This guy, Cathode Ray Dude [CRD], does some fun stuff. He’s on the web via HTTPS at gekk.info and HTTP at www.cathoderaydude.com.
cathode ray dude dot com
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Monthly Archives: September 2023
Life time supply of zip ties
I think I have roughly 500 zip ties in my drawer. Should take me a while to get through those! I have other ones, but these 150mm ones are my fav.
Switch rack
I made a rack for my network switches out of old coat hangers and craft sticks.
ChatGPT Title Case awesomeness
I have an item on my TODO list to make a program to convert text into Title Case. On a whim, I asked ChatGPT to do this for me, and it did! ChatGPT is automating me out of work!
In The Lab With Jay Jay – September 7, 2023 – Unboxing AliExpress TE-801 Third Hand With Magnifier
This post is part of my video blog: In The Lab With Jay Jay.
In this video I unbox two “different” helping hands (AKA “third hand”) only to discover they are the same TE-801 model.
I purchased these separately on AliExpress:
- 3 Hand Soldering Iron Stand Welding Tool With Magnifying Glass Illuminated LED Alligator Clip Holder Clamp Helping Repair
- Desktop Soldering Holder Welding Equipment Auxiliary Tool Third Hand Helping Repair Tool Magnifier LED Lighting Soldering Stand
They are exactly the same product so if you’re planning to purchase might as well get the cheapest option. Note that the first link above also has a separate more expensive option which is actually a different product, I didn’t get one of those.
In addition to unboxing these third hands I also add some 4mm heat shrink to the alligator clips to take the bite out of the teeth.
Note: in this video I have the annoying habit of calling “heat shrink”, “shrink wrap”. The correct term is heat shrink, shrink wrap is a different type of thing.
In the video I use 4mm yellow heat shrink:
The hot air gun I use is a part of my Horusdy Soldering Station.
The batteries I use are Duracell AAA batteries.
My gloves are:
- 24Pieces/12 Pairs Work Gloves For PU Palm Coating Safety Protective Glove Nitrile Professional Safety Suppliers Color: PU1350NV -DMF; Size: S
UV light
Got myself a USB powered UV light. It came with a few tubes of solder mask:
I’m gonna keep this in my booth where it will be used. Don’t want to use it anywhere near where I keep my UV solder mask because I don’t want to accidentally cure it!
In The Lab With Jay Jay – September 6, 2023 – Enameled Bodge Wire With UV Solder Mask
This post is part of my video blog: In The Lab With Jay Jay.
In this video I solder three different sized bodge wires onto some perfboard for practice and for the purpose of exposition. After attaching the three bodge wires I cover them with UV solder mask.
If you haven’t heard of the expression “bodge wire” before, ChatGPT will explain.
I want to thank my mate Bruce from Branchus Creations for recommending the enameled wire of various sizes, the Swann Morton blades, and the Amtech flux.
I got three rolls of this enameled copper wire from AliExpress:
The diameters of the various rolls I got were:
| Size | mm | inches |
|---|---|---|
| Small | 0.07mm | 0.003″ |
| Medium | 0.16mm | 0.006″ |
| Large | 0.31mm | 0.012″ |
I got the “coppery” colour, not the red stuff.
The Swann Morton blade handles I got were these:
I got three types of blades in #15C, #15, and #10 sizes:
- Swann Morton Surgical Scalpel Blades Sterile Carbon Steel Available In 7 Size #15C 20Pcs
- Swann Morton Surgical Scalpel Blades Sterile Carbon Steel Available In 7 Size #15 20Pcs
- Swann Morton Surgical Scalpel Blades Sterile Carbon Steel Available In 7 Size #10 20Pcs
The #15C Swann Morton blade is the smallest and is so far my favourite. The #15C is the blade I use in this video.
My flux is:
The industrial/precision tweezers I mention in the video are these:
- Hakko CHP 3C-SA Stainless Steel Non-Magnetic Precision Tweezers with Very Fine Point Tips for Microelectronics Applications, 4-1/4″ Length (5 Pack)
- TOWOT Industrial Tweezers (SA11-15) (I got the five pack)
The solder lugs I refer to are these:
The perfboard I used in this video was a 2x8cm board which I picked up from AliExpress:
I use two microscopes in this video:
- Tomlov: TOMLOV DM602 Pro
- Yizhan: Yizhan 48MP Microscope
In the video I reference my thermal imager:
My gloves are:
- 24Pieces/12 Pairs Work Gloves For PU Palm Coating Safety Protective Glove Nitrile Professional Safety Suppliers Color: PU1350NV -DMF; Size: S
My head-mounted magnifying glasses are:
The soldering iron I use in this video is a part of my Horusdy soldering station:
My desoldering pump came in this kit:
The solder mask I ordered was this green stuff, but the stuff they actually sent me was red:
The solder I use in this video is:
My paint brush is the 5/0 sized brush from this set:
The blow torch I mention in this video is this one:
My Kapton tape and tape dispenser are these:
- Kapton Tape 5/8/10/15/20mm 100ft BGA High Temperature Heat Resistant Polyimide Gold Adhesive Tape For Electronic Industry 33m (various sizes)
- Green Multi-Roll Heat Tape Dispenser Sublimation 1″ and 3″Core Double Reel Cores Sublimation for Heat Transfer Tape, Semi-Automatic Tape Dispenser with Compartment Slots
The bench multimeter I use in the video is a:
- OWON XDM1041 Bench Multimeter
The isopropyl (IPA) alcohol I use in this video is this stuff:
Testing CMOS cell battery
I was watching Computers running very slow, long boot time, unresponsive in windows. Let’s fix it. and Richard said that if your CMOS battery reads less than 3V then you should replace it.
Bodge wire like a pro
I just finished recording a video for In The Lab With Jay Jay wherein I install some bodge wires using my recently learned techniques. Below is the finished result. It’s actually three bodge wires joined together. A small one (0.07mm, 0.003″) from 28A to 21B, a medium one (0.16mm, 0.006″) from 21B to 17A, and a big one (0.31mm, 0.012″) from 17A to 14B. The job was finished with some red solder mask. I will have the video up shortly!
Tip indicator
I have a working theory that you can tell how good an electrical engineer is by the type of soldering iron tip they use.
- Conical tip: Novice
- Bevel tip: Journeyman
- Chisel tip: Master Craftsman
And no one uses a knife tip, I mean come on, be serious.