperature and thus volume of the evaporator coolant, which trigger a switch that turns on the compressor.
Despite a hundred years having passed since this refrigerator was constructed, at its core it works exactly the same as the unit we have in our kitchens today, albeit with higher efficiency, more electronics, and with the sulfur dioxide refrigerant replaced with something less toxic to us humans.
2026-01-27 02:00:53
I love, love, love Saturn by [Rain2], which comes in two versions. The first, which is notably more complex, is shown here with its rings-of-Saturn thumb clusters.
Saturn has one built right in. The basic idea was to add a num pad while keeping the total number of keys to a minimum. Thanks to a mod key, this area can be many things, including but not limited to a num pad.
As far as the far-out shape goes, and I love that the curvature covers the thumb cluster and the index finger, [Rain2] wanted to get away from the traditional thumb cluster design. Be sure to check out the back of the boards in the image gallery.
Unfortunately, this version is too complicated to make, so v2 does not have the cool collision shapes going for it. But it is still an excellent keyboard, and perhaps will be open source someday.
Say hello to Phanny, a custom 52-key wireless split from [SfBattleBeagle]. This interestingly-named board has a custom splay that they designed from the ground up along with PCBWay, who sponsored the PCBs in the first place.
While Ergogen is all the rage, [SfBattleBeagle] still opts to use Fusion and KiCad, preferring the UI of the average CAD program. If you’re wondering about the lack of palm rests, the main reason is that [SfBattleBeagle] tends to bounce between screens, as well as moving between the split and the num pad. To that end, they are currently designing a pair of sliding wrist skates that I would love to hear more about.
Be sure to check out the GitHub repo for all the details and a nice build guide. [SfBattleBeagle] says this is a fun project and results in a very comfy board.
Via reddit
Do you rock a sweet set of peripherals on a screamin’ desk pad? Send me a picture along with your handle and all the gory details, and you could be featured here!
I must say, the Antikey Chop doesn’t have much to say about the Masspro typewriter, and for good reason.
But here’s what we know: the Masspro was invented by a George Francis Rose, who was the son of Frank S. Rose, inventor of the Standard Folding Typewriter. That machine was the predecessor to the Corona No. 3.
Frank died right as the Rose Typewriter Co. was starting to get somewhere. George took over, but then it needed financing pretty badly.
Angel investor and congressman Bill Conger took over the company, relocated, and renamed it the Standard Folding Typewriter Co. According to the Antikey Chop, “selling his father’s company was arguably George’s greatest contribution to typewriter history”.
George Rose was an engineer like his father, but he was not very original when it came to typewriters. The Masspro is familiar yet foreign, and resembles the Corona Four. Although the patent was issued in 1925, production didn’t begin until 1932, and likely ended within to years.
Why? It was the wrong machine at the wrong time. Plus, it was poorly built, and bore a double-shift keyboard which was outdated by this time. And, oh yeah, the company was started during the Depression.
But I like the Masspro. I think my favorite part, aside from the open keyboard, is the logo, which looks either like hieroglyphics or letters chiseled into a stone tablet.
I also like the textured firewall area where the logo is stamped. The Antikey Chop calls this a crinkle finish. Apparently, they came in black, blue, green, and red. The red isn’t candy apple, it’s more of an ox-blood red, and that’s just fine with me. I’d love to see the blue and green, though. Oh, here’s the green.
Okay, so Keychron’s new Nape Pro mouse is pretty darn cool, and this is the best picture I could find that actually shows how you’re supposed to implement this thing on your desk. Otherwise, it looks like some kind of presentation remote.
So the idea here is to never take your hands off the keyboard to mouse, although you can use it off to the side like a regular trackball if you want. I say the ability to leave your fingers on the home row is even better.
There are plenty of keyboards with trackpads and other mousing functions that let you do this. But maybe you’re not ready to go that far. This mouse is a nice, easy first step.
The ball is pretty small at 25 mm. For comparison, the M575 uses a 34 mm ball, which is pretty common for trackball mice. Under those six buttons are quiet Huano micro switches, which makes sense, but I personally think loud-ish mice are nice enough.
I’ve never given it much thought, but the switches on my Logitech M575 are nice and clicky. I wonder how these compare, but I don’t see a sound sample. If the Nape Pro switches sound anything like this, then wowsers, that is quiet.
The super-cool part here is the software and orientation system, which they call OctaShift. The thing knows how it’s positioned and can remap its functions to match. M1 and M2 are meant to be your primary mouse buttons, and they are reported to be comfortable to reach in any position.
Inside you’ll find a Realtek chip with a 1 kHz polling rate along with a PixArt PAW3222 sensor, which puts this mouse in the realm of decent wireless gaming mice. But the connectivity choice is yours between dongle, Bluetooth, and USB-C cable.
And check this out: the firmware is ZMK, and Keychron plans to release the case STLs. Finally, it seems the mouse world is catching up with the keyboard world a bit.
Got a hot tip that has like, anything to do with keyboards? Help me out by sending in a link or two. Don’t want all the Hackaday scribes to see it? Feel free to email me directly.
2026-01-27 00:30:29
Although there are a few hobbies that have low-cost entry points, amateur astronomy is not generally among them. A tabletop Dobsonian might cost a few hundred dollars, and that is just the entry point for an ever-increasing set of telescopes, mounts, trackers, lasers, and other pieces of equipment that it’s possible to build or buy. [Thomas] is deep into astronomy now, has a high-quality, remotely controllable telescope, and wanted to make it more accessible to his friends and others, so he built a system that lets the telescope stream on Twitch and lets his Twitch viewers control what it’s looking at.
The project began with overcoming the $4000 telescope’s practical limitations, most notably an annoyingly short Wi-Fi range and closed software. [Thomas] built a wireless bridge with a Raspberry Pi to extend connectivity, and then built a headless streaming system using OBS Studio inside a Proxmox container. This was a major hurdle as OBS doesn’t have particularly good support for headless operation.
The next step was reverse engineering the proprietary software the telescope uses for control. [Thomas] was able to probe network traffic on the Android app and uncovered undocumented REST and WebSocket APIs. From there, he gained full control over targeting, parking, initialization, and image capture. This allowed him to automate telescope behavior through Python scripts rather than relying on the official Android app.
To make the telescope interactive, he built a Twitch-integrated control system that enables viewers to vote on celestial targets, issue commands, and view live telemetry, including stacking progress, exposure data, and target coordinates. A custom HTML/CSS/JavaScript overlay displays real-time status, and there’s a custom loading screen when the telescope is moving to a new target. He also added ambient music and atmospheric effects, so the stream isn’t silent.
If [Thomas]’s stream is your first entry point into astronomy and you find that you need to explore it more on your own, there are plenty of paths to build your way into the hobby, especially with Dobsonian telescopes, which can be built by hand, including the mirrors.
