Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Ice-Tea]

Just in case: if i'm bidding against someone with PP, might wanna shoot me a PM.

I'm not bidding with Powerpoint on ebay.

 

I guess he meant the PP auctions sale, just got in from work to find out it's already finished. 
https://www.ppauctions.com/auction/302/september-collective-sale

David

Guessing at least bd knew. Anyways, if you wanted something, you can always contact me. Chances are I bought it 

[med6753]

Started rework of the Type 310A. The main filter cans in the PSU are done. Still lots more to do. I wanted to leave the old cans in place and put the new capacitors on the bottom side but with the clam shell closed there isn't enough room. So the cans had to come out.

Very top is C630. Was 150uf/350v. Replaced with same. Middle is C660. Was 40uf/350V, replaced with 47uf/350V. Bottom 3 slots were C601A, B, C which were the three dual 15uf/350V cans in parallel for a total of 90uf. Decided to replace them with two 47uf/350V in parallel rather than a single 100uf.

Pat, do you want the old cans? Let me know.

I probably won't get back to finish this until early next week. Once all the capacitors are done will deoxit all the switches/controls then full beans power up. 

Interesting note: This scope was obviously designed for rough handling. As you can see all the vacuum tubes have retention springs. Well it turns out that the screws securing the filter cans had thread locker on them. Made for all little fun getting them out. 

[mnementh]

Obviously intended as a "portable" scope; they spent some time considering the whole "portable" thing and addressed most of the pitfalls proactively. Amazing what you get when you put actual engineers on the job instead of college interns or high-school kids. 

just how portable is it tho...? Gross tonnage/rough dimensions? About the size/weight of say... a KayPro?

mnem
 

[med6753]

Obviously intended as a "portable" scope; they spent some time considering the whole "portable" thing and addressed most of the pitfalls proactively. Amazing what you get when you put actual engineers on the job instead of college interns or high-school kids. 

just how portable is it tho...? Gross tonnage/rough dimensions? About the size/weight of say... a KayPro?

mnem
 

Well, it ain't exactly light. With hefty power transformer and all that metal and tubes I'd say 25-30 pounds. It surprises you when you try to lift it by the handle. Dimensions are roughly 11 inches high, 6 inches wide, and 17 inches deep.

So far I have not seen any evidence of Gorilla activity. I don't think it's ever had any service other than perhaps change a tube. It appears that whoever owned it just stopped using it and it was probably functional. The fuse is in tact. So I feel pretty confident that once I get all the caps replaced I can just apply full power with no magic smoke.

I know, famous last words.     

[Cerebus]

That concrete surface generates weird harmonics in the truck tires and I went bonkers within 3 minutes of getting on that highway.

There was a vogue for concrete road surfaces on new build major roads in the UK back in the 60s/70s. They were horrible. Noisy and skid prone (ironically the slightly ridged surface was intended as an anti-hydroplaning feature). Thankfully they've all been tarmacked over now, or at least have anywhere I've been in the last thirty years or so, but no doubt there's still some left in some hell-hole corner of the UK.

[bd139]

South section of the M25 around Leatherhead is like that. Fucking nasty that road.

[mnementh]

TRUTH time: mnem is a total hoser.   

   ...found a "fix everything that goes wrong with a weedeater engine" kit on Amazon for the weedeater I bought yesterday; ~US$21: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07QB8YYSP

Sure it's all cheap Chineseum shit... but I know from experience these kits are good for a couple seasons, and the time they save makes it still a fucking bargain. Just never expected to find them on Amazon (without being marked up 300%).

mnem
*ST:TNG couch tuber time widda boi*

So, a few days ago I got my kit in, and as mentioned, the hoses in the kit were wrong even though this was supposedly for a Poulan-family weedeater (they use metric-sized hoses rather than SAE, and wrong size won't seal going through the tank). Well, I tried to buy the hose locally but I never could get through to any of the small engine shops; they all want me to pay them to fix it abd never bothered to call me back. The kits I did find for $8 each had A) enough to do 1.5 engines, and I have 2, and B) are the wrong fucking size ANYWAYS.  So back to Princess Auto they went, and I started shopping on Amazon. Again.

I found numerous kits with the right size hose in the same 1 foot lengths as the PA kits, only 4 sizes in the kit and cost around CAD$12 with Prime. Found another kit with 1.5m x 4 sizes, but NOT Prime... and then THIS kit for CAD$18/Prime with knock-off Tygon hose 1.5m long x 4 sizes, plus a nice carb cleaning kit composed of probe-wires and brushes in various sizes AND a Torch-Tip cleaner.

So now the cost of my $75 Weedeater/Leaf blower is up to CAD$114... or US$87.

Lets see if it turns out that was a good deal.

mnem
 

[Cerebus]

Fucks sake the retards have started panic buying again. No toilet paper around here. 

I restocked a bit ahead of when I needed to last week precisely because I knew that the idiots would soon be in full swing again. Also well stocked up on kitchen roll and tissues. Probably time to grab another 5L of isopropanol before that all disappears again. Hold on... Done, isopropanol ordered.

[mnementh]

*Makes mental note to hit hardware store for another gallon of methyl hydrate*

mnem
 

[mansaxel]

ohh OMG.

@work boss told me there is a concrete opportunity for me in the USA. Maybe I move there first quartal next year.
THIS CHANGE A LOT OF THINGS.

PS: mnem how to change home in a painless way?

I'd _never_, _ever_, work (barring conventions, and similar shorter business trips) in the USA except as a diplomat sent by my native country, or on TDY from a proper employer in same.  Why should I give up the strong protections, job security, and 6 weeks paid vacation I have here for something less? Yes, the pay might be inviting, but, there are a few things free here that aren't, there.

[bd139]

^^^^^ that

I work for an company with an American parent company and they're trying to push "American work ethic" on us . Nope!

[med6753]

^^^^^ that

I work for an company with an American parent company and they're trying to push "American work ethic" on us . Nope!

Work hard, generate significant value add for the company, get laid off. 

[mnementh]

But not before being forced to train your replacement who is fresh out of trade school, barely speaks any English, and will be paid half what you got paid for knowing what you were doing. 

mnem
 

[med6753]

...but not before being forced to train your replacement... who is fresh out of trade school, barely speaks English, and will be paid half what you got paid for knowing what you were doing. 

mnem
 

Luckily I did not have to do that. My boss did say to me that he had no idea who was going to do my job. Oh well, was his problem, not mine. 

[med6753]

TRUTH time: mnem is a total hoser.   

   ...found a "fix everything that goes wrong with a weedeater engine" kit on Amazon for the weedeater I bought yesterday; ~US$21: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07QB8YYSP

Sure it's all cheap Chineseum shit... but I know from experience these kits are good for a couple seasons, and the time they save makes it still a fucking bargain. Just never expected to find them on Amazon (without being marked up 300%).

mnem
*ST:TNG couch tuber time widda boi*

So, a few days ago I got my kit in, and as mentioned, the hoses in the kit were wrong even though this was supposedly for a Poulan-family weedeater (they use metric-sized hoses rather than SAE, and wrong size won't seal going through the tank). Well, I tried to buy the hose locally but I never could get through to any of the small engine shops; they all want me to pay them to fix it abd never bothered to call me back. The kits I did find for $8 each had A) enough to do 1.5 engines, and I have 2, and B) are the wrong fucking size ANYWAYS.  So back to Princess Auto they went, and I started shopping on Amazon. Again.

I found numerous kits with the right size hose in the same 1 foot lengths as the PA kits, only 4 sizes in the kit and cost around CAD$12 with Prime. Found another kit with 1.5m x 4 sizes, but NOT Prime... and then THIS kit for CAD$18/Prime with knock-off Tygon hose 1.5m long x 4 sizes, plus a nice carb cleaning kit composed of probe-wires and brushes in various sizes AND a Torch-Tip cleaner.

So now the cost of my $75 Weedeater/Leaf blower is up to CAD$114... or US$87.

Lets see if it turns out that was a good deal.

mnem
 

Hey Hoser....this will work. 

[Specmaster]

By the way, is all the bruising gone on your toe?  If the bone has set, the bruising should be all gone by now and you should be walking, albeit with a slight bit of pain.  If it is still bruised, get yourself to a doctor to get the bone properly set.  How do I know?  I did battle with the sheet metal side of my new used above ground pool in a wind storm about a month ago; the wind won and my toe lost.

It is a bit uncanny how we find ourselves in similar situations.

Well Mnem's got an excuse, he was walking downstairs indoors. You haven't. Please folks, wear safety boots/shoes/trainers if you're working with things heavy enough to break toes - they're so cheap there's no excuse not to own a pair and use them.

In size 14, extra wide?

[PA0PBZ]

Hey Hoser....this will work. 

WTF is that?  Seems nice to scratch your back but still... What is it? 

[Saskia]

@Zucca I dunno, the US do sound like your employer is looking for a way to get rid of you.
First the US don't let folks in who are not yet legal residents.
Then they have their Corona stuff.
And the Antifa trying to turn the country into the new Soviet Union (Mk3), MK2 has already been done to the EU, thanks to Merkel.
So they are near Civil war, and you would be one of the new born racist class (old white male) and as such pretty much unemployable if your company decided to get rid of you.
Next issue would be the health insurance and the medical bills over there. Social security and pension plan ? ummm ... no.
Also think of your pension plan when leaving the EU. You may be missing out on some of those critical years and payments into your pension plan so that you will be missing out on a pension altogether.

Even though I am a US lover, I would not take that career step if it was offered to me. I am too old for this kind of crap, and intercontinental moving as a major issue, especially in Corona times and with the quarantine and civil war stuff over there. It also depends on where that job would be. Some of the larger cities are turning into shitholes very fast, and I would not want to be caught in those.

Cities coming to my mind:
Chicago
Los Angeles
San Francisco
NYC
Seattle
Minneapolis
Portland

among many others.

Are you sure you want to do this ?

[med6753]

Hey Hoser....this will work. 

WTF is that?  Seems nice to scratch your back but still... What is it? 

It's a hand weed wacker. 

[factory]

That concrete surface generates weird harmonics in the truck tires and I went bonkers within 3 minutes of getting on that highway.

There was a vogue for concrete road surfaces on new build major roads in the UK back in the 60s/70s. They were horrible. Noisy and skid prone (ironically the slightly ridged surface was intended as an anti-hydroplaning feature). Thankfully they've all been tarmacked over now, or at least have anywhere I've been in the last thirty years or so, but no doubt there's still some left in some hell-hole corner of the UK.

Some of the A50 between Stoke & the M1 is still concrete too.

How much is this dead HP 34401A going to make?
eBay auction: #124347722544

David

[K0ELB]

@Zucca I dunno, the US do sound like your employer is looking for a way to get rid of you.
First the US don't let folks in who are not yet legal residents.
Then they have their Corona stuff.
And the Antifa trying to turn the country into the new Soviet Union (Mk3), MK2 has already been done to the EU, thanks to Merkel.
So they are near Civil war, and you would be one of the new born racist class (old white male) and as such pretty much unemployable if your company decided to get rid of you.
Next issue would be the health insurance and the medical bills over there. Social security and pension plan ? ummm ... no.
Also think of your pension plan when leaving the EU. You may be missing out on some of those critical years and payments into your pension plan so that you will be missing out on a pension altogether.

Even though I am a US lover, I would not take that career step if it was offered to me. I am too old for this kind of crap, and intercontinental moving as a major issue, especially in Corona times and with the quarantine and civil war stuff over there. It also depends on where that job would be. Some of the larger cities are turning into shitholes very fast, and I would not want to be caught in those.

Cities coming to my mind:
Chicago
Los Angeles
San Francisco
NYC
Seattle
Minneapolis
Portland

among many others.

Are you sure you want to do this ?

While I agree to all of this, there are a few states with sanity left. Kansas, where I live is one of them. It's nice here, and the pay where I work is pretty good. Cost of living is cheap, too.

[mnementh]

Hey Hoser....this will work. 

WTF is that?  Seems nice to scratch your back but still... What is it? 

It's a hand weed wacker.

Growing up on the farm, I wore out half a dozen of those. Seriously. First tool to hand when tending fences.

mnem
 

[SkyMaster]

...  My friend actually got a ticket because he picked up a couple of planks he needed for the deck and wedged them into the passenger footwell of a beat up junk Mustang convertible he was driving at the time and they extended up between the two front seats, across the back, and ended over top of the trunk.  They didn't extend past the rear end of the car so he didn't think he needed a flag, didn't put one on, and got hit with a ticket which he planned to fight.  I need to ask what happened with that.

Maybe the ticket was because the planks were not tied to the car? The ticket must have a reference to the "law" that was broken.

 

[Cerebus]

By the way, is all the bruising gone on your toe?  If the bone has set, the bruising should be all gone by now and you should be walking, albeit with a slight bit of pain.  If it is still bruised, get yourself to a doctor to get the bone properly set.  How do I know?  I did battle with the sheet metal side of my new used above ground pool in a wind storm about a month ago; the wind won and my toe lost.

It is a bit uncanny how we find ourselves in similar situations.

Well Mnem's got an excuse, he was walking downstairs indoors. You haven't. Please folks, wear safety boots/shoes/trainers if you're working with things heavy enough to break toes - they're so cheap there's no excuse not to own a pair and use them.

In size 14, extra wide?

Well obviously this is advice for humans, not proto-simian throwbacks or clowns. If you do have size 14 feet (Or is that flippers, you're not originally from Norfolk or the fens are you?) it would seem that safety boots are even more important - bigger target.

[Cerebus]

Hey Hoser....this will work. 

WTF is that?  Seems nice to scratch your back but still... What is it? 

Nurse's tool for handling old man's underwear.