Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[capt bullshot]

Fortunately it isn't like this property available for AirBNB lets https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/31345904

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.7591591,-1.2132019,3a,60y,196.79h,93.86t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sHvlffeEBwaoBVnUWcQZYnQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Sharknado style ...

[bd139]

Uber eats would still not be able to find your house.

[Peter_O]

wow.  that is almost as confusing as when you guys talk money on the telly.

between pounds and quids and "p" we can never figure out if james herriot is being cheated or getting a good deal.

On a 3d printing forum over here in germany we have the same problem with prices from USA, EU and GB.
A forum member solved it this way: He's speaking of "Geld" now, which is "money", e.g.: "There's an offer for 3 Geld 50." Standing for 3 EUR/USD/GBP and some cents/pennies/whatever.
Because we're discussing about real bargains mostly, and a real bargain is factor 2 or more, isn't it, the currency differences of factor 1.4 or less can be neglected, can't they?   

[Specmaster]

On The Bench Tonight: Pioneer VSX-1022K 6.1 Surround Receiver



This is my current mental torment. Pioneer VSX-1022K DTS receiver. Dead as a dork-nob, but has STBY power and 3.3V to the processor. For ~US$13, I had to... and, it has 2 cousins. A Yamaha HTR-5850 and a Sony STR-K900. Also ~US$13 each; I got them all last week on that LMFM Sale Thrifting excursion...

mnem

Oh, Ifni save me... I just found the Service Manual. And it has schizzmatics... *waves as I fall*

They have a great potential to be super bargains, good thrifting.

[Robert763]

*resurfaces just long enough to post a pic*



Pray for me; it has already gotten so involved I was forced to move this part of the work off my bench onto a side table...

mnem
 

That chain on your wrist looks like a short waiting to happen 

[tautech]

........while Siglent had a 1,3G SA/VNA.

Get the cheaper SSA3021X Plus instead and turn it into a SVA1032X. 

No warranty with that 

You won't need it. 
But seriously don't get the SVA1015X as its HW is lacking compared to SSA3021X+ which is the HW used in SVA1032X. Deep study of the SSA+/SVA datasheets will show you why. 

[Robert763]

........while Siglent had a 1,3G SA/VNA.

Get the cheaper SSA3021X Plus instead and turn it into a SVA1032X. 

No warranty with that 

You won't need it. 
But seriously don't get the SVA1015X as its HW is lacking compared to SSA3021X+ which is the HW used in SVA1032X. Deep study of the SSA+/SVA datasheets will show you why. 

Dont worry my HP, R&S and Anritsu analysers have me covered 

[Cerebus]

That chain on your wrist looks like a short waiting to happen 

Yes indeedy.

It has just struck me that one of the things we regularly fail to pass on to "young players", as Dave puts it, are some of the safety rules that we learn first hand from mentors who were physically standing next to us when working on something and passed the rules on. Even in introductory books that include some safety rules in their first chapter it's usually only 'live mains' rules that get passed on.

In the spirit of making sure that it does get passed on, some of the rules impressed on me by older and wiser folks over the years:

• Nothing conductive to be worn while working with electricity. No jewellery on the hands, wrists or forearms. This includes wedding rings - if you have a superstitious aversion to taking a wedding ring off, at least cover it with insulating tape. No chains around the neck that could dangle when you lead forward. Watch out for less obvious things like belt buckles that might get into the work area.
  
• Nothing that could get mechanically trapped to be worn. This applies to delving into things electrical as well as when dealing with (potentially moving) machinery. That includes all the aforementioned jewellery. It also includes clothing that might get trapped - roll up sleeves, take off any clothing that might swing into the working area. If you have long hair, tie it back (preferably into a bun even if it makes you look like a hipster).
  
• When probing voltages that might be considered hazardous either because of voltage OR because of low source impedance (e.g. big lead acid battery) use only one hand, put the other one behind your back (I always grip the waistband of my trousers with the spare hand).
  
• When using cutting tools, or brute force and ignorance, always work away from all bits of your body (or anyone else's body). This applies even if you think you "know what I'm doing" - yes Dave "That isn't a knife, this is a knife" Jones I'm looking at you. The two inch scar on my left palm is my reminder that you can't ignore this rule. Also the wonky nail bed on my left ring finger is a reminder to always make sure that none of your fingertips are hanging over the edge of the cutting rule before pulling the knife along it.
• In light of that "But I know what I'm doing" isn't a valid excuse for not following any of the rules.
• Always wear appropriate PPE according to what you're doing. Gloves, eye protection, ear protection, breathing protection, hard hats, safety boots, fire proof clothing - whatever the job calls for.  "It makes me look dorky/unstylish" or "it takes too long" are only acceptable excuses for people who are prepared to become blind/deaf/maimed/disfigured/burned/brain-damaged or dead.

Anybody got anything else to add to the list?

[bd139]

One thing to add: Always wear underpants when you’re working. Solder blims on your dick aren’t much fun.

[Robert763]

Always assume a circuit is live unless the fuse is in your pocket or YOUR lock is on the isolator. Check it for voltage anyway.
Always assume a gun (or pyrotechnic device) is cocked and loaded ready to go bang. Don't point it at anything you don't want a hole in.

[tonyalbus]

It is a good day!

i just Super Charged my old GPSDO (GPS only) to receive GPS+Glosnass+Gallileo and Added DGPS (SBAS) 


For FREE!.  https://youtu.be/eAdJSErqZOk

[Cerebus]

One thing to add: Always wear underpants when you’re working. Solder blims on your dick aren’t much fun.

And you know this how? 

[bd139]

One thing to add: Always wear underpants when you’re working. Solder blims on your dick aren’t much fun.

And you know this how? 

It was hot one summer when I was soldering a PL259 on a CB feed line when I was 15.

[capt bullshot]

And now for something completely different (but not new):

I made a comparison measurement of two (now OCXO equipped) radio clocks of mine, running over two days (48h):



The green trace shows the OCXO control voltage (not scaled to anything) of the radio clock that was synchronized to the PPS output of a simple GPS receiver all the time.
The blue trace is the control voltage (not scaled to anything) of the other radio clock, running 24h on GPS derived PPS (another different simple GPS receiver was used), and then 24h synchronized to the DCF77 carrier frequency. Switching over was at about 06/26, 14:10. There's a step at blue and a spike at red visible.

Now the most interesting trace should be the red one: This is the frequency measured by an FA-2 (set to 10s gate time), the green one fed to the reference input, and the blue one fed into the normal input, then subtracted 10MHz. So it shows the frequency difference between the two OCXOs of the radio clocks.
- Two radio clocks, independently synchronized to GPS PPS keep the frequency within 5E-11.
- One DCF and one GPS keep the difference within 1E-10 in the daytime and within 3E-10 in the nighttime

No special timing mode GPS receivers were involved, no sawtooth corrections were applied, just standard cheap modules. Looks decent to me.

[mnementh]

One thing to add: Always wear underpants when you’re working. Solder blims on your dick aren’t much fun.

And you know this how? 

He knows it the same way I do... hard-learnt lessons of a misspent youth.    Along with this little tidbit:

"Everybody deserves a pants-free day once in a while. Just don't do any soldering; boxers are naturally ventilated right where your junk is, and hot solder knows how to roll." ~me

Sorry for setting a bad example with that pic ... I didn't have my ESD ground connected.    

mnem
"Always be a one-handed electrician. That way you don't become the path of least resistance." ~grand-dad

[capt bullshot]

By the way, my own frequency difference measurement thingy works (at least at the proof of concept stage):



At the moment it's quite noisy (about 0.003Hz peak), so this is not yet good enough to measure frequency differences as the above.

[mnementh]

   Fortunately it isn't like this property available for AirBNB lets https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/31345904

Sharknado style ...

Uber eats would still not be able to find your house.

And the order would still be short 2-5 items... even under threat of Sharknado assault.

mnem
OTOH, I suppose even Uber drivers need to eat... 

[Cerebus]

OTOH, I suppose even Uber drivers need to eat... 

That struck me as odd, until I realised that over the pond Uber Eats is probably all delivered by drivers rather than riders, except possibly in South Manhattan and Central LA (Armoured cars for the Lower East Side and South Central naturally). Here it would be a pimply faced youth on a pushbike or maybe a motor scooter.

[bd139]

Usually someone different to the picture driving a car here.

[mnementh]

Oi... I am thankful that the SM actually has schizzmatics... but gawd, they're fekkin' 'orrible. This shit makes my brain hurt; especially when you're trying to trace something like a STBY Vcc that goes through what would normally be 2 or 3 diagrams, but now each diagram is broken up across 2-4 pages in SxS or quadrant format...

mnem
I think I'm going to go do something a little less like just    myself... maybe I'll design something in Frustion360.

[SeanB]

Don't worry, with my neighbors and their delight with take away food (I swear half of them probably are unable to boil water) you can take it that every Uber Eats driver, Mr D food, Checkers 60-60, Debonairs and Steers driver within 20km knows the address by now.  The one used to order his morning coffee from Starbucks via Mr D, along with every other meal as well, and the only thing he did in the kitchen was to warm up the left overs, still in the paper bag. Only time the kitchen was used was when his mother came down for holiday, and she can cook very tasty food, judging from the smell from those days, and she had some real interesting East African spices, along with Central Africa, as well. If I want them though it is easy enough to drive over the hill to Delta, and get all sorts of really nice spices, along with a whole load of vegetarian stuff on the way at Kara Nicha, where the Bhaji is always hot, fresh, and fast moving, so you wait 5 minutes for the new bowl to come out.

[Cerebus]

... where the Bhaji is always hot, fresh, and fast moving, ...

Hopefully not under its own motive force. 

[bd139]

Oi... I am thankful that the SM actually has schizzmatics... but gawd, they're fekkin' 'orrible. This shit makes my brain hurt; especially when you're trying to trace something like a STBY Vcc that goes through what would normally be 2 or 3 diagrams, but now each diagram is broken up across 2-4 pages in SxS or quadrant format...

mnem
I think I'm going to go do something a little less like just    myself... maybe I'll design something in Frustion360.

Ahh a Japanese “special”.

Have some Yaesu to make you feel better 

[Robert763]

FT817

[Cerebus]

Keithley: