Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[neo]

Anyone here know what it means when a 3456A displays FFFFFF F

It previously worked and i just now changed the caps   

[beanflying]

What do you think of that magnifying visor Bean ?
Is that the one with ~6 lenses ?

Yep cheap and nasty $12-15 with 6 lenses and a stupid LED light. The Visor and lenses are great and work well in conjunction with my reading glasses the light part of it is in the bin and adds pointless/useless weight. 1.5 for general soldering and 2.5 for fine SMD suits me. Maybe the others for inspection work might be of some use 

Had my first few goes at using my DIYHK based camera to solder with in the last week which worked ok but the visor/glasses is easier at this stage. Extra dedicated lighting should help as will more practice with the camera option.

[Specmaster]

Anyone here know what it means when a 3456A displays FFFFFF F

It previously worked and i just now changed the caps   

Might be Overload?

Retrace your steps and check each step and you'll probably find the reason for it.

[neo]

Anyone here know what it means when a 3456A displays FFFFFF F

It previously worked and i just now changed the caps   

Might be Overload?

Well it kinda was. I had a capacitor installed backwards. 

Please stone me to death, but in my defense it was installed correctly, ground to ground plane, they just meant for it to be backwards.

^{i am so STUPID!}

EDIT: Just a note, this little mistake cost me 7 bucks time you account for shipping.

[tautech]

What do you think of that magnifying visor Bean ?
Is that the one with ~6 lenses ?

Yep cheap and nasty $12-15 with 6 lenses and a stupid LED light. The Visor and lenses are great and work well in conjunction with my reading glasses the light part of it is in the bin and adds pointless/useless weight. 1.5 for general soldering and 2.5 for fine SMD suits me. Maybe the others for inspection work might be of some use 

Had my first few goes at using my DIYHK based camera to solder with in the last week which worked ok but the visor/glasses is easier at this stage. Extra dedicated lighting should help as will more practice with the camera option.

Thanks.
I got this same pair for Xmas from the 'ol girl. She reckoned they look flashier than my old set from Jaycar but WTF, this ain't no fashion show !
Yeah the LED light makes them a bit heavy so they're still in their box inside with my 'good' gear rather than outside in my hovel of a mess !
At least she can see I'm looking after them ! 

[mtdoc]

Screw the tea, let’s have some expresso. Damn, that machine will increase lab productivity.

So you’re that kind of bean?

[beanflying]

Screw the tea, let’s have some expresso. Damn, that machine will increase lab productivity.

So you’re that kind of bean?

Espresso not Expresso or Exxpresso 

I also do Siphon or Pourover brews 

Looking the other way on the bench. 

[Specmaster]

Screw the tea, let’s have some expresso. Damn, that machine will increase lab productivity.

So you’re that kind of bean?

He's Mr Bean🤣

[tautech]

So you’re that kind of bean?

He's been flying on beans !
To much will do that to ya ! 

[mtdoc]

Espresso not Expresso or Exxpresso 

Essactly! 

[tggzzz]

What do you think of that magnifying visor Bean ?
Is that the one with ~6 lenses ?

Yep cheap and nasty $12-15 with 6 lenses and a stupid LED light. The Visor and lenses are great and work well in conjunction with my reading glasses the light part of it is in the bin and adds pointless/useless weight. 1.5 for general soldering and 2.5 for fine SMD suits me. Maybe the others for inspection work might be of some use 

That's my experience too, but there is the general caveat that anything like this has to be personal preference. The visor's cheapness means that a suck-it-and-see approach is viable, cf an expensive microscope.

The visor also works well at any orientation, e.g. when peering into the guts of some test equipment you are fettling with.

[bd139]

Headband ones are great. Just buy a quality one and you're done. Anything that isn't attached to you means you have to be a contortionist to see what you need. I inherited one of these from my father that he bought in about 1985. Still going strong and still exactly the same product! https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/headband-magnifiers/0606989/

[beanflying]

Staring into uncomfortable fixed eyepieces has little to zero appeal to me and my budget doesn't run to a Mantis so as part of my aging eye and shrinking component issues I have dropped the monitor right down to the bench and angled it up a little to go with the camera.

Current bench lights are 36W (3.6M) of LED strip behind me and used in the following shot 2x 7W LED flexible spots directly above. I am adding a couple of 10W PWM lamps to the camera/soldering stand.

I still suspect that more light and the headset will win out for most jobs. 

[Ero-Shan]

As I really need to tidy up my lab, I finally sorted screws and nuts for a few hours ... That would be much easier if there weren't sizes/threads that are very similar but just not the same, which has you try each of them, you can't just look and tell ...

Yes, separating M2.5 from the old M2.6 can be slightly tiring, as you need a long overlap to notice it's not really fitting. But all others? Ok, some 2.3 could look slightly fatter or slimmer and might go as M2 or 2.5, but not many.

Unless, of course...

It's more like M3 and M3.05. It's also not coarse vs. fine threads or metric vs. UNC/UNF. Just a total mess. I finally gave up and made a drawer "unidentified". Of course they might just as well been thrown in the (metal, we Germans seperate!) trash, but sure enough I'd need them next week, then. 

[Cerebus]

Anyone here know what it means when a 3456A displays FFFFFF F

Probably the same as me when I say F,F,F,F,F,F,F,Fu...

But seriously, looks like something all stuck to ones.

[Cerebus]

... when peering into the guts of some test equipment you are fettling with.

Fettling - a proper English word, and I know of what I speak as SWMBO is a potter and my ex is the granddaughter of a sagger maker's bottom knocker.

[Ero-Shan]

This time I've got a little picture puzzle that I just couldn't resist to do. Although my back will hurt for weeks and I'll probably get a hematoma (was donating blood this morning, and heavy lifting is not recommended shortly afterwards). It's not as pretty as I wanted it to be, but I'm not all that pretty, either.



The kayak is actually a 'T-Canyon', often affectionately called "Teekännchen", which in turn translates to 'small tea can'.

I like puns, especially the bad ones. 

[Cerebus]

The kayak is actually a 'T-Canyon', often affectionately called "Teekännchen", which in turn translates to 'small tea can'.

I thought that German grammar required that the word "kännchen" was always immediately followed by "mit Kuchen"?

[Specmaster]

Boats don't need anchors when out of the water 

[tautech]

Boats don't need anchors when out of the water 

They do in strong winds !

Saw one tied short and still in a lake get flipped 180^o and dumped up onto the grass upside down.    Still tied short !
Well it was overnight and we were in a tent not 50m away. 

[Specmaster]

Boats don't need anchors when out of the water 

They do in strong winds !

Saw one tied short and still in a lake get flipped 180^o and dumped up onto the grass upside down.    Still tied short !
Well it was overnight and we were in a tent not 50m away. 

Yep folks its true, strange things happen in Kiwi land 

[tautech]

Boats don't need anchors when out of the water 

They do in strong winds !

Saw one tied short and still in a lake get flipped 180^o and dumped up onto the grass upside down.    Still tied short !
Well it was overnight and we were in a tent not 50m away. 

Yep folks its true, strange things happen in Kiwi land 

Strange ? It was waaaay past strange !

We even knew a blow was coming but didn't expect the battering we got !
Lucky the campsite was tucked against dense bush at the foot of a steep face otherwise we'd have blown away too.
My kids slept threw it  but my buddy and I were pretty concerned it would all end bad however we knew where the tent was was amazingly sheltered whereas 30m either way got a pounding from the roaring....yes roaring and swirling winds for most of the night. The racket was unbelievable as wave after wave of gales swept down the valley. Never seen the likes of it and don't want to again !

Next day we carried on trout fishing like nothing had ever happened....after righting the boat !

If the dropped pin shows up, that's where we were.
https://www.google.co.nz/maps/dir//-38.7212466,177.0565183/@-38.609774,176.7577729,8.75z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0

Yep, that works !

[mnementh]

Rare occasion. Actually going to make/breadboard something on a clean bench for the first time since 

Homemade TEA with 'special ICs' oscillators and maybe LED'S

Pay no attention to the hulking mounds of GKWA just out of the camera's FOV... 

No, seriously... congratulations. You're doing better than I've managed in months. 

What do you think of that magnifying visor Bean ?
Is that the one with ~6 lenses ?

No further comment. 

Screw the tea, let’s have some expresso. Damn, that machine will increase lab productivity.

So you’re that kind of bean?

Espresso not Expresso or Exxpresso 

I also do Siphon or Pourover brews 

Looking the other way on the bench. 

I SAID PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE HULKING MOUNDS!!! 

Seriously... that pic is giving me bad movie flashbacks to that scene in Kingsmen 2; now there's 2 1/2 hours of my life I'll never get back. THANKS FOR HELPING ME RELIVE IT!!! 

Headband ones are great. Just buy a quality one and you're done. Anything that isn't attached to you means you have to be a contortionist to see what you need. I inherited one of these from my father that he bought in about 1985. Still going strong and still exactly the same product! https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/headband-magnifiers/0606989/

I inherited mine from my predecessor at one workplace about 20 years ago; they looked old as dirt when I got them. I prefer the antique glass lenses as you can wipe them with a paper napkin or your handy face towel instead of putting it off all the time because you can't find your special cloth to not scratch up the plastic lenses.

I've had several of the Donegan magnifiers and while they are awesome and light compared to these, in less than a month I forget and use whatever I have to wipe the sweat off; then they get all hazy fine scratches on the lenses.  Meanwhile these just keep going and going.

Boats don't need anchors when out of the water 

They do in strong winds !

Saw one tied short and still in a lake get flipped 180^o and dumped up onto the grass upside down.    Still tied short !
Well it was overnight and we were in a tent not 50m away. 

Yep folks its true, strange things happen in Kiwi land 

Yeah, like that guy who built a workable ICBM in his garage... 


mnem
IMHO, YMMV, DQMOT, DAMIFINO, WTFBBQSAUCE, WHODAT, DILLIGAF?!?

[tggzzz]

... when peering into the guts of some test equipment you are fettling with.

Fettling - a proper English word, and I know of what I speak as SWMBO is a potter and my ex is the granddaughter of a sagger maker's bottom knocker.

Yes indeed.

Merkins sometimes have difficulty understanding that towns used to employ people to knock you up. Yes "knocker up" was a job title.

Apparently that continued until the 1970s. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35840393

[mtdoc]

Looks to be a proper bobbing set up.

I’ve heard that if you get the length of the chain just right, the really big HPs will bite.

Of course if you’re not careful, some of the smaller introduced Chinese species will sneak in and steal your bait.