What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[Tom45]

My Netgear FVS318 router has given me many years of trouble-free service. Maybe Netgear engineering has gone downhill in recent years.

[tooki]

A bunch of random stuff (much accumulated by mail at a friend's house in USA, from where I just returned):

Assembly Specialists (OEM 3M) breadboards and some new wire strippers and cable cutter. (The breadboards cost $168, including $22 shipping. The same items, branded 3M and purchased from Digi-Key, would have cost nearly $650!! And that's ignoring the minimum quantity of 10 for the gold-plated breadboard (at far left) which is a $262 special-order item from Digi-Key. It's $44 from AS.)





A set of 0603 multilayer ceramic caps, plus two empty SMD sample binders:





SMD-to-THT adapter boards:




(back)


Book on the history of vocoders (esp. in the context of cryptography, etc):





Book on the history of the Lockheed Skunk Works (well, looks like it's not US Gov't property any more! Besides, you'd think they'd be more specific... I'm sure the federal government has many bookshelves!)







Book about the SR-71, signed by the author (and this cost less than a new copy!):







Book about Zurich's trolleybuses (both history and technical info):







And now less technical stuff:


Another multiport USB charger and some more long USB cables:





The first installment of my Blackwing Volumes subscription (as it happens, the same edition Fran Blanche was gushing about recently):





And I finally got around to making a custom pencil case to throw in my backpack, with foam rubber to dampen the rattling and felt to protect sharpened pencil points:







And last but not least, a pair of the latest version of my favorite shoes, from Puma:

[Wigo]

How do you get them (assembly specialist) to ship to europe? Just asking?

[hugo]

How do you get them (assembly specialist) to ship to europe? Just asking?

You could use a Mail Forwarding service like this one:

https://www.shipito.com/en/

[Wigo]

How do you get them (assembly specialist) to ship to europe? Just asking?

You could use a Mail Forwarding service like this one:

https://www.shipito.com/en/

Thanks, i have not thought about that option 

[tooki]

How do you get them (assembly specialist) to ship to europe? Just asking?

I didn't. As I said, I had stuff sent to a friend's house in USA and I took it back with me when I went to visit.

If you have a friend going to USA soon, that's probably the very best way. Otherwise, a mail forwarding service like hugo suggested. Definitely not worth the cost and effort for just one item (just go with actual 3M from a local distributor), but for a larger amount would make sense.

[TERRA Operative]

Just picked up a HP 3476A 4-channel logging multimeter today at my usual Akihabara junk shop.

It's supposed to print the measured values to a receipt docket type paper roll, but the printer mechanism is missing, so unless I find a printer mech relatively cheaply, this one will be stripped down for parts in short order...

[McBryce]

It shouldn't be too difficult to decode the data being sent to the printer, why don't you build a small circuit to feed the data back to a PC or directly to a USB stick?

McBryce.

[TERRA Operative]

Yeah, I had that thought too, it would be a shame to strip this unit down if it is otherwise working. 4 simultaneous channels of datalogging could prove somewhat useful.
A USB port for a USB memory stick an arduino and an oled screen could make for a cool little addon module to sit where the printer used to be.

I'll probably end up finding space to store this thing and add it to my ever growing list of projects...

[McBryce]

And as soon as you've released the schematics for this mod, the ebay price of these will skyrocket

McBryce.

[bitseeker]

Yeah, no doubt, McBryce.

I look forward to seeing your mod, Terra. There's plenty of space on the front panel.

[hli]

A Peaktech 6181 lab power supply. I was looking for a multi-channel lab PSU for several years now, and only now got the budget free to buy one which is actually better than my DIY one (which is like 25 years old by now...). The Peaktech triggered all the boxes: 3 channels, all programmable, can deliver up to 6 amps for each of the two main channels, its programmable (and Ethernet is standard), showing both set values and current values. And its not as big as the DP832 (desk space is at premium for me).

So far I like it. Its rather quiet, the fans (one at each side of the big heat sink) only turn on with load. Once you pull 6 amps into 0.1 ohm they get loud though. Unfortunately these are 24V fans, so it won't be easy to replace them.
Noise and ripple at the output also look fine. I measured about 2mV p-p, and 5 in CC mode. There is also no overshoot. When turning it on, there is no voltage on the outputs (though I did forget to check the 3rd channel).
The output capacitors are 100µF, which means it takes several tens of milliseconds to ramp down the voltage when going into CC mode (for low current such as an LED - if you pull 1 Amp its much faster). Interesting: from the output voltage ramp down I calculated about 240µF capacitance, so maybe something is hiding somewhere...

I have two UI nitpicks: the buttons for the 3rd channel are on the right, but the outputs are on the left side. That's confusing, and they are also not color-coded as the main channels are. And the 'Mode' button sitting so prominently between the main channel controls does not change the output mode (serial, parallel or tracking) as I would have expected, but only the display mode (showing all three channels or only 1+2). Would have been much better the other way round...

I was able to connect with EEZStudio, but there is not documentation about the available SCPI commands

Build quality looks good, most of the space is taken by the two(!) transformers and the heat sink. I did not dare to take out the main board, as its firmly attached to the heat sink (via all the transistors).

[McBryce]

You know that Peaktech is just a re-badger? The device is actually an Owon ODP3063, so the SCPI commands should be identical if you can find a programming manual for that.

McBryce.

Edit: Prog manual and PC software here: https://www.owon.com.hk/products_owon_3-ch_output_with_2-ch_0-30v%7C6a_and_0-6v%7C3a_programmable_dc_power_supply

[VK5RC]

Hi Terra-Op , I have a couple of these units - they are a sweet little unit - the printer is a bit of a headache - as all electromechanicals are I suppose, the manual on Keysights website is mostly unreadable - I have an original which I have scanned + photographed - if you need a copy PM me, it is a huge file 200M or so I recall.
If I recall the printer unit is not a lot different from some of HP others thermal printers eg in HP thermal printers for 41CV calculators eg HP 82162A - I am not sure if identical but pretty close.
Regards Rob

[GK]

The '175 has been the mainstay at every place I've worked at for the last 20 years - I just wanted one of my own. The 1242 was one of the last from the on-line Jaycar bargain bin - got it for substantially less $ than the Fluke. Was surprised by the large test/calibration report that the 1242 came with. I like this Keysight a lot better than my old(ish) Agilent U1241A.

Next up is either a Keysight 34450A or a Fluke 8808A 5.5 digit bench DMM - am giving myself until tomorrow evening to make up my mind. I have an ancient Fluke 8502A (6.5 digits in high res mode) but it needs an little renovation now and something decent to calibrate it against.

[TERRA Operative]

Hi Terra-Op , I have a couple of these units - they are a sweet little unit - the printer is a bit of a headache - as all electromechanicals are I suppose, the manual on Keysights website is mostly unreadable - I have an original which I have scanned + photographed - if you need a copy PM me, it is a huge file 200M or so I recall.
If I recall the printer unit is not a lot different from some of HP others thermal printers eg in HP thermal printers for 41CV calculators eg HP 82162A - I am not sure if identical but pretty close.
Regards Rob

Well I guess it's settled. I'll refrain from parting this one out and see what I can do about making it work in some way.
I do like the idea of that addon module with usb etc... It might be a little while before I look at it, but I'll add it to the todo list.

If we can somehow get that manual you scanned to me, that would be awesome.
I have photoshop and acrobat etc, so I might even be able to crunch it down in size without noticeably sacrificing quality too (well not too much anyway...).

[bitseeker]

It'd be great to see it working again, TO.

[bitseeker]

I have two UI nitpicks: the buttons for the 3rd channel are on the right, but the outputs are on the left side. That's confusing, and they are also not color-coded as the main channels are. And the 'Mode' button sitting so prominently between the main channel controls does not change the output mode (serial, parallel or tracking) as I would have expected, but only the display mode (showing all three channels or only 1+2). Would have been much better the other way round...

That is odd. The UI nitpicks I had are that (1) the outputs are not in ascending channel order (which is related to your first nitpick), (2) as a result of #1, the channel display order doesn't match the physical order, and (3) the channel label colors don't match the channel screen colors.

Maybe Owon will at least fix the color mismatch in a future firmware update.

Seems nice, overall, though. It's especially good to hear that it doesn't blow up circuits when powered on.

[rsjsouza]

The '175 has been the mainstay at every place I've worked at for the last 20 years - I just wanted one of my own. The 1242 was one of the last from the on-line Jaycar bargain bin - got it for substantially less $ than the Fluke. Was surprised by the large test/calibration report that the 1242 came with. I like this Keysight a lot better than my old(ish) Agilent U1241A.

Congratulations! I had a 179 and it was a very nice meter - had to sell it to cover for my U1273A, which is more suitable for what I do.

I also have the U1242C's cousin U1282A (spawned by a U1273A Keysight recall) and it is very similar in size and I was told in functionality as well. They are great meters.

[hli]

You know that Peaktech is just a re-badger? The device is actually an Owon ODP3063, so the SCPI commands should be identical if you can find a programming manual for that.

While I did know that Peaktech does that, I didn't know that the original supply is the Owon one. Probably would have spared me some waiting time (and maybe even some money, the Owon seems to be less expensive...). One difference to the Owon: the Peaktech unit does not have binding posts, the connectors are recessed.

Edit: Prog manual and PC software here: https://www.owon.com.hk/products_owon_3-ch_output_with_2-ch_0-30v%7C6a_and_0-6v%7C3a_programmable_dc_power_supply

Thanks for that link, this was what I was looking for!

[hli]

That is odd. The UI nitpicks I had are that (1) the outputs are not in ascending channel order (which is related to your first nitpick), (2) as a result of #1, the channel display order doesn't match the physical order, and (3) the channel label colors don't match the channel screen colors.

I didn't notice the color issue until you told me. Probably because I was going by the orders of the channels, which match the buttons (but not the outputs). Interestingly the pictures Owon shows on their product page have matching colors on the screen.

[djos]

I bought a couple of reels of cheap 60/40 rosin core solder to replace the expensive 63/37 rosin core crap I tried and hated.

I don't get it, the cheap stuff happily works really well at 330c-360c but the Loctite (formerly Multicore) spits like crazy even at 270c and just doesn't seem to adhere like rosin core solder should. 

[netdudeuk]

I bought a couple of reels of cheap 60/40 rosin core solder to replace the expensive 63/37 rosin core crap I tried and hated.

I don't get it, the cheap stuff happily works really well at 330c-360c but the Loctite (formerly Multicore) spits like crazy even at 270c and just doesn't seem to adhere like rosin core solder should. 

Seems like you were lucky if you find the newer solder to be better -

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/solder-quality/msg606232/#msg606232

[GK]

The '175 has been the mainstay at every place I've worked at for the last 20 years - I just wanted one of my own. The 1242 was one of the last from the on-line Jaycar bargain bin - got it for substantially less $ than the Fluke. Was surprised by the large test/calibration report that the 1242 came with. I like this Keysight a lot better than my old(ish) Agilent U1241A.

Congratulations! I had a 179 and it was a very nice meter - had to sell it to cover for my U1273A, which is more suitable for what I do.

I also have the U1242C's cousin U1282A (spawned by a U1273A Keysight recall) and it is very similar in size and I was told in functionality as well. They are great meters.

The 175/179 are the proven tanks of the DMM world. These days for the same or less $ you can get substantially better features, counts and accuracy (for example my U1242C), but there aren't many other (almost an industry standard in a way) DMMs around with the same proven track record for reliability. I've used ones which had been abused for years and years and have never encountered one that gave me any issues. Can't say the same for my very much not abused Agilent U1241A, which I've had to open a couple of times now (dodgy continuity buzzer and switch contact issues). I hope that my new U1242C fares better. Fluke will probably keep making and selling the 175/179 for a pretty penny for a long time yet.

I just hit the debit card a bit harder than what I had originally intended for my bench DMM upgrade - a brand new Keysight 34460A (6.5 digit) is scheduled to arrive Tuesday.

[Kjelt]

I always wanted this beauty.
So when it popped up at an auction I probably overbid but I finally have it in my shack 

I am a big fan of Delta Elektronica power supplies not because they are dutch but because of their excellent service.
Even if you purchased a PSU 2nd hand and some small thing is missing like a knob or stuff like that they sent it usually for free as service.
Datasheets are no problem as long as the model is no longer for sale, so if you got the newest stuff you have to wait but some time you will get it.