Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. 

VTVM lead kit finally arrived from the US  . And of course being the impatient bugger I am, I spent lunch time assembling them and calibrating the VTVM. All working absolutely perfectly. All ranges spot on cal. This is actually a really really nice instrument. New probes are authentic "insta-death" style which is very cool. DC probe might get some shrink around the tip a bit so I don't accidentally zap myself on anything HV



Next step is cosmetic restoration. Need to work out how to get rid of that "10" right slap bang in the middle of it. Looks like it was big ass letraset + varnish. Will work that one out later.

[med6753]

Looks good! Be careful trying to get that "10" off. Anything you use may take the paint off too.

Hear you on the impatience. Been impatiently waiting for that 4X attenuator to show up. The damn thing is STILL sitting at JFK. I guess they transferred from Piper Cub to Pony Express.   

[bd139]

Yeah going to use IPA. I've cleaned entire heathkit units with that before from the same era so should be ok. Will test it on a corner first

[Specmaster]

Are you going to screw this on the bottom of a shelf? That is how the original design was I think?

[bd139]

I am considering it actually.

I've got a semi sketched out bench design I'm working on at the moment which may replace the Ikea thing I have at the moment. What with some criticism free freedom I can get another 3 feet of width you see

Some inspiration comes from here: https://stevenjohnson.com/workbenchphotos.htm

Wood + varnish + brass will come into it of course. It's better for the mind than metal and cheap laminates.

[mnementh]

   After letting things warm up, it's doing better:   

It is gorgeous; I love the juxtaposition of hollow-state nixie and solid-state LED in that one shot.   

As straightforward and accessible as the design is, you've got a great subject unit to make a voltage-driven variant of the the "oscillator-driven clock"  we were talking about a while back: an STM32 or Arduino driving an op-amp to make the voltage it measures equivalent to the time. You could easily put 2mm LEDs between the nixies to make the colons between hours:minutes:seconds and they wouldn't even be out of place on this meter!

And since it appears to have front/rear jacks, you can easily switch it out of circuit if you want to use it for a meter! 

Or you could just love it and use it exactly the way it is. 

mnem
*Voltage-driven*

[mnementh]

VTVM lead kit finally arrived from the US  . And of course being the impatient bugger I am, I spent lunch time assembling them and calibrating the VTVM. All working absolutely perfectly. All ranges spot on cal. This is actually a really really nice instrument. New probes are authentic "insta-death" style which is very cool. DC probe might get some shrink around the tip a bit so I don't accidentally zap myself on anything HV.

   Next step is cosmetic restoration. Need to work out how to get rid of that "10" right slap bang in the middle of it. Looks like it was big ass letraset + varnish. Will work that one out later.

Looking good bd! I actually like the 10 myself... gives it some character. And makes you think about its (at least) 9 siblings that weren't as fortunate... 

mnem
*Hixtory*

[bd139]

Yeah there's something a bit thunderbirds about it I reckon 

[med6753]

I am considering it actually.

I've got a semi sketched out bench design I'm working on at the moment which may replace the Ikea thing I have at the moment. What with some criticism free freedom I can get another 3 feet of width you see

Some inspiration comes from here: https://stevenjohnson.com/workbenchphotos.htm

Wood + varnish + brass will come into it of course. It's better for the mind than metal and cheap laminates.

Nothing like wood benches. Soothing to the soul. 

[mnementh]

I prefer marble myself. 

mnem
Oooohhh... cool on my poor sick dwagonling face...

[Ice-Tea]

Troubleshooting (another) Anritsu MS8604A (8GHz SA). Tracked the problem to the front assembly, display probably. All the time I was working on it, a small bothered me. Couldn't quite pinpoint it but...

[Tomorokoshi]

VTVM lead kit finally arrived from the US  . And of course being the impatient bugger I am, I spent lunch time assembling them and calibrating the VTVM. All working absolutely perfectly. All ranges spot on cal. This is actually a really really nice instrument. New probes are authentic "insta-death" style which is very cool. DC probe might get some shrink around the tip a bit so I don't accidentally zap myself on anything HV.

   Next step is cosmetic restoration. Need to work out how to get rid of that "10" right slap bang in the middle of it. Looks like it was big ass letraset + varnish. Will work that one out later.

Looking good bd! I actually like the 10 myself... gives it some character. And makes you think about its (at least) 9 siblings that weren't as fortunate... 

mnem
*Hixtory*

Alternatively, just cover it with a picture of Bo Derek.

[0culus]

   After letting things warm up, it's doing better:   

It is gorgeous; I love the juxtaposition of hollow-state nixie and solid-state LED in that one shot.   

As straightforward and accessible as the design is, you've got a great subject unit to make a voltage-driven variant of the the "oscillator-driven clock"  we were talking about a while back: an STM32 or Arduino driving an op-amp to make the voltage it measures equivalent to the time. You could easily put 2mm LEDs between the nixies to make the colons between hours:minutes:seconds and they wouldn't even be out of place on this meter!

And since it appears to have front/rear jacks, you can easily switch it out of circuit if you want to use it for a meter! 

Or you could just love it and use it exactly the way it is. 

mnem
*Voltage-driven*

I think for now it will remain a voltmeter. 

[0culus]

I'm very happy with it. I saw the Nixie tubes and just couldn't pass up the opportunity to add some nixies to my collection. 

I was really looking at HP DC supplies when I found the voltmeter...the supplies were a little more beat up than I want sadly.

LOL - now you're in trouble.  One hit of the orange stuff is usually all it takes...   

-Pat

I know 

Before long I'll also be collecting HP stuff with nixies... 

[Cubdriver]

I'm very happy with it. I saw the Nixie tubes and just couldn't pass up the opportunity to add some nixies to my collection. 

I was really looking at HP DC supplies when I found the voltmeter...the supplies were a little more beat up than I want sadly.

LOL - now you're in trouble.  One hit of the orange stuff is usually all it takes...   

-Pat

I know 

Before long I'll also be collecting HP stuff with nixies... 

Functional AND beautiful.  Win-win!



-Pat

[mnementh]

PayPal made the mistake of asking me for feedback about an annoying failed attempt to make an eBay purchase and the ensuing call to PP Customer Support.

The problem revolves around some restriction PayPal administration has instituted on how I use my PayPal card on eBay; they will not transfer the funds from my bank but instead demand that those funds come from my PayPal balance.

This is all PAYPAL'S FAULT. NOBODY ELSE. I don't give a damn what excuses you make for this idiotic limitation. It is my money; I tell you how I am going to use it, or you don't get it. PERIOD. End of discussion.


Let me reiterate:

Your representative was obviously restricted by the nature of his service script and the authorization level he had to resolve issues.

Bottom line is it is clearly PayPal administration that made it impossible for me to complete my transaction, NOT the ability of the representatives.

Let me make this clear: YOU, PAYPAL, cost eBay over $200 in sales yesterday. NOBODY ELSE.

It is MY MONEY. I tell YOU how I am going to use it. You do NOT tell ME how YOU are going to use it.

Tell your owners at eBay that YOU drove those sales to Amazon. And if you don't fix your system so that EVERY transaction I make via PayPal is drafted from my bank account when I expect it to be, you and eBay will lose ALL my business to Amazon.

You really have nothing to offer me if you insist on screwing around with MY MONEY in this manner.

Fuckwits. 

mnem
*In no mood to suffer fools this morning*

[0culus]

I'm very happy with it. I saw the Nixie tubes and just couldn't pass up the opportunity to add some nixies to my collection. 

I was really looking at HP DC supplies when I found the voltmeter...the supplies were a little more beat up than I want sadly.

LOL - now you're in trouble.  One hit of the orange stuff is usually all it takes...   

-Pat

I know 

Before long I'll also be collecting HP stuff with nixies... 

Functional AND beautiful.  Win-win!

[img height="180"]https://photos.smugmug.com/Electronics/Lucent-RFG-M-RB-Rubidium-Frequency-Standard/i-TFTjLzn/0/777a08be/XL/Lucent%20RFG-M-RB%20on%20bench%202-XL.jpg[/img]

-Pat

So pretty! 

I also might be getting a Tek 7904A with an assortment of plugins soon...more on that later...

[med6753]

Never had a PayPal account and never will. For Ebay purchases I use a specific credit card. If things go south with the transaction I simply call the credit card company and let them duke it out.   

[tggzzz]

PayPal made the mistake of asking me for feedback about an annoying failed attempt to make an eBay purchase and the ensuing call to PP Customer Support.

The problem revolves around some restriction PayPal administration has instituted on how I use my PayPal card on eBay; they will not transfer the funds from my bank but instead demand that those funds come from my PayPal balance.

This is all PAYPAL'S FAULT. NOBODY ELSE. I don't give a damn what excuses you make for this idiotic limitation. It is my money; I tell you how I am going to use it, or you don't get it. PERIOD. End of discussion.


Let me reiterate:

Your representative was obviously restricted by the nature of his service script and the authorization level he had to resolve issues.

Bottom line is it is clearly PayPal administration that made it impossible for me to complete my transaction, NOT the ability of the representatives.

Let me make this clear: YOU, PAYPAL, cost eBay over $200 in sales yesterday. NOBODY ELSE.

It is MY MONEY. I tell YOU how I am going to use it. You do NOT tell ME how YOU are going to use it.

Tell your owners at eBay that YOU drove those sales to Amazon. And if you don't fix your system so that EVERY transaction I make via PayPal is drafted from my bank account when I expect it to be, you and eBay will lose ALL my business to Amazon.

You really have nothing to offer me if you insist on screwing around with MY MONEY in this manner.

Fuckwits. 

mnem
*In no mood to suffer fools this morning*

I try to keep all entities separate, and not to have too many eggs in one basket. In this case it means I pay for goods preferably directly from my PayPal account, or from a separate credit card. That means there's little of my money in their unregulated hands, thus reducing the ways they might decide to screw me over.

No way would I let PayPal have any access to my bank account; they don't need it.

[bd139]

Never had a PayPal account and never will. For Ebay purchases I use a specific credit card. If things go south with the transaction I simply call the credit card company and let them duke it out.   

It's all about layers. I only use paypal with my credit card 

Edit: also Paypal UK office is walking distance from me. And there's a whoooole load of dog shit between here and there 

[tggzzz]

Never had a PayPal account and never will. For Ebay purchases I use a specific credit card. If things go south with the transaction I simply call the credit card company and let them duke it out.   

My attitude too, with the exception of any monies I receive from flogging stuff on fleabay.

[mnementh]

VTVM lead kit finally arrived from the US  . And of course being the impatient bugger I am, I spent lunch time assembling them and calibrating the VTVM. All working absolutely perfectly. All ranges spot on cal. This is actually a really really nice instrument. New probes are authentic "insta-death" style which is very cool. DC probe might get some shrink around the tip a bit so I don't accidentally zap myself on anything HV.

   Next step is cosmetic restoration. Need to work out how to get rid of that "10" right slap bang in the middle of it. Looks like it was big ass letraset + varnish. Will work that one out later.

Looking good bd! I actually like the 10 myself... gives it some character. And makes you think about its (at least) 9 siblings that weren't as fortunate... 

mnem
*Hixtory*

Alternatively, just cover it with a picture of Bo Derek.

I see what you did there. 

Personally, I prefer pretty much anything after her "Bolero" phase much, much more than "10". Much as I respected Blake Edwards' work, Moore had fallen deep into the "caricature of himself" trap by then and was pretty much even more of a putz than those he portrayed. Derek was still a little girl... not at all attractive to me even then. Thankfully she used the money from "10" to actually get some acting lessons and a coach.

I had mixed feelings about Bolero... she was definitely more mature, but a lot of her acting felt forced. The production quality wasn't there due to the falling out with MGM; but I think there was definitely something important in the "small" story they were trying to tell. We'll never know if it was just too hip for the room; that story got lost in all the Hollywood BS.

mnem
Urggh. *snifflesnort*

[bd139]

s/Bo\ Derek/Christina\ Hendricks/

 

[mnementh]

I try to keep all entities separate, and not to have too many eggs in one basket. In this case it means I pay for goods preferably directly from my PayPal account, or from a separate credit card. That means there's little of my money in their unregulated hands, thus reducing the ways they might decide to screw me over.

No way would I let PayPal have any access to my bank account; they don't need it.

I have a separate bank account just for PayPal. Layers. I've had this arrangement for nearly 20 years, long before eBay bought them out. I've been generally a happy PP customer all that time.

This BS is ENTIRELY to do with eBay trying force people to use THEIR checkout process and give them direct access to your actual credit/debit cards, and I won't have it. Fuck eBay.

Clearly eBay's "divestment" from PayPal is nowhere nearly as complete as they would suggest. Otherwise they would not be able to dictate to PayPal how those funds are handled on PayPal's side, MY SIDE, of the transaction. Again; fuck eBay.

I just spent nearly $300 on my wife's birthday wishlist with Amazon. Don't regret a penny of it. And don't regret not even thinking about shopping on fleaBay; even though more than half that list was the kind of "Bed Bath & Beyond" homey stuff I've always gotten from there.

mnem
In case I didn't make it clear: Fuck eBay.

[bd139]

All done and cleaned.  Measuring an SLA there. Got rid of the 10. You can see some of it still at an angle but not enough to be bothersome. Looks like the original owner actually varnished the entire panel after labelling it so I might dismantle it in the future and go over it again with a light coat of varnish as well.



The shit scary thing is I had to scrape the label residue off the meter face with a flat blade screwdriver which is difficult as hell to do without scratching anything.