Electronics and technology blog    /    Materials for August 2015 year

After my unsuccessful experiment with a USB network adapter, I decided to try my luck again and ordered a USB 3.0 network adapter this time. Let’s see if it’s any faster—time to get hands-on :)

A few times in the comments, and later in private messages, people asked me to review power supplies with a specific voltage. I replied that I’d try to get hold of some for review and testing. Today I’m reviewing a 5 V power supply. But simply reviewing it would be rather boring, so this time I’ll try to explain what the different components in a power supply do and what to look for when choosing one.

Since I’ve touched on soldering in my reviews, I’ll use this one to talk a little about the radio amateur’s most important tool: the soldering iron. This review won’t actually be about soldering itself—that will probably be the subject of another review. Here, I’ll talk a little about soldering irons themselves.

I recently reviewed another kit, and today I'm continuing my short series of reviews of various DIY projects for beginner radio enthusiasts. I'll say right away: this is certainly no Tektronix, or even a DS203, but it's an interesting little gadget in its own way, even if it's basically a toy. Usually, before testing something, I take it apart first. This time, I have to assemble it :)

Many of you already know that I have a soft spot for all kinds of power supplies. This review is two in one: this time, I’ll be looking at an electronics kit for building the core of a bench power supply, as well as a real-world implementation of it. A heads-up: there’ll be lots of photos and text, so stock up on coffee :)

Recently I posted a review of a decent TV box. I originally picked out a wireless keyboard to go with it and even planned to include it in the TV box review, but then decided to write about it separately. So, the usual routine: photos of the outside and inside, plus my review of how it works.

In my previous power supply review, I mentioned that I had ordered two units to review. Today, I'll tell you about the second one. It's interesting in its own way and well made, but it does have some drawbacks. As always, all the details are below the fold.

Taking a short break from Windows mini PCs and all kinds of power supplies, I ordered a rather interesting TV box to review. Well, interesting at least in my opinion. Find the main differences, photos of the inside and outside, and a short demo of it in action below :)

Since I've been working with various power supplies for a long time, I can often tell how good one is just “from a photo.” That was the case this time too: I ordered a couple that looked pretty good to test. So far, my intuition seems to have been right. As always, more after the jump :)

Today I’ll write not only about a product I tested, but also about how sometimes you plan one thing and, for some reason, end up with something completely different. Anyway, if you’re interested, read on.