Recent Posts

1

Microcontrollers / Re: ELM327 (serial to OBDII CANbus converter) discontinued

« Last post by NiHaoMike on Today at 01:15:24 pm »

Or KWP2000 fast.
Or KWP2000 slow.
Or ISO9141-2 (K-line, older stuff).
Or SAE J1850 VPW.
Or SAE J1850 PWM .

OBD2 is not "just CANBus".

Are any cars still using something other than CAN?

2

General Technical Chat / Is LinkedIn worth keeping?

« Last post by hans on Today at 01:14:15 pm »

I am genuinely wondering why I'm still on LinkedIn and if I should keep it. The feed page is like Facebook nowadays. Lots of circlejerk, plain commercial advertisements, etc. Maybe its great for "public speakers" or sales people to get a kick from their delusional circle of influence.. (they appear as "recommended" from nowhere) but to me plain social media garbage. For this reason I ditched Facebook about 10 years ago. I also don't like my data being in the hands of a large corporation.

However, in contrast to Facebook, to me I perceive LinkedIn to have some value from e.g. network connections, jobs section or heck.. try to play a game with recruiters to snatch a better deal. However are these points really worth it vs the cons?

It's not like I'm chatting with my professional network on a daily basis. In reality, it never happens spontaneousely..

The recruiters are a hassle. Some random kid straight from corporate BS school with zero people knowledge.. giving sparse details on a job that probably doesn't exists.. in the wrong area.. the wrong industry.. the wrong pay.. only to catch a commision. Their 2nd InMail always asks for a phone number so they can keep on bugging you for years to come.

So that leaves only the jobs search section of their website. But I wonder if that's really a high enough USP against competing vacancy sites.. or doing my own scouting for interesting companies/jobs and applying directly instead.

I wonder what guys think?

3

Dodgy Technology / Re: 10ah 18650 cells

« Last post by xvr on Today at 01:13:47 pm »

99% of batteries on Ali are a fake Use another supplier (https://hobbyking.com/en_us for example)

4

Beginners / Re: Help identifying these possibly RF/Microwave components?

« Last post by kevin.gibbs on Today at 01:11:43 pm »

Yes, some of them are old Soviet parts. I have seen such parts in ancient devices manufactured about 40-50 years ago.

5

Repair / Re: HP54600B with spike problem with and without signal

« Last post by sacha on Today at 01:11:12 pm »

Hi  fmashockie,

Sorry but I can't see the page, try sending me the link.

6

Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff / Re: Arduino Stand Alone Programmer

« Last post by wofritz on Today at 01:09:56 pm »

You need a device where the binary to be programmed is stored and that supports the programming protocols.

I use my Android smartphone for this instead of the computer for portable programming. There are apps that can program an Arduino via bootloader or ISP interface. You need an USB "OTG adapter" for your phone that converts the smart phone USB port to a PC like USB port. Then you need a matching USB cable to connect to the device to be programmed. I have 3 types of units "in the field" with different programming interfaces:

1. "Rev 1 hardware": Real Arduino Nano with USB port: Standard USB cable
2. "Rev 2 hardware": Arduino compatible (with boot loader) but without the USB-to-serial chip: USB-to-serial converter cable with TTL outputs
3. ATMega 8 based board with ISP interface: home made Arduino based ISP programmer

I use the "ArduinoDroid" for the boards with boot loader and "ZFlasher" for the board with ISP.

7

Repair / Re: HP54600B with spike problem with and without signal

« Last post by sacha on Today at 01:07:53 pm »

This scheme is also very similar to the 54600b

8

Test Equipment / Re: Choosing between entry-level 12-bit DSOs

« Last post by Fungus on Today at 01:06:26 pm »

I would not stress potential hacked, extreme-bandwidth applications here. Very few users will try to go there. But even without considering hardware hacks, it is worth mentioning that 2 GSa/s (as in the SDS800X HD) are sufficient to support 200 MHz bandwidth in 4-channel mode, while 1.2 GSa/s (DHO800/900) are not.

I don't see that as much of a problem in practice, especially if you're aware of it. Four simultaneous 200MHz signals aren't easy for hobbyists to find. It's really easy to drop down to two channels if you're in doubt. You'll probably see a difference on the Siglent, too, if it's anything more than a simple sine wave.

If you're always working at 200MHz on four channels then you need a better 'scope than either of these. Probably active probes, too (if you're using probes).

9

Beginners / Re: Switching a 3KW (240V) immersion heater: Solid state or mechanical relays?

« Last post by 5U4GB on Today at 01:06:06 pm »

To put that into context, feast your eyes on this delicacy:



It's an LED downlight with a 1m power cord attached to it.  So you install it into your ceiling and then... ahhh... WTF?

The regulations say that as a home owner you're not allowed to mess with house wiring, so to legally sell something like this it has to be able to be plugged into a standard power outlet.  Which this is, and it's not the seller's responsibility to check how it really ends up being used once you get it home.  The Russian term vranyo applies magnificently.

10

Test Equipment / Re: Multimeter selection for production testing

« Last post by joeqsmith on Today at 01:02:56 pm »

For production, I would have thought calibration and service was a big deal but never made the list. 

**
Also, I would think it would need to be something you could replicate (build more fixtures assuming expansion).