Dept. of Environmental Services investigation revealed major violations of the Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Act by Analytical Services Inc., located in Williston, Vt.
Weller doesn’t seem to make it easy
After many years of loyal service, my Weller TCP 24 soldering iron needs a new bit – I think Pb-free solder has got the better of it. So I thought I would get help choosing a new bit from Weller’s website. Now, and it is probably me rather than Weller, I can’t find anything that …
Want a fast PWM quickly? – consider Arduino
I have been discussing control algorithms for a power supply and idly looking for some easy hardware on which to try the technique – hardware small enough to build into a prototype. My default tends to be to 8bit PICs, but someone in the discussion pointed to the ATtiny25/45/85 family as a source of PWM …
Protect your sanity
Just a note for anyone climbing the walls at work*. The British Safety Council is thinking about mental health this week – supporting ‘Time to Talk Day’. This also applies to any psychopaths amongst you – who could make more profit and your boss might pay you more. Read this BSC statement: “In the UK …
The largest steam engines ever, some claim
Wise SteveK has brought to my attention a video about the Big Boy steam locomotives, the largest ever made. I found it fascinating – nice use of cartoons to show why some parts are like they are. Ps, why only single expansion and not compound? It is called Last of the Giants, by RailFilm Productions, …
AVR programming book
I am enjoying reading John Morton’s 2002 book ‘AVR and introductory course’, published by Newnes. It is a book on creating software rather than hardware. and paced just the right for me – someone who once programmed 6800 and 6809, and more recently played with PICs, and can mostly do hardware. So far, and I …
Learn from a shrimp that communicates with polarisation
Mantis shrimp communicate using the polarisation of light through polarising reflectors. “Most eavesdroppers can’t see this type of light information and so animals that use it are less likely to attract the attention of predators or unwelcomed competition” said the University of Bristol. According to the University, using a combination of anatomy, light measurements and …
Great zero-gravity video
Wise Steve K has contacted the blog with a link to an amazing video, filmed in zero gravity, with no camera tricks or CGI. Here it is, and it is well worth a look – I am so impressed with the organisation and talent of these people. US radio station NPR – think Radio 4 …
Microchip’s Xpress eval board
I have been struggling to find any details of the MPLab Xpress Evaluation Board that Microchip is promoting alongside its new web-based version of its MPLAB integrated development environment. Apart from it having a PIC16F18855 on-board. But I did get sent a close-up photo of it, so I though I would stick it here. Done. By …
Blackest coating now sprayable
Vantablack, the world’s blackest material, from Surrey NanoSystems, no longer has to be placed by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) as it can now be sprayed on. It is based on carbon naontubes. “Called Vantablack S-VIS, the spray paint greatly widens the applications potential, making it possible to coat much larger and more complex shapes and structures, as …