Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

Ashamed to get the reference. 

[Specmaster]

Yeh well there's cheap and then there's cheap cheap

And then there's "chirpy chirpy cheap cheap".

Those of a certain age who understand that reference, will groan. For those who don't understand, simply be glad I'm not explaining

Whats wrong with it? Its pretty neutral really, yu could say "Middle of the Road" TaDaa TaDaa

[mnementh]

Don't buy either the VC97 or the VC99, I have a VC97 and Joe has tested a VC99. put that money into that Brymen 867, honestly it way way better then you perceive it to be.

LOL... I was being facetious; neither of them have anything I want that my two Anengs and my Ragu don't already have. I was just pointing that out as a really pitiful high point of my search. I believe I've fixed my Sperry; the urge for a new meter isn't nearly as strong now. We'll see what develops. 

I'm sure most of us know about using Gurgle's " site: " search algorithm to find things on EEVblog; however I just found something I didn't know: You can actually dial in some pretty fine granularity; it is possible to search individual subforums here as well. Not only that; you do NOT have to enter a search query!

THIS:

site:www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/

will return a listing of posts on our thread. If you then click on the [Images] radio button, you can scroll through all images uploaded to our thread, sorted similarly.


If you then add a search query, you can find images posted to our forum associated with that term, like so:

454 site:www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/


I was able to find the pic (and the post) where I originally offered my free Tekittens to a good home within the first few dozen hits; I had tried repeatedly using the EEVblog site advanced search with no joy.

Yep, that's the only way to fly search the forum (and other sites). If you leave off the www subdomain, you can broaden a search to all subdomains of a second-level domain.

Yep, but the photos are random ones, there are many others that don't selected, or the ones that do, are they the ones hosted on other sites rather than direct posts?

No; they're only the ones hosted here. And they're not random; they're organized using whatever voodoo algorithm Gurgle feels is applicable, as repeated searches return the same results in the same order.

It's whatever has been indexed. I see examples of both attached images and externally hosted ones. If you don't enter a query string, then you'll see images in whatever order is the default. If you do put a word or three, then the top images will be those with the matching search terms on the page (not just the particular post in which the image appeared), image title, maybe the image filename.

Here's an example that pulls up the image attachments of URI's post about his Oltronix B300D units as the first two hits on the Images tab (or the row of images at the top of regular search results).

oltronix site:www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/

Yeah, what he sed.   

The order in which said results are displayed is still at least 60% bitchcraft, IMHO.

Cheap meters belong in the car

Yeah, well...  I checked my cheap car DMM yesterday....

Still works fine   

Nice! They made their front-panel stickers with left over heatshrink material.

I had one in red did the same thing. Used the mainboard to fix another that got smoked "accidentally on purpose" doing something stupid; on purpose because I knew I was going to do something stupid, so I used the cheapie as a sacrificial element to prevent killing a half-decent meter.    Then once it was working I gave it away, as I usually do.

Yeh well there's cheap and then there's cheap cheap

And then there's "chirpy chirpy cheap cheap".

Those of a certain age who understand that reference, will groan. For those who don't understand, simply be glad I'm not explaining

Whats wrong with it? Its pretty neutral really, yu could say "Middle of the Road" TaDaa TaDaa

*Does quick Gurgle and finds a video*

Fuuuuuu.... there's 90 seconds of my life I'll never get back. 

mnem
*Tosses soggy ol' boot at Specmaster's head, just on GP*

[Brumby]

Thanks for the ear-worm.

Seems this meter didn't like my work area.  While perfectly fine when I pulled the meter from the car, a couple of segments had become intermittent overnight - no doubt around the zebra strip.  Two PCB mounting screws right next to the zebra strip made for an easy fix.  I shaved a couple of thou off the top of the pillars they went into.  The PCB now sits slightly lower and presses down on the zebra strip just a little bit more.  Solid segment display across the whole LCD now.


I feel I want to do something with the face plate, though..... 

[mnementh]

I suppose you could always flatten it out with a steam iron... 


mnem
*ducks soggy ol' boot thrown from Specmaster's direction*

[Brumby]

Must try that ....   

[Brumby]

Used my hot air gun instead, with something to flatten it.  Interesting result.

Anyone care to speculate while I upload the photo...?

[med6753]

Used my hot air gun instead, with something to flatten it.  Interesting result.

Anyone care to speculate while I upload the photo...?

It shrank and no longer fits?

[Brumby]

Yes and no.

[Brumby]

 


I think the heatshrink comment earlier was pretty close to the truth.

[med6753]

Uh oh, sounds like a complete FUBAR 

Edit...it shrank one way and stretched the other. Result, no fit.

2nd edit..actually it didn't stretch, just shrank on one side. Same result....no fit. 

[bitseeker]

 

I think the heatshrink comment earlier was pretty close to the truth.

Yay! What did I win?

At least it looks tidier now that it's smooth and flat. Just print up your own faceplate on adhesive-backed paper. You can even name it: BRUMBY 830B

[med6753]

 

I think the heatshrink comment earlier was pretty close to the truth.

Yay! What did I win?

At least it looks tidier now that it's smooth and flat. Just print up your own faceplate on adhesive-backed paper. You can even name it: BRUMBY 830B

Yep, scan it in and then use a program like Paint to restore the aspect ratio. The tricky part will be figuring out how to get your printer to print it to the correct size.

[med6753]

Some goodies on my local Craigslist. I have no interest in either. In fact, I think I would find that "clear" 87 somewhat distracting.

[bitseeker]

Some goodies on my local Craigslist. I have no interest in either. In fact, I think I would find that "clear" 87 somewhat distracting.

Actually, since we have no shortage of DMMs, an unusual one like that is just fine. If you're in a situation where being distracted by it is critical, just use another meter.

If you don't want it, buy it for mnem!

[Brumby]

Yep, scan it in and then use a program like Paint to restore the aspect ratio.

Nah ... Too much like hard work.  I found a nice photo of almost the identical layout, squared it up, cropped to the label and set the aspect ratio based on the measured space on the meter face.

The tricky part will be figuring out how to get your printer to print it to the correct size.

Not at all.  I have the physical dimensions and the number of pixels in each direction.  For my case, this worked out printing at 762 DPI, which my (rather archaic) image processing program can do easily.

The annoying part is cutting out the holes.

Here is a quick hack effort on ordinary paper on my monochrome laser.  I might do some "customisation"  and print it up on my colour laser.

[med6753]

Some goodies on my local Craigslist. I have no interest in either. In fact, I think I would find that "clear" 87 somewhat distracting.

Actually, since we have no shortage of DMMs, an unusual one like that is just fine. If you're in a situation where being distracted by it is critical, just use another meter.

If you don't want it, buy it for mnem!

Spoken like a true TEA addict! 

If mnem wants the link......here it is.....

https://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/ele/d/fluke-87-true-rms-digital/6647792597.html

[med6753]

Yep, scan it in and then use a program like Paint to restore the aspect ratio.

Nah ... Too much like hard work.  I found a nice photo of almost the identical layout, squared it up, cropped to the label and set the aspect ratio based on the measured space on the meter face.

The tricky part will be figuring out how to get your printer to print it to the correct size.

Not at all.  I have the physical dimensions and the number of pixels in each direction.  For my case, this worked out printing at 762 DPI, which my (rather archaic) image processing program can do easily.

The annoying part is cutting out the holes.

Here is a quick hack effort on ordinary paper on my monochrome laser.  I might do some "customisation"  and print it up on my colour laser.

That turned out damn good! 

[Brumby]

(If you don't look too hard.)

[tautech]

The annoying part is cutting out the holes.

Got a grinder and some various sized steel tubing ?
Wad cutter punches are easy to make.

ID is the finished size and just grind the OD to a sharp edge, place the 'target' on a block of wood and whack the wad punch with a hammer.

[Brumby]

The tubing will cost more than the meter did.

[Brumby]

How about this for starters?...

[med6753]

The Dave "caution" on the upper ranges is perfect. 

[Specmaster]

Must try that ....   

What, steam or soggy boot[emoji23]

[Specmaster]

How about this for starters?...

That's really good