What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[Jeroen3]

I bought a new 24" monitor (AOC I2490PXQU/BT) for my desk to replace the old one (Acer S231HL). It started to show bright and dark spots for some reason.
Now I have no more bright spots, and an adjustable stand!

[tautech]

A week or so ago I finally got up a multi band antenna - so it was worthwhile getting out an old boat anchor I scored a while back, a Yaesu FT 101. The last weekend I have spent trying to get it in order.
The lower sideband oscillator isn't oscillating. 
I have desoldered and checked the transistor, the resistors and capacitors - found one slightly lifted pad - frustratingly it works for a while then goes silent. I have 'cheated' and bought another "Modulator board" PB 1184 - the one closest to the main dial. I will prob have a go at fixing the board again when I don't feel like hitting it with something hard and heavy.

Heat related ?
Some freeze spray and a hot air gun might help you zero in on it.

Lock the hammer away to resist the temptation to use it. 

[Specmaster]

A week or so ago I finally got up a multi band antenna - so it was worthwhile getting out an old boat anchor I scored a while back, a Yaesu FT 101. The last weekend I have spent trying to get it in order.
The lower sideband oscillator isn't oscillating. 
I have desoldered and checked the transistor, the resistors and capacitors - found one slightly lifted pad - frustratingly it works for a while then goes silent. I have 'cheated' and bought another "Modulator board" PB 1184 - the one closest to the main dial. I will prob have a go at fixing the board again when I don't feel like hitting it with something hard and heavy.

Heat related ?
Some freeze spray and a hot air gun might help you zero in on it.

Lock the hammer away to resist the temptation to use it. 

No need to buy expensive freeze spray, just use a can of compressed air held upside down, has the same effect but much cheaper.

[tautech]

A week or so ago I finally got up a multi band antenna - so it was worthwhile getting out an old boat anchor I scored a while back, a Yaesu FT 101. The last weekend I have spent trying to get it in order.
The lower sideband oscillator isn't oscillating. 
I have desoldered and checked the transistor, the resistors and capacitors - found one slightly lifted pad - frustratingly it works for a while then goes silent. I have 'cheated' and bought another "Modulator board" PB 1184 - the one closest to the main dial. I will prob have a go at fixing the board again when I don't feel like hitting it with something hard and heavy.

Heat related ?
Some freeze spray and a hot air gun might help you zero in on it.

Lock the hammer away to resist the temptation to use it. 

No need to buy expensive freeze spray, just use a can of compressed air held upside down, has the same effect but much cheaper.

Some years back I happened to be in the right place at the right time and scored a couple of boxes of 12 aerosols, gave one to a electronics mate and have hardly used any of the one I kept, but if I ever need it............... 
Jammy I guess.

[Specmaster]

Maybe this forum needs a top tip section where little gems of useful info like this and many others I have read could be collated together?

[VK5RC]

I would agree re the 'top tips' but the hardest part is indexing it.
I tried the heat technique but the components (through hole) are literally touching each other, it didn't start it back up.
I think i will replace the lot in 2 stages, 1st resistors, transistor and caps, then the crystal!    Bah humbug!

[jmelson]

A few old IBM boards... I just liked the way they looked. Any ideas as to what they actually do?

Top one I'm pretty sure is a memory card out of an IBM 4341 or similar mini-mainframe.

[Specmaster]

I would agree re the 'top tips' but the hardest part is indexing it.
I tried the heat technique but the components (through hole) are literally touching each other, it didn't start it back up.
I think i will replace the lot in 2 stages, 1st resistors, transistor and caps, then the crystal!    Bah humbug!

Did you try the freezing technique as well?

[jonovid]

adjustable USB video microscope aluminium alloy stand is excellent value for money. not made of plastic!
bonus  comes with a free battery powered DVR microscope with mini video screen, is included & AC battery charger.

[VK5RC]

I would agree re the 'top tips' but the hardest part is indexing it.
I tried the heat technique but the components (through hole) are literally touching each other, it didn't start it back up.
I think i will replace the lot in 2 stages, 1st resistors, transistor and caps, then the crystal!    Bah humbug!

Did you try the freezing technique as well?

Yup, using the upside down 'air duster' technique.

[Specmaster]

adjustable USB video microscope aluminium alloy stand is excellent value for money. not made of plastic!
bonus  comes with a free battery powered DVR microscope with mini video screen, is included & AC battery charger.

Yep, I got one of those as well, only slight problem with it is that the stand could a couple of inches higher as at full height, the field of view is still very narrow compared to other microscopes on the market. Otherwise, it is extremely good value for money.

[jonovid]

adjustable USB video microscope aluminium alloy stand is excellent value for money. not made of plastic!
bonus  comes with a free battery powered DVR microscope with mini video screen, is included & AC battery charger.

Yep, I got one of those as well, only slight problem with it is that the stand could a couple of inches higher as at full height, the field of view is still very narrow compared to other microscopes on the market. Otherwise, it is extremely good value for money.

can add your own DIY baseplate see the two screws at the base , or swivel the upright 180 degrees for more field of view, to the side of the baseplate that can be placed on a book or other item.  posted this, so others can get a better look, at the stand. 

Update-
the battery powered DVR microscope has a better optical system for focus range then the other cheap USB units I have.
this DVR microscope go's from close up of just 3mm across, focusing at distance of 3cm. wayout to 5cm across, focusing at 30cm to 40cm distances.
making it the best cheap microscope for electronics work IMO. 

[beanflying]

I actually had one of those arrive yesterday. Needs nearly full height for the Lifecam/DIYHK lense so I will be adding a block before I finally mount it on my soldering setup. Only mod needed for the cam was some longer 5mm screws.

I have some better lights on my soldering stand which will help the image too also need to get away from the Microsoft stock software.

Nice mechanics for a cheap stand 

[Insatman]

Old HP8654A signal generator.   A bit worse for wear and storage.  Inside has some corrosion due to storage conditions and 3 of the front panel knobs were cracked.   So I opened her up and cleaned with alcohol.  Used some DeOxit on the switch contacts and 3D printed some slip-over knobs.  She is working very well with the full range of 10MHz to 520MHz and a bit more on each end to boot.  Not bad for $50 plus another $27 for domestic shipping here in Philippines.

[tautech]

Old HP8654A signal generator.   A bit worse for wear and storage.  Inside has some corrosion due to storage conditions and 3 of the front panel knobs were cracked.   So I opened her up and cleaned with alcohol.  Used some DeOxit on the switch contacts and 3D printed some slip-over knobs.  She is working very well with the full range of 10MHz to 520MHz and a bit more on each end to boot.  Not bad for $50 plus another $27 for domestic shipping here in Philippines.

Nice.

I started a thread for the 'B' model I got not long ago:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hp-8654b-10-520-mhz-sig-gen-light-teardown/

[Insatman]

Old HP8654A signal generator.   A bit worse for wear and storage.  Inside has some corrosion due to storage conditions and 3 of the front panel knobs were cracked.   So I opened her up and cleaned with alcohol.  Used some DeOxit on the switch contacts and 3D printed some slip-over knobs.  She is working very well with the full range of 10MHz to 520MHz and a bit more on each end to boot.  Not bad for $50 plus another $27 for domestic shipping here in Philippines.

Nice.

I started a thread for the 'B' model I got not long ago:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hp-8654b-10-520-mhz-sig-gen-light-teardown/

Nice pictures of your B unit.   Mine lacks the hinged top mounted PCB.   I don't know what the other differences are.   Your's looks like it was taken care of much better than mine.  I suspect mine spent some time in an unairconditioned humid space here in philippines before I bought it.   Thankfully the oscillator appears to be a sealed unit just like yours.

[tautech]

Old HP8654A signal generator.   A bit worse for wear and storage.  Inside has some corrosion due to storage conditions and 3 of the front panel knobs were cracked.   So I opened her up and cleaned with alcohol.  Used some DeOxit on the switch contacts and 3D printed some slip-over knobs.  She is working very well with the full range of 10MHz to 520MHz and a bit more on each end to boot.  Not bad for $50 plus another $27 for domestic shipping here in Philippines.

Nice.

I started a thread for the 'B' model I got not long ago:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hp-8654b-10-520-mhz-sig-gen-light-teardown/

Nice pictures of your B unit.   Mine lacks the hinged top mounted PCB.   I don't know what the other differences are.   Your's looks like it was taken care of much better than mine.  I suspect mine spent some time in an unairconditioned humid space here in philippines before I bought it.   Thankfully the oscillator appears to be a sealed unit just like yours.

Thanks.
Mine came from a customer that had a # of them in an equipment room where they 'lived' until needed for lab tuition needs. AFAICS the modulation functions in my 'B' aren't working but that's not what I got it for which is mainly for checking -3dB BW of scopes. Unless I get terribly bored it's probably going to stay that way.

The Cavity oscillator is where most of the 'magic' happens and as that's working OK I'm not planning to go anywhere near it. 

[paulca]

Not as impressive as your microscopes and antique CROs,

I just bought enough LED spot light bulbs to replace all 20 around my house.  Dropping the lighting from an average 100W per room to 10W per room.

Also going to replace the uplighter in my man-cave with a DC 12V 3W LED spot bulb which will run off the solar power.

Also contemplating replacing the 400W floodlight bulb in the living room uplighter with an LED variant.

Estimate total spend £60.  If I could be bothered I could work out the ROI on that, I expect it will be quite short.

Every little counts.

[ChrisLX200]

Clueless as to where the problem might be..

If it is running Windows 10 check if the drivers have been updated.  If so, it should let you roll back to the previous version.  Until next time they update. ..

It's Win7-64 but there is no output at all - no BIOS boot up display so nothing to do with the OS..

Replacement video card finally arrived today (GTX 1060) and is installed - works great. Nothing visibly wrong with the original on cursory examination but there's definitely no output from it, so looks like it goes in the bin

[Specmaster]

Replacement video card finally arrived today (GTX 1060) and is installed - works great. Nothing visibly wrong with the original on cursory examination but there's definitely no output from it, so looks like it goes in the bin

That's the problem with a lot of the newer stuff these days and graphics cards are a prime example, they contain heaps of the very smallest SMD parts which make for a difficult repairs and with many parts not being marked or colour coded and the lack of service manuals makes it almost impossible to identify what value a part should be, even IC's many manufacturers will wipe the marking so that they chip cant be identified.

[paulca]

I'm glad I live in Ireland.  We have zero snakes.

The way it's coiled suggests it's some species of viper, I assume you believe it's not dangerous?

[TheSteve]

Not something I bought, but I found a green gopher snake on my ground floor.

What a cute little guy, once again roaming in the backyard I hope?

[Decoman]

I ended up buying a knife online and the time was right as I finally figured out what kind of knife I wanted, and then after much, much, much searching and researching I ordered a dual grit 400/2000 sharpening stone (made in Germany), and then I watched a video showing how one might want to prepare the same type of sharpening stone by flattening it and chamfering the edges.. so I ordered 100 and 400 grit silicone carbide (powder) to get to grind the sharpening stone against a piece of glass, to prepare the stone.. Well, I had fun.

[cdev]

The head doesnt look as wide as a rattlesnake's head is.

But its my understanding that all snakes can still bite. (even if they are not venomous)

This one looks kind of cute, though. He looks like he's wondering if he's scaring you with his rattlesnake act.

As somebody who has stared down a real (and big) rattlesnake in a battle to the death,  I feel qualified to make that statement. LOL.

So presumably you escorted your guest outdoors?

How cold is it outdoors, is it freezing? if the weather is abnormally cold, he likely came in to get warm.

Ive seen fairly large snakes in my back yard too. (Not far from NYC) As big as that one. Never seen a rattlesnake here though. They are here but not so easy to find. Not like in California. (where you see them all the time in some areas)

Also we have colorful salamanders, including endangered blue ones. They all are very pretty.

Its surprising how much wild life there is around here. Ive often seen large male deer with large antlers.
Almost like elk. 

Also turkeys, foxes, and it's my understanding we also have the occasional bobcat although Ive never seen one.

A mountain lion was also found dead along a road in Connecticut in 2011, but it was determined that it had literally walked its way across the country from the Black Hills area of South Dakota by its DNA.

[McBryce]

Not something I bought, but I found a green gopher snake on my ground floor.

What a cute little guy, once again roaming in the backyard I hope?

The cute little guy went with animal control.

I always send things back if they rattle on arrival

McBryce.