Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[factory]

Poms are very quiet...where are they all.....lockdown finished and they're all down at the pub ! 

Now back at work and after a week or two I'm now back to being too tried in the evenings to do much (fatigue I get with my poor health), it sucks I can't view the forum at work till I choose a cheap data SIM for my phone, it's supposed to have a second SIM slot. Think that may be the best option and just chuck the second SIM & choose another if & when better deals are available.

Still got a lot of catching up to do.

David

I bring my own laptop to work,  and use my phone as a wifi hotspot to connect it to the Internet,  if I need a fix! 

That is a complete non-starter for many reasons, firstly I wanted cheap, secondly I now mainly work on the shop floor operating a dirty/oily CNC lathe (a laptop would get quickly trashed), thirdly we are not supposed to even use phones on the shop floor and finally did I mention I wanted cheap?

Best option for me is the cheapest monthly data SIM* I can find (bin/change as necessary) and keep the existing SIM for calls/text only as I don't want the hassle of changing numbers over.
*Possibly could help with the poor network coverage in rural areas when main SIM signal is unusable.

Had one of those days today where the CNC was not in use and actually got to use TEA for the first time this year in the electrical department, the Tek TDS3012 has left the lab & is on the shop floor looking a little grubby, settings back-up battery is dead too. I guess the BNC's must have finally dropped off the TDS210 that was there before. 

David

[tautech]

Oh Jeebus... I cannae tell you how many similar units I've gotten in pallet/big box lots over the decades and shifted straight away to the flea market or worse, straight to the tip. 

There was just no profit in 'em at the time; what with 5-disc DVD-players and umpty-hundred-disc carousels on the shelf at Best Buy...

mnem
 

Yeah each to their own until they learn better  however little bit miffed that I've thrown a few out when after reading the thread and now knowing a bit more may have been able to save them. 

[wkb]

Getting rid of wives isn't that difficult 

Costly though.

[wkb]

All those RIFAs 

Just powerup the whole lot on december 31 

[wkb]

400+ notifications for this subject wow..    But the forum is getting back full steam   

Picked up a very clean HP 3325A synthesizer last friday. It is now living with its family as shown on the pic.

Back to working condition is now also my HP 5342A 18GHz microwave counter. Bought two parts units to fix it, during the fixing process on of the parts units was the first one to work again  . The 2nd unit once repaired I gave on permanent loan to a ham radio friend of mine.  All in all I now am running out of space   

Hmm.. could this be TEA? 

Wilko

I have a 3325B since years and it stays my favourite generator under 10MHz otherwise I use my 8640B.

8640B I owned for about 2 days. Returned it to the seller once I discovered that some nutcase had cut the output hybrid out of the PCB 

The 8642A are nice replacements though 

[Cubdriver]

Getting rid of wives isn't that difficult 

Costly though.

Why are divorces so expensive?  Because they're worth it.

(Actually, I lucked out - my ex and I went our separate ways with minimal fuss, and there were no kids involved.  The downside is no SWMBO to restrain my pack rat inclinations in any way shape or form.)

-Pat

[wkb]

Getting rid of wives isn't that difficult 

Costly though.

Why are divorces so expensive?  Because they're worth it.

(Actually, I lucked out - my ex and I went our separate ways with minimal fuss, and there were no kids involved.  The downside is no SWMBO to restrain my pack rat inclinations in any way shape or form.)

-Pat

There are good alternatives though: I married an EE, and she is a packrat too. Although not working in the EE field, she understands that packrat urge, up to the point of schlepping 'think you will like this' bits and bobs my way when we jointly visit ham fests.

 

[Cubdriver]

Getting rid of wives isn't that difficult 

Costly though.

Why are divorces so expensive?  Because they're worth it.

(Actually, I lucked out - my ex and I went our separate ways with minimal fuss, and there were no kids involved.  The downside is no SWMBO to restrain my pack rat inclinations in any way shape or form.)

-Pat

There are good alternatives though: I married an EE, and she is a packrat too. Although not working in the EE field, she understands that packrat urge, up to the point of schlepping 'think you will like this' bits and bobs my way when we jointly visit ham fests.

 

So you married a unicorn.  Damn!  That's awesome!  Mine's head would probably explode if she saw the house now.  Does yours have a sister?   

-Pat

[med6753]

I got one thing to say. All you guys in the EU are fucking cowards. 

That is all. 

[bd139]

Well I’m not in the EU now so I agree 

[Robert763]

Had another session wwith the FRK Rubidium. Unfortunatly it does not quite match either of the two available manuals. Still a close manual is better than none.
Thinking about it while studying the manuals I relaised the lamp voltage was completely out of range at 2.5V. Now the "lamp voltage" is not the voltage across the lamp, its derived from the DC component of the photo diode output (without the 127Hz lock-in lamp modulation). So as the lamp is lit I thought I'd start with that as it's fairly simple, just a ua739 dual op-amp. The lamp voltage output is resistor (R7) isolated from pin one (output) of the 739. The boards have thick conformal coating so even with sharp probes it takes a bit of pressure to get contact. So checked all supplies, all OK. Went to pin 1 of 739 and it's at 2.5V as expected but poor contact so I press harder and the voltage rises, but harder and it's 10V and the unit locks 
So the board is hard to work on the rear of because the are wires soldered to all four sides and some were routed under components before being soldered to turret tags and conformally coated.
So I disconnect 3 sides lift the board up and sart doing continuity checks. There is something odd between the photodiode connetion tag and pin 5 of the 739. I can get between 1 ohm and 200 ohms depending on pressure applied. All that is between the two points is a 2.2uH choke in a minature moulded case with axial leads. All joints look OK. Solder a wire to turrent and pin 5 connect to DMM on ohmes and start poking about. Turns out to be the turret tag where it's swaged and soldered to the PCB.
Still looks ok under the coating. Clean the coting off with some acetone and the reitance is now 1 ohm! Under high magnification and the right light you can just see the crack.
Soldered up, put board back down and connected and the lamp voltage is 10V and the unit locks up in 8 minutes even without insulation or cover   
I've even found some suitable insulation. Med will approve, it's blue.
 

[wkb]

Now that is an excellent job! Congratulations! 

[xrunner]

The 8481A sensor has arrived ...

 

[mnementh]

Oh Jeebus... I cannae tell you how many similar units I've gotten in pallet/big box lots over the decades and shifted straight away to the flea market or worse, straight to the tip. 

There was just no profit in 'em at the time; what with 5-disc DVD-players and umpty-hundred-disc carousels on the shelf at Best Buy...

mnem
 

Yeah each to their own until they learn better  however little bit miffed that I've thrown a few out when after reading the thread and now knowing a bit more may have been able to save them. 

Ehhh... you know, things change. Some of that change is objective, but most of it is subjective. I mean... sure, there are a few really great CD-decks out there; as good reproduction as the format is capable of. But objectively, what is the best CD player that ever was really worth as a music machine? Not a plucking null off a PONO's arse, that's what. Well, as long as they still worked.

The format was a hack-job bodge from day one, designed not with quality reproduction in mind, but rather to be mentally accessible to crusty old bastard music producers who made up the RIAA; the format only exists because it could be explained to their little pea-brains as just another form of pressed vinyl, and those same bastards demanded a change to soft acrylic to ensure damaged-disc turnover similar to that of vinyl. Since, they have repeatedly strangled all attempts to make a better "standard" in the crib until they were forced into the digital age by decades of customer demand and the allure of zero-factory-required music production & distribution.

Fuck CD, except as a means to get older music into iTunes for cheap.

mnem
 

[tautech]

Oh Jeebus... I cannae tell you how many similar units I've gotten in pallet/big box lots over the decades and shifted straight away to the flea market or worse, straight to the tip. 

There was just no profit in 'em at the time; what with 5-disc DVD-players and umpty-hundred-disc carousels on the shelf at Best Buy...

mnem
 

Yeah each to their own until they learn better  however little bit miffed that I've thrown a few out when after reading the thread and now knowing a bit more may have been able to save them. 

Ehhh... you know, things change. Some of that change is objective, but most of it is subjective. I mean... sure, there are a few really great CD-decks out there; as good reproduction as the format is capable of. But objectively, what is the best CD player that ever was really worth as a music machine? Not a plucking null off a PONO's arse, that's what. Well, as long as they still worked.

The format was a hack-job bodge from day one, designed not with quality reproduction in mind, but rather to be mentally accessible to crusty old bastard music producers who made up the RIAA; the format only exists because it could be explained to their little pea-brains as just another form of pressed vinyl, and those same bastards demanded a change to soft acrylic to ensure damaged-disc turnover similar to that of vinyl. Since, they have repeatedly strangled all attempts to make a better "standard" in the crib until they were forced into the digital age by decades of customer demand and the allure of zero-factory-required music production & distribution.

Fuck CD, except as a means to get older music into iTunes for cheap.

mnem
 

Now you're sounding like a hardcore audiofool memn !     
Some of us just want something to play our music library and not care if it doesn't come out as orchestra quality. 

[wkb]

Getting rid of wives isn't that difficult 

Costly though.

Why are divorces so expensive?  Because they're worth it.

(Actually, I lucked out - my ex and I went our separate ways with minimal fuss, and there were no kids involved.  The downside is no SWMBO to restrain my pack rat inclinations in any way shape or form.)

-Pat

There are good alternatives though: I married an EE, and she is a packrat too. Although not working in the EE field, she understands that packrat urge, up to the point of schlepping 'think you will like this' bits and bobs my way when we jointly visit ham fests.

 

So you married a unicorn.  Damn!  That's awesome!  Mine's head would probably explode if she saw the house now.  Does yours have a sister?   

-Pat

Yes. 2 in fact. Not compatible with pack ratting EE's though.

[mnementh]

Oh Jeebus... I cannae tell you how many similar units I've gotten in pallet/big box lots over the decades and shifted straight away to the flea market or worse, straight to the tip. 

There was just no profit in 'em at the time; what with 5-disc DVD-players and umpty-hundred-disc carousels on the shelf at Best Buy...

mnem
 

Yeah each to their own until they learn better  however little bit miffed that I've thrown a few out when after reading the thread and now knowing a bit more may have been able to save them. 

Ehhh... you know, things change. Some of that change is objective, but most of it is subjective. I mean... sure, there are a few really great CD-decks out there; as good reproduction as the format is capable of. But objectively, what is the best CD player that ever was really worth as a music machine? Not a plucking null off a PONO's arse, that's what. Well, as long as they still worked.

The format was a hack-job bodge from day one, designed not with quality reproduction in mind, but rather to be mentally accessible to crusty old bastard music producers who made up the RIAA; the format only exists because it could be explained to their little pea-brains as just another form of pressed vinyl, and those same bastards demanded a change to soft acrylic to ensure damaged-disc turnover similar to that of vinyl. Since, they have repeatedly strangled all attempts to make a better "standard" in the crib until they were forced into the digital age by decades of customer demand and the allure of zero-factory-required music production & distribution.

Fuck CD, except as a means to get older music into iTunes for cheap.

mnem
 

Now you're sounding like a hardcore audiofool memn !        Some of us just want something to play our music library and not care if it doesn't come out as orchestra quality. 

That's exactly what I'm saying! The "quality" was never there to begin with... CDs are and have been an unconscionable dicksore to use for decades now. The only excuse for them to exist anymore is so I can buy them for $2 each at the Thrift and rip them to iTunes.

You know, where they're actually convenient to use and can be drag & dropped to whatever device I want to play them on. 

mnem
 

[AVGresponding]

It seems to me... that there's 3 of the brethren within guerrilla attack distance of this Alderaan. I think a group acquisition/3-way sharing of the loot and concomitant WAF debt load is like... a no-brainer.

mnem
Come on guys... take a walk.

I'd take a partial myself, but I suspect the shipping might prove ruinous, not to mention protracted beyond all reasonable patience.

[Specmaster]

I'm trying to do a deal with a seller on Gumtree who is in Buckinghamshire for a TEA item. I asked if they would ship it to me, and they said yes and got a quote for shipping. I agreed the price and said that I'd pay them that and more on top to cover PayPal fees, and then I received this reply and my spider senses are tingling like mad.

"i dont like the principle of PayPal, they hang on to the money and if the total in the account is below their threshold they retain it until you get more. not the sort of deal i buy into. but i will accept a bank transfer." I have been using PayPal for years and have never ever had anything like that happen to me. 

[tautech]

I'm trying to do a deal with a seller on Gumtree who is in Buckinghamshire for a TEA item. I asked if they would ship it to me, and they said yes and got a quote for shipping. I agreed the price and said that I'd pay them that and more on top to cover PayPal fees, and then I received this reply and my spider senses are tingling like mad.

"i dont like the principle of PayPal, they hang on to the money and if the total in the account is below their threshold they retain it until you get more. not the sort of deal i buy into. but i will accept a bank transfer." I have been using PayPal for years and have never ever had anything like that happen to me. 

Why not just use a bank to bank online transfer ?

[bd139]

Oh Jeebus... I cannae tell you how many similar units I've gotten in pallet/big box lots over the decades and shifted straight away to the flea market or worse, straight to the tip. 

There was just no profit in 'em at the time; what with 5-disc DVD-players and umpty-hundred-disc carousels on the shelf at Best Buy...

mnem
 

Yeah each to their own until they learn better  however little bit miffed that I've thrown a few out when after reading the thread and now knowing a bit more may have been able to save them. 

Ehhh... you know, things change. Some of that change is objective, but most of it is subjective. I mean... sure, there are a few really great CD-decks out there; as good reproduction as the format is capable of. But objectively, what is the best CD player that ever was really worth as a music machine? Not a plucking null off a PONO's arse, that's what. Well, as long as they still worked.

The format was a hack-job bodge from day one, designed not with quality reproduction in mind, but rather to be mentally accessible to crusty old bastard music producers who made up the RIAA; the format only exists because it could be explained to their little pea-brains as just another form of pressed vinyl, and those same bastards demanded a change to soft acrylic to ensure damaged-disc turnover similar to that of vinyl. Since, they have repeatedly strangled all attempts to make a better "standard" in the crib until they were forced into the digital age by decades of customer demand and the allure of zero-factory-required music production & distribution.

Fuck CD, except as a means to get older music into iTunes for cheap.

mnem
 

Now you're sounding like a hardcore audiofool memn !        Some of us just want something to play our music library and not care if it doesn't come out as orchestra quality. 

That's exactly what I'm saying! The "quality" was never there to begin with... CDs are and have been an unconscionable dicksore to use for decades now. The only excuse for them to exist anymore is so I can buy them for $2 each at the Thrift and rip them to iTunes.

You know, where they're actually convenient to use and can be drag & dropped to whatever device I want to play them on. 

mnem
 

This. I ripped all my CDs years ago into iTunes and sold the whole fucking lot.

Then I got fed up of carting the data around and managing multiple people’s libraries and have subcontracted it all out to Apple Music.

Can’t be fucked with it all. I’m happy with my magic box that plays literally anything I tell it to in acceptable quality when I shout at it 

[bd139]

I'm trying to do a deal with a seller on Gumtree who is in Buckinghamshire for a TEA item. I asked if they would ship it to me, and they said yes and got a quote for shipping. I agreed the price and said that I'd pay them that and more on top to cover PayPal fees, and then I received this reply and my spider senses are tingling like mad.

"i dont like the principle of PayPal, they hang on to the money and if the total in the account is below their threshold they retain it until you get more. not the sort of deal i buy into. but i will accept a bank transfer." I have been using PayPal for years and have never ever had anything like that happen to me. 

He’s probably got burned by a seller hold on eBay. So he’s either inexperienced or disreputable. I’d walk away.

[Specmaster]

I'm trying to do a deal with a seller on Gumtree who is in Buckinghamshire for a TEA item. I asked if they would ship it to me, and they said yes and got a quote for shipping. I agreed the price and said that I'd pay them that and more on top to cover PayPal fees, and then I received this reply and my spider senses are tingling like mad.

"i dont like the principle of PayPal, they hang on to the money and if the total in the account is below their threshold they retain it until you get more. not the sort of deal i buy into. but i will accept a bank transfer." I have been using PayPal for years and have never ever had anything like that happen to me. 

Why not just use a bank to bank online transfer ?

Because I don't know the seller and there is zero protection in a bank transfer as I have discovered to my cost a couple of times now, I lost out both times, nothing was ever received not even a tracking number and the sellers suddenly closed their Gumtree accounts, so I'm not going there again.

[Specmaster]

I'm trying to do a deal with a seller on Gumtree who is in Buckinghamshire for a TEA item. I asked if they would ship it to me, and they said yes and got a quote for shipping. I agreed the price and said that I'd pay them that and more on top to cover PayPal fees, and then I received this reply and my spider senses are tingling like mad.

"i dont like the principle of PayPal, they hang on to the money and if the total in the account is below their threshold they retain it until you get more. not the sort of deal i buy into. but i will accept a bank transfer." I have been using PayPal for years and have never ever had anything like that happen to me. 

He’s probably got burned by a seller hold on eBay. So he’s either inexperienced or disreputable. I’d walk away.

That is what I'm doing, I told him I have had bad problems with bank transfers in the past, so PayPal or nothing, I'm not prepared to drive to collect it.

Either way, this is nothing to do with eBay so that past problem if true, should not happen this time as I'm sending it direct to him via PayPal.

[mnementh]

Just remember that you don't have any rights if you send the money "To A Friend". Buyer Protection only applies to payment for goods and services.

mnem