Jeremy Blum writes: A few months ago, I built and reviewed the Shapeoko2 CNC mill from Inventables. Now, I’m back to review its successor, the X-Carve. The X-Carve features new-and-improved mechanics, a much sturdier spindle mounting system, and a myriad of other improvements that make it easier than ever to venture into the world of […]
Tag Archives: review
Rigol DSA875-TG 9kHz – 7.5GHz Spectrum Analyzer & tracking generator review, teardown & experiments
Rigol DSA875-TG 9kHz – 7.5GHz Spectrum Analyzer & tracking generator review, teardown & experiments from TheSignalPath: In this episode Shahriar takes a close look at the top-of-the-line Rigol DSA875-TG 7.5GHz Spectrum Analyzer. This unit which, offers a built in tracking generator for the full frequency range, has a portable form-factor. I offers the following performance: 9 […]
Radio thermostat CT-50 review and install
Felix of LowPowerLab writes: I mentioned before that there’s added support for HTTP requests in the gateway interface. That allows using things like wi-fi thermostats, and this story is a review of how I did just that. I wanted to integrate the home thermostat into the Moteino IOT Framework Gateway and be able to control […]
Teardown, repair & analysis of a Rohde & Schwarz FSH3 3.0GHz portable spectrum analyzer
A teardown and repair of a Rohde & Schwarz FSH3 3.0GHz portable spectrum analyzer from The Signal Path: In this episode Shahriar examines a faulty R&S FSH3 100kHz – 3.0GHz Portable Spectrum Analyzer. This exceptionally dirty unit does not power on and is missing a power supply and battery. After verifying the correct operation of […]
Review: Dirty Circuits Done Dirt Cheap
DirtyPCBs detailed review by Gee_Rabid_Inventor: Often design and research is and expensive business, especially when dealing with technology that your are unfamiliar with. A big proportion of this is PCB manufacture and I have spend a few years looking for a low cost reliable method for PCB production. The most cost effective method is to […]
RFM26W Breakout Board – First DirtyPCB manufacturing service test
Kai Bader’s first PCB manufacturing run with DirtyPCBs: The PCBs are well produced, no “dirt” besides a bit of dust from my side. A few tiny scratches that did not affect the board. The silk screen is clearly readable. Details at Kai Bader’s blog.
Shapeoko2 CNC Mill build log & review
Jeremy Blum’s review and build-log of the Shapeoko2: I bet you thought that I only had room in my heart for one at-home manufacturing technology! 3D Printing is still my first true manufacturing love, but I’m very excited to share that I’ve started experimenting with CNC milling, too, thanks to the fine folks at Inventables. They […]
Mikey’s first DirtyPCB experience
Mikey shares his first impressions with DirtyPCBs: Yes, exclamation mark and lots of yelling! The PCB’s has arrived, lets have a look at them. At first glance they look very good, silk screen is fine, both on top and bottom. The outline of the board feels smooth with a sharp edge, just as it should […]
Amrel PPS-2322 programmable power supply teardown
Kerry D. Wong did a teardown of a Amrel PPS-2322 programmable power supply: I picked up an Amrel PPS-2322 programmable power supply from eBay recently. You probably have not heard of the Amrel brand before as American Reliance (Amrel) no longer makes power supplies nowadays. Its power supply division was acquired by AMETEK Programmable Power, a subdivision […]
Week in (p)review April 17, 2015
Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week. Free PCB Friday is coming up soon. CNC3020 assembled in 30 minutes CNC3020 milling machine arrives LED strip testing with Bus Pirate Jason Mann, kubatyszko and jure94 built a free Bus Pirate v3.8 PCB XC2C64A CPLD development board and Bus Pirate v3.6 acrylic case v1 (DP6037) are back […]
DirtyPCBs two layer ENIG PCB closeups
DirtyPCBs two layer ENIG PCB review by manis404: The standard service is $14 for 10 boards. You can have the pads ENIG finished for $15 more, which brings the total cost to $29 for 10 boards, shipped. It is still an excellent deal. The quality is excellent too, as the closeups below illustrate. See more […]
KF5OBS’ Dirty PCBs review
KF5OBS’ first PCB manufacturing run with Dirty PCBs: So what’s the quality of the board? For $ 33 delivered I naturally didn’t expect much. But I was wrong. First off, I received 12 PCBs. So the Protopack definitely worked in my favor over ordering a guaranteed 10 pack for twice the price. Asides from some […]
Samsung Galaxy S-Pen waveform capture
Kerry Wong writes: I was quite intrigued by the S-Pen that came with my Samsung Galaxy Note 4. According to the specifications listed on Samsung’s site, the S-Pen supplied with Samsung Galaxy Note 4 he S-Pen supports 11 bits (2048 levels) of pressure levels and can be detected at a 15 mm hovering distance from […]
Review and teardown of the Analog arts SL987 USB oscilloscope AWG pattern generator and Logic analyzer
Review and teardown of the Analog arts SL987 USB oscilloscope AWG pattern generator and logic analyzer by Shahriar of TheSignalPath: In this episode Shahriar takes a close look at the Analog Arts USB based mixed-domain instrument. The SL987 offers an oscilloscope, arbitrary waveform generator, FFT-based spectrum analyzer, pattern generator and logic analyzer in a compact form factor. […]
Week in (p)review January 23, 2015
Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week. Free PCB Friday is coming up soon. Hacker Camp Shenzhen vol 4: 182 degrees open for registration! Bus Pirate v3.8 free PCB build Logic Sniffer and Bus Blaster v4 back in stock at Seeed USB IR Toy free PCB assembly cheatsheet Coming up: Free PCBs via […]
Week in (p)review January 09, 2015
Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week. Free PCB Friday is coming up soon. Bus Pirate v3.8 free PCB build Getting started with an I2C LCD using a Bus Pirate Laser cut chassis for ATX PSU board A boatload of Bus Blasters by @joegrand Coming up: Free PCBs via Facebook on Friday App notes […]
Reverse engineering a Beseler PM2L Color Analyzer
Kerry Wong wrote an article on reverse engineering a Beseler PM2L Color Analyzer: I recently acquired an old Beseler PM2L color analyzer. This kind of color analyzer was designed to analyze the color or exposure of film negatives at a certain location by comparing the intensity of the filtered light of each color channel (CMY and white). […]
Teardown of Kentli PH5 1.5 V Li-Ion AA battery
Jason over at Rip It Apart did a teardown of a Kentli PH5 1.5 V Li-Ion AA battery: The PCB that holds the 1.5 volt regulator is inside the end cap, with the rest made up of the Li-ion cell itself. Curiously enough, the cell inside is labeled “PE13430 14F16 2.66wh” which is interesting in more […]
Eagle vs. KiCad revisited
Steve Chamberlin of Big Mess o’ Wires writes: Four and a half years ago, I wrote a mini-review of Eagle vs. KiCad, two of the most popular software tools for hobbyists creating custom circuit boards. I concluded that while KiCad had lots of promise, it was too full of quirks and bugs to recommend, and […]
Week in (p)review November 21, 2014
Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week. Free PCB Friday is coming up soon. USB Infrared Toy free PCB build Small USB IR Toy case Coming up: Free PCBs via Facebook on Friday App notes on the weekend Free PCB Sunday Free PCBs via Twitter on Tuesday Weekly roundup and preview every […]