A motley collection of ideas
In this section, you’ll find all kinds of articles. Some of them are machine translations of my older writings in Hungarian, which may contain grammatical errors or content that is no longer up to date. I apologize for these mistakes, and I would be very glad if you let me know when you come across any. Happy reading!
Most Securit liquid chalk markers can be revived, as they feature water-based pigment ink and a valve-action system with a removable nib. The restoration steps: If the nib is frayed or permanently misshapen, Securit sells replacement nib sets, allowing you to keep using the marker as long as ink remains in the reservoir.
I came across the printed circuit board for this circuit completely by accident. It looked like an interesting and clever little design, and I had more than enough suitable parts lying around in my component drawers, including a pile of spare relays. So I decided to build one and measure what it could actually do. … Read more
This time, the device on the teardown bench is not broken. My Radtel RT-470 is fully functional and gets regular use; it simply needed a thorough cleaning. For that reason, I did not take it apart any further than what you can see in the photographs. Even so, there is plenty to discover about how … Read more
There are many reasons why duplicates appear in your catalogs but even if you are careful while you import photos, encountering duplicates is inevitable. Here is how to use the plug-in Teekesselchen to find duplicates of photos. This is a fast duplicate finder plug-in for Adobe Lightroom using EXIF meta-data. It requires Lightroom 3.x, 4.x, … Read more
The module shown in the picture can be purchased online for around 2–3 euros. It is a small “15 kV” generator suitable, for example, for secondary-school science experiments or for use as a negative ion generator/air ionizer. The circuit can produce a stable, high-temperature, high-frequency arc, which can easily ignite small combustible materials, such as … Read more
Generative AI—like Gemini—has become an essential daily tool for researchers, engineers, and academics. However, its use comes with a recurring professional pain point: handling mathematical and technical formulas. If you ask the AI to derive a calculation or specify a physical range, the output will almost certainly arrive in raw LaTeX format (for example: $550 … Read more
How can we make 3D-printed grilles using Autodesk Fusion 360 and PrusaSlicer? A grille looks like a simple part: a few holes, a few ribs, done. In 3D printing, however, it is precisely with objects like these that we find out how differently the design program and the slicer think. For a flowerpot guard, a … Read more
The meteorological radiosonde is an interesting creature. It sets off from somewhere beneath a large white balloon, measures the atmosphere’s temperature, humidity, pressure and GPS coordinates, and then, when the balloon bursts, the instrument descends to the ground. For meteorologists, the story more or less ends here; for radio amateurs and radiosonde hunters, however, this … Read more
I have a cat who likes to sleep next to me. In the mornings she wakes me up very sweetly — unless I fail to get up on time. Then she switches to more persuasive methods, and occasionally the pillowcase pays the price. Since proper pillow covers are not exactly cheap, and ours were disappearing … Read more
Mushroom foraging has its small but very important essentials, and one of the most important of these is a good basket. In this article, I present a practical, lightweight solution. Mushroom picking is one of my passions. Without sounding immodest, I can say that I know mushrooms quite well. I learned a great deal from … Read more