Thilo, EE 🤘🏼⚛️ 🇪🇺🎗️🇺🇦🇵🇸

#Electrical #Engineering, #HSE/#OHS * Gamer, #Electronics Tinkerer * #Scope, #SlideRule, and #Calculator collector * #C64, #Spectrum, #Amiga, #PC

Last Notes

2026-10-05 17:52:17 UTC

Oh, I have so many questions. 😁
I decided to give my #ThinkPad T430s a new SSD and put #Linux on it. (The old one will be saved to preserve my active Windows10 install)
What could I use for notetaking on Linux?
Think OneNote as an example.
What I have found so far:
Joplin - Seems comparable to OneNote. Also: multi-platform
Notesnook - Same
QOwnNotes - For plain text notes, plus MarkDown
Zettlr - Same
What do you think?

2026-10-01 17:20:40 UTC

Sorting a few memories.
Boy, it's been a minute since I saw that screen last! 😅
#ThinkPad #Windows98 #defrag
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/117/366/791/288/494/753/original/e1515e7f69e4bf01.jpg

2026-09-29 17:53:42 UTC

Also on stage:
Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook. Also has all the ports. And a fancy LCD.
Sticker says Core 2 Duo 1660 MHz and 1 GByte RAM.
Currently running an unregistered Win XP.
So, which Linux could I put on this?
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2026-09-29 17:44:41 UTC

Any hope to get a replacement battery for the #IBM #ThinkPad 390X? (EU)
It has all the proper ports, and last time I checked, it was running Win98 SE (I believe)
Also, I need to find the power supply. 16V at 4A.
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2026-01-22 18:39:00 UTC

A word on quality and nostalgia.
Recently, I decided to try and acquire a couple of good old AEG SB2E drills. My dad had two of them and they started my DIY journey back in the 1980s.
Today, they are cheerfully cheap at around 20 EUR per piece, in working condition, and can be repaired quite easily if you have the parts.
Oh, and they are from a time when "Electronic" meant that there actually was a useful improvement, not a whole mess of software, bugs, and hassle. And they'll happily chooch along at full speed if you just jumper the electronics bits.
Just saying.
Having already found two of them, I went for a third for spares. It arrived today, again, in working condition.
Nobody placed a bid so I got it for 20 EUR plus shipping.
Nothing special so far, except for the quality of AEG from back in the day and, of course, warm fuzzy feelings about a childhood core memory.
3 kg of cast aluminium, reinforced plastic case, and steel gears.
I love it!
Now, the seller added a couple of lines of text that I missed the first time. He says, this machine was bought by his father-in-law in 1975, in the GDR of all places. (It must have been a big deal to get this one over from West Germany)
His FIL took good care of the machine (for obvious reasons), and now it needs a new home.
Not only has this machine been running for 50 years now; it also bridges both German republics.
Kind of neat.
I sent a message to tell him that this machine will not be parted out but instead become one of the stationary drills in my workshop once it received a good service. And that I intend on keeping it going for quite a while.
His answer was just: "THANK YOU! 🙏 🍀👍"
Yeah, this stuff may bring a tear to my eyes and I'm happy I took a minute to send a short message about something that seems irrelevant to most other people.
At least two people have been smiling today. 😊
Anyway, keep 'em running, folks!
And keep sharing those stories.
#Quality #RightToRepair #GoodToolsForGoodWork #BeNice
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2025-10-26 18:46:50 UTC

This is going to be a lengthy one. :)
During our September vacation at my MIL's house, I found a bunch of wood that needed to be sawed and either thrown out or prepared for the oven. Winter is coming, you know? ;)
Having thought about getting a proper chain saw for years, I finally bought one. A Stihl MS162.
Working with and taking care of it turned out to be really comfy and kind of fulfilling. I'm an engineer after all.
I also wanted to prepare for further woodworking adventures (my MIL does have a few spots of forest) and get something a tad bigger.
So I turned to the corresponding Reddit subs and classified ads, looking for something serious, but not totally overkill.
Over a couple of weeks I managed to get two Stihl 028 (AV and AV Super) plus a couple of interesting stories from their former owners.
Getting used saws is an adventure on its own and my next task was to learn a lot about two-stroke engines and chain saws, source spare parts, disassemble the saws, check and clean parts and so on.
During the vacation and also the past two weeks, where I was supposed to oversee a construction project on my MIL's behalf, I spent a lot of time in my basement workshop tinkering with chain saws and a trimmer (that I snagged in the process).
Not only did I manage to get both saws properly working, I also found that sitting in a workshop and doing something useful while being pretty much offline really did me good.
No e-mails, no calls, no texts, no doomscrolling.
Only tinkering, reading manuals, occasional searches on Stihl web page, Reddit topic subs, and a couple of trips to the local tools dealership. (Awesome people!). Plus being outside working and testing and adjusting chain saws.
I think that's what digi-social detox is actually about for me. Replacing busyness for actual goals, achievements, and cheering in the garden. :D
I think I need and want to do that more frequently. There is enough work to do and I really enjoy it despite the workshop still missing a wood stove.
Don't worry: Electronics will come back. I'm just not set up for that at my MIL's, and at home it somehow competes for brain capacity with my day job. The mechanical stuff was a welcome detour that might become a parallel way to switch to. Also, I'm looking into a few safety trainings to attend. I'm also an OHS guy, too.
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2025-02-25 16:36:09 UTC

German shipping has become really wild.
I ordered these probe kits a while ago, and today, they arrived like this.
The envelope torn (or cut?), the contents loose in my mailbox.
If it broke in shipping, why did both boxes arrive? It it was cut open by the German carrier, why didn't they take anything? No valuables identified?
Weird.
Anyway: Beware of shipping. Check and document your parcels upon arrival.
#Electronics
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2025-01-04 16:19:00 UTC

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@nprofile…mjxp Oh, they don't? Would've been my first guess!
I'll have to check mine, too. It's not the ZD-915, but close enough. The fan bearing sounds like washing a handful of marbles! 😁

2025-01-04 16:16:00 UTC

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@nprofile…mjxp Yeah, the case fan is a pain. What are you replacing it with?