What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[wkb]

Scored a 8753ES with Opt 006, seller confirmed the display is dead. Hooked up a VGA monitor and it works with self test passed. Open up found the LCD CCFL inverter fuse open circuit. Replaced the fuse and the display work fine but very dim. Got a replacement display from Taobao for USD $80 and it is now sharp and clear.

(Attachment Link)

Wow! Nice one!

Wilko

[rsjsouza]

Just some glass...



Westinghouse WL 672A Thyratron

[TerraHertz]

Some tools.

A Sydney hardware store chain, humorously called 'Total Tools' had a sale on recently. I went intending to get just an air compressor. One of a sensible, movable size, not my tiny one that was originally for airbrushing but is all that fits in my small cramped workshop, or the gi-normous 3-phase one I still don't have set up in my larger but unfinished workshop.

Turned out the store had a points deal - buy $2K of stuff, get a significant bonus to buy more stuff. So I added a Makita kit with a cordless drill and impact hammer. My old cordless drill was a freebe, worked great for years but used NiCad battery packs that are now dead.

With the bonus I bought some vices, clamps, big spanners, tap and die set, wire brushes...

They put on free pizzas and pretty girls too. I left, the compressor in wooden frame only just fitting into the car. Feeling pretty pleased with the day. Had picked up a catalog on the way out the door.

In the next few days, using the cordless drill I really like it. Nicely responsive, finely controlable speed. One warning - the torque limit adjusting ring only operates in 'screwdriver mode'. In the drilling and hammer modes there is no torque limiting. That's not really clear in the manual, and it SHOULD be because... this thing has monsterous torque. One of the first things I did was a (stupid) quick power test - fixed the short bar of a large allen key in the chuck, grabbed the long end of the allen key firmly, and gently pressed the trigger.

Oops. Even at low power it completely ignored my grip, ripping the bar out of my hand. Luckily, no injury though it hurt. So... don't try that. Also note to self - in drilling mode with large drill bits if the drill bit jams, this thing is going to rip the drill handle out of your grasp. I like it!

But there was one final nice surprise.
I happened to look through that catalog. Discovered that Makita has a 'redemption' deal going on several items, one being that kit I'd bought. You get a free thing... depending on what you bought. For that kit the 'thing' is a battery powered angle grinder. A GOOD one! This was totally unexpected. I'd already got some free stuff from adding that kit to my buy at the store, now more free stuff? And it's something I'd always wanted, whee!

I filled in the online form, emailed with a scan of the store invoice, not quite believing this would work. I hadn't even known what the word 'redemption' meant in this context till it was explained to me. Never was involved in such a deal before.

A few days later the angle grinder arrived. No battery pack, but the kit had included two. I haven't yet flattened a battery, but I'm told it will operate the grinder for quite a while. An hour? It's hard to believe. We'll see.

The grinder is *great*. Very much a Bwahhaha feeling, to have a no-cord portable grinder. It's a bit quieter than typical mains powered grinders too. As if that might be important for some reason...

[CatalinaWOW]

The grinder is *great*. Very much a Bwahhaha feeling, to have a no-cord portable grinder. It's a bit quieter than typical mains powered grinders too. As if that might be important for some reason...

Makita obviously knows their market.  Next thing you know they will include a spark suppressor.  Strictly for safety of course.

[Cubdriver]

Makita makes really good stuff - teal has been my color of choice for cordless tools for almost 25 years now since getting my first GOOD cordless drill from them in 1998 after using an earlier one at work regularly.  Recently added one of their 18V angle grinders and a metal cutting circular saw to my arsenal thanks to some sales that were going on here a few weeks ago.  And finally, about a month ago, I broke out the 18V drywall saw I'd bought a year ago for a project that then got put on hold.  That thing is fantastic - connected to a shop vac it makes drywall surgery nearly dust free and cuts a treat!  Wish I'd had it years ago.

Congrats on your new 'toys'.   

-Pat

[SeanB]

Along with a small easy to carry creeper, and a set of goggles and a mask, plus a very dark bag that will hold the grinder, the creeper and also a few somewhat large stainless steel thin wall cylinders, with a somewhat contaminated ceramic honeycomb matrix, inside them, in separate pouches so they do not make a noise when you are moving with them.

[Cubdriver]

Just made my first ever AliExpress purchase - 8 triax connectors based on THz's post from last year.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/cheap-triax-connector/msg3137890/#msg3137890

IIRC it said to expect them in mid July.  We'll see how it goes...

-Pat

[tautech]

Some tools.

Nice selections on your part. 

A word of warning for Li battery packs.
Never put away fully discharged packs without putting some charge back into them.
The BMS systems are sometimes powered by a single cell and can drain that cell to levels where the smart charger will reject the pack as faulty and when it's offered to the charger 3 times in the same condition will reject it permanently.
They can be brought back by externally dumb charging so the low cell comes up to a level the smart charger accepts however this must be done before the charger has rejected it 3 times previously.

Early Makita Li tools suffered from this badly but they may have addressed this due to all the bad publicity they had about it a few years back. Our son in Perth lost 3 of 6 packs in this manner and now only has Milwaukee equipment.

[Ed.Kloonk]

I've been mostly happy with the Makita battery grinder. I don't miss the cord. Tho, in recent times found that the ball bearings soon wear out if you cut a lot of dusty things. Got the parts kit for one of them and all that did was transfer the seizure further down into the frame.

Watch out for Makita as they are sometimes now slipping in plastic parts where metal parts should be. And on hard to recognise model variants. If you cut a fair bit of concrete, be ready to turf it when it munts.

[tautech]

I've been mostly happy with the Makita battery grinder. I don't miss the cord. Tho, in recent times found that the ball bearings soon wear out if you cut a lot of dusty things. Got the parts kit for one of them and all that did was transfer the seizure further down into the frame.

Watch out for Makita as they are sometimes now slipping in plastic parts where metal parts should be. And on hard to recognise model variants. If you cut a fair bit of concrete, be ready to turf it when it munts.

Yep plastic gearcases are becoming increasingly common in all brands and should be avoided at all costs for any serious tool. 

[beanflying]

Some tools.

A Sydney hardware store chain, humorously called 'Total Tools' had a sale on recently. I went intending to get just an air compressor. One of a sensible, movable size, not my tiny one that was originally for airbrushing but is all that fits in my small cramped workshop, or the gi-normous 3-phase one I still don't have set up in my larger but unfinished workshop.

snip

The grinder is *great*. Very much a Bwahhaha feeling, to have a no-cord portable grinder. It's a bit quieter than typical mains powered grinders too. As if that might be important for some reason...

Dangerous place we had a franchise Store open locally a last year and they have got some pesos from me already. Last week was a set of Makita Stacker boxes to get all my power tools arranged from their multiple places. Opted to DIY wheeled platform as $100+ for a dolly is OTT.

Love the cordless grinder for a quick job too but for serious work I still run the lead out for the 240V one.

[capt bullshot]

Stuff from mouser:



100MHz VCXO and some test clips.

The VCXO is a key component for my 10MHz reference frequency comparison device that I plan to build.

[Ed.Kloonk]

I've been mostly happy with the Makita battery grinder. I don't miss the cord. Tho, in recent times found that the ball bearings soon wear out if you cut a lot of dusty things. Got the parts kit for one of them and all that did was transfer the seizure further down into the frame.

Watch out for Makita as they are sometimes now slipping in plastic parts where metal parts should be. And on hard to recognise model variants. If you cut a fair bit of concrete, be ready to turf it when it munts.

Yep plastic gearcases are becoming increasingly common in all brands and should be avoided at all costs for any serious tool. 

https://www.makita.com.au/power-garden/category/wheelbarrows

I can't believe such a thing exists. Are people really that lazy?

[Ed.Kloonk]

Some tools.

A Sydney hardware store chain, humorously called 'Total Tools' had a sale on recently. I went intending to get just an air compressor. One of a sensible, movable size, not my tiny one that was originally for airbrushing but is all that fits in my small cramped workshop, or the gi-normous 3-phase one I still don't have set up in my larger but unfinished workshop.

snip

The grinder is *great*. Very much a Bwahhaha feeling, to have a no-cord portable grinder. It's a bit quieter than typical mains powered grinders too. As if that might be important for some reason...

Dangerous place we had a franchise Store open locally a last year and they have got some pesos from me already. Last week was a set of Makita Stacker boxes to get all my power tools arranged from their multiple places. Opted to DIY wheeled platform as $100+ for a dolly is OTT.

Love the cordless grinder for a quick job too but for serious work I still run the lead out for the 240V one.

I've also got the 9'' (two battery). It's not too bad compared to the regular 10A 240v grinder. Got it from a guy who bought a whole kit from a dealer (like above), he didn't need the big grinder, 150 bucks off brand new.

[tautech]

I've been mostly happy with the Makita battery grinder. I don't miss the cord. Tho, in recent times found that the ball bearings soon wear out if you cut a lot of dusty things. Got the parts kit for one of them and all that did was transfer the seizure further down into the frame.

Watch out for Makita as they are sometimes now slipping in plastic parts where metal parts should be. And on hard to recognise model variants. If you cut a fair bit of concrete, be ready to turf it when it munts.

Yep plastic gearcases are becoming increasingly common in all brands and should be avoided at all costs for any serious tool. 

https://www.makita.com.au/power-garden/category/wheelbarrows

I can't believe such a thing exists. Are people really that lazy?

So you've never pushed a full barrow load of wet concrete up a steep incline ?
Or even aggregate for that matter.

Up some inline on planks over an excavation is where I see powered wheelbarrows would be extremely useful.
Wonder if they have regen braking when going downhill. 
That would be really cool.

[Ed.Kloonk]

I've been mostly happy with the Makita battery grinder. I don't miss the cord. Tho, in recent times found that the ball bearings soon wear out if you cut a lot of dusty things. Got the parts kit for one of them and all that did was transfer the seizure further down into the frame.

Watch out for Makita as they are sometimes now slipping in plastic parts where metal parts should be. And on hard to recognise model variants. If you cut a fair bit of concrete, be ready to turf it when it munts.

Yep plastic gearcases are becoming increasingly common in all brands and should be avoided at all costs for any serious tool. 

https://www.makita.com.au/power-garden/category/wheelbarrows

I can't believe such a thing exists. Are people really that lazy?

So you've never pushed a full barrow load of wet concrete up a steep incline ?
Or even aggregate for that matter.

Up some inline on planks over an excavation is where I see powered wheelbarrows would be extremely useful.
Wonder if they have regen braking when going downhill. 
That would be really cool.

Rated 130kg. Assume half that, might be usable. Wouldn't put more that 70kgs of weight in it.

[tautech]

I've been mostly happy with the Makita battery grinder. I don't miss the cord. Tho, in recent times found that the ball bearings soon wear out if you cut a lot of dusty things. Got the parts kit for one of them and all that did was transfer the seizure further down into the frame.

Watch out for Makita as they are sometimes now slipping in plastic parts where metal parts should be. And on hard to recognise model variants. If you cut a fair bit of concrete, be ready to turf it when it munts.

Yep plastic gearcases are becoming increasingly common in all brands and should be avoided at all costs for any serious tool. 

https://www.makita.com.au/power-garden/category/wheelbarrows

I can't believe such a thing exists. Are people really that lazy?

So you've never pushed a full barrow load of wet concrete up a steep incline ?
Or even aggregate for that matter.

Up some inline on planks over an excavation is where I see powered wheelbarrows would be extremely useful.
Wonder if they have regen braking when going downhill. 
That would be really cool.

Rated 130kg. Assume half that, might be usable. Wouldn't put more that 70kgs of weight in it.

So you Aussies use all equipment well within its max rating just like we Kiwis do ? 

But yes as the wheelbarrow motor is some way from our snouts unlike a cordless tool it will be harder to detect sniff when it's overheating.
But hey I've had some funny smells from my 1/2" DeWalt drill but it's still going just fine. 

[I wanted a rude username]

So you've never pushed a full barrow load of wet concrete up a steep incline ?

And it can be difficult or even impossible to push a heavy wheelbarrow through soft mud, as the wheel wants to bury itself. Note the aggressive tread of the Makita.

Cable-actuated front wheel disc brake, by the way. There is also electric braking but I doubt it would be regenerative.

[beanflying]

As someone who has helped a Concreting mate of mine on plenty of occasions  for a powered wheelbarrow. More than one of those jobs has been barrowed (unpowered) from the truck to the job as they were to small or not worth bringing in a pump. Not so bad if you are on hard ground but throw in an incline or a ramp/step and its not a good time.

Now I am 'to old' my helping days are over powered or unpowered 

[mansaxel]

A pH pen that (hopefully) does not suck. My previous pen perhaps did not suck initially, but storing it badly has led me to doubt it.



(seller picture)

Milwaukee Instruments also sell separate electrodes with BNC plugs. Got me thinking about doing something permanently rigged for measuring pH of the pool, and of course plotting it.

[ChristofferB]

Swapped, rather than bought, for a stack of scintillation probes and pmts:

The vacuum chamber of a Waters Triple-quadrupole hi res mass spectrometer! Machined from a solid chunk of aluminium!! The beauty!

Also came with ion detector, ion source, and a multi output HV psu!

[HobGoblyn]

Gave my old Hantek DSO5102P to my (adult) son and my lovely wife treated me to a new Rigol DS1054Z for my birthday

Might be a few years old now, but a 4 channel oscilloscope delivered next day for £366 was a no brainier for me.

I’m sure I’ll get years of use out of it

[cdev]

I agree, hope you get lots of enjoyment and use out of it!

[beanflying]

So the last bits of me buying a Ring illuminator arrived today arrived https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what-did-you-buy-today-post-your-latest-purchase!/msg3568458/#msg3568458

The Lens adapter arrived last week and the Camera the week before but the pair of MF Risers arrived today so I got to actually use it and the camera in focus with the eyepieces https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32843818172.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.236e4c4dSFoOYF

Apart from really needing a third one as the Lens is more or less pegged to one end of it's adjustment range they do the job (still a little fuzzy at the peg when the Eyes are in focus). Not that I am likely to go back to soldering with a camera the 1/2 adapter gives a Camera width of about 30mm to the eyepieces 50mm so today I added a 1/3 lens and another pair of MF Risers.

[vk6zgo]

The grinder is *great*. Very much a Bwahhaha feeling, to have a no-cord portable grinder. It's a bit quieter than typical mains powered grinders too. As if that might be important for some reason...

Makita obviously knows their market.  Next thing you know they will include a spark suppressor.  Strictly for safety of course.

Quite recently, a very large bush (forest) fire in Western Australia was caused by someone cutting metal with an angle grinder, so sparks can be a safety hazard.