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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- The Ben Heck Show:
Speak'N'DaveJones
• Speak and Dave Jones
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Metrawatt Analog Multimeter Unigor A43
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Geppetto Electronics Hydra J1772 Electric Vehicle Charging Station:
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Kevex 2003 Scanning Electron Microscope Preamplifier & Pulse Processor
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Showview Video Recorder controller.
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Those right angle standoffs are actually hinges. you did not need to remove them; just unscrew the other side of the board and it hinges up.
That preamp looks like a great box to make your own custom LAB stuff; already has BNC's. Looks like there was something hiding in the big aluminum block at the other end.
Yeah, when I started, the draftsmen were doing 2x and 4x PCB masks with tape and precut pads. We were doing 0.012" traces high tech ;)
The Showview thing is an automatic universal remote for a VCR. It has a built in clock and if you programmed it, by entering the showview number, it turned on your VCR, set it to the right channel and started, and later stopped, the recording.
Before that, you had to program it to let it know which channel was stored on which number on the VCR.
The numbers are still printed in some tv guides and some modern DVD-recorders still offer showview programming. In some countries, the system was named VCRPlus or Videoplus.
There was also a "deluxe" version you could use as a normal remote for your TV and VCR.
I had the deluxe version and I think my parents still have got the version you got, but rarely, if ever, used it. It was easier and more logical to enter "monday, 20:15 to 21:45, memory 5" into the VCR than a 10 digit number.
Dave is going to get like 15 telephones in the next mailbag because he mentioned he needed one.
I'd say that antenna looking right angle bracket on the scanning electron board is a hinge to let you raise the board up and out of the way to get underneath
Just finished my thesis in electrical engineering, what way could possibly be better to celebrate than with Ben Hecks “Speak and Dave”?
It's fun to see the live stream repeat to see how you do it and then the actual video to see the close ups and details of the things that you unpack! :) loving it
I need the Dave speak and say so that I can constantly be reminded of the EEVBlog when I am without internet!
Dave, Gemstar was the company licenced under JVC to produce G-Codes for VCRs to record a show out of the TV Guide.
That gadget would sit on top of the VCR and hang over the front and at the correct time, it would change the channel on the VCR and hit record, by blasting ALL the codes out for ALL known remotes. That thing kept the time and the date though, and could supposedly be put anywhere in the room so long as the IR signal could hit the front of the VCR somehow.
Dear Dave,
My name is max pincu and I live in Dallas Texas in the USA . I have watched your AMAZING blog since I was eleven. I especially love teardown Tuesday and aspire to be like you one day you crazy Aussie! I hope to meet you one day and see the lab if I ever visit New South Wales .
Wow, I watched Ben Heck build the SpeaknSay, was surprised to see it turn up in the mail bag :P
Showview was basically a remote control just to setup your VCR to record a show from TV. Many people were not able to program their VCR by using the built in menus etc, too complicated. So they printed codes in the magazines like "291 582 294 911 812" for every single show. You only needed to enter this code into your ShowView device and point it to the VCR like the IR remote control. Bang, the show got programmed for recording.
i had such a vcr recording showview device back in the days, it works with every vcr that has a remote, you programm the recording time into it, and it sends out IR pulses allthe way around it and forces the vcr to record at the desired time. you can use codes provided in the manual to st it up for different brand vcrs. its just like a multi-device Ir-remote but programable to do differnet things a pre set times, really handy thing
We used to have Showview codes printed in the TV mag in the Netherlands. I never used it though. As I understood it, you have to enter a string of seemingly random numbers to program your VCR. It'd be easier to just program the VCR with the times.
Our VCR remote had a different system, which used a red LED with which you could swipe barcodes, and that would automatically set the VCR start and stop times in the remote, all you had to do then was click the 'Send' button to program the recorder.
Yeah those showview things never worked lol
I remember G-Code in guides, Panasonic used a barcode version. they also had a barcode sheet with Record start, end times, days channels etc...
Manual programing was easier, Day(s), Channel, start time, end time, remember insert tape, wound to begining, press timer record and set operate to off.
I learnt to program an old JVC vcr back in the late 80's when i was 7ish, the instructions were on the front door. amazed me for years how many didn't know how to set the clock.
18:40 those right angle stand offs look to also double as hinges. =)
Can you believe me yelling at a four year old video "they're not spacers, Dave, they're hinges!"
show view was a system where TV guides gave out codes so you can simply punch in a code and your VCR perfectly records the show where it exactly cuts recording when there is a commercial breake and then restarts recording once the show is back on. was a nifty idea
4:00 the ShowView was a device used to program VCRs for shift recording, on program guides there were codes which you had to put on the device and the device transmitted at the VCR the time of start and end of the show, many later VCRs came with ShowView operation on their remote so this was probably a device meant to enable old VCRs to be programmed
In shool (for Electronics trainees) we are still using those Unigors :) On the measurements we do there we don't need that high accuraty so Analog Multimeters work fine. The main reason they are still used is a): They are still working fine and b) They are basically like indestructable. You can't blow a fuse. And trust me, my classmates aren't that carefull using stuff so you'd have to replace fuses every day.
I will give it to my child, and he will play with it and learn the wonders of electrical engineering through your inspirational voice.
I would really like to have the speak and say. My engineering teacher at school also watches your videos and it would be so cool if i surprised him with it at school. It would also give us an excuse to watch you vids in class :)
That is a VERY good reason, I'll second that you should get it
***** ME TOO!!
Another taker for the Speak'N'DaveJones here! I'd quite like this thing as at college (electronics course, total BS sadly). Most of us there quote you in the lessons which leaves the lecturer somewhat bewildered (although he always is - I've corrected him so many times now that he sends me out whenever I do).
An extra added touch of real Dave Jonsiness would be a really good addition to my course.
I admit that some of the stuff you talk about goes over my head. That being said, I learn something with every one of your videos I watch. I love the enthusiasm, it's almost contagious. Thanks for the great show!
Your swiss army knife is in dire need of a good sharpening! Love the mailbag. Thanks for all the great videos!
Those ShowView codes were pretty common here in Finland during the VHS era. I remember all TV schedules in the newspapers having the ShowView codes after each television program. Made it easier to record a program just by punching in code than manually set the date, channel, start and end times.
Hi Dave,
That Showview device was made for a thing you could use for your VCR. There was a showview code in the programguide and that code you punched into this device. Than the device sended the recording program to your VCR so that you don't have to program everything. It was used in Holland too.
Hey Dave, you might noticed the meter orientation symbol on the multimeter gauge panel. It says you must place it horizontally in order to get full precision.
I have a little brother, he can read and write, so it is time he learned about electronics. This seems like the perfect add-on to his instruction
My family used a thing like ShowView called VCRplus way back when. You'd get recording codes from TV Guide for each show listing, plug them into the device, and when the show came on it would IR blast your VCR with the channel number, record and then stop.
I do have schematics for the 2003 preamp if you still want them. Kevex is still around, they became part of Noran and then a part of Thermo Electron.
21:40 - I think it's a double transistor package for matched, thermally coupled devices, perhaps used in a differential amplifier (input of an opamp) cicuit.
When I was going at school in 1986 we use unigor multimeter, you could always hear when somebody tryed to measure voltage in AMP there came loud click when the thermo fuse popped. :-)
Having the speak and say would be awesome! Because It is like a quote generator and more importantly it is a combo thing between my two favorite electronics related youtubers!
The ShowView is for programming VCR's without actually using the VCR. TV programmes used to have a ShowView code next to interesting shows or movies which you had to input into the ShowView device. IIRC the ShowView either sends the decoded time/date/etc to the VCR and programs it, or it just sends "record on channel XX NOW" when the show starts.
34:10 - Q: "Do you like Franklin?" A: "I don't know - I've never frankled!"
On that scanning electron microscope module, those little PCB mounts you said look a lot like a part from antennas, well, they used those as a hinge so you can remove only 2 screws and pivot the entire PCB like a door!
18:35 The right angle mounts are hinges, you can hinge the board up!
I have been waiting for this my entire life. When I left the womb my immediate thought was Dave Jones sound spiny thing.
Maybe that error in the multimeter is because you have to use it in an horizontal position. That is written in the low-left corner of the scale.
How many people do you know that get gifts all year long? :-) Must be nice.
I remember that showview on a VHS-VCR. In TV program guide they had these showview number for all the movies and show on TV. You only had to enter the number to program the recording.
I want the Dave speak and say because it would just be awesome to have! I wouldn't stop playing with it and listening to some of the things Dave says! It would really be awesome to have.
The "prototyping" area is probably for a custom logic interface to whatever computer you're connecting to it, there weren't really any "standards" for this type of thing back then.
I'll have the eev sound board game. A guy I work with hears me watching the eevblog and your voice drives him crazy. That's why I want it hahaha! Great channel Dave.
Those "right angle spacers" for that pulse processor appear to act as hinges for ease of service...
Thanks Dave. I can't wait to see the teardown of that analog meter!
those right angle standoffs at 19:00 in are hinges so you can raise the board up to access underneath it. You've seen things like this in 80s AV equipment, but made out of flexible plastic.
My sister walks past my room when I start watching Ben's show and I recite the opening phrase off by heart. I also do the same for yours. So when I heard Ben was making a project inspired by you I was just a little excited. So I would greatly appreciate the speak and say
We have a Multimeter almost exactly like that at work, I might take a look tomorrow. I never noticed it's a Metrawatt though
Hey, Dave, check out the 1 kV rating on that cap in the pre-amp module! Awesome! :)
I wonder if those huge DIL sockets are the type with built in decoupling caps?
Very vintage mid-70's TI calculators like the TI-2500 are awesome, I have several of them, all in DAMN WORKING CONDITION after a simple cleaning and replacement of the Ni-Cd battery packs...
ShowView was/is a way to record programs. This device is probably for hooking a non-showview device up to use the service.
These codes where/are published in TVmagazines, and you could program these in, and then it would start recording at program start, when they broadcasted the showview code, and end at program end.
40:46 - i don't think the chip is soldered in. the melting point for that plastic is very low, so just a soldering iron nearby and you will destroy it. the holes for the DIP-IC is probably trough-hole plated (black carbon), so the chip makes contact just by sitting there. Nothing is soldered, that would be too expensive!
Bloody hell! I used to have that exact same calculator!
It was about twenty years ago, I was in and out of hospital about once every four weeks for IV Immunoglobulin. I was in for one of my teen birthdays and got that calculator plus a 35mm film camera :D
Bobby dazzler!
Thanks for the memories :D
Ben Heck FTW! I've been following him for over 10 years! I even made an Atari 2600 portable based off of his designs. Back when I had my own vintage video game shop, he ordered 20 Atari 2600 boards from me to make portables from them. Brilliant!
You and Mr. Ben are my role models. I'd love to have something which resembles both of you. Thanks Dave.
hey, on the last item (the letter about the hydra e-vehicle charger) the guy mentions he wanted to give away one of his units, and wanted you to choose a winner, Dave! I think you were in too much of a rush to get home and didn't notice it at the end of the letter :)
I only understand 15-20% of what you say. I would love to have even half as much knowledge as you. I'm still considerably young, but you are a true inspiration. Thank you for all these videos, I try to learn as much as I can, and while it's usually only a little, if I had a better understanding, then I would understand so much more. Any recommendations on how I may pursue a field like this, and start to learn?
how that showview thing works is it acts a bit like a universal remote. ie, you would either program a code into it from a code list or program it yourself manually and it would, at the correct time and date, send an ir remote command to a vcr to start recording the program. you would leave a blank tape in the vcr ready to record and this little unit would command the vcr to start and stop at the right time :)
I would leave the speak'n spell to modify the code so that Dave speaks when the wheel stops!
I'm an electrical engineering student. And the lack of Australian EE lingo is holding me back! Therefore, this device will help me see through my dreams of becoming a bi-lingual EE. (Australian and English) ;)
I love that cradled dip switches in ev-meter.
How do they mass produce those non-surface mount components? Did they have a parts picker or were they soldered by hand?
Those angled standoffs are hinges. If you took the 2 screws out on the other end of the board you could rotate the board on it's hinges to see what's under it. And it allows you to easily test it with power on it and board swung out of harm's way. I've seen this in some military stuff.
I recommend you take a look at Open Broadcaster Software too. It may not be as easy to use as xsplit but is at least as powerful once you know all the misc and plugins.
I want it! When I'm stuck during my design hours, this will give me good advices! =D
Glad you got the iPhone, Dave. I recently upgraded to the 5S and I also have a Android Phone so I thought of you when deciding to get rid of it. It initially belonged to my partner but obtained it when she upgraded to the 5. Looking forward to the teardown.
Are those potted black cylinder things actually pairs of matched BJTs? Analog still do these, but in metal cans. $30 each. Search for MAT12AHZ
4:48 holy fuck, they've used a whole arrangement of through-hole as surface-mounted stuff, and the SMD stuff that was meant to be surface mounted was hand-soldered it seems
29:30 for the thumbnail image.
thanks
Thanks
Where is a schedule for the live shows! I keep missing out on them.
lol I remember those showview things...they used to print a 5-digit code in the tv guide that you typed into your VCR and it was supposed to automatically record the show..it never worked though lol. I guess that's a standalone one?
yep before videos had video plus code support built in, and some had barcode readers in their remote, and some you couldnt program from the remote at all , having to lay on the carpet in front of it! these is what 'invented' the video plus codes, and were semi universal, basically all they needed to do was send the 'record' signal out from the infrared, all the timing was internal to the device
jusb1066 Ahh yeah, that's what it was called, VCR+. Damn..I never knew the remote was what caused it to record, the vcr wasn't pointed at it the whole time, that's probably why I never got it to work, I thought it was programmed into the VCR lol
That sounds a lot like a technology we had here in NZ (I imagine in other PAL locales too) called G-code. You programmed in a numeric code off the TV guide, and it automatically set the VCR to record at a certain time and date.
The crapmercial stations hate these no brain programming initiatives. Too worried you might use it to avoid watching the all too frequent advertisments. It is not like they even broadcast anything worthy of recording in the first place. Interesting to see how they are all shit scared of internet TV and even youtube.
Rob B TV has WAY too many commercials now. You can't watch a show without a 4 minute commercial break every 8 minutes..wtf? This is why I don't watch TV and use the internet for everything, and when I do watch TV I PVR what I want and skip the commercials. The exception is Hockey..can't skip live. And to add insult to injury, I'm already paying almost 100 bucks a month for TV for what? all these commercials!?
I loved watching the build video on Ben's channel! Which btw lead me here! Love the See and say!
When you said you had never had a Reese's cup my jaw dropped...
I was silently counting down myself... addiction in 3... 2.. 1.
Seriously though, they are best when frozen.. yum.
The Oreo's are widely available but the peanut butter chocolate cups are not, each Country has it's niche products I guess you've never tried Vegemite? LOL
***** No, I've tried Vegemite. It's awful, and it's also available in the specialty foods section of every one of my local grocery stores. Americans have a large appetite for foreign foods so they're very widely available here.
I actually like it and can eat it spread quite thickly on toast, Promite is a lot sweeter and Marmite is different again, fair to say it's inquired taste much like your peanut butter and jam (jelly) sandwiches...
Yucannt Hahvitt lol
There is not a cat on that thing! A toy without cats? Brilliant! Cats are evil, i think you know it. I´m a big fan of your vlog and i follow the stuff from BenHeck since he wasn´t even on TH-cam. My wife is pragnant, this thing will teach my son with the most popular phrases of electrical engineering! Without Cats! Dave! Gimme that thing! :) Greetings from Hamburg/ Germany. :P
The show view must have been one of those RF remotes that could turn on a VCR and set it to record and stop before the age of programmable VCRs.. Old tech!
What applications still use wire wrap?
Max was the ausie Interceptor, Dave is the ausie Receptor.
Awesome stuff!
I think that showview is a videoplus - back in the day before VCRs could be programmed to self record on a timer you could program a little box that worked kind of like a universal remote to make your VCR record a program. Here at least, TV guides used to come with number codes to make the programming easy.. i think that's what that is
The puzzle solver chips are most likely a micro-controller (to drive the display and run the software) and a (P)ROM/NAND chip to store the dictionary.
Awesome did you actually keep all of those plugs, personally I prefer the australian plug to British, it just seems more thought out
The whole wire wrap thing on the 74 chips makes me think nothing but an acient PLD
These mailbag videos are hilarious. People send him stuff and he totally shits all over it. Incredibly enjoyable.
having had reeses peanut butter cups after they melted the flavor does change a bit.
next time you hit the states unless they sell them in australia, you should give them a shot fresh. can be found at just about any big box store and small local store.
The showview thing is or was quite common also in germany, I remember showview codes in the tv schedule magazines. I was too little to use those things or understand what they do, but I think you put in the code from the magazine while browsing through it on your couch and then it sends the data to the VCR with the start/end times and so on so you can easily program your VCR to record the show that you want :P
32:30 It's an iPhone 3GS (third model made), hardware-wise, it differentiates from the 3G (second model) because it has the writings on the back in silver like the Apple logo, iPhone 3G had them in gray
I think when you open that sucker, you'll be able to spot the magnetometer assembly, 3GS was the first to feature a magnetometer that enabled the compass function on it
I would love to have the Speak'N'DaveJones because i watch Ben show when he made it lol. You rock Dave!
can't believe dave has not had peanut butter cups! practically a staple in the U.S.
Probably because I don't live in the US.
that explains it. LOL
thought they were pretty common around the world.
MCRIPPPerutube I actually said "what"?!, when he said he'd never had one. 😳
Also In Canada
Dave, that "little cylinder" thing inside the unit form the SEM looks to me like a Sylvania TD401 dual PNP transistor.
I need the the SpeakN'DaveJones as a decision decider for my life choices
I find it quite interesting that school, for me, was the only time I used an analogue meter
good to be taught
but they're not really useful anymore
(not saying I dont still find them fun and interesting; I just can't afford tools that I won't use)
You have so much equipment is there bow you're going to need a huge grid of sloar roadways to power it all... If they weren't total bullshit! LOL :)
'now', not bow & solar, not 'sloar'. For some reason my fingers didn't cooperate on that post. LOL :)
I have a Casio HS-8G solar-only calculator which has a bare die mounted directly onto the flex and a cap just sitting between the two layers. It's also invincible.
You should have a "no more phones" request now. Or maybe no more little hand-held electronics or something. :)
i would love that speak and say for my baby bro!
best way for hum to learn his technical terms!
You think that calculator was cheap, I bought one at the Dollar Tree for $1 that was actually made of paper on the inside.
29:36 oh Dave…
that would be the "See-n-Say: Dave Jones Says"
I did't expect to see a dil circuit in a Texas calculator from this time.
I don't see the link for the 2nd channel. Hmm
I can't believe how simply calculators can be constructed!