Nicolas Collins
Hardware Hacking Workshop
Participant Supplies

Each participant in the workshop should bring the following items to the first meeting:

  1. A portable, battery-powered radio, with appropriate batteries (see guidelines below).
  2. One or more battery powered, sound-producing toys, with appropriate batteries (see guidelines below).
  3. One or more raw loudspeakers of any size, a nine-volt battery, and some small pieces of corroded or rough-surfaced scrap metal.
  4. Several 9-volt batteries.
  5. Soldering iron, diagonal cutters, wire strippers, jeweler’s screwdrivers.
  6. If possible, a tape player of some kind (walkman, boom-box, answering machine, etc.) that will not be missed if it is destroyed.
  7. Several plugs to fit the audio input to your amplifier, mixer, mini-disc recorder, etc., or some old patchcords that can be cut up. (These parts will be used to make connections from contact mikes and hacked circuits to your other audio equipment).

HOW TO CHOOSE A RADIO

It should be cheap enough that you won’t be too angry if it never works again. The AM band is more important than FM, but it doesn’t matter if the radio picks up both. It should have analog tuning (i.e., a dial) rather than digital presets or scan buttons. Larger radios are easier to work with than tiny ones. It’s better if it has a built-in speaker, not just a headphone jack, but a headphone jack in addition to a speaker is useful.
And most importantly: IT MUST BE BATTERY POWERED! Beware: an alarm clock radio with a built-in “backup battery” is not suitable, since it requires AC power to function as a radio.

HOW TO CHOOSE A TOY

As with the radio, select a toy that is expendable, not too tiny, and has a built-in speaker. A toy that makes sound is preferable to a mute one, and sampled sounds (like voices, animal sounds or instruments) are more useful than simple beeps. The more buttons and switches the better, generally speaking, although musical keyboards often have limited potential for interesting modification.
And, of course: IT MUST BE BATTERY POWERED!