EEVblog

Bumper Mailbag!
Forum: www.eevblog.com...
SPOILERS:
Infinity PV Organic flexible Solar Cells:
infinitypv.com/
Flexible Solar Charger
infinitypv.com...
infinitypv.com...
Raspberry Pi To DEO nano Converter:
www.dsp-crowd....
HP 48G Destructive Calculator Teardown
Digilent Digital Discovery Logic Analyser & Protocol Generator:
store.digilenti...
German Tool Reviews Channel:
/ @germantoolreviews
Philips PM2718 multimeter teardown
Micronta Digital Multimeter Teardown
Hakko Soldering iron Temperature Sensor Teardown
Altium PCB Ruler
Wanky Otatmo flashing LED bracelet thingy
otatmo.com/
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The 2nd EEVblog Channel: / eevblog2
Support the EEVblog through Patreon!
/ eevblog
EEVblog Amazon Store (Dave gets a cut):
astore.amazon.c...
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💗 Likecoin - Coins for Likes: likecoin.pro/@...

[@GermanToolReviews]

Glad you got my package, just picked out a few things I thought you might enjoy. The Knipex knife is called a "Cable Knife" and is mostly a tool for electricians. No, I'm not sick of your big knife, just thought you might enjoy a couple of variations. The Martor safety box cutter is also very useful as a letter opener. BTW, the multi-meters were still working last time I put batteries in them, they were being thrown in the dumpster during a lab cleanout. You will notice the Philips still had an old Westinghouse tool control label on it.

[@joonaknuutinen5540]

lol. after the second knipex i just had to pause and check the comments if you were the one who sent these :)

[@DonkeyLearningIT]

I own mostly Knippex tools, and Wiha + Proxxon screwdrivers. The Knippex is made from such a high quality steal, that even after years of use they look like new. OK, granted, in German speaking countries we have more ease access to these quality Knipex stuff.

[@WesselLemmer]

I'm sure Dave will come to love the insulated cable knife, especially once the robots attack.

[@WesselLemmer]

ZomB1986 snip would be a closer translation but im splitting hairs 😜

[@CalebDiT]

Looks like you sent the multimeter to the wrong guy. Dave trashed it without a second thought. My brother used to behave like that when we were kids.

[@leisergeist]

Tape some of those solar cells to the road, maybe you'll get a few million in grant money :D Also wow, definitely gonna grab one of those Pi to DE0 boards, that's pretty neat edit: dammit, the kickstarter was unsuccessful :( nooo

[@DONK8008]

Might as well wrap one of those panels around a water bottle and a dehumidifier for an extra few hundred grand pocket change.

[@azmanabdula]

@LOLDONGS Why not a thorium reactor cooled water bottle? : P

[@TechyBen]

Need to tape some DEO board adapters to the roads? With solar?!

[@borthewolf3376]

A solar driveway perhaps?

[@dsp-crowd919]

Hello LeiserGeist! Don't worry, we will produce a small batch anyway! The connector should be available in a few months at our website. Hopefully there are some others out there who enjoy this combination as much as we do. Controlling the FPGA with a Smartphone for example is pretty cool in our opinion. Especially when it takes only one day to make useful FPGA projects! We would be glad to be able to share this experience with you! Please check out our facebook-page / website sometimes, we will publish an update about the progress every few weeks to keep you up-to-date. A tutorial how you can extend your Raspberry Pi with 60 more GPIOs/PWMs is currently under construction. The code is available at our GitHub page already. @EEVblog / Dave: Thanks for the feedback! We indeed use the connector without the plastic plate, but it's very likely that someone doesn't want to remove the plate. We will find a solution for that. Again a big thank you and Greetings from Austria Joe

[@freeman2399]

It's my favorite segment...Mailbag!

[@vaibhavhayaran]

i like this segment so much that whenever i greet anyone with 'Hi' ..."WELCOME TO EVERYONE'S FAVORITE SEGMENT...THE MAILBAG!" comes out involuntarily 😅😅

[@IgnazKevenaar]

Very positive energy this video Dave, great watch.

[@BassDrivenMassacre]

only an hour ago did i check your channel for mailbag! and now it's here!

[@Spector_NS5_RD]

my mailbag hunger has been satiated. please do not wait so long in between episodes! thanks, Dave!

[@DoRC]

with the knipex you sharpen the blade not throw it away:)

[@madbstard1]

Loved the solar stuff - especially the solar powerbank! Such a simple but brilliant idea. Didn't like the cruelty to the to multimeters - ripped apart with no thought of trying to repair or preserve them. Shame on you Dave :P

[@seethegalaxy]

We have got to see the Crocodile Dundee knife keep its place of honor!

[@RadInfoMan]

one way to reassemble a device that uses heat-staked posts: slice off the heat-staked portion, then use tiny self-tapping screws right into the posts. the thinner the screws, the better, else the posts may crack, which gives a lousy attachment.

[@m.k.8158]

good point....the best way would be to use a pin vise, with a tiny drill bit. I'd forgotten just how brittle the plastic would likely be.

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

Sand in small glass fuses is just to change the reaction speed by changing the thermal capacity at the fuse wire.

[@RobertSzasz]

only 1-4 Watts per meter? That's pretty abysmal. The price per linear meter would have to be way under 1 USD to compensate for the larger area needed.

[@marvin19966]

DAVE LET ME SLEEP

[@bradwilmot5066]

Sleep is overrated...

[@acoustic61]

This guy is like the Crocodile Hunter of Electronics! Love the enthusiasm!

[@FranLab]

I think that LED gadget is intended for the strange hand dancing called "Gloving"....

[@AverageJoe2020]

I just did a very random google search on "gloving" Fran, Not good, not good at all.

[@mudmagnet3249]

Fran Blanche haha, classic. We never stop learning.

[@3dmaxuser]

I just looked it up !!! lol Gloving .........The act of putting a condom on a hand and then fisting an anus with that hand as to not get poop directly on the hand.Michelle and I are trying more butt stuff but don't want to get shit everywhere.

[@bernardjacobs3440]

That pale yellow Radio spares box really takes me back, before RS got all bright red and jazzy

[@SebastianScholle]

That is a National Instruments LED bubble display. Logo in on the top right of the unit in copper fill.

[@MOTOSNOWRIDER]

Those Knipex channel locks are a super slick tool! I'm a wireman in Alaska and they have gotten me out of a few sticky situations! Those and my Klein "11 in 1" screw driver are some of my two most used tools in my box!

[@frederickevans4113]

The O'tatmo lighted bracelet thing would also be popular with athletes/fitness enthusiasts who go running/jogging before daybreak or at/around sunset along public streets/roads. And cyclists. A few years ago, I bought something similar, but instead of a clasp, it used a spring to wrap around one's arm or leg. After using mine around the leg of my trousers to starve the cog/chain on my bicycle, it fell off and the spring was damaged when a car drove over it behind me. I picked it up and later extracted the light circuit and light pipe and affixed both (as a unit) to my brain bucket (bicycle helmet). Mine is a single color - red.

[@DoRC]

can you start opening packages with a 2 hand sword?

[@DownhillAllTheWay]

That's the kind of knife you'd get arrested for in the UK. I hope it was delivered by post. I think I'd be a bit wary about carrying it in any public place - like on the way home after buying it.

[@redtails]

ZWEIHANDER

[@MarkMcDaniel]

He's not Scottish, I presume.

[@noah3384]

Dave, could you do a video defining all the aussie slang? I think i understand most of it but phrases like "suck of the sav" are quite strange to me as a yank

[@ickipoo]

The expression is "fair suck of the sav!" and is an appeal for fairness. A sav is a saveloy sausage on a stick, battered and deep fried (before we cared about cholesterol) and slathered in tomato sauce (ketchup). The sauce soaks into the batter, and as kids, you'd suck the damn things to make them last as long as possible. My guess would be the expression evokes two kids sharing a battered sav, rather than some sexual innuendo. Variants are "fair suck of the sausage", "fair suck of the sauce bottle" and "fair crack of the whip".

[@noah3384]

Thanks! Always wondered what the heck that meant.

[@elesjuan]

Joe Schmoe yank here.. A lot of the time you can find fairly good translations so to speak if Aussie and Queens English slangs on Google. Fairly close anyway. I know enough Aussie and English that I'm fairly used to their slang by now, but when I first started watching Dave had to always have Google open for some definitions. Though, if you watch AvE from Canada... Google won't help with decoding his slang. Man has his own damn language! Lol!

[@crocellian2972]

Joe Schmoe - Not only language but science. If his feelings don't fit, change the rules. Besides, according to him Dave is just a corrupt shill taking money under the table for good reviews. Citing that ass here is blasphemy.

[@MikeTrieu]

Crocellian: And, yet, Dave not-so-subtly flashed that company's Kickstarter page after receiving that obvious custom suck-up. Kudos to Dave, however, to ripping that company a new one by empirically testing the efficiency (or lack thereof) of their printed PV product. It's almost like this company just heard Dave was a famous EE KZbinr, but not much else.

[@chromabotia]

Good to see mailbag again - seem to have been a while. Thanks Dave

[@techskeet]

The Stahlwille spanner set and the Knipex Cobra? That are really the duck's guts! Thanks for your videos from germany.

[@hobbified]

31:50 love that old-school 2-plate printing with the black and the sort of reddish-pinkish-brownish.

[@PhilippBlum]

The printed solar cells are really interesting. I'm really often camping. And I mean the only have your backpack camping. For these kind of camping these cells are really really nice. It's okay to haven't the best efficiency. I can simply use a double and longer one. Looks great. Will check this out.

[@toddberg3892]

I wonder if the CFLs in the studio light were warming up and emitting more light gradually (as they do, particularly with age?)

[@izimsi]

That pull-off solar powerbank seems great for camping if those cells will deliver a few watts in full sunlight.

[@TheAwfulInternet]

Those Knipex pliers/wrench are my favorite tools I own. I have a Knipex Cobra that I've used at least a dozen times to remove rounded bolts instead of destroying a socket hammering it on or where a socket wont easily fit. They chooch hard, that's for sure.

[@DoRC]

on the smell of an oily rag?

[@alexscarbro796]

The MPSSE engine "scripting" on the FTDI chips is an incredibly powerful means of generating arbitrary digital patterns if you use the low level D2XX driver function calls. I use this all the time through Labview rather than writing micro controller code. Well worth the initial learning overhead.

[@willemvandijk8860]

Indeed, my favourite segment. Thanks Dave, keep 'em coming.

[@Fridgemusa]

Sweet! I seen these ages ago on some future tech channel but didn't know that you could buy them yet :)

[@dennissmithjr.5370]

Loved the mailbag today Dave. Good on ya mate.

[@michaelhawthorne8696]

I had that Thandar Counter and its companion Multimeter in the same case style way back in the 80's. I tested the counter on a known control frequency and it was bang on. They looked great together, well right up to the point I blew the arse out of the Multimeter. I got them working again but they weren't the same.

[@crocellian2972]

Yes! Almost back to work. Now, do some electronics. The chip puller has been sold for >10Y as a tack puller. Old is new again.

[@Equiluxe1]

The Thandar frequency counter looks very much like the old Sinclair DMM. the case of which was from the Sinclair calculator with a stick on cover over the hole where the buttons would have been and a slot milled in for the switch. Would be interesting to peel the top cover or have a look at the underside of the top of the case. Edit just went back and it is a re-purposed calculator case.

[@frollard]

5:00 I would argue the light bulbs are getting brighter as they warm, not the panels changing with temperature as much. fluoro tends to take quite a while to get to full brightness.

[@BrunoPOWEEER]

Mailbag is the best haha you get a bit of everything... lots of cool little gifts... Dave celebrates Christmas once a week hahaha =]

[@bvs1q]

that cobra pipe wrench is the best pipe grips/pliers in the world, even just that one thing given to you amongst all the million other things..its amazing the position your in now, like you dont have to buy any tools/tech if you can wait like a month at most, just mention in a video you were looking at or needed something, and someone will send it you ina few weeks xd

[@gordonwedman3179]

I have one of those "Hakko" soldering pencil temp measuring devices and could never get it to give a sensible reading. Recently (after 6 weeks) received a replacement pencil for my genuine Hakko 936 soldering station. It lasted 1 hour and then the plastic handle melted. You gotta love the Chinese. Then you have German tools which are fantastic. I have one of those Knipex channel lock pliers and it is the best ones I have ever used.

[@mcconkeyb]

On the DEO-Nano why not just insert a CPU into the FPGA, save $20. Because $20 is lunch for and a week for an EE designer.

[@EEVblog]

Because a) It takes up space b) You can't just use an ARM processor (they need a license) c) It's not the same ecosystem as the RPi

[@Tutoelectro1]

The Analog Discovery already does SPI , I2C, UART data generation as this one maybe not so advanced but they added to the software!

[@PlasmaHH]

The philips chips seem to be 0Q not 00, which I have seen in a lot of philips old stuff, must have been their own internal chips designations. Also didn't fluke cooperate with philips on quite a few things? I can remember seeing a fluke/philips oscilloscope... These green caps in the other meter I have seen a lot in multimedia electronics, still rather recently.

[@tookitogo]

Dennis Lubert I believe that Fluke bought the Philips test and measurement division completely. It happened right before Fluke introduced its ScopeMeter series, which were actually a Philips design, and actually had the Philips logo molded into the rear housing.

[@stranger7968]

0:53 LOL did he say "good shit" as he sniffed the roll?

[@adammckay7335]

Stranger he said "it's good shit!"

[@redtails]

he is a genuine glue sniffer

[@spyderMN]

Oh how I love my HP 48GX. I went back to school a few years back, in a discreet maths class we were working with large prime numbers for cryptography. The professor was writing large numbers and asking if they were prime. She thought she had chosen numbers large enough that a calculator couldn't determine if it was prime or not. My 20+ year old HP didn't sneeze at the numbers she had while the rest of the class using their crap modern Ti's couldn't muster an answer. She wouldn't let me use my HP on the tests after that...

[@heathpoulter9125]

Can't wait for your new multimeter!

[@supercow61]

Yes do a very in-depth test on these solar cells to see is they are worth buying ??? Thanks !!!

[@willynebula6193]

You got some bloody good tools there dave

[@FoxMccloud42]

The Otatmo flashing armband would be nice if it would just blink yellow or red for nigthwalking, so that car-drivers see you in the dark.

[@draggonhedd]

So what exactly is a sav and why is it so frequently sucked?

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

draggonhedd Female pig that has more piglets than nipples. So only the most aggressive piglets get more than one suck.

[@FLyyyT_]

hey pretty clever wearing that shirt. forces viewers to say it in their heads when they watch. tricking us to be excited.

[@plara8081]

At last!!! A new Mailbag!!!

[@mbaker335]

Knipex are very, very high quality tools. So are the rest. WOW.

[@ExStaticBass]

First off I don't "like" mailbag, I bloody love it. Lots of great stuff this time too. I love the shirt by the way. It's brilliant.

[@TheDefpom]

I recently made a unit that outputs SPI, I2C and UART to test serial decoding on the new Siglent scope I recently reviewed, its just an arduino pro mini.

[@QoraxAudio]

Awesome, Knipex and Wiha is top of the line tooling!

[@samendsley7865]

Im a master plumber and Knipex makes some of the best adjustable pliers money can buy js they are the shit in my biz ! To a plumber they are the beez kneez! Howdy from West TX !

[@triplebackspace3623]

I see your "Duck's Guts" and raise you the "Bee's Knees".

[@twocvbloke]

I'll meet that and raise you the "dog's bollocks"... :P

[@DonkeyLearningIT]

Dave, Wiha is a German manufacturer, making probably the *best* tools for electronics and such. Wiha is pronounced almost like what Donkeys say when they are braying. I know, I am a "professional": *Wi-Haa, Wi-Haa, Wi-Haa*

[@kalhana1]

Used to use the Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter. But the Digilent one seems far better at a lower price for signal generation applications. I just wish the Digilent one had USB 3 in order to use computer's memory for logic analyser buffer. I use the Saleae one at work due to that feature since I often need to capture very long sequences.

[@Arek_R.]

These flexible low weight solar panels are very good for long range RC planes/drones ;p

[@Gadgetman1989]

I wish I could figure out how much those solar cells would be in US, it would be lovely to test them in AZ, where 90% of our weather is consistently hot or sunny

[@malgailany]

It would be interesting to see the Digital Discovery review. It can go up to 800 MS/s using the High Speed Adapter and cables (I believe you have them included with the unit). Thanks.

[@Steve211Ucdhihifvshi]

its not a temperature thing. the CFL lightbulbs soft start, and increase their intensity after a couple of minutes.

[@tongordebeke1355]

Hi Dave, Love the Mailbag, please keep the Dundee nive I use on a daily basis my old Philips PM2505 analog meter and that still works perfect. PS I love old Analog multimeters.

[@gertux]

Fuses with sand in them aren't that weird I suppose, my 1995 Fluke 23 has them also.

[@petersage5157]

4 C cells to power that Phillips meter? You could fly to Uranus on 4 C cells! Gaffer tape is nothing to sneeze at. I dragged my trumpet out of storage a few days ago and found the lead pipe had split; a bit of gaffer tape made it playable.

[@electronicsNmore]

The solar cells are very nice. I can never have too many solar panels.

[@twocvbloke]

Them thermistors, being Made in England when we made such things, probably 1960s... :P

[@Mike_Downey]

60s seems about right. The box said RadioSpares so presumably before they changed their name to RS Components in the early 70s.

[@macdonalds1972]

Old British quality like the cars that started to rust before they left the factory.

[@Mr.Unacceptable]

You know you can get roofing blades for the standard Stanley knife that has a hooked blade.

[@randomblogger2835]

NTC thermistors for soft-start in the vacuum tube filament circuit

[@Mystickneon]

The prices they are offering on their web site is NOT cheaper than rigid PV's of similar power output.

[@Equoris]

Umm..right...well...for around 48 USD/W from what I can tell these printed organic cells are not even in the ballpark of making any sense (especially since that is just the price of the "panel")...I guess maybe to bring along as a fold out thing for camping, or maybe on clothing...but...There are portable solar panels, even fold out version for a lot less per W, and as a complete package in a durable casing...I'm not sure these actually take up less space even if rolled, for the same power. I haven't read a lot into this so I guess there is probably ongoing industrialization of the technology, but I don't see this as being competitive until it goes under 1 USD/W. Just my 2 cents!

[@nonsuch]

You almost get as much power with 1 yellow LED in reverse under a light bulb indoors over those printed solar cells. Heh.

[@Mr._Sandman]

That Frequency Counter looks to have the same body as the Sinclair multimeter.

[@travis4798]

Florescent and led lighting don't emit the right solar radiation to allow the cells to produce power. Found that out a while back when I was still using incandescent bulbs.

[@goamarty]

You are joking? Incandescent bulbs are worst for testing solar cells, they produce mostly heat radiation, which can not be converted to electricity by most semiconductors. I have very good experiences with testing solar cells with LEDs. The small ones of solar garden lights even easily with my 5W pocket torch on the keyring. Just light the cell for some seconds and see the light come on afterwards. Of course for full power you need quite some LED power, according to a rough calculation not less than 30W electrical per dm² (10W of light per dm² equals 1000W/m²). The sun is really strong compared to most of our light sources. With a tiny standard 5mm LED you will not do much.

[@travis4798]

goamarty Right they are very inneficient. sunlight would be the best obviously. I just find the work better with that then LEDs and florecents.

[@jam99]

You have to be careful that the output spectrum of your source is compatible with the frequencies absorbed by the organic solar panels. Sunlight is very broad spectrum. LEDs vary depending on the semiconductors used. Fluorescent has a few very narrow bands. Incandescent is fairly broad but increases the further towards the red end.

[@Weissman111]

Got me confused when you mentioned Baltimore from The Sum of all Fears film - it was Denver in the book.

[@Gameboygenius]

That ADC is apparently OQ0067 according to the service manual. That's o, q, zero, zero.

[@dominikschutz6300]

Just put epoxy on those heat stakes and your HP is as good as new (after cleaning of course) :)

[@bennylofgren3208]

Just FYI, the Knipex brand name is pronounced with an audible K, similar to how you would say Evel Knievel's last name. I am not entirely sure about the etymology of the name, but the word "knipsen" in German can mean for example to snap, to clip or to punch (as in punch holes). Incidentally, "knip" in Dutch mean "to cut", so had they been a Dutch company I would have definitely thought that to be the original idea. (And I know this because I am Swedish, and the Swedish language historically has a lot of influences from German and Dutch. In Swedish, "knip" means "squeeze tight".)

[@magicer83]

I realy like the solarpanel roll thingy seems it could be usefull.

[@magicer83]

Yes you are correct but the portability is kinda nice.

[@microcolonel]

The gold and red microruler is for Chinese New Year I would think, not just for the wank. Gold and Red is a pretty important colour combo over there, especially around the new year. There's even an egg and tomato dish intended to display the two colours. Also that looks like OQ0067 on the IC in the PM2718, not OOOO67. Maybe you'll be getting some prescription glasses in the mailbag soon. ;- )

[@Elviloh]

Sadly I don't have sunlight coming out of my butt for this toilet paper.

[@McSynth]

Morning from the old dart Dave. Nice offer Tim...

[@SebastianScholle]

It fades out. Guilded the lily! :D

[@bloodyl_uk]

Why does it not surprise me that you found a DIN connector on the knackered vintage Philips multimeter?

[@patrichausammann]

Thanks for the interesting video! I think the name of the chip at 29:17 is not 00 00 67, it is 0Q 00 67. But hey, no problem, it is written very small, so I had to pause the video to read it correct. Greetings from Switzerland

[@BMack37]

Knipex is pronounced "Kaknee-pex" two syllables...I know, it's weird as an English speaker. Knipex makes some of the best pliers on the market. Wiha is pronounced "Vee-ha". Wera according to their US distributors is pronounced like an English speaker would pronounce it. All are great tools. The Wiha have some of the best precision screwdrivers, they have a very extensive precision set that should be on any EE's wish list.

[@ACTlVISION]

I see you get a real kick out of sniffing glue. Wouldn't have it any other way.

[@TottyRops]

That's a massive chopper you have there!

[@voomastelka4346]

The ruler is for Chinese market, of course it has to have golden edges.

[@uriituw]

At least the HP35S doesn't use heat stakes; it uses screws!

[@OneBiOzZ]

That watch ... light ... thing ... i would slap anyone in the face who asked me my thoughts on making such a thing even as a former rave boy ... especially without bluetooth or something but im quite happy with how it was designed

[@wilbertbirdner1303]

I don't think Philips ever made anything without a DIN connector.

[@Sharklops]

Sum of All Fears is a fantastic book as well

[@leisergeist]

Sum of All Fears was a fantastic movie, really did the book justice (which is rare with movie adaptations) Tom Clancy was seriously a genius, RIP. Edit: oh yeah I already commented earlier, oops

[@Tulwean]

Knipex are some of the best electrician tools that you can get. I have a bunch of their tools

[@scarrypolpetta9006]

it's a german made knipex tool, you don't need to swap the blades

[@lunakid12]

"Gilded the lily" (with the fading switch-off of that blinky bracelet)... :))