Here a tape is installed in the printer. This unit can handle tape widths up to 18mm. The pinch rollers are operated by the white lever at the top of the image, which engages with the back cover. This printer is supplied with a rechargeable battery pack, but AA cells
Continue readingBrother PT-E300 Industrial Label Machine Teardown
A few months ago I did a teardown on this Anker PowerPort Speed 5 USB charger, but I didn’t get round to detailing the conversion to 12v I had to do, so I’ll get to that now I’ve got a couple more to convert over. Here’s the internals of the
Overview Time foe some more retro tech! This is a 1980’s vintage CCD-based VHS camcorder from Panasonic, the NV-M5. There are a lot of parts to one of these (unlike modern cameras), so I’ll split this post into several sections to make things easier to read (and easier to keep
Description and Schematic SG-HM2 is a modular He-Ne laser power supply based on IC-HI1 with some minor enhancements. The first version is for laser tubes up to approximately 1 mW (2 mW with trivial modifications) but it should be straightforward to go to 5 mW or even higher power tubes
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
I go camping on a regular basis here in the UK, and often even in summer it’s horribly cold at night in a field somewhere in the middle of Leicestershire. This doesn’t go too well with my severe aversion to being cold. For the past several years I’ve used a
On the quest to get things on board replaced that are heavy users of power, the monitor in the main cabin was next. The original CCFL-backlit monitor was very heavy on 12v power, at 5A. This meant falling asleep watching TV would result in severely flattened batteries. Replacement with a
Continue readingViewSonic VA2232W-LED Monitor 12v Conversion
Random teardown time! The OPN-2001 is a very small handheld barcode data collection device, used for stock keeping, inventory, etc. It’s powered by an internal Li-Poly cell, at 150mAh, and has storage for 1000 barcodes in it’s internal memory. The unit is charged via it’s USB port, the data can
I thought I’d detail the process I use to fit an N-Type connector to a coax cable, as I don’t usually solder these connectors. Before stripping, fit the backnut, washer & rubber seal onto the cable. The cable is first stripped back to reveal the shield. This cable has a
Here are a few details of a valve amplifier I am building, using the valve related parts from a 1960’s reel to reel tape recorder. This amplifier is based on an a Mullard ECL82 triode/pentode valve, with an EM84 magic eye tube for level indication. Here the first components are
Continue readingDIY Valve Amplifier – Part 1 – Amplifier Section
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
Here is a Sanyo tape recorder, with built in voice activation. Takes standard audio cassettes. Here visible is the speaker on the left, microphone is on the right of the tape window. The tape counter is at the top. Back cover removed from the unit, showing the PCB & the