Skip to content

Experimental Engineering

  • The Engineer
    • The Tools
    • The Shack
    • OpenPGP Public Key
    • Contact The Engineer
  • Circuit Simulator
  • Project List
  • Photo Albums
    • Whitby Camping Trip โ€“ August 2020
    • Electric Glassware Collection
    • Glasgow Transport Museum 2018
    • Astle Park Steam Rally 2017
    • Anson Engine Museum 29-08-16
    • Download Festival Photo Albums
      • Download Festival 2009
      • Download Festival 2010
      • Download Festival 2011
      • Download Festival 2014
      • Download Festival 2015
      • Download Festival 2016
      • Download Festival 2017
        • Demolition Download IV
      • Download Festival 2018
        • Demolition Download V
        • Lords Of Lightning
        • Circus Of Horrors
      • Download Festival 2019
      • Download Festival 2020
      • Download Festival 2022

Tag: frequency

Cat Links Randoms, Teardown

BluVision Bluetooth Low Energy Beacon

Posted on April 26, 2018April 26, 2018 The Engineer

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

Continue readingBluVision Bluetooth Low Energy Beacon

Cat Links CRT Tech, Teardown

Thorn Ultra 6816 B&W CRT TV Teardown

Posted on December 1, 2016October 16, 2019 The Engineer

The other day at the local canal-side waterpoint, this TV was dumped for recycling, along with another later model Colour TV. This is a 1970’s Black & White mains/battery portable made by Thorn. It’s based on a common British Radio Corporation 1590 chassis. Having received a soaking from rain, I

Continue readingThorn Ultra 6816 B&W CRT TV Teardown

Cat Links Computer Gear, Teardown

LG Flatron 22EA53VQ-P Power Issue

Posted on October 27, 2016 The Engineer

I was recently given a pretty nice LED backlit 1080p LG monitor, with the instruction that it wouldn’t power on correctly. The monitor would power on as far as the standby light, but when fully powered on, would flash the backlight momentarily then shut down. A power supply issue was

Continue readingLG Flatron 22EA53VQ-P Power Issue

Magnets in High Power or Precision He-Ne Laser Heads

Effects of Magnetic Fields on He-Ne Laser Operation If you open the case on a higher power (and longer) He-Ne laser head or one that is designed with an emphasis on precision and stability, you may find a series of magnets or electromagnetic coils in various locations in close proximity

Continue readingMagnets in High Power or Precision He-Ne Laser Heads

He-Ne Laser Tubes, Heads, Structure, Power Requirements, Lifetime

Early Versus Modern He-Ne Lasers In the first He-Ne lasers (see the diagram below), exciting the gas atoms to the higher energy level was accomplished by coupling a radio frequency (RF) source (i.e., a radio transmitter) to the tube via external electrodes. Modern He-Ne lasers almost always operate on a

Continue readingHe-Ne Laser Tubes, Heads, Structure, Power Requirements, Lifetime

Theory of Operation, Modes, Coherence Length

Instant He-Ne Laser Theory The term laser stands for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation”. However, lasers as most of us know them, are actually sources of light – oscillators rather than amplifiers. (Although laser amplifiers do exist in applications as diverse as fibre optic communications repeaters and multi-gigawatt

Continue readingTheory of Operation, Modes, Coherence Length

Cat Links Chinese Deathtrap Technology

Maplin 600W “Modified Sine” Power Inverter

Posted on January 17, 2016 The Engineer

I’m no fan of power inverters. In my experience they’re horrifically inefficient, have power appetites that make engine starter motors look like electric toothbrushes & reduce the life expectancy of lead-acid batteries to no more than a few days. However I have decided to do a little analysis on a

Continue readingMaplin 600W “Modified Sine” Power Inverter

Cat Links Randoms

Chinese Power Supply Update

Posted on August 14, 2015 The Engineer

Having now tested the supply I wrote about in my previous post, I can now say that it’s nameplate rating far exceeds it’s actual capability. On running the supply under load, at 6.5A the operating frequency drops into the audible range, a big sign of overload. (It makes an irritating

Continue readingChinese Power Supply Update

Cat Links Randoms

Chinese 12v 10A Power Brick Analysis

Posted on August 12, 2015 The Engineer

I recently ordered a PSU to run one of the TVs I converted to 12v operation, and being an older TV, it’s a fairly heavy load at 6.5A. eBay to the rescue again, with a cheap 10A rated supply. Like all similar supplies these days, it’s a SMPS unit, and

Continue readingChinese 12v 10A Power Brick Analysis

Cat Links Randoms

Marine VHF Channel 83 – Interesting Chatter

Posted on July 29, 2015July 31, 2015 The Engineer

Came across this today while scanning through frequencies. Not sure of their exact QTH, but there’s references to the Oldham area in Manchester, about as far away as you can get from any marine or commercial shipping area in the county. I didn’t hear any marine callsigns or vessel names

Continue readingMarine VHF Channel 83 – Interesting Chatter

Cat Links Randoms

More PMR Abuse – Tonight’s Menu: Casual Racism

Posted on July 26, 2015July 26, 2015 The Engineer

I think the headline speaks for itself… The usual group, with their Baofengs… Grossly over on the power!   After this, they then went up to 446.070MHz, which is in the guard band between channels. All the while admitting they’re using massive high gain antennas as well. Shortly after, they

Continue readingMore PMR Abuse – Tonight’s Menu: Casual Racism

Cat Links Ameteur Radio

GY561 Frequency & Power Meter

Posted on July 18, 2015July 19, 2015 The Engineer

The latest addition to my radio shack is the GY561 frequency & power meter, which has already come in useful for measuring the output power of all my radios. It’s a small device, roughly the same size & weight as a stock UV-5R. Power is provided by 3 AAA cells.

Continue readingGY561 Frequency & Power Meter

Cat Links Randoms

SainSmart Frequency Meter

Posted on July 16, 2015July 16, 2015 The Engineer

Thanks to Lewis, M3HHY for lending me this one ๐Ÿ™‚ Here’s a quick look at a Sainsmart frequency counter module. These are useful little gadgets, showing the locked frequency on a small LCD display. It’s built around an ATMega328 microcontroller (ยตC), and an MB501L Prescaler IC. The circuit for this

Continue readingSainSmart Frequency Meter

Cat Links Ameteur Radio, Hacks

Wouxun KG-UV950P Band Unlocking

Posted on July 16, 2015April 24, 2022 The Engineer

I have recently come across the software the Wouxun factory uses to set the band limits on the KG-UV950P. While the software is in Chinese, it’s functional, and allows setting of all band limits on the radio. Here’s an English version of the interface: Note when using this software: This

Continue readingWouxun KG-UV950P Band Unlocking

Cat Links Hacks, Personal Project, Randoms

AD9850 VFO Board

Posted on November 7, 2014November 7, 2014 The Engineer

Continuing from my previous post where I published an Eagle design layout for AD7C‘s Arduino powered VFO, here is a completed board. I have made some alterations to the design since posting, which are reflected in the artwork download in that post, mainly due to Eagle having a slight psychotic

Continue readingAD9850 VFO Board

Cat Links Personal Project

nb Tanya Louise Hydraulic Generator

Posted on December 12, 2013December 10, 2013 The Engineer

To accompany the previous two posts about hydraulic generators & their components, here is the actual generator unit itself. Rated at 8.5kVa 230v AC, this will providea mains supply while the narrowboat is away from her home mooring. This unit will be attached to the side of the hull in

Continue readingnb Tanya Louise Hydraulic Generator

Flyback Secondary Waveform
Cat Links Personal Project, Randoms

555 Flyback Driver

Posted on December 3, 2013December 4, 2013 The Engineer

Here is a simple 555 timer based flyback transformer driver, with the PCB designed by myself for some HV experiments. Above is the Eagle CAD board layout. The 555 timer is in astable mode, generating a frequency from about 22kHz to 55kHz, depending on the position of the potentiometer. The

Continue reading555 Flyback Driver

Cat Links Consumer Gear

PSi 150 Power Inverter

Posted on May 23, 2011 The Engineer

This is a small 120W power inverter, intended for small loads such as lights, fans, small TVs & laptop computers. End cover of the unit, 12v DC input cord at the top, power switch & indicator LEDs at the bottom. Opposite end of the unit, with the standard 240v AC

Continue readingPSi 150 Power Inverter

Cat Links Consumer Gear

Brother P-Touch 80 Label Maker

Posted on March 12, 2011September 17, 2011 The Engineer

Here is a label maker, bought on offer at Maplin Electronics. Full Qwerty keyboard with 1 line dot matrix LCD display visible here. Power is 4 AAA cells or a 6v DC Adaptor. Rear cover removed. Battery compartment is on the left hand side, space for the tape cartridge on

Continue readingBrother P-Touch 80 Label Maker

Tip Jar

If you’ve found my content useful, please consider leaving a donation by clicking the Tip Jar below!
All collected funds go towards new content & the costs of keeping the server online.

  • Electronic Calculators
  • Ohm’s Law Calculator
  • Grid Square Locator
  • Crimp Connector Types

Blogroll

  • Arduino ccTalk Tutorials
  • Distant Signal Radio
  • Skippy's Random Ramblings

Hardware Interfacing

  • Arduino ccTalk Tutorials

Archives

  • Helium Neon Lasers
    • He-Ne Lasers โ€“ Introduction
    • Applications of a 1mW Helium-Neon Laser
    • He-Ne Laser Safety
      • Laser Safety Classifications
    • Theory of Operation, Modes, Coherence Length
    • He-Ne Laser Tubes, Heads, Structure, Power Requirements, Lifetime
    • Power Requirements for He-Ne Lasers
      • Modular He-Ne Laser Power Supply
    • Wavelengths, Beam Characteristics
    • Magnets in High Power or Precision He-Ne Laser Heads
    • Internal Mirror He-Ne Tubes up to 35 mW โ€“ Red and Other Colours
    • Viewing Spectral Lines in Discharge, Other Colours in Output
    • Demonstration He-Ne Lasers, Weatherproofing
    • Interesting, Strange, and Unidentified He-Ne Lasers

Recent Posts

  • FieldBest I Optical Power Meter Teardown
  • Brsk Updates – A New Network Link
  • Melles-Griot 05-LHR-088 Helium-Neon Laser
  • Infrastructure Updates & The Cost Of Living
  • FTTP Has Arrived – With Some Caveats
Copyright © 2022 Experimental Engineering | Signify Dark by WEN Themes
Scroll Up