Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Inverted18650]

The IED sent the truck I was in into a 16ft cartwheel and the truck weighed xxxxx a lot. i didn't feel anything until the next day and i was suckin' (as we say). More shots in my spine than I can remember, (my knee too) and a bag of pain pill just as often, seems like once every other day just to stay on my feet. There was no one else to do my job, what was I to do, let another guy die? No fucking way..

They are funny though, last time it went I bent over to clip my toe nails and BANG, on the floor in the fetal..before that I was bending over to pet my dog...nothing close to stenerous...this time i had that big ass 8672A in my hands and luckily it didnt hit me, but my hardwood floor didnt get so lucky, nor my hip...

but hes here now, lets play!

[Inverted18650]

I keep finding those oragne aluminum resistors at my local "basket store" and I always buy them for just 0.25. Usually they are 6R 50W and part of an LED headlight upgrade kit. I have acquired about 30 of them and just waiting for a good project to use them on.

[Inverted18650]

more HP8672A pics. It hit hard but this looks like the only issue so far. Should slide right back in, hopefully the unit inside is okay. More to come.

**tried to find my adapters for the new K_DMM7510 to check the output and failed and I hurt to much to sit and let this Microwave Counter warm up so I am going to take my meds and be done for the evening. Ill leave them both on and gather the power figures as well for those whom may be interested.

[beanflying]

Will cost you more for the heatsinks than for the resistors These 4 were about $30AUD and the Arcol 1% ones were a bit over $20 from memory. The Rose enclosures were under $20 each 

[Inverted18650]

Will cost you more for the heatsinks than for the resistors These 4 were about $30AUD and the Arcol 1% ones were a bit over $20 from memory. The Rose enclosures were under $20 each 

Ive got this "Amazon Return Store" here in town and find some pretty cool stuff in there from time to time. They start the weekends at $5 and drop it down to a quarter (0.25usd) on Fridays. I have found some insane gear there. The best scores are the nice PSU units that require AC input and people just dont understand or are afraid to try. I grabbed a couple nice Meanwell 24V units for $1 one day, and I always find little bits of fun stuff, Arduino stuff, LCD, daugther boards, sensors...etc


heres the website, doesnt do much if your not in the area, but if you are, go check them out:  https://gimmea5.com/

Heres another cool website, more regional and great deals!  If you are not in the area and find something you want, let me know, I go up there all the time and will grab it for you, if I can: https://www.bidfta.com/

[mnementh]

By nature, I'm a "night owl". Up until 0200-0300. If I don't force myself to get up at the butt-crack of dawn, make coffee and eggs, and sit down and eat a breakfast or similar "start of day" ritual to wake myself up, I'll slip into that routine as I've done recently since my dental visit. Last night I passed out at 4am; got up today at 1pm. 

Problem is, my body wants the daylight... serotonin levels drop, I get head-achy and cranky, lose my sense of humor and even my wife & kids don't wanna be around me. So now comes the battle back to normal hours again... dentist should have my scrip ready, so I'll be able to get to sleep for a change rather than succumbing to exhaustion.

When I'm fighting my way back to normal, I usually use Unisom or a generic doxylamine-based equivalent. But you have to pay attention with the stuff; it will make you very drowsy for a brief period, and you need to go to sleep right then or it's completely ineffective. But the good part is you'll slip into a deep sleep quickly if you do.

Benadryl-based sleeping aids have never worked for me; they just make me pee all night. Doxlyamine will make you pee too, sometimes.

mnem
Fuck... I so need coffee right now.

I had to chuckle reading this, I pictured you sleeping and peeing yourself and made me remember that back in the 60's we used to have a brand of vegetables (I seem to remember that were dried?) and they were called "Surprise" and it was a standing joke at the time, Q) What do you get with surprise peas? A) Chapped Legs 

Well, I'm not THAT bad yet... but I know I'm on the waiting list. 

That ad shows you... things really WERE different back then. They actually bothered to sort and select for quality; now, you feel lucky if you can get through a whole can/bag of peas without chomping on a stick or bug part. 



Anyhoo... what a difference a decent night's sleep make. Woke up this morning before my wife, made eggs & sausages and helped get the kids ready for school.

Even sang the "Good MORNING!!!" song to wake up the kids; my wife was all like "I don't know if I can put up with this every day; Chirpy Daddeh has got to GO!"

"But honey... Chirpy Daddy makes you breakfast. With toast."

"Okay, he can stay. But you need to crank down Paul Simon on the boombox." *Smooch*

"Fair dinkum."

Huggles for kiddles, and all my gaggle are off to school... *Sigh*

So... what's new with all you freaks?

mnem
*In best musical theater baritone at top of lungs*

" GOOD MORNING!!! GOOD MORNING! GOOD MORNING!!!
Wake up! Get out of Bed! Rise and shine, you sleepyheads!
GOOD MORNING!!! GOOD MORNING! GOOD MORNING!!! "

[Mr. Scram]

There actually are legal bug quota for vegetables. Your peas can contain 4 larvae per can and be perfectly fine according to US food standards. "The insect fragments are classified as an aesthetic problem." The limits for peas are "Insect damage: Average of 10% or more by count of class 6 damage or higher in minimum of 12 subsamples", "Insect larvae: Average of 5 or more cowpea curculio larvae or the equivalent per No. 2 can" and "Insect filth: Average of 5% or more by count insect-infested and/or insect-damaged by storage insects in a minimum of 12 subsamples"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Food_Defect_Action_Levels
https://www.fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/guidancedocumentsregulatoryinformation/sanitationtransportation/ucm056174.htm#o

[mnementh]

...Benadryl-based sleeping aids have never worked for me; they just make me pee all night. Doxlyamine will make you pee too, sometimes.

mnem
Fuck... I so need coffee right now.

Just throw a tarp on the bed. Problem solved. I thought you folks were the engineering type?

Eeeeeww. Here I thought Spec was just being weird for a joke; assuming that I meant I'd pee myself.

Just so there's no doubt; I meant that it has the opposite effect: Instead of putting me to sleep, I'm up all night going to the bathroom. 

smeesh. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Local-Pickup-from-Erie-PA-LOT-OF-THREE-Fluke-8375A-Digital-Multimeters/362546242891?hash=item546970a54b:g:-dgAAOSwWrdbnwni:rk:6:pf:0

tempting......BUT.....local pickup only.

5 hours and over 300 miles one way according to google maps.  thats a long way to go for nixie meters i don't need.

i don't want them......i don't want them......i don't want them.

(damn....do not have any fluke nixie meters....maybe i do want them?  what would neo do?)

'I don't Need' - What the 

If the weather was better it would be a great few days tour around the Lake and even a side trip to Niagara with the bonus of Nixie pickup on the way 

I'm totes feeling both sides of that argument. If it's any consolation, once I'm in Toronto I might be able to help...


OTOH... Bitseeker, I think we absoulutely need to add WWND? to the first page...   

mnem
*Cackles and runs away*

[Specmaster]

Wow, its as much as that is it, I thought that mnem was joking about the bug and stick aspect of a can of peas.

We all knew that the USA has far lower standards for food than the UK and Europe and we are quite worried that we may be forced into buying more of our food from the USA in the wake of a no deal brexit because of their awful standards.

@mnem, You know, I can't remember the last time I discovered a foreign object in any of our cans or frozen packs of peas etc over here, Perhaps the Canadians will have better food standards that you'll be able to enjoy when you finally make that move there and leave all of that GM rubbish behind you.

[Specmaster]

@menm,  I never for a single moment thought you meant that you'd pee'd yourself, but for some strange reason, reading your post just made me remember the old joke we used to make about surprise peas and then I had this mental picture of you as well, but you did however say that were on the waiting list  Me, nah and I hope to got god that neither of us get that bad, us night owls have to stick together you know 

[mnementh]

"My love, I know its hard to believe, but there is some silly American ( you all call us silly right) who has been of the forum for a couple years just hanging out reading thousands of forum threads. Today, he messaged me saying he would like to send me a "thank you" gift for the work I put into the forum. Apparently this guy has read a ton of post from several topics and he choose a handful of guys that he kept seeing pop up everywhere helping people. Not just being superior or snide, but actually taking the time to help people who needed it get through their projects, without making them feel dumb or inferior or asking questions. Apparently he has already sent out several boxes to other forum users and they all replied back that its legit. For some reason, he decided he is sending me a meter. Its a bit bigger than the space I have but if you are okay with me accepting, I think it would mean a lot to him."


*I am going to keep editing this post until its absolutely perfect. Pitiful, yet hard to be mad at, just the right level of embarrassment and 'feel bad for' until it works.

For the record I have been trained to do some counter-xxxxxx and xxxxxxx so you will not win.

https://youtu.be/7-Op7Jcg1dU

You SOOOOO belong here.   

mnem
"I'm bad and that's good. I will never be good and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me."

[mnementh]

I can see the response...

Build a kennel using the new saw you got out of the scrap timber you've got laying around and it can live there.  If you think it will be lonely, wrap a clock in a blanket and put it next to it ... or you can keep it company yourself.

Well, maybe not exactly that, but it could be similar in sentiment.

The real fun will be getting a rack frame.  New is out of the question and you don't see many on the side of the road.

LOL... I LITERALLY left a 24U rack on the curb just last month. It wasn't pretty, and 2 of the wheels were broke (the reason it was replaced), but yeah... just last month.

No, I didn't even imagine taking it home. I'm THAT serious about moving to Toronto.

There actually are legal bug quota for vegetables. Your peas can contain 4 larvae per can and be perfectly fine according to US food standards. "The insect fragments are classified as an aesthetic problem." The limits for peas are "Insect damage: Average of 10% or more by count of class 6 damage or higher in minimum of 12 subsamples", "Insect larvae: Average of 5 or more cowpea curculio larvae or the equivalent per No. 2 can" and "Insect filth: Average of 5% or more by count insect-infested and/or insect-damaged by storage insects in a minimum of 12 subsamples"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Food_Defect_Action_Levels
https://www.fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/guidancedocumentsregulatoryinformation/sanitationtransportation/ucm056174.htm#o

Yes, I am nauseatingly aware of these "standards"; that is precisely the "regulation" I was referring to with my comment. 

There's a reason Japan and most of the EU refuse to buy our grains & vegetables; they know our regulations, they know how abysmal our standards are, and and they also know that like all corporate entities, American Agri-business "Only wants rules so they can break them." With standards that low, one can only guess how much shit (literally) ones consumes with American produce.

Yet another of a zillion reasons I'm trying to get my kids to somewhere civilized before they're too grown to benefit from it.

mnem
Also, armadillos.

[mnementh]

@menm,  I never for a single moment thought you meant that you'd pee'd yourself, but for some strange reason, reading your post just made me remember the old joke we used to make about surprise peas and then I had this mental picture of you as well, but you did however say that were on the waiting list  Me, nah and I hope to got that neither of us get bad, us night owls have to stick together you know 

I know, I know... I also know, however, that someone will come along and just read Scram's post and respond to THAT... and before long someone responds to that, and then it snowballs and everybody's calling mnem Elton, because "He's the pee-in-est." 

mnem

[Specmaster]

Well, thats precisely what some our MP's are saying that we need to close to the USA and agree a trade deal for some of that good old USA sun standard GM modified crap and fill our shops with it rather then buying from the EU which has the highest food standards in the world 

[med6753]

I just woke up here to and.....why am I all wet??  Did I pee myself? 

And how did that bag of peas fall out of the freezer and now all over the floor? 

I'm going back to bed. 

[mnementh]

Oklay... so for the last few hours, I've been working on trying to figure out how to control the fan on my huge copper CPU cooler with the PWM out from the MB (and working on a huge slice of apple pie); it is old-school with just a pot soldered to two pins on the motor, so appears to either use a linear regulator to control the motor speed, or perhaps that pot controls the duty cycle of the H-gate... I'd have to take the thing off my MB and do some poking & prodding to be sure. And then I realized, I'll need to poke & prod a working PWM controlled fan to get the same information about the PWM signal off the MB.

So I go dig around in my bin of fans & heat-sinks... yes, that is the original cooler that came with my 1055T; pristine, never used and still in the original box. We won't talk about the raging packrattinosis embodied by that fact; glass houses, etc.

So I start scribbling some notes on what to look for on the fan (I vaguely remember reading somewhere that the standard for these is 25KHz PWM, open-collector with pullup on the fan) and moving shit around to get to my 1054-cum-1104Z, and then it dawns on me... why the EFF am I even messing with all this crap, when all I need to do is drop that AMD-approved cooler on the damn thing and be done with it?

And the only answer I can come up with... is that you guys in here would see it as a cop-out. 

And you know what's really funny? I'm totally down widdat. As far as I'm concerned, it's a perfectly valid reason to bust a nut and try to figure out how this damned thing is supposed to work, instead of taking the easy way out.

Cheers,

mnem
*NARRRFF!*

[mnementh]

*airmails med a packet of depends and puts the Elton John channel on Prime Music*

There... now I've got THAT sorted...

mnem
*tinker-tinker... hammer-hammer... test-test...* ZZZZAPPP! OWWWWW! *Sucks burned finger*

[med6753]

Damnit...the 500VDC reference project has to be put on hold again.  Remember I said yesterday that I dropped newly received DC-DC converter on the floor? I thought it was OK. Not so...sometimes when it starts up it jumps to 380VDC then settles down to to set point 275VDC. But still dancing around more than the other one. And high start up voltage will blow the regulator. Aw crap, guess I'll order another one. 

[beanflying]

Damnit...the 500VDC reference project has to be put on hold again.  Remember I said yesterday that I dropped newly received DC-DC converter on the floor? I thought it was OK. Not so...sometimes when it starts up it jumps to 380VDC then settles down to to set point 275VDC. But still dancing around more than the other one. And high start up voltage will blow the regulator. Aw crap, guess I'll order another one. 

I know a bloke with several Fluke DC calibrators for sale

After the 2:20am Possum screech time to try to go back to sleep 

[nixiefreqq]

wwnd?

damn!   we should put that on a bumper sticker.

[med6753]

Damnit...the 500VDC reference project has to be put on hold again.  Remember I said yesterday that I dropped newly received DC-DC converter on the floor? I thought it was OK. Not so...sometimes when it starts up it jumps to 380VDC then settles down to to set point 275VDC. But still dancing around more than the other one. And high start up voltage will blow the regulator. Aw crap, guess I'll order another one. 

I know a bloke with several Fluke DC calibrators for sale

After the 2:20am Possum screech time to try to go back to sleep 

And this bloke has no real room for one of those monsters. It would be a closet queen. Besides, I want to prove to myself that I can have a decent set of references without spending a fortune. What I got so far with the low voltage and 190VDC references I'm quite pleased with. And I enjoy building/designing junk from scratch.

Oh well, guess I'll go grocery shopping instead. It's supposed to be freezing rain tomorrow and I'm running low on provisions.     

[TERRA Operative]

Just posted this pic in the "What did you buy today" thread, but here it is anyway... Just arrived today.
Tek 577-177 curve tracer. I just couldn't say no when I saw it on Yahoo Auctions. Paid less than $250 inc. shipping for it too.

A bit of time on the healing bench to get it all back to spec, then I'll measure up the sockets in the test fixture to make a bunch of test jigs. 
(Are there any measurements from Tek for these test sockets anywhere?)

[bd139]

Holy crap that was a good deal.

I miss yahoo auctions ... you guys are lucky Softbank kept all the old Yahoo balls spinning.

[Johnny10]

That was a good deal especially considering included shipping!
Nice looking 577.

[bd139]

Yeah most of that would be shipping here!