Gene Breniman's Blog

Great Community Contributor Swag

genebren — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 21:39:02 GMT

Thank you, Element14 for the Great Swag! This is the first time that I have scored socks as part of swag, but they are pretty cool. Everything is super cool, especially the fan. I have had my fair share of Magic Smoke incidents, so I gue...(read more)

First Impressions of the FNIRSI SAG-55 (Pro)

genebren — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 16:57:17 GMT

About a month ago I saw an ad for the FNIRSI SAG-55 Intelligent Hot Air Gun, so I asked if anyone in the community had any experience with this device (Does anyone have any experience with the fnirsi sag-55 intelligent 550w hot air-gun?) I did not fi...(read more)

Continuing to improve my workspace.

genebren — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 21:54:23 GMT

I have posted several of my organization projects in the past. Some of these projects have helped me to be more organized, but that hasn't stopped me from making a mess. Between my constant need to bring home more tools and my continu...(read more)

Playing with Polydoh

genebren — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 21:55:52 GMT

I know that shabaz has mentioned Polydoh in several blog entries. I have always been interested in this product, so earlier this year I ordered some. I have been waiting for a suitable project to try it out and today I have finally c...(read more)

Board Holder with Tilting Base

genebren — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 23:40:14 GMT

Recently I completed a cleanup of my soldering station ( Solder Station Cleanup and Organization Project). When I was in the process of setting up my workspace, I found a very low-profile board holder that I thought would work great in my ...(read more)

Solder Station Cleanup and Organization Project

genebren — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 00:15:28 GMT

As I am waiting for my revised PCBs to arrive for my Road Test project, I have been doing some cleanup and organization projects in my office. This time I am working on my soldering station. I have rearranged my Worksurface and shelving s...(read more)

X-Acto Knife upgrade

genebren — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 20:57:10 GMT

Freezing weather has forced a stop on my backyard fountain project, which happens to be a part of my Roadtest of the Keysight E36731A Battery Emulator. I have been working on firmware for my controller boards for the project, but a last minute ...(read more)

Outdoor Lighting - Light Up My Path

genebren — Sun, 21 May 2023 16:14:05 GMT

In a prior blog ( Off the Shelf - Outdoor Lighting System Revamp ), I added outdoor lighting to my deck. Now I am extending the lighting from the deck, through the newly constructed path and garden (automatically controlled with the ...(read more)

SMD tweezers adapter for my DSO-TC2 component tester.

genebren — Sun, 19 Feb 2023 21:32:20 GMT

In my prior blog ( TC2-DSO - Subtractive machining a SMT test adapter ), I used some shop tools (drill, file and scalpel) to build a SOT23 component adapter. While this was somewhat successful, I felt that a set of tweeze...(read more)

TC2-DSO - Subtractive machining a SMT test adapter

genebren — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 21:56:00 GMT

In my prior blog ( TC2-DSO review - SMT test adapters ), I used my 3D printer to create some SOT23 and 0603 component adapters. While the printed parts worked, they were by no means perfect (not close to enough resolution with my nozzle o...(read more)

TC2-DSO review - SMT test adapters

genebren — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 17:17:05 GMT

In my prior blogs ( Post Christmas shopping find - TC2-DSO review.and TC2-DSO review - Continued ) I tested several leaded component with the TC2-DSO meter. This is all well and good, but I do not use many (if any) leaded comp...(read more)

TC2-DSO review - Continued

genebren — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 17:13:29 GMT

In the comments from my prior blog ( Post Christmas shopping find - TC2-DSO review. ) , dougw had mentioned "One thing to check is - Does it turn off completely or is it always drawing power?". So my curiosity got the best of me...(read more)

Post Christmas shopping find - TC2-DSO review.

genebren — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 16:22:00 GMT

Since reading dougw post more than 2 years ( This Device Tickles My Fancy ) the TC1 component tester has been on my radar. Several times I have considered purchasing one, but somehow I never quite pu...(read more)

And then there were four. Mr. Machine gets its main spring fixed.

genebren — Fri, 30 Dec 2022 21:01:51 GMT

This a continuation of my Mr. Machine saga, following from my last post ( And then there were four. A fourth Mr. Machine has joined the crew. ). After playing around with the latest Mr. Machine, I decided to jump in and repair the main sp...(read more)

And then there were four. A fourth Mr. Machine has joined the crew.

genebren — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 22:48:21 GMT

This a continuation of my Mr. Machine saga, following from my last post (/members-area/personalblogs/b/gene-breniman-s-blog/posts/and-then-there-were-three-unwarping-the-wheels-and-soon-there-maybe-four ). A reproduction Mr. Machine has been purchase...(read more)