What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[Specmaster]

Nice pics, but you would benefit from fitting a light ring to the microscope body if possible, to remove the uneven lighting, which model of microscope is it that you have?

[paulca]

Nice pics, but you would benefit from fitting a light ring to the microscope body if possible, to remove the uneven lighting, which model of microscope is it that you have?

The Andonstar M201.

I like the uneven light for photos, but the little stalk LEDs can be a bit annoying when working under it, moving the board around etc.

I might consider an LED ring light.

[Specmaster]

Do the boards work ok now you've re-flowed them?

[paulca]

Do the boards work ok now you've re-flowed them?

This was the second of this board.  "Flow" rather than "Reflow", but both worked first time.  I know I probably should have reflowed and realigned the PCM chip, but I got lazy and didn't want to stress it.  I tested each pin with a multi-meter and plugged it into the PC USB port.  Worked straight away like the first one.

[Specmaster]

Do the boards work ok now you've re-flowed them?

This was the second of this board.  "Flow" rather than "Reflow", but both worked first time.  I know I probably should have reflowed and realigned the PCM chip, but I got lazy and didn't want to stress it.  I tested each pin with a multi-meter and plugged it into the PC USB port.  Worked straight away like the first one.

What did you use, a hot air gun or an oven?

From mobile device so predictive text might have struck again [emoji83]

[paulca]

What did you use, a hot air gun or an oven?
From mobile device so predictive text might have struck again [emoji83]

Hot air with an 898D clone.  Seems to work quite well, but anything plastic or that sinks heat I tend to do with the iron, like jack/dc sockets, SMD electrolytics etc.  I found the plastic would sometimes melt before it flowed properly.  For the SMD jacks I spread paste on the pins but then touched the iron to them instead.

[frozenfrogz]

My auction win arrived today

Vision Mantis Elite V2 with x15 optics.
I ordered a x4 so I should be set for both SMD soldering and inspection in the future. Loving it so far! Very crisp image and I am astonished at how well the LED lighting works. Brightness is very even and just right.
The x15 optics has some minor scratches on the bottom side, but this does not seem to affect the image. As you can see it came complete with the anti-reflection hood (very handy with a window near by).
We’ll see how the multi-purpose arm plays along, should be good with lower magnification - the short focal area of the 15x is a bit more picky, but maybe I just need to tweak the spring settings of the arm a little.
 

[HecticZA]

My auction win arrived today

Vision Mantis Elite V2 with x15 optics.
I ordered a x4 so I should be set for both SMD soldering and inspection in the future. Loving it so far! Very crisp image and I am astonished at how well the LED lighting works. Brightness is very even and just right.
The x15 optics has some minor scratches on the bottom side, but this does not seem to affect the image. As you can see it came complete with the anti-reflection hood (very handy with a window near by).
We’ll see how the multi-purpose arm plays along, should be good with lower magnification - the short focal area of the 15x is a bit more picky, but maybe I just need to tweak the spring settings of the arm a little.
 

Congrats!
I also got a very cheap little G600 scope, but after seeing the toys you and Paulca aquired, it is not even worth calling it a microscope.



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[rdl]

I bought one of these Orico drive docks last month and just got around to checking it out. It seems to work fine, not bad for $22 (shipping included). I also got a Rosewill external 2.5" drive enclosure for $9.99 at the same time. No problems there either.

[frozenfrogz]

The G600 isn’t half bad as a soldering aid Considering bang for the buck it is very useful IMO. I would choose that over any USB microscope hands down. There is nothing worse than having to solder with screen lag from low data rate over USB.

[HecticZA]

The G600 isn’t half bad as a soldering aid Considering bang for the buck it is very useful IMO. I would choose that over any USB microscope hands down. There is nothing worse than having to solder with screen lag from low data rate over USB.

Yeah, at the moment it is sufficient for me. Due to Diabetes my eyesight is pretty poor and it helps a lot with regards to the smaller stuff. I haven't soldered anything really small with it yet. I'm waiting for a small practice board with some smd components, but that will only arrive in another two months or so.

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[GreyWoolfe]

I bought one of these Orico drive docks last month and just got around to checking it out. It seems to work fine, not bad for $22 (shipping included). I also got a Rosewill external 2.5" drive enclosure for $9.99 at the same time. No problems there either.

I like that, I can actually use one of them.  I will have to crack open the piggy bank.

[frozenfrogz]

I can now complete my little robot using the Pi, still needs tracks printing though and waiting on delivery of more bearings (4 each side and I ran out). I want to add a camera too.

Out of curiosity: Are you printing tracks from flex filament or interlinked solid parts? I remember having both options on some LEGO models back in the day and I always loved the look and feel from the interlinking ones. From the sturdiness and printability side I guess flex filament is the sane option but it is not as cool

[ChrisLX200]

I can now complete my little robot using the Pi, still needs tracks printing though and waiting on delivery of more bearings (4 each side and I ran out). I want to add a camera too.

Out of curiosity: Are you printing tracks from flex filament or interlinked solid parts? I remember having both options on some LEGO models back in the day and I always loved the look and feel from the interlinking ones. From the sturdiness and printability side I guess flex filament is the sane option but it is not as cool

Tracks made from solid links - 33 per side Held together with a length of 1.75mm PETG through each.

[frozenfrogz]

Neat! 

[bitseeker]

I can now complete my little robot using the Pi, still needs tracks printing though and waiting on delivery of more bearings (4 each side and I ran out). I want to add a camera too.

Out of curiosity: Are you printing tracks from flex filament or interlinked solid parts? I remember having both options on some LEGO models back in the day and I always loved the look and feel from the interlinking ones. From the sturdiness and printability side I guess flex filament is the sane option but it is not as cool

Tracks made from solid links - 33 per side Held together with a length of 1.75mm PETG through each.

Awesome! Looks like serious fun.

[PartialDischarge]

I got a Haefely Partial Discharge measurement unit, that as a plus comes with a Tektronix 5110 scope in it.
If i can get it to work I will use it in medium voltage experiments.

[hscade]

Some cartridges for my Metcal MX5000

[hussamaldean]

Pro's Kit 3 1/2 Digital LCR Multimeter

[BFX]

Few of those N type connector covers

[beanflying]

Arrived today and punished a bit. 180W DC load. Has some limitations but suck per buck is great. I also got its baby 35w brother which is a good bench toy.

Big one has no remote sense so I broke out the 10AWG gold test leads  0.15V drop at 15A including connections will be fine for most jobs. 84 degrees was the most it got to so it could be pushed toward 200w I guess.

Snap of typical test leads against the heavy ones. Nearly 2v drop at 15A on them.

[Specmaster]

Arrived today and punished a bit. 180W DC load. Has some limitations but suck per buck is great. I also got its baby 35w brother which is a good bench toy.

Big one has no remote sense so I broke out the 10AWG gold test leads  0.15V drop at 15A including connections will be fine for most jobs. 84 degrees was the most it got to so it could be pushed toward 200w I guess.

Snap of typical test leads against the heavy ones. Nearly 2v drop at 15A on them.

If those smaller leads are 18ga I'm not surprised as they are rated at 7A maximum capacity.

From mobile device so predictive text might have struck again [emoji83]

[beanflying]

Nothing on the outside of my standard test leads but I am sure the molded plugs won't be helping either. I wouldn't push them beyond 5A on most of my bench stuff. I have a bunch of shorter test/charge 10-12 AWG leads from Model Aircraft use.

I would have preferred to jump into a better quality load with more bells and whistles but this one for brute force with some extra meters doing the readings will do me for now.

[URI]

It* struck me once again..

Acquired an HP 34401A DMM today.
Do I really need it? I guess, no.      

I'm now looking for the space to fit it in ..somewhere between my HP 3457A, my three HP 3456A, my Philips 2534 and my Philips 2535..   

---
*- TEA 

[Mr. Scram]

It* struck me once again..

Acquired an HP 34401A DMM today.
Do I really need it? I guess, no.      

I'm now looking for the space to fit it in ..somewhere between my HP 3457A, my three HP 3456A, my Philips 2534 and my Philips 2535..   

---
*- TEA 

It seems to be raining 34401As on the forums lately.