I accidentally happened upon this while surfing the interwebs this evening and I thought it was a great hack: EXTRA HANDS FOR SOLDERING – OCTOPUS. This person makes a very respectable third hand out of a few scraps.
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In this video I unbox my new METCAL PS-900 Soldering Station which I ordered recently from element14.
I keep my notes about this equipment on my person wiki, over here: METCAL PS-900 Soldering Station.
Before I purchased this equipment I made some notes about my research and decisions and element14 had the best price by far.
As I mention in the video my new PS-900 soldering station uses the METCAL SmartHeat technology. You can read more about SmartHeat over here:
Per the above links the Metcal SmartHeat technology is available in various solutions:
The PS Series (which I got) is the entry level system. You can spend much more than I did!
I found this document Metcal – Tip Temperature Guide which describes the various tip options (Metcal calls the tips “cartridges”) along with their temperature specifications.
As promised the link for my electric scissors is here: Jackcat Electric Scissors.
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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!
gku AC1009 Underdesk Keyboard Drawer notes |
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In this video I take a look at God Created the Integers edited by Stephen Hawking and published in 2005.
Hawking’s other book which I mention in this video is On The Shoulders Of Giants.
I am sorry that my pronunciation of European names is kind of terrible. While working through the book I made some notes on my wiki about pronouncing various names: God Created the Integers.
At 12 hours (the YouTube maximum video length) this is my longest video so far! If you do watch the whole thing through to the end, you are my type of person, so please do let me know! :)
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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!
Yum Cha 16MP USB Camera |
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In this video I receive the following equipment in the mail:
As I mentioned the open-source architecture books are available free online: The Architecture of Open Source Applications.
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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!
Aussishop Calipers notes |
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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
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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!
Yum Cha IC Chip Pickup Tool |
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This brief history of Ethernet is fun: TWISTED: The dramatic history of twisted-pair Ethernet.
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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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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 |
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Today I learned about ESP-NOW over here: Forget WiFi! This Wireless Method is WAY Better?
This looks like exactly what I need for a project I’m planning. I want to connect my WiFi router with a relay between its power source. I can then trip the relay to reboot the router. I need to do this every couple of months and doing it manually is a pain because I have to walk into the other room to do it.
This was less cool than I thought it might be. Still worth watching though. Trick Out Your Excel Quick Access Toolbar with these Hidden Powerful Features.