EEVblog #633 – Mailbag - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: wilfred
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2014, 02:56:08 am
content: .

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2014, 03:27:05 am
content: It's customary to embed the video, so here:

author: Rory
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2014, 04:07:43 am
content: Dave, at 18:40, those "standoffs" are hinges.

author: moemoe
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2014, 06:28:47 am
content: Looks like ShowView was only called ShowView in some contries "It is known as VCR Plus+ in the USA and Canada, G-Code in Japan, China, New Zealand and Australia, VideoPlus+ in Ireland and the UK and ShowView in the rest of Europe and also in South Africa"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_recorder_scheduling_code.This device is probably some sort of showview-remote for VCRs that don't support showview internally, and just sending the right ir remote commands for record/channel/stop recording at the correct time.

author: nathanpc
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 24, 2014, 12:06:48 pm
content: In my opinion the microscope stuff deserved a dedicated teardown. Also, was anyone able to find a schematic for any of those boards?

author: edy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2014, 01:12:30 pm
content: Dave, I didn't finish watching before I commented but the pulse counter "antenna" mounts looked like they were designed so you can swing the board up like the hood on your car, for servicing. You took the screws off the mounts but probably didn't have to. Nice video!

author: Dave Turner
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2014, 01:16:50 pm
content: Rory - you beat me to it!

author: craigh
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2014, 04:01:37 pm
content: I started my electronic career in the late 1970s repairing equipment built like your microscope module. That right-angle standoff is actually a hinge so you could swing the board up to work on it without removing it (as someone has already commented). Saw lots of those in my day.Wire-wrapping was common then as well, and quite reliable. The fine gauge (32AWG) wire wrapped around a square pin was deformed on the sharp edges and formed a gas-tight connection. Lasted for many years. The wire-wrap on your microscope module is likely still good today.Equipment that had multiple boards plugged into a backplane often had the connections on the backplane made with wire-wrap (DEC mainframe computers for example). I've made a number of prototype boards in the past using wire-wrap instead of soldered point-to-point connections. You once could easily get DIP sockets with wire-wrap pins. I still use the fine wire for making 'kludges' ('bodges' as you say Dave) on prototype boards or for making repairs.I'm enjoying your videos - interesting and informative. Keep 'em coming.

author: tecman
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2014, 06:36:30 pm
content: Dave:You blew it. those "stand offs" are actually hinges. Remove the opposite screws and flip the board up !Paul

author: nixfu
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 24, 2014, 09:10:55 pm
content: Hey! Where is the "Teardown Tuesday" video!?I was excited to see that classic multimeter. Isn't it already WED in Aussiland? Slacker.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2014, 09:13:10 pm
content: +1 to nathanpc's comment about a separate teardown for the microscope. Or perhaps a double-feature together with the metrawatt teardown.Since its inception theTI-30was a calculator (or an "electronic slide-rule calculator" as it showed in its box) designed to be the lowest cost possible. I have one manufactured in 1979 and its internals look very similar to yours (apart from the flex PCB, of course) - check example internal photos at the datamath'spage.

author: nixfu
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 24, 2014, 09:24:28 pm
content: Wow. TI-30 with the red bubble display brings me back. My dad (a mechanical engineer) had one of those on the desk in his office I would sneak in and play with and do square roots etc..

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2014, 11:29:32 pm
content: Watching someone eat their first Reese's Peanut Butter Cup as an adult and "live" on video was a little weird. That's a staple of USA candy foods. You don't go through a Halloween season without eating like 400 of those around here.**Side note.... Stick them in the freezer.. They are pretty good (better?) cold.... Also blend them in icecream....

author: nsayer
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 25, 2014, 03:03:20 pm
content: Dave sort of missed the punchline of my letter (the last one). I wanted to give away a Hydra logic board to a lucky winner. If you freeze-frame the letter, you can read that in the last paragraph.I'd still like him to pick the winner, but perhaps I'm asking for too much of his time.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 02:45:33 am
content: Quote from: Rory on June 24, 2014, 04:07:43 amI thought that too.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 02:53:43 am
content: Quote from: Smokey on June 24, 2014, 11:29:32 pmClassic Commercial:And of course around Easter, the Reese's Eggs come out. MMMMM...

author: hikariuk
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 06:09:50 am
content: Quote from: Smokey on June 24, 2014, 11:29:32 pmI think I want to try one now. The only American chocolate I've tried are Hershey's Kisses that an American ex-girlfriend gave me. I concluded Americans didn't like nice chocolate.

author: Towger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 06:36:30 am
content: Quote from: hikariuk on June 26, 2014, 06:09:50 amDon't worry, you are not missing anything, your conclusions are correct.Americans don't know what chocolate tastes like, they programmed at a young age to believe the main ingredients of chocolate is sugar:

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 06:43:05 am
content: Funny that chocolate comes from the American continentBut we all know the Swiss make the best chocolate. Herseys just make MOOOtritious chocolate (took my daughter to the factory tour some years back).One thing I don't get is the European concept of Americans (as in the US) not knowing any better on anything when most of the stuff originates from here to begin with and the US is pretty much a conglomeration of the whole planet anyways.

author: abaxas
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 11:42:26 am
content: Bad teeth seams to be the largest current US export.

author: LIV2
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 12:30:01 pm
content: Quote from: moemoe on June 24, 2014, 06:28:47 amYep! I had the exact same unit but branded as G-Code back in the 90's and it was pretty much a universal remote with a timerIt was pretty useful for recording some but not all of the program you wanted to watch

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 10:33:35 pm
content: Quote from: abaxas on June 26, 2014, 11:42:26 amCome on now... Everyone knows the brits have that market cornered!

author: AlfBaz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 10:52:20 pm
content: LOL @ myselfClose up on the analog meter's needle and I instinctively closed one eye and moved my head side to side

author: Dave Turner
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2014, 04:41:38 pm
content: Mike Myers is Canadian

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2014, 05:30:45 pm
content: Quote from: Dave Turner on June 27, 2014, 04:41:38 pmAnd those are not his real teeth,Canadians like us in the US have dental insurance and affordable dentists

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2014, 08:16:04 pm
content: I know.. I know...I was going to note both of those things, but it would have messed with the joke. Plus I figured I might have actually grossed someone out if I used a real picture of an English dude with terrible teeth.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2014, 04:45:52 am
content: Quote from: Smokey on June 27, 2014, 08:16:04 pmNot so much the teeth that creep me out, but the fingers...

author: hikariuk
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 28, 2014, 07:39:02 am
content: Quote from: Stonent on June 28, 2014, 04:45:52 amShane MacGowan is Irish, not English (although he was born in England).

author: electr_peter
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 25, 2014, 05:55:00 pm
content: Does Tektronix sell these USB flash drives separately?