Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Cubdriver]

USPS Fail. The distance between Tonopah, Arizona and Phoenix, Arizona is approximately 50 miles. It took 5 days to go those 50 miles.  And USPS is still predicting delivery on the 26th but does admit it's delayed. What a joke. 

This is a gray light filter for the Type 535A scope.

This is turning into an epic fail. It didn't finally LEAVE Phoenix until yesterday. No update today. I guess it's coming via a Mexican leading a jackass. 

Yeah, they seem to be pretty hosed up this season.  I just today got some Molex crimpers off the 'bay that shipped from Maryland on the 18th; original expected delivery date was the 22nd.  Guess they're a bit behind on the drag curve.  I'll cut them a little bit of slack; it has been a rather unprecedented year shipping-wise.

-Pat

My patience with the US Post Office is now beginning to wear really thin.  We're now going on three weeks PAST Christmas.  I ordered a used iPhone SE (my 5S is getting a bit long in the tooth and becoming flaky; time to step up a generation) from the 'bay on the 6th.  It was accepted and processed through the USPS facility in Kearny, NJ on the evening of the 7th.  The last update as of now is that it arrived at the USPS in Edison, NJ, yesterday just before one in the afternoon.  It's basically taken a week at this point to travel about 25 miles as the crow flies, and still under 30 if you're driving on major roads.  Ridiculous.  Shelves coming FedEx ground from that area have been at my doorstep two days after they shipped.

-Pat

[capt bullshot]

So that were busy weeks... but speedreading trough 30 pages... i think iám back..
meenwhile i organized a bit my lab and build a 19inch rack for my bigger stuff.

TEA Tetris at it's best

[McBryce]

Brexit showed it's ugly face this morning. Sent a parcel to the UK in October for €19 to the UK. Same parcel (size and weight) now costs almost twice that and requires filling out additional forms etc. You guys in the UK won't be buying much outside the UK in the future.

McBryce.

[med6753]

USPS Fail. The distance between Tonopah, Arizona and Phoenix, Arizona is approximately 50 miles. It took 5 days to go those 50 miles.  And USPS is still predicting delivery on the 26th but does admit it's delayed. What a joke. 

This is a gray light filter for the Type 535A scope.

This is turning into an epic fail. It didn't finally LEAVE Phoenix until yesterday. No update today. I guess it's coming via a Mexican leading a jackass. 

Yeah, they seem to be pretty hosed up this season.  I just today got some Molex crimpers off the 'bay that shipped from Maryland on the 18th; original expected delivery date was the 22nd.  Guess they're a bit behind on the drag curve.  I'll cut them a little bit of slack; it has been a rather unprecedented year shipping-wise.

-Pat

My patience with the US Post Office is now beginning to wear really thin.  We're now going on three weeks PAST Christmas.  I ordered a used iPhone SE (my 5S is getting a bit long in the tooth and becoming flaky; time to step up a generation) from the 'bay on the 6th.  It was accepted and processed through the USPS facility in Kearny, NJ on the evening of the 7th.  The last update as of now is that it arrived at the USPS in Edison, NJ, yesterday just before one in the afternoon.  It's basically taken a week at this point to travel about 25 miles as the crow flies, and still under 30 if you're driving on major roads.  Ridiculous.  Shelves coming FedEx ground from that area have been at my doorstep two days after they shipped.

-Pat

Ain't it funny if it's an Amazon Prime package it's on time. But for the rest of us the USPS could not care less. And if you go to your local PO to ask  all you get is a smile and "I apologize". 

Even first class mail is hosed. 

[Specmaster]

Oh shite, I was watching a new Hantek DSO5202P on eBay that was finishing tonight, and while waiting for the last 30 mins to tick by I was catching on the thread here, just flicked to eBay and it 1 second to go  It ended up at £180 plus £4.80 P&P, currently £310 on Amazon. Reviews on it are pretty good, so I thought it'd make a nice addition to my bench  Never mind, its not like I'm without a decent scope. 

TEA rule number ... where are we? 
This rule is about priorities:
"Do not get distracted  by the TEA thread while watching TE on ebay for sniping.¹"

¹A sniper service may be helpful, though. 

I quite agree, I do normally use a snipping program but for some reason I wanted to watch the last few minutes of the auction to gauge wether to bid or not. Plus I was undecided about the seller, only had 1 feedback and that was as a buyer, so I was wondering if it was con or not. By the time I decided to go for it as PayPal would cover me if it was, it was too late. It might have lead to disappointment if it was a con after all. There is always bucket loads of such scams just Christmas. And this year has the potential for even more as people try to put food on the table in the middle of lockdown.

Just be thankful you don't have the hassle of dealing with a new & inexperienced seller, with the inevitable ePay payment holdᵀᴹ because they haven't got any selling history, I don't know why ePay don't encourage new sellers to start with low value items first. 

David

David, I've been there with new sellers and TBH, that was another reason why I was sort of sitting it out on the fence, wanting to see just how low it looked like finishing before I decided whether to cast my bid in the arena.

[Specmaster]

Even worse, it is from 1986! You know, the decade with the Vokuhila      the fancy clothes       and other crimes against humanity     

She reminds me of Marie Osmond. The eyes say crazy as a shit house rat.  I think she'll cut you while you sleep. 

I had a mullet. 

Our med! He has a good eye! I think you are right, that is Marie Osmond.   https://www.pinterest.com/pin/427771664576490844/

I went through a period in my teens when I wanted to hate-fuck Marie Osmond... and publish video. Their very existence as as a thing pissed me right the fuck off.

mnem
I was... complicated.

Well it takes all kinds, to me, I didn't hate her, but I'd love to fuck her, while her eyes might convey a craziness, I reckon that she might have been back then a sort crazy in dirty way between the sheets, which might have been great fun for a while 

[SeanB]

Reason the Amazon stuff gets there fast is that USPS pays penalties for late deliveries to Amazon, so will make sure the Amazon stuff is not late. Just means they are priority, the regular stuff is done when there are no Amazon parcels to be handled, or the postie has them already for you, and remembers that it is in the bag as well.

[Specmaster]

USPS Fail. The distance between Tonopah, Arizona and Phoenix, Arizona is approximately 50 miles. It took 5 days to go those 50 miles.  And USPS is still predicting delivery on the 26th but does admit it's delayed. What a joke. 

This is a gray light filter for the Type 535A scope.

This is turning into an epic fail. It didn't finally LEAVE Phoenix until yesterday. No update today. I guess it's coming via a Mexican leading a jackass. 

Yeah, they seem to be pretty hosed up this season.  I just today got some Molex crimpers off the 'bay that shipped from Maryland on the 18th; original expected delivery date was the 22nd.  Guess they're a bit behind on the drag curve.  I'll cut them a little bit of slack; it has been a rather unprecedented year shipping-wise.

-Pat

My patience with the US Post Office is now beginning to wear really thin.  We're now going on three weeks PAST Christmas.  I ordered a used iPhone SE (my 5S is getting a bit long in the tooth and becoming flaky; time to step up a generation) from the 'bay on the 6th.  It was accepted and processed through the USPS facility in Kearny, NJ on the evening of the 7th.  The last update as of now is that it arrived at the USPS in Edison, NJ, yesterday just before one in the afternoon.  It's basically taken a week at this point to travel about 25 miles as the crow flies, and still under 30 if you're driving on major roads.  Ridiculous.  Shelves coming FedEx ground from that area have been at my doorstep two days after they shipped.

-Pat

Yep, but our RM is not a wonderful lot better if at all. There are some parts of Essex here that have seen any mail since 14th December and RM are citing Covid-19 as the reason as they have a large percentage of the delivery staff either suffering with it or self-isolating. This also means that there are people in those affected areas that might well miss out on their vaccinations against the virus, because the government have sent out the invitations to be vaccinated in the post, just to further compound the problem even more 

[Specmaster]

Brexit showed it's ugly face this morning. Sent a parcel to the UK in October for €19 to the UK. Same parcel (size and weight) now costs almost twice that and requires filling out additional forms etc. You guys in the UK won't be buying much outside the UK in the future.

McBryce.

You nailed it. Our government have really managed to cock this up big time.

[exor]

Your comment on 4WD reminds me of an old joke I heard back in the 90s when about the only cars with 4WD/AWD were Audi Quattros - "Why don't you see any Quattros in the ditch during snow storms?"  "Because they're going so fast they fly over the ditch and wind up in the woods!"  I used to chuckle to myself when I was in the Miata and a jacked up pickup or SUV would fly past in the snow, thinking "I have just as many brakes as you do, and a whole lot less mass to stop!"

This is the legendary Audi Quattro advertising spot from 1986

Edit:
Better quality clip:

I'm not 100% convinced by that video, I think that the car must have had special spiked tyres and maybe some other aids because of the way it climbed the ski slope but also the way it stayed stationary at the top.

Check this out:

https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitkävuori


Translated the interesting part:

"In 1985, an Audi Quattro advert was filmed on the long mountain ski jump, where the Audi 100 CS rises to the top of the ski jump. The car was attached to a safety cable to prevent the car from slipping backwards when it stopped. The car was not pulled, the Audi climbed to the top on its own. The rise was then repeated several times to reach as many camera angles as possible. In 2005, another Audi television ad was filmed on the same hill, in which the Audi A6 Quattro similarly climbed to the top of the ski jump. That ad celebrated the 25-year history of quattro four-wheel drive. The tower of Hyppyrimäki had to undergo a major renovation before the shoot, as the wooden structures would not necessarily have been able to stain the weight of the car."

I have driven Audi since 1990, but not (just) because of that ad

[Robert763]

It's the Brexiteers who are to blame not the government per se. Those promoting it made false claims / promises and just over half the voters fell for it 

[Specmaster]

Your comment on 4WD reminds me of an old joke I heard back in the 90s when about the only cars with 4WD/AWD were Audi Quattros - "Why don't you see any Quattros in the ditch during snow storms?"  "Because they're going so fast they fly over the ditch and wind up in the woods!"  I used to chuckle to myself when I was in the Miata and a jacked up pickup or SUV would fly past in the snow, thinking "I have just as many brakes as you do, and a whole lot less mass to stop!"

This is the legendary Audi Quattro advertising spot from 1986

Edit:
Better quality clip:

I'm not 100% convinced by that video, I think that the car must have had special spiked tyres and maybe some other aids because of the way it climbed the ski slope but also the way it stayed stationary at the top.

Check this out:

https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitkävuori

Translated the interesting part:

"In 1985, an Audi Quattro advert was filmed on the long mountain ski jump, where the Audi 100 CS rises to the top of the ski jump. The car was attached to a safety cable to prevent the car from slipping backwards when it stopped. The car was not pulled, the Audi climbed to the top on its own. The rise was then repeated several times to reach as many camera angles as possible. In 2005, another Audi television ad was filmed on the same hill, in which the Audi A6 Quattro similarly climbed to the top of the ski jump. That ad celebrated the 25-year history of quattro four-wheel drive. The tower of Hyppyrimäki had to undergo a major renovation before the shoot, as the wooden structures would not necessarily have been able to stain the weight of the car."

I have driven Audi since 1990, not (just) because of that ad

Thanks, that explains for the car not rolling backwards when it came to halt, but I still have extreme difficulty in accepting that the car was not fitted with some serious studded tyres fitted to it. I really cannot believe that normal treaded tyres, even winter treaded ones would be able to climb that incline.

[mnementh]

I can't go to Home Despot and buy a trash can; they still haven't got working PayPal, and their dumbass webstore devs never considered that someone from the US might want to buy shit in Toronto, so the required billing address dialog is only Canadian provinces, etc. And our local RBC card didn't work with them, as they evidently don't take debit either.

Fuck 'em. C'nad'jin Tahr took muh 'murrican money, no problem et all.     Hoserzz.

mnem
*trashy*

[Robert763]

Your comment on 4WD reminds me of an old joke I heard back in the 90s when about the only cars with 4WD/AWD were Audi Quattros - "Why don't you see any Quattros in the ditch during snow storms?"  "Because they're going so fast they fly over the ditch and wind up in the woods!"  I used to chuckle to myself when I was in the Miata and a jacked up pickup or SUV would fly past in the snow, thinking "I have just as many brakes as you do, and a whole lot less mass to stop!"

This is the legendary Audi Quattro advertising spot from 1986

Edit:
Better quality clip:

I'm not 100% convinced by that video, I think that the car must have had special spiked tyres and maybe some other aids because of the way it climbed the ski slope but also the way it stayed stationary at the top.

Check this out:

https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitkävuori

Translated the interesting part:

"In 1985, an Audi Quattro advert was filmed on the long mountain ski jump, where the Audi 100 CS rises to the top of the ski jump. The car was attached to a safety cable to prevent the car from slipping backwards when it stopped. The car was not pulled, the Audi climbed to the top on its own. The rise was then repeated several times to reach as many camera angles as possible. In 2005, another Audi television ad was filmed on the same hill, in which the Audi A6 Quattro similarly climbed to the top of the ski jump. That ad celebrated the 25-year history of quattro four-wheel drive. The tower of Hyppyrimäki had to undergo a major renovation before the shoot, as the wooden structures would not necessarily have been able to stain the weight of the car."

I have driven Audi since 1990, not (just) because of that ad

All VAG marketing claims are true even emissions 
I drove an S4 (B5 Avant) for many years, but would not buy one now because of the image (Justifiable in many cases) the drivers have in the UK now.
That's a Chukar II jet propelled target drone on the roof (I drove back from north Wales like that  ) The Range Rover with antennas and SCAM mast in the background was mine too.

[Specmaster]

It's the Brexiteers who are to blame not the government per se. Those promoting it made false claims / promises and just over half the voters fell for it 

In general terms yes, I agree, but did our government have to make it so that any business sending items to the UK have to force them into a becoming a VAT collector for the UK Government? I think not. It is not just any EU business but any business, even William Shatner to stop sending items to the UK fans as per this link https://uk.news.yahoo.com/william-shatner-stop-merchandise-to-uk-122643199.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGOPmyZ5MhcXtp9XS-q52K3CjJdg8AsLv7FjKB3ucGbhYh9paac2uzhX-BvUeCSuv-EQAszR1evp-6XqChw3PG-6pYhBD7dPpxj5ZPYz3MLwiMA4kX2eZl7NG7MW1mdxzJku6VQ90nPR91jyoRzOpGfCSvWvXOcKzy_K0Ak3F_GT It has since been confirmed that is the case and he has now ceased all shipping to the UK fans because of it.

[Specmaster]

All VAG marketing claims are true even emissions 
I drove an S4 (B5 Avant) for many years, but would not buy one now because of the image (Justifiable in many cases) the drivers have in the UK now.
That's a Chukar II jet propelled target drone on the roof (I drove back from north Wales like that  ) The Range Rover with antennas and SCAM mast in the background was mine too.

Oh hell yeah, even the emissions  I'm not sure I'm getting your point about the image UK drivers have now? Are you talking about a Brexit issue or just Dieselgate (which was not restricted to VAG cars but MB and others)

[Cerebus]

All VAG marketing claims are true even emissions 
I drove an S4 (B5 Avant) for many years, but would not buy one now because of the image (Justifiable in many cases) the drivers have in the UK now.
That's a Chukar II jet propelled target drone on the roof (I drove back from north Wales like that  ) The Range Rover with antennas and SCAM mast in the background was mine too.

Oh hell yeah, even the emissions  I'm not sure I'm getting your point about the image UK drivers have now? Are you talking about a Brexit issue or just Dieselgate (which was not restricted to VAG cars but MB and others)

The "Twat in a BMW" has moved on to be a "Twat in an AUDI".

[Robert763]

It's the Brexiteers who are to blame not the government per se. Those promoting it made false claims / promises and just over half the voters fell for it 

In general terms yes, I agree, but did our government have to make it so that any business sending items to the UK have to force them into a becoming a VAT collector for the UK Government? I think not. It is not just any EU business but any business, even William Shatner to stop sending items to the UK fans as per this link https://uk.news.yahoo.com/william-shatner-stop-merchandise-to-uk-122643199.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGOPmyZ5MhcXtp9XS-q52K3CjJdg8AsLv7FjKB3ucGbhYh9paac2uzhX-BvUeCSuv-EQAszR1evp-6XqChw3PG-6pYhBD7dPpxj5ZPYz3MLwiMA4kX2eZl7NG7MW1mdxzJku6VQ90nPR91jyoRzOpGfCSvWvXOcKzy_K0Ak3F_GT It has since been confirmed that is the case and he has now ceased all shipping to the UK fans because of it.

The change in VAT rules for purchases, e-commerce act, is nothing to do with leaving the EU, that IS the goverments fault.

[mnementh]

The "Twat in a BMW" has moved on to be a "Twat in an AUDI".

*Looking at shiny new 1st gen Audi TT* "Oh, nice Volkswagen."

*very indignantly* That's no Volkswagen... it's a $35000 Audi!!!"

"Oh... very nice Volkswagen then."

mnem
 

[Specmaster]

It's the Brexiteers who are to blame not the government per se. Those promoting it made false claims / promises and just over half the voters fell for it 

In general terms yes, I agree, but did our government have to make it so that any business sending items to the UK have to force them into a becoming a VAT collector for the UK Government? I think not. It is not just any EU business but any business, even William Shatner to stop sending items to the UK fans as per this link https://uk.news.yahoo.com/william-shatner-stop-merchandise-to-uk-122643199.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGOPmyZ5MhcXtp9XS-q52K3CjJdg8AsLv7FjKB3ucGbhYh9paac2uzhX-BvUeCSuv-EQAszR1evp-6XqChw3PG-6pYhBD7dPpxj5ZPYz3MLwiMA4kX2eZl7NG7MW1mdxzJku6VQ90nPR91jyoRzOpGfCSvWvXOcKzy_K0Ak3F_GT It has since been confirmed that is the case and he has now ceased all shipping to the UK fans because of it.

The change in VAT rules for purchases, e-commerce act, is nothing to do with leaving the EU, that IS the goverments fault.

Exactly, but did they have to do this? I think not, hence my point about they screwed it up. They never bothered about collecting VAT previously from none UK based companies.

[Specmaster]

The "Twat in a BMW" has moved on to be a "Twat in an AUDI".

*Looking at shiny new 1st gen Audi TT* "Oh, nice Volkswagen."

*very indignantly* That's no Volkswagen... it's a $35000 Audi!!!"

"Oh... very nice Volkswagen then."

mnem
 

And in the case of a shiny new Bentley, "Oh...an extremely nice Volkswagen then"

[med6753]

The "Twat in a BMW" has moved on to be a "Twat in an AUDI".

*Looking at shiny new 1st gen Audi TT* "Oh, nice Volkswagen."

*very indignantly* That's no Volkswagen... it's a $35000 Audi!!!"

"Oh... very nice Volkswagen then."

mnem
 

And in the case of a shiny new Bentley, "Oh...an extremely nice Volkswagen then"

In the case of Rolls-Royce........nice BMW. 

[dl6lr]

Brexit showed it's ugly face this morning. Sent a parcel to the UK in October for €19 to the UK. Same parcel (size and weight) now costs almost twice that and requires filling out additional forms etc. You guys in the UK won't be buying much outside the UK in the future.

The same may be valid the other way round for TEA.

[Saskia]

re Audi: mine exploded while goin 120 on the autobahn. A fuel line melted (it was a steel flex thingie) while the fuel pump kept going and splattered gasoline on the hot engine.
I managed to get out, after that the car exploded (similar as you can see in bad movies) and burned down and into the pavement. The rims, gearbox, ... all molten down.

Audi said that if I make that public they will sue my butt off for badmouthing them (I could not prove any factory defect).

So never again an Audi.

The only reason I am driving this Skoda is because of total cost of ownership. With CNG and 4€ to 100km it is hard to beat.

[AVGresponding]

It's the Brexiteers who are to blame not the government per se. Those promoting it made false claims / promises and just over half the voters fell for it 

I neither made nor fell for false claims. I will however concede that many were made, and many fell for them, on both sides.



I did make a list of car/driver acronyms at one point, though I can't bring it to hand right now. Some highlights were:

TDI: Twat Driving It
BMW: Bloody Massive Wanker (an E46 M3 driving friend loved that one)
AUDI: Always Unintelligent Driving Inconsiderately



@tonyalbus have you seen one of these before? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Velleman-DVM13MFC2-High-Resolution-Counter/373425136313