Lepton XDS dual-camera module combines 160 x 120 thermal imager with 5MP RGB camera

The Teledyne FLIR Lepton XDS dual-camera module combines a factory‑aligned radiometric 160 × 120 Lepton 3.5 thermal camera with a 5 MP visible camera. Its size, weight, and power (SWaP)‑optimized design makes it suitable for mobile devices, compact electronics, smart buildings, fire detection, occupancy analytics, and equipment‑condition‑monitoring applications. The company highlights that the Lepton XDS module is International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)-free, which reduces development risk and accelerates time‑to‑market, since it’s easier to export or integrate into products sold globally. Lepton XDS specifications: EO Camera Optics – EFL 1.57 mm, 98.2° HFOV, F/1/2.2 Sensor – 2592 x 1944 pixels...

How to Securely Erase an old Hard Drive on macOS Tahoe

Apparently Apple thinks nobody with a modern Mac uses spinning rust (hard drives with platters) anymore.

I plugged in a hard drive from an old iMac into my Mac Studio using my Sabrent USB to SATA Hard Drive enclosure, and opened up Disk Utility, clicked on the top-level disk in the sidebar, and clicked 'Erase'.

Lo and behold, there's no 'Security Options' button on there, as there had been since—I believe—the very first version of Disk Utility in Mac OS X!

Arduino Matter Discovery Bundle educational kit combines Arduino Nano Matter with three Modulino modules

Arduino has just announced the Arduino Matter Discovery Bundle (AKX00081), an all-in-one development kit designed to help users learn, prototype, and build Matter-over-Thread smart home devices quickly. The kit is based on the Arduino Nano Matter development board and works with the Matter ecosystem, including compatible platforms such as Apple HomeKit, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Home Assistant. The bundle also includes a Nano Connector Carrier with Grove and Qwiic interfaces, a microSD slot, and various IO options. The kit features three Qwiic-based Modulino nodes, namely a Latch Relay, a Distance module for presence detection, and a Thermo module for...

TECNO unveils thin modular smartphone concept with magnetic cameras, battery, and gamepad add-ons

The TECNO will showcase its modular smartphone concept at Mobile World Congress 2026. The company’s “Modular Magnetic Interconnection Technology” aims to enable thin modular smartphones with magnetic hardware expansion add-ons. This idea is not new. Motorola’s Project Ara open-source hardware platform attempted that in 2013, and Google (ATAP) took over the project in 2015, before the modular phone project died in 2016. The Fairphone is the closest we have to a modular smartphone nowadays, but while it’s repairable, its modularity is more limited. But maybe time was not just right for a full modular smartphone, and TECNO is giving it...

ESP32-P4 Feather Board

This is a Feather-format board based on the new ESP32-P4 high performance processor from Espressif:

The ESP32-P4 Feather board.

The ESP32-P4 is a dual-core RISC-V processor running at up to 400MHz, with 768KB of on-chip SRAM, 32Mbytes of on-chip PSRAM, and up to 32Mbytes of external flash.

After designing the AVR128DA32 Feather Board I read about Espressif's new ESP32-P4 processor, a high-performance processor with a RISC-V core, and decided it would be an interesting challenge to design a Feather-format board based on that. Like other recent ESP32-series chips the ESP32-P4 includes an internal native USB interface, so I decided to design the board...

Play CDs with HomePods: Add AirPlay to a Vintage CD Player

In this project, I’ll show how to convert a bog-standard CD player into a fully self-contained AirPlay CD player that “just works”. No external boxes. No fiddly startup rituals. Put …

The post Play CDs with HomePods: Add AirPlay to a Vintage CD Player appeared first on lo-tech.

Кустарные вакуумные триоды Клода Пайяра. Часть 5. Конструкция лампы

Продолжим знакомство с работой современного французского энтузиаста-электровакуумщика Клода Пайяра [1], воссоздавшего в своей мастерской кустарное микропроизводство ранних высоковакуумных триодов — варианта легендарного ТМ [2]. Ранее мы уже рассмотрели его огневое оснащение [1], технологическую печь, контактную сварку [3] и ламповый аппарат ТВЧ [4], полюбопытствовали, чем Клод откачивает свои лампы [5]. С воображаемой лупой в руках посмотрим же, как устроен его вариант триода, чем он похож и чем отличается от исторических прототипов; по характерным примерам последних проследим часть эволюции этой выдающейся лампы.

Что на самом деле показывал индикатор частоты ЦП на корпусе?

Приветствую всех!

Когда-то давно тут уже рассказывали про кнопку Turbo и про замок на корпусе ПК. Самое время вспомнить ещё один неотъемлемый атрибут компьютеров тех лет: индикатор частоты процессора.

Казалось бы, это до невозможности банальная штука, не сложнее индикатора питания. Но всё оказалось не так уж просто и даже у этого устройства иногда можно было найти много интересного. Давайте разбираться...

Free Stuff - September 2025

The belated September 2025 recipient for the Great Scott Gadgets Free Stuff Program is Ashen Chathuranga, a university student from Sri Lanka. He is working on a project involving the development of an open source satellite monitoring station and requested a HackRF One to conduct his research. He will also be researching radio wave penetrating materials for his university. Being able to assist students in need of equipment for academic research and goals is one of our primary goals for our Free Stuff Program, so we are happy we were able to help Ashen out!

Free Stuff - October 2025

The belated October 2025 recipient for the Great Scott Gadgets Free Stuff Program is Alex Barnes, who applied on behalf of Amateur Radio and Electronics Society (QUB_ARES) at Queen’s University Belfast! Alex has informed us that they are an academic society primarily focused on running regular educational events around radio and electronics. So far they have run lessons and training for their members to get UK Foundation Amateur Radio licenses, worked with a local Scouts group for Jamborees on the Air, and she ran a series of events last year where she demonstrated using an SDR and a few 433...