Uploaded September 2020 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
I decided it was finally time to replace my cheap nasty build surface with a decent antistatic mat. I chose to use a Bertech product, in particular their blue made in the USA antistatic mat. In this video I disassemble my existing work surface, roll out the bertech mat in its place, and ground it. I do some tests to ensure I have a good ground. I also put the mat under the microscope and try dripping solder on it and other ways of abusing it to see how easily it is damaged. In general I do like the mat and I think it has improved my work environment. For more electronics videos, see smbaker.com
I decided it was finally time to replace my cheap nasty build surface with a decent antistatic mat. I chose to use a Bertech product, in particular their blue made in the USA antistatic mat. In this video I disassemble my existing work surface, roll out the bertech mat in its place, and ground it. I do some tests to ensure I have a good ground. I also put the mat under the microscope and try dripping solder on it and other ways of abusing it to see how easily it is damaged. In general I do like the mat and I think it has improved my work environment. For more electronics videos, see smbaker.com
![Raspberry Pi 4: [Part 1] Does it need a fan? Whats the best fan?](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IkhNzLVrXJQ/mqdefault.jpg "Raspberry Pi 4: [Part 1] Does it need a fan? Whats the best fan?
Ive recently purchased some Raspberry Pi 4 and wanted to use them in some projects. It runs hotter than my old Raspberry Pi 3. I spent some time evaluating the temperature under load and trying out various fans to see how much fan RPM is necessary to produce a noticeable reduction in CPU temperature. I ended up settling on a 4-pin fan from delta electronics that easily allows fan speed to be controller from the raspberry pi and RPM to be read back. This fan is only 7mm thick making it ideal for fitting inside a relatively tight raspberry pi case. The fan part number is ASB0305HP-00CP4 and I bought it for just under ten bucks from digikey (digikey part number 603-2070-ND). Being able to control the fan speed easily from the pi is a great feature, as most of the time you dont need a noisy screaming fan at 9500 rpm. Something as low as just 1500 rpm may do. Thats if you think you need a fan at all. For more electronics stuff, see http://www.smbaker.com/")
