Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[xrunner]

Kudos for doing a contest xrunner.  i have no good ideas though.

I can't think of anything either, other than "pick a number from 0 to 1000 and whoever is closest to my number is the winner". But that means anyone could enter, even people who don't need the stuff. Maybe I should just say "If you are a beginner and need these things tell me why in this thread and I'll announce the winner". That doesn't preclude cheating either, but I don't know what else do do. 

[idpromnut]

Yea ... or the contest question for today is: How does a person prove beyond a doubt they are a beginner in electronics on an internet forum? 

Ask beginners to design a project/test that will require the piece(s) of TE that you want t give away. Enough work that a "cheater" might not be willing to bother, and not too much that a beginner couldn't trade some time to figure out something and post some documentation/photos/schematics/etc.

[German_EE]

Friedrichshafen is coming up, that means two massive halls filled with ham radio gear and test equipment. I may need some help here because if I slip I'm going to come back with a car full of stuff.

Is the solution to go with no cash and leave the bank cards at home or is willpower enough?

[PA0PBZ]

Is the solution to go with no cash and leave the bank cards at home or is willpower enough?

I think the only solution is not going and making sure that none of your friends will be going.

[HighVoltage]

Friedrichshafen is coming up, that means two massive halls filled with ham radio gear and test equipment. I may need some help here because if I slip I'm going to come back with a car full of stuff.

Is the solution to go with no cash and leave the bank cards at home or is willpower enough?

I am glad I am in Northern Germany and Friedrichshafen is far away.

[Cubdriver]

I am glad I am in Northern Germany and Friedrichshafen is far away.

Sounds to me like it might be worth a road trip!   

(Not that I would want encourage your TEA or anything like that, of course...    )

-Pat

[Brumby]

Friedrichshafen is coming up, that means two massive halls filled with ham radio gear and test equipment. I may need some help here because if I slip I'm going to come back with a car full of stuff.

Is the solution to go with no cash and leave the bank cards at home or is willpower enough?

Leave the car at home.

Take a van. 

[VK5RC]

Friedrichshafen is coming up, that means two massive halls filled with ham radio gear and test equipment.

My wife is  glad that I am on the other side of the world!
Robert

[bitseeker]

The beginner with the best idea for a different kind of contest wins? (You can use the idea for your next contest.)

Yea ... or the contest question for today is: How does a person prove beyond a doubt they are a beginner in electronics on an internet forum? 

Read their prior forum posts. That enables you to know that they're participating forum members and may reveal just how much of a beginner, or not, they are.

You still need a way to choose a winning candidate, though. Although designing something is the first thing that comes to mind, I'm not sure what is reasonable to expect from a beginner (and how do you verify that they designed it).

What about submitting what you'll be using the winning equipment for and then showing it being used as described within X days/months of receiving the prize. Choose the winner based on the use that fits some criteria that you establish (most interesting, unique, useful, etc.).

[xrunner]

Thank you for your suggestions,

Read their prior forum posts. That enables you to know that they're participating forum members and may reveal just how much of a beginner, or not, they are.

One problem though is: What if a beginner has been reading the forum for a year without having joined, or has joined and has never posted?  I don't want to cut them out.

You still need a way to choose a winning candidate, though. Although designing something is the first thing that comes to mind, I'm not sure what is reasonable to expect from a beginner (and how do you verify that they designed it).

Last time I just asked them to write up a post explaining why they needed this equipment, and used my Super Intellect (that's a joke by the way) to discern whether they were being truthful. The problem with that is, if I allow brand new members to join just for this contest, and allow that, then a clever person could trick me into believing they needed the stuff when they just want it to sell on Ebay. 

I could say, if you want to enter and have no posts, then you must have a history of 10 posts. But that allows anyone to join the forum, enter the contest, and try to trick the judge. If they are already joined before the contest I know their intentions are "pure". 

Designing something even simple - I don't know how to ask such a thing without it being solved or found elsewhere and re-posted. It would have to be so simple the answer could be found by Google.

What about submitting what you'll be using the winning equipment for and then showing it being used as described within X days/months of receiving the prize. Choose the winner based on the use that fits some criteria that you establish (most interesting, unique, useful, etc.).

I could ask for photos of the proposed work area, or beginner project, but that cuts out people who can't post a photo. Maybe if you can't even post a photo you don't deserve to win.

I don't know of a fairer methodology still beyond asking for a short essay along with a picture of why they need this equipment.

As far as the contest judging, this time, since I'm supplying and shipping for free, would you like to be the one who judges the entries? Bet you didn't expect that zinger. 

[tautech]

@xrunner
Did you see how Dubbie did his giveaway ?
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/free-oscilloscope/

[xrunner]

@xrunner
Did you see how Dubbie did his giveaway ?
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/free-oscilloscope/

Yep, that's essentially what I'm left with. Try to discern a beginner-in-need by using an application called Deep Thought (my brain).

Here's the contest I ran over two years ago -

Contest

Do you want to be the judge this time?

[tautech]

@xrunner
Did you see how Dubbie did his giveaway ?
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/free-oscilloscope/

Yep, that's essentially what I'm left with. Try to discern a beginner-in-need by using an application called Deep Thought (my brain).

Here's the contest I ran over two years ago -

Contest

Do you want to be the judge this time?

I read the thread (I do remember it) and thought you did a pretty good job back then. 
What makes you think you won't again ? 

Ask for some real not BS pics of their gear.

[bitseeker]

Read their prior forum posts. That enables you to know that they're participating forum members and may reveal just how much of a beginner, or not, they are.

One problem though is: What if a beginner has been reading the forum for a year without having joined, or has joined and has never posted?  I don't want to cut them out.

Ah, I see that previously the only requirement was that they had signed up prior to the contest.

You still need a way to choose a winning candidate, though.

Last time I just asked them to write up a post explaining why they needed this equipment, and used my Super Intellect (that's a joke by the way) to discern whether they were being truthful.

Excellent use of the Super Intellect!

Designing something even simple - I don't know how to ask such a thing without it being solved or found elsewhere and re-posted.

I know, that's why it's kind of rough for beginners.

I could ask for photos of the proposed work area, or beginner project, but that cuts out people who can't post a photo. Maybe if you can't even post a photo you don't deserve to win.

Is the ability for someone in the US to post a photo to an electronics forum an unreasonable requirement? If they're reading the forum on their phone or tablet, they have a camera. If on a reasonably modern laptop, they likely have a cam on it. If on a desktop computer, then they may not have a cam, but perhaps they have or have access to a point-and-shoot "real" camera.

I don't know of a fairer methodology still beyond asking for a short essay along with a picture of why they need this equipment.

It seemed to work before.

As far as the contest judging, this time, since I'm supplying and shipping for free, would you like to be the one who judges the entries? Bet you didn't expect that zinger. 

Woah, Nelly! That's quite the zinger! However, when you've nailed down the rules for the contest, I may be able to help with the judging, if you trust your gear to my Super Intellect^TM.

[cellularmitosis]

Welp, after finding out that the input impedance of my Keithley 196 was a mere 10M on the 30V scale, I began to develop a deep anxiety.  This caused me to revisit my old stomping grounds (ebay) looking to score a fix, to ease the pain.

And there I found the dope man.  And I just couldn't say no.

[alm]

If input impedance is your worry, wouldn't buying an electrometer make more sense? Does not have to be that expensive if age and accuracy are not critical.

[cellularmitosis]

If input impedance is your worry, wouldn't buying an electrometer make more sense? Does not have to be that expensive if age and accuracy are not critical.

Oh dear, there's that anxiety again.  Dare I open up ebay again?  It isn't a problem if I just browse...

Yes, that's it, I'll just browse.  No harm in that...

[Cubdriver]

Yes, that's it, I'll just browse.  No harm in that...

 

Let us know how that works out for you, ok?   

-Pat

[SeanB]

Yes, there is nothing wrong with just browsing, however the BIN button is always so tempting, and you can link the Ebay and Paypal sites so you do not really need to click through either to complete the transaction, and no password lookup is needed either, just click once on BIN and Pay, and it all happens by magic.

Yes, just browsing...........

[xrunner]

It isn't a problem if I just browse...

Yes, that's it, I'll just browse.  No harm in that...

So many souls have said that I can't remember them all anymore. It isn't a problem if I just try a little crack is it? I just want to see what it's like, then I'll stop. Right ... 

[xrunner]

Woah, Nelly! That's quite the zinger! However, when you've nailed down the rules for the contest ...

I'm editing the previous rules a little. I'm thinking of allowing the peanut gallery to help people with their entry posts. They can take suggestions and modify their first entry post if they want to make it better, per suggestions. If they are not good writers this will help them learn to do that better (if they aren't already good). So other members can be pre-judges in a sense, whether or not they heed the advice is up to them.

I may be able to help with the judging, if you trust your gear to my Super Intellect^TM.

Use Deep Imaging. Stare at the displayed text and, using Deep Imaging's 3D neural network analysis of text spacing, meaning, and grammar, discern whether or not they are really a beginner.

Well, yea, read the post real careful like and make sure they aren't faking it

[TiN]

Guilty again. Won and paid for Fluke 5450A.... 

[xrunner]

Guilty again. Won and paid for Fluke 5450A.... 

You are forgiven my son.

[AF6LJ]

You don't get a lot done working in RF without some plumbing.
My friend Pat and I went up to the Claremount swap meet today I nice small gathering of folks who have stuff to sell and folks who have stuff they want to buy.
Wasn't much in the way of test gear and that sought after Swan-350 that still half way worked but wasn't too good to modify wasn't there but...
I was not disappointed.

An indivudal had a bunch of RF and microwave plumbing and related items, it took a while to sift through what he had. Over on one table next to a bird dummy load I almost walked home with there was a pile of familiar red and blue items, about a dozen Narda directional couplers.
There were a number of .95-2.2GHZ couplers, I kick myself for not buying one..
I kept looking, there was P-band coupler and a VHF coupler, then I found this and I became weak in the knees. 




I held it up and asked how much he said $25.00
I bought it before I could wake up from what was obviously a dream.

[xrunner]

I kept looking, there was P-band coupler and a VHF coupler, then I found this and I became weak in the knees. I held it up and asked how much he said $25.00. I bought it before I could wake up from what was obviously a dream.

That's a cool item, we all get weak -kneed around here.

My issue is I have a whole bunch of gear in my Ebay watch list. There's only two ways out of that - delete the items or buy them. I'm going to have to commit to one or the other very soon, because I can't take it any longer.