Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[BU508A]

Don't know what is worst:

1) Stickers

Ohh I need to buy something now...

My new stickers have just arrived, ready to help avoid me picking up other people's laptop/tablet/etc.

The five interesting numbers in one highly useful and relevant equation - what's not to like.

Translation of this equation:
When you turn around, you look the other way.

I'm having the T-Shirt. 



Source

That misses the zero

Yes, this annoys me a bit, too. But I think the main reason was saving space for using this version.

[PA0PBZ]

guys i have seen the term RIFA a lot...what kind of caps are those... other then smelly things if they go wrong on you?
any pictures?

[BU508A]

And from page 1:

[mnementh]

For no good reason I stumbled out of bed a few minutes early this morning. Went to kitchen to get coffee, glanced out the back, then rushed to get my camera.

Sometimes it is worth getting up.

Let me guess, you live near Bristol

OK, I'll ask the question, that everyone else is scared of asking, why does living near to Bristol or Brizzle

When I google for Bristol, I'm getting a nice picture of one of the inhabitants there.   

(Attachment Link)

I wouldn't call my ex famous

 

But this still leaves us with the question: why did you marry her?  Scares away other women?  

She chose to make problems after we had been a couple for several years and 3 months after the marriage, and then after my daughter was born. Only the last can be attributed to mild undiagnosed post-natal depression. She refused to acknowledge that possibility, so no improvement was possible.

For my daughter's sake, I defended my ex for over a decade. Now she has again chosen to create problems, this time w.r.t. being a brexiteer. My daughter is old enough to understand her now, so I no longer actively defend her.

Unfortunately my daughter inherited my good looks but her Mother's personality. And is always in her Mother's corner. To say we clash would be an understatement. 

I'm well aware that, given a bad starting point, the situation ended up reasonably well for my daughter and myself.

In my case my 4yo remembered the lawyer saying that children over 10 are listened to. At 10.5 she phoned me up on a Saturday morning and said she was coming to live with me. I tried to calm her down, but she persisted

mnem

[med6753]

Keeping it interesting while it simmers. If it makes it through today it's a done deal. Next up on the plate is the Type 3A6 Vertical. It has multiple boo-boo's. 

[Cerebus]

BIC lighters come in a large and a mini version, plus a few weird novelty sizes rare enough to discount as bell-end candidates, so built-in confusion. Typically a penny or a dime have equivalents pretty close to the same size the world around.

This general conundrum is the reason why a lot of nerds shoot videos and pics over a cutting mat. Then the only thing you have to figure out is if they’re using the side gridded in CM or Dumbfuckistan units. 

mnem
 

(Caveat: commenting in 'catching up order', I may be about to repeat what someone else has already said. Sheesh guys, 4 pages while I had a nap?)

It's kinda because I've encountered photos where someone has used a coin that I have this question. A coin's good locally but it's not universal - I haven't a freaking clue how big a dime or a 100 yen coin are. How big are these:



To more than half the world I suspect that those are useless size references.  Ditto the US penny, US dime and 100 Yen coin to those of us who live somewhere without a Pacific Border. Heck, I'd have to go dig in my 'travel purse' to get a feel for that €0.50 coin and they start using them only 100 miles away.

[med6753]

mnem

You don't have to agree. You are far and away not my type. 

[tonyalbus]

tektronix 2710 spectrum analiser

are they any good?

never had one, but it was part of the lower end (affordable) products offered by Tektronix at the time. If you compare the specs to the 279X series they are probably not going to shine.

More info here: https://w140.com/tekwiki/wiki/2710

Thanks
Guess you are right, prob, does not make sense, is more or less the same as the Anritsu also no TG and starter-mid-range.

[sokoloff]

My cousin had one crash in his back garden a couple of years ago. His dog had a go at it before the owner got there and chewed a couple of the blades off. 

Why did the owner chew a couple blades off?

[bd139]

My cousin had one crash in his back garden a couple of years ago. His dog had a go at it before the owner got there and chewed a couple of the blades off. 

Why did the owner chew a couple blades off?

 

TG320 arrived. Seems good. Haven't powered it up yet however.

[Cerebus]

Use a pocket protector. I bet those are fairly universally sized. 


Except no one probably knows what they are anymore except for hardcore nerds.

Here in Sweden, the most common use today is by nurses. Of which there are more than the particular pocket-protector-worshipping class of nerd.

/has fountain pens but no protector..

Ah, the fountain pen as an everyday tool has gone the way of the Wooley Mammoth. I was in a large main police station (John St. nick, Brighton) in the late 80s toiling over some computers in the incident room and a visiting dignitary (the late, unlamented, Margaret Hilda Thatcher) wanted to sign a commemorative letter. A constable was dispatched to run around the whole station like a frightened rabbit to find someone with a fountain pen. Eventually he found the only person in the building with one, me.

[med6753]

My cousin had one crash in his back garden a couple of years ago. His dog had a go at it before the owner got there and chewed a couple of the blades off. 

Why did the owner chew a couple blades off?

 

TG320 arrived. Seems good. Haven't powered it up yet however.

We (im)patiently await pix. 

[Cerebus]

For sure in this electronics world, my fav is TO-220 as in my most posted photos. 

Yup, definitely good for an appropriate audience.

[Cerebus]

Question for all of you. What common object, other than a ruler, would one use for scale in a photograph that is universal? Yeah, a ruler works but it doesn't have that same visceral feel that, say, a box of matches does.

For the Brits, a standard box of matches would work, but the "standard box of matches" varies in size around the world. A packet of Gitanes is the same size the world over but most people don't have a pack of French Cancer Sticks to hand. A bunch of keys? Pretty universal but you don't really want to embed the key profile of your front door key in a photo for publication. I've been over a few other things in my mind and discounted all of them as not universal enough. Pencil? The ubiquitous Bic? Too long and thin. Cups and cutlery are too variable in size.

I finally hit on a standard pack of playing cards. Right kind of scale, the same size all over the world, something that fits in the hand.

So, can anyone else think of a common household object that is truly universal worldwide, and that fits the bill better than a pack of cards? Thoughts? Something obvious that I've missed?

I'd suggest D6 (Dice, six-sided). They are very common and the standard size of them is 16x16x16mm³

Good, undoubtedly. I'm not sure that I like the fact that the two 'best' results so far are playing cards and dice - both standardised worldwide as the result of commercial gambling (the only lawful vice that I find myself tutting over and condemning whenever I encounter it).

[Cerebus]

Question for all of you. What common object, other than a ruler, would one use for scale in a photograph that is universal? Yeah, a ruler works but it doesn't have that same visceral feel that, say, a box of matches does.

For the Brits, a standard box of matches would work, but the "standard box of matches" varies in size around the world. A packet of Gitanes is the same size the world over but most people don't have a pack of French Cancer Sticks to hand. A bunch of keys? Pretty universal but you don't really want to embed the key profile of your front door key in a photo for publication. I've been over a few other things in my mind and discounted all of them as not universal enough. Pencil? The ubiquitous Bic? Too long and thin. Cups and cutlery are too variable in size.

I finally hit on a standard pack of playing cards. Right kind of scale, the same size all over the world, something that fits in the hand.

So, can anyone else think of a common household object that is truly universal worldwide, and that fits the bill better than a pack of cards? Thoughts? Something obvious that I've missed?

Not to sure about worldwide but certainly UK wide, a £1 coin. Playing cards don't hack it for me because you certainly can get different sized packs of playing cards, for instance, you can get tiny ones in Xmas crackers for a start 

Standard full size cards are really incredibly consistent. I've just pulled out the three packs I have: a set from the NHS promoting Hepatitis-C awareness (yes, really), a novelty set featuring pictures of wild cats, and a plain pack from WH Smith. I've pulled a random card pulled from each pack and stacked them together - perhaps 0.5mm variance between them. Yes, there are miniature novelty cards that are highly variable but hopefully only a muppet would either use then to indicate scale or expect that someone else had used them to indicate scale.

[Cerebus]

Happy happy joy joy. Both 3478A and TG320 are out for delivery today. Fingers crossed

Pictures BD139 doing the Snoopy happy dance.

[tggzzz]

Ah, the fountain pen as an everyday tool has gone the way of the Wooley Mammoth. I was in a large main police station (John St. nick, Brighton) in the late 80s toiling over some computers in the incident room and a visiting dignitary (the late, unlamented, Margaret Hilda Thatcher) wanted to sign a commemorative letter. A constable was dispatched to run around the whole station like a frightened rabbit to find someone with a fountain pen. Eventually he found the only person in the building with one, me.

Shame you weren't able to quickly gimmick the pen to splurge all over her when she used it.

[Cerebus]

"Does the bear shit in the woods"? Don't bet on it. 

I believe that you'll find the phrase is "Is the bear catholic, does the pope shit in the woods?".

[Cerebus]

Question for all of you. What common object, other than a ruler, would one use for scale in a photograph that is universal? Yeah, a ruler works but it doesn't have that same visceral feel that, say, a box of matches does.

For the Brits, a standard box of matches would work, but the "standard box of matches" varies in size around the world. A packet of Gitanes is the same size the world over but most people don't have a pack of French Cancer Sticks to hand. A bunch of keys? Pretty universal but you don't really want to embed the key profile of your front door key in a photo for publication. I've been over a few other things in my mind and discounted all of them as not universal enough. Pencil? The ubiquitous Bic? Too long and thin. Cups and cutlery are too variable in size.

I finally hit on a standard pack of playing cards. Right kind of scale, the same size all over the world, something that fits in the hand.

So, can anyone else think of a common household object that is truly universal worldwide, and that fits the bill better than a pack of cards? Thoughts? Something obvious that I've missed?

I like to use a AA leak-tube.

Added to the 'good' list.

[BU508A]

Question for all of you. What common object, other than a ruler, would one use for scale in a photograph that is universal? Yeah, a ruler works but it doesn't have that same visceral feel that, say, a box of matches does.

For the Brits, a standard box of matches would work, but the "standard box of matches" varies in size around the world. A packet of Gitanes is the same size the world over but most people don't have a pack of French Cancer Sticks to hand. A bunch of keys? Pretty universal but you don't really want to embed the key profile of your front door key in a photo for publication. I've been over a few other things in my mind and discounted all of them as not universal enough. Pencil? The ubiquitous Bic? Too long and thin. Cups and cutlery are too variable in size.

I finally hit on a standard pack of playing cards. Right kind of scale, the same size all over the world, something that fits in the hand.

So, can anyone else think of a common household object that is truly universal worldwide, and that fits the bill better than a pack of cards? Thoughts? Something obvious that I've missed?

I'd suggest D6 (Dice, six-sided). They are very common and the standard size of them is 16x16x16mm³

Good, undoubtedly. I'm not sure that I like the fact that the two 'best' results so far are playing cards and dice - both standardised worldwide as the result of commercial gambling (the only lawful vice that I find myself tutting over and condemning whenever I encounter it).

I have to disagree. Playing games with cards or dices aren't necessarily commercial gambling games.
One of my hobbies is playing board games and role playing. Those are coming with huge loads of dices of all kind.

[bd139]

TG320 is broken. Burning smell on power up. No output. Fun fun fun. Approaching seller first.

[Cerebus]

Well this is looking hopeful. £75 HP 3478A gamble...

"Hey boss let's write that ID number on the front plastic with permanent marker!"

"Yea good idea glad I hired you!"

 

That's recruited, not hired; this the military after all. Which probably means the ID number on the front is officially mandated and we can just be grateful that it has not been scribed into the plastic with a hot soldering iron as per "Acceptable methods to 'permanently mark' are:...". Remember, "There are three ways to do anything - the right way, the wrong way and the Army way".

[Cerebus]

Yeah pisses me off that does. I’ll get it off though

Let me just drop a reminder of my recent success using IPA and one of those melamine sponges - worked a treat.

[bd139]

Yeah pisses me off that does. I’ll get it off though

Let me just drop a reminder of my recent success using IPA and one of those melamine sponges - worked a treat.

Already done exactly that



I'll deep clean it on the RIFA replacement cycle.

[med6753]

"Does the bear shit in the woods"? Don't bet on it. 

I believe that you'll find the phrase is "Is the bear catholic, does the pope shit in the woods?".

Yes, I have used that phase many times. However, since I have not seen a funny old man in long robes and a beanie hat walking around the woods I have to assume the responsible party this time was the bear.