Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[GregDunn]

One of the nice things about B5 is that there are surprises (unlike Star Dreck). It also takes serious account of real-world things such as religion (even though JMS is athiest), politics, cultures, workers (i.e. not just officers on the bridge), the underpriviledged and dropouts, crime and criminals, and characters change over time.

That was one of the good things about Discovery. It showed the bad side rather than the perpetual faultless good of Starfleet which is quite sickening at some points in the older series. Section 31, criminality, eugenics, torture, all sorts.

Yup, all there in B5, and some are central to part(s) of the plot(s).

If you want to get a feel from JMS's views/attitudes/motivations without too many spoilers, have a look at his responses to fan's criticisms after the second episode. http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/002.html Especially where he mentions Trek

You'll see what real interaction with the audience is

It is also significant that Harlan Ellison was a script consultant; he was never one for "cosiness"

It's also quite fascinating to read JMS's script notes (sadly, only available if you buy the script books) and see what was going through his mind during the creation and filming of each episode.  There had never been another TV series with such complete integrity and willingness to call back 2 or even 3 seasons for a reference / plot twist.  To see the characters grow and change, and find out that small things later have big repercussions, was a major reason why the series has such impact in the later seasons.

Interestingly, Trek:DS9 personnel got hold of an early copy of JMS's episode notes and used them as a guide to change the progression of DS9.  This resulted in a lawsuit with unspecified damages, but also made DS9 a better series than it otherwise probably would have been.  If you watch both series carefully, there are lots of little phrases, incidents and references in DS9 which are pretty clearly "borrowed" from the B5 universe.

[mnementh]

...aaaaand we've just gone r3cursive. Aga1n. 

Don't think it is recursive. An infinite loop seems more appropriate. Definitely not TEA material.

  9. Capacitors are Murphy's footsoldiers.
10. The adhesive used to apply a label is always stronger than the label itself.
11. Masochism is endemic, perhaps even mandatory.

I believe recursion is a core element of TEA; it is that "need to see it work again" repeated on a different bit of gear ad infinitum. We're all quite recidivist in that respect; it is mandatory, just like masochism. 

  While you're there getting your car sorted, might as well future proof it just in case

THE perfect future-proof vehicle for all those pro-Brexiters.

mnem
*Recidivist*

[bd139]

Putting them all in one place is how you get moon nazis

[mnementh]

I can recommend B5, perhaps you should give it a try. One thing is a bit annoying about B5 and this is the very last episode. It is just weird and confusing.

It was a 5 season plot line. Then Warner Brothers was going to cancel at the end of S4, so JMS hurried up the plot (boo hiss). Then WB saw the fanbase and money, and relented so there was a S5 - but its structure is non-ideal.

One of the nice things about B5 is that there are surprises (unlike Star Dreck). It also takes serious account of real-world things such as religion (even though JMS is athiest), politics, cultures, workers (i.e. not just officers on the bridge), the underpriviledged and dropouts, crime and criminals, and characters change over time.

The Bab5 ending was absolutely philosophical in nature; "What happens when mankind grows up enough to tell God to 'Stop interfering and let us grow up to be ourselves?' " The rest of the show was the story of those events leading up to that.  It was ALSO much more hopeful than most of what has happened since; our storytelling has grown exponentially darker and less hopeful as darker elments have permeated our leadership and society.

JMS saw the trend towards 12-minute episodic pablum 20 years before it started happening, and wanted to do some epic storytelling while it was still possible to get it distributed. He wasn't far off in his estimates, either; WB tried to cancel it early even though they'd promised him free reign as long as the show didn't absolutely tank.  Bab5 was one of our last great tales of hope; almost everything since has instead sold fear.

Rick Berman TRIED to do the same thing with DS9, but he wasn't half as smart as JMS. If he had been, he would have known there was no way in hell he'd get the TNG fanbase on his side after murdering TNG nearly at the peak of its popularity with signed contracts for another 2 years. Even though he had Gene's blessing for the project, it looked like he was just waiting for Roddenberry to die so he could kill TNG while the body was still warm.

The bitch part is that they had the resources AVAILABLE from production to tackle both shows at the same time; the "All Good Things" story arc had already been rough-drafted in workable 1 and 2 season plotlines, much of it from Roddenberry's own fevered brow and would have mostly tended to itself, as Roddenberry intended.

In THAT respect, appearances were absolutely the truth; Berman didn't want to divide his attention between the two, even for a season. He earned the backlash he got; DS9 didn't find a place in my heart until long after, in syndication.

Part of me still wants to know about Garek's past, and how Nerys faired with the weight of history squarely on her shoulders, and what happened with The Traveler.

Yeah, I know these stories are told in the vast fiction library that has grown since the show; but most of that "writing" isn't even as good as Berman's own work, which I felt was "tol'able at best".

mnem
When deciding between two arguments, look for the one selling fear and hate, then choose the one selling hope.

[mnementh]

Putting them all in one place is how you get moon nazis

"If we can put a man on the moon, why not all of them?" ~my mom 

mnem
If men could lick themselves like a dog can, we'd have no wars and the world would be a much happier place.

[bd139]

Please excuse my random outburst but fuck DHL in the fucking arse.

Ordered a new phone for one of the kids. Day 1 - driver can't find the address. Day 2 - driver can't find the address. Called up DHL, they got hold of the driver and told him to go back. No show! Phoned up customer services - fuck this I'll have to drive a 40 mile round trip to Slough to go and get it. They said, yeah sorted. Soo go back, delivery rescheduled for tomorrow. Use their online service to set it to pick up as their driver is a slack arse and get a 500 error. Phone customer services back, closed! CUNTS FROM HELL.

Edit: the demise of human society will occur because the average man does not care about the effects of his actions or lack thereof.

[bitseeker]

I gave up after S1. Was my attempt terminated early?

Looking for something to vegetate in front of now I've got through Star Trek Discovery (good), Disenchantment (excellent) and Rick and Morty (excellent)

Yes, we did. S1 wasn't remarkable, S2 was better, S3 is excellent, S4 was good but buggered up by Warner Brothers, S5 was pretty good.

Yeah, S1 of many shows still has the writers, actors, etc. settling into their roles. I usually tough it out until S2. If it's still no good (or gets worse), then I bail.

The writer (JMS) is extremely literate, plants "random" seeds that don't mature until the next season, and drops in all sorts of references to just about everything. You won't spot them all, but JMS commented on them on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated in real time. If you watch B5, after seeing an episode look at the relevant page on http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/eplist.html

Wow! I wish I had this when I first watched B5. Now I'll have to watch it again. At least it's only 5 seasons. It's been quite some time since I've watched SG1. Time to watch that again, too.

[mnementh]

You might wanna look up original "Twilight Zone", "Night Gallery" and "Outer Limits" for some light viewing between binges. 

mnem
*Chest Thump* Represent.

[med6753]

Good thing you guys have been discussing Star Trek, Star Wars or whatever because I've been up to my ass in alligators all day and I don't follow those shows so I didn't miss much. 

This POS 485. I did some research and I discovered that the 465, 465B, 475A, and 7B80 plug-in all use that same P/N Trigger IC as the 485. So I'm all encouraged that I'll finally fix it. I have 2 of those IC's in my parts mules. So first I change out the IC itself. No fix. Same symptoms. OK, no problem. I look over the trigger schematics for the 465/475 and while they use that same IC the supporting circuitry is so different that there's almost no correlation. But I did get some clues on how I think that 20 pin IC is supposed to work. And I've been trying to troubleshoot and determine what's wrong for the past several hours. I've come to the point where I believe the IC is missing a reset pulse. This is causing it to lock up and therefore no sweep trigger. I found the pulse but it's not getting to pin 16 of the IC and believe it or not can't figure out why. I've checked every component in that circuit plus even trace continuity. Everything appears OK. But no reset pulse. At this point I'm out of ideas so it will once again be put off aside until tggzzz comes back and can open up his 485.   

[bd139]

Tunnel diode failure? Buggers are notorious for giving up

[bitseeker]

You might wanna look up original "Twilight Zone", "Night Gallery" and "Outer Limits" for some light viewing between binges. 

Yeah, I used to watch those long, long ago. Good idea. I still have the last episode of the new Twilight Zone to finish, too.

[med6753]

I don't think so. It's seems to be getting the proper pulse to start but no reset pulse that originates at the sweep board so the IC basically locks up and free runs which results in no trigger.

[bd139]

Ahh. Had a 465 that did that. Freezer spray got to the bottom of it. It was a faulty trigger ASIC. But you eliminated that one AFAIK.

[mnementh]

Is it possibly noise or attenuation making the signal borderline detectable by the triggering circuit ?

mnem
 

[med6753]

Is it possibly noise or attenuation making the signal borderline detectable by the triggering circuit ?

mnem
 

I wish. The pulse is completely missing at the IC and like I said it disappears into thin air several components back and unless I'm a dumbass (don't respond to that  ) I can't figure out why. 

[Gyro]

Please excuse my random outburst but fuck DHL in the fucking arse.

Ordered a new phone for one of the kids. Day 1 - driver can't find the address. Day 2 - driver can't find the address. Called up DHL, they got hold of the driver and told him to go back. No show! Phoned up customer services - fuck this I'll have to drive a 40 mile round trip to Slough to go and get it. They said, yeah sorted. Soo go back, delivery rescheduled for tomorrow. Use their online service to set it to pick up as their driver is a slack arse and get a 500 error. Phone customer services back, closed! CUNTS FROM HELL.

Edit: the demise of human society will occur because the average man does not care about the effects of his actions or lack thereof.

You're lucky they didn't try to put it through your safe place window!   https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-49329720

[bd139]

Is it possibly noise or attenuation making the signal borderline detectable by the triggering circuit ?

mnem
 

I wish. The pulse is completely missing at the IC and like I said it disappears into thin air several components back and unless I'm a dumbass (don't respond to that  ) I can't figure out why. 

I would shove something in EXT trigger input and signal trace it through with another scope. Always easier to trace an EXT one.

You have got another scope haven't you? 

[bd139]

Please excuse my random outburst but fuck DHL in the fucking arse.

Ordered a new phone for one of the kids. Day 1 - driver can't find the address. Day 2 - driver can't find the address. Called up DHL, they got hold of the driver and told him to go back. No show! Phoned up customer services - fuck this I'll have to drive a 40 mile round trip to Slough to go and get it. They said, yeah sorted. Soo go back, delivery rescheduled for tomorrow. Use their online service to set it to pick up as their driver is a slack arse and get a 500 error. Phone customer services back, closed! CUNTS FROM HELL.

Edit: the demise of human society will occur because the average man does not care about the effects of his actions or lack thereof.

You're lucky they didn't try to put it through your safe place window!   https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-49329720

FFS. To be honest our amazon delivery drivers are always pretty good.

[Specmaster]

Is it possibly noise or attenuation making the signal borderline detectable by the triggering circuit ?

mnem
 

I wish. The pulse is completely missing at the IC and like I said it disappears into thin air several components back and unless I'm a dumbass (don't respond to that  ) I can't figure out why. 

Have you checked for shorts to ground at that point where the signal disappears? The only way that the signal does not progress that point can surely only be to A/ shorted to ground or B/ not being passed through some component at that point, nothing else is logical 

You say that you have been arse deep with alligators, are these the real deal or a metaphor for the dreaded missing pulse??

[mnementh]

Wouldn't that be covered under attenuation? 

The phrase is "Up to my arse in alligators, and they're chomping hard." A southern-fried variant of "Knee-deep in the hoopla."

mnem
*a-leven-or-twelve-ulated*

[med6753]

Here's the circuit in question. I have a strong pulse on the A sweep stop side of C824 and nothing on the other side. Which means no reset pulse to pin 16 of the IC. I thought the cap was bad. Nope. Checked both transistors and the diode. All good. Checked C821, R821, R826...all good. Proper voltages to the transistors. No shorts to ground on the line to pin 16...measures 1K as it should through R826.

The only thing I can figure is that there is a timing issue between A Gate Stop and A Sweep Stop which might possibly shut down the reset pulse to pin 16. Does that sound like a possibility?

[Specmaster]

And so it begins, the proposed upgrade to my car suggested by bd139 needs to have tracks instead of tyres to cope with the potholes our local roads are suffering from. Tyre shop says, that NSF has either been damaged by potholes or high speed kerbing as the cords in the sidewall have been cut through in 1 spot on the tyre. NSR has a unrepairable puncture  in the tread close the side wall, or in other words, right where they cannot plug the tyre because of safety issues. So 2 new tyres have been ordered for Friday fitting.

The only good thing about today is that they would have been £230 if the shop ordered them for me (which I did while I was there), when I got home I checked on the prices if I ordered the tyres on line from the same company (National Tyres) and guess what they are only £185.40 fully fitted, at the same shop and by the same staff? I phoned them and asked if I could cancel their order and instead order on line and they agreed so  how the hell does that work out then FFS.

Next week another chunk of bread goes on MOT and major service and then is Road Tax and annual insurance premium, oh how I hate August 

[Specmaster]

Here's the circuit in question. I have a strong pulse on the A sweep stop side of C824 and nothing on the other side. Which means no reset pulse to pin 16 of the IC. I thought the cap was bad. Nope. Checked both transistors and the diode. All good. Checked C821, R821, R826...all good. Proper voltages to the transistors. No shorts to ground on the line to pin 16...measures 1K as it should through R826.

The only thing I can figure is that there is a timing issue between A Gate Stop and A Sweep Stop which might possibly shut down the reset pulse to pin 16. Does that sound like a possibility?

Replace C824? it would appear to be effectively open. Testing is all well and good but if your getting nothing the other side, I'd be inclined to swap it out and see, nothing to lose by it have you?

Edit. I take it that you have checked for continuity between pin 16 and the collector of Q822?

[med6753]

My car insurance policy also renews this month but luckily the payments are spread out monthly. And of course the rates went up again. I decided to shop around and I'm not finding anything cheaper to make it worth the effort to switch. Turns out I'm in that "senior citizen preferred rate" and it ain't gonna get any better....unless I decide to get rid of one car and then my rates would be almost cut in half.   

[med6753]

Here's the circuit in question. I have a strong pulse on the A sweep stop side of C824 and nothing on the other side. Which means no reset pulse to pin 16 of the IC. I thought the cap was bad. Nope. Checked both transistors and the diode. All good. Checked C821, R821, R826...all good. Proper voltages to the transistors. No shorts to ground on the line to pin 16...measures 1K as it should through R826.

The only thing I can figure is that there is a timing issue between A Gate Stop and A Sweep Stop which might possibly shut down the reset pulse to pin 16. Does that sound like a possibility?

Replace C824? it would appear to be effectively open.

I did replace it. Still no pulse. I checked the cap and it was good. That is what is so confusing and odd with this issue.