Interlude #8: Making My Maker Faire ‘Here There Be Makers’ Badge | In The Lab With Jay Jay

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In this video I fix up and reassemble my Here There Be Makers badge which I received from Maker Shed in California.

John's Makers PCB badge

This electrified badge was made by lectrify.it and PCBWay.

Previously I had installed a single 3mm LED in the top of this thing, but in this video I remove that (so I can use the hole to hang it) and install two 3mm LEDs on the front instead, which is my best guess as to what I was supposed to do with this thing, which didn’t come with instructions.

There is some information about their Maker Faire event on in San Fransisco later this year over here: https://make.co/welcome/

And also, yes, I should have combed my hair before making this video. :P

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Mail Call #7: Books from Amazon, Cables from AliExpress, and a Fluke Meter from eBay! | In The Lab

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In this video I take a look at some new books and equipment which has arrived in the mail:

I mention in the video that I recently organized my USB cables.

There’s some more information about where I found and purchased my Fluke multimeter over here: Fluke 17B+ Multimeter. Shoutout to my mate @ElectrArc240! When I release the unboxing video for this meter I will update this page with the link.

At the end of this video I put together my “Maker Faire: Here There Be Makers” swag but I actually revisit this and do it better in another video released as an interlude on the channel, so stand by for that (it will come out tomorrow, I will update this link when it’s out).

John's Makers PCB badge

This electrified badge was made by lectrify.it and PCBWay and it was sent to me by Maker Shed.

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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!

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Old Book Teardown #9: Basic Electronics – Volumes 1 through 6 (1955) | In The Lab With Jay Jay

I mostly published this ten hour long video just to exasperate Dave Jones. ;)

This post is part of my video blog and you can find more information about this video over here.

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Silly Job Title: Buzz Boss.

In this video I take a good long hard look at the entirety of this book.

The book is Basic Electronics – Volumes 1 through 6 written by Van Valkenburgh, Nooger and Neville, Inc. and published in 1955.

The book is about the state of electronics at the time it was written. It was commissioned by the United States Navy, who used it to train their technicians. Later, it was released for civilian use.

In the book there is lots of material on vacuum tubes, which were state of the art at the time. The sixth volume adds material on transistors and frequency modulation, which were bleeding edge technology at the time.

I learned heaps from reading this book, particularly about the various types of vacuum tubes (also known as “valves” by the British): diode, triode, tetrode, pentode, and Klystron, among others.

Also I learned that the name “transistor” is a contraction of “transfer resistor”, I didn’t know that!

If you would like to watch this video but don’t have ten hours to spare, you can find out how to increase the playback speed more than 2x on my YouTube hacks page.

The links to archive.org I mention in the video are these:

Also I found PDFs for Volumes 1 through 5 here:

Oh, and the link for Make: magazine is here: https://makezine.com/

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RV77 4K HDMI USB 2.0 4-Port HDMI KVMThis is an image of the product.

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Extra Content #14: Previously Unreleased Content: Cleaning Resistors and Having a Chat | In The Lab

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Today I was organising my media files and I found this old video. I recorded this back in August 2023 but I never released it. I think back then I didn’t have this second channel and I decided this video wasn’t good enough for the main channel, so it just kind of got forgotten. But I thought it was fun so I have published it here for the record.

In this video I do a time lapse of me cleaning my resistors. While the time lapse is playing I include a narration in which I discuss things I had been reading at the time. There are two links for the show notes, being these:

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

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Ego surfing @ ChatGPT

In my dream last night I asked ChatGPT about… me. When I woke up, I did the obvious thing:

JJ5.net Overview

JJ5.net is a personal website run by John Elliot V, commonly known as Jay Jay. The site primarily serves as a hub for Jay Jay’s various projects, thoughts, and notes on technology and electronics. It includes a blog, a wiki, and a section dedicated to mini-projects, particularly those related to electronics.

The website is structured around Jay Jay’s interests, such as electronics, software development, and DIY projects. His blog discusses a range of topics, including technology trends and his personal projects, and is connected to his YouTube channel, “In The Lab With Jay Jay,” where he shares video content on similar topics.

The wiki on JJ5.net is quite extensive, serving as a repository for notes on his projects, study materials, and other technical resources. It’s a place where he documents his experiments, designs, and the outcomes of his electronic endeavors, particularly those involving kits from Jaycar Electronics and Silicon Chip magazine.

Overall, JJ5.net is a comprehensive resource for those interested in electronics, programming, and DIY technology projects, reflecting Jay Jay’s extensive involvement in these fields.

In The Lab Overview

“In The Lab With Jay Jay” is a YouTube video blog series created by John Elliot V, also known as Jay Jay. The series is centered around electronics projects and is tailored for hobbyists who are interested in various aspects of electronics, from building and repairing devices to exploring old technology.

The content is spread across two YouTube channels:

  1. Main Channel (@InTheLabWithJayJay) – This channel features high-quality content, including electronics projects and a popular segment called “Old Book Teardowns,” where Jay Jay examines and discusses old technical books related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
  2. Second Channel (@ElliotsExtras) – This channel includes longer-form content that is less edited and more casual.

Jay Jay’s content is beginner-friendly, making it accessible to those new to electronics. He often covers a wide range of topics, including old gaming consoles like the original Xbox, microcontroller projects, and circuit design.

The series also features special shows, such as unboxings, mail calls, and mini-projects, where Jay Jay shares his experiences and knowledge in a hands-on, relatable manner. The series has gained a following for its mix of technical insights and approachable presentation style.

For more information, you can visit In The Lab With Jay Jay’s official site or check out the channels on YouTube​.

Mail Call #6: More Loot from Amazon and AliExpress! | Learning Electronics In The Lab With Jay Jay

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In this video I take a look at the following equipment which arrived in the mail.

The large scales I mention in this video (which can measure up to 30kg) are these ones: Disenkelubo 30kg 1g Electronic Scale.

You can find more info about how to use the screw pitch gauge on YouTube: Stainless Steel Pitch Scale Gauge.

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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!

JST XH2.54 Pre-crimped Connector KitThis is an image of the product.notes

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Mail Call #5: Loot from Amazon and AliExpress! | 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 over here.

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In this video I take a quick look at a few cheap bits and pieces I picked up from Amazon and AliExpress recently.

The stuff I got from Amazon was:

The stuff I got from AliExpress was:

I’ve got some more loot on order, so stand by for another mail call video soon!

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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 before purchasing from Amazon, eBay, or AliExpress is a great way to support the channel at no cost to you. Thanks!

Arlec PB91 Plug-In RCD Safety Switch With Surge ProtectorThis is an image of the product.notes

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Symbol Keyboard | Mini Project JMP001 | Learning Electronics In The Lab With Jay Jay

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This is the inaugural Mini Project! I introduced the Mini Projects recently. They are developed and published by Silicon Chip magazine, and sponsored by Jaycar Electronics (which is an Austrlaian electronics store, similar to Radio Shack in the USA, hopefully it doesn’t end up suffering the same fate.)

In this project, codenamed JMP001, we develop a USB keyboard which can send interesting and unusual symbols (which aren’t usually available on a keyboard) to a Windows computer using the alt-codes that it supports in a typical codepage.

For this first Mini Project I felt it was important to actually buy my components from Jaycar which I did for roughly eighty Australian dollary doos. Approximately US$50. The parts I ordered were these:

Belatedly I did also search for rubber feet.

There was quite a lot that went into the production of this video, and we accumulated a lot of links. Those are here:

In the end this first project was relatively successful, and we did get it to work fairly well on one of my Windows computers. As for the rest you can find out for youself in the video!

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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 HSC8 6-4A Ferrule Crimper KitThis is an image of the product.notes

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Speech Conductor | Project 10/20 | Maxitronix 20in1 | Learning Electronics In The Lab With Jay Jay

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In this video I do the tenth Maxitronix 20in1 Electronic Project Lab project: Speech Conductor.

In this project we learn a little about transistors, amplifiers, and astable multivibrators.

Note: while I was making this video I took a detour into making a cable, which didn’t work out. You can see the video about that over here: Extra Content #13: Failing to Attach Banana Plugs to Microphone Cables | In The Lab With Jay Jay.



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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!

ALKOY Capacitor Discharge PenThis is an image of the product.notes

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