What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[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.
[attachimg=1]

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.   
[attach=1]

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! 

[blueskull]

Yaesu FT3DR digital+analog UHF+VHF handheld ham radio. Just passed my class A operator's exam, and can't wait to join the party.

[Ed.Kloonk]

That's a big ten four.


Oh, wait..

[blueskull]

100 pcs of SK6805-based addressible LEDs.

Wasn't a big fan of those things before, mainly due to supply voltage sensitivity (WS2812 doesn't have a true current source driver, but just on/off PWM drivers) and the larger physical size.

SK68xx are current source-based drivers (full scaled limited by current sources, dimming is still PWM), and are available in 12mA full scale and 5mA full scale (SK6812 and SK6805).

And recent packaging technology allowed for economic packaging in down to 1515 size.

So it opened completely new possibilities like indicator usage on dense digital logic boards, where traditionally I could only fit 0402 packaged LEDs.

They do seem to prefer tighter timing than the WS2812, but nothing is too tight for an FPGA, and I use a small FPGA (or at least SiLego) on pretty much all of my designs to consolidate glue logics and declutter my PCB.

Seriously, if you previously thought addressible LEDs must be huge, think twice. This is literally smaller than a single 0402 with a ballasting resistor and routing space in between.

$0.07 each is certainly way more expensive than single LEDs, but the IO (daisy chain-able), PWM timer and PCB space saving are certainly worth the BOM cost even if you only need one color.

[blueskull]

EM-Smart 20W Q-switched fiber laser engraver for $3k. Certainly a huge step up from my Cubiio .



I know I spent the money of a MOPA engraver for a conventional Q-switched laser engraver, but I do love its smaller size and different design (rather than the three "traditional" designs every Chinese fiber engraver uses).

I feel comfortable for spending a bit more (I've seen sub-$1k machines of the same paper spec) to support innovation, and I believe if a company can design a new machine rather than using other people's design, they must know their business.

This device will be used in a few applications, including laser PCB etching (direct copper ablation), laser micro via drilling (for multi-layer PCB component embedding) and laser defined selective reduction (reducing CuO-epoxy mixture to Cu and water/VOC vapors), rest of common applications like engraving, marking and IC decapping.

[dunkemhigh]

Video not available here, but I found some other ones. Perhaps you could answer a couple of queries...

It's a laser, out in the open, 20W. What do you do for not just your eye protection but anyone that might be passing (or inqusitive cats)?

The ablated stuff has to go somewhere. What do you do about not getting it up your nose?

I'm kind of interested in replacing my PCB mill with a laser of some kind. Is this the sort of thing I should be looking at? It would be cool to be able to laser-cut stuff, but frankly my needs in that line haven't woken up yet.

[tautech]

EM-Smart 20W Q-switched fiber laser engraver for $3k. Certainly a huge step up from my Cubiio .



I know I spent the money of a MOPA engraver for a conventional Q-switched laser engraver, but I do love its smaller size and different design (rather than the three "traditional" designs every Chinese fiber engraver uses).

I feel comfortable for spending a bit more (I've seen sub-$1k machines of the same paper spec) to support innovation, and I believe if a company can design a new machine rather than using other people's design, they must know their business.

This device will be used in a few applications, including laser PCB etching (direct copper ablation), laser micro via drilling (for multi-layer PCB component embedding) and laser defined selective reduction (reducing CuO-epoxy mixture to Cu and water/VOC vapors), rest of common applications like engraving, marking and IC decapping.

Nice, you should start a thread about the stuff you do with it.
beanflying has one and posted some about it here:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/40w-300x200mm-laser-cutter-engraver-vollerun/

Last we heard he was building something much larger until 2020 issues got in the way.
Maybe try and make contact with the bean. 

[blueskull]

It's a laser, out in the open, 20W. What do you do for not just your eye protection but anyone that might be passing (or inqusitive cats)?

The beam is of fairly high divergence, and a few cm over focal plane it is no where close to be dangerous.

Also the wavelength is poorly absorbed by human eyes, and the device comes with a pair of 1064nm rated goggles.

The ablated stuff has to go somewhere. What do you do about not getting it up your nose?

That's why you need fume extraction, like soldering.

Here we have a Metcal drum style vacuum system at work, and just as normal COVID prevention, we wear masks whenever in an open area like our lab (i.e. not in my office or at home).

[dunkemhigh]

Thanks. That makes it annoyingly feasible

[beanflying]

EM-Smart 20W Q-switched fiber laser engraver for $3k. Certainly a huge step up from my Cubiio .


I know I spent the money of a MOPA engraver for a conventional Q-switched laser engraver, but I do love its smaller size and different design (rather than the three "traditional" designs every Chinese fiber engraver uses).

I feel comfortable for spending a bit more (I've seen sub-$1k machines of the same paper spec) to support innovation, and I believe if a company can design a new machine rather than using other people's design, they must know their business.

This device will be used in a few applications, including laser PCB etching (direct copper ablation), laser micro via drilling (for multi-layer PCB component embedding) and laser defined selective reduction (reducing CuO-epoxy mixture to Cu and water/VOC vapors), rest of common applications like engraving, marking and IC decapping.

Nice, you should start a thread about the stuff you do with it.
beanflying has one and posted some about it here:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/40w-300x200mm-laser-cutter-engraver-vollerun/

Last we heard he was building something much larger until 2020 issues got in the way.
Maybe try and make contact with the bean. 

100W CO2 is what I am building now over Summer is the current plan. Very different animal to a Fiber one.

@Blueskull some of Russ's playing with Fiber Lasers might be worth a look for you too 

[jogri]

It's a laser, out in the open, 20W. What do you do for not just your eye protection but anyone that might be passing (or inqusitive cats)?

The beam is of fairly high divergence, and a few cm over focal plane it is no where close to be dangerous.

Also the wavelength is poorly absorbed by human eyes, and the device comes with a pair of 1064nm rated goggles.

That's a really, really dumb idea to just run it in the open... The backscatter from a 20W YAG definitely has the potential to blind you. Second, the eye still kinda focuses at 1064, even though you can't see it. Third, i wouldn't trust some janky laser goggles from an Alibaba seller, proper NdYAG goggles start at only 70 bucks. Just get proper goggles and shielding for the laser... The cheapest option would be a plastic/wooden box with a webcam inside it, if you want to monitor the progression.

[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.

?
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Well you got me.  But I have always found that mix of lower and upper case representations both unsightly and a modest barrier to rapid comprehension.  I wasn't much thrilled by the game of putting 07734 in your calculator and turning it upside down to say hello either.  YMMV.

[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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Well you got me.  But I have always found that mix of lower and upper case representations both unsightly and a modest barrier to rapid comprehension.  I wasn't much thrilled by the game of putting 07734 in your calculator and turning it upside down to say hello either.  YMMV.

Right; I do believe it was a deliberate design choice on behalf of HP.  I can see the benefits of both; such small details are sometimes surprisingly effective.  Compare to e.g. rounded display corners on classic Mac OS; it's a very minor detail, but made a big impact on human users' brand awareness.

The above hexadecimal set on 7-segment displays is probably as old as seven-segment displays themselves, and I am 100% sure HP folks knew about it; just chose to not use it.  I was just surprised you seemed to be unaware of it, that's all.

[Mr.B]

This thing is just so hilarious that I just couldn’t resist.
I will only use its Bluetooth speaker functionality in my workshop.
I have no need for the DMM features as I have plenty of other better quality devices.
Ordered, but probably will not make it here before Xmas.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000343031770.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.76bf4c4dxlxkEp