Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[med6753]

<snip>

^*In the modern day I always double take when I see that phrase. It sounds like something a racist SOB would use to describe their idea of Utopia.

So it sounds like the indoctrination by the SJW language police is working very well.  Having grown up with SCTV and the McKenzie Brothers, The Great White North has meant Canada to me for as long as I can recall.  I can't fathom deriving racism from those words.
-Pat

As Cerebus observes, there is so much power in words, and what they mean is slightly different to different people. To me, "white" in the above phrase means nothing but "snow", but I am quite free from oppression.  And this of course since I generally find Canada an order of magnitude more sensible and decent than its southern neighbour. At least that is what it looks like from here, across the sea.

/wearing the SJW t-shirt with some European pride.

As a southern neighbor I have always referred to Canada as "The Great White North" and "white" has always meant snow and absolutely no racial overtones. To think it means anything else than just "snow" is just plain ignorant.

[mnementh]

was curious about the culture of the great white north. so naturally i made the mistake of googling tim hortons. most of what came up revolved around an unspeakable incident of which i will not speak.

<snip>
From up here, there have been several "incidents" in recent memory that happened to happen at a Tim Horton's; much like down in Tejas, where it seems like every other day you're hearing about a incident at some Wally World. But UNLIKE there, those incidents do NOT involve guns.

I believe that the incident nixie alludes to was one involving the primal simian urge to throw one's own dung as a method of expressing disapproval.

It says a lot about the difference between the two countries that in crossing the 49th parallel the quality of a nationally notorious incident changes from "shit hurled" to "24 dead" and a year and a half later the first incident is still notorious while the second is nearly forgotten and becomes "Exactly which of the 19 mass shootings last year are you talking about?".

That was just going to be a passing comment, but I've had a moment to reflect and the true horror of our response is sinking in. We just get used to shit don't we? Not just shit but evil shit that desperately needs something doing about it; but some part of our tiny little monkey brains lets us just pack it off into a corner and start fussing over something inconsequential instead. And we have the temerity to call ourselves intelligent.

Agreed 100% on every count. This horror is precisely the reason it has been my single driving ambition to get my family out of the batshit crazy that allows the sociopathic will of a few death merchants to buy control of our once-sovereign nation.

The best we can hope for as our species rushes headlong and "Devil take the hindmost" into the final stages of the obviously viral growth pattern we exist by is that when a few of us escape to infect another planetary body, it really is "the best and brightest among us" taking that lesson and actually implementing it in a proactive manner.

However, in all honesty I expect a much more SkyNet-esque evolutionary singularity/technological singularity outcome wherein we as a genus are in one fashion or another eaten by our own children over the course of a few generations. This was, after all, the fate of homo neanderthalensis...

mnem

[mnementh]

For the gang in the USA: have a good Thanksgiving. My intention is to pig out later today then fall asleep.  No "diet" this week. All bets are off...back on the diet next week. 

19 degrees F here and all is quiet in "Rocky Mountain High" Colorado. 

Our plans are much simpler: I go pick up this whole hot mess in about an hour.

After that, a few long-distance phone calls to family and fight the urge to pass out from l-tryptophan while we binge-watch stupid shit on TV now that Macy's Parade is over. w00t! Pikachu!!!

mnem
D'OH! Gotta leave early so I can shop for a proper apple pie!!!

[Cerebus]

As a southern neighbor I have always referred to Canada as "The Great White North" and "white" has always meant snow and absolutely no racial overtones. To think it means anything else than just "snow" is just plain ignorant.

Yes, but nobody said it has racist overtones. It's just in this current golden age of intra-species tolerance and goodwill, where only the best and most noble among us are given a national or international platform for our utterings, where we select only the finest, most compassionate, most thoughtful people to govern us, where 'politician' is a word that denotes the noblest of individuals, that a phrase that was once completely innocent takes on a sinister tone if you "see it out of the corner of one eye" and have to turn and look properly to see that it is actually benign.

[Zucca]

Three Coathangers: Free with Dry Cleaning. Ginormous Bowl of Water: Snurched From Neighbor's Dog. 15 Minutes to Wrap & Solder: US$21.25.

Look on zucca's face: PRICELESS.   

If you PM me your address I will send you fresh eggs to put in the water: win-win.

Oh, Maybe I can hack the kitchen stove...
SWMBO: "Hey you, what are those new big cables going from the kitchen to your bench? They look ugly"
Poor EE: "Honey the steak well done not rear tonight for me, in this way it will cook faster and we increase the efficiency..."

Oh well I tried, I know it is not so funny.

Next level, like a boss:
https://makezine.com/projects/make-25/sous-vide-immersion-cooker/

PS: you never tried a sous-vide? oh well.. why my mouth is already full of water...

[worsthorse]

For the gang in the USA: have a good Thanksgiving. My intention is to pig out later today then fall asleep.  No "diet" this week. All bets are off...back on the diet next week. 

19 degrees F here and all is quiet in "Rocky Mountain High" Colorado. 

Our plans are much simpler: I go pick up this whole hot mess in about an hour.

After that, a few long-distance phone calls to family and fight the urge to pass out from l-tryptophan while we binge-watch stupid shit on TV now that Macy's Parade is over. w00t! Pikachu!!!

mnem
D'OH! Gotta leave early so I can shop for a proper apple pie!!!

That's not just a family feast that's a FESTIVE FAMILY FEAST in a family where         everyone's a winner         
muahahahahahahahah! happy thanksgiving!

[pa3hfu]

Ooooooh NanoVNA is a whole box of amazing. Got it hooked up to PC now and using NanoVNA-saver



1.8m BNC cable. Measured at exactly that length!!!!

NanoVNA-saver on a Windows PC or on a iMac?
My iMac does not recognize the NanoVNA.

[bd139]

Windows 10 PC. Not used it on a Mac. You’ll have to play “find the device” or “fight the kernel” on macOS. As much as I hate to say it I’m not owning another Mac now.

[factory]

what`s that?

Battery 6,75V  TR235
its possible to buy them or obsolete?

That sounds like 5 mercury cells (1.35V) in series so most definitely not just obsolete, but banned in all civilized places.

I guess this post got missed;

I meant the battery packs with the HP 204B @Martin.M bought, the manual says they were four packs of 6.75V Mercury batteries (Mallory type TR235R or equivalent) or a rechargeable option.

http://hparchive.com/Manuals/HP-204B-Manual-sn-416.pdf

David

There was also a rechargeable (Ni-cd) or AC power option too, but I see your 204B doesn't have a mains connector for this.
The AC power supply option provides nominal +13V & -13V supplies using Zeners (these can vary between 12V-13.5V).

Nice that the original batteries were not left inside to corrode everything.

David.

[Martin.M]

I have a idea:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/DC-12300-12V-3000mAh-Super-wiederaufladbare-portierbare-Li-Ion-Akku-w-Stecker/333126980159

the 3000mAh Li-io is 84 * 54 * 20 (mm) /3.31*2.13*0.79in
So when two of them are side by side, they require 108mm, a height of 87mm, 20mm deep.

hp204B, Battery area.
left to right: 114mm    pass
heigt: 95mm  pass
deepness: 25mm  pass

The original NiCd is a 225mAh. Means that oldie can work a month or more, day+night with the new power pack, not 40 hours.
It is possible to insert them in the hp without making any kind of holes or damage, its still original, except the battery pack.

money calc.

The hp was 20,40€ including postage.
The power pack including charger will cost the same.

do it or not?

[factory]

Sounds good to me, I imagine NiMh batteries & a charger would be more than the cost of the 204B too.

But I would be amazed if the Li-io was actually 3000mAh capacity, usually they exaggerate a lot.

Do any of the old batteries test OK or are they completely dead?

David

[Martin.M]

one of them is 6.75V, one is 5.4V and the other two are inverse polarized around 0,3V

= RIP 

when the li io is only 1500mAh its still 4 times more then the original, so I think this will do pretty good.
NiMH are not so fine about self-discharging.

[mnementh]

HeghwIj pagh vISov!  "You've got to die of something." (it loses a bit in the translation due to sentence structure and Klingon lack of a concept for the uncertainty of death)

No matter where it comes from the flavoring is added after it is ground; so unless I want to follow down your particular rabbit-hole and roast it, grind it, select the perfect hazelnut extract and infuse it myself with all the specialized equipment required therefore, I'll have to trust others to make my dessert brew for me. I will never resort to hazelnut creamer or syrups again; I've never REALLY liked the flavor (overwhelming chemical taste and sticky, like artificial strawberry or watermelon flavoring) and now my body will not tolerate it. 

I like this particular hazelnut coffee. The flavor is much like my once-preferred Chock Full O' Nuts with a good stiff belt of Frangelico in it, and it DOES taste like coffee, unlike the Gevalia my mother sometimes drank as a dessert. I like Horton's coffee in general; no matter how plebeian you may feel it is, and I have no good reason to believe it isn't the same coffee as their unflavored beans, which I've tried ground in-store so I could get a proper coarse perk grind. I'm trying a bag of 8 O' Clock 100% Columbian similarly ground right now, which does honestly beat Horton's Pre-ground Coffee all hollow, plus a lot less to strain through your teeth as everything ready-made is now ground fine to medium-fine because of fucking drip-brew and the gawddamn coffee-pod-people invasion.

mnem
"If every pork chop were perfect, we'd never have bratwurst."

And in a self-fulfilling prophecy, I'm going to move onto something inconsequential...

The solution to all your problems, and the way to a much better cup of Joe, is to keep an eye out for a decent coffee grinder on your next few trips out around the goodwill/thrift shops/whatever they call them in the Great White North^*. Grinding the stuff from freshly roasted beans just makes an indescribable degree of improvement in your cup of hot wet brown caffeine solution. If you are so minded to want it hazelnut tinged then with a grinder you can achieve that by adding some actual roast hazelnuts to the mix.

^*In the modern day I always double take when I see that phrase. It sounds like something a racist SOB would use to describe their idea of Utopia.

You and bean seem to think it's just a matter of "educating" me in the finer points of coffee. I KNOW fresh-roasted & fresh-ground is better, I've done it; spent small fortunes on boutique equipment and supposedly special beans to make "the perfect cup". But the whole "thing" is just too fucking much... too much smoke that never really clears out of the house, too much hassle when you just woke up and are in that "I need a cup of coffee to be able to make the coffee" state, too much coffee grounds, dust, and husks EVERY FUCKING PLACE that you just CANNOT avoid unless you do everything but brew the pot outside. Even THEN, you track the shit into the house on your feet; it's unavoidable.

The closest I'm willing to ever get to that again is to grind my beans AT THE STORE. Even THAT has come grudgingly over the last couple years, as a decent cup of coffee from a coffee shop has become as rare as fucking a unicorn.

mnem

[Cerebus]

You and bean seem to think it's just a matter of "educating" me in the finer points of coffee.

Now come on Mnem, you know me and bean better than that. We think that it's just a matter of bludgeoning you until you 'agree' with us. It's for your own good you know... 

too much coffee grounds, dust, and husks EVERY FUCKING PLACE that you just CANNOT avoid unless you do everything but brew the pot outside. Even THEN, you track the shit into the house on your feet; it's unavoidable.

Quite how messy a pup are you? It never looks like that here. Can't speak for bean's place though...

What do you do to get in that state? Juggle the beans into the grinder while exhaling to roast them? 

[mnementh]

All of the above. 

mnem

[mnementh]

As a southern neighbor I have always referred to Canada as "The Great White North" and "white" has always meant snow and absolutely no racial overtones. To think it means anything else than just "snow" is just plain ignorant.

Yes, but nobody said it has racist overtones. It's just in this current golden age of intra-species tolerance and goodwill, where only the best and most noble among us are given a national or international platform for our utterings, where we select only the finest, most compassionate, most thoughtful people to govern us, where 'politician' is a word that denotes the noblest of individuals, that a phrase that was once completely innocent takes on a sinister tone if you "see it out of the corner of one eye" and have to turn and look properly to see that it is actually benign.

The depth of your sarcasm is matched only by that of the sarchasm between us and those who do not get it.

mnem

[bd139]

Nothing TE related other than disposals. However managed to finally order a cooler that fits in the PC case I have (don't ask  ). Now it runs flat out all 6 cores at 75oC with the heating on inside and I can't actually hear it at all.



Now for more RAM going in!

[Cubdriver]

I have a idea:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/DC-12300-12V-3000mAh-Super-wiederaufladbare-portierbare-Li-Ion-Akku-w-Stecker/333126980159

the 3000mAh Li-io is 84 * 54 * 20 (mm) /3.31*2.13*0.79in
So when two of them are side by side, they require 108mm, a height of 87mm, 20mm deep.

hp204B, Battery area.
left to right: 114mm    pass
heigt: 95mm  pass
deepness: 25mm  pass

The original NiCd is a 225mAh. Means that oldie can work a month or more, day+night with the new power pack, not 40 hours.
It is possible to insert them in the hp without making any kind of holes or damage, its still original, except the battery pack.

money calc.

The hp was 20,40€ including postage.
The power pack including charger will cost the same.

do it or not?

Definitely do it!  I have one of those buried somewhere that will need a similar mod.  If I can cheat by copying what you do, it'll make life easier.   

-Pat

[mnementh]

I have a idea:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/DC-12300-12V-3000mAh-Super-wiederaufladbare-portierbare-Li-Ion-Akku-w-Stecker/333126980159

the 3000mAh Li-io is 84 * 54 * 20 (mm) /3.31*2.13*0.79in
So when two of them are side by side, they require 108mm, a height of 87mm, 20mm deep.

hp204B, Battery area.
left to right: 114mm    pass
heigt: 95mm  pass
deepness: 25mm  pass

The original NiCd is a 225mAh. Means that oldie can work a month or more, day+night with the new power pack, not 40 hours.
It is possible to insert them in the hp without making any kind of holes or damage, its still original, except the battery pack.

money calc.

The hp was 20,40€ including postage.
The power pack including charger will cost the same.

do it or not?

What is the normal operating voltage of the pack? 1S (4.2V FC/3.7V NOM/3.1V FD) or 2S (8.4V FC/7.4V NOM/6.2V FD) 18650 Li-Ion might be a better choice if it means not having to add a regulator after the pack to bring its output in line with the device's voltage requirements. Lots of cheap BMS boards for 1S & 2S configs; many with 5V micro-USB charging built-in.

mnem
*currently agonizing over just how much assache I'm willing to suffer in the pursuit of Home Theater sound*

[mnementh]

   Nothing TE related other than disposals. However managed to finally order a cooler that fits in the PC case I have (don't ask  ). Now it runs flat out all 6 cores at 75oC with the heating on inside and I can't actually hear it at all. Now for more RAM going in!

*Looks down at the front of his CPU*    [24.4°C] 

Ummm.... yeah.

*Listens, but all he can hear is his GPU at lowest fan setting that isn't off* 

mnem

[bd139]

That's after an hour of running 12x prime95 threads so I'm happy. When it's idling it's around 28oC. Ambient is 22 in here at the moment.

[factory]

I have a idea:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/DC-12300-12V-3000mAh-Super-wiederaufladbare-portierbare-Li-Ion-Akku-w-Stecker/333126980159

the 3000mAh Li-io is 84 * 54 * 20 (mm) /3.31*2.13*0.79in
So when two of them are side by side, they require 108mm, a height of 87mm, 20mm deep.

hp204B, Battery area.
left to right: 114mm    pass
heigt: 95mm  pass
deepness: 25mm  pass

The original NiCd is a 225mAh. Means that oldie can work a month or more, day+night with the new power pack, not 40 hours.
It is possible to insert them in the hp without making any kind of holes or damage, its still original, except the battery pack.

money calc.

The hp was 20,40€ including postage.
The power pack including charger will cost the same.

do it or not?

What is the normal operating voltage of the pack? 1S (4.2V FC/3.7V NOM/3.1V FD) or 2S (8.4V FC/7.4V NOM/6.2V FD) 18650 Li-Ion might be a better choice if it means not having to add a regulator after the pack to bring its output in line with the device's voltage requirements. Lots of cheap BMS boards for 1S & 2S configs; many with 5V micro-USB charging built-in.

mnem
*currently agonizing over just how much assache I'm willing to suffer in the pursuit of Home Theater sound*

There are four battery packs in the 204B connected as two series sets, the manual doesn't give the operating range for the batteries, it just says to change or re-charge them (dependant on option) when the oscillator output falls below 5Vrms open circuit or 2.5Vrms into 600ohm load.

The AC power supply option provides nominal +13V & -13V supplies using Zeners (these can vary between 12V-13.5V). Battery packs are 4x 6.75V for Hg & 4x 6.25V for Ni-Cd.

David

[factory]

one of them is 6.75V, one is 5.4V and the other two are inverse polarized around 0,3V

= RIP 

when the li io is only 1500mAh its still 4 times more then the original, so I think this will do pretty good.
NiMH are not so fine about self-discharging.

You may or may not find the 6.75V set useful if you ever buy a HP 419A null meter, it originally used one 1.35V Hg battery as a reference, I have two but neither have a good Hg battery. They also use 4x re-chargeable packs, again always bad/leaking.

David

[Specmaster]

Windows 10 PC. Not used it on a Mac. You’ll have to play “find the device” or “fight the kernel” on macOS. As much as I hate to say it I’m not owning another Mac now.

What the fuck!!!....... Pinch me somebody.... I must be dreaming this ....Windows 10 PC actually beat a macOS and now more will you own a Mac? Holy Arse crackers I must be dreaming this. Those are words that I honestly never thought I'd hear from the great Apple defender 

[Specmaster]

Nothing TE related other than disposals. However managed to finally order a cooler that fits in the PC case I have (don't ask  ). Now it runs flat out all 6 cores at 75oC with the heating on inside and I can't actually hear it at all.



Now for more RAM going in!

Thats not the Be Quiet cooler I thought you was getting, IIRC, that one was far bigger or have I got that wrong?

Just checked temps on my FX8350, its running all 8 cores according to my software it shows min 31C and max 34C and I'm very happy with that result. The highest I think I've seen was around 50C when the ambient was 32C, water cooling FTW.