Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mansaxel]

My grandmothers house had these light switches... So which way is on then?

McBryce.

They are being built anew in Sweden, matching externally but with upgraded interiors to cater for modern requirements. Price that end customer sees and pays is positively insane, though. Contractors have large rebates on this, often more than 50% off.

[Brumby]

My grandmothers house had these light switches... So which way is on then?

McBryce.

Now there's a twist.

[bd139]

BTW the Australian light switches switch the correct way, just the buildings are upside down.

[Specmaster]

Quick lunch time fix. PM3217.

Old transformer that has failed. Shame because it's a really really nice one.



After 10 minutes of Dremelling and drilling, new Meanwell unit mounted and doing burn in now. So far so good:



These things are sooooo much easier to work on and so much better documented than Teks are. Sorry 

I'm regretting selling mine now in favour of keeping the Rapid one, should have reversed that decision, despite the Rapid being newer and mint, it was without doubt the inferior one, which I don't have now since I learned that the hard way.

Look how nice and shiny that is to, like a new one 

[Specmaster]

Yeah I saw that when googling. Pfft in went a $15 meanwell 

Perfectly acceptable, especially as it's one that you'll be taking to the grave with you 

[WastelandTek]

down for on?!?

good thing y'all don't have any oil, that sounds like grounds for war

[med6753]

It's a 'pleasant' 40.5C in the shack at present so time to play with some TEA 

Thought I might as well complete a set of elevated Temperature data on the AD584 Vref. That enough self abuse and my 3D print has just finally unstuck after 15 minutes in the Fridge to get the glass down in Temp

Based upon your post from yesterday I got my primary AD584 on a run in cycle again to see if I could measure any drift.

For consistency I always use the indicated 9.99691V ref. Connected are the Siglent SDM3055 and the Fluke 8800A. Run in for at least 18 hours and the ambient temperature is a steady 22C.

Results. No observed drift but that doesn't mean there isn't any. I just can't see it with 5.5 digits. The Siglent measures 65 with random flip to 66 and the Fluke steady jump back and forth 68 – 69. This is the exact same measurement as a few months ago as well as the same upwards of a year ago and more. Always the same consistent readings.

I won't get into the Siglent v Fluke debate as I have no desire to stir up the peanut gallery again. But my opinion of the results remain unchanged so stifle.




So, will Aussie heat change the readings? Let's find out. I shut down the Fluke and removed it from the top of the 535A. Without shutting down the AD584 I put it on top of the 535A. I also placed a thermometer next to it. The Siglent will remain connected. I'll fire up the 535A for about 2 hours. Should get real warm up there. I'll post up the results. 

[mnementh]

Since my ISP is a cable TV company they keep trying to get me to sign up for free 200 down if I get the 3 way package of TV, phone, internet for $99 plus tax for one year. After the one year watch out and take out a mortgage.

I dumped their TV service a year ago because of their ridiculous prices. I don't want nor need a house phone. So they can stick it. 

Did the same over a decade ago; never looked back. I refuse to have commercial broadcast of any sort in my home; it's full of children who need to grow up knowing it isn't normal to be bludgeoned with advertising every 10 fucking minutes.

mnem
The adults can go shit up a crooked stick, however.

I was once on a business trip with a colleague, a lovely guy (from Ft Collins CO) even though he was reading the Bible He didn't have TV for his kids because he didn't want them seeing the nasty stuff on the news.

I mentioned that I preferred to see and discuss the news with kids. One way or another they are going to find out that not everybody is nice and that there are situations they should be aware of and try to avoid. I prefer that they find this out under controlled circumstances, not by other mechanisms blundered into after they leave home.

To his credit, my colleague did get a TV a couple of months later.

I have a TV... and a nice home theater. Multiple, actually. However I do NOT have commercial broadcast in my home; its entire purpose, shockingly, is to broadcast commercials. Any actual content, of value or not, that may come along with is purely a tertiary concern at best.

We pay for several streaming services, and we treat TV watching as we do internet usage; as a parentally-supervised activity. We choose what they watch based on our own values; not based on what values are being flogged ATM by political and commercial pressures.

I grew up without TV for the most part; at my grandparents' place it was grand-dad's TV, and he used it for ball games pretty much exclusively. With me and my mom, it was a family activity; aside from a brief period where I was a latchkey kid, I never watched without her. I didn't have my own TV until I was 16; when I bought a little B&W set at a yard sale for $10. I immediately wired in a mute switch to kill the sound during commercials; they grated on my brain so much. Aside from a few shows (many fond memories of Wild Wild West, Star Trek TOS & Kung Fu on rerun), I still generally preferred to read golden age SciFi.

I personally feel this is much saner than allowing the forces of commercialism to program my children's brains from the CEO's boardroom; the blatant, shrieking pro-corporatocracy attitude of most current programming content is propaganda enough, I refuse to allow them periodic commercial bludgeoning to tenderize our brains as well.

mnem
Needs more cowbell.

[nixiefreqq]

philadelphia electrician?

(Attachment Link)

my brother is an electrical inspector.  he does not seem to care about "on up" or "on down".

but he has a thing about the cover plate screw slots having perfectly vertical alignment. 

never asked him about "left on" or "right on".

did ask him once about the ground pin going on the top or bottom of an outlet.  he told me to fuck off.

[SoundTech-LG]

the switches, inputs, and outputs are annoying...  this is just ridiculous...

[Specmaster]

@med, I still don't quite get this addiction to getting meters to agree with each other spot on to the last dp and leaving things on for that duration to spot drift and tear into it if any is spotted. We all accept that until a few years ago, the military of both our great countries used Fluke 25 and 27's as their meters of choice, I myself have a number of these ex NATO meters and they were only 3.5 digits. So, to my mind it is far more sensible to only really worry about meters being accurate  to the third decimal place.

In the real world, i.e., in the military, there is no such thing as leaving meters running for hours at a time before using them on equipment. Its a case of, having a problem, lets get the meters out, switching on and checking the faulty equipment without any delay so that it can be brought back into full readiness condition in case it is called upon in an emergency.

Yes I have 8 bench meters and I have a couple of calibration tools and the one most used is like you, a AD784 but I use it to give me reassurance that a meter has not suddenly gone rogue giving me way off readings. Last night I connected, all 8 bench meters (4.5 to 6.5 digits) together to my AD584 and switched on and once they had all done their self tests, all agreed with each other up to the 2nd dp and the 3rd dp within 1mV of each other and that in the real world is perfectly acceptable. I refuse to allow myself to be concerned beyond that because that way lays madness and an ever deepening rabbit hole and money pit, for no real payback.

To me, those extra digits come into their own if you want to do a quick check to see if something is charging or discharging because they allow you to spot movement up or down far quicker, apart from that, until I see quoted values in a parts list or on / in a service manual / schematic that quote values to that accuracy will I ever worry it.

[mnementh]

   Having that fugly mess right up in my PC's picture window, now I really don't care that my PCIe cables won't match... instead of making a pair at once like I planned, I think I'm gonna just make the one cable I need and get it running until we our immigration goes through and I have my bench whole again. 

mnem

I never quite got all this business about caring so much about what the insides look like, for me as long as its tidy, I'm happy. Surely its more about how it performs? I dont sit and stare at my PC through its picture window side, I sit and look at the screen. Shove the computer box under the bench and free up some more valuable real estate for work space FFS   

What happens then if your immigration doesn't come through, back to the butt ugly big suck again??

Oh, come on... don't tell me you don't get it. It's exactly the same build ethic as hot-rodders modding a car to dechrome the body and stuff the engine compartment with braided hose and billet aluminum. You CAN have both FORM AND FUNCTION; it just requires a little care and foresight. 

As it is also my VR rig, my gaming PC is literally right in the middle of the living room; the big picture window directly faces the couch. I have everyday PCs... the HP I just put in the BR as a TV is a perfect example. I like the insides to be tidy on that rig too, but the aesthetic is more industrial tidy than iProduct tidy.

NEVER going back to Tejas. There is NOTHING there for us now.

mnem
There's just no THERE there.

[grizewald]

...I do NOT have commercial broadcast in my home; its entire purpose, shockingly, is to broadcast commercials....

The first time I ever visited the USA, I remember my shock when I turned on the hotel room's TV and discovered that programming was 10 minutes of whatever was on, interspersed with 10 minutes of commercials. I turned off the TV and never turned it on again.

[med6753]

@med, I still don't quite get this addiction to getting meters to agree with each other spot on to the last dp and leaving things on for that duration to spot drift and tear into it if any is spotted. We all accept that until a few years ago, the military of both our great countries used Fluke 25 and 27's as their meters of choice, I myself have a number of these ex NATO meters and they were only 3.5 digits. So, to my mind it is far more sensible to only really worry about meters being accurate  to the third decimal place.

In the real world, i.e., in the military, there is no such thing as leaving meters running for hours at a time before using them on equipment. Its a case of, having a problem, lets get the meters out, switching on and checking the faulty equipment without any delay so that it can be brought back into full readiness condition in case it is called upon in an emergency.

Yes I have 8 bench meters and I have a couple of calibration tools and the one most used is like you, a AD784 but I use it to give me reassurance that a meter has not suddenly gone rogue giving me way off readings. Last night I connected, all 8 bench meters (4.5 to 6.5 digits) together to my AD584 and switched on and once they had all done their self tests, all agreed with each other up to the 2nd dp and the 3rd dp within 1mV of each other and that in the real world is perfectly acceptable. I refuse to allow myself to be concerned beyond that because that way lays madness and an ever deepening rabbit hole and money pit, for no real payback.

To me, those extra digits come into their own if you want to do a quick check to see if something is charging or discharging because they allow you to spot movement up or down far quicker, apart from that, until I see quoted values in a parts list or on / in a service manual / schematic that quote values to that accuracy will I ever worry it.

Go post this in the Metrology Section. Let me know how you make out....if you survive. 

[mnementh]

UP is on, the rest of you are dumb.  Still asleep and the coffee ain't working. 

Finally... Something we can agree on, ya booty-fabbin' blue-arsed bitch.  Right now I have a ikea Tensor lamp with a lovely little chrome toggle that is upside-down that just bugs the ever-livin' hell right outta me. I know I'm eventually gonna take it apart and turn the toggle right-side-up; even if I have to break the plastic base on the little bastard and kill the lamp to get to it. 

I call that XOR switching (as it's essentially an XOR gate) and we have that too for the stair/hallway lighting. No choice there as to which way is ON. McBryce.

Yes, but you do have a choice in whether BOTH UP is on or off; in North America at least, that convention is BOTH UP=ON (Or ALL UP as the case may be).

mnem
Also, overhand on TP & PT is correct. Underhand is just wrong. Sideways is RIGHT OUT. 

[BU508A]

NEVER going back to Tejas. There is NOTHING there for us now.

mnem
There's just no THERE there.

Sandy Cheeks is missing you.

 

Edit:

[med6753]

Well after being on top of the 535A for a little over an hour the temperature only climbed to 81F (27C). I thought for sure it would get hotter than that. Have to come up with an alternative.

My whole point to this exercise is to see how much the AD584 will drift with temperature. I've been should charts and presented with testimony that it does and I'm just curious to see for myself. No hidden agenda nor an obsession with the last 1 or 2 uv. 

Edit....and I'm already seeing results with a quick booty fab I tossed together.  More later.

[Specmaster]

@mnem, I understand your POV, but my POV is that unless you are lighting it up internally when it isn't switched on to make it a focal point, then with chassis being black it is going to be dark inside and very little will actually visible. And when it is on switched on you are then more interested in its actual output be it on the screen or in the VR headset, surely 

As to cars, again my view is that unless the car is going to be a showcase, in a exhibition or something, then what surely matters the most is the engine bay as near original condition as possible, is that the bodywork and interior is where I would put as attention to detail in as I could so that in can be enjoyed by owner/driver and the public viewers when the car is in normal usage, non't normal drive around or leave the car parked with the bonnet  hood up, but then thats me, I'd rather be enjoying it, than letting others enjoy it.

Ducking that soggy old wellington boot thats being lobbed in my direction , I know, I'm a stinker aint I

[BU508A]

The weather becomes bad - boots are flying very low.

 

[Specmaster]

I call that XOR switching (as it's essentially an XOR gate) and we have that too for the stair/hallway lighting. No choice there as to which way is ON. McBryce.

Yes, but you do have a choice in whether BOTH UP is on or off; in North America at least, that convention is BOTH UP=ON (Or ALL UP as the case may be).

mnem
Also, overhand on TP & PT is correct. Underhand is just wrong. Sideways is RIGHT OUT. 

But what is the point of that, on my stairs for instance and in many other incidents it is impossible to see both switches at the same time and in corridors with multiple switches, even harder still.

How do you people with these OCD's ever manage to get any sleep   

[med6753]

My quick booty fab. One of those hot plates to melt scented candles. A ceramic plate on top of that so it does not get TOO hot.

Already up to 98F (37C) and she be climbing! Proof positive it drifts with temp. More later.

[Specmaster]

Go post this in the Metrology Section. Let me know how you make out....if you survive. 

Those guys not only have a OCD but they even get anal about it too 

[mnementh]

UP is on, the rest of you are dumb.     Still asleep and the coffee ain't working. 

   My grandmothers house had these light switches... So which way is on then?    McBryce.

The knob itself is an arrow pointing UP for ON, DUH. 

Yeah I saw that when googling. Pfft in went a $15 meanwell 

Yeah, just realize that the company we call Meanwell now has NOTHING to do with the highly-reputed laboratory-grade manufacturer of old. They are a China-direct manufacturer which bought out the company they used to manufacture for, much like happened to what we now call TIMEX in the '90s.  They're among the better of the China-direct labels, but still primarily just another cheap LED lighting SMPS manufacturer. 

mnem

[Specmaster]

My quick booty fab. One of those hot plates to melt scented candles. A ceramic plate on top of that so it does it TOO hot.

Already up to 98F (37C) and she be climbing! Proof positive it drifts with temp. More later.

That was never in doubt, but its got to drift a massive amount to make any differance when all you and I do is to use our meters to fix broken things with, thats my point. 

[kj7e]

My quick booty fab. One of those hot plates to melt scented candles. A ceramic plate on top of that so it does it TOO hot.

Already up to 98F (37C) and she be climbing! Proof positive it drifts with temp. More later.

If you want, send me your references and I will check them against my calibrated DMM7510 and 10v LTZ1000 standard then send them back.  Send a PM if your interested.