As I continue to chip away at the pile of vintage equipment that has been donated to me by readers, I move to this moderately rare Texas Instruments SR-56 Programmable Calculator. The SR stands for “slide rule”, however, this calculator...

It’s time for another random post – this time, there are more transport-related observations including more upgrades to Tangaras, a few vintage railway assets, a look inside my NBN HFC demarc box, another failed SanDisk microSD card and more random...

I never thought I would be collecting calculators, but somehow, it just happened. I suppose if we look back on the progress of technology, the calculator is one of the devices which might be a good measure. Compared to retro...

Just last week, I posted about a Sharp Elsi Mate EL-120 Pocket Calculator with its glorious vacuum fluorescent display. That post made a mention that there would be another VFD-based calculator in the collection – that is the Sharp Compet...

I published my launch-day review of the Rohde & Schwarz NGM202 Two-Quadrant Power Supply on 20th August 2019 and in the one-and-a-half months since then, there has been a new firmware release (and updated documentation) which improves upon some of...

When I was in the second year of primary school, I remember the teacher carrying around his pocket calculator – a black, chunky plastic device which took a lot of AA batteries. By then, solar-powered LCD calculators were the norm,...

When it comes to old and strange bits of hardware, I’m guilty of being a hoarder, to the point that it’s going to take me years (literally) to cover the stuff that I’ve already collected. In fact, I sometimes even...

This has been a note that I have wanted to write for a year or so – but I never found the time until this long weekend. I hope it might somehow help someone with their trouble. Over the years,...

As a bit of a radio enthusiast, I’ve been into trying to receive distant LF/MW/HF services for many years. While reception at home has steadily become more difficult, the world of KiwiSDRs and WebSDRs have injected new life into the...

I wasn’t in the market to buy more flash memory, but I’m not ever one to pass up a bargain. I spotted a Lexar 64GB 633x UHS-I microSDXC card with adapter for AU$9.49 including postage, so I thought I’d have...

Every week is a busy week for me now that I’m fully laden with work and things to do on the side, thus I must apologise for later-than-usual replies to e-mails recently. Unfortunately, this often means that blogging also has...

It seems that at least every decade, wireless telecommunications makes a significant leap in the form of a new generation of air-interface technology which puts the latest developments in radio technology into the consumer’s hands. Right now, we are actually...

While being busy is the default state for me, sometimes I just need to take the time to unwind and offload. That can only mean one thing – another random post full of random observations and thoughts. Media Appearances One...

It’s been almost a year since I last analysed what was on the air on Freeview in Sydney and a number of people have asked that I take another look to tally up the bitrates and formats on air. Unfortunately,...

I’ve almost always got an excess of computing equipment, which includes spare 2.5″ hard drives and smaller SSDs. Better than letting them idle, I thought it would be good to shove them into a USB enclosure for use as an...

Around two weeks ago, Stefan J. contacted me by e-mail to say that he saw my article Project: A long fogotten Syquest cartridge visits and wanted to know if I would still be able to read such disks. I replied...

It’s not often that I’ve needed or wanted to purchase more flash memory storage, hence the reason for a lack of reviews of products on the market. However, just the other day, I was tempted by the Sandisk Ultra 400GB...

Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity is an area which is constantly evolving, with pressures towards having lower power, smaller footprint, longer ranges, interoperability/compatibility with standards and good throughput. In many consumer “smart-homes”, there may be a mixture of technologies used,...

I seem to be having a lot of luck with Rohde & Schwarz lately, as a RoadTester of their RTM3004 oscilloscope, I was awarded RoadTester of the Year. I also RoadTested their HMP4040 power supply, which led to an opportunity...

It wouldn’t be a review challenge review if I didn’t at least attempt to take a peek under the hood to see what it’s made out of. Join me as I take the covers off and take a look underneath....

This section attempts to test the NGM202 to verify its datasheet specifications across various scenarios. In order to maintain balance between the chapters, some instrument features have been covered in prior chapters. For information about the in-built features and options...

A useful feature of many power supplies is their programmability through their remote-control interfaces which allow them to be integrated into automated testing workflows. This chapter examines the NGM202’s various remote-control interfaces and performs a number of simple experiments using...

This chapter explores the NGM202 from the perspective of standalone operation, as you might have on a bench-top application. I offer my opinion on the user interface, acoustics and various in-built features and options. User Interface & Ergonomics The NGM202’s...

As part of my launch-day review of the NGM202, this chapter focuses on the unboxing of the instrument. Note that as this was a pre-release unit, the packaging and inclusions may vary slightly compared to the retail version. Unboxing The...

Before I delve into the Rohde & Schwarz NGM202 unit in earnest, it would be a good idea to begin with a little background to what makes this a specialty power supply and how its specifications and features compare to...