Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[neo]

help me!

You can't see it but when i look at that picture a huge smile crosses my face. 

You have competition now, you'll have to redouble your efforts[emoji23]

It's always been me against the world, whats one more contender? 

[nixiefreqq]

that picture was supposed to be motivation for an intervention.

but it backfired.

guys who were supposed to help get the monkey off my back saw it as an opportunity to unload more 5245's in my basement.

will this madness never end?

ps  it was hot standing back there!

[neo]

that picture was supposed to be motivation for an intervention.

but it backfired.

guys who were supposed to help get the monkey off my back saw it as an opportunity to unload more 5245's in my basement.

will this madness never end?

ps  it was hot standing back there!

PM me if your really serious about "intervention".

[mnementh]

"But if this is anything like it is with them 'roos, we're gonn' need more room."

LOL! Good one.

*Shaggy dog story number 327*

There were 326 more before this one?

In the first volume, yes... that takes me up to about age 6 or so. My grandfather was a southerner known for long stories full of picturesque speech; I wish I had his natural talent for spinning a colorful yarn off the top of his head. Alas, my talent is with the written word, and for getting my face slapped by the fairer sex.

There were 326 more before this one?

HM big book of shaggy dog stories - probably handed out at the end of service or something like that.
Not allowed to be transported abroad.

And concerning the wine country in Australia - I severly doubt that drunken 'roos are safer!
 

Probably not, but much comelier.


mnem
" 'tis fine to drink like a fish; provided ye drink what a fish drinks." ~ Grand-dad

[bd139]

Accidentally took wife’s 2x 30mg cocodamol instead of over the counter 2x 5mg cocodamol after dropping a book on my toe and smashing the nail off. Toe no longer hurts but codeine seems to be reducing inhibitions about “buy it now” on eBay. Hmm. Perhaps I should close the laptop and lock it away.

[tggzzz]

... after dropping a book on my toe and smashing the nail off.

Presumably "The Art of Electronics"

[bd139]

Yes. 3rd edition hard back

Was doing some research on switched capacitor filters.

[mnementh]

... after dropping a book on my toe and smashing the nail off.

Presumably "The Art of Electronics"

I was going to say McMaster-Carr, in the shop-proof hardcover book armor. The unholy Bible/Cookbook of all fabri-cobblers in North America; in the vein of Unkle Bumblefuck. (AvE on yoobToob)

I of course keep my DigiKey and several precious ECG/NTE paper cross-references similarly ensconced as well.


mnem
"...and many a dusty tome of forgotten and eldritch lore."

[Specmaster]

Accidentally took wife’s 2x 30mg cocodamol instead of over the counter 2x 5mg cocodamol after dropping a book on my toe and smashing the nail off. Toe no longer hurts but codeine seems to be reducing inhibitions about “buy it now” on eBay. Hmm. Perhaps I should close the laptop and lock it away.

Oh dear, sorry about your toe nail, that going to smart a bit for a few days I know from past experience, surprised after taking 6 times more then you should have that your not asleep 

With all of that "buy it now" clicking you've probably done another 3 grand in today, at least you'll have something to show for it this time 

[Specmaster]

"But if this is anything like it is with them 'roos, we're gonn' need more room."

LOL! Good one.

*Shaggy dog story number 327*

There were 326 more before this one?

In the first volume, yes... that takes me up to about age 6 or so. My grandfather was a southerner known for long stories full of picturesque speech; I wish I had his natural talent for spinning a colorful yarn off the top of his head. Alas, my talent is with the written word, and for getting my face slapped by the fairer sex.

There were 326 more before this one?

HM big book of shaggy dog stories - probably handed out at the end of service or something like that.
Not allowed to be transported abroad.

And concerning the wine country in Australia - I severly doubt that drunken 'roos are safer!
 

Probably not, but much comelier.


mnem
" 'tis fine to drink like a fish; provided ye drink what a fish drinks." ~ Grand-dad

No, its the other way round, a drunken roo thinks your much comelier, best batten down the hatches and brace yourself. 

[bd139]

I think it was Colchester Zoo I was at, and was greeted by fucking wallabies. Poor parent saying "mummy, whats that wallaby doing to the other one". "Look away now!!!!".  If it was a roo, I'd probably just shoot myself afterwards

I have a video of fucking tortoises and monkeys painting with their own shit somewhere as well.

Accidentally took wife’s 2x 30mg cocodamol instead of over the counter 2x 5mg cocodamol after dropping a book on my toe and smashing the nail off. Toe no longer hurts but codeine seems to be reducing inhibitions about “buy it now” on eBay. Hmm. Perhaps I should close the laptop and lock it away.

Oh dear, sorry about your toe nail, that going to smart a bit for a few days I know from past experience, surprised after taking 6 times more then you should have that your not asleep 

With all of that "buy it now" clicking you've probably done another 3 grand in today, at least you'll have something to show for it this time 

I haven't bought a thing yet . I nearly hit it on a TTi TG215 but there's another one which will end cheaper so at least some level of rational thought going on. Aliexpress is a different matter. Bought a couple of shitty AM radio kits from China to see if I can bodge one of them onto 80m frequency with a few hacks and adding a BFO. Then I realised I did exactly the same thing about two weeks ago. Whoops. At least I'll have a nice supply of little audio transformers, polyvaricons, RF transistors and IFTs. I have taken to just deleting the aliexpress emails when they come in. Blowing £20/month on random shit and deleting the emails means I get surprises regularly between the electricity and gas bills

On that matter, this week's arrivals from Aliexpress are 500x 3mm LEDs (of which I have blown the ass out of at least 30 so far), one boost converter for the T12 (which oscillates like hell which I have fixed but annoying), a whole strip of AD8307 power sensors (as yet untested), 60x 78Lxx voltage regulators (tested - all good!), another two T12 tips (untested but look ok). My new T12 station hasn't arrived yet. This one has the switcher built in.

These are all distractions. I should be fixing the HP54602B and getting my antenna up, but it's too bloody cold to do the latter and the former is being a dick. Starting to think purchasing a dead digital scope was too close to the day job of debugging software.

[neo]

I just won a WORKING 8300A for 120 freedom bucks shipped...

I love this feeling of endorphins flooding my body, such a great high.

[mnementh]

There were 326 more before this one?

HM big book of shaggy dog stories - probably handed out at the end of service or something like that.
Not allowed to be transported abroad.

And concerning the wine country in Australia - I severly doubt that drunken 'roos are safer!
 

Probably not, but much comelier.


mnem
" 'tis fine to drink like a fish; provided ye drink what a fish drinks." ~ Grand-dad

No, its the other way round, a drunken 'roo thinks your much comelier, best batten down the hatches and brace yourself. 

Well, wait a minute 'ere... you'd best be drinkin' WITH your 'roo. We can't have other folks gettin' YOUR 'roo drunk and leavin' 'im lyin' around tuh' bother strangers; that's just not proper. 

mnem
"...now wh'ose 'roo are you?"

[bitseeker]

that picture was supposed to be motivation for an intervention.

but it backfired.

guys who were supposed to help get the monkey off my back saw it as an opportunity to unload more 5245's in my basement.

Yep, just like this thread. Welcome aboard!

will this madness never end?

Nope, but you get used to it.

ps  it was hot standing back there!

I'm surprised you were able to power them all at once. 

[bitseeker]

I just won a WORKING 8300A for 120 freedom bucks shipped...

I love this feeling of endorphins flooding my body, such a great high.

Ah, so you did get that one. Good thing I didn't snipe it from you.

[Brumby]

ps  it was hot standing back there!

That was the second thing I thought about, looking at that picture.

[nixiefreqq]

will have to think about your offer.

but maybe it would be wrong to fix my addiction by enabling someone elses?

and what if you turned out to be some kind of psycho.....or worse yet.....the kind of guy who would steal the bits out of one of bill and daves best counters to build a......(shudder).......clock. 

oh the humanity!

[mnementh]

will have to think about your offer.

but maybe it would be wrong to fix my addiction by enabling someone elses?

and what if you turned out to be some kind of psycho.....or worse yet.....the kind of guy who would steal the bits out of one of bill and daves best counters to build a......(shudder).......clock. 

oh the humanity!

_________________________________________________________________________________

Facts are of not much use, considered as facts. They bewilder by their number and their apparent incoherency. Let them be digested into theory, however, and brought into mutual harmony, and it is another matter.
 
Oliver Heaviside

But that's not really changing the function of the device; it's just restructuring the output to a different format.

mnem
"There is no truth, there are no facts; just data to be manipulated. I can get you any result you like; what's it worth tooya?"

[neo]

will have to think about your offer.

but maybe it would be wrong to fix my addiction by enabling someone elses?

and what if you turned out to be some kind of psycho.....or worse yet.....the kind of guy who would steal the bits out of one of bill and daves best counters to build a......(shudder).......clock. 

oh the humanity!

You can rest easy, i don't steal test equipment parts for clocks, only to fix other test equipment. Even then only when the donor is completely screwed, these guys will vouch for me i'm sure.

[mnementh]

will have to think about your offer.

but maybe it would be wrong to fix my addiction by enabling someone elses?

and what if you turned out to be some kind of psycho.....or worse yet.....the kind of guy who would steal the bits out of one of bill and daves best counters to build a......(shudder).......clock. 

oh the humanity!

You can rest easy, i don't steal test equipment parts for clocks, only to fix other test equipment. Even then only when the donor is completely screwed, these guys will vouch for me i'm sure.

I'll vouch for neo... he's a complete psycho. 

OTOH, whom else would you expect to frequent this corner of the 'net? 

mnem
"You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because you're all the same."

[Specmaster]

I'm surprised you were able to power them all at once. 

I'm not so sure that they are all powered, take another look at the centre column, seems to me that the 7th one down isn't powered?

Be that as it may, you're certainly going to fit in here, thats a given and welcome to the squad. 

[bitseeker]

but maybe it would be wrong to fix my addiction by enabling someone elses?

Too late. We've all enabled each other already and your photo just eliminated any intent not to be an enabler.

and what if you turned out to be some kind of psycho.....or worse yet.....the kind of guy who would steal the bits out of one of bill and daves best counters to build a......(shudder).......clock. 

Nah. There's no need to steal bits out of a counter to display the time and/or date on it. So, no worries about anyone here butchering good ol' gear. A few(?) thousand posts in this thread will attest to that.

You and your gear are quite safe in the TEA house.

[beanflying]

but maybe it would be wrong to fix my addiction by enabling someone elses?

Too late. We've all enabled each other already and your photo just eliminated any intent not to be an enabler.

and what if you turned out to be some kind of psycho.....or worse yet.....the kind of guy who would steal the bits out of one of bill and daves best counters to build a......(shudder).......clock. 

Nah. There's no need to steal bits out of a counter to display the time and/or date on it. So, no worries about anyone here butchering good ol' gear. A few(?) thousand posts in this thread will attest to that.

You and your gear are quite safe in the TEA house.

Is considering adding a GPSDO and Frequency divider/multiplier to my incoming 5326B a sin 

[mnementh]

'twould be a sin not to, says I... 

mnem
*Bona fide loose nut behind the gear*

[nixiefreqq]

ok...you caught me.  the 7th counter down in the middle row is not a nixie.  hp5211a with individual neons for each digit.

but it is powered on.

please see the attached higher resolution pic.

I am not embarrassed to own a counter with neon digits.

however my secret shame IS to own a counter with tube logic. 

one of my old co-workers threatened to shun me when he found out about what he called "a 522 pinball machine".