Homemade x-ray inspector reveals PCB secrets
John McMaster has written an article detailing his homemade x-ray scanner: In some previous posts I talked about getting an x-ray head working, reverse engineering an x-ray sensor, and working with LinuxCNC. In this post I put them all together so that I can take a bunch of x-ray...
Continue ReadingSimple and small temperature fan control
Xristost published a new project, a simple and small temperature fan control: I published this schematic long ago in this article: Adjustable power supply and since then I made some improvements in PCB to make the board as small as possible. The idea is to be easy to attach the whole...
Continue ReadingToshiba launches 256-Gbit 48-layer 3-D NAND flash
by Susan Nordyk @ edn.com: Ready for sampling in September, Toshiba’s 48-layer BiCS (Bit Cost Scalable) flash memory stores 256 Gbits using a 3-D vertically stacked cell structure and 3-bit-per-cell triple-level cell technology. By employing this 48-layer vertical stacking process,...
Continue ReadingWireless Nixie Thermometer
by christian.ich.7 @ instructables.com: The Target of this Project was to learn how to use different functions of the atmega: • Connecting two Atmegas with a wireless connection • Each Atmega has a Thermometer (DS1621) to read the actual temperature • Use the sleep Mode...
Continue ReadingArduino Chess Clock
by benhur.goncalves @ instructables.com: Hey folks! After making an Arduino smartwatch just last week, I received many complaints,or tips, to use a RTC (real-time clock) module. That's because the Arduino timer is not very precise, it can lose a couple a minutes along a full work...
Continue ReadingDesign & simulate in the clouds
by Michael Dunn @ edn.com: It was a few years ago that I first heard of a free site where you could draw and simulate designs. "What's the point?" I thought. But, the idea is taking off. Was I wrong? I questioned the usefulness of this cloud concept because there had already long...
Continue ReadingSupercap energy density rivals batteries
by Martin Cooke @ elektormagazine.com: A novel design of supercapacitor using a hybrid silica sol-gel material and self-assembled monolayers of a common fatty acid has been developed by researchers working at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The device is said to provide an...
Continue ReadingTeardown, Repair & Analysis of a Rohde & Schwarz FSH3 3.0GHz Portable Spectrum Analyzer
In this episode Shahriar examines a faulty R&S FSH3 100kHz – 3.0GHz Portable Spectrum Analyzer. This exceptionally dirty unit does not power on and is missing a power supply and battery. After verifying the correct operation of the battery charger circuit and keypad the problem...
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