I had three third-hands with two clips each. I cannibalized one of them for parts and now I have two third-hands with three clips each and a spare light / magnifying glass.
New third-hand setup
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Category Archives: Electronics
The Bang Preventer – aka DIY Current Limiter with isolation transformer
I asked Tony359 about his current limiter and he referred me to the video below in which he explains his home made contraption. Very cool. I think I should make one of these.
Update: I also found a video covering a similar topic:
The voltmeter used in the second design is this one: Digital AC Voltmeter.
Oh, and here’s another one!
Tony359 fixes server power supply
Equipment that Tony uses in this video that I don’t have are a current limiter and a differential probe.
Specs for M5 Pro MacBook Pro
My IRC friend @ngoldbaum got a new MacBook Pro and I was reading about about the specs over here: Apple introduces MacBook Pro with all‑new M5 Pro and M5 Max, delivering breakthrough pro performance and next-level on-device AI.
One feature which jumped out at me was the insanely fast memory bandwidth. This “unified” memory is on the CPU die and shared between CPU and GPU, which, apparently, can eliminate duplication. The M5 Pro supports up to 307 GB/s and the M5 Max supports up to 614 GB/s.
Repairable USB-C port
These look great!
Electronic components to avoid in a product
In this latest video from John Teel, electronic components to avoid in a real product:
- USB Micro-B Connections → use USB-C instead
- Through-Hole Components → use SMD instead
- Barrel Jack Power Connections → use USB-C instead
- Note: 5.5 × 2.1 mm (5.5×2.1mm) is the common DC barrel jack size, 5.5 × 2.5 mm (5.5×2.5mm) is less common
- Unshielded DC-DC Converter Inductors → use shielded inductors instead
- Cheap No-Name Electrolytic Capacitors → buy from reputable brand instead, or, better, switch to ceramic or polymer aluminium capacitors
- If you want no surprises, stick to: Nichicon, Rubycon, Panasonic, Nippon Chemi-Con (aka United Chemi-Con), Elna
- For professional/industrial designs, also consider: KEMET, Vishay, TDK
- Bare Pin Headers as Production Connectors → use connectors rated for your application instead
- Mechanical Relays → use solid state instead, for DC consider MOSFET
- Single-Source or End-of-Life Components → use widely available components instead
- Counterfeit of Clone ICs → buy from authorized distributors instead:
- Hobby-Grade Sensors → look for higher grade instead with I2C or SPI digital interfaces
PCI Express over Fiber
This project is awesome! It’s what it says on the tin. The video also demos the use of ngscopeclient.
Spintronics: Build Mechanical Circuits
My IRC friend dcz referred me to this: Spintronics: Build Mechanical Circuits. Definitely need to get me one of these!
Cardputer-Adv: Compact Programmable Platform for Embedded Prototyping & IoT Development
I was reading the latest version of Make: Magazine, Make: Magazine, Volume 96, and I discovered this cool hardware based on the ESP32-S3: M5Stack Cardputer Adv Version. They are out of stock at the moment but I will have to check back later because I think I would love to have one of these!
John Teel explains microcontrollers to avoid
The microcontrollers to avoid and what to consider instead:
- ESP8266 → ESP32-C3
- PIC16 → ARM Cortex-M0+, STM32C0, TI’s MSPM0
- Ultra-Cheap No-Name MCUs → something with better doco and support, such as STM32C0 or TI’s MSPM0
- STM8 → STM32C0
- MSP430 → TI’s MSPM0
- ATmega328P → newer MCUs in AVR family
- Overpriced High-End MCUs → consider microprocessor instead