I've just received advanced word by a carrier pidgeon wearing German welding goggles that the tinyCylon will be featured on MAKE Magazine's "How-to Tuesday". Guess when! That's right! This coming Tuesday!
Be sure to take a look at the MAKE: blog this Tuesday, 16 December 2008 and see how someone that know what they're doing puts together a tinyCylon kit.
Where can you get your tinyCylons, you ask? I'm glad you asked! Read on and find out!
Now you can buy your tinyCylon kits (and assembled versions, too) from the Curious Inventor web site. They also have lots of other electronics and some good tools for sale as well. Be sure to read up on all the fascinating tutorials and guides while you're there. I met Scott, the Curious Inventor himself, at Maker Faire in Austin this year.
The tinyCylon kits are also now available from the FunGizmos.com web site. They sell lots of LEDs, Arduinos and other cool gadgets that you just know you want to buy. Go load up on a bunch of stuff and tell 'em Dale sent ya.
The Maker Faire in Austin this year (2008) was where I was first encouraged to make a kit version of the tinyCylon. I had considered it "too simple" for a kit until persuaded by the overwhelming majority of folks there that it would be a perfect first kit for beginning solderers. Marc de Vinck, Make Magazine author and hacker extraordinaire, showed an interest in the little blinky dudes and was instrumental in pitching them to the people at O'Reilly Media. They went for it and have decided to carry the kits and the assembled version in the Maker Shed, their on-line store for all manner of cool, makeable things. Drop by and see all the other fascinating swag they've got.
Here is a short video of the first "variation" or hacked tinyCylon. I left the leads of the LEDs long and bent them into a circle. The scanner patterns seem to work well in a circle as well as a straight line. Let me know what you think!
While everyone else was out shopping today, I stayed in and finished the instructions for the tinyCylon kit. Take a look at them and let me know what you think!
It's about time to consolidate all this tinyCylon information into a single page. Until then, you can use these links to buy them, both as kits or already assembled:
tinyCylon Kit $9.95 <-- click here to buy a tinyCylon kit that you assemble (soldering required)
tinyCylon $14.95 <-- click here to buy a tinyCylon already put together (still needs 3 AAA batteries)
The tinyCylon project is completely open source and very hackable! I will be posting some interesting variations here very soon!
Today is a National Day of Thanksgiving here in the United States. I think it's actually illegal to not be thankful today, but I am not a lawyer yet so I may be mistaken. Personally, I have so very much for which to be thankful, including my family, my friends, my health and ridiculously undeserved prosperity. These are all things that might lead others into thinking that they must be doing something right, but not me. I just keep blundering blindly along, making it look easy when in truth I haven't a clue. So today I write to you about being thankful but believe me when I say that not a day goes by when I don't reflect on how much better it is to be lucky than good.
Here in a little bit Anne & I are going over to her brother's house for turkey, et c., and then stopping by my parents' house to visit; very traditional, very much in keeping with our local customs. Here's to a safe, happy & healthy day to everyone!
A very busy day today in tinyCylon Land!
David Fowler of uC Hobby got one of the first tinyCylon kits and has written a nice review of it. Thanks, David!
The tinyCylon kit is now available at BG Micro, a mail order hobby electronics supplier for something like, let me see, oh, about 1,000 years now. These folks have lots and lots of great junk/treasure/electronics/you name it. It might take a day or two for the tinyCylon to get listed on their web page. If you're in a big hurry, just give them a call and they will most likely sell you one anyway.
Here is a very sinister snowman. I made him out of modelling clay and a tinyCylon kit. Spooky, eh?
You can also buy your tinyCylon already assembled & tested and skip right to the world domination stage of your evil plan.
I've been working and working and now the tinyCylon kit is almost ready. I took the guts of the "Project LED Scanner" and added more evil modes, including glowing eyes and malfunctioning robots. The actual PCBs should be ready tomorrow. In the meantime, have a sneak peak at some of the new modes in a short video:
The next few hours will be a flurry of activity here. I have detailed assembly instructions written but no photos in them yet. Take a look at the instructions and let me know if you think they are clear enough. I promise to add photos as soon as I can! It will be a lot easier to understand and follow the directions with pictures. There will be an updated schematic available. The source code is written in C and is available for free.
Buy yours today! tinyCylon Kit $9.95 <-- click here to buy a tinyCylon kit that you assemble (soldering required)
Kits inlcude:
You supply:
Buy yours today! tinyCylon $14.95 <-- click here to buy a tinyCylon already put together (still needs 3 AAA batteries)
I got tired of the old web site, so I nuked it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
The most reliable way to contact me is via email.
My email address is 
I encourage you to drop me a line, even if it's just to say, "Hi". I read all my email and really do try to answer everyone promptly.
Alternately, and less reliably as I leave the office and sometimes sleep, you can call me on the telephone. My phone number is (972) 486-1317, if you're a grown up with a job and can afford to make a phone call. If not, then please call my toll free number from the US or Canada, including Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands. The number is 877-DALE WHEAT. Really, it is. If I'm not able to answer the phone when you call, please leave me a message. Try to speak clearly and relatively slowly as that's how I listen to messages.
PERFECTLY
CROMULENT