Christmas in February by Andi Q. '25

Yesterday, we were promised a snow day at MIT. Although the snow never quite materialized, I still got to experience Christmas in February after all. Because today⁠01 Yes I know I'm cutting it real close with the time but I had a busy Wednesday okay , I received this mysterious black briefcase in 6.2060⁠02 Formerly (and somewhat still) known as 6.115 (Microcomputer Project Lab).

It’s about the size of four honeydew melons (or two watermelons) and definitely does not look suspicious at all. So let’s open it up and see what’s inside!

WOAH LOOK AT ALL THIS STUFF!!!

Just kidding – most of that did not come from inside the briefcase. But I indeed received all of this shiny new stuff in various classes today!

… okay, it’s more like two classes. Specifically, 6.2060 and 21M.370 (Digital Musical Instrument Design). Still, I think it’s amazing how much physical equipment I work with at MIT these days.

There’s a lot to unpack here. (Indeed, I haven’t even finished unpacking everything yet.)

1. The (in)famous 6.2060 “Blackbird” lab kit. It’s got most of the electronics we need for prototyping electronic systems like fluorescent lamp ballasts. Check out Audrey’s great blog post about this class from a year ago if you want to see a more decked-out version of the kit.
2. A lab notebook I’ll be maintaining for 6.2060. (Yes, we still do some things on paper at MIT.)
3. A digital oscilloscope and multimeter.
4. A little box of miscellaneous electronics for 21M.370. It’s mostly buttons and wires for now, but we will be building real musical instruments using them very soon.
5. A dollar bill I got in 6.2060 for answering a question in lecture. I’ve taped it to the inside of the briefcase for good luck.

But wait! There’s even more!

There's more to the kit than meets the eye...

... because the inside of the briefcase is also chock-full of various devices!

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