08 February 2026

Unknown USB bridge [0x7825:0xa2a4 (0x4101)]

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I am using a cheap (AliX) USB 3.0 to SATA adapter to test some hard-disks. I want to read their S.M.A.R.T.  (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and R...
31 January 2026

Bad audio quality with Bluetooth headset on Windows 11

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  I've recently upgraded to Windows 11 25H2 and my noise cancelling JBL TUNE660 bluetooth headphones would play music as it was transmit...
31 December 2025

Are knots rocket science?

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Not much interesting has happened in my lab this December 2025. Nevertheless I want to document a curious find from yesterday. I was browsin...
28 November 2025

Failing Polar M430 battery

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At the sport club attended by a family member they use extensively Polar M430 GPS fitness trackers. These M430 combine the flexibility to c...
31 October 2025

USB booster generates LOTS of RF interference

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I bought some boosters from USB to 9 or 12 V. The idea was to power an old-ish handheld receiver so that I don't have to buy a new batte...
27 October 2025

Efore Barco Power Supply conversion

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The Efore label I received an interesting NIB/NOS power supply used in videowalls. It is an Efore RHPS493 that sports both  8.3A at 48.6V a...
25 September 2025

Albrecht AE 2990 multimode CB/HAM handheld

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I knew it existed but never met one: a 10m multimode handheld. Meet the Albrecht AE 2990 AFS . The same hardware is sold under other brand ...
27 August 2025

UV-3R Plus fading display

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I got a second-hand-new Baofeng UV-3R Plus and it shows a problem that has not been documented (or I use the wrong search keywords): the LC...