OK.
Here it goes: I am a Test Equipment Addict and I suffer from it from a high degree, since I not only purchase test equipment, but the equipment that needs to be measured, as well.
I know, kind of stupid...
On of my interests has always been the reception of satellite TV. I am/was fascinated by it for a simple reason. I used to live in Germany, but at age 14 moved to Portugal. I missed Germany, of course, and when I first saw a demonstration of a satellite reception equipment back in 1987, I was certain that I had to own such thing. They were expensive back then and I only was able to have my own satellite dish and receiver around 1994.
That was round about the time that analogue satellite TV moved to digital. Encrypted analogue channels could be heuristaclly decrypted in real time by computers with TV cards. Amazing.
Then came all the smartcard piracy, which was more interesting, than the contents they allowed to watch.
Then bigger dishes, motorized dishes.
Then the first satellite field meter.
Then the amateur radio license and some radio scanners and even handheld transmitters.
Then TV and CATV reception.
Then TV, CATV and SAT field meter. Lots of them.
Then generic spectrum analyser for even more insight of the radio spectrum.
Now I started to get the gear that TV operators use: professional receivers, multiplexer, modulators.
I could actually setup my own CATV playout centre right now.
This comes with other test equipment, like oscilloscopes (analogue and the Rigol DS1054Z), multimeter, soldering station, hot air soldering station, etc.
This is all a learning process and the generic electronics equipment is used to repair broken stuff I buy.
Attached are two pictures, one is the evolution of the mind state, the other shows my cleaned up desk. Note that no field meter is shown, as they are all stored next to the desk, together with all the other stuff.
So, yes: I am an addict who started to buy stuff that needs to be measured, so I can buy TE, which leads to buying more stuff that needs to be measured. A viscious cycle.
Regards,
Vitor