EEVblog #69 - Sex Toys, Telescopes, Cable TV, UHF Modulation, Renewable Energy, & Silly Shower Taps

[Riskteven]

11:30 I have a such tap and I live in Sweden. I agree! It is incredibly nuts! Really! I got the whole room sprinkled once because that darn knob stuck! I realized that if you _twist_ the knob, it is locked in the out position! Crazy!

[ph7ryan]

You are like the crocodile hunter of electronics!

[CoolDudeClem]

Even nuclear energy is better than burning fossil fuels, sure it's not renewable and is dangerous and poisonous if not enough care is taken, but at least won't run out as quick as fossil fuels.

[fingerboy18]

Off the coast of Denmark, they have a very pretty wind farm. It produces an insane amount of power. I'm American and I say we should get rid of all the fossil fuels and switch to nuclear, wind, and solar power. I'm sick of coal plants releasing smog and radiation into our air.

[Dms12444]

I would agree that Wind power MIGHT ruin the coastline if there are hundreds of them. But Solar and Hydro power would have no such effects, and whats more I find it extremely odd that they don't use any of this; especially when there sitting on top of a giant generator. The Islands themselves could be used to produce Geothermal energy.

[LaughTonyLaugh]

Hey, I totally agree with those style of taps they really suck. When it comes to that I think people are really susceptible to fads of all kinds. Luckily my house doesn't have them. Its bad design. We definitely have to many damn channels I don't understand them when most people watch 2-3 channels at most. When it comes to those cables too your right, but in the states power of the dollar dictates how things are done, and its cheaper to hang then to put in the ground. Anthony

[kolvinpaker]

Online Asian wife search lushfmlk.info

[orrpatrick]

Dude, I can't get over how much you sound like Murray from Flight of the Concordes.

Great Blog BTW.

[DagGirl]

You think that TV is ancient? I watch my regular, non-digital, free-to-air programmes on a pre-VCR, late 1970s model Rank Arena television set. I have to lift my ass to change the channel and volume ffs!

(Upside, outlasted all other TV's in my house).

[EEVblog]

@DagGirl Love it!

[DagGirl]

@EEVblog What I don't love, channel 5A is supposed to be a video channel (so I've heard), I attempted plugging in a settop box to see what happens. Just static :(

[NJTomS]

Those big ugly cable lines are likely phone lines. Cable TV lines aren't extraordinarily thick - perhaps 15 to 20mm for the backbone variety hung from pole to pole. But telephone cables are full of copper local loops, a minimum of 25 pairs per cable, and possibly hundreds.  Those big black cylinders are splice points or punchdown blocks/junctions. Despite some areas getting fiber to the home, we will likely have copper local loops for decades to come.

[NJTomS]

And on the subject of TV modulators, if it's an NTSC modulator, it almost certainly outputs on Channel 3 VHF (61.25 Mhz); UHF modulators are quite rare in the U.S.

What is not rare are confusing shower controls in hotels. A lever or pull-up knob on the spigot is standard in homes, but in hotels sometimes you have to pull down on a ring around the spigot to switch to the shower. It's VERY well-hidden. Also annoying are the fiddly massage heads... I just want to take a shower!

[TheJbaldy100]

@eevblog hey how are you, I'm from the united states. I just wanted to say that you must not get around alot in America if all you think is that we only have cable, only have non recourceful energy production, or one nobby showers..... Hahaha, I would Love to show you more. As well as Australia, the united states IS a wonderful place. If you have any questions feel free to talk to me! I'm chill.

[wayne205stevens]

I really agree with you there! Why do people moan about wind farms? I would rather see them rather than fossil fuel power stations! I live in Wales, UK and you always hear that the town next door or town nearby people signing petitions because they dont like the look of windfarms WTF??? I really dont mind them at all.

Anyway another great vid Davey :)

[LyndonSoulGroove]

Its true that analogue Tv around the world is being turned off , but there are many Hotels with only Coaxial disribution to all the rooms, so have to have a converter box to convert dVB Video signal back to analogue ! so for many more years we will have to convert from D to A

[heroineworshipper]

The wife looks like the ideal Marylin Monroe, short haired blond bombshell that all men want to fall in love with but can't so they settle for Asians & brunettes.

[heroineworshipper]

Couldn't survive in Australia.

[tnoyca]

Oh man, I *HATE* the valves like that. I'm in the US, and I only tend to encounter those in hotels. If I'm not mistaken, most states here now require a single-valve control for showers. The lawmakers claim that its to prevent scalding, so that you cant turn off just the cold and burn yourself. The 'hottest' setting on the single tap will still mix in cold water.

In my house, I have a single knob for hot and a single knob for cold. Its the one thing I'm in fear of losing when I remodel.

[TheWelly888]

You and your missus had a great time!

I disagree with you on wind power - OK Hawaii have plenty of wind but you need a LOT of windmills to generate the same amount of power as a single conventional power station, for example a 100 square mile wind farm is being built in the North Sea that will generate 1000MW which is the same power output from a coal-fired power station covering maybe 2 square miles!

[trevdeac]

regarding the taps, whenever i go on vacation, the hotels always seem to have the single dial taps you spoke of. At home (in the US), i have the normal Hot and Cold taps. I think it is just a hotel thing. But i agree with you Dave, i'm not a fan of the single dial ones.

[soccalova09]

About the Shower taps, I Dont Know About that but i ve lived in the Us for My whole Life and The House I live In HAs To Knobs Like u were talking about So its really just the hawians who do that i live in seattle washington and theirs nothing like that her

[xani666]

Single tap ones wouldn't be so bad if most of them were designed propertly, instead u get ice lod water from 0 to 30% range and very hot from 70% to 100% range

[GodFatherMMM]

Dave, you are comparing the water tap system you found in Hawaii to every tap system in the US??  such a dumb statement to make.. don't you think?

[First2ner]

shower works just the same as yours does

[sfbox]

We have a single tap system here, left-right for temp control, up-down for presure, or two knobs but one tap. So what is so hard about that?

The most idiotic tap system I've seen was in UK, where there is one tap for hot and one for cold water, and they mix outside the pipe. So insane, I can wash my teeth or hands or whatever in super cold or super hot water... that is just idiotic...

[ollyk22]

us Brits are tuff and think 3C water is just fine for teeth.

Actually thanks in part to MFI a large number of taps are mixers but as for the monkeys that installed them...

[endesigner]

@sfbox i can totally feel your there. Those horrific UK taps left pretty deep scar in my memory.

[TheChipmunk2008]

@sfbox The reason for the mixer taps like that in the UK is because traditionally we had gravity fed hot water but mains cold water, so the cold was at a much higher pressure. Things are getting better now, but there are still rules about connecting hot and cold together inside the system (you need backflow preventers and suchlike).

I agree though, the mixing outside the tap really sucks

[sfbox]

@TheChipmunk2008 :) Thanks for the explanation. It is good to understand what is behind that the design is like it is.

[TheChipmunk2008]

@sfbox You used to be able to put your hand over the end of the tap and force cold water back into the hot water system... I never did this while anyone was in the shower, that would have been evil :-)

I lived in the US for 5 years, and I did find the system a lot better with mains pressure hot water from the tank in the basement.

The 'pull to switch to shower' routine is definitely a hotel thing, I've seen it in hotels in the UK too

[killerman4ever]

How is the new scientific calculator watch going, dave?

[eydryan]

you just made me deaf Dave. windy up there :P you should've just narrated it afterwards.

haha, loved the odyssey music :D

Really nice episode, really liked it :)

[chromebeats]

i myself have a 2 tap system, the left one chooses the temperature and the right one the flow

belgium by the way

[Twistx77]

Those single valve things are not only found in the US here in Europe at least in Spain and Italy the sometimes have them too and yeah they are awful!

[baddspella]

your wifes cute ;)

[chukchee]

You've got a hot girl on your side! Is she electronics genius like you?

[killerman4ever]

Knew it, dave was on vacation.

[ollyk22]

@killerman4ever

Yes but he wasn't really was he lol!

[hla27b]

Dave the guys from sixtysymbols were at the top of Mauna Kea at nearly the same time I think. It is nice to see two of my beloved youtubers at the top of Mauna Kea at nearly the same time.

Check out

yn5pHqENfJA

[Aeduo]

Yeah I hate those stupid single valve things too. We have one in our shower. My grandpa has one that has the hot/cold valves. What I think would be superior is a cold/hot ratio selection valve and a pressure selection valve. Much easier to adjust that. Unfortunately, it's not common, if existent at all. I know I've never seen one.

[roddmod]

The thing with the Hot and Cold in the shower is that most valves have a safety device to prevent scalding it is built into the valve. This also helps regulate the temp so there are fewer swings from hot to cold.

[cr99991]

Hotels often have stupid valves as you noticed. Most people in their homes in the US have normal 2 valve systems with a hot and cold. I don' t know why anyone uses the one knob design either.

[ceriand]

I'd agree that the all-in-one taps that don't allow you to change the pressure are crap. However, I prefer the kind where they work on two axises so that you can control the temperature separate from the pressure, unlike the two knob solution where if you change the temperature you have to fiddle with the other knob.

The way most of the combo spigots usually work is you just turn it on to get some pressure and then switch it to shower mode by pulling the knob on the spigot or overflow drain.

[jippenfaddoul]

As a yank, I'll fill you in on the shower issue. Those types of showerheads are mostly seen in hotels. In most homes, we have a setup with a hot and cold tap, and either a third tap or a levre used to pick between filling the tub, or running the shower. However, almost all hotels have this extremely confusing setup, and it baffles us too.

[migsantiago]

Wow, the wind was quite strong... and I'd bet you used a stereo microphone ;-) I could barely understand the telescope part :_(

[MSCompuServ]

Japan has computer controlled shower and bath taps and use high efficacy tank less systems.

[saltyfishy123]

1st comment!!!!!

[cr99991]

Nope.

[lordprobe]

Aloha!!