Author: Bzzz

USB 3.0 to 10/100/1000 Gigabit RJ45 Ethernet LAN 1000Mbps Network Adapter (WHL #34)

While I’m at computer peripherals…this one has been laying around for quite some time. Bought in January 2017 for 5.68€ on AliExpress, but current pricing is basically the same. Guess IC prices haven’t dropped much, although laptops that do not carry an ethernet port due to height limitations have become more common. Yeah, bullshit, but Jon Doe likes thin hardware with cooling problems. Always reminds me of the Macbook Air / Thinkpad X300 ad parody…

That aside, I really wanted to compare this Gigabit adapter with the two other types of network interfaces that I have available – some Realtek onboard stuff that I deem “good enough” for everyday use, and some PCIe addon card from Intel that is usually considered worth the upgrade (after all, people still buy sound cards, right?). […]

31st December 2017 31st December 2017 By Bzzz In 5 Comments

BenQ EX3501R 3440×1440 21:9 35″ Curved VA monitor – line flicker (WHL #33F2)

Ahh, good old Christmas.

Been busy with other display-related things, but haven’t been using the BenQ at all. Now that everything is quiet and there are a couple days of vacation, I did fire up the system and played PoE for half an hour. And another half an hour to take some videos and photos. For whatever reason, there are now entire lines flickering during gameplay, and I claim these weren’t present the last time I used the thing. GPU driver update (still on 17.8.2 for my Radeon 260X)? Someone changed something in the PoE code (which caused an update of 600+ MB)? […]

25th December 2017 25th December 2017 By Bzzz In No Comment

BenQ EX3501R 3440×1440 21:9 35″ Curved VA monitor – AMA modes (WHL #33F1)

This post is partially outdated – please have a look at the updated version #33F3 with proper photo diode measurements as well!

 

So…I tried measuring response time of the monitor, and I didn’t really succeed. I’m missing MY PRECIOUS photo diode, so doing the same thing with an LED…is pretty meh. Don’t take these for real, time must be off due to high capacitance (“high” being some 10pF including leads?) and the LED not being as sensitive as a proper photo sensor diode.

Well anyway, the shape of the traces tells us a little about the AMA setting of the display, which is BenQ speech for the Advanced Motion Acceleration or pixel response / panel overdrive setting. […]

3rd December 2017 29th January 2018 By Bzzz In No Comment

BenQ EX3501R 3440×1440 21:9 35″ Curved VA monitor (WHL #33)

Getting sidetracked lately, I know…


[yeah, that was a “and now for something completely different” video…thanks for deleting that]

Why not post about something that doesn’t come from some Wan Hung Lo factory? I could write a review and put it in some hardware forum, but as there are very few reviews out there as of now, let’s try tweaking visitor count a little ;)

The BenQ EX3501R arrived earlier today (HUGE 100x65x35cm³ box!), and I was waiting for something like that for the past two years already. Manufacturers obviously like to spoil products these days, every new monitor of that kind has something that puts me off big time – no (or very crude) height/tilt adjustment, glare (glossy) coatings, insane stands with integrated electronics meaning no VESA mounts, basically nonexistant FreeSync ranges on “gaming” displays, flickering in FreeSync mode, or something else that somebody probably got a raise for inventing the bullshit. […]

28th November 2017 7th June 2026 By Bzzz In 10 Comments

Bloody chip brokers…(#R2)

Been a bit lazy in here as I was busy otherwise – visiting family always yields an entire car full of old and new goodies for me. This time, not only another chunk of records and random crap from the attic came into my possession, but also a damaged flatscreen TV. Well, I don’t watch TV at all, I didn’t have the equipment to do so nor the urge, but as already posted, I am forced to pay bloody GEZ TV fees for not watching one of the dozens of German propaganda stations. Now, the TV was broken (why else would people donate stuff), just like a lot of other electronics from my brother’s apartment. […]

26th November 2017 19th May 2019 By Bzzz In 1 Comment

QI Wireless Charger Charging Pad for Samsung Galaxy S7 S6 edge Note 5 Nokia HTC 8X Google Nexus 5 6 7 Micro USB QI Phone Charger (WHL #32)

Here’s a random thing – a wireless Qi standard charger for phones!

I don’t even have a phone that is Qi compatible, but at work we’re looking into wireless power distribution AND data transfer at the same time. So I figured I can afford 1,74€ at AliExpress (mid-October) and get such an unit for myself. You know, dissect it, learn how it works, modify it to change characteristics. I previously had a look into the Royer converter or Royer oscillator for an entirely different thing – and here’s where ends meet. […]

11th November 2017 5th November 2017 By Bzzz In No Comment

Chart of Electromagnetic Radiations – vectorized (#P5F1)

News from the insane vectorizing bloke – the next part of the HUGE poster (see #P5 if you have no clue what I’m talking about) is sort-of ready. It’s the block on the lower left corner, describing reflection, refraction, diffraction, interference, polarization and Doppler’s principle.

Demo PNG is below (click for 8.2 MP rendering), SVG download link at the end of the page.

Lessons learned:

  • I’m at 21% of the image area now (wohoo!), but that was probably the easiest 21%. Yet, with the steep learning curve, it’ll stay at roughly 1-2 hours of clickedidoo per percent of area.
[…]
1st November 2017 1st November 2017 By Bzzz In 2 Comments

Hacker Eco-X TopFuel 5000mAh 6S 111Wh 20C LiPo battery pack (WHL #31)

Hey! What’s the thing that this blog needs the most?

Yep! Another battery post! :mrgreen:

So, last one of the big lithium batteries today. We have a Hacker (nice brand name!) “TopFuel LiPo 20C-ECO-X 5000mAh 6S” unit. I think this could be the first item to carry an EAN number (4250320228615) on the label – and it very well might be the first one where the manufacturer that directly sells these puppies (for 93€ a piece) does not appear on the first 100 Google results on exactly this number. That’s a pretty shitty rank for a manufacturer AND a web shop, I have to say…

I’m also not sure about the technical details on the shop page. […]

22nd October 2017 16th October 2017 By Bzzz In No Comment

Kokam Lithium Polymer 5S 4000mAh 30C battery (WHL #30)

Yawn. Another battery pack. But also new hardware for the electronic load, so testing conditions have improved :)

Today’s item is a Kokam SLPB 400030-0501K(9543140H5) battery pack. Kokam is one of the big players in lithium polymer batteries, and given the battery was purchased at the same time as the last item, I guess this one wasn’t a cheapie as well. No Wan Hung Lo this time, but after all, it’s not an item that I bought… ;)

It is clearly aimed at RC stuff, having 4000mAh at 30C discharge rate, 18.5V nominal / 21.0V max voltage, 8000mA charging current. […]

15th October 2017 15th October 2017 By Bzzz In No Comment

modellbaufuchs 26650 6S2P 4.6Ah LiFePO4 battery pack with balancer port (WHL #29)

And another one. I’ll churn these battery reviews out once per week now, even though I said I would rather go biweekly. It’s not much extra effort – charging, discharging and then plotting the data has to be done anyway, taking some extra photos and waffling on about it on my blog is a plus.

So this week’s item is a 6S2P battery pack, LiFePO4, rated at 4.6Ah. It’s from modellbaufuchs, which I just visited in preparation for this post. Not sure if they are still in business, as their latest news item on the page dates back to early 2015. […]

8th October 2017 3rd October 2017 By Bzzz In No Comment