Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bitseeker]

It's going... but the corners have started to lift up. 

Crazy bit is it is quite symmetrical, and it keeps building level on top of the curved bottom...  I've checked it with a straightedge, and everything it's building now is straight & square.

There is a very quiet war going on in the back of my mind over what to do... Part of me is  as hell; this is a simple base layer adhesion problem,  probably due to something stupid like me being a little heavy-handed with the hairspray during prep. Part of me is just  as hell; thinking "Fuggetabboudditt... let's see how this plays out."

The curved bottom is the base of the meter holder? Hmm. As long as it finishes the rest without warpage, it could still be OK. Put a couple of rubber feet in the back (or the front, or both, depending on the angle you want). It'll look cool, as if it was designed that way. It's a feature.

[bitseeker]

That's one hell of a print. I'm going to say nothing more seeing as I jinxed the last one.

I've decided I need a 3d printer. Need to move house first

I'm thinking just the opposite. Consumer grade 3d printers have a way to go yet. 

For objects with large flat surfaces, laser cutting and gluing seems the speedier way to go. So many rabbit holes that one can jump into.

[bitseeker]

mnem

It's amazing how small his cranial volume is.

[Cerebus]

mnem

It's amazing how small his cranial volume is.

About, I say boy, about the size of a chicken's!

[mnementh]

I’m happy with full kit route myself. Genuinely that’s the fun part of the journey if you’re a sick twisted person like myself. When something doesn’t work I run towards it not away. I spent a number of years building radio control cars, right back to the old Schumacher Bosscat, cat 2000. Also I’ve owned a Land Rover series 3. You can’t be screwed harder for set up than those money pits.

In fact the less assembled it is the better. More meticulous assembly and heat shrinking to do

I’m actually trying to pluck up the courage to say fuck it to the exchange rate at the moment and buy a stacked Elecraft K2 kit before they discontinue them and I’m permanently laden with regret.

Dude... I've been in RC for 30 years. You wanna do heat-shrink? Heat-shrink a fucking PLANE you built from toothpicks and then FLY IT. 

I've been in robotics JUST as long, and I have decades of machining and automation experience. FFS, I built stock cars from scratch and raced them. I was absolutely sure that with my history, my Tarantula would be a breeze. Was I EVER Wrong. With a capital WRONG. I'd STILL rather stick-build a 20cc Corsair than build another fucking Tevo Tarantula. 

Notice I did say AS A FIRST BUILD... and there's a reason for it. Your first build should be something simple and straightforward, with everything that could fuck up a noob already figured out for you. I'm not saying get a 3DP appliance; but the component-level kits out there just are NOT that. They're NOTHING like a good radio kit, where everything's already been tested and and several iterations of refinement and you know it will all fit if you're careful.  Most 3DP kits are hobbyist kits... like building a plane from one of the kits where you get a molded cowl and a couple sheets of die-cut balsa parts and build sheets wrapped round a bundle of sticks. You still have to hand-cut and fit EVERYTHING.

You don't want THAT for your first plane, and you don't want it for your first 3DP build, either.

Seriously... it's just like model aircraft... the way you learn how is to do. For model aircraft, there's no substitute for STICK TIME. How do you get it? by FLYING. Which you can't do if you're constantly building and repairing borked and broken shit.  EVERYBODY'S first few planes are RTFs or ARFs that come set up 99% right straight outta the box. Planes aren't like a nitro stadium truck; there isn't a corner marshall to flip you back over and you can't pull off to the side of the track if you lose a wheel.   

Same is true with 3DP... you never get to the point of making a good print without getting a printer set up right; you never learn how to fix the defects if you start out with a printer that isn't at least close to right. It's a vicious cycle. The Tevo Tornado is "kit enough" that it's affordable, and it's ready-built enough that it prints pretty effing excellent 30 minutes outta the box. You pay maybe $90 more for that, and it comes with better components all around than the cheap build-up kits. Normal folks wouldn't expect to have to build a car just to learn how to drive; the same obtains here.

Once you get a few good prints under your belt like me, then you start learning what does what... and THEN you get the joy of learning how to SLICE.  The slicer is what does 90% of the nuts & bolts of a print for you... learning how it works and how to set it up is the REAL big thing... and guess what? Again... you need the printer set up close to right or nothing you do in your slicer is going to help, and you'll never know how to run a slicer. 

mnem
Please, learn from my mistakes; get an ARF. 

[mnementh]

It's going... but the corners have started to lift up. 

Crazy bit is it is quite symmetrical, and it keeps building level on top of the curved bottom...  I've checked it with a straightedge, and everything it's building now is straight & square.

There is a very quiet war going on in the back of my mind over what to do... Part of me is  as hell; this is a simple base layer adhesion problem,  probably due to something stupid like me being a little heavy-handed with the hairspray during prep. Part of me is just  as hell; thinking "Fuggetabboudditt... let's see how this plays out."

The curved bottom is the base of the meter holder? Hmm. As long as it finishes the rest without warpage, it could still be OK. Put a couple of rubber feet in the back (or the front, or both, depending on the angle you want). It'll look cool, as if it was designed that way. It's a feature.

            

Yeah, I was already thinking of it as an Undocumented Revision... 

Most of the base layer is still flat, still adhered to the bed; it just makes the bottom corners look a little more organic. It may very well be that the adjustments I made in the slicer to strengthen the walls increased the amount of pull on the corners; that could have compounded the adhesion issues. While I may choose to do rubber feet, I don't believe they'll be strictly necessary.

What IS necessary, though, is for me to get to work on the T-bar for the top of the square tube so it can have its lead-hangers. That was pretty much the entire point of the effing thing, otherwise I might as well just keep leaning the meters up against whatever's handy.   

Here's how it's looking now; I've deliberately enhanced the pics to show any defects clearly. You're looking at the print under a microscope and it STILL looks pretty damn good; certainly good enough for a tool to use on the bench. See the pics with the dime in them for scale.

mnem
*Toddles off for some father-son time*

[mnementh]

mnem

It's amazing how small his cranial volume is.

About, I say boy, about the size of a chicken's!

https://youtu.be/jMyD3TSXyUc

mnem
"Naww... Ahh bettah not look. Ahh mahht just be in theyahh..."

[Brumby]

True, but they aren't the only people that fly low and  without radar cover! Even I have done a bit of it

.... up the M1?

[VK5RC]

Don't remind me, 192km/hr in a 110 zone, I wasn't even close to the car's max of 235😕 officer!

[tggzzz]

True, but they aren't the only people that fly low and  without radar cover! Even I have done a bit of it

.... up the M1?

Nope. But the vid I posted is about 2 miles from the M5, and it is common to zip across the M4 below the top of the hills - I've even watched a couple do it.

If you want "Dambuster quality" flying by "pilot a and pilot b" then take a look at the following vid. The trees are small conifers in the north of Scotland, and if they run out of energy, they've no engine to add energy Worth your time if you have any interest in the subject.

[Specmaster]

mnem

It's amazing how small his cranial volume is.

About, I say boy, about the size of a chicken's!

https://youtu.be/jMyD3TSXyUc

mnem
"Naww... Ahh bettah not look. Ahh mahht just be in theyahh..."

Leghorn, brings back memories [emoji106]

[nixiefreqq]

While I was out today attending a family funeral the postman dropped this little gem of for me along with 5M of 12AWG black and red silicon cable so I can make some heavy duty meter leads and can also double up as leads for the power supplies, just waiting the arrival of some suitable stackable banana jacks etc.

This little meter is pretty accurate, certainly accurate enough to use in the mobile tool kit and can measure DC current by clamping the meter around a cable and during testing I found is within 0.2 of mA on its readings so it's not a shabby little performer at all considering its cost (mine was half price because I used up some Nectar points). I was feeling a bit down and needed a new toy to play with at the time I ordered it and bugger if within hours of ordering it I stumbled across that 8842A as well  and there was no way on earth I was not going to make a determined effort to secure it as it was fully loaded, but it needed to be at a much reduced price, it was listed at £250 and I managed to get it at £100 which was my limit and to my pleasant surprise the seller was only a few miles away and he kindly offered to deliver it to me the same day...result.

ordered a uni-t 210e a couple of days ago from a guy in nj.  only now the tracking shows it shipped from calif. 

strange.

have you hatched a cunning plan yet to change the performance via the eeprom values?  looks pretty straightforward...... if only I could find my arduino uno.

probably won't go searching for it today since both of the rotten kids live just outside Fayetteville nc and their power was intermittent last night.  have not heard from them today so they are probably trying to conserve phone batteries.  hopefully the wind is no longer a big deal.....but they were expecting 20+ inches of rain!

[Specmaster]

While I was out today attending a family funeral the postman dropped this little gem of for me along with 5M of 12AWG black and red silicon cable so I can make some heavy duty meter leads and can also double up as leads for the power supplies, just waiting the arrival of some suitable stackable banana jacks etc.

This little meter is pretty accurate, certainly accurate enough to use in the mobile tool kit and can measure DC current by clamping the meter around a cable and during testing I found is within 0.2 of mA on its readings so it's not a shabby little performer at all considering its cost (mine was half price because I used up some Nectar points). I was feeling a bit down and needed a new toy to play with at the time I ordered it and bugger if within hours of ordering it I stumbled across that 8842A as well  and there was no way on earth I was not going to make a determined effort to secure it as it was fully loaded, but it needed to be at a much reduced price, it was listed at £250 and I managed to get it at £100 which was my limit and to my pleasant surprise the seller was only a few miles away and he kindly offered to deliver it to me the same day...result.

ordered a uni-t 210e a couple of days ago from a guy in nj.  only now the tracking shows it shipped from calif. 

strange.

have you hatched a cunning plan yet to change the performance via the eeprom values?  looks pretty straightforward...... if only I could find my arduino uno.

probably won't go searching for it today since both of the rotten kids live just outside Fayetteville nc and their power was intermittent last night.  have not heard from them today so they are probably trying to conserve phone batteries.  hopefully the wind is no longer a big deal.....but they were expecting 20+ inches of rain!

Gosh, hopefully they are OK, I expect that they will be phoning soon to that effect[emoji1696].

My meter was ordered from a UK seller but the receipt was in Chinese WTF but it arrived within 3 days so I'm OK with it. Its not bad either as it happens just don't go any near high energy with it.

As a portable it is ideal as covers all the things you need, even capacitance and nice and small. [emoji106]

[mnementh]

My latest Ebay purchase has arrived, sold as not working, a Teac CR-H250 receiver, advertised as power LED is on but will not switch on. Thought the bloody thing just needed a couple of capacitors in the power supply, so I'd have something at last to get teeth into on the bench, but no, how fecking wrong was I.

Looks great, Spec. Quite compact.

Opened it up and a CD was wedged in the tray, wrestled it free and the tray opened up and the unit now works perfectly

Score!

Yes, but the question on everybody's mind is... does the CD still play? And if so, is it actually worth listening to...?   

https://youtu.be/jMyD3TSXyUc

mnem
"Naww... Ahh bettah not look. Ahh mahht just be in theyahh..."

Leghorn, brings back memories [emoji106]

That bit is a favorite ever since I was the boy's age... it was one of my first exposures in popular media to the idea that being smart isn't something to be ridiculed, and to the concept of "metaphysical humor", both in the internal story and in more subtle ways of breaking the 4th wall.

It was quite the feat, slipping that past Standards & Practices of the time, which tended to Bowdlerize anything that didn't kowtow to the idea that it was somehow morally objectionable to publish media that didn't care if it made stupid folks feel stupid. I started looking for that kind of shamelessly smart humor everywhere after that. 

mnem
*Raises a glass to Robin Williams, Douglas Adams and Graham Chapman's memory*

[Specmaster]

Yes, but the question on everybody's mind is... does the CD still play? And if so, is it actually worth listening to...?   

mnem
*Raises a glass to Robin Williams, Douglas Adams and Graham Chapman's memory*

Yes it still works and plays OK and no, its not worth listening to unless you like Pure Garage

[nixiefreqq]

While I was out today attending a family funeral the postman dropped this little gem of for me along with 5M of 12AWG black and red silicon cable so I can make some heavy duty meter leads and can also double up as leads for the power supplies, just waiting the arrival of some suitable stackable banana jacks etc.

This little meter is pretty accurate, certainly accurate enough to use in the mobile tool kit and can measure DC current by clamping the meter around a cable and during testing I found is within 0.2 of mA on its readings so it's not a shabby little performer at all considering its cost (mine was half price because I used up some Nectar points). I was feeling a bit down and needed a new toy to play with at the time I ordered it and bugger if within hours of ordering it I stumbled across that 8842A as well  and there was no way on earth I was not going to make a determined effort to secure it as it was fully loaded, but it needed to be at a much reduced price, it was listed at £250 and I managed to get it at £100 which was my limit and to my pleasant surprise the seller was only a few miles away and he kindly offered to deliver it to me the same day...result.

ordered a uni-t 210e a couple of days ago from a guy in nj.  only now the tracking shows it shipped from calif. 

strange.

have you hatched a cunning plan yet to change the performance via the eeprom values?  looks pretty straightforward...... if only I could find my arduino uno.

probably won't go searching for it today since both of the rotten kids live just outside Fayetteville nc and their power was intermittent last night.  have not heard from them today so they are probably trying to conserve phone batteries.  hopefully the wind is no longer a big deal.....but they were expecting 20+ inches of rain!

Gosh, hopefully they are OK, I expect that they will be phoning soon to that effect[emoji1696].

My meter was ordered from a UK seller but the receipt was in Chinese WTF but it arrived within 3 days so I'm OK with it. Its not bad either as it happens just don't go any near high energy with it.

As a portable it is ideal as covers all the things you need, even capacitance and nice and small. [emoji106]

swmbo just got a text from the daughter.  trees down in the neighborhood and one blocking the only exit from her cul-de-sac.  no power since 9pm last night.  bands of heavy rain still passing thru.  BUT no major flooding near her and no damage to structures that she can see.  guess it is gonna be ok as soon as the repair crews get out and about.

glad to hear you like that little meter.  my plan is to flash the eeprom to increase the ncv sensitivity since some report it is hit and miss on our piddling 120 volt mains.  might also up the count rate from 2000 to 6000 even though it is probably not necessary on a gadget that will get mostly portable use.  may also change the default to dc since there is a lot of pissing and moaning about how it changes back to ac every time you change ranges.  will endevor not to brick the poor thing in the process.

[Specmaster]

Yeah, the 120V might make a difference to the NCV, a nice touch with that is that it also gives an indication as to how close you are to live conductors in 3 ways, the closer you are the fast the bleep is, there is also a LED that flashes faster as get close to the live wire and the screen show a series of "-" according to how close you are, the closest you get "- - - -" and it starts with a single "-".

The count being 2000 is not a mayor problem neither is the AC default, if it was my main and daily driver then it might be a problem but for the amount of usage its going to nah, it's not worth it TBH.                 

[bitseeker]

mnem

It's amazing how small his cranial volume is.

About, I say boy, about the size of a chicken's!

https://youtu.be/jMyD3TSXyUc

mnem
"Naww... Ahh bettah not look. Ahh mahht just be in theyahh..."

LOL! Yep. Classic.

[mnementh]

Yes, but the question on everybody's mind is... does the CD still play? And if so, is it actually worth listening to...?   

mnem
*Raises a glass to Robin Williams, Douglas Adams and Graham Chapman's memory*

Yes it still works and plays OK and no, its not worth listening to unless you like Pure Garage

Ain't that the way it always goes? I think I've salvaged hundreds of CDs from players over the decades... maybe 3 of 'em worth listening to AND playable. 

mnem
Ferk you, Murphy.

[mnementh]

Hour 40 of a 2-Day Print...

https://youtu.be/5JZDlFrkT88

*Claws, wings, toes & tail crossed for luck*

mnem
*Off my runner*

[PA0PBZ]

*Claws, wings, toes & tail crossed for luck*

Nothing to worry about of course, but it looks like you have a small fire going on in the control box at the left… 

[mnementh]

*Claws, wings, toes & tail crossed for luck*

Nothing to worry about of course, but it looks like you have a small fire going on in the control box at the left… 

I know. 

It's mostly the activity LED on the controller channel that runs the solid-state relay for the heated bed; it does that when it goes into reduced duty-cycle mode once the bed is at operating temp. It reflects off the chromed perf-metal cover of the 24V PSU inside which makes that strange shadowy flickery light in combination with all the other blinkenlights inside.

mnem
*Lit AF*

[bitseeker]

Yeah, the 120V might make a difference to the NCV, a nice touch with that is that it also gives an indication as to how close you are to live conductors in 3 ways, the closer you are the fast the bleep is, there is also a LED that flashes faster as get close to the live wire and the screen show a series of "-" according to how close you are, the closest you get "- - - -" and it starts with a single "-".

The count being 2000 is not a mayor problem neither is the AC default, if it was my main and daily driver then it might be a problem but for the amount of usage its going to nah, it's not worth it TBH.               

Yeah, I've had mine for a couple years and use it a few times a month — not enough to need to mod it. Maybe I'll poke around if I'm bored some day.

[bitseeker]

Hour 40 of a 2-Day Print...

*Claws, wings, toes & tail crossed for luck*

Almost there!...

[bd139]

Shhhhhh don’t jinx it.

Reminds me of my father who was a bit ill at the time and couldn’t go on holiday by plane. So he decided to drive to Italy. Get an SMS about two miles from the Italian border to say he’s nearly in Italy. Two hours later get a phone call saying he didn’t make it because he hit a badger and it smashed his shocks up . The badger had exploded as well and was all over the bottom and side of the car.

RAC recovered it and he got a hire car home.