Category Archives: Diary

Channel News #1: Stetmann Cosplay Costume Reveal | Learning Electronics In The Lab With Jay Jay

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This post is part of my video blog and you can find more information about this video on this show’s homepage which is here.

You can support this channel on Patreon: patreon.com/JohnElliotV

Silly Job Title: Craig Entertainer

Here it is! As planned, my new costume! Just for fun when I record electronics videos in my lab I’m gonna dress myself up like Egon Stetmann the scientist from StarCraft II:

The cosplay costume reveal is in this video. Also some news and discussion about the goals for the channel over the longer term.

As mentioned in this video I will have a new job title for my ID card for each video. The inaugural job title is Craig Entertainer, for my only regular reader, Craig. :)

Here are some affiliate links to the bits and pieces I got for the costume:

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!

aToolTour Extra Long Magnetic Drill Bit ExtensionThis is an image of the product.notes

Let’s go shopping!

FILCO Majestouch 2SS Edition Keyboards

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I ordered two new keyboards this morning. I got a 104-key one and an 87-key one. The gory details are documented on the keyboard page on my wiki.

Usually I like to buy V3 keyboards from WASD Keyboards in America. But the price for the two keyboards delivered would have been AU$841, which was just a bit too expensive for me.

So I had a bit of a hunt around and I found these Japanese FILCO Majestouch 2SS Edition keyboards on Amazon:

They both come with MX Speed Silver switches which are the ones I like.

While I was researching I found the following content mill articles which I enjoyed reading to learn more about mechanical keyboards:

AliExpress diodes

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I ordered a bunch of SMD diodes from AliExpress (nine different types), and nine packages arrived, but they weren’t labeled. I tested everything to infer what I got, and they didn’t ship me what I ordered. My notes are here and the video of me doing all this is here.

I kept a note of the seller and will try to not order from them again. In the mean time I think I have filed the components that did arrive in the correct drawer.

Below are two happy snaps from this project. I guess on the bright side I got some practice doing SMD soldering and using my signal generator and my scope.

Oh, and I added a new item to my debugging notes, viz “is it plugged into the right socket?” (I had my output cable on the signal generator plugged into the wrong BNC connector on the device, that took some figuring out…)

John's test rig

John's test rig, labeled

Mail log IP address count

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The following monster will parse the mail log and report on unique host connections along with a count.

cat /var/log/mail.log | \
  grep ' connect from unknown' | \
  awk '{ print $8 }' | \
  sort | \
  sed -n 's/.*\[\([0-9]\{1,3\}\.[0-9]\{1,3\}\.[0-9]\{1,3\}\.[0-9]\{1,3\}\)\].*/\1/p' | \
  awk '{count[$1]++} END {for (word in count) print count[word], word}' | \
  sort -n

Organizing the lab

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I’ve made arrangements to hang my Xbox Torx drivers (you need T10, T15, and T20 drivers, I got this HORUSDY 12-Piece Magnetic Torx Screwdrivers Set, S2 Steel T5 – T40 Torx Star Screwdrivers with Demagnetizer and Storage Pouch) on the side of my table:
John's Torx drivers, distance shot
John's Torx drivers, close up

I used 30mm nails but they’re not quite long enough, so I got some 40mm ones which I will upgrade to when they arrive.

Also I moved my old laptop off the music stand to make room for my bodge wire and Kapton tape dispenser:
John's bodge wire rolls and tape dispenser on music stand