EEVblog

[@lexbailey]

Currently my favourite EEVBlog quote: "Practically passive except for requiring 14 kilovolts..."

[@mushroomsamba82]

After a long morning of grocery shopping and chores, I love sitting down to lunch and seeing a new mailbag video. Thanks Dave!

[@AustralViking]

I remember years ago getting several gen1 image intensifier tubes from oatley, I believe the ones I got were ex israeli tank night vision. They were considerably more primative looking than that one. That may be a gen 2 or something. On mine the resolution is actually physical as they are made up of a bundle of fibres traveling from one end to the other. Pretty easy to set up, I made mine into a triple stage unit by super gluing three end to end and applying the 15kv or so accross the tubes then its just a case of mounting an old slr camera lens on the front and something as simple as a magnifying loupe on the back end. Great fun to play around with mine gave something like 50,000 times light amplification and was great for asyronomy etc. Great show Andrew

[@HuntersMoon78]

XX1080 is an image intensifier (Night Vision) part and the ATMega chips are for Arduino's

[@thegeopard2313]

I even found a datasheet w/ some information and diagrams how to set this thing up. Unfortunately its in Dutch language: www.jogis-roehrenbude.de/Roehren-Geschichtliches/Spezialroehren/XX1080/xx1080.pdf

[@iaincowell9747]

I was able to find out it would have been used by the military from about 75 to 78. In 1975 night vision technology was improved on but it only came into service in 78, the start of the second generation.

[@thegeopard2313]

That explains why the guy who sended it in is now on the watch list of the U.S.A. ;)

[@tobortine]

You're 9 hours ahead of us in the UK Dave, unless you're prepared to do the mail bag at about 3:00am next day (your time) then live mailbag is of little use to me.

[@TheAmmoniacal]

All live broadcasts on KZbin are saved as a regular video when it's over.

[@tobortine]

TheAmmoniacal Yes but then what's the benefit of them being live ? All types videos are saved on You Tube whether they're live or not.

[@TheAmmoniacal]

The question is, why not?

[@tobortine]

TheAmmoniacal lol, I already answered that one in my original comment. It's pointless doing something live if a majority of your audience can't watch it.

[@DaedalusYoung]

TheAmmoniacal Watching recorded live videos is awful. Unless Dave plans to edit down the recording, it would not at all be fun to watch. the fun in live broadcasts is that you can participate. Chat with other viewers, give direct feedback to the streamer. This is pretty much lost if you watch the recording and then the video is just a waste of time.

[@JacGoudsmit]

I have two of those Zipit2 (I apparently got the last ones available in the Phoenix area back in 2007 or so; I tried to find more and was unsuccessful). They were fun to hack, e.g. to play music via the headphones or something else that any smartphone can do better nowadays. There's a serial port inside (if you can find the right solder joints on the PCB) that can be used as a console. The slot is actually a MiniSD card which is what came before MicroSD, so all you need is a MicroSD to MiniSD adapter and some files to put your own Linux on there. That Philips tube has a NATO stock number (by the way -17- means it was made in the Netherlands. Yay!) so it was probably used in night vision goggles or something, that must be why the Americans frown upon selling it: if someone sells it to the Canadians, they will see us before we see them! Can't have that!

[@Trekeyus]

I still use my modded gen 1 zipit from time to time but it is limited in that it is only 802.11b and has a rather slow processor inside that and an very small about of internal space for the custom firmware. I have two of the things but I broke one of them when I tried to install the 5 wire serial mod. That unit still works but it has a broken smd resister in one of the serial lines and dam if i know the value of the original part. The reason I even bothered trying the serial mod was I had accidentally updated that unit to the latest official firmware and they locked out 3rd party firmware via a key and to bypass that all you needed to do was flash the image directly via serial. I loved the zipit and used it a lot in collage several years back to ssh into the schools linux boxes for programming assignments. That said I would much rather use a v2 these days as it is a lot more powerful then a v1 and has a color screen. I picked up my first zipit for I think 20 to 30 bucks at compusa. For the price and hack ability it was a steal of a deal at the time.

[@dhpbear2]

5:05 - It's a Morse Code key!

[@unicorn7337]

PiMoroni is my favourite Raspberry Pi accessory shop! The PiBow is nothing short of brilliant. By far the best case I've come across for my Pi's so far :)

[@sublimationman]

Impulse sealer, that knob is a timer not temp. It heats instantly when the handle is brought down. I use one of these daily.

[@redtails]

3:27 wow, I'm a bit surprised you really did keep the lab clean after all this time.. it even looks cozy, a nice place to work!

[@vk2btc]

Being a ham myself, that Impuls Sealer would make a great novelty morse key.

[@agz19777]

Dave, you forgot to remove the white protective film on the Pibow`s acrylic, it looks wayyyy better without that!

[@RuiSantosdotme]

24:40 I'm also from Portugal, so you've have at least another viewer from Portugal! Looking forward to watch mailbag live

[@BlindAng3l]

Pelo menos 3 portugueses andam por aqui lol!

[@marianoaldogaston]

BlindAng3l a lot of Brazilian too. not my case. I am from Argentina. but I can read Portuguese.

[@RuiSantosManatim]

bota mais um :D

[@sosimple]

Mais um.

[@vascojdb]

Mais um :)

[@NeoMorphUK]

Stick a high brightness red LED behind the XX 1080 and you have a HAL light that would look awesome.

[@azyfloof]

28:27 The headphone jack looks exactly like the proprietary (I think (Not seen it used on anything else)) jack used on the old Sony Clíe PDAs. I think possibly it was also used on Sony minidisc players?

[@RedFathom]

yep, had to flash my zippit also added a usb charge port with usb host. they had a boot loader that supported booting distros from the sd card. can't remember if i had my mpx200, or the blackjack when this came out.

[@H32-u7d]

I just bought a zipit z2 I can now compile and program my Atmel chips on the go!

[@redtails]

14:19 XD just put a circular polaroid filter on your camera, you won't get any glare

[@kbhasi]

Lesson learnt: *Do not send items to Dave in Jiffy padded bags*

[@youtubasoarus]

For the Rasberry Pi, I modified mine with some heat sinks pulled from an old video card I got surplus and cut down and a fan (from the pin headers 5V) to drop it a few degrees. I measured a 30F drop in temperature (didn't know how to change it to C) using the mod. At idle it's about 85F ramping up to 110F watching an HD video.

[@therealandycook]

likely using WPA2 at the lab? older devices don't have the ability/knowledge to authenticate.

[@Trekeyus]

also if i remember correctly the zipit version 1 only has 802.11 B not even G so if B is disabled in the router no joy connecting. not sure if they fixed that in the version 2 or not.

[@ChipGuy]

TFK = "Telefunken" (later Temic), it's called U893 and a prescaler for PLL's in TV's. They were used up to 890 MHz but can usually do 1.3 GHz.

[@msk19991]

Timezones differences would make hard for some if not most viewers to watch the live stream, unless of course it can be recordered and uploaded as well

[@coolvideoish]

Hi, I thought I might mention some of the history on this device. The first version was released in 2005, and wasn't much good, as most smartphones and normal phones with their wap and application capabilities, allowed people to message on their phones. The main upside of this device was that It did support WPA networks unlike some of the Pocket PC's. Further its hardware keyboard was a lot less tedious than the windows mobile keyboard of the time. The last argument was its price tag, which compared to smartphones of the time was ridiculously low.

[@Rod_Knee]

Hi Dave, perhaps you could X-Ray the image intensifier tube? Then it would be intact for possible future experimentation. This is assuming you have access to a friendly Radiologist. Excellent reference to the FSM in the Pirate section - I like it!

[@CookingWithCows]

do the mailbag live and capture it, then edit it and upload it as a regular video as well :)

[@jody5661]

After reading through comments I completely agree, this way everyone to be happy and he can get information right away if it's something he doesn't know about!

[@CTIMEPRODUCTIONS]

Yeah, just like the geek group. Same idea would work great for teardowns, Dave could get clarification on parts and we could tell him what bits we want to see more in depth.

[@getbusy21]

I'm with cows

[@EEVblog]

Could do. The only issue with that is that the final video won't be as polished nor as short as the one I currently do. So the majority of people who don't watch live get content that's not as good. I think the best compromise is to just have 2nd cam that captures a live overview of my mailbag or other video shoots?

[@sourcedogDE]

EEVblog I'd watch the long, unpolished version either way. As a certain pop culture robot used to say: iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinput!!!

[@redtails]

wow that ending was melancholic.. almost like an electric engineer confessing that anything he'll ever engineer is doomed to be tossed away

[@Zero1Zero1]

Dave, wouldn't a polarising filter for your camera eliminate glare from the lights?

[@rickdavies1965]

Hi Dave. Impulse sealer is a timed output to the heating wire. Micro switch is made and starts the timer to switch on the nichrome heating wire for as long as the timer is set for via the pot. work on these on a regular basis. cheers keep up the great work.

[@illustriouschin]

With the linux and Xscale processor it kinda seems like the "wireless messenger" was based off of or at least inspired by one of the Zaurus clamshells. This one was released in the same year as the first iphone though so waaay behind the times.

[@GadgetAddict]

Why didn't you run the PiGlow? :( I assume it's pronounced pie-glow btw.. being for the raspberrypi

[@mspenrice]

That "Audiovox" phone looks suspiciously like a Motorola one I had back in about 2001/02 kind of period, and might still have in the back of a drawer somewhere. The general shape, button arrangement, and even sculpting of the back panel look v-e-r-y familiar... and when you mentioned about it being a very early "web browsing" model that sealed the deal (almost certainly just WAP, officially, but I found mine would also render the basic text part of any HTML page I pointed it towards... so possibly marketed differently according to area). Don't think mine was tri-band or CDMA though - as it was a UK model, it of course worked on GSM. Can't remember if the web access was GPRS or plain old CSM (ie 9600 baud audio modem over a GSM call...) though. WAP tended to be expensive and based on connection time rather than data transferred, so probably the latter. Which means you'll have a lot of difficulty making any kind of data connection with it nowadays as most carriers seem to have dropped their CSM services.

[@maccartier7287]

You should develop a little face tracking servo unit that has the 2 cameras always pointing at you, and you could broadcast both at the same time, or switch between then with a little remote. Just an idea. Seems simple enough with a raspberry pi or some other basic computing platform.

[@paullangton-rogers2390]

Woah the UV erasable ROM brings back memories. I used to work for Omron as a young fella and my initial job there was programming ROM's for EPOS (fancy cash registers)...we'd recycle all the old ones by giving them a sun-tan in a little UV cooker with a slide out draw...they came out nice and hot and data clean! wonderful stuff. I'd program then put a dot-matrix code label over the little window to protect the code. lol

[@XeonXR6]

Dave! Did you eventually remove the protective film from the PiBow case sheets?!

[@hunorshands]

Yes I would love to see this mailbag Monday live. Thanks Dave, TVman

[@ryanwinklevoss]

Were those Black with gray cone Rokkit KRK 5's and if so where the hell did you find them.

[@technodaz]

Live streaming is well TV.....and I hate TV . I don't want my life sucked up by people telling me what time I have to do things and this is exactly what live streaming is. At least have the stream recorded and uploaded so everybody can enjoy it and not just the people who want to wait up till 3am in the morning.

[@ChaseDaigle]

+EEVblog Hey Dave, I saw this old eevblog with Zipit in the title and had to check it out. That is my childhood best friend's Father's company. They actually ended up doing alright, they have a niche in the medical field with compliant encrypted messaging as an app for hospitals. I can actually remember playing with a few of the prototypes of the V1 in the first office building.

[@CloudandZack1st]

I don't know a DAMN thing about 99.999% of the stuff you speak of and fix; but man is it entertaining to watch for fun.

[@rich1051414]

The instant I saw that lensed tube I was yelling photomultiplier, but what can you do. I guess those things aren't as common knowledge as i thought. Wouldn't have guessed it was for night vision though, thats a great gift.

[@Engineer9736]

For me the not-live videos are okay. Better editing quality and I won't be forced to be online on a certain moment. It are interesting blogs, thanks for the efforts!

[@gglovato]

hmm i like the current edited mailbag, keeps waffle out. On the other hand a live one could help you with some details you might be missing or requests

[@Zauviir]

Can you setup the HDMI microscope for that PIC chip?

[@FidelGVelasquez]

Did you forget to remove the protective film from the acrylic pieces of the Pibow?

[@Mystickneon]

Is that a Schmidt-Cassegrain lense on that camera?

[@ryanperry6475]

I'm not one to ever comment but most of the live streaming software that is used is either OBS or xSplit... I've heard good things with OBS. Just thought I'd share

[@darrellgatlin2171]

Bubble what this got to do with hooking up a xx1080 image Tube?

[@DaveMcAnulty]

I had one of those impulse sealers in my lab at my first job, it was broken. I attempted to repair it one day. I used (apparently) conductive double sided sticky tape. When I closed the microswitch the entire front panel blew off and across the room, lol.

[@ruff0r]

Just for your information Dave i would have loved to watch your live Stream but it was blocked in Germany :(

[@AuroraNemoia]

just install the tor network and you'll be good ot go, if you wanna be really legal then pay for an actual vpn.

[@DarkAxi0m]

I think Ben Krasnow would have the time to get the optics to work :)

[@bobjingle3244]

Why would a night vision sensor be banned from being sold in America and Australia? Also if you're not going to read the letter can you at least show the letter on screen? That way I can pause it and read it, I understand that you're short on time but I still like some background on some of the items.

[@TheChipmunk2008]

It's ebay, they're a US corporation and assume US law applies all over the world (actually it seems to, some guy got extradited to the USA from here in the UK for selling batteries to iran. I didn't understand the concept AT ALL)

[@BBC600]

I love the way how you pronounce the letter "H"!

[@gamerpaddy]

i got 2 Philips xx1080 from ebay (for 20$ 2pcs) i ran them with ccfl inverters, worked well. then i sold it because i didnt had a proper use for that.

[@RCShufty]

Have you considered using Twitch TV? That KZbin Live test you were running seemed really ... low fps/laggy (I'm an Aussie too so I doubt its a connection issue).

[@SarahWattCA]

Live mailbag could be really fun but make sure you're using a service that archives streams.

[@pecocoa]

I wanna see mailbag done live! But don't let it interfere too much with your regular mailbag.

[@thegoodhen]

That would totally rock, whoohoo!

[@ProGamer1515]

Could 9:47 be a telescope lens?

[@EyebrowsMahoney]

It's an Image Intensifier tube for night vision optics. It's a Phillips XX1080, a first gen intensifier tube that was one of the most successful of the Generation 1 night vision tubes. It's only got 1 Megapixel resolution, but with high quality optics is still considered viable as it functions in near total darkness.

[@ProGamer1515]

Cool, thanks for letting me know what it is.

[@geeko321]

As much as a live Mailbag would be a fun thing, I think one concern is that it'll end up being 75% Dave messing with packaging materials and 25% content. Some people will enjoy it, but I'll be waiting for the edited-down version.

[@EEVblog]

Yep, that would be the downside. I think a 2nd cam for a live feed just showing me record the usual mailbag video is a better compromise.

[@Guyfromhe]

I have the zipit v1 I got at Best Buy in their junk section for like $10.. I got the whole custom OS thing going on... I got a V2 later on for fun but it broke and I took it apart.

[@bjorndethij]

The ethernet and usb of my raspberry model b are broken does anyone know how i can fix it ?

[@KaelHankins]

Those Zip Its were my introduction to embedded processing in college!

[@grooeygroo]

Hey Dave, sorry if someone already mentioned this but on the Image Intensifier, did you notice the NSN? It's a NATO Stock Number :o)

[@kbhasi]

That Zipit, "Zipip" or "Ziptie" thing would have been cool for me to mess with back in the day, but back then I used a HP ipaq rx3715 and while the OS was sort of "obsolete" back then and i couldn't get a good YT experience but I did have fun with whatever I could find, including "CeBeans" apps(they're still around!) and especially the MSN messenger client, while it didn't support the new features they had at the time, it worked and I could surf WAP internet over Wi-FI and then get a chat notification and poke my nails on the tiny touch keyboard.

[@Darkfuturee]

30:00 the first prototipe of blackberry, woow.

[@electrodacus]

That last device reminds me of my Sharp Zaurus SL-C1000 that I got on my second business trip to Japan. I was extremely exited to have a Linux computer in my pocket :) Screen was just amazing for that time and there where plenty of Linux based operating systems for it. This was around 2005 I think and used the Intel PXA270 that was able to work up to 600Mhz or so. Almost a raspberry PI smaller with better power consumption including a small VGA touch screen LCD.

[@tornuptom]

we used to have them Sealers at work.. We used them on AntiStatic Bag's... Might be handy for your Microcurrent?!

[@9firewire]

Is there any books like guides to read about circuit bord sect for me to buy I am 16 and I am vary interested is stuff like this

[@abpccpba]

I would go for Arduino board. Get the basic one UNO. If you want to save some money on a clone go to BangGood.com. Arduino is the most popular at this point in time. You will find bunches of projects on Arduino.com. KZbin has tons of videos from real simple to complex. I do not know what type of learner your could be you do not know either. When reading and you tube do not let the unknown words or content stop you from going on to the end. To learn this stuff consume lots of input. Over time these Ideas and concepts will pop out and you will own them. Making errors is how you learn so do no get upset if things do not go well. Persist. You do not need lots of expensive tools. Family may already have most of what you will need. Take a look at Adafruit url; they have lots of good learning support just like Arduino. Spend your money on a temperature controlled soldering iron and a multimeter. Have fun. When learning new stuff go over the information again within 24 hr.; people say that one will retain content better. I am going on to 74 years old this month. If what I say sounds old hat then you are way ahead of me.

[@fochall1]

43:30 That's something that deserves a pertinent lasting uncompromising gratuity (Plug). Because David we not only share the same names, we also share the same experiences. That person is clearly on Dialysis. In other words, Chronic kidney failure. Love your Show! 9

[@Lvvcassss]

8:34 Just what do you think you're looking at, Dave?

[@johanlaurasia]

That messaging device wasn't even a new concept in 2005. Sidekicks (Hip Top in Europe) were similar devices before cellular was eventually added, and although new defunct messaging services like AIM, MSN and such were much bigger back then, I had AIM built into my V3 razor, although devices like this sported a better screen and a full QWERTY keyboard. Doomed to failure though, as the iPhone redefined the smart phone, all the advantages of this device were incorporated into an app along with gps devices, cameras, compasses, maps, games, blah blah blah.. So even if it was a half way decent idea at the time, it was as you said, doomed to failure.

[@GavinCallard]

That Impulse Sealer would have made a monster CW key!

[@teslacoiler]

3:39 This is a dental X-ray device?

[@beachsandinspector]

Love the Zipip Wireless Messenger 2 that would be good to put a cut down version of linux on much like that which is used on the Raspberry Pi. That Pibow Raspberry Pi case is a nifty case, I will have to get a Pi once the projects I have on the go are finished, gawd I have soooo many to finish, also have to get 4 PCs sorted for a place where I do their IT stuff for (all volunteer stuff btw).

[@s8wc3]

The switch on the sealer sounds like an IBM Model M keyboard.

[@Stjaernljus]

live mailbag aslong as its archived to youtube

[@LansaDiag]

Dave, you forgot to peel off the plastic wrap on the RPi case D:

[@konsolendoc]

is that nick from marshall MO Missouri?

[@vb7200]

The Zipit things actually were slightly successful in the States I remember kid's had them or something similar to it when I was in grade school so like early 2000's. They actually have an updated version with Verizon 3G so you don't have to stay where there's WiFi. they actually have an app for Android and iPhone too, but that kind of defeats the purpose of actually buying the device it's self.

[@xfol]

Pleeease send the image intensifier tube to Ben Krasnow (AppliedScience). Don't just destroy it in a teardown!

[@Hagis2k]

Get a pan and tilt camera dave and let the viewers control it? :)

[@ProGamer1515]

My router's SSID is Skynet.

[@stephanj88]

OH I DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THE LIVE STUFF. Wish I could have seen that it would have been awesome.

[@dhpbear2]

12:55 - "PI glow", not "PIGlow" :)

[@RomanDvoryadkin]

At time of that weird network client I already used my Nokia 9500 and it still works well :)

[@NeilRieck]

Trying to watch (from Canada) whenever time permits.

[@picobyte]

Every alien should take a look at this blog before descending.

[@HeathLedgersChemist]

R'amen Dave!

[@stumbling]

I think the new Pi would actually fit in that Zipit. Tempting project if I could find a Zipit anywhere! I really do like the design, shame it is completely redundant, but that's what hackers are for!

[@H32-u7d]

But why? The zipit z2 is a very capable device Also, there are a lot of distributions of Linux for the zipit!

[@Blaff3tuur]

could you record your live streams and upload them to your 2nd channel or something ?

[@Marty2011uk]

That was in 2001 a Space Odyssey. Hal 9000, "I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that"

[@matthehat]

Those bubble displays are gorgeous! I might just have to order some

[@JesusisJesus]

Dave, nobody would care if the Mailbag show went for an hour just so you could get through everything. I for one, would be twice as happy.

[@coccoborg]

WOW, that IRNV lens! Did you manage to get it to run?

[@pawematuszczak7316]

I like the Mailbag the way it is.

[@FennecTECH]

Anyone here know wich video he took it apart in it? i want to see inside!

[@jam99]

I don't get it. What is Dave's obsession with doing stuff live? I understand not having to go through the hassle of editing but what is the advantage over just recording and uploading as is? Is the aim to be interactive? Is it for the gimic factor? I get the impression Dave wants to do this just because it is something new for him. Is this right?

[@KaslarProductions]

I love wirecast. great choice dave

[@MariusLuding]

We in germany are not allowed to watch live-streams...due to content-right problems.