bigclive

Another Russian MRE

I've been having a slightly frustrating time exploring a boiler/furnace burner controller, so thought I'd take a break and have a Russian themed meal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMVIn2l39hw

The burner controller seems to derive part of its power supply from the blower motor, either as a tap on the winding, or possibly generation from the rotation to act as a safety feature.

That makes te...

No more wine!

Last night's stream wasn't just a bit risque in showing alternative technical devices, but left me feeling very rough all night.
Maybe putting an astronomical amount of carbon dioxide into wine and then drinking it isn't a good idea.

That section of the stream has been "muted", but may still be findable by notification emails for the second part after an attempt to cure audio glitches went wrong with the first part of the stream.

Please do not share the link to the unlisted vid...

Weekend stream link

Here's a link to the weekend stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOK5JBZDC2o

OSRAM photocatalytic air purifier

This is the simplest of these devices I've seen.  If it wasn't branded OSRAM I might be cynical that it was genuine. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOA-qRhaKMA

It's always hard to tell if something like this is actually doing anything, unlike an ioniser or ozone generator where you can see and smell something.

Another clickbait short

If I'm gonna use 'em I'll abuse 'em.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cwKZpynz3g

Solar power car aroma

That's actually what it's called.  It looked more interesting on the listing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2S7lgh0xqQ

If you search eBay for the keywords solar power car aroma you get a huge range of random solar air tainters with a surprising price range for the same items.

The proper wireless LED video

There have been a few videos about these things from other YouTubers, but they lacked technical information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ3K0suY1Dc

So here it is.  The schematic and oscilloscope waveforms.

Plus gross abuse by putting over 100 LEDs in the coil.

Midweek Patreon stream link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-v8yikH4zQ

Interesting little atomiser module

Third time lucky.  I ordered a single module twice during the start of the covid pandemic, but neither turned up.  The third attempt for a pack of three succeeded, so here's a video reverse engineering the module.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TXlhOsPJyo

Pretty neat for such a minimalist circuit.

Custom battery tray generator

I originally featured the script for making these custom battery trays in one of the live streams, but it's such a useful thing that I decided to give it it's own video on the main channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPa_6s1Vmjc

I realise that this is not something that's going to appeal to people who don't have a 3D printer, but it's worth showing what they can be used for.

Worse still,...

Weekend stream link

Here's the link to this weekend's stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj290YtyxwI

Short notice extra-stream

Since I'm feeling a lot better now I'm going to do an extra midweek stream.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8vPIEOCEqw

It'll be starting a bit later, as I'm working on a video.

LED beanie from Poundland

Now I'm not going to say this is perfect, but it has its uses.  It's definitely not going to replace my favourite head torch or keychain light.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU8yXhzfeXA

I like their chunky and reckless USB connector.

Just getting my mojo back

You guys probably noticed the lower number of videos recently.

I'm not sure if it was an after effect of the covid, another bug or a reaction to the Moderna booster - but something knocked the stuffing out of me.

I literally couldn't stay awake.  It was like sleep-deprivation effects.

I woke up this morning and thought the place seemed eerily quiet - when in reality it's normally quiet.  I think it was actually just the "thing" passing.  Because I feel pretty ...

Wind powered shark light

A very simple light designed to be stuck onto young drivers vehicles to add an air of sophistication.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiRTyBCe26A

Test of an experimental "shorts" setup

I get the feeling that if I don't pop in the odd short video from time to time I'll be left behind by the TikTok generation that YouTube is clearly trying to compete with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hQ8hJESVq8

So here's a test of a short project in less than a minute.

Quite hard to achieve.  It took several takes, stripping out more and more technical detail each time.

Easy DIY wireless strobing LEDs

This video will sound quieter than usual, as my audio app refuses to process it for some unknown reason.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6rI5PJLtx8

It's a very simple and novel project.

Weekend stream link

Here's the link to the weekend stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgfgx7d60As

Quiet Patreon stream about to happen

Just a reminder of the mid week stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5ldxzRjIoM

Patreon mid-week stream

Here's the link to the midweek stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5ldxzRjIoM

Salvaging lithium cells out of disposable vapes

Now THAT is the title I really want to use on YouTube, but it would guarantee instant demonetization.  So you can assess how well I managed to avoid saying trigger words during the video.   Especially Knicker-teen in place of nicotine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N65DpT2nqEI

By far the best disposable device for hacking for re-use is the Geek-Bar version.

Most of these are ...

Any questions for tonight's stream?

Do you have any questions to revitalise the chat in tonight's stream when it invariably goes a bit weird?

Another faulty Nest "heat link"

This time I'm showing a couple of external tests that can be done.  I also removed the faulty component using the two soldering iron tweezer technique.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2XxO1_mFdE

I've got some other diodes on order to check out.  The original package is called a Powerdi package.  The diode I fitted is only rated for 60V versus the original 100V one.   It sh...

Weekend stream link

Here's the link to the weekend stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK22uwmRAks

Aldi PIR solar light teardown

Just one more before I head off to bed after a long night of tinkering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjhn2SxjYDg

Inside the long thin 3V LED filaments

Having seen these on a modelling channel I thought I'd get some to explore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tykxeuyfX5Q

If you want some I'd recommend buying them from the listing in the description soon.  When I link to specific sellers they tend to ramp the price up with demand.

The longest ones in that listing are the 300mm (12") version.

RF powered flashing stickers from the past

There used to be a fad for putting these stickers on your phone when they had much more dramatic RF output.  It was apparently enough to create a voltage drop of about 7V across three LEDs (and a diode) with just a short antenna track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYxdRkickHA

OK, it also reduced the range of your phone, but such things are a small price to pay for pointless flashing sticker...

New Airwick aroma mist unit

I was expecting the circuitry in this smaller version of the unit to be stripped back and minimalist, but it's actually quite complex.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQf7faEqjUo

It does something very weird with the power rail of the control chip.

Weekend stream link

Here's the link to the weekend stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knjE8n2_Rco

Live stream in progress

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knZQ-IWW1RA