Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

Explains the blue 

[med6753]

Yep, from 1982 until 2007 I was on the dark side. In 2007 I got the opportunity to get out of management and do some constructive work for a change. But in 2009 they decided to "retire" me at 55 yr old and 36 years.

The last 10 years of being in management were not fun and I hated it. Policy and benefit givebacks and the company was going down the sewer. And I had to put on a happy company face and convince the troops it was all good.

I have managed to reverse the lobotomy given to me at management school back in 1982 and several years ago I found and ripped out the tracking device.

[bd139]

And I just took a management-ish job today. Fuck! 

[tggzzz]

That has "cluster fuck" written all over it. 

Well, the cluster just got even more fucked. A colleague has tested positive for covid, and now the lead sparky and myself have to self-isolate for two weeks.

That's half the core team on this one, and also we're the only ones that know the building, so...

Management tried to tell us we didn't need to, unless we'd been told to by NHS TTI, however, what they hadn't considered at this point is that the positive testee hadn't yet passed contact details on, and I also pointed out that it's on the national news that our area is one of the ones highlighted as failing re-TTI.
We said we'll come back if we get an email from management stating they consider it unnecessary for us to self-isolate. They ummed and ahhed, and came back and said, yeah, self-isolate, in fairly short order.

So, that's that. Job shelved for two weeks, and I have to stay locked in on my own for the duration. Given that's my natural inclination anyway, and that I'd been moaning about not having many holiday hours left this year, this can be classed as a qualified result!

Keeping my fingers crossed for you, hoping that you are in the clear here and have not caught this shit of a thing. Not at all surprised by the management response, you want to remember this, that they had zero regard for your health and safety when the chips were down, they were only concerned about themselves.

I have been known to send emails "just confirming my understanding of our conversation, please let me know of any corrections", and CC'ing that to HR and BCC'ing it to my home email.

I have been called several things, but "brown nose" is not one of them.

[med6753]

And I just took a management-ish job today. Fuck! 

The lobotomy doesn't hurt.....much. 

[xrunner]

And I just took a management-ish job today. Fuck! 

Gosh I'm sorry to hear that ... 

[Neomys Sapiens]

@nexus commendable. Welcome.

@Specmaster yarp. I understand your point. I just have a very bad feeling about the way politics are going over here.

In the mean time I had a very high quality Thai Curry w/ chicken breast today. Our local charlie has extremely fresh ingredients that look as well as they taste, and he is very good at composing them into a very decent and extremely affordable meal. 5.5 pesos for a large portion of red Thai curry w/ 2 slices of chicken breast, veggies, plus a very delicious curry sauce really is nothing to be sniffed at.

The best low cost food I ever had was in Japan, though.
If you go out about 1hour before store closure, the department store delis will clean out what they did not sell that day and mark it down up to 70% and you will be able to grab some Sashimi for a fraction of its original price. The sashimi is still very tasty and fresh enough, and I was able to have a very nice sashimi dinner w/ 2 drinks for the equivalent of 5 brussels pesos.

First layer of Raaco carousel finished. Need 7 additional Raaco boxes.

@Neomys Sapiens any chance I can tawk you into a trade ?

Well, I don't have 7 of them and I want to expand that system too, so I can uphold the offer of one as we talked about already. I have to see whether you could have a second one. Let me think about.

[VK5RC]

Not much TE recently but thanks to our German friends, a recent Bernstein addition to the shack/lab👍
Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten.

[Saskia]

@nexus commendable. Welcome.

@Specmaster yarp. I understand your point. I just have a very bad feeling about the way politics are going over here.

In the mean time I had a very high quality Thai Curry w/ chicken breast today. Our local charlie has extremely fresh ingredients that look as well as they taste, and he is very good at composing them into a very decent and extremely affordable meal. 5.5 pesos for a large portion of red Thai curry w/ 2 slices of chicken breast, veggies, plus a very delicious curry sauce really is nothing to be sniffed at.

The best low cost food I ever had was in Japan, though.
If you go out about 1hour before store closure, the department store delis will clean out what they did not sell that day and mark it down up to 70% and you will be able to grab some Sashimi for a fraction of its original price. The sashimi is still very tasty and fresh enough, and I was able to have a very nice sashimi dinner w/ 2 drinks for the equivalent of 5 brussels pesos.

First layer of Raaco carousel finished. Need 7 additional Raaco boxes.

@Neomys Sapiens any chance I can tawk you into a trade ?

Well, I don't have 7 of them and I want to expand that system too, so I can uphold the offer of one as we talked about already. I have to see whether you could have a second one. Let me think about.

If Reichelt had had a carousel I would have gotten it for you. I will pick one up as soon  as I see it on the Returns Bench. Your offer is highly appreciated btw.

[Neomys Sapiens]

it seems that the GY series is their attempt to enter the higher quality market.
Looking at the MRSP this is way beyond of what you would expect from a company like Atten.

I did not pay full price, obviously. Will need to have a look at the invoice, but I think it's somewhere between 20 and 30 % ...

Also, their Quick hot air knock off is said to be reasonably well engineered and a bargain at the price.

So, does this mean that you want to shed the WMRT?

[mnementh]

And I just took a management-ish job today. Fuck! 

The lobotomy doesn't hurt.....much. 

Why am I suddenly reminded of this little exchange...?   

"...But we've got to have a product, you see.'' said Frankie, "I mean ideally we still need the Ultimate Question in some form or other.''

Zaphod leaned forward to Arthur. "You see,'' he said, "If they're just sitting there in the studio looking very relaxed and, you know, just mentioning that they happen to know The Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything, and then eventually have to admit that in fact it's Forty-two, then the show's probably quite short. No follow-up, you see.''

"We have to have something that sounds good,'' said Benji.

"Something that sounds good?'' exclaimed Arthur. "An Ultimate Question that sounds good? From a couple of mice?''

The mice bristled.

"Well, I mean, yes idealism, yes the dignity of pure research, yes the pursuit of truth in all its forms, but there comes a point I'm afraid where you begin to suspect that if there's any real truth, it's that the entire multi-dimensional infinity of the Universe is almost certainly being run by a bunch of maniacs. And if it comes to a choice between spending yet another ten million years finding that out, and on the other hand just taking the money and running, then I for one could do with the exercise.'' said Frankie.

"But...'' started Arthur, hopelessly.

"Hey, will you get this, Earthman,'' interrupted Zaphod. "You are a last generation product of that computer matrix, right, and you were there right up to the moment your planet got the finger, yeah?''

"Er...''

"So your brain was an organic part of the penultimate configuration of the computer programme,'' said Ford, rather lucidly he thought.

"Right?'' said Zaphod.

"Well...'' said Arthur doubtfully. He wasn't aware of ever having felt an organic part of anything. He had always seen this as one of his problems.

"In other words,'' said Benji, steering his curious little vehicle right over to Arthur, "There's a good chance that the structure of the question is encoded in the structure of your brain... so we want to buy it off you.''

"What, the question?'' said Arthur.

"Yes.'' said Ford and Trillian.

"For lots of money...'' said Zaphod.

"No, no,'' said Frankie, "it's the brain we want to buy.''

"What!''

"I thought you said you could just read his brain electronically!'' protested Ford.

"Oh yes,'' said Frankie, "but we'd have to get it out first. It's got to be prepared.''

"Treated,'' said Benji.

"Diced.''

"Thank you, no...'' shouted Arthur, tipping up his chair and backing away from the table in horror.

"It could always be replaced,'' said Benji reasonably, "if you think it's important.''

"Yes, an electronic brain,'' said Frankie, "a simple one would suffice.''

A simple one!'' wailed Arthur.

"Yeah,'' said Zaphod with a sudden evil grin, "you'd just have to program it to say What? and I don't understand and Where's the tea? --- who'd know the difference?''

"What?'' cried Arthur, backing away still further.

"See what I mean?'' said Zaphod and howled with pain because of something that Trillian did at that moment.

"I'd notice the difference,'' said Arthur.

"No you wouldn't,'' said Frankie mouse, "you'd be programmed not to.''

Ford made for the door. "Look, I'm sorry, mice old lads,'' he said. "I don't think we've got a deal.''

mnem
*toddles off to ded*

[Saskia]

it seems that the GY series is their attempt to enter the higher quality market.
Looking at the MRSP this is way beyond of what you would expect from a company like Atten.

I did not pay full price, obviously. Will need to have a look at the invoice, but I think it's somewhere between 20 and 30 % ...

Also, their Quick hot air knock off is said to be reasonably well engineered and a bargain at the price.

So, does this mean that you want to shed the WMRT?

you want the tweezers ?

We could discuss this ... Problem is that I would most likely want to shed all of it which would be the WXMP, WRMP, WMRT, WD1M plus the 80W and the 150W handpiece plus the cartridges plus the stands.

If you *really* want, we could discuss this.

[Calambres]

My last cup of TEA

[mansaxel]

My last cup of TEA

Having a VTVM is sort of a gateway drug into TEA.

Edit: And I meant to write that it's then probably not your last cup, but one in a progression.

I have -- i believe -- written earlier on my reasons, but just to recap;

• I have a VTVM because as a teen keen on Hifi, I read the bound back-issues from the 60s of then-best Swedish Electronics magazine, Radio & Television. In it there were frequent references to "Rörvoltmeter" and I did not understand a thing. But the term stuck in my mind.
• I have an oscilloscope because such a device was deemed too expensive by the boss when I worked in in spite of it being such a required part of the tool kit for repairing electronics.
• I have a 428b because I read about it in the cal procedure for the 410b and immediately fell in love.
• In the case of counters-with-nixies, I have a 5221a because I was given it. And this illustrates that accidental exposure to TE can cause TEA. Beware, or indulge.
• As for function generators, I want an analog -hp- one, because a friend once told me: "The grooviest synth music always has a function generator somewhere".

[vk6zgo]

Meh. We have literally hundreds... thousands even... of such "cults of personality" in the US; just in motorhead circles alone. I used to be one myself... a legend in my own mind. 

mnem

Or in the Australian vernacular "A legend in his own lunch time."

[factory]

• As for function generators, I want an analog -hp- one, because a friend once told me: "The grooviest synth music always has a function generator somewhere".

Something like a 3300A or the later 3310A/B then? I think the guy that owns this studio has bought them all up.  Some boat anchors there too.


I found the above video on another forum (link below) when searching for one of the items of TE from the lot I bought earlier in the year, the OP incorrectly thinks the TE is mostly 50's/60's, more like 60's/70's.
https://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=153825

David[/list]

[Ero-Shan]

@nexus commendable. Welcome.

@Specmaster yarp. I understand your point. I just have a very bad feeling about the way politics are going over here.

In the mean time I had a very high quality Thai Curry w/ chicken breast today. Our local charlie has extremely fresh ingredients that look as well as they taste, and he is very good at composing them into a very decent and extremely affordable meal. 5.5 pesos for a large portion of red Thai curry w/ 2 slices of chicken breast, veggies, plus a very delicious curry sauce really is nothing to be sniffed at.

The best low cost food I ever had was in Japan, though.
If you go out about 1hour before store closure, the department store delis will clean out what they did not sell that day and mark it down up to 70% and you will be able to grab some Sashimi for a fraction of its original price. The sashimi is still very tasty and fresh enough, and I was able to have a very nice sashimi dinner w/ 2 drinks for the equivalent of 5 brussels pesos.

First layer of Raaco carousel finished. Need 7 additional Raaco boxes.

@Neomys Sapiens any chance I can tawk you into a trade ?

Well, I don't have 7 of them and I want to expand that system too, so I can uphold the offer of one as we talked about already. I have to see whether you could have a second one. Let me think about.

If Reichelt had had a carousel I would have gotten it for you. I will pick one up as soon  as I see it on the Returns Bench. Your offer is highly appreciated btw.

If I had wanted, I could have had the carousel with the 12 Raaco boxes this spring, but I declined, as I had no space for it and never really liked it all that much. Never thought someone might volunteer to have one. Too late now ...

[bd139]

Watch out for them. I’ve seen one go over before 

[Ero-Shan]

Just a small break in my hiatus, so don't worry, I won't post too much.

In the little time I had for TEA, I cared for those PSUs I received a while ago. One of them is a Philips PE1514.



One output was almost dead, all potentiometers needed cleaning. Despite being a Philips, there's very little plastic involved. The case is made of die-cast aluminum (the lower half doubles as a heatsink for 2 pass transistors).



However, the power switch is a plastic one (made by Arrow, UK), and sure as hell, its neck broke when I wiggled a little at the cables (it seemed to have intermittendly bad contacts). Not totally unexpected, I must say. This was already the third such switch with the exact same failure mode.
While such switches are common, finding a replacement wasn't easy. The notch in the thread is at the ON side, while all of the d.p.s.t. switches nowadays have it on the OFF side. And d.p.d.t. switches are too big to fit in. I finally settled for a s.p.d.t. switch and shorted the other pole. No big deal, as my outlets are also switched.



A few more images.





The main filter caps were all in perfect shape, but the ones for the auxiliary voltages showed bad. After replacing them all outputs were fine.
While I was at it, I pulled out my second PE1514 and checked it also. Same issues: duff aux filter caps, mains switch breaks at the slightest touch.

Both cases sported an awful lot of stickers, and the front wasn't spared. Is it really necessary to change the inventory numbering scheme every few years and put new stickers on all gear?
They're gone for good, now. There's still the cracks in the meter's bezels, but that's not hurting their function.

These PSUs were used for over 40 years in the lab, and they did their job well. 3 isolated outputs, 2 * 20 V/0.8 A, 1 * 7 V/3 A. Very reasonable ranges, IMO.
Yes, they're not -hp-, but I really like 'em (and they were the favorites of several colleagues).

[Saskia]

Got milked by mafia market today. Could not walk past.
Completely bonkers sale prices on camera equipment. Now have too many EOS single digit bodies. Anyone want one ? More on discord

[URI]

I did it again: Buying an emptied case of some old TE to reuse it:

(Source: ebay)

This time it's for a variac plus an isolation transformer, both >1kVA.
Paid 22,-EUR incl. shipping.

[mnementh]

   

Boring mundane bit of tech work No 15798: Ceramic Cube Heater.

These are still pretty much the most amount of heat from the smallest device you can get. This is Canada; finding this one at the Thrift in working condition for 15 Canadian Pesos... it seemed imprudent to let it pass, even though it had rattly bits inside. Fortune favored that decision; the rattly bits were the nubs off of rubber feet which had broken off from old age and embrittlement. Now I just need to find some suitable replacements and a bit of filter material.   

One thing I don't get is the controls; like others I've owned, there is a knob marked in degrees for thermostatic control and an Auto/Standby switch. However, the ratings plate states the output is variable from 500-1500W.     This is the first time I've ever seen this. Only thing I can think is there must be some sort of PID output control to maximize efficiency vs temperature vs demand.

mnem

[Saskia]

I did it again: Buying an emptied case of some old TE to reuse it:

(Source: ebay)

This time it's for a variac plus an isolation transformer, both >1kVA.
Paid 22,-EUR incl. shipping.

Nice.

[tonyalbus]

If you ever wonder...if a Digital Microscope is worth it....
i bought a 12MP .. with extra light for +/- 55,- to test.... and it is ectualy not bad at all, and i did not even get all the max pix out of it with a proper microSDcard.



The T-Shirt... the wife says it fits me well, although she not nesseseraly agees 

[factory]

And in the UK in a real auction tomorrow there is a Tek 556 boat sinker,

Lot 410 of this auction in Cambridgeshire;
https://auctions.hyperionauctions.co.uk/catalogue/lot/f58defe6f4b3a02b5550c51ccbd489ae/b7c4d3a38dc0c91a3f6375615562b5ba/fine-art-antiques-sale-to-include-a-fine-collection-o-lot-410/
Lot 531 has a collection of Tek scope plug-ins;
https://auctions.hyperionauctions.co.uk/catalogue/lot/bba9f5204269858c0edaadf23743a8c6/b7c4d3a38dc0c91a3f6375615562b5ba/fine-art-antiques-sale-to-include-a-fine-collection-o-lot-531/

Lots of other historic boat anchors in the same auction.

David

I just watched that 556 make silly money, over £1.1k including auctioneer fees. 
Didn't bid on the one item I was looking at, a HP 540B transfer oscillator, not really a bargain at £125/127 including fees and you have to collect it. 
The auction is still going but I can't be bothered watching any more.

David