Tag Archives: made-in-china

Review, Test & Teardown: BlitzWolf BW-S6 30W QC3.0 Dual-Port Charger

Posted on April 7, 2019 by lui_gough

It’s a bit of a shame that some of the mobile phones out there which have Qualcomm chipsets and are capable of quick charging are shipped with regular “plain old” 5V/2A chargers. As an owner of various Xiaomi phones myself, … Continue reading →

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Project: DIY More Tube-based Pre-Amp Kit (6J1 “Fever” Clone)

Posted on March 24, 2019 by lui_gough

Ever since the vinyl “revival”, I’ve been bitten by a vintage audio bug of sorts. Of course, the old formats always come with their headaches and frustrations, but they also have a character and charm associated with them. One thing … Continue reading →

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Project: HX3208 (CD9088-based) SMD “Micro” FM Radio Kit

Posted on March 23, 2019 by lui_gough

The kit drawer is like the bottomless-pit of entertainment, except that it does have a bottom and I’m slowly reaching it. You can tell because these are the kits that I’ve left behind for a later day – perhaps out … Continue reading →

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Project: HX-1021 “Green Lighting” LED Color Small Night Light Kit

Posted on March 19, 2019 by lui_gough

Gough’s kit crusade continues with this HX-1021 “Green Lighting” LED Color Small Night Light kit, costing just AU$2.73 including postage. This one was incorrectly listed on eBay as a “mains motion light”, but the lack of a PIR detector is … Continue reading →

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Project: EQKit PSK-1 Electronic “Voice Control” Switch Kit

Posted on March 17, 2019 by lui_gough

Continuing the kit-a-thon, I grabbed another EQKit out of the drawer – this one is a PSK-1 which was sold as an Electronic “Voice Control” Switch Kit for the princely sum of AU$1.98 including postage. As a kit that had … Continue reading →

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Project: EQKit MDS-60 Electronic Metal Detector Kit

Posted on March 17, 2019 by lui_gough

As a fan of building kits, my crusade to try building random cheap-Chinese kits continues with this EQKit MDS-60 Electronic Metal Detector Kit which I managed to get for AU$1.84. Being such a low-cost item, we don’t expect to build … Continue reading →

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Project: “Generic” USB 5V/500mA Charger Kit

Posted on March 17, 2019 by lui_gough

When it comes to power supplies, the standardisation of USB has made it the ubiquitous choice for many mobile and portable devices. As a result, you probably have an abundance of spare USB power supplies to charge or power your … Continue reading →

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Project: “Generic” CD4060 SMD Musical LED Fancy Lantern Kit

Posted on March 10, 2019 by lui_gough

I have a drawer full of cheap kits and I’m on a mission to empty it! This time, I’m looking at a “generic” CD4060 SMD “musical” LED fancy lantern kit which was purchased for AU$2.89 including postage. What’s so fancy … Continue reading →

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Project: “Generic” Electronic 3-Person Voting Kit

Posted on March 10, 2019 by lui_gough

My love for kits and cheap thrills comes together when I shop online. A year-or-so ago, I scoured eBay for whatever cheap kits I could find so I could build them and given the rainy weather, it is time for … Continue reading →

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Project: “Generic” ZM-4 AT89C2051 4-Digit 7-Segment LED Clock Kit

Posted on March 9, 2019 by lui_gough

Feeling a little bored and deflated one evening, I decided to open up my drawer of stuff to grab a kit out of there to cheer me up. After all, kit builds have always been rather therapeutic for me – … Continue reading →

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Project: Generic 16-Tones Electronic Music Box Kit

Posted on March 2, 2019 by lui_gough

Around a year ago, I went on a shopping spree for kits and ended up with a stash of them which I would attempt in my spare time. Chinese kits have all the fun of being relatively inexpensive, but also … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Electronics | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Failed, Teardown: Cowin E7 Pro Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphones

Posted on February 16, 2019 by lui_gough

It looks like I haven’t been entirely fortunate with Cowin products. After the HE5A failed, I reverted to using the E7 Pro for my day-to-day commuting needs. Just this week, the E7 Pro failed as well, which doesn’t do much … Continue reading →

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Tested: Generic “Sintechi” FC1307A-based SD to IDE Adapter (SD35VC0)

Posted on February 3, 2019 by lui_gough

If you’re the type to have a few older “semi-retro” computers lying about, you’ve probably got a few old interfaces that are becoming difficult to use. For floppy drives, there are USB-floppy emulators, for PCI you can potentially fit a … Continue reading →

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Quick Teardown: Mini VGA2HDMI Converter

Posted on February 2, 2019 by lui_gough

With my recent upgrade to 4K monitors, I’ve come to realise that VGA has (at long last) become obsolete. There are no analog interfaces at all on my new monitors – so how am I going to connect my vintage … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing | Tagged , , , , , , | 29 Comments

Quick Teardown, Pairing: J.Burrows Wireless 2.4Ghz USB Keyboard & Mouse Combo

Posted on January 28, 2019 by lui_gough

Earlier today, my Dad requested some assistance with his J.Burrows Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo that was purchased from Officeworks. It was a rather low-cost set, not one I would have chosen myself, but after the batteries in the keyboard … Continue reading →

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Review, Teardown & Test: Portable USB 18650 Li-Ion Rechargeable Fans (x3)

Posted on January 4, 2019 by lui_gough

It’s summer in Australia and this one is another scorcher! Our summers do get somewhat hot, but not usually this hot. Data from my own weather station in my backyard shows that the temperature over the period from Christmas Eve … Continue reading →

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Review: ADATA Ultimate SU650 480GB 3D NAND SSD (ASU650SS-480GT-R)

Posted on December 19, 2018 by lui_gough

Solid state drive (SSD) pricing has taken a pummelling over the last few months with a global flash oversupply. There has rarely been a better time to buy an SSD, especially when considering that many online stores have discount codes … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Flash Memory | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Random: Kogan vs Catch Connect LTE Speed, Crap CAT5e, Unboxing RPi3B+

Posted on November 18, 2018 by lui_gough

It’s been a while since I wrote my last “random” post, so I thought it was about time to put up another. After all, sometimes there are just some observations that don’t quite warrant their own posting but are still … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Raspberry Pi, Telecommunications, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Review, Teardown: Alcatroz Airmouse Duo2 Wireless Mouse

Posted on November 3, 2018 by lui_gough

Being increasingly reliant on mobile devices to get some level of work done, I had a sudden need for another Bluetooth-capable mouse. While the Logitech M337 continues to serve me well with its rather unusual colour scheme, I was looking … Continue reading →

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Not So Smart: TP-Link TL-SG105E V3.0 5-Port Gigabit Easy Smart Switch

Posted on November 3, 2018 by lui_gough

I’ve made a few mentions about VLANs in the recent past as it’s something that I find quite useful along with virtual APs with managing an ever-increasingly-complex home network. But as some more “basic” edge equipment may not be able … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Telecommunications | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Repair: Soyoung S-C18 Soymilk Maker

Posted on August 20, 2018 by lui_gough

This weekend, a friend of ours had a small emergency – her soymilk maker stopped working and was completely dead. The particular unit was a Soyoung S-C18 which claimed to be a unit specially made by Joyoung for the Australian … Continue reading →

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Tested: EDUP 11AC 1900M Dual-Band USB 3.0 Wireless Adapter (EP-AC1621)

Posted on August 17, 2018 by lui_gough

In my quest for more wireless throughput, my hAP ac with three-stream 802.11ac wireless seemed to be the right choice. The problem was that I had absolutely no three-stream capable equipment to use with it – so I wasn’t seeing … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Telecommunications | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Note: Bosch Sensortec BMP280 vs BME280 Sensor Confusion

Posted on August 5, 2018 by lui_gough

While looking around for some cheap environmental sensors, I came across the seemingly ideal and relatively popular Bosch Sensortec BME280. This is a digital I2C sensor that can operate at 1.8 or 3.3V, providing temperature, humidity and barometric pressure measurements … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

Review: Cowin E7 Pro Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphones

Posted on July 5, 2018 by lui_gough

UPDATE (02/2019): Unfortunately, the review unit has failed due to a defect in the earcup hinge – see full teardown here. As a result, I no longer recommend this unit. For anyone who travels frequently on public transport or is … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Tablet, Telecommunications, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tested: MINI-360 (MP2307-based) “3A” Buck Converter Module

Posted on July 4, 2018 by lui_gough

As mentioned in my earlier Canton-Power buck-boost module review, voltages from batteries are rarely exactly the voltages you need to safely and reliably power your electronic creations. While that converter was rather acceptable, the efficiency wasn’t exactly stellar. In the … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments

Tested: Canton-Power DDO603SA 3.3V Buck-Boost Converter Module

Posted on July 3, 2018 by lui_gough

If you like to experiment with electronics, sooner-or-later you’re going to build something you’d like to use in a portable way, perhaps running off batteries. While things that run off 5V are easy to cater for, as USB is ubiquitous, … Continue reading →

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Project: Generic Electronic 57 LED Hourglass Kit (TJ-56-205)

Posted on May 11, 2018 by lui_gough

I couldn’t help myself, so once I finish one kit, it’s often straight onto another. This kit was sold as an electronic LED hourglass and was a little more expensive at AU$3.07 including postage. Compared to local suppliers, this is … Continue reading →

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Project: Generic 18 Red LED Flashing Love Heart Kit (TJ-56-30)

Posted on May 11, 2018 by lui_gough

Another day, another classic kit. It seems that LED heart-shaped displays are a timeless novelty, so after building a multi-coloured chasing heart and a breathing heart, why not a flashing one? For just AU$1.68 including postage, I managed to score … Continue reading →

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Teardown: Generic Wall-Mountable Passive PoE Midspan Injector

Posted on May 10, 2018 by lui_gough

For a lot of modern networked devices, Power over Ethernet (PoE) is a big convenience, allowing the one cable to power a remote device (be it an access point, camera, etc.) and supply the data connectivity to it. While there … Continue reading →

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Project: Unbranded Generic NE555+CD4017 SMD LED Chaser Kit (YL-117)

Posted on May 10, 2018 by lui_gough

I had a little time this evening, so I thought, why not crack open a kit? After all, I did buy a stack of cheap eBay kits to keep me amused and give me something to write about … so … Continue reading →

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