EEVblog

[@jfrede1976]

The new mailbag corner looks so tidy. I'm curious how long this condition will last.

[@stevenm.2380]

Color looks a bit muted though.

[@EEVblog]

Steven M. - Lights aren't set up properly yet.

[@v3xt0n]

it looks weird. Hope it gets messy soon.

[@MWNewey]

Until the end of the video

[@felenov]

a few mailbag videos

[@PlasmaHH]

I bet that schmitt family is easily triggered.

[@marvin19966]

see yourself out

[@benjamineh]

Quality stuff right there

[@Mromfgtrololol]

Yeah, they get amped op about anything.

[@userPrehistoricman]

Once they're angry, they're hard to calm down

[@Marty2011uk]

Resistance is futile.

[@KatouMegumiosu]

11:44: service center addresses

[@HighestRank]

Megumi_kun -spoiler alert.

[@KatouMegumiosu]

@@HighestRank Dave asked for it anyway, why would you consider it a "spoiler"?

[@ZomB1986]

I don't even read a single letter Яussian and I guessed that much.

[@smhedge]

And phone numbers

[@hi-friaudioman]

That little board is an RGB mod for the Nintendo 64! just look at the board number on the bottom left! Lol

[@England91]

I was gonna say that as I noticed the n64rgb at the bottom

[@__dm__]

etim.net.au/n64rgb/ "The N64 doesn't output RGB video, only encoded composite video and s-video is available on the A/V output port. It's best to use RGB video for the best looking picture. This board can be installed into any model of Nintendo 64. Digital signal from the from the graphics processor enter one side of the N64RGB and analogue RGB video comes out the other side."

[@scribblargh]

For anyone considering one of these, keep in mind the N64 forced software AA in basically every single game, so it's still gonna look like a vaseline smeared mess even with RGB output :) Check out My Life in Gaming on youtube if you wanna know more about getting the best quality out of old consoles.

[@BavarianM]

That's what I thought when o saw the altera and the RGB

[@XxRaidenxXminecraft]

but on new tv make image a bit more clear but not doing black magic still loks like shit xD

[@orwhat]

I am the guy who sent the soviet stuff, nice to see it here in video. I was also surprised that the main chip in multimeter has a newer date than the one stamped on the back. This could be a warranty case, so maybe it was just replaced later. And as far as I know, the original owner of this device was a rather creative engineer, and I have seen a lot of these pale pink wires across his DIY devices, so it also could be his job.

[@EEVblog]

Thanks.

[@theantipope4354]

That calculator looks very much like a typical TI scientific calculator. I wonder if it's a clone of one, or just has similar styling?

[@MiniLuv-1984]

Byte magazine - a first class publication! Thanks for the memories Dave!

[@vladf8108]

11:44 its a repair shop address book of all USSR 13:33 its a palladium-silver capacitor (some like NP0)

[@WelderRiffer]

in the brochure to the soviet calculator are the addresses of all official repair shops of the USSR

[@mjouwbuis]

The IC and probably the LCD were retrofitted, seeing the meter itself has a date stamp of April 1988 on the type plate. I assume a flatcable was originally fitted.

[@alpagutsencer]

Soviet IC date codes indicates the month of the year not the week. :)

[@RedwoodRhiadra]

That 1991 display driver may have been one of the last Soviet chips made...

[@zyzzyva303]

The card that came with the calculator is a list of addresses of authorized repair centers.

[@jochem_m]

The Altera video board thing is an upgrade kit for a Nintendo 64. The N64 doesn't output RGB, only encoded composite and s-video, so with this kit, some very careful soldering, and some extra adapter bits depending on the version of your console, you can make it output analog RGB. One side of the board gets a digital signal straight from the graphics processor, and then converts them to an analog RGB signal for improved video quality on an otherwise original console.

[@TheMorpheus017]

big sheet with electronica mk51 is probably list of service centers around the country.

[@theantipope4354]

Ah! Makes sense.

[@joopterwijn]

Fun, like being back in past, the lightning and sound are so out of date this is such fun!

[@daryltownsend]

Love the in-line battery current PCB ... simple practical idea for a tricky job.

[@josephcote6120]

I loved Byte magazine. Learned a lot about a lot of things. The Circuit Cellar column was always a good challenge to understand.

[@sonixthatsme]

That's a rgb board from Tim Worthington for a Nintendo 64. (He's from Australia too by the way.)

[@alpagutsencer]

Those soviet stuffs are pure amazing. There is a youtube channel named Msylvain59 who teardowns all old missiles etc. Cable lacing and coating on these pcb's are plain perfect.

[@rationalmartian]

Thanks m8. I just checked him out and subbed. Interesting things.

[@UpcycleElectronics]

^Likewise^ Thx for the reference

[@atmel9077]

I'm following msylvain59 too. I always find Soviet electronics amazing because they look half-handmade and very professional at the same time

[@IvoTrausch]

In Soviet Russia meter probes you!

[@LiLi-or2gm]

My brother taught me how to lace wiring with running knots back in the late 60's- he was an Air Force electronics tech. I've still got a partial spool of waxed lacing cord he gave me from back then.

[@mfx1]

I made a simple Go-No-Go voltage checker for the field techs where I used to work, It just had a Tiny micro and a couple of LED's plus some protection for the power/ADC lines, you taught it the Go/No-Go limits by shorting a pad on the PCB and it stored the ADC values in EEPROM then it was mounted in a clear connector shell so they could see the LED's. It was for use on a 24v vehicle CCTV system and didn't need to be massively accurate.

[@douro20]

The IC in that Casio calculator reminds me a bit of the ones in perestroika-era Soviet calculators where they were bonded to a glass carrier.

[@connor_santoyo]

Suggestion: Maybe reshoot the mailbag outro, just for continuity's sake.

[@khronscave]

18:20 In Soviet Russia, multimeters probe you..? :D

[@russellwarren9595]

22:49 that is a Nintendo 64 RGB mod kit

[@SuperZylar]

yep etim.net.au/n64rgb/instructions-new/

[@girder123]

"N64RGB12" on the pcb is the giveaway

[@russellwarren9595]

if i pay for the postage, can i have it? i have been wanting one for a while

[@IDoNotLikeHandlesOnYT]

Does KZbin now allow videos to be edited after uploading? Because there's a bunch of stuff overlaid on the video showing exactly what it is and how it's installed. But your comment and the others saying the same thing imply that that stuff wasn't in the video originally.

[@petersage5157]

New mailbag nook looks great Dave! Love those square Russki ceramic caps in that moldymeter.

[@mbirth]

12:40 … might the resistors be for contrast adjustment based on ambient temperature? So you can still read something in Siberia?

[@richfiles]

Lovin' the old Soviet calculators. I have a few in my own collection! It's fascinating how anachronistic some of the parts feel, like parts from a few eras were just laced together (always the wire lacing), and almost always done in what seems to be the most labor intensive manner too! I love it!

[@KayronJarvis1]

this is #1148 ? EEVblog #1147 - Mailbag EEVblog #1147 - 1 Cent Regulator! That's MAD!

[@EEVblog]

Oops, will fix that.

[@MithunKalan]

that train runs on magic smoke

[@chromabotia]

HISTORIC, First mailbag from the new lab. Looks great Dave, so neat ~ and I love those three Simson analog meters on your right. Loved the Byte prints, that really took me back, '78, '79. Always look forward to the mailbag! Thanks...

[@terriplays1726]

You never stopped learning - that delay line amazes me. Who would have thought that you can store data in a solid state acoustic wave over multiple reflection reliably?

[@rpgquestboard]

Love that the outro clip is still in the old mailbag spot ;)

[@axelpolentes5275]

23:40 the board is for adding RGB to the N64

[@SlightlyNasty]

If you think that Soviet multimeter is howyadoin', you ought to see the 1992 RITM-2 synthesiser I'm currently restoring. Wooden chassis, the mains fuse is literally a piece of bare fuse wire soldered across the power switch, and all the primary-side power wiring is the same tiny hookup wire used on the PCB. The hinges that hold the keyboard are a household cupboard hinge that's been cut in half with a metal shear to make two (resourceful!). The main PCB looks like it was etched in someone's kitchen, down to being covered in scratches and gouges from where someone's scrubbed off the resist with a brillo pad or something. The circuit is basically a Moog Prodigy with one VCO lopped off, to the point that the schematics are laid out almost identically to the Moog ones. I could go on and on, there's something hilariously wonky about almost every single part of this thing.

[@no_more_free_nicks]

Hi, I was born in Poland in 1977 and I remember those switches when I was disassembling stuff as a kid.

[@h0lx]

I have a piece of dual sided copper clad with wires soldered to both sides for inline current measurement, really useful!

[@WacKEDmaN]

the "f1" shirt...is Will Power..aussie guy who won indy500 this year...ill take one if you dont need them all! :P your new corner is looking good!..the battery current boards are great idea! definatly 'pool room' material!

[@joopterwijn]

20:04 did your pocket phone diaries had the little tone speaker to generate the dial sequence?

[@emmettturner9452]

I instantly recognized Tim Worthington’s N64RGB. FYI: He’s a fellow Aussie, world-renowned for his products like N64RGB and NESRGB. :) I recently flashed one with Peter Bartmann’s “Deblur” firmware using an Altera ByteBlaster/USB Blaster. I still prefer Marshall Hect’s UltraHDMI, but it makes no attempt to deinterlace the few 480i games that are out there, so Tim’s board still has a reason to exist. Without it we had to find early model N64s that needed an analog RGB amp but this one taps into the digital output of the GPU and can restore RGB to the later models. These guys are better known by other names: Viletim/eTim, borti4938, MarshallH. The CS# pad is for TTL level CSYNC and the other one is for 75-ohm impedance CSYNC (standard for consumer RGB-compatible televisions).

[@stevenotmlgpro3464]

The only real difference you will see in a fibre connection, or ADSL, throughput wise, is by shortening the distance between the ISP multiplexer and the modem. Unless there is a fault on the copper pair going into the premises, then changing the copper pair is unlikely to reduce the signal loss, which results in a lower throughput. Length of run is nearly always the deciding factor is a stable signal, which determines the throughput. Cat 6 and other cabling being talked about is mainly when referring to Ethernet, which isn't used, until after the modem in the home.

[@profpep]

ON the Russian scientific calculator, I wonder if the resistors at the top might have been for a display light, or more exotically, a display heater to get contrast back in very cold conditions, after all it might get used in very cold places.

[@KatouMegumiosu]

Dave. Soviet electronic often came with the schematic bundled in.

[@AJB2K3]

10:21 the first tab you lifted was supposed to be tucked inside the box and not folded over the top.

[@ChannelJanis]

@EEVblog that multimeter was manufactured on April 1988. Digital Micromultimerer MMC-01, costed 95RUB

[@caminoprojectUS]

that 5v rail display would make for an interesting inclusion for a retro pc build

[@romyaz1713]

most likely, the russian booklet that comes with the calculator lists all the locations' addresses throughout the USSR where you can repair the stuff under warranty

[@ICanDoThatToo2]

24:09 "Invoved" video quality? Is that good or bad? Do I .. do I want one of these?

[@DerekWitt]

Ooh! I used to read Byte Magazine all the time. The program listings were loads of fun. :)

[@machmar]

I really like this corner setup, much better looking than your previous setup

[@theantipope4354]

The 63.943uS delay line is the chroma (colour) delay for something that decodes PAL colour TV signals, likely a TV or VCR. You can tell because that's the period of a PAL horizontal scan line, & is required to provide the chroma phase signal from the previous scan line that the PAL system uses to stabilise the colours in each scan line, making it superior to the older NTSC system - NTSC equipment doesn't use a delay line.

[@geoffmorrison3648]

Yes PDL is obviously PAL Delay Line. The delay is not exactly one horizontal scan line time (64 microseconds) but 283.5 periods of the subcarrier (4.43361875 MHz). Only the chrominance signal goes through the delay line. That simple relationship to the subcarrier frequency aids the separation of the two colour difference signals that are quadrature modulated on the subcarrier.

[@GeorgeGraves]

You might try painting the walls behind the shelves a darker color. It'll make you and your "background" of stuff pop a bit more. Looks a bit "how you doing" at the moment.

[@timothylamb7861]

Was going to comment the same thing or at least some sort of color on the walls.

[@valerionappi7839]

Yep this shot needs some colors imho

[@EEVblog]

The lighting is not sorted yet for starters.

[@valerionappi7839]

@@EEVblog i'd go for a fluo pink for the table esd mat 👌

[@HighestRank]

Didn’t have time to paint it NOR build it to scale.

[@TomLeg]

Used to love Byte ... and Dr Dobbs ... and going way back, Creative Computing

[@nesnioreh]

RGB and Composite sync, not chip select. Hook it up to a TV and see what shows up on screen!

[@MartinAndersen]

I still have my Casio Datacal 50 in a box somewhere... got it back in the early 90' I think..

[@electronicsNmore]

A bunch of cool stuff. Great video!

[@Graham_Langley]

That multimeter looks like a direct copy of the Fluke 8020A, an early example of which is sitting here waiting for me to get around to replacing the failed LCD.

[@theawfulmrbird]

Love how you moved back to the old lab for the end screen XD

[@ChongMcBong]

the russian calculator and meter are made by Electronika, the text on the back of the meter says micromultimetr

[@kissingfrogs]

pity all the best stuff is no longer made in Nippon

[@dhpbear2]

I guess the only thing he couldn't reproduce was the totally messed up color-code of the drawn resistor! (Is that a RED body?) (3:19)

[@angelocafelo3423]

love your new lab mate!!!!

[@Yourweebyneighbor]

МК stands for micro calculator, I think. And that piece of paper is a list of repair shops across the Soviet Union.

[@urdnal]

The back panel of that Soviet DMM shows it was made in 1988. Either the chip with "9104" was put in after or that number is not a date code

[@flymypg]

I didn't have time for a 30 minute video, but I didn't want to miss any of it, so I ran it at 2.0x speed and enabled the auto-generated closed captions. It was great! Though the speech was often hard to understand, the captions were easily readable. A 30 minute Mailbag in 15 minutes: Win!

[@StreuB1]

Thank you Dave!!! Great as always and great to see ya in the new spot!! I DIG IT! The coolest thing I have ever seen though is that analog delay line. HOLY CRAP that is awesome!!!! :-O

[@spokehedz]

Ohgod, that little board is going to be inserted into so many spare corners of panelized boards... That is one heck of a good idea...

[@davidparrish1133]

Loved Byte. Still have my issues, starting with the .01 centennial issue.

[@northof-62]

I have to check out my old Byte mags now.

[@12voltvids]

I have one of those datacal 50 units!

[@tomvleeuwen]

Never noticed before that the last part is pre-recorded. The new lab makes it obvious :-)

[@diagtula]

It places were MK51 calculator can be repaired (service centres adress and phone ). No its not crystal its zener diode

[@Mythricia1988]

The name of the calculator appears to be simply "Elektronika" - I can only read cyrillic letters, so I don't know if there's any more grammatical meaning to it. But I guess it's an obvious enough name! The multimeter says "Mikromultimetr Zifrovoiy, elektronika MMZ-01" or something like that, the ц character doesn't have a latin analogue, the closest is like Z as in pizza. Edit: Love the CCCP emblem on the backside of the calculator! Below, it says (approximately) "Mikrokalkylator Elektronika".

[@Mythricia1988]

The translation suggesions is actually the same one made on Wikipedia ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tse_(Cyrillic) ), I myself got the same translation from a Russian teacher who has been helping me learn. That said I agree with you, the "ts" avoids the conflict with Ze. I think it depends on what your point of view is; here in scandinavia, we use a pretty pronounced "ts" sound in "pizza", so for me the translation always made perfect sense (our "z" is very different from English). @@george.b.

[@george.b.]

​@@Mythricia1988 I guess that's the most usual pronunciation of "pizza" most everywhere :) and yeah, local transliteration customs can be kinda different. Estonians, for instance, use "õ" for ы, which I think is pretty weird, but in their context it makes sense. My particular point of view, however, is derived from transliteration standards: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization_of_Russian The article you linked even states: "In English, Tse is commonly romanized as ⟨ts⟩. However, in proper names (personal names, toponyms, etc.) and titles it may also be rendered as ⟨c⟩"

[@george.b.]

...in the words of Andrew Tanenbaum, "the nice thing about standards is that you have so many to choose from".

[@shreyaskul]

New mailbag setup is cool

[@imgertberg5344]

Congrats with the new location and successfully refurnishing the mailbag 'corner' , like the analog meters ! Waiting for the subtitling before watching this video, almost can't wait but want to know what u ramble ;)

[@3k2p6]

I think you need more and different light at this part of your new lab. But the set up looks cool, a lot of space.

[@Blowcrafter]

new setup looks really good :D

[@dtiydr]

13:18 I would very much guess its a led, since they have a much more stable Vf at extremely low currents than zeners do, to get a stable voltage for the cpu. You could see them in many calculators back then and even long way into the -90.

[@mcasualjacques]

watch tomorrow's videos today ! ( in select timezones )

[@xjet]

Dave has obviously been to the Sunshine Tafe beauty academy :-)

[@EEVblog]

And I almost won the lot on the Price is Right!

[@JonTheBrush]

Always love mailbag!

[@willyarma_uk]

Looking good with the new mailbag corner. Like it. Needs a bit more crap on the shelves tho ;)

[@UpcycleElectronics]

25:00 Wow...I feel so judged for my beginner designs right now(that are way worse than this).... com'on Dave! Did you have to roll out the red carpet for this walk of shame?? I feel like Chewy at the end of A New Hope. *Voice: Seinfeld Soup Nazi " NO METAL FOR YOU!!" Note to self: ALL back side of PCB traces = International shaming. ...back in 3 months... I'll be in KiCAD if you need me... -Jake

[@namibjDerEchte]

I heard topoR can beat you and complete the no via's, no holes pcb layout challenge on it's own.... So nice if you want to use toner transfer etching and not use a drill....

[@puttermouse]

bodge wire or trace which as more shame?

[@theantipope4354]

So, your PCB was the one with the 2 traces on the 2nd layer? Bummer. Doing digital layouts on a single side is always a challenge. Could be worse though; you needed a ground plane anyway, so the jumpers didn't triple your cost, & back in the day, we would've had to use wire jumpers instead.

[@UpcycleElectronics]

@@theantipope4354 I wish I could claim a design like this as my own. This example was much better than what I've done thus far. Heck, I have only managed two DIY etching runs of boards on a larger scale (18in × 12in SS CEM). I've done around a dozen etches of smaller boards of my own designs including a couple of double sided ones but nothing too fancy. I'm still learning the obvious stuff like proper orientation of jumpers North/South & East/West only. Just before watching this I was working on a board I designed several months ago and had just etched. I was populating it when this video was uploaded, and literally took a break to watch this because I was super bummed at how hideous my inconsistent diagonal jumpers look on an otherwise decent looking (IMO) and symmetrical design....then Dave aptly joked about this little thing...and...well... that board has been shoved aside while I work on other stuff ever since. I removed the jumpers and plan to replace them with point wiring on the bottom eventually, but still, stuff like that is a bummer considering the time spent/wasted. -Jake

[@cyclecamp1]

I used to write software once in a while for Steve Ciarcia's column in BYTE.

[@Yourweebyneighbor]

14:10 Micromultimeter Digital Electronica mmc-01 Serial number Build date Price

[@userPrehistoricman]

That cost £140 equiv. to today's money! Russian Rubles have really inflated

[@Yourweebyneighbor]

@@userPrehistoricman Those were Soviet rubles (SUR). Our currency was replaced twice since then.

[@userPrehistoricman]

Interesting... the calculator I used didn't say anything about it.

[@Biela2008]

That Russki "Multimetr" was built in April of 1988. Just a tiny bit older than me :D

[@alch3myau]

Geez, you better subscribe with the way hes telling you to while waving that knife....

[@neteagle2k9]

Anh update on the supply custom LCD ?

[@milenedejong1400]

welcome back dave.. i can see you feel at home at your new place! is all the moving done ? will we get a tour soon ?

[@Orbis92]

What's with those delay lines? At the age of 10 or so, I disassembled an old video camera, and the only strange part, I couldn't make a sense of turned out to be a delay line nearly 10 years later in on of your other mailbag videos :)

[@DasMrOSi]

"The European PAL standard for color broadcasts compares the signal from two successive lines of the image in order to avoid color shifting due to small phase shifts. By comparing two lines, one of which is inverted, the shifting is averaged and the resulting signal more closely matches the original signal, even in the presence of interference. In order to compare the two lines, a piezoelectric delay unit which delays the signal by a time that is equal to the duration of each line, 64 µs, is inserted in one of the two signal paths that are compared." -Wikipedia

[@yaosio]

I want to see a tear down of the duplo set.

[@Ghozer]

Loving it, Looks the same as it did, but cleaner and tidier... Also, the sound is better, it's not as echo'd, has a 'soundbox' effect.. but I like it, no background noise like on the other...

[@sourabhshete1994]

Hi, Dave Jones. There isn't sufficient material on the internet to learn about Boost to Battery topology, it'd be great if you could make a tutorial on the same.

[@Grants2251]

Had this soviet calculator back in the school. Was great at a time, a lot of functions, except for common power switch contact problems. You have to push power switch not all way up to make it work. And extremely low power consumption, battery last forever. Definitely design was a copy from the west

[@george.b.]

I think the КР572ПВ5 (KR572PV5) chip on the Soviet multimeter has been replaced at some point - the date code on the back of the unit says 1988, and other chips around it have an '87 date code.

[@ZomB1986]

29:42 I see my opened package on that piece of 'old' footage. (from #1133)

[@klightspeed]

10:11 Given that you are opening it from the bottom, and the bottom flap is taped and not interlocked, I would guess that is what the sticker is talking about.

[@daab889]

3:12 Is that the magic blue smoke?

[@johanlaurasia]

What are reruns?

[@PlasmaHH]

Those delay lines, I wonder if you have any problems characterizing them with an SA with TG because of the delay...

[@zukjeff]

Calculator: Thermistor for lcd contrast in cold Europe.

[@petroldevo9934]

That driver chip looks like it was recently replaced. Everything else has conformal coating except that one chip.