2018-10-27

Lidl / Powerfix Profi+ universal mains adaptor

Small universal power supply bought in Lidl for 15.99PLN ($4.23).
Less powerful than EX668 / YC668 "30W" adapter but did not blown when first connected.





Plating on connectors was not the best - little signs of corrosion.
Small key for voltage switching is attached.

 Proper certification.


All capacitors rated for 105C.
Nicely connected mains wires, no bare solder joints to plug.
 YSV500 REV:H00
2% or better SMD resistors at voltage selectors - output voltages are spot on.
LN9T11 controller from Lishengmei, Liisemi (Chinese).
From datasheet (as translated by Google translate):
  • Built-in oscillator with 65kHz maximum frequency limit 
  • Built-in soft start control circuit reduces switch impact 
  • Built-in next-generation CT TM technology to optimize EMI performance 
  • Extended mode light load control optimizes efficiency and light load power consumption 
  • Meet 6 energy efficiency requirements such as CoC V5 and DoE 
  • No load standby power consumption can be as low as 75mW or less 
  • Full range of no audio noise working methods 
  • Integrated synchronous current slope compensation 
  • VDD overvoltage clamp and undervoltage lockout function (UVLO) 
  • gate drive output voltage smart clamp function 
  • Built-in input line voltage compensation function 
  • Cycle-by-Cycle Current Limiting (OCP) with leading edge blanking 
  • With fast current overcurrent protection (TrueOCP TM ) 
  • Output overcurrent, overload, short circuit protection (OLP) 
  • Wide voltage output power up to 10W, peak power 15W 
  • SOP7 package with high isolation structure
YSV500 symbol (I guess this stands for Yingjiao Switching Variable, 500mA) leads to OEM, http://www.yingjiao.com/index.php?ac=article&at=read&did=352 and more details about final product (direct quote):

Model: YSV500
Power: 6W max.
Input: 100-240VAC 50/60Hz
Output Voltage:  3V 4.5V 5V 6V 7.5V 9V 12VDC 
Output Current: 500mA  
Input current: 0.3A max.
Inrush Current: 65 Amps max. at 230VAC/50Hz,full load
Leakage Current: 0.25mA Max. at 264VAC input
Energy Efficiency Level VI : Future Energy Star Tier II Level that was TBD at the time
No Load Power Consumption : <0.3W
Protections: Short Circuit /Over Current /Over Voltage
Short Circuit Protection (SCP): Protection to Zero Voltage
Over Voltage Protection (OVP): ≤Vout*150%
Over Current Protection (OCP): 110%-180%
Working TEMP.: -20°C-50°C
Working Humidity: 5%-90% RH non-condensing
Storage TEMP.,Humidity and altitude: -40℃ ~+70°C ambient temperature and a 5% to 95% relative humidity range throughout an altitude range of -60 meters to +5000 meters AMSL. 
Input Plug: EU,US,UK,AU etc. type according to customer's choice
Certificates and approvals: UL,GS,CE,EMC,SAA,FCC,CB,PSE,CCC,RoHS,REACH
EMI EMISSION: Radiation Test&Conduction Test: EN 55022/FCC Part 15
Harmonic Test : EN 61000-3-2
Flicker Test : EN 61000-3-3
EMS IMMUNITY: ESD  Test:EN 61000-4-2
RS    Test:EN 61000-4-3
EFT   Test:EN 61000-4-4
Surge Test:EN 61000-4-5
CS     Test:EN 61000-4-6
DIP    Test:EN 61000-4-11
MTBF: 100000 hours minimum at full load at 25℃ ambient
Life: 3-5 years alternative
Dimension: 70*39*70mm
Weight: 88g
Packing: 20PCS/CTN,40*30*20cm

2018-10-16

Creative SB128 CT5803

Creative Sound Blaster PCI 128, model CT5803 from 1999


 ES1373, http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/datasheets/es1373.pdf
AC'97 digital controller with DOS compatibility. Interfaces for AC'97 codec, I2S and SPDIF.
Chip was developed by Ensoniq, company known also for their keyboards/synthesizers. Ensoniq was acquired by Creative in January 1998.
 78L05 and 79L05 as voltage regulators for analog part.
I'm definitively not a picky listener, but this cards sounds bad because of poor voltage filtering. When I was using it in my old Celeron 466MHz PC I was even able to hear mouse moving. These two blue capacitors were helping, "digital noise" was reduced to not noticeable (solder got broken when stored).
 Cirrus Logic CS4297A-JQ - AC'97 codec
 NJM4565 dual opamp

Few extra audio inputs and optional power amplifier on board.

2018-10-09

CH341A serial memory programmer

Bought for $2.50 to replace/program SPI Flash in iiyama monitor.
Before buying it I tried to program Pm25LD020 using flashrom software under Ubuntu with pickit 2 clone as hardware interface, but without success.
Another cheap, interesting option is FT232RL with FT232Prog software (http://avr.ru/ready/tools/prog/ft232rl_universal). The problem with this one seems to be however lack of English translation. As user interface is using Cyrillic it's also complete mess if Windows codepage is not matching.
Either way, it's hard to beat $2.50 for small, dedicated tool.
 Small PCB + paper clip to hold chip allow to program without soldering. Separate SOIC8 clip is available but is actually twice as expensive as programmer and might be non essential for occasional use.
 Scheme: https://www.onetransistor.eu/2017/08/ch341a-mini-programmer-schematic.html
CH341A has similar functionality to FT2232, basically USB to UART/printer/I2C/IO/SPI bridge.

PCB was little dirty and pin #3 asked for resoldering.
1-2 jumper: programmer, 2-3: TTL interface
I'm not sure what is legal status of software for Windows. Version 1.30 I've used crashes on some operations (chip detection), but it worked programming PM25LD020.
CH341A is also supported by flashrom (Linux and probably Windows with libusb driver).