Ben Heckendorn
@benheck
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Following
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Media
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47,823
I build & repair things and discuss random stuff online. Follow me to keep up with my latest adventures and ramblings!
Wisconsin
Joined March 2009
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Forget this Raspberry Pi nonsense. How about a frickin' Altair 8800 in an Altoids can using original hardware?
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OK how about myself 8-Bit Guy and
@lazygamereviews
all in the same shot. They are talking about digital cameras that only are available in Japan.
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Couldn't just do a teardown of Oregon Trail electronic game. Had to rebuild it into a portable of course. Man they could have made it SO much smaller...
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Mass layoffs, no rate cut, a crashing
#StockMarket
and unemployment jumps 0.2%. State Media is full of shit. We're been in recession since October. They're cooking the numbers just like they did with COVID deaths. Truth is dead.
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Finally finished this project I started back in 2000. Saved from a junk box it's the Atari 2600 Junior Single Chip Portable!
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Exploring mom's garage at Xmas. My step dad's old foldaway TV radio is in here. Wonder if it still works?
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8-bit Guy returns to his table and is dismayed to find his new custom computer has been Rick Roll'd
#youveBeenRickRolled
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Wrote show notes for final
@BenHeckShow
episode today... so now I'm officially, totally done. Thanks for all the support over the years, it's been quite the ride!
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My uncle died and this afternoon was the part where we starting cleaning out the condo. Found this still works. Will come in handy for my workshop. Not sure what the READ setting means, does that use the iron as a temp probe? Dan was cool will miss him.
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Windows 11 is turning tens of millions of usable PCs into e-waste but it's OK, Gigabyte didn't include a paper manual to save the environment! Stop the world I wanna get off.
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Whoah. My neighbor is throwing away the world's biggest Li-Po battery :)
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The shop is done! So long and thanks for the fish! (cue that sad Enya song from 20 years ago)
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"Please limit yourself to one carry-on and one personal item... Like a PVM"
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Neo Geo Mini video part 2 is up Let me know if you want to see me tear down and hack anything else.
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Got prototype PCBs in for our Raspberry Pi portable. You plug a Pi A+ into the back and attach a 480x272 LCD and battery.
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I have achieved 3-factor authentication for my Alexa controlled lamps.
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Jeri Ellworth wanted my uncle's wire wrap stuff. I can't think of a better home! I almost cried actually. Nice to see her again been ages.
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Cats out of the bag so yes, I am developing a new pinball machine as a co-production between myself, Spooky Pinball and Chicago Gaming Company (the people who do the Williams remakes such as Monster Bash and Attack From Mars) Stay tuned!
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Here it is. The third rarest console I've ever worked on. The RDI Video Systems Halcyon! The console itself weighs bugger all.
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When in NYC remember "The bigger the glob the better the job!"
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Does solder ever actually go bad? I bought bunch of these from some guy at Rocky Mnt Pinball fest. It's from Atari Corp. 30 years ago! Made the same month I graduated high school.... Ugh. I'm old!
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Started this project back in 2001. Making a super small original hardware Atari 2600 portable using the ultra rare single chip variant. Hope to have it done and video up by end of year.
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Super cool mod. Milled brass front section for a GBA SP with new LCD bonded to bezel. On the back is the original SP base, zoom in to text for more info!
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Sweet! My own personal YouTube channel Ben Heck Hacks has crossed 100k subscribers. Even though I never ask anyone to click anything, and only post videos when I feel like it. Thanks subscribers!
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I have Rick Roll'd The 8-Bit Guy's new homebrew computer. I must say it runs quite fast for a BASIC machine running at 2 MHz.
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PS4 single handed controller mod prototype complete! Check out for more photos! Part 2 of the YouTube video coming soon!
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Found this 1996 Funcoland price sheet bottom of crusty box. NES Little Samson for $6.99. If only we had known back then...
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Today's project complete! Shelf of calculators, arranged in order with custom laser cut stands. Just missing the original 83 and the 92.
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Finally caved to the peer pressure (and the doctor's suggestion for my blood pressure) and got a furball. Gonna name him Bud. He is 4 month old male. Right now he's enjoying his toys more than me :)
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#MacBookPro
"The laptop for creative professionals who don't use SD cards or USB and haven't realized all of Adobe's stuff is also on PC"
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Working on case design for our Raspberry Pi portable kit. Would you buy this pre-built PCB if it were on Kickstarter? (just add Pi A+, LCD and Li-Po)
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8K TV = not innovation. Just LCD glass cut differently. Consider this. Your 5“ phone is 2K. Imagine that same pixel density at 65" = 26K TV! It's meaningless. But now that 4K TV has hit rock bottom prices they need a new way to sell expensive TVs.
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@realPeaceGray
@DUSKdev
Nintendo lobbied Congress to make game rentals illegal. They're extremely anti consumer. Always have been.
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Putting my Atari 800 back together. Look at this cast aluminum piece! You can make 10 MacBooks with this!
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OK here's the shirt I assembled at I know it's a pretty niche joke, just thought it would be funny. Should I make a few to giveaway at shows?
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Elderly neighbor has a 286 still set up in her basement. She asked if I wanted it (so it would be gone) Worth making a video about? Either way I can e-waste it for her, she is like, pretty old and stuff.
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Neo Geo Mini Portable coming along nicely, should have the Part 2 final video up in a few days.
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Felix obtained this old IBM still sealed in the box! Feels like an episode of
@lazygamereviews
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My sister granted my Christmas wish! I now have one of the dorkiest possible books to read! :)
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Working on a video of me fixing up the Sega Pluto prototype. Found a 2.5“ IDE hard drive in its expansion bay. Adapter arriving tomorrow from Amazon. Dumping suggestions please?
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20 years of shows and cons and this is the first 2600 one chip I found in the wild. You can tell by looking through the vents on bottom. Finished transaction, then told the guy how rare it was ;)
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Halcyon mystery solved! Video coming soon! I have now repaired the 3 rarest consoles in the world.
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On left, check out this insanely small, original IC N64 motherboard. So cool!
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Found this in a junk box in my garage. It's the hand etched PCB from the original Atari 2600 Portable.
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Man, I tell ya. These work from home managers. Always looking over your shoulder...
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Flat irons rule! It's like ten trillion years ago when I worked at a restaurant.
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Should I do a YouTube video about my "Nostalgia Wave" theory which explains why things like PlayStation Classic flop while NES/SNES minis fly off the shelf? Basic premise: it's more about nostalgia/your age than price or emulation quality.
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Found these on three different eBay auctions. Now my old Atari 800 discs can be stored in style!
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Got the 4k version. It's strange this movie is frigging weird, cheesy, cringey and crazy yet I've never met anyone who doesn't love it. Feel free to prove me wrong in the comments! Supergreen!
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Sorting through bins I came across this treasure. You could boot a PC from a floppy then use this to install Zip drivers to RAM, allowing you to install an OS from a zip disk.
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Crap! I've only got 6 left. Plus whatever's on breadboards and kits. Kind of sad to see it go since it's the same age I am. "We had joy we had fun we had seasons in the sun..."
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What? Twitter still functions? It's almost as if it's code running on a server and isn't actually powered by 7500 hipsters in hamster wheels.
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Well, blocked someone for the first time. I am 100% for debate. But the millisecond you suggest I am not entitled to my speech you're done. Zero tolerance for that, and it pisses on the graves of all who have died to ensure our freedoms.
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Only two bodge wires required! (forgot the NMI and WAIT pull-ups)
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There we go. The puuuuurfect title! Now I just need to finish the damn game. I have 6.5 weekends left.
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Did another shadowbox today. Yes, somehow I still have this thing. Cuz I'm a shadow boxer baby, I wanna be ready for what you do...
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Why did I spend $25 on a cat bed? He's been in this box for three hours, in the afternoon no less!
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Got the Sharp X68000 working. Took a LOT of backtracking schematics to find what was ultimately simple and easy to miss. Video coming soon, which will include Bud the Kitten!
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OMG Goodwill score - a Sony Mavica (with battery :) an $8 streaming Blu-ray player and a 1960s era Erector Set!
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Had my first non-wisdom tooth extraction today. Shitty. But now I'm wondering if I could get a custom implant with wire stripper built in...
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This is our new Pinotaur pinball board. All dedicated switches 64 standard, 16 optos, 16 cabinet, 16 GI banks, DMA'd serial RGB insert lighting, 24 coils, 4 servos or steppers, current sense on high voltage line and USB device mode for use with host computer.
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Still pecking away at my Arduboy game. It's going to be a Boulder Dash ripoff called Garbage Miner 2049er. Built-in map editor and tile-based screen memory to save as much RAM as possible for active game world, falling rocks enemy movement etc.
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Thanks to everyone who stuck with me when I came out of the political closet during COVID as "not a fascist" We were right, and those who vilified us are on the dumpster pile of history like all loser tyrants. Freedom is non-negotiable, no matter what pussy Arnold thinks.
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Working on a project mothballed 18 years ago - portable Atari based off the super rare single-chip 2600 Junior. Chip still works after decades in the junk bin. I know enough now to know I wouldn't have gotten it working back then :)
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People are freaking out the PS5 might cost $500? Why is it gamers have no concept of inflation? Imagine if you could buy a house for only 20% more than it cost in 1990 and the only catch was a mail flyer each week offering new colors (house DLC :)
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I think I can make this work. And yeah, looks a lot cooler than a SMT Z80. Note the OLED display and SD card reader too!
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MGC workshop, I need to make a game by end of March. Um, no problem? Working on Bud Cat sprites, maybe he's running around a house destroying stuff. "Alley Cat meets Battlefield" fighting Roomba and other house robots.
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I've had a couple (industry) people tell me you can't make an entire pinball machine with a Raspberry Pi Pico. I beg to differ! That thing is way OP. I kinda wanna do it just to prove a point. Like the old days just do my own thing and screw it!
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Idea to save theaters: Replace the 20 minutes of trailers with a 20 minute intermission. Give us a chance to piss and buy more beer = more profits!
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In non-click-baity tweet news I'm finally diving into the Sharp X68000 repair. It suffers from extremely weak video so guessing it's gonna be another cap problem or analog issue. Gotta get her working and play Gradius!
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Scored a pair of busted Master Systems from Video Game X-Change (the place Pat the NES punk complained about) for $20! Lance always hooks us up OH YEAH!
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Windows 10 runs on a potato and goes EOL October 2025. Meanwhile Windows 11 has a pretty aggressive TPM 2.0 requirement, not working on computers only 5 years old (like my Gen 1 Threadripper) Sounds like a disaster in the making, especially if the chip shortage continues.
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Oh dear. I may have met my match. A broken Sega Prologue 21 karaoke machine.
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PCB test success! Should be good to go just need to order some short metric screws and more speakers. I managed to catch the random blink animation of the title screen. Gonna be a hermit week before MGC to ensure I don't catch THE VIRUS.
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Crushing years of product cardboard in my closest but not this one! My favorite cardboard box ever.
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Starting to put my 8 Bit Room together. Genesis, PC Engine, SNES and Atari 800. Forgot how heavy CRTs were. But the consoles look great on it even in just composite. Not a smeary mess like on my 4K living room TV.
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Designed a custom Atmel SAMD51 dev board. Just got them in from OSHpark. Might make a YouTube video of the assembly and testing. Unless they don't work in which case I won't.
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More Goodwill Texas Instruments gold! The original model in box!
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Dum Dum daaaa! Collection complete! Thanks to Aaron Davis for sending this my way! It's a very... Overwhelming device.
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Found ANOTHER graphing calculator on Goodwill east side. I am all set for my exams circa 1998 :)
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My mom called me "a millennial" in a text. I should have responded "OK boomer" but it would have fallen on deaf ears.
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OK Twitter here is my sister, wearing my glasses, doing a dumb expression at my workbench.
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