What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[BU508A]

Bought today 14 of these: Analog Devices AD588BD
Payed a bit more than U$ 63,- for all (items, shipping, import fees and taxes)



Datasheet:
http://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/data-sheets/AD588.pdf

[medical-nerd]

How do you guys fund all this equipment?

20 years hoarding 'junk' and driving missus crazy until have time to enjoy hobby....now starting to enjoy...

Cheers

[PartialDischarge]

Bought today 14 of these: Analog Devices AD588BD
Payed a bit more than U$ 63,- for all (items, shipping, import fees and taxes)

Awesome chip, I'm currently building a 10V heated reference with it. Better than the LM399 in my opinion. 

[BU508A]

Awesome chip, I'm currently building a 10V heated reference with it. Better than the LM399 in my opinion.

I want to use it with a 14-bit DAC (AD7535BQ) to build a precise constant current source based on the design of Dr. Frank's DIY constant current source. If it is working well, I'll do a small batch of another five units.

[cowana]

The blue silicone mat? Yes, useful for me - it's good for soldering on, my bench top is not otherwise heat proof. Keeps tiny screws from rolling off too.

I'd agree - they're handy things! Good for not scratching my desk, and it's nice and soft for working with delicate items. Easy to wash when it gets dirty, and seems fairly heat resistant.

[Specmaster]

The blue silicone mat? Yes, useful for me - it's good for soldering on, my bench top is not otherwise heat proof. Keeps tiny screws from rolling off too.

I'd agree - they're handy things! Good for not scratching my desk, and it's nice and soft for working with delicate items. Easy to wash when it gets dirty, and seems fairly heat resistant.

I'd been thinking about getting one for a while but you've all convinced me  so I caved in and taken the plunge https://eu.banggood.com/Wholesale-Warehouse-DANIU-34x23cm-Heat-Insulation-Silicone-Pad-Desk-Mat-Maintenance-Platform-BGA-Soldering-Repair-Station-wp-Eu-1105515.html?rmmds=search

[skarecrow]

Anyone think this used power supply was worth $20? It's a piece of Radio Shack history, if that makes a difference. The store I stopped in today is days from closing forever, so they're selling EVERYTHING. They had a whole table of equipment that they actually used for repairing electronics! I don't even know what some of the stuff was, and everything besides the power supply was $100 or more. Assuming it works I think I did ok.  I like the volt range switch much better than the cheapie I got on eBay a few months back.

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[bitseeker]

$20 is good if it's working well. It's a bit different than the typical clone that you see all over the usual places. The voltage "range" switch looks like it's a combination of a set of fixed voltages (bypasses the coarse and fine voltage knobs) for convenience and a variable setting (0-15V) that enables the coarse and fine voltage knobs. An interesting feature variation to this style of supply.

[skarecrow]

The voltage switch seems to be working according to the display. I haven't checked it for accuracy yet. It's been a long day. Gonna leave it on my desk at work and head home.

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[Specmaster]

Sure looks like a cracking buy, even if it needs some work, well worth $20 any day of the week.

[cdev]

An while ago I bought a so called "946c" electric hot plate/preheating pad and I've only had the opportunity to use it a few times. I want to get a little more use out of it before I post any kind of report. But it works, it doesn't smell (that was my main worry)  and its been useful. And it was really a good deal for what I paid for it. ($45)

[skarecrow]

An while ago I bought a so called "946c" electric hot plate/preheating pad and I've only had the opportunity to use it a few times. I want to get a little more use out of it before I post any kind of report. But it works, it doesn't smell (that was my main worry)  and its been useful. And it was really a good deal for what I paid for it. ($45)

Radio Shack had what looked like that exact same unit without the Chinese writing on it for $100. What do they normally sell for? I'll be in the neighborhood tomorrow. Is it worth picking up?

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[gamalot]

Dave's uSleeve. Waiting for it to arrive.

me 2 

[rollatorwieltje]

I had some DealExtreme credits, so for shits and giggles I ordered some LED ceiling lights. I wanted to replace our halogen bulbs, but I couldn't find any modules with the same hole size, except these ones on DealExtreme.


Yep, looks like a good amount of propaganda on the box. They actually look quite nice. It's all (paper thin) aluminium. They weigh almost nothing, the entire package (6 units) is 360 gram according to DX.



Pinnacle of engineering, this separate LED driver. Notice the fake screw heads. Literally no attempt was made to hold the wires or the circuit board in place. I know where these modules will go, and it won't be my ceiling.



Dark Energy. Interesting name for an incendiary device.



Chip is a BP9021a. Interesting to see how little external components it needs. Note the fusible trace on the mains live.



The LED board itself, just 6x 0.5W emitters. The housing works reasonably well as a heatsink.


Those drivers are obviously landfill material, but the rest looks ok. If the LEDs turn out to be shit it should be easy enough to wire a new emitter in.

[mrjoda]

you know that feeling... you know that you need new pair of shoes and new jeans and you just opened ebay 

[cdev]

I have no idea what they normally sell for.. On ebay there seems to be a lot of sellers selling what looks like the same unit for a variety of prices..

I wouldn't spend $100 but for $45 its a good deal.

An while ago I bought a so called "946c" electric hot plate/preheating pad and I've only had the opportunity to use it a few times. I want to get a little more use out of it before I post any kind of report. But it works, it doesn't smell (that was my main worry)  and its been useful. And it was really a good deal for what I paid for it. ($45)

Radio Shack had what looked like that exact same unit without the Chinese writing on it for $100. What do they normally sell for? I'll be in the neighborhood tomorrow. Is it worth picking up?

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[skarecrow]

I have no idea what they normally sell for.. On ebay there seems to be a lot of sellers selling what looks like the same unit for a variety of prices..

I wouldn't spend $100 but for $45 its a good deal.

An while ago I bought a so called "946c" electric hot plate/preheating pad and I've only had the opportunity to use it a few times. I want to get a little more use out of it before I post any kind of report. But it works, it doesn't smell (that was my main worry)  and its been useful. And it was really a good deal for what I paid for it. ($45)

Radio Shack had what looked like that exact same unit without the Chinese writing on it for $100. What do they normally sell for? I'll be in the neighborhood tomorrow. Is it worth picking up?

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I looked on eBay too. They all seem to be Chinese cheapies. The one at Rat Shack may be of higher quality. I didn't get to stop there today like I wanted to. I was gonna show them the eBay listings that were $75 brand new and offer them $40. Sadly that store will likely be gone long before I'm in that area again.

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[polli]

Nice! Just got 6 old broken in some way PCs for free. I can start getting some desoldering practice.

I'm estimating that there are several hundred electrolytic caps. Considering I still haven't ordered any cap, I'm going to save them. Might be useful when I play with my first circuits.

As a rule of thumb, how many millijoules can I short with a screwdriver without damaging the caps?
I know that all these caps are most likely already completely discharged, and I even make sure with my multimeter, but i'm wondering about the general case.

[3db]

Nice! Just got 6 old broken in some way PCs for free. I can start getting some desoldering practice.

I'm estimating that there are several hundred electrolytic caps. Considering I still haven't ordered any cap, I'm going to save them. Might be useful when I play with my first circuits.

As a rule of thumb, how many millijoules can I short with a screwdriver without damaging the caps?
I know that all these caps are most likely already completely discharged, and I even make sure with my multimeter, but i'm wondering about the general case.

General case,don't use a screwdriver use a resistor.

[djos]

Nice! Just got 6 old broken in some way PCs for free. I can start getting some desoldering practice.

I'm estimating that there are several hundred electrolytic caps. Considering I still haven't ordered any cap, I'm going to save them. Might be useful when I play with my first circuits.

As a rule of thumb, how many millijoules can I short with a screwdriver without damaging the caps?
I know that all these caps are most likely already completely discharged, and I even make sure with my multimeter, but i'm wondering about the general case.

General case,don't use a screwdriver use a resistor.

Or a Brymen 235 DMM in AutoV LowZ mode. 

[Marco]

Bought a Feeltech FY6600S function generator since I wanted to play around with some ultrasonic disc transducers (which are still slowly making their way here from China). From a Chinese Ebay seller selling it from a Frankfurt warehouse for a really decent price, which since customs in my country is a bit of a bitch clinched it. Haven't done much with it yet, but I know someone asked for a pic from the inside in another thread so for the moment here seems as good a place as any.

Numbers erased from the ICs, but the DACs are likely overclocked DAC904s and the buffers I guess OPA690s (since that's what they use on Chinese DAC904 modules). Probably going to glue in a 15 Euro isolation transformer from Conrad.

[Specmaster]

Is it just me or does anyone think that solder joint to the rear top socket looks suspect?

[AF6LJ]

Is it just me or does anyone think that solder joint to the rear top socket looks suspect?

I'd give it a second look for sure.

[Jeroen3]

I bought one of these today to replace my VSP-2405 HE.

[skarecrow]

I bought one of these today to replace my VSP-2405 HE.

That looks sexy!

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