Tag Archives: teardown

Satellite: Improving My Reception & MTI C-Band OCS LNBF Teardown

Posted on May 21, 2020 by lui_gough

On the whole, my impression is that direct to home broadcasting especially in the C-band is on the way out in most suburban and city areas. With smaller, narrower blocks and apartments being the norm, “big ugly dishes” are not … Continue reading →

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Teardown: Mains Double Adapters – New vs. Old

Posted on May 17, 2020 by lui_gough

Double adapters are a convenient item to have if you’re in a pinch and need an extra mains socket. Cheap and simple in their design, they belong to a class of products we rarely ever pay a second thought to … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Repair: Audiosonic Nora Mantle DAB+ Radio (DS446+) Battery Swap

Posted on April 26, 2020 by lui_gough

Earlier this week, my Dad handed me a little assignment – see if I could fix his DAB+ radio. The Audiosonic Nora Mantle (DS446+) isn’t exactly a special or expensive DAB+ radio. In fact, my Dad purchased it for all … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics, Radio | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

RoadTest Review: B&K Precision/Sefram DAS240-BAT Multi-Channel Recorder

Posted on February 25, 2020 by lui_gough

Some of my regular readers may have noticed the blog being quiet again over the past few weeks. That’s not an unusual occurrence, because I was blessed by element14 and B&K Precision/Sefram to have been selected as one of three … Continue reading →

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Tech Flashback: LCD Digital Compass & Clock (1360 V2.0)

Posted on February 9, 2020 by lui_gough

While GNSS devices have become commonplace (e.g. GPS receivers inside modern smartwatches or smartphones), it wasn’t many years back when they were initially quite expensive, bulky and slow to acquire signals. Navigating in bush often meant relying on an old … Continue reading →

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Note: Swollen Li-Po Cells in a Xiaomi (Mi) Power Bank Pro (PLM01ZM, Nov 2016)

Posted on February 6, 2020 by lui_gough

Back in 2017, I blogged about the Xiaomi (Mi) Power Bank Pro. This particular unit, model PLM01ZM, supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 technology and became one of my favourite units to carry about because of its slim dimensions and generous … Continue reading →

Posted in Power Bank | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Review: Tenda Beli SP3 Smart Wi-Fi Plug – Not Beli Secure?

Posted on January 12, 2020 by lui_gough

It seems the home automation IoT boom has really hit the mainstream, as the prices of smart plugs have fallen and the market has really opened to a lot more competition. Starting from the days of the Belkin WeMo, the … Continue reading →

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Teardown: Osram Dulux EL Longlife 20W/827 Compact Fluorescent Lamp

Posted on January 11, 2020 by lui_gough

On a visit to my aunt’s, I was informed that they had an oyster light in a room that was inoperative but they had some difficulty removing the shroud to change the lamp. I got myself up to the light … Continue reading →

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Teardown: MikroTik S-RJ01 SFP to RJ45 10/100/1G Ethernet Module

Posted on December 29, 2019 by lui_gough

Having moved to MikroTik for my increasingly-complex home networking needs, I had an hAP ac with an SFP port that was idle and a desire to get an extra gigabit Ethernet port (if possible) to avoid the need to install … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Telecommunications | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Quick Review: Western Digital Elements 10TB External USB 3.0 Hard Drive

Posted on December 19, 2019 by lui_gough

When it comes to bargains, there are a few I can’t resist. One of those would be a well-priced, capacious external hard drive – perhaps for future migration into my main desktop where all drives have long-passed 20,000 hours of … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

RoadTest Review: Omron 2JCIE-series Environmental Sensors

Posted on December 11, 2019 by lui_gough

I was recently selected as a RoadTest reviewer of the Omron 2JCIE-series environmental sensors. Due to a shipping mix-up, I ended up with both the 2JCIE-BL01-P1 BLE PCB type sensor and the 2JCIE-BU01 USB-type sensors. After a month of work, … Continue reading →

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Project: Xiaomi Mi Max (2016) Battery Replacement

Posted on December 8, 2019 by lui_gough

I’ve been a fond user of the Xiaomi Mi Max ever since I picked it up in 2017 at the beginning of my nearly year-long holiday. As the first affordable “large” screen phone I ever owned, I found the added … Continue reading →

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Tested: Generic USB Bluetooth Receivers (PiX LV-B02L, H7X-RX-163)

Posted on November 17, 2019 by lui_gough

Recently, I had a request from my brother to take a look at the 3.5mm auxiliary input line into his car stereo. Over the years, pulling at the cable has seemingly mangled the plug and he was looking to get … Continue reading →

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

Review: Orico 2139U3 2.5″ USB3.0 External SATA Hard Drive Enclosure

Posted on November 16, 2019 by lui_gough

After my recent marginally-satisfactory experience of purchasing external 2.5″ SATA to USB 3.0 enclosures from eBay and my recent caving-in to joining eBay Plus, I decided to capitalise on my newfound purchasing freedom by picking up two Orico 2139U3 2.5″ … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Tech Flashback: Generic Light-Up Mobile Phone Keyring

Posted on November 12, 2019 by lui_gough

In the process of cleaning up the endless piles of forgotten-about stuff, I came across a novelty item that we don’t seem to see very much of anymore – a light-up mobile phone keyring. Back in the days that phones … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics, Tech Flashback, Telecommunications | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tech Flashback, Repair: Texas Instruments SR-56 Programmable Calculator

Posted on October 13, 2019 by lui_gough

As I continue to chip away at the pile of vintage equipment that has been donated to me by readers, I move to this moderately rare Texas Instruments SR-56 Programmable Calculator. The SR stands for “slide rule”, however, this calculator … Continue reading →

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

Tech Flashback: RS-232 USB Converter (USC1000) & TP Talk AAUI Adapter

Posted on October 6, 2019 by lui_gough

When it comes to old and strange bits of hardware, I’m guilty of being a hoarder, to the point that it’s going to take me years (literally) to cover the stuff that I’ve already collected. In fact, I sometimes even … Continue reading →

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Teardown: Two Generic (Black, Transparent) 2.5″ SATA to USB 3.0 External Enclosures

Posted on September 8, 2019 by lui_gough

I’ve almost always got an excess of computing equipment, which includes spare 2.5″ hard drives and smaller SSDs. Better than letting them idle, I thought it would be good to shove them into a USB enclosure for use as an … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

RoadTest Review: Cypress EZ-BT™ Mesh Evaluation Kit (CYBT-213043-MESH)

Posted on September 1, 2019 by lui_gough

Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity is an area which is constantly evolving, with pressures towards having lower power, smaller footprint, longer ranges, interoperability/compatibility with standards and good throughput. In many consumer “smart-homes”, there may be a mixture of technologies used, … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Electronics, Radio, Telecommunications | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

R&S NGM202 In-Depth – Ch6: Teardown

Posted on August 20, 2019 by lui_gough

It wouldn’t be a review challenge review if I didn’t at least attempt to take a peek under the hood to see what it’s made out of. Join me as I take the covers off and take a look underneath. … Continue reading →

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Experiment: Examining Solid-State Drive Temperature Reporting

Posted on August 10, 2019 by lui_gough

Regular reader and frequent contributor Franc e-mailed me around two weeks ago with an interesting request – “Would you consider investigating how SSDs report their temperatures?” He reports of discrepancies in temperature readings in a Kingston A400 NVMe version versus … Continue reading →

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

Review, Teardown: Generic HDMI Cheater Dummy Plug (4K UHD)

Posted on June 2, 2019 by lui_gough

Having recently upgraded to a GTX 1070 Ti graphics card to keep up with my dual 4K monitor configuration, I came across an issue that plagues many Nvidia chipset users – namely that of what happens when you power off … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Electronics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Project: DSE K4309 Daytime Running Lights for Cars Kit (SC 8/99)

Posted on April 15, 2019 by lui_gough

When it comes to good things, they say moderation is best. Don’t eat all your candy at once, or so they say, but instead I’m diving right in for a Dick Smith Electronics kit overdose. This is kit four of … Continue reading →

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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 →

Posted in Computing, Electronics, Tablet | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Tech Flashback: Anchor Automation Volksmodem 12

Posted on March 24, 2019 by lui_gough

This weekend is turning out to be a bit of a telephony weekend, as I unpack more items from the stack of items donated by readers of the blog. This one is something I’m particularly fond of – the Anchor … Continue reading →

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Teardown: Bosch DS835 TriTech PIR/Microwave Motion Detector

Posted on March 23, 2019 by lui_gough

One of the things I bought home from the recent Wyong Field Day was a Bosch DS835 TriTech motion detector. While the box was beat-up, the unit inside looked clean and the seller wanted just $5 for it, so I … Continue reading →

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After the Beep: DSE F-8011 & ion by Telstra Digital Answering Machines

Posted on March 23, 2019 by lui_gough

The humble voice call by telephone has been with us for many years, but with the popularity of land-lines fading, it seems that the traditional voice call may be headed towards obscurity. As a synchronous communication, it requires both caller … Continue reading →

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Field-Day Mysteries: Hexin 2108E Serial Device Server, CPU86 ROMs & Conner CP-3040 SCSI HDD

Posted on March 9, 2019 by lui_gough

My recent trip to the CCARC Field Day at Wyong resulted in the purchase of a stack of random bits and pieces. The fun is, as expected, sorting through the stuff in detail, learning about it in the process and … Continue reading →

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RoadTest Review: Eaton SmartWire-DT System

Posted on March 3, 2019 by lui_gough

Thanks to element14’s New Year’s Grab Bag RoadTest, I was the lucky recipient of a RoadTest kit that had been sitting around for six years. The kit from Eaton is for evaluation of their SmartWire-DT control panel wiring system which … Continue reading →

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Teardown, Test: WebExcel 56k Voice/Fax/Data External Modem

Posted on February 23, 2019 by lui_gough

A few weeks back, I was fortunate enough to receive a donation of various technology items from a reader of the blog. The donor had quite a lot of equipment, so I picked a few items I thought I could … Continue reading →

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