What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[deadlylover]

I bought some Panduit branded cable ties, I've always just used the supermarket or local hardware store generic brands. Now I don't know if it's just placebo but they do seem a little nicer ahahha.

Kind of hard to find them in Australia so I just went to Arrow and sorted by price ascending. Two or three cents each isn't tooo bad. 

Fun little selection guide to send you down a rabbit hole.

[beanflying]

I have been looking at some better marking out gear for my old eyes (Timber, Plastic and metal) and decided my Piggybank wouldn't run to Incra or https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/MirockToolworks (could have designed and Lasercut my own but his are nice   :-  )

So Aliexpress price point and save more $ for TEA https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000338734447.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.77794c4dKpx3Iu

This actually seems decent. You'll have to update us with the results in a few weeks when it arrives. Genuinely interested!

So the new toys arrived a few days ago.

Really nice to use and all came shipped in foam and cardboard boxes. Finish and accuracy is great fits a 0.5mm Pencil, marking knife or my Tungsten scribe nicely in the holes and slots. The edges and slots are crisp but not sharp and no burrs that are an issue to tear skin and make red stuff leak onto the job. The Squareness of the ruler guides has a little play to tweak if needed but if you want 'square' use a square instead then use these for marking out distances or just check the angle prior to use if it is critical.

Nice addition to the tools anyway.

[armandine2]

Picked up from the mail depot today - attached ? picture

yesterday FET circuits by Rufus P Turner arrived at the door

day before an overnight courier delivery  of  Kikusui power supplies!

[AaronLee]

I bought a used Agilent E3631A triple output DC power supply that looked like it had seen a lot of use, based on the photos. But what arrived was a Keysight E3631A instead, which looked as though it was never even used. The manufacture date was 2017. I'm not even sure when that power supply was discontinued, but I was totally chuffed to get a much newer and nicer piece of equipment compared to what I was expecting.

[Cubdriver]

I bought a used Agilent E3631A triple output DC power supply that looked like it had seen a lot of use, based on the photos. But what arrived was a Keysight E3631A instead, which looked as though it was never even used. The manufacture date was 2017. I'm not even sure when that power supply was discontinued, but I was totally chuffed to get a much newer and nicer piece of equipment compared to what I was expecting.

Sweet!  Nice when things work out that way!

-Pat

[TerraHertz]

Some more HP and Tek service and user manuals. Plus an old (1960, 61) Delco semiconductor datasheet collection.

[AaronLee]

Based on how loved it seems to be by members here, I ordered my first bench multimeter - the Keithley DMM6500. Can't wait to get it and try it out.

[EEVblog]

I bought a new storage space 

[gamalot]

Today I got the J-Link EDU I ordered from DigiKey. For those who are curious, the hardware version is V11.

[Cubdriver]

I bought a new storage space 

More storage space is always good!

-Pat

[wkb]

I bought a new storage space 

"such are the ways of the packrat" 🤫

Speaking from experience here..

[beanflying]

This is Big Clives 'fault'  I brought 10 Remote controlled LED Acrylic Blade holders for $55AUD (about $40USD) delivered. I had made a few in the past with either 3D printed or Laser cut bases but the cost of these makes these a no brainer for smaller blade projects.

eBay auction: #363365038088



Still like my custom ones but sometimes you just need to go  at the price of evilbay junk

[jonovid]

Solder Pot 

ok ..In the interest of safety    I am saying  it came with no cord

its 38 x 40mm  550 °C  at 150 Watt

have not tested it yet.
as I do have a 220v autotransformer for the AU 240v

 
a word about poor solder pot designs
as in infinity pool design or egg cup design is a lot better, then this type of recessed pot design
as large pcb's can be made to lie flat on the solder pool, the solder pot pool comes up to the brim & has a lower gutter that exses solder drains into 
as recessed cup designs fail to let you do this. IMO

[mansaxel]

Solder Pot 

ok ..In the interest of safety    I am saying  it came with no cord

Soo.. The 2-prong mains cable that is there is fitted .. by whom? Since there are NO traces of the dual insulation that would be a requirement for a Euro-flat-style plug to be allowed, I'd like to point out that such a device desperately needs a PE connection, and a 3-conductor mains cable.

[wkb]

Shiver..  indeed, no way a 2-conductor mains cable should be fitted on such an appliance 

[McBryce]

Solder Pot 

ok ..In the interest of safety    I am saying  it came with no cord

its 38 x 40mm  550 °C  at 150 Watt

have not tested it yet.
as I do have a 220v autotransformer for the AU 240v

 
a word about poor solder pot designs
as in infinity pool design or egg cup design is a lot better, then this type of recessed pot design
as large pcb's can be made to lie flat on the solder pool, the solder pot pool comes up to the brim & has a lower gutter that exses solder drains into 
as recessed cup designs fail to let you do this. IMO

Interesting. I have the exact same solder pot (edit: No, but extremely similar - 100W 220°C to 480°C), but branded CMW. It came with a 3 way earthed plug: https://de.banggood.com/CM360A-100W-200-480-Degree-Solder-Pot-Soldering-Desoldering-Stainless-Steel-Plate-p-1045343.html

McBryce.

[rsjsouza]

A pair of ancient 5-¹/₄ FDDs: Toshiba 5471 L0K and TEC FB-503

Both were reported as non-working, but upon closer inspection I can tell the TEC has residue around some recently replaced capacitors (by the previous owner). The Toshiba was reported as new by the previous owner and no residue is visibile - it might either be hidden under the ultra-small capactors (all 1980's ELNA) or simply a misconfiguration on its jumpers.

 

[rdl]

I bought one of these GPS modules. Not really sure why, except for some vague idea of using it as part of a clock.



https://www.amazon.com/Acxico-Satellite-Positioning-Development-Arduino/dp/B083X5Y5NM/

It seems to be working okay. They give you very little instruction on how to use it and the software from u-blox was a confusing mess to get set up correctly. I don't know how well the built in antenna works other than to say, sitting on my bench for 20 minutes about 10 feet from a window it never got a lock. luckily I had also bought this separate antenna. I put it on the windowsill and within just a few minutes of hooking it up it was locked.

https://www.amazon.com/Bingfu-Waterproof-Navigation-Adhesive-Receiver/dp/B083D59N55/

[jonovid]

A pair of ancient 5-¹/₄ FDDs: Toshiba 5471 L0K and TEC FB-503

Both were reported as non-working, but upon closer inspection I can tell the TEC has residue around some recently replaced capacitors (by the previous owner). The Toshiba was reported as new by the previous owner and no residue is visibile - it might either be hidden under the ultra-small capactors (all 1980's ELNA) or simply a misconfiguration on its jumpers.

 

them  old 5-1/4 FDDs   they came with a ball screw & many salvageable parts   

[TerraHertz]

Solder Pot 

No no, it's a solderING pot. Only for soldering. No unsoldering allowed!

But seriously, apart from the fanciful lack of mains grounding, is that a crude triac power controller with no actual temperature sensor of any kind on the solder pot?  Really?

[McBryce]

Solder Pot 

ok ..In the interest of safety    I am saying  it came with no cord

its 38 x 40mm  550 °C  at 150 Watt

have not tested it yet.
as I do have a 220v autotransformer for the AU 240v

 
a word about poor solder pot designs
as in infinity pool design or egg cup design is a lot better, then this type of recessed pot design
as large pcb's can be made to lie flat on the solder pool, the solder pot pool comes up to the brim & has a lower gutter that exses solder drains into 
as recessed cup designs fail to let you do this. IMO

Decided to take a look inside mine for comparison. Slightly better on the safety side. Case earthed (with an eyelet and screw!). Fuse in a holder, but similar "let's hope for the best" control circuitry with no feedback loop.
Before you say "but they've put the switch on the neutral instead of the live", it doesn't make it any less safe when you have a German power plug that can be plugged either way around.

McBryce.

[rsjsouza]

A pair of ancient 5-¹/₄ FDDs: Toshiba 5471 L0K and TEC FB-503

Both were reported as non-working, but upon closer inspection I can tell the TEC has residue around some recently replaced capacitors (by the previous owner). The Toshiba was reported as new by the previous owner and no residue is visibile - it might either be hidden under the ultra-small capactors (all 1980's ELNA) or simply a misconfiguration on its jumpers.

 

them  old 5-1/4 FDDs   they came with a ball screw & many salvageable parts

Hehehe... These even have 1.8º and 3.6º beefy stepper motors!

But at the moment I intend to restore them as some folks around my area can use a spare drive or two on their ancient computers.

[Ed.Kloonk]

Old disk drives make great music instruments.

[rsjsouza]

Yes, I love those. The ones that get me are Floppotron's Billie Jean, Beat it and the Doom theme.

[vk6zgo]

Solder Pot 

No no, it's a solderING pot. Only for soldering. No unsoldering allowed!

But seriously, apart from the fanciful lack of mains grounding, is that a crude triac power controller with no actual temperature sensor of any kind on the solder pot?  Really?

Looks like a similar setup to the little "El Cheapo" soldering iron I bought at Jaycar a few years back as a quick " work around" when my Weller died.

Maybe some supplier is stuck with a huge stock of those triac controllers unsold, as nobody buys lamp faders for home incandescents anymore.