Here’s a DMD Android-based projector from China. This has quite good resolution at 720p native, although the install of Android present is very outdated, and the internal battery has a very short life due to the power draw of the unit. The top of the main PCB is above, and
Recently I figured it was about time I treated myself to a brand-new laptop, and as I was also in the market for a tablet at the same time, I figured I’d go with one of the “convertible” types that are about these days. The HP x360 series are locally
Continue readingHP Pavilion x360 14-dy0518sa – Linux Experience
Since I’m building optical power meters at the moment, I figured it was time to see what the Chinese have to offer in this department, and these meters were on offer over on AliExpress, at over 50% off. This is the Fieldbest I meter, and I got two versions –
The time has come yet again, to reduce my rack footprint. For the last 5 years or so, this blog has been hosted on a small HP MicroServer Gen8, as at the time I needed a new host machine, and for some reason they were going by their thousands for
Well, while working on the boat’s engine, I was surprised by this little sod, who’d managed to crawl into the air intake skin fitting on the transom, and got very irritated at the engine being fired up! How the little dude avoided getting sucked into one of the cylinders, I
Here’s something I didn’t think I’d be doing! Here’s a teardown of a BMW 5 Series G30 530E Hybrid Battery pack – a monster 351V, 9.2kWh Lithium pack, obtained for it’s cells to replace the boat’s aging lead acids. This is something I didn’t have the safety gear to do
These days USB powerbanks are very common – ranging in capacity from about 1Ah, to about 20Ah. Internally, they’ve all got much the same format: Lithium Ion cylindrical or Lithium polymer pouch cells for energy storage DC-DC boost converter Microcontroller & LED Battery Gauge Display Lithium cell protection & charge
It occurred to me the other day that I’ve been running this blog now for over 10 years! This is the second iteration, as the first was lost in a server crash shortly after it went live. (Wasn’t so good with backups back then!). In that time the traffic to
Here’s a recently failed 5W GU10 lamp, which is completely dead – not even a single LED still shining. According to the markings, this lamp draws 50mA at 230v & outputs 345 lumens After popping the lens off the body, the failure mode is obvious. The top right LED has
This unit recently appeared on eBay, as a spare part from a refrigerant charging machine, and I figured it would make a good explorational post. This unit analyses the purity of R-134a refrigerant gas, using an Infrared sensor cell, and communicates over RS-232. The sensor cell itself is at the
Continue readingR-134a Refrigerant Analyser Module Exploration
Time for another eBay delight! This is a little UV lamp for curing false nail glues. These are definitely taking over from the older Fluoroescent tube based units, and seem to work well enough. In my case, they work well for exposing UV-sensitive PCB substrates for etching as well! Here
It seems the standard of driving in the UK is dropping by the day: This dude either really didn’t want to wait, or was blind. If this wasn’t on a 20MPH limit residential road, the result may have been a little different… Even after he’s forced to move back to
Here’s a useful device, for detecting leaks in refrigerant systems. These units use a high-voltage ionisation detection method using a probe at the tip with a sharp needle, similar to an ioniser to detect changes in conductivity of the surrounding gas. Removing the front case of the unit reveals the
Continue readingElectronic Refrigerant Leak Detector Teardown
At work we have a human-propelled hydraulic stacker, which recently started to drop under load, with no valve operation. I immediately suspected the lowering valve on the hydraulic pump unit, so set to work getting a replacement fitted. After removing the GRP cover of the mechanics bay, the main hydraulic
Continue readingHydraulic Stacker Load Drift – Replacing The Hydraulic Lowering Valve
Apple’s Lightning cables are one of a new breed of cable – these have active electronics in the connectors, to allow the device to identify the type of cable being used. This is a little unit that reads out all the internal parameters of the ID chip inside the connector.
Since I wrote the post about the RF SWR & Power meter, I’ve been meaning to get around to a redesign of the board with a built-in directional coupler, and that time has finally come. So, here’s what I came up with. It’s pretty much the same as the first
Well, this came as a little surprise. This is the PSU from a Microchip PICMASTER Universal Development System from 1993, intended for the old UV-erasable devices. On being plugged in, the PSU ran for about 10 minutes before a small explosion occurred, accompanied by an indescribable acrid smell. The photo
Following on from the viewfinder teardown, here’s the rest of the camera. This unit dates back to 1980, and is made almost exclusively of cast aluminium. Very little plastic has been used here & only for the bits that the user comes into contact with. This camera is based around
This is a cheap kit from eBay, to retrofit an older car with ultrasonic parking sensors. 4 sensors are included in the kit, along with a hole saw to fit them to the bumper. There’s a small controller module, and a display module that fits onto the dash of the
Here’s another piece of tech, the electric air pump that’s available as an optional extra with Airbeam tents. I expected this to be a centrifugal blower, but instead it’s a large reciprocating air compressor – even if the construction quality is a little dubious for a device that costs over
Cheap car air compressors for inflating tyres are so cheap these days it’s almost impossible not to have to cut some corners. This one has failed catastrophically! These units are usually very poorly cooled, being housed in a closed plastic casing, with no airflow to speak of. The motor on
Here’s another random bit of RF tech, I’m told this is a wireless energy management sensor, however I wasn’t able to find anything similar on the interwebs. It’s powered by a standard 9v PP3 battery. System control is handled by this Microchip PIC18F2520 Enhanced Flash microcontroller, this has an onboard
These photos were sent over to me by a friend, an interesting piece of tech that’s used in the retail industry. This is a BluVision BLE Beacon, which as far as I can tell is used to provide some automated customer assistance. From their website it seems they can also
Ah the curse of the Chinese Electronics strikes again. These large DC-DC boost converters have become very common on the likes of AliExpress & eBay, and this time my order has arrived DOA… On applying power, the output LED lights up dimly, and no matter how I twiddle the adjustment
Continue readingChinese “1200W” DC-DC Boost Converter DOA Fix
In Loving Memory Of Grandad Len 1933 – 2018 A big thanks to my grandad, the collector of all the things, breeder of tropical fish & budgies. A rock of the family for my 29 years on this earth, and who took me in for 5 years during a particularly