What did you do in your shop today?

Nice relays Spyder.

I'm totally frustrated tonight.  I spent the whole evening trying to get an old Microsoft Speech Program running and I couldn't make it work to save my soul.  I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the installation of the Microsoft Speech Platform on my computer.  I found my old code and I know it used to run, so it's not my code that's bad.   It's got to be something wrong with the install.   I'll probably have to go back over it and try to reinstall everything from scratch.   What a bummer.  A whole evening shot with absolutely no progress at all.  Instead of writing software I'm spending all night just trying to get the tools working.  This is no fun!

Posted by: @robo-pi

I'm spending all night just trying to get the tools working.  This is no fun!

Believe me. I KNOW that feeling

I call it the Domino Effect. You just want to get from A to B, but find out during the process that you need to take a detour into C, D and E, which are completely out of the way from B

Oh, hey, have you looked into SNIPS for the voice recognition ? It also has device control, and the best part is that it doesn't require internet access to do it (well, once you get it running anyway)

My shipment of level converters came in today. I think I ordered about 15 of them cuz I got tired of having to use drop down resistors every time I wanted to use an HC-05 or HC-06

They came with pins, but, they weren't soldered on, so I had to install my own. Luckily, I've got a box of thru hole pins, so I used those instead, cuz, ya never know which way might be easier when you need those parts

I don't have a Dremel Creme Brulee, so I stopped after installing the pins on 5 of them.

That should be enough for now

@spyder

Nice.   I need to break down and get some of those too.  I've been building my own level converters from scratch using discrete transistors and resistors.   Although now that I think about it, by the time I solder pins onto the level convertor boards I could probably have a discrete level converter already built.  

@robo-pi

Probably true. My thinking here was that I'd have them ready to just pull out of a box whenever I needed them

I like to keep parts around that I don't actually need right this minute

Posted by: @spyder

I like to keep parts around that I don't actually need right this minute

Me too.   And when parts are inexpensive I usually by them in packs of 10.  They are cheaper that way as well.  Thus far I haven't been the least bit sorry.   I'm almost at the point where I need to order 10 more of everything.  So I do use them up.

In fact, I just recently ordered ten 16GB SD cards.   I'm down to only 3 left in the parts box.  I'm getting ready to order another batch of 10.  Part of the reason for this is because after Bill's DroneBot Workshop video on how to use SD cards with the Arduino I've been hooking up SD cards to all my Arduino projects.  Almost to the point where this has become standard procedure for me.    So that's where all my SD cards have been going.

I'm about to place an order real soon and I definitely have 10 more SD cards on that order.  One of the more expensive items.   I pay about $26 for ten 16GB SD cards.   But it's really nice having them in stock.  I'd rather be out the $26 than to be out of SD cards. ?  I'm just finding them to be too useful now.   It's like having a miniature hard drive on an Arduino board.  Can't beat that.

Call it the rule of tens.

I recently received 10 DPDT relays for roughly .25 each including shipping

Also ordered 10 IR receivers about the same price.

Mr. Pi, would you mind sharing where you're buying the SDs? I thought I was getting a good price at Amazon but I shoulda known better. It's like 6.50 for a 16 gig.

Posted by: @recycled-roadkill

Mr. Pi, would you mind sharing where you're buying the SDs?

I'm buying from AliExpress and I make no apologies for it.  The prices are simply too good to ignore.  Plus I have had pretty good luck.   All of the products I have received have worked perfectly.   And for the most part I usually get everything I ordered.   However, just recently I had two items (batches of 10 each) that never arrived and in the tracking information it clearly states, "Shipment Cancelled".   I'm currently in the process of trying to find out what's going on with those two packages.   Fortunately they were fairly low cost items.

One was a batch of 10 micro SD card readers for Arduino.  $3.33 for all ten of them.   Of course that's no deal if they never show  up!

The other order was for 10 HC-SRo4 distance sensors.  $8.50 for those.   I'm in "dispute" with them and they have been pretty good in the past.  So they will most likely either ship out new ones or issue me a refund.

In any case, for the most part I haven't had a problem.  I usually get everything I order in perfect working order.

Here's the SD cards I'm just about to order. 

StickDrive SD Cards

$2.69 a piece for the 16GB 

I'll be ordering 10 of them but there's no price break so you get them for the same price no matter how many your order.   So you can order just one if  you want.   It's free shipping too.   I confess that I'm a wimp.  Sometimes I'll order ten of something just so the people selling them don't have to ship just one item.  I'm like that. ?  I can't help but think of the seller.  They are humans too, or at least maybe they are?  It could be all automated for all I know.  So I guess I'm doubly a whip. ? 

$3.08 a piece for the 32GB

For the slight price difference I almost ordered the 32GB cards thinking bigger is better, but for reasons of being able to copy them quickly and back them up on my computer I decided to stick with the 16GB cards.  I haven't even come close to filling up a 16GB card, so until space becomes a problem I just don't see the point in buying larger cards. 

By the way, you can mix sizes as well.  Just put whatever you want in your shopping cart and off you go.   I got all the same size card to make it easier for me if I should want to copy one over to another one, etc.   So all my SD cards are currently 16GB.   That's all I have, so no need to worry about getting them mixed up. ? 

@robo-pi

Be careful of SD cards and USB thumb drives. I have gotten ones ordered as 16 or 32 gb and they end up as 4 or 8 gb 🙁

I'll search ebay, banggood and amazon for something I think I need quickly or fairly quickly. If I look around on ebay a little longer I'll find a Chinese seller who is much cheaper but you gotta wait about a month for your stuff to arrive. 99% of the time it works out. AliExpress is one I haven't ordered from yet.

Concerning the relays I bought, 9 were fine but 1 had 3 pins broken off and wasn't worth trying to save as the case is an integral part of the mechanics. Anyway, I complained to the seller who was more than happy to refund me .05 cents and make everything alright. (Woulda sworn that 10% of 2.50 was .25 but there must be some kind of new Chinese math I'm not aware of.  LOL

Posted by: @triform

Be careful of SD cards and USB thumb drives. I have gotten ones ordered as 16 or 32 gb and they end up as 4 or 8 gb

The last two batches I ordered were definitely 16GB.   I've already used them as system cards on my Raspberry Pi and backed them up on my computer.  Both the Pi and the notebook computer see and read them as 16GB.

So thus far everything has been as described.

@robo-pi

Oh yeah, they will read as the size sold as but really be smaller. Most I have ordered were as started, so most should be good.

Posted by: @recycled-roadkill

AliExpress is one I haven't ordered from yet.

I should mention that it does take quite a while for stuff to come from AliExpress.   Once in a great while I'm surprised when something shows up as quickly as a few days.   But for the most part it takes the better part of two weeks to ship.   And sometimes even a bit longer.  I'm usually not in a rush for what I order from AliExpress.   Like these SD cards.   I still have 3 empty new ones in my parts box.  So no rush.  If they show up in a couple weeks that will be just fine.

But yeah, AliExpress is NOT the place to order from if you need something quickly.   Plan on it taking a month and if it shows up earlier be happy. ? 

Posted by: @triform

Oh yeah, they will read as the size sold as but really be smaller.

How do you mean?  I can see where they might have the wrong size printed on the label.  But how could they read the wrong size to the computer?   When I back up my cards I end up with a file that 15.9 something GB.   I wouldn't think that could happen if they were really only 4 or 8Gb.

I don't know though.  You might be right.  I never actually  tried to shove 16GB of actual data onto one of them and see if I could retrieve all of it.

I mean if it said 16GB on the label but when I stick it in my computer the computer only reports an 8GB card, then I could see where I got ripped.

If their reading greatly smaller that what's printed on the SD I'd be guessing that's some kind cheap clone. Lots of things like that out of China, why not SDs?

Something I ran into a few days ago. I complained to a Chinese seller in USA about a cable pictured was missing from stuff I received. Seller says, "Read description, that cable not included." I replied, "If it's not included, get it out of the picture."

What's wrong with these people? Yes, I realize that technically I'm wrong but regardless, I'm standing my ground on this.

One thing I learned about ebay worth sharing! If you want to communicate with a seller stating SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH IT. ebay will generate a link to print a FREE return postage label to send it back! I also got the impression that they tell the seller that they WILL refund the money paid with a threat of some kind. Wow, that was news to me.

That made is very ease to return the item since it had a display that would totally vanish after a few minutes use.