Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Saskia]

No discord or anything else for a while. Massive rainstorm, pulled lead flashing away from wall, rainwater flooded through electric distribution box. No electric until flashing fixed. Housing Association May put us up in a hotel until power etc is resolved, which could be Wednesday as the electrics need to dry out first and that can’t happen till house is water tight again. As we have 2 cats hotel not really an option, besides no one here feels safe with the current state of affairs in a hotel, so staying put, long nights in bed, basically going back in time and life style dictated by the available light FFS

hope this gets resolved quickly without too much hassle and not too much discomfort.

[bd139]

No discord or anything else for a while. Massive rainstorm, pulled lead flashing away from wall, rainwater flooded through electric distribution box. No electric until flashing fixed. Housing Association May put us up in a hotel until power etc is resolved, which could be Wednesday as the electrics need to dry out first and that can’t happen till house is water tight again. As we have 2 cats hotel not really an option, besides no one here feels safe with the current state of affairs in a hotel, so staying put, long nights in bed, basically going back in time and life style dictated by the available light FFS

hope this gets resolved quickly without too much hassle and not too much discomfort.

Damn i missed that post. Hope you get sorted Specmaster. Complete nightmare 

[bd139]

Yeah. Always does.

3DP annoying me today. On attempt 5 at printing a knob. Got angle of the grub screw hole wrong and one filament jam  . At least the turnaround isn't 4 weeks to China on each attempt.

Edit: anyone know a legit drop shipper for NanoVNA v2 in Europe? If not I'll order one off Tindie and get mugged 

How do you get the angle wrong...?  Fusion is set up to literally try and keep you from making such mistakes.

They haven't released the 4" version yet, so I'm waiting til after I actually have a new address. 

mnem
*toddles off to watch some Linus vids; this place is Deadsville*

I fucked it up because I didn't measure it 

Will wait for 4" version as well then  . Want to play with 2.4GHz antennas.

[mnementh]

https://steelseries.com/gaming-keyboards/apex-pro

Adjustable keys... CNC aluminum chassis... programmable everything, including RGB/volume/key sensitivity control thumbwheel encoder... Hmmmm...

mnem
 

[bd139]

And sticky uppy keytops made by the lowest bidder which will get knocked off half way through a beat down in the middle of GTA V 

[mnementh]

Wow... way to just look for things to hate, ya grinchy ol' Ferengi bastahd. And WTF are you talking about, sticky-uppy keycaps...? You mean like every fucking Cherry switch ever made...? 



I knew I'd seen this before; Linus got really excited about it at last year's CEX. SteelSeries has earned quite a good rep over the last decade or so... and this is some real innovation.

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Just for you, bd. 

mnem
*agitating-ily*

[bd139]

Wow... way to just look for things to hate, ya grinchy ol' Ferengi bastahd. And WTF are you talking about, sticky-uppy keycaps...? You mean like every fucking Cherry switch ever made...? 



I knew I'd seen this before; Linus got really excited about it at last year's CEX. SteelSeries has earned quite a good rep over the last decade or so... and this is some real innovation.

mnem
 

A picture says a thousand words, so I made one:

[Cerebus]

Brunel Tech in Bristol while not connected to the university, was used outdoor scenes of the early seasons of BBC's "Casualty". They even used the aiviation departments Trident for an aircrash scene. Pre reality TV and Go-Pros they did some pretty good accident scenes. For major ones they actually involved the emergency services and made it training excercise. They get realistic scenes and the emergency services got realistic training for free.

I used to know a lass that did makeup on Causality - friend of a friend who was into live action role playing games. If you wanted anatomically accurate mangled flesh she was your go-to gal. Once went to a horror themed fancy dress party that she was also at; she quite put some people off their sausage rolls. I've lost track of her over the years, don't know where she is now.

[mansaxel]

I've lost track of her over the years, don't know where she is now.

Locked up in an ER while they try to find out why the wounds won't heal.

[Saskia]

oh fuck. Fingers crossed. Hope this gets resolved fast.

[Cerebus]

Ok back to more normal programming, here is today's odd eBay item, I mean  , what kind of weed are these guys smoking, I mean this guy clearly knows his stuff.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224118744807?

Description says:

As a seller I only leave feedback after I have received it, thank you.

This is an instant red flag for me on any eBay listing and makes it extremely unlikely I would buy an item from this seller, or any seller that says this.  It tells me that the seller knows they are doing things that might result in negative feedback so they are going to hold their feedback so they can retaliate with negative feedback if they are given a negative.  As a buyer, when I've selected a seller's item and paid the fee promptly I've done my part of the transaction and should receive positive feedback at that point.
And I've sold more items on eBay than I've ever bought and I've always left feedback for the buyer immediately on their payment.

Sellers can no longer leave negative feedback for sellers, at least on ebay UK

I'm fairly sure that isn't what you meant to write. I presume one of those "sellers" is meant to be "buyers"?

[Cerebus]

No discord or anything else for a while. Massive rainstorm, pulled lead flashing away from wall, rainwater flooded through electric distribution box. No electric until flashing fixed. Housing Association May put us up in a hotel until power etc is resolved, which could be Wednesday as the electrics need to dry out first and that can’t happen till house is water tight again. As we have 2 cats hotel not really an option, besides no one here feels safe with the current state of affairs in a hotel, so staying put, long nights in bed, basically going back in time and life style dictated by the available light FFS

hope this gets resolved quickly without too much hassle and not too much discomfort.

Damn i missed that post. Hope you get sorted Specmaster. Complete nightmare 

Yeah, me too - missed it I meant.

Given that we've now substituted > 80% humidity for last week's heat the very last thing I'd want at the moment is puddles of water in the house so specmaster has my sympathies.

[Cerebus]

Wow... way to just look for things to hate, ya grinchy ol' Ferengi bastahd. And WTF are you talking about, sticky-uppy keycaps...? You mean like every fucking Cherry switch ever made...? 



I knew I'd seen this before; Linus got really excited about it at last year's CEX. SteelSeries has earned quite a good rep over the last decade or so... and this is some real innovation.

mnem
 

Which bit are you saying is innovative? Using hall effect sensors or having variable thresholds for them? The hall effect bit certainly isn't new, hall effect keyboards have been around for at least 45 years and bloody expensive too which has usually limited their use to 'wash down' scenarios where their ability to be properly sealed is the big selling point. The variable threshold bit may well be genuinely innovative, I don't recall seeing it before.

[mnementh]

Yeah, C... the variable depth trigger is what I was talking about. We've had reed-switch waterproof keyboards since the dawn of time too.

A picture says a thousand words, so I made one:   

Uhhh.... yeah. That's kindof required when you're trying to make a variable-throw KB with "up to" 4.5mm travel. Function is more important than appearance here; the CNC aluminum chassis handles the BEING kewl part. 

If you're suggesting it should be made with the switches recessed so the keys go into pockets, all I can say is "Ewwww... crumb-magnet wells of Doom".

I'm curious if they've managed some form of active tactile feedback like Linus alluded to in the CEX article... Maybe coils to vibrate the magnets in the keys...?

mnem
 

[Specmaster]

OK, quick update. No hotel, no electric last night, torches for everything, had to leave fridges and freezers shut for fear of thawing out everything. Female electrician came yesterday and declared that the consumer unit was a wash with water and switched all power off. She spoke with the manager about trying to stop the water coming in which happened today after I rang him. Contractor came out and replaced the lead leashing and resealed into the brickwork with some special silicon he had after I told him that within 60 minutes there was more rain coming and it would was out any mortar he used. Within minutes of him finished it pissed down again so that was good. I chased the manager and said about someone coming to check the electrics, which would not be happening until tomorrow afternoon. I told him that I'm a retired electrical engineer and that IMO it should be safe after 24 hours of no more water ingress. So he gave me the go ahead to inspect it.

I did so, dry as a dead dingos donger, so I switched it all back on again and told him it was fine. They are still sending someone tomorrow to satisfy themselves, wasting more money.

Just have to let the freezers chill down and then tomorrow retrieve all the food from family members freezers and bring back home again

[mnementh]

Good news.  The frozen-food shuffle is one of the worst PITAs of this modern life; have done it myself a time or three... that I can remember. Also had me a few "Whole neighborhood is invited" BBQs over the years... LOL 

I missed the original post too; dang. 

I just got a 2-hour taste of that last week; no idea how I'd manage for a week or even a day. Would be buying a genset and/or running a extension to the neighbor's fo sho. No CPAP=no sleep for the ol' fat bastahd dwagon.

Best of luck my friend. Was wishing I could put y'all up, but we're losing our minds over here already. We have to be out by the 31st and we STILL don't have a signed lease yet. 

mnem
*looks skyward* "Come on Ifni... you can do better..."

[med6753]

OK, quick update. No hotel, no electric last night, torches for everything, had to leave fridges and freezers shut for fear of thawing out everything. Female electrician came yesterday and declared that the consumer unit was a wash with water and switched all power off. She spoke with the manager about trying to stop the water coming in which happened today after I rang him. Contractor came out and replaced the lead leashing and resealed into the brickwork with some special silicon he had after I told him that within 60 minutes there was more rain coming and it would was out any mortar he used. Within minutes of him finished it pissed down again so that was good. I chased the manager and said about someone coming to check the electrics, which would not be happening until tomorrow afternoon. I told him that I'm a retired electrical engineer and that IMO it should be safe after 24 hours of no more water ingress. So he gave me the go ahead to inspect it.

I did so, dry as a dead dingos donger, so I switched it all back on again and told him it was fine. They are still sending someone tomorrow to satisfy themselves, wasting more money.

Just have to let the freezers chill down and then tomorrow retrieve all the food from family members freezers and bring back home again

That's good news. But since the electrics got wet you might want to go back after about 2 weeks or so and check it again just to make sure no corrosion resulted from the soaking. If none then I would be satisfied that all is well. 

[med6753]

Saskia, how is hubby doing? Is he chasing you around the hospital room yet? 

Seriously, hope all is well.

[Saskia]

Hi Med,

thanks for asking.

actually they already threw him out and he is currently watching big bang theory and similar easy to swallow stuff. apparently they caught the infarct right when it started (the proteins indicating demise of heart tissue just accumulating and breaching the "official" standards of care limits) and threw him onto the table immediately where he got yet another stent.
Then they monitored him on ICU, where the indicators went back to normal over the week end.
They initiated medical rehab and put him on sick leave. Tomorrow he is to report to his day to day doctor who will give him a transfer to the cardiologist for follow up.


We'll see how it goes.

[Specmaster]

Good news.  The frozen-food shuffle is one of the worst PITAs of this modern life; have done it myself a time or three... that I can remember. Also had me a few "Whole neighborhood is invited" BBQs over the years... LOL 

I missed the original post too; dang. 

I just got a 2-hour taste of that last week; no idea how I'd manage for a week or even a day. Would be buying a genset and/or running a extension to the neighbor's fo sho. No CPAP=no sleep for the ol' fat bastahd dwagon.

Best of luck my friend. Was wishing I could put y'all up, but we're losing our minds over here already. We have to be out by the 31st and we STILL don't have a signed lease yet. 

mnem
*looks skyward* "Come on Ifni... you can do better..."

Thanks old buddy, holy shit balls you guys have really got to get your fingers out, the 31st is sure coming head-on like a bastard run away freight train. Whats if the 31st comes and you still have nowhere, more stuff put into storage and slum it in a 2 bit hotel somewhere? Just with the gear you have in storage already and the gear you currently have, you must be looking at a converted warehouse of something to take it all 

[Specmaster]

Yeah. Always does.

3DP annoying me today. On attempt 5 at printing a knob. Got angle of the grub screw hole wrong and one filament jam  . At least the turnaround isn't 4 weeks to China on each attempt.

Edit: anyone know a legit drop shipper for NanoVNA v2 in Europe? If not I'll order one off Tindie and get mugged 

How do you get the angle wrong...?  Fusion is set up to literally try and keep you from making such mistakes.

They haven't released the 4" version yet, so I'm waiting til after I actually have a new address. 

mnem
*toddles off to watch some Linus vids; this place is Deadsville*

I fucked it up because I didn't measure it 

Will wait for 4" version as well then  . Want to play with 2.4GHz antennas.

Wait.. 2.4 GHz antennas... thats... thats err RF stuff isn't it  thats the stuff you said you was done with, well 2 metre band to more accurate, but it's still RF 

[bd139]

I did note that I was done with ham radio not RF full stop. This is 2.4GHz ISM for remote sensing. Trying to work out how to make 2.4Ghz patch antennas on shitty FR4 substrate from china.

Glad to hear your house situation has declined in shittyness

[Saskia]

been subjecting my small audio server to a whole lot of grief. I have ripped about 80 or so CDs by now (lossless) using the internal plus an external ancient USB drive. Apparently there is still a race condition when both drives want to access the database simultaneously to write title information and such.

Apart from that it is very stable, even though the internal temperature is approaching 50 degrees.

Seems to me that 2 simultaneous threads for ripping stuff plus the constant thermal load due to the blueray running are taking some toll.

Anyway.

It's running fine so far and playing back some rock radio while doing that ripping.

[Specmaster]

I did note that I was done with ham radio not RF full stop. This is 2.4GHz ISM for remote sensing. Trying to work out how to make 2.4Ghz patch antennas on shitty FR4 substrate from china.

Glad to hear your house situation has declined in shittyness

OK