Author Archives: John Hagensieker

Best Budget Laser Engraver – Mid 2025

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Best Budget Laser Engraver – Mid 2025

Everyone wants a bargain. In the diverse world of laser engraving the start up costs can vary from inexpensive to very expensive. So many side hustle enthusiasts buy in at top tier. Then they realize that it isn’t as easy as it seems. They might master the machine but then can’t figure out the sales end of the side hustle. One of my more popular blog entries historically has been of the “Best Budget Laser Engraver” variety. I usually settle in and cover 3 or 4 or more laser engravers. Today I am covering just one. Maybe 2.

Longer Ray 5

I mentioned the Longer Ray 5 in my last “Best Budget Laser Engraver 2025” blog. Additionally, I also mentioned that I had never touched one. I based my review on past experiences with Longer, sales rankings on Amazon, and a few other things I had seen and read about.

The response from Longer: “We’ll send you one!” And they did. With all the goodies.

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M17 Project CC1200 – Amateur Radio Update

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M17 Project CC1200 – Amateur Radio Update

M17 Project CC1200

One exciting new(ish) protocol for Ham Radio users is the M17 Project. I’ll be pairing a CC1200 hotspot board with a Connect Systems CS7000 radio.

DMR users have long used an operating system called Pi-Star and WPSD to act as a gateway to their systems. Pi-Star and WPSD both included M17 support. I found that it was easiest and worked best under Pi-Star. The maintainer of both programs has removed M17 from their software. Currently my WPSD has the M17 removed since the last software update. I still have it on Pi-Star but I imagine it will go away with the next update.

Sadly, this is probably going to make a hit against the usability for M17 users. There are several other ways to connect to M17 and I’ll explore one of those today.

NOTE: I am not a super experienced M17 user as I just started using the protocol a a few months ago. As I set up a new device to connect to M17 yesterday (CC1200 hotspot board) the M17 folks had to hold my hand and work me through getting connected. It’s not hard at all but it isn’t intuitive. Especially, setting up the radio.

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XMCOSY+ Smart Solar Lights

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XMCOSY+ Smart Solar Lights

XMCOSY Solar Lights

I was provided the opportunity to test the 6 pack of XMCOSY Smart Solar Lights which are currently on sale for $151.99 which is 24% off the regular price during Amazon Prime Day. The time to buy is NOW!

Included are 6 lights, poles, and stake fittings. Additionally a Wi-Fi Bridge is included to control the lights via an application. Also, paper manuals and a USB cable are included.

The lights are solar powered and have motion detectors in which the sensitivity is adjustable to account for pets and small animals. Or you can control the lights manually. Additionally, the lights can be removed from their bases and charged via the provided USB Cable in no light, or low light situations.

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KYY Portable Monitor 15.6″

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KYY Portable Monitor 15.6″ 1080P USB-C

KYY Portable Monitor 15.6"

The folks at KYY asked me to review their 15.6″ KYY Portable Monitor for Amazon Prime Day. Current price is $69.98.

The best time to buy one is NOW during the Prime Day sale.

Also of note, this monitor has nearly 11.000 Amazon reviews with about 4 1/2 stars. File that under, “That Many People Can’t Be Wrong”

The monitor comes very well packaged and does not feel or look cheap at all. In fact it feels pretty beefy. The protective cover also acts as a stand. I had read some comments about the protective cover being flimsy but I’m not seeing any issues. Mine works fine and looks fine.

I wish they had these portable monitors when I was working a few years back. Anyone who needs a portable office should get one of these. Road Warrior approved!

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More Benfei Adapters

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More Benfei Adapters

I’ve been lucky enough to get to test a small boatload of Benfei Adapters. This is the third shipment of various cables and USB devices, and adapters that Benfei has sent me.

You can read my previous reviews here and here. In this entry I’ll be reviewing 3 more items.

After the first two reviews Benfei asked me if there were any other items I wanted to try. I dug through their website and requested 3 specific items:

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LaserPecker Prime Day Campaign

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LaserPecker Prime Day Campaign

LaserPecker Prime Day Campaign

It is that time of the year again at Amazon, folks. And to kick it off LaserPecker alerted me to their LaserPecker Prime Day Campaign.

Stand by to read about some great savings and the time window in which to get those savings.

Campaigns

Campaign number 1 is a Warmup that runs from 1-3 July and the Initiation Campaign runs from 4-14 July 2005. Details are as follows:

In my opinion the deal of the century up there is the LP4 Deluxe.

Additional Information

  1. Buy LP5, get a free extended warranty. Buy other products, get 30% off  on extended warranty.
  2. Historic low price of LP2 – $599
  3. Tiererd discount: $100 off over $1,500. $200 off over $3,500. $400 off over $5,000.
  4. Flash sale on engraving materials: 30% off for LDS membership owner. 10% off for non-membership owner.
  5. LDS membership owners enjoy double seeds for placing orders during campaign time.

LaserPecker Amazon Prime Campaign Wrap Up

Run, do not walk to cash in on some of these great deals. Now is the time to get that laser you have been eyeballing.

ACMER P3 48 Watt Laser Module

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ACMER P3 48 Watt Laser Module

ACMER P3 48 Watt Laser Module

Recently ACMER sent me their P3 2 IN 1 which I reviewed here. As a follow up to that blog they sent me their ACMER P3 48 Watt Laser Module ($699) to test.

If you purchase the P3 with the 48 Watt module the cost there is $1499.

This blog won’t be as long as that blog since I covered all the cool stuff about the P3 already. I can focus on the updated module.

I almost never do this but I have one small beef right out of the the box. The P3 48 Watt Laser Module is a bit bigger than the 2 IN 1 Laser Module.

In my picture here you can see the two thumbscrews which are used to secure the module to the frame. Because of the larger size of the 48 watt module you simply can’t get the grip on those things like you can with the 2 IN 1 module installed. This might not bother you, but I have the fumble fingers. And it doesn’t make it impossible it’s just a tiny bit harder to secure.

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Sainlogic Weather Station SA7

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Sainlogic Weather Station SA7

Sainlogic Weather Station SA7
Sainlogic SA7

I’m rapidly becoming a fan of Sainlogic Weather Stations.  I started out by reviewing their Home Weather Station SA1 which was cool but lacking any wind detection equipment.  Then they provided me their Portable SA3 which I also thought was cool and then realized that its killer mission was for recording indoor areas that needed monitoring.  For example, greenhouses or walk in freezers, etc.  Then along comes the Sainlogic Weather Station SA7 which does all the things that I’m looking for. It can be purchased from Amazon as well.

I’m a bit of a weather geek.  Certainly more than most folks.  For years I have been capturing NOAA data from their weather satellites.  Then when the GOES birds came along I tracked them too.

Now I’m surrounded by trees and can’t get a solid lock on any of the deployed GOES sats.

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Benfei Adapters – Part Two

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Benfei Adapters – Part Two

Benfei Adapters

Benfei Adapters

Benfei previously sent me a bunch of their adapters to review. You can read that blog here.  And recently I opened a box on the porch that had even more Benfei Adapters in it to review.  I love Mac computers and I love their ecosystem and sleek designs.  But that can come at a cost.   That cost is a lack of input/output connectors.

But first you can connect with Benfei on their social media sites Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn, or TikTok.  Benfei sells about 6 million units per year and is the #3 seller on Amazon in their category. Benfei has been around since 2014 and has shown impressive growth in that period of time.

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LCD HD44780 Raspberry Pi 8 Bit Wiring

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LCD HD44780 Raspberry Pi 8 Bit Wiring

NOTE:  I originally wrote this in 2017 and want to upgrade this project to the latest Raspberry Pi OS.  This is why I started this page.  To document my ridiculously involved projects so I could repair/replace them someday.   This is a direct cut and paste of my page from the internet Wayback Machine.  I’ll clean it up later as I am currently working on this LCD project again. 

Tuesday, January 17, 2017 by

Had some issues with 4 bit wiring of my HD44780, 20×4 LCD which I use in a project in a tube amplifier. Every time the AC power is thrown it causes corruption in the LCD characters. Supposedly 8 bit operation is less susceptible to this behavior so here we go. ……….

Virtually every tutorial on the web is for 4 bit operation, and why not? Less wires, less pin assignments to add to your code……….it’s just easier.

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