What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[Specmaster]

I figured that maybe they'd misplaced (lost) the paper detailing the lease terms - in a very pedantic sense such a thing could be considered 'losing your lease'.  Regardless, I don't shop at such places.  More furniture = less room for other acquisitions.   

-Pat

You can always fashion a nicely heated chair by strategically stacking boatanchors. Just make sure you don't have any HV exposed.

True, but in the meantime, a heating pad could suffice.  Regarding HV however (mains in the case of a heating pad), the same warnings apply...

So make sure you're at least wearing underwear. 

Fire proof underwear please 

[nanofrog]

I figured that maybe they'd misplaced (lost) the paper detailing the lease terms - in a very pedantic sense such a thing could be considered 'losing your lease'.  Regardless, I don't shop at such places.  More furniture = less room for other acquisitions.   

-Pat

You can always fashion a nicely heated chair by strategically stacking boatanchors. Just make sure you don't have any HV exposed.

True, but in the meantime, a heating pad could suffice.  Regarding HV however (mains in the case of a heating pad), the same warnings apply...

So make sure you're at least wearing underwear. 

Fire proof underwear please 

Picky, picky, picky... 

FWIW, I was only thinking of isolating one's ass from safety earth/ground.       

[Mr. Scram]

FWIW, I was only thinking of isolating one's ass from safety earth/ground.       

What, rubber knickers?

[Zbig]

Got myself a pair of these babies: Sony 1000XM2 Wireless Noise-Canceling Headphones

• The best just got better - TrustedReviews
• Crystal clear noise-cancelling headphones that are better than Bose - Techradar
• These are among the best noise-cancelling headphones we’ve tested - TechHive
• The best wireless headphones ever made just got even better - Digital Trends
• In fact, I’d go as far as to say that these as the best overall Bluetooth ANC headphones that money can buy - ExpertReviews
• Sony made its best headphones even better - Engadget
• You look like a koala in them, LOL - My girlfriend

[nanofrog]

Got myself a pair of these babies: Sony 1000XM2 Wireless Noise-Canceling Headphones

• The best just got better - TrustedReviews
• Crystal clear noise-cancelling headphones that are better than Bose - Techradar
• These are among the best noise-cancelling headphones we’ve tested - TechHive
• The best wireless headphones ever made just got even better - Digital Trends
• In fact, I’d go as far as to say that these as the best overall Bluetooth ANC headphones that money can buy - ExpertReviews
• Sony made its best headphones even better - Engadget
• You look like a koala in them, LOL - My girlfriend

That her way of saying you're cute, but also short, fat, and hairy?   

[frozenfrogz]

I bought an old Voltcraft 1536 oscilloscope (1MHz) in good working condition today for 30€, because it came with a Tektronix P6139A probe (500MHz)

[nanofrog]

I bought an old Voltcraft 1536 oscilloscope (1MHz) in good working condition today for 30€, because it came with a Tektronix P6139A probe (500MHz)

indeed.

One heck of a deal just on the probe though. 

[frozenfrogz]

One heck of a deal just on the probe though. 

Actually I was just screening the small ads for some cheap probes and I was curious as to what the specs of the old scope were. The pictures were all a little out of focus but since the probe connector read »Tek« and it was more or less around the corner from where I live, I thought: Why not check it out!

The scope itself is funny. It weighs next to nothing, has a small 6cm / 5cm screen and is only 183 x 85 x 200 mm / 7.2 x 3.3 x 7.9 inch in overall dimensions.
The tube needs some minor adjustments and the device will most likely be modded into a vector display or serve as a movie prop in the future.
On the other hand I would offer to donate it to someone in need of a very basic one channel scope.

[HalFET]

This little baby arrived today!

[frozenfrogz]

This little baby arrived today!

Sweet
An analogue limiter!

[HalFET]

This little baby arrived today!

Sweet
An analogue limiter!

You can also use it to reset AVR fuse bits!

[Gyro]

What are you using for the other contact? 

[HalFET]

What are you using for the other contact? 

A random slab of metal I have laying around, used a piece of tungsten for a while but people kept saying it'll shatter so stopped using it. Think I might get some hardened tooling steel at some point. For the softer non-stick action I also have a 2 cm diameter teflon rod on my desk at work, been meaning to install a handle on it.

[Mr. Scram]

A random slab of metal I have laying around, used a piece of tungsten for a while but people kept saying it'll shatter so stopped using it. Think I might get some hardened tooling steel at some point. For the softer non-stick action I also have a 2 cm diameter teflon rod on my desk at work, been meaning to install a handle on it.

Why do you want something hard? That's more likely to shatter. Having something that isn't too hard also saves the copper head.

A lot of metals will actually work harden sooner or later anyway.

[ChrisLX200]

I didn't buy it but made it - a solder reel holder which clears my bench of the space previously occupied by 3 discrete reel holders, makes a big difference when you hardly have any room to start with.

[HalFET]

Why do you want something hard? That's more likely to shatter. Having something that isn't too hard also saves the copper head.

A lot of metals will actually work harden sooner or later anyway.

Well, the piece of tungsten was actually previously used as a sort of press platen.

But it really depends on what you're hammering away at, for softer things I always put scrap MDF or aluminium underneath, but if it's really to shape something there's no point in having a soft surface underneath, it'll just sink into the surface of your anvil. The "hard means super brittle" thing is pretty much wrong, it really depends on the quality of the material and its exact crystalline structure. There are tooling steel alloys that will happily take brutal impacts all days and still flex under load without instantly breaking when asked to. For example, the striking surface on a blacksmith anvil is actually hardened steel, the regular cast iron would shatter, mild steel would deform, but put a slab of hardened steel with the right hardness in there and you're set for life.    Things aren't always as straight cut as most people seem to believe.

[Mr. Scram]

Well, the piece of tungsten was actually previously used as a sort of press platen.

But it really depends on what you're hammering away at, for softer things I always put scrap MDF or aluminium underneath, but if it's really to shape something there's no point in having a soft surface underneath, it'll just sink into the surface of your anvil. The "hard means super brittle" thing is pretty much wrong, it really depends on the quality of the material and its exact crystalline structure. There are tooling steel alloys that will happily take brutal impacts all days and still flex under load without instantly breaking when asked to. For example, the striking surface on a blacksmith anvil is actually hardened steel, the regular cast iron would shatter, mild steel would deform, but put a slab of hardened steel with the right hardness in there and you're set for life.    Things aren't always as straight cut as most people seem to believe.

Sure, I'm obviously simplifying matters for the sake of the discusison. However, thinking about what you use to interface with what is a good idea. Considering you have a copper hammer, you don't seem too interested in super sharp shaping capabilties, and it might be a good idea to pick something more foregiving to make it a bit easier on the tool. If you start beating on hardened steel with that, the tool will show it.

Also, pressing and hammering aren't quite the same thing when looking at the stresses I don't think I said hard means super brittle, but there certainly is a correlation between hardness and how brittle something is. A lot of material science is aimed at hardening materials without making them too brittle. It can be done, but isn't what most materials like to do naturally.

[HalFET]

Well, first of all I don't actually intend to use this hammer to smash things to bits, for that a good old steel hammer is still the best choice, if you're in a non-explosive/flammable atmosphere at least. But for softer things I use aluminium scraps or MDF as stated before, but even with aluminium you got to be careful which alloy you use, some are pretty damn hard. Additionally the entire point of a copper hammer is that it's softer than the material you're hitting.

And about press platen, actually you absolutely do not want brittle things for those. Otherwise you might end up with some interesting problems when you run into non-flat press books.

[GreyWoolfe]

I didn't buy it but made it - a solder reel holder which clears my bench of the space previously occupied by 3 discrete reel holders, makes a big difference when you hardly have any room to start with.

Nice job!!   

[rsjsouza]

A Japan version of Sony DPT-RP1, not the US black version. When I first watch the video I said to myself I will get one, but even till now there's no white version available in US, so yesterday I decided to buy one from Japan directly. It should arrive in less than a week.

Interesting gadget. However, another day one of your posts gave me the impression you were fed up with Sony and were not buying their stuff anymore... Or was it only applicable to cell phones?

[neo]

A Japan version of Sony DPT-RP1, not the US black version. When I first watch the video I said to myself I will get one, but even till now there's no white version available in US, so yesterday I decided to buy one from Japan directly. It should arrive in less than a week.

Interesting gadget. However, another day one of your posts gave me the impression you were fed up with Sony and were not buying their stuff anymore... Or was it only applicable to cell phones?

I cannot speak for blue but in my opinion Sony makes some of the best audio gear.

[neo]

Interesting gadget. However, another day one of your posts gave me the impression you were fed up with Sony and were not buying their stuff anymore... Or was it only applicable to cell phones?

No phones, no laptops, no point-and-shoots, and no HiFi players/amps.
Sony still makes some very decent headphones, business oriented products and is still the world's No. 1 optical storage media manufacturer and No. 1 high end camera sensor manufacturer.
I'm totally fine with my two Sony mirrorless cameras, and some business gears (IC recorders, commercial projector, etc.).

I don't want to jinx it, but I hope this eInk paper will not fail me.

Whats wrong with their amps? I like mine, have had it for 3 years.

[neo]

I cannot speak for blue but in my opinion Sony makes some of the best audio gear.

Heavily overpriced amplifiers and DACs with ambiguous specifications.
Their players are basically just joke. The S-MASTER is just 1 bit sigma delta, developed to save power (no opamps anymore).
For whatever reason, Sony decides to market DSD/S-master direct play technology, which is basically dumping DSD stream to RC filter then to headphone directly.
And the worst thing is that the audiophile market actually agrees with it. Don't know how much money they spent on bribing HiFi editors, though.
I have a couple S-master players, and I have to say they did a great job. It's hard to build a pure digital amplifier with such high audible background noise. They must have violated all design rules.
They do have some non-S-master devices, such as PHA series headphone amp+DAC combo, and they are some of the best specced devices, just the price is quite bloated, at $999 in US.
And I highly doubt if they have any knowledge in system engineering. PHA3 runs HOT, even hot to touch, it burns. Only Sony will sell hot to touch consumer, portable, supposedly pocketable gears.
Oh, they know that. They have a high temp sensor that will inhibit battery charging to prevent a fire -- supposedly it has happened somewhere in their R&D process. And they didn't reduce its power consumption.

They have some really good headphones, and that's it.

On my amplifier, which is a receiver to be specific, i've never noticed noise on the headphones. I have 5 amps (and or receivers); Onkyo, Pioneer, Sherwood, Sony and a semi vintage BSR of all the BSR is my favorite, though the Sony is my second favorite.

[McBryce]

I didn't buy it but made it - a solder reel holder which clears my bench of the space previously occupied by 3 discrete reel holders, makes a big difference when you hardly have any room to start with.

Are you taking orders?

McBryce.

[ChrisLX200]

Quote from: McBryce on Today at 07:25:07 PM>Quote from: ChrisLX200 on Today at 06:00:01 AM

I didn't buy it but made it - a solder reel holder which clears my bench of the space previously occupied by 3 discrete reel holders, makes a big difference when you hardly have any room to start with.

Are you taking orders?

McBryce.


For a piece of bent mental with holes in? LOL no