Using mini iPhone chargers with Android devices

It's possible you have find these little USB chargers in eBay and similar places. They are very cheap, you can get one even under one euro (shipping included). But, Can they be used with your Android device?

What means "guaranteed" in a datasheet?

This last summer I spent some time rebuilding my workbench power supply. I chose the LM350K regulator as the heart of the power supply because its 3A guaranteed output capabilities and short circuit protections. I bought two units, just to have one lying around in case something went wrong.

Using the V2000 triband antenna on 70 MHz band

During the first year the 70 MHz band was authorized in Spain some spanish hams were active in the band using PMR transceivers in FM. Curiosity made that I connected my IC-91 walkie with general coverage receiver to the V2000 antenna just to see if something can be heard. To my surprise, I was able to hear a lot of G stations in the first days, with some locals also. Signals were quite strong, too strong for a no 70MHz antenna so I stated to wonder if the antenna could be usable on 70 MHz also.

UGP: Interfacing Geiger tubes to computers in a easy way

Universal Geiger Platform (UGP)

Sooner or later, any geiger user feels it's time to connect a Geiger tube to the computer to do some data logging. Some Geiger counters has computer interface, but most handheld or pocket Geigers does not have any way to connect them to a computer. Let's see how to accomplish this task:

JDM programmer

If you look in Internet for a PIC programmer, you will find tons of pages with info about homemade programmers. But you must be cautious. Most programmers were designed for the 16F84/16F84A microcontroller, and today, the 16F84 is considered an obsolete device. So if you want a working programmer today, you must look for one capable to program current PICs.

The M3FD19 photomultiplier

If you are reading this, I'm sure it is because you have brought a M3FD19 photomultiplier on eBay, but you can't find its pinout. Or maybe you have seen a cheap M3FD19 photomultiplier and you are wondering if it is useable for your experiments.

Detecting alpha particles with a modified webcam

After some interesting messages in CDV700Club, I decided to do a quick experiment with a spare webcam. Is it possible to detect alphas with a DRAM memory? What about other devices?