Remote control wall switches
By request, I also reverse engineered the RF section this time instead of showing it as a block.
2021-02-28 02:09:58 +0000 UTC View Post
bigclive posts
Saturday's stream link
Here's the link to this Saturday's stream:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvDDmHr85Ms
You'll have to view it on YouTube to interact with the chat.
2021-02-26 02:04:53 +0000 UTC View PostUplighter landfill modding
If you work with these things much then you'll know exactly how I feel about them. In raised decking with known power sources they may be OK. But out in a street, submerged in water and fed from a random location - they lose their novelty quickly. Street manholes aren't as glamorous as they look when they are full to the brim with mystery brown liquid.
2021-02-25 08:57:06 +0000 UTC View PostQuestions for the upcoming live stream
If you have any technical (or other) questions for during the live stream, add them here.
They help divert the chat in a new direction when things quieten down.
2021-02-24 18:40:49 +0000 UTC View PostAnd another....
Since this is fairly similar to the recent pineapple sign video, I thought I'd release it with a more technical video as a side-serving.
This has similar construction to the pineapple version, but some significant differences.
2021-02-22 04:24:07 +0000 UTC View PostRandom Chinese high voltage "thing"
I bought this purely because I couldn't find any information on it, and wondered what the relay was for.
It turns out to be a double portion of Chinese ingenuity to shave component costs and keep things small. The relay bit is actually quite clever, while the high voltage pulser is eyebrow raising in the way it's used a standard component.
2021-02-22 04:18:26 +0000 UTC View PostQuiet Patreon mid-week stream link
I'm having a midweek stream for Patreons. Here's the link:-
To engage with the chat you'll need to view it on YouTube.
2021-02-21 06:32:07 +0000 UTC View PostThis module has a mains referenced antenna
I bought this secretly hoping the external antenna was going to be referenced to mains voltage. It didn't disappoint. If live and neutral are reversed it gets very shady.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFmMyYItYxk
Other than that slightly shady issue, the circuitry inside is fairly decent quality.
2021-02-18 23:10:28 +0000 UTC View PostMagnetic "machine light"
While raking through the gadget mountain in a vague attempt to make it manageable, I found this light that I ordered a while ago.
On closer exploration it seems to have actually been designed to be reliable by someone with technical skills.
2021-02-17 08:19:27 +0000 UTC View PostSaturday's stream link
The link for next Saturday's live stream:-
View on YouTube to interact with chat.
2021-02-16 03:21:38 +0000 UTC View PostFixing a fart extraction fan
You get to guess the faulty component in this video.
What do you think of the circuitry in general? I think I'd rather have used something like a 4093 schmitt trigger logic chip.
The 4001 used in this circuit is an extremely popular general use CMOS logic chip from the past.
2021-02-15 09:32:44 +0000 UTC View PostAny questions for the stream tonight?
If you've any technical (or other) questions for the stream tonight, leave them below.
I've experimentally used the slow chat feature to try and slow the chat down a little bit. There were almost 10,000 chat comments last week. There will be a short 15 second delay between posting subsequent chats to limit the activity of copy/paste chat bombers.
I tried enabling only super-stickers as "drink vouchers", but they only work with the main superchat enabled. I've add...
2021-02-13 16:25:40 +0000 UTC View PostNew style LED neon ornament
I thought this video was going to be easy. In the listing it looked like laser cut acrylic, but in reality it's much more complex.
The wiring is different too, with no attempt to solder onto the LED tape end pads, so the connections are invisible and very solid.
2021-02-13 05:37:14 +0000 UTC View Post
Poundland QI charger teardown
A look at a typical mass produced inductive charger for phones.
This charger uses an anonymous 16 pin chip that is almost certainly a microcontroller.
It could be a standard microcontroller with clever software, or it could be a microcontroller with integrated QI charging functionality.
Let me know if you have an idea of what it might be, although it's such a specialized appl...
2021-02-09 23:15:16 +0000 UTC View PostExtra quiet Patreon-stream link
Here's the link for a quiet mid-week Patreon stream:-
2021-02-08 23:35:12 +0000 UTC View PostEarly video release.
Given that Dave at EEVblog has "outed" my lighting system I'm going to jump that video to the front so it doesn't look like I've copied him.
I'll be doing a Patreon live stream this week. I'll release the link to the stream shortly.
2021-02-08 22:21:40 +0000 UTC View PostCrisp tupperware-vision
Uh-oh. Dave at EEVblog has slightly nudged me into action on this video:-
Here's how I get those sharp and well illuminated shots of tiny PCBs and other stuff.
2021-02-08 06:52:04 +0000 UTC View PostThermal camera on a variac
A variac is a slightly retro variable transformer with a rotating tap that slides across the windings of a toroid.
This video uses a thermal imaging camera to find out if it does short adjacent windings or not.
2021-02-06 04:55:10 +0000 UTC View PostTech-tuber zoom-meeting
Just in case you guys missed this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ricc9IZNuPo
It's notable that I was the only one that brought a bottle of wine and disgraced myself publicly (again).
2021-02-06 04:27:28 +0000 UTC View PostPower saving stand-in video
The video I was supposed to be releasing was about a cheap QI inductive charger for phones. But I ended up spending way too long trying to hunt down the 16 pin chip they use.
I may have to treat it as a black box and just show the external circuitry. (Which is still interesting.)
2021-02-05 03:45:18 +0000 UTC View PostSaturday's stream
Here's the link to Saturday's stream.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB1hPXLDP1w
Feel free to ask questions below for during the stream.
2021-02-04 20:50:46 +0000 UTC View PostComplex oil-burner ignition controller
Despite looking very retro, this is a commonly available oil burner control unit that controls the ignition sequence with protection against flame loss.
This was a hard video to make, since it's complex to describe a simple mechanism that has such a lot going on simultaneously. It took me a few evenings, and then powered fault emulation to actually work out how it was achieving ...
2021-02-02 02:47:48 +0000 UTC View PostInside the Nokero solar light
The Nokero (No Kerosene) solar light is a good quality light that was designed for developing countries with no reliable power distribution system yet. It provides a safer alternative to the traditional kerosene lamps which pose a fume and fire hazard.
The marketing hype for this type of light tends to imply it will help kids do their homework, but I'm not a huge fan of giving k...
2021-01-28 04:36:18 +0000 UTC View PostBusy Saturday stream link
Here's the link for Saturday's stream:-
2021-01-27 05:56:01 +0000 UTC View PostQuiet Patreon live stream mid-week.
A little extra live stream before the main one at the weekend.
This one may just be one or two hours long to see if shorter is sweeter. Sometimes I think the 3 hour plus streams are probably too long.
Exploring a faulty heating controller
Sorry - apparently I'm in heating component mode right now. Normal service will resume shortly.
This is an attempt to locate the cause of a very common fault with these popular controllers. It probably applies to many others too. A notable moment in this video is probably the demonstration of how to detect excess ripple on a DC power rail.
I'll probably make a short and more specific video about fixing these in the future, that just gets straight to the fault and...
2021-01-26 21:14:00 +0000 UTC View PostInside an un-trippable circuit breaker
The ultimate breaker for all your rogue overload problems. If you fit one of these you're guaranteed never to have undesirable tripping again.
Your wiring may go on fire, but the breaker definitely won't trip.
2021-01-24 22:51:48 +0000 UTC View PostQuestions for the stream
Any questions for the usual Saturday live stream? If I didn't get to your question last week, you can ask it again.
2021-01-23 18:35:20 +0000 UTC View PostMake your own Dooby lamps
Like Dubai lamps, but customised to your needs.
This video is an experiment where I installed various capacitors in series with a large selection of lamps to see how it affected their performance and power rating.
Some didn't like it. But most worked fine at greatly reduced power levels.
2021-01-22 21:06:43 +0000 UTC View Post