#general-chat

1 messages · Page 45 of 1

violet parcel
#

To me it sounds like trial version/shareware. Like you have to uninstall it and send it back after 60 days

raw jasper
late fulcrum
#

It does sound like that more than "hey, here's an easy way to play around with our chip"

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I was pleased to see ColorLight support in IceStorm/IceStudio.

violet parcel
#

is it like another word for a breakout ? And I should understand it this way ?

raw jasper
#

development boards is another term. However, since these boards are usually aimed at corpos evaluating a part for production use, the term is fairly fitting

late fulcrum
#

Yeah, they're related to breakout boards (in my thinking, anyway)

raw jasper
#

Typically, a breakout will be more barebones than an eval/devboard

violet parcel
#

Or it's more like a proprietary breakout ? Like it will work but you have to go throught our mcu/programming on it so you might not have access to all of it like a breakout? (like FLIR seems to do with their hardware)

late fulcrum
#

No, they usually give plenty of test points and so forth, as well as full schematics, PCB layout, BOM, etc.

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They make them to sell chips, so it pays to be versatile and easy to use.

violet parcel
#

ie: FLIR requires you to use their eval board which costs as much as their lepton otherwise half of their provided library that is related to image processing doesnt work

late fulcrum
#

Didn't know that, how irksome

violet parcel
#

the manual says so for some of the calls, if you insist I can work on providing source. But that bothered me too when I looked

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and it seemed to be the methods that are more hardware-intensive. Im not saying it's malice their excuse seems to be the camera dont have the necessary electronics to do these processing

late fulcrum
#

I remember when TI first came out with the MSP430, they priced their "Launchpad" eval boards at $4.30 to gain interest and match their part number. I would have jumped right in, but the initial software was DOS-only (they've since remedied that, and I've become quite fond of the Launchpad boards and the MSP430 line)

violet parcel
#

but my understanding is still that if you implement it yourself you have to implement those methods yourself as well

raw jasper
#

I thought msp430 is more recent than dos, but, nope! 199X

late fulcrum
#

They even support an MSP-430 targeted version of Arduino (called Energia)

raw jasper
#

I found out they sell used(?) mining xilinx zynq devboards on aliexpress

late fulcrum
#

Digilent has a few nice looking FPGA boards, but I don't think any of them are supported by an open source toolchain

raw jasper
#

Yup, I have a digilent board

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it's nice

late fulcrum
#

I have an Analog Discovery 2, which is a lovely piece of kit, but none of their FPGA dev boards

raw jasper
#

yeah, they are xilinx-only

late fulcrum
#

Although it looks like Efinix is making some FPGAs with interesting and unusual architecture, and offers a Linux toolchain

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And the toolchain, while licensed, is a free license and covers all their chips

raw jasper
#

Where are they based?

late fulcrum
#

Hard to tell. I'm guessing Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, or Malaysia (they have offices in all those locations, as well as Germany, US and Canada)

raw jasper
#

...looks like a multinational, yeah

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but the two languages are English and nihongo, so I'm guessing there's a strong connection to Japan?

late fulcrum
raw jasper
#

smol

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"Built on SMIC" the plot thickens :P

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this is the first IC I've seen that explicitly says it's made by smic

late fulcrum
#

Their assertion that "some designs need a lot of routing" matches my experience.

raw jasper
#

where's that?

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I missed that pdf

late fulcrum
#

I have a similar problem with electronic blocks type products. Once you get into bigger projects, the connection blocks outnumber the actual components.

lectron-dualband1.jpg
raw jasper
late fulcrum
#

Oh, the Xyloni board doesn't have the XLR cells?

raw jasper
#

Doesn't seem like it

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It seems only the "titanium" FPGAs have it

late fulcrum
#

I don't read it that way: “The eXchangeable Logic and Routing (XLR) cell is the basic building block of the Quantum™ architecture” (page 6, bottom)

raw jasper
#

you're right. I skipped straight to the logic cell diagram

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thx!

kindred isle
#

I literally thought for a second that those were sausages

spice abyss
#

Hi people, sorry for bugging you guys but I had a question, how do you clean oxidization off a soldering tip?

late fulcrum
violet parcel
#

My next big purchase after the 3d printer now will be a rocking chair - always wanted one and Id keep sitting on it when I visited my grandpa. After that a rigol oscilloscope in summer 2024

spice abyss
late fulcrum
#

I like to put some solder on the iron when I'm done with it, which I think is what the video is describing

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No need to apologize, we all start out as beginners

dusty citrus
#

chat gpt's algorithm knowledge is top notch, got some pretty good answers for some pretty obscure problems. Not great code, but ig that's what actually googling and understanding the algorithm is for

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tho it surprised me a few times with correct code

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especially gpt 4, gpt 3.5 not so much

rapid geode
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ask it to code a better ai than itself

tranquil swallow
#

chatgpt 5 will eligible to run for office

patent hemlock
#

actually - https://slashdot.org/story/23/06/13/2057209/researchers-warn-of-model-collapse-as-ai-trains-on-ai-generated-content

Researchers Warn of 'Model Collapse' As AI Trains On AI-Generated C...

schwit1 shares a report from VentureBeat: [A]s those following the burgeoning industry and its underlying research know, the data used to train the large language models (LLMs) and other transformer models underpinning products such as ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion and Midjourney comes initially from h...

rapid geode
#

AI inbreeding

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doh

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or kinda like certain news outlets - make up story then quote made up story

violet parcel
#

in canada they made a news agency they take all their news story from

ebon dew
#

welp i messed up my keybord just little silicone lube on the keys now gott buy new one

violet parcel
#

so if it turns out to be fake news they can blame the "source" they co-own

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also my local newspaper run april fools up to two week before the official time and only says on april 2nd which ones it was in the last two weeks

ebon dew
#

it wsaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasaaaaaaaaaaaaaasasa

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ugh

violet parcel
#

sometimes they will actually interview an alien enthusiast trhat actually exists to throw peoples off too 🤣

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so when you actyually look up their name they exists and they have an history of doing conferences etc

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they adapted to the internet I guess

glad ruin
#

Accurate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urcL86UpqZc

YouTube
Programmers are also human
Interview with an Emacs Enthusiast in 2023 [Colorized]

Emacs OS

Interview with an Emacs Enthusiast in 2023 with Emerald McS., PhD - aired on © The Emacs.
org. air date 1990.

Programmer humor
Software humor
Elisp humor
Software tools
Retro computing
Vim vs emacs editor
Computerphile
Emacs humor
Emacs jokes
emacs vs vim
Programming memes
gnu emacs
spacemacs
emacs memes
lex friedman ide
VS Code
confi...

▶ Play video
ebon dew
#

got a spare keyboard, my a key was stuck and was opening all kinds of shortcuts, multiple keys got too wet i guess. cheap kb anyway about $15 lasted for years.

glad ruin
#

I've gotten goodwill keyboards that have lasted years before.

ebon dew
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best kb i've ever owned is a microsoft media keyboard in like 1995.

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it's still my main keyboard for my other pc.

glad ruin
#

I've since moved to mechanical keyboards. Current one is Mistel with Cherry MX brown switches.

ebon dew
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a keyboard that lasts almost 30 years. heck of a bargain. bought that for $15 at the time too.

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yeah new kb i ordered has cherry red mx. we'll see how it goes.

glad ruin
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Some people like red. Personally I prefer the higher resistance.

ebon dew
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best keyboard ever

images.jpg
glad ruin
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Personally I've never cared for Microsoft keyboards, but that's just personal preference.

ebon dew
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i would love to find another

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neither did i! i just wanted something cheap at the time. had no idea it would be a 30 year tank.

glad ruin
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They don't build 'em like the used to.

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I absolutely despise the trend of putting tiny mushboards on desktops. Tenkeyless is ok most of the time, but I draw the line at cheapo chicklet keyboards.

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Only exception is thinkpad keyboards, because those are still decent.

violet parcel
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wish they still had these washable ibm metal plate keyboards

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like the circuit was inside a plastic sheet so you could basically just throw it in the dishes alone with a little bit of soap and clean the keys / gunk under the keys

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had large screws too so really easy to put back. I washed it like every 6 months and it survived 12 years

glad ruin
#

ooo nice

violet parcel
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but seem nowadays you have to get hospital sealed keyboard for the same thing 😦

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they all seems to have pcb now instead of a bunch of plastic sheets under the keys connected to the p/s2 connector in another compartment with a rubber grommet that seals it so water/spills dont get in

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looked like this except without holes and more clear and there was some atop each other I think

jHS8p.jpg
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have no idea what they were called in the 1990s

ebon dew
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that sounds very appealing. entire reason my keyboard just died was due to over lubrication. started out as cleaning then ya know... one thing led to another and i'm using slicone lube.

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membrane keyboard

violet parcel
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I have a silicon fitting cover for my keyboard but I dont always think of using it when I eat something light

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and yeah would be easy to eat elsewhere but sometimes when Im on call it can get pretty hectic and the only way to eat for hours is to nibble between calls

ebon dew
#

same type of flexible pcb that's behind a lot of car dashes from the 1980's to 2010's.

cunning frost
#

You really shouldn't. I lost a membrane keyboard to ants. Twice. They really want that membrane once you get food in it

ebon dew
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really. that's interesting.

violet parcel
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oh no worry Im very far up from ants I never ever seen a bug here but yeah I know Im tempting the devil or something

ebon dew
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i'm fairly diligent about never eating or drinking near my keyboard. i see people do it all the time and it's just an accident waiting to happen... or ants.

violet parcel
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yeah ... I know.... but work comes first and eating is a base need ... 😦 I had two coffee spills so far but silicone cover saved it twice

ebon dew
#

this is true, this is why they became popular in the first place.

violet parcel
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I wish I had a job that didnt require me to sometimes be woken in the middle of the night as well etc but sometimes life isnt 100% perfect and it pays pretty well and I can even go very up north in canada to get paid much more so....

tranquil swallow
#

Sounds like a nice gig

hasty wedge
#

oh wow, just read the documentation of STC32F12K54 (50 cents 32-bit 8051 MCU)

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Didn't realised they got a new clock source called HPLL

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That is clocked at 615Mhz

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And can be used to as clock source for PWM

dusty citrus
#

Arent there some mobile Android friendly kicad alternatives while keeping the compatibility ok?

raw jasper
#

@late fulcrum It's a bit regrettable that the xyloni devboard goes for $80 for ~8k logic cells. XLR technology is interesting

sand frigate
#

This is all I can find

image.png
late fulcrum
fresh niche
violet parcel
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and the new keyboard weighted like 1 pound

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also despite my care it was getting very yellow and cant really use bleach on plastic

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Theres a couple of washable keyboard but looks like they wouldnt work well at all for light gaming

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I think it was remelted and it's not part of a taiwan cargo ship

radiant coral
#

Peaceful morning sky
Suddenly becomes shattered
Relays click softly

sand frigate
lunar trench
#

if you powered an LED (without the ground wire) and touch the ground wire with your finger while being grounded, would the circuit get completed and turn on?

fair summit
lunar trench
#

ah okay, thanks for the answer

fair summit
#

but there are touch pins can that detect touch, which you could use to turn on an LED

violet parcel
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if you touch both with your tongue it might work (like how old-school peoples test 9V batteries)

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I dont recommend it though

lunar trench
violet parcel
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no completing the circxuit with it

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like battery on one side + tongue touching that side + led touching the tongue + ground from other led pin to other battery side

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If you just drank salt water the resistance will probably be even lower. But at this point it's kinda pointless to make something that complicated that might possibly affect your health because the body uses microvolts internally

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when you could just uses 1 kohm resistance and it should be high enough to prevent most led from blowing up

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Also , or a small length of lead from pencil

resistor_DIY.jpg
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Also I guess if you could connect the fingers of 10 other peoples who just dumped salt water on their hands and didnt dry it off in parallel you could get a very dim light as per Kirchhoff's

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(I dont know enough about the human body to know if our fingers are connected to each other in parallel or series or if our hands are in series or parallel with each other)

sand frigate
#

So I have an Ergodox keyboard. It uses a TRRS cable between each side to talk to one another. I was wondering if I could use TRRS cables to do the same for my webcam light I am building with an ESP-32. I have a ring of LEDs that goes around the webcam and a larger face cam, and some backlighting LEDs for behind my monitor. I was going to wire some JST connectors between them but I'd like something a bit easier to tear down if needed. Shouldn't I be able to use a TRRS cable to power and send signals between the different LEDs or am I overlooking something?

rain cradle
#

a wire is a wire 💁‍♂️

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in this case, probably 3 of them for data + VCC + GND

sand frigate
#

That's what I was thinking. I think a standard TRS has 3 cables, I think this one has 4?

rain cradle
#

how they are "packed" doesn't matter as long as you connect things the way you are supposed to on both ends

#

TRRS != TRS

sand frigate
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Well this is cool, I wonder why people don't use them more then.

rain cradle
#

and if you look at the image closely, you will realize why it's called TRRS

sand frigate
#

Is there like a TRRRRS cable

rain cradle
#

i dunno

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there can be if you are brave enough (?) :p

lunar trench
#

would TS just be mono

sand frigate
#

Oh really? Well I don't have to worry about that then.

lunar trench
#

T audio jack cable

sand frigate
#

I have seen these and I am guessing they just have two cables? (the ones with the single rings)

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Oh, this is a splitter. I was looking for the ones with the gnurled metal shroud

spice abyss
#

Hi adafruit people, I had a question, how do you combine 2 8 by 8 LED matrix’s together to make a 8 by 16 led matrix, im trying to make a project but I don’t know how they combine them so seamlessly

stray wind
spice abyss
#

Thank you!

raw jasper
# late fulcrum The chip itself is only $8

I guess it's time to learn board design and soldering :P

I'm sure the cost of protoypes and the ungodly number of layers that will be required will end up being almost equal to the market price of the devboard :P

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OTOH, if I learn and practice enough, the probability of making a working board first try would increase, which could save me money (at the expense of my time) down the line

fresh niche
raw jasper
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Can't recall why, but may be worth looking up before attempting it, in case it messes with the plastic somehow

violet parcel
#

I regret recycling / throwing things away but I came from a more poor family and could only afford temp furnitures and bedroom only apartment before so I had to get rid of most of my stuff for most of my young adult years until after university.

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But yeah it hurts to sometimes sees all those nes cartdridge I could have kept or mtg cards etc or those radio-shack miniature arcade machines

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but also hindsight etc...

crystal ore
late fulcrum
fresh niche
violet parcel
#

so if you dont remember the specific ones you had the odds are only 10-15% you might have something sellable for like 40$ much less odds it's one of the 300-400$ one

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is it worth it vs the cost of moving / storage over the years ?

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Or asked more brutally: If it costs 1500$ to have your drier moved

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Is it not better to buy a new one at 1000$ ?

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I could get a bigger apartment but it would costs 600$ in moving + about 400$ per month

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Is it really worth it to pack more things when I can optimize my space using heights/boxes/getting rid of what I havent looked at for the last 2 years ?

raw jasper
#

This sentence was written tongue firmly in cheek

rapid geode
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so weird. they never bothered to take most of the stuff out.

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cheaper to just chuck it in a bin

violet parcel
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Before I read the context around the pic I thought this was an aftermath of trying to solder BGA and not succeeding

rapid geode
#

ha

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no, it wa s a3d printer accident. blew up house

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:x

violet parcel
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eh not sure it will work but after assembly I still have a 3d printer shaped object (3pso)

rapid geode
#

ha

violet parcel
#

but Id be surprised it will work because so far 1) I might have disaligned the steel poles that connect from the bed to the top of the gantry for the nozzle head to go up and down 2) ripped the ribbon cable that goes from the board to the gantry peripherals 3) crushed the nuzzle against the bed when trying to manually lower it to the bed to align the screws under the bed 4) plugged 5V in a gpio connectors because I plugged the closest one that seemed to fit

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Also 5) of course the power cord is too short. That seems to be a lost art in this millenia or people live in 9x9 feet 3 rooms apartment and I didnt realize

night crescent
hasty wedge
#

I am still wondering what are some actual use cases for those sub 50 cents 32 bits 80251 MCUs by STC

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They are insanely powerful but I just can't figure out a use case that it beats an RP2040

raw jasper
hasty wedge
#

Hold on let me download it...

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You might want to get your translator ready

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Also, this thing is gigantic, like 1000+ pages

raw jasper
#

Sadly, I only know (some) Japanese....

hasty wedge
#

Oh it also got a built-in colour LCD driver

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Just noticed that right now

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If it also got a tile-based graphics unit, it can definitely being used as a fantasy console

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Since there's also external parallel memory code/data access on this chip, just like gameboy

raw jasper
#

I need to learn Chinese

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....But then I'd need to convince somebody in (presumably) Shenzhen to send me sample chips :P

hasty wedge
#

The process is fairly simple

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I got one of their dev board for free unfortunately I am currently not in shenzhen

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I am currently in beijing

raw jasper
#

I guess learning to read would be easier than learning to actually speak. I already know some (traditional) characters from Japanese, so I guess I could start from there?

hasty wedge
#

Yeah, that's now I read some Japanese without actually learning it

raw jasper
#

Simplified characters are interesting. Sometimes I can figure out which one it is, sometimes not

hasty wedge
#

It's an interesting fact that most simplified Chinese users can read traditional Chinese with no additional learning

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Including me

hasty wedge
#

Saw a funny looking robot that's constantly emitting fog while moving in the underground station

late fulcrum
#

If I had to sweep the floor all day, I'd probably be emitting fog too

hasty wedge
#

Lol

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It's probably some sort of disinfecting robot

glad ruin
#

Chemtrail bot

late fulcrum
#

Reminds me of that weird widget I saw in a youtube video that generates rosin fog to put a thin coating of flux crystals on PCBs for either soldering or detecting hot components (when the flux melts)

rapid geode
#

robot floor cleaner?

tardy badger
rapid geode
#

ha. i did a discovery show about a refueling airplane once and when i google it for reference, it was all chemtrail craziness

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those people are...... interesting

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amazing how little knowledge can go a long way

glad ruin
tardy badger
#

I don’t understand why they aren’t artists because of the imagination you need for the leaps of logic

rapid geode
tardy badger
#

I was hopeful that the guy building a rocket to try and reach space to see the curve for himself would have been successful

rapid geode
#

haha

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i remember that guy

tardy badger
#

He unfortunately died a very sad and tragic death

glad ruin
tardy badger
rapid geode
#

ooooh, my mistake

tardy badger
#

😂

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I had a bit of contention with my dad for a year or so about 5G which was fun

rapid geode
#

i used to think some of these things (flat earth etc) were just trolling, but then i met people.......

tardy badger
#

Luckily he came to his senses and realized the stories were.. not true.

rapid geode
#

ha

glad ruin
rapid geode
#

well, 5g is an issue. just not for those reasons.

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ha

tardy badger
#

5G is just… terrible

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Sure it’s fast when you get it

rapid geode
#

unreliable?

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my phone is LTE, whihc i think is 4g

tardy badger
#

But the footprint and power requirements to make it reliable it’s a little bit insane

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They would have saved more money, running fiber to every house in the country and install lower power repeaters in each house

rapid geode
#

ha

tardy badger
#

Probably not, but it would have worked better at least lol

rapid geode
#

we need the 5g thought to activate the chem trail trackers

raw jasper
#

Where's my cellphone signal boost from the corona vaccines? :P

rapid geode
#

ha

tardy badger
#

I live like.. 500m from a 5G tower and it kind of sucks

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2 bars inside, I don’t get more than 3 bars until I’m like.. 200m from the tower

rapid geode
#

i live 15m from someone who thinks they are putting a basement in 8 ft of solid rock.... this will be... fun

glad ruin
#

Despite the marketing suggesting otherwise, the primary benefits of 5G are carrier-side. 4G networks were beginning to saturate in urban environments. 5G base stations can handle more simultaneous connections, and requires less specialized hardware (a lot of the packet switching logic is implemented in software).

tardy badger
#

Yeah

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More channels, more bandwidth

glad ruin
#

You may have noticed that Intel and AMD are both trying to sell server chips with larger numbers of lower-performance cores. One of the primary markets for those chips is 5G.

rapid geode
#

up to 500 cat pictures per second

tardy badger
raw jasper
glad ruin
raw jasper
#

I've heard linux on risc-v is kind of immature atm though

rapid geode
#

is it risc-y?

#

runs

glad ruin
kindred isle
# sand frigate Well this is cool, I wonder why people don't use them more then.

Extremely late to the discussion, but I can tell you first hand why people don't use audio cables like that for data transmission.
The interference is AWFUL
I used a TRRS cable to connect to a pair of NeoPixel strips, and almost immediately ran into a problem. While the setup did work, it pretty much caused interference instantly. And that was at 800kHz.
Fortunately I could "fix" it by simply making sure to update one strip after the other. This wouldn't eliminate the problem, but it would significantly minimize it. If data integrity was actually important, it probably wouldn't be worth it.

#

Cheap and effective, but only if you're running one data line, or data integrety isn't a high priority.

glad ruin
#

Also those cables have zero impedance control.

static flare
#

I think camera equipment sometimes uses TRS and the like

tranquil swallow
#

Why can't I move money from my bank I NEED to pay bills

#

It's endless frustration

icy needle
#

Hi guys, a noice programmer here, I'm trying to run a python script to test a display on Raspberry PI and I'm getting the following error "No module named 'displayio'" - Controller: SSD1327(SPI)

rain cradle
#

Is displayio even available for RPi?

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If it is, you would need to install it as that's not part of CPython(ie the Python interpreter that you usually run on computers)

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(or is there a compiled CircuitPython that can be flashed on RPi?)

astral basin
#

Hi @night crescent - I think there is enough interest and a growing number of questions on seesaw (and I2C client development). Is a new channel a good idea or is there a recommended channel so we can coalesce Q&A?

late fulcrum
late fulcrum
kindred isle
#

I wonder if 1/4" jacks typically have better separation in their associated cables. I was using 3.5mm. But yeah, it can and has been done. It's just not the best idea if you can avoid it.

late fulcrum
#

You have the right idea, it's more the cables than the connectors. I just stuck with the goofy phono plug serial connectors with the vintage computer because I want to keep it as it was in the 1970s when it was built.

#

At 300bps going less than a meter, it's fine. The monitor even has checksum capability so it can detect transmission errors.

glad ruin
kindred isle
#

Man, even the 8088 was a DIP40 or 44 configuration.
Also pretty sure it can't be both NOS and "used" at the same time.
But then, it's a scam so whatever.

glad ruin
#

4.20GHz

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I feel like it's more of a meme than a scam.

pearl yoke
#

What this server support LGBTQ?

late fulcrum
#

The 8008, however, was DIP-18 hans

stuck moth
pearl yoke
#

Dude.

#

Bye then

sleek panther
#

Hey! Can anyone help me with my@order?

late fulcrum
#

Try not to crosspost. It depends on what sort of help you need. If you're looking for advice on putting together your order, we might be able to lend advice here. If you have a problem with an order you've made, send an email to support@adafruit.com

sleek panther
stuck moth
sleek panther
#

Now they want to give me a refund instead of the device

#

Makes no sense

#

Literally waited 2 years!!!!!

stuck moth
#

I’m sorry to hear that. There must be a reason they can’t send to your address

sleek panther
#

Theres no reason

#

They forgot my appt number

stuck moth
#

They know better than I do

sleek panther
#

Which was on my order form and intook a screenshot incase

sleek panther
stuck moth
#

Support@ is staffed by humans. I’ve met them

dusty citrus
#

can anyone help me with my code plz?

ancient rivet
dusty citrus
#

yes it is

ancient rivet
hasty quarry
#

When working with C, is it normal to use CMake and manually make a CMakeLists.txt file or have a tool do it for you? Is it normal to really use CMake at all? I'm pretty new to this

#

I know C, but not its typical ecosystem

#

For the sake of it, consider me to be asking about C++ too

late fulcrum
#

I have no clue what is normal. However, I just use make for C and C++. I've seen cmake in a lot of build processes, but I don't know much about it. There are, of course, lots of other build tools (I've built C code with Ant, BuildMagic, Maven, etc. in some cases)

raw jasper
tranquil swallow
#

I don't work with embedded

hasty quarry
#

I've only worked with embedded that's the thing haha

#

I wanna get familiar with the traditional ecosystem

#

(Even though I'm on Windows. Really throws a wrench in it)

raw jasper
#

wsl is a thing

hasty quarry
#

I know, and I have Linux machines to SSH into

#

I'll probably do that some time

glad ruin
#

I did The Big Irresponsible™. Got old test equipment and a cart 50% off and am now taking it home on the train.

PXL_20230615_214731439.jpg PXL_20230616_011509267.jpg PXL_20230616_012657048.jpg
late fulcrum
#

Is that a TM506?

raw jasper
#

I love the little cart

late fulcrum
#

What's it loaded up with? Looks like power supplies?

raw jasper
#

It's the SCOPE-mobile!

late fulcrum
#

Tektronix called 'em exactly that! They're great.

raw jasper
#

I read the label hahah

#

Gave me a chuckle

glad ruin
raw jasper
#

But don't think I independently came up with it :P

glad ruin
raw jasper
#

I'm surprised they could get a patent for that

glad ruin
glad ruin
late fulcrum
#

I recently picked up a TM503, mostly because I wanted the SC501 mini-scope in it, and I was curious what the custom button module was. The power frame needed new capacitors, the scope needs a fair amount of work.

TM503.jpg
raw jasper
#

Any plans on what you'll do with them?

glad ruin
#

Supply power

raw jasper
#

I mean, yeah, but these are many power supplies

late fulcrum
#

There are times when having many power supplies is really handy

#

I've been eyeing some of those TM500 power supply modules myself.

glad ruin
#

At work my bench has... 12 power supply channels. I don't generally use all of them, but different ones serve different purposes.

late fulcrum
#

The scope, happily, is doing better than it was, but still needs work

SC501-firstlight.jpg
raw jasper
#

I've never done anything as advanced

glad ruin
#

Also not all of them work fully.

late fulcrum
#

Having multiple copies is a real help when debugging

glad ruin
#

And parts

raw jasper
#

the mini-scope looks charming btw. Even the power light (I presume it's not an LED?) has a lovely color to it

raw jasper
late fulcrum
#

The power light was dead, and yes, it's incandescent (a #7220 bulb, to be specific).

#

The parts issue is a big one, as well as the ability to compare circuitry and swap parts to narrow things down.

#

Repairing test gear is excellent experience too

glad ruin
#

I have a 7704 scope. Just got a 7A26 this week and will probably be testing it over the weekend.

late fulcrum
#

We are perhaps even more alike than I realized...

scope-shelves.jpg
glad ruin
late fulcrum
#

And documented, too!

glad ruin
#

Example: the 7704 has text a readout that can show timescales, voltages, etc. Nothing special, until you realize the circuitry generating those characters is entirely analog.

late fulcrum
#

And uses base-10 signalling!

glad ruin
#

Yes

late fulcrum
#

I had a job for a while maintaining Tektronix scopes, from the old 500 series vacuum tube monsters to the fancy 7000 series ones.

glad ruin
#

ooo

#

I may have to consult you on some things.

late fulcrum
#

Happy to help out

tardy badger
#

On a 14 day streak on duolingo for Japanese

#

Feeling pretty good that I’ve been consistent for 2 weeks on learning

olive dome
glad ruin
#

Windows will break no matter what.

tardy badger
#

Thankfully I daily drive a Mac

#

Windows only really for gaming

#

And for detecting USB problems because MacOS won’t tell you if there was an issue with the device

unborn granite
#

I wonder how other makers are documenting their projects? What software/tools do you use? A friend told be he uses dokuwiki and I think this is great but I wasn't succesful with dokuwiki on my Mac unfortunately.

rain cradle
#

The little documentation i've ever written is markdown for "readable" stuff and some small docstrings on code

#

Not that anybody will read my dumb stuff, so i dont worry much about it, should maybe do stuff better anyway 🤣

late fulcrum
#

For text, I too use MarkDown (so the documentation can be easily version controlled like source code); other reasonable options include HTML and troff (if you're old school). For diagrams, I've used a variety of things, including Graphviz, Pic (if you're old school), and PostScript.

rain cradle
#

Mermaid is cool for graphics, and GitHub supports it on markdown codeblocks

#

GitLab too, i think

dusty citrus
#

What works
I usually just screenshot stuff and use random editing tools
Some colleagues do print on paper and scrable on ut

late fulcrum
#

A lot of my initial designs are scribbles on paper, but those rarely get checked into repos.

current-regulator-op-amp-redraw.jpg
#

Mechanical designs too (I'm so glad I took a drafting class in school)

proj2.jpg
raw jasper
#

(Sorry if that comes off as weird, but I'm curious)

rain cradle
#

IIRC from my uni's course those are Op-Amps, and that's a level shifter circuit

#

By tweaking resistors rates you could change the output level

#

(at least the circuit looks similar to those XD)

raw jasper
#

I know what an opamp('s symbol) is. Much less what it does :P

late fulcrum
# raw jasper I do not know analog design. What does this circuit do?

That was my first attempt at a current regulator to protect a delicate and expensive device. It samples the voltage drop across the 0.1Ω resistor to throttle the drive to the power Darlington. However, I disliked the need for a separate power supply for the op-amp and the general complexity, and eventually settled on this much simpler design.

current-regulator-transistor-redraw.jpg
tranquil swallow
#

Do you save your project files on GitHub, ifeel like GitHub might be problematic for projects with political baggage

vivid iron
#

Hello, can somebody tell me what wireless communication frequency is best for a crowded scenario, where I hope to run 10-20 robots without interference?

late fulcrum
#

I moved to gitlab a while back

vivid iron
#

A lot of people with phones with bluetooth active around, and multiple wifi networks around too, I want something reliable, with easy configuration for 10-20 specific frequencies that won't clash with existing infrastructure

late fulcrum
#

As for wireless, it depends somewhat on the range you need. 5GHz is often pretty clear. There are some pretty robust 2.4GHz spread spectrum devices which use frequency hopping to dodge noise (although there is a limit, and that's a crowded band). I've had good luck with 915MHz and 432MHz, along with protocols to re-send lost packets.

#

The spread spectrum devices don't use individual frequencies, but can be configured to use different switching patterns to avoid stepping on each other.

vivid iron
raw jasper
#

Today, I had to add a "before Nov 30, 2022" filter to my google search to filter out (seemingly) LLM-generated websites......

late fulcrum
#

Heh, along with -pinterest -amazon?

hasty wedge
#

GenshinDuino

#

it's even GPL licensed available on JLCPCB's OSHWHub

fossil dawn
#

Can you order full color PCBs now? Like directly from the PCB manufacturer or does it require (expensive) extra steps? 😆

lunar trench
#

question about the raspberry pi pico, if it gets 5V on both the VBUS and VSYS pins, would the pico get overloaded with more than 5V? i know that the source of VSYS will receive 5V from VBUS (USB) but i can use an one-way protection circuit

fossil dawn
#

I'm not an expert. If I understood it correctly from the data sheet, it's just VBUS -> Diode -> VSYS -> Pico.
So I don't think the pico could get overloaded. However you could get 5V into your second 5V supply (that is connected to Vsys). The recommended thing to do is to add a second diode to second 5V input -> Add This Diode -> Vsys

hasty wedge
#

I never tried that before

#

I usually use them for simple green boards

#

Domestic order arrives in 3 days with no extra priority fee

lunar trench
hasty wedge
#

Yes, 3 days

#

3 USD for 5 boards

#

Perk of being in China

fossil dawn
lunar trench
#

i think you replied to the wrong message, its fine though

lunar trench
astral basin
# fossil dawn Can you order full color PCBs now? Like directly from the PCB manufacturer or do...

There are two methods of multi-color PCBs: "full color" and "spot color".

Full color is like a color printer and I have only seen from independent vendors.
Spot color is more like silkscreen T-shirts.

A few PCB manufacturers (JLCPCB and PCBBUY are 2 examples) offer to do multiple mask colors.

I do my own old-school silkscreening on a few of my products. My 2023 eChallengeCoin is the most recent.

I only know of one custom shop (in India) that offers full color PCBs.

fossil dawn
glad ruin
#

I am, and your explanation is fine.

lunar trench
#

so i only need a achottky diode and that's it?

#

schotkky*

fossil dawn
lunar trench
#

ah okay, thanks for the answer

#

the ground doesn't need any protection right?

glad ruin
#

In general no, but if there is potential for a ground shift (pun intended) between your device and the computer (typically referenced to earth ground), you might need a USB isolator.

fossil dawn
# lunar trench so i only need a achottky diode and that's it?

...but there are more complicated ways to do the same. The shottky diode is the easy way. But there are cases where a more complicated method with a transistor might be better. That's again described in the datasheed of the pico.
And depending on what you're doing, I think you might get away with not adding the diode at all.
For my project, I will just use a shotky diode.

#

Page 19 of the data sheet is the actually interesting part about this

glad ruin
#

The Schottky diode will drop the voltage a little, and that drop will vary with current. So if you need a regulated 5V line I wouldn't use one. But if you're just taking the 5V and immediately regulating it down to 3.3 it's fine.

fossil dawn
#

The shottky diode adds another feature:
If you have devices drawing a lot of power you might not want them to turn on when only USB is plugged in. Just connect them to the 5V PSU side (and not the pico side) of the shottky.

glad ruin
#

Yeah that's an option as well

#

Again though with only USB connected you need to make sure your thing is ok with the supply varying between 4.3 and 4.8V.

fossil dawn
outer mountain
#

Hi all. I'm looking for a esp32 board with a built in 18650 battery holder and charger circuit. I thought this would be an obvious thing that exists but I can't find one online. Does anyone know of any?

late fulcrum
#

I don't know if any, but there are USB powerbanks that are basically a 18650 cell, along with a holder, charger, and boost circuit. You could lash an ESP32 board to one of those.

outer mountain
#

Actually I lie. I've found one but it's on some random website.

late fulcrum
#

Alternatively, you could just add a cell holder to an ESP32 Feather (which includes the charge circuitry)

outer mountain
#

I need it to be as compact as possible so it's all about the case design.

shadow siren
#

Well discord name change hit me but lucky I still have Xarnlen

astral basin
outer mountain
#

Thanks, yeah I've found those now. Wish Ada would make something like that too. Seems like a useful form factor. Obviously I'd want USB-c and the connector moved to the bottom. A guy can dream 😅

#

There's also a esp8266 version from wemos.

image0.jpg
violet parcel
#

wemos doesnt exist anymore, you are trusting a battery safety to a copy which might be badly made

#

also esp8266 are very quirky and might not be standard at all even for a battery vs the esp32

tardy badger
#

Ugh… I want to design a new project but I also have 0 motivation to do it..

#

I know what I want to make but I can’t bring myself to design the PCB 🙃

#

Or the enclosure

raw jasper
tardy badger
#

A weather station with a station inside that retrieves information periodically

#

So technically, two custom PCBs

raw jasper
#

oh. I've seen such products in stores!

tardy badger
#

Yeah, I might do an Adafruit IO integration too. Part of me also wants an iOS app for my phone lol

violet parcel
#

try to resist saying a rant about weather stations/weather radar that are just REST API fetchers but no shame in selling em for 1000$ when that would cost a 15$ qt py with a lcd to do especially in the aviation industry

raw jasper
tardy badger
#

Also commuting

#

Which is a huge literal driver of my exhaustion right now

raw jasper
#

I hope you'll be able to catch some rest

#

I understand depression is not such a simple matter (and I'm not trying to trivialize it). But even getting rest is important

tardy badger
#

I do get rest, it just never feels long enough

raw jasper
#

Does your work involve overtime and pressure?

#

(or wears your down in any other way)

tardy badger
#

Nah, I have good work life separation

#

My commute just makes my days 12hrs long vs 10hrs when I was able to work from home

#

8 hours a week commuting is a lot

#

The job itself isn’t bad, I’ve got amazing managers

raw jasper
#

I know how cliche that sounds, but I still feel it's important

#

(mainly because it's something I need to keep in check for myself)

tardy badger
#

Yeah, it’s tough just working mentally exhausting jobs in general. Much harder when you’re still trying to be emotionally available for your family when you get home

#

My feelings would be much more intense if I worked 5 days a week instead of 4

tranquil swallow
#

2 hours roundtrip commute sucks, feels like you've lost a substantial amount of the day to the void

tardy badger
#

There are people I work with that commute even further than I do

#

But they’ve been with the company forever and don’t seem to care

rapid geode
#

i commute form the kitchen to the livingroom

#

usually with a pizza

#

mmm

glad ruin
tardy badger
tardy badger
rapid geode
#

gimme!

#

if i went to the office it would be 5h a day.

tardy badger
#

Oof

rapid geode
#

yeah. so i dont. ha

tardy badger
#

I’m attempting to get a job closer to home. Currently waiting on a decision for a company I made it through all the interviews with.

rapid geode
#

nice

#

i used to be a 15 min bike ride from the office. that was nice

tardy badger
#

They told the sourcing recruiter that they really liked me so I am hopeful that I was good enough

rapid geode
#

but you cant buy no houses round there for less than $5000000 soooo

tardy badger
#

I feel that with housing

#

Homes around me are well over $450k

#

You can buy a cramped town home from $380k

glad ruin
tardy badger
#

But that monthly is still like.. $2800

raw jasper
#

I'd imagine the second option (i.e. looking for a home closer to one's job) is easier when you don't have a family

tardy badger
#

I currently pay $2300 for the townhome I lease

violet parcel
raw jasper
rapid geode
#

based on recent homes, my house is now 600ish. which is still probably the cheapest housr for 300km

#

its got out of hand

violet parcel
rapid geode
#

rents are insane. 3500 for a 2 bedroom. 2200 for a bsemkent

raw jasper
raw jasper
rapid geode
#

meow

tardy badger
#

I wish I had the same level of cares my children have

violet parcel
#

Mobile Feline Sleeping Unit was the alt-name for my cats

rapid geode
#

haha

raw jasper
#

:(

violet parcel
rapid geode
#

i know some people that still behave like kids in their 40s

#

(as far as shoving responsibilities onto other people)

violet parcel
#

and my younger relatives just have to says to feel depressed and someone immediately see them at school

raw jasper
rapid geode
#

O_o

raw jasper
#

(triply so if your relatives are of the kind who only remember you when they need something for you, which seems to be the case here)

rapid geode
#

thats the entire point of relatives

#

to be unhelpful and annoying

#

🙂

raw jasper
#

I have no idea what's wrong with some people and only seeing people as tools

#

I see it so often it's become annoying and stale

violet parcel
#

wish you could trade relatives for 1st-round, 4th round pick in the next relatives entry draft

#

or sign relatives UFA in the summer 🤣

raw jasper
#

Like, come on, not every human interaction should be a quid pro quo

rapid geode
#

i dont have any of that. but i do have someone that maintains their lifestyle by having other family pay for it. " kid need these toys, these relatives can buy them"

#

meanwhile noone is here to help me rip out my ceiling....

#

and get coverend in insulation fluff

#

ungrateful little....

#

oh, wait

#

ha

raw jasper
#

You may want to consider saving up to pay somebody to do that, just in case the insulation fluff is asbestos

rapid geode
#

nah, its cellulose. im doing it later donight

raw jasper
#

That's good.

rapid geode
#

i did one room last year already. its was horrible. all lands on your head

#

ha

lunar bear
#

oh god even this server, bye

rapid geode
#

O_o

violet parcel
#

The worst is when I have to change my bed protector because Im very sensitive to bed mites alone and i lost like 3 pounds doing it myself and I almost pass out 🤣

#

Like Im sure even NFL players dont have to go throught that when training

raw jasper
#

Would steam cleaning it help?

#

I'd hope hot steam would at least kill them

rapid geode
#

steam can work, but swapping a $30 cover is way easier

raw jasper
#

Unless they are able to infiltrate the mattress underneath

rapid geode
#

chuck it in scalding water

#

well thats what the cover is for

raw jasper
#

That sounds like a good recipe for fungal growth

rapid geode
#

so that cant happen

violet parcel
#

I do both but eventually the cover turn very dirty and is very hard to clean since it has many layer of textiles and the washing machine can hardly get in

#

so I have to change it about once every 12 months

raw jasper
#

Thinking about it, fungal growth is a good edgy band name

#

:P

violet parcel
#

If only beneficial fungi would grow out of it like paris mushrooms and shiitake but no 😦

raw jasper
#

If you see mushrooms growing out of your room, run

#

The conditions probably aren't very good for human habitation :P

rapid geode
#

ha

violet parcel
#

It was like during covid vaccines time I keep telling them to include beneficial side effects like removing wrinkles but no one ever listened 😦

rapid geode
#

my uncle grew muchrooms int he basement

#

terrible idea

rapid geode
raw jasper
#

I still await my improved 5G reception. Or at least some coprocessor function out of the microchip. I need to offload stuff from my brain! :> :P

violet parcel
#

not an uncle but distant cousin age ham/meat/cheese in italy but I never had the courage to eat it

#

like literally does it out of a cave

raw jasper
#

Both sound like a good way to end up in a chubbyemu video

rapid geode
#

my 5g chip is defective i think. all i get are football broadcasts

violet parcel
#

there was a chef there once and he told me I have no idea what Im missing on and would like to get it for free like me but I just cant stomach it

#

I dont even understand how it's possible to age perishable perishable food

#

doesnt turn it that way when I do it by accident

raw jasper
#

Lactobacillus enters the chat

rapid geode
#

O_o

#

ya lost me

raw jasper
rapid geode
#

ah

violet parcel
#

Also it is too hot in italy for me to live there

rapid geode
#

there an aussi youtube guy that makes cheese. i want to try it

violet parcel
#

especially when the nether level begin under roma

#

Like naples has a year-long growing season 😢 😦

raw jasper
#

It appears other bacteria outside the genus Lactobacillus play a more major role in ripening. Nevertheless, this seems to be an interesting review

rapid geode
#

my growing season is from late may to mid september.

#

ha

#

if im lucky

raw jasper
#

Do you get fish then?

#

:P

rapid geode
#

no....

#

my peaches are getting big though. almost 1.3" diam now

#

i want to eaaaat them

raw jasper
#

Are they sweet?

#

I love a good sweet peach (please don't misinterpret this)

violet parcel
#

the fruit i love the most when perfectly ripe is red plum

#

but I cant almost never it and when it's not it tastes like medical black plum 😦

rapid geode
violet parcel
#

id literally pays like 10$ per to have someone make sure they are perfect for me

rapid geode
#

store peaches are grown not far from me. so... hopinh they turn out nice

raw jasper
#

Do they actually call it medical in your native language, or did you just come up with it?

violet parcel
#

I was hoping someone would gets the joke without having to explain 🤣

raw jasper
#

Because if you did, that was some good humor

violet parcel
#

no I came up with it

raw jasper
#

Thanks for the chuckle :D

rapid geode
#

i have no idea what a black plum of the medical variety is

raw jasper
rapid geode
#

ahh

#

ok

violet parcel
#

eh that is the part I was hoping to not have to explain 🤣

rapid geode
#

i have a japanese plum tree. but it needs a friend to create fruits

violet parcel
#

it's the kind you have to eat because a doctor told you so even if it tastes bad, isn't sweet and you have to chew it a lot because it's harder than normal because it's not ripe

#

where as normally you can pick up the nicest looking ones that are very red and just perfectly ripe

#

also it's funny when the IRS/CRA call you and asks why you are asking for a tax deduction for food but then you have a doctor's prescription for it

raw jasper
#

I've managed to find a vendor whose dried plums tend to be mostly sweet

#

They're more expensive than store brand though

rapid geode
#

i never liked prunes

raw jasper
#

Well, I hope you never get a prescription for them 😅

rapid geode
#

purple plums are yummy though

raw jasper
#

That's awesome and cursed at the same time :P

violet parcel
#

well it doesnt matter where you got something from

#

just that you have a prescription for it - it count as medical bills

raw jasper
#

I think dried plums fall under the "luxury food" VAT tier over here

#

Not really sure though

violet parcel
#

I tell my local coffee shop my coffee is medical too because I need it as fuel like a car but I dont consider that as a medical item for tax deduction (wish I could though)

rapid geode
#

you cant write off much medicine bills here.

#

if you are very poor you can. but usually its free anyway.

violet parcel
#

Was going to learn morse for ham but gave up when I saw they also asks for 5 word per minute with numbers and special characters 😦

late fulcrum
#

The digits are easy (they're in a pattern). There are only a few symbols in use.

violet parcel
#

morse grant honours privilege without a separate exam (can uses <= 30 Mhz / 10 meters band) but the antenna sare big so not sure that can be done in a small apartment

#

I know for like 30Khz you need like a 800 feet long towered antenna

late fulcrum
#

Or a loop antenna.

violet parcel
#

but why? cant you just talk on discord which is free and doesnt need 800$ of gear ?

late fulcrum
#

I can talk over the air when the internet and phones are down or clogged.

violet parcel
#

but isnt that an emergency for which I dont need a license anyway ?

#

Like if 911 is down anyone can use any frequency to call for help include 121.5, 433 etc in Canada

late fulcrum
#

I would stay firmly away from 121.5MHz, that's the aircraft emergency frequency!

violet parcel
#

yeah if you have an emergency the point is kinda to communicate on a frequency where help is likely to be

#

but it is apparently discontinued in the us and canada now and it's better to use the active frequencies

#

on the question bank for the ham radio exams there is 7 questions on this. What ham radio are supposed to do if they hear someone call mayday mayday etc. Basically it takes precedences over anything

#

Gonna asks my ham radio handler exactly where it says that

violet parcel
#

meh I guess Im going to have to sink/drown in silence then

tardy badger
rapid geode
#

NOO ELMO

#

you hasve so much math and spelling to live for

glad ruin
#

snickering

violet parcel
#

I did an intro flight once but I couldnt understand anything the ATC said so I decided to not go further

#

It's basically 1h class and 1h discovery flight. The last 15 mins they spend on calling help on the radio for the instructor if something happens. But I cant remember anything

#

Id just do 7700 and hopes they find a way to talk to me and tell me how to use the radio 😦

crystal ore
#

"Argh! I can't figure out how to use this radio! We're all going to-" <cellphone rings> "... Oh, right."

violet parcel
#

I dont really have a cellphone

#

plus Ive never seen public atc phone numbers anyway

#

I dont think they are supposed to be public

#

I could have taken an helicopter tour but it was almost the same price and I got to control the airplane a bit

#

wasnt comfortable with landing thought since I always crashed in flight simulator

tranquil swallow
#

You ever notice how complex science has got

glad ruin
#

You say that as if it wasn't always the case

violet parcel
#

wasnt always the case you could easily do the classic experiments

#

but good luck doing quantum superposition in your bedroom. To start with to even split and emit 2 particles entangled to each under under 45 million $ good luck

#

pretty sure I could easily rent 2 horses for the vacuum brass sphere experiment thing

#

potato / citrus battery experiment not too expensive either

#

some experiments are also illegal since they were first done (telegraph experiments/rf excperiments/xray/curie stuff)

glad ruin
#

At sufficiently low power you can still do a lot of RF.

crystal ore
#

They threw me out of the produce section of the grocery store while I was trying to demonstrate gravity... 😅 🍎

violet parcel
#

I learned gravity from cats

#

I also practice falling on my 4 legs like em but never worked

tranquil swallow
#

Are there any homemade particle accelerators

#

I'd like to smash atoms

crystal ore
#

A CRT television has an electron gun in it, for example. But a genuine atom smasher would be fairly difficult, I think.

violet parcel
#

youd need buy buy a 15 mile x 1mile lot first

#

also the nodes every 30 feet costs like 1M$

#

I think it's time to get rid of my mega 2560 for a while 😦

topaz prism
#

I don't know who to contact for this, but thanks for posting my model on #3DThursday #3DPrinting at https://blog.adafruit.com/2023/06/15/portable-airhorn-3dthursday-3dprinting/ !

Who can I ask to link to the model page on printables instead of thingiverse? The model page is at https://www.printables.com/model/457446
I am most active on printables and also receive points for downloads and likes, so that I can provide part of my hobby with earned filament through the points system.
Thank you!

Adafruit Industries - Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers!
Portable Airhorn #3DThursday #3DPrinting

Shared by startknop on Thingiverse: This little powerhouse knows how to produce a sound that will scare you. Very easy printing. All parts can be printed without support. I printed them with 0.4 no…

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Portable Air Horn by Wim V | Download free STL model | Printables.com

A little powerhouse small enough for your pants or vest pocket. | Download free 3D printable STL models

dusty citrus
#

I have an sbc
I forgot that I don't have an usb keyboard hanging around
Aren't there solutions for android/windows that are able to launch input through usb without having to install anything to the sbc?
Everything that I see requires some kind of app in the sbc

rain cradle
#

perhaps it comes with SSH installed and you can just login from your daily device?

next path
rain cradle
#

but if it doesnt have sshd (or it is not running)... time to hook a kb, probably

late fulcrum
#

Superposition in your bedroom is easy, I could probably put that together in an afternoon with stuff I have lying around (dim light source, filters, razor blades, webcams, nothing particularly exotic). Entanglement is a little trickier, but not millions of dollars. You can get a sodium 22 source for <$200, and a pair of silicon photomultipliers for another <$200. The rest of the apparatus (lead blocks, coincidence detector, etc.) is fairly ordinary stuff that's cheaply and easily found.

late fulcrum
# violet parcel youd need buy buy a 15 mile x 1mile lot first

That's the beauty of a cyclotron, instead of a linear accelerator, you accelerate the particles in a spiral. You can fit a cyclotron on a table top. And yes, people have home built them. You just need a couple of "dees" (basically sheet metal half cylinders), some big magnets, a vacuum pump, a particle source, RF source, and some instrumentation. It's a fairly complicated project, but people have built these in their basements many times.

late fulcrum
lunar trench
#

i just realized i can harvest the lithium ion out of my about to break controller

glad ruin
#

Do it outside, wear thick gloves and a full face shield, and make sure there's nothing flammable around.

fossil dawn
#

If you're going to solder the battery wires, remember that scissors and side cutters are conductive. Sounds obvious. I still learned it the hard way even though I obviously knew it 😆

lunar trench
fossil dawn
#

you can't drain Lithium batteries

#

If you discharge them below around 3V (depending on their exact type it might be different) they're permanently damaged

#

I think if the battery is as discharged as possible (without damaging it) the risk of fire is lower

glad ruin
#

Basically no matter what you do it's dangerous. You need to be wearing full protective gear and be prepared for a chemical fire.

glad ruin
fossil dawn
#

another thing I do when soldering batteries (which I do very rarely) is to have only one wire uninsulated at a time. Like normally I would uninsulate and pretin all my wires and then solder them. But with a lipo, they could touch and short.

glad ruin
#

... although if you're disassembling the battery that's a bit of a moot point.

fossil dawn
#

So far I've only changed the connectors of the wires of RC lipo packs 😄

violet parcel
patent hemlock
violet parcel
patent hemlock
violet parcel
#

I feel like what I wrote wasn't read. Oh well gonna go play a game for a couple of hours

dusty citrus
glad ruin
rocky minnow
#

would like to find info on how to interact with the discord server for circuit python help

glad ruin
manic rain
#

how to read/write to eeprom via I2C on debian?

tardy badger
#

Alrighty.. I qualify for homes priced in my area.. now I just need… $23k for down payment and closing costs 💀

#

Wait, $18k after the closing credit lol

raw jasper
#

That's... a lot of money

tardy badger
#

Yup

#

If I could just have my pretax/prededuction pay.. that would be 2 months to get that

raw jasper
#

You make 10k/mo. before tax?! Well, for my standards, this is a very well-paid job. Congrats!

tardy badger
#

Technically I make $9100/mo before taxes

#

I spend quite a bit on retirement, health care that sucks, housing..

dusty citrus
#

Cost of living are high as much or not?
I just make 1.2k € ...
If I'm able to keep the job, I'm bad with social skills

tardy badger
#

Cost of living is pretty high

#

I spend about 1/3 of my take home pay on housing

#

Quite a bit on debt because I have not so great spending habits from before I got my bachelor’s degree

raw jasper
#

👍 I understand. It was just an order of magnitude higher than what I'm used to seeing, so I genuinely wanted to congratulate

dusty citrus
#

Are you a freelancer or working under someone else? Just curious I'm sorry if I ask too much

tardy badger
#

I work for a large gov contractor

#

Doing software engineering

raw jasper
#

(And, I had no idea that that "much" money still gets you "healthcare that sucks". I thought that even with the US being the US, getting a comfortable wage would at least translate to decent healthcare)

tardy badger
#

Not really

#

It’s a high deductible health plan

raw jasper
#

Oh.

dusty citrus
#

Ah about the us, there's something that I don't get
If you make that much, why don't you just go to cheaper neighbors countries? Health tourism it's a thing

tardy badger
#

It means each person on my plan has to pay $4000 in medical expenses before it’s covered at 100%

raw jasper
#

Which... is not how medical expenses work

tardy badger
#

I also don’t make enough money for doing health tourism

raw jasper
#

Health tourism = going to Canada to do the procedures for less?

tardy badger
#

Traveling is expensive

raw jasper
#

Oh, yeah, it certainly is

#

That I can vouch for

tardy badger
#

Or Mexico or South America

dusty citrus
#

Here in ue, many go in the Balkans for whatever thing it's not covered by the health plan, like tooths

tardy badger
#

My dental insurance covers 50% up to $2000

raw jasper
crystal ore
#

Also you can't really book a flight after getting hit by a car or having a heart attack. Coverage for unforeseen emergencies is a big part of health insurance.

raw jasper
#

If you don't mind me asking, which country code was UE again?

dusty citrus
#

Although even if it's "free" healthcare, I see the quality of service decreasing, and private health care spawning with better services and high prices, just like the us, not as much, but it's getting there, lobbies...

raw jasper
tardy badger
#

My dad had really good health insurance before Obamacare was enacted. Pretty much a $50 co-pay for any doctor visit, great co-pays on pharmacy, low deductible

dusty citrus
#

Yup
Like you try to get a ticket, it costs, and there isn't avaiblity, or if there is, it's after 3 months, and if you get there, they may not even fix your issue, so you keep paying for nothing
While you got lots of people that still think that the health care here is the best, because news media says so...

tardy badger
#

But then companies got charged hefty fees or what was referred to as a “Cadillac tax” for providing better than minimal coverage.

raw jasper
#

...and a medicine shortage to top it all off

dusty citrus
tardy badger
#

Luckily my dad was not affected by the chemotherapy shortage

raw jasper
#

Chemotherapy and shortage should not belong in the same sentence

#

(same with antibiotics, any medicine really)

#

Hope your dad is doing OK now

tardy badger
#

He’s in a healing period before his august surgery

raw jasper
#

I hope it all goes well

tardy badger
#

Same

raw jasper
#

(sorry. Made too probing question. Deleted)

rapid geode
#

probes are for oscilloscopes

raw jasper
rapid geode
#

....

raw jasper
#

Anyway, I gotta get back on what I was doing

#

later!

tardy badger
#

The only appropriate meme/gif for leaving to do something else

late fulcrum
#

Potatoes gonna potate

dusty citrus
#

A lot of houdini work huh

rapid geode
#

blender

#

:x

mint silo
#

Hello,
I am currently looking into Adafruit Unified Sensor class implemented in C++ and the first thing I noticed is, that there isn't a method 'begin()'. I need a very abstract sensor description where I actually just want to begin() the sensor and then log values using get_event(...). How would something like that be possible?

Why isn't there a default constructor and default begin() method for every sensor using the default system busses Wire/SPI/Serial/...? This would allow to hide even more implementation within the program.

umbral phoenix
# tardy badger It’s a high deductible health plan

high-deductible plans should be accompanied by an HSA (usually with an employer match), to cover the out-of-pocket with pre-tax dollars ...HSA and 401k and the like, makes most sense to contribute at least up to the employer match (free money!)

tardy badger
#

My employer gives $1000 for my HDHP plan

#

We’ve used that to pay for bills from the previous year we couldn’t cover

#

I put in $20/paycheck as it’s all I can manage right now

rapid geode
#

just move here. problem solved

#

:x

patent hemlock
mint silo
#

I mean a begin() function that inits the sensor and checks for errors.

patent hemlock
#

well, you can always file an issue (and make some pull-requests 😃 ) but i imagine is that many of the sensors have wildly differing levels of "init"

spice moss
tardy badger
spice moss
#

skerr perhaps yeah

tardy badger
#

It’s a line from that scene

spice moss
#

my lattes need more mushroom

tardy badger
#

The direct quote is “could use some mushroom” lol

#

Well, like 37 second mark

ebon dew
#

new keyboard came in. feels like a laptop keyboard with thin flat keys. works well. no more sticking keys. feels nice to type normally again.

tardy badger
#

I like clicky keyboards for desktops myself

ebon dew
#

it's in a workshop where i've broken a keyboard in half by accidentally dropping a brake caliper on it. wasn't going for fancy. cheap is better for this environment.

#

however the replacement i got at the time had keys that wouldn't fully depress from day 1. i should have replaced it long ago. :/ it just got worse as time went on.

spice moss
#

i like that asus rog azoth way too as close to do it yourself roots

patent hemlock
#

i'm not overly fond of loud keyboards - my wife has one and i can't tell if she's writing a thank you note or ripping someone a new opening

rapid geode
#

ha

spice moss
#

something of fluid the keycap spring could make it less noisier

rapid geode
#

water cooled keyboard?

#

water silenced

spice moss
#

no the lubricant like you do for door for example on joints

rapid geode
#

vaseline in the key caps?

#

🙂

#

lubing switches dowsnt really make them quiet

ebon dew
#

I was thinking last night about a gel capacitive touch keyboard but that might get kinda gunky eventually.

#

like the stuff wrist rests are made of

rapid geode
#

i always wanted a capacitiv touch keyboard until they existed and i realised i definitely dont want one

#

ha

ebon dew
#

same for the ones that project a laser onto a desk

rapid geode
#

you really do need something tactile

ebon dew
#

i can feel the pain in my fingers already without ever having used one

rapid geode
#

that too yea. i mean its like a phone. imagine using a phone at youre regular keyboard

#

no thanks

#

also very unreliable. rejects a lot of key "presses"

ebon dew
#

now if there was a gel keyboard shape with a laser overlay that might be appealing but again gunk. needs to be easy to clean and maintain.

#

and people with long nails would probably just make stab marks in the gel

spice moss
#

but would you lubing the switches than keycaps? to make them quiet

ebon dew
#

different gel durometer, it's an interesting concept worth exploring if it can be reliable.

spice moss
ebon dew
#

neat design but one of my absolute requirements for a keyboard is a calculator button and full keypad. not a fan of the compact keyboards.

spice moss
#

i have got love of mmo mouse what have 12 thumb keys

ebon dew
#

those are pretty neat, far more than i need from a mouse, my gaming days are over

spice moss
#

djdevon well you could make macropad like callucator

ebon dew
#

eventually i intend on making my own keyboard yes. in the mean time i got this just to have something that actually works.

#

the ctrl key and many other keys would never depress correctly, horrible switch design. ended up causing pain in a couple of my fingers.

#

went hunting for something with mx switches and a calculator button. found one. no lighted keys but i don't really need that either i can type blindly np.

#

it's very silent. wasn't a requirement but i'm getting used to it.

#

ended up not being mx switches i guess but feels good and actually functions without problems unlike my previous one. it's a meh board which is all i needed.

rapid geode
raw jasper
cunning frost
#

Sidenote though re: lubing switches for noise reduction. While it won't magically transform a clicky switch into a silent one (though it can make brown tactiles almost silent), it does make them quiet-er. Most switches have quite loose tolerances; lots of rattling and pinging inside. Lubing contact points (even the spring) fills in those gaps and does make them significantly quieter. The rest comes down to keycaps, the plate, pcb, and acoustics.

dusty citrus
#

I'm sorry for going widely ot yet again, but is it bad to use concepts & dropped projects as part of a portfolio?

rapid geode
#

O_o

#

as long as they are your own?

native hare
#

Hello guys! My name is Lorenzo Jesien, from Brazil! And I'm participating in a course for my school I want some feedback to make better my project based on sustainability! Can you guys help me!?(thanks!😁 ) [just a small project!]

https://forms.gle/52ZHFcvHXexrbp9p8

Google Docs
BioCycle

Hello guys! My name is Lorenzo Jesien, from Brazil! And I'm participating in a course for my school I want some feedback to make better my project based on sustainability!

The main idea of the project it's to promote sustainable education through the implementation of homemade biodigesters. A biodigester is an innovative system that converts or...

ebon dew
rigid horizon
#

Anybody done anything fun (and easy) with their kids lately? Looking for some fun ideas to do with our 11 year old (and I'm terrible at scoping to an 11 year old mind :S ). Lights would be fun, but coding is still outside of his wheelhouse

tranquil swallow
#

Sounds like the perfect time to start games programming

rapid geode
#

3d print an rc car then slowly branch into things like giving it lighting, and sensors

#

🙂

tardy badger
#

My brother is printing tanks for a table top game and one of them got damaged when he was cleaning it up and painting

#

So I sent this gif

rapid geode
#

haha

#

how hard can it be?

NED_v8.jpg 20230617_163938.jpg
fresh niche
rapid geode
#

ha

fresh niche
#

What even is that tho?

#

Lint?

rapid geode
#

oh. cellulose (paper) insulation

#

it gets everywhere

fresh niche
#

Ahh i see

#

Is it the one which gives lung cancer on inhailing?

rapid geode
#

asbestos

#

this stuff is fine, just fluffy dust

#

definitely need a mask

fresh niche
rapid geode
#

not in walls, but a lot in ceilings in the 60s and 70s

#

this stuff is from the 2000s

fresh niche
#

oh i see

#

Good luck tho

#

🐥

rapid geode
#

too hot now, but later ill clean it all up. shove it in to 15 garbage bags.

#

vacuum and thne it should be fine

#

im trying to figure out how to get sheets of material above the ceiling though

violet parcel
#

Trying to figure out how I'll be able to do ham out of a small apartment

#

so far jpole/mag-mount seems the most possible things but limited to 6 ft high

rapid geode
#

bake at 375 for 1 hour?

violet parcel
#

ham radio silly not the food 🤣

late fulcrum
rapid geode
#

condos can get super fussy about antennas. just gotta make it small and invisible

violet parcel
#

Cant really put it outside because of canadian snow hurricanes

rapid geode
#

wow those are expensive

#

ha

#

snowmageddon

violet parcel
#

Also a neighboor told me they have an antenna coming out of a flower pot. Condo cant really say anything because they didnt specify plants cannot be made of metal 🤣

rapid geode
#

hyahahahah

violet parcel
#

There are some granite vertical hills in my city as well. Wish I lived there so I could make a really long stealthly black wire slope antenna

#

I bet I could catch naval ULF with that 🤣

late fulcrum
#

For outdoor use in antenna-restricted places, a popular dodge is a flagpole that doubles as an antenna. For indoor use, I generally see compact things like eggbeaters, Moxons, helical, bowties, loaded folded dipoles, miniature wire Yagis, and the aforementioned loops.

violet parcel
#

an antenna off a balcony is a falling hazard as well

#

that combined with canadian snow hurricanes make it a bad idea

#

I have a metal filling cabinet (key is to be next to the glass patio door) for a 6 feet magmount

#

or a j-pole hanging down from my curtain rod like I said

#

Ill check the loop thing you said too. There is a field day soon so Ill ask them

#

they might have some field rf tester so I know if there is a point to doing my license...

late fulcrum
#

A J-pole can be practical for UHF/VHF work, but an HF J-pole is generally going to be large enough to be unwieldy.

violet parcel
#

I have pretty much given up on HF from here

#

especially considering the min size is 10 feet and most antennas for it are 40 feet

#

Im just disappointed cuz I thought this was mostly a power thing

#

And I though 4 wall sockets at 1800W each maybe I can work something out 😦

late fulcrum
#

If you're sticking with VHF/UHF, a simple wire dipole is likely to be sufficient, or even just a 1/4λ wire with a counterpoise (that filing cabinet would likely serve)

violet parcel
#

But most antennas Ive seen are 10 watts

late fulcrum
#

HF loops can be surprisingly compact (which is why I suggested it when I thought you wanted to do HF with an indoor antenna). However, you probably want to stick with low wattage anyway for RF exposure reasons. You don't really want to be near an antenna transmitting a high power signal.

violet parcel
#

I thought I could get HF with the 5 words per minute morse

late fulcrum
#

HF is pretty efficient, you can do surprisingly well with less than a watt.

violet parcel
#

but that was until I saw you have to also write down 5 words per minutes and my morse trainer only has letters, not numbers or special characters

#

I listened to a bit of morse of international competitions and I couldnt hear any pause 😦

#

or the difference between . and _

late fulcrum
#

There are Morse practice transmissions from various sources, as well as recordings. And free software to generate any Morse you like at a configurable speed.

violet parcel
#

wondering if I should solve the antenna problem first with like an sdr-usb key

#

also you can disable transmitting on ham transceiver and listening is fine

#

I guess it's like those pwm ESCs. I dont like wasting money on thing that might not work out in the end ....

hasty wedge
#

Saw some panda IRL at the zoo of beijing

#

they got tons of them

#

But none of them were active due to the temperature

raw jasper
#

Does the heat make them sleepy?

hasty wedge
#

probably

#

the heat even made me sleepy

#

they charges extra for the panda exhibit

#

entrance fee for the zoo was like 15 cny and panda was an another 10 cny

#

so 25 total (around 3.5 USD)

tardy badger
#

Not terrible

raw jasper
#

neat!

tranquil swallow
#

Pandas are so cool in person, most people only have a caricature as their point of reference. It's a shame they're functionally extinct

rapid geode
#

pandas are just guys in fur suits. its all a con

wanton thistle
#

Uh 9so 9for 9some 9reason 9my 9keyboard 9is 9typing 9like 9this+. 9Is 9it 9a 9stuck 9key 9+?

#

+I 9restarted 9my PC 9and 9it 9still 9does 9it

fossil dawn
#

water damage? My mouse did something similar. Every time I clicked left, it also clicked middle. Cleaned the board with isopropyl alcohol and it works again

wanton thistle
#

+i 9think 9i 9di 9+spill 9+h2o 9yesterdya 9but 9it 9worked 9fine 9:/

#

but 9lol 9it 9makes 9it 9seems 9like 9I 9am 9a 9robot 9or 9something

fossil dawn
#

then clean it

#

I think the minerals and stuff in the water can conduct electricity and basically create shorts after it's dried

wanton thistle
#

ty 9will 9try

fresh niche
#

I wanna hug them but they are basically a bear and will do the same thing to me a black bear would do

steady tree
#

hii, i’m a beginner in electronics but i’ve been wanting to get into it for a while now. I love watching channels like diy perks or ginger of oz make their own tech stuff and i wanted to do that too. i was wondering if me getting a elegoo mega r3 electronics kit and the book “The Art of Electronics 3rd Edition” would help in me getting started?

late fulcrum
#

The Art of Electronics is an impressive tome, but might be a bit much to get started on. That Arduino-like board is a good idea, expecially if you want to be able to program things. There are some other good kits aimed at beginners as well (Snap Circuits, LittleBits, those "100 in 1" electronics kits, etc.), or you can just get a solderless breadboard and a handful of basic components (like https://www.adafruit.com/product/5696 but there are lots of options) and Jennifer Fox's book on beginning breadboarding https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4842-9218-1 or (again) there are lots of other options

peak talon
cunning frost
#

I say start with something you might use or are invested in in some form. I got back into electronics building a macropad. I still use it, now in sideways config, and with stuff outside its original spec. XD But that lead to everything else.

patent hemlock
#

there's also a gazillion different "beginner kits for X processor" (Arduino, Beagle, Pi, Feather, etc.)

late fulcrum
#

While the Mims book is excellent (I had one too), it doesn't bridge the gap to "how to use a solderless breadboard", and while it's not that hard, it can be a stumbling block if you're trying to figure everything else out at the same time.

glad ruin
#

I... avoid solderless breadboards. Spent too much time debugging faulty breadboard contacts rather than actual issues.

peak talon
#

This is true. I had friends with similar interests help with the prototyping aspects. One went on to design flight simulators for DARPA. Another is a PhD at Stanford University.

late fulcrum
#

Cheap or abused solderless breadboards are like that, decent ones haven't given me trouble and I use them a lot.

patent hemlock
#

they're ok to start with, but you do realize pretty quickly that they can get garbaged pretty quickly

glad ruin
#

Yeah all breadboards must be treated as disposable.

patent hemlock
#

i usually get some of the smaller ones and just leave stuff on them - kinda like cheapskate breakout boards

glad ruin
#

I use old ones to solder pins to breakout boards.

late fulcrum
#

Ben Eater's video on breadboards explains why the cheap ones look similar but aren't similar, as well as addressing capacitance and other issues. I got spoiled by learning electronics on one of the fastest to build kits ever made, and I like being able to whomp up a circuit in a few minutes, make changes, analyze, etc. I have found no other method as fast, so I stick with them.

glad ruin
#

Yeah that's the other thing: you can't comfortably go over maybe a few hundred kHz on a breadboard.

umbral phoenix
#

i don't know, I do multi-MHz SPI (like 80MHz Airlift) on solderless breadboards all the time

glad ruin
#

I said comfortably, i.e. without worrying about signal integrity issues causing intermittent data corruption.

umbral phoenix
#

oops, 8 MHz... but displays also run in those ranges

glad ruin
#

8MHz is at least more within reason.

umbral phoenix
#

I use the 3" jumpers for that stuff, like displays at 24MHz

#

I rarely solder up a board because I usually regret it later and de-soldering is my least favorite activity (even with socketing the MCU). I have solderless breadboard projects that have been running non-stop since like 2017

glad ruin
#

See I usually do the opposite and just design a PCB.

umbral phoenix
#

i've never done that (yet)

#

very few things I'm sure enough about to make that commitment

late fulcrum
glad ruin
#

Yeah I have yet to watch his videos

late fulcrum
#

I do usually go from breadboard to PCB, once I have the design shaken out.

breadboard-final.jpg
steady tree
late fulcrum
#

While you can learn a lot by repairing stuff, it's a big help to have a handle on basic principles first (IMHO, anyway).

steady tree
late fulcrum
#

That makes sense to me, yes

steady tree
#

what books would you recommend?

glad ruin
#

It's kind of a mixture. Repair requires some degree of understanding, but it's also like a totally different world sometimes.

late fulcrum
#

Bigclive's teardown videos are good for seeing common approaches that are used in commercial devices

steady tree
glad ruin
#

Art of Electronics 3rd edition, but it is a design reference guide, not a 'beginner' book.

dusty citrus
steady tree
glad ruin
#

Vintage electronics (particularly test equipment) is also much more repairable, and the complete manuals (including full circuit descriptions) are also available in a lot of cases.

glad ruin
steady tree
glad ruin
#

That should be possible to repair. Also do you not have 120V readily available where you live? Almost everything in 🇺🇸 is 120.

violet parcel
late fulcrum
#

The Mims book is good, and while I haven't read it, I'm guessing Jennifer Fox's book could be useful too. "How to Diagnose and Repair Everything Electronic" isn't quite as good as its title implies, but it's a useful reference. Don Lancaster's book on digital electronics ("CMOS Cookbook" in particular) are handy. There's another one entitled something like "What they should have taught you in Electronics 101". And there's a companion volume to The Art of Electronics, called "Learning the Art of Electronics", that's basically the lecture notes for a hand-on lab course. You'd have to come up with your own parts and test gear to perform the projects, but you'd get some solid experience working through it (they have suggestions on where to get the materials on https://learningtheartofelectronics.com/)

steady tree
#

my grandad also did have concerns about plugging it in because of it maybe being DC

dusty citrus
#

I saw your main post now
Anything is a good start
Although I don't think there's a best way to learn
Many old folks do suggest to learn c or even assembly because it gives foundamentals
But the reality is that you can go without and use any framework like arduino or micropython, and saving lots of time

late fulcrum
#

Those old radios were often transformerless "hot chassis" radios that can be dangerous to work on without protective devices such as an isolation transformer, as the "ground" is actually one side of the mains.

steady tree
#

oh ok

#

what would be the cheapest way for me to start ?

dusty citrus
steady tree
#

considering things which are available to me in my country

dusty citrus
#

AliExpress is full of cheap stuff
Dunno if it ships there though

steady tree
#

cause the kit i had mentioned i would be acquiring from some relatives coming from abroad to visit

steady tree
#

varied*

late fulcrum
dusty citrus
steady tree
#

what equipment would i need to start?

dusty citrus
#

A computer of some kind
Likely a soldering iron and a tester
There are kits around there anyway

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Other equipment will come with time/experience

steady tree
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and what would i use said equipment on?

late fulcrum
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It depends a little on what you want to learn. Normally I'd say a few transistors, resistors, capacitors, LEDs, and the like. Maybe an Arduino clone if you want to program things. Maybe a couple of op-amps if you want to learn analog. Adapter cable so you can power things with an ordinary USB charger. And a way to hook things together (I like solderless breadboards but as you can see, they're not for everybody)

dusty citrus
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I don't want to be unfriendly, but that's something that you can easily google or see in any book...

late fulcrum
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My usual advice is to find a simple project that interests you and then figure out (or ask) what parts might make sense to use to build it.

steady tree
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would you have any suggestions?

late fulcrum
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I have no knowledge of what might interest you. Some people like to make art projects (for example, maybe a bird whose eyes light up and the beak moves and it makes noises), some people like to make robots that roll around, some folks want to solve a problem of some sort, some folks want to investigate something (like re-create a simple analog computer like the one that first illustrated chaos theory).

steady tree
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ok, thank you so much for the help!

violet parcel
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make: bundles come on special on pc bundles sites once in a while

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you can get like the whole collection for 20 US$ or a couple of them for 5-6 US$

steady tree
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would you mind linking a few sites?

violet parcel
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the public libraries in your country might also have digital subs

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with electronics books