I bought a couple of IXYS linear MOSFETs (IXTK90N25L2) a while ago to test their capabilities when used as electronic load, and the result was quite impressive. So I decided to build another electronic load using both MOSFETs. As you…
In this blog post, I will show you a simple hardware hack to make your mouse capable of rapid firing (or automatic continuous clicking). Of course you can always resort to software mods to achieve the same goal, but admittedly…
I just picked up a charger along with a couple of NP-FW50 spare batteries for my new Sony Alpha A6000 mirrorless digital camera. The Sony branded charger is ridiculously expensive, so I opted for an aftermarket Vivitar branded one (VIV-QCB-104),…
I just picked up another high voltage power supply, this time it is a working Bertan/Spellman 225-20R 20kV one. Unlike the Bertan 205A-05R that I did a teardown with last time which was entirely analog, this one can be controlled…
I got a non-working Bertan 205A-05R 5kV high voltage power supply and did an attempted repair video a while ago (see video towards the end). But I forgot to post my teardown pictures somehow. So here we go, better late…
I have always wondered how the clean/dirty indicator on my Hoover vacuum cleaner works. So when it was time to replace it with a new one, I opened up the old vacuum and took out the “dirt finder” circuit board.…
In my previous post, I discussed why it is beneficial to use linear MOSFETs in electronic load and performed a couple of experiments using a single IXYS’ IXTK90N25L2 linear MOSFET. The electronic load was able to dissipate around 150W before…
Power MOSFETs are widely used in switch mode applications such as pulse width modulated electrical motor controllers and switching mode power supplies. While they are also routinely used in linear mode applications such as power amplifiers and linear power supplies,…
A while back, I added a fan controller to my Topward 6603A power supply. Later on, when I bought a used programmable power supply (PPS-2322) I had to do the same thing. Both of those builds were done on protoboards…
Static fieldmeters (or electrostatic fieldmeters) are typically used for non-contact measurements of the electrostatic field strength (usually in kV) of charged objects. These are highly specialized test instruments and most hobbyists probably seldomly have the opportunity of coming across one.…
I did a teardown of a SMART UF-55 DLP Projector a while ago, and later I showed how to hack the ballast board so that the discharge lamp could be powered without the rest of the projector circuitry.
Not all cables have proper strain relief built to the connector ends. This is particularity true for some of the iPhone 6 USB to Lightning™ cables. Take this Anker branded iPhone cable for example, after several months’ normal use the…
I recently was given a broken Epson PowerLite 84 projector. The projector would not turn on when plugged in and there was no sign of life. So I decided to take a look at what was wrong with it. The…
I picked up a Wavetek 395 arbitrary waveform generator on eBay a few weeks ago. Wavetek 395 is a single channel, 12-bit resolution DDS AWG with a maximum clock frequency of 100 MHz. While the operation manual is readily available,…
After taking the SMART UF-55 projector apart, I decided to take a look at the salvaged circuit boards to see whether I could re-use them to power the projector discharge lamp. Most of the modern projectors utilizes some kind of…