EEVblog #573 - Mailbag

[EEVblog]

Mailbag Monday
SMD Adapter PCBs: https://github.com/maugsburger
NXP SMD Package Cheats:
http://www.nxp.com/documents/other/Discretes_package_poster.pdf
http://www.nxp.com/documents/other/Discrete_Flat_No-leads_DFN_package_poster.pdf
HP 41 Calculator upgrade PCB
http://systemyde.com/hp41/
OHARARP Lab Notebooks: http://ohararp.com/
CNC-Design in Finland Laser Cut 3D Signs: http://www.cnc-design.fi
Hacked Microsoft Lifecam DIYINHK USB Microscope: http://www.diyinhk.com/shop/usb-microscope-1080p-for-smt-soldering/48-1080p-smt-microscope.html
uARM 4-Axis Arduino Open Source Hardware Robotic Arm Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ufactory/uarm-put-a-miniature-industrial-robot-arm-on-your

[Jorpy]

In case you want to "experience" your new game

[Psi]

For the little TV you can make a small analog TV station with an old VCR.
The VCR RF out (that normally goes to TV with VCR data on CH3 etc..) will transmit a very short distance if you put some wire on it to make an antenna.

[EEVblog]

In case you want to "experience" your new game

Oh my FSM, the humanity!
Epically bad!

[Psi]

Must have been some other game that was tweaked a bit so they could call it BTTF and make money off the name

[phil]

Regarding the backlight for your new sign: Why not use the milk glass as diffusor? Mount some LEDs inside your lab to shine through the glass. Just do some math to find the optimal distance between glass and LEDs. Might even be a job for your makerbot
Add some form of case and a plug pack - done.

Phil

[mikeselectricstuff]

Maybe re-purpose an LCD monitor backlight for the sign.
If only you had the odd spare monitor or two.....

[moemoe]

Oops, I did just see the new video announcement on twitter, and yes, the letter was faster crossing half of the world than me uploading the designs of the adapters.

Hopefully I won't forget to do this after a round of sleep, it's 00:47 here.

As I wrote in the letter, some traces are too small, that's what happens when you throw together 10 designs in 4 hours. So I wanted to fix that known issue prior to publishing the design. I even forgot to remove some solder resist, the back of the sot223 was thought as universal 4 pin adapter, I already successfully used it for plcc4 leds.

The manufacturer takes horrible sums for seperating or grooving boards, that's why I decided to cut them on my own.

Good night

[zakatov]

Haha!

Coming soon from China: it's the EAV Blog with Dave Johns!

[PedroDaGr8]

Haha!

Coming soon from China: it's the EAV Blog with Dave Johns!

[99tito99]

Maybe re-purpose an LCD monitor backlight for the sign.
If only you had the odd spare monitor or two.....

Ditto:  Had the same idea, Mike was quicker on the trigger.

However, after that big clean-up ('The De- Hording') you may have thrown out all those monitors; Yea Right.

Cheers,
Mark
**********************

[iWalrus]

Hi Dave,

As any engineering student will tell you, it is drilled into your head (often ad nauseam) at all stages of education to always take notes, and to note down every single thing one is doing. I was inspired by that really nice Amp Hour notebook you were sent, to ask these questions:

1. Do you take notes?
2. What are the sorts of things you write down?
3. How detailed are your notes?
and
4. What would you recommend an aspiring electronics engineer to bare in mind when taking notes?

It may sound like a boring set of questions, but I really never got the hang of taking notes, and I'm sure my notes would not be the same even if i did the same experiment twice. So I ask: What would Dave do?

I am new to the forum, but i watch all of your new videos religiously, even the boring bits. Maybe it could be the topic for a really back to basics video?

Cheers, and keep the cameras rolling!
- John (Auckland, NZ) 

[Excavatoree]

Haha!

Coming soon from China: it's the EAV Blog with Dave Johns!

Some of my Japanese coworkers call me Mr. Johns.

[EEVblog]

Regarding the backlight for your new sign: Why not use the milk glass as diffusor? Mount some LEDs inside your lab to shine through the glass. Just do some math to find the optimal distance between glass and LEDs. Might even be a job for your makerbot
Add some form of case and a plug pack - done.

I've done some experiment through the frosted office glass and it's still the same, it's just not spectacular enough. I suspect even a nice even panel light on the back is going to look very ordinary.

[electron_misfire]

Regarding the backlight for your new sign: Why not use the milk glass as diffusor? Mount some LEDs inside your lab to shine through the glass. Just do some math to find the optimal distance between glass and LEDs. Might even be a job for your makerbot
Add some form of case and a plug pack - done.

I've done some experiment through the frosted office glass and it's still the same, it's just not spectacular enough. I suspect even a nice even panel light on the back is going to look very ordinary.

I suspect simple wax paper (baking paper) will do the trick

[ales22]

Just quick idea, sorry if I'm totally wrong.
Is there any chance to peel off the white plastic? Then you can place another layer under the white letters to stop the light. Something thin and reflexive should do the job, like aluminum foil. Then only the contours would be lit.

iWalrus: At first get a decent pen! I screwed my hand and my writing with cheap rubbish ballpoint pens (fortunately it wasn't permanent). I can recommend rollers, definitely much better than ballpoints. You don't have to press too much and they have usually finer tips. But get some good brand like Pilot, Parker, Timbow... Cheap rollers skip often or scratch the paper. And of course, as the student, you will need some with high capacity cartridge :-)

[codeboy2k]

Wow!, totally awesome sign there Dave yes definitely ranks high.

Now you've gone and made me want to watch "The Castle" again !! What a riot  !

[LapTop006]

I was going to suggest an EL panel to light the sign as they're easy to cut down to size.

[jwm]

Something I'd love to see you do with that sinclair TV tube is a fundamentals friday on high voltage circuits, driving the tube with a function generator to show Lissajous figures for instance and explaining the driver circuit. It would also be a good way to demonstrate how analog scopes work. Something about a true fully analog scope the size of one of those crappy DSO quad nano thingies also just appeals to me.

[ion]

Try placing LEDs along the edge of the sign.  That should give an even backlight.

[moemoe]

I just finished the github upload of the breadboard adapter designs: https://github.com/maugsburger/smbb/blob/master/README.md

And because I got the question inside a youtube comment: I have still some left, so if anyone is interested in getting some, just contact me using the forum's messaging system.

[arekm]

For the little TV you can make a small analog TV station with an old VCR.
The VCR RF out (that normally goes to TV with VCR data on CH3 etc..) will transmit a very short distance if you put some wire on it to make an antenna.

Or just RF modulator like
http://www.amazon.com/BELKIN-F8V3063-Belkin-RF-Modulator/dp/B00076FVP6

[plug]

You could try a CCFL or other tube style backlight, and the diffuser  from a LCD monitor. That should give you good even lighting, and you could use colored plastic wrap to change the color.

Love the blog, and keep up the good work.

[iva]

Like the adapters but I wonder if all the fancy pads (see minute 5:40 on the video) in some of them might have too high parasitics for some applications?

On the other side if you are using an adapter probably you're not going too high in frequency anyway...

[moemoe]

Like the adapters but I wonder if all the fancy pads (see minute 5:40 on the video) in some of them might have too high parasitics for some applications?

The breadboard itself also has some capacities:

And if you think of the capacity as C=\varepsilon_0\varepsilon_r \cdot { {A} \over {d} }, with A something like 35µm x 3mm and d 2mm, it's nearly nothing.