Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[AVGresponding]

Turns out there aren't any faults*... I just needed to run it through an amp with a proper phono input. Swapped from my HK AVI 100 to my Wharfedale 3038 and all is well.

I already had a spare T4P cartridge, as my Realistic Lab 407 uses them too.

My only problem now is rearranging hifi components, which is easier said than done. The JVC is a midi, and it needs something on top of it to help prevent it tipping over when the drawer is open...   

The amp is a full width so can't sit on top. The GE is midi, though it's an AKAI so is slightly different in size, 20mm or so wider...   

*With the audio. Unless I am doing it wrong, the track selection controls are fugazi. Hmmm, must dig out that Marillion album...

Yup; you posted just as I was adding a edit to my original post:

EDIT: Woops; specs section states 2.5mV output, so you are definitely going to need a separate preamp for this one. Lack of bass response is most likely loading-related.

Good that you have the correct cartridge; tho you probably only needed a replacement stylus. 

The track selection uses a light & sensor in the tonearm to detect the light reflected by the blank spaces between tracks. The lamp or the sensor may be dirty. Also, some LP/SLP pressings have very narrow space between the track that are just as hard for it to detect as they are for your eyes.

The SM I attached is fair-to-poor quality, but it does have both operating instructions and schematics.

My experience with similar units is that you usually want them directly on top of a cabinet or shelf; preferably something very solid (not a shelf supported by pegs, for example) and made of heavy wood or thick MDF. They can be quite sensitive to environmental resonance.

mnem
 
[/quote]

Yeah, that's the sm I already found, but thanks anyway. It's a bit vague on the operation, some of it is plain misleading (figured some stuff out myself already).

The sensor needing cleaning is a possibility, though I did give it a fair chance by loading up a Deep Purple LP with big assed spacings. Damn, I forgot how much better vinyl is than cd's...

Here's a pic of the stylus in the "recently replaced" cartridge it had in it:



And that's after I'd cleaned most of the fibres and gunk off it (was like a layer of encrusted plaster), you can still see it's well coated in some kind of dust crust.


The vibration isolation is fantastic, even accidental (and then less accidental to test the limits) bumps on the bench while I was fettling it failed to disturb it. It is heavy.
Heavy enough that it could have been built by HP...

[Robert763]

FRK Rubidium oscillator build.
Having dug out a nice Sifam black bezel meter for the lamp and control voltage. I started thinking about adding a clock to this build to make it a genuine "Atomic Clock". I have some of my favorite displays, HP (Avago / Broadcom) 0860. These are amber discrete "dot" LED displays with built in BCD decoders. They are not matrix types. See photos below. one has a 1.5 ND filter, these really need a filter for readability. Note the LH dispay has a chipped cover glass at the top right that glows. I'll either replace it or paint it over. The bezel is a perfect fit too. These displays are still made but cost £25 each with a MOQ of 125 

What do you lot think?

[Specmaster]

ok, 2 weeks forced break from work. physical checkup revealed that I got to get my blood sugar levels down fast and treat my skin issues. Doctor told me to change my diet to meat, poultry, fish plus veggies. No sugar, no alcohol, no croissants  , no rice, potatoes, noodles, ramen, what have you.

*sigh*

Welcome to my world of Type 2 diabetes and permanent change to your diet although we do cheat once in a while.

Never had skin issues though.

Edit.....coffee is ALWAYS on the menu. 

Yep coffee is the winning item for me as well.

Narrowly avoided diabetes over the last couple of years. It's possible to reverse it if you haven't gone over the line. I live a fairly heavily constrained diet now to avoid that and I've never felt better. In fact I am fitter, healthier and more productive than I've ever been thanks to dietary changes.

My doctors thought I might have type 2 as well seeing as I'm over weight and have red skin on my calf's but all tests have proven to be negative 

[tggzzz]

Ironic thing about the MRI scanners is they are noisy bastards. Probably make it worse

They are quiet, and not possible

[Specmaster]

ok, 2 weeks forced break from work. physical checkup revealed that I got to get my blood sugar levels down fast and treat my skin issues. Doctor told me to change my diet to meat, poultry, fish plus veggies. No sugar, no alcohol, no croissants  , no rice, potatoes, noodles, ramen, what have you.

*sigh*

Oh dear, and there's me literally waiting for yesterday's croissants to cool down from a quick refresh in the oven when I read this.

Thats OK, you can have my share as well, can't stand the things personally.

[med6753]

I've been blessed with a cast iron stomach. I can eat nearly everything and have no food allergies except I avoid spicy foods just because I don't find burning my mouth or insides very pleasant. My diabetes is the result of pure genetics. Runs in my Mother's side as far back as memories go. The change to low carb did have the positive effects...weight loss and A1C under 7. But since retiring some of the weight has crept back. But I'm still no where near the weight I was before being diagnosed. Not fat but not skinny either. After I get through my latest medical issues I'm going to re-double my efforts to get the post retirement weight back off.     

[Specmaster]

-grumble grumble-

Scored myself a nice linear turntable, and after a certain amount of fettling (new cartridge my arse, it was worn down to a nubbin, may post pics), involving belts and a cartridge, it's working, sort of. The sound output level seems very low, wondering if this model needs a pre-amp, or if there are further issues. I'm getting around 14mV out, sounds clean enough, but bass is low as well.

If anyone has any knowledge of the JVC L-E50 I'd appreciate any tips. Can't find a user manual, only a service manual, and that doesn't seems to cover the audio side, just the transports.

Just for extra fun, it's a drawer loader, so it's extra difficult to work on...   

That sounds about right level if its a magnetic cartridge?

[tggzzz]

Yup. Exercise alone may be enough unless you have a particularly bad diet to start with. Too many doctors are too quick to say "You've got type II diabetes, take these pills" and give their patients a ridiculously hard to follow diet sheet* before trying to get their patients to modify their lifestyles.

Pills are cheap and faster (for the GP). In addition, until recently it wasn't really recognised that diabetes could be reversed.

*It doesn't help that so many medical dieticians have a deep Calvinist/Presbyterian streak that concludes that enjoyable food can't be good food and anything that might be fun must be bad for you. Heck, I still hear dieticians handing out advice about avoiding saturated fats that has been comprehensively debunked in the scientific literature for years.

Student doctors notoriously get about a day's tuition on nutrition.

Given that we can now eat too much of the (previously rare) things we are hardwired to enjoy, it isn't surprising that dieticians give abstemious advice. For example, until recently farmers were actively trying to raise animals with as much fat on them as possible!

Beyond the simple basics, most of nutrition understanding is based on epidemiology and small differences.

But I think a major factor is the sheer crappy quality of much advice floating around out there. Some is well-meaning but scientifically illiterate, some extrapolates effects beyond sense to ridiculous extremes, some is pseudo-religious, and too much is self-serving nonsense.

I would mention PETA and "Dr" Gillian MacKeith, but then I would have to go to the bathroom and wash my mouth out with soap.

[Cerebus]

For ref I'm one of the "minor intolerants". In this case lactose.

Probably the only time you'll hear me say this, but that actually means that you're more "normal" than the rest of us.

In mammals lactose tolerance in adults is highly unusual, even abnormal. Most mammals suppress the genes involved in the production of Lactase, which is required for digestion of Lactose, after weaning. Even in humans the presence of Lactase in adults is not universal, in strains of humans (i.e. races) associated with cultures that don't have a tradition of adults eating dairy products lactose intolerance is the norm. We've actually evolved to keep our juvenile ability to produce Lactase from generation upon generation of consuming dairy products as adults.

[McBryce]

That'd do the job 

So will these:

Need one of those for the €360/h side job ...

I didn't know that castration was so expensive? 

McBryce.

[Specmaster]

Turns out there aren't any faults*... I just needed to run it through an amp with a proper phono input. Swapped from my HK AVI 100 to my Wharfedale 3038 and all is well.

I already had a spare T4P cartridge, as my Realistic Lab 407 uses them too.

My only problem now is rearranging hifi components, which is easier said than done. The JVC is a midi, and it needs something on top of it to help prevent it tipping over when the drawer is open...   

The amp is a full width so can't sit on top. The GE is midi, though it's an AKAI so is slightly different in size, 20mm or so wider...   

*With the audio. Unless I am doing it wrong, the track selection controls are fugazi. Hmmm, must dig out that Marillion album...

Yup; you posted just as I was adding a edit to my original post:

EDIT: Woops; specs section states 2.5mV output, so you are definitely going to need a separate preamp for this one. Lack of bass response is most likely loading-related.

Good that you have the correct cartridge; tho you probably only needed a replacement stylus. 

The track selection uses a light & sensor in the tonearm to detect the light reflected by the blank spaces between tracks. The lamp or the sensor may be dirty. Also, some LP/SLP pressings have very narrow space between the track that are just as hard for it to detect as they are for your eyes.

The SM I attached is fair-to-poor quality, but it does have both operating instructions and schematics.

My experience with similar units is that you usually want them directly on top of a cabinet or shelf; preferably something very solid (not a shelf supported by pegs, for example) and made of heavy wood or thick MDF. They can be quite sensitive to environmental resonance.

mnem
 

Yeah, that's the sm I already found, but thanks anyway. It's a bit vague on the operation, some of it is plain misleading (figured some stuff out myself already).

The sensor needing cleaning is a possibility, though I did give it a fair chance by loading up a Deep Purple LP with big assed spacings. Damn, I forgot how much better vinyl is than cd's...

Here's a pic of the stylus in the "recently replaced" cartridge it had in it:



And that's after I'd cleaned most of the fibres and gunk off it (was like a layer of encrusted plaster), you can still see it's well coated in some kind of dust crust.


The vibration isolation is fantastic, even accidental (and then less accidental to test the limits) bumps on the bench while I was fettling it failed to disturb it. It is heavy.
Heavy enough that it could have been built by HP...
[/quote]
That is never a diamond stylus like that unless its actually years old.

[tggzzz]

Sadly, no... most of the really yummy sauces are full of sugar and/or starch, which greatly restricts that joy...

The trick is to find highly-flavoured sauces, so that you only need a couple of teaspoons. Then the major difficulty will be salt - and sometimes that can be replaced by a small amount of vinegar.

I'm lucky; I've always preferred savoury to sweet or fat. That means I'm happy making a sauce from, for example, a teaspoon of Tom Yum (or Yam), an inch of anchovy paste, and a teaspoon half-coated in tamarind sauce. That goes a long way, e.g. it is more than sufficient for a big bowl of soup.

[AVGresponding]

That is never a diamond stylus like that unless its actually years old.

Yeah, it was absolutely fuckered.

The levels threw me as my only previous deck has a preamp built in and kicks out 200mV or so.

[Cerebus]

But I think a major factor is the sheer crappy quality of much advice floating around out there. Some is well-meaning but scientifically illiterate, some extrapolates effects beyond sense to ridiculous extremes, some is pseudo-religious, and too much is self-serving nonsense.

True, but if I can be arsed to read the headline scientific papers on the subject, or at least get them pre-digested from New Scientist or somesuch, and be scientifically literate enough to interpret them, then the medical professionals doling out advice have no excuse for failing to do so.

I would mention ... "Dr" Gillian MacKeith, but then I would have to go to the bathroom and wash my mouth out with soap garage and pressure wash out my mouth.

FTFY

[Cerebus]

That'd do the job 

So will these:

Need one of those for the €360/h side job ...

I didn't know that castration was so expensive? 

McBryce.

The castration is free, the foreplay is expensive.

[tggzzz]

Add to that the 10 to 30 year cycle of "Major macronutrient X is bad for you" cargo cult professed by said dieticians and rapidly re-cycled by the Dummkopf members of the media like breakfast TV and the Daily Fascist Mail. They've been doing "fat" since the 1990s, "sugars and carbohydrates" are the current fad, and no doubt in 5-10 years they'll be on to "proteins".

That's only too true. But don't forget the "bread/potatoes=>bad" from the late 60s and early 70s.

When my then wife went vegan, I had to find out far more about nutrition than I wanted My basic technique was to match required macro and micronutrients with what's in a typical meal. Conclusion: a very good starting point is the traditional British "meat and two veg" meal (i.e. meat, potato/pasta/rice, peas/carrots/etc).

You can get a very long way with "everything in moderation", provided you start with "meat and two veg".

And don't get me started on "Gluten free", I've friends and former colleagues with pukka Coeliac Disease and it's horrible, it leads to a life of miserable restrictions on what they can and can't eat. (At least the "Gluten free" trend has brought them some better choices.) I too have a genuine food allergy, to tree nuts. Thankfully normally unpleasant rather than life-threatening.  Every time I encounter some bloody Karen who's "intolerant" to the foodstuff du jour I just want to slap the stupid out of them, the idiots who enable them and the marketeers who pander to them.

Just so, and the Daily Wail and "health gurus" are prime candidates to be the first to be put up against the wall when the revolution comes.

[nfmax]

I would mention PETA and "Dr" Gillian MacKeith, but then I would have to go to the bathroom and wash my mouth out with soap.

Yeah, and soap is full of added un-natural ingredients these days 

[med6753]

For ref I'm one of the "minor intolerants". In this case lactose.

Probably the only time you'll hear me say this, but that actually means that you're more "normal" than the rest of us.

In mammals lactose tolerance in adults is highly unusual, even abnormal. Most mammals suppress the genes involved in the production of Lactase, which is required for digestion of Lactose, after weaning. Even in humans the presence of Lactase in adults is not universal, in strains of humans (i.e. races) associated with cultures that don't have a tradition of adults eating dairy products lactose intolerance is the norm. We've actually evolved to keep our juvenile ability to produce Lactase from generation upon generation of consuming dairy products as adults.

I guess I'm abnormal. Lactose tolerant here. Consuming dairy no issue. I have to have my half and half in my coffee or I'm not going to have a good day.

On the other hand....the lady cop, true to being black, is almost totally lactose intolerant. While she also enjoys the half and half in her coffee a few hours later she pays the price. She usually uses non dairy creamers instead.   

[bd139]

Just so, and the Daily Wail and "health gurus" are prime candidates to be the first to be put up against the wall when the revolution comes.

My father was a DM reader before he snuffed it. Got deep into conspiracy theories and all sorts of crap initiated by the mind bending fear based programming from that shit rag. Don't wait for the revolution - burn the whole shit show to the ground. Actually that applies to most of the press here to be honest. I think the only reputable publications these days are Private Eye and Viz.

[Cerebus]

I think the only reputable publications these days are Private Eye and Viz.

On the same day in the 90's I met Private Eye's (chief?) sub-editor and John Diamond (the late "Mr. Nigella Lawson", then writing for The Times) in the pub after a press conference we were all at, and then the same evening met a future contributor to Viz (a well known 'serious' comic book author who has contributed to Viz under a pseudonym) in another pub after a public lecture (of the held in a pub variety). I already knew the latter's girlfriend, who that evening was regaling me with the list of things she'd shoplifted from Oxford Street stores that very day. See, I used to travel in all the best circles. 

[Saskia]

well, problem is that at my office location there are so many allergens in the air that after going out I am sick for a week and can't breath.
Not necessarily helpful.
Add to that huge hours due to home office and work overload => not enough exercise, plus unhealthy diet plus taking meals in front of computer without taking a break plus unhealthy diet.
so skin problems started to develop, plus my legs started swelling. Hubby was afraid that I was going to have a severe cardiac incident, then my  physical came up.
In there they said that I was grossly overweight (which currently, unfortunately, is correct, that I was lacking exercise (also true), and that the skin problems and the inflammation markers were too high most likely because of that, and that my insuline levels were way too high whereas blood sugar was just about within limits.
They checked heart, liver, pancreas, kidneys, aorta elasticity plus heart pump rate as well as lung capacity.
heart checked out ok, liver a wee bit fatty, but not tremendously, would recover if I exercised, so far so good.
Pancreas same thing, however insuline levels way tooooooo high.
However blood sugar still ok, so line not crossed.
kidneys, lungs, etc ok so far.
protein levels too low, rest mostly ok.
They were amazed that I was still functioning half way ok.
So they told me to start exercising immediately, cut down on carbohydrates immediately to get the pancreas under control and easen the burden on the liver.
They also said that the minimum was 2x 30 mins a day, and to start exercising slowly but steadily. Reducing stress levels would be a must to turn the ship around ...
(they = the cardiologist who did the physical). She also told me to go on a minimum carb plan and increase protein intake. If I did so plus started to exercise  the situation could be resolved in my favor.
So I had a longer discussion with my new boss who was perfectly aware that the stress levels could no longer be tolerated and he ordered me to run any task not directly connected to my core job via his desk so that he could reject it. Also I was to take my time to recover and get mys skin issues under control (which will only work if I can get my weight down and the insuline levels in check.)
He said that my main task for this year was to get my health back up to specs, it would be a prereq to be fit at work and be able to fully do my job. He also said that I was to take the time to pick up my hobbies again as burn out prevention (as I did have no more energy to do anything after work). This included boating training and everything else that I took pleasure in.

(fair boss, I'd say ...)

So I will pick up my yellow slip (the doctor's unfit to work thingie) on Monday. Will have an appointment with a local gym tomorrow, they will try to fit me in which is not easy during the corona times, will also start looking at boating training (boss told me to sort it out during my absense and book the course ...) and already had an hour of walking at the shoreline today (Harlesiel ...)
Diet now consists of eggs, ham (low fat), mushrooms, fish, salad, kidney beans, tomatos, various veggies, coffee, water, and some dairies. Fruit will be berries (Doc said those were ok), nuts, meat, poultry. No starch thingies (I was told to reduce as much as possible, but I can just as well live without potatoes, noodles, rice for a while.

Doing so should reverse the situation, but I needed to start now. Plan is to increase my exercise day by day and get back in shape.

Objective is to reverse the blood sugar problem and get fit enough to sail a Pogo single handed.

Let's see.

Discord anyone ?

[bd139]

I think the only reputable publications these days are Private Eye and Viz.

On the same day in the 90's I met Private Eye's (chief?) sub-editor and John Diamond (the late "Mr. Nigella Lawson", then writing for The Times) in the pub after a press conference we were all at, and then the same evening met a future contributor to Viz (a well known 'serious' comic book author who has contributed to Viz under a pseudonym) in another pub after a public lecture (of the held in a pub variety). I already knew the latter's girlfriend, who that evening was regaling me with the list of things she'd shoplifted from Oxford Street stores that very day. See, I used to travel in all the best circles. 

Sounds like interesting times. Would have loved to be a fly on the wall around that but I suspect I'd have probably been unconscious under a table if I was there 

Got this in my head now after today's veering off topic:

[mansaxel]

FRK Rubidium oscillator build.

<snip>

What do you lot think?

Absolutely gorgeous!

[mindcrime]

Lots to be added to that. You need to at least add the 3GHz channel : https://www.ebay.de/itm/124529022013
and an ovenised reference: https://www.ebay.de/itm/254927387063

Yep. Those exact two things are imminent on my "todo list" with regards to test equipment, assuming this thing is fundamentally working. And it seems to be. I powered it up last night, connected it to my function gen, and got some measurements. Not sure how much off it is from a calibration standpoint, but it seems to at least be in the ballpark.

There was one bit of weird behavior I don't quite get though. I powered it up with it lying flat on the bench. Then I angled it up a bit since my cable to the function gen was too short to reach otherwise. When I picked the front up, it rebooted itself. This happened a couple of times. But afterwards, no more rebooting even when I moved it around quite a bit.

Theories:

a. I just didn't have the power cable connector pushed in firmly, and moving it around was breaking the contact briefly and causing a reboot.

b. The power connector pins were tarnished / dirty, making for less than ideal connection, and possibly making it easy to create a temporary break in power by moving it around.

c. it's intentional - the unit has a "tilt sensor" built in for some weird reason (actually, maybe not that weird) and reboots when the angle changes. The behavior didn't seem to be consistent though, so maybe a little skeptical of this idea.

d. it was my imagination, the whole thing never happened.

e. there's a fault inside the unit: bad connector, broken trace, cracked board, etc.

Anyway, if there's a fault it doesn't appear to be major. Maybe I'll crack it up and have a look-see inside some time soon, and see if anything stand out.

---
I get this on the counter:



when feeding it this as input:



and I even managed to find a home for it, near one of its cousins from Keysight:



And now I should probably go off and read the f%#@ng manual

[mansaxel]

There was one bit of weird behavior I don't quite get though. I powered it up with it lying flat on the bench. Then I angled it up a bit since my cable to the function gen was too short to reach otherwise. When I picked the front up, it rebooted itself. This happened a couple of times. But afterwards, no more rebooting even when I moved it around quite a bit.

Probably a bad power connection, as you theorize.

I get this on the counter:



when feeding it this as input:

I'd guess that in absentia a lab reference oscillator, steering both units, that the Rigol is quite good (Definitely better than my FeelTech!) and the -hp-, being better still, tells you as much.