Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[AVGresponding]

I wouldn't mind rap/hip-hop if most of it wasn't about hating and killing people who look like me.  Yeah sure... one can always point to specific examples that aren't hateful, self-destructive, willfully ignorant and/or nauseatingly sexist and/or racist... but the body of work here is primary one or more or all of these things.

As much as I love to bitch about stuff, I am a primarily positive, helpful and constructive person at heart. I am viscerally offended by a world-view that is fundamentally hateful, divisive  and destructive; which is what most of this genre propagates. That literally is its stock in trade.

Your Krigsgaldr vid... overall I like it. They certainly do put on a show; even if the verbal message is coming from a dark place, I grok the construction/deconstruction aspects, and I understand the need to vent those emotions. As long as the drive of the music is generally towards a hopeful place instead of ONLY to reaffirm the hate and rage, I see it as a net positive in the world.

I guess for me the big problem with rap/hip-hop is how much purely hateful shit you have to wade through for the relatively few nuggets of good stuff. That shit gets on you man, and it drags you down. I just don't have the energy any more.

mnem
IMO, YMMV, DQMOT, DILLIGAF, OMFGWTFBBQ...

Hip-Hop lost its way in the 90s. The three examples I mentioned are very political in their lyrics, there's anger too, but not hate (though one well known member of one of them is on record making hateful comments). Difficult to judge the line sometimes, and lacking the relevant life experiences make it difficult to judge the perspective of "the other side".

There are well known pop, rock, and metal bands who also have in the past peddled racism, misogyny, etc, and let's not forget governments also make use of music to push their own agendas and propaganda; Rule Britannia, The Star Spangled Banner, Deutsche Uber Alles, etc etc.

In the UK we have a particular problem with a sub-genre of Hip-Hop called "Grime". It's heavily rooted in gang culture and espouses all the worst behaviours and attitudes.

It's probably worth remembering that (a) most people are arseholes, and (b) most people are lazy; it's easier to hate someone for being different than take the time to learn what they have in common instead.

It's also worth remembering it's a modern problem, we've only been dealing with it for the last 3 million years or so.

[mnementh]

Just spent an hour turning that 1707b into its component parts. It hurts slightly but it was way way way beyond repair. Thus it will serve a new life as a parts library. Must have pulled about 25m of wire out of it as well which is good. Oh and a whole load of pots and knobs and RF transistors.

Edit: got my 6205 power supply     Edit 2: all that remains of the 1707b.

Two of my rules of thumb for triaging a unit are whether dismantling it will yield A) one or more parts I need right now AND 2) will the dissected remains take up less space than the assembled unit.

I may be wrong, but I'm not convinced the latter is even close to true here. 

mnem
 

[AVGresponding]

Two of my rules of thumb for triaging a unit are whether dismantling it will yield A) one or more parts I need right now AND 2) will the dissected remains take up less space than the assembled unit.

I may be wrong, but I'm not convinced the latter is even close to true here. 

mnem
 

Pretty sure it's invariably the case that the parts take up more space than the whole.

[tggzzz]

I post this tracking detail from a DHL delivery I'm expecting without further comment:

That is worthy of posting on twitter with appropriate hashtags; it might get their attention.

I'm not a twit, therefore I do not Twitter.  I always thought that the name of the service was an inherent warning, like "The Groucho Club".

I can see the value of Twitter as a device for harassing errant corporations and giving certain people a platform to permanently record their ignorance, vanity, cupidity and stupidity, but the whole thing has never appealed to me. I'm good enough at making an public fool of myself to a relatively small audience; why would I want the world as a stage? On the occasions where I have had a very public platform for my opinions I've had the luxury of having a sub-editor between me and public self-shaming - I think I'll keep it that way.

Anyway, I'm quite curious how long that Docklands <=> Heathrow shuffle will continue if the system is left undisturbed. Will it still be circulating back and forth at Christmas?

Oh, I quite agree. But the corporate embarassment factor can be effective.

At best Twatter threads are as deep a paddling pool, most are "look at me having coffee on a bus", and the worst are downright dangerous, e.g.

[mnementh]

Hip-Hop lost its way in the 90s. The three examples I mentioned are very political in their lyrics, there's anger too, but not hate (though one well known member of one of them is on record making hateful comments). Difficult to judge the line sometimes, and lacking the relevant life experiences make it difficult to judge the perspective of "the other side".

There are well known pop, rock, and metal bands who also have in the past peddled racism, misogyny, etc, and let's not forget governments also make use of music to push their own agendas and propaganda; Rule Britannia, The Star Spangled Banner, Deutsche Uber Alles, etc etc.

In the UK we have a particular problem with a sub-genre of Hip-Hop called "Grime". It's heavily rooted in gang culture and espouses all the worst behaviours and attitudes.

It's probably worth remembering that (a) most people are arseholes, and (b) most people are lazy; it's easier to hate someone for being different than take the time to learn what they have in common instead.

It's also worth remembering it's a modern problem, we've only been dealing with it for the last 3 million years or so.

I get that; and out of respect, assumed you prefer the constructive examples. You've spent the time separating the good from cesspool filth; good on ya! But even you have to admit it's definitely like panning for gold, ehhh...?

There's just so much music out there... and I am but one dwagon. I think it's fair for me to gravitate towards the stuff with familiar tone and actual harmonious musical content.

mnem
 

[bd139]

Two of my rules of thumb for triaging a unit are whether dismantling it will yield A) one or more parts I need right now AND 2) will the dissected remains take up less space than the assembled unit.

I may be wrong, but I'm not convinced the latter is even close to true here. 

mnem
 

Pretty sure it's invariably the case that the parts take up more space than the whole.

Yeah it didn’t get a lot smaller during that process. But it did get easier to break down further.

I’m stripping the high value and useful parts off the boards so it’ll get smaller very quickly. The biggest and most complicated job is turning the HP marked parts into generic parts numbers. Anything that can’t be is going on eBay as some HP spares are worth a small fortune

Back on music, this is playing here https://youtu.be/P7vg7ir8jyc

[AVGresponding]

I get that; and out of respect, assumed you prefer the constructive examples. You've spent the time separating the good from cesspool filth; good on ya! But even you have to admit it's definitely like panning for gold, ehhh...?

There's just so much music out there... and I am but one dwagon. I think it's fair for me to gravitate towards the stuff with familiar tone and actual harmonious musical content.

mnem
 

I rarely bother to do that. When I hear something (more often than not in a game these days (since the late 90s anyway)), I like it or I don't.

If I like it, I may buy a cd.


EDIT: I listen to Planet Rock radio more than anything else.

[mnementh]

Okay... but even that does take time. And there is SO MUCH out there now; there are more people making more music, and no longer does geography pose any significant barrier. A person's potential exposure to music now is easily 1000x as broad as that of the Hank Hill generation. One HAS TO prefilter or one will lose one's mind. 

mnem
 

[bd139]

True. Most of the stuff I listen to is marketed in Europe, not in UK even if it's UK bands. There is a whole layer of shit over the good stuff.

I mostly end up picking stuff up off youtube suggestions and Apple Music (and BU508A and Saskia recently )

Edit: this is shit though (NSFW): https://youtu.be/Q8gi_yLF8r8

[mnementh]

Two of my rules of thumb for triaging a unit are whether dismantling it will yield A) one or more parts I need right now AND 2) will the dissected remains take up less space than the assembled unit.

I may be wrong, but I'm not convinced the latter is even close to true here. 

mnem
 

Pretty sure it's invariably the case that the parts take up more space than the whole.

Yeah it didn’t get a lot smaller during that process. But it did get easier to break down further.    I’m stripping the high value and useful parts off the boards so it’ll get smaller very quickly. The biggest and most complicated job is turning the HP marked parts into generic parts numbers. Anything that can’t be is going on eBay as some HP spares are worth a small fortune

Not when I do it. I learned a long time ago that it almost always takes much MORE work to dismantle on speculation than to dismantle only as much as required to get to a single part I need. If I'm not ALSO gaining storage space/getting rid of dross, I'll throw the loose bits back inside and put the cover back on so it will continue to sit neatly in the stacks. ZipLock baggies are my friend. 

In your case, tho... it appears you have a NEED to sell some parts at a profit. That still does fit in with my triaging methods; I used to be similarly heartless with bulk purchase/B-S-T Personal Confusers back in the day. I literally had pallets of empty cases I'd sell off as short steel with a net profit of a Processor and/or cooler, couple DIMMs and maybe a HDD per unit. I kept a small mountain of "untested, powered up the PC" PSUs for $5 each; only the more expensive gamer-class PSUs even got enough of my time to put them on the tester.

I had a school-kid who worked a couple afternoons a week for me; paid him in bits o' computer. We were constantly making deals; "You dismantle 5PSUs for steel/AL, you can have the 6th" etc... same with MBs. He had a LOT more patience for desoldering shit off boards than I did. 

mnem
 

[Cubdriver]

Yesterday I drove  3h to pick up my new acquisition : Fluke 335D
(Attachment Link)

The unit is a mint condition with a last calibration in 97.
For my surprise the service/user manual is also present (it was not specified  in the auction)


After a warmup I did a quit test :
(Attachment Link)

I saw on the forum that this unit a has a lot of electrolytic caps, do you think I should change all off them even if everything looks good?

First, congrats on your acquisition!

I'm in the camp that does NOT shotgun electrolytics in high end test gear unless they are known to be generally bad in that particular unit (either a particular cap type that more often than not fails with age, or a cap in a known 'harsh' operating environment that operationally has had a rough life).  Otherwise, I run the equipment and replace them if they are defective. 

While there is certainly a fair argument to be made for the shotgun replacement approach, I'd prefer not to spend money unnecessarily and there is at least some small risk of damage in removing and replacing parts, especially from older printed circuit boards that are not as tough as their more modern descendants.

FWIW,  and JMO.

-Pat

[mnementh]

};=)~~~~<

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Ok back to more normal programming, here is today's odd eBay item, I mean  , what kind of weed are these guys smoking, I mean this guy clearly knows his stuff.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224118744807?

"From a smoke and pet free home" - Yeah right, if he wasn't wreathed in ganja smoke when he posted that on eBay then what excuse has he got?

I'd give a buck and pick up for those stackable bananas if not too far. Certainly wouldn't pay postage for them tho. 

mnem
 

[mnementh]

I post this tracking detail from a DHL delivery I'm expecting without further comment:

That is worthy of posting on twitter with appropriate hashtags; it might get their attention.

#DHLshitshow #DHLblowme #DHLheadsupyourasses #DHLicanhazdeliverybe4Idie? #shouldagoneFedUPS

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Some fun with HP knobs and F360. This should accept the metal doodad, the name of which escapes me, plus some epoxy inside it as a compromise.

"insert"

IIRC, "knob D-shaft spring" or "knob D-sleeve" in the catalogs back in the day. There was a spring steel "compression ring" that was used on knobs where the D-slot was molded into the plastic as well.

Been a while. YMMV, etc.

mnem
Nice pants.

[nixiefreqq]

Two of my rules of thumb for triaging a unit are whether dismantling it will yield A) one or more parts I need right now AND 2) will the dissected remains take up less space than the assembled unit.

I may be wrong, but I'm not convinced the latter is even close to true here. 

mnem
 

Pretty sure it's invariably the case that the parts take up more space than the whole.

Yeah it didn’t get a lot smaller during that process. But it did get easier to break down further.

I’m stripping the high value and useful parts off the boards so it’ll get smaller very quickly. The biggest and most complicated job is turning the HP marked parts into generic parts numbers. Anything that can’t be is going on eBay as some HP spares are worth a small fortune

Back on music, this is playing here https://youtu.be/P7vg7ir8jyc

hate to repeat myself......but some one really should speak to your mother.

what is playing here?   

a bit from the glorious 9th, by Ludwig van. 

[nixiefreqq]

for those of you who did not get the TEA connection.

slide forward to 2:28.

[bd139]

I actually have been in the room where they torture him in that scene. Brunel University lecture centre on an open day. Glad I didn’t go there in the end as the halls of residence were used for his hospital stay and hadn’t changed a bit since they filmed the damn thing.

[0culus]

Yesterday I drove  3h to pick up my new acquisition : Fluke 335D
(Attachment Link)

The unit is a mint condition with a last calibration in 97.
For my surprise the service/user manual is also present (it was not specified  in the auction)


After a warmup I did a quit test :
(Attachment Link)

I saw on the forum that this unit a has a lot of electrolytic caps, do you think I should change all off them even if everything looks good?

First, congrats on your acquisition!

I'm in the camp that does NOT shotgun electrolytics in high end test gear unless they are known to be generally bad in that particular unit (either a particular cap type that more often than not fails with age, or a cap in a known 'harsh' operating environment that operationally has had a rough life).  Otherwise, I run the equipment and replace them if they are defective. 

While there is certainly a fair argument to be made for the shotgun replacement approach, I'd prefer not to spend money unnecessarily and there is at least some small risk of damage in removing and replacing parts, especially from older printed circuit boards that are not as tough as their more modern descendants.

FWIW,  and JMO.

-Pat

While our resident cap-shotgunning creature (also known as med  ) would disagree, I will also support not shotgunning caps unless necessary. There are exceptions, of course. Paper, wax, bumblebee/black beauty type caps can be assumed to be bad and should be replaced.

[bd139]

Two knob test prints in and it's going like shit  . Had to clean and unblock the printer first as well 

Edit: not on discord tonight either - need a night off the PC after today.

[Cerebus]

I actually have been in the room where they torture him in that scene. Brunel University lecture centre on an open day. Glad I didn’t go there in the end as the halls of residence were used for his hospital stay and hadn’t changed a bit since they filmed the damn thing.

There's a shitload of things that have been filmed at Brunel. Being convenient for Pinewood Studios (and to a lesser extent Shepperton Studios) and being essentially empty for the summer lends it to location shoots for all sorts of productions.

The Sweeney held a bank robbery and shoot-out there.
Purdey of the New Avengers kicked in the door of "Alice's Restaurant" (The New Avengers used it several times I believe).
The Comic Strip Presents burned down a fake primitive village in front of the Lecture Centre and also used the main entrance, Sports Barn, Science Building and Union Bar as locations (where one evening I got steaming drunk with the whole crew including Rik Mayall, Ade Edmunson, Robbie Coltrane, Sandy the director and all the other usual suspects).
Morse and Lewis were always going to a pathology lab that was really the microbiology lab, and other locations at Brunel.
Peter Cook filmed scenes from The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer there.

And that's just those I can remember off the top of my head.

[Specmaster]

No discord or anything else for a while. Massive rainstorm, pulled lead flashing away from wall, rainwater flooded through electric distribution box. No electric until flashing fixed. Housing Association May put us up in a hotel until power etc is resolved, which could be Wednesday as the electrics need to dry out first and that can’t happen till house is water tight again. As we have 2 cats hotel not really an option, besides no one here feels safe with the current state of affairs in a hotel, so staying put, long nights in bed, basically going back in time and life style dictated by the available light FFS

[BU508A]

Oh dear! 

Hope, there isn't too much damage and all inhabitants are well and safe.

Good luck and best wishes from here.

.oO(really, 2020 is a shitload of a year....)

[tautech]

Oh dear! 

Hope, there isn't too much damage and all inhabitants are well and safe.

Good luck and best wishes from here.

.oO(really, 2020 is a shitload of a year....)

And, it ain't finished yet ! 

At least we're all in the same boat regardless of where we are. 

[Carl_Smith]

Ok back to more normal programming, here is today's odd eBay item, I mean  , what kind of weed are these guys smoking, I mean this guy clearly knows his stuff.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224118744807?

Description says:

As a seller I only leave feedback after I have received it, thank you.

This is an instant red flag for me on any eBay listing and makes it extremely unlikely I would buy an item from this seller, or any seller that says this.  It tells me that the seller knows they are doing things that might result in negative feedback so they are going to hold their feedback so they can retaliate with negative feedback if they are given a negative.  As a buyer, when I've selected a seller's item and paid the fee promptly I've done my part of the transaction and should receive positive feedback at that point.
And I've sold more items on eBay than I've ever bought and I've always left feedback for the buyer immediately on their payment.