EEVblog

[@jonas.gruska]

Creator of Elektrosluch over here. Thank you very much for this :)) I am super glad you like it!

[@8o86]

[@keatontaylor3612]

So I wonder if the Elektrosluch could be used to hear the processing on a digital locking safe? Would be an interesting experiment just like when you tried to hack into one by analyzing the power input.

[@EEVblog]

+Keaton Taylor Interesting thought.

[@electronash]

+EEVblog I must build an Elektrosluch right away. It's a genius tool for repairing things like retro consoles / computers / arcade boards. :) Back-in-the-day (90s lol), I used to spend quite a lot of time probing retro machine boards and VCRs with an audio amp so I could "hear" what was going on in the circuits. I got quite accustomed to the various sounds in the end, and you could characterize things like when the activity on data / address busses sounded roughly correct etc. The Elektrosluch is relatively expensive at €90 tbh, but can obviously be built by using a standard opamp and some inductors. I love the fact it's stereo though. :p EDIT: oic - I didn't realize it was open-source. Fair enough. hehe I'm certain this would be a useful gadget for quickly seeing if a machine was booting properly, or if the watchdog timer on arcade boards was kicking in etc. Great idea btw, +Keaton Taylor. :)

[@Kalledussin]

+EEVblog Try it!

[@andrija8506]

+EEVblog PLEASE MAKE A VIDEO ON IT DAVEEE!!!!!!!!!!!! IT WOULD BE AWESOME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@electronash]

Here's an interesting thought - Dave, could you please try plugging a pair of headphones into the Elektrosluch input - they should work as pickup inductors too (if they are large enough / close enough in inductance). ;)

[@TofranBohk]

That Elektrosluch looks like fun!

[@BobHolowenko]

+t0f0b0 I would love one for finding RFI sources on Software Defined Radios...I have LCD DVI cables and HDMI cables that SCREAM on RF freqs...

[@milamiglia2437]

+t0f0b0 maybe a down converter on it so you could listen to higher frequency stuff.

[@pcuser80]

The sound created with the access led is the cpu writing to the sd card.

[@mbirth]

+pcuser80 Thought the same. But I'm still wondering why the backlight of the multimeter created those sounds...

[@ratdude747]

+Markus Birth (mbirth) In the case of both, it's probably PWM modulation done to cut the amount of power dawn by the LED. LEDs actually draw a lot of power relative to a lot of things... its why old LED watches/multimeters/calculators/etc. would eat through batteries while LCD based equivalents don't. The pwm frequency is faster than our eyes can detect, and the duty cycle sets the brightness (often 50% or less is enough for our eyes to perceive it as lit, which is where the power savings come from). This is similar to how multiplexed LED displays work in that each "lit" LED is never on all the time; in addition to reducing the number of data lines and decoders needed for the display, it also saves power. The side effect is that you get interference thanks to the AC nature of PWM, hence why the sound was produced. For a measly access LED or monochrome LCD backlight, this isn't usually of consequence but for say a color LCD backlight or an LED light shielding does become a factor to consider.

[@nickguy6820]

+Markus Birth (mbirth) Probably a switch-mode constant current driver to take a convenient rail voltage and bring it up high enough to run 10mA through a series string of white LEDs. I'm working on a board design now using one with 5v in and ~12v out.

[@FrozenHaxor]

R.I.P. Headphone users [*]

[@SpudderRail]

+FrozenHaxor what was he saying throughout the video? his kid burst my ear drums

[@BladeScraper]

+FrozenHaxor Same lol

[@Nukle0n]

+FrozenHaxor Just turn the volume down from 11 if you see Sagan, not that hard...

[@ElmerFuddGun]

+FrozenHaxor - Blah, give me a break. It might have been a bit high pitched but not really that loud. BESIDES, do you really have your sound cranked up that loud, especially at the start of videos? Unless the video is too quiet I don't turn up the volume. This isn't even in the ball park of "loud" videos. Sagan's a great kid.

[@FrozenHaxor]

+ElmerFuddGun I've happened to having been watching a video before this where the volume was really low. Oh boy have I come in for a surprise when I started to watch this one...

[@mikeselectricstuff]

Remote boot thing - groundplane under the antenna...? Also looks designed to mount inside, but would need extrenal antenna....

[@valamilamasag]

+mikeselectricstuff I don't see any groundplane. Mounting it inside the case are like putting it in a Faraday cage, so yea. Maybe if you hide it behind the front panel molding (those are usually plastic). Also, I think its pretty useless. Setting up WoL is easier (if you can get your damn router to pass thru the magic packet...), and I don't think that you save that much on electricity since the WoL functions on the +5VSB line. Even most notebooks support waking up on wifi. Its similar to WoL, keeps the NIC connected while the rest of the system is in off state. I know that intel wireless NIC-s are capable to do this.

[@valamilamasag]

+Brafilus Just re-watched it, yes there is groundplane on the back side.

[@vgamesx1]

+mikeselectricstuff I don't know if you've seen these esp8266 modules before, but they have pretty good range even with the tiny on-board antenna, so I don't see why it would need an external one.

[@SetMyLife]

+mikeselectricstuff Author will hopefully read this so it can get fixed for "V0.3" :)

[@rocketman221projects]

+mikeselectricstuff He should have used the ESP-07 module since it has a coax connector for an external antenna as well as the ceramic chip antenna on the board.

[@GadgetAddict]

Please do a 20 minute repair video on the laughing track toy.

[@Mnyut]

29:26 not only stereo please listen to the Elektrosluch via a surround sound audio system, amazing!

[@emacs_]

That Elektrosluch is quite neat!

You should look into WOL (Wake on LAN) I use it a lot to turn all Computers at remote Locations on and off. You will need some sort of Server in your Lab though. I dont think the "Magic Packets" will pass through your VPN Connection.

[@EEVblog]

+Glenn Müller - EDV I don't have a server

[@ekner]

+EEVblog It could probably be any old x86 computer, not necessarily a server.

[@jtaulen]

+ekner or just a raspberrypi

[@Coolkeys2009]

+EEVblog As other have said many routers allow you to log in remotely and send a WOL packet. Needless to say the security needs to be set up sensibly.

[@madman202111]

+EEVblog Allot of routers support WOL. Basically login to the remote webui and press wake

[@mikeselectricstuff]

With that inductor and sound chamber I bet that alarm is loud enough to really piss off your neighbours.

[@pikadroo]

That laughing thing... I had a friend who had one of those from a VHS release of "Throw Momma from the Train" and it was a really effective way of getting a simple cardboard display for the video release to be interactive if you pushed a button. Man... that is amazing, the unit looked just like that!

[@LarsBgildThomsen]

Come on - you have GOT to get that laughing box going :) Never mind fixing plasma TV's, scopes and what have you not - that one is classic!

[@Uncle_Buzz]

Those are some killer quality header pins on the powerbricks. Nothing bodgey there. Cheers, Chris!

[@AlexTaradov]

That thing probably picks up actual SD card access, not the LED control signal.

[@HenriTroberg]

There is no point showing items up close if the camera can't focus quick enough.

[@mrandmrsliamrussell]

i wonder how that inductor microphone thing would sound next to an electric guitar? +EEVblog can you give it a go?

[@arcadeuk]

"I won't show you the voucher code" - Not sure you realise how good your camera is Dave ;)

[@doubleROT13]

I bought the Arty for working with the SDDDR3RAM. Working nicely, but hope they'll complete the documentation in their wiki.

[@electronicsNmore]

I like those PowerBricks. They can be very handy to have. Great video Dave.

[@benespection]

Those mini record player things were common in old toys from the era - amazing little hacks. I had a "talking" robot toy from childhood with the same thing built into its chest, pretty much the same sized module as the one sent in.

[@AmbroseClarke]

+Simon Butcher I have the very same laughing bag here in a junk box Funny thing is its never meant to be disassembled - but the record in the laughing bag actually has a B side - you can flip it over and it plays bird songs if I remember correct. also have another about 5 or 6 disks to go with it -Some salvaged from a talking toy robot from the 80s (says "Im the atomic powered robot - please give my best wishes to everybody") and a few from a walking talking doll from the 70's. Early portable record players :) Good volume in it with just rusty nail and cone amplification...

[@jasejj]

+Simon Butcher Yeah I had both a police car and a Dalek with the same technology ... needless to say I swapped the records over (they were the same format). ISTR that they had multiple parallel tracks with different phrases which were 'selected' at random by the position on the record the needle landed on.

[@8bits59]

Love Mailbag! And tell Sagan the Internet approves of his mailbag shout!

[@robot797]

+Noah Keck sorry to say but i dont approve the intro shout i am a headphone user and it kind of hurt

[@8bits59]

Yeah, I feel ya there

[@robot797]

***** i only have one set of ears and they have te last a live so i regulate all noise that goes into them i dont wanna endup as my aunt who got her first hearing aid when she was 30

[@Nukle0n]

+robot797 If you are worried about your hearing you shouldn't be wearing headphones anyway, blasting sound directly into your ear drums all day isn't good... Also turn always turn down your audio and then turn it up to a necessary level, don't leave it high all the time. If your computer supports it, enable normalization. Also don't be such a fucking shit, a little loud noise now and then won't fuck up your hearing.

[@8bits59]

+Nukle0n well don't get too mad now

[@RoyHess666]

I totally love that Elektrosluch 3 thing, need to get one too!

[@mikeselectricstuff]

Who uses -ve rails these days ? Seems an unnecessary expense for most users.

[@johnnywood8914]

+mikeselectricstuff How come -ve rails have become used less?

[@kiskiller3]

+mikeselectricstuff could be usefull in prototyping

[@krishna34674]

+mikeselectricstuff Analogue electronics, Audio electronics ....

[@Ogma3bandcamp]

+mikeselectricstuff op amps

[@petarpetrovic6590]

+mikeselectricstuff Basically everyone who do something more than blinking LEDs.

[@claudioarena6656]

Dave! The PowerBrick link and the RemoteBoot links are both pointing at the Remote Boot Kickstarter. Just though I should let you know :)

[@rentAscout]

Damn, 13 years old. I can't imagine how many EE careers started because of your blog.

[@stephenoliveau]

is there a video explaining your preferences on silk screen and solder mask colors? i wouldn't mind hearing your perspective on this.

[@mikeselectricstuff]

+Stephen Oliveau For one, you can't see the tracks.

[@stephenoliveau]

that's kind of why i was asking... wondering if there was anything i wasn't considering... like reversing/troubleshooting traces.

[@AlexanderBrevig]

+mikeselectricstuff, +Stephen Oliveau it's also a real pain to clean after rework and it makes for weird photographs because of the ambient light it reflects. Though, for some projects - an LED panel for instance - you might want it to reflect as much as possible.

[@frollard]

+Stephen Oliveau He's complained in the past about opaque mask; at least coloured translucent you can still troubleshoot/debug easily.

[@mikeselectricstuff]

+Alexander Brevig LED stuff is often done in white but it's just a convention and rarely actually makes any difference, as the LEDs fire almost exclusively away from the PCB.

[@martymure3620]

that elektrosluch looks nifty for finding powered circuits but if you're cheap an am radio sort of acts in a similar way, the ferrite bar antenna is kind of like an inductor

[@janneaalto3956]

As I always suspected, EMI sounds like headache.

[@ToTheGAMES]

I love the look of the ARTY board! I get it, you don't see the traces, but still... It's a nice change.

[@aerofart]

Remote Boot? How is this an improvement on WOL (Wake On Lan)?

[@valamilamasag]

Those panic alarms are pretty loud. That's not an inductor inside it, its a transformer! It drives the piezo element at 50V or even 100V. Easily puts out 90-100dB.

[@EpicLPer]

12:17 - Someone pressed the shuffle-button in Dave's head :D

[@vgamesx1]

+EpicLPer oh hello again Lol..

[@Indiskret1]

Very neat PowerBRICK! I remember that laughing bag, watched it at a store in the '70s but never bought. Strange I already knew it was a record inside, must've read it somewhere. Old school!

[@FLyyyT_]

that remote boot is awesome! even more so from a high school kid. I would suggest mounting holes so we can properly set it somewhere in the pc.

[@markbell9742]

With the Elektroslush test the noise from various lights (led, fluor, etc.). What is the bandwidth? Send the output to a CRO and or spectrum analyzer, to see what you can see (maybe before the final audio section). Cheers, Mark

[@drusha]

Dave, high pitched voices are strong in your family :D

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

Mmmmm minidisc, I had lots of musical journeys on those plastic discs!

[@chriscox2045]

I was using a cable tracer to map out where they went, when I noticed that the live internet connection set off the probe. Being that the device didn't even have the wave generator

[@PoignantPirate]

Those power modules are probably designed to negotiate a power-only connection when connected to a computer or usb hub. (otherwise they would be drawing more current that allowed by spec when daisy chained with the Vin pins.) The current usb 2.0 spec allows up to 2A current draw if the device has negotiated a charge-only connection, but is limited to less than 500mA without negotiation. (and that's often closer to 100mA)

[@SirMacke86]

Sent an order for that RemoteBoot. Finally something like this. I already have WOL on my machine, but be able to reset remote would be gold.

[@brittisaacrossman]

Hello Dave! Greetings from The Unahted Staytes of Amayrika! I love seeing the Brymen BM230-series DMMs in your videos. I have to admit, after much deliberation and fund squirreling, I bought the BM257s DMM. Very happy so far! I figured I need the safety when working on vintage guitar valve (we call 'em tubes here) amplifiers. My girlfriend wasn't so keen on the expenditure, but if it means my life in tact, she is happy I didnt the research and made the purchase. Thanks for your shootouts and help on that front! Sagan gave an award winning introduction! Thanks for all you do, Dave! - Britt

[@travis4798]

I believe that over sized battery snap is for a 6v battery? Can't remember, haven't seen one of those in a long time.

[@dardosordi]

Dave, I love when you take schematics and explain basic stuff. I've learned so much from you, thanks.

[@mesolsot]

i dont think it was picking up the access LED it'self but instead it was sensing the EMI from the high speed data burst to the storage media.

[@MyCrazyGarage]

39:49 reminds me of my old commodore 64 days. We used to have like 5 hooked up in a big setup. All audio devices in our house just went "nope".

[@stevec00ps]

That Elektrosluch is like a cable tracer you use with an oscillator when trying to find out where telephony/data cables go (as long as they're unshielded)

[@danxepha4535]

I was actually going to send you a minidisc walkman myself. The Sony cassette walkman teardown was the first video I saw on your channel and I've been subscribed ever since. I've got fond memories of minidisc so can't wait to see you pull it apart. Its also saved me the postage cost from the UK! :-)

[@MrFexelein]

Dave, I would love to see the miniature record player in action! Please do a repair video on it 😄

[@mikeissweet]

That Elektrosluch would be good for recording from a speaker in a noisy room. You would be recording the magnetic field of the speaker's voice coil rather than the sound waves that would otherwise drown out the desired source.

[@Neffers_UK]

I love the Casio FX series with the metal cover round the buttons, I have one in the shed I use all the time.

[@LB_]

Woah, white circuit board looks _awesome_!

[@Zardox-The-Heretic-Slayer]

23:38 I live there too, it pretty much looks exactly the same now (newer cars though) leading upto that church is 101 quite steep steps and one of my exercise's is walking up and down those 4 times a day

[@ytteman]

The inductor in the ultrasonic receiver is probably only for power supply filtering. Dave missed to read a part of the note.

[@Elkpine]

Link on the Digilent PowerBrick is wrong

[@FlamingBeatsOfficial]

Mini discs are actually still being in professional audio. Also less and less in the last few years though.

[@hikaru-live]

The RemoteBoot is more or less an aftermarket IPMI module for normal PCs. If your machine supports IPMI you can just use that, otherwise this can be useful. Although I personally like a Raspberry Pi Zero based one as it can implement a proper SSL-secured Kerberos-authenticated security stack.

[@leonerduk]

Cute little power bricks; though I would have loved to see them break out the D+ and D- pins from the USB port as well, so if I wanted USB comms onboard too, I could.

[@gennidee]

This "laughing toy" was built into the body of dolls that could laugh when squeezed, as far as I remember. Some classmate of mine had one of these when I was in primary school.

[@AlexandreKandalintsev]

I checked USB port on my laptops and two chargergs, they provide less than 100mA without negotiation.

[@rjmunt]

Passed out drunk in Melbourne (I'm Irish, and I was young) some homeless people robbed me in my sleep ... including my MiniDisc player with about 20 discs of recordings of me jamming with random Aussies from up and down the east coast .... If they are reading, I'd like them back :p

[@shmehfleh3115]

That Elektrosluch thingy's pretty neat. It's a reminder of just how noisy electronics can get, too. I use a couple of ethernet-over-power adapters which have a nasty tendency to screw with AM radio reception throughout my house. Their noise will even get picked up by certain amps if they're on the same circuit.

[@tejas57]

I was expecting Dave to give Sagan the bowie knife at the end when he asked how to open the lego..

[@OneBiOzZ]

That buzzer is actually quite interesting ... that inductor looks like it has 3 pins (a tap?) and is that pin switch just a headphone jack?

[@FireSwordl]

I think Digilent PowerBrick link in the decription is not correct...

[@AntiProtonBoy]

Holy shit i want one of those elektroluch thingies.

[@electronash]

+AntiProtonBoy Just take practically any battery-powered headphone amp, stick some inductors on it, and maybe change a few resistors / caps to adjust the gain. ;) You could even just modify a 3.5mm jack cable with some inductors if you have a headphone amp with a jack input. I imagine the gain would need to be changed a fair amount though. You can see the schematic here... github.com/LOM-instruments/Elektrosluch-3/tree/master/hardware

[@Daniel-ib5bx]

39:03 That tongue angle though... He's learning the ways.

[@Diggnuts]

Doesn't wake on lan exist anymore?

[@Diggnuts]

Justo Talkalottashit How is that? And how is this solution any different if that were true?

[@gwilsonmail]

+Diggnuts WOL does not work if your PC connects over WIFI. This solution works over wifi and powers up the PC when it gets the right request.

[@OneBiOzZ]

About a year ago i was hunting down a 3khz bit of interference so i slapped an antenna on an opamp with 100 gain and attached it directly to headphones and tracked it down (shitty power supply) but it was very fun to play arround with ... my monitor when displaying different things, my graphics card also, and keyboard

[@thcoura]

Hi Dave, could you verify if you can use multiple USB ports from the same computer in the D chain setup to get more current?

[@grahamkingston210]

Hey I've got a question : I have taken apart one of those panic alarms before and also found a huge ass inductor, could someone explain to me what is it used for in the circuit. Thanks.

[@MDSilverstar]

I still have my minidisc player somewhere :P A shame they didn't catch on :)

[@arcadeuk]

re the Sinclair DM2, yes that's a bodge, the original PSU is plugin, that's probably an AC power pack (or badly filtered one) hence the bodge capacitor

[@mq1506]

PowerBric link is wrong BTW

[@wayneholder]

The link for the Diligent PowerBric is wrong. It links to the RemoteBoot Kickstarter instead.

[@nekomasteryoutube3232]

I actually don't know much about electronics, maybe just enough to repair basic stuff like the buttons on a mouse or replace a failing jack on a guitar amp, but I still enjoy these videos anyways, I'm learning more and more all the time.

[@nekomasteryoutube3232]

+Matt Brine Also, I get creeped out easily by weird and unusual sounds.... and that electrosluch is a thing of night mares for me, while its pretty cool that you can hear whats going on.... the sounds it makes is pretty creepy IMO

[@tech4pros1]

that sinclair multimeter was made about 5 miles from where i live...

[@milamiglia2437]

Dave, white PCB is the coolest. It can be so beautiful if done right. Google images of white PCB. If you take pride in your product, it's the only way to go.

[@uriituw]

Does that small record have a second side? I swear that device looks exactly like another toy that I once took apart. The record had various phrases. I found that the other side, however, had really weird laughter.

[@Coolkeys2009]

I think you could have spent a bit more time on personal alarm at the end. Driving those piezo sounders to get good volume out of them takes a bit more effort and thought than most people initially think.

[@hgbugalou]

I totally backed the remote boot. Such a simple, but awesome solution.

[@oldgoodrandomroutine]

Thx for 1080p50!

[@Aleynikov]

is it possible to find hidden power lines inside wall with Elektrosluch?

[@dazzer529]

just a point on the remote boot, how do you actually connect it to wifi , i see no interface on it for that but i may be wrong

[@Gergus]

~The white silk screen looks amazing! Well done

[@coondogtheman]

I'd love to have one of those laughing track boxes the thing with the little record inside. I had a pound puppy toy that played three barking sounds. And I wouldn't mind having one of those Elektrosluch 3 things. I'd check everything. I wonder if you could pick up a strong AM station with that thing. Also it looks like, from reading the schematic you can hook up an MP3 player or other audio device into the front audio jack and use this device as an amp. Don't know how loud it would be.

[@electronash]

EEVblog - just a quick heads-up - the link for the RemoteBoot is duplicated onto the PowerBricks one in the description. Awesome vid as always. (y) Glad you mentioned the fact that most USB ports these days always supply a nominal 500mA anyway - most motherboards / USB hubs simply have 0.5 Amp PolyFuses or a MOSFET switched / current-limited.

[@7head7metal7]

Looks like Sagan is picking up some well-known Dave-habits, I love it, he is so adorable!

[@FixedHDD]

Dude you gotta keep that MZ-N1 MiniDisc Player! I've got the same unit and it is my daily driver! The sound quality coming out of that thing is superb. Love it and yours is well kept and in good shape as well.

[@ViktorVano]

By the way Elektrosluch means Electro-hearing, trust me, I am from Slovakia :)

[@spokehedz]

That screamer alarm is 99% the same things that they have in stores that are a black thing with wires/cables going around it (Called a "Spider" in the trade) and it is basically the weakest form of security for any device. Why? Most boxes are cardboard, and you can simply remove them and the item from the box.

[@ed10523]

I was searching the Web looking for old Computers and i found your channel. I am such a fan..its Great! Merry Christmas to you and your Lovely Family

[@ams718]

Dave, that "laughing toy" is actually mounted inside the back of a baby doll, hence the colour. My sister had one of these back in the 80s (but the disk was red). There is a push button over the dollis naval cavity which starts playing. The door is on the back of the doll so you can change the battery and turn the disk. One side plays laughing, the other one crying. Although I'm from the UK but coincidentally my ex-girlfriend was actually born in Paderborn, from where the parcel came from. Also as an electronics guy, you must know that Paderborn has a computer museum with the largest collection in the world, which I am certainly going to check out one day. ;)

[@demianxldc]

why not put battery to this little vinyl player?

[@Paxmax]

+demian smith Cuz the motor was dead =o(

[@1O1ZERO]

the power bricks would be cooler if they had instead of the +/- rails, just one regulated rail and a ftdi to get the uart or rs232

[@hsavietto]

My cousin had one of those Casio fx 7000GA in the late 80's and during one summer vacations we programmed a turn-based, text only, physically correct moon landing game on it. Oh, the good times...

[@robbieaussievic]

You would be surprised how LOUD those laughing boxes were Dave, And do you remember at the end of one of the Batman movies the Joker lay splattered on the pavement, and emanating from his corpse was the laughter of one of those devices (in his pocket). - (Jack Nicholson)

[@tonio172]

hey nice mailbag , will the batteriser arrive in a mailbag ?

[@kirknelson156]

I have that exact same model of mini disk, mine still works great and i use it on my daily dog walks.

[@Nameless.v2]

When you will make a review at Brymen BM235 ?