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Our friend Csaba did a great Review of the SIGLENT SDS1102CM Oscilloscope. “SIGLENT SDS1102CM Based on the CSV file: Model Number: SDS1102CM Serial Number: SDS00002111512 Software Version: 3.01.01.22 Based on the turn on screen: Software Version: 3.01.01.223 Approx. 450USD on ebay.com” |
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I have been putting this SilverCloud Real-Time GPS Tracking System by Land Air Sea through some testing over the past few months. Don’t let the tiny package fool you, this small box allows you to track anything in real time. You can do tracking on a computer, smart phone or playback the history logs anytime. The main purpose of the SilverCloud system is for vehicle tracking but you could stick this in on your next near space launch and find your capsule with ease. You just need to make sure the area you want to use the unit has cellular coverage and can receive a GPS signal, that is because the device is essentially a GPS receiver which sends the current location to Land Air Sea every 3 seconds using the cellular network. Thanks to Land Air Sea for sending in the review unit. |
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Next time you are working on a laser project that needs a small DC motor or a robot arm that is in need of a few gears make sure you have a copy of Unscrewed by Ed Sobey handy. Most of us makers and hackers have a large pile of used parts (some call them junk boxes), they come in all shapes and forms, old VCRs that got retired, the paper shredder that stopped working properly, your old inkjet printer that has a bunch of clogged nozzles. Lots of people see this stuff as garbage and toss it in the trash, we see it as gold waiting to come alive in a future project. Unscrewed lets us have a look inside these everyday items before we even get out a screwdriver, there is a list of typical items that will be found and how it was taken apart. Now this isn’t a service manual so it won’t help you repair anything, and keep in mind that the bit you might want might be the reason the unit was retired but even with one blown part there will still be a hundred other functional parts ready for the taking! Watch the video below for a look inside the book. |
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John Boxall of Tronixstuff is known for his electronic kit reviews, he recently did a hands on build review of our IR Jammer Kit. You have to love his Fluke meter, if you haven’t seen one of these before you might think it’s a meter the size of a display but it’s actually a normal sized meter with a removable display. This would allow the display be placed in a convenient location to view it while the meter and probes are deep inside the system being inspected. The picture below is a shot of the IR LEDs all on, I think this was probably hard to capture since they are flashing very quickly. Of course the infrared LEDs are invisible to our naked eye but this shows a trick to see them which is to view them through a camera. As John mentions the IR Jammer (infrared jammer) would make a great companion to the TV-B-Gone, his evil plan is to turn off a TV, then jam the TV so that it can’t be turned on. I am thinking that would make for a nice cruel joke.
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For all you budding entrepreneurs who have a great business idea in your head but think that taking the first step is quite daunting needs to give Entrepreneur Journeys Volume 4 a look. Sramana Mitra who writes for Forbes and is a serial entrepreneur herself shares her knowledge with us to help our business ideas along their way. In the book she interviews many high profile successful executives such as Eric Benhamou and Judy Estrin to extract their business wisdom. She has developed sections of the book to be very pertinent to the current economy. For example there is a section on Shoestring Innovators since attaining a large sum of investment money might not be the easiest thing to come by right now. In this section she talks with Brian Behlendorf of CollabNet, Rod Johnson of Spring Source and John Roberts of SugarCRM. 
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X-mini sent in a few speakers for review. I have been kicking the X-mini II and X-mini MAX II Capsule Speakers around for a few weeks now. The X-mini II is shown above, it’s a single speaker mono device, the X-mini MAX II is the one shown below and is a stereo speaker set. Both speakers come with a USB charging cable, audio input jacks and a carrying bag. The X-mini II is quite well designed, it has a smooth rubberized feel that provides a nice anti slip surface. There is an integrated audio input jack that snaps into the bottom of the unit which means that after it is charged up you can just un-clip the audio input wire and jack it right into your MP3 player. What makes this little speaker stand out is the cool accordion center which expands the internal speaker volume and enhances the bass sound quite a bit. The speaker is expanded by giving the two halves a twist. The sound level of this small speaker is limited, I would describe the volume being comparable to a full size laptop speaker system however the sound quality is much better. The included bag makes this perfect to bring some tunes down to the river when doing some fishing with a few friends or to lunch when you want to share some tunes. The X-mini MAX II is a set of stereo speakers. Just like the X-mini II these speakers also twist open and have an accordion center. They also snap together into their compact egg shape with the help of some magnets built into the underside of each speaker. I have been using these speakers with my laptop and I am impressed with the sound level and quality that these small speakers can produce. They are much better than my built in laptop speakers as long as they are being used in the expanded air volume configuration. The size of the speaker is a bit too big to stuff into a laptop bag easily so I think they would be ideal as a stationary set of speakers that are used when your laptop is in a set location. As I type this I am unfortunately not listening to them since my 10 year old daughter fell in love with them and has swiped them to use with her iPod. The internal battery lasts a long time between charges so you don’t need to be concerned too much about that. Overall the build quality of the two speakers are great, they are not going to replace your home stereo but they can make listening to music on your laptop or portable music player very enjoyable. If you are looking for something a bit bigger, complete your audio system with a bookshelf speaker.
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Warnlaser sent in a few of their laser pointers for Hacked Gadgets to review. They sent in a 20mw Razor series and a 5mw tiger. The Razor is royal violet and the Tiger green. 20mW Razor
The shiny black case is very nice, I have purchased many laser pointers and most of them don’t have this outer protective sleeve. The actual case of both lasers is very sturdy, much like a quality glasses case. I had a look at the Razor laser first, upon opening the case I was puzzled to see a dirty accessory in one of the AAA battery slots. I don’t think the shipping department knew this unit was going out for a review. It looks like some type of yellow glue somehow got onto the silver accessory. The label on the laser was also not adhered very well, both edges were peeling. The case design doesn’t help though since as it is placed in the case both edges of the stick on label get rubbed. With a current price of $99.99 for the Razor I would have expected a better cosmetic appearance. The accessory turns the beam into a ton of tiny dots in a grid pattern, it looks neat but I am not sure what the use of this would be. Someone will fill me in on the practical application that I overlooked. Another gripe is that the black and gold laser has a large silver tip when the attachment is installed, too bad it wasn’t a matching color. It also doesn’t fit into the case when installed. The actual beam color is very appealing because it is different than the typical red and green that everyone else uses. Even though it is 20mW the visual intensity to the human eye is much less than a typical 5mW green laser. The beam doesn’t stay tight over a long distance, so at about 20 feet you are left with a dot that is about 1 inch in diameter. I am not sure if the quality of this unit is representative of all lasers coming out of Warnlasers but I would not personally purchase one of these lasers at this price. 5mW Tiger
The other laser we looked at was the Tiger 5mW green laser pointer. This one didn’t have any cosmetic issues like the Razor did. I did notice that both laser pointers were slightly different though. The Razor had a mat black finish with a gold button and the Tiger has a gloss black finish and a grey rubber button. Not that the actual finish matters, it was just an observation. The position of the clip is also in a different location on both pointers. The $28.99 Tiger was what I would have expected for a good green laser pointer. The dot was bright and tight even when shot a long distance. The button was responsive and when the batteries were installed the weight in hand was pleasing. This would make for a good presentation laser choice. See the gallery of images after the jump. |
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