Electronics
239 episodes · Page 4 of 10
#4413: Bluetooth Tape Measures: What Actually Works
Can you pair a laser measure to your phone and skip manual typing? The compatibility landscape is messy.
#4389: The $120 Noise Sensor That Could Change Cities
One Jerusalem resident wants to track construction noise from his balcony. Here’s why that’s harder than it should be.
#4385: USB-C Charging Station for Your Tool Belt
Can you build a custom charging station for your tool belt? We break down the electrical engineering behind USB-C Power Delivery.
#4361: LoRa vs ZigBee for a Flood-Prone Basement
Designing a reliable smart home sensor network through concrete floors for a seasonal New England home.
#4360: How Long Will Your ESP32 Sensor Actually Run on a Single 18650?
Walk through the real math behind ESP32 battery life — from sleep current to LoRa retransmissions in concrete garages.
#4353: GPIO Pins: Your SBC's Hidden Superpower
What GPIO pins actually do, where the power limits are, and which sensors work on each side of the divide.
#4344: Freeing IR Codes from Broadlink's Walled Garden
Dump the firmware, flash Tasmota-IR, and take control of your own IR codes.
#4311: How Your ATM Counts Cash in Milliseconds
The forgotten miracle of the deposit ATM — optical, magnetic, and ultrasonic sensors reading every note in milliseconds.
#4291: Car Battery Lifespan, Dash Cams & Jump Starters
Realistic battery life, why dash cams drain them fast, and whether portable jump starters actually work.
#4285: The Middle-Voltage DC Field Guide
When to use 24V vs 48V DC, how to distribute it, and what hardware you'll need.
#4284: Kill the Wall-Warts: Centralized DC Power for Your Rack
Ditch the brick sprawl. One power supply, one distribution panel, and a huge efficiency gain for your homelab.
#4230: Modbus to Smart Home: The Real Bridge Guide
Three gateways tested, three hurdles revealed. What actually works when bridging OT gear to Home Assistant.
#4191: How to Build a Kid-Safe Electronics Workshop
Teaching electronics to curious kids without the electrical risks — low-voltage DC, breadboards, and smart separation strategies.
#4190: LoRa Through Concrete: Real-World Parking Sensor Physics
Why your LoRa parking sensor can't reach through three floors — and how to fix it.
#4147: When Your Server Won't Even Boot a Live USB
Diagnose a dead server when it won't boot anything — not even SystemRescue from USB.
#4124: Building a Safe AC-to-DC Enclosure for MQTT Traffic Lights
Learn to safely build a constant-voltage enclosure for a Raspberry Pi-powered traffic light with MQTT control.
#4123: LoRa Through Concrete: Parking Sensor Deep Dive
Can LoRa punch through 4 floors of concrete? We break down the real-world range, hardware, and regulatory details.
#4015: Why Phone Camera Manual Mode Breaks DSLR Rules
DSLR exposure rules will ruin your smartphone photos. Here's why ISO, shutter speed, and exposure work differently on tiny sensors.
#4014: The Camera That Zooms to Jupiter
Why the Nikon P1000’s 125x optical zoom is both astonishing and deeply limited for real-world wildlife shooting.
#3993: Installation Drivers vs Precision Screwdrivers: Which Tool for Which Job?
Why drills strip laptop screws and which tool actually bridges the gap between furniture assembly and electronics repair.
#3960: The $40 Difference Between Safe and Dangerous Tire Inflation
Consumer Reports found 3 PSI errors in budget inflators. Here's what to actually buy.
#3953: Bats in Your Bumper: Parking Sensors vs. Lane Keeping
Ultrasonic parking sensors vs. highway lane keeping—two radically different technologies that answer the same question.
#3888: Stitch Like a Pro: City Panoramas on Android
Turn your phone into a virtual medium-format camera with manual RAW stitching for gallery-worthy cityscape prints.
#3877: The Real Workbench Problem: Modular vs. IKEA for Electronics
From IKEA hacks to industrial Lista systems — what actually works for electronics workbenches in small apartments?