Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[med6753]

English businesses even looked "fish eyed" at Bank of Scotland notes, despite those being legal tender anywhere in the UK.

They're not "legal tender" anywhere in the UK, not even in Scotland! It's an oft misunderstood term, and means nothing in normal everyday retail commerce; retailers are entitled to be entirely arbitrary in what forms of payment they will accept. 

Legal tender means that if it is offered in settlement of a existing debt one must accept it in settlement of that debt (strictly speaking it means they can't sue you for non-payment if you have offered legal tender by paying into court but they won't accept it). Legal tender status is reserved for Bank of England notes and coins from the Royal Mint in England and Wales, and only Royal Mint coins in Scotland and Northern Ireland.  The whole legal tender thing is a bit of a historical oddity nowadays, if you found yourself in the position where you need to "pay into court" you'd just use a bank transfer or a cheque if you were feeling old fashioned.

In practice, Scottish notes are generally exchangeable in the UK, and a UK bank will accept them for deposit or exchange without demure. That may change if Nicola Sturgeon gets her way over Scottish independence.

All this happy horseshit would have gone by the wayside if your gov would have stopped being stupid and accepted the Euro. 

[Brumby]

Hmm, the pandemic is only over IMHO over there because people don’t believe that it exists keep your ears and eyes open because it’s going to come about bite peoples arses big time very quickly.

Take precautions still and be prepared.

I believe Sydney's latest surge in cases stems from such thinking.  Cases were down for a while, vaccine shots are getting out there and people are letting their guard down.

As a result, we have now gone back to the days where "Stay at home" orders have been brought back in ... and, yes, toilet paper is being scooped off the shelves yet again, as well as the other typical products.    If you're not at the supermarket when the doors open of a morning, you will miss out - and this was happening from day 0!



Hardware stores are going to have a bumper month or two as those stuck at home get busy with those little projects that they've been putting off.  It happened last year and I don't doubt it will happen again.

[Brumby]

Somebody please post some TEA content.

Even spaghetti schematics are looking good right now.

[beanflying]

Hmm, the pandemic is only over IMHO over there because people don’t believe that it exists keep your ears and eyes open because it’s going to come about bite peoples arses big time very quickly.

Take precautions still and be prepared.

I believe Sydney's latest surge in cases stems from such thinking.  Cases were down for a while, vaccine shots are getting out there and people are letting their guard down.

As a result, we have now gone back to the days where "Stay at home" orders have been brought back in ... and, yes, toilet paper is being scooped off the shelves yet again.    If you're not at the supermarket when the doors open of a morning, you will miss out - and this was happening from day 0!



Hardware stores are going to have a bumper month or two as those stuck at home get busy with those little projects that they've been putting off.  It happened last year and I don't doubt it will happen again.

The joys of being a Commonwealth of States the last couple of lockdowns in Vic Bunnings has been Trade only unlike NSW which is strap on a Mask and carry on 

Now they have sorted out which jabs to give to 50 year olds time to make a booking.

Just for you @Brumby go take a peek at this EEVBLog members SHMBO inspired sales  eBay auction: #224513264192

I will be adding more instruments for sale on eBay.
All prices are negotiable to EEVblog members, but only via PM to me on the Forum.

Shiny and knobs to twirl    eBay auction: #224512216188

[Brumby]

Not bad gear, but not the pricing I can entertain at this time.

[mnementh]

Oh... By the way... Happy Birthday med! 

mnem
whew... got that in just under the wire... 55 minutes to spare... 

[mnementh]

The I hate people shirt should help Papa Smurf to keep people at distance

Not if he keeps going to the Rotten Apple for his lady cop. That kind of outwardly visible grump just attracts manic street preachers like a magnet... Oh, and millennials. 

mnem
and little kids with spoons...

[AVGresponding]

Somebody please post some TEA content.

Even spaghetti schematics are looking good right now.

Found an HP 3478A for £65 shipped BIN last night. Needless to say I purchased it on reflex, will post all the usual pr0n when it arrives...

[mansaxel]

It's an input selector for the local outdoor dance hall.

Very Telecom Aust "in house" style from the 1980s.

Well spotted!

The Lundahl SR 50x series was made by Lundahl for the Public Service broadcaster Sveriges Radio (where I used to work; I now work at the spin-off SVT, who have added moving pictures to the sound) back in the 70s, and the relays are going to be STC and Siemens Kammrelais. Those relays are now made by TE and insanely expensive unless you've bought a literal bucket of NOS for nothing. My largest problem with them is that I'm short on sockets; and the sockets alone are like 3x the price of a modern quality relay..  It's a good illustration of the problems associated with designing electronics in a market where component development is proceeding at pace.  Pushbuttons are momentary eao Series 31, with click.  Another expensive device, that I've got surplus stock of. Most satisfying tactile feel.

The D-sub 25 pin connector is there to put a balancing module in place. (see attachment)

[kleiner Rainer]

FT817

Many years ago, a friendly colleague from our drafting department plotted this schematic on their plotter in poster size. Much better to see whats goin on. Still own a FT817 - the swiss army knife of ham radio.

Greetings,

Rainer

[Robert763]

Somebody please post some TEA content.

Even spaghetti schematics are looking good right now.

Found an HP 3478A for £65 shipped BIN last night. Needless to say I purchased it on reflex, will post all the usual pr0n when it arrives...

Saw that one but the listing photo reminded me how hard the non-lit LCD can be to read unless head on in good light.

[McBryce]

Somebody please post some TEA content.

Even spaghetti schematics are looking good right now.

Ok. Here's the inside of the Sinclair DM350 that I working on at the moment.

McBryce.

[bd139]

Somebody please post some TEA content.

Even spaghetti schematics are looking good right now.

Found an HP 3478A for £65 shipped BIN last night. Needless to say I purchased it on reflex, will post all the usual pr0n when it arrives...

Damn that was a good deal. Nice one 

[Specmaster]

Somebody please post some TEA content.

Even spaghetti schematics are looking good right now.

Found an HP 3478A for £65 shipped BIN last night. Needless to say I purchased it on reflex, will post all the usual pr0n when it arrives...

Saw that one but the listing photo reminded me how hard the non-lit LCD can be to read unless head on in good light.

Thats why I sold mine on. Its not always possible to arrange meters directly in line of clear sight. The other reason for selling on was its pitiful voltage range.

[Specmaster]

Somebody please post some TEA content.

Even spaghetti schematics are looking good right now.

Ok. Here's the inside of the Sinclair DM350 that I working on at the moment.

McBryce.

Looks likely it has been worked on before, I doubt Sinclair would have populated it with IC sockets. It was their normal game to reduce costs and cut corners wherever possible.

[bd139]

Somebody please post some TEA content.

Even spaghetti schematics are looking good right now.

Found an HP 3478A for £65 shipped BIN last night. Needless to say I purchased it on reflex, will post all the usual pr0n when it arrives...

Saw that one but the listing photo reminded me how hard the non-lit LCD can be to read unless head on in good light.

Thats why I sold mine on. Its not always possible to arrange meters directly in line of clear sight. The other reason for selling on was its pitiful voltage range.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/hp-3457a-lcd-backlight-mod-(also-for-3478a)/

On the ranges, it’s an “electronics” DMM not an “electrical” DMM.

Somebody please post some TEA content.

Even spaghetti schematics are looking good right now.

Ok. Here's the inside of the Sinclair DM350 that I working on at the moment.

McBryce.

Looks likely it has been worked on before, I doubt Sinclair would have populated it with IC sockets. It was their normal game to reduce costs and cut corners wherever possible.

Probably factory reject sockets 

[Robert763]

Somebody please post some TEA content.

Even spaghetti schematics are looking good right now.

Ok. Here's the inside of the Sinclair DM350 that I working on at the moment.

McBryce.

Got to love the cheapskate current shunt 5% WW resistor with excess lead length and kelvin connection tap for "calibration"

[tggzzz]

Hmm, the pandemic is only over IMHO over there because people don’t believe that it exists keep your ears and eyes open because it’s going to come about bite peoples arses big time very quickly.

For the last month cases have been rising exponentially (i.e. straight line on a log scale). 25th May: 2400/day, 26th June: 14600. Typically clusters are around city-centre universities and the G7 summit.

I know of one double vaccinated person that caught it. That's inevitable with imperfect vaccines - which are still useful if they reduce the frequency and severity of the infection.

[Specmaster]

Somebody please post some TEA content.

Even spaghetti schematics are looking good right now.

Found an HP 3478A for £65 shipped BIN last night. Needless to say I purchased it on reflex, will post all the usual pr0n when it arrives...

Saw that one but the listing photo reminded me how hard the non-lit LCD can be to read unless head on in good light.

Thats why I sold mine on. Its not always possible to arrange meters directly in line of clear sight. The other reason for selling on was its pitiful voltage range.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/hp-3457a-lcd-backlight-mod-(also-for-3478a)/

On the ranges, it’s an “electronics” DMM not an “electrical” DMM.

Yep, I know that, but I was working on something electronic that exceeded its capabilities 

[bd139]

Somebody please post some TEA content.

Even spaghetti schematics are looking good right now.

Ok. Here's the inside of the Sinclair DM350 that I working on at the moment.

McBryce.

Got to love the cheapskate current shunt 5% WW resistor with excess lead length and kelvin connection tap for "calibration"

Don’t forget the 2000ppm tempco as well 

[bd139]

Somebody please post some TEA content.

Even spaghetti schematics are looking good right now.

Found an HP 3478A for £65 shipped BIN last night. Needless to say I purchased it on reflex, will post all the usual pr0n when it arrives...

Saw that one but the listing photo reminded me how hard the non-lit LCD can be to read unless head on in good light.

Thats why I sold mine on. Its not always possible to arrange meters directly in line of clear sight. The other reason for selling on was its pitiful voltage range.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/hp-3457a-lcd-backlight-mod-(also-for-3478a)/

On the ranges, it’s an “electronics” DMM not an “electrical” DMM.

Yep, I know that, but I was working on something electronic that exceeded its capabilities 

That’s what the other 47 DMMs are for 

[bd139]

Hmm, the pandemic is only over IMHO over there because people don’t believe that it exists keep your ears and eyes open because it’s going to come about bite peoples arses big time very quickly.

For the last month cases have been rising exponentially (i.e. straight line on a log scale). 25th May: 2400/day, 26th June: 14600. Typically clusters are around city-centre universities and the G7 summit.

I know of one double vaccinated person that caught it. That's inevitable with imperfect vaccines - which are still useful if they reduce the frequency and severity of the infection.

It’s a trade off on quality of life outcome across the board now. YMMV but it’s a risky and dangerous business being alive. We’ve mostly been lucky having avoided wars and significant disease really. Even COVID is fairly low impact in the scale of things.

I’m grateful for what I’ve got away with so far 

[tggzzz]

Hmm, the pandemic is only over IMHO over there because people don’t believe that it exists keep your ears and eyes open because it’s going to come about bite peoples arses big time very quickly.

For the last month cases have been rising exponentially (i.e. straight line on a log scale). 25th May: 2400/day, 26th June: 14600. Typically clusters are around city-centre universities and the G7 summit.

I know of one double vaccinated person that caught it. That's inevitable with imperfect vaccines - which are still useful if they reduce the frequency and severity of the infection.

It’s a trade off on quality of life outcome across the board now. YMMV but it’s a risky and dangerous business being alive. We’ve mostly been lucky having avoided wars and significant disease really. Even COVID is fairly low impact in the scale of things.

I’m grateful for what I’ve got away with so far 

Yes, but...

The issue isn't about people putting themselves at risk, it is about putting other people at risk. Former is fine by me, the latter is questionable.

Nonetheless, we will be stuck with covid variants for the foreseeable future, and hence will have to learn what is necessary to live with it - as opposed to die or be crippled by long covid.

[tggzzz]

Somebody please post some TEA content.

Even spaghetti schematics are looking good right now.

Ok. Here's the inside of the Sinclair DM350 that I working on at the moment.

McBryce.

Got to love the cheapskate current shunt 5% WW resistor with excess lead length and kelvin connection tap for "calibration"

Don’t forget the 2000ppm tempco as well 

Or the contacts in any one of the skeleton presets. I'm slightly surprised to see so many, since they would have been expensive relative to precision resistors.

[bd139]

Hmm, the pandemic is only over IMHO over there because people don’t believe that it exists keep your ears and eyes open because it’s going to come about bite peoples arses big time very quickly.

For the last month cases have been rising exponentially (i.e. straight line on a log scale). 25th May: 2400/day, 26th June: 14600. Typically clusters are around city-centre universities and the G7 summit.

I know of one double vaccinated person that caught it. That's inevitable with imperfect vaccines - which are still useful if they reduce the frequency and severity of the infection.

It’s a trade off on quality of life outcome across the board now. YMMV but it’s a risky and dangerous business being alive. We’ve mostly been lucky having avoided wars and significant disease really. Even COVID is fairly low impact in the scale of things.

I’m grateful for what I’ve got away with so far 

Yes, but...

The issue isn't about people putting themselves at risk, it is about putting other people at risk. Former is fine by me, the latter is questionable.

Nonetheless, we will be stuck with covid variants for the foreseeable future, and hence will have to learn what is necessary to live with it - as opposed to die or be crippled by long covid.

Completely agree. This is why you’ll see me wearing a mask long after other people have given up.

Also I’m not going to any hamfests as one cough at one of them will triple the body count.