Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Mr. Scram]

How much time would you say is reasonable or required to wait before sending a second message if a seller doesn't reply to the first?

[bd139]

How much time would you say is reasonable or required to wait before sending a second message if a seller doesn't reply to the first?

Depends on the value and how bad you need it.

I usually keep it to max one a day.

[med6753]

The replacement 7904 CRT arrived. Installed. Same issue. Damn. Checked connections to PSU...are OK. Tried power again and after a few fits it came up! And a trace! Then suddenly a pop and a large puff of smoke out of the PSU. So.....now I'll have an idea what the culprit is after I pull it apart. But it won't be today.

I'm not convinced the old CRT is bad. After I clear this problem I may put it back in.

[med6753]

Yes it does and quite frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.    My electric bill does increase dramatically during the Summer...sometimes even doubles. Don't care, I'll pay it. The rest of the year I do try to be frugal and "environmentally friendly" with power consumption. So it balances out.

That balances out like a diet Coke balances out a supersized menu. 

Perhaps if you just comparing my individual electrical consumption. My electric company sends out monthly reports comparing my usage to similar households. I am ALWAYS better than the household's designated as "most efficient". And you should see the "least efficient". 3x to 4x worse than me.

So in the overall scheme of things I don't consider myself an energy pig and I'm gonna run that A/C. 

[mnementh]

And after peeing in his Kryptonite Cornflakes. Got any thoughts on a PC build @mnementh or anyone else for that matter? 

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/general-computing/$1000-usd-cad-and-rendering-workhorse-getting-the-balance-right/msg2516457/#msg2516457

Y'all know I just rebuilt my AM3 beast in a new case with a modern GPU... Well, that was in preparation for doing a complete update to modern hardware.  I wanted to break the pain up into manageable chunks. 

Don't get me wrong; with the additional $50 outlay for my current FX-8350 (4GHz\8-Core) processor, I DID achieve my modest objective of 1080P/60FPS on STEAM while leveraging my investment in RAM and MB a little longer by pretty much maxing out my aging chipset.

However my ensuing research showed me just how abysmally far behind the times my machine still is.  Which is to be expected; it's a 10 year old platform. With all I've done so far, it is barely an entry-level gaming rig, and render times are horrifying.

All that said, I've determined that right now is the WORST possible time to be buying a new MB, especially AMD. The 570x chipsets will be shipping in a few weeks, which will be the first pcie4.0 optimized boards from AMD. They will NOT support 1st Gen Ryzen, but are optimized for Zen2 architecture. On top of this, we don't know yet what families of RAM they will be optimized for. We expect faster DDR4, but possibly DDR5 on the horizon.

Along with this, I'm reading lots of press from chip manufacturers, indicating another quantum jump in RAM manufacturing process is about to go live due to simple turnover; new hardware, new processes being implemented just because the old machinery is outdated and worn out. I'm expecting RAM prices to drop like 2008 again; with 32/64GB Quad-channel builds becoming cheap as chips.

If you're NOT going Threadripper, then you want to wait for the 570x boards to come out so you know what RAM to buy. For a media-rendering build you for sure want the bandwidth of pcie4.0 and Zen2 family processors. But wait... Current market news indicates you're going to be looking at all of $40-60 more for all this quantum-leap in bandwidth, so older chipsets will be heavily deprecated quickly.

If you're looking for absolute best bang/buck, again I'd wait because the bottom is about to fall out from under the current 470/350 chipset boards, and especially 1st Gen Ryzen builds because no pcie4.0 and in some cases not even nvme. You'll be able to pick up current flagship MBs much cheaper and get into a lower level Zen2 CPU which will serve well for several years, and still remain relevant with a later CPU upgrade. Don't look at ANY board without at least one, preferably 2 nvme capable slots and at least quad-channel RAM, as you'll soon be able to double up whatever RAM you buy now for a song.

This is where I'm at right now... As much as I wanna see triple-digit framerates on my new 32in 1440P gaming monitor; I really think the best thing for me and you to do is wait a few months.

mnem
*sent by tickling my Android phone's most tender bits*

[med6753]

And after peeing in his Kryptonite Cornflakes. Got any thoughts on a PC build @mnementh or anyone else for that matter? 

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/general-computing/$1000-usd-cad-and-rendering-workhorse-getting-the-balance-right/msg2516457/#msg2516457

Y'all know I just rebuilt my AM3 beast in a new case with a modern GPU... Well, that was in preparation for doing a complete update to modern hardware.  I wanted to break the pain up into manageable chunks. 

Don't get me wrong; with the additional $50 outlay for my current FX-8350 (4GHz\8-Core) processor, I DID achieve my modest objective of 1080P/60FPS on STEAM while leveraging my investment in RAM and MB a little longer by pretty much maxing out my aging chipset.

However my ensuing research showed me just how abysmally far behind the times my machine still is.  Which is to be expected; it's a 10 year old platform. With all I've done so far, it is barely an entry-level gaming rig, and render times are horrifying.

All that said, I've determined that right now is the WORST possible time to be buying a new MB, especially AMD. The 570x chipsets will be shipping in a few weeks, which will be the first pcie4.0 optimized boards from AMD. They will NOT support 1st Gen Ryzen, but are optimized for Zen2 architecture. On top of this, we don't know what families of RAM Yet will be optimized for. We expect faster DDR4, but possibly DDR5  on the horizon.

Along with this, I'm reading lots of press from chip manufacturers, indicating another quantum jump in RAM manufacturing process is about to go live due to simple turnover; new hardware, new processes being implemented just because the old machinery is outdated and worn out. I'm expecting RAM prices to drop like 2008 again; with 32/64GB Quad-channel builds becoming cheap as chips.

If you're NOT going Threadripper, then you want to wait for the 570x boards to come out so you know what RAM to buy. For a media-rendering build you for sure want the bandwidth of pcie4.0 and Zen2 family processors. But wait... Current market news indicates you're going to be looking at all of $40-60 more for all this quantum-leap in bandwidth, so older chipsets will be heavily deprecated quickly.

If you're looking for absolute best bang/buck, again I'd wait because the bottom is about to fall out from under the current 470/350 chipset boards, and especially 1st Gen Ryzen builds because no pcie4.0 and in some cases not even nvme. You'll be able to pick up current flagship MBs much cheaper and get into a lower level Zen2 CPU which will serve well for several years, and still remain relevant with a later CPU upgrade. Don't look at ANY board without at least one, preferably 2 nvme capable slots and at least quad-channel RAM, as you'll soon be able to double up whatever RAM you buy now for a song.

This is where I'm at right now... As much as I wanna see triple-digit framerates on my new 32in 1440P gaming monitor; I really think the best thing for me and you to do is wait a few months.

mnem
*sent by tickling my Android phone's most tender bits*

That's right. If you're gonna do something...do it right. Not half arsed. 

[bd139]

That reminds me of my eldest who was sleepwalking at the age of 5 and pissed on the guineapigs 

[Specmaster]

Yes it does and quite frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.    My electric bill does increase dramatically during the Summer...sometimes even doubles. Don't care, I'll pay it. The rest of the year I do try to be frugal and "environmentally friendly" with power consumption. So it balances out.

That balances out like a diet Coke balances out a supersized menu. 

Perhaps if you just comparing my individual electrical consumption. My electric company sends out monthly reports comparing my usage to similar households. I am ALWAYS better than the household's designated as "most efficient". And you should see the "least efficient". 3x to 4x worse than me.

So in the overall scheme of things I don't consider myself an energy pig and I'm gonna run that A/C. 

Well it's known fact that as we age we can no longer handle heat like we could when we were younger. Many older people are killed by heat stroke, so keep the AC on as long as you can, I know I would if I could[emoji28][emoji28]

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

[med6753]

That reminds me of my eldest who was sleepwalking at the age of 5 and pissed on the guineapigs 

Is your eldest a red head? My batshit crazy red head would have nightmares of me cheating on her. More than once I woke up to her punching me and telling me to stay away from so-and-so. 

Her daughter is a red head and she didn't sleepwalk. She sleepRAN screaming bloody murder that someone was chasing her. 

[bd139]

No but she is unfortunately descended from a similar line of crazy.

[med6753]

Yes it does and quite frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.    My electric bill does increase dramatically during the Summer...sometimes even doubles. Don't care, I'll pay it. The rest of the year I do try to be frugal and "environmentally friendly" with power consumption. So it balances out.

That balances out like a diet Coke balances out a supersized menu. 

Perhaps if you just comparing my individual electrical consumption. My electric company sends out monthly reports comparing my usage to similar households. I am ALWAYS better than the household's designated as "most efficient". And you should see the "least efficient". 3x to 4x worse than me.

So in the overall scheme of things I don't consider myself an energy pig and I'm gonna run that A/C. 

Well it's known fact that as we age we can no longer handle heat like we could when we were younger. Many older people are killed by heat stroke, so keep the AC on as long as you can, I know I would if I could[emoji28][emoji28]

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

You don't have to tell me twice. 

[Specmaster]

Despite the heat, I've powered up my TEA and completed the refurbished Hacker Amp 1, all calibrated and working a real treat, stacks of power and great tonal qualities as well, I'm calling that a win. RF section was a bit weak and after a little fettling, its pulling in loads of stations as well. Time to refit the chassis inside the cabinet now and do final checks, linearity is buggered because I made it so as the early Hackers, great and good as they suffered from the restricted early FM wavelengths of 88 to 101 MHz which is fine if you only want to listen to the good old Aunty Beeb stations, most of the commercial and local stations live in the 101 to 108 MHz so I've tweaked the oscillator to bring in the higher frequencies as well, I think I might have to lose 1 of the national Beeb stations but I'm OK with that.

Specmaster, I want some pics ! 

Patience, they will be on their way when I have taken them, right now I'm concentrating on the 2nd amp with Si devices fitted and after driving everyone nuts with the sound of my audio frequency generator coming through the speaker while they are try to sleep, I've made some improvements by tweaking the biasing, and on the scope the sinewave is reasonable clean now. Need to set the quiescent current up tomorrow and I think I'll be able to connect the radio tuner to the amplifier and hear music, sweet music without the distortion, fingers crossed   

[mnementh]

Hardly worth it. Back down to 24 tomorrow (75oF). Plus we’re not a bunch of pussies 

Can you imagine the zombie apocalypse if you guys can’t power your AC for a few days 

Item 1: Then quit your bitching. 
Item 2: When it comes to heat call me a fucking pussy.  I don't do well in the heat. Can't stand the heat.  If the zombie apocalypse comes I'll sit in the car with the engine idling and the A/C on full. 

The zombie equivalent of "SPAM in a Can"...!
You and me both, brother... I can't tell you how many times I've sat out in my wife's new Rav4 for half an hour just to escape the Tejas suck and the crappy AC in our lease property.   

@med 

@specmaster. Nice one. Excellent work 

On the heat I found out everyone on local 2m is outside in their gardens slightly smashed. Just had a 20 min QSO with a local regular about tomatoes. My tomatoes are dead as I forgot to water them while I was building the K2 

Def a First World RF-ily World problem, my friend. 

Yes it does and quite frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.    My electric bill does increase dramatically during the Summer...sometimes even doubles. Don't care, I'll pay it. The rest of the year I do try to be frugal and "environmentally friendly" with power consumption. So it balances out.

That balances out like a diet Coke balances out a supersized menu. 

You and me both, brother... while I don't LIKE being cold, I dislike not being able to breathe even more. Hence the drive to move north. 

Squirrels are bastards. I’ve killed a few of the sods in recent years. They seem to have got the point. They’re quite domesticated here which makes them easy to bait and hit with a shovel. I did consider buying an air rifle to do a bit of plinking but it’s frowned upon in the UK.

  with a shovel  hope your kids were not watching 

At the beginning I was trying to control the situation by trapping them in a cage and doing deportation to a nice park nearby. I was eventually overrun and they completely won now.

At my last home when my mother (AKA Indian name "Old Lady Shouts At Squirrels")  was having fits over them destroying her bird feeders, I got one of those nifty giant iron arc hangers with the big cone on the end; it worked for a while then they discovered how to jump onto the cone from a nearby tree or the roof of the house, knocking the bird feeder loose. I resolved the issue by adding a coil of wire around the cone attached to an electric fencer with the wire run up inside the tube of the arc. Then I zip-tied the feeder so they couldn't knock it loose and made popcorn for mom. 

mnem
*currently nuking another air compressor*

[0culus]

Since we're on the subject of RF-ily, I recently got my hands on a bunch of secondhand Amphenol RF "plumbing" bits. It's amazing how much nicer these are than the cheap stuff. No contest on the tolerances; and little things like how smoothly the N connectors spin on.

[mnementh]

I'd rather have second-hand Amphenol than new "China Damifino" on almost anything. They made the stuff that put men on the moon, and a lot of what they used was off-the-shelf from Amphenol. There is a quantum level difference in nearly all aspects of their production.

mnem
*tzzzzt*

[0culus]

Wow, that's pretty neat. Got a link? I'd love to read more. 

[mnementh]

No, I don't... Amphenol has been a major aerospace manufacturer since before there was such a thing called aerospace. I thought it was common knowledge; they pretty much wrote the standards books for connecting everything from VHF to RADAR & uWave. 

In Other News... Welcome Back Murphy, you little bitch...

   So, now that I'm all pleased with myself for finding that "quick & easy" valve plate & gaskets for to fix my bigger air compressor, I noticed a little trickle of oil from under the motor. I've suspected there was a worn seal there for a while; but in 15 years, it's lost all of 5mm or so of oil, and still well within the safe range. So before I put the crankcase cover back on, I decide to drain all the oil so I can inspect the rear main seal. This requires some jiggery with a coffee can and lots of rags, but I manage without drowning the floor in compressor oil. 

Luckily, I can actually see the seal itself if I turn the crankshaft just right, and it appears intact with the garter spring still in place. Unluckily, I can also see that the seal is turning along with the crank.  Worse yet, I can also see that the Jeezus bolt through the crankshaft is not accessible without separating the cylinder and removing the piston.  And better yet, the entire motor needs to be disassembled because the seal installs from the motor side of the crankcase. 

I'm tempted to try some Bondhus abuse and risk breaking the ball off... I really don't want to disrupt the alignment of everything that is so nicely broken in on this pump. 

mnem
*... and here come her puppies*

[bitseeker]

Hey, mnem, you wanna buy a museum? It's a different kind of "T" for your TEA collection.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/for-sale-(us)-telephone-museum!/

[beanflying]

One thing I regret selling a long while ago was my Ingersoll Rand 12CFM compressor (Rebuilt from parts when I worked for a seller of them) when I first moved to the big smoke. Not exactly compatible with Unit and rental living. My current cheap and cheerful 4CFM Tanked one touchwood with some regular oil changes has been a reasonable replacement.

** For those not in the know DO NOT USE Motor oil in your compressors, specific  Naphthalene based or maybe by now synthetic options only. Motor oil carbons up the valves.

[0culus]

...and don't use a normal compressor for paint spraying. That oil is a sure way to ruin the paint job.

[kj7e]

This fits perfectly, test equipment used today, 2020 Trek Checkpoint with road tires.  Test performed, road 110 miles, climbed a mountain to 8,800' elevation.  Test result, I didn't die.  Conclusion, I need therapy.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2491157501

[beanflying]

This fits perfectly, test equipment used today, 2020 Trek Checkpoint with road tires.  Test performed, road 110 miles, climbed a mountain to 8,800' elevation.  Test result, I didn't die.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2491157501

^^^^ Crazy nuts and stupid and well done  I don't climb well but around here we learn to cope with constant wind which is ALWAYS in your face.

[mnementh]

One thing I regret selling a long while ago was my Ingersoll Rand 12CFM compressor (Rebuilt from parts when I worked for a seller of them) when I first moved to the big smoke. Not exactly compatible with Unit and rental living. My current cheap and cheerful 4CFM Tanked one touchwood with some regular oil changes has been a reasonable replacement.

** For those not in the know DO NOT USE Motor oil in your compressors, specific  Naphthalene based or maybe by now synthetic options only. Motor oil carbons up the valves.

Yup. Full-synthetic compressor oil; it's why both of my cheapies still work 15 years later, even after they filled the crankcase with gasoline at the Horror Fraught store to ensure a quick death for the "sidewalk sale bargain hunter". Fortunately the dwagon's big honker isn't just for show; I caught wind of it, and so and drained & rinsed the crankcase on both with denatured alcohol before I put them in service. 

Come to think of it, that could very well be the cause of the oil seal failure; gasoline will make them swell and harden up. More likely just the fact of age and being the cheapest part possible, though.

The body count increases... now shopping 2 x 20mm x 40mm oil seal and 1 x Gr8.8 m8-1.25 x 30mm LHT Socket-Head bolt... Joy!

...and don't use a normal compressor for paint spraying. That oil is a sure way to ruin the paint job.

Heh... I used both of my wet-sump compressors in tandem when I painted the bumper on Franken-Cruiser. HVLP all the way, baybee!!!  Not a problem if you use disposable moisture filter cartridges at the gun like you're supposed to. And denatured alcohol works fine as prep-sol on rubber bumpers. 

This fits perfectly, test equipment used today, 2020 Trek Checkpoint with road tires.  Test performed, road 110 miles, climbed a mountain to 8,800' elevation.  Test result, I didn't die.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2491157501

^^^^ Crazy nuts and stupid and well done  I don't climb well but around here we learn to cope with constant wind which is ALWAYS in your face.

I second all of the above.   

mnem
dee-dle-ee-dee... doo-doo-dle-ee-doo-oo...

[mnementh]

Fuuuuu... When the hell did Viton seals get to be so gawddamn expensive? Used to be like 50¢ - $1.00 more than Nitrile; now they're effing double and triple the price?   

mnem
Kids are obnoxious. Music sucks out loud. Things cost more. Yup... officially an old fart.

[tggzzz]

I don't climb well but around here we learn to cope with constant wind which is ALWAYS in your face.

Old cycling motto: "if the wind isn't against you, you aren't cycling fast enough".