Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[xrunner]

Well what to do now?

I have 12 coax and 15 Eth CAT5 coming out from the wall in my US home. The coax are for the dish/satellite service which in 2013 made sense somehow to some people.

I'm sure they are all clearly and properly labelled - what's the problem?

 

[mnementh]

On the Bench Today: Bikery Fixery.

Today is gonna be a bike-fixin' day. First on the bench is this little mess of electrons. I've gotten tired of charging the battery for my headlight, so I'm testing this little MP1584EN module against the main eBike battery. It's rated 28V Max IN, but the chip is rated 30V... and the battery puts out 28.5V fresh off the charger.

So technically, definitely right on the edge.

It looks promising; has been running for an hour set at 8V out and max brightness on the headlight. It barely gets warm to the touch, so next up is to find a place to shoehorn it inside the throttle housing.

mnem
 

[tggzzz]

In the same way the Church kept all the knowledge that would later be rediscovered during The Renaissance in the hands of the priesthood throughout the Dark Ages.

I always chuckle when someone makes an assertion about the Dark Ages because the term when used by historians, if they use it at all, refers to times that are dark to us because of the lack of historical sources, we don't know what went on. Also, the term only really applies to European history, those bits of the rest of the world that could write, did, and kept their records. There is no Chinese Dark Age.

Ditto Africa being the Dark Continent, and the Dark Side of the Moon.

[mnementh]

-

The stupidity of the masses is no accident; it has been deliberately crafted by the few to keep the many under control. In the same way the Church kept all the knowledge that would later be rediscovered during The Renaissance in the hands of the priesthood throughout the Dark Ages.

That knowledge was a handle on the populace; stupid rich people cannot coerce a populace who is on average smarter than they are. And look at the result of 30 years of deliberately destroying a Public Education system that was once the envy of the developed world: in the 90s, Chump tried to buy the election and everybody laughed him off the stage. Wait one generation dumber, and you have enough morons who actually voted for him that it became marginally plausible he somehow was elected rather than installed in the Presidency by a corrupt Electoral College. Just like the Shrub before him.

Make no mistake, historians will mark these years as the Dark Ages of the American Empire; we just did it louder and faster. Rome took 5500 years to rise and fall; Great Britain 3000 (give or take); the US is on track to knock that down to 300. 

I always chuckle when someone makes an assertion about the Dark Ages because the term when used by historians, if they use it at all, refers to times that are dark to us because of the lack of historical sources, we don't know what went on. Also, the term only really applies to European history, those bits of the rest of the world that could write, did, and kept their records. There is no Chinese Dark Age.-

That was part of  the point I was making with the larger context.

I refer to the Dark Ages as only that time and place known by that common term; not as the sum of all human knowledge. I sortof figured that was obvious from the rest of the context, but hey. 

Records were kept even in that place and time; you cannot stop a scholar from chronicling, and they couldn't all have been hunted down and destroyed as blasphemy. The question now only remains as to which of those records which survived and are locked away in dusty tombs were scholarly works collected by the church for the power they contained, vs those created at the direction of the church to maintain control.

mnem
 

[mnementh]

  I have 12 coax and 15 Eth CAT5 coming out from the wall in my US home. (SNIP) What to do with all the coax? 10MHz network to sync for the TEA in the kitchen?

Well of course... When you set the coffeepot to start brewing at 7AM, you want it to start at exactly 7AM... 

mnem
I love the way this guy thinks.

[Cerebus]

In the same way the Church kept all the knowledge that would later be rediscovered during The Renaissance in the hands of the priesthood throughout the Dark Ages.

I always chuckle when someone makes an assertion about the Dark Ages because the term when used by historians, if they use it at all, refers to times that are dark to us because of the lack of historical sources, we don't know what went on. Also, the term only really applies to European history, those bits of the rest of the world that could write, did, and kept their records. There is no Chinese Dark Age.

Ditto Africa being the Dark Continent, and the Dark Side of the Moon.

Dr. Tggzzz, I presume. 

[ch_scr]

Well what to do now?

I have 12 coax and 15 Eth CAT5 coming out from the wall in my US home. The coax are for the dish/satellite service which in 2013 made sense somehow to some people.

[...]

What to do with all the coax? 10MHz network to sync for the TEA in the kitchen?

Connect room ends and build a variable delay line into the rack (minus cables for antennas?)

[Vince]

  I have 12 coax and 15 Eth CAT5 coming out from the wall in my US home. (SNIP) What to do with all the coax? 10MHz network to sync for the TEA in the kitchen?

Well of course... When you set the coffeepot to start brewing at 7AM, you want it to start at exactly 7AM... 

mnem
I love the way this guy thinks.

I was thinking of a much more critical application than coffee. He could make one hell of an accurate egg timer ! 

[Wolfgang]

In the same way the Church kept all the knowledge that would later be rediscovered during The Renaissance in the hands of the priesthood throughout the Dark Ages.

I always chuckle when someone makes an assertion about the Dark Ages because the term when used by historians, if they use it at all, refers to times that are dark to us because of the lack of historical sources, we don't know what went on. Also, the term only really applies to European history, those bits of the rest of the world that could write, did, and kept their records. There is no Chinese Dark Age.

Ditto Africa being the Dark Continent, and the Dark Side of the Moon.

Dr. Tggzzz, I presume. 

Kalt = Cold.

[Neomys Sapiens]

In the same way the Church kept all the knowledge that would later be rediscovered during The Renaissance in the hands of the priesthood throughout the Dark Ages.

I always chuckle when someone makes an assertion about the Dark Ages because the term when used by historians, if they use it at all, refers to times that are dark to us because of the lack of historical sources, we don't know what went on. Also, the term only really applies to European history, those bits of the rest of the world that could write, did, and kept their records. There is no Chinese Dark Age.

Ditto Africa being the Dark Continent, and the Dark Side of the Moon.

Dr. Tggzzz, I presume. 

Kalt = Cold.

What an overblown discussion arises from that innocuous landmark!
And yet they seem to be missing a point clearly noted by BD139: it's BEER and FLOOZIES that got the monoliths erected and that brought men to the moon! 

[mansaxel]

I got the first Moderna shot last Monday and had no side effects other than slight sore spot in the arm which disappeared after 2 days. I'm already scheduled for the 2nd shot on the 30th.

I've had 2 Pfizer shots, with no problems what so ever. Probably my least problematic flu shot ever.

The 5G reception is really stellar.

[duckduck]

I am looking for a managed 1Gb/POE switch to slap there, I want to do VLAN and maybe other jazz which make sense in 2021.

Ubiquiti's Unifi stuff. Yes, it's (partly) closed-source Yes, it's expensive. But it Just Works™. I did the whole cheap Linux device thing for years and years. I tired of every change to the network turning into a weekend project. The Unifi WiFi stuff works great, too.

[Specmaster]

Quick update on the 2 Avo 8 Mk V meters I picked up this morning. The leads are in a pretty bad way, hopefully a good clean will improve them, but the probes have had it. One meter was in a near perfect leather case, the meter had a rattle when I got it home, opened it up and a little screw and washer fell out. Tested the DC volts and the meter reads a little low, further investigation reveals some damage to plastic movement protection shell, and it seems some plastic bits may be caught up in the meter movement as the meter is not linear. Need to investigate that more.

The other meter had a sticker on the side stating it had been serviced by Megger, who own Avo and that one checks out perfectly OK and still had the factory applied seal intact following its service. That does not mean to say it's free from faults, when they reassembled the meter, failed to correctly align the meter assembly with its plinth  and as a result has obscured the top of dial markings as you can see in the photo, 4,5 and 6, so this needs a little fettling. Otherwise, both meters are in good condition cosmetically and all the switches and cut-outs function correctly, and battery compartments are in original condition.

More info and photos as I get to grips with them.

[tggzzz]

What an overblown discussion arises from that innocuous landmark!
And yet they seem to be missing a point clearly noted by BD139: it's BEER and FLOOZIES that got the monoliths erected and that brought men to the moon! 

What a benign view of the world. You should add "sharpened sticks"

[bd139]

It's the beer and floozies that motivated the sharpened sticks thus my argument was merely causal

[Martin.M]

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[Cerebus]

I am looking for a managed 1Gb/POE switch to slap there, I want to do VLAN and maybe other jazz which make sense in 2021.

Ubiquiti's Unifi stuff. Yes, it's (partly) closed-source Yes, it's expensive. But it Just Works™. I did the whole cheap Linux device thing for years and years. I tired of every change to the network turning into a weekend project. The Unifi WiFi stuff works great, too.

Ubiquiti were good right up until they got to the "Your gear will phone home" and "You will need a login on our cloud platform to use your own gear" point. From that point on they were dead to me.

Expensive? Not in this skinfint's books. I got a 16 port 10G switch from them for circa £500, that's a bargain.

[mansaxel]

Had a nice RIFA explosion tonight. I got an -hp- 11713A attenuator/switch driver. Noted that the rifa in the line filter looked a little dodgy, but what's living if you don't live dangerously? 

I tested everything out and the RIFA lasted about an hour before going up in smoke.   

What do you fine folks like to replace these with?

Here. Absolute value not important as long as it has the safety ratings.

I usually put new (not NOS) RIFAs branded KEMET in. Kemet bought RIFA, so that's what Med puts in too, but the colour is different.

[Martin.M]

... floating +- 15digit. psu    (to be continued ) 

[Zucca]

Not enough. I have 8 running to my living room alone, having installed twice what I thought would be reasonable. I still run out of places to plug things in...

and I still thinking if I can swap those no sense coax with CAT7 cables.... should I try?

[bd139]

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... floating +- 15digit. psu    (to be continued ) 

Oh I'm liking that  . Keep 'em coming

[tautech]

Well what to do now?

I have 12 coax and 15 Eth CAT5 coming out from the wall in my US home. The coax are for the dish/satellite service which in 2013 made sense somehow to some people.

I am looking for a managed 1Gb/POE switch to slap there, I want to do VLAN and maybe other jazz which make sense in 2021.

Mikrotik?

What to do with all the coax? 10MHz network to sync the TEA in the kitchen?

The whole lot needs proper separation and terminating into a small cabinet/s.
A wealth of ideas in this thread:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/general-computing/best-routers-out-there/

[mansaxel]

Well what to do now?

I have 12 coax and 15 Eth CAT5 coming out from the wall in my US home. The coax are for the dish/satellite service which in 2013 made sense somehow to some people.

I am looking for a managed 1Gb/POE switch to slap there, I want to do VLAN and maybe other jazz which make sense in 2021.

Mikrotik?

What to do with all the coax? 10MHz network to sync for the TEA in the kitchen?

Yes, sync distribution on the coax. 50/75Ω will not make much trouble.

The switch? For trivial needs I'd put a fanless Cisco 2960 with PoE there. Not cheap (and hard to find fanless and used) but can be made to do what you want, within the limitations of the hardware. 

That is, as long as you're only switching in it. If you're routing in that box, you need more oomph. I'd split the functions anyway. For router, I'd get a Mini-PC, like the small Lenovos BD is using, BSD and a firewall / NAT config, perhaps one of the *sense dists, or hand-crafted config.  Or an OpenWRT capable piece of iron.

[Martin.M]

critical WAF here bec. I am parking a testgear in the floor 

[mansaxel]

I've been traveling last week, up north in Sweden; at least a bit above center. Among the places we passed through was Trångsviken, a small village known for being a watering stop for steam engines, and the birthplace of the most iconic outdoor stove -- the Trangia. The factory still is sited in Trångsviken and they've got a museum and factory store along the E14 road.  Couldn't resist. Got a Duossal frying pan and  large kettle, and topped off with a grid for placing a moka coffee pot on, if boiling or filter drip is not up to the task of providing morning initiative.

Attached image is proof that the items are factory direct, much like going to Palo Alto in the old days to buy an oscillator.