Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mansaxel]

If Apple weren't so anal and full of their own importance, then maybe they could work together with other similar manufacturers to design a common interface and supply standard that would be of greater benefit to everybody, the makers and end users alike.

They did:

1. FireWire
2. Thunderbolt
3. Lightning.

All of those originated at Apple and all work really well.

What didn’t was USB, DisplayPort and HDMI which were consortium developed. Thus proving design by committee is a shit show. Strangely enough Apple was the first to ship with USB as well, 23 years ago. 23 year old Apple usb peripherals still work on new macs today...

It's a pity that h/w vendors aren't supporting their gear in newer OS'es -- I've got an excellent M-Audio FireWire sound card that won't work on anything recent in terms of OS. For Windows, one is stranded at 7, and OS X, perhaps around the time they stopped using cat names.

Am sort of shopping around for a new USB card, but this one is going to be "only generic drivers, period"

[mnementh]

The problem with apples approach to charge port protection is that they have used it as an excuse to be protectionist about their market, not the hardware. A transzorb and polyfuse would do the job without software. If that blew up it is evidence of a faulty charger so customer has to either bring in the faulty apple charger or pay for the repair. Simple, robust and fair, but it does not force you to use apple approved chargers. They have been doing this for years. Witness early lightning cables where they allowed the 3rd party leads to get a foothold and then did an update that stoped them working.
Apple leads are not significantly better quality than branded 3rd party, just more expensive.

Well when it comes to A to Lightning leads, bd139 said on Discord Saturday that the Amazon  Basics leads are better than the Apple leads. My sons have gone through loads OEM leads as they always seem to start fraying at the connector ends and exposing the cores because of the strain relief being crap. I have yet to see a branded 3rd party lead do that.

The problem here is not the individual part... not just the lead, not just the charger, not just the crappy replacement screen some bozo puts on there, then discovers the digitizer is a complete POS, then tries to pull one over on the Apple Store to get their smashed iPwn repaired/replaced under warranty... it's the whole effing mess.

I can see why the drive to just shut everyone else out of the supply chain... you build a brand on exclusivity, on being an aspirational product, then along come the cheap fake-ass everything makers that wanna ride your coattails. Just lookit the gigatons of cheap-ass iPwn cases and screen protectors and signal-improvement stickers, etc you see being sold by the boatload every new model. You wanna talk e-waste...

Bottom line is most of this is still hating on Apple for being Apple and not being more like Windoze, which takes on all comers and lets you get your happy ending. But hey... we had our chance to support a Windoze smartPwn... and everybody stayed away in droves.

mnem

[factory]

The package..... My NEWPORT LABORATORIES Counter Timer Model 700 has arrived!
(SNIP)
I was curious about the proto board near the front, so I removed 3 screws and carefully flipped it over.  Yes, that is wire-wrap!

Whuf! Now THAT is some hardcore MacGyverfyin'!

Figure a previous owner converted from VFD or Panaplex? Styling feels a bit newish for nixie... maybe...

I do hope the OCXO survived its rough ride... would be a bit of a PITA to source/refit/recal another I'll wager.

mnem
 

I'm thinking it may have been Panaplex too, the IC's on the Vero board look a fair bit newer than everything else (I see 1972/73 date codes on the main board), also a set of bridge rectifier diodes have been removed and three extra holes in the main board near the front for something.
I'd have a look through for other comments as I'm a bit behind having been moving a lathe & mill/drill from a relatives place to here over the weekend, but I can't be bothered as there are far too many phone/tablet related posts. 

David

[Specmaster]

<snip>

I do get what you're saying. I too have multiple iPuds. I Will not spend the money Apple wants for a smartPwn, however.

But the difference here is this: You go to any gas station, the fuel there will be what they tell you it is... gasoline, E85, diesel... not gasoline in a diesel pump, or E85 in a E10 pump... and you don't have to worry that your gas station is going to do these things because there are regulations on how the fuel is administered and a whole chain of custody from the point it leaves the refinery to the point leaves the nozzle.  Because of those regulations, you don't have to worry that the fuel you put in your car is going to make the engine explode in a fireball and kill you.

Apple doesn't have that protection... all these cheap USB-A chargers and power banks and even USB ports on a prehistoric PC that might have fluffy caps in it... are nothing but dirty power full of fire. And you better believe dirty power can do exactly that to the very precise charger for the LiPo in your pocket. USB-A has been completely abandoned by pretty much any regulatory agency you can think of... when was the last time you saw one that actually limited to 500mA?

And then Apple has to spend a fortune on every who-knows-how-many iWTF-ever defending themselves because they're the big ticket brand and everybody wants a piece of that loot. They already know that morons are going to use the wrong charger; that was a large portion of the problems they had the first time they made the news cycle for LiPo fires.

USB-C is still a regulated interface; they still have a while before the cheapest of the cheap find a way to dickery-doo a USB-C port so it sends fire up your arse. But they will, and Apple will have to start finding new ways to stop people from plugging their iWTF-ever into the electrical equivalent of toxic waste all over again... but the time to drive a stake through USB-A's heart is decades overdue.

mnem
 

I'm not disputing the point that there are cheap and nasty chargers out there, likewise I'm not disputing fact the USB-A is way past its sell by date. The fact still remains that Apple themselves have been one of the architects of the problem. Did they really have to disable my iPad from working with anything but a genuine Apple lead and charger, after is said and done, it has been working on a none Apple lead for years with zero issues.

By not giving a charger with each new phone, especially when they have changed from Lightning to USB-C as their connector of choice on the phone, then aren't they helping the proliferation of cheap arse, bottom of the market chargers that you are raging about?

If Apple weren't so anal and full of their own importance, then maybe they could work together with other similar manufacturers to design a common interface and supply standard that would be of greater benefit to everybody, the makers and end users alike. Nokia had the right approach all those years OK I think with the DC jack and the separate data interface. Back then I was out on the road as a Technical Sales Engineer 5 days a week, with a specially designed car holder that the phone sat in, automatically connected to power, the cars radio speakers and antenna. Totally hands-free use of the phone, road legal and the battery never died and the phone always had a good signal.

If Apple weren't so anal and full of their own importance, they wouldn't be the aspirational brand they've positioned themselves to be in the market. That is literally their stock in trade.

I suspect that part of Apple's strategy with not giving away chargers... is to get people used to the idea that the charger doesn't come with. I see completely sealed units with Qi charging becoming the norm within a decade, and wired charging an anachronism. Now that would be some next-gen shit right there.

But we still have ding-dongs plugging flash drives into iPuds to watch their pirated videozz, and others who want to be able to charge their electric razor from their iPwn... so that road is going to be long and painful. 

mnem

I don't know how many makers there of electrical wiring accessories in the USA / Canada, but over here we have MK, Crabtree, Ashley & Rock (Hager), Delta, Volex, BG, and Contactum and I expect I have missed a couple out. The point is that they ALL make their own 13A plugs and sockets, in their own styles, but they ALL share common specifications so that any make of plug will fit any make of socket without any compromises in electrical connectivity and safety or thermal rises etc occurring. None of that would be happening if they didn't talk to each other and agree to share information together and be less protective of their markets.

But do see just how confusing it would be if one of the makers was to adopt the Apple philosophy and be aspirational and introduce yet another interface into that market that only they have access to?

Makers of other household and commercial appliances, power tools etc would not what type of plug to fit to their products, so do they make 2 or more ranges of identical products apart from the power plug, which under UK laws have to be moulded onto the leads to prevent the public from fitting their own plugs and getting it wrong. That is what used to happen years ago when there were many plug and socket types on the market.

I suggest that Apple are guilty of using their aspirational ability to further their protectionism of their own market and is not in the interest of the either wider market nor the consumer.

[Specmaster]

The problem with apples approach to charge port protection is that they have used it as an excuse to be protectionist about their market, not the hardware. A transzorb and polyfuse would do the job without software. If that blew up it is evidence of a faulty charger so customer has to either bring in the faulty apple charger or pay for the repair. Simple, robust and fair, but it does not force you to use apple approved chargers. They have been doing this for years. Witness early lightning cables where they allowed the 3rd party leads to get a foothold and then did an update that stoped them working.
Apple leads are not significantly better quality than branded 3rd party, just more expensive.

Well when it comes to A to Lightning leads, bd139 said on Discord Saturday that the Amazon  Basics leads are better than the Apple leads. My sons have gone through loads OEM leads as they always seem to start fraying at the connector ends and exposing the cores because of the strain relief being crap. I have yet to see a branded 3rd party lead do that.

The problem here is not the individual part... not just the lead, not just the charger, not just the crappy replacement screen some bozo puts on there, then discovers the digitizer is a complete POS, then tries to pull one over on the Apple Store to get their smashed iPwn repaired/replaced under warranty... it's the whole effing mess.

I can see why the drive to just shut everyone else out of the supply chain... you build a brand on exclusivity, on being an aspirational product, then along come the cheap fake-ass everything makers that wanna ride your coattails. Just lookit the gigatons of cheap-ass iPwn cases and screen protectors and signal-improvement stickers, etc you see being sold by the boatload every new model. You wanna talk e-waste...

Bottom line is most of this is still hating on Apple for being Apple and not being more like Windoze, which takes on all comers and lets you get your happy ending. But hey... we had our chance to support a Windoze smartPwn... and everybody stayed away in droves.

mnem

NO NO, I don't see any real evidence of the crappy screen, digitizer being a major source of troubles at all, how do the other makers go about it? Samsung is a respected brand but do make spares available to repair businesses and nobody but nobody is going to take a product in warranty to a 3rd party repair business and pay for the repair. They will go to the original makers seeking repairs under the warranty. When they get refused as many Apple customers have reported, then they go to the 3rd party repairers as a last ditch resort to getting their expensive pride and joy working again. Who wants to lay out £1,000 on a new 256Gb i12 phone and after 11 months it develops a fault and Apple say its been exposed to water etc and say a repair is out of the question, buy a new one?

[Microdoser]

But for a RPI that's going to run, 24/7, off a 24V bus (which might be battery only, in an emergency), no, that's where a properly quieted switcher-bucker belongs.  I do not have the power and cooling budget. And it can be done

Yes it can. I have recently had reasonable joy with a TI LM60440DPK, it's a 4A switching DC converter that runs cool and efficient. Supplies 5V from a range of voltages and will easily power a RPI and screen, and a couple of accessories.

You could do worse than trying the TI WBench power supply design tool, you can put in what you want (DC-DC in 11-26V out 5V@4A for example like the linked design) and get a range of designs. You get a slider for the switching frequency, so you could avoid a particular frequency...

https://webench.ti.com/appinfo/webench/scripts/SDP.cgi?ID=AFD82CBF7870E6A9

I find that particular chip supplies a rock solid 5.06V with a 91%+ efficiency, perfect for a Pi running 24/7. Run it from 24V DC run it from 11V DC It doesn't care.

[mnementh]

The problem with apples approach to charge port protection is that they have used it as an excuse to be protectionist about their market, not the hardware. A transzorb and polyfuse would do the job without software. If that blew up it is evidence of a faulty charger so customer has to either bring in the faulty apple charger or pay for the repair. Simple, robust and fair, but it does not force you to use apple approved chargers. They have been doing this for years. Witness early lightning cables where they allowed the 3rd party leads to get a foothold and then did an update that stoped them working.
Apple leads are not significantly better quality than branded 3rd party, just more expensive.

Well when it comes to A to Lightning leads, bd139 said on Discord Saturday that the Amazon  Basics leads are better than the Apple leads. My sons have gone through loads OEM leads as they always seem to start fraying at the connector ends and exposing the cores because of the strain relief being crap. I have yet to see a branded 3rd party lead do that.

The problem here is not the individual part... not just the lead, not just the charger, not just the crappy replacement screen some bozo puts on there, then discovers the digitizer is a complete POS, then tries to pull one over on the Apple Store to get their smashed iPwn repaired/replaced under warranty... it's the whole effing mess.

I can see why the drive to just shut everyone else out of the supply chain... you build a brand on exclusivity, on being an aspirational product, then along come the cheap fake-ass everything makers that wanna ride your coattails. Just lookit the gigatons of cheap-ass iPwn cases and screen protectors and signal-improvement stickers, etc you see being sold by the boatload every new model. You wanna talk e-waste...

Bottom line is most of this is still hating on Apple for being Apple and not being more like Windoze, which takes on all comers and lets you get your happy ending. But hey... we had our chance to support a Windoze smartPwn... and everybody stayed away in droves.

mnem

NO NO, I don't see any real evidence of the crappy screen, digitizer being a major source of troubles at all, how do the other makers go about it? Samsung is a respected brand but do make spares available to repair businesses and nobody but nobody is going to take a product in warranty to a 3rd party repair business and pay for the repair. They will go to the original makers seeking repairs under the warranty. When they get refused as many Apple customers have reported, then they go to the 3rd party repairers as a last ditch resort to getting their expensive pride and joy working again. Who wants to lay out £1,000 on a new 256Gb i12 phone and after 11 months it develops a fault and Apple say its been exposed to water etc and say a repair is out of the question, buy a new one?

You don't see that because you haven't worked in the e-repair trade. I have personally bought some of these cheap-arse parts, and learned the lesson the hard way. Parts for Apple, Samsung, LG, even my Nokia 521. A few of them worked okay... but even the batteries... something you'd think would be hard to fuck up, as they're all made in a few dozen factories in China... yup. Poor load-handling capability, shorter than advertised capacity... even if you install the BMS board from the old battery on the new.

I have also bought a lot of used pwns off fleaBay... and have found the hard way that half the time when someone is unloading a phone there, it's because they put some cheap-arse part on it and it sucks now.

You are a sane, sensible person with a clue aboot what you want, and aboot the value of real quality. More than half the people who buy fApple are utter fuckwits who only care aboot being seen with a Apple product... and they a certain crowd of them will buy shite parts to piece one together rather than just pay the price of new.

The counterfeit parts trade is massive... and even people in Apple's own supply chain are not above reproach.

Not just Samsung; that's old news: https://9to5mac.com/2019/12/18/iphones-made-from-rejected-parts/

Being the top of the heap means everybody and his asshole brother wants a piece of your pie. When it's your turn to ride that wave, let me know how you'll handle it.

mnem
 

[Brumby]

The package..... My NEWPORT LABORATORIES Counter Timer Model 700 has arrived!
(SNIP)
I was curious about the proto board near the front, so I removed 3 screws and carefully flipped it over.  Yes, that is wire-wrap!

Whuf! Now THAT is some hardcore MacGyverfyin'!

Figure a previous owner converted from VFD or Panaplex? Styling feels a bit newish for nixie... maybe...

I do hope the OCXO survived its rough ride... would be a bit of a PITA to source/refit/recal another I'll wager.

mnem
 

I'm thinking it may have been Panaplex too, the IC's on the Vero board look a fair bit newer than everything else (I see 1972/73 date codes on the main board), also a set of bridge rectifier diodes have been removed and three extra holes in the main board near the front for something.
I'd have a look through for other comments as I'm a bit behind having been moving a lathe & mill/drill from a relatives place to here over the weekend, but I can't be bothered as there are far too many phone/tablet related posts. 

David

Had a closer look at the display.  The 7 segment LEDs are mounted on a piece of stripboard and the soldering appears very DIY.


They look like they are about 10% undersize for the window and are not centred.  VFD unlikely, not enough room for Nixies, but Panaplex a distinct possibility, especially with the orange filter...


I would have liked a Panaplex display .... 

[Brumby]

I need to find room on my desk so I can take a closer look at things........... 

[factory]

The package..... My NEWPORT LABORATORIES Counter Timer Model 700 has arrived!
(SNIP)
I was curious about the proto board near the front, so I removed 3 screws and carefully flipped it over.  Yes, that is wire-wrap!

Whuf! Now THAT is some hardcore MacGyverfyin'!

Figure a previous owner converted from VFD or Panaplex? Styling feels a bit newish for nixie... maybe...

I do hope the OCXO survived its rough ride... would be a bit of a PITA to source/refit/recal another I'll wager.

mnem
 

I'm thinking it may have been Panaplex too, the IC's on the Vero board look a fair bit newer than everything else (I see 1972/73 date codes on the main board), also a set of bridge rectifier diodes have been removed and three extra holes in the main board near the front for something.
I'd have a look through for other comments as I'm a bit behind having been moving a lathe & mill/drill from a relatives place to here over the weekend, but I can't be bothered as there are far too many phone/tablet related posts. 

David

Had a closer look at the display.  The 7 segment LEDs are mounted on a piece of stripboard and the soldering appears very DIY.


They look like they are about 10% undersize for the window and are not centred.  VFD unlikely, not enough room for Nixies, but Panaplex a distinct possibility, especially with the orange filter...


I would have liked a Panaplex display .... 

Found a picture of another one on this website https://www.davmar.org/temodel.html , described as gas-discharge display, someone must have spent quite a long time to convert it to LED when they had problems with the original display.


Seems Newport are now part of Omega Engineering Inc.

Edit: does the one on this pallet of old TEA look familiar?
https://www.grays.com/lot/0251-3018323/manufacturing/assorted-electronic-test-equipment


David

[bd139]

The problem with apples approach to charge port protection is that they have used it as an excuse to be protectionist about their market, not the hardware. A transzorb and polyfuse would do the job without software. If that blew up it is evidence of a faulty charger so customer has to either bring in the faulty apple charger or pay for the repair. Simple, robust and fair, but it does not force you to use apple approved chargers. They have been doing this for years. Witness early lightning cables where they allowed the 3rd party leads to get a foothold and then did an update that stoped them working.
Apple leads are not significantly better quality than branded 3rd party, just more expensive.

Well when it comes to A to Lightning leads, bd139 said on Discord Saturday that the Amazon  Basics leads are better than the Apple leads. My sons have gone through loads OEM leads as they always seem to start fraying at the connector ends and exposing the cores because of the strain relief being crap. I have yet to see a branded 3rd party lead do that.

The problem here is not the individual part... not just the lead, not just the charger, not just the crappy replacement screen some bozo puts on there, then discovers the digitizer is a complete POS, then tries to pull one over on the Apple Store to get their smashed iPwn repaired/replaced under warranty... it's the whole effing mess.

I can see why the drive to just shut everyone else out of the supply chain... you build a brand on exclusivity, on being an aspirational product, then along come the cheap fake-ass everything makers that wanna ride your coattails. Just lookit the gigatons of cheap-ass iPwn cases and screen protectors and signal-improvement stickers, etc you see being sold by the boatload every new model. You wanna talk e-waste...

Bottom line is most of this is still hating on Apple for being Apple and not being more like Windoze, which takes on all comers and lets you get your happy ending. But hey... we had our chance to support a Windoze smartPwn... and everybody stayed away in droves.

mnem

NO NO, I don't see any real evidence of the crappy screen, digitizer being a major source of troubles at all, how do the other makers go about it? Samsung is a respected brand but do make spares available to repair businesses and nobody but nobody is going to take a product in warranty to a 3rd party repair business and pay for the repair. They will go to the original makers seeking repairs under the warranty. When they get refused as many Apple customers have reported, then they go to the 3rd party repairers as a last ditch resort to getting their expensive pride and joy working again. Who wants to lay out £1,000 on a new 256Gb i12 phone and after 11 months it develops a fault and Apple say its been exposed to water etc and say a repair is out of the question, buy a new one?

They usually just give me a shiny new handset if there’s trouble. I paid for the premium dick sucking service though because I am literally up the shit without this phone. My entire life and income depends on it.

For everything else I don’t own it. The credit card company does...

Anyway if you think this is a pain in the arse you want to try returning a pair of shoes that fall to bits after a week at John Lewis 

[Specmaster]

NO NO, I don't see any real evidence of the crappy screen, digitizer being a major source of troubles at all, how do the other makers go about it? Samsung is a respected brand but do make spares available to repair businesses and nobody but nobody is going to take a product in warranty to a 3rd party repair business and pay for the repair. They will go to the original makers seeking repairs under the warranty. When they get refused as many Apple customers have reported, then they go to the 3rd party repairers as a last ditch resort to getting their expensive pride and joy working again. Who wants to lay out £1,000 on a new 256Gb i12 phone and after 11 months it develops a fault and Apple say its been exposed to water etc and say a repair is out of the question, buy a new one?

You don't see that because you haven't worked in the e-repair trade. I have personally bought some of these cheap-arse parts, and learned the lesson the hard way. Parts for Apple, Samsung, LG, even my Nokia 521. A few of them worked okay... but even the batteries... something you'd think would be hard to fuck up, as they're all made in a few dozen factories in China... yup. Poor load-handling capability, shorter than advertised capacity... even if you install the BMS board from the old battery on the new.

I have also bought a lot of used pwns off fleaBay... and have found the hard way that half the time when someone is unloading a phone there, it's because they put some cheap-arse part on it and it sucks now.

You are a sane, sensible person with a clue aboot what you want, and aboot the value of real quality. More than half the people who buy fApple are utter fuckwits who only care aboot being seen with a Apple product... and they a certain crowd of them will buy shite parts to piece one together rather than just pay the price of new.

The counterfeit parts trade is massive... and even people in Apple's own supply chain are not above reproach.

Not just Samsung; that's old news: https://9to5mac.com/2019/12/18/iphones-made-from-rejected-parts/

Being the top of the heap means everybody and his asshole brother wants a piece of your pie. When it's your turn to ride that wave, let me know how you'll handle it.

mnem
 
[/quote]
I still think you are missing the point, you say "Not just Samsung; that's old news" and then go on to link to an article about iPhones being made from rejected parts, as if that is what I was implying when I said "Samsung is a respected brand but do make spares available to repair businesses"

What I meant by that statement is that Samsung not only offer a full repair service and its fully priced and includes water damage, but they sell genuine parts to other repair shops as well. That is something that Apple don't do and won't do hence all the court battles with Apple going on globally. You referred to a link earlier regarding 3rd party approved repairers, dig a little deeper than the scratching the surface, and it becomes apparent that have signed up a handful of companies, but some of those companies have come forward and complained that they are only allowed to do certain things, battery swaps, charging ports etc and even then they are kept waiting for the replacements parts.

You mentioned that you have purchased "cheap-arse parts", why did you do that? Because you could not get access to genuine new Apple parts, you just proved precisely my point, except that I'm not necessarily advocating that spare parts should be made available to the public, but should be available to repair businesses and manuals etc.

The counterfeit parts trade is massive... and even people in Apple's own supply chain are not above reproach. This is true and is in the main part because the counterfeiters are well aware that is a massive demand for parts that are like hens teeth (non-existent). Nature does not like a vacuum and does all it can to neutralise it. Make the parts available at reasonable cost and suddenly it becomes less attractive to counterfeit parts.

[mnementh]

Yes, and now you're back to being upset with them for acting like a corporation selling a luxury commodity rather than a public utility.

They don't have to do business the way you want them to. And all the lawsuits do is cement their position as a private club product, thereby ensuring those they cater to feel like they're fucking special. Add another dozen lawsuits, add another dozen dollars to the price of the cheapest models. All you're doing is pushing them further and further out of reach.

No matter how much you miss your Windows phone, expecting Apple to take their place is sheer folly. They made their market out of whole cloth, by being what rich people want. They don't care if you and I can't afford the product, and they don't have to care either. Period.

And then you bring up the king of Product Abandonment, Samsung, as an example of taking care of customers...? Puhhhh-leeeeze. 

mnem
*punt!*

[Robert763]

A LOT cheaper  It's basically a 1Mb/s transmission loss tester for 78R balanced screened network cables. It a current model and a new one from Ultra Electronis will cost about £20,000  well worth 99p 
https://www.ultra-pcs.com/air/ground-test-equipment/databus-network-analyser/

Jammy git!

Double stuffed jammy
 - UPS delivered a package today and I thought what the heck, I didn't order anything that big and heavy.
Opened it up and inside are two test sets. OK one does not have any leads or remote unit who's complaining when it's a freebe on a 99p purchase  Just the "RAE" instrumen case is worth that to me. In addition there is a nice toroid based PSU, battery pack  two 10T pots (500R & 10k), switches etc. There are some useful bits on the board including a AD636 RMS /DC converter.
Oh and the working one had a couple of spare leads with 4 three lug triaxial BNC plugs.

[med6753]

But up until this morning I felt like I had. Back spasms returned with a vengeance so bad that I almost called ambulance services. But I feel I've finally turned a corner on this and today almost pain free. Taking it easy and even though I have a that Type 1A1 plug-in needing cleaning and the transistors for the Type 321A not touching any of that until at least tomorrow. The replacement round rubber thing showed up from T(i)re Rack.com and I'm going to be calling my son to help me getting that and the flat down to my mechanic. Also possibly get the Type 547 up here and on the cart.

I'll tell you. Back problems suck BIG TIME.   

[Specmaster]

Yes, and now you're back to being upset with them for acting like a corporation selling a luxury commodity rather than a public utility.

They don't have to do business the way you want them to. And all the lawsuits do is cement their position as a private club product, thereby ensuring those they cater to feel like they're fucking special. Add another dozen lawsuits, add another dozen dollars to the price of the cheapest models. All you're doing is pushing them further and further out of reach.

No matter how much you miss your Windows phone, expecting Apple to take their place is sheer folly. They made their market out of whole cloth, by being what rich people want. They don't care if you and I can't afford the product, and they don't have to care either. Period.

And then you bring up the king of Product Abandonment, Samsung, as an example of taking care of customers...? Puhhhh-leeeeze. 

mnem
*punt!*

You're putting a completely different slant on things, you could not further from the truth if you really tried, I don't want Apple to replace the Windows Phone, I never have and never said that either. I just liked the Windows phone when I had one and liked the features built into the OS and the camera did have some unique features that liked.

When it comes to it, I'm extremely happy with my current Huawei phone and that will continue to be my daily driver and the camera on it is superb, trust me. If I spend my money on something, then that thing becomes mine to do what I want to do with it, I don't expect or appreciate the maker deciding that they will remove my right to recharge my phone as a result of their ultra care package as you see it, or as I see it, building that wall around their garden even higher.

I have never seen in any agreement when you buy something that you cannot take it apart or anything. If I was leasing the item, fair enough, but I'm not. But clearly if you do take it apart and break it then you forfeit the right to a free repair and that is how it should be and in my defence (not that I've taken it apart), it is now almost 6 years old and long passed its warranty period.

Apart from, as someone else once said, you always put your view on everything as the definitive answer, you change your suit to suit yourself. I say this because this is the Dwagon we are talking about here is it not, and that Dwagon that we all love and is normally so anti corporation and establishment as its possible to get, even moving to the GWN to escape corruption in the USA 

Lets draw a line in the sand here and move on, I refuse to enter into an argument over something neither of us has any control over. 

[Specmaster]

But up until this morning I felt like I had. Back spasms returned with a vengeance so bad that I almost called ambulance services. But I feel I've finally turned a corner on this and today almost pain free. Taking it easy and even though I have a that Type 1A1 plug-in needing cleaning and the transistors for the Type 321A not touching any of that until at least tomorrow. The replacement round rubber thing showed up from T(i)re Rack.com and I'm going to be calling my son to help me getting that and the flat down to my mechanic. Also possibly get the Type 547 up here and on the cart.

I'll tell you. Back problems suck BIG TIME.   

Med, it's nice to hear that you are slowly returning to normal now and that the back pain is more manageable now, but please, don't attempt to move that boat anchor from your CRV on your own and certainly not for a while, give yourself time to heal the damage already done. I know that it grates that as we get older that we find that we can no longer do things that once we would do without giving it a second thought, but that as they say is life. Take care, take time and look after yourself. 

[Cerebus]

In all the debate about USB charging I wonder if anyone has bothered to pull out the USB specification.

There's a very good reason, based on complying with the USB specification, as to why various phone and tablet companies (It's not just Apple who've done it) have used some resistor based bias scheme to tell the phones that they are connected to a dumb charger that will deliver more than 100 mA. See USB specification 2.0, section 7.2.1.4. USB devices must power up in a reduced power state where they must not draw more than 100 mA until they have undergone enumeration and the host/hub has had a chance to read the device's USB descriptors and permit it more than 100 mA.

Dumb chargers don't enumerate the devices plugged into them so any USB compliant device is only ever going to try to draw a maximum of 100 mA from them. So, a mechanism outside of the USB specification is needed to tell a phone/tablet that it can draw more than 100 mA but one that won't cause the phone/tablet to try and draw more than 100 mA from a USB host port without going through the whole USB negotiation process and thereby being non-compliant with the USB specification

[mnementh]

A LOT cheaper  It's basically a 1Mb/s transmission loss tester for 78R balanced screened network cables. It a current model and a new one from Ultra Electronis will cost about £20,000  well worth 99p 
https://www.ultra-pcs.com/air/ground-test-equipment/databus-network-analyser/

Jammy git!

Double stuffed jammy
 - UPS delivered a package today and I thought what the heck, I didn't order anything that big and heavy.
Opened it up and inside are two test sets. OK one does not have any leads or remote unit who's complaining when it's a freebe on a 99p purchase  Just the "RAE" instrumen case is worth that to me. In addition there is a nice toroid based PSU, battery pack  two 10T pots (500R & 10k), switches etc. There are some useful bits on the board including a AD636 RMS /DC converter.
Oh and the working one had a couple of spare leads with 4 three lug triaxial BNC plugs.

LOL... looks like someone was more than happy to pass their "enheavyment" on to a willing recipient. It's nice when them as has can make a connection with them as needs and everybody's happy. 

indeed!

mnem
 

[bd139]

Quick actual TE thing. I've started doing a full checkout on the D755 and it looks good so far. The only issue I've identified is the intensity is badly set up which is leading to inadequate blanking on flyback. Evidence suggests a meddler has been at the intensity controls. Will see if I can cal that out...

Edit: oh and timebase and amplitude are all over the shit but are proportional at least so it's just drifted cal rather than broken stuff.

[mnementh]

...Edit: does the one on this pallet of old TEA look familiar?
https://www.grays.com/lot/0251-3018323/manufacturing/assorted-electronic-test-equipment   

David

Looks like your unit has... provenance!!!

mnem
 

[Kosmic]

But up until this morning I felt like I had. Back spasms returned with a vengeance so bad that I almost called ambulance services. But I feel I've finally turned a corner on this and today almost pain free. Taking it easy and even though I have a that Type 1A1 plug-in needing cleaning and the transistors for the Type 321A not touching any of that until at least tomorrow. The replacement round rubber thing showed up from T(i)re Rack.com and I'm going to be calling my son to help me getting that and the flat down to my mechanic. Also possibly get the Type 547 up here and on the cart.

I'll tell you. Back problems suck BIG TIME. 

Always remember to stretch before doing any TEA lifting!

Seriously, I'm glad you feel better 

[Cubdriver]

But up until this morning I felt like I had. Back spasms returned with a vengeance so bad that I almost called ambulance services. But I feel I've finally turned a corner on this and today almost pain free. Taking it easy and even though I have a that Type 1A1 plug-in needing cleaning and the transistors for the Type 321A not touching any of that until at least tomorrow. The replacement round rubber thing showed up from T(i)re Rack.com and I'm going to be calling my son to help me getting that and the flat down to my mechanic. Also possibly get the Type 547 up here and on the cart.

I'll tell you. Back problems suck BIG TIME. 

Hosing your back up sucks bigtime.  Glad to hear that you're on the mend.

-Pat

[Robert763]

A LOT cheaper  It's basically a 1Mb/s transmission loss tester for 78R balanced screened network cables. It a current model and a new one from Ultra Electronis will cost about £20,000  well worth 99p 
https://www.ultra-pcs.com/air/ground-test-equipment/databus-network-analyser/

Jammy git!

Double stuffed jammy
 - UPS delivered a package today and I thought what the heck, I didn't order anything that big and heavy.
Opened it up and inside are two test sets. OK one does not have any leads or remote unit who's complaining when it's a freebe on a 99p purchase  Just the "RAE" instrumen case is worth that to me. In addition there is a nice toroid based PSU, battery pack  two 10T pots (500R & 10k), switches etc. There are some useful bits on the board including a AD636 RMS /DC converter.
Oh and the working one had a couple of spare leads with 4 three lug triaxial BNC plugs.

LOL... looks like someone was more than happy to pass their "enheavyment" on to a willing recipient. It's nice when them as has can make a connection with them as needs and everybody's happy. 

indeed!

mnem
 

I'v bought from the seller before. They sell ex MOD kit and hve little knowledge of what they are selling. I've tipped them off befor on od kit. This time I noticed that they had listed two lifebouy "marker lights" that had no proper markings but were clearly the type that have a 15 minute orange smoke generator included. These go off when you pull them out of the mounting bracket and being pyrotecnics one activated, can't be stopped. I sent the seller a link to the datasheet. Looks like I got rewarded for the good deed.

[Saskia]

Anybody out there willing to sponsor me with 10 millos ?
https://www.bernard-gallay.com/buy-yacht-for-sale/hugo-boss

*Sigh* *dream*