Month: July 2023

CEM DT-9939 multimeter leads (WHL #88)

Just an oddball thing that I discovered this week when lending out the leads of my newest multimeter, a CEM DT-9399. While the unit was an absolute bargain for what it can do, and the only thing to complain about is the slow continuity test mode and the slow Wireless USB (!) data transfer, this post really is about the boring leads. They just happened to be the only ones around in the office, and the boss asked for a spare multimeter that he could take home for the weekend for some rudimentary electrical testing, likely on an AC device. Well, better safe than sorry, don’t hand over the regular (non-safety) 4mm leads with some add-on test prods – give him the leads that came with the 1000V CAT III/600V CAT IV meter, right? […]


Universal PCIe, AGP, PCI, ISA card storage board (#P43)

Looks like I haven’t tagged any post as “project” for over a year now…time to release some open hardware

I don’t really store much computer hardware – most components are either in use (at least occasionally), waiting to be sold (eBay and the like), or waiting to change hands the next time I visit family. Of course there’s floppy drives somewhere, or good old memories (ha), but it’s not like I have a collection of each and every Socket A motherboard or something crazy. There is, however, two boxes (Really Useful Boxes to be precise, the 9 liter type that I use for lots of things since they fit a specific cupboard nicely) of extension cards. […]


Samsung TV custom USB jacks from IKEA? Nope. (#R18F1)

Super quick update on the Samsung USB port with the additional retaining pin: Although I usually don’t watch Youtube Shorts, especially not the ones from BigClive since I just watch the regular video, I recently stumbled upon this:

It’s a review of the smaller IKEA Smahagel USB charger (the one with just a single port). In there, he mentions an anchoring pin of the USB port that he doesn’t really talk about in the main video:

Around 5:44 where the PCB bottom side discussion starts, the USB layout can be seen. I’ve added a couple of arrows to the four regular USB pins and also the USB retainer (next to the L-shaped PCB cutout). […]