Interlude #16: False Start for Learning the Art of Electronics | In The Lab With Jay Jay

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

Silly Job Title: Lightning Tamer.

This project’s homepage is here: John’s wiki ยง Learning the Art of Electronics.

This video is me making a false start on the Learning the Art of Electronics series which I am just about to embark on. What happened was after I got a bit more than two hours into recording the video for the first lab exercise I realized that it was taking too long with my approach. I didn’t want to make another twelve hour video! I was planning to go through the literature in painstaking detail and cover everything, but it turned out there was way too much material for that approach to be feasible.

What I am planning to do instead for the actual first video (due out next Tuesday) is do all the reading by myself in advance and then offer a brief summary and some recommended reading. I’m going to try to make the bulk of the video the actual practical experiment/circuit and leave the reading out.

But since I recorded the video for this “false start” I figured there’d be no harm in posting it by itself. Most of this video is the Appendix O material from The Art of Electronics 3ed which is a brief introduction to oscilloscopes.

In this video we mention CMOS technology, particularly MOSFETs.

We mention the Josephson effect which can cause a current to flow across superconductors in the absence of an applied voltage.

The SI size prefixes are documented on my wiki.

In this video we learn about voltage and current.

We take a close look at Appendix O in AoE which introduces the oscilloscope and mentions delay lines.

The oscilloscope appendix makes mention of Asimov’s short story from 1960, Thiotimoline and the Space Age.

We mention quantization, Planck units, and Zeno’s paradox.

I show you can illustration from Getting Started in Electronics.

If you’re planning to follow along with the series the pre-reading for the first video coming out on Tuesday is: E&M ch. 1, 2; PoEC ch. 1; AoE app. A, ch. 1; LtAoE ch. 1N, 1L.

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!

ANENG A3005 Pen Type Handheld MultimeterThis is an image of the product.notes

Let’s go shopping!

Mail Call #28: EEVblog BM036, Test Hook Clips, 4mm to 2mm Banana Adapter, a Book and a Movie

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 we see what’s come in the mail!

Also mentioned in this video:

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 USB 3.0 Powered 4-Port USB HubThis is an image of the product.

Let’s go shopping!

Interlude #15: Making a USB Power Cable for My ATtiny85 from 4x AA Battery Pack | In The Lab

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 we make a cable to connect a 6V battery pack with a 9V adapter to a USB Type-A female socket, which we can then use to connect a USB Type-A male through Type-B micro for powering my microcontroller.

We use the METCAL PS-900 Soldering Station to solder our cables.

We use the EEVblog BM2257 Digital Multimeter to test voltage and continuity.

We use the Horusdy Soldering Station with Hot Air Gun to shrink our heat shrink.

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!

Tungfull TH-161 Rotary Tool Accessory SetThis is an image of the product.notes

Let’s go shopping!

Are you the right person to design complex electronic boards?

This evening I watched Are you the right person to design complex electronic boards? which discusses what being a professional electronics designer entails. I particularly liked this slide which compares and contrasts the books a hobbyist might read versus what a professional might read.

Mail Call #27: Calibration Circuits, Battery Holders, Analog Meters and More from AliExpress

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 we open the following in the mail from AliExpress.

As I mention in the video I learned about the AD584LH and Resistor Board over here: Brymen BM789 Unboxing and Review.

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 100pc Titanium Plated Drill BitsThis is an image of the product.notes

Let’s go shopping!

Demo #8: Unboxing and Product Review of Rown Fusny R03U Wireless Mono Headset | In The Lab

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 we unbox and demo the R03U Wireless Mono Headset sent to me for review by Rown Fusny. This headset supports wireless connectivity for both USB and Bluetooth. I really enjoyed using this product and their customer support was first class.

It’s a mono device which means it only has a speaker for one ear, which is really good for your situational awareness because you can hear what’s going on in your environment through your other ear. Both the headphone and the microphone worked properly in both USB and Bluetooth mode.

I wasn’t able to get the USB mode to work on my Windows 10 machine, but I don’t know if that was related to the USB hardware on that computer or if it had to do with Windows 10 support for the device. I was able to get USB mode working on a Windows 11 Pro computer and one of my Debian 12 (bookworm) computers. I tested the Bluetooth mode on both iPhone 6s and iPhone 8.

One thing that I needed explained to me was that after you pair your Bluetooth device you may need to double click the power button on the headset in order to toggle from USB mode over to Bluetooth mode in order to activate the device. That’s why I had to contact customer support, because I was confused by this.

The device gives you status updates via audio. So if you toggle to USB mode it says “USB mode” and if you toggle to Bluetooth mode it says “Bluetooth mode”. If you disconnect the USB dongle or unpair the Bluetooth connection it says “disconnected”.

There is a microphone mute button on the headset and there are volume control buttons too. I tested the volume control buttons via Bluetooth but forgot to test via USB… hmm. Gimme a tick. Yep, the volume controls work on USB too!

Overall I was very pleased with this device and I would happily recommend this product!

In preparing this video I made some notes about my headphones which are still available on my wiki.

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!

Interlude #14: Making BNC to Jumper Pins Cables for My Oscilloscope | In The Lab With Jay Jay

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 we make two cables for use with my oscilloscope or other devices with BNC sockets. The cables have a BNC connector on one end and two male jumper pins on the other end. This is so that I can easily connect my oscilloscope (or signal generator) to a breadboard.

Equipment which I might use these new cables with includes my Rigol MSO5074 Mixed Signal Oscilloscope and my UNI-T UTG962E Signal Generator.

In the video we use the METCAL PS-900 Soldering Station for soldering.

We use the EEVblog BM2257 Digital Multimeter to continuity test the cables and to check for shorts.

We use the Horusdy Soldering Station with Hot Air Gun for shrinking out heat shrink.

We use the Hakko CHP 3C-SA Precision Tweezers for pulling the heat shrink over the wire.

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 4K HDMI USB 3.0 HDMI To USB AdapterThis is an image of the product.

Let’s go shopping!

Mail Call #26: Headset from Rown Fusny and Electronics from AliExpress | In The Lab With Jay Jay

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

Update: if you’re interested in the Rown Fusny headset I do a demo video over here: Demo #8: Unboxing and Product Review of Rown Fusny R03U Wireless Mono Headset | In The Lab.

In this video we take a look at what has arrived in the mail recently from AliExpress:

I also mention my headset which arrived from Rown Fusny which we will be looking at together in a future video.

The equipment I got from Jaycar included:

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 HD Webcam with Mic USB CameraThis is an image of the product.

Let’s go shopping!

Mail Call #25: Gorilla Glue, COM Books, Lens Care, Vacuum Filter, Thread Repair, and More!

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 we look at what has arrived recently from Amazon, eBay, and AliExpress:

Here is some extra info:

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 14″-27″ With 2 Arms VESA Wall MountThis is an image of the product.

Let’s go shopping!

Mail Call #24: Mesh Organizer, Peak Atlas Accessories, Metcal Sponge, Decade Box, and More!

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 we take a look at what has arrived in the mail from eBay, Peak Electronic Design, element14, AliExpress, and Amazon.

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!

Aussishop CalipersThis is an image of the product.notes

Let’s go shopping!