Category Archives: Electronics

Old Book Teardown #8: Radio Engineering 3rd Edition (1947) | 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.

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

Silly Job Title: Amp Alchemist

Note: this video is nearly five hours long! If you’re interested but don’t have 5 spare hours (and who does??) you might like to listen at 2x speed or more. The standard YouTube interface only supports playback up to 2x speed but I have some notes about YouTube hacks you can use to set the playback at 3x speed… or more!

In this video I teardown “Radio Engineering” (3rd edition) by Frederick Terman published 1947.

Frederick Terman was a Doctor of Science which is what the Sc.D. after his name stands for. It’s like a Ph.D. He is remembered as a father of Silicon Valley.

In the book there is much talk of diodes, but of course that is in reference to the old thermionic diodes which were vacuum tubes. These days diodes are semiconductors made from something like silicon or germanium.

The book talks a lot about power amplifier classes. Today the same classes are still used, it’s just that anything other than class AB and class D are very uncommon.

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!

Scotch Titanium ScissorsThis is an image of the product.notes

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Interlude #7: ElectroneX 2024 Debriefing | 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

In this video I tell you about the SWAG (Stuff We All Get) I collected this year at ElectroneX.

I had the very good fortune to meet Dave Jones of EEVblog fame. He was nice enough to take a photo and mention my channel on X.

And as if things couldn’t get any better I then went on to meet Nicholas Vinen of Silicon Chip fame. For the record, the very first thing I ever said to Nicholas Vinen was: “is that a spectrum analyzer?” :P

I mention that the channel’s logo a version of the Hacker Emblem. There’s more info on the show’s website.

My business cards were designed by DAC Design and printed by ClickMedia.

My business card holder is this one: Business Card Holder, 1 Pcs Build in 40 Card Slot PU Leather Business Card Wallet for Credit Card, Business Cards, Men, Women (Black).

The companies who gave me SWAG that I mention in this video are:

I mention my One PCB to Ruler Them All from Adafruit which is part of my costume.

The cheap wire cutters I mention are these ones: Aokin1PC 170 Universal Pliers DIY Electronic Diagonal Side Cutting Nippers Wire Cable Cutter 3D Printer Parts Hand Tools.

As I suspected J.Burrows is a stationary brand. Must have stolen someone’s pen! Whoops! :P

You can read more about Pogo pins. I’ve never used them myself. Looking at them I’m not sure how you would mount them to a board. Lot’s of things to learn!

You can find more info about the probe tweezers I mention in the video over here: Yum Cha Probe Tweezers.

My cheapo multimeters are these ones: DT830B Digital Multimeter. My slightly less cheapo multimeter is this one: DigiTech QM1323 Multimeter. The multimeters I am saving my pennies for are these ones:

Check out the line of Peak test instruments. When I’m rich I am gonna get the full set!

My capacitor testers (and discharger) I mentioned are these ones:

You can find more about my Maxitronix Xin1 Kits. I am making videos as I work my way through them.

You can find the STM micros I showed you over here:

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!

FNIRSI DC580 Power ModuleThis is an image of the product.

Let’s go shopping!

My day at ElectroneX with my friend

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Well. Wow. What a day!

Today was the opening day of ElectroneX in Sydney.

I had the great privilege of spending the day with my very good friend Aleksei. Between us I think we managed to talk to every single exhibitor. By the time I got home my legs were sore and my lips were parched, so much walking, standing, and talking!

I turned up in character. I wore my costume. A lot of people thought that was fun, as did I. :)

I met Dave Jones of EEVblog fame, which really made my day. I knew he would be there and I was really hoping to see him, and I did! He was nice enough to plug my channel, what an excellent human being! <3

And as if things couldn’t get better they went on and did! It was an honour and a privilege to meet Nicholas Vinen, the editor of Silicon Chip magazine. I had hoped that he would be there and I would run into him… and then he was and I did!

All round a super great day. I had a lot of fun, learned a few things about the state of the art, and I even netted a few new subscriptions on the channel. :)

John and Aleksei meet Dave Jones

Today was Spring cleaning day

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I had to get new batteries in four of my UPS devices which involved a lot of plugging and unplugging. Since I was down there under my desk I took some time to vacuum and do a better job of my cable labeling.

While I was sorting cables I found one with a frayed end which I decided to keep for spare parts. In makes me nervous just looking at this thing. That’s a mains power lead with bare ends, it’s a death sentence waiting to happen! But that bit of cable with that attachment might very well come in handy some time so I will file it in its relevant drawer.

John's mains power cable with bare ends

Announcing new website for In The Lab With Jay Jay

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Good news everyone!

The In The Lab With Jay Jay website has been freeloading off jj5.net for a while now, over here: https://www.inthelabwithjayjay.com/in-the-lab/

But I am pleased to announce that it has now been moved into its new and permanent home, over here: InTheLabWithJayJay.com

There is also a short-link domain which will redirect you to the new site which I put into production to keep the links on my business cards short: jjlab.net

Speaking of business cards I had some made to take with me to ElectroneX on Wednesday:

John's new business card for In The Lab With Jay Jay

I’m planning to show up in costume and hand out business cards, because I am a *genuine* nerd.

As part of the migration to the new domain I improved the content of the site a bit. There is now an about page with contact info and such and also a support the show page with some ideas about how people can support the show!

Channel News #3: Announcing Mini Projects | 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: Amp Alchemist

In this video I announce the new Mini Projects. These are a new feature of Silicon Chip magazine sponsored by Jaycar. Each month two or three Mini Projects get published in Silicon Chip, and we will be building those projects together on the channel each month!

If you’re interested in Silicon Chip magazine (it’s really good!) then I would certainly encourage you to subscribe.

In this video I misspoke and said this was the “May 2004” issue of the magazine, but of course it is the “May 2024” issue of the magazine! Unfortunately I missed that errata during editing and didn’t include a title clip correction.

I don’t understand what happened that caused that video corruption we saw earlier in the video. I suspect the workstation I was using to record the video had some other processing task which interfered with its recording speed or something? Hopefully this is not an ongoing problem. It’s not a problem I have seen before.

Update: ElectroneX has now been and gone and my write up about the day is over here: My day at ElectroneX with my friend. I got my photo with Dave Jones!

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!

Kaisi Soldering Tools With Desoldering PumpThis is an image of the product.notes

Let’s go shopping!