Tilba Tilba, NSW, Australia

I stopped off at Tilba Tilba while travelling back from Bega . We were at the synth festival 2019.

tHE old hotel.

Lovely historic town. Great cheese and icecream.

 aLMOST forgotten what these are called:

For more travel postcards click here:

http://djjondent.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/travel-postcards-index-my-travel.html

Jacks & sockets

This may seem simple, but its essential to building any synth these days.
They can be 3.5mm, tiny jacks (buchla), 1/4 inch, or banana.

Apart from the Serge banana & Buchla worlds you'll notice that nearly all the jacks

use "PJ" as part of their description.

The most common socket you will come across is the 3.5mm mono jack socket.
16PJ138 style
It's most often used in Eurorack.
It's also known as a switched socket.
This variety is classified as a closed frame.

The sleeve, is most often connected to ground.
-----------------------------------------------

Here is another mono closed frame:

It's PCB mount also. Called a PJ302 3.5mm

These types of jacks are useful for connecting PCBs to faceplates at right angles

--------------------------------------
This is a PJ301M-12 :Thonkiconn"

This is also PCB mount

--------------------------------------
This is a PJ301BM 3.5mm.

This is mono

..

PJ301CM is the stereo version. Often used as a headphone jack.

I've also seen this used for mini-MIDI jacks

3.5mm

-----------------------

----------------------------

PJ-320 3.5mm headphone jack socket

----------------------------------------------------------------------

5 pin Switched stereo. 3.5mm PCB socket

Buchla

"Switchcraft “Tini-Jax” are the standard historical Buchla audio cable connections and are just slightly larger diameter and longer in length than 3.5mm connections. They are sometimes referred to as 1/8” in Don Buchla’s manuals, though they are actually .140” diameter connections".
 (Buchla 200e manual) 

This is the mono variety.
Mouser stocks them.

Mouser Part No : 502-41

The Switchcraft data sheet says they are 0.141" diameter.
I often use eurorack cables in Tini jax sockets without any probs, but never the other way round.
If you plug a tini-jax plug into a 3.5mm euro style socket, you can damage the euro socket.

-------------------------
1/4 Inch

This is a stereo jack.

----------------

DC Power Jack PJ-20 

2.1mm Jack
3 Pin Contact

tayda a-4118

PJ-102AH

Mouser 490-PJ-102AH

Inside Contact Diameter:

2 mm

These are a standard PCB mounted power socket usually used for plugging in DC Wallwart PSUs

QUS - BETASHARES S&P 500 EQUAL WEIGHT ETF

 QUS - BETASHARES S&P 500 EQUAL WEIGHT ETF

.................................

.......................

Buffet anaylsis - NIB holdings vs ARGO & QUS

I was searching for a  ASX listed ETF that holds US stocks except for mag 10 stocks.

If by “MAG 10” you mean the largest 10 US mega-cap stocks (roughly Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Broadcom, Tesla, etc.), there are a few ASX-listed ETFs that can give you US exposure while reducing or removing the concentration in those companies.

The closest fit: ASX:QUS

QUS is the Betashares S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF.

It holds 500 US companies, but instead of weighting them by market capitalisation, each company is approximately equally weighted. That dramatically reduces the influence of the MAG 10.

For example, in a normal S&P 500 ETF, Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft can represent a very large percentage of the portfolio. In QUS, each company is roughly 0.2% at each rebalance.

ETF	US exposure	MAG 10 exposure	Approach
QUS	🇺🇸 100%	Much lower	S&P 500 equal weight
IVV	🇺🇸 100%	High	S&P 500 market cap
NDQ	🇺🇸 100%	Very high	Nasdaq 100
MOAT	🇺🇸 ~100%	Moderate	54 wide-moat companies
BGBL	🇺🇸 ~70%+	Moderate/high	Global developed markets

...........................

example: 29/9/26

Top 10 Holdings

Code	Company	Asset
PYPL	PayPal Holdings Inc	0.27%
TECH	Bio-Techne Corp	0.26%
ZBRA	Zebra Technologies Corp Ordinary Shares - Class A	0.26%
GPN	Global Payments Inc	0.26%
EXPE	Expedia Group Inc	0.26%

Top 10 Holdings

Code	Company	Asset
DASH	DoorDash Inc Ordinary Shares - Class A	0.25%
MTD	Mettler-Toledo International Inc	0.25%
BAX	Baxter International Inc	0.25%
IQV	IQVIA Holdings Inc	0.25%
IP	International Paper Co	0.25%

.............

Buffet analysis sept 2026\\

Evaluating Argo Investments (ASX: ARG), NIB Holdings (ASX: NHF), and Betashares S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (ASX: QUS) through a Warren Buffett-style value lens requires checking their economic moats, capital allocation discipline, pricing power, and fundamental value metrics. [1, 2, 3]

Importantly, these three assets represent completely different structures: ARG is a Listed Investment Company (LIC), NHF is an operating private health insurance company, and QUS is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking 500 large-cap US equities. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

📊 Comparative Metrics Summary

The long-term performance and valuation metrics reflect the stark structural differences between these vehicles:

Metric	Argo Investments (ASX: ARG)	NIB Holdings (ASX: NHF)	Betashares S&P 500 Equal Wt (ASX: QUS)
Asset Type	Listed Investment Company (LIC)	Operating Corporate Stock (Insurance)	Exchange Traded Fund (US Equities)
P/E Ratio	~25.8x	~15.1x to 16.9x	~14.7x (Fund Aggregate)
Dividend Yield (TTM)	~4.2% (100% Franked)	~4.4% to 4.8% (100% Franked)	~2.1% to 2.6% (Unfranked)
10-Year Growth (p.a.)	~5.5% – 6.0% (Total Return)	~9.9% (Dividend Growth Rate)	~11.3% (Total Return)
Dividend Growth Style	Slow, ultra-stable, highly cyclical managed	Strong compounder, tied to premium hikes	Driven by aggregate US corporate earnings

---

🔎 Buffett-Style Deep Dive

1. Economic Moat & Pricing Power

ASX: NHF (Wide/Narrow Economic Moat): Buffett loves insurance operations (like GEICO) because they generate "float"—cash from premiums collected upfront before claims are paid. As one of Australia's dominant private health insurers, NIB possesses significant pricing power, historically passing rising healthcare costs onto consumers via government-approved annual premium hikes.
ASX: ARG (No Structural Moat, High Trust): ARG does not own an operating business; it owns a slice of the ASX 200. Its "moat" is an incredibly low internal management expense ratio (0.10%) and an iconic reputation built since 1946. However, it cannot outpace the broader Australian economy. [1]
ASX: QUS (Systemic Moat): QUS provides an equal-weighted slice of the 500 largest US companies. Instead of market-cap weighting (which over-concentrates in overvalued tech giants), it rebalances quarterly. Buffett famously advocates for low-cost US index funds because they capture the unstoppable tailwind of American corporate ingenuity. [1, 2]

2. P/E Ratio & Valuation

ASX: NHF trades at the most attractive value multiple (~15x). For an operating entity with strong return on equity, this offers a higher "earnings yield" (the inverse of P/E), which is a core Buffett criteria. [1]
ASX: ARG looks statistically expensive at ~25x earnings. This occurs because its underlying earnings consist mainly of the dividends it receives from its portfolio, rather than the raw net profits of those underlying companies. [1]
ASX: QUS offers a healthy aggregate value play at ~14.7x P/E. By stripping away the top-heavy valuation premium of mega-cap tech, the equal-weighted S&P 500 represents a much more historically reasonable valuation framework. [1]

3. Dividend Sustainability & Dividend Growth

ASX: NHF is a classic dividend champion, boasting an impressive 10-year dividend growth rate of roughly 9.9% per annum. Its dividends are well-covered by earnings (72% payout ratio).
ASX: ARG prioritizes dividend smoothing. They hoard cash during boom years to pay steady dividends during recessions. Its payout ratio frequently edges over 100% during cyclical downturns, making it exceptionally dependable for retirees but slower to experience high compounding growth.
ASX: QUS yields less (~2.1% to 2.6%) because American firms prefer share buybacks over dividends. Buffett highly approves of share buybacks, provided the stock is undervalued, as it increases your fractional ownership without triggering immediate dividend tax liabilities. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

4. Long-Term 10-Year Growth Comparison

QUS is the clear winner on a 10-year total return basis, averaging over 11.3% per annum, largely driven by the structural dominance of US equities and a depreciating Australian Dollar over the decade.
NHF has delivered phenomenal compounding wealth over the long haul, though it incurs higher volatility due to regulatory risks and claims inflation.
ARG lags behind in raw capital growth (~26.5% total growth over 10 years without compounding), but matches standard Australian index returns once you factor in the massive tax benefit of 100% franking credits. [1, 2, 3]

---

💡 The Value Investor's Verdict

Choose NHF if you want a classic Buffett operating business with true pricing power, an attractive entry valuation, and strong dividend growth.
Choose QUS if you subscribe to Buffett’s primary directive to bet on the broader American economy via an insulated, value-tilted indexing strategy.
Choose ARG if your primary goal is an ultra-safe, fully-franked income stream and you care more about avoiding downside volatility than maximizing capital expansion. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

.......................

......................