Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

For ref I'm one of the "minor intolerants". In this case lactose.

Probably the only time you'll hear me say this, but that actually means that you're more "normal" than the rest of us.

In mammals lactose tolerance in adults is highly unusual, even abnormal. Most mammals suppress the genes involved in the production of Lactase, which is required for digestion of Lactose, after weaning. Even in humans the presence of Lactase in adults is not universal, in strains of humans (i.e. races) associated with cultures that don't have a tradition of adults eating dairy products lactose intolerance is the norm. We've actually evolved to keep our juvenile ability to produce Lactase from generation upon generation of consuming dairy products as adults.

Milk is the world's most nearly perfect food... for baby cows. For everyone else, it is at best a short-term substitute for some of the foods the human body is designed to eat, which is pretty much the way a bear in the wild eats. Mostly nuts & berries during the plentiful seasons, with meat (including insects, BTW) occasionally as it presents itself or going hunting when other sources of food are scarce.

Like bears, we tend to really pack it on in times of plenty... the problem is we've artificially destroyed the lean times where our body would normally burn that fat during the winter. So we just pack it on year around unless we force ourselves to exercise it off.

a Carb-rich diet can be healthy, as can a fat-rich diet; it's when you constantly mix the two and never have the chance to burn the fat that you wind up like me. 

Unfortunately, most of the foods readily available to the average working classes and lower are small servings of primarily poor-quality meats full of fat, in one way or another served with some form of simple starch as filler mass whether you want it or not. Usually fried for the heart-clogging trifecta...

Diet is not a thing you do... it is a change in lifestyle, as bd says.

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Yeah, that's the sm I already found, but thanks anyway. It's a bit vague on the operation, some of it is plain misleading (figured some stuff out myself already).

The sensor needing cleaning is a possibility, though I did give it a fair chance by loading up a Deep Purple LP with big assed spacings. Damn, I forgot how much better vinyl is than cd's...

Here's a pic of the stylus in the "recently replaced" cartridge it had in it:   

And that's after I'd cleaned most of the fibres and gunk off it (was like a layer of encrusted plaster), you can still see it's well coated in some kind of dust crust.


The vibration isolation is fantastic, even accidental (and then less accidental to test the limits) bumps on the bench while I was fettling it failed to disturb it. It is heavy.
Heavy enough that it could have been built by HP...

Well, duh, it WAS recently replaced; with that POS, so the seller could keep his decent condition cartridge/stylus.

As for the weight, that is what I was talking aboot. Not impact/bump resistance; these things can start to resonate with long low notes if not placed on something very solid. A lesson I learned the hard way. 

mnem
 

[mnementh]

         

Franken-Pooter Revisited: Rebuild in Deepcool Matrexx 70 case!

      

       

I recently found myself needing to build a new PC for my son; as a result, I kicked my old RX580 and the Matrexx 55 RGB case down to him, while rebuilding my own rig with an Aorus Waterforce RTX2080 Super in a new Deepcool Matrexx 70 case. A mid-build MB failure put this project on hold for ~6 weeks; I'm finally getting the last few bits together and buttoning it up.

I quite like the understated, minimalist design of this case; lots of smoked glass and flat panels. Improvements in this newer model include huge full-length air filter on bottom of case, all panels tilt-out including glass front, glass basement cover, and much more premium "feel" to fit & finish of top-side buttons & ports. The only thing it doesn't have that really bothered me is no top-side USB-C; this I resolved with an aftermarket USB-C socket hidden under the top magnetic filter.

I've gone with a slightly more evolved thermometer with probe in direct contact with the CPU; this version is backlit LCD with digital readout and a color-coded bar graph. I'm still deciding whether I actually like it better, or just like that it's something different after decades of the same  simple 3-digit LED meter.

I've done some tidying up since my last iteration, where I just installed the Waterforce RTX2080 Super as it came; their horrible wiring of the fans with zip-ties over the braided hoses is now under some simple split-loom, and I covered the CPU hoses to match. I've bumped up to a full 32GB RAM now, and all the main power cables are now done with individually-braided cables to clean up the look & make them match.

This build is going full reverse-flow; all air comes in from the back and bottom, and exits through the top and front where the rads are. This means only ambient temp air inside the case; unlike direct air-cooled builds where CPU and/or GPU are preheating the air other systems are using for cooling.

PSU has its own airflow in from bottom and out the back, while reversed case fans pull fresh air in at upper rear of case and out lower front of case to provide crossflow ventilation for VRMs and chipset coolers. A 3D-printed magnetic filter over the back fan ensures only fresh air coming in there, too.

At this point, I need to do some cleaning in the workbench area to get the space ready for it; I'll probably do that some time after Discord.

Enjoy!

mnem
 

[tggzzz]

I would mention PETA and "Dr" Gillian MacKeith, but then I would have to go to the bathroom and wash my mouth out with soap.

Yeah, and soap is full of added un-natural ingredients these days 

Rather than beef fat and caustic soda,you mean? (Thats how we made soap in school chemistry!)

Have you ever walked past a "Lush" shop and smelled it? https://uk.lush.com/shops
I wonder the employees don't sue because they are compelled breathe in VOCs all day:)

[Robert Smith Eco Warrior]

I hate the smell of those soap shops. My two boys are now having to use the school hand sanitiser while at school. They come home and the smell is offensively strong. It is like sticking your head in some strong smelling clothes washing powder. I instruct them to go and wash their hands thoroughly to un-sanitise them as soon as they can.
 

[AVGresponding]

Come to discord, to find out everything wrong with reboots of classic sci-fi franchises!

[Robert763]

FRK Rubidium oscillator build.

<snip>

What do you lot think?

Absolutely gorgeous!

I'd better do it then 
I'm going old school with 3 74HCT390s (dual 7490 type) and a couple of logic gates. The multplexing for a PIC would be nearly as complex and I'd have to write code.
 

[Specmaster]

Crap, I keep forgetting what day of the week it is now that SWMBO is semi retired and only does 2 days a week with the occasional 4 or 5-day weeks, totally throws my mind and not watching TV does little to help that either, so much that once again I have missed discord 

Been busy with trying to get some alternatives to the Tivo boxes that Virgin provide us with that SWMBO insist on having, so she can pause live TV etc when MIL or SIL rings up. Had a phone call from VM following my declaration that I was junking their TV service and reducing my BB speed to 350Mb, they offered me the same package that I currently have, top package costing £149 monthly, for just £86 

If they could afford to give me that for £63 less, they could have been doing that all the time, I've been a customer of theirs for 15 years and just shows whats wrong with large corporations today, they keep claiming that costs have to rise as  they are struggling, when infact they are just being plain greedy and obsessed with amassing vast cash piles for their wealthy owners personal fortunes 

[SilverSolder]

Crap, I keep forgetting what day of the week it is now that SWMBO is semi retired and only does 2 days a week with the occasional 4 or 5-day weeks, totally throws my mind and not watching TV does little to help that either, so much that once again I have missed discord 

Been busy with trying to get some alternatives to the Tivo boxes that Virgin provide us with that SWMBO insist on having, so she can pause live TV etc when MIL or SIL rings up. Had a phone call from VM following my declaration that I was junking their TV service and reducing my BB speed to 350Mb, they offered me the same package that I currently have, top package costing £149 monthly, for just £86 

If they could afford to give me that for £63 less, they could have been doing that all the time, I've been a customer of theirs for 15 years and just shows whats wrong with large corporations today, they keep claiming that costs have to rise as  they are struggling, when infact they are just being plain greedy and obsessed with amassing vast cash piles for their wealthy owners personal fortunes 

Customer loyalty does NOT pay off, you get treated like a milk cow...   

I had the exact same experience as you.  Wiser and older, I called all my other subscription services and got similar reductions to yours! 

You've got nothing to lose - call them, and ask for the Customer Retention Department!

[mnementh]

Live TV...? Seriously...?

Get her Netflix and Amazon Prime. I went Netflix/Roku & cut the cable over a decade ago; a few years ago I added Prime and Hulu. Never looked back; no regrets.

I've almost forgotten the horror that is commercial broadcast; as in broadcast that exists solely to deliver commercials, and all other "content" is a afterthought. 

Almost.

mnem
No.

[Cerebus]

Live TV...? Seriously...?

Get her Netflix and Amazon Prime. I went Netflix/Roku & cut the cable over a decade ago; a few years ago I added Prime and Hulu. Never looked back; no regrets.

I've almost forgotten the horror that is commercial broadcast; as in broadcast that exists solely to deliver commercials, and all other "content" is a afterthought. 

Almost.

mnem
No.

You forget that this is the UK, we have 3 BBC broadcast channels (BBC1, BBC2 and BBC Four) that are completely advert free, plus BBC Three online only.

[beanflying]

Live TV...? Seriously...?

Get her Netflix and Amazon Prime. I went Netflix/Roku & cut the cable over a decade ago; a few years ago I added Prime and Hulu. Never looked back; no regrets.

I've almost forgotten the horror that is commercial broadcast; as in broadcast that exists solely to deliver commercials, and all other "content" is a afterthought. 

Almost.

mnem
No.

You forget that this is the UK, we have 3 BBC broadcast channels (BBC1, BBC2 and BBC Four) that are completely advert free, plus BBC Three online only.

Us too in particular now we have most of the networks public and private multicasting. ABC's 3 or 4 are add free and SBS has four more and runs 2-3 1 minute add breaks and hour and a bit more between shows. The Public trash is another thing all together and best avoided to preserve remaining Brain function more for their so called content than the adds

Prime is an ok side benefit of Amazon too, Binge watching Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown again for food and the unvarnished commentary.

[Carl_Smith]

If they could afford to give me that for £63 less, they could have been doing that all the time, I've been a customer of theirs for 15 years and just shows whats wrong with large corporations today, they keep claiming that costs have to rise as  they are struggling, when infact they are just being plain greedy and obsessed with amassing vast cash piles for their wealthy owners personal fortunes 

It may be that if they offered service at that rate to everyone they couldn't be a profitable business, but they are willing to take a loss for a while on you to keep you as a customer.  (You won't get to keep that reduced rate forever.)   

Or you may be right that they are just greedy.

Customer loyalty does NOT pay off, you get treated like a milk cow...   

I've been shopping for a new phone lately.  I keep seeing deals where you can get a phone that retails for like $799 for $250, and then I find that it is with new line activation only.  It may actually be cheaper to just leave my current phone on the plan and add a line to get the deal, if they allow that.
But it sucks that as a loyal customer of theirs for like 20 years I get rewarded by being expected to pay 3x as much for a new phone.

[xrunner]

Since we're posting food pics, homemade pasta salad for lunch -

[mnementh]

Here's a text dump of Page 3594 I was able to scrape from my cache... working on a .pdf as well.

EDIT: Full-res P 3594.pdf also attached below as .zip archive.

mnem
 

[bd139]

Nice one 

I really need to finish my archive scripts off. It's clear there is a risk that we lose everything.

[Cerebus]

Did I break something?

[mnementh]

Yes.

mnem
 

[mnementh]

I've attached a zip of the .pdf I was able to archive as well to my prior post; it's all nice & forum-y looking. Trying to reduce the .pdf directly just turned it into a mishmash of overtyped gobbledy-gook.

If anyone else has a better optimizer than the one in FoxIT, I request that you post a reduced copy of the .pdf below.

Thanks people!

Page 3594 .pdf: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/?action=dlattach;attach=1216166

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Did I break something?

Naaahhh... I think gnif got tired of us all whining aboot the slow pageloads and went a little Widlar on eevBlog's arse... 

mnem
oooh... smoky...

[mansaxel]

Just a recap of the missed page:

Unions, yes. a mixed bag. I've made a stink heard in them when member, because they sometimes get things horribly wrong. In a perfect world, they would not be needed, though this is not a perfect world. I've never used them for negotiations with the management, preferred to do that myself. Or resign. They missed me more than I them.  But I'm fortunate. Not everyone is. And barring those 1-2% for whose sins we piss in bottles the unfortunate have rights and deserve a place at the table too.

I make my living from Freeview TV. So, there.

Just bought a very non-TE thing:



To accompany I'll have to buy that MMA welder I've been ignoring my desires for. And buy half a scrap yard of steel to build a portal crane.  The chain fall is waiting in the workshop since a few years.

TE thing: Reading up on Fluke 8024 spare parts and renovation.

[Specmaster]

@Cerebus, in the missing page you mentioned that your Kodi box was not used for any hooky channels only legal ones etc, care to expand on that a bit? As far as I was aware all the channels on it were hooky because I first came across it when 2 work colleagues were talking about the films and programmes that they were watching for free. Obviously, being a cheap skate, something for free got my interest and when I looked around I noticed that many sellers at the time were selling as a means of watching cable TV without paying and also a way of streaming from a NAS or plug in hard drive etc.

[Cerebus]

To accompany I'll have to buy that MMA welder I've been ignoring my desires for.

Go on, go full TIG. You know you want to. 

[mnementh]

I make my living from Freeview TV. So, there.

"Free-to-air" is not free. It does get paid for. That is not what I was talking aboot when I pissed all over "commercial broadcast"; I specifically defined it as western-style TV, in which the commercials are the primary payload, with any actual "content" being something of a tertiary priority, probably worse.

Over here, the bastards still get subsidies for the stupidest shit, on top of raping our ears, eyeballs and brains in exchange for ~66% of the time viewing "content"; most of which is of dubious value at best.

mnem
commercial broadcast is still a cesspool.

[mnementh]

@Cerebus, in the missing page you mentioned that your Kodi box was not used for any hooky channels only legal ones etc, care to expand on that a bit? As far as I was aware all the channels on it were hooky because I first came across it when 2 work colleagues were talking about the films and programmes that they were watching for free. Obviously, being a cheap skate, something for free got my interest and when I looked around I noticed that many sellers at the time were selling as a means of watching cable TV without paying and also a way of streaming from a NAS or plug in hard drive etc.

No, KODI is just a media server application suite; as downloaded from the repo, its only intent is to allow you to stream video & audio from servers on your local network or from legitimate servers online.

It is the fact of how easily it can be modified with scripts which install dubious add-ons that has made the word KODI synonymous with piracy.

KODI goes back a long ways; its roots come from a LINUX port to turn the original XBOX into a set-top-box media player.

mnem