Estate sale gear I couldn't pass up. A vintage working 500MHz frequency counter that uses only TTL and CMOS logic chips. No CPU/MPU at all. :-) (It would be fun to reverse-engineer a schematic of the thing some day; Not seeing one on the net.)
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JohnS_AZ
@JohnS_AZ@mastodon.social
mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06KF7RCP Ex-Motorola manuf. engr, Ex-Aerospace Telemetry rep, and EOS-ESD geek. I speak Perl & C. Married, Dad, Liberal, Humanist, Agnostic, 5 rescue dogs, 4 rescue cats, tons of rescue electronics, Nerd. Spend my days on hackersbench.com
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32 Posts
Joined August 24, 2018
Location:
Metro-Phoenix, Arizona, USA
I'm starting a project that needs a specific PIC micro. I remembered I have a bin full of leftover PICs, and decided to finally figure out what's in there. I discovered two things:
- I have WAY more than I thought
- I have none of what I need.
of course. lol
Feeling a little smug.
I have a project that needs a multi-digit 7-seg display. I looked in the auction lot backlog and found this thing I bought months ago (~$10US), and since it had some displays, I moved it to the front of the tear-it-apart line. From the front panels, I found:
17 X LTS-546AHR 0.52" red 7-seg displays ($31.62)
3 X ICM7228AIPI 8-digit LED display drivers ($69.09)
3 X PIC16F876-20 8-bit 14KB flash MCU ($22.17)
$122.88 in parts (Digikey) and perfect for my project. :-)
Lisa pulled together a really pretty vase of color from around the yard this week. With the high temps below 100, things are starting to pop!
The Red Bird of Paradise ( Caesalpinia pulcherrima ) is so ubiquitous around here that we almost never notice them. But I imagine some of my friends NOT in Arizona have never seen them.
The Globe Amaranth (Gomphrena globosa) companion planted in Alison's raised beds is truly enjoying the cooler temperatures and wetter weather of Arizona's fall.
Moose, spending the closing days of summer poolside.
Weather station benchmark:
Pi PICO reading and averaging (4) TMP1054 temperature sensors and broadcasting the air temperature (AT) in degrees C over #Meshtastic .
Now, to build a receiver.
It's a little funny watching people lose their shit over AI. Some of us have known about it for a LONG time.
IYKYK
@fullywoolly@mastodon.social Bingo! Thanks. Magsafe-3 it is.
A hummingbird built a nest on the light strings on our back deck, leaving our ceiling fan out of commission. Thinking that's a small price to pay while watching her feed her two hatchlings.
I bought a milk crate of networking stuff at an estate sale for $20 this weekend.
Things got nostalgic at the bottom of the crate. :-)
One of these days, when I have fewer projects stacked up, I need to part with $7 to see what's inside these vacs that are starting to stack up at the thrift stores. (Actually, I'll wait for a 50% off day. 8-) )
Replying to
@RueNahcMohr@infosec.exchange These don't have power supplies, and I don't have a landline anymore. But that doesn't mean that they're going anywhere. :-)
Replying to
@RueNahcMohr@infosec.exchange @MLE_online@social.afront.org Precisely why our hardware happy hour is still going after 7.5 years.
Hardware prototyping used to be far, FAR easier.
@tg@indieweb.social ; I REALLY enjoyed your 'Boring Internet' essay. As a geek boomer, I was around for the beginning of most of those protocols. FWIW, these days, I'm recreating my website to use nothing but HTML and CSS. Maybe I'll include an RSS feed. :-)
So, about a year ago, we cancelled DirecTV, and they told us the equipment was too old to return, and we should trash it.
I just came across the stuff and pulled it apart to put the PCBs and metals into recycling. Wasn't expecting this.
Does anyone know, off the top of your head, if a "Video HDD" is functionally different from a regular HDD? Or do I have to go and find my USB/SATA adapter stuff? :-)
#electronics
I'm thinking this wins odd auction of the month:
"L3Harris Wescam MX-10 Air Surveillance and Reconnaissance Commercial EO/IR Imaging Turret Sensor System"
Hey @chris_gammell@chaos.social ... I was posting a reminder for our Hardware Happy Hour and got curious, so I looked it up: Our August meetup will be our 8th anniversary. That has me wondering. Are we the 'last man standing' of HHH meetups? I never hear of others. You?
Finally had a cactus bloom this year with its one-day spectacle.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
This Month's Phoenix Hardware Happy Hour
Thursday, May 14th, 2026
Find full details at:
https://www.meetup.com/hardware-happy-hour-3h-phoenix/events/314670582/
Replying to
@MLE_online We still eat dinner, watch TV, and hang out there, and she blithely comes and goes, apparently totally ignoring us. :-)
Replying to
@MLE_online I'm not knocking him. I put a table, a large box, and a spread bedsheet under the nest in case a chick falls out. 🙂
T O M O R R O W!
Phoenix Hardware Happy Hour
Thursday, May 14th, 2026
Find full details at:
https://www.meetup.com/hardware-happy-hour-3h-phoenix/events/314670582/
Thursday Evening!
Phoenix Hardware Happy Hour
Thursday, May 14th, 2026
Find full details at:
https://www.meetup.com/hardware-happy-hour-3h-phoenix/events/314670582/
@fullywoolly@mastodon.social Ah, cool. Could be. I've never owned anything from Apple, ever. :-)