Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

Just for shits and giggles I've just secured myself an old Metrix MX-52 meter which can function in a similar fashion to a VTVM, same input impedance and the fast updating 52 segment bar graph can be put into centre zero mode making it ideal FM radio alignment, IP667 rated.

   

[bitseeker]

@bitseeker: hover mowers are a con perpetrated by a cruel bastard many years ago.

I know, but they fit the topic oh so well.

(I remember the TV commercials for them.)

[bitseeker]

@bitseeker: hover mowers are a con perpetrated by a cruel bastard many years ago.

Not too sure what your saying here, I have used them successfully now for a number of years, and they do work well.

Congratulations! You're the first person I know who has actually used one.

[bitseeker]

All the recent HP 3478A talk made me buy another one. Supposedly, it doesn't power on. It'll be interesting to see if it's a quick fix or a total waste of time. But for only $40 including shipping, how could I resist?

[Specmaster]

All the recent HP 3478A talk made me buy another one. Supposedly, it doesn't power on. It'll be interesting to see if it's a quick fix or a total waste of time. But for only $40 including shipping, how could I resist?

Probably a simple quick fix.
I'm watching another [emoji44]

[Specmaster]

@bitseeker: hover mowers are a con perpetrated by a cruel bastard many years ago.

Not too sure what your saying here, I have used them successfully now for a number of years, and they do work well.

Congratulations! You're the first person I know who has actually used one.

Simply loads of people here use them, they are so easy to use.

[Cerebus]

All the recent HP 3478A talk made me buy another one. Supposedly, it doesn't power on. It'll be interesting to see if it's a quick fix or a total waste of time. But for only $40 including shipping, how could I resist?

Indeed, at that price it would be rude not to.

[bitseeker]

Good one, Cerebus.

You know you have TEA when...

it's rude not to buy it.

[tautech]

@bitseeker: hover mowers are a con perpetrated by a cruel bastard many years ago.

Not too sure what your saying here, I have used them successfully now for a number of years, and they do work well.

Congratulations! You're the first person I know who has actually used one.

In another life some 4 decades ago I used to fix Flymo's (amongst other stuff) and here in NZ they were mostly used for mowing steep banks. Problem was unless you wore good footwear it was easy to loose footing and slide into its path with disastrous consequences for your toes. They fell out of favor as a result of accidents.
Lawns with matted grasses like Kikuyu were a real problem for the Flymo as over time the lawn 'pile' got thicker and thicker to the point it was like walking on a mattress.

[mnementh]

All the recent HP 3478A talk made me buy another one. Supposedly, it doesn't power on. It'll be interesting to see if it's a quick fix or a total waste of time. But for only $40 including shipping, how could I resist?

Indeed, at that price it would be rude not to.

I'd have jumped on it, and I'm the cheap bastahd.

Pssst.... there's some chemistry BS happening  over here... you might want to get in there and pee in somebody's cornflakes.   

mnem
mmm.... cornflakes...

[mnementh]

In another life some 4 decades ago I used to fix Flymo's (amongst other stuff) and here in NZ they were mostly used for mowing steep banks. Problem was unless you wore good footwear it was easy to loose footing and slide into its path with disastrous consequences for your toes. They fell out of favor as a result of accidents.
Lawns with matted grasses like Kikuyu were a real problem for the Flymo as over time the lawn 'pile' got thicker and thicker to the point it was like walking on a mattress.

I test drove one as a youth on the farm from the local tractor place. The front yard was a bit uneven; it's rural after all. Headed over a large exposed tree root I'd always just rolled over with a regular mower; the front edge tucked in, but I kept walking and in half a step the deck was near vertical and my shins mere inches away from the roaring blades. Probably 20 paces was all it took to unsell me on the damned things.

mnem
*punt*

[bd139]

All the recent HP 3478A talk made me buy another one. Supposedly, it doesn't power on. It'll be interesting to see if it's a quick fix or a total waste of time. But for only $40 including shipping, how could I resist?

Indeed, at that price it would be rude not to.

I'd have jumped on it, and I'm the cheap bastahd.

Pssst.... there's some chemistry BS happening  over here... you might want to get in there and pee in somebody's cornflakes.   

mnem
mmm.... cornflakes...

I’d be on that as well. Good price.

Just throughly took the 87V to bits. Checked it over, looked in all the nooks and crannies for crimes. Pristine. Actual HRC fuses, not tin foil. Cal is spot on for every range matching my U1241C to 1 count. Party time!

U1241C has held cal well. It’s actually two months out now and is bang on.

Going to need a DMMcheck with all these DMMs!

In another life some 4 decades ago I used to fix Flymo's (amongst other stuff) and here in NZ they were mostly used for mowing steep banks. Problem was unless you wore good footwear it was easy to loose footing and slide into its path with disastrous consequences for your toes. They fell out of favor as a result of accidents.
Lawns with matted grasses like Kikuyu were a real problem for the Flymo as over time the lawn 'pile' got thicker and thicker to the point it was like walking on a mattress.

I test drove one as a youth on the farm from the local tractor place. The front yard was a bit uneven; it's rural after all. Headed over a large exposed tree root I'd always just rolled over with a regular mower; the front edge tucked in, but I kept walking and in half a step the deck was near vertical and my shins mere inches away from the roaring blades. Probably 20 paces was all it took to unsell me on the damned things.

mnem
*punt*

For me it was the early 1980s. My job was to mow the lawn at home. Shoving this bastard thing around was hard work. Lived in a rural area next to a farm so the grass had all sorts of crap growing in it. Round one was pick up all the dog shit. Round two was mow the lawn. Round three was clean the dog shit you missed off your socks.

[xrunner]

All the recent HP 3478A talk made me buy another one. Supposedly, it doesn't power on. It'll be interesting to see if it's a quick fix or a total waste of time. But for only $40 including shipping, how could I resist?

Maybe you can part out the buttons and knobs to the rest of us if it's beyond repair. 

[bd139]

Talking of buying stuff, I’m convinced eBay has wrecked itself here in the U.K.  They have been doing lots of offer weekends where selling fees are max £1. There is literally nothing interesting at all listed when those aren’t on now. Not a damn thing.

[Specmaster]

In another life some 4 decades ago I used to fix Flymo's (amongst other stuff) and here in NZ they were mostly used for mowing steep banks. Problem was unless you wore good footwear it was easy to loose footing and slide into its path with disastrous consequences for your toes. They fell out of favor as a result of accidents.
Lawns with matted grasses like Kikuyu were a real problem for the Flymo as over time the lawn 'pile' got thicker and thicker to the point it was like walking on a mattress.

These days they mostly all use plastic blades so footwear and toes are quite safe 

[GregDunn]

All the recent HP 3478A talk made me buy another one. Supposedly, it doesn't power on. It'll be interesting to see if it's a quick fix or a total waste of time. But for only $40 including shipping, how could I resist?

Probably a simple quick fix.
I'm watching another [emoji44]

You guys!   I don’t even have my first one yet. Let me get a foothold before everyone starts stocking up. 😂

[Cerebus]

Good one, Cerebus.

You know you have TEA when...

it's rude not to buy it.

Borrowed from an old colleague of mine who when invited to have another pint would almost invariably reply "Be rude not to".

An ironic sideways swipe at rather old-fashioned British politeness in not refusing social invitations no matter how painful accepting would be.

Mildred: Arthur's wife invited us to go and see their son's school play.
George: Do we have to?
Mildred: It'd be rude not to.

[Wolfgang]

Talking of buying stuff, I’m convinced eBay has wrecked itself here in the U.K.  They have been doing lots of offer weekends where selling fees are max £1. There is literally nothing interesting at all listed when those aren’t on now. Not a damn thing.

Here in Germany its the same. What is there on eBay is overpriced, or even worse with semiconductors, a blunt fake.
They even sell fake LM317 or LM7805 chips ! Some years ago it was a good place to buy reasonable stuff, but not anymore.

[med6753]

Good one, Cerebus.

You know you have TEA when...

it's rude not to buy it.

Borrowed from an old colleague of mine who when invited to have another pint would almost invariably reply "Be rude not to".

An ironic sideways swipe at rather old-fashioned British politeness in not refusing social invitations no matter how painful accepting would be.

Mildred: Arthur's wife invited us to go and see their son's school play.
George: Do we have to?
Mildred: It'd be rude not to.

Well, I cater to American rudeness....."Fuck you, I ain't going" 

[mnementh]

In another life some 4 decades ago I used to fix Flymo's (amongst other stuff) and here in NZ they were mostly used for mowing steep banks. Problem was unless you wore good footwear it was easy to loose footing and slide into its path with disastrous consequences for your toes. They fell out of favor as a result of accidents.
Lawns with matted grasses like Kikuyu were a real problem for the Flymo as over time the lawn 'pile' got thicker and thicker to the point it was like walking on a mattress.

These days they mostly all use plastic blades so footwear and toes are quite safe 

Tell that to everybody who's died from a plastic shiv or had a finger laid open with plastic cutlery.

In Other News...

https://www.zdnet.com/article/some-apple-laptops-shipped-with-intel-chips-in-manufacturing-mode/

Fucking seriously? Here, lets ship cars with the BT firewall disabled, or TVs that track everything you watch and send it home to the mothership. 

Oh... wait... 

mnem
Not without my shins.

[mnementh]

Good one, Cerebus.

You know you have TEA when...

it's rude not to buy it.

Borrowed from an old colleague of mine who when invited to have another pint would almost invariably reply "Be rude not to".

An ironic sideways swipe at rather old-fashioned British politeness in not refusing social invitations no matter how painful accepting would be.

Mildred: Arthur's wife invited us to go and see their son's school play.
George: Do we have to?
Mildred: It'd be rude not to.

Well, I cater to American rudeness....."Fuck you, I ain't going" 

Yeah, this is one thing that concerns me with moving to Toronto... one thing I've heard over and over again is that in social situations, Canadians are "polite to a fault".

How the fuck am I going to teach my kids to be polite so they're not ostracized when I'm just 6 kinds of rude, crude, ignorant & socially unacceptable?   

mnem
Okay, 7 kinds... fuck me. 

[GreyWoolfe]

How the fuck am I going to teach my kids to be polite so they're not ostracized when I'm just 6 kinds of rude, crude, ignorant & socially unacceptable?   

mnem
Okay, 7 kinds... fuck me. 

I guess I need to stay away from Canada.  I am a stereotypical Jersey Boy, with all that goes with it.   Fuck me?  Noooooooooo, fuck you!

[bitseeker]

All the recent HP 3478A talk made me buy another one. Supposedly, it doesn't power on. It'll be interesting to see if it's a quick fix or a total waste of time.

Maybe you can part out the buttons and knobs to the rest of us if it's beyond repair. 

Buttons, feet, front panel, LCD, voltage ref. I'm sure there's plenty of good stuff to part out, if it comes to that.

[xrunner]

Buttons, feet, front panel, LCD, voltage ref. I'm sure there's plenty of good stuff to part out, if it comes to that.

It'll probably power on and work fine. Whoever sold it probably didn't have the outlet strip it was plugged into switched on.

TEA people benefit greatly from those types. 

[med6753]

How the fuck am I going to teach my kids to be polite so they're not ostracized when I'm just 6 kinds of rude, crude, ignorant & socially unacceptable?   

mnem
Okay, 7 kinds... fuck me. 

I guess I need to stay away from Canada.  I am a stereotypical Jersey Boy, with all that goes with it.   Fuck me?  Noooooooooo, fuck you!

And the horse you rode in on.