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We continue our “every other week” tradition (a guest one week, just Dave and Chris the next) with lots of news and projects!
- Chris has a new project and affiliation — ChipReport.tv! (Links at the end of the video to subscribe)
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auSEgID1zQc[/tube] - The “Still Untitled Adam Savage Project” on Tested.com is pretty good!
- Shahriar from The Signal Path super-cools an LED…and it changes color! Awesome!
- Temperature can affect your designs…but do we really need to worry about it?
- Tom LeMense might say so, having worked on automobile designs.
- The Olympics have started! There are some cool engineering design questions regarding timing and video.
- Analog Devices and Digilent released a DMM/Oscilloscope board for relatively cheap (esp if you’re a student). Dave doesn’t like it.
- Even though Chris would argue this is a further push towards using off the shelf tablets for scopes, the Antipasto Hardware Blog says to utilize custom Android tablets, if at all.
- Some butthead is buying up all the copyright to Heathkit schematics and is pursuing any left online.
- Digikey now has a schematic tool built in…but why doesn’t it interface to CAD programs?
- Do you watch the financial health of a company when making decisions to design in a part? ST Micro is running out of cash.
- There is a database of chip logos that can help you find out which chips you’re looking at.
- Mike’s Electric Stuff has a video of entire boards with rebadged chips from a military computer:
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55z_0BYb5is&feature=plcp[/tube] - ARM is working with TSMC to develop sub 20nm designs…does this mean ARM might make a chip one day? What stops them?
- Tektronix is accepting feedback on their products via a new site…and want video reviews?
- Duane Benson of Screaming Circuits is writing articles detailing his first impressions about learning FPGAs.
- Erin “RobotGrrl” has a great video showing a timelapse of a curvy board layout. Mesmerizing!
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDO5W7bX03E[/tube] - Dave used to do tape layouts by hand!
- If you’re doing a manhattan technique build, there is a great technique for creating “islands” on the copper clad.
That’s all for this week. If you enjoy the show, we would love it if you gave us a review on iTunes! It really helps new people find the podcast. Or tell your friends! Thanks!
hey guys, how about mike for next week`s guest??
i think i remember some evvblog forum topic where he said he would do it if asked.
anyway, nice podcast!
We thought about it, but being in different thirds of the world requires more than a week’s planning. He’s most definitely on our list for future episodes, I think he’ll be great.
are you implying you need to sleep? my entertainment comes first!
i hope you can work it out at some point. i really want to listen to that one
You mentioned cheap tools from Harbor Freight – and I agree. Good for tools that you only need very occasionally. My local Harbor Freight ran a coupon this week for a FREE DMM with any purchase, which even includes transistor Hfe. I picked on up to keep in the car. Even came with a battery.
Most designed I’ve worked on in the past have most definitely required analysis over temperature – usually over commercial or industrial temperature. However, I once did some IC design for a commercial aircraft application – very tough temperature requirements.
I think maybe you missed the point of the scheme-it tool. I’m able to browse to a web page, blue-sky an idea, and email a schematic to my tech for more formal treatment.
I didn’t spend a penny, and it took 4 1/2 seconds to learn. It was perfect.
Yeah, and your tech is pissed because he has to redo the schematic in a real CAD tool instead of that Fisher Price thing.
…one more comment regarding finishing stuff – I used to tell my managers that the first 90% of the job will take the first 90% of the time, but the last 10% of the time takes the other 90% of the time.
seeing that i ran into you here, and since i dont have or want a you tube account, i´ll take the opportunity to say that your vids are GREAT! thank you so much for making them.
Thank you! I appreciate that!
I think you guys missed my point from Twitter on the Analog Devices DMM/Scope thing. Yeah, they totally suck for not making it open. But having read this forum for a couple years, over and over and over again you see new comers asking what the most important piece of gear is, or what they should buy first, or how can I get anything since I don’t have any money.
Bottom line, for $99(US) a beginner can have a basic scope, dmm, freq counter, sig gen, and logic analyzer. I think that’s completely awesome.
As you guys mentioned on the show, and Adam Savage did on his referring to Harbor Freight. Start out with the cheapest tools you can find. If you find it valuable and something you’ll use a lot, THEN go buy the absolute best you can afford.
I think few of the folks here on the forum would actually find the thing valuable. But as a starting point for kids, I think it’s brilliant.
That’s a great point John, and one I heartily agree with. I still would like them to open it up, but that’s just a general call because it’s a sign of a good company as well. Regardless, having some way to measure and source signals is a powerful starting point for a lot of people new to electronics. That’s another reason I’m a fan of the CEE. Sure, the functionality was limited on the first rev, but it made the signals visible and tangible.
I heartily agree with Harbor Freight equipment. When I see people on forums listing several $000 of equipment on their shopping list, I can be sure their hobby is collecting test gear, not doing electronics. As a kid / student, I’d have crawled across broken glass to get a piece of test gear like that wee $99 box!
Thanks for that chip logo site!
Helped me ID a cn chip that I couldn’t find anywhere.
Certainly need more sources for finding obscure Chinese Chips.