@PlasmaHH Cable Slitter is the class of tools that does that. (At least that's what they are called in the US.) I've seen them for 6mm diameter cables. Maybe they exist for smaller cables too.

@Shalvenay Hey there, 3-Phase

@NickAlexeev how're things going?

@Shalvenay The next 2 months will be tough for me. Product releases. Other than that, things are going strangely... as usual.

good news: test lead parts arrived. bad news: turns out I had the wrong die in my crimp tool, so that's on order now. annoying news: apparently crimp tools are not known for coming with good instructions, never mind that there isn't exactly a class module on crimps in an EE matriculation :P

What's the model of your crimp tool?

@NickAlexeev Sargent 6500

turns out the -40 die isn't exactly good for all types of insulated terminals, so getting the -41 die with its separate insulation and wire crimps instead

also grabbing the -25 die because I'll need it later. man, am I glad I decided to run some practice crimps off though!

@Asmyldof I love GPIB cables - one of the few kinds of connectors that can also be used as a weapon

It looked like it was just a "slow and dumb" level-based output for relays and such - that'd be fine with an unshielded, unterminated IDC cable.

hey there @W5VO

If it was a bunch of I/O expanders, then I missed that (and it won't work as well)

@NickAlexeev do you have any better ideas?

@Shalvenay hey

@W5VO how're things going? I'm waiting for crimp dies to come in

as my current one isn't the right one for the job (took 4 crimp terminals to figure that out -- thank gosh I'm at least making up practice jumpers using spare wire instead of figuring this out when trying to do it "for real")

What are you crimping?

@W5VO female quick-connect/tab terminals

(Tyco 520183's to be precise)

I've had some fun with crimp tools - I think I got/borrowed a kit that came with 7-8 sets of die

I just wish there was better instruction out there, instead of me having to waste time and crimp terminals figuring this out on my own pretty much

Always had the good fortune of not needing to make crimp cables to a proper spec

I also love how there's 4 ways to put a crimp connector in a die set, and good luck figuring out which way they go

@W5VO thankfully, the instruction sheet Sargent sent me for the 6500 series includes that

although it doesn't include how to switch dies out -- I had to figure that one out n my own :P

I need a 4-bit data register with the following features: 1) data enable pin, 2) output enable pin, and 3) clear pin.

I found '173 to meet the features I listed but I can't find it here.

Does anyone know any replacement for '173?

Looks like they now have pizza in space...

@W5VO GPIB is a data standard akin to EPP in some ways. Slow enough for a dozen meters of ribbon. When you back it with copper tape it's pretty much the same quality as an actual GPIB

oh I love it when gdb segfaults...

Is it a good idea to attach a LED to the open-drain battery-low-detector pin of a boost IC?

depends on the capabilities of that pin. If it can sink enough current to drice the led, why not?

@PlasmaHH I thought since by then we will be in battery-low condition, driving a battery-low status LED would be the last nail in the coffin of the battery...I mean from a design/engineering point of view...

@Zeta.Investigator Well, with how much do you want to drive it (compared to the normal usage) ? 100µA can't be too much

@PlasmaHH There is this line in the datasheet: LBO Output Voltage Low, ISINK = 2mA, Vmax = 0.4 V...

So it means if Low-Battery condition is met, voltage of LBO pin would be 0.4 max and it would sink 2mA current max

And what voltage is "low battery" ?

@PlasmaHH I can tweak it with a resistor divider at some LBI pin. But I'm happy with a 1.25 V default for a single AA battery

@Zeta.Investigator thats quite high though. So you can hardly drive even the 1.8V or so for a dim red LED ...

@PlasmaHH The IC produces 3v3. I was going to drive the LED with output voltage

@Zeta.Investigator I would assume that at low battery it shuts down?

@PlasmaHH I don't know actually. It is a boost IC (MAX756). I guess it would connect Vout to Vin in that condition

@PlasmaHH If you mean at Vin = VLowBattery, it won't shut down. It would continue to work until Vin = 0.7V...(There are profiles for these voltages though)

@Zeta.Investigator through a diode though

ah ok, thats what I mean. Then yeah, just drive it with as low as you can with a very efficient red led?

@PlasmaHH Actually for AA batteries, I checked a duracel profile, and there is very little time between Vin = 1.25 and Vin = 0.7 (exponential decay)... So I guess it wouldn't matter anyway if I drive the LED aggressively...

But I was thinking of a beeping buzzer instead of the LED. Then I thought it would be annoying

@Zeta.Investigator depends on how uch current your draw, at 100mA you have like 5-10 hours difference between 1.25 and 0.8V ...

@PlasmaHH OK, So I test a yellow LED with different limiting resistors and plug in the value of which I would be happy with the dim, right?

Thanks for your help

@Zeta.Investigator I would probably use a red one. Test how dim is ok, then measure the current. If its more than a couple of % of your standard load then think about if it is worth spending

What are all these connectors really? (Altium Splashscreen )

Also what is that circular black thing? :| :\ And can Altium even render that curly twisted pair of black-red wires?

audio, dvi, usb, network and a battery?

it for sure isn't in game footage

@PlasmaHH For example the 3rd one from top is Ethernet?

probably. lighting is quite horrible.

@PlasmaHH Any by DVI you mean the top one?

yep, looks a bit DVIish

I'm n00b but that looks too narrow for DVI

It actually looks like a widened USB-Type C

And about the curly wires, Altium can do that?

as I said, I doubt its in game footage

it most likely is just some random product rendering

Well it looks really nice, but I had problems detecting the connectors which maybe a problem on my knowledge

The picture was taken in a way that you can't really distinguish between the black plastic and the receptical for each connector. Top one could also be a D-SUB of some type (vga/serial/parallel) in addition to DVI, second looks a bit like eSATA. Colored ones are audio

Part of knowing what connectors are is inferring what the board is - there's a definite SBC/motherboard vibe, so that's biasing me towards standard computer connectors.

Shall I order Sierra games at 1 euro each to install on my CMU200's?

Surely that'll increase market value

@Asmyldof . . Tools are tools. Toys are toys. Don't do it.

@Marla Not even TIM?

:-(

Guess it's just legacy mice and keyboards then

Oh! And a VGA monitor

20 euro to restore three units to main screen... worth it.

Oh, Ok, if you must do it.

Want to buy a CMU200? With or without TIM?

I miss Ask Jeeves

Mostly because anything it told my I heard in the voice of Stephen Fry in my head

@NickAlexeev What you looking for?

@Asmyldof Only if you use Hugh Laurie's voice when you ask.

@Asmyldof Now I will read everything you write in the voice of Bertram Wooster [by Hugh Laurie].

@NickAlexeev There's worse things

@ThePhoton His pre-USA voice, at least

@Asmyldof I was looking for price of a train ticked between Moscow and Leningrad during the late Soviet period.

@NickAlexeev Definitely something I cannot help with

лёгкая ностальгия, хотя я не из тех кто скучает по советским временам @Kortuk

Why did you want to know?

Hm, weird, this TV had "no sound" as error description, and switching it on it has sound but can only find HD channels... weird