January 2014

DIY Lab Power Supply

  Kerry Wong had a few huge heat sink kicking around, instead of selling them for scrap aluminum he decided to build some useful lab equipment. The first one went into the DIY Electronic Load and the second was used in his DIY Lab Power Supply. DIY Lab Power Supply Build Details 1 DIY Lab Power Supply Build Details 2 DIY Lab Power Supply Build Details 3  “The voltage/current setting

Use an LED as a Sensors

  Michael Beyhs has a new site called Electrical Engineering and More, his first project shows us how to Use an LED as a Sensor. LEDs are normally used to produce light but like many other electrical items it works a bit in the other direction, meaning that it will produce a small voltage when you shine light into it. “How the code works: Configure all analog inputs to outputs

Ammo Box Stereo

  When you take your portable radio to the beach are you always making sure nothing rubs against it so you keep the finish scratch free. If the kids are playing close to it you make sure they don’t have anything more dangerous than a rubber ducky since you know it will end up falling on your shiny radio.  The Ammo Box Stereo by Noah Farrington is the solution to

HP 3468A Bench Multimeter Repair

    There are a number of great older bench meters out there that would be perfect when upgrading from a hand held meter when working on the bench. The HP 3468A meter can be had for under $200 in good working condition and often around $100 for a unit that powers on but no operation confirmed. Modemhead purchased one that was DOA, have a look at the pictures he

Ball Bearing Motor - How does it work?

  Ok, this is a very interesting motor that RimstarOrg built with some scrap wood, two bearings, a bolt and some nuts. It is connected to a low voltage high current power source and can magically spin (or can it???). Watch the video to 3:20 but no further. Is this a real motor? Is there some careful camera tricks at work here? If it is real how does it work?

Name the Thing Contest – 247

  The prize this week is an Arduino Pro Mini. This contest will run for one week (January 26 – 31, 2014). Ending time is based on central standard time. To enter, identify the item above and what it can be used for. Please note the image above is a side view of the thing. Please do not give the answer in the comments. Send an email to contest @

Coke Bottle Test Cheat

  We have all been there. Cramming all the formulas for a test into your brain isn’t working, and of course this isn’t a real world scenario since in the real world you can use whatever reference materials you need to aid you in completing a task. In my opinion the real result is knowing how to solve problems with formulas, not necessarily the strict memorization of them. That being