What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[bob225]

Way back when, I had a short term contract building the green arrows for traffic lights, They used round tapered prisms around 75mm tall, with a cap pressed on the back to accept a fibre optic harness - The fibre optics are mounted in resin with a halogen bulb clipped into a housing the later ones had simple cob led setup to replace the bulb, iirc the led boards where £350 each at the time   

[tooki]

I think I have a reason to why Japanese traffic lights are blueish.

Here's my hypothesis: Maybe when incandescent lights were used,  blue lenses were used so that with the yellow incandescence it would make 'green'. Then when they retrofitted LED bulbs, be it green or white, the different colors would appear. Giving the blue-greenish tint or the blue tint. Not to be confused to the newer and modern installs where the whole light is just an array of green, yellow, or red LEDs. 

I have seen city maintenance taking one apart and the incandescent bulbs painted in the specific color even thought the lens had a color to it. It was off so I couldn't see if it was green or blue.

I don’t think LED retrofits were ever put behind the lenses of old fixtures. (Nor does it make any sense to use white LEDs, wasting tons of energy as heat, when native green exists. And since native green LEDs are essentially monochromatic, their color won’t be changed by a filter.

But I do believe you’re right as to them choosing turquoise filters to try and appear more neutral green with incandescent bulbs.

[technix]

I just bought two 4.3in capacitive multi-touch LCD modules: one using 16-bit MPU interface with 800x480 resolution, one with RGB888 interface and 480x272 resolution.

That RGB one seem like a good fit for V3s. The MPU interface one seemed like a good fit for i.MX233 and MC68010..?

[GreyWoolfe]

I finally got around to getting one of these, 11 mm.  It will be living a very comfortable life in my work toolbag for a very specific purpose of loosening and tightening 2 nuts in a tight spot on occasiona and will make my life easier.  I have tight time frames for repair due to SLAs and the ratchet action will speed things up.  The flex head was the most important part.  Anyway, does anyone really need an excuse to buy a new tool?  

[Moonbase]

A Fluke 8840A bench multimeter including the AC-09 option off ebay. Supposedly working, otherwise condition unknown … Looking forward to the shipment!

TEA, anyone? 

[Specmaster]

I ordered 100 of these little tactile switches today.

Oooooh, two-pin! That’s unusual!

Yep, thats because I got them primarily to replace defective switches on the front panels of audio gear such as TEAC DAB/FM/AM/CD receivers and other similar things in their range that all use these switches. I recently had to replace all 11 of these on a front of one receiver because it would not switch on and that is because every single of those switches was open circuit. Fitted new switches and it sprung to life again and has been saved from becoming landfill.

[frozenfrogz]

I bought two electronic screwdrivers today.
Both are made in Japan by Shirakawa Densei Co., Ltd. (since 2000: Shirakawa Nitto Kohki Co., Ltd.)

#1 is a Delvo DLV7331-CKF  0.3 - 1.2 Nm with DLC1212-GF power supply
#2 is a Delvo DLV7540-MKE 1.2 - 2.7 Nm with DLC4510-JE power supply

I also ordered a Fein 90801012008 zero gravity mini balancer (0,5 - 1,5 kg). This one should play nicely with the ca. 650g of the DLV7540. Before getting a second one, I want to try it with the DLV7331 (350g), but I guess another option is needed.

[FrankBuss]

A Fluke 8840A bench multimeter including the AC-09 option off ebay. Supposedly working, otherwise condition unknown … Looking forward to the shipment!

They are still very useful instruments. I bought a 8842A with the -09 true RMS AC option, and the -05 IEEE-488 option, which both work fine, and calibrated some years before. I especially like the very high input impedance for voltage measurement (> 10 Gigohm). How much did you pay for it? I got mine for EUR 281.50.

[Specmaster]

I agree, they are really good meters, I myself have a 8840A and a 8842A fully specced with the AC and the GPIB options fitted.

[vk6zgo]

Much more important today: The blue colour is not used in any other traffic sign or lighting.
Therefor very easy and fast recognizable.

Thanks for the info.
Just FYI, I think you mean “traffic signals”, aka “traffic lights” (Ampeln), and those never use blue. Signs are the printed things (Strassenschilder), and those most certainly are routinely made in blue.

A bit off topic, but does anyone remember when there was a big fuss about luminescent sign material?
The idea was that it was printable, just like normal stuff, but if it had a DC voltage aplied to it, would glow.
Manifold uses were forecast for this "wonder material" ----the problem was that all the jobs suggested were
very effectively done by reflective signs, which require no power supply.

By the way, do any other countries other than the UK use illuminated "keep left" & "one way" signs?

[TERRA Operative]

Japan uses some illuminated signage. Mainly LED based or backlit plastic like a shop sign.

The stuff you are referring to is EL panel, like EL wire. It is mostly used for back lighting small displays and other niche applications.

[vk6zgo]

Japan uses some illuminated signage. Mainly LED based or backlit plastic like a shop sign.

The backlit ones are the ones I remember in the UK.
Of course, my visit there was many decades ago, so they may have changed over to LED ones.

The stuff you are referring to is EL panel, like EL wire. It is mostly used for back lighting small displays and other niche applications.

Yep, that's the one!
There was an article in "Electronics Australia", back in the day, proposing multiple uses for it in street signs & so on.
I though at the time it was all nonsense, considering all the reflective signs already in use.

[frozenfrogz]

There was also a project by Studio Roosegaard and Hejmans in 2012, where they developed some night glowing paint that charges over the daytime and glows for about 8 hours.

[Mr. Scram]

Sure. I apologize. My "dumb" fault.   
I stand to be corrected. It is all about traffic lights and lighting in traffic, of course.
Every traffic sign regarding the destination of highways (Autobahnen) is blue with white lettering on it, for example. Some other "normal" traffic signs, too.

But I asume: That´s enough OT...

Spain has LED versions of regular signs, like when entering tunnels. Those are blue and white. I linked it below, as it's a large image.

https://eenews.cdnartwhere.eu/sites/default/files/images/01-edit-photos-uploads/2011/led-2011-07-july/deva-vms-1g3l12-montenegro.jpg

[Kjelt]

I bought two electronic screwdrivers today.
Both are made in Japan by Shirakawa Densei Co., Ltd. (since 2000: Shirakawa Nitto Kohki Co., Ltd.)

Beautifull, how much are those new and what did you pay for them if I may ask ?

[Specmaster]

There was also a project by Studio Roosegaard and Hejmans in 2012, where they developed some night glowing paint that charges over the daytime and glows for about 8 hours.

That's a clever idea, why hasn't it taken off?

[frozenfrogz]

I bought two electronic screwdrivers today.
Both are made in Japan by Shirakawa Densei Co., Ltd. (since 2000: Shirakawa Nitto Kohki Co., Ltd.)

Beautifull, how much are those new and what did you pay for them if I may ask ?

SRP is something like: DLV7331-CKE 440€, PSU DLC-1213A-GGB 210€, DLV7540-MKE 525€, PSU DLC-4511-GGB 250€ (prices + VAT, from weidinger.eu) but I paid 135€ inkl. VAT plus shipping!

There are currently two units of (I guess) DLV7331, one is missing the torque selection wheel including PSUs on eBay Kleinanzeigen for 150€ asking price. If you are interested, I could negotiate for you.
These pop up on eBay and small ads quite frequently for decent prices though. I had to research quite a bit to get an overview on all the models (which is of course part of the fun in hunting down lab stuff).
Both units I bought take standard  1/4’’ hex bits, while others may need special halve-round driver bits (there seems to be a standard among Delvo and HIOS devices for that).

That's a clever idea, why hasn't it taken off?

No clue, but I also think it is a neat idea that looks pretty practical in regard to mass-implementation.

[Moonbase]

A Fluke 8840A bench multimeter including the AC-09 option off ebay. Supposedly working, otherwise condition unknown … Looking forward to the shipment!

They are still very useful instruments. I bought a 8842A with the -09 true RMS AC option, and the -05 IEEE-488 option, which both work fine, and calibrated some years before. I especially like the very high input impedance for voltage measurement (> 10 Gigohm). How much did you pay for it? I got mine for EUR 281.50.

I got it for €157 shipped, after some negotiation. A real bargain if it works (he had no ways of testing it but was able to show me pictures of at least the display showing some figures …), then again I might have to shell out for spares and/or calibration. Cross my fingers …

And yay, the high impedance, 4-wire-measuring and general good quality of this thingy sucked me in. 

Just received a very nice email from Fluke Germany, they still service and calibrate it, only the ISO 17025 accredited calibration/adjustment amounts up to a whopping €442,68 (incl. 19% VAT and shipping). So I might go for trying to calibrate it myself as a first step.

I forgot to mention above I also bought a Voltcraft MS-1500 lux meter, because my eyes aren’t what they were and I plan for changing the lighting on my bench. I know some architects that use it and they say it’s pretty exact. Measures up to 40,000 lx (or 4,000 fc).

[frozenfrogz]

I forgot to mention above I also bought a Voltcraft MS-1500 lux meter, because my eyes aren’t what they were and I plan for changing the lighting on my bench. I know some architects that use it and they say it’s pretty exact. Measures up to 40,000 lx (or 4,000 fc).

I’ve got the same one and like it a lot.
For me it comes in handy when designing lamp prototypes and from what I read it is not too bad in terms of reliable data (as you pointed out). I just need ball-park figures though.

[TERRA Operative]

Got some NOS edge card sockets for my HP 4276A LCZ meter to replace a corroded one from a leaky battery.

[BravoV]

Used Rcore transformer, presumably 40Watt, dirt cheap, 3 bucks. 

[BravoV]

An old Japanese Silistor ... 

[rsjsouza]

BravoV, awesome purchases! I have a soft spot for transformers of all types and thanks for pushing me to look for the meaning of the word "silistor". I learned something new today!

[BravoV]

BravoV, awesome purchases! I have a soft spot for transformers of all types and thanks for pushing me to look for the meaning of the word "silistor". I learned something new today!

Thanks, yeah, about that "silistor", its new to me too, launched at new thread asking about it -> HERE, feel free to join the discussion. 

[bitseeker]

Interesting. Joined to learn more.