A Cheap and Compact Bench Power Supply

david@systemoverlord.com (David Tomaschik) — Fri, 29 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I wanted a bench power supply for powering small projects and devices I’m testing. I ended up with a DIY approach for around $30 and am very happy with the outcome. It’s a simple project that almost anyone can do and is a great introductory power supply for any home lab.

I had a few requirements when I set out:

Variable voltage (up to ~12V)
Current limiting (to protect against stupid mistakes)
Small footprint (my electronics work area is only about 8 square feet)
Relatively cheap

Initially, I considered buying an off the shelf bench power supply, but most of those are either very expensive, very large, or both. I also toyed with the idea of an ATX power supply as a bench power supply, but those don’t offer current limiting (and are capable of delivering enough current to destroy any project I’m careless with).

Matir's Favorite Things

david@systemoverlord.com (David Tomaschik) — Sat, 20 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000

One of my friends was recently asking me about some of the tools I use, particularly for security assessments. While I can’t give out all of these things for free Oprah-style, I did want to take a moment to share some of my favorite security- and technology-related tools, services and resources.

Hardware

{:.left} My primary laptop is a Lenovo T450s. For me, it’s the perfect mix of weight and processing power – configured with enough RAM, the i5-5200U has no trouble running 2 or 3 VMs at the same time, and with an internal 3-cell battery plus a 6-cell battery pack, it will go all day without an outlet. (Though not necessarily under 100% CPU load.) Though Lenovo no longer sells this, having replaced it with the T460s, it’s still available on Amazon.

Tools on System Overlord

A Cheap and Compact Bench Power Supply

Matir's Favorite Things

Hardware