Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Saskia]

@specmaster Yes. But you don't need to worry about not having a medium sized metal spare part at hand as long as you are good with emachining.

[Neomys Sapiens]

I very much want an Okuma Multus for difficult materials.

Nag nag nag. Nothing yet to help with a difficult <Saskia>.
What, no Hexapod?

[Saskia]

just trying to get stuff outta the way (meaning: sell it off) so that I can free up the space under the roof that I have usurped before my landlord goes ballistic. I have about 100 sqm to clean out ...
Bloody hell.

And of course to raise money to buy a fucking house before hyper inflation gets rid of my savings.
Which is about as certain as death to hit us ...

[Saskia]

Update: dead X370 board (Asus Prime X370 Pro) revived.
MSI GTX960 4GB that I got for 65 Brussels Pesos working fine.

Next step: try to get a Ryzen 3600 to work on the x370. If it does: Winner Winner Chicken dinner.
Sell it off, Proceeds towards the house.

Anybody in for something still running W7 reasonably fast ? If so I have a couple, tossing the idea here before they go to fleabay classifieds.

@Neomys Sapiens maybe there's something in there for you ? Even though you are looking for a rugged fanless gizmo ?

Will accept trade for a spectrum analyzer or an R+S scope ...

[tonyalbus]

Agilent ones are good. My only complaint with those supplies is the buttons fall to bits and the calibration is dangerous as hell as for some reason they always put the trim pots right next to the mains switch.

True dat! I put a piece of plastic over the switch when calibrating - maybe I should 3D print something

Plastic screwdriver, like used for adjusting RF/IF transformers?

Oodles of this set for US$10-13: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=ceramic+screwdriver&_sacat=0&_sop=15

At that price, no reason not to get two sets so you can have one to carve individual drivers down to fit specific applications.

mnem

these are good, i can recommend..  have them

[Cerebus]

Agilent ones are good. My only complaint with those supplies is the buttons fall to bits and the calibration is dangerous as hell as for some reason they always put the trim pots right next to the mains switch.

True dat! I put a piece of plastic over the switch when calibrating - maybe I should 3D print something

Plastic screwdriver, like used for adjusting RF/IF transformers?

Vishay make just the tool:



Safety aside, the outer guide on the far end makes it much easier to keep the blade on the raised adjusting screws on most trimpots. I find a standard screwdriver is always slipping off when I look away to the meter/scope/whatever I'm using to observer the effect of trimming.

[mnementh]

OK, first world people problems and the dragon can go piss up a rope.

Dear Amazon, how can my coffee order arrive today when it hasn't even been fulfilled and shipped yet? 

Well, it's only Sunday and I usually do my rope pissing on Wednesday (both up & down; I like to knock it all out at once and then take a long, hot shower ), but I can spare a whizz for a good friend. *turns away, makes an adjustment...*    *sighhhhh*

Okay, now that's accomplished, does this have to do with me...? I've repeatedly said that Amazon delivery is effing amazing... until the exact moment you come to count on it. 

mnem
You don't wanna be around tomorrow... Monday is stick-shitting  day (straight & crooked, up & down); it can get kindof splatter-y.

Because last week you tongue lashed me and Spec for being critical of current Amazon Prime policies and wanting to call them out on it and you countered with something like first world problem when the rest of the world was going to shit. But then apparently you got a case of "hoof and mouth" and back tracked. 

Griping about Amazon shipping is one thing; fuck, I'm ALL FOR griping about shit. That's what this place is for! 

Y'all were talking about rage-quitting Amazon; THAT is just dumb.

mnem
Bite my scaly dwagon arse.

Nah, I wasn't and I think neither was med, merely pointing out that we weren't getting the service that we were paying for while others, who may not have paid for prime were going to get prioritised because Amazon deemed that their items were more essential than ours. We feel that it would not hurt Amazon to give us some extension to our prime membership, its not as if Bezo needs our money when he's on his way to becoming the worlds first Trillionaire is it?   

Y'all seem to think that Bezos' money is Amazon's money. Not exactly the same thing. Yeah, sure... he can write a check for a billion dollars. He's not the only one, and most of those who can are actively using this crisis to tear the nation apart rather than keep it together.

Amazon has developed the only logistics operation to rival the US Army Corps of Engineers back in its heyday; not surprising that this administration, which only knows how to take shit and break shit, immediately tapped them on the shoulder in crisis time. They needed SOMEBODY who knows their ass from a hole in the ground to get stuff moving again.

That kind of action still runs on one thing: feet on the ground. The ACoE had those feet provided by the enlisted, who were legally the property of the US Government for the duration of their tour. Amazon gets those feet on the ground with cashflow, pure & simple. Every one of us paying our piddly little $14 a month is what keeps the wheels turning. If that cashflow stops, or even hiccups for too long, then the machinery grids to a halt. Even with the delays, they're STILL outperforming 90% of the brick & mortar stores right now; the only people who have ANYTHING in stock IRL is Wally Wurlld, FFS. 

My point being... we've all enjoyed a level of service and a collection of services from Amazon for years that is worth FAR more than what we pay, and anybody with a whit of sense KNOWS we've been making out like a bandit for $14 a month (or even less, if you subscribe annually) even if we only order something from them ONCE A FUCKING MONTH.

To try and argue that we've somehow been slighted because they answered that tap on the shoulder and are making sure groceries and medical supplies go out first most of the time and we now have to wait a week where we only used to have to wait a couple days is patently absurd.

Seriously... get a little sense of proportion. We're facing a global epidemic. Amazon is doing what has to be done, because nobody else who COULD do it WILL. And you're talking about demanding a refund that will probably cost as much to process as we pay them a month so really a lot more cost than YOU would ever see from it, or that we should all organize and hold out on the cashflow lifeblood of the logistics system that is doing what none of the rest of the 1% WILL do. Instead they're still busy trying to run the US Postal Service into the dirt so they can fuck its corpse too on top of that of every other "Public Service" we used to take for granted in America.

But hey, lets blame Bezos for everyfuckingthing, even though he's the only one in the room actually DOING something about it. He's no saint for sure, but he damn sure has a lot more important shit to worry about right now than trying to figure out what percentage of your Prime Service was worth the few pennies you paid.

Yeah Amazon is a social advantage, much like a smartphone, and tossing them on the street is insane.

Someone keeps suggesting I should quit Amazon and return to the retail outlets on the street after they got done over by the bizarre high street marketing PR going around here under "gentrification" and "out with the old ways" and "protect our local business". Fuck 'em in the ass. The high street was and still is a shit show which would turn on you in a second if there was a problem with anything you bought and I hope it burns.

Edit: decided I'm going to swap my case out for a Fractal Design Meshify C as it's getting a bit toasty in the Coolermaster for all its silent insulated glory.

Awww... Riley still had that "baby-face" straight outta Graphic Design school look. 

mnem
 

[mnementh]

   Oodles of this set for US$10-13: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=ceramic+screwdriver&_sacat=0&_sop=15   At that price, no reason not to get two sets so you can have one to carve individual drivers down to fit specific applications.

mnem

I have a set of those, but one of the problems with them is that sometimes the shafts are not cemented squarely within the handles, sometimes rendering them unusable in some locations because they are to much out of square to usable in confined spaces. 

Sounds to me like those are the ones you choose to hack up into more useful configurations; or make into a 3DP project.    Part of why I suggested buying more than one set; as cheap as they are, they're worth it just for the ceramic bit ends.

mnem
 

[Saskia]

@Mnementh I'd take Trump as president over Merkel ANYTIME.

Even though I consider him narcicistic and would not necessarily want to be his employee, I'd rather live in a country that is still offering the chance to get ahead by inventing or creating stuff than to live somewhere where the left party just proposed to shoot the top 5% of the income bracket and reopen forced labor camps. And where you have a tax rate (incl. social security) of about 70%.

So please be considerate about other political opinions. I do not really think they belong here.

[bd139]

Yes at least progressive America likes to shoot 5% of people across all income brackets and disguises labour camps as businesses

[mnementh]

@Mnementh I'd take Trump as president over Merkel ANYTIME.

Even though I consider him narcicistic and would not necessarily want to be his employee, I'd rather live in a country that is still offering the chance to get ahead by inventing or creating stuff than to live somewhere where the left party just proposed to shoot the top 5% of the income bracket and reopen forced labor camps. And where you have a tax rate (incl. social security) of about 70%.

So please be considerate about other political opinions. I do not really think they belong here.

Uhh... yeah. You say that, until you get the first medical bill. You just have NO IDEA how fucking insane the cost of medical care is over here; even with your skillset you'd be working for less than $20/hour and with your lungs, would be paying 20 grand a month for insurance & the part of your healthcare that insurance doesn't cover. You have no idea just how deep the corruption goes, and as I've said, Trump is just a SYMPTOM of that disease, he is not the disease itself.

It's a shitshow, and it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

mnem
 

[Neomys Sapiens]

@Neomys Sapiens maybe there's something in there for you ? Even though you are looking for a rugged fanless gizmo ?

Will accept trade for a spectrum analyzer or an R+S scope ...

Since when did you opt into racketeering and extortion?
Having barely that SA in reach, but not yet in hand, it will not leave me for any reason except death or getting a better one! And certainly not for a blasted PC. And yes, feel free to get one from that pallet with R&S scopes standing in the hallway - you can see I can't fit them in here.
Oh, I see....that <difficult> is coming back to me now....

[AVGresponding]

My Amazon Prime is worthless; because I don't have it, and don't use Amazon at all.

I don't use them because I don't like them; they are just another ebay, but pretending to be a respectable business.

I just bought a new trolley jack. I got it from Halfords, they had it in stock, they give a guarantee, and if it goes faulty I can have it back there getting an exchange or my money back within half an hour.

I also just bought some new underwear. I got it from Marks and Spencers. They had it in stock, they have a no-quibble money back guarantee, and like Halfools, there's a bricks and mortar store near enough that I could be at a counter getting my money back within half an hour, in the unlikely event it became necessary.

I have used Amazon in the past, but they remind me too much of Apple; all marketing hype and glossy design, but the substance is no better than what you can get cheaper elsewhere.

[Mr. Scram]

Yeah Amazon is a social advantage, much like a smartphone, and tossing them on the street is insane.

Someone keeps suggesting I should quit Amazon and return to the retail outlets on the street after they got done over by the bizarre high street marketing PR going around here under "gentrification" and "out with the old ways" and "protect our local business". Fuck 'em in the ass. The high street was and still is a shit show which would turn on you in a second if there was a problem with anything you bought and I hope it burns.

Edit: decided I'm going to swap my case out for a Fractal Design Meshify C as it's getting a bit toasty in the coolermaster for all its silent insulated glory.

You talk about smartphones like junkies talk about crack. 

[Saskia]

@mnementh oh, we do not have free health care. I am paying 10 grand for health insurance right now, and it will be going up considerably.

I had a medical bill for 38625 USD for 2 days of hospital in California. Took out a mortgage to pay for that, and the health insurance thingie is the reason we are still here.

@Neomys Sapiens I am not into racketeering. It's always worth a try , but if you find a better one we may want to have a quick chat.

[tggzzz]

Vishay make just the tool:



Safety aside, the outer guide on the far end makes it much easier to keep the blade on the raised adjusting screws on most trimpots. I find a standard screwdriver is always slipping off when I look away to the meter/scope/whatever I'm using to observer the effect of trimming.

I use one that looks like that, marked as being from RS. I recently bought another set, in case I lost it.

Guess what happened? The new one broke, so I'm still using that RS one from the 80s But since I've just fleabayed couple of connectors, I don't feel bad about having ordered a ceramic set just to see what they are like.

Easy come, easy go.

[Specmaster]

@ mnem The thing with Bezos money is that he amassed it via Amazon and also that his vast fortune is getting bigger the longer this pandemic lasts as people switch over to Amazon in their droves because of his well oiled machine when it comes deliveries of product that Amazon actually fulfil. Those that suppliers who use it like eBay, a shopfront only now no longer get my money, I've been burnt to many times with that one.

When I buy from Amazon, I buy the items that are marked as "PRIME", "IN STOCK" and "SAME DAY or NEXT WORKING DAY" delivery and for that privilege I pay annually something like £70 and I don't buy from them monthly at all, often it can 2 or 3 months before I'll need something from them. TBH, I'm only a Prime member because I used their free trial for a month a couple of years ago and I forgot to cancel it.

So on that basis I am actually paying upfront for a quicker delivery service than I would normally get as a non-member, but right now, I'm not getting that service that I paid for and judging from med's posting he is feeling much the same as I am about this.

Fact is that the things I get from Amazon, I could also get from other online sellers and can offer me next day service if I pay extra. That might well work out to be for me, a better deal on average. I'm not after a refund at all from Amazon or Bezos directly, but it would be a very nice gesture on their part if they gave people like myself, an automatic extension to our prepaid service for the duration of the same time period that they are unable to fulfil the service that we are paying for.

My mobile service I get from Virgin Media and they are giving me on top of my £15 a month phone service, for the duration of the lockdown, unlimited calls, data etc. which is a most welcome offer, not that I need it, but its still nice to know that if that was the only way of keeping in touch with friends and family, I can use that service as much as I want without having to worry about exceeding my plan and incurring extra charges. Last time I checked Richard Branson was nowhere Jeff Bezos in the rich list, but he made that offer without any prompting from me.

Now if I were like you, use Amazon regularly then, yes, I'd take it on the chin because I'd made a killing on previous occasions and yes, all of us prime members are aware of the logistical problems the pandemic is causing globally but why is it always the little people who have to contribute far more than our fair share while the wealthy elites in the world just continue to bleed us all dry while their fortunes continue to grow? 

[mnementh]

@Specmaster: Okay... in your case, you really weren't getting your money's worth BEFORE the pandemic. Seems to me your decision is pretty clear-cut there; unless, like me, you ALSO use their multiple forms of entertainment bandwidth. That use-case still has very little to do with the delays right now; even with them considered, Amazon (and fulfilled by Amazon) still delivers better service timewise than MOST other retailers, online OR brick & mortar. 

@mnementh oh, we do not have free health care. I am paying 10 grand for health insurance right now, and it will be going up considerably.

I had a medical bill for 38625 USD for 2 days of hospital in California. Took out a mortgage to pay for that, and the health insurance thingie is the reason we are still here.

@Neomys Sapiens I am not into racketeering. It's always worth a try , but if you find a better one we may want to have a quick chat.

Yes, but you DO have "sanely priced" medical care over there. BIG difference. The medical care system over here is broken in a very specific way; too specific to be anything but deliberate manipulation of a certain segment of the economy. It has been turned into the collections arm of the biggest redistribution of property wealth (from the many to the few) in history since the King's land grants in the Americas before the formation of that nation. [EDIT] You and your medical bills in CA are just a tiny TASTE of what the rest of the nation has faced for almost 3 decades.

But THAT is another discussion of social commentary, and I've already burned up my allotment for one day. 

mnem
 

[Specmaster]

@mnementh oh, we do not have free health care. I am paying 10 grand for health insurance right now, and it will be going up considerably.

I had a medical bill for 38625 USD for 2 days of hospital in California. Took out a mortgage to pay for that, and the health insurance thingie is the reason we are still here.

@Neomys Sapiens I am not into racketeering. It's always worth a try , but if you find a better one we may want to have a quick chat.

Yes, but you DO have "sanely priced" medical care over there. BIG difference. The medical care system over here is broken in a very specific way; too specific to be anything but deliberate manipulation of a certain segment of the economy. It has been turned into the collections arm of the biggest redistribution of property wealth (from the many to the few) in history since the King's land grants in the Americas before the formation of that nation.

But THAT is another discussion of social commentary, and I've already burned up my allotment for one day. 

mnem
 

If we not careful, us Brits will also joining in on that front as well as it seems that Trump is determined to get his hands on our NHS so that his insurance companies can then take over the running of it for sheer profit. 

Hopefully normal service can resume anytime soon 

[Neomys Sapiens]

just trying to get stuff outta the way (meaning: sell it off) so that I can free up the space under the roof that I have usurped before my landlord goes ballistic. I have about 100 sqm to clean out ...
Bloody hell.

And of course to raise money to buy a fucking house before hyper inflation gets rid of my savings.
Which is about as certain as death to hit us ...

I only understood that really when reading it again: would that make you a squatter-hoarder?

[bd139]

@ mnem The thing with Bezos money is that he amassed it via Amazon and also that his vast fortune is getting bigger the longer this pandemic lasts as people switch over to Amazon in their droves because of his well oiled machine when it comes deliveries of product that Amazon actually fulfil. Those that suppliers who use it like eBay, a shopfront only now no longer get my money, I've been burnt to many times with that one.

Yeah I only buy fulfilled by Amazon and sold by Amazon products from it. You might as well hit ebay for the rest.

When I buy from Amazon, I buy the items that are marked as "PRIME", "IN STOCK" and "SAME DAY or NEXT WORKING DAY" delivery and for that privilege I pay annually something like £70 and I don't buy from them monthly at all, often it can 2 or 3 months before I'll need something from them. TBH, I'm only a Prime member because I used their free trial for a month a couple of years ago and I forgot to cancel it.

This is my usage. I've pushed 679 orders through them in the last 10 years. Last 6 months.



I'm pulling a lot of value out of that and I ONLY buy items which are cheapest on Amazon.

This month so far:

1. Ceramic pie dish. 25% cheaper than John Lewis.
2. Roku Express for the kids TV.
3. Be Quiet fan.
4. OS Explorer OL33 map
5. Large throw for my eldest's bed.
6. Pizza cutter (old one disintegrated)
7. Unibond sealant
8. Non stick brownie tin.
9. Small chopping board (old one disintegrated)
10. Lego Harry Potter for XBox One
11. Allegiant book.
12. Bodum french press (present)
13. Nike Running shoes (free returns if they didn't fit)
14. Two lightning cables (for stock)
15. Wera screwdriver
16. Red/Blue team Operator handbook
17. Lifeventure camping bowl
18. Two large boxes of coffee
19. Samsung SSD
20. 3m duct tape
21. Lego baseboard
22. Dymo labels
23. Box of bic biros
24. AAA batteries x40
25. AA batteries x40

Imagine having to hit the shops for all that shit and be able to get a half decent deal without putting out a few miles on foot.

So on that basis I am actually paying upfront for a quicker delivery service than I would normally get as a non-member, but right now, I'm not getting that service that I paid for and judging from med's posting he is feeling much the same as I am about this.

Next day here. Perhaps I get better service because I hammer them with orders 

Fact is that the things I get from Amazon, I could also get from other online sellers and can offer me next day service if I pay extra. That might well work out to be for me, a better deal on average. I'm not after a refund at all from Amazon or Bezos directly, but it would be a very nice gesture on their part if they gave people like myself, an automatic extension to our prepaid service for the duration of the same time period that they are unable to fulfil the service that we are paying for.

The point is independent sellers don't have the logistics network which is what you're paying for. And it's heavily loaded due to people being stuck at home.

My mobile service I get from Virgin Media and they are giving me on top of my £15 a month phone service, for the duration of the lockdown, unlimited calls, data etc. which is a most welcome offer, not that I need it, but its still nice to know that if that was the only way of keeping in touch with friends and family, I can use that service as much as I want without having to worry about exceeding my plan and incurring extra charges. Last time I checked Richard Branson was nowhere Jeff Bezos in the rich list, but he made that offer without any prompting from me.

I use giffgaff. I don't pay for any calls and get 80gb for £20  . Virgin are doing that because in aggregate when everyone is at home they're mostly using their wifi rather than the 4G network which means they can pretend to give a shit by extending an olive branch. Don't get hit by that marketing.

Now if I were like you, use Amazon regularly then, yes, I'd take it on the chin because I'd made a killing on previous occasions and yes, all of us prime members are aware of the logistical problems the pandemic is causing globally but why is it always the little people who have to contribute far more than our fair share while the wealthy elites in the world just continue to bleed us all dry while their fortunes continue to grow? 

This is where the nail is hit on the head. There appears to be an issue with the wealthy folk however where they get to a certain age and mortality looms and they turn to altruism and trying to fix big problems. Look at Gates for example. I hope Bezos goes down the same route but he appears to just be getting more Dr Evil every day.

[SilverSolder]

@ mnem The thing with Bezos money is that he amassed it via Amazon and also that his vast fortune is getting bigger the longer this pandemic lasts as people switch over to Amazon in their droves because of his well oiled machine when it comes deliveries of product that Amazon actually fulfil. Those that suppliers who use it like eBay, a shopfront only now no longer get my money, I've been burnt to many times with that one.

When I buy from Amazon, I buy the items that are marked as "PRIME", "IN STOCK" and "SAME DAY or NEXT WORKING DAY" delivery and for that privilege I pay annually something like £70 and I don't buy from them monthly at all, often it can 2 or 3 months before I'll need something from them. TBH, I'm only a Prime member because I used their free trial for a month a couple of years ago and I forgot to cancel it.

So on that basis I am actually paying upfront for a quicker delivery service than I would normally get as a non-member, but right now, I'm not getting that service that I paid for and judging from med's posting he is feeling much the same as I am about this.

Fact is that the things I get from Amazon, I could also get from other online sellers and can offer me next day service if I pay extra. That might well work out to be for me, a better deal on average. I'm not after a refund at all from Amazon or Bezos directly, but it would be a very nice gesture on their part if they gave people like myself, an automatic extension to our prepaid service for the duration of the same time period that they are unable to fulfil the service that we are paying for.

My mobile service I get from Virgin Media and they are giving me on top of my £15 a month phone service, for the duration of the lockdown, unlimited calls, data etc. which is a most welcome offer, not that I need it, but its still nice to know that if that was the only way of keeping in touch with friends and family, I can use that service as much as I want without having to worry about exceeding my plan and incurring extra charges. Last time I checked Richard Branson was nowhere Jeff Bezos in the rich list, but he made that offer without any prompting from me.

Now if I were like you, use Amazon regularly then, yes, I'd take it on the chin because I'd made a killing on previous occasions and yes, all of us prime members are aware of the logistical problems the pandemic is causing globally but why is it always the little people who have to contribute far more than our fair share while the wealthy elites in the world just continue to bleed us all dry while their fortunes continue to grow? 

I feel the same way, and canceled Prime.  Even though I use Amazon regularly, it still isn't worth it - since it is easy to spend the $25 to get free shipping anyway.  It was just about acceptable in the beginning when Prime cost about $70 if I remember correctly...

[bd139]

It's not just orders for ref. I use Prime Video as well and share it with my eldest (you can share prime with one other person).

Edit: oh and Prime Reading. Get a fairly large chunk of books on that for nothing. Great for reading while you're having a shit. (I own a kindle paperwhite as well)

[SilverSolder]

Agilent ones are good. My only complaint with those supplies is the buttons fall to bits and the calibration is dangerous as hell as for some reason they always put the trim pots right next to the mains switch.

True dat! I put a piece of plastic over the switch when calibrating - maybe I should 3D print something

Plastic screwdriver, like used for adjusting RF/IF transformers?

Oodles of this set for US$10-13: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=ceramic+screwdriver&_sacat=0&_sop=15

At that price, no reason not to get two sets so you can have one to carve individual drivers down to fit specific applications.

mnem

I have a set of those, but one of the problems with them is that sometimes the shafts are not cemented squarely within the handles, sometimes rendering them unusable in some locations because they are to much out of square to usable in confined spaces. 

Chuck them up in a lathe and turn the offending part down a little?  (or use a drill press + a Dremel or something, if you don't have a lathe)

For the price, they look like a bargain...

[bd139]

If we not careful, us Brits will also joining in on that front as well as it seems that Trump is determined to get his hands on our NHS so that his insurance companies can then take over the running of it for sheer profit. 

Hopefully normal service can resume anytime soon 

Labour sold them out under PFI. Conservatives are just finishing the job. Have Bupa free at work 

Edit: Just a moan as well about some of the shit out there and how it works. People bitch about amazon and say "hey it's unfair with local shops".

Amazon supply chain vs other retailers:

Supplier -> Amazon logistics -> you .... pay £74.99
Supplier -> local distributor -> retailer -> logistics -> you .... pay £109.99

Which is the issue with this case I'm looking at. The price differential comes from a more efficient supply chain which has environmental, pricing and support benefits. I stand by efficiency over job creation which is what we are really doing.

If only people stopped fucking. That'd solve all the problems