Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[AVGresponding]

Discord is up, where are all the crusties..?   

[Saskia]

Uni-T 71E for 45€ new ? What do you think ?

[tggzzz]

One of the x86's disadvantages is that there are so many ISA variants; unless you ship source code, you have to make a stab at which one(s) exist in themachine running your library code. The linux mob are beginning to consider defining subsets of the ISAs, and trying to deal with those https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-x86-64-Feature-Levels

The trick here is to neither ship source code nor machine code, but to ship some intermediate form (e.g. intermediate code from the compiler taken out prior to final optimisation and code generation) that gets converted into actual machine code (including machine specific optimisations) on the target machine. The OSF tried to promote this with Architecture Neutral Distribution Format (ANDF) but it never caught on. Why not, I don't know; to me it seems like such an obvious solution ("Oh, that's obvious!" once something is explained to someone is usually, IMHO, the marker of a truly great idea.) Note that this was being promoted years before the similar but different idea of Just In Time compilation came to be so popular.

Sounds like you are proposing p-code, Java bytecode, or whatever they have in .NET.

BTW, L Peter Deutsch's seminal Smalltalk JIT was described in 1984 and credited Rau's 1978 dynamic compilation. ANDF came along a few years later. I missed its importance at that time.

[Specmaster]

Discord is up, where are all the crusties..?   

Just going to myself a bottle and I'll be right back and on discord

[Specmaster]

Uni-T 71E for 45€ new ? What do you think ?

Offers a lot for the money but those CAT ratings are a bit iffy aren't they on Uni-T, they IIRC quote any testing authority or certificate numbers.

[worsthorse]

went on a treasure hunt today...



and found some in a trailer north of here. more to follow.

[mnementh]

Ok guys, here is a little riddle for you.   What is this?   

Prehistoric home pregnancy test...?

mnem
 

Extrapoints for being creative, but ... nope.      

Ahh, then I know what it REALLY is: A diversion to drive up post count so YOU can post "On the Page 2525" at the TOP OF PAGE 2525!!! 

mnem
 

[BU508A]

Ok guys, here is a little riddle for you.   What is this?   

Prehistoric home pregnancy test...?

mnem
 

Extrapoints for being creative, but ... nope.      

Ahh, then I know what it REALLY is: A diversion to drive up post count so YOU can post "On the Page 2525" at the TOP OF PAGE 2525!!! 

mnem
 

Guilty as charged.   

[worsthorse]

So I know a guy that knows a guy.  A couple of weeks ago, he let me know about this trailer full of ham gear and he said, I think he has this shelf rack from Tektronix that you might like.

It turned out to be a custom-built fifteen shelf rack from Tektronix:



And it turned out that it was filled with components.  There are shelves of switches, capacitors, semiconductors, inductors, and connectors.



And the cabinet itself, which is what I originally wanted, is pretty sweet. Handmade and Tek Blue:



The owner said, you want the components? i was just going to scrap them so you can have them for the price of the cabinet.

I said, very slowly, hmmm, well if you insist, I can probably use some of them.

And then I loaded it into the truck as quickly as I could without spilling anything, paid the man, and got the hell out of there before he changed his mind.   

[Kosmic]

So I know a guy that knows a guy.  A couple of weeks ago, he let me know about this trailer full of ham gear and he said, I think he has this shelf rack from Tektronix that you might like.

It turned out to be a custom-built fifteen shelf rack from Tektronix:



....

Good job! 

[tggzzz]

Ahh, then I know what it REALLY is: A diversion to drive up post count so YOU can post "On the Page 2525" at the TOP OF PAGE 2525!!! 

Guilty as charged.   

Better take a screenshot, before I do with the one true page number

[worsthorse]

So I know a guy that knows a guy.  A couple of weeks ago, he let me know about this trailer full of ham gear and he said, I think he has this shelf rack from Tektronix that you might like.

It turned out to be a custom-built fifteen shelf rack from Tektronix:



....

Good job! 

The Oregon/Washington area is interesting. There are a lot of Tek and HP engineers and technicians still living around here and a zillion people that know a lot about, and collect, test equipment. I know guys that scour CL, ebay, and various ad websites several times a day, in addition to running search scripts against their favorite sites. Most of them also know where the other local caches of gear are and keep a close watch on it.  Every single one of them has, literally, tons of gear. 

So it is actually harder to find stuff even though I am in the heart of Tekland.  Good or rare gear is much coveted and rarely appears on CL or at hamfests. In the end, there is a lot of gear sitting in garages, basements, and storage areas owned by people who won't sell it while they are alive, whether they are using any of it or not.

But every once in a while, like today, I get lucky.  This cabinet was in the trailer of a guy I know from the hamfest circuit. I've bought stuff from him several times and we have always managed to work out a deal. When he figured out I was the potential buyer, he told me about the components, and set the cabinet aside for me rather then sell it on CL. He knows I won't give him a last minute hassle on the price and I know it will be as described before I get in the truck.

At some point I imagine that a shit ton of stuff from around here is going to hit the market; after all, most of it is owned by guys in their 70s and 80s. Lots of it won't sell so it will be scrapped or stripped of tubes (as happened with Stan Griffith's 500 series collection), because very few people are interested in pre-80s or 90s gear any more.  I am slowly putting my older test equipment out to pasture now, while I can, while there are still folks interested in it.

[med6753]

So I know a guy that knows a guy.  A couple of weeks ago, he let me know about this trailer full of ham gear and he said, I think he has this shelf rack from Tektronix that you might like.

It turned out to be a custom-built fifteen shelf rack from Tektronix:



....

Good job! 

The Oregon/Washington area is interesting. There are a lot of Tek and HP engineers and technicians still living around here and a zillion people that know a lot about, and collect, test equipment. I know guys that scour CL, ebay, and various ad websites several times a day, in addition to running search scripts against their favorite sites. Most of them also know where the other local caches of gear are and keep a close watch on it.  Every single one of them has, literally, tons of gear. 

So it is actually harder to find stuff even though I am in the heart of Tekland.  Good or rare gear is much coveted and rarely appears on CL or at hamfests. In the end, there is a lot of gear sitting in garages, basements, and storage areas owned by people who won't sell it while they are alive, whether they are using any of it or not.

But every once in a while, like today, I get lucky.  This cabinet was in the trailer of a guy I know from the hamfest circuit. I've bought stuff from him several times and we have always managed to work out a deal. When he figured out I was the potential buyer, he told me about the components, and set the cabinet aside for me rather then sell it on CL. He knows I won't give him a last minute hassle on the price and I know it will be as described before I get in the truck.

At some point I imagine that a shit ton of stuff from around here is going to hit the market; after all, most of it is owned by guys in their 70s and 80s. Lots of it won't sell so it will be scrapped or stripped of tubes (as happened with Stan Griffith's 500 series collection), because very few people are interested in pre-80s or 90s gear any more.  I am slowly putting my older test equipment out to pasture now, while I can, while there are still folks interested in it.

I will certainly be bugging you if I need a part for my old Tek gear. 

[Cerebus]

...
It turned out to be a custom-built fifteen shelf rack from Tektronix:


And it turned out that it was filled with components.  There are shelves of switches, capacitors, semiconductors, inductors, and connectors.

...

I think you're going to have to keep your eyes peeled for someone like this



creeping onto your property at night.

[Carl_Smith]

Ok guys, here is a little riddle for you.

What is this?

If you want to make it a harder game don't use an image that comes up in google's reverse image search at the original source.   

Reverse image search has actually been a quite useful tool to find what things are.  It can search images with similar characteristics, not just find the original source of an exact image.  And other times, it's not nearly as useful, like when I've done a reverse search on a PCB image and it just shows me a hundred random circuit boards, not images of the specific one I'm trying to find.  But it's worth trying for "what is this thing" situations.

[Carl_Smith]

On the page 2525

Original by: Zager & Evans - In the Year 2525
Songwriter:  Richard Lee Evans
Video

Lyrics modified by BU508A and with a little help from some friends

Futurama has contaminated my memory of everything it can possibly relate to:

[Brumby]

So I know a guy that knows a guy.  A couple of weeks ago, he let me know about this trailer full of ham gear and he said, I think he has this shelf rack from Tektronix that you might like.

It turned out to be a custom-built fifteen shelf rack from Tektronix:

Very nice

And it turned out that it was filled with components.  There are shelves of switches, capacitors, semiconductors, inductors, and connectors.



And the cabinet itself, which is what I originally wanted, is pretty sweet. Handmade and Tek Blue:

Oh so pretty!

The owner said, you want the components? i was just going to scrap them so you can have them for the price of the cabinet.

I said, very slowly, hmmm, well if you insist, I can probably use some of them.

And then I loaded it into the truck as quickly as I could without spilling anything, paid the man, and got the hell out of there before he changed his mind.   

I'll bet you did!!

[mnementh]

So I know a guy that knows a guy.  A couple of weeks ago, he let me know about this trailer full of ham gear and he said, I think he has this shelf rack from Tektronix that you might like.

It turned out to be a custom-built fifteen shelf rack from Tektronix:



....

Good job! 

Indubitably -worthy!   

mnem
*toddles off to ded*

[Cubdriver]

So I know a guy that knows a guy.  A couple of weeks ago, he let me know about this trailer full of ham gear and he said, I think he has this shelf rack from Tektronix that you might like.

It turned out to be a custom-built fifteen shelf rack from Tektronix:



....

Good job! 

Indubitably -worthy!   

mnem
*toddles off to ded*

I'd say that score rates a whole package of them!!!

-Pat

[AVGresponding]

Just made use of my Boris MOT...

[nixiefreqq]

hey med

contact has been made with the connection.

he appears to be amenable with our terms, but wanted assurance that "It should NOT be powered up without a competent individual electrically going through it first".

sent him a link to your posts in the repair section.  that should do the trick......or scare the crap outa' him.

am expecting a phone call shortly with further instructions.  am hoping it does not involve an abandoned warehouse and a frenchman.

[mnementh]

*wakes up in an abandoned warehouse wearing nothing but my underwear*

"Pensais-tu vraiment que tu pourrais m'échapper pour toujours, gros dwagon ...? VRAIMENT?!?"  *SLAP-SLAP*

mnem
"Oh no... not AGAIN..."   

[bd139]

It’s if you’re just missing your underwear I’d worry 

[xrunner]

sent him a link to your posts in the repair section.  that should do the trick......or scare the crap outa' him.

But that person will then see that his avatar is a Smurf giving us all the finger. 

[med6753]

hey med

contact has been made with the connection.

he appears to be amenable with our terms, but wanted assurance that "It should NOT be powered up without a competent individual electrically going through it first".

sent him a link to your posts in the repair section.  that should do the trick......or scare the crap outa' him.

am expecting a phone call shortly with further instructions.  am hoping it does not involve an abandoned warehouse and a frenchman.