EEVblog #787 - Mailbag

More Mailbag

SPOILERS:
Zhiyun Z1-Evolution 3-axis GoPro IMU based handheld image stabiliser gimbal:

Nagle Industries Glow-Tie, RGB LED Bow-Tie:

Raspberry Pi Wombat Prototyping board

Casio FX-991EX Calculator with engineering notation display.

Hobby Creek Third Hand Tool:

KVM switch teardown

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[Mefaso]

The goal for the glow tie is 80 000$ (USD, I presume) and he wants 150$ for a single tie.

Absurd.

[xyanide]

I love that calculator's functionality, ordered one straight away! Thanks a lot for that little show and tell. I've been using a "multiview" TI model for a while that can't even do its exponents properly when you choose to put them in a fraction.

[Electromech]

The arms of that 3rd hand can be shortened, or lengthened. You have to pretend to break them and the sections will pop right off, then you can snap them together however you like! (They're actually coolant lines for mills and lathes and such)

[catdumpling]

Dave, there's something you need to know about Shermer, Illinois....

[midgetsHead]

Daniel from Hobby Creek has got me sold. As soon as they're back in stock I'm ordering. I just wish there was a more stable base platform and some stiffer arms for soldering. You got some great stuff this time Dave. I'm just gonna have to get an extra job to get some of these things!

[glctv]

"Because everyone in Australia is called Dave." - Dave, 2015

That's going to get a bit confusing, Dave. Is it okay if we just call you Bruce? 😎

[headmetal]

The Casio fx-991DEX has been available in Germany for quite some time, but the name tells it, it's the german version. We use it in university quite a lot, it's really awesome compared to my old Casio fx-85MS I used until Juli of this year. It didn't even calculate complex numbers, that was really bothering me, because I have been studying electrical engineering since 2010. But at least I had to know how it was calculated by hand, and now it's really easy and delightful to use this new one. I understand Daves enthusiasm quite good :) First time I'm excited and fanboying about a calculator :D

[kyoudaiken]

17:10 - Would have made the base plate out of stainless steel V4A and approx. one inch thick. Would have enough weight for a steady stand.

[youbecha]

Third hand sold out on Hobby Creek website, but available on Amazon and adafruit.

[maxine_red]

You are not alone, Dave. There is nothing better than to have a physical calculator in your palm and just hit the buttons and see the magic happen.

[donnierussellii]

My idea for a geek bowtie would be an elliptical piece of cloth, pinned on your shirt, with tiny sew-able leds on the back. The bulk of the electronics would be in a pocket inside the shirt. Single-color leds could animate a tie shape spinning around.

[blackwingmaster]

Those blue "snakes" on 3rd hand are ussualy used as coolant pipes on metalworking machinery (lathes, mills, grinders etc.), this 3rd hand tool is nice way to use them :)

[crustyHO]

I still use a KVM. They make newish ones that are handy, dvi + usb. Comes in handy if you use your old pooters and you want to load share applications across them, you know servers, media centers, music boxes, etc.

[johncajka]

the reason why your key strokes are backwards on your new calculator is old school "reverse polish" was what i remember it being called. HP engineering calculators were always like that, not sure if they still are done that way.

[TilmanBaumann]

Perhaps the guy who makes the glow-tie can add some pigments to the potting compound for difusing. Perhaps some pixie dust.
Would be prettier than naked LED.

[winstonsmith]

On the Casio and other made-in-China electronics, the Chinese seem to love UGLY serif fonts. As control markings and LCD fonts (as is the case with the Casio), they make any product look really cheap. I suspect their preference for them might be due to the bazillion "serifs" in their own printed language.

[takticalpickles]

Does anyone else recognize re-purposed Loc-Line hoses in that Third Hand? Dave, just bend those blue bits until they pop out, make the length shorter and pop them back in. It may take a lot of force to pop them back in but it is something I do regularly. There is a special tool to pop them back together which is nice, but not necessary.

[andersevenrud]

Still rocking a PS/2 mechanical keyboard here. It's pretty popular in the gaming scene because of the superiour latency (direct interrupt).

[sctte-]

That third hand kit is awesome...if it falls over it wouldn't be that hard to somehow fasten it to the table lol

[MichelPASTOR]

I don't have one but I think you can change the length of the third hand arms. It suddenly becomes more practical.