Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[cyclin_al]

For anyone bored or interested LabView T&M Webinar starts in about an hour https://events.ni.com/profile/form/index.cfm?PKformID=0x506902abcd

Thanks for the reminder.  In the GWN it is still Wednesday 18h00, so I would have missed it thinking the webinar was tomorrow...

[beanflying]

For anyone bored or interested LabView T&M Webinar starts in about an hour https://events.ni.com/profile/form/index.cfm?PKformID=0x506902abcd

Thanks for the reminder.  In the GWN it is still Wednesday 18h00, so I would have missed it thinking the webinar was tomorrow...

Slight timing error it is 9.30am China Standard time  so 2 hours to go.

[Cerebus]

Yes I did notice the quality increase but some of the helpful UI features like selecting analysis mode are missing. And I can never remember the spice directives. Brings me nightmares of sitting in front of SPARCstation 2 falling asleep waiting for a simple analysis to run.

There are other motivations for this as well. I am moonlighting doing some porting work for someone of ancient windows stuff. And you’re not running windows in a VM on an M1 

Decided to bugger about:



LTSpice running the mac version natively, side-by-side with the PC version running under CrossOver. 

I also refreshed my WINE installation; they haven't got the 64 bit version running cleanly yet, it won't run LTSpice.

[bd139]

That’s a fairly decent result. May try it on the M1 tomorrow as apparently crossover works.

[mnementh]

*fucks off in search of 6-32 wafer-head screws*

One participant in another discussion, on IRC, stated the other night that he had some strange 3,5mm screws he could not place in the normal metric system.

I countered with the observation that yes, M3,5 does exist, in several pitches, but the Occam's Razor guess, given that he works with computers, would be UNC #6-32. This he had not considered, at all.

Yup. The button-head screws that came with the coolers are too thick; they hold the magnetic filter screen up.

Used to be used all over the place to attach hard drives & mainboards; back in the day, before they started making every PC case using those bastard standoffs with 6-32 thread on the stud and m3 screw holes. I probably have a hunnert' of 'em in muh Coffee can o' PC screws in storage. Two hardware stores and a computer repair/store today and couldn't even find anything "close enough".

And now I need them for my son's build and my own, as the new case has magnetic filter screens for both radiators.

I'm probably going to wind up grinding the button-head screws I have down with a Dremel... even if all I wind up with is a couple for each rad for the time being.

mnem
*drops back & punts*

[mnementh]

Well, obviously you're oiling your horse. Nobody like it when they squeak. 

mnem
 

Yeah, but nowhere in the credits do you see "Carrot Guy". 

mnem
*currently polluting my brain and my son's with reruns of The Mighty Boosh*

[beanflying]

I got more metrology toys this week. I found this set on ebay. The price was fair for a complete set (1, 10, 100, 1K, 10K, 100K) so I sent a really low offer. Seller just accepted it  In the end I paid around 16$ each resistor.

I measured all of them and they look good. The oil need to be changed though. It's supposed to be transparent and is now kind of brown.

There was an inconclusive thread about what type of oil to use.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/metrology/oil-for-a-leaking-tinsley-standard-resistor/msg2761572/#msg2761572

Conrad Hoffman was recommending some standard mineral oil for the Fluke 720a. I got something similar. Will post pictures later today.

Fluke Calibration Philosophy in Practice, page 14:



It should be light mineral oil 

So the cheapest source of good quality mineral oil I found was sold by a horse equipment store 


It's used as laxatives for horse and it's pretty cheap at around 6$US per liter. Only contain mineral oil and it's pretty light.

I think I have enough for a while 

In the UK it's called liquid paraffin. You used to be able to get it at chemists and the like but they have stopped selling it because it was being used inapropriately (I'm not saying how, because google will pck it up eventually).
Equine suppliers is the best source here now.  If you only want a small quantity unsented baby oil is the same stuff.

I have been using Plain Brand Baby oil in my Temperature Calibration wells but it still has a scent so I haven't filled my recent L&N Resistors. Off to the Local Horse shop for a look 

[mnementh]

Fraggles are the (l)users 

FTFY.

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Oh I may have ordered another desktop PC as LTspice on the Mac is about as fun as pissing out caltrops  .

Plus I’m bored and nothing is turning up on eBay to play with. And mnem’s build photos made me want to build one.

i5-10400 so not going to win any prizes but it’s a silent build.

mnem
*impairing productivity since nineteen-mumblety-mumble*   

[mnementh]

Foto of Mnem moving up north.

Nope. Not near big enuf; not enuf wheels. 

mnem
Also, I've never been drunk enuf to try anything that stoopit.

[mnementh]

   Had a bit more of a play with the Tektronix 492BP spectrum analyser.

Highest frequency source I had handy was a little 5.6 GHz DRO oscillator brick from a telemetry system.  The SA shows it as spot on with no drift and correct level. The 2nd harmonic at 11.2GHz is showing too. All looking good. Not bad for £675. Many years ago I designed a demodulator for the 10MHz IF output as part of the day job. I'll have to see if I can find the circuit. I did not keep the prototype as I never thought I would have a spectrum analyser that cost as much as the flat I'd just bought 

That's gorgeous, Robert. Good find!

mnem
 

[Brumby]

In the mail today...

Typical fail on the mains connection (which is funny for crap coming from China to Australia).  Will dig up a cooler from somewhere.


So... what are the "before you use this thing" mods again?

[tautech]

So... what are the "before you use this thing" mods again?

Have an extinguisher at the ready ! 

[Brumby]

I should add that to the RIFA fume cupboard build.   

[mnementh]

   https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XPHQW6G   I'm very happy with my Logitech G413 Silver keyboard. Build as a tank and it feels nearly undestructable.

Added to my Wish List for future investigation. I have to admit... since using this cheap-ass Redragon K506, which is built on just a cheap stamped steel upper plate, nothing less than metal core is ever going to be good enough again. Even tho it's a cheap n-rollover membrane design, the rigidity and distribution of weight make all the difference in the world.

Especially when it's getting hammered on with dragon claws/paws/hamfists. 

mnem

Keep an eye on the thrift store.  A few years back I managed to snag a used Logitech SK-2500 for free.  I have no idea why anyone would let that keyboard go.  It must be over 20 years old and still bomb-proof.

LOL... As I was walking into the thrift this afternoon, I saw a guy checking out with a G15 in the box for $10. If my son had been 2 minutes faster getting his arse out to the car, that might've been me.  But... I did score a 75Hz Syncmaster monitor for $8 (no pedestal) and a 6" wet/dry tile tablesaw for $15. 

mnem

[mnementh]

In the mail today...

Typical fail on the mains connection (which is funny for crap coming from China to Australia).  Will dig up a cooler from somewhere.


So... what are the "before you use this thing" mods again?

Cheezeball DC Load Thread: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/cheezeball-dc-load-dl24p-pump-or-dump/msg3241492/#msg3241492

Good hunting!

mnem
 

[beanflying]

In the mail today...

Typical fail on the mains connection (which is funny for crap coming from China to Australia).  Will dig up a cooler from somewhere.


So... what are the "before you use this thing" mods again?

Step 1 before using. Open the lid of your favoured disposal unit and insert the Plugpack with the leads snipped into it  I power my current one from the USB points I have installed in the shack.

[mnementh]

From the "Perversity of the Universe Tends to the Maximum" Dept...

   It just sits there, mocking me...   It mocks me; and I am mocked.     

Decades I've had that Minimus-7 speaker in my possession... so many moves, and over a decade I've been looking for a mate to it, figuring that when Ifni deigned for it to be so, one would manifest in a thrift or flea market at a price I couldn't refuse.   Until a couple months ago... when I gave up and sent it to med in a "care package". Flash forward to now... and what should mystically appear on my thrift RADAR...? Yup. Even better condition, and CAD$3.99... 

mnem
Okay, okay... Ifni has spoken. I shall have one Minimus-7 speaker; no more, no less. 

Do you want the other one back? 

Ummm.... no.

mnem
I'm not going to argue with the universe; even a old fat dwagon like me, that's definitely fighting outside my weight class.

And now I have three. Do I dare keep them all? 

mnem
Maybe that's the only way I can have a pair to use...

[Brumby]

Cheezeball DC Load Thread: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/cheezeball-dc-load-dl24p-pump-or-dump/msg3241492/#msg3241492

Good hunting!

mnem
 

Ah, yes.  Thank you.

Step 1 before using. Open the lid of your favoured disposal unit and insert the Plugpack with the leads snipped into it  I power my current one from the USB points I have installed in the shack.

Seems to be a universal suggestion.

[beanflying]

Hit it with a Hammer of knowledge 'for science' and confirm it is a likely Capacitive dropper is about the only thing to do on the way past. 

Labview seminar is interesting too. Training Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB968815D7BB78F9C

Labview Community (FREE) edition here should suit a bunch of us https://www.ni.com/en-au/shop/labview/select-edition/labview-community-edition.html

[Brumby]

Hammer request - and result:
(Case just popped apart)




I see 6 capacitors in there - plus a transformer, an opto, an IC and other bits and pieces that all add up to a SMPS.

[beanflying]

Better than expected but still 

[mnementh]

Who's Lylve...?

mnem
And why is she inside my magic picture frame...?

[mnementh]

These were the last thing unpacked from today's Thrifting... A Casio EFA-120 Edifice in ~80-85 Points condition, and a genuine Nixon RotoLog in probably 70 points condition if I'm generous. But... it is complete, and not missing any teak inlays. Would love to polish it smooth again; but the suck part is I need aboot 4 links to be able to wear it.

The Edifice tho... that is an awesome little timepiece; if it lives once I replace the battery, it may get a new band and be my daily driver.

mnem
*toddles off to ded*

[mansaxel]

the new HP Laptop line my company offers is only slim line and has dropped the ethernet port. ETH is only available through Thunderbolt 3/USB-C.
Bunch of muppets. Muppets alert! I think here muppets and monkeys merge togheter in an orchestra of stupid decisions.

I'm less bothered by it than I thought I would, but I DO lug around an impressive amount of adapters and dongles. I'd have to do that anyway, because, bar power and usb headset, the most common thing I connect to my computer is a serial console cable. And built-in serial ports were dodo'ized 15 years ago.

Is an incentive to fix the WiFi, though. Last time I connected GE on the computer at home was for dumping the contents off a backup disk that was formatted HFS+ and thus only readable from laptop. On the WiFi, I can more or less saturate the Internet connection (100Mbit symmetrical), both ways, so I have no reason to go cable unless I'm talking bulk data to local server.