I purchased this Humble Bundle without realizing I already owned most of those “games”. I now have spare keys for:
These keys are free to good home. If you’re interested PM @jj5 on libera.chat and I will send to you. (I will cross them out of the above list when I give the key to someone.)
This post is part of my video blog and you can find more information about this video over here.
You can support this channel on Patreon: patreon.com/JohnElliotV
Silly Job Title: Switch Sleuth
Happy New Year!
In this video, my first video for 2025, I construct a 4-digit digital clock I recently purchased from AliExpress: TJ-56-428 4-Digit Digital DIY Clock Kits with Acrylic Shell, DIY Alarm Clock Soldering Practice Kit for Learning Electronics.
I thought it might be nice to kick off the new year with an actual electronics project, as that is what this channel is supposed to be mostly about!
I translated the instructions from Chinese to English, and those are here: TJ-56-428. These include instructions for use of the complete and fully assembled clock.
This was a great chance to try out my new METCAL PS-900 Soldering Station and I am pleased to report that I am very happy with my new soldering iron! It is a pleasure to use.
The heart of this circuit is the STC15W404AS which is a microcontroller! It has been pre-programmed with the clock functionality, there was no software or source code that shipped with the kit.
Update: my mate @sadata777 pointed out that there was a protective coating on the acrylic and I remove that in this video: https://youtu.be/y9btakLOCHc
Update: my mate Joe pointed out that I had the case on back-to-front which you can see me fix here: https://youtu.be/IyJ3IHgRfiw
Thanks very much for watching! And please remember to hit like and subscribe! :)
Following is a product I use picked at random from my collection which may appear in my videos. Clicking through on this to find and click on the green affiliate links before purchasing from eBay or AliExpress is a great way to support the channel at no cost to you. Thanks!
Yum Cha IC Chip Pickup Tool |
Let’s go shopping!
This post is part of my video blog and you can find more information about this video over here.
You can support this channel on Patreon: patreon.com/JohnElliotV
Silly Job Title: Outlet Overlord
In this video I take a look at Interactive Television: A Comprehensive Guide for Multimedia Technologists by Winston William Hodge published in 1995.
Thanks very much for watching! And please remember to hit like and subscribe! :)
Following is a product I use picked at random from my collection which may appear in my videos. Clicking through on this to find and click on the green affiliate links before purchasing from eBay or AliExpress is a great way to support the channel at no cost to you. Thanks!
3ELIGHTING 14″-27″ With 2 Arms VESA Wall Mount |
Let’s go shopping!
This brief history of Ethernet is fun: TWISTED: The dramatic history of twisted-pair Ethernet.
This post is part of my video blog and you can find more information about this video over here.
You can support this channel on Patreon: patreon.com/JohnElliotV
In this video I do the 12th project from the Maxitronix 20in1 (the Sensor Robot 20): Magnetism Detector.
In this project we control a BJT transistor with a magnetic reed switch.
We use the thermal camera to observe heat in the transistors and LEDs during operation.
This is a plain DC circuit with no signals so there was no call for measuring anything with the oscilloscope.
I got myself a little confused about normally open and normally closed circuits during the video, but I think I was clear enough about that in the end.
Thanks very much for watching! And please remember to hit like and subscribe! :)
Following is a product I use picked at random from my collection which may appear in my videos. Clicking through on this to find and click on the green affiliate links before purchasing from eBay or AliExpress is a great way to support the channel at no cost to you. Thanks!
Yutiars Round Paint Brushes notes |
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What’s the worst that could happen?
The British company Peak Electronic Design has a wonderful range of Test Instruments.
Today I purchased these ones:
Still on my wish list is this one:
The reason for this particular splurge is that after I purchased my METCAL PS-900 Soldering Station element14 sent me an email with a coupon for 15% off. Since these Peak Atlas devices were on my wish list I figured I might as well get them while I can get 15% off.
Update: my notes about my METCAL PS-900 soldering station are on my personal wiki, over here: METCAL PS-900 Soldering Station.
The other day I was doing some soldering with my Horusdy Soldering Station but I got the feeling its soldering iron was under performing. I just wasn’t getting good solder joints even though I was using good solder and plenty of flux.
So today I did some research and found myself a new soldering station: METCAL PS-900 Soldering Station. I found one for sale on element14 for AU$458.59 which as far as I can tell was a really good price. They were going for more like AU$700+ on Amazon, eBay, and even AliExpress.
I did also research and consider some other options from JBC, Metcal, Weller, and Hakko.
I also picked up a couple of spare tips:
The tip it came with was the METCAL SFV-CH10, 30° Chisel, 1.5 mm Soldering Iron Tip.
I am expecting that the 1 mm chisel tip is going to be my weapon of choice, so I got two of those. (Update: this was a mistake, the 1.5mm or 2mm option would have been a better choice.)
Conspicuously absent on this soldering station is a temperature setting. That’s because these METCAL irons come with SmartHeat technology, as ChatGPT explains. For the SFV-CH10 the Curie point is designed to maintain a nominal tip temperature of around 380 °C (715 °F) under typical load conditions.
This is great: Wireless High Resolution Scrolling is Amazing. In this video the author makes a special purpose mouse wheel for scrolling documents. I think this project is just a little bit beyond my current skill level, but maybe one day I will be able to build it.
This post is part of my video blog and you can find more information about this video over here.
You can support this channel on Patreon: patreon.com/JohnElliotV
In this video I open the stuff that has arrived in the mail recently:
I mention that I’m working on a new book teardown for God Created the Integers.
The epaper modules I’m working with are these ones: WeAct 2.9” 2.13″ 2.9 2.13 Inch Epaper Module E-paper E-Ink EInk Display Screen SPI Black-White Black-White-Red and the microcontrollers I’m experimenting with are these ones: WeAct ESP32 ESP-32 ESP32C3 ESP32-C3FH4 Development Board Wireless WiFi Bluetooth-compatible Module Micropython.
The Arduino Nano you see is one of these: Mini / Type-C / Micro USB Nano 3.0 With the bootloader compatible Nano controller for arduino CH340 USB driver 16Mhz ATMEGA328P connected to an OLED display like this: 1.3″ OLED Display Module White/Blue Color Drive Chip SH1106 128X64 1.3 inch OLED LCD LED IIC I2C Communicate.
The video I mention about the test clips is this one: Unboxing #9: Unboxing of Sudake SDK07 and SKD08 IC Clip SMD Gripper Test Probe | In The Lab.
If you’re interested in the old iPhone 6s you can find more information at Wikipedia: iPhone 6s or from Apple: iPhone 6s – Technical Specifications.
My iPod touch is 7th generation, you can get more info from Apple: iPod touch (7th generation) – Technical Specifications.
I mention that I listen to di.fm. If you’re into electronic music, check it out.
I keep my notes which I display on my bench iPhones on the web, over here: https://www.jj5.net/display/
Thanks very much for watching! And please remember to hit like and subscribe! :)
Following is a product I use picked at random from my collection which may appear in my videos. Clicking through on this to find and click on the green affiliate links before purchasing from eBay or AliExpress is a great way to support the channel at no cost to you. Thanks!
3ELIGHTING 10″-26″ VESA Wall Mount |
Let’s go shopping!