EEVblog #715 - Mailbag

[EEVblog]

Mailbag Monday
Dave opens his mail.

SPOLIERS:

Atmel AT89C2051 http://www.atmel.com/images/doc0368.pdf
NanoBeam Kickstarter module, T-Slot construction: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bossgizmo/nanobeam-helping-makers-build-the-smallest-things
Elektor T-Board Arduino Breadboard modules: http://www.elektor-labs.com/project/t-board-ucontroller-prototyping-simplified-130581-i.13808.html
Wireless RF energy harvesting module: http://www.rfdiagnostics.com/products.html
Awesome woodworking projects: http://www.iarakistain.com/

[alimirjamali]

I would highly recommend visiting Zapta's ARM dev-board repository on Github. It is a great sample of through comprehensive documentation of an electronic project

I wish I had the patience to document like him

[TheEPROM9]

I have poped one of those Multimeters up on eBay, seems to work fine, some of the design is a bit crusty though in places. 

I do engoy the little quick teardowns. Teardown is my favrat segment =-) 

[max_torque]

BTW, the "snow mobile" is a little version of "BigTrak" a very famous and now "cult" toy from the late 1970's '/ early 1980's!




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Trak

It's actually pretty cleverly designed!

http://www.robotroom.com/BigTrak.html

[elgonzo]

A blue quadruped named "Dragoon"... somebody must be a Starcraft fan 

[helius]

I bet the clear second "photodiode" on the back of the car sign is actually a LED that flashes when a signal from the remote is received. Without some feedback it would be hard to tell if the remote worked or was properly aimed.

[nixfu]

OMG..  I loved BigTrack.

[bitblt]

I see someone already beat me to it, but that weird key-chain "snowmobile" is actually a miniature replica of a Milton Bradly BigTrak from 1978.  The original BigTrak was a programmable tank.  Probably one of the coolest electronic toys from the late 70's.  I had so much fun as a child learning to program BigTrak . . . forward 10 - left 90 - forward 10, right 180, fire 3 times.  It was a robotic toy that was way ahead of its time, and therefor went over most peoples heads.  There was a UK company that made a run of fully functional replicas back in 2010.  I have an original BigTrak in my retro electronics collection.   

[nitro2k01]

I couldn't help but notice one of the whiteboards said "freebies". Something for an upcoming episode?

[miguelvp]

Hey, I was born in the same City as where Ivan is, even if I'm really from near by (19Km away), but that's where the Hospital was back in the 60's so everyone in the area was really born in Donostia back then, unless you were born at home that is

Beautiful city in the Basque Country Donostia/San Sebastian

[urbis]

I see someone already beat me to it, but that weird key-chain "snowmobile" is actually a miniature replica of a Milton Bradly BigTrak from 1978.  The original BigTrak was a programmable tank.  Probably one of the coolest electronic toys from the late 70's.  I had so much fun as a child learning to program BigTrak . . . forward 10 - left 90 - forward 10, right 180, fire 3 times.  It was a robotic toy that was way ahead of its time, and therefor went over most peoples heads.  There was a UK company that made a run of fully functional replicas back in 2010.  I have an original BigTrak in my retro electronics collection.   

I sent that particular item in and was shocked when Dave didn't recognise it!

Maybe we all need to arrange for him to receive a real Big Trak!

[Laertes]

Aw man, TI Voyage - the greatest calculator ever made, to start off the flamewar...
Seriously though, I still use mine almost every day...even without dedicated exponent button. Especially the built-in Basic interpreter combined with full QWERTY keyboard will allow you to automate menial tasks really quickly, like calculating voltage dividers and spitting out valid E-Series resistor values...
Some guys even wrote a great little GCC extension that supports TIs kernel calls so you can use their CAS instructions like symbolic solving from your own little high-performance(compared to Basic) programs - awesome.
Mate of mine built a portable radio telescope from a satellite dish and one of these for data acquisition back in 2004, before the age of smartphones - awesome.

[TheWelly888]

Ah! The Vulcan Bomber - their howl, pregnant with the promise of Armageddon, was the background noise of my childhood!

Example clip of that plane in flight -

[rollatorwieltje]

Ah! The Vulcan Bomber - their howl, pregnant with the promise of Armageddon, was the background noise of my childhood!

Example clip of that plane in flight -

Recently 2 Avro Lancasters and a Vulcan flew in formation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=uEV5i-Kw4qI#t=415

There's only 10 years between these planes, the Lancaster introduced in 1942 and the Vulcan in 1952.

[bitblt]

I sent that particular item in and was shocked when Dave didn't recognise it!

I was shocked too.  Perhaps they didn't sell them in Australia?

Maybe we all need to arrange for him to receive a real Big Trak!

Good idea.  I couldn't part with my original BigTrak, but I would gladly donate a fully functional BigTrak Jr from 2010 if Dave expresses interest in doing a teardown.  Probably not much to see inside.  Sagan might get a kick out of it if Daddy helped with the programming.

[nivek2421]

I have been watching your YouTube Channel for a few months and I love it. Today, when I was watching your mailbag Tuesday I accidently pressed the CC icon. I must say, YouTube is way off. It was hilarious. Great Vlog though. Look forward to it every week.

[urbis]

Ah! The Vulcan Bomber - their howl, pregnant with the promise of Armageddon, was the background noise of my childhood!

Example clip of that plane in flight -

I saw her a few times last year, and it's unfortunately that this is looking to be it's final year in flight.

It's the last airbourne Vulcan in the world.

May have been a bit geeky of me to send the postcard, but it is something I love

[SeanB]

Thanks Urbis, I had almost forgotten that bit of mail. I remember going to SAA and was given a tour, which included a walk through the restoration of the only flying Ju52 in Africa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju_52

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Airways_Museum_Society

A lot of the aircraft I worked on were older than me, and I know some of the original pilots who went and did the delivery of them.

[lincoln]

Hello Dave,
Since you mentioned San Jose's street art, I would like to share one with group :



Quetzalcoatl, aka snake poop.

[SirDan]

Hello,

Has anyone had any success with ordering the energy harvesting module from RF Diagnostics? How much do they cost? They don't answer their email and the phone number is out of service 
I am hoping they will see this and chime in.

Thanks,
Dan Pattison
http://www.remotemonitoringsystems.ca/uF-nF-pF.php

[uMinded]

Hey Dave, wanna sell the Voyager 200 calculator? I love collecting horizontal calculator units!