Can you use brake cleaner for flux removal on PCBs? According to [Half Burnt Toast], yes you can. But should you? Well, that’s another matter. In our experience, flux removal seems to be far more difficult than it should be. We’ve seen plenty of examples of a tiny drop of isopropyl alcohol and a bit […]
Over the last few decades, electronic devices have drastically changed. Radios that once had point-to-point wiring gave way to printed circuit boards with through-hole parts, and now microscopic surface mount devices are the norm. But most of us still use probes that would have been just fine for a 1940s receiver. There are other options, […]
Whether you only dabble in electronics as a hobby or it’s your full-time job, there are few tools as indispensable as the multimeter. In fact, we’d be willing to bet nearly everyone reading this site owns at least one of them. But as common and mindbogglingly useful as they may be, they aren’t perfect. Even […]
We know, you’ve already got a USB to serial adapter. Probably several of them, in fact. But that doesn’t mean you couldn’t use one more — especially when it’s as as cleverly designed as this one from [Anders Nielsen]. The first thing you notice about this adapter, and the big departure from the ones that […]
The Swiss Army knife is the most well-known multitool, combining a bunch of functionality into a compact package. [Jeff Gough] decided to build a custom example featuring a selection of his favorite tools. He documents the build in a video series on YouTube (see below). [Jeff] decided to take on the project as a gift […]
In the modern age, when you hear “component tester” you probably think of one of those cheap microcontroller-based devices that can identify components and provide basic measurements on an LCD screen. However, in the past, these were usually simple circuits that generated an XY scope plot. The trace would allow an experienced operator to identify […]
If you’ve ever been wondering what you should make next, it can be a daunting task to decide with the firehose of inspiration coming straight from the series of tubes that makeup the World Wide Web. Perhaps a more curated digital catalog of projects would help? Featuring “1000 Useful Things to Make,” [NODE]’s Make it […]
While rulers and tape measures are ubiquitous, they always seem to disappear when you need them. We know you’d never forget your safety glasses (safety first!), so what if they were also a measuring tool? Starting by snapping pieces from a folding yardstick, [Simone Giertz] and [Laura Kampf] worked out a rough prototype before letting […]
A thermal camera is a very handy tool to have, and [Learn Electronics Repair] wanted to try out the Thermal Master P2 for electronic repair, especially since it claims to have a 15 X digital zoom and 1.5 degree accuracy. The package proudly states the device is the “World 2nd Smallest Thermal Camera” — when […]
Walking around the alley at Hackaday Supercon 2024, we noticed an interesting project was getting quite a bit of attention, so we got nearer for a close-up. The ‘Circuit Graver’ by [Zach Fredin] is an unconventional PCB milling machine, utilizing many 3D printed parts, the familiar bed-slinger style Cartesian bot layout and a unique cutting […]