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Show HN: FlopperZiro – A DIY open-source Flipper Zero clone

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Re: Show HN: FlopperZiro – A DIY open-source Flipper Zero clone

#51

Post by tgsovlerkhgsel »

the__alchemist wrote: post #38

What is going on with the PCB? It looks like the soldered several dev boards to a big PCB. I can't think of a good reason to do this.

A good reason to do it (IMO, as someone who has done it) that it's a lot faster, easier, and often cheaper than designing a fully custom board.

Not only would designing a fully custom board require a lot of error-prone effort, getting a lot of components in tiny quantities can be prohibitively expensive.

Good engineering includes optimizing for cost (monetary and non-monetary), and I'd argue that for many hobbyist one-off projects that won't be manufactured at scale, dev-boards-on-PCB is good engineering.

Re: Show HN: FlopperZiro – A DIY open-source Flipper Zero clone

#53

Post by dylan604 »

the__alchemist wrote: post #49
dylan604 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, yeah, why not? You take a bunch of off the shelf boards and put them together on the PCB as is. To make a PCB with all of the components on it would not be very DIY. That's a custom board and out of scope for DIY.

If that is a boundary one sets up for him or herself, then I question why set up that boundary? Is it an identity matter? "I'm a DIYer (maker?), not an engineer. I have have no interest in doing anything deeper." I was thrilled when I learned about the Maker movement; then disappointed after observing that so much of it is done without ambition to learn more, or become better at the craft.

Okay, have you ever tried to "become better" to the point you researched what would be needed to have a custom PCB built with all of the components on a stock Arduino and any additional shields you might use? You'll see that you will need minimum orders. You'll also have a much more difficult time creating the PCB, as you'll have create all of the traces to connect everything. The method chosen allows for off the shelf components with a much more easily created PCB with minimum traces created connecting pins from shields/LEDs/etc. These will be dirt cheap and can be order in tiny quantities.

This is also a hobby project. To custom build a PCB with all of the components brings this into the Kickstarter world of something. So the person can buy Even with the method chosen, if you think the person did not become better after making the simple PCB or any of the other coding required, you're off your rocker. Every build like this comes with mistakes and learning how to correct them.

Re: Show HN: FlopperZiro – A DIY open-source Flipper Zero clone

#54

Post by general1726 »

blacksmith_tb wrote: post #41
general1726 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is exactly same problem like Raspberry Pi vs all other (cheaper, better) single board computers.

Except the RPi competition isn't better, only cheaper, because it has terrible software; and without a big community, no support?

Having a SATA or M2 is something what I would consider definitely better, however software is usually garbage stuck on one specific Linux Kernel and that's the reason why better hardware will never catch on.

Re: Show HN: FlopperZiro – A DIY open-source Flipper Zero clone

#55

Post by mrheosuper »

blacksmith_tb wrote: post #41
general1726 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is exactly same problem like Raspberry Pi vs all other (cheaper, better) single board computers.

Except the RPi competition isn't better, only cheaper, because it has terrible software; and without a big community, no support?

what do you mean "terrible software", as long as they have linux kernel for it, i don't see how it's more terrible than raspberry

Re: Show HN: FlopperZiro – A DIY open-source Flipper Zero clone

#56

Post by DidYaWipe »

cogogo wrote: post #47
iraton wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes i know It, but when i started It this, It didn't exist yet

I’m not sure I’ll ever understand HN aggression with certain downvotes. This is the OP from Italy and likely English is not their first language. Why is this comment so bad?

[flagged]

Re: Show HN: FlopperZiro – A DIY open-source Flipper Zero clone

#57

Post by bradyd »

dylan604 wrote: post #40
the__alchemist wrote: post #38

What is going on with the PCB? It looks like the soldered several dev boards to a big PCB. I can't think of a good reason to do this.

I mean, yeah, why not? You take a bunch of off the shelf boards and put them together on the PCB as is. To make a PCB with all of the components on it would not be very DIY. That's a custom board and out of scope for DIY.

It is absolutely possible to DIY a custom board and it is extremely common.

Re: Show HN: FlopperZiro – A DIY open-source Flipper Zero clone

#58

Post by dietr1ch »

mrheosuper wrote: post #55
blacksmith_tb wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except the RPi competition isn't better, only cheaper, because it has terrible software; and without a big community, no support?

what do you mean "terrible software", as long as they have linux kernel for it, i don't see how it's more terrible than raspberry

Terrible as in you will be stuck in the pretty much only kernel image that runs on it without being able to update things beyond the kernel

Re: Show HN: FlopperZiro – A DIY open-source Flipper Zero clone

#59

Post by thenthenthen »

iraton wrote: post #36
boznz wrote: post #34

The LilyGo T-Embed CC1100 has similar hardware capabilities of the FlipperZero plus WiFi/bluetooth and runs the Bruce Pentest firmware all for under half the price of the flipper. The Bruce firmware works well on it but is not as polished as the flipper zero but both hardware and software are open source and easily modded.

Yes i know It, but when i started It this, It didn't exist yet

The name alone deserves a project hahah thanks for the laugh

Re: Show HN: FlopperZiro – A DIY open-source Flipper Zero clone

#60

Post by Nursie »

tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #50
boznz wrote: post #34

The LilyGo T-Embed CC1100 has similar hardware capabilities of the FlipperZero plus WiFi/bluetooth and runs the Bruce Pentest firmware all for under half the price of the flipper. The Bruce firmware works well on it but is not as polished as the flipper zero but both hardware and software are open source and easily modded.

The popularity and usefulness of many devices like the Arduino and the Raspberry Pi doesn't stem from the hardware capabilities, but the "communities of scale" (lots of people use it -> it's much easier to find compatible software, hardware, guides etc.) I would expect this to be the same for the Flipper Zero.

On the one hand, sure it has a big effect, especially with hardware addons.

But on the other, I think this is overstated, I lose count of how many "How to X on Raspberry Pi" pages I've seen that were really "How to X on linux" or at best "How to X on embedded Linux". Often they were worse than existing "How to X on linux" resources but picked up traction because of the association with a popular board.

But then I'm just an old curmudgeon who's been messing with embedded linux since long before there was a RPi...

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