EEVblog #958 - Mailbag - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 19, 2016, 11:49:30 pm
content: XMAS MailbagSPOILERS:T-Shirts:https://teespring.com/stores/eevblogTritium powered nuclear battery from NurdRagehttps://www.youtube.com/user/NurdRageBlackberry Playbook Tablet TeardownSony Video & Audio Editing System 1990's stylehttps://www.youtube.com/user/lexonacidTinyLabs 125KHz RFID keyfob cloning devicehttp://tinylabs.io0603 Resistor Kit:https://www.tindie.com/products/ChristopherN/e12-0603-1-resistor-kit/?pt=full_prod_searchTinyGrillhttps://www.amazon.de/Firestarter-Single-Grill-aus-hochwertigem-Edelstahl/dp/B01LXA84XU/Telematics Gateway (Dodge Charger 2011) TeardownCicso GLC-SX-MM Multi-Mode fibre optic module teardownhttp://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/interfaces-modules/gigabit-ethernet-gbic-sfp-modules/product_data_sheet0900aecd8033f885.pdfTesla vs Edison T-Shirt

author: Lex_Michdelectron
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2016, 06:51:40 am
content: So did you find the stickers that flew out of the note or are they lost behind the bench?

author: jonovid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2016, 09:24:26 am
content: Awesome!Sony Video Audio Editing System at the end of the day its all just VCR to VCR control. & some Audio mixing.in the 80s -going in to the 90s I did try to build my own VCR to VCR Editing System with limited success.Tritium powered nuclear battery may be just the trick for powering an always on, mini data loger or trailer odometer. set & forget.Resistor Kit, just the kit, for all your loose SMD, it's about time.

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2016, 09:56:56 am
content: Damn, I just looked and those tritium rods are expensive. You've got $100+ of them there.http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=betalight

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2016, 10:00:50 am
content: Quote from: jonovid on December 20, 2016, 09:24:26 amDoes the IR output of the controller just go to an ordinary VCR?(Presumably a special SONY VCR because... SONY!)

author: kalleboo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2016, 10:04:27 am
content: Quote from: Fungus on December 20, 2016, 10:00:50 amYeah, all I was thinking looking at that was the IR control going to two tape decks wired between each other (this was also addressed in the YouTube comments)edit: I looked up the service manual - the Control L lead in the panel on the bottom connects to your camcorder, the IR controls to your VCR, then you connect the video leads from the camera to the VCR. Then the machine tells the camcorder to queue up the video/play, and tells the VCR to pause/record.It worked with non-Sony VCRs by teaching it the IR remote signals - this is what the IR panel on the front of the device is for (rather than the emitters on the back).It even has a whole system to let you fine-tune the delay in playback/recording between the two devices to make sure the cues get hit.This thing won the Japanese "Good Design Award" in 1991!http://www.g-mark.org/award/describe/18077

author: Lex_Michdelectron
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2016, 10:49:44 am
content: Quote from: kalleboo on December 20, 2016, 10:04:27 amWow, never knew it was this advanced... Almost made me regret shipping it, but if I didn't, I never would have known that it was this well thought out. Hats off to the boys from Sony!

author: kalleboo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2016, 12:08:38 pm
content: Quote from: Lex_Michdelectron on December 20, 2016, 10:49:44 amThe functionality is pretty impressive, but Dave's assessment is still right... hardware-wise, there's less in there than in a modern "learning" remote.

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 20, 2016, 01:48:19 pm
content: if you wanted to see deeper into one of those fiber transceivers, this is the emitter diode... for scale the window is about 2mm diameter

author: NottheDan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2016, 03:59:04 pm
content: Ah, the Blackberry Playbook. Still love the way it handles most of the time. Although, it shows its age by now.

author: Towger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2016, 10:02:26 pm
content: Quote from: NottheDan on December 20, 2016, 03:59:04 pmIt was only a 16GB version. Blackberry appeared to have dumped a huge stock of the 64GB version to PC World in the UK and Ireland, for a very low price. I bought two for the kids and they still work fine except the YouTube player uses the old non supported API :-( I never managed to find a replacement player which actually worked, but I think there is a way to side load Android apps on to it. Never had problems with the wifi. One annoying thing is the time it takes to boot from a cold start, it replaces the OS with a backup on each boot up.

author: NottheDan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2016, 10:25:59 pm
content: Quote from: Towger on December 20, 2016, 10:02:26 pmPut the Origami browser on and access YouTube through that. Last I tried it still worked.I do actually have wifi issues with mine. For some reason it insists that the 2.4GHz network at home is WEP instead of WPA2 and I can't convince it other wise and for a while it refused to see the 5GHz one. Though, it recovered from the latter issue after a while.

author: edy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 21, 2016, 02:23:36 am
content: Quote from: NottheDan on December 20, 2016, 03:59:04 pmI've got a few... most of them obtained free from BlackBerry for making apps and entering contests. I live about 1 hour away from Waterloo, BlackBerry HQ... My first smartphone was a BlackBerry and I am a huge fan. I actually started developing apps on the BlackBerry Playbook and then migrated some over to BB10 devices when they came out (I was part of the pre-release and got my hands on Dev Alpha A and C and now have 2 red developer-only Z10's). You can find my apps all on there. Sad that BlackBerry couldn't get traction on QNX/BB10. It is a slick fast robust little OS that runs a ton of embedded devices that need reliability and security. I still use mine every day, they are the only tablets I have ever owned.For those of you with Playbooks, you can download my apps. Just search BlackBerry app store for "edy". Same goes for BB10 phones.Just find one of my apps and choose "more from this developer" to see the rest. You'll find my "Smoking Calculator", my first app (it's a HTML5/Javascript/CSS). My game "Quantum Colliders" which I did with Marmalade SDK, a 2D game engine. My "Talking Alarm Text Clock" is also HTML5. On BB10 phones I have "Converter Pro" (made with QML/Momentics IDE) and others.It was fun while it lasted. Here's my app store:https://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/vendor/31328/?lang=enBy the way... There used to be a glitch with the Playbooks where if you let them drain too much battery, they wouldn't power back on as the software/chip designed to bootstrap the charging process also relied on at least some minimal power as well. The secret was to open up the Playbook and disconnect and reconnect the batteries (I guess that completely reset the charging chip). Sometimes you could also do it by holding down the power button a long long time. That was a major issue at the time which never got fixed.

author: gemby
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 21, 2016, 07:26:05 am
content: 7:02 "...this is bootom side, so we have being mooned..." :-D

author: Towger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 21, 2016, 08:02:25 am
content: The two blue multimeters tastefully positioned half out of shot are tempting.

author: StuB
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 18, 2017, 06:36:04 pm
content: Old thread is old, I know, but I came across this video in my 'watch it again' list and realized that I didn't remember seeing any video (segment) where Dave actually ends up powering anything with this home made contraption. Did I miss a video, or are we still staying tuned? Thanks!