Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mansaxel]

Question for you all, I've been playing around with computers for a quite a while now and have built a few as well but over the weekend I was made aware of something that I genuinely did know existed and when I saw it, I just knew that if possible I had to have it and I'm delighted to be able to say that today, I managed to secure it, it is 8 volumes, containing many hundreds or possibly over a thousand pages with 2 volumes of supporting software, what is it? It's called The Windows Advisor and covers all versions of Microsoft Windows from Windows98 right through to Windows7. The discs look as if they have

I just don't know where to place a value on it, it is as far as I know pretty rare, as I said, I've seen one before and now I own it and struggling to really put a real world value to it

Those windows versions are all now unsuitable for production use; they only barely managed before, when their buggy internals were patched in frantic attempts to keep up with the holes appearing in them. Now, that they're abandoned by their "maker" (I refuse to unquote that, a true maker does not release such crap) they are of historical interest at the most, and running them outside a sandbox should be punished as recklessness.  To me, that does put a pretty large damper on the value of software that won't work with anything newer.

The tragedy is that a lot of companies built really nice hardware (R&S springs to mind, but there are others) designed to run only those Windows releases, or to be controlled by a computer running only those releases.  Further, being hardware engineers mostly, they inevitably managed to build software that is heavily tied into some feature that quickly became obsolete. Because it seemed cool at the time.

I run into it all the time at work.  We have gear that is useful and faultless at 30+ years of age. A microphone, if treated well, never expires. It may very well not even depreciate. A 10 year old computer installation is a liability. I've got a sync generator that only can be controlled by a computer having a web browser capable of running MS Silverlight. I've had to ask permission to keep old VM's around just to be able to keep it going. It is a mostly OK sync generator, but this can't go on. Luckily enough, it is being replaced this autumn.

[Specmaster]

Question for you all, I've been playing around with computers for a quite a while now and have built a few as well but over the weekend I was made aware of something that I genuinely did know existed and when I saw it, I just knew that if possible I had to have it and I'm delighted to be able to say that today, I managed to secure it, it is 8 volumes, containing many hundreds or possibly over a thousand pages with 2 volumes of supporting software, what is it? It's called The Windows Advisor and covers all versions of Microsoft Windows from Windows98 right through to Windows7. The discs look as if they have

I just don't know where to place a value on it, it is as far as I know pretty rare, as I said, I've seen one before and now I own it and struggling to really put a real world value to it

Those windows versions are all now unsuitable for production use; they only barely managed before, when their buggy internals were patched in frantic attempts to keep up with the holes appearing in them. Now, that they're abandoned by their "maker" (I refuse to unquote that, a true maker does not release such crap) they are of historical interest at the most, and running them outside a sandbox should be punished as recklessness.  To me, that does put a pretty large damper on the value of software that won't work with anything newer.

The tragedy is that a lot of companies built really nice hardware (R&S springs to mind, but there are others) designed to run only those Windows releases, or to be controlled by a computer running only those releases.  Further, being hardware engineers mostly, they inevitably managed to build software that is heavily tied into some feature that quickly became obsolete. Because it seemed cool at the time.

I run into it all the time at work.  We have gear that is useful and faultless at 30+ years of age. A microphone, if treated well, never expires. It may very well not even depreciate. A 10 year old computer installation is a liability. I've got a sync generator that only can be controlled by a computer having a web browser capable of running MS Silverlight. I've had to ask permission to keep old VM's around just to be able to keep it going. It is a mostly OK sync generator, but this can't go on. Luckily enough, it is being replaced this autumn.

This is so true, however, let me expand a bit on the software, and there is plenty of it. It is not programs designed to use various windows versions, but more a case of the updates releases along with certain utilities designed to aid debugging, tweaking etc of the registry etc etc.

[mnementh]

I think the value mostly would be of historical nature; someone with an interest in MS development over the years would probably find it contains quite a many interesting insights into why some seemingly senseless decisions were made, software architecture-wise.

Reading that material and tinkering with the diag software is probably the most intimate understanding of the evolution of Windoze anybody not on the inside could ever get.

Of course, it could also be a complete waste of time.  If any of it is 64-bit, might be able to take advantage of some holes in the architecture of modern versions tho.

mnem
 

[Specmaster]

I see that the German eBay site is carrying an advert for 5 binders on Windows XP and has no software with it and the BIN price of it is £129, assuming anyone would pay that much https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Der-Windows-Berater-vom-Fachverlag-fur-Computerwissen-Handbuch-fur-Windows-XP/254587170220?

[bd139]

I suggest using it to keep the house warm post brexit.

MSDN library from that era is probably worth a few quid however.

Edit: I sold some MSDOS 6.22 media untested on floppy a couple of years back for £40 so there may be a market for such stuff.

[Specmaster]

I suggest using it to keep the house warm post brexit.

MSDN library from that era is probably worth a few quid however.

Edit: I sold some MSDOS 6.22 media untested on floppy a couple of years back for £40 so there may be a market for such stuff.

I have some old MS DOS and early Windows on floppies somewhere around, I might dig them out and see what they are.

[ArthurDent]

(post 69324 bd139)

Have a gerbil at the local art gallery



Nothing but a rat with a slightly bushy tail.

 


I'd name the gerbil standing up Edvard Munch. 

[nixiefreqq]

(post 69324 bd139)

Have a gerbil at the local art gallery



Nothing but a rat with a slightly bushy tail.

 


I'd name the gerbil standing up Edvard Munch. 

have to admit.....the gerbil vermeer made me laugh out loud.

edit.   the klimt not so much.  (once in a great while having an ex who was an art major comes in handy)

[mnementh]

https://poshmark.ca/listing/Edvard-Munch-The-Scream-The-Simpsons-Homer-Simpson-5ee96e83771b8eb3ea31ed40

mnem
 

[mnementh]

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/fnirsi-1013d-100mhz-tablet-oscilloscope/msg3230968/?topicseen#msg3230968

a brand new DSO 

Ya didn't.  :oReally ?   50mV max sensitivity will take some getting used to compared to the old Tek gear you have.

Yeah, I saw that a few months ago; got excited by the price then saw the brand and went *blerk*

A week or two later I started seeing videos all saying pretty much the same thing: It was pretty much the same as its predecessor, only a repackaged into a larger screen.

Haven't given it a second thought since.

mnem
That one is  right outta the box.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Question for you all, I've been playing around with computers for a quite a while now and have built a few as well but over the weekend I was made aware of something that I genuinely did know existed and when I saw it, I just knew that if possible I had to have it and I'm delighted to be able to say that today, I managed to secure it, it is 8 volumes, containing many hundreds or possibly over a thousand pages with 2 volumes of supporting software, what is it? It's called The Windows Advisor and covers all versions of Microsoft Windows from Windows98 right through to Windows7. The discs look as if they have

I just don't know where to place a value on it, it is as far as I know pretty rare, as I said, I've seen one before and now I own it and struggling to really put a real world value to it

When such a question is answered by windows-bashing, it is bad enough. When this is done by otherwise reasonable and well-mannered colleagues, it is even worse. It was not the question on which side of the OS divide you think the grass is greener....

I've seen such second-source advisories is various qualities from crappy to supreme. Remember such things as Peter Norton's Guide to the IBM PC?
Maybe a good test would be to set up a Windows of a version where you can be sure to have forgotten or never have obtained the relevant knowledge - and see how and if it helps?

[Cerebus]

Talking of art, has anyone else noticed that 'Nighthawks', painted by Edward Hopper in 1942:



has Jean Luke Picard and Beverley Crusher from one of Picard's holodeck recreations of a Dixon Hill story in it?

[tautech]

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/fnirsi-1013d-100mhz-tablet-oscilloscope/msg3230968/?topicseen#msg3230968

a brand new DSO 

Ya didn't.  :oReally ?   50mV max sensitivity will take some getting used to compared to the old Tek gear you have.

Yeah, I saw that a few months ago; got excited by the price then saw the brand and went *blerk*

A week or two later I started seeing videos all saying pretty much the same thing: It was pretty much the same as its predecessor, only a repackaged into a larger screen.

Haven't given it a second thought since.

mnem
That one is  right outta the box.

Everyone wants to see squiggly lines for zero cost.
Sure the BW of that thing is what it is and yet could be enough for many basic tasks however its max sensitivity is entirely a big pile of poo when if you connect a 10x probe to it best is 500mV/div ! 
Entirely inadequate for most tasks you need a scope for. 
Yep 

[0culus]

I had this butcher block kitchen cart sitting around. I bought it back when I had a crappy kitchen with very little counter space. It's very sturdy and turns out to be just the right size for the 585A on top, and my HP 1727A storage 'scope on the next shelf down.

[AVGresponding]

I don't know Philips' scope line well so I can't say how common the AC powered floating design was in their product line but as I said, that one is useful to have on hand knowing that the probe ground won't pull whatever you connect it to down to earth ground.  The inputs aren't isolated though so that does leave the one gotcha that the probe grounds are all common so you're measuring from one reference and that's reference is shared, but it's not earth ground unless you connect it to earth ground.

Quite common. My 3218 is powered this way, and a Philips scope we had at work in the mid 90s was as well (icr the model, other than it was a real Philips and not a rebadge     )

Talking of art, has anyone else noticed that 'Nighthawks', painted by Edward Hopper in 1942:



has Jean Luke Picard and Beverley Crusher from one of Picard's holodeck recreations of a Dixon Hill story in it?

The male is quite Patrick Stewart-like, though perhaps more Peter Snow.

The female however looks nothing like Gates McFadden. She does bear an uncanny resemblance to Andrea Thompson though...
Let's see if I can find some images to back up my claims...

[AVGresponding]

[Joe M]

I had this butcher block kitchen cart sitting around. I bought it back when I had a crappy kitchen with very little counter space. It's very sturdy and turns out to be just the right size for the 585A on top, and my HP 1727A storage 'scope on the next shelf down.

That is sexy AF!, I love HP equipment.

[wolfy007]

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/fnirsi-1013d-100mhz-tablet-oscilloscope/msg3230968/?topicseen#msg3230968

a brand new DSO 

Ya didn't. 
Really ?

50mV max sensitivity will take some getting used to compared to the old Tek gear you have.

But it wont beat the form factor...   

[Joe M]

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/fnirsi-1013d-100mhz-tablet-oscilloscope/msg3230968/?topicseen#msg3230968

a brand new DSO 

Ya didn't. 
Really ?

50mV max sensitivity will take some getting used to compared to the old Tek gear you have.

But it wont beat the form factor...   

Is that a Micsig scope?

[wolfy007]

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/fnirsi-1013d-100mhz-tablet-oscilloscope/msg3230968/?topicseen#msg3230968

a brand new DSO 

Ya didn't. 
Really ?

50mV max sensitivity will take some getting used to compared to the old Tek gear you have.

But it wont beat the form factor...   

Is that a Micsig scope?

Yup, STO1104C

[med6753]

I had this butcher block kitchen cart sitting around. I bought it back when I had a crappy kitchen with very little counter space. It's very sturdy and turns out to be just the right size for the 585A on top, and my HP 1727A storage 'scope on the next shelf down.

Looks great!  Want the trace on the 585A to "pop" even more? Remove the green filter. Pull the bezel and 30 seconds with an X-acto knife. It was the first thing to go on my 535A. 

[Robert763]

I suggest using it to keep the house warm post brexit.

MSDN library from that era is probably worth a few quid however.

Edit: I sold some MSDOS 6.22 media untested on floppy a couple of years back for £40 so there may be a market for such stuff.

I had to dig out a DOS 6.22 installation disk earlier this year to repair a R&S CRTU / CMU200. The software installer, specifically the boot manager, will only run if the disk boots to Dos 6.22 first. That also needed a PC with a 3.5" floppy and a PATA/IDE HDD intterface.

It goes back further than windows. Industries like aerospace have product life cycles many times longer than a operating system or even computer hardware platforms. There are still test rigs running PDP 11 / Q-Bus based interface cards and software. The cost of re-writing  and more importantly validating this software on modern computers, assuming suitable interface cards are available, is prohibitive even for aerospace. As a result there are companines selling replacement machines e.g. Logical https://logical-co.com/nupdpq/ . I know for sure that the A320 series fuel system rig is still running on Q-Bus interface cards and a VT-220 terminal.

[tautech]

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/fnirsi-1013d-100mhz-tablet-oscilloscope/msg3230968/?topicseen#msg3230968

a brand new DSO 

Ya didn't. 
Really ?

50mV max sensitivity will take some getting used to compared to the old Tek gear you have.

But it wont beat the form factor...   

2ch DSO without physical controls half the size of a 4ch one......no surprises there.
  back at ya ! 

[med6753]

Talking of art, has anyone else noticed that 'Nighthawks', painted by Edward Hopper in 1942:

....snip

has Jean Luke Picard and Beverley Crusher from one of Picard's holodeck recreations of a Dixon Hill story in it?

Never heard of Edward Hopper. But then my total knowledge of the art world wouldn't even fit on a thimble. 

And all I see is a batshit crazy red head. 

Yep.....uncivilized, un-PC, unapologetic. I guess we can add unsophisticated to the list.   

[BU508A]

On other notes:

Happy Birthday Windows ME!