I find it bizarre how they flagged someone who created an account - provided full name, business name, address and phone number - something they could quickly look up and see that you're an established repair shop (with a popular RUclips channel) and still gave you a hard time. Yet, they happily sent the same items to a "guest customer"? I would think the person checking out as a guest would have something more to hide than the person making the effort to create a business account and passing on their full details. Very silly of Digi-key.
I don't know their process, but I'd imagine that for guest customers they check every order so that it doesn't contain anything "risky". When creating an account, maybe they perform a one-time check, and once passed, they wouldn't do the checks in the future orders. Just my theory.
That is exactly it. There is a new account verification process. Likely to eliminate duplication of one that has been closed for things like non payment issues. @@enginerd80
I honestly believe this to be true. I’ve ordered several ESP32s from both Digi-Key and Mouser without issue even with a registered personal account. However when I started a company and ordered an ESP32 dev board with a business account I had to fill out a bunch of paperwork for both companies basically a CYA for them acknowledging that I understand export requirements, etc. I believe the rules are different for individuals on the checking requirements because it’s default to assume if you’re selling to an individual you’re selling to the end consumer. If you sell to a business they may resell it and the distributor doesn’t control where it’s resold to. So they make you fill out that paperwork for traceability so if it does end up somewhere it’s not supposed to and the govt starts asking questions, the distributor can point and say “hey we did everything in our power to ensure they understood the rules and we waive our liability once it leaves our dock”. I’m not saying this is right but it is the way it is because the govt.
That device is a Starlink dish that's been modified to fit into a flat mount for placement on top of a vehicle. It's not really a prototype, but an end user modified device. That connector is the Ethernet interface with Power over Ethernet. The other similar pinned connector is the motor control connection for rotation and tilt of the dish (before it was modified).
I had a similar issue with DigiKey where they were claiming I was on a "US Denied List" simply based off my name. I provided them ID and eventually got the chip I ordered but they need to do better than blindly assume based off a name.
A quote from a software specification of a telecommunications subsystem decades ago: "If the bit is in use its value is 1, otherwise 0." (The bit in question was in a bitmask but anyway.)
Excellent work again Alex , many many years ago mid 90s I did a lot of very close SMT work , using a stereoscopic microscope , and the issue was " tremble" , so I made a few reverse pantograph manipulators to reduce the movements I made to allow very accurate positioning and close work , then you just have surface tension to deal with, the most useful thing was a spring biased holder to make a component or pad stay put , we didn't have the UV setting glues or solder paste , just liquid flux and determination , I even made a IR heater with barn doors to allow selective heating and removal of components
I remember making those types of repairs when I had a summer job during my years in university while earning my EE degree. The worst ones were where some yahoo with a Weller soldering 'gun' tried to remove DIP packages from PCB's without the use of solder-wick. I would find a half-dozen traces torn off the board and quite a few through-holes that were torn out. I used wire-wrap wire and a DS100 soldering station to clean up the mess, tack down to what was left of the traces and glue that in place while installing a replacement DIP package. The PCB's cost thousands of dollars (1980's dollars) so four or five hours of labor and it was still worth it. I think our cut-off point for repairs was more than 8 hours of labor on any board.
I also had a negative experience with them recently-- when I placed an order it didn't empty my cart, it was like it never completed, and it didn't appear in my order history so I placed the order again. However, within a few minutes the original order went through, so I had a double order. I immediately contacted their customer service to cancel the order and was told it had been processed, and so that wasn't possible. Seriously, within 15 minutes?! Mind you, it took several days to ship, so I don't know what they did that couldn’t be canceled. Next time I'll use another distributor, completely ridiculous!
Thank you so much for your videos and your time brother. I’ve been watching religiously for a few years now and you’ve helped me up my soldering game by a metric ton. I’m an electrician by trade and I also love fixing electronics around the house and for family. You’re an inspiration and I wish you and your whole family nothing but success and happiness. You work so hard and that’s a dying trait with some of the new generation. Again, thank you and selam from Australia. Big fan Ali, you’re a legend.
I had a similar experience with Digi-Key. I needed to send them some extra ID and proof for them to ship my order and I’m in Australia with a pretty common name. I doubt it was any suspicion to do with your name - I think their security measures are overly strict for everyone.
It's because it's a business account. Tax records, itar compliance, credit. Like digikey is thorough and reliable. Their records are meticulous, and they are great to work with. This is just part of setting up an account with them. It's not personal.
Sadly its because your name is on a prohibited trade list, these can be anything from terrorists to those who commit financial fraud and as you can imagine the name is fairly common. I worked for an American company overseas that sold items that fell under ITAR, this list was scanned for every order, to proceed it either had to be manually reviewed or id requested to prove you were not the listed individual. Its dumb but thats how it is.
It's common practice with digi-key. A 14 years a go they denied sending some parts to Europe (and as now it's important - by Europe I mean EU) claiming that it was "restricted to export" (early MCU with WIFI). We get those parts from microchip directly without ANY problems.
This man is an electronics surgeon. A lot of people watching this video don't know how hard what he did in this video is. I tried to replace a micro USB port with ript traces on a device. That was a nightmare. I could not imagine how hard this would be for somebody like me. His skills are on a completely different level
I learned a lot watching this video: Use of UV-cured solder mask to hold down wires before soldering a small connector part is brilliant. You can't fix what you can't see, so for a job like this a microscope is a must. Unless you are a serious hobbyist, you would go to Northridge Fix for this job, as Alex has the tools and skills for anything you can throw at him.
You did an excellent job on those wires and putting them on the parts the pcb board and you use the color so it won't do short circuit if moved or anything. Truly outstanding work
That is a starlink dish, that is being converted to a vehicle roof top mount, (you cut the back out of it, so it sits flat on the roof of the vehicle.)
Well Alex, we live in a world of idiots, we have our fair share in the UK too. The only thing we all can do is avoid the idiots and let them drive their businesses into the ground. Keep up the good work.
Alex…you are the man! Don’t change a thing on your channel. You are realistic! You make mistakes just like me when or anybody else, but your success rate is incredibly high! Keep it up my friend
I'd always tie to the far connector foot, not to a trace. I think I'd super glue the body of that ripped connector down. People will yank on it. Kynar wire, then Kapton tape for strain relief. For connectors, think mechanical strength first, then the electrical will follow. Too much strain relief is just enough. -10 year QCOM Wireless R&D Tech. Nice to see you work. Cheers, --bd
First, this was one of the most fun video's I've seen. i'm impressed with the work flow, the confidence, and the perfect temps for the soldering iron, flux being applied liberally and ensuring every possible point is perfect. I learned much just from watching the workflow. First time finding the channel, so thanks for totally making a simple repair a fun show to watch. My hunches on this deice.. If this is a communications device, It's probably digital and should be totally fine. I know with analog devices there was always the risk of capacitances being an issue in the traces. Thus the board layout always took into account the capacitance in the traces adding to the subtracted from the schematic's required values as they can change values. It doesn't look like an an antenna, nor does it appear to be a broadcasting device (as nothing looks like high power / wattage) so if it is broadcasting it's probably still going to be on frequency since the amp boards would a different board / unit. I'd also bet they have another on order while this is repaired, which it will be promptly replaced with, and this fixed will be kept as a backup. Now I gotta watch more of your channel!
Dear alex once again it is a good example for this type of problems and it is a masterpiece. Eventhou i watched it with my welders google s for UV protection :)))
Great to see that you are keeping the differential pairs coupled by following the path of the original traces. This should keep the signal integrity and thus the device working reliably.
Happens to all of us mate, with digikey anyway. I had the same series of questions when my order included some high power IXYS mosfets that are used for among other things, high power radio transmitters, lasers and orbital solar arrays. ended up buying a similar part from mouser with no questions asked, as i'm a regular customer. I'm Australian btw.
I appreciate you sharing your skills. PCB repair is an important skill....In the past I have repaired boards with failed components in the field...admittadly much larger thru hole components :) in these cases there was no option, as the PCB's were soldered to hundreds of wires in the chassis, and the pcb was 2'x3'..... not to mention that spares just did not exist.
Sad that prejudice is still rampant. Great repair! I have been in the same situation with PC boars many times, and I use 30 gauge wire wrap wire to repair such trace tears, once the tracks are repaired, I epoxy over them to keep them in place and to protect them as well. I didn't have the microscope, but I did have a magnifier visor!
Alex, your link to the microscope takes us to a micro-HDMI cable instead of the microscope. Just wanted you to know. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and time with us. Great video!
That work is incredibly small and fine. I wouldn't be wrong to compare this with vascular surgery or something like that. Great job. Wish you all the success.
Yes it is similar except in huge problem when you working on electronic device the worst senario it will fail and mostly not the end of the world but micro surgery , any mistake , you damage a nerve or ending human life , and that really the end of the world for you and the patient .
I have lot of trouble with custom clearance here in Greece when order from Digikey. All in all I had to pay twice the invoice for import tax, import sales tax and UPS clearance for what I had to sign a three years contract with UPS. Mouser is much more easy since they ship to proxy in Munich Germany (no customs issues at all to Germany). And from Germany it is redirected to Greece which is within Europa (also no customs).
That was a nice fix, however wires could be too thin. This is Starlink ethernet with power, and it is also used to heat the dish in the winter, it is up to 200 W on those wires ~48V. About 1A per wire. Not too much, but could be take into consideration for future Starlink repairs.
I was thinking the same as both of you once he whipped-out those puny wires and again when he started cutting them to random lengths. The size of the original traces should've been a big clue. Hopefully he learns from the comments, just as many commenters learn from him.
The wires are narrower than the tracks but I suspect they are thicker so their cross sectional area might be pretty close. Also those were not high current tracks unless the board has extremely thick copper. As long as he follows the routing of the original tracks the signal integrity should be OK. I would be more concerned about impedance mismatches due to the different profile of the wires and traces but they're fairly short runs...
Your video looks great and I'm a factory level repairer who finds design flaws or tolerance issues that lead to product rejection. Your video looks great and I'm a factory level repairer who finds design flaws or tolerance issues that lead to product rejection or fix, but not enymore, because they fired me. Designer protection is somehow special in electronics and we fix all that junk. Designer protection is somehow special in electronics and we fix all that junk.
Account issue will most likely be OFAC related and triggered by your name. UK based, but at a previous employment we had massive problems making payments to taxi drivers using a payment method linked to America due to this, so much so we eventually changed our payment method.
It looks like the connector has been physically ripped off of the board by the looks of the other traces. edit: I just realized the really cool thing about this channel. You can send something to Alex to be fixed and if you are lucky, you will be able to watch as he does it!
The ground via stitching, and the way the traces hug each other indicates that each of the pins were originally differential pairs. Do you do anything special to insure they maintain length and impedance matching when replacing the traces?
Yeah he could have done a slightly more careful job to run the wires in the “valleys” left behind by the torn-out traces, and to length-match (and minimize) the stubs at the ends.
Love the work you have done Alex. I have learned alot from your videos. It is sad a company had this view on a name ordering parts. Keep on Keepin on Brother!
What you had happen (most likely) was you got flagged by a piece of software doing what's known as "denied party screening" - basically, there are lists of people, entities, governments, etc. that the US says businesses cannot sell to, for various reasons. Sometimes it's because of trade restrictions, sometimes it's sensitive technology, and sometimes it's because of lists of people who the US doesn't like. For each transaction the business makes, they run it through this software and the software says "hey I don't think you're supposed to do business with this entity because it might match something on a list". I'm not going to make any comment about why or how your transaction got flagged, but I've seen it happen more than once. Generally speaking when this happens it triggers either a blanket denial of the transaction, or sometimes the business can reach out and try to establish identity in order to complete the sale. Sounds like in this case they may have tried to work with you but their process sucks. I'm glad you managed to find a workaround!
I repair PCBs for agricultural equipment- instrument panels, mainly. I repair automotive ECMs, not as much. I need to learn about the supplies you use! They could be a huge advantage for me. Your video was great! Excellent presentation. Nice cheat on the missing tab! The viewer will know in the first 30 seconds if they can do it or not. If you can't solder half as good as this guy, don't try the repair.
OMG. The soldering stations you use are something I can only dream of affording. They are amazing. Just like your repair videos. Thank you and God bless!
Many years ago, I lived internationally and was ordering some developer tools software from Apple. There was an export control section. It was *impressively detailed*. I don't remember 100% the list, but it had yes/no questions for 5+ areas: Do you, or your facility work on uranium enrichment, plutonium enrichment, heavy water, chemical or biological weapons. I was just imagining someone asking their boss, hey, do we enrich plutonium, or *just* uranium, to make sure they got the questions right? :)
@@craigknights Years ago, one of the common questions when checking bags for international travel was “Are you certain that your bag contains no electrical or electronic items?” Umm…no, I’m certain that it *does* contain some. I’m fairly sure it *only* has electronic items :)
Digi-Key did the same thing to me over a common capacitor. At the time, I had just retired from the USAF, still held a security clearance and they treated me like a terrorist. My name is as American as John Wayne, so it wasn't that. I communicated w/them in an attempt to understand WTF was going on. In the end, they refused to sell the item to me unless, I filled out export paperwork & gave a detailed written explanation pertaining the application the capacitor was to be used. The shipping address was in the U.S., & application was simply none of their f'ing business. In my case, I was able to take my business elsewhere.
I have never bought from Digi-key ... also ... I like the musics during the part where you expose us to UV light 😎(it reflects off the shiny solder mask into my eyes from my monitor!)
Pretty sure Dave Jones of EEV Blog has mentioned Digikey's ID checking crap being a pain before too. I expect name didn't help, but it seems to be a pain of any working with Digikey. I avoid them myself prefering farnel, mouser, rs-online....
It's usually the manufacturers that set the conditions of sale via distributors, especially USA-based component manufacturers. As a company they assume you are building something, as an individual, mending something. I have had to specify the precise use, and in which country, to obtain certain components from all the major distributors.
This is amazing stuff to see, as a rando curious person. Oh cool, he's showing how they repair these tiny things. Next level watchmaker scale stuff. Thanks for showing off.
Wow, so they will sell to random people they can't verify, but if you make a business account suddenly there's more checks. I think at best maybe there's some kind of process checks they have to do for a business account, but it shouldn't cancel an entire order if the business account isn't giving you anything special for that order. Definitely suspicious of them to do that. Could very easily be motivated by xenophobia, just like a "random" airport search. I hope it was just some benign error of process, but it could just as easily be something malicious.
They probably have a suspicious person list from their payment processor and Alex hit a score level that caused this. The payment processor is likely the one demanding more ID or they will refuse to accept the payment, thus preventing him being a customer, or they will tell the merchant they are responsible for any fraud or charge backs that might happen. The guest account didn't cause this issue because it wasn't a new business account. There is less risk to the payment processor and merchant, or Alex may have paid another way such as with PayPal in which case PayPal has already verified who he is and it is no longer something the merchant has to verify.
Now that you mention it, that happened to me when I created a business account. It was on hold for a couple of days, or maybe they asked for some additional information. I can't remember.
Alex, So sorry that you had to deal with this. I would have sent a certified letter to the president asking if discrimination is a company policy. And reminding them that this is not California during World war II and you're not a Japanese American. It's embarrassing that the company would seemingly disgrace themselves if this scenario is as you describe.
@@sayeretmatkaal That's irrelevant. Part of the reason that radicals have such success recruiting people, is because we don't treat people fairly when we should.
@@tryscience Google "madrassa" and visit one. They indoctrinate children from toddler stage. There is NOTHING you can do later to humanize them. Also Google "Practice of Taqiyya"
Digikey has always been my go-to due to their search features being miles ahead of mouser, but over the past year or two I've started having more and more trouble with Digikey. Their website has been getting slower and slower to the point of frequently crashing out, and then their order system keeps splitting my orders in to multiple parts without asking me then billing me for shipping on the parts they split off without being asked to. At this point all Mouser has to do to take over is improve their search features a little.
The connector has a plug that has a positive locking mechanism, most likely somebody tried to pry it open and off the board it went. Never underestimate the potential for destruction when someone becomes impatient😮
How about the customer just pays the normal costs incurred that it takes to make the repair with parts? There's no reason to become a self-appointed punisher and overcharge for the repair. The customers fault brought the shop business, the reason it is there.
@@additudeobx From a business standpoint, you're absolutely right. But I've been helping people with electronics components and PCs since I was 14. And for me it's an emotional thing every time I see people treating "innocent" electronics so shamefully.
It's been years since I made a DigiKey account but I seem to remember a strange ID issue. Also I ordered some parts from them last week, they shipped my order in two shipments and charged me for shipping twice. Not what I agreed to at checkout. I got two seperate PayPal charges.
Prototype is a prototype for a reason. When I saw you grab the sticky traces I was shocked you weren't just going to use enameled wire or something and make the connections.
if digi-key was so concerned about selling "dual-use items" to potential evil doers, then why in the hell do they allow someone to buy said components w/o an account? "Dual use items include materials, components or complete systems used in production or development of military goods and weapons of mass destruction. Some examples include night vision systems, parachutes, plant pathogens, bacteria and electronics components such as transistors."
@@gordonwelcher9598 You're absolutely right. Especially because there are no races among humans. But Digikey's attitude is anti-Arab and that's just as stupid!
I did repairs to circuit traces like this as far back as 1978. Found that under magnification, my hands and tools jittered LESS after drinking coffee. You would think it would be worse jittering, but it was calming instead. Left that company in 1984, and the coffee in the machine at the new workplace was almost undrinkable by comparison. Still got the job done though.
Just did a 4 pin connector all pads where gone, and 2 anchor. there was one ground, I ran 3 wires from trace area, than did solder mask, than gorrlia glue than ran those wires to external connector so customer can easly disconnect from board if needed, The other side of the connector just cut off the oringial connector and soldered those wires to replacement connector. It was something from a audi car. But the ground was bad. Should I have found a spot to solder the ground to, or doesn't matter? By the way, the main reason I do this, as I work with alot of odd jobs just like you. Is 99% of the time the connector is hard to find. So using any 4 pin connector works great! It will make your life so much easier if you do it this way. The down side is for you at least, you need the connector on the other side so you can rewire it. So its not possible on all projects. The upside to this method is it makes it much harder to break the job you just did. I strip both side of these connectors from old hardware. You thoughts?
Maybe I'm naïve but id guess the issue was making the business account. I remember dealing with a few companies and having similar issues with business vs personal.
Alex, I was sorry to hear of your woes in trying to create an account with DigiKey. I have little doubt that the issue was their prejudice in the fact that you used your birth name and the subsequent suspicions and / or concerns as it does imply Middle Eastern ancestry. If I am correct, you are a naturalized U.S citizen or legal resident? The mere use of your birth name should not have resulted in the treatment you received. This is America! Other than the true Native Americans, we were are all foreigners ultimately. My Mother's Father was born in Hungary, immigrated here in 1912 and ultimately became a naturalized citizen. My other ancestors are French Canadian and German immigrants who naturalized late 19th century. If I were you, I would take my future business elsewhere.
@parochial2356 shut up dude. Viking explorer's found this continent before any 'native americans' did and 'native americans' are only nothing more than Asians. Such a cringe take.
For what it’s worth, I have had the same issue: I have a very Americanized name - I received the same email. I simply replied with a picture of my ID and that was the end of it.
I did love Alex’s statement “all items are in stock unless the item is not in stock”
Goes nicely with "If you do not start, you're not going to finish" :)
better line would have been "all items are in stock, unless your name is Adolf, then we'll have to check and get back to you"
I chuckled to that too. I think he means that if the item is not in stock, it will show as such in the shop.
@@dghtr79_36 a fine addition! :D
the gold is where its at, and wherever you go,there you are.
I find it bizarre how they flagged someone who created an account - provided full name, business name, address and phone number - something they could quickly look up and see that you're an established repair shop (with a popular RUclips channel) and still gave you a hard time. Yet, they happily sent the same items to a "guest customer"? I would think the person checking out as a guest would have something more to hide than the person making the effort to create a business account and passing on their full details. Very silly of Digi-key.
I don't know their process, but I'd imagine that for guest customers they check every order so that it doesn't contain anything "risky". When creating an account, maybe they perform a one-time check, and once passed, they wouldn't do the checks in the future orders. Just my theory.
That is exactly it. There is a new account verification process. Likely to eliminate duplication of one that has been closed for things like non payment issues. @@enginerd80
I honestly believe this to be true. I’ve ordered several ESP32s from both Digi-Key and Mouser without issue even with a registered personal account. However when I started a company and ordered an ESP32 dev board with a business account I had to fill out a bunch of paperwork for both companies basically a CYA for them acknowledging that I understand export requirements, etc.
I believe the rules are different for individuals on the checking requirements because it’s default to assume if you’re selling to an individual you’re selling to the end consumer. If you sell to a business they may resell it and the distributor doesn’t control where it’s resold to. So they make you fill out that paperwork for traceability so if it does end up somewhere it’s not supposed to and the govt starts asking questions, the distributor can point and say “hey we did everything in our power to ensure they understood the rules and we waive our liability once it leaves our dock”.
I’m not saying this is right but it is the way it is because the govt.
they are idiots, that is the reality of current times...
They do this with every order we've made with digikey. It's bizarre but consistent
That device is a Starlink dish that's been modified to fit into a flat mount for placement on top of a vehicle. It's not really a prototype, but an end user modified device. That connector is the Ethernet interface with Power over Ethernet. The other similar pinned connector is the motor control connection for rotation and tilt of the dish (before it was modified).
I think you are right, I've seen that board before.
It could be a company planning on making and selling a 3rd party mod for starlink for van-life people or truckers.
Your explanation does not explain dog$hit for the average joe, who will read this and understand basically nothing.
@@NarutoEternal566 Google 'starlink flat dish mount' ... you'll get pictures, videos of the mod being performed, etc.
@@NarutoEternal566 It's exactly the right answer. Why would the average Joe be watching this channel?
I’m middle eastern too, I take it as a compliment when everyone assumes you’re an explosives engineer
Friend of mine who is from Northern Ireland told me he is asked all the time if he ever was with the IRA.
He's an English Lit. teacher 🤣
xDD
It's probably because of the Iran sanctions.
😂😂😂
I had a similar issue with DigiKey where they were claiming I was on a "US Denied List" simply based off my name. I provided them ID and eventually got the chip I ordered but they need to do better than blindly assume based off a name.
We are we are on the same boat
It’s about sanctions on certain countries
Barack Hussein Obama will not get his hobby chips :)
yes, they don't like Jesus
It’s the same as a black guy in a expensive car get stopped by police because of his skin color.
That’s not ok by digikey…..
"All items are in stock unless the item is not in stock". Now that's what I call accurate, helpful customer information! 🤣
A quote from a software specification of a telecommunications subsystem decades ago: "If the bit is in use its value is 1, otherwise 0."
(The bit in question was in a bitmask but anyway.)
Excellent work again Alex , many many years ago mid 90s I did a lot of very close SMT work , using a stereoscopic microscope , and the issue was " tremble" , so I made a few reverse pantograph manipulators to reduce the movements I made to allow very accurate positioning and close work , then you just have surface tension to deal with, the most useful thing was a spring biased holder to make a component or pad stay put , we didn't have the UV setting glues or solder paste , just liquid flux and determination , I even made a IR heater with barn doors to allow selective heating and removal of components
I remember making those types of repairs when I had a summer job during my years in university while earning my EE degree. The worst ones were where some yahoo with a Weller soldering 'gun' tried to remove DIP packages from PCB's without the use of solder-wick. I would find a half-dozen traces torn off the board and quite a few through-holes that were torn out. I used wire-wrap wire and a DS100 soldering station to clean up the mess, tack down to what was left of the traces and glue that in place while installing a replacement DIP package.
The PCB's cost thousands of dollars (1980's dollars) so four or five hours of labor and it was still worth it. I think our cut-off point for repairs was more than 8 hours of labor on any board.
I also had a negative experience with them recently-- when I placed an order it didn't empty my cart, it was like it never completed, and it didn't appear in my order history so I placed the order again. However, within a few minutes the original order went through, so I had a double order. I immediately contacted their customer service to cancel the order and was told it had been processed, and so that wasn't possible. Seriously, within 15 minutes?! Mind you, it took several days to ship, so I don't know what they did that couldn’t be canceled. Next time I'll use another distributor, completely ridiculous!
So you double ordered because the 1st order didn't "go through" in minutes 😂 genius
I once tried to order a component manufactured in Europe, where I live. I've been told that this component could not be exported outside the US...
Thank you so much for your videos and your time brother. I’ve been watching religiously for a few years now and you’ve helped me up my soldering game by a metric ton. I’m an electrician by trade and I also love fixing electronics around the house and for family. You’re an inspiration and I wish you and your whole family nothing but success and happiness. You work so hard and that’s a dying trait with some of the new generation.
Again, thank you and selam from Australia.
Big fan Ali, you’re a legend.
👏🏻 legend
I had a similar experience with Digi-Key. I needed to send them some extra ID and proof for them to ship my order and I’m in Australia with a pretty common name. I doubt it was any suspicion to do with your name - I think their security measures are overly strict for everyone.
I wonder if it's for ITAR compliance.
why would a mechanics and IT shop even care about ITAR? They don't even sell any form of explosives components or weapons parts at all.@@JD-mo4fv
Considering you can order as anonymous, which should be shadier, it’s probably not a “security” thing
It's because it's a business account. Tax records, itar compliance, credit. Like digikey is thorough and reliable. Their records are meticulous, and they are great to work with. This is just part of setting up an account with them. It's not personal.
russian sanctions
Sadly its because your name is on a prohibited trade list, these can be anything from terrorists to those who commit financial fraud and as you can imagine the name is fairly common. I worked for an American company overseas that sold items that fell under ITAR, this list was scanned for every order, to proceed it either had to be manually reviewed or id requested to prove you were not the listed individual. Its dumb but thats how it is.
It's clown world!
Can't understand how ITAR is even Constitutional considering that we supposedly have the right to free association and to make contracts.
It's common practice with digi-key. A 14 years a go they denied sending some parts to Europe (and as now it's important - by Europe I mean EU) claiming that it was "restricted to export" (early MCU with WIFI). We get those parts from microchip directly without ANY problems.
This man is an electronics surgeon. A lot of people watching this video don't know how hard what he did in this video is. I tried to replace a micro USB port with ript traces on a device. That was a nightmare. I could not imagine how hard this would be for somebody like me. His skills are on a completely different level
I tried to replace a mini usb port on a blue tooth speaker I loved. RIP speaker.
I learned a lot watching this video: Use of UV-cured solder mask to hold down wires before soldering a small connector part is brilliant. You can't fix what you can't see, so for a job like this a microscope is a must. Unless you are a serious hobbyist, you would go to Northridge Fix for this job, as Alex has the tools and skills for anything you can throw at him.
You did an excellent job on those wires and putting them on the parts the pcb board and you use the color so it won't do short circuit if moved or anything. Truly outstanding work
That is a starlink dish, that is being converted to a vehicle roof top mount, (you cut the back out of it, so it sits flat on the roof of the vehicle.)
i honestly would have thought if the pad was gone, that was basically it - this was the work of a pure surgeon.
bloody good work!
That prototype looks a lot like a phased array antenna, the same kind of antenna used for the Starlink system.
*Precisely. It is a StarLink antenna with AZ/EL mount removed. Cheers!*
Was "Starlink" not in the video title when you wrote this comment?
@@daveeckblad No it was not.
'Starlink Repair'@@xThirdOpsx
Not quite, it’s actually a prototype phased array antenna for the Starlink system.
Well Alex, we live in a world of idiots, we have our fair share in the UK too. The only thing we all can do is avoid the idiots and let them drive their businesses into the ground. Keep up the good work.
This means a bomb will drive them to the ground ?
@@blizardbill do you even use your brain?
Digikey is a multi billion dollar company, I don't think they're going anywhere soon because of some bad process that they need to correct.
The profiling plus maybe ITAR. A lot of electronics are ridiculously considered “arms”. Especially anything aerospace.
without idiots people like me and northridge wouldnt have jobs
Alex…you are the man! Don’t change a thing on your channel. You are realistic! You make mistakes just like me when or anybody else, but your success rate is incredibly high! Keep it up my friend
I'd always tie to the far connector foot, not to a trace. I think I'd super glue the body of that ripped connector down. People will yank on it. Kynar wire, then Kapton tape for strain relief. For connectors, think mechanical strength first, then the electrical will follow. Too much strain relief is just enough. -10 year QCOM Wireless R&D Tech. Nice to see you work. Cheers, --bd
First, this was one of the most fun video's I've seen. i'm impressed with the work flow, the confidence, and the perfect temps for the soldering iron, flux being applied liberally and ensuring every possible point is perfect.
I learned much just from watching the workflow. First time finding the channel, so thanks for totally making a simple repair a fun show to watch.
My hunches on this deice..
If this is a communications device, It's probably digital and should be totally fine. I know with analog devices there was always the risk of capacitances being an issue in the traces. Thus the board layout always took into account the capacitance in the traces adding to the subtracted from the schematic's required values as they can change values.
It doesn't look like an an antenna, nor does it appear to be a broadcasting device (as nothing looks like high power / wattage) so if it is broadcasting it's probably still going to be on frequency since the amp boards would a different board / unit.
I'd also bet they have another on order while this is repaired, which it will be promptly replaced with, and this fixed will be kept as a backup.
Now I gotta watch more of your channel!
Dear alex once again it is a good example for this type of problems and it is a masterpiece. Eventhou i watched it with my welders google s for UV protection :)))
Great to see that you are keeping the differential pairs coupled by following the path of the original traces. This should keep the signal integrity and thus the device working reliably.
About microscopes, it’s also the optics. Amazing to see stuff like this that would appear magic to people just a few decades ago.
Even just the method by which I am watching this is way beyond the sci-fi tech of my youth.
Happens to all of us mate, with digikey anyway. I had the same series of questions when my order included some high power IXYS mosfets that are used for among other things, high power radio transmitters, lasers and orbital solar arrays. ended up buying a similar part from mouser with no questions asked, as i'm a regular customer. I'm Australian btw.
I appreciate you sharing your skills. PCB repair is an important skill....In the past I have repaired boards with failed components in the field...admittadly much larger thru hole components :) in these cases there was no option, as the PCB's were soldered to hundreds of wires in the chassis, and the pcb was 2'x3'..... not to mention that spares just did not exist.
Sad that prejudice is still rampant.
Great repair!
I have been in the same situation with PC boars many times, and I use 30 gauge wire wrap wire to repair such trace tears, once the tracks are repaired, I epoxy over them to keep them in place and to protect them as well.
I didn't have the microscope, but I did have a magnifier visor!
What prejudice? Not in 'MURRICA, that's for sure.
Alex, your link to the microscope takes us to a micro-HDMI cable instead of the microscope. Just wanted you to know. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and time with us. Great video!
Thanks Alli, You are an amazing technician, thanks for sharing your skills and wisdom.
That work is incredibly small and fine. I wouldn't be wrong to compare this with vascular surgery or something like that. Great job. Wish you all the success.
Same as vascular surgery. LOL
Alex's hands are so stable I think I can see his pulse.
Yes it is similar except in huge problem when you working on electronic device the worst senario it will fail and mostly not the end of the world but micro surgery , any mistake , you damage a nerve or ending human life , and that really the end of the world for you and the patient .
Yeah I’d be doing electrical work and say oops 😬 and then I would go no worries, I’m not a brain surgeon haha
The big difference is that you don't have to do the work hot, knowing that if it ceases to be hot a million plus dollar machine breaks forever.
Haha. No bombs for Alex
I am sorry that you experienced discrimination in ordering parts. That is so disgusting. You're a good man doing good things for people.
I have lot of trouble with custom clearance here in Greece when order from Digikey. All in all I had to pay twice the invoice for import tax, import sales tax and UPS clearance for what I had to sign a three years contract with UPS.
Mouser is much more easy since they ship to proxy in Munich Germany (no customs issues at all to Germany). And from Germany it is redirected to Greece which is within Europa (also no customs).
Alex, many thanks again for showing your work style and giving your experience to us.
These Starlink antennas are works of art. When i decommission mine I'll be putting it on a wall or displaycase.
"all items are in stock. Unless the item is not in stock." Best statement ever.
That was a nice fix, however wires could be too thin. This is Starlink ethernet with power, and it is also used to heat the dish in the winter, it is up to 200 W on those wires ~48V. About 1A per wire. Not too much, but could be take into consideration for future Starlink repairs.
Also, since the wires in the matched pairs weren't exactly the same length, it might have issues trying to run at higher speeds.
I was thinking the same as both of you once he whipped-out those puny wires and again when he started cutting them to random lengths. The size of the original traces should've been a big clue. Hopefully he learns from the comments, just as many commenters learn from him.
The wires are narrower than the tracks but I suspect they are thicker so their cross sectional area might be pretty close. Also those were not high current tracks unless the board has extremely thick copper.
As long as he follows the routing of the original tracks the signal integrity should be OK. I would be more concerned about impedance mismatches due to the different profile of the wires and traces but they're fairly short runs...
I have seen something like this before. This could be a satellite antenna. The structure is similar to a Starlink satellite antenna.
That one, for some reason, is my favourite repair video so far! The micro-craftsmanship is excellent - and I'm not even an electronics engineer!
Your video looks great and I'm a factory level repairer who finds design flaws or tolerance issues that lead to product rejection. Your video looks great and I'm a factory level repairer who finds design flaws or tolerance issues that lead to product rejection or fix, but not enymore, because they fired me. Designer protection is somehow special in electronics and we fix all that junk. Designer protection is somehow special in electronics and we fix all that junk.
If it makes you feel anymore re-assured, I went through the same thing with Digit-Key. My last name is Brown.
Well it is totally obvious that that is a fake name. You should have said Smith.😂
Wouldn't want to sell to Emmet Brown
Digi-Key is really easy to use. You don't need an account. They have a guest checkout. Without an account, itll be hard to track past invoices, etc.
You are getting very artistic with your wires. Half way through I was thinking about a screen shot.❤
your manual dexterity and fine motor skills are impressive.
JazakAllah hu khair posting this type of video it helps person like me who wanna be like you Master,Hussain ur working style teach us many things.
Account issue will most likely be OFAC related and triggered by your name. UK based, but at a previous employment we had massive problems making payments to taxi drivers using a payment method linked to America due to this, so much so we eventually changed our payment method.
*Smartly, you found a work-around. Cheers!*
Alex, Digi-key has the right to ask you those questions…. Cus you’re the BOMB!! 🎉
That is a great fix. Think this will ever get them to consider their designs before ANY development!
masterful work. I wish my hands were steady enough to pull off such soldering craftmanship.
You can’t use that connector to built a nuclear weapon, it’s not shielded against neutron flux.😂keep the great videos coming.
could be used in a russian drone
No but it can be used in a Star link at tack drone
Its a pleasure watching you do component replacement, I used to do it as well!
I love how the plot twist is that he just ordered the component as guest, **The more you know**
I absolutely live for watching your videos Alex. Your work is absolutely beautiful.
It looks like the connector has been physically ripped off of the board by the looks of the other traces.
edit: I just realized the really cool thing about this channel. You can send something to Alex to be fixed and if you are lucky, you will be able to watch as he does it!
Locking connector + impatient gorilla = PCB carnage
Wow. This is very intricate work. Really shows at the end when you have your fingers for comparison
The ground via stitching, and the way the traces hug each other indicates that each of the pins were originally differential pairs. Do you do anything special to insure they maintain length and impedance matching when replacing the traces?
Yeah he could have done a slightly more careful job to run the wires in the “valleys” left behind by the torn-out traces, and to length-match (and minimize) the stubs at the ends.
@@tookitogo Exactly what frequency do you think these traces were operating at?
Amazed, your like a Doctor!
This is not a prototype device. It is a regular Starlink antenna PCB that has been pulled out of a Starlink dish.
It's just amazing how you have steady hands working on those tiny connections!!!
They have a good profiling web security.
We all know Alex is capable of fixing and building a nuclear bomb or something.
Love the work you have done Alex. I have learned alot from your videos. It is sad a company had this view on a name ordering parts. Keep on Keepin on Brother!
What you had happen (most likely) was you got flagged by a piece of software doing what's known as "denied party screening" - basically, there are lists of people, entities, governments, etc. that the US says businesses cannot sell to, for various reasons. Sometimes it's because of trade restrictions, sometimes it's sensitive technology, and sometimes it's because of lists of people who the US doesn't like. For each transaction the business makes, they run it through this software and the software says "hey I don't think you're supposed to do business with this entity because it might match something on a list". I'm not going to make any comment about why or how your transaction got flagged, but I've seen it happen more than once. Generally speaking when this happens it triggers either a blanket denial of the transaction, or sometimes the business can reach out and try to establish identity in order to complete the sale. Sounds like in this case they may have tried to work with you but their process sucks. I'm glad you managed to find a workaround!
Personally, my workaround would be to take my business to Mouser, who doesn't entertain this ITAR fuckery.
I repair PCBs for agricultural equipment- instrument panels, mainly. I repair automotive ECMs, not as much. I need to learn about the supplies you use! They could be a huge advantage for me.
Your video was great! Excellent presentation. Nice cheat on the missing tab!
The viewer will know in the first 30 seconds if they can do it or not. If you can't solder half as good as this guy, don't try the repair.
I always wondered what Leon ended up doing after he gave up being a hitman. 😅❤
Hhhhhhhh
*Ha, ha! Like many others here over the years, you also saw "The Professional" and Alex's resemblance to Jean Reno. Cheers!*
OMG. The soldering stations you use are something I can only dream of affording. They are amazing. Just like your repair videos. Thank you and God bless!
Many years ago, I lived internationally and was ordering some developer tools software from Apple. There was an export control section.
It was *impressively detailed*. I don't remember 100% the list, but it had yes/no questions for 5+ areas: Do you, or your facility work on uranium enrichment, plutonium enrichment, heavy water, chemical or biological weapons.
I was just imagining someone asking their boss, hey, do we enrich plutonium, or *just* uranium, to make sure they got the questions right? :)
Or when travelling to the US. "Do you plan to try and overthrow the government?"
@@craigknights Years ago, one of the common questions when checking bags for international travel was “Are you certain that your bag contains no electrical or electronic items?”
Umm…no, I’m certain that it *does* contain some. I’m fairly sure it *only* has electronic items :)
Digi-Key did the same thing to me over a common capacitor. At the time, I had just retired from the USAF, still held a security clearance and they treated me like a terrorist. My name is as American as John Wayne, so it wasn't that. I communicated w/them in an attempt to understand WTF was going on. In the end, they refused to sell the item to me unless, I filled out export paperwork & gave a detailed written explanation pertaining the application the capacitor was to be used. The shipping address was in the U.S., & application was simply none of their f'ing business. In my case, I was able to take my business elsewhere.
Couldn’t resist the opportunity to shame a vendor 🤣
because Digikey is too big to be this petty or careless
It is pretty fucked up.
Probably tried to order on 9/11
I have never bought from Digi-key ... also ... I like the musics during the part where you expose us to UV light 😎(it reflects off the shiny solder mask into my eyes from my monitor!)
Pretty sure Dave Jones of EEV Blog has mentioned Digikey's ID checking crap being a pain before too. I expect name didn't help, but it seems to be a pain of any working with Digikey. I avoid them myself prefering farnel, mouser, rs-online....
All the US regulated shops run through the same backend. Mouser do this also. Exactly the same enforcement. It's not the shop itself.
@@Jasonsadventures ...and yet, people seem to have a small fraction of the issues with the others...
Dave's issue was even with element14, an Aussie subsidiary of a UK company and the US watchlist still effed things up
@@_BangDroid_ Isn't element14's main distribution center in New Jersey, though?
Very nice repair job !
Big shame for Digi-key. Definitely shows up the ingrained bias.
Isn't it better to add some glue around that connector?
WOW! you are GOOD!!!! I tell my friends with broken phones, ipads, key fobs, play stations, scanners......send to you!!!!!!!!
Well, ain't ordering from Digi-Key.
It's usually the manufacturers that set the conditions of sale via distributors, especially USA-based component manufacturers. As a company they assume you are building something, as an individual, mending something. I have had to specify the precise use, and in which country, to obtain certain components from all the major distributors.
Looks like a microwave antenna. Sure it's not a modified Starlink dish?
This is amazing stuff to see, as a rando curious person. Oh cool, he's showing how they repair these tiny things. Next level watchmaker scale stuff. Thanks for showing off.
Wow, so they will sell to random people they can't verify, but if you make a business account suddenly there's more checks. I think at best maybe there's some kind of process checks they have to do for a business account, but it shouldn't cancel an entire order if the business account isn't giving you anything special for that order.
Definitely suspicious of them to do that. Could very easily be motivated by xenophobia, just like a "random" airport search. I hope it was just some benign error of process, but it could just as easily be something malicious.
U.S sanctions on certain countries
They probably have a suspicious person list from their payment processor and Alex hit a score level that caused this. The payment processor is likely the one demanding more ID or they will refuse to accept the payment, thus preventing him being a customer, or they will tell the merchant they are responsible for any fraud or charge backs that might happen. The guest account didn't cause this issue because it wasn't a new business account. There is less risk to the payment processor and merchant, or Alex may have paid another way such as with PayPal in which case PayPal has already verified who he is and it is no longer something the merchant has to verify.
Now that you mention it, that happened to me when I created a business account. It was on hold for a couple of days, or maybe they asked for some additional information. I can't remember.
Alex, So sorry that you had to deal with this. I would have sent a certified letter to the president asking if discrimination is a company policy. And reminding them that this is not California during World war II and you're not a Japanese American. It's embarrassing that the company would seemingly disgrace themselves if this scenario is as you describe.
I guess they still remember World-Trade-Towers episode
@@sayeretmatkaal That's irrelevant. Part of the reason that radicals have such success recruiting people, is because we don't treat people fairly when we should.
@@tryscience Google "madrassa" and visit one. They indoctrinate children from toddler stage. There is NOTHING you can do later to humanize them.
Also Google "Practice of Taqiyya"
user modified starlink dish
I am so sorry you had to go through this! I may not purchase from DigiKey anymore.
Secretly you are building a portal towards 9th dimension 😂
So he can find all the screws and tiny components that fell off the desk? :D
Digikey has always been my go-to due to their search features being miles ahead of mouser, but over the past year or two I've started having more and more trouble with Digikey. Their website has been getting slower and slower to the point of frequently crashing out, and then their order system keeps splitting my orders in to multiple parts without asking me then billing me for shipping on the parts they split off without being asked to. At this point all Mouser has to do to take over is improve their search features a little.
If someone manages to ravage a small connector like this, then they should pay three times the usual price as punishment!
The connector has a plug that has a positive locking mechanism, most likely somebody tried to pry it open and off the board it went. Never underestimate the potential for destruction when someone becomes impatient😮
How about the customer just pays the normal costs incurred that it takes to make the repair with parts? There's no reason to become a self-appointed punisher and overcharge for the repair. The customers fault brought the shop business, the reason it is there.
@@additudeobx From a business standpoint, you're absolutely right. But I've been helping people with electronics components and PCs since I was 14. And for me it's an emotional thing every time I see people treating "innocent" electronics so shamefully.
@@additudeobx are you familiar with the human custom known as "comedy"?
@@sergejkoch1432 - Now that's Comedy right there!!!
It's been years since I made a DigiKey account but I seem to remember a strange ID issue. Also I ordered some parts from them last week, they shipped my order in two shipments and charged me for shipping twice. Not what I agreed to at checkout. I got two seperate PayPal charges.
Prototype is a prototype for a reason. When I saw you grab the sticky traces I was shocked you weren't just going to use enameled wire or something and make the connections.
That was cool how you repaired the PCB like! Good as new. The right tools does the job right! Good stuff
oof sad to hear about digikey doing this
if digi-key was so concerned about selling "dual-use items" to potential evil doers, then why in the hell do they allow someone to buy said components w/o an account?
"Dual use items include materials, components or complete systems used in production or development of military goods and weapons of mass destruction. Some examples include night vision systems, parachutes, plant pathogens, bacteria and electronics components such as transistors."
Very good job, Alex!
The reaction from Digikey was pure racism. Like @Mee10793 says: Idiots!
@@gordonwelcher9598 You're absolutely right. Especially because there are no races among humans.
But Digikey's attitude is anti-Arab and that's just as stupid!
Awesome surgery! I do same type of repairs.I just discovered your channel and will be watching.thanks very much for videos!
Digi-key low-key racist? :o
I did repairs to circuit traces like this as far back as 1978. Found that under magnification, my hands and tools jittered LESS after drinking coffee. You would think it would be worse jittering, but it was calming instead. Left that company in 1984, and the coffee in the machine at the new workplace was almost undrinkable by comparison. Still got the job done though.
Just like YOU don't ship to Israel, they are very cautious of their customers. You can't have it both ways, brother.
Just did a 4 pin connector all pads where gone, and 2 anchor. there was one ground, I ran 3 wires from trace area, than did solder mask, than gorrlia glue than ran those wires to external connector so customer can easly disconnect from board if needed, The other side of the connector just cut off the oringial connector and soldered those wires to replacement connector. It was something from a audi car. But the ground was bad. Should I have found a spot to solder the ground to, or doesn't matter?
By the way, the main reason I do this, as I work with alot of odd jobs just like you. Is 99% of the time the connector is hard to find. So using any 4 pin connector works great! It will make your life so much easier if you do it this way. The down side is for you at least, you need the connector on the other side so you can rewire it. So its not possible on all projects. The upside to this method is it makes it much harder to break the job you just did. I strip both side of these connectors from old hardware.
You thoughts?
Maybe you would build a bomb, better than factory?
😂
Maybe I'm naïve but id guess the issue was making the business account. I remember dealing with a few companies and having similar issues with business vs personal.
Alex, I was sorry to hear of your woes in trying to create an account with DigiKey. I have little doubt that the issue was their prejudice in the fact that you used your birth name and the subsequent suspicions and / or concerns as it does imply Middle Eastern ancestry. If I am correct, you are a naturalized U.S citizen or legal resident? The mere use of your birth name should not have resulted in the treatment you received. This is America! Other than the true Native Americans, we were are all foreigners ultimately. My Mother's Father was born in Hungary, immigrated here in 1912 and ultimately became a naturalized citizen. My other ancestors are French Canadian and German immigrants who naturalized late 19th century. If I were you, I would take my future business elsewhere.
I'm a US citizen Born in New York.
@@NorthridgeFix American by birth, Better than Factory by the grace of God. 😁
@parochial2356 shut up dude. Viking explorer's found this continent before any 'native americans' did and 'native americans' are only nothing more than Asians. Such a cringe take.
For what it’s worth, I have had the same issue: I have a very Americanized name - I received the same email. I simply replied with a picture of my ID and that was the end of it.
It doesn't really matter. They sold it to a guest. The security process is not really defensible if it can be circumvented by using a guest account.