Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

Edit: place your bets. Broken or not broken? Hameg HM605:

Looking at that packaging, I'd say broken 

Edit: I've seen the other posts, it is nothing short of a miracle that it arrived undamaged 

[mnementh]

I gotta admit... I really don't get the high reverence for that family of [FLUKE] meter; aside from lower standards of the time.    Those switches were a major POF, and as the signal actually passes through the switches, hugely dependent upon them for quality of measurement.

Weird that they just keep on working forever and never seem to need calibration. 

(the switches are actually self-cleaning types)

Except when they don't. Which, as we've seen many times in here, happens frequently enough to call it a common POF, hence that post. 

OTOH, to a true TEA, that common POF is our little trade secret for acquiring a good meter for a pittance.

mnem
TEA Rule of acquisition number 11: "A common POF = Money in the bank."

[Cerebus]

In my case, it's because the cycles I can comfortably ride (my back will not tolerate more than 5 minutes hunched over on a mountain bike) don't usually come in a multi-speed variant, so I'm stuck either  modding a beach cruiser with a expensive wide-rim 5-7 gear cluster wheel or trying to turn a cheap mountain bike into a beach cruiser. Neither works out very well. Closest I've come is putting BMX headstock & bars on a mountain bike; still looking for a tolerable seat for that butt-ugly beast.

What you need is a tricycle.



OK, so you might need My Little Carthorse rather than My Little Pony but the principle is sound. 

[Cerebus]

I've ordered today two of them. Curious, if they are any good.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10000132950232.html



Triax 3-lug male connector.

Yeah, me too (curious that is). The price is relatively high for a Chinese connector, which bodes well. Please report back once you've got them.

[mnementh]

In my case, it's because the cycles I can comfortably ride (my back will not tolerate more than 5 minutes hunched over on a mountain bike) don't usually come in a multi-speed variant, so I'm stuck either  modding a beach cruiser with a expensive wide-rim 5-7 gear cluster wheel or trying to turn a cheap mountain bike into a beach cruiser. Neither works out very well. Closest I've come is putting BMX headstock & bars on a mountain bike; still looking for a tolerable seat for that butt-ugly beast.

What you need is a tricycle.      OK, so you might need My Little Carthorse rather than My Little Pony but the principle is sound. 

   

Have one. Bought it for the little grrl. VERY difficult to mod for multi-geared drive, but I haven't abandoned the idea yet.

It strikes me that a recumbent bicycle might be an option for those who have a back problem or a saddle problem. An old friend/colleague of mine who had a mullered back courtesy of a major motorcycle crash (lots of titanium pins and months in hospital) used to use one successfully and in comfort.
(SNIP)

The cost of entry here is the big obstacle... either lots of money or a shop well-equipped enough to build your own. Same problem as a fatbike, plus you need a lot more storage space.

mnem
Been dere, dunnat, burned da shoit.

[Wolfgang]

curve tracer voltage / current loop design. Currently uncompensated so this will no doubt oscillate like a wild monkey masturbating



sw1 sets voltage or current steps. sw2 sets step size.

Edit: looking at bias currents and stuff I’m going to have to add range switching for current sense for micro amp ranges. This gets really complicated really quickly. Need to build something that scales from 1uA to 10mA with better than 5% accuracy, universal stability under load level changes and a fair compliance range 

I doubt a 741 can be used to measure high-side current; instrumentation amps are traditional, but ISTR there's an opamp with a ridiculously high input voltage spec (i.e. >>supply voltage) that can be used for this.

Will you need a negative supply?

If you need a higher voltage output, consider this circuit ...


FFI, see the current "High Voltage op amp" thread in s.e.d

Yuck. Even some MPSA94 and MPSA44s would run better than that

[Kosmic]

I've ordered today two of them. Curious, if they are any good.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10000132950232.html



Triax 3-lug male connector.

Yeah, me too (curious that is). The price is relatively high for a Chinese connector, which bodes well. Please report back once you've got them.

+1, I'm also curious. Not sure I would trust noname connectors for precision stuff though.

Edit: Look like they are all brass, even the central pin  Normally on good connectors the central pins are made of Beryllium Copper.

[tggzzz]

The fun was in seeing the look of frustration on the faces of Yuppies in flash cars being beaten in a race, repeatedly, by a scruffy student on a bicycle in jeans and a T-shirt.

I really hope you did this as you passed them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25_5aBnMHwA?t=14

[tggzzz]

Seriously; fatbikes & eBikes have gone fucking crazy cost-wise... combining the two is a recipe for wallet evisceration.

My neighbour flogs electric bikes. A month or two ago he told me the earliest delivery time was 2021.

[Cerebus]

The fun was in seeing the look of frustration on the faces of Yuppies in flash cars being beaten in a race, repeatedly, by a scruffy student on a bicycle in jeans and a T-shirt.

I really hope you did this as you passed them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25_5aBnMHwA?t=14

I think that would have fallen under the heading "rubbing salt into the wound".

[mnementh]

Yeah, remember that you're essentially a pedestrian in this scenario; that would definitely be picking a fight outside your weight class.

mnem
Yes, even a fat old bastahd like me.

[tggzzz]

The fun was in seeing the look of frustration on the faces of Yuppies in flash cars being beaten in a race, repeatedly, by a scruffy student on a bicycle in jeans and a T-shirt.

I really hope you did this as you passed them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25_5aBnMHwA?t=14

I think that would have fallen under the heading "rubbing salt into the wound".

Exactly

Yeah, remember that you're essentially a pedestrian in this scenario; that would definitely be picking a fight outside your weight class.

In central London the cyclist will usually be able to get away; cycling is by far the fastest way around, and there are many side streets. Not so in the suburbs or other cities.

[AVGresponding]

The fun was in seeing the look of frustration on the faces of Yuppies in flash cars being beaten in a race, repeatedly, by a scruffy student on a bicycle in jeans and a T-shirt.

I really hope you did this as you passed them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25_5aBnMHwA?t=14

Watch this , guy's a legend lol



In other news, blood and fucking piss!!!   

Turns out the "random" DHL card I got through the door last Friday (thought it was for someone else as the phone number for the waybill on the website wasn't mine) wasn't random at all, but for the HP 5316A.

Seems the seller put their name and phone number in, instead of mine, so I couldn't reschedule the parcel. Feckwit.
Just spent 10+ minutes and a no doubt rounded up so £0.84 (7p/min) talking to DHL getting it sorted out.

I probably won't even assassinate the seller in feedback as I'm just too nice.

I also haven't put feedback for the Keithley or the Fluke 289 yet, but I guess I should stop being passive-aggressive and put them out of their misery and let them know they arrived intact despite the woefully inadequate packing...   

[mnementh]

Yeah, remember that you're essentially a pedestrian in this scenario; that would definitely be picking a fight outside your weight class.

In central London the cyclist will usually be able to get away; cycling is by far the fastest way around, and there are many side streets. Not so in the suburbs or other cities.

Yebbutt always lots of "pinch points"... and a already-on-the-verge-of-road-rage city driver, once taunted, is quite likely to go over the edge and get "pinchy" with his bumpers, if you see my meaning.  A really nasty way to go... just ask Anton Yelchin (Ensign Checkov).

mnem
 

[AVGresponding]

Yeah, remember that you're essentially a pedestrian in this scenario; that would definitely be picking a fight outside your weight class.

In central London the cyclist will usually be able to get away; cycling is by far the fastest way around, and there are many side streets. Not so in the suburbs or other cities.

Yebbutt always lots of "pinch points"... and a already-on-the-verge-of-road-rage city driver, once taunted, is quite likely to go over the edge and get "pinchy" with his bumpers, if you see my meaning.  A really nasty way to go... just ask Anton Yelchin (Ensign Checkov).

mnem
 

Didn't he get run over by his own car because the parking brake wasn't applied properly?

[mnementh]

Yeah, they found him pinched between his Jeep and a concrete column.

mnem
*blerk*

[bd139]

Well that cleaned up well... it looks damn near new for 1985 vintage!



Zener in test.

Horizontal cal is out by the looks. I will go through the cal steps on it.

[Saskia]

did some long walk today including about 4 km through sand. Tired as hell.

Mmmmhmmm... so what was on the other end of the walk...? Something Nakamichi...? 

mnem
 

Did you effing have to jinx it ? I just had to bid for a high end Nakamichi Power Amp.

[Specmaster]

Yeah, they found him pinched between his Jeep and a concrete column.

mnem
*blerk*

The upshot of it all was that his Jeep was the subject of a recall for a fault of the transmission, that when put into "Park" with the engine running, could still roll away if the handbrake was properly applied. Not very good publicity for Jeep that incident either.

[Specmaster]

@bd139, those Hamegs are good scopes but I have never seen one where the handle cleaned very well, they always look grubby while the rest cleans up nicely, good job there.

[bd139]

@bd139, those Hamegs are good scopes but I have never seen one where the handle cleaned very well, they always look grubby while the rest cleans up nicely, good job there.

Yeah I like 'em to be honest. The handle on the 605 I haven't attacked yet. The other one I got is cleaner out of box but dirtier after being cleaned 

Getting a pile going now 

[mnementh]

did some long walk today including about 4 km through sand. Tired as hell.

Mmmmhmmm... so what was on the other end of the walk...? Something Nakamichi...? 

mnem
 

Did you effing have to jinx it ? I just had to bid for a high end Nakamichi Power Amp.

Yooooooou're wellllllllllll-commmmmmme!

mnem
 

[mansaxel]

I'd be terrified of being that low down and low visibility on roads where there were any powered vehicles other than motorbikes around.

A man I've often seen along my usual commute has, I assume,  a medical condition which has him unable to use his legs. He's got a low trike which is hand-cranked. It's got a fibreglass rod with a significant flag on, just because of this. Still, not a wonderful solution.

[Saskia]

the big question is: where do you leave it when it is not in use.
Leave it outside: it'll get stolen. Lug it inside ? well, 4 flights of stairs, and these buggers are heavy and bulky, so you cannot maneuver them around the corner or get them into the apartment.

Plus: pay shitloads of rent to store your bicycle ? no, not really.

[Saskia]

another packaging idiots R us:

I bought a 105 mm macro lens Sigma 105 mm F 2.8 EX DG OS HSM for a reasonable price (160€).
The seller loosely wrapped the lens in kitchen paper towels and put it into the shipping container. Wapped in paper towels ONLY.  A fucking high price macro lense.

Bloody hell. Why do people have to be stoopeed assholes