06 MARCH 2021
In this blog post and video I am tearing down some old tablet computers which the batteries no longer hold a charge.
I could take the machines to the local recycling centre intact, but they would just go into the general...
15 FEBRUARY 2021
On our workbench we had a small ESD mat to avoid any static discharge issues which could damage the electronics we work on. The mat only covered the central portion of the bench and the areas each side only had a painted...
18 JANUARY 2021
This project is a Wi-Fi controlled RGB led controller using a ESP8266 Wi-Fi module connected to a RGB LED strip of 300 WS2811 LEDS.
The circuit was built on a small section of strip board but we plan to make a custom PCB...
14 JANUARY 2021
Time to build a new PC for the loft workshop with an all AMD build as we cannot locate any Nvidia Graphics cards anywhere and had to use a Radeon RX 580 GPU from one of our Linux machines.
The new machine will allow us...
18 DECEMBER 2020
We have previously torn down several Amazon Echo devices including the 3rd gen Dot, the Flex and the Echo Input. In this teardown we will look at the Echo Dot 3rd gen with a clock.
Most of this Echo Dot is the same...
25 OCTOBER 2020
Disclaimer, this project involves the modification of mains electric powered equipment and can cause electrocution, shock, death, fire if not done correctly. I take no responsibility if anyone follows these instructions...
07 APRIL 2020
Last week I purchased a Yaesu VX-6 is which is an ultra-rugged 144-430 MHz FM Hand-Held with wide receiver coverage of 504kHz to 998.99MHz.
As programming the radios via the keypad is very time consuming, I purchased a...
11 MARCH 2020
For several months now we have been looking at ways to reduce the energy consumption in our house. One item we found that was using power when it wasn’t in use was a Yamaha subwoofer that is connected to a Pioneer...
28 FEBRUARY 2020
Around two years ago my Synology DS411+II network attached storage drive developed a fault where it would randomly fail to boot or power on with a flashing blue power button light and then after a random number of minutes...
22 JANUARY 2020
I thought I would write a short post about the importance of checking that your computer data backups are working correctly and if you experience a drive or computer failure only to find your backup system did not work!
This...