general-chat

[raw jasper]

So, I'm guessing the scope was used in debugging devices?

This post made me dig up some papers from the 1950's (to be more exact, the single paper that came to mind) that would have a need for such a setup. Apparently, they used the oscilloscopes and hand-recorded the waveforms

[glad ruin]

According to the person at Tek, they apparently had them by the dozen.

[raw jasper]

A work from the '70s used early ADCs

[raw jasper]

Yeah, now that I've "inversely freshened up" my literature, I can see why :)

(Because biomed discussion may be offtopic on this server, I can dm you the papers if you are interested)

[glad ruin]

Yeah go ahead, although this is general, and it is still electronics related.

[raw jasper]

There are... other reasons I can think of that this may not be suitable for general sharing

[glad ruin]

ah

[burnt tendon]

If you are trying to take over the world, can you at least program your fleshy biomechanical monsters to leave me alone?

[sharp nexus]

Hello, does any of you know Arduino Nano 33 BLE programming? 🙂

I need help! 🙂

[late fulcrum]

There's this set of six on eBay (for a ridiculous price) https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/JlsAAOSwnyZh4uYO/s-l1600.jpg

[raw jasper]

One of the props of living in the US is access to old surplus tech equipment

I have cute miniscope envy

:P

[late fulcrum]

I'd be interested too

[raw jasper]

I've sent you a friend request (AFAIK can't dm in discord w/o it)

[late fulcrum]

It gets worse, I'm restoring this old hulk

[fossil dawn]

You have the best chance to get an answer if you just ask your actual question. This applies to (in my experience) basically every discord server

[burnt tendon]

It's at times like this that I wish I lived somewhere where I could have a bit more space for random electronics stuff.

[glad ruin]

Spoiler/medical content alert: they ||turn a squid into a diode||, for science.

https://tenor.com/view/portal-you-monster-gladys-gif-10845250

[burnt tendon]

I feel like this would lead to a ||squid rebellion||.

||Like, try that on an octopus and watch the octopus turn into neo and us into the machines from the Matrix.||

Wow, one spoiler alert required me to spoiler alert increasing amounts of my paranoid suspect ramblings, almost like I'd been infected by the GPL.

[glad ruin]

Well, at least it wasn't the AGPL, so you're safe.

[idle frigate]

Holy crow what magic is this new LED filament?!

I was already enthralled with the EL wire but this is different

[rapid geode]

led filament? 3d printable leds?

🙂

[hard mica]

Ahoy

[fossil dawn]

https://www.adafruit.com/product/5505
https://www.adafruit.com/product/5503
I bet they mean these or similar

[rapid geode]

oh, "light bulb" filaments

[sharp nexus]

where to find out how to write code for Arduino nano 33 ble?

[wanton thistle]

sigh, I am a fool. Im wondering why my PID code isnt calculating and its stuck on one value. Well, I spent two days on this and guess what? I was **never **calling the function each second to do a calculation.

https://tenor.com/view/upset-frustrated-bridge-of-nose-gif-12592737

[patent hemlock]

the n00ds? yeah, ain't that neat?

[raw jasper]

🍜

[idle frigate]

Yeah the noods

[rapid geode]

i want to see a sci fi tv show using them as pasta now

[burnt tendon]

Darnit, I might have to steal that idea.

Except I need to remember it until wintertime.

[patent hemlock]

set a reminder on a calendar

[late fulcrum]

Trying to make a "battery" like the ones in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 out of some

[rapid geode]

bzzzzt!

glowwy

[late fulcrum]

Yeah, trying to make prop replicas of these

[tardy badger]

I am groot. I am groot. I.. am groot

😬

[blissful roost]

"We are Groot"

[raw jasper]

Prepare to be assimilated

[blissful roost]

Persistence is futile!

[raw jasper]

Your cultures will adapt to service us

[late fulcrum]

We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. And your Anulax batteries!

[rapid geode]

"We are american" ?

😛

destroyed a little servo to figure out how to get the pot out. seems i need to desolder it to do it cleanly

[fresh niche]

I can speak grootish.........why do you want to invade cuba and form the pig republic?

[tardy badger]

You need to brush up, I was saying “that bomb was cool. I almost pressed the wrong button button. I could have died.”

[rapid geode]

no, i talked to him on set. what he really said was "i can't remember my line, what am i doing with the prop?"

the funniest thing is apparently vin diesel does have a real script.

[tardy badger]

Yeah lol

[worthy magnet]

man

I bought SCSI device lmao

Hope somebody make a SCSI HBA via USB host like Pi

USB 2 SCSI but redone

[green swan]

😭 Even though it was in a huge padded box the adafruit vinyl record I ordered got all sorts of folded by UPS. Adafruit support has a new one headed out to me immediately but dang if it's the only recent box that I got that really couldn't handle the abuse and dang did they abuse it on the way here.

Thinking about it, though, I wonder what the best way to ship a vinyl would be.. I guess a really skinny box?

[ebon dew]

I got one sent to Florida last year in the middle of summer that arrived in perfect condition. Just the luck of the draw I guess.

they pack it in a big box intentionally as air is an insulator, they answered that question on AAE actually.

Here's where I asked about how they ship vinyl before I ordered it. 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/live/frsjRBFICGg?feature=share&t=3796

and here's where i wrote back on the successful shipment of the vinyl https://www.youtube.com/live/Ug24TQG8auQ?feature=share&t=993

shipping in the oversized box with stuffing ensured it made it perfectly fine. your results may vary if the shipping company decides to play hockey with it. that's out of adafruit's hands.

[fossil dawn]

did you read the setup guide and getting started on the official arduino.cc website? https://docs.arduino.cc/hardware/nano-33-ble

Next, you could do some very simple projects from here https://docs.arduino.cc/built-in-examples/
Or something here is interesting to you https://docs.arduino.cc/learn/
That's very similar to how I started. After that I would recommend you start with a very simple project and learn as you go.

If you're not sure what functions, variables, etc you can use, or if you don't remember how to write something, always check this page: https://www.arduino.cc/reference/en/

[dusty citrus]

Nvm found

[late fulcrum]

There are Firewire to SCSI adapters out there

[glad ruin]

https://tenor.com/view/starwars-obi-wan-now-thats-a-name-ive-not-heard-in-along-time-gif-11814407

[crystal ore]

Really? Darn, I could have used one a little while ago. Was trying to hook up a SCSI drive, but came up empty with USB adapters. Should have broadened my search...

[worthy magnet]

Do they work?

But it's expensive, no?

[late fulcrum]

I'm not sure what I paid for it, I've had it for a while. It works fine (which isn't surprising, as the Firewall protocol is kind of like serial SCSI anyway)

[late fulcrum]

Jinx! https://discordapp.com/channels/327254708534116352/448575270635438092/1122538158240829492

[raw jasper]

I would not be surprised if there's something on aliexpress

It'd probably be a coin toss if it'd work though

[dusty citrus]

This is not so on theme but any linux distro with gui/desktop that runs on a futro a300 wec? It has a weird never heard before cpu, and bad hardware, the only random thing that I managed to install/run is a tinycore distro, but then I have issues at installing apps (it will be used as a kiosk)

"VIA Eden ULV"

[fair summit]

these are really old: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VIA_Eden

[patent hemlock]

evernything i'm findning is it's x86, but nothing later than v 2.6 kernel or so

[fair summit]

i'd suggest you will spend way too much time getting this to work; you might consider a more modern SBC

[patent hemlock]

dang really old!

[fair summit]

these were slow when they were new 🙂

I remember reading about them and considering them for a small build

[dusty citrus]

Unfortunately I can't, I was given the task into making that thing operable, but I am failing. So there's really nothing that could make this ewaste operable?

[fair summit]

if you did a lot of websearching ca 2007-2010, maybe you could come up with some builds. Your time is worth more than this, and more than the cost of replacing the computer

imo

gotta be afk for a while

but security issues, etc.

https://www.dellrefurbished.com/desktop-computers?chassis_type[]=Micro and look for coupons this week or next that lower the price 30-50%

[dusty citrus]

Eh in the actual workplace I basically do nothing all day cause they don't give me tasks
Once in a while that I have tasks it's always about random garbage
I'm sorry for the little ot/rant

[late fulcrum]

I'd just throw BSD on it, unless you want to run something that specifically requires Linux

[burnt tendon]

Oh, I remember being really excited about fanless Eden builds a long time ago.

Okay, but I did not know about the Alternate Instruction Set back then. TIL.

[patent hemlock]

wow - talk about syncrhonicity #adafruit-blog-feed message

[tranquil swallow]

Time to start writing assembly code

[icy needle]

anyone know of a sensible / cheap / free way of getting a canadian address, to satisfy twilio preferring one registered for emergency calls (75dollar fine if emergency call made and no emergency address registered). I mean ideally it would have let me enter Not In Canada in every box but no joy, it validates addresses and pre-enters canada in a disabled input box (maybe the weakpoint).
There is no regulatory requirement to register an address for the use of a Canadian number: https://www.twilio.com/en-us/guidelines/regulatory

[burnt tendon]

whoa, that's history.

[tranquil swallow]

There are cross-border shipping companies that give you an address to use

I’d probably try that

[icy needle]

Fair shout, I think I might just leave it empty and ignore the big red banner. As long as I dont test 911 or whatever it is we should be golden

[umbral phoenix]

I use Twilio a good bit for voice, and used to use it for SMS until they imposed draconian restrictions on numbers sending SMS (even if they only go to your own numbers). They effectively killed off hobbyist use of SMS.

[stray wind]

There was a major regulation change that, as far as I understand that, cause the whole update. I don't think it was Twilio on their own. We discovered it last year when trying to work on a project that would have involved SMS.

[umbral phoenix]

yeah, it's a regulatory thing instigating it, though I don't know if all aspects of the implementation are required by law... to register a number to send SMS you have to define a business and a marketing campaign and they require info that most individual non-business humans simply don't have

I'm all for fighting spam and fraud, but sad that I can't send SMS even to my own numbers from API

[stray wind]

I understand.

[night crescent]

WE ARE LIVE! ASK AN ENGINEER! https://youtu.be/-IBLYQA0zz4

[rapid geode]

got my feather and boost and servos. whee. gonna poke at it this weekend.

[half sun]

I wonder, did you all built an oscilloscope?

[glad ruin]

Oscilloscopes are not exactly easy to build, but it is possible. If you're thinking a digital scope, you'd basically need an FPGA devboard and a custom analog front end.

[burnt tendon]

Yeah, just because it's kinda easy to make a logic analyzer doesn't mean that it's also possible to easily make an oscilloscope. There is no analog.

[rapid geode]

i made a strobe tuner. thats as close as ive ever got to an oscilloscope 😛

[fresh niche]

I tried to make one using a FPGA once (arty a7) but its not something usable beyond 20khz and a couple thousand sample rate

I have seen a few ppl make a analog CRO but it was just 12khz single tracing. Not very usefull for most usecases

Oops i made a typo its just khz not mhz

[tardy badger]

I believe Artix7 is used in Analog Discovery 2, it can do like.. 100MHz

Wait, it has a spartan-6

So the Artix-7 should definitely be able to do at least 100MHz with the right gate ware and analog front end

Analog Discovery 3 has a Spartan-7 and can do 125MHz

[raw jasper]

the artix7 ila is definitely capable at the 10s of mhz range. The fpga itself can definitely do better sampling

(ILA = integrated logic analyzer, ex-chipscope)

[tardy badger]

Yeah

They’re pretty nice

[raw jasper]

especially for the price 😅

[tardy badger]

Yeah, the AD3 only $379

Not terrible

[raw jasper]

you can get artix 7 devkits for ~ 1/3 of that. They won't have an analog frontend though

[tardy badger]

Yeah

[raw jasper]

(I'm just stating that in case ppl think you need to pay 379usd for bare artix)

[tardy badger]

Ah gotcha

[raw jasper]

https://ir.amd.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1141/amd-introduces-worlds-largest-fpga-based-adaptive-soc

💸

[late fulcrum]

Kind of?

[raw jasper]

...there's the vacuum tube :P

[late fulcrum]

The simplest scope I have contains only four vacuum tubes, and two of them are the CRT and rectifier, so it's a pretty minimalist design.

[raw jasper]

the thought of voltages capable of driving a tube on a breadboard terrifies me

definitely something I would not attempt myself, due to lack of experience

I love how there's a scope above to debug the scope design

It's scopes all the way down :D

[fossil dawn]

how did they debug the first scope that was ever built? 🤔 😆

[raw jasper]

huh. this weird thing can show me ✨ waveforms ✨

[late fulcrum]

Amusingly, tube breadboards are available as a commercial product. However I'll admit that CRT voltages are somewhat excessive for solderless breadboards.

[raw jasper]

I want to see the manual disclaimers on that product

[late fulcrum]

It's a good thing you can read German, then https://www.ak-modul-bus.de/cat/documentation/kitrt100207874357.pdf

[fossil dawn]

My favourite safety warning:
English and french: "Caution - Risk of electric shock - DO NOT OPEN"
German and spanisch: "Caution - before opening, unplug the power cord"

(sorry, has nothing to do with tubes but I just thought of that again)

[late fulcrum]

That's a hoot!

[raw jasper]

Achtung, das System darf nur mit maximalen Spannungen bis 60 V betrieben werden! Die
elektrische Sicherheit ist bei höheren Spannung nicht gewährleistet, da eine
Schutzisolierung fehlt und man leitende Teile berühren könnte. Außerdem ist die
Isolierung auf der Platine nicht für höhere Spannungen ausgelegt, da teilweise geringe
Abstände zwischen Leiterbahnen bestehen.

Warning, the system should only be operated with maximum voltages up to 60V! The electrical safety is not guaranteed at a higher voltage, because there is no protective insulation and one could touch conductive parts. Besides, the insulation on the board is not designed for higher voltages, as there partly exist low distances between vias.

First warning I could find. Surprisingly tame, I expected nintendo virtual boy kind of stuff. Obviously, TL could have mistakes and is provided for reference onlt and without warranties.

*only

[late fulcrum]

Wait, I have a Virtual Boy. What warning did I miss?

[raw jasper]

IIRC, The manual I've seen is full of warnings about potential vision damage, and the usual justified seizure warnings

[late fulcrum]

Huh, wow. Amusingly, my favourite Virtual Boy game is Bomberman, which is in Japanese, in which I'm virtually illiterate. Fortunately, the game play is pretty clear, I just don't know what the characters are telling me!

[dusty citrus]

Hello ! guys what do you think about this platform ? https://myfastpcba.com/ I do believe that it could be very helpfull for all of us,I would like to open a server and discuss about this kind of services with all of you, let's discuss on how to "Reduce time to market"

[raw jasper]

archive dot org has the manual fyi

[late fulcrum]

It reminds me of when Poy Poy 2 came out for the PlayStation, but only for the Japan and UK markets. So I had to decide if it was harder to learn Japanese (which use the same NTSC video as the US), or convert PAL (the video system in the UK) to NTSC.

[raw jasper]

Almost all of Europe uses (used to use) PAL

France, I think, had their own system, SECAM

[late fulcrum]

Of course, for UK, I had to learn Traditional English 😼

[raw jasper]

LOL

[dusty citrus]

i hope i didn't anything against the rules, just want to start usefull discussions (I'm new here)

[late fulcrum]

It is useful for the folks in Europe to have another PCB fab facility there.

Speaking of PCB fab deals, PCBGoGo has $130 in coupons for fab and assembly right now.

[raw jasper]

ha! If only I could design pcbs

[dusty citrus]

you mean pcbway ?

I yeah but I face a lot of difficulties with chinese suppliers

[late fulcrum]

PCBWay has a lot of DBA storefronts, for all I know, PCBGoGo is one of them.

[raw jasper]

amusingly, one of the reasons I got into fpgas was to play with fast digital systems w/o having to deal with soldering or pcbs. At least, that was my thought process at the time

(obviously, fpgas open a lot more degrees of freedom than that, but it wasn't clear to me at the time)

[late fulcrum]

FPGAs are useful for quick-turn digital design and for processing fast signals

[raw jasper]

yeah

[dusty citrus]

BTW,nice to hear you guys,i am an electronucs engineer and I have expertise in the manufacturing process of electronics so feel free to discuss about this with me

[late fulcrum]

You'll find some good discussion of electronics engineering and manufacturing in #help-with-hw-design too

[fossil dawn]

amusingly, one of the reasons I got into PCBs was to play with fast digital systems w/o having to deal with VHDL or Intel Quartus.
😝 (I had to use it last semester. was actually kinda fun but really weird and I hate quartus)

[late fulcrum]

Many of the manufacturer tools are awkward, which is why I'm glad there's some open source toolchain for FPGA now. Personally, I don't have a strong preference between Verilog and VHDL.

[raw jasper]

yeah, if you don't care about proprietary IP cores, you can get a supported lattice fpga and use yosys

[fresh niche]

Yea but the thing is i am stupid,i did something wrong and i know it

Anyhow i wasted

$400 ish

I guess........on the board alone........

MAN I have made some terrable financial decisions

[rapid geode]

ha

[raw jasper]

which artix7 did you get for 400usd?

(genuinely curious)

[fresh niche]

Imports of eletronics in my country have 32% gst so........

[random remnant]

I have an Adafruit ultamate GPS Shield and a Metro M$. Has anyone gotten these to work together? The Arduino example code didn't work. I am trying the circuit python version, but I wondered if there is an incompatibility in these two boards.

[raw jasper]

even with 32% sales tax, the cmod a7-35t goes for $100 before tax

[fair summit]

The guide has instructions for non-classic-Arduino connections. https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ultimate-gps-logger-shield/hardware-serial-connect#metro-m0-slash-m4-example-3074013 and see the section above https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ultimate-gps-logger-shield/hardware-serial-connect#hardware-serial-3073999

[fresh niche]

32% cgst + 32% sgst+12% vat+ extra cost due to scalping

Trust me india is terrable in this manner

I think the tax was reduced to 28 recently but man scalpers are a problem

[raw jasper]

If you are going to pay the tax anyway, wouldn't it be cheaper to import from a distributor abroad and at least get rid of the scalping charges?

[fresh niche]

Customs have seized enough packages already for "non declaration"

[raw jasper]

If you order from reputable distributors, such as mouser or digikey, they'll most likely not mess up their customs paperwork

[fresh niche]

i have ordered from them sucessfully but the problem is shipping take time which i dont have and yet i still have to pay taxes anyways cauz i am "importing" it

The only time where i can concivebly buy is when they stock their india warehouses,which is few far in between

[raw jasper]

It appears that Mouser shipping a cmod a7 to India goes for ~$10. Not great, not terrible.

Taxes are paid on delivery though

[fresh niche]

Well now i am just depressed

I wasted so much time and money

https://tenor.com/view/financially-recover-i-am-never-going-to-financially-recover-from-this-recover-from-this-i-am-never-going-to-joe-exotic-gif-21616247

[raw jasper]

Well, you may have wasted money, but your time's not wasted. You can still make the most out of the board, and just learn from the experience for the future

I'm assuming that, at that price, the board has some sort of onboard memory

make a project to interface with it

[fresh niche]

Wait a min i think you have the wrong product

https://www.mouser.in/ProductDetail/Digilent/410-319-1?qs=gTYE2QTfZfTTBZcVTktmiA%3D%3D

Its 22,000 ish without taxes

[raw jasper]

Yeah that's a more expensive board

[fresh niche]

yea i got that for 400

[raw jasper]

I showed the cheapest digilent artix one

So, 200% markup?

That board has so many peripherals! Make something that uses them

[fresh niche]

Could you send me a link? I will eucate myself to not waste money next time

[fresh niche]

I was luckey at 200% !

[fresh niche]

I will when i get the time and money :)

[raw jasper]

You can make something now, with just the board

The fabric is very expressive

So, only time is a factor

[fresh niche]

Na man i am curently overworked with collage stuff and micromouse projects

[raw jasper]

...make an FPGA micromouse

[fresh niche]

I will see tho

[raw jasper]

If you've gotten the arty-100T, you have 101K logic cells to play around with

Your imagination is literally the limit

The one I linked you to has 20K logic cells

[fresh niche]

I am not comfertable bringing a 400 dollar board in a random event where it can get stolen, already faced that with a arduino portera i uaed to have

[raw jasper]

You can make it for your sake though

Seriously though, with 101K logic cells you can make almost anything you'd want as a hobbyist

[fresh niche]

I was honestly thinking of selling it to a friend lol. Idk i guess i will try video scaleing with it idk

[fresh niche]

I personally dont like that fact. I find that i am more creative when a limitation is place on me

I will see tho who knows

Thabks :D

[raw jasper]

Timing constraints are enough of a limitation lol

https://docs.xilinx.com/v/u/en-US/ug1292-ultrafast-timing-closure-quick-reference

[fresh niche]

Oh dont remind me i swere

[neon anchor]

https://www.amazon.com/HiLetgo-TCRT5000L-TCRT5000-Reflective-Infrared/dp/B00M1PN2XY/ref=asc_df_B00M1PN2XY/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=385169592651&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12690033135702110567&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9031179&hvtargid=pla-829160615431&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=80205648682&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=385169592651&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12690033135702110567&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9031179&hvtargid=pla-829160615431

can this type of cheap distance sensor detect small insects like ants if it's placed right above the place where ants walk around right above it?

[fossil dawn]

Can any distance sensor detect ants?

[neon anchor]

I have no idea

[fossil dawn]

like, they're pretty small and not very tall

so I honestly doubt it

[neon anchor]

no not at all

their size varies depending on sp but the ones I keep is pretty big

One of the ant colonies I am keeping is C. fragilis, their average workers size varies from 0.5mm to 0.8mm

[neon anchor]

would it be still hard to detect them even if I place the sensor right above them?

[fossil dawn]

Random idea: Paint the ground white. Then do image recognition. I think looking for black spots on a white image should be pretty easy. Though I haven't done any image recognition stuff ever.

[neon anchor]

I tried color detection. I thought it would be easy but it's really hard to control the light around the atmosphere in general in my exp.

[fossil dawn]

I just recently bought an extremely fancy laser range sensor which cost 20€. Haven't gotten around to actually using it. And according to its spec sheet it's only accurate to +-8mm in the best case scenario. So I very much doubt you can detect a 0,5mm ant with a cheaper sensor

[neon anchor]

ahhhh

Thank you for your advice. I might have to come up with another idea.

What about light detecting sensor?

Would it react whenever ants come across it?

[fossil dawn]

huhhh, maybe. Though not sure if the ant isn't too small and therefore not blocking enough light 🤔

[neon anchor]

aahhhh

[fossil dawn]

laser light barrier 🤔

[neon anchor]

what's that

[tranquil swallow]

Sounds like a problem for opencv

[fossil dawn]

though again, not sure if the ants are too small for a light barrier and they would have to stand directly in the laser beam

Laser pointer across the room, then on the other side something that detects the laser beam. If someone walks inside the light barrier, the laser beam is blocked and you get a signal

Yeah, I haven't done anything like that but I think I would try some sort of computer vision

[neon anchor]

I am trying to utilize small sensor other than camera.

cuz I am thinking of implementing the sensor inside their nest

right in front of their entrance hole

I have used piezo sensor with amp circuit before but it's too sensitive that it picks up other sounds as well

that's why I am looking for a proper sensor that is 1) not too big 2) not by using camera lens (bc it's humid inside the nest) 3) not by picking up vibration

[glad ruin]

Sorry, missed the original question... what are you trying to sense?

[neon anchor]

ants

it could show any value fluctuation or boolean true/false whatever

[glad ruin]

Do you need to sense them individually or can some sort of ant density/area measurement work?

[fossil dawn]

I have ripped out the webcam from an old laptop. Conformal coating (at least the one I used) isn't meant to make the boards actually fully submersible for ever but it could protect against humidity. And my webcam survived being submerged in water no problem

[neon anchor]

@glad ruin it doesn't matter for now. What I need for now is "whenever an ant/ or ants enter or exit the chamber, it goes off"

[neon anchor]

ohhh

[fossil dawn]

Sealing a camera like that is actually pretty easy. The camera+lens module is already in a housing and it has no moving parts because the lens is completely fixed

Just make sure you get no coating on the lens 😆

[neon anchor]

this is not gonna be the nest design for my next project

but the nest and the entrance looks like this

[fossil dawn]

https://mgchemicals.com/products/conformal-coating/acrylic-conformal-coatings/circuit-board-protective-coating/ This is the stuff I used. Though people say their silicone version is even better. And there are dozens of other conformal coatings depending on where you live

[glad ruin]

Hmm... well well we can eliminate ultrasonic. Won't be sensitive enough. I'm thinking your best bet would probably be an IR reflectance sensor aimed at a white surface, preferably enclosed to eliminate ambient light. Those should be able to detect a change in reflectance in a ~10mm radius.

It'd require quite a few ants though.

[fossil dawn]

would ants trigger capacitive touch surfaces? 🤔 😆

[glad ruin]

Probably not.

Very small contact area, and they'll be grounded to the surface you're trying to sense.

[fossil dawn]

oh right

[glad ruin]

If you had two electrodes with an air gap and a fairly high voltage (maybe 24 or 48V) you might be able to detect them. But it'd be pretty sensitive to external factors as well (such as your hand moving near it).

You'd also have to build your own capacitance measurement circuit or use an LCR meter, as the change in capacitance would likely be on the scale of femptofarads.

That being said, I've never measured the permittivity of an ant.

[quaint marsh]

How about this: ants have to walk up a long thin sheet of Mylar. Like a bridge, attached only at one side.

Bounce a laser off the Mylar into a photocell. The weight of the ant deflects the Mylar, moving the laser reflection off its target.

[patent hemlock]

i doubt the weight of the ant(s) would actuall be enough to deflect the mylar sheet enough - plus it sounds like the idea is not to control the path, but detect entry/exit only

[fossil dawn]

https://github.com/ris-tlp/Ant-Detection lol

I honestly think that a camera is the easiest. Solving the moisture issue is imho probably easier than solving the ant-detection using special sensors. Conformal coating to make the cam water resistant. And maybe you could like heat the lens or something if you get condensation on the lens

[glad ruin]

The issue is that anything weight based is going to be extremely noisy, as vibrations from people walking around or your washing machine running across the house will likely be enough to trigger it.

[fossil dawn]

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.30.403816v1.full scientific paper
https://github.com/The-Wong/ant-detector another python ant detector

[patent hemlock]

what about using a laser emitter/receiver pair? granted, it gets bolloxed for environmental factors, but if it's not raining, it would probably have a sufficiently narrow path to cover the entry/exit

[glad ruin]

Use a blu ray laser, then count the number of corpses.

[fossil dawn]

completely close the entrance then use my following ant-detection library (licensed under AGPL): return false;

[glad ruin]

AGPL has... issues.

[raw jasper]

Is AGPL the one that requires you to allow downloading the web app's source code off the server it's running if you have your app linked to AGPL code?

[glad ruin]

Yeah, and it is only compatible with GPLv3. GPLv2, LGPL, MIT, and BSD are all off limits.

[raw jasper]

o_o

That's.... strong

[verbal wigeon]

I wanna make a USB wall charger, is there any open source work already that anybody can recommend?

[glad ruin]

It's pretty much the strongest copyleft license in existence.

[raw jasper]

yeah, in the same way the Carolina reaper is the strongest hot pepper in existence :P

[glad ruin]

Probably none that are safe/legal enough to recommend.

[half sun]

Oscilloscope

[neon anchor]

@fossil dawn @glad ruin thank you so much guys

I will look em up

yeah after reading you guys conversation

I think camera sensor would be the easiest

say hello to my ants lol they are moving to a new nest rn

[wanton thistle]

So actually how is this? Because I kind of want a cheap and portable scope just to see 60Hz waves

[half sun]

The dso138 is worth about 25 bucks, and honestly, it takes some time tuning it, but it works

[cunning frost]

I have a DSO Nano V3, which used to be sold at the Adafruit store. It seems to be based on the same chip family as the dso138 and I can confirm it's pretty good for hobby uses.

[raw jasper]

Hopefully you aren't planning to use this to monitor main power...

[wanton thistle]

no ofc not

just need something small and portable for general use, even up to 100Khz is fine

[wanton thistle]

I have a transformer hooked up to my legit one right now so Im just monitoring my roaster while I tune it. I wanted something portable because then I can setup outside

It pours out a lot of heat and it gets warm in this room already

[half sun]

I haves learned that you can edit the vertical offset for the oscilloscope using a voltage divider

[late fulcrum]

I'd just use a beam break detector

[late fulcrum]

That's more like the vertical gain, but you can do stuff with resistors and a voltage source to adjust the offset too.

[neon anchor]

ohh interestinggg

[raw jasper]

Speaking of oscilloscopes, I wonder whether those pocket aliexpress ones are any good....
example: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005368374529.html

[crystal ore]

I have a similar sort of FNIRSI model. It's better than nothing, but the UI is frustrating and the bandwidth specs are ... optimistic.

[raw jasper]

I guessed it's too good to be true tbf. What's its real bw, approximately?

[crystal ore]

Not completely sure. Some Youtube reviews generally say the 100MHz models are about 30MHz in practice. That's still plenty useful for me, so I haven't noticed a problem there. The UI quirks are more annoying... Like the trigger point is always just off the screen and I can't move it, LOL!

[raw jasper]

oof.

[late fulcrum]

My PocketScope is good for maybe 50kHz...

[raw jasper]

My google returns medical devices for "PocketScope". Otoscope with Throat Illuminator!

I wonder whether it's my google bubble, or whether these folks have absurdly good SEO

[raw jasper]

Discord fails to render this screenshot?

Returns a picture of a piece of p00p with a face on (discord media error message)

[late fulcrum]

Weird. This old computer has issues with jpg images that are really webp, but it's nothing like that

https://www.oscilloscopemuseum.org/oscilloscope-waterman-s-10-a-s1676.html

[raw jasper]

heh. "pocket"

At this point, how many oscilloscopes do you have?

[late fulcrum]

At least a couple of dozen. And after keeping myself amused by restoring them during the lockdown, now many of them work. However, an accurate count is somewhat impeded by how elastic your definition of "oscilloscope" is.

[raw jasper]

Heh. I wish I had spent my time during the lockdowns fixing old oscilloscopes.

[late fulcrum]

I now have a pile of working, but obsolete scopes. Yay?

[glad ruin]

Mainframe with at least one functioning channel and a functioning time base.

[late fulcrum]

So we can discard the special purpose ones (like Vectorscopes) with no time base, the plug-in scopes (which aren't mainframes), the partial scopes, and the ones that I haven't gotten to yet. That still leaves probably a couple of dozen. I'm going to go ahead and add the weirdie ones which aren't entirely "oscilloscopes" like waveform monitors, curve tracers, cardioscopes, etc., which is probably at least another dozen.

[glad ruin]

Special purpose things are named after their special purpose.

It is possible to implement a curve tracer with an oscilloscope, but I wouldn't consider a curve tracer to be an oscilloscope.

[late fulcrum]

But hey, it's not like I'm Stan Griffiths

[raw jasper]

That's... an impressive collection

[late fulcrum]

Yeah, Stan's a legend

[glad ruin]

(In order for me to consider it an oscilloscope it has to be capable of performing time domain measurements. It doesn't necessarily need a display (so a scope module can count), but it has to be capable of capturing time domain waveforms and triggering off of them.

[late fulcrum]

Here's one before I got it dialed in properly. The distortions give the text an interesting look

[half sun]

Also that

I wonder what I can do to reduce the noise of the output?

[south light]

The noise isn't horrendous there. But that overshoot indicates a badly adjusted front end

Ordinarily a "real" scope will have some trim caps in the front end, and 10:1 probes will usually have one too

Funnily enough one of the things I've just been working on is code measuring overshoot in signals

[rain cradle]

Given there are several ESP32's, which one would you guys recommend for using as a peripheral to add WiFi capabilities to another MCU?

Powe consumption is not an issue, will be wired

Or... Perhaps not even a ESP32

[late fulcrum]

That's what the AirLift boards are designed to do, they just act as an SPI peripheral that supplies WiFi

[tardy badger]

Garden harvest

[raw jasper]

Squashes!

[tardy badger]

Specifically yellow zucchini Squash

[umbral phoenix]

you can use virtually any ESP32 (not S2, S3, etc) as an airlift, as long as it has the right pins exposed for SPI and the other control signals

[rain cradle]

"not S2 S3" as in "those are underspec" or as in "you dont need that much power"?

I dont mind buying more power than i really need (as long as price doesnt rocket) and also be able to play around with it

[rapid geode]

just hook it up to 240v

they you have all the power

[raw jasper]

https://tenor.com/view/cpu-smoke-amd-toms-hardware-overheat-gif-21739686

[rapid geode]

exploding athon gif ftw. ha

[vivid iron]

Can anybody here tell me what I need to study to design my own antennas for a bachelors project?

What resources are best to get a good, basic understanding of antennas, deep enough for me to design a circuit from scratch?

[late fulcrum]

The ARRL Antenna Handbook is a good reference, and can often be found used for a good price (libraries probably have it too). Fortunately, physics hasn't changed particularly, so older ones are fine.

[wanton thistle]

https://tenor.com/view/truck-crash-gif-10492368

same energy

[fresh niche]

Ah the athlon 1400,the cpu known for no thermal protection and accidental die cracks

[urban arrow]

Hey guys, I have an irritating Windows 10 Explorer "problem"... If I have one (and only one) board plugged up to USB, seeing the filesystem, do work, etc., then power off the board (or unplug USB), my Explorer shuts itself down every stinkin time... Do I just live with it? Thanks.

[covert flax]

https://youtu.be/6odNBrwRM1k

[raw jasper]

I guess one possibility could be a faulty driver crashing on unplug and writing in a memory area that normally belongs to explorer, causing the crash. You could also have faulty RAM? I dunno

It might just be windows being windows

Do you see anything interesting in the event viewer?

[fair summit]

This does not happen in general on Windows. It is a good idea to "Eject" the drive to make sure everything has been written to it, but it should not cause Explorer to crash. My guess is that you have some third-party software installed (disk monitor, backup, anti-virus, etc.), that does not react well to this. It could be some special disk driver installed by that software that is not acting right. There's a list of problematic software on this guide page: https://learn.adafruit.com/welcome-to-circuitpython/troubleshooting . But your exact symptoms I have not heard of before.

some software leaves remnants behind (e.g., Acronis) even after being uninstalled 😦

[urban arrow]

Thanks! - for now, the Eject first, then unplug works great. I didn't think of this... I don't see errors in event log. More research 🙂 when I have "more time" HAH

[thorn ocean]

Really cool use of badges on GitHub to funnel folks to discord!

[patent hemlock]

code style is helpful!

[raw jasper]

print('it even has syntax highlighting!')

TIL about the happenings with redhat, centos-clones, the EULA and RHEL source code

[tardy badger]

RedHat dropping Centos was a tragedy

But leaves more room for other Linux distros I guess

Them cutting off upstream compatibility that is

Which effectively killed Centos

Centos 7 though is still not EOL

That won’t happen until next year

[raw jasper]

oh there;s more

[tardy badger]

I know there’s more

But that was one of the biggest things keeping centos support going

Anyway, Centos 7 goes EOL exactly one year from today

June 30, 2024

[raw jasper]

It appears there may not be a real migration path to another rhel rebuild though

[tardy badger]

Apparently there’s still Centos 9

Which will follow the RHEL9 EOL schedule

[raw jasper]

Centos stream != centos

It's not binary compatible

[tardy badger]

Yeah

It’s diverged

Thanks to.. all the things

[raw jasper]

Thankfully, more and more things support ubuntu lts

[tardy badger]

Indeed

[raw jasper]

My laptop used to run centos

I migrated to ubuntu lts (not debian), because xilinx

Other machines run debian

(and I have 1 macos device)

[tardy badger]

Kind of sucks that Debian isn’t directly supported

There are some work arounds to get it to work though

But it’s not stable and I can’t find it anymore 😥

You can however install it on Mint

But mint is an Ubuntu distribution

So that tracks

[raw jasper]

I'm sure there are, but solutions you find in answer records, company forums etc will only apply to supported distros

I don't have a support contract with them, so other than that, having a supported OS does not have much impact of me

[tardy badger]

Yeah

Makes sense

[raw jasper]

The alternative is running it on windows 😱

[dusty citrus]

About distros and such, there ain't none that do fit a single gb? Even tiny core fails
Older stuff same
It can run a custom w7 embedded thing though it's problematic because it wants to be connected to a server (taken from fujitsu support site)

[raw jasper]

antix core is a 499MB image. Also supports 32bit-only CPUs

antix base (with GUI) is ~800MB

[tardy badger]

Debian IoT builds are less than a GB

[raw jasper]

(I specifically mention this distro because they try to support older, 32bit-only CPUs)

[dusty citrus]

Ah I forgot they want the gui with a desktop env

[raw jasper]

They have icewm

800MB

[dusty citrus]

Going to try Monday, thanks to yall

[raw jasper]

Hope it all works out!

[tardy badger]

Debian IoT supports 32 bit devices

Since a lot of IoT devices still use 32 bit MPUs

[raw jasper]

Oh OK! I did not know. Thanks for the info!

[tardy badger]

Pocket Beagle for instance is a 32-bit Arm A8 🙂

[raw jasper]

Oh, I was specifically referring to 32 bit x86 CPUs

Does it support those?

[tardy badger]

Debian main line supports 32 bit x86

[raw jasper]

O_O I did not notice

Thanks! 🍻

[tardy badger]

Currently i686 is supported

I’m not sure when i486 was dropped from support

Last year it looks like

[raw jasper]

I wonder how much of the modern linux ecosystem still supports pure x86 systems. I mean, I know it's going to run terribly, but would, say, modern firefox or pulseaudio or I don't know what else from the usual house of cards, even build and execute?

[glad ruin]

What do you mean by "pure" x86? If you're talking about the original 16-bit architecture, Linux never supported it. If you're talking about i386, the kernel dropped support for it several years ago I believe. As far as running something like Firefox is concerned... forget it. I doubt the i386 had enough physical address bits to support the amount of memory Firefox would need in order to build or run. Just because i386 had 32 bits of logical address space doesn't mean you could actually install 4GB of RAM in an i386 system.

Correction: looks like it actually did have a 32 bit address bus.

[cerulean lotus]

The contacts on the 2mm headers (https://www.adafruit.com/product/2671) I just received are slipping away from the casing. Is this normal? Is it better to ask this question on the forums somewhere?

[raw jasper]

Oh, I meant any CPU that does not support the amd64 (x86_64) ISA

[late fulcrum]

Minix did...

[fossil dawn]

with some force, I can push the pins through the casing on my pins from ebay, too.
When I desolder such pins, I just push the pins out one at a time 😄

[raw jasper]

Minix won in the end. It runs everywhere with an intel management engine

[tardy badger]

Nature is definitely healing, Pimoroni lifted the restriction of needing a prior purchase to buy a Pi from them given that Pi’s are staying in stock in more places

[raw jasper]

How's your pi backorder from mouser doing?

[tardy badger]

November

CM4s are still unobtainium

[raw jasper]

Ah, you got the business serious one :P

[tardy badger]

Yeah

[olive dome]

I'm running out of CM4s for my projects too.....

Radxa CM5 is interesting too but it is also unavailable

but my Mouser RPI Zero W 2 order finally ships

[rapid geode]

my metal 3d prints are in the mail. woo

[tardy badger]

Pi zero 2W is on my wishlist

[late fulcrum]

I'm still running through my stock of the original Pi Zero boards. I have hung WiFi dongles on a couple of them.

[hasty wedge]

Oh wow this is the first time I see a device's developer menu warns about user privacy

[ebon dew]

It's normal for the pin to slide up/down inside the casing. It shouldn't be super loose though. Some movement is ok. This is absolutely normal and fine.

[hasty wedge]

It talks about things like it's is not allowed to upload consumer log and only allowed to upload development environment log

Also GDPR stuff yadayada

Lol

The craziest thing? It's in a HUAWEI portable wifi's dev menu

[raw jasper]

Well, that's a surprise!

Out of curiosity, is the warning in Chinese?

[hasty wedge]

yeah

looks like it's written for their employees

Because end users are not supposed to access that menu

[olive dome]

I can't really stand it's processing speed ...... pretty glad 2W is out

[glad ruin]

More than enough to run the CUPS server on my laser printer.

[olive dome]

I mean, "640K should be enough for anybody" right?

[covert flax]

i just got a pi zero w today, haven't tested it out yet

i have a zero 2w but I'm afraid to break it so i keep it in the box

i hooked it up to this usb dongle pogo hatt

[half sun]

anyone know how to reduce noise on the boost converter (MT3608)?

[late fulcrum]

It's generally fast enough for a lot of the things I'm doing. My main annoyance is it uses the v6 architecture, so I have to recompile a lot of stuff to run on it. It's main advantages to me are its small size (easy to build it in to things or the "stuff in a breadboard" notion I nicked from AdaFruit), its low cost (I can get one for $5 every time I visit MicroCenter), and (mainly, lately) the fact that I have a stack of them.

[late fulcrum]

For conducted noise (upstream or downstream), a decoupling filter, for radiated noise, a shield.

[glad ruin]

https://tenor.com/view/avengers-infinity-war-marvel-chadwick-boseman-tchalla-gif-15744736

But bodger is correct. It depends heavily on what kind of noise you are talking about.

[urban arrow]

What he said... TBH this drives me nuts sometimes, cuz pushing the strip long-pins-down into a tight breadboard to solder onto a board on top, unless I'm super careful, usually allows one or more of the pins to slide upward too far, then I spend 10 minutes trying to adjust them until all level...🙁

[ebon dew]

yup, it's a thing

[half sun]

Ah ok

[covert flax]

what's the best os for the zero, i didn't even realize it was 32bit.. the only os i was able to get boot from the imager selection was kali... and even without desktop, it takes 5 minutes to boot and shutdown

can i run alpine Linux or something super light

I'm trying out this waveshare hat on my zero2, but the speed is only 10 bytes/sec... i gotta get a better antennae or something

[glad ruin]

I wouldn't recommend running a gui on the pi zero. It makes an excellent microserver and is more powerful than something like the ESP32, but it is not powerful enough to run a desktop environment reliably.

[tardy badger]

I recommend getting the zero blade hat to make a pi blade cluster lol

Idk what the actual name for the hat is, it just makes it look like a mini server blade cluster

UpTime Labs Tiny Cluster

[glad ruin]

https://tenor.com/view/tales-from-the-borderlands-zero-zer0-sword-strike-gif-13972530

Zer0 blade

[tardy badger]

https://uplab.pro/2022/10/the-tiny-cluster/

[raw jasper]

I wonder whether this has any practical uses :P

A desktop CPU can have more cores with less comms overhead than this device

[glad ruin]

Bragging rights :p
It won't be more power efficient than an actual server.

[raw jasper]

I mean, it's obviously a fun project

And it's one way to put openmpi in your resume ;)

(possibly slurm too, or even SGE)

[glad ruin]

You could just grab a bunch of old cheap/free PCs and do the same thing.

[raw jasper]

I agree. OTOH, I guess it'd be less noisy

And possibly kinder on the power bill

[glad ruin]

Have you seen how much the Pi 4 draws?

Less noisy most likely though.

[raw jasper]

Honestly, no. I don't really follow the sbc scene

TBH, you could also do this by instrumenting a few VMs at your cloud provider of choice

[glad ruin]

The Pi 4 is a bit ridiculous. I'm not necessarily saying it will draw more than an old PC, but the design and RPF's refusal to go beyond 5V when the board very clearly draws more than is practical from any length of USB cable is ridiculous.

[raw jasper]

RPF's refusal to go beyond 5V
Do you know why they do this?

[glad ruin]

"Compatibility" and cost reduction.

[raw jasper]

TBH, at the prices the pis are commanding atm, you can get a "refurbished" mini PC (something like a thinkcentre), which, albeit fairly dated, will probably run circles around the pi

You can even get a GPIO with a FT232H dongle, and IIRC there's a micropython port to that

You can't get advantage of RPi hats OFC w/o significant effort (or the rest of the rpi ecosystem), but it makes sense if you're starting a new project

You could even stick some old GPGPU in there if you want to do some basic inference. Power draw would prolly suck though. As would portability

[glad ruin]

They desperately want you to be able to plug it into any USB power supply and be good to go, but even the original Pi draws up to 700mA. The Pi 4 can easily draw 3.5A. Even if you can get a USB supply capable of delivering enough current, the voltage drop across any notable length of USB cable is enough to require an out of spec supply.

There are two ways they could fix this:

1. Design a custom 5V supply with feedback lines to compensate for the voltage drop.
2. Use USB-PD, request something more than 5V, and regulate it onboard.

Both of these would of course increase the cost, but that's a price I'm willing to pay in order to eliminate the power issues.

[raw jasper]

Using USB-PD is probably the better idea, since users tend to have a compatible charger these days. It's better than looking for the one specific charger that works with the Pi anyway (which I remember being a problem even in the Pi 1 days)

[glad ruin]

Yeah, that's my point. This has been a pervasive issue in the entire line for more than a decade. It should have been addressed in the Pi 2. Instead, they have chosen to turn a blind eye to it.

At this point I consider it to be willful ignorance. And I take issue with anyone who deliberately ignores reality.

Yes, I realize that these are very strong statements. For context, I used to work at Intel, where this kind of attitude/behavior is pervasive. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

[tardy badger]

fills a reg [15:0] mem [0:15] with a for block

yosys: "yeah, that's going to take a while"

lol

65535x 16 bit memory locations later

probably a solid 5 minutes

I need to write myself a script to generate initialization files for large chunks of memory

[raw jasper]

readmemh doesn't work in yosys-land?

[tardy badger]

it does, I just don't want to make a... 128kb ini file

😛

[raw jasper]

That's what python is for :P

[tardy badger]

I need a script to pump random data into ini files to test with

i've written a script to convert ascii text files to bin/hex files so it will be easy to just use random number generation to fill a large register file.

[raw jasper]

Out of curiosity, are you instrumenting your tests, or are you manually looking at waveforms?

[tardy badger]

using like logic analyzers/oscilloscopes?

[raw jasper]

No, as an example, I was referring to using something like cocotb

Instead of manually looking at waveforms in gtkwave

[tardy badger]

i'm not building test benches right now, just identifying patterns in yosys synthesis

pushing my random initialization file generator to the max

generating 4 billion memory locations worth of data

too much for my FPGA to handle

xD

[olive dome]

I don't mean to show off but .....

[tardy badger]

hehe..

I was also looking for the CM4 blades but didn't google it so I didn't find it

random sampling of my initialization file randomly generated

line number on the left, data on the right.

[raw jasper]

Ah OK!

[raw jasper]

....And the indices are continuous, so you don't even have to deal with the @ syntax for the verilog init files

[raw jasper]

...Do you have intel optane on each slot? 😅

What are you using it for?

[tardy badger]

right, each new line is the next space in memory

[raw jasper]

How much does bitstream gen take with the oss tools with large designs?

> or < half a day? :P

[olive dome]

small optane are perfect for RPI, they are cheap and enough space for me

[raw jasper]

Does the cluster get any use, or was it just a fun project?

[tardy badger]

fairly instantaneous for what i'm building. right now it's just setting up memory in DFF/LUTs

[olive dome]

kind of... I ran database on it for sometime and build server for all different RPI stuff
Now I'm going to use this to setup my camera driver CI/CD testing station

[raw jasper]

I'm curious how the p&r performs at high utilizations...

[tardy badger]

pretty quick depending on how the design is optimized and the P&R software used

I have one design that builds in like 10 second with yosys but takes a few hours with IceCube2

[raw jasper]

Hopefully it's not tritonroute (no shade, ASIC P&R is a hard problem)

[raw jasper]

Heh, that's good, makes it easier to directly test on FPGA

[rapid geode]

can that render 4k cgi? 😛

[olive dome]

For mark zuckerberg's metaverse cgi with Eiffel Tower? absolutely

[rapid geode]

ha

was thinking more for the enxt star wars... its got pretty low standards :x

[glad ruin]

Why not just dd data from /dev/random into the file (assuming you don't need it to be constrained)?

[tardy badger]

my reference to the ascii text was a requirement I had to use for a task. I made my local script to just use the python random.randomint functionality

import sys, os, random

print(sys.argv);

print(int(sys.argv[2]))
memlocs = int(sys.argv[2])
memlen = int(sys.argv[3])
filename = sys.argv[1]
f = open(filename, "a")
print(memlen / 4);
for i in range(0,memlocs):
    f.write(str(hex(random.randint(0,2**memlen))[2:].zfill(int(memlen/4)))+"\n")

f.close()```

easy enough

[cerulean lotus]

thanks. it’s moving quite a bit, but hasn’t fallen out of the casing yet

[tardy badger]

I've been thinking it would be kind of funny to have a few FPGA on a board, use like 2 to simulate DDR style memory, have the main FPGA run a CPU with only local cache and register file and IO handler

an awful waste of space but would be fascinating

[raw jasper]

You'd also have to simulate memory leakage, refresh and the entirety of the DDR protocol, which would be... something

There exist behavioral DDR memory models for simulation purposes

[tardy badger]

I'd make my own

[tardy badger]

my mac book pro (mid 2017) is struggling on the battery front

[olive dome]

might be time for M2 Air

[raw jasper]

I think "time for a new battery" would be more appropriate

Considering we're talking about a $1k+ device here

[glad ruin]

... assuming the old one isn't glued in

[raw jasper]

It probably is. There are various third-party repair stores who claim can perform the swap

There's probably an ifixit tutorial for the procedure too, if you are comfortable poking around a machine that goes for a grand+

[glad ruin]

It's not impossible, but it will take at least 3 hours if you don't know what you are doing.

[raw jasper]

As long as the price is reasonable, it makes sense to pay a third-party shop to do it

(Assuming the genius bar charges 3/4 kidney for it)

[glad ruin]

The genius bar would probably refuse to do it because it is not an "authorized repair".

[raw jasper]

I think they'd do battery swaps

Don't quote me on that though

[olive dome]

It's mainly because 2017 -> M2 performance, also battery life too

like even if you swap the battery, it is still a 6 years old laptop with not much software support remaining

[glad ruin]

Depends on the device and how much you paid them for the extended warranty.

[tardy badger]

I can’t really afford a new Mac, I’ll be replacing the battery at some point

I’m planning on getting as much life as I can out of it

[umbral phoenix]

Apple Store will definitely do battery swaps (not for free if out of warranty or care plan), but you have to leave it for a few days typically... hard to do if it's your only computer

I have a 5-year-old laptop that desperately needs a new battery, I used to do more things like this myself, but procedures have gotten more involved and I just want it done

also went to upgrade a long-overdue Monterey iMac to Ventura and realized it's a 2015 and won't do (supported) Ventura... that one I'll probably give away, I don't like running old OS

[raw jasper]

That's a good plan. I'm planning to install asahi linux on my mac once apple's support runs out

They're expensive machines to throw away at a company's whim

[late fulcrum]

Yar. They're decent hardware.

I may put BSD on some of my older ones, as they're presumable accustomed to it.

[raw jasper]

Before macOS, I hadn't used any BSD derivatives

Perhaps I should check one out

Any suggestions?

[late fulcrum]

I'm fond of OpenBSD, as it's pretty solid, security. For resource constrained machines, I lean toward FreeBSD which can run on almost anything. NetBSD aims to support portability and interoperability, which can come in handy. Or if you like the MacOS flavored one, that's Darwin.

[raw jasper]

Ah yeah, the openbsd book has been in my to-read list for a looooooong time

[plush void]

I wonder if I'm inside Adafruit's database somewhere

Like on some kind of list

[cerulean lotus]

imagining a tiny frog inside a tiny field, getting enumerated every once in awhile

[neon anchor]

can anyone recommend me budget soldering iron under $100 on Amazon pls? My cheap soldering iron is completely f***ed up by now. It doesn't work properly anymore.

[glad ruin]

Hakko FX-888D is decent and costs around $100. I've heard a lot of good things about pinecil.

As a general rule I wouldn't recommend any soldering irons under $100 for safety reasons.

[late fulcrum]

As a general rule I wouldn't recommend any soldering irons (or anything else) from amazon due to all the counterfeit stuff there.

[tardy badger]

unless you are lucky like me and happen to nearly never get junk

not sure if luck is the right attribute, but it seems fitting given how much of a roulette that it is.

I shared this in #fpga , but figured people might miss in there. My DungV open source 16 bit CPU

https://github.com/skerr92/DungV/

[marble flax]

I use the hakko fx901 wireless, I love it.

[sharp nexus]

I need privte tutoring people! 🙂

[ebon dew]

The Weller 12W cordless is actually pretty great except it doesn't come with a stand, might roll around and catch things on fire.

Watch me almost start a fire with it because it's round and rolls. https://youtu.be/f07hWNC8Oi4?t=683

[ebon dew]

got power and coax to the closet. yeah i really need to paint in there. 😣

old narrow coat closets are really easy to renovate into gear closets.

[ebon dew]

@dusty citrus We have a channel for C++ for Arduino unless you mean something else...

[solar kindle]

I've been very happy with the Pinecil (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B096X6SG13). Heats up incredibly fast so I can do quick soldering jobs. It does, however need a heft power supply (not included). If you happen to have a high-current USB-C supply (e.g. for a laptop) that'll work. A 12V supply with a 5.5x2.5mm plug should work too. I use a USB-C supply intended for a Lenovo laptop (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09C1TB9ZM) and it works like a charm. Those two (Pinecil + Lenovo PS) will set you back about $70.

I also have a Tekpower soldering station (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Z81A4Y8). It's pretty decent for something that cost $22, but I rarely use it since I got the Pinecil. The only advantage it has is that it's a proper soldering station, with a safety rest, sponge, etc.

Actually, you could get all three of those for under $100.

[ebon dew]

I've heard good things about the Pinecil but it does require a battery bank so it's not exactly stand alone portable?

The only thing I don't like about the Weller (other than it rolling and starting fires) is the temp isn't adjustable and the tip is super hot about 100-150F over what I would normally want.

That's probably very desirable for automotive in cold climates but desktop electronics not so much.

[thick wind]

Yeah, a real usb PD battery bank isn’t cheap, so that’s a cost you’ll have to consider unless you already happen to have one. Worked out for me since my jump starter battery has a 12v PD output.

If you use a lot of usb chargers, pine power looks like a pretty decent option for the pinecil.

[late fulcrum]

You may want to specific what subject(s) you're looking for

[sharp nexus]

Any Hardware coding - I need to code my XIAO Seeed Nrf52840 to do what I want in Arduino

it is very easy, 2 components need to be set

[tardy badger]

I highly recommend looking into the nRF SDK examples. They are a good starting place

[fossil dawn]

How much Arduino or programming experience do you have?

[sharp nexus]

i do have a lot - i cant get up from ground - like when you lay down and peope are kicking you but you cant fnish it 😄

its like you are in a group figh alone

[fossil dawn]

start with one thing at a time

[sharp nexus]

and i just need to kick in the final part - i have updated the hw 60 times (really

doesnt work

i ordered 20 bords

different until now

annd i have people

[fossil dawn]

Personally I would try to describe the problem as good as possible in one of the help channels.
That sounds like it could be completely over my head. But nobody can know if they can help or not unless you can describe the problem in more detail

But I bet someone can help 😄

[ebon dew]

Much better. Nothing like a little public self shaming to motivate a project.

[fluid swallow]

Anyone have a good example of high speed data recording on an Esp32? Looking to finish out a high speed strain gauge measurement.

Also need a better amplifier, as my last version was an off the shelf amp and it's sadly used in another active project.

[umbral phoenix]

I need similar motivation to clean up the accumulation of years of electronics (Pi Zero W, ESP32-S2 QT Py with large u.FL antenna, electronics for security camera, a couple of connected power switches, wifi access point, a PoE injector, a UPS, a couple of custom circuits in mini-Altoids tins to trigger the camera from HomeKit or traditional doorbell, some CircuitPython, some Arduino,...)

[patent hemlock]

i especially like the one hanging off the shellf by it's cord

[umbral phoenix]

luckily, Pi Zeros are pretty light

[rapid geode]

I need motivation to fishing cleaning up all the insulation i knocked out of my ceiling. it's so hot and dusty. Almost ready though. then i can do wiring.

[rapid geode]

Neopixel valence lighting, yes or no? 🙂 i have to decide now cause im framing that area and wiring in the next day or 2. The alternative is 4 pot lights on the lower part of the frame aroung the opening.

ha

[fossil dawn]

RGB = Yes

[rapid geode]

hehe

[fossil dawn]

Nothing more to say 😝

Do you need like tips on how to build/wire RGB there?

[rapid geode]

well, its about $250 (the leds, wiring, psu, and some special drywal trim peices.

nah, i know how to set it up

just not sure if iuts worth the effort

oh, and i could just do plain white, but what i found is the cost is more or less the same. (20 bucks more for addressable maybe)

[fossil dawn]

I think using RGB as white is kinda bad. Like personally I would do either plain white or RGB+white if that's supposed to be the main light in that room. I can't stand that RGB-White

[rapid geode]

oh, yes, it has to be rgbw neopixels

otherwise its kinda a disturbing purple

waits patiently for pizza

also wondering of 30 leds per meter is enough.

hmm

seems like 60 leds per meters rgbw at full power is 56w. my 4 pot lights are 44w. so pretty comparable hmm.

[raw jasper]

Now I want to make some pizza

Maybe sometime next week

[rapid geode]

mmm

this is just pizza hut. i had a free coupon

[raw jasper]

hah, that's good too. I prefer making it myself

[rapid geode]

yeah me to

my basil plants are still tiny

[raw jasper]

mmm. Pizza.

I love the smell of basil

[rapid geode]

yes

my corn is growing nice. over 3 ft tall now. not sure what to do with it (besides eat it fresh)

[raw jasper]

I usually cook them?

By boiling

[rapid geode]

yeah, normally youd boil them or steam them (or bbq). smother with butter

but i wonder if theres some more interesting thing to do

[raw jasper]

Popcorn? I have no idea how to make it from fresh corn plants though. You'd probably have to dry the kernels first somehow

[rapid geode]

popcorn is a special type of corn

[raw jasper]

O_O

[rapid geode]

yeah

ha

[raw jasper]

(You could also make a minced meat sauce and add the corn to it)

[rapid geode]

but its so much effort to grow 40 cents worth of pop corn

[raw jasper]

lol yeah, it's a special variety

I had no idea

wow

[rapid geode]

ha

yeah

i leanrd that a while ago. i was wondering how they dried it

[raw jasper]

It's been some time since I last made popcorn

[rapid geode]

yeah. i dont have an air popper, and i only tried it in a pot once asnd it burned

[raw jasper]

Frying pan

The answer is frying pan

[rapid geode]

how do you keep it in the pan?

haha

[raw jasper]

Lid

[rapid geode]

hmm

[raw jasper]

You can make very few though

Literally not worth trying

You can burn yourself

Or injure if a kernel flies in your eye

Better get an air popper

Like, for the record, I don't recommend it

[rapid geode]

i followed this recipe, but it was a disaster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7UmUX68KtE

[raw jasper]

LOL The warnings are on point

[rapid geode]

h

a

what i really want is to make cheetos popcorn. cause thats like $5 a bag now here.

[raw jasper]

I have no idea how cheetos popcorn is made

For all I know, it could be nuclear reactor byproducts lol

(This was actually a conspiracy theory that was circulating in my part of the world for some time lol)

[rapid geode]

ha

well the way the kernels store does it is they put all the popcorn in a gina tbag with the salts/cheese etc and shake it around

[fossil dawn]

hat happens if you scan your cutting board with a barcode scanner? 😝
Not trying to be mean, I would actually love a cutting board with a rick roll link encoded in the striped wood

[rapid geode]

hahaha

[raw jasper]

gigantic bag of salts and cheese. Also known as the kidney ripper

[rapid geode]

qr code cutting board in walnut and maple

whihc leads to a rick roll

ok, noone steal that.

its viral video time

[raw jasper]

lol

[rapid geode]

i can make all the money i spent on this pizza back

[late fulcrum]

Puffed rice and the like are interesting.

[rapid geode]

rice crispies too. people on youtube have tried, but ive never seen it done like the cerea\l

[raw jasper]

Ten thousand cells formed by steam explosion
....welp, that's not how biology works :P

[late fulcrum]

Maybe not on your planet!

[rapid geode]

puffed wheat too (sugar crisp cereal)

[raw jasper]

Thinking about it, "Thousands of cells formed by steam explosion" sounds like a good post-rock band name

[fossil dawn]

thinking more about this 🤔 QR codes have error correction and stay readable even when they're partially obscured. This makes them PERFECT for a cutting board because you could still scan it even with some food on it 😆

[rapid geode]

hehe

[raw jasper]

all you need is a laser etcher and an old wood board

[rapid geode]

yeah. so the trick for the video will be to link it to either a rick roll and have people share it for the troll. or, link to something purposeful.

[raw jasper]

Coming soon to a machine shop near you! :P

[rapid geode]

or, have the qr code link to a duplicate video that makes another cutting board that links back to tthe first

😛

[fossil dawn]

I was thinking like this except a QR code and not a boring checkerboard

[rapid geode]

exactlyt

i can make one easily

ha

put my cinema rig to use

question is, what is worth linking to

cause its going to be some geeky nerds that find it

needs to be a "prize" or a troll

[raw jasper]

etsy page to buy the board

xD

[rapid geode]

ooooooh

yes

[fossil dawn]

1. your cutting board selling business
2. Video showing how this cutting board was made

[rapid geode]

perfect

well, the video will be the cutting board being made, so thats coovered

i like the link to the etsy store

I can sell the board for some token price and make them to order

[raw jasper]

I wonder whether you'd be able to allow for some customization. Link to your own page via your cutting board!

[rapid geode]

yes, was just th8inking that

and after the video has run its course, just put a link in the description

it only takes an hour to make a small board. so the first few geeks can get one for some reasonable price. and then i can decide if i want to offer an ongoing service

i should probably add more stuff to the etsy store too, haha. right now its just some guitar cad files.

alright you have distracted me from my construction work. haha.

[patent hemlock]

grill?

[rapid geode]

i mentioned grill/bbq

[patent hemlock]

sorry, missed it - tired eyes trying to catch up 😏

[rapid geode]

ha

[night crescent]

WE ARE LIVE! The Desk of Ladyada - All American Audio BFF & MatrixPortal https://youtu.be/g58u8pounSI

[raw jasper]

It seems corn is bound to be "boring"

[rapid geode]

maybe. ill be happy if it distracts the squirrels form the peaches

[raw jasper]

I found a "corn soup" recipe in Japanese

Would that count? :P

[rapid geode]

haha

[raw jasper]

https://cookpad.com/dining/recipes/2758651 "corn egg soup"

[rapid geode]

pot lights. i think tey will be easier than the neopixels

[raw jasper]

wait, is this a 3d model?

[rapid geode]

yes of course

ha

[raw jasper]

Are you seriously rendering this every time you are posting?

[rapid geode]

fusion 360 viewport

well, render, but its interactive. so its just automatic

[oblique lantern]

Hello! I have a rocker switch attached to this li-ion battery, and it's connected to a booster/charger (component on the farthest right) I'm wondering how charging will work if the rocker is switched to off? Does it need to be ON while charging?

[rapid geode]

just wait a few mins til the grain is acceptable

[raw jasper]

I'm guessing you have a GPU?

[rapid geode]

cpu

[raw jasper]

ic

[rapid geode]

yeah, its pretty convenient

[raw jasper]

yeah, zooming in, I can see the grain

[rapid geode]

now look at grain

😛

just sits there getting cleaner when i wander off

[raw jasper]

https://tenor.com/view/golden-wheat-field-gif-24502825

[rapid geode]

yes, of course, otherwise the charger does not "see" it

[raw jasper]

LOL. I just actually opened the recipe out of curiosity, and it needs cookpad premium to view

Which.... apparently is a thing

[rapid geode]

O_o

[raw jasper]

￥110/month!

[rapid geode]

ha

[raw jasper]

(<1.10EUR)

[rapid geode]

recipies are funny, cause most recipe book (paper type) are 99% copies of recipes in other books

[raw jasper]

This one is earmarked as "celebrity (lit. "famous person") recipe" 有名人のレシピ, which probably explains why it's paywalled

There's also... deep fried corn? (this one's not paywalled)
https://cookpad.com/recipe/7565142

No ratings

[rapid geode]

ha

i got my brioche recipe form a korean youtube channel called mommy oven. hahaha

actually really good channel. no talking, just cooking

well, baking

[raw jasper]

I just figured I might as well put my Japanese to good use and see if I can find something interesting with corn on Japanese cookpad

[rapid geode]

ha

i learned that peanut butter is a canadian invention yesterday

i did not even know peanuts were form south america. i though they were brought over here

[raw jasper]

Wasn't it Canada day recently?

[rapid geode]

yesterday

many loud fireworks

[raw jasper]

I guess you have that common with the Americans and the 4th of July which checks calendar is coming up

[rapid geode]

yes. our day is not independance though

we only got that in uh, 1982 haha

[raw jasper]

You technically aren't independent, right?

[rapid geode]

ish

we still have the king, but he has 0 power to do anything except wave

before 1982 they have more power over us

[raw jasper]

I was about to talk about the Queen again

I somehow keep forgetting

[rapid geode]

ha

dont worry, he so old he probably forgets most days

[raw jasper]

Fun fact: I've never had maple syrup

I've had peanut butter though

Not a fan of it tbh

Too salty

[rapid geode]

thats like saying "ive never breathed air" here

peanut butter is only salty if you put salt in it

[raw jasper]

The manufacturer from which I bought it put a lot of it LOL

Most seem to do

Like, I felt as if I had swallowed sea water

[rapid geode]

here you pick with or without

most peanut butter here has loads of sugar in it

probably to offset salt. salt is for preserving.

fresh peanut butter has nothing in it. but thats not common in stores

[late fulcrum]

The peanut butter I prefer is sweetened with maple syrup

[late fulcrum]

Generally "only peanuts" is code for "peanuts and peanut oil"

[rapid geode]

i dont eat peanut buter. i like it, but just never buy it

yes, i think they add extra oil to make it smoother

ive seen videos of people making it and i guess it needs more oil content to become "butter"

a bit like chocolate

you usually add extra cocoa butter to the mill

[oblique lantern]

That makes a lot of sense lol ty!!

[rapid geode]

🙂

[raw jasper]

Would that be the most Canadian product ever? :P

[rapid geode]

only if it was used as sauce on a pineapple pizza

[tardy badger]

I prefer the peanut butter in Reese’s cups

🫣

[raw jasper]

Add peanut butter, add maple leaf, add pineapple pizza. ULTRA-CANADA, arise!

https://tenor.com/view/the-powerpuff-girls-cartoon-network-gif-20323180

[tardy badger]

Sorry about that, thought that was more appropriate than it was

[raw jasper]

That...... I mean......

[raw jasper]

Apology accepted

[rapid geode]

I)i

i didn tsee it

ha

[tardy badger]

For some reason I don’t get full previews of gifs

[raw jasper]

Discord being discord again I guess

https://tenor.com/view/problemastecnicos-los-simpsons-technicaldifficulties-thesimpsons-gif-18336698

(I only wanted the first frame)

[tardy badger]

This is what I was shooting for but real life cosplay

[raw jasper]

I have no idea where that's from

[tardy badger]

Power puff girls

Same as the sugar, spice, and everything nice gif you shared

“These were the ingredients to make the perfect little girls.”

[raw jasper]

TBF, I only remember that part from the whole show

You have kids, so it's probably VERY fresh in your brain

Like, I imagine most kids' shows are VERY, very fresh in your brain :P

[tardy badger]

No, I have crippling amounts of depression and immense amounts of nostalgia

[raw jasper]

oh.

sorry!

[tardy badger]

No worries, I like most millennials live off the nostalgia high

Lol

Also I have really good memory of kids shows from my youth

Like Zoids

Toonami

[raw jasper]

Yeah, I've dropped most of those memories along the way

[tardy badger]

Back in the day when One Piece was on Cartoon Network

Good times

There’s a ridiculous amount of brain power that goes towards preserving my early memories. I’m impressed tbh

[rapid geode]

3d printable ac registers that blend with the drywall. woo.

problem is, nylon is hard to paint. i wonder if plaster and house paint can be made to stick.

hmm

[late fulcrum]

Yeah, chunks of my brain are devoted to Jonny Socko, Ultraman, Astro-Boy, etc.

[rapid geode]

O_o

ive never heard of most of these cartoons

[raw jasper]

I've heard of astroboy. IIRC, it's one of the first anime

[rapid geode]

i only know the astroboy form the 60s

[raw jasper]

Essentially, same here

[rapid geode]

50s actually,

half the cartoon when i was little were reruns of the old stuff

and then transformers, thundercats, etc

an dlater batman

[late fulcrum]

Yar, I'm old.

[rapid geode]

ahh ok

cause there was a new astroboy

thought you meant that

[late fulcrum]

Nope, I meant the original. Aired on WTOG 44 in Tampa, Florida.

[rapid geode]

samurai pizza cats needs to come back

ha

[late fulcrum]

And Space-Keteers

[rapid geode]

so, $500 to print 8 ac registers in nylon. OR, just print myself over 3 weeks in abs for $0.

seems an obvious answer, hyaha

[late fulcrum]

Where do you get free ABS filament?

[raw jasper]

Why, of course, from the ABS tree! :P

[rapid geode]

i have like 10kg of it at least

[late fulcrum]

PLA sort of grows on trees, but ABS?

[rapid geode]

and i know it will paint well. and glue

uh. pla grows on abs trees. abs grows on nylon trees. dont they teach you anything in that school of yours?!

[late fulcrum]

They taught me a bunch of stuff, all of which turned out to be incorrect to varying degrees.

"Adjectives are words that end in -ly"

"The number line ends at zero"

[rapid geode]

ha

pluto is a planet

the moon is made of cheese

[raw jasper]

ex planet

[rapid geode]

wait, no, not that last one

actually a lot of mostly not important things have changes. pandas are now bears.

pizza is a fruit

(in texas)

[late fulcrum]

Pfft, Pluto is a planet. There are more people logged on to the AdaFruit discord at the moment than the IAU has members, we could vote on it and overturn their silly proclamation (which inadvertently made Earth not a planet either, ha ha)

And ketchup is a vegetable?

[raw jasper]

tomato

[rapid geode]

haha

[raw jasper]

No ketchup. Only tomato

[rapid geode]

its a joke about texas. they declared pizza a fruit so they could feek kids frozen pizzas and call it a balanced diet

[late fulcrum]

Then again: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/science/EO061i044p00690.pdf

[raw jasper]

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtful-animal/once-upon-a-time-the-catholic-church-decided-that-beavers-were-fish/

[late fulcrum]

The "ketchup is a vegetable" debacle was also an effort to make school lunches (purportedly) nutritious

[raw jasper]

O_O

[rapid geode]

the pictures of pluto kinda upset a lot of the reasons they made pluto not a planet. although you can argue charon is also a planet and they are binary.

[raw jasper]

seriously this happened? This sounds, like, d&d level rules lawyering

[rapid geode]

yes

it really happend

hershy also lobbied to be allwed to call their candy chocolate despite having zero chocolate. (they lost that one)

its really funny

if anyone remembers those powerbar energy par things from the 90s. when try tried to sell them in canada the gov here said they had to write candy on them.

so instead they made an entirely new and different full meal suplement bar just for canada so they didnt have to call it a candy bar.

[raw jasper]

remember the soylent liquid meal replacement thing?

til it still exists

and there are a bunch of clones

[tardy badger]

Ketchup is a smoothie

I also learned recently that the name Soylent is a nod to an old movie

[rapid geode]

hahaha

i did not even know it was a real thing

is it made of people?

[tardy badger]

Nah, some weird protein/nutrition drink

Think.. Ensure but gross

It makes Ensure look reasonably drinkable

[crystal ore]

I'm still waiting for this to become reality.

[rapid geode]

ha

babish made that

so i guiess its almost real

he has made a few nutty things. i liked the tiny food from rick and morty

tiny lasagna

[raw jasper]

Aren't microwave meals basically that? :P

[raw jasper]

I still don't understand how they survived with that name. "Soylent green is made of people" was the quote

[crystal ore]

I think they mostly targeted millennials, so it would have been a quaint reference at best.

[raw jasper]

Instant ramen too. Now with 800% more sodium!

https://tenor.com/view/cup-noodle-gif-18519579

[late fulcrum]

I was looking at ramen labels recently, one had a whopping 105g of carbohydrates

[rapid geode]

Altered the ac duct for abs print. 200 ish grams. So 4 per spool with supports/raft maybe. could be worse.

🙂

i need to add some divots for plaster adhesion in the middle

[quaint marsh]

Perhaps I can interest you in Purina Monkey Chow. “Complete live-cycle diet for all Old World and New World primates!”

[ebon dew]

Have a dewalt leaf blower and this ring separated from the housing. Held down by 4 screws and just slides up and down now.

contacted them to try to get a replacement, didn't realize it was the attachment point for the entire motor housing

they were like yeah that's part of the motor that snapped off, we'll send you a new motor and housing

i was like whaaaat, ok

in hindsight i could probably just super glue it back on and be ok. it doesn't affect the operation in any way the ring just slides around during use instead of staying put.