Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[worsthorse]

I'm still here, lurking and reading posts. Just don't have the energy to participate much right now.

Only TE news... put a low ball bid in on a HP3110A that was ignored. Still no bids on it and it has a reserve, so it is unlikely that my resolve will falter wrt the promise I made (to myself) not to buy any more gear until I clear the shelves a bit. 

[Brumby]

Still, you did put an offer in, didn't you?   


I did the same thing yesterday - and now I wait for my new acquisition to arrive.   

[mnementh]

Has anyone seen these cap testers at all and are they any good?

https://eds-inc.com/cap.html

I vaguely remember seeing a cartoon presentation of the original back in the day when the Dick Smith/Blue ESR meters were pretty much it; decades ago at least. The website claims boldly but opaquely that the meter "isolates the capacitor under test" yet no mention of how. The advertised test frequency of  "above 100khz" seems deliberately vague, and certainly not appropriate for most mid to large value caps used for brute-force filtering.

My gut reaction is that any successful diag work this thing makes possible will be entirely dependent on you developing your own intuition about the circuits you're working on and how to set the DCR and how to interpret the results; I am highly suspicious of their "Check any Electrolytic Capacitor in-circuit with 100% accuracy in 3 seconds - Guaranteed!*" promise as they don't really tell ANYTHING about HOW they perform this magic.

EDS no longer manufactures these or any TE; they've sold off the rights to 3rd party Merced Electronics, which website exists ONLY to peddle this one product: https://www.mercedelectronics.com/

I'm as inclined to give it a pass now as I was when I bought my Atlas ESR70+, especially at $230 +S/H or more.

I've attached some pics of the bare PCB found on fleaBay for your perusal.

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpost.php?p=348781&postcount=11

https://www.tindie.com/products/eccentricwkshp/eds-inc-capanalyzer-88a-pcb/#specs

mnem
*toddling off to ded*

[beanflying]

Cheap BIN Spaghetti in the USA eBay auction: #264665248874

[Brumby]

Bean, the shameless .... throwing out the TEA burley. 

[beanflying]

More like 10 day old Chum loaded with prawn heads the a quality Burley 

Surprisingly cheap given the usual price VTVM's tend to go for and it is more rare than some of the usual suspects.

[med6753]

Never heard of Feiler Engineering which is just as well. Even for point-to-point wiring that's a freaking rat's nest. Looks like it was thrown together by a 10 year old. 

[med6753]

More "pandemic" fallout.....

The local grocery stores typically open everyday at 6 AM. One of them will institute a policy on Thursday where from 6 AM to 7:30 AM the only customers allowed in the store have to be 60+ years old. Their reasoning is that this is the group who are at most risk therefore the restriction will result in less "social interaction".

So far the store I do biz with hasn't done something similar. I typically do my shopping right after they open at 6 AM and there aren't many people in the store anyway.   

[bd139]

Yeah they started doing that here as well. Pulled kids out today. Two of us with symptoms. Probably just a shit cold but we'll see  . Got ~14 days of food in now so should be good.

[med6753]

Yeah they started doing that here as well. Pulled kids out today. Two of us with symptoms. Probably just a shit cold but we'll see  . Got ~14 days of food in now so should be good.

Oh crap....hope it is just a cold. 

[bd139]

Not fussed either way. I'm not in a high risk group myself. Better if I get it before the healthcare system shits a brick here worst case.

[med6753]

Yea, these are some of the restrictions/closings so far....

Schools closed until at least April 1st
College campuses closed
Restaurants take out or drive up only
Movie theaters closed
Many gov offices closed or restricted access
No meetings of 10 or more 

[med6753]

Not fussed either way. I'm not in a high risk group myself. Better if I get it before the healthcare system shits a brick here worst case.

Supposedly I'm "high risk" due to 65+ and diabetes. But I hate people anyway so I limit contact as a normal course of my day. 

[bd139]

Wise move. I'm with you there 

My record back in 1999 was not actually interacting with a human for 2 months 

Yea, these are some of the restrictions/closings so far....

Schools closed until at least April 1st
College campuses closed
Restaurants take out or drive up only
Movie theaters closed
Many gov offices closed or restricted access
No meetings of 10 or more 

Yeah similar here. It's a "soft shutdown" though which relies on voluntary measures. I imagine that's going to be escalated soon.  Uber Eats and McDonalds are still open for delivery / drive through should we get bored of Armageddon food 

Honestly this could be this age's eye opener. Hopefully it'll change people's perception of their security a little bit.

[tautech]

Yeah they started doing that here as well. Pulled kids out today. Two of us with symptoms. Probably just a shit cold but we'll see  . Got ~14 days of food in now so should be good.

Oh shit bd, got fingers crossed for ya's.

[BU508A]

Yes, I know, I'm late (about a day or so) but anyway...   



@bd139:
Keep my fingers crossed as well. 

[beanflying]

Three weeks of food tucked away and the only likely shortages will be Milk in a few weeks and I will need to raid the House TP unless the nationwide diarrhea clears up 

After mixing with the great unwashed in person for the first time in two weeks a Third tall medicinal G&T is in order

[VK5RC]

Some comments I have heard / read re corona virus
Very often ass'd with a temp >37.5C
More sore throat, dry cough than runny nose-wet chest
Worse if you are older, co-morbidities
Worse if blood group A
Worse if you take ibuprofen ( paracetamol /phenacetin is fine)
Interquartile period from transmission to symptoms is 2-7 days
FYI
Rob
Main source is UpToDate

[beanflying]

Yeah they started doing that here as well. Pulled kids out today. Two of us with symptoms. Probably just a shit cold but we'll see  . Got ~14 days of food in now so should be good.

Hope it is just a sniffle but it is a good excuse to avoid the world at large if you can.

I have been trying to convince my Mother to not go to a couple of regular social things involving closed rooms and several hours of close contact is so far proving challenging because 'it isn't here yet'. Permanent low dose Chemo so her immune system is more or less toast.... 

[mansaxel]

Cheap BIN Spaghetti in the USA eBay auction: #264665248874

That was hairier than most. I'm saving myself for a 410b. Or 410c. Depends what I can get, either way they'll get company. The c would sit nicely besides the 427a (hi, bd139!) and the b model would snuggle up with the 428b.

Just as I'd gotten my eyes open on 7.5-digit Flukes, a 8606a shows up locally. 125€ish starter bid, plus shipping. Missing the resistance option, though.  I really should focus on the DE-5000.

[beanflying]

Two 410B's in Oz at present eBay auction: #293510701340 and eBay auction: #143485627441

[grizewald]

Just as I'd gotten my eyes open on 7.5-digit Flukes, a 8606a shows up locally. 125€ish starter bid, plus shipping. Missing the resistance option, though.  I really should focus on the DE-5000.

I promise not to snipe it out from under you, but where do you find used test equipment for sale here in Sweden?

[Mortymore]

...
No, not the robrenz video, I'm not that good.
...

How come I never saw his videos before! 

Roberenz is an amazing artist 

Thanks for that (big) tip, mansaxel. You just made my day with it. 

[bd139]

Yeah they started doing that here as well. Pulled kids out today. Two of us with symptoms. Probably just a shit cold but we'll see  . Got ~14 days of food in now so should be good.

Hope it is just a sniffle but it is a good excuse to avoid the world at large if you can.

I have been trying to convince my Mother to not go to a couple of regular social things involving closed rooms and several hours of close contact is so far proving challenging because 'it isn't here yet'. Permanent low dose Chemo so her immune system is more or less toast.... 

Definitely not a sniffle  . Sore dry throat and nasty cough. It's productive though which is probably good. Temp still good. Figure it hasn't kicked off properly yet.

Same situation with my mother. She is mostly self-sufficient, lives on her own and is unsociable as me though which is a good thing  . I wish you both luck in the coming weeks.

[Specmaster]

Yeah they started doing that here as well. Pulled kids out today. Two of us with symptoms. Probably just a shit cold but we'll see  . Got ~14 days of food in now so should be good.

So it was you, your the reason why I can't get anything, you grabbed it all. Just spent over an hour queuing to pay for 4 packs of chicken breasts, 3 bottles of orangeade, 1 loaf of bread, 2 tubs of butter, 1 bag of spuds, 4 custard tarts, 2 chocolate eclairs, 2 packs of crumpets, not a toilet roll in sight. Been to 2 different shops, almost 3 hours between them