Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[beanflying]

Topped out at ovet 41 degrees C today. Not even sure it was worth the suffering to improve the TE budget 

Any North Americans want to borrow some heat 

[bd139]

That looks rather good. Although I’m not sure I could cope with the additional heat from the barbecue

Personally I’m a believer in being cold all the time. Got a bit hot here last year (topped 30 a couple of times) so we went to Switzerland to cool off and got snowed into the hotel for two days with some Swiss nationalists. They were “interesting”. If I didn’t have some Swiss blood in me, I’d probably have been shot or something.

[Specmaster]

Yep, much easier to warm up then it is to cool down and money saved on heating is more for TEA🤠

[bd139]

The TEA is the heating.

[mnementh]

I see no reason you couldn't mod the handle with a different silicone cable and a tactile switch to make the "Boost" button a little more intuitive to use.


This is the joy of the MetCal/Thermaltronics SmartHeat system; it senses the shift in loading instantly on contact with the work and increases power to the inductive coil, without having to wait for the "tip cools down, sensor senses change in temp, demand more heat" part of the loop.

Not sure, but perhaps the whole system qualifies as an electro-chemical PID controller...


mnem
This sh** makes my brain hurt. 

I'm not familiar with the system, but from watching a clip it looks like tips are a single temperature only?

Yes; they work by using high-frequency current to inductively heat a special alloy slug to its curie point, which intrinsically regulates the tip temperature. The power supply monitors the HF, and whenever the tip touches anything metal it is able to instantly sense the increased loading and applies more current. In short, there's no need to "turn up the heat" for larger work; it does it for you whenever you need it.

Topped out at ovet 41 degrees C today. Not even sure it was worth the suffering to improve the TE budget 

Any North Americans want to borrow some heat 

Naah... it's a welcome break from the usual hot & sticky of Tejas. But I'll have some of that fatback & eggz, pleaze. Yum. 


mnem
Got any coffee?

[SkyMaster]

Topped out at over 41 degrees C today. ...

Any North Americans want to borrow some heat 

It is -23°C in Montreal, this is a 64° difference 

 

[bitseeker]

-23°C I thought Winnipeg (a.k.a., Winterpeg) was cold. I guess you're in the freeze that the Eastern US is also experiencing.

[bd139]

I’m moving to Canada. I want to move somewhere I can stab someone with my own piss.

[bitseeker]

And there's more TEA.

[tggzzz]

I’m moving to Canada. I want to move somewhere I can stab someone with my own piss.

Ah yes, the canonical "disappearing murder weapon" beloved of crime fiction writers

[cncjerry]

I think I made a mistake and I'm only half done...

I decided to take over my wife's office in the lower level of my house.  She's retired and doesn't need the space.  My equipment had been spread around the house in three areas.  So now I am bringing it all together for the first time. 

What should I do with 6 spectrum analyzers, three of which are HP 856x?  I have too many frequency counters to count.  Two GPSDO's and I don't know how many HP voltmeters.   This is borderline crazy and I'm sure I will get called on it once the family sees it in one place.

I think I need to shed some gear...

Jerry

[tautech]

I think I made a mistake and I'm only half done...

I decided to take over my wife's office in the lower level of my house.  She's retired and doesn't need the space.  My equipment had been spread around the house in three areas.  So now I am bringing it all together for the first time. 

What should I do with 6 spectrum analyzers, three of which are HP 856x?  I have too many frequency counters to count.  Two GPSDO's and I don't know how many HP voltmeters.   This is borderline crazy and I'm sure I will get called on it once the family sees it in one place.

I think I need to shed some gear...

Jerry

Double side lock the door.
Drop sheets covering your 'special' gear from prying eyes.
Label some equipment 'borrowed' or 'under repair'. 

If and 'when' ever found out, ask to examine shoe and handbag collections. 

[mnementh]

My favorite was the Alfred Hitchcock yarn about the wife who murdered her cheating husband with a frozen leg of lamb, then cooked and fed said murder weapon to the detectives investigating the case. 

17°C here in Houston right now... -18°C back home in the Finger Lakes region of New York.

Two nights ago, temp was -18°C here.

Oh yeah; climate change is just an imaginary bogeyman to stop American business from making the profits they deserve... 

I think I made a mistake and I'm only half done...

I decided to take over my wife's office in the lower level of my house.  She's retired and doesn't need the space.  My equipment had been spread around the house in three areas.  So now I am bringing it all together for the first time. 

What should I do with 6 spectrum analyzers, three of which are HP 856x?  I have too many frequency counters to count.  Two GPSDO's and I don't know how many HP voltmeters.   This is borderline crazy and I'm sure I will get called on it once the family sees it in one place.

I think I need to shed some gear...

Jerry

Shed my way! I could use a good bench meter... been relying on an old Fluke 87 and Sperry DM-6450 as my "reference" meters for far too long... and the only spectrum analyzer I have is the software approximation included in my hacked DS1054Z.

Of course, then I'll need to shed some gear myself; probably will need to find a new home for the Tek 454 I've been stubbing my toe on for months now...

Double side lock the door.
Drop sheets covering your 'special' gear from prying eyes.
Label some equipment 'borrowed' or 'under repair'. 

If and 'when' ever found out, ask to examine shoe and handbag collections. 

Yeeeowch... now THAT kind of skulduggery would definitely contravene the Bicameral Disarmament Treaty of 2005 (Otherwise known as our Marriage Certificate ) and would serve to seriously piss off my most favorite "enabler/supplier". 

That dilemma of "Do I want to be right, or do I want to be happy?" always lands on the "Happy" side for me/us. Nope... not worth it, at least for me.   

mnem
Science is not a liberal conspiracy.

[Specmaster]

I’m moving to Canada. I want to move somewhere I can stab someone with my own piss.

Ah yes, the canonical "disappearing murder weapon" beloved of crime fiction writers

Not if the big freeze continues.

[Specmaster]

I’m moving to Canada. I want to move somewhere I can stab someone with my own piss.

Good luck breaking it off in those temperatures 

[tggzzz]

I think I made a mistake and I'm only half done...

I decided to take over my wife's office in the lower level of my house.  She's retired and doesn't need the space.  My equipment had been spread around the house in three areas.  So now I am bringing it all together for the first time. 

What should I do with 6 spectrum analyzers, three of which are HP 856x?  I have too many frequency counters to count.  Two GPSDO's and I don't know how many HP voltmeters.   This is borderline crazy and I'm sure I will get called on it once the family sees it in one place.

Double-depth shelves.
Priest hole, or its modern incarnation, a false partition/stud wall.

Or just ask us nicely

[bitseeker]

I think I made a mistake and I'm only half done...

I decided to take over my wife's office in the lower level of my house.  She's retired and doesn't need the space.  My equipment had been spread around the house in three areas.  So now I am bringing it all together for the first time. 

What should I do with 6 spectrum analyzers, three of which are HP 856x?  I have too many frequency counters to count.  Two GPSDO's and I don't know how many HP voltmeters.   This is borderline crazy and I'm sure I will get called on it once the family sees it in one place.

Double-depth shelves.

Yes, that's what I was about to say. Have the "backup" gear behind the active.

[eternalpurple]

My God...............I just started getting into electronics as a way to relieve GAS (Guitar acquisition syndrome).  Is there to be no rest?

[tggzzz]

My God...............I just started getting into electronics as a way to relieve GAS (Guitar acquisition syndrome).  Is there to be no rest?

I suspect they are mutually reinforcing. There is rest, but it comes too soon and is too permanent.

[Specmaster]

Another great British invention and produced product by AIM TTi Ltd.


TTi do make some excellent kit and a comprehensive product range https://www.aimtti.com/

[bd139]

Big TTi fan here. Good power supplies and function generators too.

[Specmaster]

Yep, I'm converted as well now. I always did have a soft spot for them as being a British company as well, and also of course, although you're not quite as a big a fan, the connection with Sinclair, yes he did cut corners, but we do owe a lot to him because he managed to introduce so many things to the masses that were previously the domain of the more well heeled part of the population 

[VK5RC]

I like the borrowed or broken strategy, SWMBO and I have a 'don't ask, don't tell' strategy, me re her shoes /handbag / lululemon running gear and her re my test /ham gear.
Much nicer day here in Adelaide,  25C. Yesterday minimum 29,  max 40C, but only 6% humidity, some of the bitumen was 'melting'. Air conditioning is a life saver!

[cncjerry]

I think I made a mistake and I'm only half done...

I decided to take over my wife's office in the lower level of my house.  She's retired and doesn't need the space.  My equipment had been spread around the house in three areas.  So now I am bringing it all together for the first time. 

What should I do with 6 spectrum analyzers, three of which are HP 856x?  I have too many frequency counters to count.  Two GPSDO's and I don't know how many HP voltmeters.   This is borderline crazy and I'm sure I will get called on it once the family sees it in one place.

Double-depth shelves.
Priest hole, or its modern incarnation, a false partition/stud wall.

Or just ask us nicely

I'm thinking of putting a rack in front of my desk so the upper equipment is turned towards me and the lower rack's facing into the  room.  I'll have to reach a little across the desk but I'll have a lot of work space without equipment on the desk.  I do a lot of RF work so i was thinking of putting a spectrum analyzer right even with the desk and a scope or signal analyzer above it.  I'm going to setup another area dedicated to just phase and frequency measurement. And the last rack will be all voltage and power related.  I'm going to drape something over it and close the shades, lock the doors and hope for the best.

Pictures to come.

Jerry

[Cubdriver]

Another great British invention and produced product by AIM TTi Ltd.


TTi do make some excellent kit and a comprehensive product range https://www.aimtti.com/

That's one that's been on my wishlist for a while now...  ...one of these days...  Thanks for reminding me.      

 

-Pat