Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

Just because it is Monday morning, and a new work week is dawning here -- with the best spring weather available -- I'd like to stoke the fire a bit.



This is why one does use things invented the last 15 years, too. Because doing it the old and bad way would have been illegal and dangerous, and on top, tedious and time-consuming at best. This is under our patio. There's (EKK / EQX / NYM-J / Romex / Twin-and earth) fixed cables are fastened on the beam, and on the outside of said beam are small downlights fitted:


(borrowed pic)

The downlights could have had the installation cable into them, but that would have been pretty awkward and not very elegant, and required lots of swearing. Since I'm having a junction box anyway to branch off (there definitely is not room in the light for 2 cables) I opted for a piece of outdoor-grade rubber cable, with a strain-relief fitting,  feeding the light, and then switching to "install" style cable in the box. The white cable is single-core; the rubber one is extra stranded. Joining those in a wire nut would have been tedious and certainly outside the envelope of permitted combinations for our wire nuts. Alternatively, a nylon-insulated barrier strip could have been used. That would, as I did inside the light, (where there is such a small insulated barrier strip for live and neutral, with ground on a screw in the body) have required ferrules and somehow finding a barrier strip that takes three wires.

Fortunately, we have Wago 221 series. Strip to 11mm,  twist slightly if stranded, flip the lever open, insert cable, flick lever down. Done.

TE involvement: none. I watched a lot of CuriousMarc videos and browsed for function generators and RF signal generators a lot, though.

   https://www.amazon.com/UPGRADED-Nekteck-Detector-Driveway-Landscaping/dp/B0791XR55P/

Eleven Dollah. And you can install it with a staple gun, cuz it weighs nothing.

mnem
Right back atcha, buddy.

[ch_scr]

One or two drains in the shower?

BTW,
Anybody using USA stuff with IEC socket in Europe with voltage dropper, how it goes?

I've looked a while ago, and cheap autotransformers are not easy to get, especially when looking for specific per-device sizes.
I've also looked for 220V transformers with split primary to be repurposed.
It works, just don't expect it to be small (or just the right size), cheap and easy to get at the same time.

[mnementh]

What is this and what am I missing here?  "Crypto Mining Mobile Unit"  Is this on the level or is someone gonna get the shaft? 

https://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/ele/d/highland-crypto-mining-mobile-unit/7460659166.html

Guy just lost wherever he was getting his "free" electricity, so cryptomining is suddenly no longer profitable. Won't be for the next guy either, with the recent spike in energy prices across the western world.

So yes, in that way any buyer will be hosed.   

mnem
Maybe if he lived in the "Energy Corridor" region of Tejas...

[Saskia]

What is this and what am I missing here?  "Crypto Mining Mobile Unit"  Is this on the level or is someone gonna get the shaft? 

https://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/ele/d/highland-crypto-mining-mobile-unit/7460659166.html

The only reason I can see for it being mobile is so you can use someone else's electricity supply.... 

or when it starts burning due to overheating to be able to dump it into the next river ...

[med6753]

I hope the picture is upside down and any liquid on the white cable will be running away from the box and not into it?

There are membranes on all 4 sides, and it is OK to have cables entering in any direction.

IP 65 allows for sprays of water from any direction, as well, so worry is moot.

Still poor practice to have cables running down inro seal. No reason not to have it the other way or  "drip loop"

Even our antiquated electrical code requires drip loops.

[med6753]

What is this and what am I missing here?  "Crypto Mining Mobile Unit"  Is this on the level or is someone gonna get the shaft? 

https://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/ele/d/highland-crypto-mining-mobile-unit/7460659166.html

The only reason I can see for it being mobile is so you can use someone else's electricity supply.... 

or when it starts burning due to overheating to be able to dump it into the next river ...

I don't get the whole crypto mining deal anyway. Sounds like a giant pyramid scheme to me. 

[mansaxel]

I don't get the whole crypto mining deal anyway. Sounds like a giant pyramid scheme to me. 

Today, it is.

[mnementh]

The only reason I can see for it being mobile is so you can use someone else's electricity supply.... 

or when it starts burning due to overheating to be able to dump it into the next river ...

Ehhh... it's mostly ASIC units. From what I've read, they don't waste near as much energy as heat, so that 20 inch industrial fan should be adequate, I'd guess. If not so for the intended climate, add another fan and louvered vent unit. 

What I do like is this rack-mounting idea; should be easily scalable for TE to smaller, dirt-cheap shelving units from sqWalid-Mart.   

mnem
Wal-Mart: Help spread the squalor around. It's not like you have a choice.

[mnementh]

I don't get the whole crypto mining deal anyway. Sounds like a giant pyramid scheme to me. 

Today, it is.

Ehhhh... only inasmuch as the entirety of modern capitalism is a ginormous interconnected Ponzi scheme, with the corporations at the top. In this case, those being the huge importers selling single-purpose integrated mining rigs that are in most cases already eWaste before they're delivered. 

And still the estimates of how much of the world's electricity will be wasted in cryptomining continues to creep towards that predicted 10% number... there's no shortage of folks desperate to make money on "the next big thing"... or hucksters willing to sell it to them.

The bottom line is that as long as we allow it to exist, crypto will be a vampire on the world's economy; no matter what some people try to paint it as.

mnem
Always be wary of folk who use statistics for a living; they are usually using numbers to tell a convincing lie.

[mansaxel]

I don't get the whole crypto mining deal anyway. Sounds like a giant pyramid scheme to me. 

Today, it is.

Ehhhh... only inasmuch as the entirety of modern capitalism is a ginormous interconnected Ponzi scheme, with the corporations at the top. In this case, those being the huge importers selling single-purpose integrated mining rigs that are in most cases already eWaste before they're delivered. ie.[/i]

The mining rig builders is a sideshow.

More importantly it's about those who were earlier in on this shitshow, enabling them to sell their more easily gained digit strings to people who are late to the table and therefore, by design, at a disadvantage. The promise basically is "If you are not the lowest tier, you may profit".

The actual value of crypto currency is basically nothing, so it shares the volatility with the usual fiat currencies. The only important parts are to believe and be early.

I'm so completely uninterested.

[mnementh]

My point is that the entirety of crypto is little more than a microcosm of capitalism; particularly supply-side economics.

mnem
"Another one born every day minute..."   

[Kosmic]

Just because it is Monday morning, and a new work week is dawning here -- with the best spring weather available -- I'd like to stoke the fire a bit.



This is why one does use things invented the last 15 years, too. Because doing it the old and bad way would have been illegal and dangerous, and on top, tedious and time-consuming at best. This is under our patio. There's (EKK / EQX / NYM-J / Romex / Twin-and earth) fixed cables are fastened on the beam, and on the outside of said beam are small downlights fitted:


(borrowed pic)

The downlights could have had the installation cable into them, but that would have been pretty awkward and not very elegant, and required lots of swearing. Since I'm having a junction box anyway to branch off (there definitely is not room in the light for 2 cables) I opted for a piece of outdoor-grade rubber cable, with a strain-relief fitting,  feeding the light, and then switching to "install" style cable in the box. The white cable is single-core; the rubber one is extra stranded. Joining those in a wire nut would have been tedious and certainly outside the envelope of permitted combinations for our wire nuts. Alternatively, a nylon-insulated barrier strip could have been used. That would, as I did inside the light, (where there is such a small insulated barrier strip for live and neutral, with ground on a screw in the body) have required ferrules and somehow finding a barrier strip that takes three wires.

Fortunately, we have Wago 221 series. Strip to 11mm,  twist slightly if stranded, flip the lever open, insert cable, flick lever down. Done.

TE involvement: none. I watched a lot of CuriousMarc videos and browsed for function generators and RF signal generators a lot, though.

 

I was thinking the same 

[Cerebus]

I hope the picture is upside down and any liquid on the white cable will be running away from the box and not into it?

There are membranes on all 4 sides, and it is OK to have cables entering in any direction.

IP 65 allows for sprays of water from any direction, as well, so worry is moot.

Still poor practice to have cables running down inro seal. No reason not to have it the other way or  "drip loop"

Immediately visible through my living room window from where I'm sitting are about five satellite antenna installations on the opposite side of the street. Of these only one stands out from the others, it's the only one with a drip loop on the cable just before it does into the interior of the building. 

[Specmaster]

Quick update on the Thandar SC110, I have discovered that the sweep timebase is alive and working but is not reaching the CRT. The signal is getting as far as the internal / external switch and is being switched OK there, the time / div switch is altering the signal just as it should do.

Surely, the fact that the X shift control can move the dots left and right on the screen should mean that I can discount the CRT from the equation, meaning that I now have completely dismantle the unit in order to extract the controls and amplifier boards, which will also of course mean that I'll be unable to further the progress of where the signal is going to.

[Specmaster]

I hope the picture is upside down and any liquid on the white cable will be running away from the box and not into it?

There are membranes on all 4 sides, and it is OK to have cables entering in any direction.

IP 65 allows for sprays of water from any direction, as well, so worry is moot.

Still poor practice to have cables running down inro seal. No reason not to have it the other way or  "drip loop"

Immediately visible through my living room window from where I'm sitting are about five satellite antenna installations on the opposite side of the street. Of these only one stands out from the others, it's the only one with a drip loop on the cable just before it does into the interior of the building. 

I'd say the chances are that the one with the drip loop was installed by an older person who was taught the correct way, and the others were installed by younger people who have had inferior training.

[mnementh]

No, they were "trained" by the pamphlets given them by their distributor. Which in many cases can teach you quite a bit about doing the job the correct way; but of course, one would have to actually be bothered to spend more than 5 minutes skimming over the bits with pictures (including ones with a correctly located drip loop of appropriate arc) and to be sober while doing so.

mnem
 

[Robert763]

Quick update on the Thandar SC110, I have discovered that the sweep timebase is alive and working but is not reaching the CRT. The signal is getting as far as the internal / external switch and is being switched OK there, the time / div switch is altering the signal just as it should do.

Surely, the fact that the X shift control can move the dots left and right on the screen should mean that I can discount the CRT from the equation, meaning that I now have completely dismantle the unit in order to extract the controls and amplifier boards, which will also of course mean that I'll be unable to further the progress of where the signal is going to.

Before you pull it to bits, does n external signa do anything? I think it won't. You need to look at te circuit between the int/ext swt and the horizontal amp where the x position control is.
Most likely a dry joint, likely between PCBs or cracked track.

[AVGresponding]

I have to disagree. It is not okay, because mounting the cables like this will cause stress on the membrane and it will become leaky over time.

Yes, that's a valid concern. I'll fix that.

Using stuffing glands eliminates this possibility.

As for tower clips, they are plastic, and have zero fire rating. P-clips are metal, are screwed in and so are also easy to move should you need to.

You will not get condensation inside a membrane box that is used as a junction box, unless there are some serious temperature variations, and you assembled it on a day with stupidly high humidity.

[AVGresponding]

Also that membrane box is most certainly not IP65 rated in the fitted configuration, as I can see the wooden joist through the screw hole for starters. I also see no way of positively securing the lid.

This is a proper IP66/67 membrane box. As you can see, the screw holes are external to the connection cavity.



https://youtu.be/mtFniM6p3OA


EDIT: Yes, we throw the connector block away and use Wagos. In fact, newer ones come with three 3-way Wagos in a bracket.

[McBryce]

Also that membrane box is most certainly not IP65 rated in the fitted configuration, as I can see the wooden joist through the screw hole for starters. I also see no way of positively securing the lid.

This is a proper IP66/67 membrane box. As you can see, the screw holes are external to the connection cavity.



https://youtu.be/mtFniM6p3OA


EDIT: Yes, we throw the connector block away and use Wagos. In fact, newer ones come with three 3-way Wagos in a bracket.

If you know that the area you're installing the box is going to have regular splash / rain etc, you should try to find a solution where all cable exit the bottom of the box and have drip loops. In liquid automation, where I used to work, ie: Breweries / Dairies etc, where everything got sprayed down regularly, all cables had to exit devices at the bottom.

McBryce. 

[Cerebus]

Using stuffing glands eliminates this possibility.

Sage and onion, or pork and chestnut stuffing?

(You can tell it's getting close to suppertime...)

[Specmaster]

Quick update on the Thandar SC110, I have discovered that the sweep timebase is alive and working but is not reaching the CRT. The signal is getting as far as the internal / external switch and is being switched OK there, the time / div switch is altering the signal just as it should do.

Surely, the fact that the X shift control can move the dots left and right on the screen should mean that I can discount the CRT from the equation, meaning that I now have completely dismantle the unit in order to extract the controls and amplifier boards, which will also of course mean that I'll be unable to further the progress of where the signal is going to.

Before you pull it to bits, does n external signa do anything? I think it won't. You need to look at te circuit between the int/ext swt and the horizontal amp where the x position control is.
Most likely a dry joint, likely between PCBs or cracked track.

You are correct, the external signal input did nothing at all. I have already searched for broken tracks and found zilch, all joints appear to be OK but will go over them with a hot iron and fresh solder later, I might lucky and cure it without pulling those boards off.

EDIT;
BTW Robert, I have now secured 2 Selectest meters on eBay, both listed as not working for spares, the thought process being I might be able to make 1 from the pair of them, more on this when I get them.

[AVGresponding]

Using stuffing glands eliminates this possibility.

Sage and onion, or pork and chestnut stuffing?

(You can tell it's getting close to suppertime...)

Neither. Plastic and synthetic rubber of some sort. Might be a bit chewy.

[AVGresponding]

Anyone knows the difference between the HP 5316A and 5316B? All I can see from looking in the manuals is that the A can be fitted with option 006, a maths function.

[mnementh]

I'm sitting waiting for the chiddlers in the car, which is redolent with the aroma of fried chicken just put out at the grocery store deli a few minutes ago.  All thighs & drums... yummmm.

mnem
I definitely wish the kids would get a move on so we can go eat.