Hardware Podcasts

Back on the road in '26

The Amp Hour · 4 Mar 2026 · 59m · Episode 717

What this episode covers

Chris Gammell of Contextual Electronics and Dave Jones of EEVblog discuss their upcoming travel to Embedded World and various hardware meetups, highlighting the challenges of organizing community events. They critique a TechCrunch article on solid-state transformers, arguing that traditional AC transformers remain superior for grid infrastructure due to efficiency and reliability. The conversation then shifts to the fragile global supply chain for AI hardware, tracing dependencies from ChatGPT back to ultra-pure quartz from Spruce Pine, North Carolina, and discussing the marketing tactics of Donut Lab regarding their battery technology. Finally, they review modular computing options like the Framework laptop and Flow Z13, while analyzing the latest developments in KiCad 10 and the Paduk microcontroller used by Rode.

Most relevant to

makers and hobbyists

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Contextual Electronics, EEVblog, Donut Lab, Rode
Products
Framework, Flow Z13
Chips
Paduk, RP2350
Tools
KiCad
Also
Embedded World, Solid State Transformer, Spruce Pine, VTT

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