How Best To Cool Xiaomi TV4

 Update 11 Jan 2019

A Simple, Cheap  and Easy to Install Air Filter to the 80 mm x 10 mm Fans

In a dusty and humid environment like Singapore,  there is a need to install and provide air filter for the fans or otherwise,   the electronic component boards will break down due to dust accumulation. The alternative is to epoxy coat the circuit board which could be a hassle. 

What’s needed

1.  A takeaway 500 ml plastic container box

2.  A pair of scissor

3.  Cutting pen knife or blade

4.  Fibrous filter clothes

5.  Thin and flexible Plastic tube  

Step by Step

Description	Actions	Remarks (Double click to enlarge)
1.  Hole cutting	1.  Measure and  cut a hole of about 83 x 83 mm in the centre of the bottom of the container box so that it can be slotted onto the frame of fan easily
2.  Bottom Hole Cutting	1.  Cut a I shaped slit  on the cover of the container as shown with a width slightly larger than "L",  the length btween the box and the wall 2.  Heat the cover along the "line " marked as shown using a heat gun or hair drier or an oven by covering up the cover with metal rulers or equivalent,  exposing only the "line" of the cover to the heat. this will soften the plastic,  allowing the plastic to be bent into a "flap"; 2.  Place the fibrous cloth over the cover and the filter box is ready for installation
3.  Installing the box	1.  Install the box by sliding it over the fan.   Adjust the "flap" so that it will hold the box against the wall as shown.	If the box is correctly cut,  it should be easily slotted onto the fan with little sideway movement allowed

This filter cloth should last a year or two before next replacement.  The CPU temperature has increased by about 1^oC from 41^oC  to 42^oC  because this filter impeded the air flow.

Update: 9 Jan 2019

1.  Depending on the size and thickness of the small fans,  the earlier suggestion to install four small 40mm x 10 mm at the bottom of the TV could be quite noisy in operation even when running on two fans.  Furthermore,  the fans could not cool the CPU although it could cool other components.  This was because the CPU was blocked by the input/output connecting box.   The  CPU was running little lower around 60C.

As the warranty period was over,  the 40 mm x 10 mm fans was replaced by two 80 mm x 10 mm fans and installed at the back of the panel as shown by cutting the two holes.
 

This time,  the CPU temperature dropped down to about 41C as shown in this picture

When making the holes at the back panel,  it is important to mark the holes to avoid it being in the way of the TV wall mount bracket if it is to be hung to the wall.

As the fans run only at 0,25A each,  one can run it from the 5 volt line connected to the USB outlet if one does not have other USB devices that drains current.   However,  it is always good to have an external 5 Volt power supply as one might connect more devices to the USBs using USB hubs and the 5 volt power supply of TV could be easily overloaded.

Update:  1 Nov 2018

1.  The alternative  of two big fan blowing at  2 location is to install about 4 to 6 smaller 40 mm panel cooling fan such as these using a longer strip of smaller angle sheet of size 5 x 25 x 1.5 mm to mount the fans as well as to avoid covering up the ventilating holes at the bottom of the TV.

2.  Some new MiTV4 (the 9mm thick panel) came with a plastic transparent sheet protecting the shinning aluminum panel at the back of the TV from  scratches.  Have this sheet removed as soon as possible as it will  impede heat dissipation.

3.  Try keeping a lot of space between the TV and the back of the wall;  keep at least 100 mm clearance and make sure nothing is obstructing the heat flow at the back of the TV.   


23 July 2018

Singapore is a tropical country where maximum temperature can reach around 33C for the month of April with average temperature range from 28C to 30C.   Electronic equipment such as Xiaomi TV can generate quite a bit of heat and it is good to install external fans to cool the TV should one watches the  TV frequently over long hours.

What is the CPU temperature?

The APK used to measure the CPU is from Mugich CPU tools which can be downloaded from Google Store.    The operating temperature is around 61-70 C depending on the usage of the TV.

The CPU Thermometer can be downloaded here

How to install the fans?

There are several methods and ways

1.  Cut holes at the back of the TV panel and install two fans directly on top of the CPU/PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards)

     This will void warranty.

 2.  Install fan as described by this forumer from Xiaomi BBS

     Drilling holes to mount the fan not advisable as it may void warranty 

3.   Install 2 Nos of  cooling fans using this little laptop fan as shown

 

This article will describe this Method 3 as it will not void the warranty and can be easy installed.

Where to Install the fans?

At the bottom of the Xiaomi TV as shown in this diagram

 How to Install the Fans?

 1. Tools and materials

 a)  Electric drill with 3 mm drill

 b)  2 nos of Thin angle sheet 12x25x1.5 mm,  each about 25cm long

 c)  Some double sided form tape (to cover the edge of the blower to seal air leaks)

 d)  4 Nos of M3 screws,  each 30 mm long

 e)  Soldering iron and solder

 f)   Hack saw to cut the screw to length

 f)   Epoxy Glue such as Rapid 5 minute Araldite or equivalent

2.  Preparation & Assembly

a)  Cut the angle sheet to length and mark exactly on the angle sheet the 2 holes that will replace the 2 screws that hold the TV back panel.   Also,  mark the location where the fan would be installed so that it can be cleared from obstruction with air blow directly onto the PCB. The location of the 2 fan is roughly as indicated above.  Note that they are not installed symmetrically.

b) Drill 2 Nos 3 mm hole on the angle sheet so that the 2 fan assembly together with the angle sheet can be screwed onto the 4 screws that hold the back panel of the TV. 

c)  Grind or cut the protruded trimmings of the fans so that they  can be glued firmly to angle sheet

d)  Cut one of the USB plug of left fan furthest from TV’s USB outlet and solder to wires of the wires of right fan,  making sure the fans will all blow out air if the wires are soldered correctly.

e)  Remove and fix the blower fan assembly  to the TV’s back panel as shown

 Note:

1.  One might have to cut one of the 30 mm long M3 screw to about 27 mm long so that the screw will not be too long to damage other component within the TV

2.  Use a torch to shine into the bottom grill to find best position to install the fans so that the air from the blower  will not be blocked. 

3.  To ensure the blower can deliver full power,   seal the blower mouth with double sided form tape or blue tag.

4.   This method 3 might not cool the CPU temperature directly because the air flow of the main PCB that contain the CPU was blocked by the IO box but one can feel that the back panel is less heaty and blowing air can be feel to blow through the panel,  cooling also other components.

5.  The 2 fans,  each drawing about 0.25 ampere, can be directly connected to 2.0 USB output or a powered USB hub.



tinyurl : https://tinyurl.com/yanw5gbz

How to Pair the BlueTooth Remote Controller with MiTVs or MiTV boxes

10 January  2019

MiTVs and TV boxes  come with an infra-red as well as a BlueTooth (BT) receiver built-in.

For those who are turning a new TV for the first time, one would come across this screen or similar. This is one of the steps in the setting up of a new TV to pair the TV's BlueTooth (BT) remote controller.

 TVs pre-installed with more apps, the sellers must have already set up the TV with their BT controller.   In this case, users can use the infra-red controller straight-away. If one is using the BT remote controllers that come with the TVs, one must redo the set up to pair the BT controller with the TV. 

Setting up the  BlueTooth Remote Controllers

It is quite simple to pair the BlueTooth (BT) controller with the TV

1. Turn on the TV as usual and if necessary, re-start the TV

2. Go as close as possible to the TV. Aim to point the remote controller at the logo of the TV.

3. Press the 2 buttons on the remote controller as shown for about 15 seconds

4. Ignore what is shown on the screen for the moment, continue pressing the 2 button until the TV pairs with a “beep” sound.

If the above step cannot pair the BT remote controller for some reasons, carry out the usual reset procedure for the TV.

Where are we? Secular Bull or Bear Market?

7 January 2019
 tinyurl :  https://tinyurl.com/y9q7zmpm

What is Secular Bull or Bear Market?

“Secular” came from the Latin word saeculum which means "long period of time".   Some Stock Analysts use this term to describe “Long Term”  bull or bear market that spans over a number of years.  Some plotted this graph to show the various secular bull and bear period from 1877 right down to 2018. 

As can seen from the above chart,  the secular bull market is inked blue and secular bear market is inked as red.

The Study Works

Over the years,  many Analysts used all sort of “theories” and mathematical tools to analyse how and why stock market behaved all these years and if a pattern could be “drawn” from their results.  

For example,  Mr. Napier “dissected”the bear market of (1921, 1932, 1949 and 1982) to help his readers understand better about the market bottoms.  He based his work  on the past to describe what are secular bull and bear markets.  Mr. Ed Easterling,  on the other hand,  used mathematical tools such as Price Earning ratio (PE) and market fundamentals to explain about the secular markets.

Then there are others that based on either chart pattern,  time frame and market cycles;  some even based on “magnitude & size” of  the markets to identify the top and bottom of secular bull or bear markets.

The Characteristics

Secular bulls and bears have different characteristics;  however,  there is one thing in common,   they often choke up large  price differences over the period as shown in the following  table. 

The % of price rises in secular bulls is usually 10 times larger than that of the secular bears;   also,  the market milestone or period of the market of bulls is always longer than the bears.   We can therefore say that it will always be “great” to be in a secular bull market.  If we can know where we are,  we would become very rich with our timely investments.

Where are we ?

Apparently,  nobody in the Web can tell us exactly where we are.  Every article in the Web has put a question mark against the present date.   Some (especially those who believed in “timeframe” and “sizes”) claimed that we are in the secular bull market and we have reached the end of a market correction  in a secular bull market;  it is time to buy.  Then  John Mauldin claimed that we are in the secular bear market.

Now Where Exactly are we ?

With all due respect,   the following article give the best advice,  “Don't Get Hung Up on Secular Bull Markets or Secular Bear Markets When Making Investment Decisions”.  

If one really must know where we are,   Mr. Ed Easterling’s &  John Mauldin’s advices and recommendations are worth reading.  John Mauldin in his 2016 article used the mathematical tools to analyse the investment situation.  He pointed out that the Earning Per share (EPS) was way over and above the “Regressed EPS” line shown.  He projected that the annual gain in the equity was around 3.25%;  this  would be much lower than the 7% expected by the pension and insurance companies in year 2026. He suspected that we are in the Secular Bear Market.

 The Fundamentals

It is also important to point out the following significant “worries” found in the fundamentals inside our present economy

Description	Details	Remark (Doubleclick to Enlarge)
1.  Increasing Debt levels	1. Debts are ballooning.  US debt of the non-financial domestic sectors such as those in households, government and businesses are rising at a rate of 15% per year,  reaching a scary height of US$50.9 Trillion or roughly about USD$150,000 per US citizen in 2018.   The Corporate Debt has also reached a tone of about USD$6.3 Trillions and is 50% higher than in 2008 @ about USD$4 Trillions
2.  Leveraged Loans	The businesses are borrowing  more and more  loans from other sources  at about 6 times the interest rate of the banks,  who are not willing to lend.   It was said that “The borrowers have $8 of debt for every $1 of cash” Read more about Leverage Loan here
4.  High Margin Debts	The equity traders are borrowing margin loans at unprecedented rate that is almost 3 times the amount in 2000 & 2008 combined.    Read more about High Margin Debts here
3.  Missing Traders and Trading  Volumes	Although the equity market has grown double in size with hefty margin loans than in 2008,  the trading volumes of the market has been cut with lesser and lesser participants. Read more about Missing Traders here

The Fifth Wave

For those who  are interested and familiar with the  Elliot Wave Analysis,  they might have noticed immediately that the present inflation adjusted S&P historical chart has a pattern that complies with Elliot Wave analytical rules.  It is as if the present secular bulls is the "fifth wave" which will have a shorter "wave height" than the 3rd wave for period between year 1921 to year 2000.

Conclusion

In view of above,  we can roughly confirm that our economy is no longer having the same condition as last recession in 2008.  It is much worse.  Many market participants have already  left the market and the wealth is concentrated in the "hands" of a few “giant” companies and Corporates who are “manipulating” the market.  We are likely to be at the end of short secular bull market, about to start a new secular bear market.

 Disclaimer:  This article is for information and  educational purposes.   Readers are advised to  conduct their own research and study to make their  own investment decisions.

tinyurl :  https://tinyurl.com/y9q7zmpm

Where Can One Find the Model Number for MiTV?

 3 January  2019

Where One Can Find the Model Number for MiTV? 

Xiaomi TV (MiTV)  has several models. There are always questions about where one can find the model number for the particular MiTV just delivered to the door step.  Is it the correct one before one accepts the TV?

MiTV model can be found in 3 places.  There are on the package box,  in the operation manual and at the back of the TV.   The best and correct place to find the model number is at the back of the TV. The package box and delivery notes can sometimes be replaced and changed.

1.   On the Delivery Boxes 

a)  On the boxes

b)  On the Delivery Notes Attached to the boxes

 2)  In the Operation Manual

3)  At the Back of Television

 

Why Expect a Recession Coming?

 2 January 2019
https://tinyurl.com/y93lhckf

Someone  asked,   “ Presently,  the companies are doing fine;  earnings are great.  US also has very low jobless rates and jobless claims. Why expect a recession now ?”.    

This is a fair comment if we study the following charts:

The US unemployment rate has dropped from 9.4% Jan 2011  to 3.3% in Jan 2018 and the S&P 500 earning and economy indicators were great and still rising at end of 4th Quarter.   Many Analysts are not expecting any recession to come until after 2020.

Why Think about Recession?

Simply put,  the market participants are expecting a recession to come.  Their buying and selling,  their  movement of wealth and other market behaviors are telling us: they are in fear. 

The yield curve is inverting with more people buying  the long term bonds as safe heaven.  More and more people are relying on credit cards to get ends meet.  Debts are piling up.  Housing prices every where starting to plunge (China, US,  Hong Kong,  Australia, Canada) and people spending less and less on luxurious items and goods. Motor vehicle sales are plunging in some markets.

Examples of Such Recessions Happening?

If one scans through the historic data,  it is not difficult to find examples that the market were doing fine one instance and fell into recession the next,  all within a few days or weeks.

These type of recessions happened in 1929,  1940 & 1973. Then the market was enjoying earning growth of  more than 15%. The economy and company earnings then were still expanding and growing.  

In Oct 1929 for example,  everyone were expecting a good year ahead.  Some Americans went for Christmas Holiday in England.  On their way back,  this video document said "They have left England a wealthy man,  they docked in New York without a penny."

The following charts that  plotted between S&P and the S&P Earning Index (GAAP) for the 3 period  are shown below

Name of  Recession	Period	Length of recession	Peak Jobless rate	Market loss 1 yr later	Double Click to enlarge the pictures
Great Depression	Aug 1929-Mar 1933	3 years 7 months	26.7%	-28.5%
Recession of 1937–1938	May 1937-June 1938	1 year 1 month	17.8%	-18.0%
1973–75 recession	Nov 1973-Mar 1975	1 year 4 months	9.0%	-30%

Why Market Ignored the Economical Results?

There can be many reasons   Some market participants like the Hedge Fund Managers might have known something that common people arenot aware of and started to adjust and re-balance  their portfolios.  They moved their wealth around.  For example,  people dealing with leveraged loans and margin loans might feel the pressure first because many of their investments are at risk. They might have "smell" something bad and "fishy".   Their wealth movement could have alarmed the market and ordinary layman like us.

Alternate Views

There are many analysts offering different views about the present stock market trend.  This article has an argument that "The  S&P 500 monster rally is just getting started."   Its supporting view was based on this chart that showed S&P touching the support of 200 week moving average.

 What's Next?

 During a market correction,  there is always a market rebounce as "Nothing Goes to Hell in a Straight line,  not even Stocks."   . The readers are advised to pay attention to the economic development and make their own investment decisions.

 Disclaimer:  This article is for information and  educational purposes.   Readers are advised to  conduct their own research and study to make their  own investment decisions.

 https://tinyurl.com/y93lhckf

Preview - France vs Argentina

         

Link 1 :  Sportingnews : World Cup 2018: France vs. Argentina preview, players to watch, key stats

Link2:   World Cup Preview: France vs Argentina - Recent Form, Team News, Predictions and More

Why US Yield Spread Rises When Market Crashes?

27 Dec 2018

Tinyurl : https://tinyurl.com/ydbgtrxy

It is a common knowledge that investors are using yield curve to predict the health of economy.   If there is a recession coming,  one would expect yield curve to be flattened.  One reason is that the market is expecting Fed to raise its Fed rate in near term.  This will  push the short term bond yield up and flatten the yield curve.  

Yield Spread and Yield Curve

Yield Spread Curve and  Yield Curve are different.  Yield curve shows the yields of various type of bonds in a single day whereas the Yield Spread Curve shows 2 type of yields over a period as illustrated in the following pictures.

A yield spread curve is more useful as it can show not only the flattening yield;  but also,   it can show when that happened and how long flattening yield had lasted. 

 

The Yield Spread Curve

In the 2008 recession,  the 30:5 year yield spread curve flattened around Mar 2006 when the yield spread was at its lowest level.  But the stock market did not crash until Oct 2007 which is 1.5 years later.   In 2000,  the yield spread curve took the same beating with its lowest level around May 2000.  This one took less than 6 months to see  the market crash. 

What is Common About the Market Crashes?

Besides the flattening  yield curve,   there is one thing in common.  The yield spread curve always  rises as soon as the stock market started to crash.  This means that if there is a stock market crash,  there is an increasing  interest for investors to safe park their money in short-term bonds rather than in the long-term bonds.

Why is this so?

There isn’t much explanation one can found in the Web except this article written by  Beth Braverman in CNBC.com.  He explained that

• The returns of short-term bond fund is more stable in rising interest rates and inflation environment;
• Short-term strategies has lower annualised volatility,  less than stocks and long-term strategies;
• Investors can cash back their money in a shorter time frame.

This make sense because if one expect the stock market crash to last only 1 to 2 years,  why lock their money in the long-term bonds which has  higher risk and volatility?  Moreover,  Fed is likely to cut the short-term rate during a recession and this will push up the short term bond prices.

How’s the Present Yield Curve?

The present yield spread curve looks very much like the 1999-2000 yield spread curve.  It is rising fast and appears to have a short flattening period.   

There are 2 observations

1.  The yield spread curve in 2008-2013 period rose to a peak of  about 4.5%,  more than twice the level in 2003.   This is probably caused by the 3 QEs that were introduced between the period from Nov 25 08 to 2013.

2.  The yield spread curve rose slightly  recently from 1% in July 2018 to about 1.7% in Dec 2018.

What is there to learn?

It is quite clear that the investors were trying to park their money recently in  the short-term bonds.  The more the money is parked in short-term bond,  the faster will stock market collapse under such movements.

What to do next?

Observe carefully how the yield spread curve develops through this link. Dump and run away from the stock market if the yield spread curve continue to rise higher and higher.   It is signalling to us that more investors are drawing out their money from stock market to park their money in short-term bonds.

Disclaimer:  This article is for information and  educational purposes.   Readers are advised to  conduct their own research and study to make their  own investment decisions.

Tinyurl : https://tinyurl.com/ydbgtrxy