Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tggzzz]

I was wondering what you were going on about.

Hope to catch you sometime, though.

It's funny how this corona quarantine and home office is messing up my life, I forget what day is.

Just you wait until you retire

[beanflying]

I have used both. That is something discord does fairly well is chop between the mic being triggered and speakers/headset.

So, it will disconnect the speakers if the mic is triggered and reconnect if the mic is not in use? So I suspect that would require a push to talk button, otherwise the mic is going to pick anyone else speaking and cutting of the speaker? If so then a headset would be best.

With the speakers in my Shack they are about 4-5' from the Mic and don't trigger it. The Steam Wand at 6' however does but it is fairly loud  So apart from a mid session coffee noise (I should mute my mic  ) the speaker and mic works fine.

[Specmaster]

I have used both. That is something discord does fairly well is chop between the mic being triggered and speakers/headset.

So, it will disconnect the speakers if the mic is triggered and reconnect if the mic is not in use? So I suspect that would require a push to talk button, otherwise the mic is going to pick anyone else speaking and cutting of the speaker? If so then a headset would be best.

With the speakers in my Shack they are about 4-5' from the Mic and don't trigger it. The Steam Wand at 6' however does but it is fairly loud  So apart from a mid session coffee noise (I should mute my mic  ) the speaker and mic works fine.

I guess I'll just have to try it and see ten, my speakers are only about 2 to 3 feet away from the mic and if turn the speakers up a bit I get a feed back loop and in my little room that I use for a lab, I can't get further away from the speakers.

[beanflying]

I haven't tried it but you can always enable the PTT option? My Mic is very directional and it does face away from the speakers while the steam wand is at 90 degrees to the cartridge.

[BravoV]

"People in A&E are now stealing hand sanitizer rather than drinking it. And there been a surge in people sewing up their anus in case they run out of toilet paper."
https://twitter.com/drphilhammond/status/1236329280600256514

We're going nuts also - 

Tito's tells customers to not use their vodka for hand sanitizer

 (CNN)Some people are attempting to counter the spread of coronavirus by making their own hand sanitizer out of rubbing alcohol and aloe.
But vodka? Don't do that.
"Per the CDC, hand sanitizer needs to contain at least 60% alcohol," Tito's Handmade Vodka tweeted on Thursday.
"Tito's Handmade Vodka is 40% alcohol, and therefore does not meet the current recommendation of the CDC."

The company was replying to a user who bragged about using the vodka to make a DIY hand sanitizer. In an attached statement, Tito's cited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by saying that washing hands is still the best way to fight the virus.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/05/us/titos-vodka-coronavirus-trnd/index.html

Bought this last week, will be diluted to about 70-80%. 

[Cubdriver]

I have used both. That is something discord does fairly well is chop between the mic being triggered and speakers/headset.

So, it will disconnect the speakers if the mic is triggered and reconnect if the mic is not in use? So I suspect that would require a push to talk button, otherwise the mic is going to pick anyone else speaking and cutting of the speaker? If so then a headset would be best.

With the speakers in my Shack they are about 4-5' from the Mic and don't trigger it. The Steam Wand at 6' however does but it is fairly loud  So apart from a mid session coffee noise (I should mute my mic  ) the speaker and mic works fine.

I use the mic that's in my camera, and the speakers are built in to the monitor next to the one on which the camera perches.  Seems to work ok with no feedback.  (Though last time I was on apparently one of my cats managed to trigger it and be heard...)

-Pat

[mansaxel]

I have used both. That is something discord does fairly well is chop between the mic being triggered and speakers/headset.

So, it will disconnect the speakers if the mic is triggered and reconnect if the mic is not in use? So I suspect that would require a push to talk button, otherwise the mic is going to pick anyone else speaking and cutting of the speaker? If so then a headset would be best.

With the speakers in my Shack they are about 4-5' from the Mic and don't trigger it. The Steam Wand at 6' however does but it is fairly loud  So apart from a mid session coffee noise (I should mute my mic  ) the speaker and mic works fine.

All the modern voice chat systems, whether for gaming or corporate or other use, do echo cancellation by DSP. Some of them are even good at it. They all perform MUCH better if they do not have to work too much on it, though, so I strongly suggest headsets and prescribe PTT for all. Several live microphones is something they all say they can deal with, but, that must have been with one microphone per acoustically excellent room, not fitted to a cheap laptop that the owner is speed-writing a novel on, while in the meeting, and with very few speakers per room, all placed optimally.

Yes, I've been spending upwards of an hour in meetings via such systems every day now for some time, since I'm asked to work from home. I always wear a headset.

[mnementh]

Hello fellow Discorders, good news, following a Windoze 10 update, my mic has now decided to work so we can now talk properly on our next session (fingers crossed it continues to work) quick question for you all, do you listen via your speakers or do you all use headphones / headsets?

Yes.

Your trying to confuse me aren't you  which? 

I use either, depending on whether I'm alone with my PC at the time. If I am, I use the speakers and the Labtec table mic. If not, I use my USB gaming headset.

I have used both. That is something discord does fairly well is chop between the mic being triggered and speakers/headset.

So, it will disconnect the speakers if the mic is triggered and reconnect if the mic is not in use? So I suspect that would require a push to talk button, otherwise the mic is going to pick anyone else speaking and cutting of the speaker? If so then a headset would be best.

Windoze10 finally has USB headset integration down pat; once installed for the first time, it switches over to the USB headset (and mic) every time quickly & reliably just as if you'd plugged in a regular analog headset. It even keeps track of volume, EQ, spatializing & gain settings for each headset independent of speakers, the table mic, and other headsets.

If I plug in my headphones before I launch Discord, it will ask if I want to use the gaming headset mic or the tabletop mic which is usually plugged in but muted. I dislike the attack delay (I have a pretty low timbre to my voice, and it just won't recognize it reliably on the auto-mute) for both hot mic and muted, so I just use the default [ESC] PTT hotkey; it ONLY works as the hotkey when Discord is my foreground window/active tab. I usually use the table mic whether on speakers or headset; sound quality is clearer, especially with my voice.

You can adjust all these Discord Voice Settings, and test your mic with Discord, by clicking the little SETTINGS gearstar symbol in your user applet when it pops up after you connect to voice-chat.

mnem
 

[bitseeker]

I tested out the Discord desktop application tonight primarily to see if its keybindings would work independent of window focus, unlike the browser-based app. It does (as one would expect when using it with games). So, now I can PTT while another window is in focus. I also set up a keybinding for toggling the mic mute function.

Remains to be seen which method I gravitate toward for mic control. Ultimately, I'd like to have a footswitch for PTT.

[Brumby]

After sorting out my Hardware conflict as the issue this is what I have been using eBay auction: #324030959176 Plenty of reviews on youtube for it and the sound is good for the $. With a proper phantom mixer likely better again ...

I found a seller with that available for just under $30 ... not that I was actively entertaining participation.  At that price, the temptation, however, was too much - even if it is mediocre 


I hate you.

[beanflying]

  You are weak to my dork side enabling powers 

[Brumby]

Don't get too wrapped up in your "abilities"....

(I've had a foot in that shadow since I was 8 )

[Specmaster]

Hello fellow Discorders, good news, following a Windoze 10 update, my mic has now decided to work so we can now talk properly on our next session (fingers crossed it continues to work) quick question for you all, do you listen via your speakers or do you all use headphones / headsets?

Yes.

Your trying to confuse me aren't you  which? 

I use either, depending on whether I'm alone with my PC at the time. If I am, I use the speakers and the Labtec table mic. If not, I use my USB gaming headset.

I have used both. That is something discord does fairly well is chop between the mic being triggered and speakers/headset.

So, it will disconnect the speakers if the mic is triggered and reconnect if the mic is not in use? So I suspect that would require a push to talk button, otherwise the mic is going to pick anyone else speaking and cutting of the speaker? If so then a headset would be best.

Windoze10 finally has USB headset integration down pat; once installed for the first time, it switches over to the USB headset (and mic) every time quickly & reliably just as if you'd plugged in a regular analog headset. It even keeps track of volume, EQ, spatializing & gain settings for each headset independent of speakers, the table mic, and other headsets.

If I plug in my headphones before I launch Discord, it will ask if I want to use the gaming headset mic or the tabletop mic which is usually plugged in but muted. I dislike the attack delay (I have a pretty low timbre to my voice, and it just won't recognize it reliably on the auto-mute) for both hot mic and muted, so I just use the default [ESC] PTT hotkey; it ONLY works as the hotkey when Discord is my foreground window/active tab. I usually use the table mic whether on speakers or headset; sound quality is clearer, especially with my voice.

You can adjust all these Discord Voice Settings, and test your mic with Discord, by clicking the little SETTINGS gearstar symbol in your user applet when it pops up after you connect to voice-chat.

mnem
 

In the interests of preventing everyones ears from having to endure the deafening sound of my 5.1 sound system howling pickup on the mic (because of speaker positioning and size of room, I find it also most impossible to avoid) I have dropped some cash on one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XX7SYP2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which  seems to have everything sown up as far compatibility with all of my PC's. Hope that these will work OK for this Sat's session. 

[BU508A]

I'm using this headset from Sennheiser for the discord session.

"Sennheiser PC 8 USB Internet Telephony On-Ear Headset - Black"

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-PC-USB-Internet-Telephony/dp/B005HWEZGG



Works pretty well with kubuntu Linux

user@uranus:~$ cat /etc/os-release
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION="16.04.6 LTS (Xenial Xerus)"
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS"
VERSION_ID="16.04"
HOME_URL="http://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="http://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
VERSION_CODENAME=xenial
UBUNTU_CODENAME=xenial

[bd139]

@Specmaster: Let us know how it goes 

Well it's that time of year again. I need a signal source and I sold all mine  .  It appears I futzed the K2's BFO calibration last time. The 1.5KHz filter has the BFO set wrong so as you jump through the XFIL selections it loses the signal offset on 1.5KHz whereas 0.7 / 0.4 / 0.2 are fine  . This is incidentally a bugger to fix without an RF signal generator as the official manual suggests tuning to a birdy off the internal reference clock outside of one of the bands to cal it. Guess what? Mine doesn't have a birdy there.  So I really need to jam an S9 signal up its butt. And there are no signal generators stable enough on ebay for a reasonable price 

[beanflying]

What about a cheapy board/unit and feed it with an accurate OCXO or GPSDO instead of what it comes with to improve the stability?

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/adf4350-adf4351-based-oled-rf-source-generators/msg2107246/#msg2107246

[bd139]

Yeah I was looking at that but it needs at least semi-calibrated RF friendly output as well. Problem is I really need to do a hard reset on the K2 to unfuck this really which means I need to cal the S-meter again from scratch which requires a reasonably well calibrated signal generator that works in dBm.

[URI]

After sorting out my Hardware conflict as the issue this is what I have been using eBay auction: #324030959176 Plenty of reviews on youtube for it and the sound is good for the $. With a proper phantom mixer likely better again ...

I found a seller with that available for just under $30 ... not that I was actively entertaining participation.  At that price, the temptation, however, was too much - even if it is mediocre 

I withstood the temptation of offers like those to not draining my bank account.   

I use linux on my desktop pc and Windoze 10 on my portable computer (like my wife does): Because of that I was looking for a USB-device offering 48V phantom power and rudimentary controls (no compressor, no EQ, no effects and the like).
I ended up with a Behringer U-Phoria UMC204HD because it's USB class compliant and known to be working flawlessly under linux and under Windoze 10.



The very cheap chinesium offers of a XX-800/XX-700 mic with stand, anti-shock mount, pop filters, cable and plug-size USB to audio device are indeed tempting but watching several youtube reviews of it looking at the stand and the table mount only made my day.

I'm to cheap to by twice.   

So I combined the UMC204d with a decent XLR-cable, a 20€-Stand with a die-cast, sturdy table mount and an Audio-Technica AT2035 condenser mic after extensive review of reviews. (I ordered pop filters too, of course..)
The Audio-Technica AT2035 made it over the AKG P220 condenser mic for me after I heard directly comparable samples of near/far recorded voices; The AT2035 is much more tolerant of different distances between mic and voice. It also has the flatter response.




The Behringer U-Phoria UMC204HD also has a unsymmetrical analog line out. That's my fall back (together with an adapter cable to 3,5mm stereo plug for connecting it to Line In of my desktop PCs sound card. I successfully tested the sound card with discord already (like one of you said: a headphone works like a dynamic mic).

Basically I only upgraded my Beyerdynamic DT150 (link to the Beyerdynamic website) headphones with an external mic.   


I hope all I ordered will be delivered to me and will be installed/successfully tested by next Saturday.   

And with all this costing much more than I originally considered it would I also infected my wife by offering her she also could use it for her home recording of voice and acoustic guitar.
I hopeknow she'll find all the hassle with USB audio device, cables and stands annoying after a short time so it'll be all mine but no discussions about it..      

[beanflying]

Yeah I was looking at that but it needs at least semi-calibrated RF friendly output as well. Problem is I really need to do a hard reset on the K2 to unfuck this really which means I need to cal the S-meter again from scratch which requires a reasonably well calibrated signal generator that works in dBm.

What sort of frequency range or ranges do you need? Added a link to a semi look at my little toy above too.

[bd139]

What sort of frequency range or ranges do you need? Added a link to a semi look at my little toy above too.

Only need HF < 30MHz.

Problem solved. TE budget dented . Scenes around here:



Decided to nab a Rigol DG822. Fine for this uncracked but it can be unofficially frigged into pretending it's a 100MHz DG992 if I need that in the future.

Plus honestly I have no signal sources which is turning into a pain in the arse at the moment.

[URI]

I'm using this headset from Sennheiser for the discord session.

"Sennheiser PC 8 USB Internet Telephony On-Ear Headset - Black"

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-PC-USB-Internet-Telephony/dp/B005HWEZGG



Works pretty well with kubuntu Linux

user@uranus:~$ cat /etc/os-release
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION="16.04.6 LTS (Xenial Xerus)"
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS"
VERSION_ID="16.04"
HOME_URL="http://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="http://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
VERSION_CODENAME=xenial
UBUNTU_CODENAME=xenial

Thank you for that hint and the information regarding Linux.
Sadly, it's incompatible with my ears: On-ear headphones result in my ears aching after only a short period of time.
That's why I chose the Beyerdynamic DT150: They press all around my outer ear and that's ok for me.

[BU508A]

Thank you for that hint and the information regarding Linux.
Sadly, it's incompatible with my ears: On-ear headphones result in aching ears after only a short period of time.
That's why I chose the Beyerdynamic DT150: They press all around my outer ear and that's ok for me.

Ah, yes. Beyerdynamics DT150 - the earphone for elephant ears. 
Gladly, I do not have those difficulties but I do like more the kind of earphones like the DT150.
So, I'm looking forward to next Saturday to hear you online.  

[BU508A]

What sort of frequency range or ranges do you need? Added a link to a semi look at my little toy above too.

Only need HF < 30MHz.

Problem solved. TE budget dented . Scenes around here:



Decided to nab a Rigol DG822. Fine for this uncracked but it can be unofficially frigged into pretending it's a 100MHz DG992 if I need that in the future.

Plus honestly I have no signal sources which is turning into a pain in the arse at the moment.

60MHz signal generator and counter for ca. 80.- Euro
https://www.ebay.com/itm/123542150748


only 10MHz but it is a nice Kit:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/260883293519


Philips / Fluke PM5138 (only 10MHz; one of two items)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/333466473275

[AVGresponding]

Well here's my entry into the "smallest piece of HP test gear" discussion   

Picked it up from the Post Office yesterday on my way to work. The leads were icky, and required vigorous cleaning with IPA, and I was feeling a little punchy by the end   
Here's the pics:

Sadly no accessories or psu was included, so that leaves me needing to build a +15V, -12.6V DC supply for it.
A nice touch by HP is the case screws being made from stainless steel.

No need to build a power supply, you need a suitable HP scope to go with it, something like this one if it was working & lower priced.    eBay auction: #174064854093

They also made a separate power supply for them.

David

Bah, I don't have the space for an HP scope, I've a 3784A and a 1631D, both in the repair queue as it happens, and these have led me to the conclusion that, if it's HP, and it has a screen, it's going to be too bloody big and heavy!
The 3784A only has a dot-matrix LCD screen and it weighs 20kg+   

Making a supply shouldn't be difficult, I'll have 78 and 79 series 12s and 15s in stock, can't imagine the thing uses more than a few mA.

More of an issue is the divider tips for it, 10x and 100x, I'm guessing those are gonna be very hard to find.
They re the 10241A and the 10243A if anyone has some spare ones...   

[bd139]

Just replaced two sockets in my place. One of the cheap shit ones that has been in there since I moved in wasn't smelling too good.  Cracked it open and it smells awful inside. Looks like plug contacts have been arcing which is shit as all it had was an XB one and a laptop plugged into it. Have put some MK ones in instead.