Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

Possibly. Someone tells you that you may need to self-isolate for 2 weeks then it makes sense to self-isolate for 2 weeks which means getting 2 weeks of food in  . Now everyone is moaning about it because the super markets are empty. Granted a lot of people seem to be planning on shitting a lot and living on pasta but there should have been supply provisions set up properly.

TBH if you go to the local supermarket at ~6am it'll be rammed with stuff. They're closing local ones here that are usually open 24/7 to restock overnight.

To point out in my case I already had two weeks of food in and am extending this to 6 weeks of essentials which gives me 2-3 weeks of recovery and supplies window post event rather than running out exactly on 2 weeks. People tend to forget that truck drivers and supermarket workers get sick too.

Edit: this week's project... still waiting on the NMEA GPS module. I suspect that'll be a few days yet.

[Kosmic]

Well this Covid-19 bastard has certainly left ebay a desert of nothing interesting 

Different scenario over here. Just scored a Tektronix RSA3308A Real Time Spectrum Analyzer with a slight problem in the 3.5-8Ghz range  . Will hopefully be an easy fix and will go back on ebay asap.

Oh, you got that one? Cool! I look forward to seeing much more about it.

Yeah, was not planning to bid on it because of the exchange rate and the fact that I need to have it shipped to my PO box across the border (seller did not want to use ebay GSP). But I decided to setup a snipe on gixen just in case. Look like I was lucky Hope I din't steal it from you.

With the current situation it's unclear if I will be able to collect it any time soon though 

Crap, the package is still in transit and the US-CAN border is supposed to close today … 

[Specmaster]

@bd139 You take care of yourself, your girls and mum you hear. Yep, guess I'll have to get up real early and go out then to go shopping, 8am is too late by the look of it. One good thing so far is that I'm doing about 45+mpg which is a good for a 2 ton car around town, there is no traffic around. Taking SWMBO to her courtroom in the mornings is a doddle, only takes 5mins instead of the normal 25 mins. 

I've got about 1 and a half weeks supplies in, which isnt very good considering I'm in the at risk group, age and Asthma, = 12 weeks isolation, so if that happen the others will have to step up to the plate and go and get the provisions in, but they can't drive.

[tggzzz]

I once bought a completely functional HP8562b spec an at a tasty price from an auctioneer in the middle of nowhere (i.e. Bedford). If I'd known it was from a bankruptcy, I'd have bought more.

That auctioneer keeps in touch, and their latest missive contains the thought-provoking...

WILL PRICES BE REDUCED?
Prior to the outbreak, some markets have been flooded for some time which has resulted in a general downturn in sale prices. The aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic is unfortunately likely to see a further increase in closures which will result in further flooding of equipment.

So, if you survive, it could be a good TEA time.

[bd139]

Also all the SK sales

Edit: apparently my 179 is out for delivery today. Fingers crossed

[Specmaster]

Also all the SK sales

Yep, I just grabbed a signal tracer from one of those SK sales, it was WIP so I need to tidy it up and find a suitable enclosure to house it.

[med6753]

  The shipment for the Fluke 8505A still says from FedEx "label generated" 24 hours later. In that time I could have gone to Long Island myself (twice) and picked it up. 

Phil's HP probes are in route via USPS with a projected delivery of this Friday. But I worry that mail to the UK may be severely impacted due to flight cut backs. If that's the case I'll just hang onto it until conditions improve.

"As The World Turns".......strange times. And I thought 9/11 was weird.       

[bd139]

Good luck with that. I understand they're working on containment measures in customs processing facilities here so you'll probably just get a 5 day extra delay on usual delivery. Postal is good here still. I've had three deliveries today already. Freight flights are relatively unaffected - seen lots of fedex / freight aircraft go over so far today (I live under heathrow approach)

9/11 was pretty weird for me. I was working for a defence contractor then. Next day we turn up and there's MP5 weilding MoD police crawling the facility and searching everyone.  . But this is some fucked up mess. At the end of the day these things, much like wars, bring people closer together. Ans also the media is far more than the divisive power it was now with social networks etc which means what happens can't be leveraged easily. This could be a positive turn around point for this planet.

[Specmaster]

Things have just taken a turn for the worse here is Essex. A child in a local school has just tested positive (My sons old primary school) and all nursery and primary schools have been shut as of today and all parents have been told to collect their child as soon as possible. No news yet on junior and senior schools, but they must surely be following suit very soon seeing as Essex has 26 positive cases of Covid-19.

[Kosmic]

"As The World Turns".......strange times. And I thought 9/11 was weird.       

Yeah this time it's clearly weirder 

[Specmaster]

Speaking of delivery and possible delays etc makes me wonder if the brief to delivery drivers is or has changed because SWMBO has had a parcel delivered today by Hermes, and they always knock and get a signature, today that never happened. My son heard the beep of scanning tool they use and looked out of the window to observe the driver signing for the parcel and then tucking it down by the front door but out of sight to passers-by, and the driving off? Is this a new temporary policy to protect their staff?

[bd139]

Yeah RM and ParcelForce have done that already here today. Drop and ring bell and run away. Food companies are doing contact free deliveries as well now

[Specmaster]

Just heard that apparently the UK governments model that they have using to predict the likely outcome and behaviour of the Coronavirus is fatally flawed because they used the wrong flu type in their model and the actual behaviour of the virus is far worse than their models has suggested, perhaps now we will see a rapid escalation of the lockdown with schools and all but essential services being closed down within days if not hours?

[bd139]

That's what I'm seeing as well. We're getting that reported on reuters feeds

Edit: statement at 17:00

[med6753]

As a temporary diversion from events clearly more important. I was going to start ripping down this guy today to replace the NVRAM battery. But the mood doesn't strike me so screw it.  The 2430 does have built into it's diagnostics a battery test routine (Test 4720) which supposedly will tell you if the battery is getting weak. So you get some warning, unlike the 2465A & B which have no test and if the battery goes flat you are left with a 400MHz brick.     

Another day perhaps.

[BU508A]

Guys, for everyone with a 3D printer and want to help regarding the COVID-19 pandemie,
this is a very interesting project:

https://twitter.com/jonisborn/status/1238525868546445312

will post this in General Chat, too.

Edit:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/helping-projects-around-corona-virus/

[McBryce]

Guys, for everyone with a 3D printer and want to help regarding the COVID-19 pandemie,
this is a very interesting project:

https://twitter.com/jonisborn/status/1238525868546445312

will post this in General Chat, too.

 

So... There are commercial ventilator producers all around the world, who can each produce and test a few hundred (entire) ventilators per day. I don't know how many companies, but lets say it's just 100. So together they could produce 10,000 complete tested ventilators a day. Looking at the models in those links, that print could take around 5 to 6 hours just for the main body. It's neither certified nor tested and even with 1000 3D fans working day and night they wouldn't make as many as just one of the commercial companies would if one of those companies hiked their production slightly. And how many hospitals would be willing to risk their patients health on a home made, non-certified device?

Nice idea, but totally pointless.

McBryce.

[BU508A]

Nice idea, but totally pointless.

You may think so.
But if it helps one person somehow, then I'd call this a success.

[bd139]

Well the 179 arrived and it's spot on. Some pr0n:













Me likey! 

Seller has another one here if anyone wants it. RS RRP £363. I paid £169 for it: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/114148010223

[med6753]

What advantage does the 179 have over the plain Jane 87...other than some additional features?

[mansaxel]

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?

Tradera. They even have a special category for measurement instruments, which is infested with small scales, probably intended for "substances"... My most useful filter is "used gear only"; it removes most of the annoying Aliex resales and the drug paraphernalia. The ham radio section in Tradera also contains some instruments from time to time.  Another site I've had some success in is DX-radio but with a strong tendency to ham-specific gear. Apart from that I also try fishing in Blocket, but that is much more hit-and-miss. Lots of el-cheapo multimeters with 3-digit precision. OTOH, the assortment of Kemppi stick welders with 3-phase mains connection is much better there.

Hamfests worth visiting (fsvo, etc) is foremost the Eskilstuna one in spring, and to some extent the Haninge one in autumn. In Gothenburg, the ETA auction (electronics club of the Chalmers technical university selling off their surplus gifts.) is rumoured to be legendary.

[mnementh]

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. 

"The more people I meet, the more I like my dog. BTW, my dog's a complete asshole. Well, he was, before he ran away..." ~me

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 

Fingers crossed for both of you. This was my experience too a week ago; and I live in one of the yuppie 'burbs north of Toronto. I'm SURE the usual conservative "it won't happen here" state of denial was why I was able to get bog roll when I did at that upscale grocery store...

Hmmm... I wonder how many raised eyebrows I left in my wake, trotting through the store with my little manly-man mini-cart dwarfed by those 3 jumbo packs of ass-wipes. No WONDER they ushered me directly to an empty register to get rid of me before I started a stampede.  I remember there was a manager headed back towards the Paper Products aisle conspicuously clutching a stack of printed papers as I carted myself away... I wonder if they were "Quantity Limited" signs to post all over the store...? 

The shipment for the Fluke 8505A still says from FedEx "label generated" 24 hours later. In that time I could have gone to Long Island myself (twice) and picked it up.     Phil's HP probes are in route via USPS with a projected delivery of this Friday. But I worry that mail to the UK may be severely impacted due to flight cut backs. If that's the case I'll just hang onto it until conditions improve.  "As The World Turns".......strange times. And I thought 9/11 was weird.      

Yeah this time it's clearly weirder

Well, maybe your seller got sick between packing the box and getting it to FED-UPS. Real world, real epidemic, things are getting real, man. 

I want to imagine we might wake the fuck up as a species and turn off the fucking lie-box that has led us down this path of self-destruction... but I know it's only a dream. We'll still be clutching our little screens like grim death as the whole of civilization sinks to the bottom of the abyss... 

mnem

[bd139]

What advantage does the 179 have over the plain Jane 87...other than some additional features?

Different meter and use case. Specification and feature quantity wise it's inferior but it has a CAT IV rating, thermocouple input, better screen and a backlight that doesn't suck.

[mnementh]

^~DING-DONG!!!~* At The Door...



And the Amazon truck is already pulling away after dropping off a enigmatic brown box and baggie with pictures of Bezos' dong all over them. I see he's dropped the Amazon text from the logo now; just letting his dick do the talking... and he evidently feels this one is meatier than most.   

Guess I should be glad I got my order in when I did, with the freeze on "non-essential" goods just announced. Maybe I should order another couple spools of filament before they sell out... 

mnem
If y'all don't hear from me for a few days... just assume I fell down the 3DP rabbit-hole.

[Mr. Scram]

I can find pretty much all my electronics kit except for the bloody IC box. Almost all the op-amps and shift registers and what not I own not which aren't in actual equipment are in there.  The upside is that I found my microcontroller box.