EEVblog #541 - Mailbag

[EEVblog]

Mailbag time.
Playstation 3 Yellow LED of Death
LME49990 http://www.ti.com/product/lme49990
AD797 http://www.analog.com/static/imported-files/data_sheets/AD797.pdf
Some vintage calculators: http://www.datamath.org/Related/Canon/Checkbook.htm
The first Teletype mailbag letter!
Old Fluke Multimeter parts
Micro robotic creatures

! Private video

[Monkeh]

We may all have already seen the inside of a PS3 before (I've certainly opened mine..), but none of the random, crappy teardowns give any intelligent, experienced insight into the design. Open 'er up.

[Treehouseman]

After a quick google I found the Fluke parts to belong to the 8000A meter. There's actually a forum thread here, https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/product-teardown-fluke-8000a/, with a teardown. I referenced the p/n on this site, http://www.talonix.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=4050#.UnA7cfmshcY. On the comments in the site linked in the teardown it also lists the same p/n of what you have.

[ilanko]

Hi Dave, What the hell is :Fiducial" ?

[Monkeh]

Hi Dave, What the hell is :Fiducial" ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiducial_marker

[firehopper]

Hi Dave, What the hell is :Fiducial" ?

I think its also called a registration mark. so things get aligned properly.. I think..

[ilanko]

Hi Dave, What the hell is :Fiducial" ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiducial_marker

Thanks 

[Taucher]

Here the "secret" customs algorithm as seen many many times on TV in documentaries
(yes, even original .AU customs)

Code: [Select]

IF   ((parcel.from == South America) ; Uruguay will match
  AND (parcel.contains(<seemingly unimportant things>)))
  THEN {
$result = parcel.inspect
IF (not $result == guilty)
THEN {
action.do(leave parcel open as revenge for lost time)
}
ELSE {
TRY {
CATCH(parcel.get_sender())
CATCH(parcel.get_receiver())
}
}
ELSE {
;parcel not suspicious, ignore it
}


[grndkntrl]

First post from me, but have been watching loads of Dave's vid's over the past couple of weeks and loving them all for the "edutainment" value. 

I was almost hoping for a LHC teardown in this one when I saw the mention of it, but I guess if Dave was let loose on that beast, we'd probably never see him again! 

That cruddy stuff on the Canon calc pcb looks a bit like fag (cigarette) ash, although it seems to match up with the black strip on the reverse of the LCD - so it may just be the remains of some sort of adhesive that has gone manky after what must be almost a third of a century of use.

That Teletype tape from Kjetil in Norway was pretty cool too, also the Hexbugs; I'll have to get a few of those for my niece & nephew who live in Cape Town! 

[victor]

The playstation have the classic YLOD (Yellow Light of Death), basically the same faulty on every modern electronic, BGA solder joint failure. The repair is pretty much guaranteed and not difficult, if you be carful taking it apart and re assembling it.
I successfully repaired a few of then just heating the big chip (CPU and GPU named RSX) with a heat gun for a 3-5 minutes.

The iFixIt guys have a very good guide

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Yellow+Light+of+Death+Repair/3654



Even if you don't repair it, I think would be a interesting teardown. In my opinion it have a very good build quality, nice attention to detail, the power supply is very robust, hardware if very shielded, the fan is huge. I would really like to hear what Dave think about the pcb design and construction.

[stempile]

also the Hexbugs; I'll have to get a few of those for my niece & nephew who live in Cape Town! 

Hex bugs are fun. My co-worker's kids have a small army of them. Also of course there are many accessories to go with (cost more than the bugs). The kids have build up various tracks & tunnels, kind of a city. Also their Lego collection was added in for more crazy Hex Bug antics.

I'd Rather find dead hex bugs under the sink than other kinds of bugs!

[Legit-Design]

+1 PS3 teardown.  Nothing beats real experience of someone who actually knows what they are talking about.

[moemoe]

Probably you have to put some thought on which videos to produce, as more visits produce more money for you

But non the less I vote for a current noise video, as getting these things explained properly just is worth a lot. As they need some brain while watching, these in-depth videos are not watchable during the first coffee. And, of course, they are not just soft entertainment but require some really interest in the matter. My feeling tells me that quite some of the so called "hardware hackers" are in fact just stacking together some arduino shields and LEDs but are not really interested on analogue design.

I just save them for a moment with a clear and awake brain, making sure I really understand what you say. I take the time to make notes and write down the information gathered, so I can recap it more easily when I need it or think it can be useful.

[Otatiaro]

Just bought an Hexbug nano V2 and aquabot on amazon ... 

Thomas.

[bktemp]

A teardown of the PS3 would be nice, because your teardowns are not just teardowns, they are more like a review of the internal design with all aspects from electronics to metal work and much more!

And I also would like to see another opamp noise video showing some practical designs and their traps (like the noise generated from external resistors around the opamp). The input noise is sometimes not the only noise source: I needed a low noise, low offset opamp and had a TC913 laying around. The datasheet is not very detailed, but it says 0.65uVpp input noise (0.1-10Hz) but that was exactly what I needed for a precise dc measurement. Because it is a chopper opamp, it produces spikes in the range of a few mVpp at the output regardless of the input signal. This makes the low input noise completely useless in most cases.
Maybe actually building something usefull like taking a cheap digital kitchen scale and adding a low noise amplifier to the strain gauge to get the best possible resolution by using one of your precision multimeters as the display.

[dexters_lab]

glad you like the t-shirt, i tried to get you a black one but there wasn't much choice!

[Stonent]

The lines in the Sony E-Reader are caused by a crack in the screen.

[rsjsouza]

+1 to keep going the series on noise on opamps... I loved the first one and find this a great source of information efficiently packed in a few minutes.

[Steffen]

That was a nice mailbag video. The "beer" you mentioned in the 'Rum Zit laybor' (RaumZeitLabor) hackerspace postcard scene is not a beer. It's actually Club Mate. A sweet soft drink based on mate tea. It contains caffeine and the beverage drunken by hackers (and hipsters) in Germany, Europe and probably the rest of the world. Club Mate is very tasty. I don't know if it's also available in Australia.

[G7PSK]

The lines in the Sony E-Reader are caused by a crack in the screen.

No crack that I could see and the screen is made of a soft plastic not glass. I think it might be something to do with sunlight it was lft where the sun could shine on it, although it was in its sleeve there was a sony mp3 player on top and the L shape lines are exactly the same size as two sides of the MP3 player.

[Corporate666]

We may all have already seen the inside of a PS3 before (I've certainly opened mine..), but none of the random, crappy teardowns give any intelligent, experienced insight into the design. Open 'er up.

I was excited to see a teardown on the PS3 and was bummed when Dave didn't do it.

I think most folks who look at existing teardowns are looking at how to reflow a BGA GPU or something - those teardowns offer no insight into the actual design.

Considering the PS3 was hyped to such a level (remember Sony hyping how it was so powerful it could be exported to some countries because of the 'weapons grade' computing power, or some such)... I would love to see a practical engineer's view on it.

Hope you reconsider, Dave!

[Stonent]

The lines in the Sony E-Reader are caused by a crack in the screen.

No crack that I could see and the screen is made of a soft plastic not glass. I think it might be something to do with sunlight it was lft where the sun could shine on it, although it was in its sleeve there was a sony mp3 player on top and the L shape lines are exactly the same size as two sides of the MP3 player.

LCDs and E-Ink screens can crack internally without outside cracking. The crack generates a black area with lines radiating out from it.

[DutchGert]

A teardown of the PS3 would be nice, because your teardowns are not just teardowns, they are more like a review of the internal design with all aspects from electronics to metal work and much more!

And I also would like to see another opamp noise video showing some practical designs and their traps (like the noise generated from external resistors around the opamp). The input noise is sometimes not the only noise source: I needed a low noise, low offset opamp and had a TC913 laying around. The datasheet is not very detailed, but it says 0.65uVpp input noise (0.1-10Hz) but that was exactly what I needed for a precise dc measurement. Because it is a chopper opamp, it produces spikes in the range of a few mVpp at the output regardless of the input signal. This makes the low input noise completely useless in most cases.
Maybe actually building something usefull like taking a cheap digital kitchen scale and adding a low noise amplifier to the strain gauge to get the best possible resolution by using one of your precision multimeters as the display.

Yes! I also would like a teardown of the PS3 with a "review" of the layout and perhaps a bit focus on the PSU ?

Also a practical op-amp video would be very nice, i think that will also increase popularoty of the one u did that is more theoretical.

[BravoV]

Agree with an EE's paradigm at the PS3 teardown, especially if Dave happened to identify the culprit and its an easy fix or better some tips on common problems, believe the video will have high view counts, which is eventually good for Dave, just a thought.

[u271D]

Hope you liked the 3D post card; if you get to California you should check out the giant sequoia General Sherman southern, CA and the coastal redwoods of northern, CA. They are among the largest trees in the world.