What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[Microdoser]

Current sensing transformer, some LM60440DKPR DC-DC chips, various capacitors and resistors needed for the LMs, BNC connectors, RJ45 connectors, Raspberry Pi heatsinks and 30mm fans, roughly 15M of desoldering braid (was really cheap)

[BBBbbb]

Just ordered this one:
https://pine64.com/product-category/soldering-irons/?v=fa6c6ebcea6a

yup I really needed another soldering iron 
But although it might end up being crap, looks quite interesting, and it's quite cheap...

[Nominal Animal]

A Mikrotik RBM33G RouterBOARD, and a two 1.54" IPS panel 240x240 display modules (with a PCB instead of a FFC/FPC cable) from EastRising/BuyDisplay.com.
The RBM33G will be a 4G/LTE router/firewall running OpenWRT, and one of the display modules a small status display for it, hopefully.  (I'll need to write userspace support from scratch.  Note that although the pins are marked SDA/SCL, it uses the typical 4-wire SPI: clock, data, chip select, and command/data.)



I forgot all my serial adapters have TTL level outputs instead of RS-232, so now I'm waiting for my adapter to arrive how much work it is to add the status display; whether the GPIO pins are sufficiently supported by the Linux kernel, or if I have to use a microcontroller in between.

The two top left board sockets on the RBM33G are USB-based mini-PCIe slots for WWAN modems; I'll be using a Huawei ME909s-120.  The one top right is a M.2 NVMe 2242 slot for a PCIe-based SSD, next to an USB 3.0 socket.  On the bottom, you can see the RS-232 serial port and three gigabit ethernet connectors.  I've ordered a Kioxia BG4 128GB 2230 SSD (removed unused from a Dell laptop) as they're known to work with this board, and it was cheap enough; I like to play with this kind of hardware, so I think it'll be useful for me.  An SSD is completely unnecessary for normal router/firewall use; it has 16MiB flash for an OS built-in, and a smaller separate flash for a bootloader.  And 256MiB of RAM, so OpenWRT should run just fine on it.

(Simply put, I got fed up with crappy USB-WWAN adapters, and wanted something really designed for this kind of use.  The USB adapters only have a DC-DC converter from USB 5V to 3.8V, and some passive decoupling capacitors, but even so, the ones I can find are just.. not something I can rely on.  An LDO generates too much heat.  I'm not an EE, and don't trust myself enough to design the board layout using TI TLV62569DBVR buck controller, because of the switchmode EMI, although it'd be near perfect for this use case otherwise.)

[lukego]

Meiji EMZ-8TR microscope with 2.5X camera adapter for my Nikon FX DSLR. Replacement upgrade for my Eakins trinocular microscope head. Hope it's as good as I expect! New from TEquipment.net for the lifetime warranty.

[tautech]

Another 4 DSO's.....to add to the 15 already ordered. 

[mansaxel]

A -hp- 410B in somewhat used condition. Now I've got 3 VTVMs. Should be enough.

[Ed.Kloonk]

Another 4 DSO's.....to add to the 15 already ordered. 

Sometimes I think you're just hording them. Other times I suspect you might be taking them out to the back room and touching them inappropriately.

[IDEngineer]

A scope harem... I'm not sure whether to be horrified or jealous. 

[tautech]

Another 4 DSO's.....to add to the 15 already ordered. 

Sometimes I think you're just hording them. Other times I suspect you might be taking them out to the back room and touching them inappropriately.

Some of that might happen. 

But no, 28 in one order is the biggest thus far however just keeping reasonable stock levels is a right PITA ATM.
At one time I could get a few in by air to carry us over until a sea shipment arrives (1 week vs 1 month) but even by sea is troublesome these days as the vast majority of world freight now comes by sea until we get this CV thing under control and return to some resemblance of the way things were just a year ago.

A scope harem... I'm not sure whether to be horrified or jealous. 

Yeah for a guy with a love of TE it's a pretty nice business to be in. 

The wife just takes a look at me unpacking orders with a grin in my face, rolls eyes and goes does off to do some sewing, gardening, housework or anything to keep her in touch with reality while I'm in this other world. 

[IDEngineer]

The wife just takes a look at me unpacking orders with a grin in my face, rolls eyes and goes does off to do some sewing, gardening, housework or anything to keep her in touch with reality while I'm in this other world.

I can beat that: My wife helps me do detailed reviews of PCB artwork. We have an associate who does the layout, then I review the artwork trace by trace while she handles the schematic. She knows almost all schematic symbols now, and requires almost zero hand-holding. She marks what she's covered with a highlighter and has caught many an error. Our PCB guy now asks if SHE has signed off on a given board design, rather than me. I definitely married the right girl!

[tautech]

The wife just takes a look at me unpacking orders with a grin in my face, rolls eyes and goes does off to do some sewing, gardening, housework or anything to keep her in touch with reality while I'm in this other world.

I can beat that: My wife helps me do detailed reviews of PCB artwork. We have an associate who does the layout, then I review the artwork trace by trace while she handles the schematic. She knows almost all schematic symbols now, and requires almost zero hand-holding. She marks what she's covered with a highlighter and has caught many an error. Our PCB guy now asks if SHE has signed off on a given board design, rather than me. I definitely married the right girl!

Right.....until her fascination in your hobby wears off. 

Nearly 40 years ago as newlyweds I remember populating a stereo preamp kit so we could play our teenage acquired records on our old valve stereo system that wouldn't support a magnetic pickup. Her, armed with a resistor color chart and a component chart would pass me each component as I called out the R1/C2 whatever and after some time she got pretty fast at recognising values correctly......but now it's 'buy one already made and tested' !   

[IDEngineer]

Right.....until her fascination in your hobby wears off.

We've been married 40 years so she's had ample time to back away. Fortunately, she recognizes it's part of my profession and our income stream so she's very supportive. She also handles the accounting, taxes, etc. of our company so it's all just part of our environment.

She's picked up an impressive amount of technology in the past four decades. Early in our marriage when she got her degree, she was required to take a technology class of some sort. This was back in the 80's when PC's were "the new cool thing" at home and in the workplace. The professor started talking to the class about "RIOS". She bit her tongue but finally couldn't take it any more, raised her hand, and asked "What does RIOS stand for?" His answer: "Random Input/Output System". She could not let that go, and corrected him in front of the class. He replied with certainty that he was correct, and she countered with "My husband is an Engineer, and several of our friends are Engineers at HP [one of their T&M divisions used to be located here so he would have known about them], and I'll be happy to have them come to class to discuss it." She told me this the evening of the day it happened, and I told her to prepare for an F in that class!

Fortunately, the professor was a stand-up guy. He did his own research, owned up to his mistake in class, and they went forward on good terms. She got an A too.

I hear what you're saying, but at this point I think she's fully integrated (perhaps "resigned" is a better term?) into the architecture of our marriage. I'm not concerned. Yet.

[BravoV]

While on biz travel, out of town, spotted a local black smith at the town I visited, and ended up brought home a short sharp thingy. 

No, its not the elite high quality Japanese sword, but from little chit chat with the creator, he honestly admitted its from car's spring steel, once forged, its properly hardened (like properly quenched and etc) and also it was properly through 1 full day of tempering at exact temperature (if I'm not mistaken  ), and let it cooled slowly for few days, then did the finishing like sharpening and polishing with minimal temperature increase, and finally encased in hard Indian rosewood. I trust him after took a short tour around his workshop, it was fun. 

PS : Yep, it slices thru paper easily.

[rsjsouza]

That is beautiful, BravoV. It reminded me of all the armory shops at the Spanish city of Toledo and around El Escorial. Sure, there they may have been just "for tourists", but they were surely beautiful.

[TerraHertz]

While on biz travel, out of town, spotted a local black smith at the town I visited, and ended up brought home a short sharp thingy.
 []
PS : Yep, it slices thru paper easily.
(Attachment Link)

It's a tanto (I think.) Do you intend it for letter opening or seppuku?

https://jpninfo.com/41352
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakizashi

Here's a recent arrival of mine, far more mundane. A HP 5004A signature analyzer.
A lot of HP equipment of the vintage I favor has service manuals oriented to fault finding by 'signature analysis.' I've wanted an original 5004A for a long time, but vintage gaming machine enthusiasts also want them, and bid up the prices on ebay out of my preferred range.



This one is missing the carry handle, which reduces the appeal for collectors. Somewhat... it was still bid up, and US$82 isn't cheap imo. Anyway, it works, though needs a little work to repair a cracked PCB in the probe.
If anyone happens to have a wrecked one they could spare a carry handle off, please let me know.
Btw, yes I know the Sony/Tek 308/338 has signature analysis too, and I have those. But wanted a 5004A for historical reasons.

Incidentally, notice that the display is NOT hexadecimal. It's a funny symbol set unique to HP signature analysis. Here's the complete set, from the 5004A manual. They really wanted the letters "HP" in there. Spot the extra weirdness.

[BravoV]

It's a tanto (I think.) Do you intend it for letter opening or seppuku?

I guess, not much of a knife/sword/dagger aficionado my self. 

Well, its for anticipating the upcoming zombie apocalypse, who knows the Covid19 will be mutated and turns the infected into human flesh gnawing machine, better get prepared, right ?   

Pretty sure the thick blade will penetrate easily into the skull.   

[CatalinaWOW]

Incidentally, notice that the display is NOT hexadecimal. It's a funny symbol set unique to HP signature analysis. Here's the complete set, from the 5004A manual. They really wanted the letters "HP" in there. Spot the extra weirdness.

The hex characters B and D are impossible to uniquely represent with that 7 segment display, so something had to be substituted, or a more expensive display used.   H and P makes sense as substitutes and gives a tiny smidge of marketing.

[Nominal Animal]

Incidentally, notice that the display is NOT hexadecimal. It's a funny symbol set unique to HP signature analysis. Here's the complete set, from the 5004A manual. They really wanted the letters "HP" in there. Spot the extra weirdness.

The hex characters B and D are impossible to uniquely represent with that 7 segment display, so something had to be substituted, or a more expensive display used.   H and P makes sense as substitutes and gives a tiny smidge of marketing.

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[e-mfg]

Found a Weller Free Trial Offer today while shopping for tips today on All-Spec. Thinking about trying out the WX station and upgrading my old WESD unit!

https://www.all-spec.com/weller-try-then-buy

[duckduck]

Just a bunch of odds and sods that I have been missing for a while: some RG-174, soldering sponges, Y2 caps, switches and a few 0805 R's to help fill out the inventory binder.  I had to place an order for a single $15 chip with DK anyway having smoked the only one I had for my current project.  But SWMBO can't resist getting free shipping so it had to be expanded to $100.   
(Attachment Link)

The original inspiration for the buy?? An AD9833 DDS chip here...

Remember that Digi-Key offers free shipping to the USA and Canada:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/digi-key-has-changed-and-it-is-not-very-good/msg3273588/#msg3273588

[TerraHertz]

Rack M6 cage nuts and screws with those black plastic dress washers.
I'd found a bag of the washers a while ago, really like them. They look nice and prevent scratches on instruments.
But I used them all up and was too slack to search for a source to buy more.

Of course they are easy to find... here's an Aliexpress seller. I've bought 50 sets for US$13.50
When they arrive I'll find out if the store pics are CGI and if the things are even similar.  I notice the washers are said to be PVC not nylon. Not sure if that matters.


20210101 EDIT TO ADD:
They arrived. And they are nice. Added a pic.

[mansaxel]

Rack M6 cage nuts and screws with those black plastic dress washers.
<snip>
I notice the washers are said to be PVC not nylon. Not sure if that matters.

The originals (i.e what Schroff Pentair or Rittal are shipping in their accessory kits) are PVC too.

[Martin72]

My latest buy was two temp-sensors for my 2-ch thermometer.
Thermometer itself is good with a variety of playing arounds, only the sensors which are with it are cheap crap - Temperature jumps or connection gets totally lost when moving...
The new sensors are manufactured on demand and need in germany and looking very nice...

[basinstreetdesign]

Here's a recent arrival of mine, far more mundane. A HP 5004A signature analyzer.
A lot of HP equipment of the vintage I favor has service manuals oriented to fault finding by 'signature analysis.' I've wanted an original 5004A for a long time, but vintage gaming machine enthusiasts also want them, and bid up the prices on ebay out of my preferred range.

WOW!  I haven't seen one of those since 1982.  I built a custom computer for a motion picture film lab then and included signature analyses for fault finding.  Several systems were sold to other labs but I don't think I ever saw anyone using the signature analyzer.  I thought it was a neat idea, though.

[smaultre]

I bought some pretty thing too, its on the way for me!