Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[BU508A]

@don.r

Please forgive me my ignorance, but could you explain this mysterious statement in your bottom line?

"Shippers: for the love of Pete and all that is holy, STOP USING UPS INTERNATIONAL!"

 

Thanks. 

[don.r]

@don.r

Please forgive me my ignorance, but could you explain this mysterious statement in your bottom line?

"Shippers: for the love of Pete and all that is holy, STOP USING UPS INTERNATIONAL!"

 

Thanks. 

Haha! Yeah sure. UPS is well known for levying high brokerage fees on items that don't even have duties on them. Even low value items can arrive at your door with a surprise $50 fee for "paperwork". It has been my experience that this is a consistent practice for items coming into Canada, probably applies to other countries as well. "For the love of Pete and all that is holy" is a phrase that hints at exasperation and is an offshoot of the phrase "For Pete's sake" which comes originally from "for God's sake". https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2011/02/pete.html

[bd139]

Just put the right HS code (or the wrong one on purpose!) in the customs declaration and you're fine 

[don.r]

Just put the right HS code (or the wrong one on purpose!) in the customs declaration and you're fine 

Often I'm not the one who fills out the declaration, the shipper is. Even for items that are duty free, however, they seem to attract a fee. From the US, USPS has none of these issues in my experience.

[worsthorse]

In my first job (in a data processing department) I made the mistake of letting my knowledge of things electrical show.  I got all manner of things brought in to work from a car radio cassette to a mixmaster.  The radio cassette didn't play tapes too well.  I fixed that without any dissasembly by getting a shovel (well, that's what it felt like) to remove the oxide build up on the heads followed by sacrificing a dozen long stemmed cotton tips wet with alcohol.

It only takes one or two successes before your status is "legend" - and then there's no guessing what will come your way.  I very quickly got to the stage of saying "I'll have a look at it" and taking my time.  I ended up only dealing with low hanging fruit.

Family still does it to me - and I don't mind trying to help, but sometimes it's a lot of time.

I get that too now but its mostly elderly neighbours wanting me to set up their iPad to their home WiFi. My reward is happy smiles and home baking. 

I work for pie. Preferably cherry. 

True story... I was in my first year at Penn State, studying electrical engineering.  My step dad, on hearing the word electrical was certain I could address a service panel problem in their new old home.  My attempts to convince him that I was (a) ignorant of the mysterious world of electricians and (b) the cost of such ignorance could be expensive, were seen to be evasions rooted in laziness.  Finally, I told my mom the story about the fellow vo-tech student who re-wired a panel that, on power up burst into flames, destroying one of our shop "demo" houses.

The request was withdrawn.

[SeanB]

I think that in his experience using UPS International is rather akin to using the South African Post Office, where one parcel in four will go missing in transit, there will be a three to nine month delay in delivery, your tracking will say "in process" for months at a time ( when it actually is working at all), and the delivery will be accompanied by a "service charge", if they decide to actually deliver the notice that your parcel, which you have been waiting patiently for, has arrived at the destination post office. Said office might actually be close to you, or at least under a hour drive, but the hours are as follows:

Mon- Thurs 08H30 to 16H00, closed from 11H00 to 14H00 for lunch
Wednesday opening at 09H30 due to staff training
Friday 08H30 to 15H30, closed from 10H30 to 14H30 for lunch
Saturday 09H00 to 11H00
Sunday and public holidays closed

If you do get there, and wait in the line for the one teller that is actually present, and who takes at least 20 minutes per transaction, even for a postage stamp, while there are another 11 stations with staff at the computers, all with the "closed" sign up. As you get to the front, the teller will close, leaving you in the line for at least an hour, providing it is not lunch, tea, or break time. Then you get your parcel, and remember you have to pay cash, no credit card, debit card, cheque or other fancy form of payment, though they do accept postal orders as valid payment, but will not give change.

[don.r]

In my first job (in a data processing department) I made the mistake of letting my knowledge of things electrical show.  I got all manner of things brought in to work from a car radio cassette to a mixmaster.  The radio cassette didn't play tapes too well.  I fixed that without any dissasembly by getting a shovel (well, that's what it felt like) to remove the oxide build up on the heads followed by sacrificing a dozen long stemmed cotton tips wet with alcohol.

It only takes one or two successes before your status is "legend" - and then there's no guessing what will come your way.  I very quickly got to the stage of saying "I'll have a look at it" and taking my time.  I ended up only dealing with low hanging fruit.

Family still does it to me - and I don't mind trying to help, but sometimes it's a lot of time.

I get that too now but its mostly elderly neighbours wanting me to set up their iPad to their home WiFi. My reward is happy smiles and home baking. 

I work for pie. Preferably cherry. 

True story... I was in my first year at Penn State, studying electrical engineering.  My step dad, on hearing the word electrical was certain I could address a service panel problem in their new old home.  My attempts to convince him that I was (a) ignorant of the mysterious world of electricians and (b) the cost of such ignorance could be expensive, were seen to be evasions rooted in laziness.  Finally, I told my mom the story about the fellow vo-tech student who re-wired a panel that, on power up burst into flames, destroying one of our shop "demo" houses.

The request was withdrawn.

I have mechanical engineering friends who always got car repair questions because "mechanic" is in the name.

[mnementh]

the strongest relation between the wife and Test Equipments is the WAF (womens acceptance faktor)..
bec the refrigerator in my workroom must be removed to put the fat Oldie Computer there, she don`t want to allow that (flowers dont help)
and now? 
I don`t want to give that nice machine to a museum, too much sexy the apparatus (100% windows free system)

Perhaps my mother’s wisdom is applicable here; I’ve been applying it to a LOT of my “dwagon hoard of treasures” over the last couple months:

Don’t fall in love with your junk.”

Use the alchemists law of equivalent exchange on the rest; if you have to keep something useless you can’t bear to take to the tip, you must sacrifice something of equal value AND volumetric displacement.

   Case in point: I made space in the trailer for my (once working, now long dead) vintage Heath/Zenith Z-120 AIO because I hadn’t been able to find a home for it in the midst of the moving shitstorm; I felt an obligation to at least make a solid effort to find it a safe home in a collection or museum.

So, much as I hated to, I sacrificed the convertible wheeled welding table that I’d constructed myself by attaching tool magnets to an AV cart so a 24x32 plate of 3/32 steel would stick to the top. I think that sacrifice was almost as painful as giving up my comfy easy chair & footstool for the 1/4 scale fiberglas Corvette body you saw in my pic a page back.

This approach certainly does force you to consider carefully and evaluate ruthlessly, which is necessary sometimes.

mnem
*~Food for thought; thought from food.~*

[mnementh]

So I didn’t realize until I saw that bulkhead that you were loading an ABF pup trailer. 

Currently making the morning cuppa and waiting for the scheduling office to open so I can request a pickup.

mnem

How much more have you got to do before the big off then?

We have a small mountain of stuff in the bedroom that will be packed into the backs of two vehicles. We have to haul all the trash & remaining furniture to the curb. Mow the yard one more time. Take the cart of excess tools and lawn mower I’m giving to my neighbor. Call the cleaning lady we hired.

They’re coming for the trailer today or tomorrow. Then, it’s S, S & S and wheels up. A day or two.

mnem
Verticalness is highly overrated.

[Martin.M]

 

[Specmaster]

So I didn’t realize until I saw that bulkhead that you were loading an ABF pup trailer. 

Currently making the morning cuppa and waiting for the scheduling office to open so I can request a pickup.

mnem

How much more have you got to do before the big off then?

We have a small mountain of stuff in the bedroom that will be packed into the backs of two vehicles. We have to haul all the trash & remaining furniture to the curb. Mow the yard one more time. Take the cart of excess tools and lawn mower I’m giving to my neighbor. Call the cleaning lady we hired.

They’re coming for the trailer today or tomorrow. Then, it’s S, S & S and wheels up. A day or two.

mnem
Verticalness is highly overrated.

So you'll be in the big chiller zone within a week or two then and then begins the slow unpacking and setting everything up again, oh how I hate moving.

[mansaxel]

Can you rent me your wife?

No.

[Mr. Scram]

No.

So she's on loan for free. Cool.

[worsthorse]

the strongest relation between the wife and Test Equipments is the WAF (womens acceptance faktor)..
bec the refrigerator in my workroom must be removed to put the fat Oldie Computer there, she don`t want to allow that (flowers dont help)
and now? 
I don`t want to give that nice machine to a museum, too much sexy the apparatus (100% windows free system)

Perhaps my mother’s wisdom is applicable here; I’ve been applying it to a LOT of my “dwagon hoard of treasures” over the last couple months:

Don’t fall in love with your junk.”

Use the alchemists law of equivalent exchange on the rest; if you have to keep something useless you can’t bear to take to the tip, you must sacrifice something of equal value AND volumetric displacement.


So, much as I hated to, I sacrificed the convertible wheeled welding table that I’d constructed myself by attaching tool magnets to an AV cart so a 24x32 plate of 3/32 steel would stick to the top. I think that sacrifice was almost as painful as giving up my comfy easy chair & footstool for the 1/4 scale fiberglas Corvette body you saw in my pic a page back.

This approach certainly does force you to consider carefully and evaluate ruthlessly, which is necessary sometimes.

mnem
*~Food for thought; thought from food.~*

When I left Pittsburgh for Colorado, I decided that everything going with me had to fit into the back of a late 90s Blazer. The first cut was easy... I took three hundred pounds of journals, letters, stored paperwork, tax returns, cancelled checks, and photographs to a shredder and watched it all get turned into graffitti.  I was never terribly attached to furniture or clothes, nor was there much of either, so I gave them away, except for a carryon suitcase worth of clothing. Then things got harder... stereo equipment, camera equipment, books, records and CDs, well-used and kitchen utensils, and my climbing/skiing/biking/backpacking gear. 

There wasn't much, actually, in the last two categories, because I had relentlessly pared down to the essential over the years; so it all went into, onto, the truck. I kept the medium frame camera and lenses, and gave the darkroom and all the other stuff away. All of the electronics, other than my laptop, a good set of headphone, a portable SW radio, went.  The CDs were ripped onto a couple of drives. The books, of which there were probably seven hundred, I sorted into five piles. I started loading boxes from pile one and worked my way through until I ran out of room in the truck.  I probably ran out of room at one hundred twenty or so. That was the hardest. Books have been a refuge and solace for all my years.

It worked out okay. I can't say I really missed anything after the initial shock of leaving it behind. I wandered around for six or eight months after that before putting down in Colorado for a while and most of the truck stayed packed.

So I am completely down with don't fall in love with your junk.

Except, of course, that stuff in the storage room full of electronic boxes that mostly don't work very well if at all. 

[BU508A]

Hey guys,

I hope you can help me with a little problem.

A friend of mine is dealing with this chip, a Murata SCC2230-D08.



This is the datasheet:
http://pmtd63fb2.pic40.websiteonline.cn/upload/SCC2230-D08Datasheet.pdf

I need for this chip two test clips to contact the pins. The pitch of the pins is 1.00mm and a problem for usual
test clips is the height of the case (4.15mm +0.2). I sneaked around (mouser, digikey, buerklin) but wasn't able
to find one which fits. Maybe my google-fu is not strong enough. Do you have an idea or a suggestion
where such testclips can be found?

This testclip failed, he bought one with a 1.27mm pitch.

Thanks for your help. Much appreciated.

Edit: Plan B is Pomona 5418.
https://www.pomonaelectronics.com/products/test-clips/minipincer-test-clip-do-it-yourself-available-ten-colors

[Brumby]

Yeah... now imagine being “that guy”, only with multiple disciplines in which you’ve worked long enough to be called a professional...

ASE Auto Mechanic
Certifiable IT Tech/HellDesk
EE/Electronics Tech
Welder
Machinist
RC Car/Aircraft Mechanic
Certified Appliance ASP
HP/Dell/Toshiba/Panasonic OEM ASP

You poor bastard .... but you only have yourself to blame.

[med6753]

Here is the front panel hardware mounted on the 10MHz Reference project. Tomorrow start the internal wiring. I found the specs for the transformer that I'm using and it isn't 12.6VAC secondary, it's 18VAC secondary. So there's plenty of headroom voltage for the 7912 to operate. But there's an issue. It's only rated at 1A. The oven initially requires 1A at start up and over a few minutes drops down to about 350mA and stays there. We'll have to see how well the transformer tolerates the initial start up. I suspect it will be OK.

 

[Martin72]

I need for this chip two test clips to contact the pins.

Not for normal measurings, I guess ?

[BU508A]

I need for this chip two test clips to contact the pins.

Not for normal measurings, I guess ?

The sensor is soldered on a multilayer PCB in the automotive business. As far as I understood, he wants to measure SPI (4-wire) and Vcc (+3.3V). So, not really fancy stuff.

[GreyWoolfe]

I get that too now but its mostly elderly neighbours wanting me to set up their iPad to their home WiFi. My reward is happy smiles and home baking. 

I work for pie. Preferably cherry. 

[/quote]

i am a sucker for banana nut bread and i have worked for it.

[Martin72]

SPI (4-wire) and Vcc (+3.3V)

SPI....Clock, Data, Chipselect and Ground.

Normal probes got needle-size concerning to their tips, so I recommend probe-holders.
One of our new colleagues in the R&D uses it´s own created by 3d-printer, but I´m quiet sure, this would be "official" avaible.

[VK5RC]

These, or equivalent are my go-to fine clip, they hang on pretty well - so don't short out to the ic pin next door. Not sure if they are fine enough for 1mm pitch though.
https://au.rs-online.com/mobile/p/grabber-clips/0775697/
Rob

[mnementh]

FUCK... and a half. I forgot BRRRUCE, the sawblade shark.



mnem

[xrunner]

Good thing I got spare parts for the Ender right after I got it - hot end fan went out in middle of a print. However, nothing bad happened - print looks wonderful.

Not a big deal to replace ... somebody tell me not to fish the new wires all the way to the control board. Somebody tell me to do a (neat) splice and hide it in the sleeving. 

[tautech]

Add a polarised plug for when it craps out again !