Category Archives: Gadgets

T-Mobile’s WiFi Calling Not Quite Ready for Prime Time

Posted on August 3, 2015 by jwk

T-Mobile recently re-introduced Wifi Calling to their entire line-up of phones, and have made a pretty big deal about it. And on paper, I can see why – no more worrying about cellular dead zones, and you can take your … Continue reading →

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Revitalize HP and Tek digital scopes with a NewScope LCD kit

Posted on August 1, 2015 by jwk

I’ve been trying to figure out if I want to bother repairing my old HP 1222A oscilloscope which I’ve been using as a waveform monitor attached to the scope ports of my Sencore PA81 Stereo Power Amplifier Analyzer. It’s been … Continue reading →

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Hands On with the new Acer Chromebook 13

Posted on June 2, 2015 by jwk

I was recently in the market for a new laptop to replace my aging ProBook 4415S. It was a middle of the road HP business laptop from 2009, and over the years I’d upgraded the RAM to 4GB and installed … Continue reading →

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Fun with the HP 3585A Spectrum Analyzer

Posted on March 2, 2015 by jwk

I spent some time playing around with one of my HP 3585A spectrum analyzers over the weekend to get a feel for its capabilities. While it’s only good from 20 Hz – 40 MHz, it’s a very capable tool within … Continue reading →

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Play Quake 1 on an Oscilloscope

Posted on December 29, 2014 by jwk

Pekka Väänänen must have been bored over the holidays, as he came up with a fantastic and fascinating new use for an oscilloscope and a laptop: playing a round of Quake on his Hitachi V-422 scope in X-Y mode.   After … Continue reading →

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Pro Tip: Have a smart phone or tablet? Don’t forget a high current charger!

Posted on December 24, 2014 by jwk

I wandered into T-Mobile on Black Friday looking to pick up a free signal booster for my apartment which gets rather poor reception most times, and came out with a lot more than I’d bargained for: for very nearly the … Continue reading →

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Boxed Kit Amps’ Gobo Stereo Amplifier Build and Review

Posted on November 26, 2014 by jwk

If you’re a subscriber to Nuts and Volts Magazine, check out my article in the December 2014 issue where I build, test and review the Boxed Kit Amps Gobo Stereo Amplifier, a great little desktop reference amp for any skill … Continue reading →

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HP 143A Wide Screen Oscilloscope Mainframe Restoration – Part 2

Posted on October 15, 2014 by jwk

Part 1 I’m continuing to work on getting my HP 143A ocsilloscope mainframe fixed up as a dual-trace X-Y display. A lot of the time has been spent on reading and researching, but I’ve picked up an important tool that will … Continue reading →

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Project Epsilon: Linear Regulated Power Supply from Spare Parts

Posted on October 14, 2014 by jwk

Belgian engineering student Gert-Jan built a great looking, and functional, linear regulated power supply for a test bench from an old radio transformer and a handful of supporting parts. This is a pretty nice looking adaptation of the common LM317-based … Continue reading →

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High Stability TCXO Upgrade for RTLSDR Dongles

Posted on October 11, 2014 by jwk

Over at RTL-SDR.com, I found out about a great new product that’s just come out for more precise SDR applications: a customized R820T-based stick with a high stability temperature compensated crystal oscillator (TCXO) in place of the stock crystal, giving … Continue reading →

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