Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

Yeah got to agree there. I don’t own any! I live in properly fitting cargo pants. If it’s hot, the same because I don’t want a tick on my balls 

Lots of locals here actually go to the local shops in their onesies, another cancerous creation. I mean who the fuck invented clothes you have to take the top off to curl one out. Fuuuu does my head in.

Nah, if its hot just keep out of the long grass and you should have tick free balls 

[mnementh]

He can always go find another redhead to do "tick inspection"... 

mnem
*bright side*

[tautech]

Speaking of neo, anyone seen him here lately ?

[SeanB]

Yeah got to agree there. I don’t own any! I live in properly fitting cargo pants. If it’s hot, the same because I don’t want a tick on my balls 

Lots of locals here actually go to the local shops in their onesies, another cancerous creation. I mean who the fuck invented clothes you have to take the top off to curl one out. Fuuuu does my head in.

Nah, if its hot just keep out of the long grass and you should have tick free balls 

You never had one piece overall then, and having to use a long drop for solid relief, while you are spending quality time out in the middle of nowhere mid winter. Really clear skies though, not a cloud in sight for that 2 weeks, as we could see the sky all night long, sleeping rough without even the luxury of a tent or any running water at all. Got to be a connoisseur of leaves, as to the ability of them to do the work in the line, as there was not even newspaper or even cardboard around. When we got back we rapidly made that coal fire, so that we could change colour from being indistinguishable from the brown shade of those coveralls. Took 3 hours before the water was considered warm enough.

[bitseeker]

It's fortunate that Discord's UI makes the mic mute so convenient; you can easily do as I did during the test and leave yourself muted all the time EXCEPT when you actually have something to say. Nobody wants to hear your inadvertent cough or sneeze while someone else is talking, or forgetting yourself and yelling at the kids when they're being baby jerks. 

Agreed. It's particularly funny to hear a baby crying during a conference call at work.

I intend to be there, Ifni willing and the creek don't rise.

Excellent! Don't sneeze and toast the mic.

I prefer the countdown timer I set up, but that's a matter of taste. 

Ah. I hadn't looked at the details and just quickly made one to stick in my post. Your title is much better.

[bitseeker]

It's failing self test though. Not sure what "Trigger light" is and if it's fixable.

That's not necessarily a problem, just need to run the self cal routine to clear that error.  If you power it on with any button pressed it will clear the self cal data and sometimes give that error.  Requires a precise 5v DC input to each Chan A and Chan B, can use just a good power supply and set it with a DMM to 5.000v.  If this sells for $200 its a good deal and it looks very clean.

Ah, ok. Thanks for the background on that, kj7e. Just the thing I needed to regain interest. Back onto the watch list.

[bitseeker]

just playing  (AC transformer RIP)

(Attachment Link)

Good ol' 3456. I've got one on the bench that needs debugging somewhere in the digital section. Oh my poor repair queue.

[bitseeker]

I do a LOT of day-job work in various teleconferences, and "all mute unless given the token" is a very strongly enforced rule. It makes for sooo much better environment. Oughta build me a footswitch thingamabob. And get me an external sound card to interface with it.

Discord has an option to set a key for push-to-talk operation. An Arduino micro emulating a USB keyboard could interface with a footswitch. I might have to try that sometime.

[mnementh]

Speaking of neo, anyone seen him here lately ?

Last I recall was some time before we left the US; he was working on a 7000 series plugin. You suppose the angry pixies got him...?

mnem
*time for walkies widda kiddzz*

[mnementh]

I do a LOT of day-job work in various teleconferences, and "all mute unless given the token" is a very strongly enforced rule. It makes for sooo much better environment. Oughta build me a footswitch thingamabob. And get me an external sound card to interface with it.

Discord has an option to set a key for push-to-talk operation. An Arduino micro emulating a USB keyboard could interface with a footswitch. I might have to try that sometime.

Or just hack a borked USB KB. While you're at it, build a macro pad. 

mnem
*pre-bork reptile*

[tautech]

Speaking of neo, anyone seen him here lately ?

Last I recall was some time before we left the US; he was working on a 7000 series plugin. You suppose the angry pixies got him...?

mnem
*time for walkies widda kiddzz*

Maybe or angry pixies from another project.......the magic eye tube I sent him. 

[Zucca]

Sorry for being to inactive, I was/am on vacation but I was active in backgroud.

Right now my wife is in the shower so a quick update before she discover I was here.

1) Got a Tektronix THS720A with all the accesories for 94€, thanks Germany!
2) SOLD my Agilent MSOX3054A, for decent money > 4K€. BOOOM!

2020 is staring good.

[bd139]

Nah, if its hot just keep out of the long grass and you should have tick free balls 

You do realise they climb up your trouser legs

He can always go find another redhead to do "tick inspection"... 

Tooooo sooooooon 

Right now my wife is in the shower so a quick update before she discover I was here.

...

2) SOLD my Agilent MSOX3054A, for decent money > 4K€. BOOOM!

As you are married, that means you turned an Agilent MSOX2054A into shoes. 

[Specmaster]

Yeah got to agree there. I don’t own any! I live in properly fitting cargo pants. If it’s hot, the same because I don’t want a tick on my balls 

Lots of locals here actually go to the local shops in their onesies, another cancerous creation. I mean who the fuck invented clothes you have to take the top off to curl one out. Fuuuu does my head in.

Yep, when I did my apprenticeship many years ago we all wore green one-piece overalls and the only to curl one out was to strip off the top and drop the lot below your knees and hope and pray that the previous cubicle occupant hadnt managed to piss all over the floor as well 

[bd139]

Yeah got to agree there. I don’t own any! I live in properly fitting cargo pants. If it’s hot, the same because I don’t want a tick on my balls 

Lots of locals here actually go to the local shops in their onesies, another cancerous creation. I mean who the fuck invented clothes you have to take the top off to curl one out. Fuuuu does my head in.

Yep, when I did my apprenticeship many years ago we all wore green one-piece overalls and the only to curl one out was to strip off the top and drop the lot below your knees and hope and pray that the previous cubicle occupant hadnt managed to piss all over the floor as well 

Ugh yeah that's just the worst. I think I'd sew a zip in the arse crack 

Talking of shit, just made a discovery. Since I got home the kids have been complaining there's a poopy smell in the house. Hadn't noticed myself as head is a bit stuffy. Well it turns out what I brought home all up me appears to have some cow shit in it  . Trousers in the machine. Shoes in a carrier bag hanging out of kitchen window. will go and jet wash them tomorrow morning at the garage down the road



Back to TEA.... £1 listing weekend and I'm a mood for buying 

[Specmaster]

Nah, if its hot just keep out of the long grass and you should have tick free balls 

You do realise they climb up your trouser legs

Yeah but your supposed to put bicycle clips round the ankles so the little bastards can't get you.

[bd139]

Nah, if its hot just keep out of the long grass and you should have tick free balls 

You do realise they climb up your trouser legs

Yeah but your supposed to put bicycle clips round the ankles so the little bastards can't get you.

Yes true and stuffing the trousers (pants for the americans here) in your socks. Walk past a pub and get the usual "who nicked your bike? Bwuhahahaha" then 

[Specmaster]

@bd139, when you jet wash your walking boots at the car wash, don't forget to jet wash your drivers foot well and pedals as well, they are going to be full of shit as well 

[Cerebus]

It's fortunate that Discord's UI makes the mic mute so convenient; you can easily do as I did during the test and leave yourself muted all the time EXCEPT when you actually have something to say.

I do a LOT of day-job work in various teleconferences, and "all mute unless given the token" is a very strongly enforced rule. It makes for sooo much better environment. Oughta build me a footswitch thingamabob. And get me an external sound card to interface with it.

I too have spent too much of my working life over the past year or so in teleconferences and I have come one to one conclusion that is true for all conferencing software - they do muting wrong. What you need is an honest to god physical Push To Talk button, not a mute toggle button on the screen or inline in a headset lead where you can't find and hit it quickly.

[bd139]

@bd139, when you jet wash your walking boots at the car wash, don't forget to jet wash your drivers foot well and pedals as well, they are going to be full of shit as well 

Ahh don't worry about that. I had spare shoes and trousers with me. only the boot smells of shit and the carpet in there is going in the jet wash as well

[bd139]

It's fortunate that Discord's UI makes the mic mute so convenient; you can easily do as I did during the test and leave yourself muted all the time EXCEPT when you actually have something to say.

I do a LOT of day-job work in various teleconferences, and "all mute unless given the token" is a very strongly enforced rule. It makes for sooo much better environment. Oughta build me a footswitch thingamabob. And get me an external sound card to interface with it.

I too have spent too much of my working life over the past year or so in teleconferences and I have come one to one conclusion that is true for all conferencing software - they do muting wrong. What you need is an honest to god physical Push To Talk button, not a mute toggle button on the screen or inline in a headset lead where you can't find and hit it quickly.

My favourite is Zoom.

Manage Participants -> Mute All.

There's always some idiot using their laptop instead of a headset as well so you can hear tappity tap tap tap. I have been known to get rather antsy about that.

Edit: anyway disappearing to go build my QRP Labs 50W amplifier and probably blow the shit out of it instantly

[med6753]

Edit: anyway disappearing to go build my QRP Labs 50W amplifier and probably blow the shit out of it instantly

Nothing like the smell of burnt components and cow shit. 

[Specmaster]

Edit: anyway disappearing to go build my QRP Labs 50W amplifier and probably blow the shit out of it instantly

Nothing like the smell of burnt components and cow shit. 

Whatever floats your particular boat baby, personally I'd rather not discover that smell, thanks

[Kosmic]

From the "Depth-First Search Rabbit-Hole" files...

(Attachment Link)

So this morning I was perusing a GoC surplus auction for new toys, when I stumbled across the above listed for sale.

Once I wiped the drool off my keyboard, I got to wondering  is the Government of Canada doing with this very expensive, very special-purpose sport/aerobatic aircraft (having flown a few scale models of the craft, I know from personal experience it is all about performance and not at ALL forgiving nor is it suitable for carrying more than a briefcase)...  it's NOT listed as a forfeiture auction, and the listing shows extensive maintenance history details. 

Furthermore, minimum bid is set at $295K, while stated net value is $189K. (Can someone with a little more knowledge of the business side of aircraft ownership shed some light on this large discrepancy? Is it a cost of asset/expenditure/depreciation vs market value thing?)

So I go hit up the Canada Civil Aircraft Registry... (Seriously... WTF happened to that once useful resource; now nothing more than a repository for a .csv file...? ) and I discover that it belongs to the Canada National Research Council - Flight Research Lab and they're literally just a few hundred miles away in the Ottowa Regional Airport: https://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Research-Council-Flight-Research-Lab/420551264812827



On their FB is this View from today's office window and all I can do is sigh... what a dream job.

mnem

Interesting. Other than that sport plane in the center is a De Havilland Twin Beaver, to the right a Lockheed T-33, left a Bell Huey, in front of that a Bell Jet Ranger. Not sure what that corporate jet is in front of the twin beaver and it appears to be a T-6 Texan in front of that.

Canadian Federal government auctions are fun because they have way too much money for their own goods.

[Kosmic]

More HP goodness. This guy out-HP's all of us 

http://www.kennethkuhn.com/hpmuseum/hp_tour.htm

God god, he has a whole warehouse !