Today was Spring cleaning day

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

Channel News #3: Announcing Mini Projects | Learning Electronics In The Lab With Jay Jay

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.

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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!

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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

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Visitor Alarm | Project 9/20 | Maxitronix 20in1 | Learning Electronics In The Lab With Jay Jay

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 do the ninth Maxitronix 20in1 Electronic Project Lab project: Visitor Alarm.



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 16MP USB CameraThis is an image of the product.

Let’s go shopping!

Electronics Project #6: Piezoelectric Buzzer Volume Control | In The Lab With Jay Jay

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 put a 2k potentiometer in series with a piezoelectric buzzer to act as a volume control.

The project I mention in the beginning of this video is the Educational 555 Board from PCBWay which we will build and test soon.

The video I make the hook clip test probes in is this one: Electronics Project: Hook Clip Test Probes to DuPont Jumpers | In The Lab With Jay Jay.

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 Long Handle Wire BrushThis is an image of the product.notes

Let’s go shopping!