Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Zucca]

https://www.bialetti.com/coffee/stovetop/stainless-pots-c-1_7_21.html

It's your mouth, it deserves the best.

[mnementh]

https://www.bialetti.com/coffee/stovetop/stainless-pots-c-1_7_21.html

It's your mouth, it deserves the best.

It's the standard for Italian-style Espresso and similar steam grinds; ranch-style is the yardstick for other kinds of coffee. The French make coffee every bit as good, it's just different.

*Looks in on the Bialetti SS line*

Eeeehhh... spun sheet stainless, not cast.  No metal mass to prevent burning; not exactly sanguine about the results from the Venus or the Kitty. I'll have to think on that; I love Espresso and even a nice hearty dark grind, which the Bialetti always did well... but not sure I can get the wife in on it. Kindof disappointed they didn't at least copper-clad the bottom of the pressure vessel if they weren't going to make it from cast or forged SS.   

mnem
 

[SilverSolder]

The thing I have with Bosch... it's the thing everybody else thinks is so awesome: German Engineering.

Well, I guess what many people mean when they say "German Engineering" is solid, conservative (yet not old fashioned or obsolete), tested designs, carefully made with pride.  By that standard, obviously not all German engineering is German engineering!

We purchased a couple of appliances in 1994 - an AEG washing machine, and an AEG dishwasher.  Neither was high end, or particularly expensive at the time.  Both are still in daily use by the people that "inherited" them, and have never had a repairman visit in all this time.  Colour me impressed!  The designers and manufacturers got everything right.

[mnementh]

Question for all you iHeads out there...

...anybody who's used an iPad Air II for a while: What is actual (not advertised) battery life, meaning actual runtime under normal use with light web browsing, BL at 100% or reduced to say 80% and not a lot of video that chews up mAH?

mnem
*Fixing-ily*

[mnementh]

The thing I have with Bosch... it's the thing everybody else thinks is so awesome: German Engineering.

Well, I guess what many people mean when they say "German Engineering" is solid, conservative (yet not old fashioned or obsolete), tested designs, carefully made with pride.  By that standard, obviously not all German engineering is German engineering!

We purchased a couple of appliances in 1994 - an AEG washing machine, and an AEG dishwasher.  Neither was high end, or particularly expensive at the time.  Both are still in daily use by the people that "inherited" them, and have never had a repairman visit in all this time.  Colour me impressed!  The designers and manufacturers got everything right.

Yeah... I KNOW what people THINK when you say German Engineering. I was talking about my experiences time and again as someone who's made a living fixing the stuff they design; a totally different experience vector. It seems "simplify" just isn't in their design toolkit. 

mnem
*vamplify*

[bd139]

Question for all you iHeads out there...

...anybody who's used an iPad Air II for a while: What is actual (not advertised) battery life, meaning actual runtime under normal use with light web browsing, BL at 100% or reduced to say 80% and not a lot of video that chews up mAH?

mnem
*Fixing-ily*

Got one here. About 6-7 hours if it's not new doing light stuff. About 2 hours with a teenager on it.

[Kosmic]

https://www.bialetti.com/coffee/stovetop/stainless-pots-c-1_7_21.html

It's your mouth, it deserves the best.

I got the Bialetti Musa in stainless, works perfectly!

[mnementh]

Question for all you iHeads out there...

...anybody who's used an iPad Air II for a while: What is actual (not advertised) battery life, meaning actual runtime under normal use with light web browsing, BL at 100% or reduced to say 80% and not a lot of video that chews up mAH?

mnem
*Fixing-ily*

Got one here. About 6-7 hours if it's not new doing light stuff. About 2 hours with a teenager on it.

I actually   LOLed IRL when I saw this. That is EXACTLY the assessment I was looking for; even the latter part, which tells me how long it should last if I trade with my daughter. Thank you! 

mnem
moo.

[bd139]

They also eat lightning cables (kids that is). TBH the killer battery apps I see are Fortnite and Sims free play. Minecraft is pretty light on the juice.

[mnementh]

Fortunately she's too young for Fortnite, and I've learned my lesson on lightning cables: Everything in our house that charges via USB has these.

I tried buying them a few at a time; that doesn't work. Even though you can buy ones that LOOK identical, the pinout will differ, pin alignment will be off a little, or the magnetic polarity will be wrong. You have to find ones like this that come with all 3 in each set and rated at least 2.1A, then buy a big lot all at once. Enough for what you have and what you expect to have in the near future, plus an extra for each person to take to work/car.

I bought 20 of these because at the time, that brought per unit cost down to $3; $60 will buy you 2 or 3 lightning cables or 5-ish "certified" aftermarket product. I've lost a tip and a cable through attrition; for 6 months I think that's not too bad and I knew they'd be cheap, the brand is "GENERIC".  . I have 4 left unused in the cupboard at this time.

Yes, they work on all my android devices both Micro-USB and USB-C, and even work perfectly on my daughter's 2018 iPad just bought for XMas. 

You just need to plug them into a genuine Apple or Apple-certified charger (Or USB-C-certified, as the case may be); the cheap power banks won't handshake with the correct charge rate and the iPud goes "Gimme a fu**ing break; buy a decent charger ya cheap bastahd."

mnem
*tzzzt*

[bd139]

I haven’t actually paid for one for about three years. I bought some amazon basics ones and they killed them. So I complained at amazon and they sent me some free. Been doing that ever since  . Only got iOS devices here now. Only problem is we’ve got 3 less chargers than iOS devices due to explosions and absent mindedness by SWMNLBO.

[tautech]

CharBucks and MuckCafe, nailed them perfectly.    

Seemed everywhere we went here for a while ONLY used burnt beans. 

Yuck, a quizillion yucks. 

[bd139]

That’s one reason I like Costa here. Don’t burn the damn things!

[med6753]

McD's coffee over here tends to be fairly decent. Not burnt nor bitter. But it's been a VERY long time since I patronized a Mickey D's. Not exactly a diabetic food offering.   

On the other hand....Charbucks/Starsucks. 

[tautech]

McD's coffee over here tends to be fairly decent. Not burnt nor bitter.

Yeah 'cause the ship all the burnt bean batches off over here. 

Bean needs to be put in charge, he'd sort the buggers out !

[med6753]

McD's coffee over here tends to be fairly decent. Not burnt nor bitter.

Yeah 'cause the ship all the burnt bean batches off over here. 

Bean needs to be put in charge, he'd sort the buggers out !

Did you ever get a response from HQ concerning the weird issue I have with the SDS-1052DL?

In a related item: Over 2 weeks ago I sent an E-mail to Mastech in China asking if a service manual was available for the MS8040 DMM so I could do a proper calibration. The response......crickets. 

[tautech]

Did you ever get a response from HQ concerning the weird issue I have with the SDS-1052DL?

In a related item: Over 2 weeks ago I sent an E-mail to Mastech in China asking if a service manual was available for the MS8040 DMM so I could do a proper calibration. The response......crickets. 

Same, crickets. 

I guess because the DL has been superseded by DL+ and they run a different firmware.

Slightly annoying I know but at least it's not a terminal issue. For me, I can't be ever bothered using Autoset preferring to take charge and drive the thing myself with my settings.

Thanks for the reminder and we'll ask for a update on our next contact with tech support even if it's a: sorry no new FW is forecast. Then we'll know.

[med6753]

Did you ever get a response from HQ concerning the weird issue I have with the SDS-1052DL?

In a related item: Over 2 weeks ago I sent an E-mail to Mastech in China asking if a service manual was available for the MS8040 DMM so I could do a proper calibration. The response......crickets. 

Same, crickets. 

I guess because the DL has been superseded by DL+ and they run a different firmware.

Slightly annoying I know but at least it's not a terminal issue. For me, I can't be ever bothered using Autoset preferring to take charge and drive the thing myself with my settings.

Thanks for the reminder and we'll ask for a update on our next contact with tech support even if it's a: sorry no new FW is forecast. Then we'll know.

OK, thanks. Was just wondering. I don't regard it as a big deal either. As far as I'm concerned the scope works fine.

[FransW]

Seen this:
https://www.elekitsorparts.com/product/4-wire-kelvin-calibration-kit-for-desktop-digital-multimeter/

Both Keithley and HP types for different input lay-outs.

Frans

[beanflying]

Seen this:
https://www.elekitsorparts.com/product/4-wire-kelvin-calibration-kit-for-desktop-digital-multimeter/

Both Keithley and HP types for different input lay-outs.

Frans

A few of the members here have done similar projects. Links below
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/metrology/copper-binding-post-shorting-straps-for-low-thermal-emf-alloytempering/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/oshw/4-wire-short/
Texaspyro's boards @ Oshpark https://oshpark.com/profiles/texaspyro

[beanflying]

McD's coffee over here tends to be fairly decent. Not burnt nor bitter. But it's been a VERY long time since I patronized a Mickey D's. Not exactly a diabetic food offering.   

On the other hand....Charbucks/Starsucks. 

Muck D's has gone through a cycle of Fully Automatic machines and Over Roasted to go full circle to training Baristas and good quality machines and much much better roasts (local contract roaster) in Oz at least. Like their so called food you know what homogeneity and blah to expect.

Roast level is a bit of a regional thing but even now some in Oz still roast old school Italian (urk) or what the Yanks would call 'Full City' it fairly much rubs out any of the really good regional flavours of the bean. The French incinerate theirs 

A more modern Espresso sits under that for depth and is basically a lower temperature profile and end point. The plunger/brewed Roast I will do for Brumby is another level down again. Really simple version but that's the basics.

[tautech]

Bean, about that LEO pump.

With a 12C ambient it was running at 54C after ~1hr  , I know way too hot but something my sparky said about starting them on Star and running them on Delta can reduces temps.
Any experience with doing this ?

Choking it some is still the preferred (and cheap) solution.

[beanflying]

Star-Delta Starters only reduce startup currents, DOL (Direct online) should be fine for your job but would be different if you were starting it say 10+ times an hour it might help the motor temps. For bigger motors electronic soft starters were taking the place of Star-Delta when I got out of the pump industry.

30+C ambient your motor would be plenty toasty and the internal smoke might see an appearance 

[tautech]

Star-Delta Starters only reduce startup currents, DOL (Direct online) should be fine for your job but would be different if you were starting it say 10+ times an hour it might help the motor temps. For bigger motors electronic soft starters were taking the place of Star-Delta when I got out of the pump industry.

30+C ambient your motor would be plenty toasty and the internal smoke might see an appearance 

Great thanks.

Yeah, we'll strangle it some to take the load off the motor and get back into its happy place.
ATM, just 1 hr runs with zero restarts.

[Neomys Sapiens]

coffee cartridge are killing "Bialetti" which was/is a fantastic italian company and the reference regarding coffee.



When we reach perfection we should stop further developing activities.*

*This works only in the kitchen.

Z

This thing is evil. I killed two of them. The last one was an outright hazmat incident. The kitchen reeked of burned rubber and the pyrolysis products of coffee for days. If I remember correctly, we had to sand the heating plate.
It is a total human factors failure, as it is just that heavy that it is no more intuitively clear if there is water in it.