Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

I suggest you watch and read this https://learn.adafruit.com/minty-boost/icharging

It’s quite complicated but you need to set the D- and D+ lines up properly with bias voltages.

Are so that explains it, they must also have changed the code in the last IOS update as well because I have other lightning cables as well that did work before but now don't, in any USB-A port on any charger, but there is continuity between both ends.

It's not just Apple being dicks; it's also aboot the "cheap shite makers" and the eternal battle to stop stupid consumers from buying a POS charger with no short-circuit protection and blaming Apple when it sets their iPud on fire, or burning their junk off with the iPwn in their pocket after voltage spikes from the clone-of-a-clone regulator IC shits and short-circuits the charging chip in the iPwn and... you guessed it... blaming Apple.

Android devices also use the USB-C Power-Negotiation scheme, and they have actually used a variant of it it since long before the transition from Micro-USB to USB-C. This scheme is similar to that used by fApple, tho not with a chip in the cable. As mad as I am aboot my daughter's iPud, bottom line is a shitty supposedly "Apple Certified" multi-outlet charger is what killed it, and nearly killed her Amazon Fire tablet as well. The short-circuit protection was not adequate, and it melted multiple cables before I discovered it.

That's a fault in the charger's design, not the fault of Apple for trying to keep me from plugging my Apple device into cheap-shite chargers.

I've gone back to all the original chargers that came with her iPud and our tablets... and shockingly, no more melted cables and so far, (knock on wood) no killed iPuds or Tablets.

mnem
 

 

Lets not go down the Apple bashing route again, people have their own favourites and will come with all kinds of plausible arguments where X does this and Y does that etc. Apple do not do themselves any favours whatsoever by being so anal that I could go and buy 2 identical iPhone 12's, take them apart and swap the screens over with each other and reassemble them. The 2 phones would then start to throw error messages and certain functions would be shut off and perhaps if left, the phones might well eventually shut off completely. The screens were not counterfeits in any way as both phones would have been purchased from an Apple Store. All of this is because they are so scared of their products being repaired easily, that they tie all the parts of a phone / iPad to each other and if any part is changed then the check sum fails and the system goes mental and spews out these messages etc. What started this thread was the fact that since a recent update, many of my charging leads have ceased to charge my iPad, regardless of if it is plugged into an official Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Huawei, HTC or ACER charger, but if I burrowed my sons official lead, it would charge in the official charger and my Amazon sourced 6way charger, but before the recent update, any lead would work with any charger.

It wasn't so long ago we were discussing Apples current practise of not supplying a charger with their new phones, just supplying USB-C to USB-A lead and people were applauding Apple for making that decision, citing that there so many wall chargers already in existence and would end up as e-waste otherwise. If they are going down the path of looking for certain signatures being received to say if the charger is Apple or not, then there will be an awful lot of new iPhone users who upgraded from another brand being pissed off by that move.

As I see it the position you found yourself in with regard to short circuits was due to one of these new magnetic type of charger lead that makes connection a breeze, that problem would have had the same results regardless of the brand of charger from any of the reputable brands already mentioned above.

Modern building wiring accessories these days are available with phone chargers built into them, infact loads of modern office desks come with power and phone charger ports built in as do modern cars, the days of plugging in adaptors into the old cigarette sockets are rapidly disappearing and most new cars are being supplied with USB-A or USB-C sockets as standard, so any phone or tablet needs to be able to be charged by just plugging it in.

This is why all phones / tablets should be capable of using any USB-A or C socket not having to have dedicated chargers or leads.

Who's bashing Apple here? If anyone, it's you, not me.

No, it really isn't just aboot that... it's aboot the ocean of cheap-shit knockoff parts, and them not being willing to warranty a phone that's been fuckerized with counterfeit parts. And they have that fucking right. In fact, they have the right to refuse to even look at a phone that's been so fuckerized; and due to the complexity of these devices, the only way to do that is to keep a bouncer at the door.

Dig it dude... Apple built their business on being an exclusive club; skeevoids not welcome. And they have that right too; they are a private club. If you don't like the rules of their club, then don't fukking come in.

No. Absolutely no. That is the exact opposite of what happened. I bought a name-brand BlackWeb multi-outlet charger, supposedly Apple-certified for both iPwn and iPud. I bought it for convenience, not cost. It did NOT have proper short-circuit protection as my OEM chargers did.

With my daughter, the magnetic charge cables are a necessity, not a convenience. I used them with the OEM chargers for her iPud, my iPud, and both kids' Fire tablets for over 2 years. It wasn't until I used them with the aftermarket charger that I had problems, and I have not had a single scorched cable since going back to the OEM chargers.

I don't blame Apple for getting sick of all the time wasted dealing with fuckerized gear... every asshole who brings it to the Apple Store after trying to fix it themselves with cheap aftermarket crap off eBay, or taking it to their buddy, or the discount phone shop around the corner... that is time they pay for, time that should be spent on actual paying customers who aren't trying to pull one over on them.

I don't blame them for putting the bouncer in the device; that way the customer pays for it, and it becomes part of the exclusivity of the brand, a feature to those who are willing to pay for the name.

Bottom line is it's their sandlot; you don't have to play in it. Hating them for having rules in their private club is your problem, not theirs. Every single thing they sell is a luxury item, not a staple or a public utility. You can buy any of oodles of products that don't have their rules attached. But if you want to get the features they sell, you have to buy the whole package, or you can pay the price in learning to jailbreak your iDevice and lose their support. They are not selling automobiles or electricity; they are a luxury item.

I'm sick of hearing aboot how horrible it is that they don't subsidize, out of their profits, an "affordable" repair network that serves only to undercut that profit margin. It's ludicrous. It is literally the opposite of what the corporate business model represents. Either you accept that they are a corporation, in the business of selling a luxury commodity at luxury prices, and that they have the right to do so, or you have to destroy the corporate business model wholesale.

You really sound like all these whiners who complain over and over aboot how they just want Apple quality at an "affordable" price. That is NOT what Apple is selling. They are selling upscale products at an upscale price. If you don't want to pay that price, fine. Either buy used or buy something else.

But I know you... I know you're smarter than that, and you know all this. So I can only guess that what really is bugging you is you know they sell a better product, but you don't want to pay their price...?

Ummm... Welcome to the human condition...? 

mnem
 

[cyclin_al]

Tail end of the Ozzie 'Fire Season' 

That looks like here in the spring April/May of 2017 and 2019 ....
Hope everyone there is okay!

[cyclin_al]

Well, while you Aussies and Brits are comparing weather notes it looks like the change has finally happen here about 2 weeks later than typical. The snow pack is finally all gone. For the next week day time temps are going to be +15 C with night time temps just below freezing. Migrant birds have finally started to arrive...again about 2 weeks later than normal. Most ponds and streams are now ice free but still no sign of the frogs/toads with their mating calls. That should happen this week. Crocus are blooming in sunny areas. Daffodils are sprouting.

I guess Spring is finally here. 

I find it bizarre that the season is a couple of weeks late for you.
Not too far from you, where I am, the season is far in advance. 

My normal tradition is to go for a ski on April Fools Day, April 1st.  Some years it is a bit dicey, but I usually manage to find some snow.  A couple of years ago, I skied on April 21st and a buddy even skied April 23rd.  This year, it looks like my last ski was March 17th.  I will go for a drive in the next couple of days to see if there is any snow left within a reasonable distance.... fingers crossed. 

[cyclin_al]

It is so hot that you can burn yourself on seatbelt buckles!
Everything is wimpy these days, with aircond cars, etc, not like the old Series 2 Landrovers we used to drive!

I know all about that.
My Dad still has a 1972 GMC KK1500 pickup truck with a blue vinyl interior.  As a kid, somewhere around 7 to 10 years old, I jumped into the seat in full summer wearing shorts.
That left some nasty burn marks on my leg.  I remember the belt buckle being nasty as well.
After that day, who do you think was the one kid in town that wore pants in the middle of summer...?

[Specmaster]

@mnementh Nope, you are missing the point entirely here but there seems little point in trying to explain it any more because either I'm not making a good job of explaining it, or people are reading what I write and not fully understanding it, or maybe reading it seeing it as yet another Apple bashing by someone who wants to buy into the "club" but cannot afford to. I already have brought into the club by the purchase a while ago of a brand-new iPad from an Apple Store. Does it do anything better than a new Samsung Galaxy, will it last any longer before support for it dies, no.

Apple products don't do anything different to any of the other makes, they all work as phones, mini tablets, cameras etc but they do it in slightly different ways, just as everything in life does.

As Robert said, his phone no longer fast charges since the recent update, he has to futz around with it to get it to do a slow charge because his charger is locked away at his desk at work, which he has no access to because we are currently in a national lock down because of COVID-19. I'd be happy if I could get my iPad to slow charge like that.

I think we are better off agreeing to disagree about this, I have no wish to fall out with anyone over this, I know what I mean, and I firmly believe that if your phone / tablet is running out of power, that you ought to be able to plug it into any USB-A charger or power pack be it a mains powered or 12v in a car, truck, boat etc and get a recharge. It could be the difference in some situations between life and death. You could be a travelling salesman away from home / office for a week, and you left the charger behind.

As to a luxury brand, well I don't think you can get much more luxury in a brand than a Rolls Royce car, but they don't have a strange interface between the car and fuel pump, you can "recharge" your car at any old fuel pump, even a hand pumped one in the middle of nowhere will get you moving again.

[vk6zgo]

Worst rain I ever saw was in a dessert of all places. It was Jordan in 1996. We were driving a Discovery and the rain was so heavy you could not see anything. I was the passenger and had to open the door and kneel in the foot well looking down to see the edge of the road so we could pull over without droping off the elevated road.

Worst cloud I was ever in (or more accurately underneath) was like that.

The only way you could tell whether you were moving or not was to touch the ground with your skistick and see whether your shoulder moved.
You couldn't see a 12in drop until your ski went over it.
I saw someone stop and then fall sideways until the only thing you could see was the bottom of her skis: she couldn't see the very large hole she had skiied into.

Strangely, poles marking the edge of the piste were visible 100m away.

In 1971, I was a passenger on the RHMS "Britanis" on her Northbound voyage from Oz to  the UK.
Chandris lines were a little parsimonious, & most of our stops in ports were quite short, so the long haul across the Pacific to the Panama Canal got a bit tiresome.

To brighten things up, they had "The Captain's Cocktail Party", so all the ladies went to the hairdresser, as part of "dolling themselves up".

It was quite a young demographic, & the '70s, so the hairstyles were quite elaborate.
They couldn't do much without wrecking their hair, so many of them filled in the time till the party, lazing on the sundeck.

As we sailed through the millpond like sea, with blue sky as far as the eye could see, I noticed a small, grey cloud.
Our path intersected that of the cloud, & when it was just over us, the sky opened with rain.

Rain! ---My God!, what rain!

The very large gutters on the sundeck were totally overwhelmed in the few minutes before we sailed out from under the cloud, but getting a bit (a lot) wet wasn't what bothered all the ladies.
It was those fancy hairstyles, which were totally demolished.

The hairdresser had his work cut out fixing that, & the girls spent the rest of the day inside.
He did a terrific job, & they all looked great-----us "blokes" just looked like "blokes"!

At least it was a bit of excitement.

[vk6zgo]

It is so hot that you can burn yourself on seatbelt buckles!
Everything is wimpy these days, with aircond cars, etc, not like the old Series 2 Landrovers we used to drive!

I know all about that.
My Dad still has a 1972 GMC KK1500 pickup truck with a blue vinyl interior.  As a kid, somewhere around 7 to 10 years old, I jumped into the seat in full summer wearing shorts.
That left some nasty burn marks on my leg.  I remember the belt buckle being nasty as well.
After that day, who do you think was the one kid in town that wore pants in the middle of summer...?

Back in the day, there was a thriving industry in most parts of Oz, making up fibregass "beach buggy" bodies & mating them to a VW Beetle floor pan.

The first generation were a bit rough, using plain old VW seats & so on, but there was a demand to go "up market", with beautifully fitted soft vinyl seats.
Black interiors were popular at the time, so they followed the trend.

I remember one scalding hot Summer day, seeing one like that parked at the beach, whilst the swimsuit clothed driver & passenger disported themselves on the sand.

Bare thighs & burning hot vinyl --------Ouch!!!

[mnementh]

@mnementh Nope, you are missing the point entirely here but there seems little point in trying to explain it any more because either I'm not making a good job of explaining it, or people are reading what I write and not fully understanding it, or maybe reading it seeing it as yet another Apple bashing by someone who wants to buy into the "club" but cannot afford to. I already have brought into the club by the purchase a while ago of a brand-new iPad from an Apple Store. Does it do anything better than a new Samsung Galaxy, will it last any longer before support for it dies, no.

Apple products don't do anything different to any of the other makes, they all work as phones, mini tablets, cameras etc but they do it in slightly different ways, just as everything in life does.

As Robert said, his phone no longer fast charges since the recent update, he has to futz around with it to get it to do a slow charge because his charger is locked away at his desk at work, which he has no access to because we are currently in a national lock down because of COVID-19. I'd be happy if I could get my iPad to slow charge like that.

I think we are better off agreeing to disagree about this, I have no wish to fall out with anyone over this, I know what I mean, and I firmly believe that if your phone / tablet is running out of power, that you ought to be able to plug it into any USB-A charger or power pack be it a mains powered or 12v in a car, truck, boat etc and get a recharge. It could be the difference in some situations between life and death. You could be a travelling salesman away from home / office for a week, and you left the charger behind.

As to a luxury brand, well I don't think you can get much more luxury in a brand than a Rolls Royce car, but they don't have a strange interface between the car and fuel pump, you can "recharge" your car at any old fuel pump, even a hand pumped one in the middle of nowhere will get you moving again.

I do get what you're saying. I too have multiple iPuds. I Will not spend the money Apple wants for a smartPwn, however.

But the difference here is this: You go to any gas station, the fuel there will be what they tell you it is... gasoline, E85, diesel... not gasoline in a diesel pump, or E85 in a E10 pump... and you don't have to worry that your gas station is going to do these things because there are regulations on how the fuel is administered and a whole chain of custody from the point it leaves the refinery to the point leaves the nozzle.  Because of those regulations, you don't have to worry that the fuel you put in your car is going to make the engine explode in a fireball and kill you.

Apple doesn't have that protection... all these cheap USB-A chargers and power banks and even USB ports on a prehistoric PC that might have fluffy caps in it... are nothing but dirty power full of fire. And you better believe dirty power can do exactly that to the very precise charger for the LiPo in your pocket. USB-A has been completely abandoned by pretty much any regulatory agency you can think of... when was the last time you saw one that actually limited to 500mA?

And then Apple has to spend a fortune on every who-knows-how-many iWTF-ever defending themselves because they're the big ticket brand and everybody wants a piece of that loot. They already know that morons are going to use the wrong charger; that was a large portion of the problems they had the first time they made the news cycle for LiPo fires.

USB-C is still a regulated interface; they still have a while before the cheapest of the cheap find a way to dickery-doo a USB-C port so it sends fire up your arse. But they will, and Apple will have to start finding new ways to stop people from plugging their iWTF-ever into the electrical equivalent of toxic waste all over again... but the time to drive a stake through USB-A's heart is decades overdue.

mnem
 

[Brumby]

On the subject of that Newport Laboratories counter .... I'm getting a little jaded.

After discussing with the seller, I've repacked the OCXO.  I had to open it up and discovered thousands of 1mm bean bag beans.  Rounding up most of the several hundred escapees and getting them back into the can was an experience I am hoping to never have to repeat.

This can was loose inside and damaged - as my photos showed - and while the seller claims it must have been damaged during transport, I'm not so sure.  It is very light and the socket fit is reasonably firm.  The impact to dislodge it would need to be significant, yet the packaging showed no signs of any major trauma and the unit was pretty well padded up with several layers of bubble.  Even if the can was dislodged, to then have the octal plug pushed in so far just seems so improbable.

Interesting, too, was this comment from the seller...... "The unit will still turn on fine etc. but will just have no time base without the crystal plugged in".  How does he know that?  Is he that familiar with the operation of such beasts or has he tried it - with the can unplugged?  I get the feeling the can was already stuffed before shipping.

Then there comes the background of the unit.  I am having almost complete failure in locating details of this unit - including ANYTHING about the company itself.  Forget about specifications or manuals and I think I have a better chance of finding unicorn poop than a schematic.

I have done a very quick test against my 8656B and could get it up to around 100MHz by tweaking levels, agreeing to about 5 digits (zero warm up time for both units).  After that it struggled and fell off the perch by the time we got to 110MHz.  Not sure if it was my blind operation or limitation by design or fault.  Moderately useful, although a bit disappointing - but maybe there is hope.  I just don't know.

Counting is very rudimentary.  You watch the display as the unit counts up.  It then stops for a period so you can read it - selected by the Display Time pot.


Anyway, I would like to put a request out to the members here for any assistance....

I'm looking for any information on the counter (specifications, manuals, schematic), company or service agent - as I've had no success in my efforts using my Google-fu skills (which may need more development).

Information that appears on the unit is as follows:
Front panel:
 * Newport Laboratories Inc
 * Itron Division
 * Counter.Timer Model 700
Rear:
 * Newport Laboratories Inc
    630 E. Young St. Santa Ana, Calif. 92705
 * Model 700  01,X,03  (looks like the X was used to obliterate an 02 option with the 01 option added to the left.
 * Part No  (none shown)
 * Amps  0.5
 * Serial No  352186
 * Volts  115/230
Side (right):
 * Sticker=> Site Services Electronics Lab (Looks like a service sticker)
Side (left):
 * Big ass printed "FORD" on case (Previous owner)


My thoughts are split between getting the low down on this unit - or sending it back.  I don't like the idea of letting a piece of gear get the better of me, but then I'm not looking to reverse engineer the thing.


So, please, any help offered will be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

[beanflying]

Hows the output of the OCXO look on a scope? How many if not all Caps are/should be assumed shagged? Any obvious test labelled test points to check power supply voltages or even figured out from a poke around?

You have the sum total of what I know about it from the one link I found so 

[beanflying]

Suede Fluke Merch in Adelaide Size L so I am out  eBay auction: #193982678868

[PA0PBZ]

I have done a very quick test against my 8656B and could get it up to around 100MHz by tweaking levels, agreeing to about 5 digits (zero warm up time for both units).  After that it struggled and fell off the perch by the time we got to 110MHz.  Not sure if it was my blind operation or limitation by design or fault.  Moderately useful, although a bit disappointing - but maybe there is hope.  I just don't know.

What is the ceramic IC on the "A3" PCB? It must be the prescaler so if we know what that is you will know the maximum frequency it's designed for

[Robert763]

The problem with apples approach to charge port protection is that they have used it as an excuse to be protectionist about their market, not the hardware. A transzorb and polyfuse would do the job without software. If that blew up it is evidence of a faulty charger so customer has to either bring in the faulty apple charger or pay for the repair. Simple, robust and fair, but it does not force you to use apple approved chargers. They have been doing this for years. Witness early lightning cables where they allowed the 3rd party leads to get a foothold and then did an update that stoped them working.
Apple leads are not significantly better quality than branded 3rd party, just more expensive.

[capt bullshot]

Some further test result from the PM3300 power analyzer:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/voltech-pm3300-power-meter/msg3524214/#msg3524214

Short version: Specified accuracy is a plain lie.

[Brumby]

I have done a very quick test against my 8656B and could get it up to around 100MHz by tweaking levels, agreeing to about 5 digits (zero warm up time for both units).  After that it struggled and fell off the perch by the time we got to 110MHz.  Not sure if it was my blind operation or limitation by design or fault.  Moderately useful, although a bit disappointing - but maybe there is hope.  I just don't know.

What is the ceramic IC on the "A3" PCB? It must be the prescaler so if we know what that is you will know the maximum frequency it's designed for

The only information I could find out about this is that it has ECL output and a min frequency of 500MHz.

[beanflying]

Looks like a possible replacement option https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Short-Wave/Archive-Ham-Radio-IDX/IDX/80s/Ham-Radio-198007-OCR-Page-0044.pdf Gives some strong clues to what it is.

Also two ex Germany to help the Rabbit Hole of $ eBay auction: #324023048789

[Specmaster]

<snip>

I do get what you're saying. I too have multiple iPuds. I Will not spend the money Apple wants for a smartPwn, however.

But the difference here is this: You go to any gas station, the fuel there will be what they tell you it is... gasoline, E85, diesel... not gasoline in a diesel pump, or E85 in a E10 pump... and you don't have to worry that your gas station is going to do these things because there are regulations on how the fuel is administered and a whole chain of custody from the point it leaves the refinery to the point leaves the nozzle.  Because of those regulations, you don't have to worry that the fuel you put in your car is going to make the engine explode in a fireball and kill you.

Apple doesn't have that protection... all these cheap USB-A chargers and power banks and even USB ports on a prehistoric PC that might have fluffy caps in it... are nothing but dirty power full of fire. And you better believe dirty power can do exactly that to the very precise charger for the LiPo in your pocket. USB-A has been completely abandoned by pretty much any regulatory agency you can think of... when was the last time you saw one that actually limited to 500mA?

And then Apple has to spend a fortune on every who-knows-how-many iWTF-ever defending themselves because they're the big ticket brand and everybody wants a piece of that loot. They already know that morons are going to use the wrong charger; that was a large portion of the problems they had the first time they made the news cycle for LiPo fires.

USB-C is still a regulated interface; they still have a while before the cheapest of the cheap find a way to dickery-doo a USB-C port so it sends fire up your arse. But they will, and Apple will have to start finding new ways to stop people from plugging their iWTF-ever into the electrical equivalent of toxic waste all over again... but the time to drive a stake through USB-A's heart is decades overdue.

mnem
 

I'm not disputing the point that there are cheap and nasty chargers out there, likewise I'm not disputing fact the USB-A is way past its sell by date. The fact still remains that Apple themselves have been one of the architects of the problem. Did they really have to disable my iPad from working with anything but a genuine Apple lead and charger, after is said and done, it has been working on a none Apple lead for years with zero issues.

By not giving a charger with each new phone, especially when they have changed from Lightning to USB-C as their connector of choice on the phone, then aren't they helping the proliferation of cheap arse, bottom of the market chargers that you are raging about?

If Apple weren't so anal and full of their own importance, then maybe they could work together with other similar manufacturers to design a common interface and supply standard that would be of greater benefit to everybody, the makers and end users alike. Nokia had the right approach all those years OK I think with the DC jack and the separate data interface. Back then I was out on the road as a Technical Sales Engineer 5 days a week, with a specially designed car holder that the phone sat in, automatically connected to power, the cars radio speakers and antenna. Totally hands-free use of the phone, road legal and the battery never died and the phone always had a good signal.

[Brumby]

Looks like a possible replacement option https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Short-Wave/Archive-Ham-Radio-IDX/IDX/80s/Ham-Radio-198007-OCR-Page-0044.pdf Gives some strong clues to what it is.

The Plessy SP631B may be replaced by any ECL 500-MHz divide-by-ten prescaler chip.
Sounds like an answer!

One down ... several to go.

Also two ex Germany to help the Rabbit Hole of $ eBay auction: #324023048789

"Function unknown".  Yeah, I saw that also.

[PA0PBZ]

I found 'divide by 10', '700MHz' and 'well above 650MHz', sensivity 200mV at the highest frequency. That doesn't really help because it looks like there is a pre-amp also, maybe someone did feed it with a bit too generous signal.

[Specmaster]

The problem with apples approach to charge port protection is that they have used it as an excuse to be protectionist about their market, not the hardware. A transzorb and polyfuse would do the job without software. If that blew up it is evidence of a faulty charger so customer has to either bring in the faulty apple charger or pay for the repair. Simple, robust and fair, but it does not force you to use apple approved chargers. They have been doing this for years. Witness early lightning cables where they allowed the 3rd party leads to get a foothold and then did an update that stoped them working.
Apple leads are not significantly better quality than branded 3rd party, just more expensive.

Well when it comes to A to Lightning leads, bd139 said on Discord Saturday that the Amazon  Basics leads are better than the Apple leads. My sons have gone through loads OEM leads as they always seem to start fraying at the connector ends and exposing the cores because of the strain relief being crap. I have yet to see a branded 3rd party lead do that.

[beanflying]

Looks like a possible replacement option https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Short-Wave/Archive-Ham-Radio-IDX/IDX/80s/Ham-Radio-198007-OCR-Page-0044.pdf Gives some strong clues to what it is.

The Plessy SP631B may be replaced by any ECL 500-MHz divide-by-ten prescaler chip.
Sounds like an answer!

One down ... several to go.

Also two ex Germany to help the Rabbit Hole of $ eBay auction: #324023048789

"Function unknown".  Yeah, I saw that also.

Full article here and some of the pinouts for the IC shown in a circuit diagram (Page 46) https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-DX/Ham%20Radio/80s/Ham-Radio-198007.pdf Several other hits too.

Good Bedtime reading for those of us of a vintage too 

[bd139]

If Apple weren't so anal and full of their own importance, then maybe they could work together with other similar manufacturers to design a common interface and supply standard that would be of greater benefit to everybody, the makers and end users alike.

They did:

1. FireWire
2. Thunderbolt
3. Lightning.

All of those originated at Apple and all work really well.

What didn’t was USB, DisplayPort and HDMI which were consortium developed. Thus proving design by committee is a shit show. Strangely enough Apple was the first to ship with USB as well, 23 years ago. 23 year old Apple usb peripherals still work on new macs today...

[factory]

On the subject of that Newport Laboratories counter .... I'm getting a little jaded.

snip...

Anyway, I would like to put a request out to the members here for any assistance....

I'm looking for any information on the counter (specifications, manuals, schematic), company or service agent - as I've had no success in my efforts using my Google-fu skills (which may need more development).

Information that appears on the unit is as follows:
Front panel:
 * Newport Laboratories Inc
 * Itron Division
 * Counter.Timer Model 700
Rear:
 * Newport Laboratories Inc
    630 E. Young St. Santa Ana, Calif. 92705

My thoughts are split between getting the low down on this unit - or sending it back.  I don't like the idea of letting a piece of gear get the better of me, but then I'm not looking to reverse engineer the thing.


So, please, any help offered will be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

I'm sure we had lots of old Newport digital panel meters in various electrical test pens at work and they still seem to be sold under the Newport brand. Searching for them they have the same address but the company name as Newport Electronics Inc. instead, some even have a web address (newportUS.com) but that seems to be dead, can't seem to find much more than a few places selling new meters, not sure if they have gone bust, been taken over, or the brand bought by another company. 

David

[mnementh]

<snip>

I do get what you're saying. I too have multiple iPuds. I Will not spend the money Apple wants for a smartPwn, however.

But the difference here is this: You go to any gas station, the fuel there will be what they tell you it is... gasoline, E85, diesel... not gasoline in a diesel pump, or E85 in a E10 pump... and you don't have to worry that your gas station is going to do these things because there are regulations on how the fuel is administered and a whole chain of custody from the point it leaves the refinery to the point leaves the nozzle.  Because of those regulations, you don't have to worry that the fuel you put in your car is going to make the engine explode in a fireball and kill you.

Apple doesn't have that protection... all these cheap USB-A chargers and power banks and even USB ports on a prehistoric PC that might have fluffy caps in it... are nothing but dirty power full of fire. And you better believe dirty power can do exactly that to the very precise charger for the LiPo in your pocket. USB-A has been completely abandoned by pretty much any regulatory agency you can think of... when was the last time you saw one that actually limited to 500mA?

And then Apple has to spend a fortune on every who-knows-how-many iWTF-ever defending themselves because they're the big ticket brand and everybody wants a piece of that loot. They already know that morons are going to use the wrong charger; that was a large portion of the problems they had the first time they made the news cycle for LiPo fires.

USB-C is still a regulated interface; they still have a while before the cheapest of the cheap find a way to dickery-doo a USB-C port so it sends fire up your arse. But they will, and Apple will have to start finding new ways to stop people from plugging their iWTF-ever into the electrical equivalent of toxic waste all over again... but the time to drive a stake through USB-A's heart is decades overdue.

mnem
 

I'm not disputing the point that there are cheap and nasty chargers out there, likewise I'm not disputing fact the USB-A is way past its sell by date. The fact still remains that Apple themselves have been one of the architects of the problem. Did they really have to disable my iPad from working with anything but a genuine Apple lead and charger, after is said and done, it has been working on a none Apple lead for years with zero issues.

By not giving a charger with each new phone, especially when they have changed from Lightning to USB-C as their connector of choice on the phone, then aren't they helping the proliferation of cheap arse, bottom of the market chargers that you are raging about?

If Apple weren't so anal and full of their own importance, then maybe they could work together with other similar manufacturers to design a common interface and supply standard that would be of greater benefit to everybody, the makers and end users alike. Nokia had the right approach all those years OK I think with the DC jack and the separate data interface. Back then I was out on the road as a Technical Sales Engineer 5 days a week, with a specially designed car holder that the phone sat in, automatically connected to power, the cars radio speakers and antenna. Totally hands-free use of the phone, road legal and the battery never died and the phone always had a good signal.

If Apple weren't so anal and full of their own importance, they wouldn't be the aspirational brand they've positioned themselves to be in the market. That is literally their stock in trade.

I suspect that part of Apple's strategy with not giving away chargers... is to get people used to the idea that the charger doesn't come with. I see completely sealed units with Qi charging becoming the norm within a decade, and wired charging an anachronism. Now that would be some next-gen shit right there.

But we still have ding-dongs plugging flash drives into iPuds to watch their pirated videozz, and others who want to be able to charge their electric razor from their iPwn... so that road is going to be long and painful. 

mnem

[Specmaster]

If Apple weren't so anal and full of their own importance, then maybe they could work together with other similar manufacturers to design a common interface and supply standard that would be of greater benefit to everybody, the makers and end users alike.

They did:

1. FireWire
2. Thunderbolt
3. Lightning.

All of those originated at Apple and all work really well.

What didn’t was USB, DisplayPort and HDMI which were consortium developed. Thus proving design by committee is a shit show. Strangely enough Apple was the first to ship with USB as well, 23 years ago. 23 year old Apple usb peripherals still work on new macs today...

Well if they did, they thoroughly missed the entire point, the point was that ALL phone and tablet makers use the same interface together, so leads and chargers would be universal, not all go off and do their own thing with Apple using (until recently) Lightning and Android using micro B, where is the standardising that would help reduce costs for everyone?