Billy Joel's The Stranger on SACD (including 5.1 remix)
Ordered this one from Amazon Italy. I don't know the language, but fortunately the website is set up the same, so I was able to complete the process without understanding what I was reading. Got an acknowledgement email (also completely in Italian), so I must have pushed the correct buttons. Fin qui tutto bene...
Ordered this one from Amazon Italy. I don't know the language, but fortunately the website is set up the same, so I was able to complete the process without understanding what I was reading. Got an acknowledgement email (also completely in Italian), so I must have pushed the correct buttons. Fin qui tutto bene...
So, last night I was trying to get this Epson WF-3540 printer running again after it's sat for quite awhile. The software says the black ink cartridge is low, the colors are nearly empty but not quite. I only want monochrome for now, but that black cartridge says, uh-uh. It's stopped up tight.
So I went to Walmart, since they're the only game in town at 10 PM on Sunday night. And of course they only have the super-duper double-capacity black cart for about thirty bucks. I take it home, put it in the printer, and now it's telling me the yellow cartridge is empty, and it won't even print black & white until I replace the yellow, ffs.
I hate inkjet printers very much.
So I went to Walmart, since they're the only game in town at 10 PM on Sunday night. And of course they only have the super-duper double-capacity black cart for about thirty bucks. I take it home, put it in the printer, and now it's telling me the yellow cartridge is empty, and it won't even print black & white until I replace the yellow, ffs.
I hate inkjet printers very much.
Well, all the expensive new ink cartridges have appeased the firmware, but it still isn't right - missing colors & blank horizontal lines. After Googling a bit, I've proceeded to cleaning the print nozzles, using hot water, an ear-cleaning squeeze bulb connected to an old Water-Pik attachment, and a length of jacket from the 16-2 cable I use for my exotic speaker wires. 
Hmm... After a couple of "head clean" cycles (that use a lot of ink), it's working better that before I messed with it, but still not great.
After a bit more searching, I see that perhaps the cleaning liquid needs to be more than just hot water - some iso alcohol and a bit of liquid soap is also recommended. I'll try this tomorrow; right now I have to drive down to the shop to use the printer that works...
After a bit more searching, I see that perhaps the cleaning liquid needs to be more than just hot water - some iso alcohol and a bit of liquid soap is also recommended. I'll try this tomorrow; right now I have to drive down to the shop to use the printer that works...
Just bought 10 B9A valve pcb sockets off aliexpress.
Pins were so tight the valve legs bent trying to insert them.
Absolutely useless, went in the bin.
Had same problems with ebay.
Fake transistors that blow up when you fart near them.
I turned off my soldering and the transistor blew.
Replaced it with an RS part and despite trying very hard plugging things in and out it didn't blow.
I stick to vendors like RS Components and Farnell now.
Slightly more expensive but seriously less hassle.
Yes, I read your posts. My experience doesn't match yours, although I don't think I have ever bought a transistor on ebay or aliexpress. Hopefully my transistor tester will help me identify fakes
Yes, I read your posts. My experience doesn't match yours, although I don't think I have ever bought a transistor on ebay or aliexpress. Hopefully my transistor tester will help me identify fakes
A good test for mosfets is the gate capacitance.
On fakes it tends to be a lot lower than spec as the die is usually much smaller.
The only other way is to open one up and compare with a genuine part.
After the last two laptop computers I bought failed prematurely with neither big name manufacturer willing to actually support their product or honor their warantee, I have decided to build my own. As expected parts and mechanical assembly are the biggest issues.
I have been down this road before with varying degrees of success. The cases have all been modified briefcases, hard plastic waterproof transport cases meant for field equipment like guns and cameras, or DIY wood construction. Some of my "portable PC's" have deviated from the traditional laptop form factor with my last one being a simple wood box with speakers and a display on one side. The keyboard is a detached wireless Logitech.
This time I think I will go more towards a traditional laptop form factor but the actual shape and size isn't finalized. This will be a high performance unit with field audio recording, MIDI, and RF measurement capability.
One of the necessary implements of building a laptop is a display screen. My preference was for a 17 inch screen. While searching the usual outlets I found a 15.6 inch screen with 4K resolution direct order from China. Would it arrive a week, a month, or a year? Would it work? And would my 65 year old eyes even be able to tell the difference between 1080 and 4K at this size? I ordered one to find out.....
This is just a bare piece of glass and circuit board. My previous MO had been to strip the guts from cheap displays or dead laptops. I ordered it Friday night Mar. 23 and it arrived at my door yesterday Mar. 26. This is FASTER than getting parts from Mouser! Did it work?
Last night I rigged up the needed cables and adapters and plugged into this PC in place of the 4K TV set. This is a W7 PC is using old hardware that was never meant for 4K but does OK at medium frame rates. The new display worked very well displaying moving video as good or better than the cheap TV set. Resolution is far better than my unassisted eyes, but it is noticeably sharper than a 17 inch 1080 display when I use glasses (the normal case).
Today I connected it to a 4 year old midrange Intel NUC, running W7 which was also never intended for 4K video. I also connected a 10 inch 1080 touch screen display to the NUC in a dual display mode. They both worked, and the 4K plays 4K video at 30 FPS without stuttering while the usual Windows stuff runs on the 1080 display.
The display is a winner and will find it's way into my laptop project. Whether I can find a suitable and usable form factor for dual displays remains to be seen.
I may strip the portable "box PC" that I built last year for its low power core i7 hardware If I can make the packaging work but it's mother board is a bit larger than the NUC.
I took two pictures of this morning's experiments, but just as you can't judge audio amps from YouTube videos, you can't judge a 4K video from a compressed picture.
15.6" 4K IPS LCD Screen NV156QUM-N32 3840X2160 HDMI DP LCD Contoller Board 601285622781 | eBay
I have been down this road before with varying degrees of success. The cases have all been modified briefcases, hard plastic waterproof transport cases meant for field equipment like guns and cameras, or DIY wood construction. Some of my "portable PC's" have deviated from the traditional laptop form factor with my last one being a simple wood box with speakers and a display on one side. The keyboard is a detached wireless Logitech.
This time I think I will go more towards a traditional laptop form factor but the actual shape and size isn't finalized. This will be a high performance unit with field audio recording, MIDI, and RF measurement capability.
One of the necessary implements of building a laptop is a display screen. My preference was for a 17 inch screen. While searching the usual outlets I found a 15.6 inch screen with 4K resolution direct order from China. Would it arrive a week, a month, or a year? Would it work? And would my 65 year old eyes even be able to tell the difference between 1080 and 4K at this size? I ordered one to find out.....
This is just a bare piece of glass and circuit board. My previous MO had been to strip the guts from cheap displays or dead laptops. I ordered it Friday night Mar. 23 and it arrived at my door yesterday Mar. 26. This is FASTER than getting parts from Mouser! Did it work?
Last night I rigged up the needed cables and adapters and plugged into this PC in place of the 4K TV set. This is a W7 PC is using old hardware that was never meant for 4K but does OK at medium frame rates. The new display worked very well displaying moving video as good or better than the cheap TV set. Resolution is far better than my unassisted eyes, but it is noticeably sharper than a 17 inch 1080 display when I use glasses (the normal case).
Today I connected it to a 4 year old midrange Intel NUC, running W7 which was also never intended for 4K video. I also connected a 10 inch 1080 touch screen display to the NUC in a dual display mode. They both worked, and the 4K plays 4K video at 30 FPS without stuttering while the usual Windows stuff runs on the 1080 display.
The display is a winner and will find it's way into my laptop project. Whether I can find a suitable and usable form factor for dual displays remains to be seen.
I may strip the portable "box PC" that I built last year for its low power core i7 hardware If I can make the packaging work but it's mother board is a bit larger than the NUC.
I took two pictures of this morning's experiments, but just as you can't judge audio amps from YouTube videos, you can't judge a 4K video from a compressed picture.
15.6" 4K IPS LCD Screen NV156QUM-N32 3840X2160 HDMI DP LCD Contoller Board 601285622781 | eBay
