EEVblog

What’s inside an old style bank note/bill accptor/validator for vending machines and the like? How does it detect genuine notes from dodgy ones? Datasheets: IR Sensor 2595 Driver TLV5629 DAC TOP242 Flyback controller Lattice Mach4 PLD MC68HC11F http://pdf.datasheetcatalog.com/datasheet/AdvancedMicroDevices/mXwuvz.pdf Forum HERE

Dave explains what causes CRT vignetting problems and how to fix it. A follow up to the HP 35660A Dynmaic Signal Anayser video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNsJ8qSk6CI Whiteboard explanation of how a Cathode Ray Tube works, and how it can cause interference to sensitive measurements and the shielding required in a precision instrument like the HP DSA. Forum HERE

Dave repairs a classic HP 35660A Dynamic Signal Analyser (DSA), and does a bit of a teardown with random commentary in the process. Service Manual HERE Forum HERE

Dave had a very quick play with the new 4 channel Rigol DS1000Z series oscilloscope with dual channel ARB function generator on the Emona stand at the Electronex 2013 exhibition. And meet some EEVblog viewers. Forum HERE

An impromptu teardown on the Emona stand at the Electronex trade show, of the Picoscope 5000 flexible resolution USB oscilloscope, with a small crowd of EEVblog viewers watching on. Also uses the Tagarno HD ZIP 40x digital magnifier. http://www.tagarno.dk/en/frontpage/products/inspection/home/product-pages/products/digital-magnification-systems/magnus-hd-zip.aspx https://secure1.bluecentral.com/emona/shop/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=84 http://www.picotech.com/document/datasheets/PicoScope5000Series.pdf http://www.mouser.com/catalog/specsheets/DataSheetASD5020HS_v2.0.pdf http://www.hittite.com/content/documents/data_sheet/hmc-ad1520.pdf http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/mass-high-tech/2011/01/hittite-microwave-buys-arctic-silicon-devices.html Forum HERE

Michael from the Melbourne Connected Community Hackerspace talks about his large build area modular dual independent extruder 3D printer design project. Not much electronics talk here, it’s mostly about the hardware build. http://www.hackmelbourne.org/‎ http://www.3dprinterbits.com.au/ As usual, if you don’t like this type of content, don’t watch it. Forum HERE

Jonathan Oxer from Freetronics talks about the Ardusat project and shows his Arduino based cluster board for running Arduino sketches in space at the Melbourne Connected Community Hackerspace http://www.freetronics.com/pages/ardusat-the-arduino-satellite https://ardusat.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArduSat Forum HERE

What’s inside a 9V Alkaline Battery? Are they all created the same? Is Duracell better than Energizer? Dave opens up Duracell, Energizer, Varta, and a no-name generic Alkaline 9V PP3 battery.

What’s inside a modern car airbag controller? This is is from TRW and comes from a late model Hyundai. Datasheets: http://www.chemi-con.com/components/com_lcatalog/uploaded/4/7/6/19868903214d9b16734611d.pdf http://www.ihs.com/news/renesas-h8sx1725f-vehicle.htm http://www.epcos.com/inf/30/db/ind_2008/b82793c0_s0.pdf http://www.datasheetarchive.com/dl/Datasheets-SW2/DSASW0023111.pdf http://www.freescale.com/files/sensors/doc/data_sheet/MMA68xx.pdf http://cache.freescale.com/files/sensors/doc/data_sheet/MMA685x.pdf http://www.st.com/st-web-ui/static/active/en/resource/technical/document/datasheet/CD00103810.pdf

Part 1 in a series of LTSPICE tutorial videos. In this introduction Dave explains what LTSPICE is and how to do the simplest of the SPICE analysis options – basic DC operating point analysis. Also how to draw basic schematics, display voltages and current on your schematic, and a beginner few traps to avoid. Forum HERE

Dave investigates the ionic electro-chemical resistance of some Alkaline batteries under light multimeter input loading and an unusual physical battery phenomena, and explains how it differs drastically from the datasheet internal resistance value. He also finds a surprising result showing two types of Alkaline battery construction with different properties. It demonstrates the usefulness of a high resolution bench multimeter. Forum HERE

What’s inside a modern bare bones $5 mobile phone? The LG800G available from Tracphone for $5: Datasheets: http://www.infineon.com/dgdl/X-GOLD_213-pb.pdf?folderId=db3a304312fcb1bc0113000c158f0004&fileId=db3a30431ddc9372011e1fc7f7fd413d http://www.rfmd.com/CS/Documents/7161DS.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-electron-mobility_transistor http://www.broadcom.com/products/Bluetooth/Bluetooth-RF-Silicon-and-Software-Solutions/BCM2070 Forum HERE

Mailbag galore. Dave screws up and releases the magic smoke on the best mailbag item ever. Turns a light bulb on with his mobile phone, and goes underwater in a submarine. And a cameo appearance by everyone’s favorite. http://shackspace.de/ http://lightdream.com.au/ http://www.avbotz.com/ http://jmedved.com/usbamps

Dave started out wanting to investigate the power-on spike on the Rigol DP832 Lab Power Supply, but ended up hunting down a reset bug that uncovered a bad thermal design mistake in the supply. Watch Dave hunt it down step by step, and almost get duped by some marginal oscilloscope triggering. How will Rigol respond to this? UPDATE: Rigol have already fixed this issue HERE Forum HERE Initial user confirmations HERE

What’s inside the Rigol DP832 precision lab power supply. Is it identical to the DP832A Photos HERE Forum HERE