I'm back in Glasgow at the moment, and thought I'd check out the Christmas lighting stuff in a big UK store called John Lewis.
Patreon seems to be having a moment with links, so you may have to follow this link directly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDu8Y3Qp-1Y
They have some interesting stuff.
2019-12-04 02:11:22 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's a quick look around the Department of Villainy tree. The DOV is a spoof of the government's department naming system. (Dept of Environment, Infrastructure etc.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9kSbnm5XrI
2019-11-30 19:04:59 +0000 UTC View PostJust in case you guys think I'm missing out on lucrative promotional opportunities I'd just like to mention that I get hammered with promotional requests from companies like Nord VPN every day. And I really mean hammered, since they seem to use marketing companies that aggressively send several emails EVERY DAY.
Needless to say I ignore all these offers because I absolutely despise videos where they awkwardly mince out a long promotional piece twice in the video. (They're re...
2019-11-29 22:35:37 +0000 UTC View Post
I ordered a pink one of these, but they sent blue. It kinda takes a bit of the drama away.
It's a very simplistic heater that could very easily be dragged off a table or accidentally turned on without realising it was plugged in and would then merrily torch everything in the vicinity. It only took a minute to scorch material and has left its signature just out of shot on m...
2019-11-29 20:12:09 +0000 UTC View Post
The video compression is crushing the detail and movement a bit. It looks a lot sharper in real life.
This is a bit of silent video showing the DOV tree running through its current program.
The erratic flashing of the star at the start of the sequence is a burst of random data to emulate neon flickering into life movie-style.
I think I may end up spending a bit of extra time programming this thing with scenes.
2019-11-27 03:47:33 +0000 UTC View Post
Just about done. Only the final bits of programming to do before it gets installed.
2019-11-27 03:35:47 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm thinking that these may be my favourite connector of all. Perhaps a bit big for most electronic applications, but for supplying power to electrical and electronic equipment they are ideal.
Super rugged, cheap, locking, water and dust resilient, impact resistant, great connection. What's not to like about ceeform connectors.
Some of you in heavier industries will ...
2019-11-26 02:35:04 +0000 UTC View Post
This was sent for our entertainment by a chap called Peter. I finally got round to opening it and analysing the circuitry inside to see if I could work out why it was recalled.
The design looks fairly solid, but they have jammed quite a lot into a small space.
2019-11-25 12:39:12 +0000 UTC View Post
This is a weird one. I didn't even know these existed, but I suppose it makes sense that they do.
The device is a module that plugs in between the engine management module of a car and the dashboard instrument cluster. It then intercepts CANbus communication between the two and lops 40,000km (25,000 miles) off the distance displayed on the odometer.
I'd guess i...
2019-11-24 00:50:11 +0000 UTC View Post
An initial test of software to get a feel for speeds and appearance.
I've discovered one annoying thing that I should have remembered. The A4 channel is open collector on the microcontroller. It can only pull down and not drive the gate of the MOSFET high. It's an easy fix with a pull-up resistor to 5V if I end up needing all the channels.
The pattern is a bit ...
2019-11-20 00:01:33 +0000 UTC View Post
I've added some yellow squiggles to the tree (each with its own control channel) and changed the star to warm white.
Total current draw now around 5A at 11V.
Now I'm pondering adding a modified string of 225 warm white LEDs to the middle of the tree and maybe another 225 blue LEDs on the outside of it. That may just make a huge wiring and visual mess though. They would also each have their own channel.
2019-11-18 23:50:54 +0000 UTC View Post
After seeing a video made by Adrian Black I decided to compare our most recent pound shop lamps with his dollar store lamp.
The results are very interesting, and hackable to turn a 10W lamp into 5W or less to gain lifespan over intensity.
2019-11-18 03:19:24 +0000 UTC View Post
Lookin' good. I'm using a proper industrial grade Meanwell power supply, so I adjusted the voltage down to 11V to give the LEDs an easier life. It's still very bright though.
Current draw at 11V is 3.2A
Now to decide what I'm going to do with the other ten control channels.
2019-11-16 23:28:14 +0000 UTC View Post
Getting there. Now for the terminations and then whatever else I can stuff into the available space. I've got 15 channels to play with.
2019-11-16 21:55:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Can you guess what it is yet? This is an attempt at making a universal indoor Xmas lighting frame with a welded mesh to allow the image to be changed when required.
2019-11-16 20:30:56 +0000 UTC View Post
Another item sent from Japan by Jerry and Rosie. It's a style of time switch that is commonly used for street lighting and alleyway and stair lighting.
Simple to set and has a very easy to change rechargeable cell for backup. I think this is the first time-switch of this type that I've come across with provision to change the rechargeable cell without opening the unit.
2019-11-14 20:29:30 +0000 UTC View Post
This lamp is part of a box of stuff sent from Japan by Jerry and Rosie. Jerry is a bit of a lighting geek and works both in the UK and in Japan doing street lighting and signage.
The lamp has fairly standard circuity, but what makes it unique is the phosphor on the LEDs. I've never seen such a ferociously yellow lamp. It puts low pressure sodium (SOX) street lights t...
2019-11-13 01:39:47 +0000 UTC View PostYouTube has just implemented their response to COPPA by making all channels choose between whether their content is aimed at kids or not. Obviously I've selected that I'm not a kids channel. But when I had to choose yes or no it was making me think about the fact that normally if I choose to age-restrict a video then it automatically gets adverts disabled and the video is demonetised. This is despite the fact that almost all adverts shown at the beginning of my videos are ai...
2019-11-13 01:34:37 +0000 UTC View PostI use a Chromebook for most of my online activity because it's FAST and much more secure than traditional operating systems if you are careful about browser extensions.
Previous attempts to live stream to YouTube directly from the Chromebook have failed, but now (possibly with the new Android compatibility) it has suddenly been enabled.
Hopefully this means I can do more casual unplanned live streams in future.
There are plans to do an MBC live stream tonight (Monday 11/11/2...
2019-11-11 12:44:35 +0000 UTC View Post
It's a bit disturbing when something you use regularly fails in a manner that involves shorting out the internal lithium cell.
After I'd made the video I explored deeper with a microscope as I couldn't see an obvious path of fault current. A closer look at the dark connection on the interface between the two PCBs suggests that a solder ball or near-bridge has probably shorted ou...
2019-11-08 05:36:23 +0000 UTC View Post
Who would have thought a $1 component from a fridge could be so much fun. This is a very interesting device that has the primary function of de-energising a compressor's start winding after a short delay. But it has loads of other applications.
The units are available in several start resistances from 4.7 ohm to 33 ohm. I'd guess that the lower the start resistance t...
2019-11-07 04:27:31 +0000 UTC View Post
Having seen the use of a non Newtonian gel as an impact absorber I decided to make some and then hit my hand with a hammer to test it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkgNnTk-nP0
It appears to work.
This is also a fast and fun project to make "slime", which has a very tactile feel when handled.
I recommend getting some Borax (not the substitute) from eBay or your local hardware store. &...
2019-11-04 17:07:51 +0000 UTC View Post
This is the build of the little PCB I posted a picture of recently.
It works really well. I'll have to do some tests on it to see what the maximum current it can drive is. That will be determined by heat dissipation at dusk/dawn as the transistor slowly turns on and off.
2019-11-01 03:57:49 +0000 UTC View Post
A couple of useful things in this video. A way to test small cells to see if they have internal protection circuitry by shunting them with some low value resistors to trip the protection circuit deliberately.
And making a little inline resistor adaptor to allow the running of LED lights directly from a spare lithium cell.
I was really just playing around and thought I'd re...
2019-10-30 21:17:47 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm not sure what the worst feature of this inline dimmer is. The fact that it has to be soldered into circuit, or the fact that the triac can apparently be damaged by the wrong "type" of lamp.
It looks quite neat, but really isn't recommended.
2019-10-29 18:39:48 +0000 UTC View Post
While tonight's video was uploading to YouTube I got the urge to try out one of a strip of 100 A2SHB MOSFETs.
Can you guess what it is? (Some of you might recognise it as the surface mount version of another hard-wired project.)
2019-10-29 05:28:33 +0000 UTC View Post
It's Halloween 2019 and time to take a look at Poundland's offerings this year.
I'm going to release this video fairly soon to actually catch Halloween.
Some wizard at Hogwarts is going to be a bit disappointed when this wand picks them. It resembles a knobly poop with an LED on the end. If it did actually come with the promised sound module then it would have to be ...
2019-10-26 04:01:27 +0000 UTC View Post
I really like the lamps made from machined aluminium. This one is nicely made and heatsinks the LEDs properly.
It's also very hackable if you want to change the LEDs to suit your own colour choice.
Note the slightly shady power supply though. Don't trust its isolation.
2019-10-24 22:48:03 +0000 UTC View Post
I think you'd probably get used to eating MREs properly after you'd had a few. I still have to master the chemical heaters.
This was a pretty good MRE (Meal Ready to Eat). Almost like a food luck-bag for adults.
2019-10-23 18:53:39 +0000 UTC View Post