I’ve figured out that one of the reasons why I regularly check out this thread is directly related to the pleasurable dopamine hit that I get when I’m successfully able to use a special tool, a piece of test or diagnostic gear, or other bit of hardware/software that turns the impossible fix/design/adaptation task into something possible. Nothing like having the right tool for the job!
Coming from a background, many years ago, of having to “make do” with crude hacks and tools & “test gear” assembled from cobbled together scrap bits and pieces, the idea, for example, of “having a window” into what a circuit is actually doing (instead of guessing) as with a scope, or being able to capture the voltage of a circuit with the magic of a meter capable of a “hold” measurement, still generates that sense of satisfaction that, I think, might be a distinguishing hallmark of a TEA-person.
Even though I am, after all these years, in a position to be able to buy pretty much whatever I need to do any kind of electronic-related task, that thrill of “having the right tool for the job” never seems to ebb. I love having test gear, tools, and related equipment, even though my fixit/design days are long gone, except for personal stuff.
So tell me, is the whole TEA-complex thing a result of being deprived of expensive (and even not-so-expensive) test gear when we were young lads and lassies, as I speculate? Is there anyone who’s always had access to all the gear they’ve ever wanted or needed and yet still buys old clunkers on EBay for refurbishing?
Or is this TEA thread really a collection of souls that were damaged as a result of technical tool deprivation at a young age, lol?
Neither, never had any interest in test gear when I was young, but I did start collecting old radios, back when I used to listen to Altantic 252 (LW), I didn't know it at the time but I had ended up with a piece of TE, a Windsor (aka Taylor) 65C signal generator, bought at a car boot sale during a family holiday in North Wales, also have a couple of David Derby Mine ohmmeters, one given to me, the other bought at an autojumble somewhere in Scotland (where many of the radios also came from).
Eventually started work and again didn't need my own test gear, most people just brought the odd thing into work to attempt to fix, I wasn't that interested in fixing stuff back then, but eventually I started to find I needed TE at home as well to repair old radios, we already had two AVOs and a Megger my Dad had brought home, when the maintenance job got outsourced.
My real addiction started with a HP 5245L counter, then I wanted an oscilloscope, was looking at the Philips 3055 like we had at work, but they were too expensive at the time, ended up buying what I thought was a small scope a HP 175A*, this sat in the kitchen hallway for a few months as I didn't have the power lead for it. Eventually a Racal 836
counter smoke gen (tants
), a couple of Venner counters, HP 3310A function gen, Taylor 45A valve tester, etc, followed, downhill all the way from there, the TE soon outnumbered my radio collection.
*I bought a HP 3400A which came with a PH163 power lead, this finally allowed me to test the 175A scope, this was a bit of a disappointment as I found the CRT had gone to air
, took me years to find another CRT for it and now have many more old HP scopes, including several 140A & 175A.
In more recent years, management decided they had no interest in electronic repair & closed the lab, they only retained one bench for a couple of products, this has now declined to just one product. I'm glad I have plenty of TE now, because I now prefer repairing stuff, to buying new unrepairable junk.
David