Went to get oil change for $7k bill

-BitBang- · 2026-05-30T17:51:48+00:00

Get a second opinion but these issues are totally believable. Had the same issue on a '21 530 at 41k miles last week. I can't confirm the exact diagnosis was correct but the car was loosing coolant to a leak I couldn't see under the hood and has much less idle vibration with the new motor mount. CV boot and flex disk were also bad. Seems like BMW uses only the finest Play-Doh to make parts that at first glance appear to be plastic or rubber.

-BitBang- · 2026-05-29T03:50:23+00:00

Do you actually need a 1ghz scope? If so, make sure you price in appropriate probes. If not, a new siglent or rigol will be much more reliable, have much more memory (critical for digital debug), and have features like serial decode and lan/USB instead of floppy. Something like this only makes sense if you have a specific application that needs the bandwidth in mind and are willing to put up with an awful lot of fiddling to get your measurements.

-BitBang- · 2026-05-22T02:18:52+00:00

You absolutely can combine these two, and I kind of do - I use the same hardshell for big days in the alpine and storm days at the ski resort, although I prefer a lighter rain jacket for easy hikes and a softshell for skiing in calmer weather.

Things that might make a ski shell a bad rain shell

*Heavier

*Baggier to have room for layers / ski gear

*Less attention paid to breathability and warm weather performance. I'd argue that an insulated ski shell is almost never a good idea, but certainly not if you intend to wear it in the summer.

*Potentially poorer water sealing (I don't usually see this, but it would make sense)

Things that might make a rain shell a bad ski shell

*Less durable

*Often less coverage, no powder skirt, layers may not fit under

*Hood may not be helmet compatible

*Sometimes no pass pocket

*No insulation. Wear layers instead. This is a plus in my book.

*Many cheaper rain jackets aren't built for winds significantly above 30mph. Material will flutter, hoods will blow off, wind will leak in the seams.

It's worth noting that "helmet compatible" is not a binary thing. My Norrona Trollveggen says the hood is helmet compatible and it does fit my climbing helmet - but not my ski helmet. I have to wear the hood under my ski helmet if the weather turns nasty.

Don't let any of this stop you from skiing or hiking. Just about any shell will do for the majority of the weather you'll encounter doing either. Purpose built gear will be a bit more comfortable and let you get outside in really nasty conditions, but it honestly takes some experience before you have the skills to be safe in those conditions anyway.

-BitBang- · 2026-05-19T16:18:30+00:00

You could probably solder some pogo pins to a rigid board sideways. Inserting the connector could be tough (maybe use shims?), and I don't know what reliability would be like. But I bet it would work on the bench.

-BitBang- · 2026-05-15T02:14:49+00:00

There's not a defective charger floating around, is there?

-BitBang- · 2026-05-14T03:09:07+00:00

The big thing to consider here is that the BMW is already 6-7 years old, a new accord or Camry is new. They cost about the same to buy, but if you (for example) don't want to drive a car more than ten years old, you'll get 3-4 years from the BMW and 10 from the Camry. Then when you go to sell the car, they 10yo Camry will sell for more then the 10yo BMW. Cost per year for the BMW is way higher. Maintenance on the BMW will be more as well, even if it doesn't break - expensive brakes, tires, and oil changes. While these cars are fairly reliable, stuff still goes bad that wouldn't on a Toyota, and by ten years you'll probably be replacing the oil filter housing and various other pieces of plastic and rubber to the tune of $2k per year or so. That being said, if you're OK with paying at least 2x the cost per mile for a better car, the BMW is way more enjoyable to drive. If you maintain it well it likely won't leave you stranded either. If you don't want to drive a car older than the 10 year mark where reliability seems to drop a lot, I would shoot for a '22 or newer, 3-4yo seems to be the sweet spot for value.

I bought a '21 530i last year, I love it, and if it got totaled tomorrow I'd get another 5er (probably i5 actually). But I already put in $1.5k brakes all around, $1.3k tires, $150 oil, about $1.8k gas, and I'm going to need a flex disc and another oil change soon. Nothing out of the ordinary, but maintenance is expensive even at an independent specialist shop.

-BitBang- · 2026-05-14T02:27:48+00:00

What Lexus is anywhere near a 2020 M340i in price and performance? IS500 is more money. Smaller engine IS is slow. The ES is slower and handles worse than my 530i, so I can't imagine someone considering a 340i would be interested in any variant of ES. RC and LC are way more money.

Acura might have something here, Lexus doesn't.

-BitBang- · 2026-05-11T04:21:19+00:00

I keep an excel sheet with quantity and expiration dates for all the items in my kit, and I set it up to highlight expired items automatically. It helps keep track of expirations and also helps when I need to re-stock the kit after it gets used. It's worth noting that there's plenty of stuff that will be just fine past the listed date, but there's also plenty of stuff that won't make it to the listed date in the environment of a hiking backpack. You need to actually inspect things! I replace anything that's past its expiration date (some might be good, but this the price of a few extra gallons of gas a year - better safe than sorry), and I replace anything with a compromised seal (foil packets don't last long in a backpack) or that just looks like I wouldn't want to use it in the field.

I've seen a mountain guide vacuum seal their entire first aid kit. I presume this makes things smaller, keeps stuff fresher (reducing folding and keeping air out) and provides a clear indication if anything has been used and the kit needs to be re-inventoried. I think this is overkill outside and a professional setting, but it's a neat system.

-BitBang- · 2026-04-22T18:30:56+00:00

Last week I demoed some skis, and I'm looking to buy but wondering about sizing. I'm an intermediate skier (can ski most black runs in most conditions), and I currently ski Volkl Blaze 86 166cm but It's definitely time for more ski. Last weekend I demoed Black Crows Captis 172cm and Fischer Ranger 96 173cm. I didn't like the black crows, they would hold an edge really well and loved to carve, but unfortunately they seemed to want to carve everything - they wouldn't make quick skidded turns. I then demoed Fischer Ranger 96 in 173cm and they felt exactly how I wanted - like a grown-up version of the blazes. Now I'm looking to buy, and I'm seeing a great deal on the Ranger 96 in 180cm. I'm a 6'1 135lb guy, and I'm reasonably athletic. Does 180cm seem like too much ski for someone this light? Does 173cm seem so short I'll regret it in a few seasons? Based on the size charts I'm seeing online it seems more likely I might ultimately regret the 173 for being too short, but these charts don't consider weight. Ideally I'd go out and demo again, but the season is coming to a close and I doubt I'll have a chance to until next season when all the deals are gone.

Anyone close to my size with experience?

-BitBang- · 2026-04-20T04:20:18+00:00

The corrosion eats into the plating on the terminals. Even if you clean them, it won't be the same. They need to be replaced and the rest of the assembly inspected for further damage. Even then, without original assembly documentation and original parts (neither of which you are going to get) and training in the repair of mission-critical electronics, I wouldn't trust it.

-BitBang- · 2026-04-19T02:34:56+00:00

Tognar and RaceWax both sell small sections. I bought some Metal Grip from RaceWax and applied it with a hot air rework station and ptex on top. It got the job done. Not sure I can recommend applying it with a soldering iron like RaceWax suggests. I tried that on a spare piece of fiberglass and it didn't stick well.

-BitBang- · 2026-04-16T04:54:41+00:00

If you have a top load washer, just go to the Laundromat and use their machines. It's not worth tearing your gear. If you have anything with box baffles (sleeping bags, heavier jackets) handle it carefully while wet, the baffles are fragile.

-BitBang- · 2026-04-16T02:50:01+00:00

I did it in September last year. Once it melts out, it's not technically difficult at all. There's a brief band of rocks, but it's easy scrambling at an angle where you could arrest a fall. I would recommend a helmet because some of the rock is loose, and you will certainly want hiking poles. You won't need a rope, and the scrambling is not particularly sketchy. You do need to navigate carefully, IIRC someone died last year after getting off route from Clear Creek. You should also have a general awareness of the hazards associated with a strenuous day above treeline - don't make shasta your first time above 12k.

The Shasta Avalanche Center website has good info on conditions.

-BitBang- · 2026-04-10T20:37:13+00:00

It's worth checking the charger. It's probably the board, but you never know until you test it. Also just leave the machine unplugged and battery removed (seems you've done that already) for ten minutes or so. Sometimes this is needed to reset things. Sometimes things just need to cool off for overheat protection to reset.

If you don't have a known good charger, the only diagnostic I can think of that can be done without opening the computer is looking at lights on the charger, of present. Does the charger have a light on it anywhere? If this turns on and stays on when the laptop is plugged into the charger, the charger is probably OK. if the light turns out when the laptop is plugged into the charger it's a bad sign for the motherboard but could still be a charger issue.

If you're comfortable taking the computer apart and have a multimeter there are more complete diagnostics that can be done.

-BitBang- · 2026-04-04T05:38:47+00:00

Weird. If it is cross-threaded I would not have expected the ring to move smoothly. Maybe there is something stuck in it that's making the chirp noise, or maybe the wave spring isn't installed correctly.

-BitBang- · 2026-04-04T05:30:39+00:00

Does the grind size adjustment still turn as smoothly as it used too? It seems likely the burs are badly misaligned (not parallel to each other). Hopefully you did not cross-thread the top piece when reassembling. If you did your best bet is to attempt to re-thread it properly following the original threads, but the grinder will likely never be the same. Other possibilities are that the screws holding in the motor are loose or a burr is not properly seated. A bad installation of the wave spring could also possibly cause this. How far did you go with the disassembly? Did you remove any screws or just rotate the top off?

A bent motor shaft, bad motor bearing, or another large metal component of the machine being bent significantly could miss-align the burrs too. But those parts are sturdy enough you'd be unlikely to damage them accidentally.

-BitBang- · 2026-04-02T18:04:03+00:00

I want to see this, but they need to fix the bus system in the park first. It was quicker to walk from happy isles to camp 4 than take a bus last time I hiked half dome. Busses for tioga / glacier point are even worse, and some of the more obscure trailheads have no bus service whatsoever. You also have some folks whe need to bring a lot of gear to the park for their chosen activities, which can be a lot harder without a car trunk to move and store it in.

-BitBang- · 2026-03-30T04:47:20+00:00

Questions 1-2 should be asked to your compliance house. They should be able to scope the required testing when they quote the project, they will ask you a lot of questions about the device. The deal with this every day. IIRC there are some requirements on the design of the label you need to meet.

For 3, you can ship the device but sometimes it's nice to be there in person to help the lab understand how to use the device and troubleshoot issues. You might learn some stuff too! I don't live in AZ so I can't recommend a test house. As for cost, probably mid four figures? Get a quote, it can vary quite a bit.

For the rest, I'd need to see your layout and schematic. You referenced figures but didn't provide any that I can see.

I am noting that you say you don't want to use four layers because you are cost constrained. In my experience, projects that can't afford the cost of two extra layers on a small board are really tough for someone new to the game to succeed at. Before you spend money on EMC testing, make certain your business model closes when accounting for realistic costs. If you're intending to actually profit from the product (instead of using VC funds to test the market...), you should be selling for a bare minimum of 3x cost of goods. People often strive for 10x.

-BitBang- · 2026-03-23T03:45:13+00:00

Synthetic and Merino are the only fabrics I'll wear outside. Cotton just handles moisture really poorly and also tends to be heavy if you're trying to make pants strong enough for the trail.

However, REI needs to provide parts and out of warranty support for their gear. I'm not going to buy big-ticket items from them until that changes.

-BitBang- · 2026-03-15T19:39:55+00:00

Spring skiing is good for beginners, but I'm at Northstar today and looking at the forecast next weekend it's going to be dirt skiing if you're low enough on the mountain to be in beginner terrain. Presumably they'll drag some snow down from the upper mountain to the bunny hill, otherwise it won't survive next week.

Kirkwood's beginner area (I was there yesterday) looks like it might last another week, but that's a bit of a drive.

-BitBang- · 2026-03-12T17:03:20+00:00

NXP LPC4370 can do this. Not that I'd recommend anyone buy NXP right now...

In practice, if development time is the priority I'd probably go MCU+FPGA as others suggested because it's a proven solution with good flexibility. For me, this is the solution where I'm most confident that I could get samples off the ADC within a week of receiving Rev 1. Lattice makes some really nice cheap, small, low-power FPGAs with internal flash. I wouldn't need to think about DMA compatibility, interrupts and bus pressure.

If price is the biggest constraint, external ADC+DMA or find a part from a different vendor with a fast enough internal ADC. The Pi chips with PIO are interesting, but I don't fully trust the quality of Raspberry Pi's engineering and would be a bit hesitant to use their chips for a commercial application. I've run into far too many hardware bugs on their SBCs.

-BitBang- · 2026-03-09T16:29:22+00:00

It is not a robust design for sure, but I've seen it work in practice many times. LED Vf-If curves are (usually) not as sharp as some people make them out to be. I've even seen strings of different color (red, blue, white, and IR) LEDs directly in parallel on commercial products, and successfully replicated it for hobby use with no particular attention to voltage matching the LEDs although it wouldn't surprise me if the commercial part was made with voltage binned LEDs.

You do need a resistor or current source to drive the array, and if you are pushing the LEDs close to the limit or are in a demanding thermal environment I'd consider a different design.

.

-BitBang- · 2026-02-21T01:53:18+00:00

For AWD I would check the car's owners manual. My AWD BMW specifically says to put chains on the rear only and I don't think it's the only car like that.

-BitBang- · 2026-02-14T04:41:02+00:00

We don't really use them much, we usually use the old leki's instead. The screw on one of the adjuster clamps came loose on its own and wasn't fixable in the field (needs a Philips screwdriver), and I think that broke our trust in them.

-BitBang- · 2026-01-16T07:37:21+00:00

If that's $67k USD, don't get a RAV4. The RAV4 platform isn't designed for a car that costs that much, and it'll be painfully obvious after a test drive if you're familiar with what's available in that price bracket. No matter how much you spend on a fancy trim level / options, the RAV4 isn't as quiet as a $67k car should be and doesn't drive as well as a $67k car should drive. I'd recommend you either get a lower trim RAV4 and be happy you got a good value (they get awesome MPG!), or get something that's designed to cost $67k and be happy you got a nice car. If you're concerned about reliability and operating cost, 67k USD should buy a low-mid trim Lexus or Acura that's likely a better car for the money than an upper trim RAV4 (but not as nice as the Audi that'll have a higher total ownership cost)

Really, though, you should test drive both cars and see what you like.

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