EEVblog 1471 - Mailbag

[@Hellboy-ce9tm]

Yes to the LCR tweezer shoot out. * vote here *

[@ulfg1409]

Yes!

[@kissingfrogs]

yes

[@simontay4851]

Yes! I don't have an LCR tweezer so would definitely be interested in a video comparing the different ones.

[@engineering8336]

Yes

[@deker0954]

Yes

[@yoksel99]

Those green Soviet resistor packages are called VS, in Cyrillic ВС = Высоко Стабильные, which means highly stable.

[@deker0954]

Who made them really?

[@Shabbymannen]

@@deker0954 The Soviets.

[@myusernameislongerth]

this russian multimeter is awesome. we had one when I was a kid. loved playing with the range switch.

[@cidercreekranch]

The "decryptor" reminds me of something similar we had on ship when I was with the Canadian Navy. The case contained the encryption setting for the day and if you opened the door the setting would automatically reset. And that's all I'm going to say about that!

[@m4d3ng]

Loose lips sink ships

[@juliannicholls]

Yes, I recognise that type of cabinet. I remember an incident when I worked for a defence contractor, at a Royal Marine base in England. We spent ages trying to get the crypto to sync with no success and eventually found someone senior who could open the box, and there were just bare connectors in there, no crypto device. I thought I was going to die laughing when the cabinet was found to be empty. Someone had to cycle from another base with a crypto device in their backpack.

[@daic7274]

You probably shouldn't have said that.

[@ecospider5]

During the first Iraq war I was sending a letter to my sister every day. If she didn’t receive one it was because it didn’t get delivered before the next days mail was dumped on top. So when the war was over she got a big stack of them all at once. So yes grabbing from the top of the mail pile is just what people do. Hopefully there is not a year old cake in there somewhere. :)

[@arongooch]

I personally like the shelves look better but all looks awesome either way, Dave.

[@EEVblog]

I could put another shelf in front of the pillar, but that eats up more space in the lab.

[@VividNation]

I love the new background! It always is something more personal and real.

[@CaspaB]

I like the way you tell it like it is. No skipping over the negatives. "Volage" !

[@itemushmush]

yeah that was a show stopper for me. I would not be able to put it up with such a typo! Yikes

[@chrisheath2637]

Just retired from electronics. Always fun to watch your antics from down under, interesting and I always learn something new !

[@oscar3611]

I couldn't stop laughing when he decided to completely tear down a wrongly addressed package. Brutal and funny :)

[@reprapmlp]

"wrongly"

[@dollarbill93]

I noted no polarization filter when reading IC's. i really liked the clarity it offered on camera. great vid as always. Class B and C are preapproved security cabinets used in Australian government, it defines a material thickness and specific locks required to meet this spec (plus heaps more). That box is 19" rackmount, never seen a drop in module like that, maybe for temporary government deployments in the real world.

[@ecospider5]

The golden age of analog testers. Just beautiful. I have my dads from the early 60’s which is great. But this multimeter was just amazing. Wow.

[@carldurrell9943]

Background shelves look good👍

[@bertblankenstein3738]

I love that you are wielding a knife. My favorite segment indeed.

[@td4dotnet]

A few years ago I was working at a data centre that was being converted out from old council offices and in a pile of e-waste we found a black case with a 'desktop' sized Tens machine in it which we hooked up to ourselves on lunch and then randomly zapped each other while we tried to play a driving game on someone's laptop... It was hilarious :-)

[@gblargg]

Simpsons shock therapy clip comes to mind.

[@zyghom]

my first MM was russian, from 80', still the same range switch and quality. I used that for my entire school - 2.5% - 4% accuracy or so, and also battery that I couldn't buy anywhere ;-) The indent was done by the spring and the ball inside

[@crazyboy2006cashier]

Best thing ever getting rid of the tv :)

[@thomasives7560]

Yes, please review the tweezer meters. Cheers!

[@milesbancroft]

Much prefer it without the TV. I always thought the TV made it difficult to work out what you were looking at.

[@dasflugdasflug4201]

TL-4 with same layout as TT-3 was my first own multimeter. Loved it except sometimes it moves on the bench when switching ranges with one hand.

[@TheDefpom]

Who else was waiting for Dave to strap the Tens machine on to test it out.....

[@johncoops6897]

Definitely! In Australia domestic RCDs on power outlets are 30mA, since that's considered safe... so anything under 30mA applied to the private parts should be perfectly OK, right?.

[@allthegearnoidea6752]

I enjoyed seeing that meter very nice. The Bob picture was smashing will be much missed.

[@Bata.andrei]

I am from Romania and I used to have 3 of those and a TL4/2 (the newer, square version). The batteries were hard to come by. The red resistors are called MLT type and are very stable in time, they virtually never go bad. The green ones an older type, I don't know the name of, but they were used a lot in tube applications.

[@KeritechElectronics]

Dymo... Expecting prime grade lolcontent! Hopefully no DRM this time. Lovely antique Soviet multimeter, I like those things :). Joy for ever! Sure as hell it has a lovely smell. And the resistors are old style with radial leads for point-to-point wiring. A common failure mode is a rupture of the ring part of the lead on the end. If that happens, you get an open circuit and have to replace the resistor. By the way, these red MLT metal film resistors are pretty nice and I use them in my amps because I can get them cheap here. They're big for their rated power (a .5W MLT looks like 1...2W modern metal film resistor) but will withstand way more power than the rating says, even if magic smoke happens. Gotta get myself a gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer, LOL. PCB art is joy for ever indeed. I liked that episode :) Shannon tweezers, you say... What else? Electronic lockpicks? :D

[@carldurrell9943]

Background looks good!

[@KB1UIF]

The picture on the Rack Panel Secure Box manual, reminds me of the type of safe used to store the, Nuke, secure launch authentication codes on various military equipment. I believe something similar has been shown in movies like "Crimson Tide" for example. The E.A.M. launch codes are encrypted transmissions and the authentication code keys kept secure !! I'm taking a guess at the purpose of the secure box rack mounting panel but safes would be required anywhere there is a Nuke launch site. Another use could be to house decryption Key equipment for a one time or daily algorithm for performing encryption or decryption.

[@Nik930714]

5:30 Greetings from Bulgaria. My dad has one of those TT-3. The only major problems are the fact that it uses a strange battery (that is expensive as hell now days) for the ohms measurement and the fact that turning the dial is very difficult. I'm not sure it if needs a bit of oil in the right place or they were all like that. I remember playing with that multimeter when i was a kid.

[@healLV]

same here in Latvia. dad had it and now I have it. might have actually been passed down from grandpa. I wonder though how is the battery still holding on. seems its the original it came with though its leaky.

[@Nik930714]

@@healLV Probably just an old battery from the late solviet days that "survived" until now?

[@healLV]

@@Nik930714 yea its leaking but still holds lol

[@Nik930714]

@@healLV What a champ

[@excitedbox5705]

My ex passed out on her arm and damaged some nerves in her forearm and after weeks of not getting better we got her one of those TENS things and it fixed it really fast.

[@johncoops6897]

So she damaged some nerves in her arm after getting drunk?

[@srtamplification]

They used an Encrypter to snyc frequency hopping radios. In the U.S. the nominclature was AN/CYZ-10. For data line communication they used the KG84.

[@davidmcpherson504]

I think the linear voltage regulator is the type you used to find in VCR power supplies that had a black enclosure (the backside was a heat sink) with a row of pins coming out the bottom as many as 20 or so with varying voltages. I was a VCR tech back in the day and actually stocked some of them in my kit.

[@mtpaley1]

I will read more of your whiteboard videos as a routine instead of when they are just relevant. Good for you and probably good for me as well. Giving unstable positive feedback!

[@AtAGlimpse_UB]

I came here for the thumbnail... and I have to say, you are gaining mastery in the "art of thumbnailing" :-)

[@andymouse]

Thats great you can get the files for "Bob's" PCB so you can put those couple of errors right, but what was the FAB House thinking when they put the number there ? its bleeding obvious that its a piece of art !...cheers.

[@nixxonnor]

I really like the electromagnetic radiation poster! Thumbs up! No more of that monitor/TV bulls...

[@adamlives]

Back by popular demand!!

[@samh6761]

Maybe you'll get a rev B of the Widlar PCB in a future mailbag :D

[@richfiles]

I'd look for vintage sockets to solder to that board, so it'll be easier to move vintage parts to a Rev B board if it is ever made. lol

[@daic7274]

For those of us that have taken old equipment apart in we have built in smellovision. Yes it would be possible to do gas sampling of the aroma.

[@frogz]

the tens unit pads are fine, that is how they come, i have a unit for back pain

[@frogz]

you can dip them in water to rehydrate them

[@Sir_Uncle_Ned]

That is one hell of a range switch. I wish more meters would use something like that!

[@PileOfEmptyTapes]

Regarding the flaking varnish on the dial of this lovely Soviet era multimeter, consulting an art conservator might be worth a shot. They're dealing with varnish all the time and may know how to safely restore the dial, if the Baumgartner Restoration channel is any indication.

[@SireSquish]

TENS can be used for neuropathic pain (pain from the nerve itself, not actual tissue damage) so it would be feasible for toothache.

[@StationGarageSt]

Now, when I have finished my inspection, and I am still mad as hell because I have wasted a lot of time being fooled by a bad component - what do I do? I usually WIDLARIZE it, and it makes me feel a lot better. How do you WIDLARIZE something? You take it over to the anvil part of the vice, and you beat on it with a hammer, until it is all crunched down to tiny little pieces, so small that you don’t even have to sweep it off the floor. It makes you feel better. And you know that that component will never vex you again. That’s not a joke, because sometimes if you have a bad pot or a bad capacitor, and you just set it aside, a few months later you find it slipped back into your new circuit and is wasting your time again. When you WIDLARIZE something, that is not going to happen. And the late Bob Widlar is the guy who showed me how to do it. Bob Pease - Troubleshooting Analog Circuits

[@kennethhawkins5943]

That's funny. I was using my TENS unit as I was watching the video.

[@zaprodk]

The "old electronics smell" is phenols and formaldehyde.

[@MikePerigo]

14:55 Totally agreeing with Dave's criticism of the manufacturer adding job number to the panel when I notice how good the eevblog logo looks in the bottom corner. Took a few seconds before I realized it was KZbin overlaying the channel ident on the video :D

[@nameredacted1242]

What the hell is an Electron Cloud EC1421???

[@ScottGrammer]

I want one of those posters. It looks a lot like one you see in the "Superposition" GPU benchmark program.

[@ztechrepairs]

I like this background better!

[@joreemmcmillan7145]

Cool background poster. 😊

[@greybat5550]

Здравствуй! Такие мультиметры до сих пор используют и поверяют. Работал метрологом, и навидался такого раритета. Благодарю за интересные выпуски.

[@rudolphriedel541]

Pink soldermask, I just bought a "RGBDuino Jenny" and now I would like to see 4-color soldermask printing beeing offered by my PCB manufacturer. :-) Just add an image to your gerber files with the same aspect ratio of your PCB and get it printed. :-)

[@techieg33k]

Love the background

[@mtpaley1]

My dad has a multimeter that looks alot like that. I think it comes from the 1970s and all the writing is in Russian (or something similar). It might come to you eventually.

[@Ihamfp]

I have a few NE555 from 1973, not as good as uA702 from the 60s but I'd still put them on a framed PCB like this one :) Gotta check if they still work first tho...

[@DandyDon1]

@8:44 that looks like cadmium dust on the trimmer's bracket. Don't sniff to hard! :)

[@johnsonlam]

Digital tweezers are fun to see.

[@Weissman111]

If you need the adour analysed, you'd have to send the unit to me - I'd have to use a SPME fibre on it. Alternatively, give the guys at Intertek a call - they do this sort of analysis.

[@tommyovesen]

Thats the normal street-knife down there ? Not sure if I want to go to Australia then. Might go to Austria in stead 😂

[@radiotests]

shhotout? hell yeah us yanks love a good shootout. With all the smd stuff in ham radio its required like you said. please add price and channels to get the top winners. you are the man!

[@NolanManteufel]

Yes, i'd love to know what is comprising the electronic smells too.

[@aziztcf]

I did get some relief from a TENS machine on the old S3.

[@edwardlarose7691]

Please do the LCR tweezer shootout! Thanks!

[@carldawson5069]

The pink solder mask. Is that for bigclive?

[@aaronbrandenburg2441]

LOL I thought you were going to say big live when I first started reading it before I even got into the end of the sentence seriously

[@sunuk1915]

EID MUBARAK dear dave and all viewer's

[@gblargg]

22:20 Fascinating, so your brain would actually learn the pattern of this and tune it out, negating its effect. "Modulate the shields!"

[@Subbestionix]

Oh yee a new mail bag!

[@boltzbrain3039]

I recently opend a magnetic stirrer from 84, the smell was amazing, i sure also wana know what that smell actually is.

[@tomwatson6924]

As for the tweezers, I was wondering if they have a "left handed" mode for those of us that are? I'm kinda klutzy with the right hand when it comes to probing around.

[@EEVblog]

Some can flip the screen

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

The Siborg Systems LCR reader, (The one made in Canada) will flip the screen for either hand, and if you put it face down, it will beep 3 times then shut off.

[@Nf6xNet]

I like the shelves more than the TV.

[@BoogieBoogsForever]

Epic thumbnail, my guy!

[@TheDefpom]

Shannon has been trying to send me one of those tweezers too, apparently it got sent back because of the battery !

[@ncot_tech]

25:00 - do not use on face. Can also be used for eyeballs and toothache 🤔

[@TrevorsBench]

I like those tweezers

[@componenx]

The resistors with the flat leads are interesting. I've seen those flat leads on other Russian components like tunnel diodes.

[@Digital-Dan]

The only electronics related smell I'm aware of is called Essence of Allen Bradley. It only emanates when there is also magic smoke.

[@poiu477]

Carefully disassemble that meter and put a clear coat over varnish maybe?

[@dh2032]

it's only a guess the "decryptor" thing, could it be a simple wall safe/ strong box, mounting point as you said, for rack mounting, like in all missile launching films, a box for keep coded key in until needed, open box take out key, put the key wherever its need tp make it happen 321 bang!

[@BonrekTheOrc]

Forget Viagra, just tape that Tens unit to your manhood and you'll be good to go all week!

[@fromgermany271]

I (IT guy with 45y private history in electronics) used to have the Widlar poster („every idiot can count to one“) at the wall behind my desk. Just to confuse the digitals around my. I even share some behavior with him, fortunately not the drinking&smoking, but being nasty to get the right things done.

[@jamess1787]

From an old post-soviet coworker: Russia (USSR) used obscure components, especially consumables in attempts to thwart reverse-engineering.

[@reprapmlp]

(@EEVblog) Dave, that Supermicro quad-G34 motherboard [by your left shoulder as you sit there] is difficult to find fully-populated with all PCIe slots *and* RAID-SAS controller (with zero RAM or CPUs) for under USD300. Guess how I know.

[@gordonwedman3179]

If you really wanted to analyze that old electronics smell it could be done by an environmental or occupational health and safety consulting firm. I used to do that sort of thing. Probably cost at least $1K

[@StevenOBrien]

I wonder if there's an Austrian postal worker somewhere who's just sick of having to constantly deal with boxes for some Aussie bloke filling up his office.

[@otakujhp]

Yeah I really prefer it without the TV, but I also liked the featured lab. I guess those two thoughts cancel each other out, and I end up having no opinion at all. lol

[@stevenknudsen1446]

I love the poster! Have FOUR of them myself!!!!

[@ecospider5]

I had to get a nice wooden frame for mine but that made it nice enough to be allowed to be put in our living room with our other artwork.

[@stevenknudsen1446]

@@ecospider5 me, too. Nice frame, but I need to finish the wall I want to hang it on 😔

[@ecospider5]

I am now looking for a smaller one with current information on it to hang below it.

[@michaelhawthorne8696]

10:42 That is a beautiful specimen

[@lmwlmw4468]

Yeahp, more and more..... for the Corporation's eyes only... even some tiny tweezers!!!

[@ed0c]

love that you said 'not from china, its from hong kong'. BASED!

[@a68k_de]

There is the better background back 👍👍👍

[@srtamplification]

Every time I hear you say Bobby Dazzler, I think of The Curse of Oak Island.

[@eightsprites]

Love the video thumbnail image

[@martinda7446]

The Soviet meter was beautiful.

[@pauldriscoll5010]

I have a friend who suffers with fibro myalgia and regularly uses a tens machine for pain management

[@johnsmiht7776]

You should set aside some old, crusty equipment you receive and invite some participants over for a smell-n--tell.

[@MrCarGuy]

Too bad they misspelled "voltage" on the bottom of the Widlar board

[@davidk8699]

I think the encryptor is really just a cabinet to hide snacks in, inside a server room

[@brotherabe]

Is the FNIRSI-1014D 7" LCD 2 Channel Signal Generator Digital Storage Oscilloscope H4J1 any good for a first Oscilloscope??

[@trcostan]

Looks like a panel mount for a Harris Falcon 3 military radio.

[@zaprodk]

it's a bit sad with the spelling mistake on the PCB plaque ... It would have taken seconds for someone to proof read it :(

[@TH-tl1mk]

I'm probably wrong, the smell from those Soviet multi-meters might be some kind of Formaldehyde? If not, then I don't know. I'm just guessing. :)