What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[technix]

What I am wondering is that whether I can plug a non-embedded-controller PXI unit to an existing gaming PC or graphics workstation that already has a good GPU in it.

Also I wonder if there is PXI-to-PCIe adapter cards, that takes one or two PCIe slots in an regular PC to create one PXIe slot.

1. Yes. NI has an PXIe-8301 card that allows bridging between Thunderbolt 3 and PXIe, thus allowing PXI/PXIe cards to plugged into a PXI chassis, then connected to a computer at PCIe level.
2. A PXIe slot can accommodate PCIe cards with an adapter, not the other way around. PXI is taller than PCI, thus a PXI card won't fit in a standard ATX chassis. A PCI card is longer than a PXI one, so with an adapter, a PCI card inserted in a PXI chassis will protrude by about an inch.

I wonder if there are PXIe to PCIe adapters that accepts a dual slot PCIe card. If so it might be cheaper to buy that plus a gaming graphics card like RTX 2070 or RX 580 than that GPGPU module, while achieving a similar if not better GPGPU performance.

How much would a non-embedded-controller PXIe chassis plus that Thunderbolt 3 card cost? If it is cheaper than an embedded controller one it can be cheaper to add PXIe to an existing lab PC.

[technix]

I wonder if there are PXIe to PCIe adapters that accepts a dual slot PCIe card. If so it might be cheaper to buy that plus a gaming graphics card like RTX 2070 or RX 580 than that GPGPU module, while achieving a similar if not better GPGPU performance.

How much would a non-embedded-controller PXIe chassis plus that Thunderbolt 3 card cost? If it is cheaper than an embedded controller one it can be cheaper to add PXIe to an existing lab PC.

A low power PXIe slot can consume and dissipate no more than 38W, and a normal one is not much higher than that. Also, PXI is 100% backplane powered, so there's no 6P/8P connectors provided by the chassis, not the cable management space for you to run the cable. Also, PXI is passively cooled and it expects no fans on its cards in order not to mess with air flow of adjacent cards.

I bought my box for $450 as "for parts not working". It turned to be a minor dust accumulation problem compounded by a dead fan. When the problems were fixed, it went back to life.

A brand new PXIe-8301 would cost $999 from NI, which seems to be high, but is probably the cheapest card you can buy in the PXI world. Getting into the PXI land would need a lot of commitment.

Let's just say it this way. I traded my 6GHz scope with all options for a PXI box made with almost 100% used junk. Only the NI DMM is new. And I ended up spending a few k$ in between.

Sheeeeeesh.

I wonder if there is a USB-based alternative for this? Microsoft has published the USB HID Sensors v2 specification for sending readings back and configuring the modes, but AFAIK few people is using it.

USB based everything is generally cheaper than PCIe too.

[Specmaster]

I got this pair of beauties last week in a fairly local auction (4 hours round trip to collect them) and I have before and after clean up pictures. Made in 1988 these are 6.5 digit meters with good specs apart from their speed, they are slow but reliable.





I also purchased today 2 of these filters, 1 for each meter as last night, one of them let out the magic smoke.

[splin]

A 7.5 digit DMM, with a twist.

Hey you know the rules - don't plug it in - take it apa-r-r-r-t! And post some piccies 

Seriously though it would be interesting to see what's inside as they are pretty small compared to a conventional DMM - the power supply is external but it will still need an internal isolated DC - DC convertor.

On which point the documentation keeps referring to the 'Isolated Digitizer' which seems odd as the DVM has to be isolated surely - the spec says 1000V max voltage from Hi terminal to ground? Is it simply trying to distinguish itself from typical DAQ/digitizers which aren't isolated perhaps?

The documentation seems very poor, or at least I couldn't find a proper reference manual, only the datasheet and a getting started user manual.

[splin]

Yes, it has an isolation xfmr. I think it's a push pull converter.

A teardown was made, and I'm still cutting the video.

Great!  Look forward to it.   

[Specmaster]

In keeping with the rules of taking it apart here are some photos of my 7150 plus meters in the nude...porno style....

[gamalot]

A gray Rust-oleum primer+paint 2-in-1 spray can.

Gave my NI PXI box a Keysight look and feel.



And two 60mm fans, one for o'scope cards (I dumbed down the built-in fans), one for the fanless PSU.

Noctua?

[Shock]

Specmaster is that stock? That connector looks very ghetto.

[Specmaster]

Specmaster is that stock? That connector looks very ghetto.

It's stock but it's really OK, the connector is actually a multipole switch that is mounted on the front panel as the "Plus" model also has rear mounted sockets and the switch switches the inputs between front and  rear sockets. [emoji106]

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

[Specmaster]

Specmaster is that stock? That connector looks very ghetto.

It's stock but it's really OK, the connector is actually a multipole switch that is mounted on the front panel as the "Plus" model also has rear mounted sockets and the switch switches the inputs between front and  rear sockets. [emoji106]

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

I don't think it was considered when the first model 7150 was designed but was asked for by customers so added in and called "7150 PLUS". Because of the original design, the only way to add it was mount the switch off the front panel.

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

[Falkra]

I also purchased today 2 of these filters, 1 for each meter as last night, one of them let out the magic smoke.

That filter is a common issue on that meter, I also own one (with LCD backlight added).
Have fun, it's a very nice 6 digits meter. 

[Specmaster]

I also purchased today 2 of these filters, 1 for each meter as last night, one of them let out the magic smoke.

That filter is a common issue on that meter, I also own one (with LCD backlight added).
Have fun, it's a very nice 6 digits meter. 

The 7150s should already have edge lit LCDs, mine have but very weak, replacing LEDs with very bright white LEDs soon.

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

[beanflying]

Nearly $100 of 1% M-GOhm resistors. Some for the HV probe project and the rest for binary decades from 1M on up to G.

[TERRA Operative]

Hit Akihabara today and found a 'Leap' brand Leaper-3 EPROM Programmer in almost mint condition for 2700yen

Also picked up a Panasonic CRT that was pulled from some CRO to add to my collection.

[TERRA Operative]

Yeah.
This thing is old enough to be supplied with a floppy and CD. My laptop has neither!
I have an external USB DVD drive and Leap have the software for download too. My laptop dock also has a proper serial and parallel ports as well, so I'll have to fire it up soon to see if it actually works under Win10...

[TerraHertz]

Some paper books:

PDF Explained
Author: John Whitington

Developing with PDF: Dive Into the Portable Document Format
Author: Leonard Rosenthol

How JavaScript Works
Author: Douglas Crockford

DOM Enlightenment
Author: Cody Lindley

In addition to an ongoing download quest for texts/tutorials/standards on AJAX, Converse, Countable, DOM, ECMAScript, Electron-js, Grunt, jQuery, JSLint, JSON, Mathjax, Node-js, NPM, Sizzle, TypeScript, WebKit, etc. Like drinking from a fire hose.
Can anyone recommend their favorite sites/texts on this topic? (Browser-based front-end programming)

Btw, I suck at torrents and the P-word searching. Can anyone drop some hints on where I might find free copies of the stupidly expensive ISO standards related to PDF /A /E /U variants?
See attached PDF_list.zip (It's just the index from my folder of PDF docs. Also incomplete; I still have to include a bunch of errata notes and other small docs from an Adobe page:  https://www.adobe.com/devnet/pdf/pdf_reference.html)

[McBryce]

There's something strangely the wrong way around when you're explaining PDF in a paper book.

McBryce.

[maginnovision]

There's something strangely the wrong way around when you're explaining PDF in a paper book.

McBryce.

Gotta start somewhere.

[BU508A]

Got one of these nice Makita vacuum cleaner:

https://www.makitatools.com/products/details/XCV11T

But in my case it cames with only one Li-Ion battery and with no charger (have one already)

[rsjsouza]

A small helper for my old and new digital designs. A Kingst LA2012 shipped very fast by this seller and a few coupons helped seal the deal.

It works really well and the SW is somewhat basic but very responsive.

[TerraHertz]

There's something strangely the wrong way around when you're explaining PDF in a paper book.

Only if you believe PDF and e-texts in general are ergonomically and philosophically superior to physical texts. Imo it's like med-school autopsies - the more nice clean paper texts and the less handling of stinky, contageous putrescent PDF binary flesh, the better. This is partly for a project to write a PDF structure dissector.  Because amazingly, there doesn't seem to be a decent freeware one around.

For all the PDF-fans, here's a nice read:
  https://blog.zynamics.com/2010/06/09/analyzing-the-currently-exploited-0-day-for-adobe-reader-and-adobe-flash/
  A brief analysis of a malicious PDF file which exploits this week's Flash 0-day

[GreyWoolfe]

Picked up this little beauty.  It is a Seth Thomas WWII vintage U.S. Maritime Commission wall clock.  It is a bit rough around the edges but it does work and keep time.  I am visiting the local jeweler who restores old clocks to get some advice on a simple clean up.  I don't want nor can afford a full restoration.  I just want to clean it up a little.  From what little I have looked, it has a waterproof bakelite case so it could have served on land or sea.

EDIT: I took a better picture, didn't realize how dirty the glass was so I cleaned it up a bit.

[Mr. Scram]

As I'm not sure how experienced you are with mechanical clocks: don't grease the mechanism. Most clocks are designed to run dry, as grease or oil only attracts dust and accelerates wear.

[GreyWoolfe]

That is why I am bringing it to the jeweler.  I don't want to damage the clock in any way.  Since the clock is working fine, I am not even worried about the mechanicals.  I just want to clean it up a bit safely.

[technix]

When I visited my usual passive parts supplier today for some resistor packs, she gave me two lumps of almost solid metal: a 7-position mechanical switch, and a 220V 50Hz to 24V 50VA transformer.