One “fun” realization that USB-A chargers deliver 5V - period. USB-C doesn't do that blindly since it needs to know what power to deliver. So… the same cable plugged into a A to C adaptor can work fine, but do nothing when plugged into the same device from a Type-C charger 🤯
The FNB58 also shows capability of batteries, compares cables & even shows a tiny oscilloscope trace of voltage, current & data lines.
Schluss mit dem Kabelsalat: Zum Ende des Jahres wird USB-C das Standard-Ladekabel. Dafür hat der Bundesrat heute den Weg frei gemacht. Übrigens: Ab 2026 auch für Laptops.
The photos are stored as JPGs which can be read by any normal graphics program. They also contain the thermal metadata which you can extract with specialist tools.
Here's the full photo taken with the camera. It shows the interior of an office with some computer equipment on a shelf.
Because the optical camera is quite some distance from the thermal camera, it doesn't cope well with close ups - as you can see. Luckily, this can be adjusted in the UI by pressing the up and down keys.
As well as static shots, it will take video - 240x320 resolution and 25fps - well, ish. It looks a bit jerkier than that to me. But it is good enough to see what's going on.
In this video, I've recorded a bath filling up. Towards the end, I've changed the settings so it shows more of the real-colour video with the heat overlayed.
Amusingly, it shows up as 1f3a:1000 Allwinner Technology Prestigio PER3464B ebook reader (Mass storage mode). Nevertheless, the 30GB volume was mountable and had an IMGS/ directory full of JPGs.
There is a Windows app, which I was able to run in PlayOnLinux. It offers a few features, such as being able to change the colour scheme of the photo, and pick out specific temperature points.
The button layout is a little odd. The buttons feel nice and are responsive. But I would have expected the "Enter" button to be in the centre of the directional buttons.
It is a little slow booting up - but then, this isn't designed for quick action shots.
After taking a photo or a video, it asks if you want to save it every time. That's a little annoying. There's 30GB of storage and photos are only about 300KB - so it should be good for about 100,000 photos.
The videos are recorded without sound. A cheap microphone would make it easy to narrate what's going on in a shot.
Weirdly, the bundled app doesn't work on videos.
There's no expandable storage - the 30GB is plenty, but sometimes it is easier to shove an SD card into a computer.
Finally, there's no mounting point. Other cameras I've tried have a connector so they can be attached to a tripod. This is strictly hand-held only.
This costs £200 - £250 depending on whether the algorithm likes you. Astonishingly, that's cheap for a thermal camera of this quality!
If you're into DIY, or you want to check the thermal efficiency of your home, or you just want to see how hot things are - this is a useful bit of kit. It's sturdy and well built. Dragging images and videos off it is a breeze - even if you don't use the official app.
The interface isn't the greatest thing in the world. But all you need to do is point and click. It's the sort of thing that's unexpectedly handy around the house with all sorts of tasks - from checking if the radiators are balanced, to seeing if a hidden plug is spewing heat.
£200ish isn't cheap cheap. But it is cheap enough that most geeks should have something like this. Also worth buying for community groups who want to check for heat leaks in their properties.
If you are happy with the slight user-interface oddities, and don't need a tripod mount, this is an excellent gadget.
Do YOU have experience designing #usb3 or #usbC circuits? How about implementing I²S audio?
I'd love to chat, and/or work together on an #openSource, budget-friendly, and VERY high quality (24bit/192K) 8 channel #usbAudioInterface.
I'm basing the front-end on the incredible differential instrumentation amplifier #INA217 by #burrBrown. We're talkin' #midas competition #preamps into a BB #adc 😎.
I could really use help with the usb implementation.
The Framework laptop has several little slots which can be used be used to expand the functionality of the laptop. They convert the internal USB-C ports into a different sort of port.
It is a much more capable reader. It uses micro-USB rather than USB-C, which isn't insurmountable using a flexible male-male cable. What about the dimensions?
Ignoring the USB jack, the board is about 50mm long. That would leave about 2cm sticking out of the side of the laptop. Which isn't too bad. The width is within what we need. There's even an updated version with a slightly different spec.
The Internet is awash with speculation and non-technical answers to this question, so I’ll ask you nerds:
What are the actual technical requirements for a USB-C to HDMI adapter for the Nintendo Switch?
Most forums/comment sections/etc. have people just saying, “well I used this and it worked,” or “I used this and it didn’t,” but there has to be an actual specification that the Switch requires for this… right??
AirPods Max mit USB-C? Ken Pillonel machts möglich
Ken Pillonel hat bereits ein iPhone X und ein AirPods Pro-Case mit USB-C ausgestattet. Ken, Schweizer freiberuflicher Hardware-Prototyping-Berater mit Master-Abschluss in Robotik, tüftelt bekanntlich gerne und nimmt sich fleissig neue USB-C-Projekte vor. AirPods Max wurden 2020 eingeführt. Damals wie heute sind diese fantastischen Kopfhör…
Just realizing now that the transition from using my Razer Blade Stealth as my laptop to my Steam Deck was partially made seamless thanks to USB-PD!
Am totally able to re-use the same charger and carry on as I did before, just with a big pouch instead a simple laptop in a sleeve.
It's not the original OEM charger since that hardwired cable on that started to fry and fail while I was traveling, but that just goes to show how accessible third-party options are. ✨
I have various USB-C devices that inherit usb-c connector but designers did not give a damn about the USB standards, so only old usb-c to usb-2 cables work, and not usb-c to usb-c cables.
If you plug this in between, it'll complete the missing resistors and (hopefully) allow your device to work with usb-c modern cables.
Even the famous Planck keyboard, which I've used for a long while, has this issue.
The schema so far.. Since the USB-C females are reversible by the internal wiring of the connector, I didn't have to worry about the second side. However, for the males, the situation is different. That's why I had to wire the male ends of the connector. This ultimately made it more complex.
By the way, I will open-source this when it finishes 🙏
After a little bit tinkering, changing board thickness, adding a rough edge cutting and re-aligning the length of data pins, it's finally starting to look like something 😆
It's going to be 0.8 mm, 2 layers PCB, which you'd use directly like a usb-c extender.
I needed to read and write NFC cards on Linux. I only buy USB-C peripherals now, so I found the brilliantly named "ACR1252U-MF" which appears to be the only USB-C reader on the market. Total cost was about £35 on eBay.
It's a cheap and light plastic box with a short USB cord. When you plug it in, there's a flashing light which can't be disabled. When it is powered up, or it detects and NFC chip, it makes this weird and scratchy beep: