EEVblog 1649 - Mailbag: M5stack, Beelink Mini PC, ZOYI LCR, ToughOn Battery

[@retrozmachine1189]

The problem with the meter is obvious. They sent one with the northern hemisphere firmware loaded. Download the southern hemisphere version and it'll be fixed.

[@JSMCPN]

That can't be it. Up north we don't spell it "Baterry" like the screen shows.

[@kiplinght]

The picture included in the letter ALSO shows the polarity wrong, they must have something wrong with the firmware

[@bobimnottellin362]

The electricity toilet swirling goes the opposite direction, yeah?

[@EEVblog]

@@kiplinght Yeah, I couldn't believe that when I noticed it on their own cover letter!

[@conorstewart2214]

​@@kiplinght fortunately it should be a very easy firmware fix.

[@VolosProjects]

I’m the author of this voltmeter program for the M5Stack Core2. It’s an honor to see my work featured on this channel, even though this UI design is outdated and I’m not a fan of it anymore. But it’s really nice to see it in Dave’s workshop. I’m not sure what happened with the sensor; on my setup, the example displays the correct polarity.

[@so4706]

hi Volos, i was mentioning - see below. its a problem within the Voltmeter.h file - maybe you was trying something out. #define VOLTMETER_MEASURING_DIR -1 …

[@so4706]

… and as mentionend i like your UIs

[@manafount2600]

Volos is here! What is this, a cross-over episode?!

[@FlyingShotsman]

At 7:00 in the video, the image on the letter that was included in the package to Dave shows the unit measuring +5V but displaying -5V. EDIT: Oops, I see Dave pointed that out later...

[@R50_J0]

Edge Wedge is very clever. Good job.

[@s_s-g4d]

43:30 it does show you the orientation on the screen. that icon changes depending on how you connect the probes.

[@ulfg1409]

Yes to LCR meter shootout.

[@lostcosmos]

Double yes! It would be good to see these vs. the ST5-S Professional smart tweezers.

[@h2k368]

for the relief of the zoyi LCR-tweezer: in 43:13 it flips the diode-symbol in the display as you swap the polarity of the component

[@EEVblog]

Missed that. But ok, how to you know which probe is which?

[@JMMC1005]

​@@EEVblog I would assume that the orientation matches the probes? That's what it looks like to me.

[@andrewwakefield4519]

Yes, exactly.

[@originalmianos]

M5Stack were bought by Espressif a couple of months ago. Pretty good little ecosystem for the beginner.

[@violentsense]

Yeah. Pretty good for people who don't give a shit about voltage polarity.

[@alch3myau]

@@violentsense lol'd

[@housinit]

​@@violentsensePolarity is overrated!

[@moeburn]

ah that explains it, + and - are reversed in China.

[@originalmianos]

@@moeburn Nah, they sent Dave a customised one already set for Australia, he is not holding it upside down.

[@TorchHacker]

I appreciate the time and effort that you put into the Mailbag. It's only 54 minutes on KZbin but I can see that a lot more effort has gone into it (i.e. the succinct clips flowing into each other to demonstrate an item).

[@Vereus968]

I'd be really interested in the LCR tweezer shootout, I've been considering one of those for a while now.

[@johnsonlam]

Really have no idea how to choose.

[@EEVblog]

@@johnsonlam That's the problem. I'd have the come up with a suite of tests and criteria to judge.

[@mqblowe]

@@EEVblog I bought a cheapo LCR tweezer jobby and its shit. They are handy though - so a shootout would be most welcome. I'm definitely in the market for buying a new one.

[@guni82]

22:57 they probably mixed up the top and bottom label in the factory. The interface description seems to be on the wrong side too.

[@ignispurgatorius5297]

That was my first thought as well. Without having seen other devices, chances are that in the letter the sales guy picked the very unit they send Dave. At least I hope for them that they don't have that issue with all of their units. ;)

[@rosonowski]

32:30 - you can run HomeAssistant in a container, or in a VM - they just encourage you to run it bare metal because it's got the closest access to the various hardware you might attach to it to let it communicate with other devices - zwave/zigbee dongles, rs232 interfaces, that kind of thing. But if you know what you're doing, it won't know or care about the difference.

[@natearrigoni]

Yea, I set up HA OS on my Pi them moved it to a MU. But I just moved it to a TrueNAS vm and it was super easy to point the VM to the USB BT and Zigbee dongles I use. It was super easy to back it up, install the VM and restore the HA instance. I'm also running the TrueNAS instance on an Odroid lol.

[@AndrewTSq]

I would rather just install it "bare metal" if its on my home computer. Containers or VM just adds complexity that is not needed in your home enviroment.

[@chrisridesbicycles]

Thumbs up to Victor. That edge connector is very clever. Maybe I can convince our manufacturing department that this is a good solution for programming in the production line.

[@0xbenedikt]

It is nice, but there are already existing solutions like the TagConnect, which I really like to use

[@TradieTrev]

Your little fellas Dave would have a field day with the m5stack, wish I had something like that as a young bloke!

[@r7boatguy]

Nice shout out to Volos! He does some amazing stuff with ESP32 modules with tiny screens, well worth watching.

[@VolosProjects]

Thank you my friend. It is nice to see my work on this great chanell. I would have liked if they had used a more recent example, but it’s fine-this one is great too.

[@VolosProjects]

@bhambhole thank you.

[@PhillipRhodes]

Yes, definitely do the LCR Tweezer shootout!

[@Daniel-vh9lg]

Wow, I'm gonna have to order a few. I really like the layout and all the details right on the case, that's so convenient.

[@parawizard]

LCR tweezer shootout would be awesome. There is even the LCR-Reader-R3 that has a built in component tester!

[@zjoesmoe2670]

One of my favorite segments on KZbin

[@alanmon2690]

The M4stack - nice interface but "BATERRY"(sic)?

[@faeranne]

I've used that voltage module before. The documentation and library M5Stack supplied at the time had a typo that caused readings to be inverted. I'm guessing whoever put this together was being quick and just didn't realize the documentation was wrong. The circuit and chip, when used with traditional Arduino or MicroPython works a treat and registers correctly

[@turbinia]

If you want to more accurately measure power consumption using the FNB58 then it can be powered with a separate USB in the PC port.

[@landspide]

Saw a tonne of these m5stack devices in DenDen Osaka... Even in, get this... Bloody vending machines! Insane!

[@conorstewart2214]

The LCR tweezers do tell you the polarity, if you look on the screen it shows an extra diode symbol between the legs/arms of the tweezers to show polarity.

[@TheDefpom]

@38:15 I did a full review on the Zoyi LCR tweezer a few weeks ago

[@RandyDarkshade2]

Forcing you to consent to emails and data harvesting is not consent it's a dick move. No thanks. Not supporting a company that does that regardless of how "good" their product is.

[@UKsystems]

However lots of companies do and don’t ask you from countries in Leicester data requirements the issue was they have actual purposes for this data and quite often adds to what makes it good

[@AndrewTSq]

@@UKsystems I disagree that the data collection adds any benefit. I think all sorts of telemetry like usage etc, should be banned.

[@UKsystems]

@ in most cases the user wants the website to remember things and they want it to work even if they clear all browsing data the website has to collect data for that tracking data serves loads of purposes that are very useful. However in most cases it is made a anonymous such that the web owner simply track who is clicking on a certain thing more so for instance they could add more surfers for a certain page.

[@RandyDarkshade2]

@@UKsystems Most sites give you the option to accept or decline tracking cookies, and even if you decline you can still use nthe website, they don;t force it upon you. It's not "consdent" if we don;t have the option.

[@AndrewTSq]

@@UKsystems you can store that data in the user profile, or if its localside, you can store it in local storage.

[@TheDefpom]

@42:20 it displays on screen the polarity, when it detects one.

[@PatrickHoodDaniel]

I love that idea. I may use that idea on my boards. Interesting alternative to pogo pins.

[@scottholmes4388]

Victors work on the EEVBlog. That made my day.

[@Wineman3383]

Heck yeah mailbag! Been awhile since I watched a new one

[@ivolol]

Yes LCR shootout. I believe Matias did a good practical review of FNIRSI's, on his 'Matthias random stuff' channel, as well as Defpom has compared both of them, if you're looking for ideas. I believe the UI and UX and finish are probably the most important to test for these things, as long as they're not completely failing their specs.

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

I've got the FNIRSI tweez and it's fast and easy to use. Sometimes it glitches on contact but it corrects.

[@antoineroquentin2297]

53:40 how much does the usb power meter consume? I think it isn't included in the measurement

[@stevec.]

I bet if you look at the code for the M5Core2, the firmware they put on it probably has a mistake in the code that reads the wrong input as positive and negative. Likely just got the pins swapped in the code by accident. I use a few of the M5Stack Atom Lite S3's and a bunch of ADC's to measure a heap of sensors dotted around the place. They actually work really well, and the package is much better than most of the ESP32 dev boards available. Better yet, the various cases and devices are all built to fit into Lego Technic frames and machines you build. They were originally designed for kids at school to make robots or all sorts of other fun stuff out of lego and similar components.

[@m3chanist]

That edge wedge is a thing of beauty. Coolest thing I've seen in a while. Hats of to the creator, nice brain action. I just put one of those mini pc in my milling machine for linuxcnc, a T8 firebird with the n100 chip, runs like a wee ripper. At 220 NZ kopeks with 16gb ram and 512gb ssd, a no brainer.

[@MarcelHuguenin]

Yeah I would like a review of the Zoyi LCR tweezers please Dave.

[@robina.jensen6114]

The M5Stack Voltmeter just need an update. It can't be hard to invert the result on the display so it correlate with the sticker.

[@faeranne]

Yup. The UIFlow library just has a typo. far as I know it's never been fixed (but I haven't used it in a few years.) the micropython and arduino libraries register it correctly.

[@GryfoGT]

the mistake is obvious if you look at it ... seams that they glue the stickers on the wrong side

[@Tim3ru]

Yes please on the LCR Meter shootout episode, I just have a UNI-T SMD tester, so no inductors for it, but works well and I'm happy with it. Afraid I'll blow through it's max 36V warning some day... : ))

[@TorchHacker]

I've love an LCR tweezer shootout! Be sure to update all the firmware. That HOLD button can save the measurement to a file (data logging feature added to the Zoyi MD1). I wish the MD1 could do more than 0.6V. Then I could test LEDs in torches! I had fun visiting Zoyi earlier this year while visiting HQB for the first time in Shenzhen.

[@johntilghman]

@EEVblog Would love you to do a deep dive on the M5Stack

[@omegatotal]

Airlines don't care about the rated capacity, but they do care about the battery capacity these days. It's good that they put both on there.

[@jetjazz05]

Happy Halloween from the USA!

[@multi2sim]

Dave, I'll look for an LCR meter, but I'd for sure appreciate a LCR Tweezer shootout! Best Wishes from Texas, Jonathan

[@KeritechElectronics]

I really like the EdgeWedge, it's mighty cool!

[@williamsmith455]

42:30 you should be able to change the voltage that probe uses. It's voltage level is too low to hit the threshold voltage of some diodes.

[@heck-heck]

22:18 not a backup battery but a vibro

[@TomLeg]

LCR comparison sounds interesting. Include price info.

[@MrBoboka12]

10w is nuts for this mini pc on idle, should be 5-7w. Well I'm sure that pre-installed bloatware (w11) adds a fair margin.

[@SpacyNG]

One little thing you might've missed is that the integrated C cable of the powerbank is input and output. Don't know how common that is, but I think that's a cool little feature.

[@EsotericArctos]

The chip on the connector plate (M5 Stack) looks like a Temp/Humidity sensor, either a BMP or BME series

[@zotekmultimeters4774]

Many thanks for the review.😀

[@DESX312]

Saw some other reviews that were more in depth on that zoyi lcr. I think im about to snag one. Looks solid and accurate.

[@nicholaseastman6915]

Zoyi twezers indicates the polarity (anode and cathode) of a tested diode on its display.

[@Zeebee1971]

@22:49 Dave, weren't the voltmeter housing halves installed backwards? Can't they be swapped?

[@JamesLewis]

You'll notice that the colour image of the meter in the accompanying letter shows the meter being tested and it also shows inverted polarity there... it was the first thing I noticed when you showed the letter at 7:10

[@Tech-Relief]

I thought everyone knew about M5Stack, I use an M5Stack-C3 controller with PlatformIO/Arduino and made a watt meter with one of their Current and Watt meters which works with up to 240 Vac....

[@arvetemecha]

The M5Stack is an easy IoT building block you can program using many tools and frameworks UIFlow, arduino studio, micropython ... It's basically an improved ESP32 DevKit with all the bells and whistles (display, RTC, LiPobattery, BMS, USBC,Dupont connectors) in an ergonomic form factor, replacing the usual breadboard+esp32+wires+...you would need to prototype some home wifi connected appliance. Much more powerful than the usual arduino thingy + shields (but more expensive as well). So it just seems that the little example program which was run by the M5Stack had inverted inputs for the Voltmeter module.

[@galileo_rs]

Dual boot Dave or install it on a virtual machine if you want to use that windoze install, you can run HA inside a virtual machine.

[@jansmit4628]

Put the dongle in the slower USB port on the rear which will be more than fast enough for a mouse or keyboard and have the front ports for more often plug and play stuff.

[@conorstewart2214]

The continuity function on the LCR tweezers could be useful for troubleshooting. You could use it to test fuses, check if caps have shorted, check if inductors have failed open circuit, etc. it may be easier to do than using a normal multimeter and having to hold and position both probes.

[@geoffswan1254]

The multi-NIC mini-PC boxes make excellent firewall/routers. Newest fanless ones have 4x2.5G ethernet ports. I've used one of the older BeeLink boxes as a mail cache here which is very handy.

[@volodumurkalunyak4651]

54:04 - not at 0,1Watts output, but at 0,5Watts output. FNB58 takes ~0.4W itself.

[@ncot_tech]

Damn! Get me one of those 11,000Ah battery packs, I'll keep it in my EV as a backup battery. In fact they looks quite small, I'll buy five. Could go a whole week without recharging then 🤣

[@unmanaged]

adjust the unit on the flow and you can use that to test the airflow in a project case ...

[@DrFiero]

I've got that M5Dial - going to use it in the dash of a custom car!

[@douro20]

Our Beelink EQ system has a Core i3-N305 in it. Apparently it was discontinued the same year it was introduced- at least that's what my brother says. It has a 12V input on the back for power. I need to order a spare fan for it.

[@onthewindyside]

I bought the m5stack cores3... Very impressive BUT you can't use the JTAG pins for the debugger interface. That means it's not possible to use the 'real' debugger in visual studio code 😢.

[@mikeissweet]

UPDI with just 3 pins is a tremendous luxury. I prefer to make the necessary pads tiny and close to the device and go with pogo pins.

[@capybara5494]

I miss the 555 shirt so much, was going to replace my old one with a brand new one only to find you don’t sell it anymore 😢

[@alanmon2690]

The M5Stack reminded me of the "Seeed Studio Wio Terminal" which had some more connections and switches.

[@fairhall001]

M5Stack video please!

[@barrybogart5436]

I have one. But do do an LCR tweezer shootout. And don't forget that green Extech job!

[@fredflickinger643]

It would be awesome to have an LCR Shootout!

[@ShlomoAdelman]

Hey dave, I hope you see this. You can run Home Assistant in a docker too. You don't need to nuke the OS.

[@hannuhanhi183]

That's a KNIFE in line with Dundee

[@ddzwiedziu]

I don't think patenting is to prevent open source usage (depending on the FLOSS licence used).

[@googacct]

I have a couple of the Beelinks. One I used as a media PC failed after a couple of years. So it it is hard to say if it is a bargain as far as longevity. On the surviving Beelink, I have vmware installed to run SDR software. So you could install vmware and run HA from that. I have found HA is a bit of a pain to work with and their updates always seem to break something on my setup. However that is the price you pay if you do not want to send all your personal data to Amazon or some other company that you can pretty much count on to abuse the data they collect on you.

[@thefatmoop]

Iot did takeoff. How many gadgets (thermostats, home security, sump pumps, water softeners, humidifiers) come with wifi now?

[@hitchjay]

Can any tell me the size of the chart "Electromagnetic Radiation" poster in the background? is it 22x33 inches? (found it on amazon)

[@danman32]

I doubt it is the label that's the problem with the voltmeter, I bet that sensor came that way from M5. More likely his VM firmware is reading the sensor data backwards

[@ahmetkipkip]

M5stack is really cool. Pmic, SDRAM and such. Cool gadget

[@lacroustinette5299]

im wondering if the swapped polarity on the voltmeter is due to two different people in their team noticing the same issue - the programmer : "let's invert the reading in software to make it correct!", the designer "let's swap the labels!". So at the end it's exactly the same :D

[@Orbis92]

Did they put the voltmeter labels on the wrong side since day one and didn't fix it in software or what is happening here? :D

[@so4706]

Hi, the M5Stack contains the github program created by “volos”. there is a bug in Voltmeter.h. VOLTMETER_MEASURING_DIR is defined to be -1. i guess if you set it to 1 it will work with this ADC.

[@johncoops6897]

49:58 - the 20,000 mAh is the capacity of cells, required for Aviation compliance (can it be allowed in checked luggage)

[@pederb82]

The zoyi meter works quite well. User fault. Excellent at measuring in circuit and to measure caps it’s brilliant. Dude. It litterally show you the direction of the diode on the screen. And you must pick the correct volt it used to measure caps. Also the frequency is changeable.

[@whitemark84]

The Edge Wedge is defo a good idea its something the guy should start up again

[@slicked9778]

Probably been a feature for a while but I watch videos full screen and hadn't seen it till now.. When you said "Thumbs up or thumbs down" it highlighted the thumbs buttons on youtube. Crazy times.

[@kchiem]

29:55 what's up with the camera?

[@gshingles]

Note to case designers: "Mark the end with the Phoenix connector with + and -. in a large size font The + should have a red background and the - a black background." That's all the info they need, right?

[@RipHBL3]

seem to be a good one to ask what's the proper way to unhook a car baterry

[@johncoops6897]

Random irrelevant comment is irrelevant 😂

[@MadawaskaObservatory]

almost 1 million subs. congrats

[@shakaibsafvi97]

it's not a microphone Dave.... it's a pressure sensor... !!!!

[@kiplinght]

@@shakaibsafvi97 aka a very slow moving microphone

[@mrnmrn1]

22:19 I think it's a vibra motor, not a battery.

[@cuteswan]

I wonder if M5stack's Voltmeter was designed to have the information sticker on the front and name on the back _but then_ they realized they'd put the ISOLATED on the longer side and just went with it. (Or some executive made them switch sides it a the last second and they missed it, etc.)

[@faeranne]

Having used one, the issue is that their libraries have a typo. Both the micropython and arduino libraries for the adc register correctly, but using their UIFlow thing always returns an inverted value.

[@MatthewSuffidy]

I've never done it but maybe you can install some sort of app in windows 11 instead of the actual program for home assistant.

[@jjsjeffjjsjeff]

"Batterry" If you're going to produce something with text then have someone else or a group of people proofread before sending something out to use.

[@radarmusen]

I think the M5 has a vibrator so it probably little battery shaped thing on the side.

[@BMRStudio]

Anyone knows what's happening with all the enormous amount of glass fiber dust in PCB factories? Drilling, milling, edging... They just drop it to some garbage field?

[@simontay4851]

The machines and factories have air filtration systems. There isn't glass fibre dust just floating around in the air.

[@GapRecordingsNamibia]

Sorry Dave could not watch that PC bit where you had the camera on the screen.... That focus hunting had me almost up chucking mate, just a suggestion there if you can't tie it into your atem just make sure the camera is locked on manual focus, I promise i tried but my eyes really started hurting, apologies mate, the rest though was steller as always.

[@stevenverhaegen8729]

Le fil rouge au bouton rouge, le fil noir au bouton noir 😂 (French comedy movie ref)

[@tacticalcenter8658]

What knaf brand/model is that?

[@EEVblog]

Generic, no idea.