Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

All of this talk about Windows 10 V Windows 7, XP etc makes me wonder if you are trying to run software that was written years ago when those other versions were current?
I know that personally in the early days after "upgrading" from 7 to 10, I was having horrendous problems but those have all disappeared now and it seems that whatever I want to run on it, does so very effectively as long as it was written with Win10 in mind. If I fish out a program used to work perfectly on Win7 or even XP then more often then not, it will not run correctly. I have got myself an old Dell Dimension E520 that I intend to install a copy of Win7 on specifically to run my collection of old games.

You ARE funny. Most SW that I am having such problems with is running under XP, some of it runs under nothing else. As a contrast, my Simatic S5 package runs under W98 but NOT under XP???
(there was not much that did not run under XP). Very much HW-related programs relied on the direct access that was so rudely cut off after XP.
My Micrografx Designer and Flowcharter, which I use for technical illustration, could not be convinced/tortured to run under anything later than XP. Well, you can't throw some hundred bucks away for nothing, especially as most features in newer equivalent SW are of no use to me, like 3D and pseudo-photo rendering. Throwing that SW away would hurt, because I use it for very very complex block diagrams and other related graphics and for explanatory small circuit diagrams. I have a library of stuff I've drawn over 20 years with this SW, including having made a large library of IEC compliant symbols.
On my desk sits a compact tower running W98SE. It contains my Autocad lite and ECS-CAD, which can't be removed. For XP I have a stable and well tended T30, and the T60 running W7 would be probably fine if I could manage to get the memory to 4G. But that would not be comfortable for W10.

I do not have many problems with SW that ran under W7 and does not run under W10. Indeed, some SW (but not much) that did NOT run under W7 ran again under W10. But I have not tried much of it and it was not at home. At work, inexplicably I was able to run a RF simulation aid which could not be run under W8 (which we had only for a year.

Well for me, the real problem is in games, like WSC real09, written for XP and Vista but also worked perfect in Win7 but will install under Win10. This is also true for the most part with all of my C&C collection of games. There are now online versions of C&C that will run happily in Win 10 but you cannot buy the games on DVD/CD any more, so the urgency to set up the Dell is not as critical as it once was and besides, I don't get that much time now for games because I got back into electronics and TEA  However I would like to get WSC09 working again because they never did an updated release of that fabulous game other than on PS4 and I'm buying a games' consol just for that.

Now I'm not a programmer by any stretch of the imagination but the main problem as I understand it that programmers like to save time and work will often make calls to sub routines within the OS itself rather than write their own code for that routine and when a new version of OS comes out, if the programmers move those builtin routines to another location then the games will not run or load correctly etc because it is making a call to a location that now contains completely different code and hence the problem.

[tautech]

@tautech - working on 2 strokes for a living - I salute you Sir!

If nutthing else it kept my interest in electronics and electrical things alive as when young there are many other lovely distractions. 
I started on small motors when electronic ignitions were uncommon and then often unreliable as well !
Component quality was suspect too dealing with the heat of small motors and most ignition parts were potted so unserviceable however some were modular too. I only had a moving coil meter back then and we could do comparison measurements against new parts .....if we had them.
Later we got a SEM (Swedish IIRC) ignition tester that could test the modular parts, be they a CD unit or the HT output coils. Most conventional ignitions we could check just using resistance but you needed something active to find any spark breakdown.
An earlier version of these we used a lot !
https://www.amazon.com/Briggs-Stratton-19368-Ignition-Replaces/dp/B002WO227G

Now with uP controlled carbs and EFI in medium size gear it is much different and the son of the chap I worked for is thinking of getting a scope to diagnose faults.
It ain't just about having the right spanners and screwdrivers no more ! 

[beanflying]

Any of the 3DP folks here looking for a simple practice project? I am building a new antenna and need a bunch of spacers. I have the STL files and it is pretty simple:

(Attachment Link)

The best material will be UV resistant and the design assumes 0.35mm resolution and 20% infill. I am happy to pay for time and materials and I'd rather have someone I know here do it rather than farm it out.   PM me if you might be of help and I will send you the file and the part counts.  Thanks!

And no, I don't have time to set up a printer and learn 3DP right at the moment. Thanks for asking. 

0.35mm Resolution is a bit of  so I assume that is Layer height? For most of us running 0.4mm nozzles (standard) 0.1 or 0.2mm is 'normal with 0.2 being stronger. For the infill those parts will have virtually zero if you use 4-6 layers (top bottom and sides) but I would raise that to 30-40% just as a matter of strength for near zero extra time and material.

Based on XRunners PLA Antenna bits and my bits White PLA would be ok or better PETG before you get to ABS or even Nylon pain.

[Kosmic]

My Rubidium reference vs my GPSDO.



I probably need to find a cesium reference to know who's right and who's not.

[mnementh]

@Kosmic - How many petaflumps izzat?

Well for me, the real problem is in games, like WSC real09, written for XP and Vista but also worked perfect in Win7 but will install under Win10. This is also true for the most part with all of my C&C collection of games. There are now online versions of C&C that will run happily in Win 10 but you cannot buy the games on DVD/CD any more, so the urgency to set up the Dell is not as critical as it once was and besides, I don't get that much time now for games because I got back into electronics and TEA  However I would like to get WSC09 working again because they never did an updated release of that fabulous game other than on PS4 and I'm buying a games' consol just for that.

Now I'm not a programmer by any stretch of the imagination but the main problem as I understand it that programmers like to save time and work will often make calls to sub routines within the OS itself rather than write their own code for that routine and when a new version of OS comes out, if the programmers move those builtin routines to another location then the games will not run or load correctly etc because it is making a call to a location that now contains completely different code and hence the problem.

https://www.ea.com/games/command-and-conquer/command-and-conquer-remastered

Ain't I a stinker...? 

Any of the 3DP folks here looking for a simple practice project? I am building a new antenna and need a bunch of spacers. I have the STL files and it is pretty simple:

The best material will be UV resistant and the design assumes 0.35mm resolution and 20% infill. I am happy to pay for time and materials and I'd rather have someone I know here do it rather than farm it out.   PM me if you might be of help and I will send you the file and the part counts.  Thanks!

And no, I don't have time to set up a printer and learn 3DP right at the moment. Thanks for asking. 

0.35mm Resolution is a bit of  so I assume that is Layer height? For most of us running 0.4mm nozzles (standard) 0.1 or 0.2mm is 'normal with 0.2 being stronger. For the infill those parts will have virtually zero if you use 4-6 layers (top bottom and sides) but I would raise that to 30-40% just as a matter of strength for near zero extra time and material.

Based on XRunners PLA Antenna bits and my bits White PLA would be ok or better PETG before you get to ABS or even Nylon pain.

You really think PLA would be a good final choice? The tests I remember looked to me like the top few thou had already turned to powder after a year... was thinking nylon would be a must-have unless one wanted to plan on every 2 or 3 years rebuilding the segments...?

mnem
*out, standing in my field*

[beanflying]

Nylon or Painted ABS to cut down the UV issues just add a level of pain to the process. Given the low cost if it is just a personal project PLA and remake the bits as needed or iterate them then reprint after real world 'testing'. The other option looking at those bits would be get them Laser cut (polycarbonate or petg) or CNC milled from a lump of virgin plastic.

[VK5RC]

Thanks tautech for the comments re storage and two stroke oil/additive. Re uProcessors in small motors - they are so cheap and can allow so much complexity, great initially but possibly a PITA later - again just like in TE.
@mnem - I saw those carbies  but here our post is very slow - China is a good 4-6weeks at present, the kit was 3days away.

[worsthorse]

Any of the 3DP folks here looking for a simple practice project? I am building a new antenna and need a bunch of spacers. I have the STL files and it is pretty simple:

(Attachment Link)

The best material will be UV resistant and the design assumes 0.35mm resolution and 20% infill. I am happy to pay for time and materials and I'd rather have someone I know here do it rather than farm it out.   PM me if you might be of help and I will send you the file and the part counts.  Thanks!

And no, I don't have time to set up a printer and learn 3DP right at the moment. Thanks for asking. 

0.35mm Resolution is a bit of  so I assume that is Layer height? For most of us running 0.4mm nozzles (standard) 0.1 or 0.2mm is 'normal with 0.2 being stronger. For the infill those parts will have virtually zero if you use 4-6 layers (top bottom and sides) but I would raise that to 30-40% just as a matter of strength for near zero extra time and material.

Based on XRunners PLA Antenna bits and my bits White PLA would be ok or better PETG before you get to ABS or even Nylon pain.

my post just confirms the depths of my 3DP ignorance.   

that's why, more or less, why i posted here. i have no idea what anything i said actually means.   

these things just keep the wires separated in a multi-wire antenna. no stress on them at all. and honestly, they probably don't need to be UV okay. that said, taking this antenna down and tearing it completely apart to rebuild it because one came apart will be a right PITA.

[mnementh]

@VK5RC: Understood. I try to make that sort of thing a “end of winter” project so there’s plenty of time for the slow boat from China. 

In Other News...

Today I installed PrintRun/Pronterface console; a Python-based UI serial console customized for Marlin. Installation was absolutely painless; just unzipped the folder and copied a shortcut to the desktop. Windoze installed serial drivers all by itself, just like a big boy! 

Now I’m poring over the Marlin wiki and a huge hyperdocument of all the g & m commands; I feel like when I was a teenager again, teaching myself MS-DOS from the MS brickbooks. It’s a little bit warm and fuzzy, a little bit  and a little bit

mnem
 

[tautech]

Thanks tautech for the comments re storage and two stroke oil/additive. Re uProcessors in small motors - they are so cheap and can allow so much complexity, great initially but possibly a PITA later - again just like in TE.

Again, uP's are potted so you can't do much with them other than replace the modules if they stop working.

Had some good chats with the old boss's son about the 'smart' Autotune carbs on some new Huskys which one needs proprietary SW and a laptop to work with them. They are powered with a power bleed from the ignition and about all they do to them is a SW Reset and let them learn how best to run the motor again. These smart carbs even store the start #'s and a host of other operating parameters. 

My son has a 60 something cc Autotune Husky, (can't remember the model) and it goes pretty nice if you're working it however it's inclined to self tune (intended) when doing light work and either needs a reset or a good flogging in some big wood to get it's proper tune back. 

After some years doing saws for pro bushmen in particular I still prefer carbs with a H, L and idle screw so I can have them run how I want them to. Owning a few saws from 53 to 120cc it does help to keep in touch with all the tricks learnt yet almost forgotten.

[cyclin_al]

@VK5RC:  That is an impressive job on the carb.  I have never delved into the details of engines, and certainly could not accomplish that.  Prevention is my key, otherwise I keep the local engine shop in business.  They gave me a few rules to live by:
- use B&S Fuel Treatment & Stabiliser in the gas (gasoline; petrol) before storing a machine at the end of the season
- use high octane (92 or 94) gas in small engines.  Regular octane has too much ethanol and propensity to contain water
- watch out for when the gas station switches between summer & winter gas.  The snowblower will not start when it is -30 deg C with summer gas.  The cleaning and lubricant additives are not the same between summer & winter formulations either.

This reminds me that I should sharpen the chain saw.  It has my only carburator that gets used year round.

Still doing some battery leak cleanups.  I keep avoiding the ones with hard to open cases.  Do I go ahead and use a wood chisel to split the two halves of the cases apart?  That feels a lot like being a gorilla... but at some point I need to get them working again.
Since there is so much chatter about ultrasonic cleaners; what should I be looking at as a starter unit to clean remote control circuit boards (it is NOT more equipment, it is just a tool that I really really neeed all of a sudden!)?

[VK5RC]

I think i have started a 2 stroke post! I felt like such a 'legend' when it went back together AND started!
Fortunately we don't get ethanol in our petrol (gas) and it is too warm here even in winter for the petrol companies to worry about cold additives.
I have to link a comedy sketch that actually initiated a product that was released by one of the Aus hardware /engine additive companies, named after the incantation that I always say when attempting to start a 2 stroke.
https://youtu.be/cY1YndLmbXQ

[capt bullshot]

@Neomys Sapiens I am bidding for one, currently ...

Look what I found in one of the not yet cleaned corners ...

An HP48 calculator, as far as I recognize.

[tautech]

I think i have started a 2 stroke post! I felt like such a 'legend' when it went back together AND started!
Fortunately we don't get ethanol in our petrol (gas) and it is too warm here even in winter for the petrol companies to worry about cold additives.
I have to link a comedy sketch that actually initiated a product that was released by one of the Aus hardware /engine additive companies, named after the incantation that I always say when attempting to start a 2 stroke.
https://youtu.be/cY1YndLmbXQ

Wasn't the one I guessed, this one instead:



You Aussie's ! 

[kleiner Rainer]

corrosion here, corrosion there, corrosion everywhere ...

If anybody out there is, now or at any time in the future, designing something that needs an auxiliary battery "on board", please, please, please, consider relocating it to a little plastic container off the board and connecting to it with a little plug and socket. Yes, it'll add 50¢ to your BOM, but it will save your customers $$$ or €€€ in the long run when the battery eventually craps out. If you're feeling really considerate you could make that container leak proof, but at least put it at the bottom of the case (gravity wise).

Best solution for that that I saw except on exotic stuff was on the Siemens PG-685, a CP/M-86 based very very sturdy computer used for the programming of PLCs. The backup battery holders were bayonet-locking cylinders at the rear (even with a o-ring), which held a standard AA battery in a little clip  each. Completely enclosed and separated from the electronics and the environment! The holders could be from Cambion, but I'm not sure.

Bulgin: https://www.bulgin.com/us/products/range/battery-holders.html

Some years ago, I scored a bag of the bigger ones (C and D cell holders) for small change at the "Ham Radio" fair in Friedrichshafen. I expected more deals this year but it was canceled. Sigh. Scored a working scanner card for my K2000 for 50 bucks, a lifetime supply of Stäubli/MC 4mm jacks (the gold plated ones), some hundred MELF 0.05% resistors and a Chauvin Arnoux current clamp for my THS720P last year.

Rainer

[mftaylor]

ok, overbid on that powersupply behemoth. oh well. Continue with Korad ...

Somehow I want to help too,      https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/agilent-hp-6624a-netzteil/1358739871-168-9098

Don't know if you have enough space but with 250€ you get 4 DC outputs. It could be interesting.

mnem

I got one of those for ~$100USD a couple of years ago and after some RIFA replacements and a quieter 100mm fan and it works great.  Very easy to maintain and there's full HP CLIP documentation for it.  The controller board is a bit tricky though as there's a number of variations of it.

 

[Cubdriver]

I think i have started a 2 stroke post! I felt like such a 'legend' when it went back together AND started!
Fortunately we don't get ethanol in our petrol (gas) and it is too warm here even in winter for the petrol companies to worry about cold additives.
I have to link a comedy sketch that actually initiated a product that was released by one of the Aus hardware /engine additive companies, named after the incantation that I always say when attempting to start a 2 stroke.
https://youtu.be/cY1YndLmbXQ

Wasn't the one I guessed, this one instead:



You Aussie's ! 

Damn, I wish we could get that brand here - it'd be classic to have a few of them on the shelf!!   

(Though for the proper Aussie pronunciation, shouldn't the 'R's be replaced with 'H's, like in "Stahht, ya bahhstahd!"?)

-Pat

[URI]

My Rubidium reference vs my GPSDO.



I probably need to find a cesium reference to know who's right and who's not.

That would be fun, go for it!      
I'm looking forward to your teardown of that gem then.   

But what about something easier to accomplish first?
Looking at that BG7TBL FA-2 counter I see lots of resolution when taking samples with a gate time of 10s.
Seems to be very much maths involved, so what's the precision of that unit?

Perhaps you should first check with a decent counter with high resolution and high precision, for example some nice gear from HP/Agilent/Keysight (53132A, 5370A or newer ones), Fluke/Pendulum (PM91,CNT-91), Stanford Research (SR 620).
I surely missed some. Any further suggestions?   

Secondly, can you improve your GPS antenna setup?
With a good view of the sky and a good antenna you could explore how different GPSDOs compare (even better with step one accomplished -better counter..)   

When you ran down this timenuttin' rabbit hole a cesium standard might easier find the way to you because of Karma.      

[capt bullshot]

But what about something easier to accomplish first?
Looking at that BG7TBL FA-2 counter I see lots of resolution when taking samples with a gate time of 10s.
Seems to be very much maths involved, so what's the precision of that unit?

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/metrology/bg7tbl-fa1-frequency-analyzer/

Perhaps you should first check with a decent counter with high resolution and high precision, for example some nice gear from HP/Agilent/Keysight (53132A, 5370A or newer ones), Fluke/Pendulum (PM91,CNT-91), Stanford Research (SR 620).
I surely missed some. Any further suggestions?   

The famous Modulation Domain Analyzer (HP 55310A) and maybe the TAPR TICC (https://tapr.org/product/tapr-ticc/)

Anyway, yesterday I've ordered a FA-2 too.
GPSDO, Rubidium and DCF77 receiver (http://wunderkis.de/dcf-rcvr/) already here and warming up to have something to play with

[bd139]

While I understand that, how do you know that freeBSD and others are not secretly gathering data and phoning mum with it?

1) If you really want to you can read the source code and prove that. That has a tendency to keep people honest if they claim that it is not phoning home (which given the ethos of FreeBSD/OpenBSD and friends kind of doesn't really need saying).

2) xBSD is not made/produced/promulgated by a bunch of corporate lackeys with their eyes on the bottom line and their stock options. If you ask the standard question "qui bono" with respect to extracting/abstracting as much of your data as possible there is no gain for the xBSD folks in doing so, whereas the answer in respect of Microsoft/Google/whoever is staring you in the face.

This.

I must admit that I am slowly settling on the third option of NetBSD for “internal use” here. I had a fair bit of experience with it back in the early 00’s running it on discarded SPARC kit. And it hasn’t changed a bit. Which is absolutely great. It’s the nearest thing to “proper Unix”. You can literally work your way through a 1984 copy of “The Unix programming environment” 36 years later and the only difference is it’s faster.

Only thing I’m missing is valgrind which just means I have to think more and try and remember how to use dmalloc.

Also on “does it call home”. No. Nothing appearing from the Cisco up front’s syslog unless you tell it to dial out. Unlike windows which and macOS which are quite scary traffic generators even on local network with mDNS and all the other discovery and telemetry crap.

Also for performance this is interesting. I built a simple forking syslog load generator in C over the last couple of days on NetBSD and managed to saturate a gigabit port with it. There’s not much OS to get in the way. I do feel sorry for fluentd at the other end on some shitty Linux container pile which melted.

[Zucca]

I know today I have to jump off the windows M$ titanic ship the next days/months/years.

I wrote a code to solve this problem....

0) START (You can do it, there is a lot of treasures in the jungle, be motivated  )
1) Collecting Info on different OS
2) Test it
3) IF NOT HAPPY GO TO 1)
4) Test it more and use it more
5) IF NOT HAPPY GO TO 1)
6) JUMP TO 4)

I am since 1,5 years at point 1)  .
Right now I have to say the xxxBSD world is more sexy than Linux.

[bd139]

Good luck with that. After 25 years all three of my machine are still windows 

[beanflying]

30 Years ago as I was mainly using Unix I might have gone to Linux but most of the world has moved on 

Todays thing you can't easily create on a Linux Box  Fusion 360 3D model of a Laser path because I was bored. Feel free to play zoom and explode here  https://a360.co/2KBmHIy

[Saskia]

@Neomys Sapiens I am bidding for one, currently ...

Look what I found in one of the not yet cleaned corners ...

An HP48 calculator, as far as I recognize.

Nope, TI 83

[Zucca]

Good luck with that. After 25 years all three of my machine are still windows 

but the importan thing is all three are still in the untrusted part of your LAN network, since 25 years.