Gough Lui's Blog

Open Surgery on a Keysight U1461A Insulation Resistance Tester

Gough Lui

It has been eight years since I reviewed the Keysight U1461A, an insulation resistance testing digital multimeter with a rather sharp OLED display. Since then, it has become my only insulation testing device, keeping me safe when salvaging electronic...
- 27 Sep 2023
The “Save the Bees” Design Challenge Prizes Arrive!

Gough Lui

It’s been a while between blogs, as I’ve been very busy with a few things piling up, especially at work. A key highlight was being at the IEEE-EMBC 2023 conference in my hometown of Sydney, Australia as part of my work, doing a poster pre...
- 30 Jul 2023
An element14 Surprise Package, Weather Station & More Weller Tips

Gough Lui

Being in Australia, it seems things take a little longer to make their way down here, but I too have received a surprise package thanks to element14 as of last week. What's inside? Well, the secret has mostly been let out of the box by some of the o...
- 9 Jul 2023
Weller WXsmart Bonus: WXMPS MS Handpiece Teardown & Analysis

Gough Lui

While my recently delivered Weller WXsmart RoadTest Review managed to achieve and exceed my proposal’s goals, I am not yet done with learning more about the system. Please note that this post contains a lot of my own thoughts and suppositions a...
- 19 May 2023
Weller WXsmart In-Depth Ch7: Teardowns & Replacements

Gough Lui

I’m sure some readers will be interested to know what is inside the Weller WXsmart kit. While I didn’t propose to do this in my application, I decided to be a bit adventurous and do some non-destructive teardowns for your enjoyment. I hop...
- 14 May 2023
Weller WXsmart In-Depth Ch6: Performance Tests

Gough Lui

This blog will focus on performance tests run using other pieces of test equipment. It is rather challenging to test a soldering iron in a meaningful way, as thermal measurements are difficult to accurately achieve but I will still attempt it. In add...
- 14 May 2023
Weller WXsmart In-Depth Ch5: Usage Scenarios & User Experience

Gough Lui

After learning about all of the features and capabilities of the WXsmart system, this chapter will explore just how I felt about using it over the last two months under many typical usage scenarios. In full disclosure, I am not IPC certified (althoug...
- 14 May 2023
Weller WXsmart In-Depth Ch4: Connected Operation & Paid Options

Gough Lui

In this blog, I will focus on the WXsmart platform’s connected features including its mobile app, desktop app, MQTT-based MES integration and paid-for options. These options all take advantage of the inbuilt serial, Ethernet, Wi-Fi and USB conn...
- 14 May 2023
Weller WXsmart In-Depth Ch3: User Interface & Setup

Gough Lui

In this blog, I will be demonstrating what the WXsmart and WCU are like to use, the array of settings that can be changed, the process of updating firmware and what the whole set-up looks like on my review bench. Table of Contents WXsmart User Inte...
- 14 May 2023
Weller WXsmart In-Depth Ch2: Unboxing & Design Features

Gough Lui

In this chapter, I’ll be looking at what’s included in the Weller WXsmart Demo Kit. Keep in mind that this one is packaged for their demonstrations or loaners, and is not what you would expect if you purchased the unit at retail. Table o...
- 14 May 2023
Weller WXsmart In-Depth Ch1: Market Survey & Feature Introduction

Gough Lui

Before we begin reviewing the Weller WXsmart platform itself, it would be good to understand the trends in the hand soldering and rework market and understand where the WXsmart is positioned, its strengths and unique value proposition. Table of Cont...
- 14 May 2023
A Project14 "Limited Edition" Surprise & Soldering Iron Thoughts

Gough Lui

"Who doesn't like surprises?" Engineers. That's who. As an engineer, I'd have to say that we are trained to handle unpleasant surprises out of the blue. Things not going our way. "Quick! Pull out the contingency plans!" A Limited Edition Surprise! Ho...
- 15 Apr 2023
Play a Game, Win an Fire TV Stick 4K Max? Thanks e14!

Gough Lui

One Friday in March, I had a missed call from a number I didn’t recognise I was at lunch earlier and didn’t have my phone on me, and being wary of all the pervasive spam calls that are flying around, I was in a split mind whether to call ...
- 15 Mar 2023
SurPRIZE! - Ready for Tomorrow 2022 Sailing Autopilot (AU/NZ) Prize Arrives

Gough Lui

The year is drawing to a close, which means it’s pretty much holiday season once again. But many moons ago, I recall seeing a banner on element14 Australia’s storefront which linked to a community competition titled “Ready for Tomor...
- 3 Dec 2022
Experimenting with Thermistors – Grand Prize Pt.2: Fluke 279 FC/iFlex DMM Review

Gough Lui

If you’ve read my last blog, you would have seen my review of the first-half of the Grand Prize from the Experimenting with Thermistors Design Challenge. Of course, this leaves me with the second half to cover … and in true Gough fashion...
- 26 Nov 2022
Experimenting with Thermistors – Grand Prize Pt.1: Apple AirPods Max Review

Gough Lui

So far, it seems I’ve been having quite good luck with my entries in the “experimenting with” style design challenges, as sometimes it’s the simple things that are interesting to me. Case in point – the Experimenting wit...
- 19 Nov 2022
Surprise Delivery: Maxim Integrated/ADI MAX32666FTHR Application Platform Unboxing

Gough Lui

It's been a busy time for me recently - aside from the busyness of work that never seems to abate with the slow transition back to "work-from-work" which now involves teaching course co-ordination duties, I've also been finalising my contributions to...
- 12 Nov 2022
RoadTest Maintenance Update: Keithley KickStart, Tek PA1000, RSA306, Digilent ADP3450, Aim-TTi QPX750SP & SMU Thoughts

Gough Lui

When the RoadTest is over, the torture is not over for the equipment. At least, that's what I like to think, as I try to keep my equipment busy doing more tests and making new discoveries. Nowadays, with most equipment, they aren't exactly static obj...
- 22 Oct 2022
When PCBs Are Cheaper Than Lunch, Build PCBs! A DA-15 & Banana to Terminal Block Breakout

Gough Lui

It wasn't all that long ago that I took the step to get myself acquainted with KiCad and start designing PCBs for manufacture in my spare time - in fact, just two years ago. But since then, I could not have imagined that vendors such as JLCPCB could ...
- 2 Oct 2022
Designing & Building a USB/LAN 40-input 1W/2W/4W Solid-State Relay Multiplexer with RP2040

Gough Lui

Having recently finished my blog series for the Experimenting with Thermistors Design Challenge, and taking a breather on a RoadTest at the moment, I found some time to embark on a project that I had wanted to do during the challenge but did not have...
- 24 Sep 2022
Experimenting with Current Sense Amplifiers - Runner-Up Prize Arrives!

Gough Lui

To have won the grand prize for the Experimenting with Thermal Switches design challenge was a great honour - it was the first such design challenge I had ever entered. But I couldn't help but give the Experimenting with Current Sense Amplifiers desi...
- 22 Jul 2022
Under the Hood of the Lenovo Legion 5 & SSD Tests

Gough Lui

After receiving my prize, is it no great surprise that the first thing that I do is to take it apart? Alas, this was not in vain - this was all part of analysing just what sort of upgrade potential the Legion 5 has and to actually perform the upgrade...
- 21 Jul 2022
Experimenting with Thermal Switches - Grand Prize Arrives!

Gough Lui

It's been way too long since my last posting here at element14 ... but I suppose that's not unexpected as I've just been flat-out busy with work and a myriad of other commitments. Just recently, I put quite a bit of time into reviewing a ...
- 20 Jul 2022
Keysight SBE Follow-Up #1 – DSO Noise, DMM Calibration Post-Teardown & More

Gough Lui

It’s been a few months since I delivered my Keysight Smart Bench Essentials RoadTest Review. While I had done as much as I felt was possible within the two-month period, there were a few loose ends that I promised to follow-up later. Time got t...
- 18 Jun 2022
The "Secret Santa" Makes a Delivery!

Gough Lui

Christmas seems like so long ago, but with a mixture of component shortages and logistics delays, my Secret Santa items only finally arrived this week while I was away interstate! At first, I thought Christmas may have been cancelled, but thanks to&n...
- 15 May 2022