Hackaday Podcast Ep 354: Firearms, Sky Driving, and Dumpster Diving
Jan 23, 2026
They debate technical and legal challenges around blocking 3D-printed firearm blueprints and whether detection tools can work. Builders showcase a 128-segment steerable mirror, continuous 3D-printing mods, and tiny actuator sourcing. Deep dives cover air traffic control history, skimming satellites and air-breathing electric propulsion. Listeners share dumpster-diving salvage stories and retro hacks like ordering pizza from a Wii.
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Episode notes
Build Large Mirror Arrays Cheaply
- Use commodity phone-actuators and cheap magnetic joints to build many small kinematic mirror mounts.
- TimeSync Studio homed all actuators by running them to mechanical limits to simplify calibration.
Alibaba As Modern Surplus Source
- Mass-produced consumer parts on Alibaba act like modern 'polypacks' of surplus components.
- Al Williams notes scale drives prices down but creates many incompatible variants.
Use Triacs For Robust AC Switching
- Learn triac basics before using solid-state relays for AC switching projects.
- Ray's Open Sprinkler guide shows triacs still suit outdoor AC switching when relays are undesirable.