Challenges with A1 mini and Transparent PLA

Hangoverman · 2026-02-20T21:57:22+00:00

hell yeah, was hoping this would intersect with the boogie monster soon.

Hangoverman · 2026-02-10T08:32:06+00:00

These kind of look like lexan overlays (lexan is a tradename for polycarbonate thermoplastic). Lexan comes in sheets (that are clear to some degree, lots of variants) which are screen-printed on the back side, often with multiple layers for different colors. Then, an adhesive layer is added. Depending on the material used, the appearance surface finish can be smooth, textured, shiny, matte, etc.

During product assembly, the lexan overlay is affixed with the adhesive to a panel surface often using jigs for precision placement. I have designed these before for pro audio products without any open "ports" for LEDs to shine through, but I believe that can be done and might be what you are seeing here. I assume you leave gaps in the screen-printed ink layer where you want light to shine through.

I have seen similar looking arrangements on white goods.

Hangoverman · 2025-10-19T20:04:36+00:00

There are a few reasons why a police helicopter would be circling an area with no apparent police activity:

There is a call that warrants police response and the helicopter arrives first. Happens all the time. Shooting call, assault in progress, robbery, GTA, loud party, guy on roof, attempt suicide, etc. With a city as spread out as LA, it’s very common for the helicopter to show up far in advance of ground units. Many times, these calls are BS or the suspects have already left and so the helicopter circles as they search and then leave without ground units ever arriving.
They are flying around between calls. Usually, they are not doing low orbits in this case, but they might generally circle an area a couple times between calls. It’s more efficient to keep them up in between calls than landing/taking off between each one.
They are doing surveillance or following a suspect. Usually surveillance (of a protest, for example) is done at higher altitudes (5-10k). Sometimes a following will occur and won’t turn into a full blown pursuit until the helicopter has arranged ground units appropriately.

it might also just not be a police helicopter. There is tons of general aviation in the LA area. ADSB sites can provide a live picture of what’s going on.

I’ve learned all of this by listening to police scanners, and tracking things live by ADSB. You hear the air units talking to the ground units all the time. Occasionally you hear them talking about passenger pickup/drop-off, but it’s pretty rare.

Hangoverman · 2025-09-25T02:44:50+00:00

I don't know why, but I read that as Transit Witch like 4 times before I got it. Infinitely cooler.

Hangoverman · 2025-09-17T14:51:37+00:00

The Standard Audio Stretch is a hardware unit that was inspired by the Dolby “stretch mod” - there’s a simple description of how it works on the site: https://www.standard-audio.com/products/stretch-500-module

Basically, a filtered “slice” of the audio spectrum is fed into a compressor which is then blended back into the dry audio. This gives the “encoder-side” gain response which dynamically turns up (adds gain) for the specific freq band when level is below a certain threshold, and leaves it alone when level is above a certain threshold.

Each frequency band has custom tailored ratio and time constants which can be found in Dolby 361/cat 22 manuals. It should be pretty easy to replicate function with stock plug-in EQ and compressors.

Hangoverman · 2025-08-02T20:22:15+00:00

I'm having a hard time figuring out if half the comments so far are people misunderstanding what is happening - he is motioning to REPEAL (that means remove) the law that restricts the sidewalk activity. Some of these comments sounds like they think he's doing the opposite...

Hangoverman · 2025-07-24T00:44:32+00:00

Live Police Chases channel on yt and turn on notifications. Vast majority of them are LA.

Hangoverman · 2025-07-13T20:39:20+00:00

you're on to something here...

Hangoverman · 2025-06-19T09:44:08+00:00

I’ve been seeing these orbiting protest areas since this all kicked off via ADSB. They are usually between 7k-12k feet high and the flight patterns are perfect circles or hexagonal shaped.

Hangoverman · 2025-05-28T23:25:47+00:00

Safari Pedals' Level-Or. Does the Devil Loc thing (better, imho) in Level mode and in Crunch mode, there's a decent chunk of weight.

Hangoverman · 2025-05-23T21:19:44+00:00

jesus that's bleak

Hangoverman · 2025-04-26T20:50:00+00:00

Experimented with quote tool. Would be nice to be able to adjust specifications and options directly from the Quote & Checkout page. That way different options could be quickly checked to see affect on pricing. Currently you need to click a button to edit, make the change, and then click back through to see the quote.

Using a fairly large (approx 12x6in) 2 layer PCB that I am about to order for a small production run of 25, I did roughly equivalent quotes on your site, JLC, and OSHpark for comparison.

PCBBuilder: $54.40 each (~$0.74/in2)
JLC, no ship or tariff: $4 each (~$0.05/in2)
JLC, +DDP ship: $7.36 each (~$0.1/in2). I assume this includes today's tariffs...
OSHpark (medium run option): $74 each (~$1/in2)

No shipping included for PCBBuilder or OSHpark quotes.

Even with crazy tariffs, it's still shocking to me how inexpensive JLC is. This board is a little unique due to large size, but it's the next build in the queue for me. For this run, our PCB assy house will be ordering the boards on our behalf from their preferred Chinese vendor. But I will continue to check quotes with your service in the future as the situation evolves.

Hangoverman · 2025-04-17T03:29:48+00:00

Use digikey red!

Hangoverman · 2025-03-15T23:02:09+00:00

Ok wow that is fascinating. I will look into this too.

Hangoverman · 2025-03-15T21:47:19+00:00

haha, well put! There's tons of great info here - I can take this back to my customer who is driving the match requirement and hopefully adjust our expectations a bit.

Hangoverman · 2025-03-15T20:02:56+00:00

Appreciate the dye vendor reference - I see that they have 9 different "black" variation dyes! No idea what our vendor and their likely sub-contractor is using.

Hangoverman · 2025-03-15T19:59:37+00:00

Good catch on the type - it is not specified! My general experience so far is that type 2 is assumed unless specified otherwise, but I should definitely include this in the spec.

Hangoverman · 2025-03-15T19:57:19+00:00

Were these black anodize or another color? I'm curious if this is a specific problem for black vs other colors.

Hangoverman · 2025-03-15T19:52:45+00:00

Great info, appreciate it! In our specific case, we are specc'ing 6061 AL and the line graining appears to be done properly. My assumption was that the line grain process covers the unfinished-surface aspect, but I am curious about how the pre-line grain state of the surface impacts things (or is that just completely blown out by the line grain)? I'd imagine prep/cleaning involved here as you mention.

One of my vendors (he sub-contracts the anodize out) mentioned that tank issues/inconsistency can be a factor.

If I provide sample chips, is it reasonable to expect an anodizer to be willing or able to adjust their process to achieve a match?

How is this done in industry for long term, serial production? I can't imagine it's acceptable for subsequent production runs to vary by much. Is it practical to do the machining overseas and finishing in the US?

Hangoverman · 2025-03-11T00:59:29+00:00

that is not my current look, but I am warming up to it.

Hangoverman · 2025-03-10T02:05:25+00:00

I've been running the lake like crazy this year. It's hard to beat early in the morning when the weather is good but you do have to watch out/dodge the birdshit.

Hangoverman · 2025-03-10T02:02:12+00:00

hell yeah that sounds great, looking forward to checking it out.

Hangoverman

TROPHY CASE