InTheMail – Page 6

InTheMail | Voltlog #311

Welcome to a new InTheMail, the series that will touch both your passion for electronics and your bank account at the same time. We have a selection of different items in this mailbag video and before we get started I would like to mention that packages started flowing in around 1st of May and things are moving, certainly not as before but there is some movement at least and I hope you guys are benefiting from the same improvement where you are located.

I’m gonna start with this multi-functional charger from LiitoKala, it’s model number Lii-402 and I actually have another one of their chargers but it’s the model with an LCD. I’ve been using that one for the past few years, it’s been working great but I needed a second one to increase the number of cells I can charge at the same time. I picked a simpler model this time, with just some LED indicators, it’s good enough for me, I mostly just plug in the cells and let them sit in there for a few hours before I return and take them out so I don’t usually check the information on that screen anyway.

This model takes a micro usb input 5V 2A so those 10W can then be distributed as mentioned on the packaging, 0.5A times 4 or something in between if you charge less cells at the same time. It can charge Ni-MH, Li-ion, Li-Fe and the battery slots are universal, they can hold a bunch of different types of cells so it’s a pretty useful charger to have. I got this one from banggood because it was in the EU warehouse but you can probably get it cheaper if you are willing to wait 1-2 months for delivery from China.

InTheMail (Survival Gear) | Voltlog #309

Welcome to a new InTheMail, my usual introductory line would say this is the series that will touch both your passion for electronics and your bank account at the same time but in this episode it’s not about electronics, it’s mostly some outdoor / camping / surviving gear that I got for my adventures and I think some of you may find this interesting, especially as our social behavior is changing now and during this summer we might spend more time in the nature.

I’m gonna start with this paracord rope, it’s 4mm wide, 30 meters long or 100ft with 7 inner strands. It’s rated for 550 pounds or 250Kg minimum breaking strength so this would work for anything when you go outdoors, tying stuff around your camp, tying stuff for transport, but obviously not recommended for anything where your life might depend on it. I try to keep this stuff in my backpack whenever I go camping because it’s pretty light and compact and you never know when you need to improvise and tie something down. The particular seller where I got this offers it in 250 different colors and styles so there is plenty to choose from.

InTheMail | Voltlog #304

Welcome to a new InTheMail, the series that will touch both your passion for electronics and your bank account at the same time. We have a selection of different items in this mailbag video and before we get started I would like to mention that during the past 3-4 weeks packages have almost stopped arriving here in Romania. I’ve been getting maybe 1 or 2 delivered per week. Even packages from Germany have been sitting for weeks before moving between warehouses so I was wondering how things are going where you guys are living? Let me know in the comments below. Hopefully things will get better as many countries are trying to restart the economy in May.

The first item is one you’ve seen before on this channel, it’s a 7 inch magic arm clone from China. The original magic arm from manfrotto is about 100 EUR and there is no doubts it’s better built, but I need a few of these to hold various stuff around the workbench, LED lights, to hold the phone in front of various instrument panels and it would add up quickly if I were to get the original.

These replicas from China are good enough for what I’m doing, they’re inexpensive and if you are curious how these work, Bigclive did a video recently, he showed how one of these works inside so check out his video if you are curious about that. The nice thing is that you have a single knob that you need to turn to lock or release the whole system and you can find these in a variety of sizes.

InTheMail | Voltlog #301

Welcome to a new InTheMail, the series that will touch both your passion for electronics and your bank account at the same time. Today’s video will be an automotive special, meaning, the items shown today are most likely intended to be used for your car. I ordered a bunch of this stuff and I thought it would be nice if I kept it all together into one video.

So let’s start with this reversing camera kit, inside we have the camera module and some long wires so you can run them up to your display or head unit. I went for this 45 degree style of camera and with white enclosure because I plan to install this on my wife’s car which is painted white and I figured going for this style of enclosure and mounting would integrate it better with the paint of the car and it would be less obvious, like you would barely notice there is something changed in the back of the car.

But this does come with some limitations, you would have to install this on a flat, horizontal surface, parallel to the road, because the camera is angled for that mounting position and you will likely end up seeing too much of the road or too much of the sky if you install it otherwise. In terms of image sensor, when you order one of these, if you go for the cheapest you will get a crappy sensor with poor low light capability so I spent a little extra and picked a SONY CCD.

Voltlog #298 – InTheMail

I’m going to start this mailbag with a lamp base, this is a retro style E27 lamp base, it was supposed to be this antique brass look, I must say it looks browner in the images, in reality it’s more of a gray color. It doesn’t feel super high quality, the metal is pretty thin so you’ll probably need to handle it with care. It’s very light and I think they mention it’s aluminium in the product description. It has this built in switch, which is continuous rotation, it has this nice positive click, I quite like it and it’s useful to have the switch built-in because if I were to add an external switch it would be pretty hard to find a vintage looking one locally.

I’m probably going to use this as it is, with it’s base sitting flat on the table but using the provided hardware you could install this on a wall as well, you might even extend the socket from the base using some copper pipe piece or you could install this on the ceiling and drop a wire from the base to the socket.

Voltlog #294 – InTheMail

Depending on which part of the world you live in, you might be dealing with the same isolation measures as I am, the government is recommending we stay inside as much as possible here in Romania, to avoid contact with other people. So that gives me more time to work on projects, learn new stuff and of course discover and order stuff from the internet.

I’m gonna start with this notebook which has a retro looking leather cover, I think it’s quite neat looking, I’m not sure if this is real leather or not, description just said leather. I always keep a notebook around the workbench, it can be useful for drafting a quick schematic, some dimensions or just for writing down some measurements. Another cool feature of this notebook is the binder style clips you have inside, which allow you to insert or remove paper and what’s even nicer is that you can find this type of paper with different grid styles and they’re very affordable.

Voltlog #293 – Buying From Banggood and Ebay Tips & Tricks

Welcome to a new Voltlog, this is a continuation of Voltlog #291 where I shared some tips and tricks about buying from Aliexpress, if you haven’t seen that video, I will link it on screen right now. Today I’m gonna share my experience with buying from Banggood or Ebay. These are my secondary buying channels, some of the stuff you see in my mailbag videos comes from Banggood or Ebay.

Voltlog #291 – Buying From Aliexpress Tips & Tricks

Welcome to a new Voltlog, today I’m gonna share with you some tips and tricks about buying from Aliexpress and I might follow up with another video about Ebay and Banggood. I received requests for doing such a video several times as the subject was brought up and I think I can share a few useful things with you because as you may know, some of my most popular videos are my InTheMail videos where I show you the stuff I purchase from China and I get a lot of stuff which allowed me to learn a few tricks over the years.

Voltlog #289 – InTheMail

I must say I’m noticing delays in delivery of these packages from China, it started with orders placed mid January and I’m probably going to see some packages lost and never delivered so i recommend you keep an eye on your orders and request a refund when the protection time expires.

Voltlog #283 – InTheMail

Welcome to a new InTheMail, the series that will touch both your passion for electronics and your bank account at the same time. Before I get started I’m gonna take a second to remind you to subscribe to the channel and hit the bell notification icon because that’s the only way you will know for sure when I upload new videos. I’m gonna start with an item that’s actually disappointing, this is a mini portable vacuum cleaner but I only realized this after receiving the item, because the seller of this item was advertising this as a dust blower vacuum cleaner, it’s the usual keyword stuffing that aliexpress sellers do.