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A clear plastic box seen face on, so everything inside shows through. Squawk is hand-lettered across the top in orange and yellow. Two clear knobs sit side by side on the lid with their pots and a small piece of perfboard underneath, blue and green wires loop between them, a small toggle sits at the left edge, and a green 9V battery fills the bottom of the box.

Atari Punk Console · two 555s · One of a kind

Squawk

Synth Available · 1 of 1

An Atari Punk Console in a clear box, so you can see every part of it. Two 555s, two knobs and a toggle, the 9V battery that runs it sits right there behind the lid, and it plays out loud through a speaker on the back. It is the smallest, cheapest thing in the shop and it makes the noise the name says.

  • TypeAtari Punk Console noise synth
  • ControlsTwo knobs and a toggle, and a speaker on the back
  • CircuitAn Atari Punk Console, Forrest Mims' stepped tone generator, on two 555s
  • Enclosure125B, clear
  • Weight~8 oz
  • Power9V battery, inside the box
  • BuiltSeptember 2026
  • StatusAvailable - one of a kind
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What it does

The Atari Punk Console is Forrest Mims' stepped tone generator, two 555 timers where the first one triggers the second. When the second one's pulse is shorter than the gap between triggers you hear the first one's pitch; turn it longer and it starts skipping triggers, so the pitch falls down in steps instead of sliding. That stepping is why it squawks.

The box is clear on purpose. The board, the two pots, the wiring and the battery are all on show through the lid, and the speaker on the back means it needs nothing plugged into it.

If you would rather build one, the circuit is on this site as a breadboard guide.

One of a kind. When it is gone it is gone.

Demo

Demo video coming soon.

Controls

Two knobs
The two halves of the APC. One 555 runs free and the other fires a pulse every time the first one ticks, and the two knobs set those two speeds. Where they sit against each other is the whole sound: it slides in places and jumps in steps in others.
A toggle
On the face beside the battery.
The speaker
On the back of the box. No cable and no amp: switch it on and it squawks at you.

Circuit: my Atari Punk Console guide, free on this site. Built, painted, and finished by Onion Madder as an original one-off - not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a clone of any commercial brand.