Put Your Old Calculator To Work As An Intervalometer With This Super Easy DIY Hack

The clever folks over at JCAP Media have found a way to turn your old TI-84 graphing calculator that’s been sitting in the bottom of your desk drawer since college into something you may actually use. Who knew the graphing calculator could double as an intervalometer just by inputting a few commands and attaching it to your DSLR? This little hack is super easy and could actually come in handy when you’re shooting your next timelapse. Check it out!

Here’s What You’ll Need:

• Texas Instruments TI-854 Graphing Calculator
• 2.5 mm audio cable
• DSLR with a shutter release port

…And Here’s How It’s Done:

1. Turn on the calculator and press the Program button.
2. Press the right arrow two times.
3. Highlight the “New” tab, press Enter and type in a name for the intervalometer program you are making
4. Now, enter in the code from this screencap:

Type this code into the calculator.

1. Attach one end of the cable into the port of the calculator and the other end into the cable release port of your DSLR.
2. Open back up the program you just created on the calculator and type in the number value of the time you want between each shot.
3. Make an epic timelapse.

Pretty simple, right? I wouldn’t venture as far as to say it’s a replacement for a good intervalometer, and you can even purchase a real intervalometer for less than it would cost to buy one of these calculator. But, if you happen to have one of these things laying around, it could be a fun little project if your inner geek has been wanting to play. There have been reports floating around the internet of this hack working on other models of Texas Instrument graphing calculators as well. If you can confirm different models to work, please let us know in the comments section below!

[ via PetaPixel | Instructables ]