The bench is going on camera. Board repair is oddly watchable — a dead device comes in, you find the one failed part under the scope, and it comes back to life. The build projects too. It’s the kind of work that’s more fun to share than to do alone.
Where
- Twitch: twitch.tv/iammrcupp
- YouTube: youtube.com/@IamMrCupp
Both under my own handle for now — if the bench work ends up wanting its own channel, it’ll get one, and I’ll say so here. I may simulcast to another service if it makes sense; same rule, it gets listed here when it’s real. Follow on either and you’ll know when the first one goes live. No schedule yet.
What a stream looks like
The feed runs through benchhud, the heads-up display I built for the bench, so you see what I’m seeing:
- The scope, at working magnification, with the thermal overlay registered on top of it — so when a shorted part starts cooking, it lights up on the board, labelled with its temperature.
- Live instrument readings — bench supply current and the meter — on screen next to the work, so “watch the current drop when I lift this pad” is something you can actually watch.
- The whole diagnosis, not just the fix. Finding the part is most of the job, and it’s the part worth seeing.
What goes on camera
Board-level repair, microsoldering, and the occasional vintage machine — the jobs from Repair Services, plus build and bench projects when there’s something to build. If you send in a board and you’d like to watch it get fixed, say so in the intake and I’ll put it on the stream.
Customer details never appear on stream. The intake system that holds names and contacts is a separate service on a separate network from the thing that composites the video, on purpose — the boundary is the point. What you’ll see is a board, a job number, and the work.
Support the bench
The best way to support this is to send in a board — a repair job pays for the next roll of wick and it’s a stream at the same time. If you just want to say thanks:
- Ko-fi · Buy Me a Coffee
- The gear list on The Bench carries affiliate links — buying through them costs you nothing extra and sends a little back here.