- 2023
- Oct
- 20
I finally got around to testing the supercapacitor UPS.
It’s been sitting on my desk for a while, waiting for some time. Now that the weather has turned towards rainy fall days, some time has been found (and no, I don’t have any extra, sorry!) There was nothing really surprising found, and I’ll publish my results once I get them written up into something coherent. Stay tuned!
- 2023
- Oct
- 18
pygg.xyz is gone.
As the SSL cert for pygg.xyz will expire on November 2nd, I’ve turned off the site. It now automatically redirects to the homepage of wereboar.com. It will probably give you SSL errors at some point, but the redirects should still work.
If you have any bookmarks from that site floating around, simply replace pygg.xyz with wereboar.com and you’ll end up exactly where you wanted to go. If not, you should get sent to the wereboar homepage.
When the hosting plan expires, I’ll set a simple wildcard redirect and be done with it. Until then, pygg.xyz is for sale - hit me up at the email address on the front of wereboar.com if you’re interested.
- 2023
- Sep
- 29
Did Espressif fix their RF spurs?
Some time ago, I wrote about my experiences with the ESP8266 line of microcontrollers. Specifically, that they had a giant RF spur at 319.98MHz. This wasn’t an unknown issue, the FCC documentation (had I read it beforehand) clearly called that out. See this post: https://wereboar.com … of-cheap-technology/ for more info on that.
Recently, I picked up this little gadget from a well-known overseas marketer. It works amazingly well, although I suspect this one of having hacked firmware… The MAC it gives to the router clearly identifies it as an Espressif device.
One of the things I immediately noticed, however, was that there isn’t a spur. I was running my devices in a similar manner, they were simply consuming data while being connected to a WiFi interface. I have to wonder if Espressif has fixed that issue, or if the firmware is doing something odd to keep that in check. More investigation is needed here, and perhaps a new look at my old designs is in order.
- 2023
- Sep
- 28
An infrared camera for about $40
Within the last 10 years, low resolution and correspondingly cheap IR sensors have come on to the market. Ranging in size from 8×8 to 32×32 pixels, these devices have shown up in many projects and purchasable items.
This type of IR sensor isn’t a camera per se, but instead is a grid of temperature sensors that a processor assembles into a visible image. You could just as easily have a grid of temperature readings instead of the visible image.
One such series of sensors is the AMG88xx series from Panasonic, and probably other vendors with less recognizable names. Costing around $20 from various sites, this 8×8 sensor is cheap enough for the hobbyist.
They’re available direct from the Chinese assemblers: https://www.aliexpre … 256804493110749.html
However, for not much more you can get one assembled into a small package with a screen: https://www.aliexpre … 255801147595884.html
(These are not suggested purchase links, but examples of item cost. I’ve used Aliexpress quite a bit over the years, you generally get what the listing shows - just be careful and make sure you’ve selected the correct item, as they tend to have multiple items in the same listing and sometimes you don’t pay attention and get the wrong item.)
I purchased one of the fully assembled units, received it the other day, and gave it a try. I received exactly what was shown in the listing, a camera module, a screen and CPU unit, all assembled into a couple of pieces of plastic sheet.
There’s no battery, so you have to plug it in to a USB or other 5V source via the Micro USB on the side. It comes up immediately with the image.
Here’s a hot cup of tea. You can clearly see the hot spot, even if it’s not well defined. The temperature reading is in °C, and there’s no way to change that. Not a big deal.
A glass of cold water from the tap.
And a cold drink that’s set out for a while.
This, like most devices of it’s kind, auto-scales the temperature colors so the hottest spot, regardless of actual temp, is red. That’s a nice feature and gives you a telltale as to what you’re looking at.
Physically, the device fits in the palm of your hand. There’s no focusing lenses or frills on this device, it’s as basic as you can get and still have an operational device that’s not just exposed circuitry.
The front with screen.
The side, showing the USB port and the open frame construction.
The back of the unit with the business end of the device.
Overall? This is a pretty amazing tool for $40. It’s not going to show you detailed images of something, but it’s just enough that you could spot a hotspot on a board or piece of equipment, helping you pinpoint things for further troubleshooting.
Beyond that? It’s just a cool toy and an amazing piece of tech.
- 2023
- Sep
- 22
Pictures from Findlay 2023
The Findlay Radio Club 2023 Hamfest was just a bit muted this year - the skies threatened rain but none appeared, so there were quite a few vendors. This year, a lot of late-model Hallicrafters SW radios showed up, I assume because people who purchased them in the 1960s are finally letting them go for various reasons. Unfortunately, with nothing to listen to on shortwave except Radio Havana, these radios aren’t of much use other than as a curiosity. The proliferation of SDR boxes hasn’t helped, considering you can get a direct entry radio that sounds good and runs on a common LiIon prismatic cell for a bill.
There was plenty of good stuff to look at regardless, and some good things to take home. Here’s my memories of the show, some of which were of unique pieces where the photo ended up on other sites.
One of those shots was a relatively rare signal generator from a long-dead company, Measurements Corporation of Boonton, NJ. According to the site admins, this was the only in-the-flesh image they’ve seen. I was happy to contribute to the community’s knowledge base. Check that entry out here: https://www.radiomus … rd_generator_82.html
Now, on to the good stuff!
- 2023
- Sep
- 17
A Supercapacitor UPS? Does it work?
I picked up a couple of cheap ($25ish) Supercapacitor UPS devices from AliExpress. I wasn’t sure what to expect from them, but they work surprisingly well. This is a true UPS, and stores enough power to shut your device down gracefully - not hold it up for hours.
I’m doing some testing and will post my results in a few weeks. Stay tuned!
- 2023
- Sep
- 14
Findlay 2023 has come and gone.
Rain threatened but didn’t invade this year, so there was a decent number of vendors and some good stuff to see. Pictures from the show are coming soon, I’m processing them and hope to have them up next week.
I find myself bringing home less and less each year, as I’ve already accumulated as many boat anchors as I can handle, and I didn’t see the few I’d like to acquire at the show. I limited myself to some meters, some oddball parts, and a few collectible items that looked interesting. Nothing really special, just neat.
A couple of Weston meters, an antenna for a scanner, some carbon resistors, a weather radio clock, some wall warts that were 50 cents each, and a couple of old UK radio magazines. I’ll probably go back for more magazines, since that guy was local to my home area.
Stand by for the show pictures…
- 2023
- Sep
- 7
Neat things at the Johnstown Swapper’s Day 2023
I usually don’t take any photos at this event, because it’s just a general flea market - but things of interest do show up there from time to time. While these items aren’t all related to electronics, I still found them interesting enough to snap a shot.
Someone found some a variety of late 1960s and early 1970s Skidoo snowmobiles and brought them for sale.
A “Mercedes Gazelle” built on a VW chassis. The Bug was a popular platform for modification and, at one point, you could make it look like just about anything you wanted.
A nice Sparton 667 radio. Everything was present, and the chassis looked unmodified and clean. It had what appeared to be a number of gel electrolytics, so hopefully whomever brought this home doesn’t just plug it in.
I didn’t get the model of this Zenith console, but the chassis was similarly clean and unmodified. The record player had been removed, however, but that’s not a terrible loss - chances are the stylus was long dead and unobtanium.
The rest of the trip was just your standard flea-market stuff, and I ended up going home with a small album of 78s and a few tools.
- 2023
- Aug
- 29
The Findlay Radio Club Hamfest AND The Johnstown Swapper’s Day
Two events that always happen the week of Labor day are Johnstown (Ohio) Swapper’s, and the Findlay Hamfest.
Johnstown started out as a gun swap but turned into a general flea market. While not necessarily electronics related, you do tend to find some electronics related stuff there - typically more of a consumer nature.
Findlay, of course, is a hamfest that’s been going on since forever ago. It always has some good deals, even if it’s raining and not many vendors show up.
I doubt I’ll have any pictures from Johnstown, but there will be plenty from Findlay in the coming month or two.
Johnstown Swapper’s Day
https://jcscohio.org/swappers-day/
September 2-4 (Labor Day Weekend)
9A-6P Rain or Shine
Admission is $6, parking is free in surrounding fields.
Midway has multiple food vendors on site.
The show grounds are located on roads that are not meant to carry this much traffic, and will back up. Go early, if you’re not there when they open it may be difficult to get there. Last year it was so backed up some friends I know didn’t get in.
The Findlay Radio Club Hamfest
https://findlayradioclub.org/hamfest
September 10th, 2023
8A-1P Rain or Shine
Admission is $10, parking is free on site.
Usually 1-2 food vendors on site.
This is easy to get to, but good deals are early. Usually open a little before 8AM.
See you there!
- 2023
- Aug
- 15
Pictures from the 2015 Dayton Hamvention
2015 was the second to last year that the Hamvention was in Dayton.
One of the things I’ve noticed after looking at pictures from the last 20 years, is how the stuff that shows up has changed. In the 90s (no pictures, sorry!) there was a lot of your typical radio gear, but also a lot of golden age computing equipment and a lot of junk PC parts. Boxes of CPUs, hard drives, boards, etc. Early 2000s, the golden age computing stuff vanished to be replaced by a lot of audio gear, CBs, things of that nature. Consumer radios and televisions from the 1950s were in high supply and not that high of demand. 10 years later, consumer electronics from the 50s, 60s, and somewhat of the 70s was plentiful, but fading. Finally, the last few years, all of that old plastic radio stuff from the middle of the 20th century seems to have dried up, to be replaced with gear from the 80s (what’s still working,) and a lot of test equipment from the 60s and 70s, and some from the 80s.
As always, there are plenty of the normal “things” you find at a show like this - old Hallicrafters gear, R390s, etc. - but there’s nothing to listen to so they don’t go as quickly. But they’re still there.
What surprised me about the last show was the lack of those little $100-150 DSP SDR radios that are all over the online shopping sites. Who knows why, maybe they just aren’t as popular with the amateur crowd.
Here’s the pictures I took of the 2015 show, you can see lots of 1950s-1960s radio gear, and some oddball things that have vanished from view these days. It was an excellent day, warm, sunny, and as always, filled with people tripping over the charmingly broken pavement at Hara - hoping the sewer lines didn’t explode again!
My camera here wasn’t the best, and had a lot of trouble with anything that wasn’t full sun. A few of the pictures are slightly blurry, so my apologies in advance.
.
This is a panoramic shot of one of the booths. I believe this guy had a bunch of equipment from the Western Electric North Carolina Works, but I can’t be sure. Some of that stuff tends to all run together.
Finally, the stuff I brought home. A CountyCom radio that was purchased from a dealer that was local to me(!), a book on 555s, some solder, LEDS, tape, and an Atari 2600 joystick. The radio was probably the most expensive item out of all of the stuff, and I still have it sitting on my desk at home. (Pay no attention to the biscuit mix in the background, that didn’t come from Dayton!)
While I do kind of miss the old venue, it’s time had come and gone, in part due to the owner’s neglect. It just seemed to attract a slightly different kind of vendor - Mendelson’s didn’t attend the Xenia show for the few years they had left, and some of the big “stuff on racks” vendors vanished. I’m not going to cry for the latter, however, those guys were a lot more expensive than they should have been, and I’m guessing companies like Rigol put them out of business.
Regardless, things change, and the new venue certainly has better food!
The next show is the Findlay Radio Club event at the Hancock County Fairgrounds in Findlay (of course!) This is always a good show assuming it doesn’t rain. Good stuff shows up without the prices you see at the bigger shows. Stay tuned for those pictures, as well as some from Fort Wayne if I can drag myself up there in November. I also have a few pieces of equipment on the bench, and will be talking about those as soon as I can.
Stay tuned for more stuff.