What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[MarkL]

What, no radio??

[blueskull]

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.

All small, bench-top Chinese laser engravers, including those certified and rebranded ones like Trumpf Laser and other well know brands, use this open design.
Statistic data don't lie.
There is a reason why K40 is enclosed, and this one is not.
FYI, checkout those laser rust removal videos, where workers shine those kW-level pulsed lasers on their own hands and get nothing but free hair removal.

Third, i wouldn't trust some janky laser goggles from an Alibaba seller, proper NdYAG goggles start at only 70 bucks.

I will test the goggles before trusting it. I have a 1064nm CW source and a frequency doubling sheet.

[_Wim_]

FYI, checkout those laser rust removal videos, where workers shine those kW-level pulsed lasers on their own hands and get nothing but free hair removal.

https://adapt-laser.com/laser-cleaning-safety-basics/

[_Wim_]

All small, bench-top Chinese laser engravers, including those certified and rebranded ones like Trumpf Laser and other well know brands, use this open design.

Those standalone lasers engravers typically need to be integrated in a machine, or at least the ones I know. I agree the information on the net is not always clear, but I doubt there is a laser engraver from a reputable brand were the manual states it can be used without a safety enclosure.

[Microdoser]

Got me a nice scope

[jonovid]

when ordering e-bike docking type Lithium Battery packs
buy all you need at one time.   
because the battery pack case designs can change without warning.  on-line shop images out-of-date? showing old case design.
leaving you with two or more incompatible battery packs that will not dock the same e-bike battery cradle.
even if the size watt/hr and voltage are the same.

e-bike battery case designs are not the same   

now the good news, ... battery chargers are identical .

[aargee]

Been there, done that with Hailong battery cases.  A right PITA.

[blueskull]

Those standalone lasers engravers typically need to be integrated in a machine, or at least the ones I know.

Just search fiber laser engraver on YouTube, and I don't see many use this in an enclosure.

FYI, those are marketed in China for use in the open public, for engraving souvenirs on street side markets or tourist destinations.

Sounds scary, but so far no reports stating they have blinded anyone.

Again, I need to stress the fact that those lasers are NOT collimated. They use a technology called f-theta lens, which allows for large area engraving without losing focus.

Essentially, the more the light bends, the longer the focal length is, so effectively at the same vertical distance it is always in focus, regardless what the hypotenuse length is.

However, once the vertical distance changed, it goes out of focus very quickly.

Typically you get ~3mm of travel before the laser loses enough focus and loses capability to do any damage to even organic matters, and for metal engraving, ~1mm, and I will be at least 30cm from it when it runs.

[TerraHertz]

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.

So far, nobody noticed (commented on) the detail that HP's 7-seg symbol set on the HP 5004A has two zeros. Resulting in potential ambiguities.  Probably not too serious for signature analysis, but still...

Did they do that just to save a few gates in the 4-bit to 7-seg decoder logic?

Another recent buy: HP 1670D. Cheap because of the broken knob, but it comes with the knob and appears to be a clean break of the shaft, ie can be glued.
Why? See my sig.

Incidentally, this may interest those doing HP LIF <--> PC DOS file interchange. The 1670D has HPIB, and quoting the programming manual:

The MMEMory (mass memory) subsystem commands provide access
to the disk drives. The HP 1670D-series logic analyzers support both
LIF (Logical Information Format) and DOS (Disk Operating System) formats.
The HP 1670D-series logic analyzers have two disk drives, a hard disk
drive and a flexible disk drive.

[MarkL]

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.

So far, nobody noticed (commented on) the detail that HP's 7-seg symbol set on the HP 5004A has two zeros. Resulting in potential ambiguities.  Probably not too serious for signature analysis, but still...
...

Ok, I'll comment.  It's a mis-print in the manual.  That snippet from the manual is showing *17* symbols because they accidentally duplicated the "0".  The output from signature analysis is still 4 x 16 symbols.

[I wanted a rude username]

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.

Surprised you didn't spring for the deluxe AN-8888S model ... or do you already have a toaster in your workshop?

[S. Petrukhin]

Tube 6LO1i

[IDEngineer]

Surprised you didn't spring for the deluxe AN-8888S model ... or do you already have a toaster in your workshop?

Doesn't that model's faceplate also hinge down so you can use its internal cavity as a toaster oven? I believe they run their TCXO so hot that it was just a natural "extra feature".

[Nominal Animal]

Surprised you didn't spring for the deluxe AN-8888S model ... or do you already have a toaster in your workshop?

Doesn't that model's faceplate also hinge down so you can use its internal cavity as a toaster oven? I believe they run their TCXO so hot that it was just a natural "extra feature".

I'm waiting for the model with the integrated kitchen sink.

[Johnny10]

An ESP32 CAM  that came today,
Damaged !!

Not from shipping.

I am doing quality control for Chinese manufacturer? I guess.
Ordered from US company.

[Ed.Kloonk]

Surprised you didn't spring for the deluxe AN-8888S model ... or do you already have a toaster in your workshop?

Doesn't that model's faceplate also hinge down so you can use its internal cavity as a toaster oven? I believe they run their TCXO so hot that it was just a natural "extra feature".

I'm waiting for the model with the integrated kitchen sink.

It's missing the transistor checker port.

[DrG]

From Pactec...after seeing them mentioned here many times, I finally tried them out. Received these quickly, well packaged, not scratched or soiled. I took advantage of their feature of letting you buy extra panels (I need to attempt making a bezel for a 1.8 LCD and have some doubts about getting it done in one try ). All good.

[AlfBaz]

Tube 6LO1i

I would love to see it lit up if you ever connect it

[DrG]

Only US$50

Need something to do while they count votes.

To follow up and in case anyone else is interested or thinking about android programming. I did get around to starting to play with this. It is pretty junky in the sense that it seems to be a 100% Google monstrosity (took 10 minutes to figure out where setup was to get to a screen for USB debugging).

I installed Android Studio and went through the tutorial here: https://developer.android.com/studio/write/layout-editor#intro I kept getting an error in the final app. I rebuilt it from scratch three times (which was actually a good learning experience) but still could not figure it out. I knew that a reference was off but I did not appreciate what an id is (I still may not). In this regard, I think the the tutorial is either outdated or unclear or wrong. Before building it a fourth time, I searched on the error and found this https://stackoverflow.com/questions/45377621/error-cannot-resolve-symbol-edittext-in-android-studio-myfirstapp-tutorial which was not a turnkey fix but was enough information to successfully complete and run the app.

I spent almost as much time getting a USB driver to run and work on an old Win7 box. Seems like I spin the same wheels every time eventually beating it into working.

The screen is nice. I have yet to root the machine but I only tried once (KingoRoot).

I never did anything with Android programming before so I can only say that if you want to get your feet wet, this worked for me. Not sure I even know enough yet to recommend Android Studio but it does work. Kotlin or Java - dunno, I went with Kotlin so far.

We'll see, next up (at least on the list) is to find some BLE devices.

[gamalot]

Olympus E-M10 Mark IV 

[Ed.Kloonk]

Olympus E-M10 Mark IV 

Nice.

[TerraHertz]

A pretty good test of whether the USA will have a general truckers strike or not. A couple of HP catalogs, recently departed from Forked River, NJ, on their way by road across the continent to LA.

They are the 1993 and 1996 editions. Gradually building my set. Currently:

[IDEngineer]

Those hardbound HP catalogs were my Christmas list every year as a kid. Santa never came through, sadly.

[Ed.Kloonk]

Those hardbound HP catalogs were my Christmas list every year as a kid. Santa never came through, sadly.

Should have waited for the following year to call out the drunken old fool. Chuck a tanty and punch him in the balls.

[Cubdriver]

A pretty good test of whether the USA will have a general truckers strike or not. A couple of HP catalogs, recently departed from Forked River, NJ, on their way by road across the continent to LA.

They are the 1993 and 1996 editions. Gradually building my set. Currently:

Ahh yes.  Crack catalogs.  May their travels be uneventful.

-Pat