Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[VK5RC]

HP 3467A
I have been moderately restrained recently but couldn't resist this, ticks a lot of boxes for me, red LED display,  not really common, of a vintage that you have a fair crack of repair if it breaks, I believe it is based upon a 3466A with switcher and printer.

[bd139]

That's pretty neat. I could do with one of them to monitor mains voltage at home as it's all over the place.

[djos]

That's pretty neat. I could do with one of them to monitor mains voltage at home as it's all over the place.

I log my Mains Voltage via my APC SmartUPS - it usually swings from ~231 VAC to 242 VAC across the day. I've even seen a few times where someone must have tripped a big load and it's spiked into the 250's.

[bd139]

I did that until it blew up 

[mnementh]

Dammit... now y'all have me thinking about my own UPS. You know, of course, that now I'm thinking about it, it must fail. 


mnem
Fortunately, my car's inspection and registration are current. 

[djos]

 

[bd139]

By the way mine blew up because the charge circuit decided to let the battery win.

[Specmaster]

By the way mine blew up because the charge circuit decided to let the battery win.

Fixing it?

[Mr. Scram]

I don't know about UPSs. I see people using them, especially in corporate environments, because no one ever got fired for buying IBM. Yet when I hear the various experiences working with them, it seems they cause at least as much problems as they solve. If your systems go down due to a UPS failure when the actual electrical grid isn't having any problems, you're not making things better. If power to your system gets cut momentarily before the UPS kicks in and does its job, it's not a lot of use rebooting from battery power.

[Specmaster]

I used to have one but when it did eventually kick its heels in the air, I decided that I didn't really need one anymore. At that I was mainly using laptops so they had their own battery power anyway and when I was using a desktop, it was mainly for games and with hard drives having voice coil head actuators these days there was little chance of any damage to the hard drive and any data that I might have been writing to the drive would only have been current status etc and so was of little consequence.

But in many businesses I can still see a need for them.

[djos]

I used to have one but when it did eventually kick its heels in the air, I decided that I didn't really need one anymore. At that I was mainly using laptops so they had their own battery power anyway and when I was using a desktop, it was mainly for games and with hard drives having voice coil head actuators these days there was little chance of any damage to the hard drive and any data that I might have been writing to the drive would only have been current status etc and so was of little consequence.

But in many businesses I can still see a need for them.

I have 2, they get new batteries every ~3 years and I've had them both for about 15 years - we get lots of little blackouts and and power sags so they keep my servers and comms gear from having the rug pulled out from them. In longer power loss scenarios they allow the servers to shut down gracefully.

Worth every cent to me.

Ps I only buy APC units, they are just bullet proof!

[Cerebus]

I've been involved in some big UPS deployments, some with diesel generator backup. They are always a pain in the posterior, they often under-deliver but there are applications where you just can't tolerate avoidable downtime. But yes, as soon as you introduce a UPS [system] you introduce something else that can itself fail despite the fact that it's supposed to be there to prevent failures.

[bd139]

By the way mine blew up because the charge circuit decided to let the battery win.

Fixing it?

No it was completely fubared - tracks had lifted off the board, charring, exploded MOSFETs. Bad smells. It's high energy stuff so I didn't both risking creating a fire hazard. I'll dig out a picture when I'm next on my desktop machine.

I don't know about UPSs. I see people using them, especially in corporate environments, because no one ever got fired for buying IBM. Yet when I hear the various experiences working with them, it seems they cause at least as much problems as they solve. If your systems go down due to a UPS failure when the actual electrical grid isn't having any problems, you're not making things better. If power to your system gets cut momentarily before the UPS kicks in and does its job, it's not a lot of use rebooting from battery power.

They're pretty good. We have terrible power in our offices. This is fixed by a fairly large APC 15kVA installation (four half racks worth). They do a wonderful job of power conditioning as well as the job of a UPS. They are always online so there is no lag at all. Even if the line voltage surges, drops off 20 times in under a second, they just carry on. We haven't had any explode although I sleep with one eye open.

However, the best UPS out there is .... the laptop! They all have built in UPSs that last a lot longer offline and get tested more often. Laptops and some IaaS kit (Amazon etc) that you don't have to give a shit about because it's not your problem is the best way to run an SME these days.

I've been involved in some big UPS deployments, some with diesel generator backup. They are always a pain in the posterior, they often under-deliver but there are applications where you just can't tolerate avoidable downtime. But yes, as soon as you introduce a UPS [system] you introduce something else that can itself fail despite the fact that it's supposed to be there to prevent failures.

I worked for a large company that didn't bother to test their generator regularly because the last two times they tested it, it had failed to start. I don't even know where to begin with that one

[Mr. Scram]

I've been involved in some big UPS deployments, some with diesel generator backup. They are always a pain in the posterior, they often under-deliver but there are applications where you just can't tolerate avoidable downtime. But yes, as soon as you introduce a UPS [system] you introduce something else that can itself fail despite the fact that it's supposed to be there to prevent failures.

Yes, that seems to sum up my experience and those of the people I've heard talking about them around me. Like I said, in some cases you can't do without, if only because you don't want to explain why you didn't bother with them. Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM, so people stick them in the rack to cover their asses.

Admittedly, in some cases they are invaluable. They just don't seem to be as reliable as they ideally should be. It reminds me of Dave's interview with the Audi moon rover guy, who explained that the tendency is to add complexity, while you're often better off without.

[Cerebus]

However, the best UPS out there is .... the laptop! They all have built in UPSs that last a lot longer offline and get tested more often. Laptops and some IaaS kit (Amazon etc) that you don't have to give a shit about because it's not your problem is the best way to run an SME these days.

Back in the AT bus days there was a small UPS card you stick into an AT bus slot and connect to a 12V lead acid battery inside the case. Genius! I don't know why something of that sort didn't become a common option for PCs.

I worked for a large company that didn't bother to test their generator regularly because the last two times they tested it, it had failed to start. I don't even know where to begin with that one

A sound kicking for the muppet responsible would be a good start.

[Cerebus]

...who explained that the tendency is to add complexity, while you're often better off without.

Amen to that!

[bd139]

However, the best UPS out there is .... the laptop! They all have built in UPSs that last a lot longer offline and get tested more often. Laptops and some IaaS kit (Amazon etc) that you don't have to give a shit about because it's not your problem is the best way to run an SME these days.

Back in the AT bus days there was a small UPS card you stick into an AT bus slot and connect to a 12V lead acid battery inside the case. Genius! I don't know why something of that sort didn't become a common option for PCs.

Interesting idea actually.

I worked for a large company that didn't bother to test their generator regularly because the last two times they tested it, it had failed to start. I don't even know where to begin with that one

A sound kicking for the muppet responsible would be a good start.

We weren't allowed to assign blame to people because it created a bad working environment apparently. The company used The Dilbert Principle as the operations manual. Also one reason I didn't stay was I called the IT director a useless cunt but anyway...

[Specmaster]

I worked for a large company that didn't bother to test their generator regularly because the last two times they tested it, it had failed to start. I don't even know where to begin with that one

Perhaps a swift kick in the nuts might be a starting point, I always made a point of testing the generator where I worked weekly, no point in having one if you don't keep it up to scratch. In my case it was not for the computers, it was a tad too early for computers to be mainstream in small companies, but it was for keeping the factory machinery running.

[Cerebus]

We weren't allowed to assign blame to people because it created a bad working environment apparently. The company used The Dilbert Principle as the operations manual.

Ah, that sort of place. So probably loaded with buzz words, that half the people using them don't understand and don't want to admit they don't understand. Just get someone to sign off on a chit for "fostering improved staff training and understanding with a dynamic kinetic environment in trans-fenestral situations".

PHB: "You what!?! You threw him out of the window!?!"
BD139: "You signed off on it..."

[neo]

We weren't allowed to assign blame to people because it created a bad working environment apparently. The company used The Dilbert Principle as the operations manual.

Ah, that sort of place. So probably loaded with buzz words, that half the people using them don't understand and don't want to admit they don't understand. Just get someone to sign off on a chit for "fostering improved staff training and understanding with a dynamic kinetic environment in trans-fenestral situations".

PHB: "You what!?! You threw him out of the window!?!"
BD139: "You signed off on it..."

  Best joke i have heard all week took me a minute to figure out what transfenestrate meant, though it made the joke that much better. I've now come to realize i have alot of trans-fenestral urges particularly directed towards the DUD.

[tggzzz]

We weren't allowed to assign blame to people because it created a bad working environment apparently. The company used The Dilbert Principle as the operations manual.

Ah, that sort of place. So probably loaded with buzz words, that half the people using them don't understand and don't want to admit they don't understand. Just get someone to sign off on a chit for "fostering improved staff training and understanding with a dynamic kinetic environment in trans-fenestral situations".

PHB: "You what!?! You threw him out of the window!?!"
BD139: "You signed off on it..."

From that I presume you are aware of Simon Travaglia's BOFH series.

[bd139]

I’m the real life incarnation of BOFH. We had some network monkeys in once and they put a cabinet on a plasterboard dividing wall. Not a great idea. I decided the logical thing to do was to test this so I hung off it, cue the whole wall coming down  ... they fixed it and moved the cabinet to a brick wall 10 feet away and reran about 2km of cables for free. I also QA the QA team.

[Specmaster]

 

[tggzzz]

I’m the real life incarnation of BOFH. We had some network monkeys in once and they put a cabinet on a plasterboard dividing wall. Not a great idea. I decided the logical thing to do was to test this so I hung off it, cue the whole wall coming down  ... they fixed it and moved the cabinet to a brick wall 10 feet away and reran about 2km of cables for free. I also QA the QA team.

I hope you applied the apocryphal technique used for bridge builders: they had to stand under the arches as the supporting framework was removed.

[bd139]

Unfortunately not. We all got covered in plaster dust though and they were all sweaty after spending the morning running up and down the stairs because the lift was broken so karma was abrasive for the rest of the day.