Matt Mets @cibomahto@v.st
Joined Nov 2022
I think this qualifies as retro computing hardware these days. This fancy thing is a DVD+-R/RW drive rescued from my long-dead MacBook! I don't actually own any CDs to test it with so I had to borrow one from Honghong.
Wil je een kat adopteren? Onze vriend Thor zoekt een thuis! https://www.dierenasiels.com/dier/7498988C-A459-ABC3-6578AFC55E78F961
Found some generic test rigs we made for small productions back in the day. They are based on a Raspberry Pi 2, and have a variable power supply with current measurement, ARM and AVR programming headers, digital and analog IO, connectors for a 'start' button and pass/fail indicator LEDs, and an RTC (since you won't get internet access in a small Chinese CM, especially in 2016!)
One year tool review: This Wiha ESD safe small bits set works wonderfully for handling all manner of small screws and bolts. It's very compact, and I can always find exactly the end I need, much nicer than the drawer full of miscellaneous drivers that it replaces. https://www.eleshop.nl/wiha-micro-bitset-7000-sk65-esd-39971.html
The £22.50 Pimoroni microscope lens is a nice upgrade. The picture quality is good, and the mechanism is simple- you twist the lens to change the zoom, and physically move the lens further or closer to your object to focus, like a microscope. The aperture appears to be fixed. I'm waiting on a (used) industrial lens to try next. https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/microscope-lens-0-12-1-8x
These uPol micro dcdc converters from TDK are pretty neat- they sandwich the DCDC IC inside of a small circuit board, then mount an inductor and capacitors directly on top to save space. I was curious how they were packaged so I did some destructive analysis on one. https://www.digikey.nl/short/zz97bt5v
Happy catư̸̡̱̲̜̲̥͂̀͗̕͞͡ŕ̶̢̨̟̬̬͖̦̩̻̩̄̇͆̀͊̚͝d̸̳̘̜͎͖͇̽̅̑͘̚͢͡͡a̧̖̰̠̭̯̺̞͗͛́͗͋̿͐̕͠͝ͅỹ̧̨̬̪͇͕̖̘̾͑̐̓͆͋͌͌
Just noticed that the camera mount on our microscope is compatible with the rpi camera. My dream of having a one-click 'capture' button that saves photos from the microscope to our network drive is one step closer to reality!
Happy caturday to this little guy that's been hiding under our bed for the past month.
Apparently the fancy new underground bike garages at Centraal station close at night. The only signage for this appears to be a small placard at the bottom of the stairway.
Today I learned that coin-operated gas meters used to be a thing in the Netherlands
Joined Nov 2022
