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What's your latest tech purchase?

jesdals said:
Will try the hairdryer - no sun in Denmark before spring its freezing cold and rainy here until april :)
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Damn right ..... the sun is there....somewhere, hiding :wtf:
But to the topic...just bought the ROG Strix Scope II 96 keyboard....pre-lubed NX Snow switches....man what a feeling. Best gaming keyboard I ever had.
 
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dragontamer5788 said:
A 5-digit Benchtop Multimeter.

These things normally run at $2000+, but I found a used electronics shop (https://accusrc.com/) selling an old 1990s model (the Fluke 45) for only $120. Albeit with some parts missing, a few broken bits of plastic, and a dim screen... but hey, it actually works so I'm happy (and at a small fraction of the costs of a new 5-digit multimeter).

Seeing 500.00 mV measurements is pretty crazy when I think about how accurate/precise the parts are inside of this multimeter.

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I'm measuring odd effects in my circuits in the ~50-microvolt range, the ADCs of my chips seem to be messing up at this range and I'm not understanding why. Then again, this is an effect that I can only see because I have such a precise multimeter now. So maybe I should stop caring about such a minor difference and call my current project complete. I was aiming at 99.9% accuracy, but I'm closer to 99.7% accurate even after calibration, and I'm not really sure where this little bit of error is coming from.

99.7% is... still pretty good though and I'm proud of my results.
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Any pics?
 
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unwind-protect said:
Any pics?
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I have pictures of my Version3 circuit.

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Version4 is superior, fixing numerous issues while cutting $5 in costs / BoM. No pics of Version4 yet.

It basically just runs the AA Battery dry while telling me (within 99.7% 99.97% accuracy) how much current came out of the battery. This device has found ~4 AA-batteries out-of-spec in my collection of AA rechargables (I **KNEW** some of those were giving me low-battery life! Some were as low as 700mAh instead of the 2000mAh specified). These things happen after ~5 years of using rechargable batteries, so I wanted a way to tell my good-batteries from bad-batteries.

Should I spend $20 to replace my collection of AA NiMH rechargables with a new set from Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-AA-Rechargeable-Batteries-Pre-charged/dp/B007B9NV8Q?th=1)? No. Its a far better idea to build 4x different custom PCBs and spend like, $500 on electronics to figure out which of the 4x AA cells in my collection were bad. Obviously.

The Fluke 45 looks... like a Fluke 45. I think you can get any stock photograph and see what that multimeter looks like.

This Ebay Listing picture basically looks identical to what I have.

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So... NOT my picture of a Fluke 45, but it gives you the gist of what it looks like.
 
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Trust but verify.
Have you calibrated and checked against inviolate test material?

Betting you find more worth here than bi-decade battery exams.
 
Some more of them
paid around 5 euro for these

4x Mmore DVD-RW
17x Lifetec CD-R 80min
CD-R (Around 25 on the spindle)

With these prices, it's nice to have some in stock
cd.jpg
 
nomdeplume said:
Trust but verify.
Have you calibrated and checked against inviolate test material?

Betting you find more worth here than bi-decade battery exams.
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So 2x batteries were busted in my collection when I was testing Version3 of my circuit. Version3 had a bunch of problems, but it was good enough to find the "really bad" batteries vs the good ones.

Then I made Version4 (OSHPark) based design, instead of DKRed, just trying different PCB manufacturing firms. Anyway, I needed a bunch of batteries to test so... I just retested all my batteries again. 2x more are dying. (!!!!).

I've come to the conclusion that one of my battery chargers is busted: its literally killing my AA Batteries. In fact, you can hear the venting / popping sounds from this one faster-charger than all of my other chargers, but only under certain circumstances. Furthermore, I charged all of my AA batteries on this one charger for the tests with V3 (it was the fastest charger I got). So for 2x more batteries to die through "normal usage" suggests something very, very wrong with this charger.
 
dragontamer5788 said:
I've come to the conclusion that one of my battery chargers is busted
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If you are using faster of the recommended manufacturer branded chargers for bog standard rechargeable pictured above. Pops and sparkles would be a major STOP and run them outside to a safe place situation. They are beyond safe to the point of slowly killing the battery purposely to avoid issues from way overextending number of charges they can withstand.

Danger plays into any above consumer level battery chargers. Such as would meet the interests of someone picking up a vintage Fluke bench model and building circuits. AA or AAA batteries are specifically called out as no-go areas with them. :laugh::fear:
 
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nomdeplume said:
If you are using faster of the recommended manufacturer branded chargers for bog standard rechargeable pictured above. Pops and sparkles would be a major STOP and run them outside to a safe place situation. They are beyond safe to the point of slowly killing the battery purposely to avoid issues from way overextending number of charges they can withstand.

Danger plays into any above consumer level battery chargers. Such as would meet the interests of someone picking up a vintage Fluke bench model and building circuits. AA or AAA batteries are specifically called out as no-go areas with them. :laugh::fear:
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NiMH is safe, there's a bit of H2 that gets vented with these pops, but its very little. Its not like Li-ion chemistries.

This popping sound (likely the venting sound) is definitely not a good thing, but its pretty safe for me. Just terrible for my batteries.
 
got a lil protective case for my inspiron 15
Amazon-com- mCover Case Compatible ONLY for 2021-2023 15-6- Dell Inspiron 15 3510 3511 3515 35...png
 
archie_kaos said:
View attachment 325248

@AAF Optimus
I got it now - the Local-Dealer got it today ready for pickup. Manufactured in Week 42 this Year (smells fresh from the Factory in Mexico). I will test it and look how it performs in another Thread - this will take some time.
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I bet you can pair it with a Haswell on X99 and it will run despite being "only" compatible with 8th gen onwards.
 
A brand old Tokina AT-X 124 AF PRO DX, (read : a 12-24 f/4 for DX camera) 2nd hand from 2004.
(was replaced in 2009 by a .II version with built in AF for Nikon. This one relies on DSLR AF motor)
Who said photography is expensive ? 90 € for this one, superb condition, working flawlessly !
The massive shifting to mirrorless camera tends to lower the price of "classic" dlsr hardware.
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A set of HTC's "Vive Ultimate Trackers" to go with my VR headset.
VIVE-Ultimate-Tracker_3-plus-1.jpg
 
Ordered some accessoiries for my airfryer.

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A red LED flashlight to preserve night vision; the problem was finding a single mode unit so it has no flashing option.

Red LED.jpg
 
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I am obsessed now… qk100 keeb just arrived with 4 others on preorder sharing this beauty



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