Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Robert763]

Definition of 'Scorching' so hot your Beer will get warmer faster in the UK. 

A scorching 25.7C (78.3F) was recorded at Heathrow Airport at 2pm on Tuesday, surpassing the 25.1C (77.2F) - the previous hottest day of the year temperature - set in Kinlochewe, Scotland, on Bank Holiday Monday

https://news.sky.com/story/uk-weather-country-records-hottest-day-of-the-year-and-it-could-get-sunnier-despite-thunderstorm-threat-12322510

That's no news here. Now that it's June temperatures at that level, and much higher, will be the norm.

They fuss about a little bit of heat yet Brits won't buy residential A/C units to cool down. "Too little warm days to justify purchasing one" seems to be their mantra. OK, then let the sweat drip off your stiff upper lip. 

Not an excuse for heat pumps. Cooling in summer and cheap heat in winter 
Have them hear and in my last place (over 15 years ago so I did that installation myself as they hadn't restricted doing t work to trained monkeys. I even had dry nitrogen for flushing and pressure testing and a decent dual stage vacuum pump (still have)  for pumping the pipework down.  Compressor was pre-charged so didn't need weighing equipment etc.

[tggzzz]

Definition of 'Scorching' so hot your Beer will get warmer faster in the UK. 

A scorching 25.7C (78.3F) was recorded at Heathrow Airport at 2pm on Tuesday, surpassing the 25.1C (77.2F) - the previous hottest day of the year temperature - set in Kinlochewe, Scotland, on Bank Holiday Monday

https://news.sky.com/story/uk-weather-country-records-hottest-day-of-the-year-and-it-could-get-sunnier-despite-thunderstorm-threat-12322510

That's no news here. Now that it's June temperatures at that level, and much higher, will be the norm.

They fuss about a little bit of heat yet Brits won't buy residential A/C units to cool down. "Too little warm days to justify purchasing one" seems to be their mantra. OK, then let the sweat drip off your stiff upper lip. 

Indeed, there isn't any news there - so they manufactured a clickbait headline.

The reason we don't have residential air conditioning is we don't need it. We simply open the windows

It helps that we don't have plagues of biting insects to worry about. Well, down south at least. Maybe the Scottish highlands are worse, but they are only too glad to have any heat.

[med6753]

Definition of 'Scorching' so hot your Beer will get warmer faster in the UK. 

A scorching 25.7C (78.3F) was recorded at Heathrow Airport at 2pm on Tuesday, surpassing the 25.1C (77.2F) - the previous hottest day of the year temperature - set in Kinlochewe, Scotland, on Bank Holiday Monday

https://news.sky.com/story/uk-weather-country-records-hottest-day-of-the-year-and-it-could-get-sunnier-despite-thunderstorm-threat-12322510

That's no news here. Now that it's June temperatures at that level, and much higher, will be the norm.

They fuss about a little bit of heat yet Brits won't buy residential A/C units to cool down. "Too little warm days to justify purchasing one" seems to be their mantra. OK, then let the sweat drip off your stiff upper lip. 

Not an excuse for heat pumps. Cooling in summer and cheap heat in winter 
Have them hear and in my last place (over 15 years ago so I did that installation myself as they hadn't restricted doing t work to trained monkeys. I even had dry nitrogen for flushing and pressure testing and a decent dual stage vacuum pump (still have)  for pumping the pipework down.  Compressor was pre-charged so didn't need weighing equipment etc.

Heat pumps are an excellent choice for your climate and are common here in southern states. But my climate is too cold in the Winter for them to work well unless they have additional electric heaters which throw their efficiency right out the window.

Heat pumps that use ground water in their heat exchange do work well here but are super expensive and require extensive underground piping.

[vk6zgo]

I know the "minion" phase has passed, but I just dragged mine out of storage, dusted it off, & stood it alongside my Tek 7613 for size comparison.

Herewith find ( hopefully) the " Head Henchman" in company with a "minion".




I had intended to show both devices showing waveforms, but the 7613 "died before my very eyes" ------Bummer!!!!

The minion has had a promotion!

[med6753]

The reason we don't have residential air conditioning is we don't need it. We simply open the windows

It helps that we don't have plagues of biting insects to worry about. Well, down south at least. Maybe the Scottish highlands are worse, but they are only too glad to have any heat.

There are these devices called "screens" which fit on windows and keep the bugs out. I guess they are rare or unknown items in the UK too. 

[BU508A]

The reason we don't have residential air conditioning is we don't need it. We simply open the windows

It helps that we don't have plagues of biting insects to worry about. Well, down south at least. Maybe the Scottish highlands are worse, but they are only too glad to have any heat.

There are these devices called "screens" which fit on windows and keep the bugs out. I guess they are rare or unknown items in the UK too. 

 

[Saskia]

The reason we don't have residential air conditioning is we don't need it. We simply open the windows

It helps that we don't have plagues of biting insects to worry about. Well, down south at least. Maybe the Scottish highlands are worse, but they are only too glad to have any heat.

There are these devices called "screens" which fit on windows and keep the bugs out. I guess they are rare or unknown items in the UK too. 

 

we kinda need air conditioning living just under the roof of a multi story building with some idiot neighbors who keep the doors open so that we have a chimney effect heating our appartment to 35 C or even higher.

Unfortunately there are laws against educating your neighbors with high voltage.

[BU508A]

The reason we don't have residential air conditioning is we don't need it. We simply open the windows

It helps that we don't have plagues of biting insects to worry about. Well, down south at least. Maybe the Scottish highlands are worse, but they are only too glad to have any heat.

There are these devices called "screens" which fit on windows and keep the bugs out. I guess they are rare or unknown items in the UK too. 

 

we kinda need air conditioning living just under the roof of a multi story building with some idiot neighbors who keep the doors open so that we have a chimney effect heating our appartment to 35 C or even higher.

Unfortunately there are laws against educating your neighbors with high voltage.

Perhaps a Milgram experiment would do the trick? 

[tggzzz]

The reason we don't have residential air conditioning is we don't need it. We simply open the windows

It helps that we don't have plagues of biting insects to worry about. Well, down south at least. Maybe the Scottish highlands are worse, but they are only too glad to have any heat.

There are these devices called "screens" which fit on windows and keep the bugs out. I guess they are rare or unknown items in the UK too. 

When my parents (briefly) emigrated to Pittsburgh in the late 50s, my mother was puzzled by those and left it open.

Once.

[mnementh]

Three Rivers area has prehistoric pterodactyl skeeters, and they'll gang up on a single victim. Small children and any pets smaller than a dachshund are liable to be carried off, and the desiccated remains dropped wherever they finish them off mid-flight.



Tejas has two kinds of skeeters: them small enough to get through the screen door and them big enough to rip it off the hinges.

mnem
           
"back... back...!!! Back you fiends!
Back to the depths that spawned you!!!"   

[mnementh]

   I know the "minion" phase has passed, but I just dragged mine out of storage, dusted it off, & stood it alongside my Tek 7613 for size comparison.

Herewith find ( hopefully) the " Head Henchman" in company with a "minion". I had intended to show both devices showing waveforms, but the 7613 "died before my very eyes" ------Bummer!!!!   The minion has had a promotion!

Yeah, that 7600 series is too good a scope to be treated so callously... it knows better and made a example of you. 

mnem

[mnementh]

I hope that it was one of you that beat me for this collection https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Job-Lot-of-Test-Equipment-/274810557905?, I was just out bid for this group. Whoever it was, good job and well done to you.

Not me I got beaten too.

If a bid of 62 quid took it, y'all have nobody to blame but yerselves. That PYE laboratory wheatstone bridge alone is worth more than that. However... the chances of that heterodyne voltmeter being delivered intact with that loose glass in the movement are between slim and none... that would kindof leave you gutted.

mnem

[Kosmic]

Definition of 'Scorching' so hot your Beer will get warmer faster in the UK. 

A scorching 25.7C (78.3F) was recorded at Heathrow Airport at 2pm on Tuesday, surpassing the 25.1C (77.2F) - the previous hottest day of the year temperature - set in Kinlochewe, Scotland, on Bank Holiday Monday

https://news.sky.com/story/uk-weather-country-records-hottest-day-of-the-year-and-it-could-get-sunnier-despite-thunderstorm-threat-12322510

That's no news here. Now that it's June temperatures at that level, and much higher, will be the norm.

They fuss about a little bit of heat yet Brits won't buy residential A/C units to cool down. "Too little warm days to justify purchasing one" seems to be their mantra. OK, then let the sweat drip off your stiff upper lip. 

I had to install a windows unit in my makeshift office since it look like I'm going to work there the whole summer. I'm still hoping to go back to the office in September maybe ? I hate remote work 

[mnementh]

LOL... My dad keeps telling me he's like a carbon-copy duplicate of me when I was a kid. He certainly has the attitude, and the tendency to be utterly oblivious to the world around him. Every once in a while, tho... mother and I are able to impinge upon his existence on "Planet Marcus"; this seemingly normal snapshot is one of them.

mnem
"Eh.... he's a teenager. He won't be human again til his 30s... if he lives that long." ~mom to mom-mom

Serendipity moment: I've just seen a bloke on the telly in a  Vox-pop in Oban, Scotland who looks just like I expect Marcus will in 10-15 years. Incidentally he was standing not 200 yards from where I was sleeping on the night of 11th Sept. 2001.

Yeah, the boy has good reason for the attitude; he went from being the center of our universe to "whatever attention was left over" almost overnight when his sister was born. Unlike normal sibling dynamics, that never really leveled off because she's high-functioning autistic, so requires a lot of attention, even now. He really wants to be a good kid; he's just not that good at it yet.

I hope he does better than I did; he's strong and he's smart... If I can just find a way to get him to motivate constructively (something I still have yet to learn myself), he could own the world.

mnem
Grandmomma used to tell me "One day you're going to have a kid who's just like you." Little did I know that was a curse, not an admonition.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Three Rivers area has prehistoric pterodactyl skeeters, and they'll gang up on a single victim. Small children and any pets smaller than a dachshund are liable to be carried off, and the desiccated remains dropped wherever they finish them off mid-flight.



Tejas has two kinds of skeeters: them small enough to get through the screen door and them big enough to rip it off the hinges.

mnem

"back... back...!!! Back you fiends!
Back to the depths that spawned you!!!"

Translation: 'In this forest exist insects with the size of a gymnasium'

[Specmaster]

Definition of 'Scorching' so hot your Beer will get warmer faster in the UK. 

A scorching 25.7C (78.3F) was recorded at Heathrow Airport at 2pm on Tuesday, surpassing the 25.1C (77.2F) - the previous hottest day of the year temperature - set in Kinlochewe, Scotland, on Bank Holiday Monday

https://news.sky.com/story/uk-weather-country-records-hottest-day-of-the-year-and-it-could-get-sunnier-despite-thunderstorm-threat-12322510

That's no news here. Now that it's June temperatures at that level, and much higher, will be the norm.

They fuss about a little bit of heat yet Brits won't buy residential A/C units to cool down. "Too little warm days to justify purchasing one" seems to be their mantra. OK, then let the sweat drip off your stiff upper lip.   

Today its been 28C at RAF Mildenhall and Lakenheath and my car struggled with the AC today so its booked in for Monday morning to do a Re-Gas of the system. I reckon its probably only got about 30% of the original gas left as they say that a car typically loses around 10% of its charge annually and its now 8 years old and has never been recharged so its about time it was done 

Aircon units like your window unit are not at all common over here, infact aircon in houses is almost unheard of and that might well be because the prices are going to sky-high over here, it is Rip Off Britain after all don't ya know? 

[Cerebus]

i got my latest batch of parts from RS earlier today, before I was forced to endure the weekly food shop, and I've just got around to unpacking it. Most if it was  some unexciting resistors, caps, RIRO op-amps and some tiny, tiny 10k NTC thermistors that are slim enough to sit on a board underneath an OCXO.

I've been doing the GPSDO fiddling so far with a stock STM32F411 Nucleo development board. One of the nice things about the STM32 dev boards is, aside from being really cheap, that they come with an ST-LINK debugger built in. Now, when I finally get around to spinning up my own board I'm going to need to attach a debugger to it. ST have recently introduced a newer standalone version of the ST-LINK, the STLINK-V3MINI and I decided to grab one of these in the same order. At only £8 it wasn't a hard decision to make and they come with a lead with 1mm pitch header sockets each end, making for a low-board-area solution on the target board.

Man these boards are small. Here it is with a TO-220 LM317 for scale:



Edit: Got the connector pitch wrong, it's 1.27mm (i.e. \$\frac{1}{20}\$ inch). The mating connector that goes on the target board is a Samtec FTSH-107-01-F-DV-K in case anyone needs to know.

[Robert763]

I hope that it was one of you that beat me for this collection https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Job-Lot-of-Test-Equipment-/274810557905?, I was just out bid for this group. Whoever it was, good job and well done to you.

Not me I got beaten too.

If a bid of 62 quid took it, y'all have nobody to blame but yerselves. That PYE laboratory wheatstone bridge alone is worth more than that. However... the chances of that heterodyne voltmeter being delivered intact with that loose glass in the movement are between slim and none... that would kindof leave you gutted.

mnem

1/ Collection only so glass no problem.
2/ I sold a PYE bridge last year, 1 bid at £5
3/ I didn't want all of it for >£60 plus two hours driving. I'd have bid more if it had been local.
I was mostly interested in the the GPSDO.

[Specmaster]

I hope that it was one of you that beat me for this collection https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Job-Lot-of-Test-Equipment-/274810557905?, I was just out bid for this group. Whoever it was, good job and well done to you.

Not me I got beaten too.

If a bid of 62 quid took it, y'all have nobody to blame but yerselves. That PYE laboratory wheatstone bridge alone is worth more than that. However... the chances of that heterodyne voltmeter being delivered intact with that loose glass in the movement are between slim and none... that would kindof leave you gutted.

mnem

Yep, I know but what kinda scared me was the fact that the seller stated that they had powered everything up and that everything seemed to be working OK. With such old equipment, more damage might have been inflicted by that act alone. That said however, I had intended to increase my bid but got sidetracked by other things happening around me at the time, like being wracked with a pain in my left side that I had to keep dosing myself up with painkillers for etc. 

Today that pain has almost completely disappeared, that goodness, but I was a bit worried by it, it started on Saturday with me feeling like I'd been hit by a runaway train, hence missing Discord and got steadily worse over the weekend.

Edit. Like Robert I didn't want all of it either, the multimeter by LCR meter by Tektronics was kinda interesting, the multi lead tester had its uses and the AM/FM signal gen caught my eye as well as the Pye Bridge, which as Robert pointed out has very limited appeal these days to anyone other than us old farts who can remember using them in college. Collection was never a problem to me, I'm frequently close to Harlow (North Weald Airfield) most weekends in the summer, infact I was in Harlow Saturday collecting a Casio WK-3000 keyboard which needs a little TLC before flipping again.

[Cerebus]

Yep, I know but what kinda scared me was the fact that the seller stated that they had powered everything up and that everything seemed to be working OK. With such old equipment, more damage might have been inflicted by that act alone. That said however, I had intended to increase my bid but got sidetracked by other things happening around me at the time, like being wracked with a pain in my left side that I had to keep dosing myself up with painkillers for etc. 

Today that pain has almost completely disappeared, that goodness, but I was a bit worried by it, it started on Saturday with me feeling like I'd been hit by a runaway train, hence missing Discord and got steadily worse over the weekend.

As you haven't said you've been to the Doctor's I presume you haven't. And if you haven't you should. Unexplained pain like that can be from quite benign causes, I've had similar from unknowingly pulling an intercostal muscle, BUT it can also be a harbinger of other things that vary from relatively harmless to horrible. The horrible end are all things that are better treated sooner rather than later, or too late even. So do me and yourself a favour and go and see the quack.

[Specmaster]

Yep, I know but what kinda scared me was the fact that the seller stated that they had powered everything up and that everything seemed to be working OK. With such old equipment, more damage might have been inflicted by that act alone. That said however, I had intended to increase my bid but got sidetracked by other things happening around me at the time, like being wracked with a pain in my left side that I had to keep dosing myself up with painkillers for etc. 

Today that pain has almost completely disappeared, that goodness, but I was a bit worried by it, it started on Saturday with me feeling like I'd been hit by a runaway train, hence missing Discord and got steadily worse over the weekend.

As you haven't said you've been to the Doctor's I presume you haven't. And if you haven't you should. Unexplained pain like that can be from quite benign causes, I've had similar from unknowingly pulling an intercostal muscle, BUT it can also be a harbinger of other things that vary from relatively harmless to horrible. The horrible end are all things that are better treated sooner rather than later, or too late even. So do me and yourself a favour and go and see the quack.

Problem is that at the moment, getting to see a Doctor is nigh on impossible with this pandemic, you have to have a telephone diagnoses, surgeries are locked and patients are only allowed in with an appointment, one at a time, blah blah social distancing, and then it seems mostly to see a nurse for wound dressings etc as I discovered when I injured my leg. My side all seems to be fine now.

[BU508A]

We do really need more EMHs.
Properly equipped of course!

[Cerebus]

Yep, I know but what kinda scared me was the fact that the seller stated that they had powered everything up and that everything seemed to be working OK. With such old equipment, more damage might have been inflicted by that act alone. That said however, I had intended to increase my bid but got sidetracked by other things happening around me at the time, like being wracked with a pain in my left side that I had to keep dosing myself up with painkillers for etc. 

Today that pain has almost completely disappeared, that goodness, but I was a bit worried by it, it started on Saturday with me feeling like I'd been hit by a runaway train, hence missing Discord and got steadily worse over the weekend.

As you haven't said you've been to the Doctor's I presume you haven't. And if you haven't you should. Unexplained pain like that can be from quite benign causes, I've had similar from unknowingly pulling an intercostal muscle, BUT it can also be a harbinger of other things that vary from relatively harmless to horrible. The horrible end are all things that are better treated sooner rather than later, or too late even. So do me and yourself a favour and go and see the quack.

Problem is that at the moment, getting to see a Doctor is nigh on impossible with this pandemic, you have to have a telephone diagnoses, surgeries are locked and patients are only allowed in with an appointment, one at a time, blah blah social distancing, and then it seems mostly to see a nurse for wound dressings etc as I discovered when I injured my leg. My side all seems to be fine now.

The issue is the unexplained pain. Might be nothing, might be something.  For example, a small thrombosis can cause pain like that, which can go away, and then in three months you might get a bigger thrombosis that causes real problems and, I really don't want to be sensationalist here, could kill you. There are a lot of things that first present as pain in the left side. Worth a chat on the phone with the doctor, better safe than sorry.

[mnementh]

I hope that it was one of you that beat me for this collection https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Job-Lot-of-Test-Equipment-/274810557905?, I was just out bid for this group. Whoever it was, good job and well done to you.

Not me I got beaten too.

If a bid of 62 quid took it, y'all have nobody to blame but yerselves. That PYE laboratory wheatstone bridge alone is worth more than that. However... the chances of that heterodyne voltmeter being delivered intact with that loose glass in the movement are between slim and none... that would kindof leave you gutted.

mnem

Yep, I know but what kinda scared me was the fact that the seller stated that they had powered everything up and that everything seemed to be working OK. With such old equipment, more damage might have been inflicted by that act alone. That said however, I had intended to increase my bid but got sidetracked by other things happening around me at the time, like being wracked with a pain in my left side that I had to keep dosing myself up with painkillers for etc. 

Today that pain has almost completely disappeared, that goodness, but I was a bit worried by it, it started on Saturday with me feeling like I'd been hit by a runaway train, hence missing Discord and got steadily worse over the weekend.

Edit. Like Robert I didn't want all of it either, the multimeter by LCR meter by Tektronics was kinda interesting, the multi lead tester had its uses and the AM/FM signal gen caught my eye as well as the Pye Bridge, which as Robert pointed out has very limited appeal these days to anyone other than us old farts who can remember using them in college. Collection was never a problem to me, I'm frequently close to Harlow (North Weald Airfield) most weekends in the summer, infact I was in Harlow Saturday collecting a Casio WK-3000 keyboard which needs a little TLC before flipping again.

Okay... I guess. It just seemed to me that if you had interest in any one piece of that very unusual assortment, it should've been worth more than 60 quid. I mean, just the accumulated meter movements on some of that gear are worth more than that, if you were of a mind to rape the gear for them.

OTOH... I get the "white elephant" aspect too. You may want to save some of it; but along with that comes a certain onus to treat even the stuff you're not interested with some level of respect and at least try to find it a good home. That's how I found myself with closets full of random gear and scopes that needed a new home.

mnem
 

[Specmaster]

Yep, I know but what kinda scared me was the fact that the seller stated that they had powered everything up and that everything seemed to be working OK. With such old equipment, more damage might have been inflicted by that act alone. That said however, I had intended to increase my bid but got sidetracked by other things happening around me at the time, like being wracked with a pain in my left side that I had to keep dosing myself up with painkillers for etc. 

Today that pain has almost completely disappeared, that goodness, but I was a bit worried by it, it started on Saturday with me feeling like I'd been hit by a runaway train, hence missing Discord and got steadily worse over the weekend.

As you haven't said you've been to the Doctor's I presume you haven't. And if you haven't you should. Unexplained pain like that can be from quite benign causes, I've had similar from unknowingly pulling an intercostal muscle, BUT it can also be a harbinger of other things that vary from relatively harmless to horrible. The horrible end are all things that are better treated sooner rather than later, or too late even. So do me and yourself a favour and go and see the quack.

Problem is that at the moment, getting to see a Doctor is nigh on impossible with this pandemic, you have to have a telephone diagnoses, surgeries are locked and patients are only allowed in with an appointment, one at a time, blah blah social distancing, and then it seems mostly to see a nurse for wound dressings etc as I discovered when I injured my leg. My side all seems to be fine now.

The issue is the unexplained pain. Might be nothing, might be something.  For example, a small thrombosis can cause pain like that, which can go away, and then in three months you might get a bigger thrombosis that causes real problems and, I really don't want to be sensationalist here, could kill you. There are a lot of things that first present as pain in the left side. Worth a chat on the phone with the doctor, better safe than sorry.

Ok, will do. TBH, I did think along those lines myself but when I look back at the events that could have lead up to it, I was out at Stanstead Airport grabbing some photos of two C17's that came in Monday bringing President Biden's Motorcade and 32 members of staff in ahead of the upcoming G7 summit. It was after the first one came in, and I walked back to the car to sit and wait for the 2nd one to arrive an hour later that I first noticed something on that side, during the walk back to the photographing location. I put it down to the fact that I must have twisted my body awkwardly while panning with the plane to capture the perfect photo.

I then went on to North Weald to see if there was anything going on there, which there wasnt, and it was later that afternoon that it really was very noticeable that all was not well.

Today I was fine and have been to Lakenheath and Mildenhall, but it was the worst day that I have ever had there, only got 4 photos of 2 F15's, nothing else came within range that would have produced a worthwhile picture