Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

But but but... starburst VFDs!!!   

Tend to agree with you but buggy ASIC's no thanks.

[bd139]

I'd run a mile from both 

It does look the part though. Nice bit of design that has aged well.

[Cerebus]

Btw I'm a Time Lord now.

I'm king of wasting time and a prince of procrastination. Does that make me a time lord too? (Groucho Marx's rule applies.)

[AVGresponding]

Oh for sure it would be a showpiece rather than a working instrument, if money and space were no object.

As it is, yes it's an utterly impractical thing to own.

I take it there are no more Solartron meters now that AMETEK own them? Are they under another brand, as the Solartron division seems to still exist at Farnborough..?

[Cerebus]

Done mine already.

Did my "advance directive" a couple of months ago. Basically, if I cannot express what medical treatment I do/don't want, plus I won't be able to in the future, then keep me comfortable but don't prolong my life.

What else is in it? "Don't bring a resus cart, bring a scope cart. I want to see a Lissajous figure one last time."?

[mnementh]

And now we've gone recursive; my original argument re: FLUKE having to hold their ASPs to yet an even HIGHER standard than fApple due to the fact that their product is used as process control in manufacturing and by people who routinely go poking around in high-voltage for a living. Maintaining that Cat III safety STANDARD requires special handling in not only the manufacturing, but ANY repair process of the product AFTER that manufacture.

This means that to maintain the safety level that FLUKE made their name on, extraordinary measures are required in the service; extremely complex procedures that would NOT be apparent to folks who do consumer electronics repair which would require special training that FLUKE has EVERY RIGHT to restrict to a handful of ASPs that they can keep an eye on to perform those repairs correctly.

Thinking about things like always wearing gloves so body oils can't form a trace across points with a potential to carry high potential and other clean room precautions, just for a start. FFS, even putting the wrong fuse in one of these meters will make it NO LONGER Cat III safe. I give it a 50/50 chance LR knows or even cares about any of this.

Now think about the kind of repairs we like to do...  Is it any wonder FLUKE doesn't want to talk to us ?

They operate on a whole 'nuther level, man. They don't have time to eff around with us; we're not their customer. People who can buy a cabinet full of NEW FLUKE are their customer. The rest of us can talk to one of their authorized vendors or ASPs; who CAN BUY AND HAVE a cabinet full of NEW FLUKE.

mnem
Reality bites.

Now I think that we are really beginning to lose the plot here, if changing a fuse could have such devastating results, why allow users the ability to replace them? Why don't they make them completely sealed and force the user/owner to buy new again? They don't even fit tamper proof screws, thus making access to the inner workings of the meter accessible to any idiot who can use a standard screwdriver, Geez. Likewise, I seriously doubt that Apple products contain anything that would affect national security, why would they put material that sensitive in the hands of millions, many of whom are by all accounts, morons, and we've all come across those before. Things of National Security tend to be implemented locally by Government approved contractors and would be implemented by on locally produced item for home nation consumption surely?

If every manufacturer treated their customers in such a cavalier fashion, then hell, all of us would have lost our passions in life, because everything would be supplied sealed, and we would have to buy new when our phone/tablet/computer/test gear/TV/radio etc failed, this forum and our hobbies/jobs would cease to exist. 

I love you man, but you're just plain wrong. About every damned thing you've said here.

mnem

And that's all I have the energy to say about it...

[mnementh]

Why? This is NOT news; FLUKE has always been this way. They've adopted the "Defense Contractor" business model; it's hardly new and it's something that pretty much everybody who's ever done business with them knows.

Congrats on the new TARDIS, though. 

mnem
Mine is in the shop. 

It always having been shit doesn't make it less shit. I like Keysight's and TTi's approach more. Just too bad their handhelds aren't quite as nice to use.

Did you get a reply mail with the subject line RE:TARDIS?

Hey... I really like the handling of the F-22. I don't expect Lockheed to talk to me about parts for one, even if I had the money to buy them. Same exact principle.

mnem

You're joking of course' Lockheed could not talk to you about a F-22, regardless of how much money you had or how many you wanted to buy, Fluke on the other hand could and would talk to you if you were after buying loads of their meters. 

Same exact principle. Lockheed sold a boatload of F-14s to Castro back in the 80s; almost got away with it too. They don't care who you are, as long as you can pony up enough for a cabinet full of F-whatevers (and the associate service contract), just like FLUKE. Once that contract expires, your parts supply chain goes bye-bye; you can either negotiate a new service contract or suck it, or keep what you've got going by cannibalizing.

Sound in ANY WAY familiar?

mnem
Ouchies, Mister Sqweek...

[Kosmic]

But but but... starburst VFDs!!!   

Tend to agree with you but buggy ASIC's no thanks.

The meter was working fine. Specs are similar to the HP 34401a. The bug was really hard to reproduce but it was a liability for the company. Apparently, the cost of creating a new ASIC to fix the problem was just too much. They decided to simply recall the meter.

[mnementh]

   ...On the outside, it looks all the same, though. And no, I can't cut shrink tube straight at all.



mnem
ow.

[mnementh]

Woke up this morning with sore throat and terrible cough. Here we go 

Take 6 of these but don't call me in the morning and complain you're using up all the hoarded toilet paper. 

    At the grocery store, while everybody was hoarding toilet paper and pasta I put this in my cart, as a semi joke

Where's the joke...? 

mnem
Priorities, man!

[Kosmic]

Woke up this morning with sore throat and terrible cough. Here we go 

Take 6 of these but don't call me in the morning and complain you're using up all the hoarded toilet paper. 

    At the grocery store, while everybody was hoarding toilet paper and pasta I put this in my cart, as a semi joke

Where's the joke...? 

mnem
Priorities, man!

Apparently it's the taste 

[tggzzz]

Done mine already.

Did my "advance directive" a couple of months ago. Basically, if I cannot express what medical treatment I do/don't want, plus I won't be able to in the future, then keep me comfortable but don't prolong my life.

What else is in it? "Don't bring a resus cart, bring a scope cart. I want to see a Lissajous figure one last time."?

If any medic looks at the advance directive, it will be because I am too far gone to be able to appreciate anything!

[Cerebus]

And I suppose there is the lingering bad blood concerning technology exchanges. It hasn't always been fair and we were the bad guys. During WW2 you Brits freely shared jet engine and magnetron technology. Early in the war we sent you 16 P-38 fighters without the GE turbochargers installed which made the planes totally unsuitable for combat. We felt the turbos were "too sensitive tech" not realizing that Mr Whittle was light years ahead with compressor tech for the jet engine. You guys rightly sent the planes back. We refused to share nuke tech from the Manhattan Project even though many of your scientists worked on it. So you Brits had to go your own way. Just a few examples I'm sure there's more.     

And don't forget that Britain supplied vital information and materiel to the Manhattan Project. It wasn't just that Brits worked on it, we significantly enabled it by bringing information that the Americans didn't have - in 1941 we knew the critical mass of ²³⁵U while the Americans were still trying to work it out. We had an outline design for a 'gun' type uranium bomb in 1941 and proof of its feasabilty. We brought working isotope separation technology and stocks of separated isotopes. The Manhattan Project would have taken considerably longer had we not done so. Search for information about the "Tube Alloys" project. Up until around 1943 Britain/Canada was significantly ahead of the US. Then, when it was all over, your guys reneged on your half of  the information sharing agreement that had allowed us to give you a significant hand up with the project. Hardly surprising that the British attitude to America in official circles has been "white man speaks with forked tongue" ever since.

[mnementh]

so yesterday swmbo was on line filling out our census form.

she called me in because she did not know what to put down as "origin" for my italian, scotch, german, english, irish ass.

told her to put down "cherokee".

she refused claiming there is no proof for that.  offered to go out into the neighborhood and collect some scalps.

she kept asking "where did you come from?".

grabbed the keyboard and typed "my old mans testicles".

swmbo was not amused.  she deleted my entry and replaced it with "english".

well i'll be damned.  now the gubbermint thinks we are both posh twats.  (not sure if she qualifies....she did spend her childhood in some swampy area near a river.......think it is called "london")

Damn you freqq... I laughed out loud all while reading this, then I read it out loud to my own swmbo and we both had another LOL...     Oh gawd, it hurts... you bastahd...

mnem

[mnementh]

Btw I'm a Time Lord now.

I'm king of wasting time and a prince of procrastination. Does that make me a time lord too? (Groucho Marx's rule applies.)

No. We wouldn't have you as a member. 

mnem
But that redhead you hang out with... 

[mnementh]

    At the grocery store, while everybody was hoarding toilet paper and pasta I put this in my cart, as a semi joke

Where's the joke...? 

mnem
Priorities, man!

Apparently it's the taste 

In your defense, my friend... "VIRAL APOCALYPSE!!!"

mnem
"No, wait. I'm sorry... some lapses in judgement simply cannot be overlooked."

[Cerebus]

int thinks we are both posh twats.  (not sure if she qualifies....she did spend her childhood in some swampy area near a river.......think it is called "london")

The swampy bit is called Essex, not London.

I'm always amused at the way the average 'merkin thinks the English are 'posh' just 'cause we can talk proper. Meeting me (and I suspect my fellow traveller bd139) would quickly disabuse any US citizen of the notion that the English are posh. Of course I may be wrong, I have heard of some places in your country that one suspects might make Southend-on-Sea or Staines look positively sophisticated but I suspect it is the exaggerations of disillusioned and jaded ex-patriots.

[Cerebus]

But that redhead you hang out with... 

Shush! The blonde might hear.

[med6753]

Btw I'm a Time Lord now.

I'm king of wasting time and a prince of procrastination. Does that make me a time lord too? (Groucho Marx's rule applies.)

No. We wouldn't have you as a member. 

mnem
But that redhead you hang out with... 

Gee, I thought it just made him lazy. 

[mnementh]

   But but but... starburst VFDs!!!   

Tend to agree with you but buggy ASIC's no thanks.

The meter was working fine. Specs are similar to the HP 34401a. The bug was really hard to reproduce but it was a liability for the company. Apparently, the cost of creating a new ASIC to fix the problem was just too much. They decided to simply recall the meter.

They certainly were a bit full of themselves with that "Mission to Mars" themed advert photo, weren't they...? But... that cobalt blue filter over the VFD is pretty sexy. 

mnem
Everybody needs something to believe in... I believe I'm going back to bed. *rubs throbbing temples*

[bd139]

int thinks we are both posh twats.  (not sure if she qualifies....she did spend her childhood in some swampy area near a river.......think it is called "london")

The swampy bit is called Essex, not London.

I'm always amused at the way the average 'merkin thinks the English are 'posh' just 'cause we can talk proper. Meeting me (and I suspect my fellow traveller bd139) would quickly disabuse any US citizen of the notion that the English are posh. Of course I may be wrong, I have heard of some places in your country that one suspects might make Southend-on-Sea or Staines look positively sophisticated but I suspect it is the exaggerations of disillusioned and jaded ex-patriots.

Innit fam.

[mnementh]

This is why. Even when y'all get wasted and let it all hang out in the middle of the street, there's a certain artfulness to it.

mnem
I'm all out of "pithy".

[bd139]

Right ebay listing done finally. Lets home people aren't put off buying. 

[AVGresponding]

Whatcha sellin' ?

[bd139]

Will PM my ebay list to you. Please don't post it on here

It's mostly crap I've been hoarding from hamfests to make some coin