In this specially-numbered podcast episode that lines up quite nicely with our Retrocomputing Challenge, Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos met over surprisingly low latency and loud beverages to bring you the best of the previous week’s hacks.

But first, the news. German company Isar Aerospace can now claim that they’ve launched the first spacecraft into orbit from Europe. Be sure to check out the in-link, where we reported on the building of the spaceport.

In Hackaday news, the aforementioned Retrocomputing Contest had 64 entries at last check, which is just perfect for Episode 386. Will yours be the 65th?

Supercon Ten tickets are selling out, and per Elliot, the talks have been chosen, pending approval by each submitter.  Keep an eye on the blog for the official announcement!

After reviewing the news, Elliot reached into the ol’ Mailbag and found two missives, including another from [Vik Olliver] regarding the printing of LEGO. The other is from [Mendel Munkis], who has been enjoying Wikipedia offline since 2018, thanks to a 32-bit ARM9 processor. Then, it was on to the hacks.

Check out the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

Download in lovely MP3.

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Episode 386 Show Notes:

News:

  • The First Spacecraft Launched To Orbit From Europe
  • Announcing The 2026 Hackaday Retrocomputing Challenge
  • Retro Computing Contest
  • Wikipedia: Unusual articles

Mailbag:

  • This week, we have a double feature!

Interesting Hacks of the Week:

  • Making A Pole Balance Itself With Propellers
    • 3D-Printed Self-Balancing Robot Brings Control Theory To Life
  • Free Your Rotary Telephone From Its Wire
      • Simplify Your Life With This Pocket Rotary Cellphone
      • The Open Source Rotary Cell Phone, Two Years Later
      • Using Old Phones As An Intercom In Your VW Bus (or Anywhere Else)
      • Wikipedia: Intercept messages
      • This Is a Recording
  • Printing Micron-Scale Benchies With Resin And Turmeric
    • GitHub – 0x23/MicroManipulatorStepper: A sub-micrometer 3D motion control plattform. · GitHub
  • This Clavichord Is A Well-Tempered Project
  • The Different Ways To Look At Negative Resistance
  • There’s A Whole Computer Inside This Mouse

Quick Hacks:

  • Elliot’s Picks:
    • If It’s Electronic Paper, Why Not Print To It?
    • 3D Printable Lenticular Indicators
    • The Helicopter With Radioactive Blades
  • Kristina’s Picks:
    • A Split Keyboard Designed For Human Hands
    • Take Tool Photo, Generate Custom Gridfinity Bin
    • Anti-Doomscroll Tamagotchi Only Lives If You Do

Can’t-Miss Articles:

  • Hackaday Europe 2026: Outdoors With Robots
  • Hunting The Wild Vibrotruck