When Seagate originally developed the ST1 hard drive family of devices in 2004, they were remarkable little critters. Measuring just a bit larger than a conventional Compact Flash media card, the ST1 was a full-fledged 3600 rpm platter spinnin’ hard drive. Armed with a large 2MB cache buffer and an average seek time of 16 ms, the ST1 was stoked with Seagate’s RunOn (the heads are forced to stay on track) and G-Force Protection (the heads are removed from the platter during power down) technologies. Yet, the ST1 sported a Type II Compact Flash interface.

Do you have a blizzard of Christmas cards carpeting the top of your desk? Convert those cards into a Christmas Card Tower LED Lamp. NOTE: building the paper card tower is easier than the step-by-step instructions make it sound. Just follow the illustrations and as you complete a couple of cards, it should start to make sense.

Are you looking for a unique decoration for a special Christmas present? Then consider building this inexpensive ornament for adorning your next gift. You can easily hard-wire the 5x7 dot-matrix LED into just about any visual configuration that will fit within a grid of 35 green/red pixels. We have presented you with two templates for wiring a Christmas tree configuration. Refer to the BG Micro datasheet for the relevant wiring connections. For the more versatile gift box accoutrement, however, this simple programmable dot-matrix LED uses DIP switches for illuminating rows/columns of pixels. Granted, this project isnt as flexible as individually programmable pixels, but it should help you get started with building your own more complex dot-matrix LED Ornament.

Lets have some fun. Lets build an LED menorah for the upcoming holidays.

1 HOUR$1.27EASY

PARTS (2) 4 bright yellow LEDs (BG Micro $0.20)
(1) Yellow LED right angle (BG Micro $.012)
(1) SPST pushbutton (BG Micro $0.10)
(1) CR2032 with legs (BG Micro $0.65)
(1) Short length of wire
Instant bond cyanoacrylate glue

STEP-BY-STEPStep 1. Bond the two 4-bright yellow LED bars together with glue.

Step 2. Fold down and solder all of the LED cathodes together. Repeat the same technique with the all of the LED anodes. You should now have a cathode run and an anode run.

Step 3. Bond the yellow LED right angle to the top of the joined LED bars.

Step 4. Fold and solder the LED right angles cathode to the bars cathode run. Likewise, fold and solder the LED right angles anode to the bars anode run.

Step 5. Snip off two adjacent legs (i.e., on the same side of the switch) from the SPST switch. The switch should now have two legs. Bond the SPST switch to one end of the joined LED bars. Solder one leg of the switch to the LEDs cathode run.

Step 6. Bond the CR2032 battery to the bottom of the joined LED bars. Solder the positive (+) leg to the anode run.

Step 7. Solder a short length of wire to the remaining free leg of the SPST switch. Solder the other end of the wire to the negative (-) leg of the CR2032 battery.
Step 8. Press the button to illuminate the LED Menorah.—Dave Prochnow 

If youve ever wished that you could print a hard copy map from your IrDA-equipped PDA or cell phone while youre on the road and youre willing to do a little nuts-and-bolts work, BG Micro has a printer for you. BG Micro is currently selling the Citizen PD-22 thermal printer for around thirty bucks. This portable battery-powered serial printer can give you a quick print through either a serial or IrDA port. Unfortunately, the serial port requires a special cable which isnt available from BG Micro. Luckily, you still have IrDA. Oops, your PC/PDA doesnt have an IrDA port? No problem, BG Micro also sells the ACTiSYS  ACT-IR4000US IrDA USB dongle for $4.95. You can download Windows drivers for this dongle direct from ACTiSYS. Once your IrDA connection is up and running, look to Citizen Systems Europe for all of your driver, manual, datasheet, and support needs. Oh, and as you (re)discover the joys of printing maps, messages and photographs on thermal paper, BG Micro can also supply you with five rolls of PD-02 replacement paper for ten bucks. —Dave Prochnow

(Image: Citizen Systems Europe)

Here are two bargain-priced products that are worth an extra look:

First up, All Electronics Corp has a digital multimeter that could be a great backup testing tool for the garage, basement, or shop. Its a Craftsman Model No. 82061 (Cat # DMM-61) auto-ranging digital LCD meter. It comes with a carrying case and two 1.5V LR-44 batteries. This meter can measure: AC voltage, DC voltage, resistance, and capacitance. The Craftsman 82061 meter is priced at $10.65.

The second bargain is the Compaq Microcom TravelCard Fast PCMCIA modem from BG Micro (#COM 1176). This 33.6Kbps modem does not include manuals, drivers, or phone line cord, but it only costs ten cents! You can find these extra items from Wired World for $30.42 or TradeMoon for $6. NOTE: Make sure that these other vendors do, in fact, include the manuals, drivers, and phone line cord with the modem. —Dave Prochnow

(Image: All Electronics Corp.)