What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[JustSquareEnough]

received this in the mail today, couldn't resist it when I saw it pop up in my saved 2225 ebay search.  still keeping an eye out for a hard copy version of the services manual.

Not sure when this one was printed but its the '87 revision...

[Mr. Scram]

My fault for being a bit dense, that definitely is interesting.

You're not dense, you just own a lot of gravity.

[neo]

My fault for being a bit dense, that definitely is interesting.

You're not dense, you just own a lot of gravity.

  Thats very true.

[technix]

So I just bought a few Xilinx CPLD, two Spartan-II FPGAs, and a few Microsemi ProASIC3 FPGAs, trying to break myself out of the Intel dependency on programmable logic. Although finding ways to program them can be a bit challenging. (Hopefully my recent confidence in STM32 USB programming would help.) Also for my i.MX233 project I might downgrade the EPM240 display bus demultiplexing CPLD down to a XC9500XL which is smaller yet still have enough I/O pins.

[nanofrog]

My fault for being a bit dense, that definitely is interesting.

You're not dense, you just own a lot of gravity.

Bahaha...

received this in the mail today, couldn't resist it when I saw it pop up in my saved 2225 ebay search.  still keeping an eye out for a hard copy version of the services manual.

Not sure when this one was printed but its the '87 revision...

Exceptionally clean IMHO. 

[JustSquareEnough]

received this in the mail today, couldn't resist it when I saw it pop up in my saved 2225 ebay search.  still keeping an eye out for a hard copy version of the services manual.

Not sure when this one was printed but its the '87 revision...

Exceptionally clean IMHO. 
[/quote]

very! fun to read through. no bent pages, spill marks, written, nothing

[Mr. Scram]

I didn't exactly buy it, but Santa got it for me. I asked for a wrench and because Santa overheard me cooing how much I liked my Knipex pliers he thought he'd do a proper job and buy me a Knipex one. I love it!

[Inverted18650]

I am in need of a nice 6 1/2 digit meter, so I gambled on this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Keithley-2000-Multimeter/263388432470?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

I have my fingers crossed I didn't just piss away $275. Seller states just needs a cal. Pictures show its been opened but I am hoping it was just in a rack. I'll know within a few days.

[Specmaster]

Yep, its been opened and not put back correctly thats a fact. Lets hope that its ok. Lets us all know if its alright when you get it please.

[Inverted18650]

Yep, its been opened and not put back correctly thats a fact. Lets hope that its ok. Lets us all know if its alright when you get it please.

For sure. I plan to film the unboxing as evidence in case I need to return it. Id still be out shipping each way, but I am/was desperate. I later noticed this item was the only one listed by this seller that had the yellow background as well, but the feedback looks legit enough. Hopefully I can run it into town for a cal and its good to go...

[Decoman]

[SOLVED: The soldering tip was not mounted properly into the holder] I just got this el cheapo digital soldering station in the mail today, but I haven't figured out how to start using it. Whatever value is set with the round knob, after a few seconds, the display flips to "005" and the soldering tip is cold and never ever heat up.

Either this unit is not functioning (the insides sort of look ok on a first glace, I mean the soldering station isn't empty inside or anything), or I don't know how to start using this. The round button/knob can be both rotated and pressed. I suppose there is some kind of energy saving feature that is at play, but it seems to be working too well.

I don't feel good about posting low quality stuff here on this forum, but it is what it is as they say. I thought a digital soldering station would be an upgrade to the plain soldering iron I think I have stashed away some place.


Btw, I opened this unit before ever using it. I am not qualified for testing electronic equipment, but at least I wanted to look inside to see if there was an effort made to ground the unit and the chassis. It sort of looks to me that this has been done, but I am thinking that the grounding wires are a bit thin. Also, not easily seen, there is a plastic sheet covering the top side of the unit. There is no isolation at the bottom though. The PCB is fastened to the bottom side of the chassis with strips onto four self adhesive sockets in plastic, one at each corner.

[Specmaster]

I would say that it is almost certainly faulty, shame the pictures are so small, I can't identify the model or anything else about it.

I have just purchased a similar one made by Quicko and sold by AliExpress and I'm very pleased and happy with its performance and it too was cheap when compared to some of the better known brand names.

[Decoman]

Problem solved! My soldering station is now working as expected! A brief moment after the unit is powered on, the display now show the temperature rising quickly.

So.. I had a closer look at how I had fastened the soldering tip/rod into the holder, and apparently I had mounted the soldering tip/rod wrong! So, apparently, with the soldering tip not properly seated into the holder, the soldering station idled in some off state.

I made the mistake of simply pushing the soldering tip into the holder, thinking I could just insert it and then fasten the locking screw. This was a mistake (!) The proper way to mount a solder tip/rod, is to REMOVE the cap and locking screw, then re-screw those two pieces on AFTER having inserted the soldering tip/rod into the holder.

[ChrisLX200]

Well it arrived today - an iPad mini    It's a long boring story, and I didn't buy it for myself anyway. Not even as a gift from myself. <sigh> an autistic daughter can be an absolute joy and treasure at times, but also an utter PITA during melt-downs. If you have autistic children then you already know this

[cdev]

Wow, that is very impressive. You likely will really get out a signal using that. Have you already got an antenna that will handle the full legal limit?

This deal has been in the works for some time now.
My labor, and parts fixing a Heathkit HL-2200 yielded these...


About 100' of 1" 5/8 hardline, and a box of connectors for same.

Then....

A Henry 3KA console amplifier, this needs work, and will be a project for this summer.

[AF6LJ]

Quote from: cdev on Today at 05:59:49 AM

Wow, that is very impressive. You likely will really get out a signal using that. Have you already got an antenna that will handle the full legal limit?
>Quote from: AF6LJ on December 26, 2017, 12:34:03 PM

This deal has been in the works for some time now.
My labor, and parts fixing a Heathkit HL-2200 yielded these...


About 100' of 1" 5/8 hardline, and a box of connectors for same.

Then....

A Henry 3KA console amplifier, this needs work, and will be a project for this summer.

My antenna will handle the legal limit, and then some so I am good.
Electrical service is another matter and I will have to make accommodations for that.
My SB-220 runs fine on 120V for sideband use but the Henry wants 240.

[djos]

Well it arrived today - an iPad mini    It's a long boring story, and I didn't buy it for myself anyway. Not even as a gift from myself. <sigh> an autistic daughter can be an absolute joy and treasure at times, but also an utter PITA during melt-downs. If you have autistic children then you already know this

We have 2 autistic children too (Girl 6 and a boy 4) so I feel your joy and pain. We bought both of ours iPads a couple of years ago and they are a very worthwhile investment, there's even a couple of good apps to assist with speech delays etc.

[Mr. Scram]

We have 2 autistic children too (Girl 6 and a boy 4) so I feel joy and pain. We bought both of ours iPads a couple of years ago and they are a very worthwhile investment, there's even a couple of good apps to assist with speech delays etc.

I was convinced autism isn't hereditary, but your remark made me check and it seems I was wrong there. It does seem to be quite a complicated subject, though.

Regardless, I learnt something today.

[neo]

We have 2 autistic children too (Girl 6 and a boy 4) so I feel joy and pain. We bought both of ours iPads a couple of years ago and they are a very worthwhile investment, there's even a couple of good apps to assist with speech delays etc.

I was convinced autism isn't hereditary, but your remark made me check and it seems I was wrong there. It does seem to be quite a complicated subject, though.

Regardless, I learnt something today.

Speaking from first hand experience, autism works in very odd ways. They say i'm aspergers and as a result my intelligence is off the charts, Einstein had a lower IQ, but my brain works in such a convoluted way that i can't fully USE the intelligence. At least not in any normal capacity.

[nanofrog]

Well it arrived today - an iPad mini    It's a long boring story, and I didn't buy it for myself anyway. Not even as a gift from myself. <sigh> an autistic daughter can be an absolute joy and treasure at times, but also an utter PITA during melt-downs. If you have autistic children then you already know this

We have 2 autistic children too (Girl 6 and a boy 4) so I feel joy and pain. We bought both of ours iPads a couple of years ago and they are a very worthwhile investment, there's even a couple of good apps to assist with speech delays etc.

FWIW, something like that would have been a Godsend to me as I don't hear words, but music (syllables = notes to me); so I have to figure out the pattern in regard to the context of the discussion/conversation.

That said, it's not a hindrance as it made me relatively OK at pattern recognition.

For disclosure, I try and look at the world from an opportunistic POV. Though quite difficult to pull off, it's much nicer than being a pessimist.

[Mr. Scram]

I think there are a few organisations that try to match employers with people with autism. The idea is that autistic people can do things others can't. Rather than looking at the limitations, the idea is to capitalize on the differences. If you see the world differently, that difference can be an edge that others don't have. Quality control and spotting things that don't fit the pattern would be a archetypal example and something some people with autism do very well, while other people struggle to do it consistently.

That seems to be a great idea. Rather than hoping people will have pity on someone with autism, it makes what people are an asset to the company. It's like the guy who invented post-its. At first he thought he invented a terrible glue, until he realized that the drawback could actually be a quality and figured out how to apply it with success.

[djos]

We have 2 autistic children too (Girl 6 and a boy 4) so I feel joy and pain. We bought both of ours iPads a couple of years ago and they are a very worthwhile investment, there's even a couple of good apps to assist with speech delays etc.

I was convinced autism isn't hereditary, but your remark made me check and it seems I was wrong there. It does seem to be quite a complicated subject, though.

Regardless, I learnt something today.

It seems there's a very large genetic component but they are still trying to figure it all out.

[djos]

We have 2 autistic children too (Girl 6 and a boy 4) so I feel joy and pain. We bought both of ours iPads a couple of years ago and they are a very worthwhile investment, there's even a couple of good apps to assist with speech delays etc.

I was convinced autism isn't hereditary, but your remark made me check and it seems I was wrong there. It does seem to be quite a complicated subject, though.

Regardless, I learnt something today.

Speaking from first hand experience, autism works in very odd ways. They say i'm aspergers and as a result my intelligence is off the charts, Einstein had a lower IQ, but my brain works in such a convoluted way that i can't fully USE the intelligence. At least not in any normal capacity.

My wife is fairly certain I have undiagnosed autism, I certainly fit most of the criteria. Personally I like being different, normal is boring. 

Btw iirc these days aspergers is not a separate diagnoses, it's another part of the autism spectrum.

[neo]

We have 2 autistic children too (Girl 6 and a boy 4) so I feel joy and pain. We bought both of ours iPads a couple of years ago and they are a very worthwhile investment, there's even a couple of good apps to assist with speech delays etc.

I was convinced autism isn't hereditary, but your remark made me check and it seems I was wrong there. It does seem to be quite a complicated subject, though.

Regardless, I learnt something today.

Speaking from first hand experience, autism works in very odd ways. They say i'm aspergers and as a result my intelligence is off the charts, Einstein had a lower IQ, but my brain works in such a convoluted way that i can't fully USE the intelligence. At least not in any normal capacity.

My wife is fairly certain I have undiagnosed autism, I certainly fit most of the criteria. Personally I like being different, normal is boring. 

Btw iirc these days aspergers is not a separate diagnoses, it's another part of the autism spectrum.

Yes one big spectrum, just like colors and thinking about it in those terms imagine apsergers as a shade.
Really its about like Pluto, its not a planet because they say it's not and have an almost obsessive need to fit everything into perfectly neat descriptions. Even that which is highly resistant to definitions.

[djos]

Yes one big spectrum, just like colors and thinking about it in those terms imagine apsergers as a shade.
Really its about like Pluto, its not a planet because they say it's not and have an almost obsessive need to fit everything into perfectly neat descriptions. Even that which is highly resistant to definitions.