Steampunk GPS device

From the «so clever» department:
Title: Antique-Style GPS Looks Like Steampunky Fun
Author: Lewin Day
Date: Sat, 01 Feb 2025 09:00:21 +0000
Link: https://hackaday.com/2025/02/01/antique-style-gps-looks-like-steampunky-fun/
Podcast Download URL: https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/0ad2f4f9-6fc1-4323-ac79-9f7f54703ded-e1738313194244.jpg

[image 1]

These days, turn-by-turn GPS navigation isn’t considered special anymore. It’s
in every smartphone and most cheap rental cars, and thus everybody expects you
to figure out where you’re going. If you want a simpler and less robust
navigation experience, you might like to try the rather fancy RadioScout[2].

The RadioScout is a build from [hardlyhumanfx]—a group of engineers and artists
that collaborate on fun and whimsical projects. It looks like some kind of
steampunk compass, and it kind of is—but at heart, it’s powered by GPS.

You program the RadioScout using the buttons on the front panel and a rotary
phone dial to enter the latitude and longitude of your destination. It then
uses an internal GPS receiver to compare that with your current location, and
calculates a direct bearing to where you want to go. This bearing is displayed
with a large compass-like needle run by a stepper motor, and you you can use it
to guide yourself onwards.

It’s an attractive build that uses lots of neat parts. The team interfaced a
microcontroller with a GPS receiver, a rotary dial, and 7-segment LEDs for the
latitude and longitude display. The very real bell is neat, too. The whole
thing is wrapped up in a brass and wooden case that would make you a star at
just about any sci-fi convention. The build video[2] is a little vague on the
finer details, but experienced makers will be able to figure out how it all
works.

You can actually buy a RadioScout[3] if it’s something you must have, but one
suspects the Hackaday set would probably prefer the homebrew route.


@hardlyhumanfx[4]

#steampunk[5] gps i designed and built. this is just a rough prototype

♬ original sound – HardlyHumanFX[6]


@hardlyhumanfx[4]

as promised, a field test of the antique working GPS system I built!
Available to buy now on our website HardlyHumanFX.com #steampunk[5]#fallout[7]
#vintage[8]

♬ original sound – HardlyHumanFX[9]

Thanks to [Charles] for the tip!

Links:
[1]: https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/0ad2f4f9-6fc1-4323-ac79-9f7f54703ded-e1738313194244.jpg?w=800 (image)
[2]: https://www.tiktok.com/@hardlyhumanfx/photo/7463900260658777390 (link)
[3]: https://hardlyhumanfx.com/ (link)
[4]: https://www.tiktok.com/@hardlyhumanfx?refer=embed (link)
[5]: https://www.tiktok.com/tag/steampunk?refer=embed (link)
[6]: https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7461156446537829162?refer=embed (link)
[7]: https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fallout?refer=embed (link)
[8]: https://www.tiktok.com/tag/vintage?refer=embed (link)
[9]: https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7463678404831841067?refer=embed (link)