Tag: Electronics

DIY Open Source Chronograph

3D Printing, Electronics, Software, , , ,
I got into airsoft recently, and I wanted a way to measure the BB’s velocity. The cheapest chronographs I could find were ~60-70€. I thought making one myself would be much cheaper and a good learning experience. The total cost was about 15€. I tested it with an Army Armament R504, its specs sheet says it shoots at 300 FPS, I measured 298 FPS which is within the margin of error. All the files for the project can be found on github. Schematic Below you will find 2 versions of the schematic. One using photodiodes and the other phototransistors. Initially…

Ultimate Ender 3 upgrade guide

3D Printing, ,
This is my 3d printer. There are many like it, but this is mine. My 3d printer is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it and upgrade it as much as i can. -me My 3d printer is perhaps the most useful tool that I have. It’s a Creality Ender 3 that I got back in 2019 for ~160€. Since then, I have done multiple upgrades. It has almost become the ship of Theseus paradox. Below you will find all the upgrades I have done so far, and my experiences from this long journey. I will…

Upgrading old cluster with glow gauges in a 97 civic

Automotive, , , , , ,
Glow gauges are a great way to massively improve the looks of your gauge cluster and its readability. Also, a great way to add a hint of personality to your car ! In my first attempt to improve the instrument cluster, I had installed green LED bulbs from AliExpress, but the bulbs were so bad that you could barely see the dash at night! I eventually stumbled on a good deal on eBay on this set of glow gauges. Glow gauges use electroluminescent sheets that light up, resulting in a beautiful, uniform glow. Step 0: Remove the instrument cluster Removing…

DELL R710 mod: Installing a x16 GPU on a x8 slot

Electronics, , , , ,
So, I have a Dell R710 that I used to use as a 24/7 home server with Proxmox (BTW, Proxmox is amazing!). But after a few electricity bills I retired the server, until one day I had the idea to use it as a desktop. The biggest issue with that concept was the integrated matrox GPU, it was only designed to output low resolutions and struggles to even play a YouTube video. Even though the R710 has free PCIE slots, they are only x8. Now, Dell did sell x16 risers, but they are hard to find and expensive. So we…

Reattaching a broken MiniWare cable type-c connector

Electronics, , , ,
So, i made an oopsie. I dropped my power bank and as murphy’s law commands it fell right on the cable and snapped the connector clean of the cable. And it is a pretty nice cable, insulated with silicon making it heat resistant and pretty flexible. All useful characteristics for a cable used for a soldering iron. So i attempted (successfully) to fix it. Tools needed Soldering iron: Using a fine conical tip is recommended Solder: For the best results use the finest diameter you can find Hot glue gun: A glue that hardens when cured is recommended Heat shrink…

Wirebuzz: A simple cable continuity tester

Electronics, , , , ,
Continuity testers are very useful tools, especially when you need to find where a cable goes (if you have multiple cables) or to verify the integrity of the cable. This continuity tester was made for the sole purpose of testing long cables and it is not suitable for some components because it uses 12v so that it can be able to test long cables. Parts Tools Regarding tools you don’t need anything special, i highly recommend a thin conical tip for the soldering iron if you will be using the 3d printed enclosure. Schematic The schematic is quite simple. On…

SATA power supply

Electronics, ,
Have you ever needed to power a HDD for testing purposes, diagnostics etc. but you did not have an available SATA power cable ? Then this project is ideal for you. How it works Its a pretty simple and easy project. All that the device does is use dc-dc buck converter modules to drop the 12v dc from an external power supply to 5v and 3.3v. I also added a switch for the 3.3v rail because some HDDs read the 3.3v as a shutdown signal and an led. Schematic Parts DC – DC buck converter : The hart of this…