EEVblog #1000 - Fundamental Mailbag Retro Teardown Shootouts are Bullshit

[EEVblog]

As the title says, kinda...
Dave answers the age old question, do single take videos really work?
No. No, they don't.



SPOILERS:
Tutorial on turning two NPN transistors into a fast bidirectional zener impulse clamp.
A comparison of the low level signal noise on 11 different oscilloscopes.
Teardown of the CH7 analog TV 300W RF Power amplifier.
Debunking of the uBeam ultrasonic wireless power phone charger

I challenge anyone to sit through all 15 minutes of Meredith Perry's talk on being a "technology innovator", go on, I dare you...


Ultrasonic exposure limits:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235923211_A_review_of_current_airborne_ultrasound_exposure_limits

Zener Diodes Tutorial:

Paul Reynold's blog (Former vice president of Engineering at uBeam):
http://liesandstartuppr.blogspot.com.au

[BravoV]

Congratulation Dave ! 

Tutorial on turning two NPN transistors into a fast bidirectional zener impulse clamp.

How is this compared to bi-directional TVS ?

[EEVblog]

How is this compared to bi-directional TVS ?

Much cheaper but not as higher impulse power.
Don't know about further specifics off-hand.

[daqq]

Congratulations to the 1000th video Dave.

I have watched the TED talks video. Now I have a twitch in the eye that's not going away any time soon.

[Brumby]

You took Dave's challenge too literally.  I took it as a warning....


Congratulations Dave!

Can't wait for the next 1,000!!

[McBryce]

Congratulations!

Now tell us more about those EEVBlog labelled differential probes that were on the bench during the transistor as a zener experiment!!! 

McBryce.

[bktemp]

Great video! Thanks for the teardown of the TV transmitter amplifier. I was waiting for this since you got it but did only teardown the modulator.

You could easily do a sperate video for each segment going more into detail.

Exceeding the base-emitter reverse breakdown voltage does not only turn a BJT into a zener/avalanche diode, but also into a LED!
If you have a transistor in a metal can package, cut it open and apply a couple of mA in reverse direction (~10mA for small signal transistors, ~100mA for something like 2N3055) and you will see a pale yellow light coming from the area between base and emitter.

Here is an article written by Bob Pease on clamping (using transistors as zener diodes):
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/designing-ideas/4311721/Bob-Pease-on-bounding-and-clamping-techniques

[tszaboo]

Congratulations Dave!



Though I would say Meredith Perry is not worthy to be in this video.

[kultakala]

Congratz to the 1000 !

I have to agree to NANDBlog about Meredith Perry!   

[AndersJ]

Perhaps her message is not primarily whether the energy transfer concept will work or not,
but,
instead to not give up just because someone dislikes your idea,
and that "experts" should not be trusted farther than you can throw them.

[igendel]

I challenge anyone to sit through all 15 minutes of Meredith Perry's talk on being a "technology innovator", go on, I dare you...

Watching the part you put in your video was more than enough

Such sound advice on innovation and success will surely put universities and all those useless professionals out of business. If I want to get anywhere in life, I better get rid of all my programming and electronics books, fast. And that "to think outside the box" idea... simply amazing, how did she ever come up with that original analogy?



Oh yeah, and congratulations on the 1000th video! 

[Dr. Frank]

Dave,

congratulation for your 1000th video!

It is very dynamic and entertaining, so I have high expectations for the future, as displayed in the first scene.

Frank

[daqq]

and that "experts" should not be trusted further than you can throw them.

Yes, I can see how humanity might greatly benefit from ignoring the opinions, calculations, research and facts provided by people with experience (engineers, experts). They should be instead publicly mocked and presented as, at best, useful tools for people with The Vision (the oompa loompas of visionaries).

[ElektroQuark]

1000.
Now comes the good part...

[JPortici]

i want the superhero plaque

[Gromitt]

i want the superhero plaque

http://www.boldport.club/shop/product/165025514

[G0HZU]

Perhaps her message is not primarily whether the energy transfer concept will work or not,
but,
instead to not give up just because someone dislikes your idea,
and that "experts" should not be trusted further than you can throw them.

Yes, I agree. I thought the general message that engineers and experts are often blinkered in their thinking was absolutely spot on. Also, being naïve in one's approach can sometimes give a person an advantage compared to someone else who has been conditioned to reach (premature) conclusions through formal training. The other powerful message is 'don't give up' on innovation if you get a few knockbacks.

I'm basing my thoughts on having spent my entire career working in engineering labs exposed to people from all levels of expertise. Sometimes even the top experts can be horribly wrong and it gets worse if you get a group of them who agree with each other.

Some of the (many) keyboard/google experts to be found on internet forums will probably argue that the experts/engineers in question aren't competent in some way. But if the experts/engineers knew everything then there wouldn't be anything left to invent... 

[G0HZU]

I suppose the other obvious point that should be made is that some of the greatest scientific discoveries were achieved via mistakes or accidents. i.e. the scientist/engineer/inventor looked to solve one problem but actually found a novel solution to something else by accident.

[FrankBuss]

Yes, I agree. I thought the general message that engineers and experts are often blinkered in their thinking was absolutely spot on. Also, being naïve in one's approach can sometimes give a person an advantage compared to someone else who has been conditioned to reach (premature) conclusions through formal training. The other powerful message is 'don't give up' on innovation if you get a few knockbacks.

That's true and it was not bad for the first some minutes of the talk, except I got somehow the feeling that she thinks all engineers are having asperger. The last half of the video was just annoying. She is so full of herself and looks like she despises all engineers and experts.

[Brumby]

.... and looks like she despises all engineers and experts.

Yet she aspires to deliver a product that works on those same principles that the engineers and experts already understand.

 

[X]

How to really be a technology innovator

• Invent a problem that doesn't actually exist.
• Conjure up a convoluted solution that doesn't exist for the problem that doesn't exist. Don't forget to include wireless, smart, internet-connected technology just because you can. Also make sure you copy Apple's design process as badly as possible.
• Look pretty and talk to gullible investors. Tell everybody how engineers and experts are limited in their thinking by virtue of being brainwashed by evil spirits or something, and how you are the pinnacle of innovation, and how you are the only person in the universe who thinks outside the box.
• Finish off by stating that we always need to advance our technology and we are heading into the future.
• Go to step 1.

Occasionally engineers might be blinkered in their thinking, but when they find a real problem, they are surprisingly good at solving it practically, unlike "technology innovators" and "technical design innovation specialists" and whatever head-up-the-arse titles these "people-people" can come up with.

[Kjelt]

Congrats Dave on the millenium post. 

Tedtalk 

"as a non expert I had an advantage because I could look at a problem from different angles because I just did not know it was possible"

Four years later she still does not know it is not possible or is she continuing because of loss of face ?
Reminds me of this blood testing startup from Elizabeth Holmes, 18 yrs when she founded Theranos.
Worth billions when tests concluded it was fishy and it dropped to zero in a week.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theranos

Then 60kHz? How about dogs, bats and other animals that will go bat-crazy when bombarded with this kind of noise ?

Oh well for every succesfull startup, hundreds if not thousands fail, take a look at the list for only this year
https://www.cbinsights.com/blog/startup-failure-post-mortem/

[madires]

I think we shouldn't applaud Dave with precipitate haste before performing QC on another 1000 videos or so. It's all about statistics, you know!

[Raj]

zena as transistor he said, you wont find in a textbook he said

[HighVoltage]

Congratulations, Dave !

You have been very entertaining and had many great subjects in your 1000 videos!
Even my wife likes to watch your mailbag videos with me, and normally she is not in to technical videos at all. She tells me that you have a very good and interesting way of presenting.

Keep going for the next 1000!
And a big thank you for making this great forum available to all of us.
All the best to you from northern Germany