Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

I'm a lot more interested in this ad I spotted on the same page... http://www.daymak.com/em2.html

Seems almost reasonable, depending on what top speed actually is. A bit concerned by the "no license/no insurance required" claims though.    ESPECIALLY IF THEY'RE TRUE.

...But I do get a verbal tongue lashing when she discovers my socks have holes in them. 

That's because she knows what you do to them when she's not around to satisfy your pervy desires. 

Some more philips love / fanboyism. They put all the damn caps on the same sheet as the power supply on the schematic 

For any caps on the rails exactly as good schematics should be. 

I disagree. For caps which function are specifically localized decoupling and/or stiffening/brute force filtering, they should be on the same schematic sheet as the device they serve. If you "run out of room", that usually means you've got too many devices on the same sheet. Time to decerealinize.

NAMING/NUMBERING CONVENTION, however, should place ALL caps on a specific rail in the same alpha-numeric series so that they are easy to aggregate from the parts list.

grr.   Got all my cabling sleeved up and tidied literally just as the new processor arrived.   New CPU installed; no boot. "Memory Error" beep code. Memory is BALLISTIX/MICRON, checked part # on MB QVL before I bought. Cleared CMOS... removed cooler, checked CPU; installed flush & tight & good coverage. Still same.  Stripped down to MB, RAM, & Processor... still no boot.    Gonna step back, go play with my son and get the eff away from this monster for a little bit. Will probably come back after the wee beasties are in bed and go through all the obvious troubleshooting step by step. I know it's something STUPID.

mnem
"You know it's bad when you annoy yourself..."  

This is why I tend to buy ex corporate workstations and laptops now. I find it too worrisome integrating a PC now. I used to build everything myself up until about 2005 but I had a bad experience which cost me £400 in the end as the retailer refused to honor their warranty and the machine was never stable enough for my requirements. I sold it and bought an HP desktop and never looked back.

Before this one the last one I built was an XP based Athalon 2400 from memory at the time it was harder to sort out bits and drivers by far. Since then I have made do with re tasked ones apart from my Asus Laptop. Overall mine was dead easy apart from the BIOS upgrade and it was always going to be a bit of a risk buying in week one of a release.

Nothing wrong with second hand ex work stations but depending on the use needed and buying someone else's potentially cooked gaming rig didn't make sense as locally they sell for 80-90% of parts pricing.

Agreed on all points IN PRINCIPLE. My daily driver is whatever I've got lying around. But that's NOT what I'm building here.

This build is SPECIFICALLY a bleeding edge gaming rig; the absolute highest on the food chain I can buy, beg, borrow or steal. I used to be one of the "Liquid Ninjas" crowd; I knew what I was getting into.

But SOMETIMES you want to have the "new wonderful" while it's still new and wonderful; for me and this build, THIS is that "Some time".

I can understand that on rubylith. Major screw ups mean start again. However no excuse not to pencil the design out first. I usually do that even today before I hit kicad. I've caught a lot of weird problems with kicad libraries that way!

Fukkin-A-Diddy! Anything worth designing must start out on the corner of a napkin!!!    The really good designer incorporates that coffee stain and smooshed blueberry!

mnem

[med6753]

I'm taking a risk here. What do you Brits think of new guy Boris? Keep it to a dull roar. 

Don't go there. Seriously. Don't go there.

Do, however, read the headlines at https://newsthump.com/ but don't bring any of that back here.

Oh boy...I guess I hit a REAL SENSITIVE spot. Nevermind. Forget I asked. I know the answer. 

Politics is always a very sensitive issue, and rightly banned on this forum.

I agree but we are amongst friends and besides.....Chump is always fair game. 

[mnementh]

The Chump Residency in a nutshell. If only it were over that quickly. 

mnem
The single best argument for birth control EVER.

[tggzzz]

I'm taking a risk here. What do you Brits think of new guy Boris? Keep it to a dull roar. 

Don't go there. Seriously. Don't go there.

Do, however, read the headlines at https://newsthump.com/ but don't bring any of that back here.

Oh boy...I guess I hit a REAL SENSITIVE spot. Nevermind. Forget I asked. I know the answer. 

Politics is always a very sensitive issue, and rightly banned on this forum.

I agree but we are amongst friends and besides.....Chump is always fair game. 

If you believe that, have a look at usenet's sci.electronics.design. Hardcore electronics from some experts, intermixed with a demonstration that "on usenet the unit of discourse is not a post but a flame".

[med6753]

I'm taking a risk here. What do you Brits think of new guy Boris? Keep it to a dull roar. 

Don't go there. Seriously. Don't go there.

Do, however, read the headlines at https://newsthump.com/ but don't bring any of that back here.

Oh boy...I guess I hit a REAL SENSITIVE spot. Nevermind. Forget I asked. I know the answer. 

Politics is always a very sensitive issue, and rightly banned on this forum.

I agree but we are amongst friends and besides.....Chump is always fair game. 

If you believe that, have a look at usenet's sci.electronics.design. Hardcore electronics from some experts, intermixed with a demonstration that "on usenet the unit of discourse is not a post but a flame".

We don't flame here and I'd be the first to call out someone who does. Oh well...enough of this. My bad.    Back out to the garage....

[bd139]

I haven't posted on Usenet since about 1998 myself but I do occasionally have a look at sci.electronics.design for a laugh as it's one of the only groups that still exists that appears to have a classical (pre eternal-September) proportion of professional bitches 

[Ice-Tea]

Largest pièce of equipment I own right now. TEA worthy indeed!

[mnementh]

Something about that reminds me of a panel of core memory... 

mnem
Yes, I AM that old.

[med6753]

Something about that reminds me of a panel of core memory... 

mnem
Yes, I AM that old.

You're just a baby. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_tube

[Ice-Tea]

Lol, yeah, I pictured it in some kind of steampunk movie. Would fit right in

[worsthorse]

I couldn't resist... I bought the hundred buck 485 on ebay and it arrived today.
...
I may just address the problems, clean it up, and see if I can sell it for a reasonable price.

Before you do that, use it and compare it with your other scopes 

Use (or make) some resistive divider Z0 probes, and look at some modern logic.

Make sure you understand just how useful the 50ohm input attenuator is for logic and RF work.

Then sell your other scope instead.

My other scope? Some many scopes, so little time around here. 

Actually, as I play with the 485, my affection for it slowly grows. 

Also, I realized today that I haven't turned on the Rigol scope in at least six months. I just keep rotating through the various Tek boxes on my storage shelf.  The 2465 has lasted the longest and has probably won a permanent place on the bench, even though it definitely needs work.

[nixiefreqq]

Out in the garage today woodworking. It is TEA related. Making more room. Pix when I have it done and installed. Most likely Saturday.

In other news. About 25 years ago rabies spread like wildfire among the raccoon population. Well it appears it has hit them again...hard. Multiple police calls of alleged rabid raccoons and the cops are shooting them. Which is a good idea. Raccoons are nocturnal. If you see one out during the day wandering aimlessly you can be 99% certain it's rabid. And if I see one I won't hesitate for one second to plug it with my .22 rifle.     

oh wow did that take me back...... to about 1989.  it was early in the morning and the ex had just started out the back door with our black lab.  she got the dog back in house and started screaming about a racoon.  looked out the window and the poor little bastard was limping on three legs and you could see the fur on his chest was all matted and wet.  grabbed a .22 and circled around to the other side of the 10 acre hayfield he had disappeared into.  when he came out of the hay by the fencerow at the top of the hill i popped him.   did him a favor i guess.

called the game warden and he said to not touch the poor little bastard until absolutely cold.  he suggested 24 hours, and showed no interest in collecting the remains or testing to see if it really was rabid.  waited two days and used a shovel to throw it into the tree line.  (did not want to see him wind up inside a bale of alfalfa)

[bd139]

Also, I realized today that I haven't turned on the Rigol scope in at least six months. I just keep rotating through the various Tek boxes on my storage shelf.  The 2465 has lasted the longest and has probably won a permanent place on the bench, even though it definitely needs work.

This is the same problem I have. Perhaps 99% of the time any old scope will solve the problem I’m working on. Is it worth hanging onto a scope for the 1% cases or should I just work around them? A lot of people, myself historically, found digital scopes to be out of reach thus fostering thought and workarounds to problems and learning things rather than relying on some convenient automatic function.

The Rigol AWG, now cracked to 60MHs, was a far far better investment from a utility and return perspective.

[tggzzz]

I couldn't resist... I bought the hundred buck 485 on ebay and it arrived today.
...
I may just address the problems, clean it up, and see if I can sell it for a reasonable price.

Before you do that, use it and compare it with your other scopes 

Use (or make) some resistive divider Z0 probes, and look at some modern logic.

Make sure you understand just how useful the 50ohm input attenuator is for logic and RF work.

Then sell your other scope instead.

My other scope? Some many scopes, so little time around here. 

Actually, as I play with the 485, my affection for it slowly grows. 

Also, I realized today that I haven't turned on the Rigol scope in at least six months. I just keep rotating through the various Tek boxes on my storage shelf.  The 2465 has lasted the longest and has probably won a permanent place on the bench, even though it definitely needs work.

Yes, well, um.

I'm keeping a 485, a 2465, a Digilent Analog Discovery, a LeCroy 400MHz DSO, and an HP1740 just because.
The 2445B, 465, 2465, are going (honest).

[tggzzz]

I haven't posted on Usenet since about 1998 myself but I do occasionally have a look at sci.electronics.design for a laugh as it's one of the only groups that still exists that appears to have a classical (pre eternal-September) proportion of professional bitches 

Winfield Hill, Phil Hobbs and John Larkin (when he sticks to electronics) are good value.

Besides there are previews of TAoE X-Chapters, and if you know where to look, TAoE III itself

[Specmaster]

I'm taking a risk here. What do you Brits think of new guy Boris? Keep it to a dull roar. 

Don't go there. Seriously. Don't go there.

Do, however, read the headlines at https://newsthump.com/ but don't bring any of that back here.

Oh boy...I guess I hit a REAL SENSITIVE spot. Nevermind. Forget I asked. I know the answer. 

Lets put it this way, everywhere he goes, the public are booing him, so while he may be the Tories favourite, the general public think otherwise.

[bd139]

Well I've got a bundle of hell on my hands with this Heathkit VTVM. The original "builder" (fuckerizer) did a poor job of this one. Some highlights:

Got my new 12AU7 delivered by hand 

So out goes the CHunts capacitor...



Then I smell a turd, so I've stripped the board out of it for repair / rekitting ...

Ugh look at that wonky ass soldering and also the wax spooge over everything. Yeah thanks for that whoever decided to try and seal the damn pot with it ffs.



And what do I find underneath. Yes the numpty didn't even trim the effing leads on the cap and look at that awful shit soldering



So this one is being rekitted properly 

[mnementh]

I haven't posted on Usenet since about 1998 myself but I do occasionally have a look at sci.electronics.design for a laugh as it's one of the only groups that still exists that appears to have a classical (pre eternal-September) proportion of professional bitches 

Winfield Hill, Phil Hobbs and John Larkin (when he sticks to electronics) are good value.

Besides there are previews of TAoE X-Chapters, and if you know where to look, TAoE III itself

*peeks in* Ummm... yup.

40 50 years of recycled BS in the back corner, antisocial rants, flamebait & acrimony licquors all distilling down into a fine burgundy, and the ever-present scent of "was/not-was" permeating the air, thick as cigar smoke at a Poker Rally. 

mnem
"Well, there's my dose of THAT for the next few years..."

[xrunner]

    

That's a Three-WTFer!

And what do I find underneath. Yes the numpty didn't even trim the effing leads on the cap and look at that awful shit soldering

[tggzzz]

I haven't posted on Usenet since about 1998 myself but I do occasionally have a look at sci.electronics.design for a laugh as it's one of the only groups that still exists that appears to have a classical (pre eternal-September) proportion of professional bitches 

Winfield Hill, Phil Hobbs and John Larkin (when he sticks to electronics) are good value.

Besides there are previews of TAoE X-Chapters, and if you know where to look, TAoE III itself

*peeks in* Ummm... yup.

40 50 years of recycled BS in the back corner, antisocial rants, flamebait & acrimony licquors all distilling down into a fine burgundy, and the ever-present scent of "was/not-was" permeating the air, thick as cigar smoke at a Poker Rally. 

mnem
"Well, there's my dose of THAT for the next few years..."

'Tis worth reading my post to which bd responded.

s.e.d. is a "take no prisoners" domain where only the strong and stupid exist and survive. But it can be fun in a strange way, and there are rewards.

[mnementh]

I am no stranger to this domain; I grew up on usenet, dialing into various BBSes that hosted a portal long before there was such a thing as an ISP. It is arguable I learned my manners there. I lost interest... or maybe ran out of patience... long before AssholesOnLine turned it from the hangout of a disturbingly myopic band of academics and uber-nerds into the post-apocalyptic wasteland it is now. I peek in to it and several others every once in a while, just for auld lang syne.

I also know viscerally and intimately that usenet is ALL still a timesink more insidious and consuming than this place, Furkbook, Twitt and Poonterest combined.  But, at least it's not Reddit.

mnem
*lrrking since the FIRST Bush Administration*

[bd139]

Well that was a productive evening. I think. EVERY damn resistor in that VTVM other than the trimmers and the 22M ones had drifted way out of spec. Also the caps in it were cracked and looking iffy so I have pulled and chucked them

Also whoever soldered the light bulb holder on the board lifted both of the pads off and it was danging. I have removed ALL of the resistors and stuffed with ones I have in stock. Need to order some more. Have used 0.8mm thick CIF single-sided FR4 to make two new pads for the light bulb holder "manhattan style" and eviscerated all the wax gunk over everything. So off to RS ... project shelved for a few days now.

Edit: Here's what remains of the board at this time

[mnementh]

Dammitt NewEgg... while looking over the MB for any visible faults I discover that it is not a new MB, but a repackaged customer return (or maybe some reviewer's preview board reinjected back into the stream); it never had the socket cover and the SSD heatsink has imprints on it from someone else's build, and I can see thermal paste residue on the CPU socket, where my build has only ever had the stock cooler on it with its printed-on compound. Looking back over everything, I notice that neither the box or baggie inside was actually sealed; and that the barcode label has been ripped off and a generic one from a portable labeler slapped on the box.

Duck me... it's going back and I'm gonna buy from someone else.

mnem
Suck a duck, Murphy.

[med6753]

Well that was a productive evening. I think. EVERY damn resistor in that VTVM other than the trimmers and the 22M ones had drifted way out of spec. Also the caps in it were cracked and looking iffy so I have pulled and chucked them

Also whoever soldered the light bulb holder on the board lifted both of the pads off and it was danging. I have removed ALL of the resistors and stuffed with ones I have in stock. Need to order some more. Have used 0.8mm thick CIF single-sided FR4 to make two new pads for the light bulb holder "manhattan style" and eviscerated all the wax gunk over everything. So off to RS ... project shelved for a few days now.

Edit: Here's what remains of the board at this time

Sell me the meter and your troubles and aggravation with that POS will be over. 

[bd139]

LMAO I am tempted at the moment 

Enjoyment = Zero so far. Just disappointment. Decided “no more bloody heathkits” lol

Postage to US is $22