Applying Thermal Lining to Rocket Tubes Requires a Monstrous DIY Spin-caster

https://invidious.privacyredirect.com/watch?v=ivz5_1Og5II

[BPS.space] takes model rocketry seriously, and their rockets tend to get bigger and bigger. If there’s one thing that comes with the territory in DIY rocketry, it’s the constant need to solve new problems.

One such problem is how to coat the inside of a rocket motor tube with a thermal liner, and their solution is a machine they made and called the Limb Remover 6000 on account of its ability to spin an 18 kg metal tube at up to 1,000 rpm which is...

No Need For Inserts If You’re Prepared To Use Self-Tappers

As the art of 3D printing has refined itself over the years, a few accessories have emerged to take prints to the next level. One of them is the threaded insert, a a piece of machined brass designed to be heat-set into a printed hole in the part. They can be placed by hand with a soldering iron, or for the really cool kids, with a purpose-built press. They look great and they can certainly make assembly of a 3D printed structure very easy, but I’m here to tell you they are not as necessary as they might seem. There’s...

Checking Out a TV Pattern Generator from 1981

https://invidious.privacyredirect.com/watch?v=jZtGrG6HhS4

The picture on a TV set used to be the combined product of multiple analog systems, and since TVs had no internal diagnostics, the only way to know things were adjusted properly was to see for yourself. While many people were more or less satisfied if their TV picture was reasonably recognizable and clear, meaningful diagnostic work or calibration required specialized tools. [Thomas Scherrer] provides a close look at one such tool, the Philips PM 5519 GX Color TV Pattern Generator from 1981.

The Sense and Nonsense of Virtual Power Plants

Over the past decades power grids have undergone a transformation towards smaller and more intermittent generators – primarily in the form of wind and solar generators – as well as smaller grid-connected batteries. This poses a significant problem when it comes to grid management, as this relies on careful management of supply and demand. Quite recently the term Virtual Power Plant (VPP) was coined to describe these aggregations of disparate resources into something that at least superficially can be treated more or less as a regular dispatchable power plant, capable of increasing and reducing output as required.

Although not actual singular...

Rockchip RV1126B-P quad-core Cortex-A53 SoC shows up in AI Vision system-on-module

Boardcon MINI1126B-P is a system-on-module (SoM) powered by a Rockchip RV1126B-P 64-bit Arm SoC with a 3 TOPS NPU and a 4K H.264/H.265 encoder and decoder designed for AI vision applications. Rockchip RV1126 quad-core Arm Cortex-A7 camera SoC with a 2 TOPS AI accelerator has been around since 2021, but the RV1126B(-P) is a new chip with four Cortex-A53 cores and a 3 TOPS NPU. The MINI1126B-P SoM is one of the first hardware platforms with the new SoC, and an update to the company’s MINI1126 with the RV1126 SoC, so let’s have a closer look. Rockchip RV1126B-P AI camera...

Build Your Own Pip-Boy Styled Watch

https://invidious.privacyredirect.com/watch?v=jQH54g_L25s

[Arnov Sharma]’s latest PIP-WATCH version is an homage to Pip-Boys, the multi-function wrist-mounted personal computers of Fallout.

[Arnov] has created a really clean wearable design with great build instructions, so anyone who wants to make their own should have an easy time. Prefer to put your own spin on it, or feel inspired by the wrist-mounted enclosure? He’s thoughtfully provided the CAD files as well.

Inside the PIP-WATCH is a neat piece of hardware, the Lilygo T-Display-S3 Long. It’s an ESP32-based board with a wide, touch-enabled, color 180 x 640 display attached. That makes...

SONOFF Dongle Plus MG24 – A Zigbee/Thread USB Dongle based on SiLabs EFR32MG24 SoC

SONOFF Dongle Plus MG24, also called Dongle-PMG24, is a Zigbee/Thread USB dongle based on Silicon Labs’ EFR32MG24 wireless SoC, which offers the same features as the SONOFF ZBDongle-E with an EFR32MG21 SoC, but with “better performance”. SONOFF says the Dongle Plus MG24 comes with 300% more RAM (256KB) and 100% more flash (1536KB) than the ZBDongle-E/Dongle Plus E (I wish the company would just stop giving two names for each of its products…), offers a range of up to 200 meters with the provided 3dBi antenna. SONOFF Dongle Plus MG24 specifications: Wireless SoC – Silicon Labs EFR32MG24 MCU core –...

Remembering the Intel Compute Stick

https://invidious.privacyredirect.com/watch?v=G3WvOzdlpwY

Over the years Intel has introduced a number of new computer form factors that either became a hit, fizzled out, or moved on to live a more quiet life. The New Unit of Computing (NUC) decidedly became a hit with so-called Mini PCs now everywhere, while the Intel Compute Stick has been largely forgotten. In a recent video by the [Action Retro] one such Compute Stick is poked at, specifically the last model released by Intel in the form of the 2016-era STK1AW32SC, featuring a quad-core Intel Atom x5-Z8330 SoC, 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB eMMC storage.

As the...

Tiny Datasette Uses USB For the Modern Day

https://invidious.privacyredirect.com/watch?v=GQwTPH67YqY

While you can still find tape being used for backup storage, it’s pretty safe to say that the humble audio cassette is about as out of date as a media format can be. Still, it has a certain retro charm we’re suckers for, particularly in the shape of a Commodore Datasette. We’re also suckers for miniaturization, so how could we not fall for [bitluni] ‘s tiny datasette replica?

Aesthetically, he’s copying the Commodore original to get those sweet nostalgia juices flowing, but to make things more interesting he’s not using compact cassette tapes. Instead, [bitluni] started with a micro cassette dictaphone,...

ACMER X1 – A large 3-in-1 120W & 4W IR water-cooled Laser engraver & CNC router (Sponsored)

ACMER X1 Ultra is a DIY maker’s dream, featuring a large 3-in-1 120W diode, 4W IR laser engraver, and CNC router with a large work area of around 2.5 x 1.2 meters, catering to the needs of most users. However, the company is fully aware that different users have different needs, so they create different versions of the machine: the X1 with a work area of 76.7 x 76.7 cm and no CNC support, the X1 Plus with a work area of about 1.2 x 1.2 meters, and the aforementioned X1 Ultra. You’ll find the key specifications for all three variants...