Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

I have no problems with drowning the whole lot. 

We’re already chucking their statues in the sea at the moment 

Oh my! -

People are defecating outside the Queen's vacation home

Published 29th June 2020


London (CNN) — Walkers are relieving themselves in the grounds of Queen Elizabeth's Scottish residence, staff have said.
Employees at Balmoral Castle, which the Queen frequently visits for holidays throughout the year, have complained about wet wipes being left on the estate and urged people not to use the spot as an outdoor toilet.

Most public facilities are closed in the United Kingdom due to the country's lockdown, but people are allowed to exercise and socialize outside, leading many to seek quiet public places if nature calls during a day out.
"Disappointed to see so many wipes discarded on the Estate today. Next to paths and monuments. Please remember there are no public toilets open for miles around at the moment," staff at Balmoral wrote.
"Part of the problem is that we are seeing a lot of non biodegradable wipes being discarded in the countryside," they added. "Also, people are choosing to relieve themselves right next to busy paths or monuments rather than move a little bit further away to avoid contamination."

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/balmoral-outdoor-toilet-scli-gbr-intl/index.html

Ooh err

[exor]

Here's a weird one. Local skydiver club this past Sunday.

Jumps out plane at 14K feet with chute. It never opens nor does the reserve. Lands in parking lot of local firehouse. Once they pick up what's left they discover there is no parachute. 

They still haven't found the parachute. 

There have been cases of people being so buzzed up or nervous, that they forgot the parachute. It's also happened with budgie-jumpers who jumped before the cord had been connected. Or maybe it wasn't buckled properly and they lost it on the way down? Of course they may have also wanted it to end that way?

McBryce.

You don't need a parachute..

https://youtu.be/lq-54gox6-k

[Saskia]

that one is pushing up the daisies as well.

[bd139]

I have no problems with drowning the whole lot. 

We’re already chucking their statues in the sea at the moment 

Oh my! -

People are defecating outside the Queen's vacation home

Published 29th June 2020


London (CNN) — Walkers are relieving themselves in the grounds of Queen Elizabeth's Scottish residence, staff have said.
Employees at Balmoral Castle, which the Queen frequently visits for holidays throughout the year, have complained about wet wipes being left on the estate and urged people not to use the spot as an outdoor toilet.

Most public facilities are closed in the United Kingdom due to the country's lockdown, but people are allowed to exercise and socialize outside, leading many to seek quiet public places if nature calls during a day out.
"Disappointed to see so many wipes discarded on the Estate today. Next to paths and monuments. Please remember there are no public toilets open for miles around at the moment," staff at Balmoral wrote.
"Part of the problem is that we are seeing a lot of non biodegradable wipes being discarded in the countryside," they added. "Also, people are choosing to relieve themselves right next to busy paths or monuments rather than move a little bit further away to avoid contamination."

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/balmoral-outdoor-toilet-scli-gbr-intl/index.html

Good good. I left a steamer on Chequers land once. Felt like I literally did my bit for humanity then.

[med6753]

Typical Gov. Get out and exercise. Practice social distancing. But if you gotta piss you are SOL. 

I've been to Balmoral Castle on a tour. The place is freaking old and smells of mildew. I don't know why anyone would want to stay there. Pissing on it's walls might actually improve the smell.   

[bd139]

Yeah. Houses of Parliament are the same inside. Went on a school trip there once. Smelled like tobacco and incompetence.

Edit: highlight of the trip was actually meeting Tony Benn. Teacher tried to suck up to him and say something intelligent and he ripped her a new arsehole in about 5 words 

[McBryce]

Here's a weird one. Local skydiver club this past Sunday.

Jumps out plane at 14K feet with chute. It never opens nor does the reserve. Lands in parking lot of local firehouse. Once they pick up what's left they discover there is no parachute. 

They still haven't found the parachute. 

There have been cases of people being so buzzed up or nervous, that they forgot the parachute. It's also happened with budgie-jumpers who jumped before the cord had been connected. Or maybe it wasn't buckled properly and they lost it on the way down? Of course they may have also wanted it to end that way?

McBryce.

You don't need a parachute..

https://youtu.be/lq-54gox6-k

But that guy DID use a parachute!

McBryce.

[med6753]

I had to look up Tony Benn. Got it. 

In years past been so tempted to leave a flaming bag of dog shit on the steps of our local family court building. But the judges would tell the deputies to stomp it out and I've got nothing against them. 

[bd139]

They're the sort of folk that when it's below zero, you hose down their garden paths just after sundown

[xrunner]

London (CNN) — Walkers are relieving themselves in the grounds of Queen Elizabeth's Scottish residence, staff have said.
Employees at Balmoral Castle, which the Queen frequently visits for holidays throughout the year, ...

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/balmoral-outdoor-toilet-scli-gbr-intl/index.html

I think I shall buy myself a castle for my holiday retreats during the year. Getting too boring here in the hood. 

I ain't telling you guys where it is though lest you poop in my moat. 

[drussell]

I have two choices for shipping from some unknown warehouse in the US to here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada...
I need these parts before the weekend, Thursday would be nice but by Friday is imperative.
Canada Day is Wednesday, which might screw things up and of course Saturday is July 4th so many will be gearing up for the weekend. 

Anyone been having particularly good luck or bad luck with either of these?

DHL International Express supposedly Thursday July 2 $38.25
FedEx Economy supposedly Friday July 3 $21.85

I haven't shipped anything express from the US for ages.... 
DHL was usually spotty, FedEX is normally good to me but they are only offering the Economy rate not full express from this place right now......  sooo...

Which do I chose?   

I've noticed, in the last week or so, that shipping times have become dramatically faster - this is true with both USPS and UPS which I have received shipments via recently.

Looks like they might be getting the shipping situation back to normal / under control.

You might be OK...

Mmmmmhmmmmm... good luck widdat. 
...
It's quarter to seven right now; I suppose as it's still daylight out, not TECHNICALLY end of day YET...   

I'm hoping that my experience is closer to SilverSolder than mnementh... 

I decided to go with DHL since it was supposed to be one day quicker, leaving an extra day to hopefully actually show up by Friday.  The extra $16 shipping is completely irrelevant in this case, I just need the stuff to show up.    In fact I almost decided to order the same parts again and ship FedEx to double my chances, but decided that was probably a bit overkill.

We'll see if DHL comes through and my "shipment speeds through the DHL network," or if they let me down, causing frothing fits of rage...   



At least this is a supplier who is set up to pre-charge the GST and supposedly handle customs pre-clearance, so it does actually have a hope of getting through on time. 

As a comparative aside, I'm not sure how Digikey manages their insane speed and reliability.  I can order something from them at 7pm my time, it will get pulled, packed, leave their warehouse, go through the FedEx hub in Memphis, clear customs, make it to Calgary and out onto a truck, typically delivered between 10-11am the next morning!  I don't think one has ever been past noon.  And that's $8 flat rate shipping, or free over $100.  That is insane.  They must have some crazy-awesome deal with FedEx, and I suppose most of their stuff tends to be smallish and light so FedEx can probably give them a ridiculously good rate deal. 

But I digress....   

[bd139]

Good luck with DHL. Last DHL parcel I got delivered I had to drive to Slough to get because the idiot didn't even try and deliver it 

As crazy as the world is at the moment, I think I hit the jackpot. I've started consciously using Hermes for all sub-£50 outbound packages as they're faster, cheaper and more reliable than Royal Mail now, and they actually collect. Above £50, UPS gets the job.

[wolfy007]

Good luck with DHL. Last DHL parcel I got delivered I had to drive to Slough to get because the idiot didn't even try and deliver it 

As crazy as the world is at the moment, I think I hit the jackpot. I've started consciously using Hermes for all sub-£50 outbound packages as they're faster, cheaper and more reliable than Royal Mail now, and they actually collect. Above £50, UPS gets the job.

Weird, here in Oz I have never got a good UPS experience and their tracking is like broken, but DHL has never failed and excellent tracking...  go figure...

[mnementh]

Standard domestic sewing machine oil is meant to be thin and clear nonstaining when traces end up on the fabric. Little oil squirt bottles nearly anywhere that sewers go - Supermarket, walmart, sewing shop, etc. heavy duty industrial machines have sumps and need larger quantities. More likely from industrial sewing machine retailers. (Really keen people can get synthetic sewing machine oil from Japan. AZ oil has a great range.)

The other major option for a thin oil is “spindle oil” as used in high speed machining spindles or air tools. Air tool oil is available from air tool retailers. Spindle oil msy not be non-staining.

Yes, these things I know. It's just ISO VG 10 non-detergent spindle oil; which was, once upon a time, one of the most common industrial lubricants on the planet.

Juki used a blend of SPINESSO 5 and SPINESSO 10 to come up with something approximating ISO VG 7 spindle oil. Their materials charts state that SPINESSO 10 or MOBIL VELOCITE No 6 can be used alone if their proprietary blend is not available. These are nothing more than low-parrafin-solids mineral oil with trace amount emulsifier/antioxidant additives.  This is commonly known in sewing supply houses as Lily White sewing machine oil; problem for me is the fact that up here, they really are taking the COVID lockdown seriously, so not as easy as it used to be to just walk in and pick it up.

From industrial suppliers online, the only folks who will sell you anything other than a 4oz dropper bottle or a 55 gallon drum of the stuff are... you guessed it... sewing supply houses. Which all that are actually OPEN are located in the US, and getting the stuff HERE is prohibitively expensive.

You CAN buy heavier hydraulic oils in quart and gallon sizes; but because we're in North America where EVERYTHING has to have SOME fucking additives to make it "NOW WITH EXTRA THIS OR EXTREME THAT!", all you can get are severe duty and AW rated fluids... all full of unnecessary additives that make the oil reek and ruin the non-staining aspect of mineral oil; making them inappropriate for this application, which is what I found shopping locally yesterday.

Bottom line is NOT that I don't know what I'm looking for or its alternatives; I have pages of alternatives at my fingertips. The problem is that pretty much the only source for the right stuff in the right quantity anywhere near me is a sewing supply house... of which there are only a few this side of the border close enough to drive to. Otherwise, I have to buy mail order and wait a fucking month for Canada Post, even shopping locally.   

[Specmaster]

Here's a weird one. Local skydiver club this past Sunday.

Jumps out plane at 14K feet with chute. It never opens nor does the reserve. Lands in parking lot of local firehouse. Once they pick up what's left they discover there is no parachute. 

They still haven't found the parachute. 

There have been cases of people being so buzzed up or nervous, that they forgot the parachute. It's also happened with budgie-jumpers who jumped before the cord had been connected. Or maybe it wasn't buckled properly and they lost it on the way down? Of course they may have also wanted it to end that way?

McBryce.

You don't need a parachute..

https://youtu.be/lq-54gox6-k

But that guy DID use a parachute!

McBryce.

I wonder what became of the chute he threw away, I hope it came to earth safely.

[Ice-Tea]

I had to look up Tony Benn. Got it. 

In years past been so tempted to leave a flaming bag of dog shit on the steps of our local family court building. But the judges would tell the deputies to stomp it out and I've got nothing against them. 

Just don't put paint on statues or Don will put you away for 10 yrs.

[mnementh]

I have two choices for shipping from some unknown warehouse in the US to here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada...
I need these parts before the weekend, Thursday would be nice but by Friday is imperative.
Canada Day is Wednesday, which might screw things up and of course Saturday is July 4th so many will be gearing up for the weekend. 

Anyone been having particularly good luck or bad luck with either of these?

DHL International Express supposedly Thursday July 2 $38.25
FedEx Economy supposedly Friday July 3 $21.85

I haven't shipped anything express from the US for ages.... 
DHL was usually spotty, FedEX is normally good to me but they are only offering the Economy rate not full express from this place right now......  sooo...

Which do I chose?   

I've noticed, in the last week or so, that shipping times have become dramatically faster - this is true with both USPS and UPS which I have received shipments via recently.

Looks like they might be getting the shipping situation back to normal / under control.

You might be OK...

Mmmmmhmmmmm... good luck widdat. 
...
It's quarter to seven right now; I suppose as it's still daylight out, not TECHNICALLY end of day YET...   

I'm hoping that my experience is closer to SilverSolder than mnementh... 

I decided to go with DHL since it was supposed to be one day quicker, leaving an extra day to hopefully actually show up by Friday.  The extra $16 shipping is completely irrelevant in this case, I just need the stuff to show up.    In fact I almost decided to order the same parts again and ship FedEx to double my chances, but decided that was probably a bit overkill.

We'll see if DHL comes through and my "shipment speeds through the DHL network," or if they let me down, causing frothing fits of rage...   

   At least this is a supplier who is set up to pre-charge the GST and supposedly handle customs pre-clearance, so it does actually have a hope of getting through on time. 

As a comparative aside, I'm not sure how Digikey manages their insane speed and reliability.  I can order something from them at 7pm my time, it will get pulled, packed, leave their warehouse, go through the FedEx hub in Memphis, clear customs, make it to Calgary and out onto a truck, typically delivered between 10-11am the next morning!  I don't think one has ever been past noon.  And that's $8 flat rate shipping, or free over $100.  That is insane.  They must have some crazy-awesome deal with FedEx, and I suppose most of their stuff tends to be smallish and light so FedEx can probably give them a ridiculously good rate deal. 

But I digress....   

So here we are TODAY. One package they received from Customs on the 11th; the other on the 25th. Both allegedly now OUT FOR DELIVERY. 
This sewing machine oil thing been given entirely too much free rent in my head. Given this evident improvement in some aspect of their parcel processing, I think I might take a chance on my oil getting here from downtown faster than the rest of my parts coming from the other end of the continent in Lost Angeles, California. 

mnem

[Martin.M]

A mechanical voltmeter ?

yes. 100mV full scale.
The mechanical count is driven by a motor, directly connected to a 10 turns pot what read out the position of the counter.
So it can compare the input voltage to the position of the pot.
There is a nice voltage reference board inside, also a gold pin chopper relays. This is a analog mechanical DVM    Digitec.
I hacw recapped all, and still a little offset problem, shorted it goes not to zero, = 5.0

[bd139]

That’s pretty cool. Very very slow PID loop

[Wolfgang]

Here's a weird one. Local skydiver club this past Sunday.

Jumps out plane at 14K feet with chute. It never opens nor does the reserve. Lands in parking lot of local firehouse. Once they pick up what's left they discover there is no parachute. 

They still haven't found the parachute. 

There have been cases of people being so buzzed up or nervous, that they forgot the parachute. It's also happened with budgie-jumpers who jumped before the cord had been connected. Or maybe it wasn't buckled properly and they lost it on the way down? Of course they may have also wanted it to end that way?

McBryce.

You don't need a parachute..

https://youtu.be/lq-54gox6-k

But that guy DID use a parachute!

McBryce.

I wonder what became of the chute he threw away, I hope it came to earth safely.

.. standing skydiver joke:

A diver pulls the string and nothing happens. He pulls the reserve, same story. The situation looks bleak.
Suddenly, he notices a guy flying upwards right next to him. He immediately shouts: Do you repair parachutes ?
The guy responds: No sir. I only repair gas pipes !

[worsthorse]

I finished the S38B last night. It now sounds about it is good as it is going to sound and looks as good as it is going to look:



If you are a glutton for punishment, you can read the saga over on the S38B thread.

EDIT: The weirdest moments of the evening were spent listening to FT8 coming through a seventy year old speaker driven by valves...   

[bd139]

That is both ugly as hell and glorious at the same time  . Nice job 

[worsthorse]

That is both ugly as hell and glorious at the same time  . Nice job 

Indeed. Talk about putting lipstick on a pig.  But I love spending time and money on rehabilitating unloved, obscure electronic equipment and this certainly fits in that category.

The good news... I probably only invested twice what the radio is worth in new part costs.  Usually it is closer to a three or four multiple. 

[mnementh]

@ mnementh
If you need pure mineral oil go to your local supermarket/pharmacy. It is used as a laxative.

OMFG, nothing worse than a dragon with the shits. 

Yep, its like an electric toaster, browns both sides at once, one is scorch marks, the other is shite 

   

Whatever you do, DON'T give the dwagon a Chalupa.

mnem
You have been warned.

[worsthorse]

As a comparative aside, I'm not sure how Digikey manages their insane speed and reliability.  I can order something from them at 7pm my time, it will get pulled, packed, leave their warehouse, go through the FedEx hub in Memphis, clear customs, make it to Calgary and out onto a truck, typically delivered between 10-11am the next morning!  I don't think one has ever been past noon.  And that's $8 flat rate shipping, or free over $100.  That is insane.  They must have some crazy-awesome deal with FedEx, and I suppose most of their stuff tends to be smallish and light so FedEx can probably give them a ridiculously good rate deal. 

But I digress....   

Digikey is often not the low price winner but I am inclined to pay the small difference because their shipping system is reliable and predictable, in addition to being really freakin' fast. The average time from completing an order to having parts in hand is three days over the last fifteen or sixteen orders.