Category: Electronics

Time for a new power tool

My old and my new power tool.

About 9 1/2 years, two moves and renovating one kitchen – this is how long I was able to enjoy my power tool “Alpha Tools BAS 14,4-1” from Bauhaus. I guess that’s even more than I could have expected from such a no-name – oh, sorry, let’s call it no-brand tool. But now the battery… Continue reading Time for a new power tool

Dark Samsung?

Ever seen a seemingly ok, quite new 24″ Syncmaster SA300 LCD monitor from Samsung – which refuses to show an image, but can display its own system messages? Try a firmware update! I found this solution in the PC Help Forum. A firmware update for a computer monitor you wonder? Yes! Obviously you need a… Continue reading Dark Samsung?

Resistance is futile

Detailed view of drawers with 37mm x 17mm labels.

…at least if you don’t know which resistors you have in stock and where they are. For a long time we kept resistors in their original cardboard boxes In our student labs – futily trying at least to sort the boxes according to decades of reistance values. Looking at a standard assortment cabinet we had… Continue reading Resistance is futile

Good and bad wires

A close-up of the tips of the pins. The order is the same as in the pictures above: worst solder joint to the left, good solder joint in the middle and crimped connector to the right.

I am a big fan of solderless breadboards and we use these also for our students at Uppsala University. For quite a while I have been using solid-core wire for my connections, but then I discovered the more flexible breadboard wires which have become popular in the Arduino community. Can there be quality? These stranded… Continue reading Good and bad wires

Hacking an AVR programmer

MK-USBISP-V3.00 programmer in aluminum shell on eBay.

(see also my recent appendix to this topic: Hacking an AVR programmer II – especially if you have an ATmega88-based programmer!) On eBay I recently purchased a set of cute small USB AVR programmers which I intend to use in the course 1TE663 Microcontroller Programming at Uppsala University. After waiting for one month for the… Continue reading Hacking an AVR programmer

The best LED bulb?

The LED chips in the LEDARE light bulb from IKEA, photographed in their own light at a forward current of about 1 mA per string - under normal operation the current per string is about 240 mA).

At least the best one I have seen so far. After giving a lecture on LEDs yesterday I finally unpacked and tested my latest buy – the clear E27 LED bulb LEDARE from IKEA. The specs of this LED bulb are not overly impressive, with an efficacy of a mere 50 lm/W it is about… Continue reading The best LED bulb?

DIY STK505 replacement

The adapter board attached to the STK500's ISP10PIN header.

The Atmel STK500 development board does support many but not all of Atmels AVR controllers. As an enhancement a STK505 unit was constructed by Atmel to support the ATtiny24/44/84 series of microcontrollers, which come in a 14-pin DIP package. Other plugin-boards for other pinouts have also been made, but since the STK500 itself is considered… Continue reading DIY STK505 replacement

Counterfeit electronics?!

Genuine part or counterfeit? Two supposedly identical chips, one a sample from the manufacturer, the other one bought online from Chinese sellers on eBay. One is working, the other one is crap...

My latest post was about differences within legitimate versions of the same integrated circuit from different manufacturers, today I’d like to write about experiences with supposedly counterfeit components. It has been in the media that the electronic component market is fighting with counterfeit products from the far east. I myself encountered possible indications of such… Continue reading Counterfeit electronics?!