Germany and the EU have spiraled headfirst into the globe’s worst energy crisis since the Arab oil embargoes of the 1970s and 1980s. All across the continent, Europe’s energy policies have led to astronomical price increases, industry shutdowns, potential energy shortages, and geopolitical vulnerability. The European Union and its 27 member states have invested more →
I just saw this Facebook post in AC Disaster group and had to react to it! Source: Post by Jerry Hicks at AV Disasters Facebook group (used with permission) Almost clever! You can actually plug in US charger to speakon connector and have it to make contact with two “pins” (1- and 2-). You can →
In Greece the standard mains power voltage is 230 V and frequency is 50 Hz. The power plugs and sockets are of type C and type F. I also saw some Type L (Italian) power oulets at hotel This is a somewhat strange looking extension cord. Thetr are somewhat strange looking outlets on this permanently →
They are heavy (because of their iron core) and can be very large. The power transformers are design to operate best with an almost constant load which is equal to their rating. The maximum efficiency being designed to be at full load. Actually, all the transformers are the same that is same design formulae apply →
What is a drip loop? https://blog.solidsignal.com/tutorials/what-is-a-drip-loop/ The drip loop is a slack bit of cable that sits lower than the rest. The whole purpose is to let water pile up at the bottom and drip off. If your cables were tight, water from outside could travel down the wire and get straight into an outlet →
Russia tried to cut off electricity to about two million Ukrainians in a cyber operation scheduled to take place on Friday night, April 8th. The Russian state-sponsored hacking group known as Sandworm tried on Friday to take down a large Ukrainian energy provider by disconnecting its electrical substations with a new variant of the Industroyer →
Space had too harsh weather conditions for recent Starlink communications satellite update. 40 Starlink satellites doomed: SpaceX reported last night that 40 of the 49 Starlink satellites launched to low Earth orbit on February 3 are now doomed by a geomagnetic storm. SpaceX said: “The satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic →
Transformerless power supplies are showing up a lot, especially in inexpensive products where the cost of a transformer would add significantly to the BOM. But transformerless power supplies are a double-edged sword. You can get yourself easily electrocuted if you don’t understand them and take proper safety precautions. Poking around in a transformerless-powered device can →
Here is teardown of Stego FZK 011 thermostat. Thar is an electronechanical thermostat that can control heating resistor and/or cooling fan. The thermostat is based on bimetal strip that bends based on temperature. To get sharp transition and some hysteresis there is also magnet near silver calibration adjustment screw and electrical contacts. Components on board →
When weather gets freezing cold car windows start to freeze and engine can have problem to start. For this reason in countries where there is freezing cold weather on winter time, people use heaters to help up starting their cars during winter time. In Finland it is common to use engine preheater and interior heater. →