EEVblog #513 - Mailbag

[EEVblog]

Mailbag galore.
Dave screws up and releases the magic smoke on the best mailbag item ever. Turns a light bulb on with his mobile phone, and goes underwater in a submarine.
And a cameo appearance by everyone's favorite.
http://shackspace.de/
http://lightdream.com.au/
http://www.avbotz.com/
http://jmedved.com/usbamps

[robrenz]

A lot of people would edit out a personal blunder like that. Thanks for having the guts and character to show the good and the bad.  Good on ya mate!

[c4757p]

Pasadena!

[99tito99]

Hi Dave: Another great mailbag, the best part was the last 60 seconds.  Cheers, Mark*********

[kizzap]

A lot of people would edit out a personal blunder like that. Thanks for having the guts and character to show the good and the bad.  Good on ya mate!

-seconded. at least it should be easy to do to, with it being very open and easy to get to.

surely I'm not the only person who wants that Lego Delorean?

-kizzap

[99tito99]

Hi Dave: Also the links are a knockout.  Tons of stuff on http://www.tooms.dk/ and http://www.jmedved.com/.  Check out the videos, photos and text on http://www.avbotz.com/.  Outstanding!!! Cheers, Mark********

[EEVblog]

Pasadena!

I'm sure I've got that right before too 

[EEVblog]

Hi Dave: Also the links are a knockout.  Tons of stuff on http://www.tooms.dk/

His Fluke CNX review is nothing short of comprehensive!

[c4757p]

Ah, it's OK. I thought it was funny because I live about five miles from Pennsylvania, and let me tell you, it's about as far from California as you'll ever get.

[Lightages]

Nice mailbag this time Dave. Nice and concise and I liked seeing Sagan at the end.

[Bored@Work]

Nice mailbag this time Dave. Nice and concise and I liked seeing Sagan at the end.

Sagan will become a true engineer. Notice the first thing he hid when the box of Lego was open? Grabbing the instructions and throwing them away 

[Stonent]

Pasadena!

I'm sure I've got that right before too 

Pasavania?
Pasadenia?
Passylvania?
Pennsadena?
Pennsyldania?

Hmm.. It's somewhere around there.

Maybe Dave will find a rotting cheese-steak in his next mailbag for that one.
Either way Steelers and Eagles suck. (But mainly Steelers)

[opablo]

I see no problem in not knowing what is the name of the USA-PA state...

[Tooms]

Hi Dave: Also the links are a knockout.  Tons of stuff on http://www.tooms.dk/

His Fluke CNX review is nothing short of comprehensive!

yes it is a bit long review and has taken me some time to write.


Glad that the packages has arrived and that i get two whole thumbs up  from Sagan.   


Lego sets are also expansive here in denmark, we do not get any discount because we are danish.


Tooms

[MatCat]

There is also a Pasadena Maryland which isn't all that far from Pennsylvania .

[EEVblog]

Lego sets are also expansive here in denmark, we do not get any discount because we are danish.

That sucks!
Thanks heaps for the generous package 

[robrenz]

Ah, it's OK. I thought it was funny because I live about five miles from Pennsylvania, and let me tell you, it's about as far from California as you'll ever get.

I live in PA and I didn't even catch the Pasadena line.

[iloveelectronics]

I have been spending a lot of time with my son on some Lego projects lately too. We both love the Technic series and we are now learning to build our own custom creations. It's very challenging but a lot of fun as a father and son activity!

And for those who doesn't know how far Lego has come since a couple of decades ago, check out what one can do nowadays with Lego (they are not Lego sets, they are custom builds using Lego Technic and Mindstorms/NXT parts):

[firehopper]

Ah, it's OK. I thought it was funny because I live about five miles from Pennsylvania, and let me tell you, it's about as far from California as you'll ever get.

I live in PA and I didn't even catch the Pasadena line.

Me too, I didnt hear that either.. but still one of the best mailbags, even if you did let the magic smoke out. it happens..

[alm]

I agree about it being one of the best mailbags. Although in my opinion the big fail was not having the magic smoke event caught on camera .

[synapsis]

Best mailbag ever! If you don't leave that video with a smile on your face, then you've got some problems.

I spent four months on the couch after a major surgery and bought myself the Mindstorms NXT kit (microcontroller, sensors, motors) and loved every second of it. I managed to build a CNC Etch a Sketch and a remote control car with working transmission (3 fwd, 1 rev) before I sold it on eBay. The buyer said they couldn't tear their son away from the kit. You can't go wrong with Lego.

[c4757p]

I spent four months on the couch after a major surgery and bought myself the Mindstorms NXT kit (microcontroller, sensors, motors) and loved every second of it. I managed to build a CNC Etch a Sketch and a remote control car with working transmission (3 fwd, 1 rev) before I sold it on eBay. The buyer said they couldn't tear their son away from the kit. You can't go wrong with Lego.

I had the original Mindstorms kit when I was a kid. You'd have needed a crowbar to get that thing away from me.

[DarkPrince]

[...] before I sold it on eBay. The buyer said they couldn't tear their son away from the kit. You can't go wrong with Lego.

I had the original Mindstorms kit when I was a kid. You'd have needed a crowbar to get that thing away from me.

What's with all the "had"s. I still have mine! Can't say I play engineer prototypes with them anymore (at least for the longest time) but I am not getting rid of them. Especially if kids are something of the future. At least I hope that is my excuse.

Note I have accumulated three RCX's. To this day I am wondering how all three stopped working on the same day. Baffled.

[c4757p]

I don't remember what happened to mine, but considering my general tendencies as a child, here's my guess: I broke it.

[Zbig]

The IDC cable backwards SNAFU reminded me of my design mistake while making my first (and so far only) PCB. At the PCB layout stage, for some stupid reason I convinced myself that I have to translate the pinout on my PCB in relation to the LCD module's pinout, essentially making a mirrored image. As if the LCD was to be connected by straight-through pins instead of a 1-to-1 IDC ribbon I intended all along. The result: magic smoke from the LCD upon first power-on, some two-week wait for the new LCD breakout from Adafruit and undoing of my "clever pinout translation" via swapping of each wire pair and soldering them directly (instead of using IDC connector) at the breakout board side.