Author Topic: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag  (Read 12114 times)

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Offline EEVblogTopic starter

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EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« on: June 28, 2017, 12:27:00 am »
Mailbag is back!



SPOILERS:
1980 Retro Language Translator Teardown
Arduino interfacing book: http://www.absthebook.com
ReflowR Hot plate PCB reflow machine
http://www.reflowr.com
50ohm Dummy Load for babies from First Advanced Industrial Labs
Black Box for stealing Pay TV, teardown.
Retro radio alarm clock teardown
Bee Maths Ruler: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/984746429/beemaths-a-well-designed-ruler-that-can-save-your
Bayard-Alpert Ionization gauge.
Voltage tester pen teardown
Alcatel/Lucent telecommunications processor teardown


 

Offline Navarro

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #1 on: June 28, 2017, 12:32:51 am »
Dave,

How we can send you Mailbag things? Where is the address? Wanna send some of my open source projects to you.
PY1CX
34401A - DSOX2002A - 66332A
 

Offline NexusKoolaid

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2017, 12:48:18 am »
Dave,

How we can send you Mailbag things? Where is the address? Wanna send some of my open source projects to you.

https://www.eevblog.com/about/contact/
 

Offline nixfu

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #3 on: June 28, 2017, 01:56:49 am »
Dave, you said no one has cableTV in AU.  What is the most popular TV service?  Satellite TV, or Over-The-Air Antenna to get ABC etc?
 

Offline CrashO

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #4 on: June 28, 2017, 01:59:34 am »
Typo in both forum & youtube description for the Arduino book Dave ;)
abcthebook.com, not abs
 

Offline Brumby

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #5 on: June 28, 2017, 02:09:19 am »
The bike flashers screw onto the valves on the tyres.  That's why you have 2.

As the bike rolls along, centrifugal force will operate a switch to keep them flashing.
 

Offline Bendba

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #6 on: June 28, 2017, 03:32:48 am »
Hi Dave,

I believe that the little inverter board in the Italian translator is supplying the AC voltage to the filaments of the VFD
Stop dreaming your life, start leaving your dreams.
 

Offline bjcuizon

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #7 on: June 28, 2017, 04:38:04 am »
Nice 50\$\Omega\$ termination/dummy load you got there Dave! It made my day. :-DD
Don't mess with an Electronics Engineer, it Megahertz!
 

Offline tombi

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #8 on: June 28, 2017, 06:29:58 am »
In the motherboard thing at the start -

Is that fat power brick thing (with the Aluminium bit on top) one where they make the inductors by stacking up PCB layers? The PCB looks really thick.

Tom
 

Offline bktemp

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #9 on: June 28, 2017, 06:54:37 am »
I am surprised Dave missed the bad layout on the ReflowR pcb:
If you look at the mains side, the distances between the traces aren't anywhere near where they should be for 230V.
The middle pin at the mains connector is typically the earthing connection. The area around it is used for heat dissipation of the triac, so it is connected to live. So we have around 0.4mm clearance between earthing, live and neutral. It looks like the whole pcb was flood filled with one signal without setting up the correct clearance rules.

The isolation between mains and the low voltage side on the pcb is ok, so the small clearance may not be dangerous for the user, but I still doubt it will pass safety requirements for some countries.

Also using thermals for a pad used for removing heat from a device isn't the best idea.

Before connecting this device to mains, I would verify if the case is properly connected to the earth wire just in case there are some other problems!
 

Offline mrpackethead

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #10 on: June 28, 2017, 08:14:52 am »
The coment about using a credit card for spreading paste is marginal. 

I'll agree that it 'can' be used, but its certainly not the best tool.   A sharp metal blade ( right angle ) is by far the best tool to use on stainless steel stencils.   ( do not use on kapton plastic stencils )..   T
On a quest to find increasingly complicated ways to blink things
 

Offline Fungus

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #11 on: June 28, 2017, 11:57:04 am »
Nice 50\$\Omega\$ termination/dummy load you got there Dave! It made my day. :-DD

He missed the best joke:

"Warning: Apply to input (feed) jack only! Applying to output jack will overload your device."
 

Offline firewalker

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #12 on: June 28, 2017, 01:03:03 pm »
Read the ROMs! :D

Alexander.


Become a realist, stay a dreamer.

 

Offline free_electron

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #13 on: June 28, 2017, 03:35:44 pm »


de dm8881 ( 24 pin ic) is a 1 to 16 grid decoder for the vfd.
the cdp1824 is a 32  byte ram memory. yes 32 BYTE. not kbyte !
the DI514 chips are segment drivers for VFD.

that SI90200 is a fairchild MK3870 mask rommed microprocessor.
Professional Electron Wrangler.
Any comments, or points of view expressed, are my own and not endorsed , induced or compensated by my employer(s).
 

Online PA0PBZ

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #14 on: June 28, 2017, 06:13:22 pm »
I believe that the little inverter board in the Italian translator is supplying the AC voltage to the filaments of the VFD

I think it does both the filament voltage and the high voltage, the thing Dave said is an inductor is a transformer, and at the right side there are 4 diodes which I guess is a bridge rectifier. I lusted after this thing when it first came to market, as Dave said it looked like black magic. Unfortunately the paper boy job did not generate enough cash to buy one.
Keyboard error: Press F1 to continue.
 

Offline vlad777

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #15 on: June 28, 2017, 06:58:48 pm »
11:11
"...down trough your feet into the carpet..."

If standing on a wooden chair (wood is an insulator BTW) doesn't stop people from saying "flows through your feet into the ground",
how about jumping with voltage detection stick / screwdriver , and observing that the light shines even in this situation.
I tried it , it shines in mid air. 

Edit:
Not just a wooden chair but wooden chair on the third floor of a concrete building...
« Last Edit: June 28, 2017, 07:02:51 pm by vlad777 »
Mind over matter. Pain over mind. Boss over pain.
-------------------------
 

Offline bjcuizon

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #16 on: June 29, 2017, 03:41:54 am »
Nice 50\$\Omega\$ termination/dummy load you got there Dave! It made my day. :-DD

He missed the best joke:

"Warning: Apply to input (feed) jack only! Applying to output jack will overload your device."

Yeah, that was the best thing I saw in this mailbag video.
« Last Edit: June 29, 2017, 10:47:12 am by bjcuizon »
Don't mess with an Electronics Engineer, it Megahertz!
 

Offline BreakingOhmsLaw

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #17 on: June 29, 2017, 09:50:24 am »
You can have the dummys/pacifiers made at:
https://www.nuk.de/mynuk

First Advanced Industrial Labs (FAIL) is just the name we jokingly call our company when we fucked up something badly  ;D

They only ship to Germany and Austria though. Im sure similar services exist elsewhere too.
 

Offline w33m4n_

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #18 on: June 29, 2017, 03:05:49 pm »
hey dave. just wanted to tell you that the link to the abc book in the video description is wrong
 

Offline omulki

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #19 on: June 29, 2017, 07:10:50 pm »
Does anyone have an idea how many words would have fit on each those language ROMs?

Cheers, Oliver.
 

Offline Fungus

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #20 on: June 30, 2017, 08:05:46 am »
Does anyone have an idea how many words would have fit on each those language ROMs?

I had one in the 1980s and it only had a couple of thousand. The mailbag one is five years earlier so I'm guessing it would be less than that.

(ie. Much less than a pocket dictionary, and only 20x the price...)
« Last Edit: June 30, 2017, 08:08:35 am by Fungus »
 

Offline M4trix

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #21 on: July 30, 2017, 12:12:52 am »
What happened to the Mailbag ? Dave, are you nutz ? When was the last Mailbag ? Moooonth agoooo ! Helloooo McFly ! Well, if you're on vacation then we forgive you but if you're lazy....well just don't make me slap you around a bit with an Australian trout !  >:(  ;)

j/k  ;D
 

Offline Brumby

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #22 on: July 30, 2017, 02:13:06 am »
I, too, am anxiously awaiting the next instalment - but I have other activities that keep me occupied until it appears, so I don't notice the time span.

Helloooo McFly !
I did like that, though.   :)
 

Offline The Tech Engineer

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Re: EEVblog #1003 - Mailbag
« Reply #23 on: September 06, 2017, 04:15:20 am »
What is the technical term for the DANGER radio pushutton? I'm interested in getting one as a joke for my desk to put by my CB Radio LOL
 


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