Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Robert763]

A traditional technique for generating low voltages is to have a, say, 10V stable voltage source, and use a Kelvin Varley Divider to generate lower voltages. 7 decade KVDs are available, which gives microvolt resolution.

For home use a Hamon divider is even easier. You just need 3 well matched stable resistors. Effectively self calibrating.
http://conradhoffman.com/HamonResistor.html

[McBryce]

Put it in perspective this way:

What do you imagine the guys who designed your hollow-state wonders would have thought of that meter...?

Especially if you told them it could be bought new for the price of steak dinner at a roadhouse...?

mnem
 

They'd think... "DC volts 0.3% +_5 counts    I'll stick with my hollow state meter thanks!

McBryce.

[tggzzz]

A traditional technique for generating low voltages is to have a, say, 10V stable voltage source, and use a Kelvin Varley Divider to generate lower voltages. 7 decade KVDs are available, which gives microvolt resolution.

For home use a Hamon divider is even easier. You just need 3 well matched stable resistors. Effectively self calibrating.
http://conradhoffman.com/HamonResistor.html

As is traditional, I thought of that 5s after pressing "post".

I decided not to go back and add it because I couldn't remember how well it scales to factors of 10³ or 10⁴ - and couldn't be bothered to look it up.

[beanflying]

The issue with a Hamon or KV divider is the loading from the meter with a 10M only option. Still both work ok for mV level resolution but becomes an issue below much below that.

Nice Calculator here to plug some numbers into https://xdevs.com/rdivider/

[beanflying]

Anyone in the UK want to sell a 'spare' or make a few $ https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/wtb-(uk)-frequency-counter-10-digit-200mhz/?topicseen

[med6753]

Progress today. Can get up to standing position without a huge spike in the pain.  I guess the old body is healing. I'll call the dr's office tomorrow to schedule a follow up. (Today is a national holiday due to the 4th of July falling on a Sunday this year).
 
Is anyone following the Windows 11 shit show where the MS system requirements list TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot as needed to install? If your PC or laptop is perhaps 3 years old or older you will be out of luck. I checked this Acer laptop and it looks like I'm OK. My media PC being more than 5 years old is NG. But there's all kinds of videos floating around now about hacks you can do to force the install. But currently it looks like a real mess and who knows what the final release will require.   

[beanflying]

Good to hear on the body front 

I think all the free kicking of Microsnot by the haters and speculation about a final production release need to draw two breaths. Until absolutely 'needed' I wont likely leave W10 much the same as I did with W7. Rushing to jump to 11 good luck with that trend setters 

[bd139]

TPM 2.0 is required for verified software at boot. Some OEMs can opt out so I suspect that the opt out method will be leaked almost immediately compromising their entire idea top to bottom.

Either way the only reason windows 10 got the market share it did was because it was free and worked on anything. The windows 11 restriction will knacker their market share so it’ll change.

Glad to hear your insides are sorting themselves out 

[VK5RC]

Every upgrade I just keep hearing this quote

"We trained hard—but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we were reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing, and what a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while actually producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization."
Petronius Arbiter

It depresses me that not a lot changes over the millennia.

Good news @med 👍

[Brumby]

The world has gone crazy......

My little spot welder was purchased 25th June, landed in Oz on 1st July and is slated for delivery on the 5th or 6th July.

That's like 10 DAYS total turnaround.     Completely unheard of in my experience.

It happened.  This afternoon.



Typical.  I thought I would have a couple of weeks or so to sort out power options.

[bd139]

Every upgrade I just keep hearing this quote

"We trained hard—but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we were reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing, and what a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while actually producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization."
Petronius Arbiter

It depresses me that not a lot changes over the millennia.

Good news @med 👍

That pretty much nails it on the head.

[mnementh]

...Is anyone following the Windows 11 shit show where the MS system requirements list TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot as needed to install? If your PC or laptop is perhaps 3 years old or older you will be out of luck. I checked this Acer laptop and it looks like I'm OK. My media PC being more than 5 years old is NG. But there's all kinds of videos floating around now about hacks you can do to force the install. But currently it looks like a real mess and who knows what the final release will require. 

TPM 2.0 is required for verified software at boot. Some OEMs can opt out so I suspect that the opt out method will be leaked almost immediately compromising their entire idea top to bottom.

Either way the only reason windows 10 got the market share it did was because it was free and worked on anything. The windows 11 restriction will knacker their market share so it’ll change.

Glad to hear your insides are sorting themselves out 

And nobody cares. The insipidly oversimplified Android UI is making people stay away in droves.

mnem
Two sucks don't make a awesome.

[mnementh]

Put it in perspective this way:   What do you imagine the guys who designed your hollow-state wonders would have thought of that meter...?

Especially if you told them it could be bought new for the price of steak dinner at a roadhouse...?

mnem
 

They'd think... "DC volts 0.3% +_5 counts    I'll stick with my hollow state meter thanks!

McBryce.

No actually... they'd dissect the fucking thing down to the molecular level for the solid-state, display and digital technologies inside it and implement as many of the the manufacturing processes used in it as they could as quickly as they could. If there's one thing Tek wasn't afraid of, it was custom silicon. Those motherfuckers made everything in-house; if anybody could duplicate say that LCD in-house, or get something close to that COB microprocessor back in the hollow-state days, it would've been Tek.

Now imagine if it had been handed to Bill and Dave, who were nothing if not extremely shrewd businessmen. They wouldn't have scoffed at those specs... they'd have found the market they were good for and sold the hell out of it. [hp] has a long history of manufacturing "fit for purpose" test equipment, making just exactly the level of precision required for the task at hand. Their exposure in the manufacturing and defense contracting world with portable and mid-level bench gear was largely the reason they could also command the frightful prices they got for their laboratory-grade gear.

They'd have eaten that meter up like candy and turned it into a profit-making machine in a heartbeat. Like... within 3 quarters. 

*EDITED to clarify.

mnem
We take too much for granted.

[mnementh]

]

Progress today. Can get up to standing position without a huge spike in the pain.  I guess the old body is healing. I'll call the dr's office tomorrow to schedule a follow up. (Today is a national holiday due to the 4th of July falling on a Sunday this year).

Good to hear you're feeling better. Don't do too much too soon; don't need you undoing all the amazing work mother nature has done on The Incredible Machine that is the human body just because you got cocky.

mnem
 

[med6753]

]

Progress today. Can get up to standing position without a huge spike in the pain.  I guess the old body is healing. I'll call the dr's office tomorrow to schedule a follow up. (Today is a national holiday due to the 4th of July falling on a Sunday this year).

Good to hear you're feeling better. Don't do too much too soon; don't need you undoing all the amazing work mother nature has done on The Incredible Machine that is the human body just because you got cocky.

mnem
 

Not too worry. As much as the Type 547 is mocking me and my OCD is off the charts because I want to fix it my common sense and outright fear of a repeat of this crap is keeping me grounded. Lifting a small bench DMM like those Flukes is my limit.   

[mnementh]

 

Good on ya. You've paid your dues, done your time. Now is the time to just sit back and enjoy the show.

mnem
"There's enough misery to go around without grabbing for more." ~grandmomma Edwards

[mnementh]

Every upgrade I just keep hearing this quote

"We trained hard—but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we were reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing, and what a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while actually producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization."   ~Petronius Arbiter

It depresses me that not a lot changes over the millennia.

Good news @med 👍

That pretty much nails it on the head.

It is something that will not end until we abandon the idea of using Corporate Structure for everything. The corporate mindset is the problem... not the people. It reduces functioning experts into stupid, useless cogs in a machine that deliberately destroys the kind of independent thought required to actually solve new problems.

What it does instead is hammer the problem... any problem... into something that fits within its stultifying framework, thereby solving nothing and eating the souls of those who actually know how to do something constructive.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

mnem
*toddles off to do... something.*

[wolfy007]

Got another HP meter, because you know why not, looked good in the pictures, price was ok and description said tested good. Came reasonably well packed, press power and nothing.

OK good, hopefully no batteries, so open it up to stick in some batteries and saw a blue coated terminal. Well that doesnt bode well, so pulled it apart. Sure enough corrosion damage on board. Anyway a couple caps replaced, repair battery holder and a bit of track clean up/soldering (and scraping away crud), it seems to have come up good. Only the AC volts and temp needed a bit of calibration.

Still either the seller lied and didnt test it, or they purposely neglected to mention the leak damage, since if tested then someone removed the batteries prior to shipping. Might pretty up the repaired area a bit, then drop some lacquer there and close her up. Shame really, looks very little used and only the leak damage to mar its otherwise excellent condition. Bloody alkalines and dodgy ebay sellers... 

Besides, wouldnt have been able to sleep if I went to bed before stopping the copper cancer.

[Specmaster]

@med6753, So pleased to hear that the pain is at last subsiding, and you're feeling better in yourself, but please do not attempt anything that will set up back further again. Send your OCD packing and mock the 547 back, tell it that one day, when you're upto it, how you are going to whoop its arse into line real quick, give it some of its own mocking back  .

[Specmaster]

On topic for once, I have just secured myself what looks like a nice specimen of a Extech MG 302 meter, complete with USB data logging capability on a PC. It comes in its original case and is complete with all leads, temp probe, USB dongle, croc leads and software, plus the manual. Found it local to me on Facebook marketplace. I pick it up later this evening so more news and photos etc then.

Hmm, its now a week gone since I gave Stewarts of Reading my phone number, as requested by them, so they could discuss that Fluke PM97 with me, and guess what, I'm still waiting for that phone call, guess they don't want to sell it then, or maybe they already have, just not to me

[cyclin_al]

That was a weekend filled with putting things in tight places and getting things stuck in holes!
Now that everyone's mind is in the gutter... 

This continues on top of my issue with the RC part; still need to sort out the screw shaft stuck in the cup.

I got my second COVID shot on Friday afternoon.  The after-effect was a sore shoulder and feeling tired.

On Saturday, everything was fine, so I decided to do as @Vince says (but not as he does, according to his posts) and went to work on the outside of the house.
Proof of my efforts and lack of results:


Concrete bit #1 on the left side is accidentally bent when I got stung by a wasp.    Now, I am allergic to bumble bee stings, but no harm in the past from wasp stings.  As a pro-active measure I took an antihistamine, which meant I had to quit working since those make a person groggy.  Finished the day sitting around the house with the Epi-pen close at hand.  (My first-aid protocol is different from normal, since I live in a rural area without nearby emergency services.)  @Med, you can know that I was with you there in spirit for the evening; get well quick!   A friend came over in the evening and took care of the wasp nest.

Went back to work on Sunday.  The bit #2 is heavily worn down, but at least some progress was made.  Some of the aggregate here is granite, which is very hard stuff to drill through.

Continued with bit #3, which suddenly burned itself out.  Later on I realized that the carbide tip on the end is missing; you can see the vacant slot in the photo.

I tried continuing with bit #4 in the same hole where I left off from bit #3.  This new bit lasted less than a second before the tip got chewed up.  You can also see the drill chuck was no longer able to securely hold the bit.  Investigating that is when I realized that the earlier bit is missing a tip and realized that tip must still be in the concrete.
Unfortunately, I am not aware of drill bits meant to drill through carbide steel.

Well done, Murphy!!! 

Next step is to fill some of those holes with silicone, come up with a re-design, and drill new holes in another location.  Not looking forward to this as the initial design involved minimal cutting of pressure treated lumber and now will likely involve custom cutting.

I will be able to get to TEA someday, I hope ?

[tggzzz]

It's a British passtime punching oneself in the bollocks and then crowing about how much we love the pain.

"Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over,
Thought I'd something more to say."

and the best bit

"Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
When I come home cold and tired
It's good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away, across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spell"

Nice lyrics.

Well, I agree - but Roger Waters didn't.

There was quite a good 1 hour documentary on DSotM in 2006: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398868/ In it Waters apologised for the "lower 6th form" lyrics.

(In the UK the 6th form is the non-compulsory last two years of school education, during which pupils specialise in ~3 subjects of their choice. The lower 6th is the first of those)

[mnementh]

...Besides, wouldn't have been able to sleep if I went to bed before stopping the copper cancer.

You so belong here. 

Also, welcome to the nuthouse etc, if I didn't say it already. 

mnem
 

[mnementh]

  That was a weekend filled with putting things in tight places and getting things stuck in holes!
(SNIP)
...I will be able to get to TEA someday, I hope ?

Welcome to Homeowner Hell!

mnem
 

[AVGresponding]

That was a weekend filled with putting things in tight places and getting things stuck in holes!
Now that everyone's mind is in the gutter... 

This continues on top of my issue with the RC part; still need to sort out the screw shaft stuck in the cup.

I got my second COVID shot on Friday afternoon.  The after-effect was a sore shoulder and feeling tired.

On Saturday, everything was fine, so I decided to do as @Vince says (but not as he does, according to his posts) and went to work on the outside of the house.
Proof of my efforts and lack of results:
(Attachment Link)

Concrete bit #1 on the left side is accidentally bent when I got stung by a wasp.    Now, I am allergic to bumble bee stings, but no harm in the past from wasp stings.  As a pro-active measure I took an antihistamine, which meant I had to quit working since those make a person groggy.  Finished the day sitting around the house with the Epi-pen close at hand.  (My first-aid protocol is different from normal, since I live in a rural area without nearby emergency services.)  @Med, you can know that I was with you there in spirit for the evening; get well quick!   A friend came over in the evening and took care of the wasp nest.

Went back to work on Sunday.  The bit #2 is heavily worn down, but at least some progress was made.  Some of the aggregate here is granite, which is very hard stuff to drill through.

Continued with bit #3, which suddenly burned itself out.  Later on I realized that the carbide tip on the end is missing; you can see the vacant slot in the photo.

I tried continuing with bit #4 in the same hole where I left off from bit #3.  This new bit lasted less than a second before the tip got chewed up.  You can also see the drill chuck was no longer able to securely hold the bit.  Investigating that is when I realized that the earlier bit is missing a tip and realized that tip must still be in the concrete.
Unfortunately, I am not aware of drill bits meant to drill through carbide steel.

Well done, Murphy!!! 

Next step is to fill some of those holes with silicone, come up with a re-design, and drill new holes in another location.  Not looking forward to this as the initial design involved minimal cutting of pressure treated lumber and now will likely involve custom cutting.

I will be able to get to TEA someday, I hope ?

You clearly need an SDS+ hammer drill. Given the regularity of bargain finds at thrift shops you guys have in the GWN I'm surprised you don't already have one.


EDIT: The tip is likely in many fragments at the bottom of the hole, and you might be able to get them out with a sticky stick, but even if you can't you should be able to just batter your way through with a new bit. You might have hit some rebar, that will make tips overheat and wear down/shatter.