Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[nfmax]

Another OT post, this time for those in the UK.

Currently I'm with VogonMedia cable for my internet (and landline), and have been since they were Blueyonder. I dislike VM and the keep having inflation busting price increases; my pips are squeaking.

Fortunately fibre will shortly be coming to a telephone pole near me, so I will have a choice Is there any good reason not to swap to fibre when it is available, e.g. Zen or AAIB. What precautions should I take, other than to migrate any email addresses?

I recently had (overhead) FTTP installed. While I was up a ladder, routing the internal fibre cable out from the roofspace, I noticed a bit of rot in the external roofline timber. Which unfortunately proved more extensive than it originally appeared - yes, I now have builders in!

[tggzzz]

None whatsoever, but be aware that VM does have the fastest fibre so if you can get fibre from VM, my advice would be to get it, but you say you're already with them, is that copper based or fibre? If it is fibre, you could threaten them with you leaving and taking your business else where because of their charges, you might be pleasantly surprised at what they will other you to stay.

So I've heard, and I might try it, even if only for fun. I was content with 20Mb/s, and refused their offers to upgrade the speed (and cost). After a while, they insisted.

Based on what I can infer from elsewhere, I doubt speed will be an issue.

As for poetry, even the Vogons would find it difficult to fins words that rhyme with expletives. (No, please don't try!).

As for builders, last year they started hacking my house and by mid March had got to the point where there were large gaps round my rotten wooden windows. You can guess what happened next

The timbers on the roofline will be OK; I replaced the roof myself a decade ago, and they were all fine. They knew how to cure wood 90 years ago The absolute worst that could happen would be a barge board needed replacing.

[tggzzz]

Thanks for suggestions about wallpaper for my phone. I've settled on this:



My ringtone is the warning sound from 2001:ASO when Poole is about to fire the explosive bolts on his pod; listen below. That is one of the few sounds guaranteed to get my attention.

It also works well in a crowded openplan office, to remind people that their ringtones annoy the whole room

[Andrew_Debbie]

My £25  Dana 5100  arrived today.      The 5100 is a  5 1/2 digit autoranging DMM made by Dana  (later Racal - Dana)  in Irvine CA.

I opened it up for some quick safety checks and then powered it on.  Looks like the 3.3uF caps on the + and - 300V supply have been replaced.  Everything else looks orinal with date codes from the 1970s.   Flashing 200000 on all settings except for freq.    Manual range clicks the relays and changes the decimal point.

I'll set aside some time to study the manual for the 5100AF, which is similar.    Photos soon.  Need to do some paid work now.

First guess is a bad power supply capacitor.  There are plenty of tanalums and 'lytics.   I'll check voltages and the manual before shotgun replacements.

[bd139]

Another OT post, this time for those in the UK.

Currently I'm with VogonMedia cable for my internet (and landline), and have been since they were Blueyonder. I dislike VM and the keep having inflation busting price increases; my pips are squeaking.

Fortunately fibre will shortly be coming to a telephone pole near me, so I will have a choice Is there any good reason not to swap to fibre when it is available, e.g. Zen or AAIB. What precautions should I take, other than to migrate any email addresses?

I would shelve VM. You’re not getting a real internet connection as they have terrible edge caches, filtering and packet shaping and possibly the most cancerous customer service on the planet.

Go with Zen FTTP. None of those problems, decent router hardware. Can get up to 900mbit here.

As for precautions, dump the land line when you go to FTTP and use mobile as it’s more reliable now. The copper lines are mostly terminated at local box where there’s no battery backup. Giffgaff will give you unlimited all sorts for less than the land line rental fee anyway.

Also zen categorically stated that they won’t increase the price ever. In fact mine went down in price.

As for email, never use an ISP provided email. Recipe for disaster.

[tggzzz]

Another OT post, this time for those in the UK.

Currently I'm with VogonMedia cable for my internet (and landline), and have been since they were Blueyonder. I dislike VM and the keep having inflation busting price increases; my pips are squeaking.

Fortunately fibre will shortly be coming to a telephone pole near me, so I will have a choice Is there any good reason not to swap to fibre when it is available, e.g. Zen or AAIB. What precautions should I take, other than to migrate any email addresses?

I would shelve VM. You’re not getting a real internet connection as they have terrible edge caches, filtering and packet shaping and possibly the most cancerous customer service on the planet.

I've come across one worse customer disservice organisation: Xafinity/Equinity pension administrators.

VM just stopped usenet feeds, which is another reason I'm ticked off at them.

Go with Zen FTTP. None of those problems, decent router hardware. Can get up to 900mbit here.

That's who I got for my mother. AAIB is the only other one I would consider.

As for precautions, dump the land line when you go to FTTP and use mobile as it’s more reliable now. The copper lines are mostly terminated at local box where there’s no battery backup. Giffgaff will give you unlimited all sorts for less than the land line rental fee anyway.

Diversity is good, and big loudspeakers help with my hearing, which is -110dB and -80dB

As for email, never use an ISP provided email. Recipe for disaster.

Historic, and not my main email accounts. One is even "spamjunk" Any useful emails are already saved on my local machine in mbox format, so I'm not even tied to one email client

[mnementh]

Who likes RF tinkering, knocking shit together and proving it works ?https://www.youtube.com/c/CharlieMorrisZL2CTM/videos

Mmmmmhmmm... interesting. But I think from a personal standpoint, I'll be happy to enjoy this channel vicariously.

mnem

[mnementh]

   https://xkcd.com/963/

mnem
*knocks self unconscious with a command line mallet*

That brings back memories of writing modelines in the 90s. Life is indeed good since then.

Still applies as long as you're not using Winblows exclusively (not sure aboot MacOS, that was one of the things I meant to learn aboot with my MacPro); sooner or later you'll have to fuck around in some config file.

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Thanks for suggestions about wallpaper for my phone. I've settled on this:   

My ringtone is the warning sound from 2001:ASO when Poole is about to fire the explosive bolts on his pod; listen below. That is one of the few sounds guaranteed to get my attention. It also works well in a crowded openplan office, to remind people that their ringtones annoy the whole room

*snurched with extreme prejudice...*

mnem
I'M AWAKE...!!! 

[mansaxel]

The initial batch were Integral brand, installed Feb 2015.   About 1/3 of have failed to date, mostly the 5W 3 LED GU10 ones.   All fail the same way.  Occasional blinks off then no light at all.

I replaced the early failures with expensive SORAA Vivid high CRI lights.   All of those still work.   Despite the high initial purchase price, they still save money compared to halogen and are less of a fire risk.

I'm now using Philips Master 'expert colour' high CRI leds.    They are an affordable alternative to SORAA and I can get them in BC  base as well as GU10.

Yes, I have the same experience. I tend to go with Osram, which has been good to me, reliability-wise, and yes, it's the GU10 reflectors who wear out first. We started with IKEA brand LEDs which are very cheap, but reasoned that they're good at haggling with the Chinese. The Småland province (where IKEA was founded) is known to be like Scotland, people are careful with their expenses.  So I figured they'd be good at getting hardwood value for chipboard money, like they use to do.  And, their E27 globes and E14 pears are brilliant and last. But the GU10 ones break.

[tggzzz]

Thanks for suggestions about wallpaper for my phone. I've settled on this:   

My ringtone is the warning sound from 2001:ASO when Poole is about to fire the explosive bolts on his pod; listen below. That is one of the few sounds guaranteed to get my attention. It also works well in a crowded openplan office, to remind people that their ringtones annoy the whole room

*snurched with extreme prejudice...*

mnem
I'M AWAKE...!!! 

Yes, that will wake you up!

If you prefer a more polite awakening, you might prefer this tone. Same source, occurs when Poole is preparing to blow the bolts. I prefer this, but it doesn't work well on a mobile phone's speaker. Fine on a PC's speaker

[mansaxel]

What precautions should I take, other than to migrate any email addresses?

Having email tied to your landline provider is sooo much a 90s thing. My parents have it, and I'm not happy with that but they'll not budge.

I've never had it. Always went separate. Like BD writes, always have an exit plan.

I would like to advice anyone in that situation to -- regardless whether planning to switch providers of landline or not -- move away from it ASAP in a controlled manner. It's always going to suck doing it; the key is to do it when you're not doing a metric shit-ton of other changes in parallel, because the aggregate fuckup potential is immense.

[Andrew_Debbie]

Some details about my 'new' Dana 5100 DMM.   

By design, the front panel is not flush with the case.  The meter 'looks down' unless you tilt it up on the bail.  I've never seen this on another DMM.



The outer case is held on by two screws, but one is missing.     Top shield has quick cal instructions.   About 1/2 of the trimpots still have the paint on them.   Fingers crossed someone didn't turn the others in an attempt to 'fix' the meter.





A single screw is all that holds the top sheild on.   The plastic case provides most of the force keeping the top and bottom shields on. 



Line voltage is set by a PCB key above the transformer.  There are 4 settings: 100V, 120V, 220V and 240V.  The chasis is drilled for a power select switch, which the 5100 does not use.  Oddly, there are marks where the switch would have been, even  though it is blocked off by the case.  I don't know what that is about.  Possibly there was a plate or the chassis was reused at the factory or ? A mystery.

  Most of the linear power supply is under a shield just below the transformer.   Oddly   The 7818 and 7918  regulators are some distance away.   The updated Racal-Dana 5100AF kept this design.






The input select key setting is visible through a window on the side of the chasis.  You need to remove the case to see this.  Yet another odd design choice.




Here is a close up view of the 7818 and 7918 regulators.   The 7918 is missing some heatshrink.   The date codes are 7717 and 7724.  This looks like a manufacturing error to me.




Just about all the parts look original to me.   Looks like the 3.3µF 350V caps on the +/- 300V supply were replaced at some point  the top of the pcb shows signs of outgassing at the caps and the soldering is a bit sloppy compared to the rest of the meter.



The +- 300V supply is only used on the high voltage ranges.  A failure there is not enough to stop the meter from working unless it brings down the low voltage supplies with it.    It  is Flashing 200000 over range on all settings, so my first guess is a failed low voltage supply.

[tggzzz]

What precautions should I take, other than to migrate any email addresses?

Having email tied to your landline provider is sooo much a 90s thing. My parents have it, and I'm not happy with that but they'll not budge.

I've never had it. Always went separate. Like BD writes, always have an exit plan.

I would like to advice anyone in that situation to -- regardless whether planning to switch providers of landline or not -- move away from it ASAP in a controlled manner. It's always going to suck doing it; the key is to do it when you're not doing a metric shit-ton of other changes in parallel, because the aggregate fuckup potential is immense.

Agreed on all counts.

Originally my (unimportant) email addresses weren't associated with my landline provider, but a few years ago I saved some money by swapping both to VM. My main single points of failure are my fleabay and paypal accounts. There are duplicates of everything else.

[cyclin_al]

It's also worth noting that in some countries, the US for example, the "neutral" may be another phase, where higher currents are needed eg for a tumble dryer.[/color][/size][/b]

The nomenclature we use for that is different.  In 240V circuits, we refer to the two conductors as Line1 and Line2 (or Live1 and Live2).  (no mention of conductor colour here is intentional)
There are also 120V/240V circuits, where we have Line1, Line2 and Neutral conductors.  (ie. dryer heater is 240V and tumbler motor is 120V)

If a certain colour of conductor is typically used for the neutral over here, never call it neutral based on its colour.
You can only call it neutral if you trace it back to the mains supply cabinet and you know it is actually neutral. 
Conductor colours mean absolutely nothing in north american building wiring.
The worst circuits are lighting circuits with 3-way or 4-way switches, along with very "inventive" ways of using minimal copper to get the switches and light sockets working as intended. 

Most circuits use Black for Line1, Red for Line2 and White for neutral.
You can be absolutely sure that if you assume this, then that is the exact case where it will actually be different. 

In the dryer circuit mentioned, Black and Red would be best practice, but it is quite possible to see Black and White, or Red and White.

Now, go have fun ... watching me that is, as I am doing house renovations.  I should be working on electrical as we speak, but I do not want to find out if I have to drill through concrete to run a mains cable.   Once I stop procrastinating, the wall material will no longer be a mystery.  I may sacrifice a drill bit in the process in order to find out.

EDIT:  Thanks to Med & Mnementh for explaining the supply from the utility

[Andrew_Debbie]

Neutral is supposed to always be the white wire in the US -- it is in the code.

The problem is inspection is haphazard at best and too often work is done by people who don't know or don't care.

Whenver we moved, one of the first things I would aways do is go around the house and check  the wall sockets for correct wiring.   


Three way light switches are just evil.  -  The last one I worked on  used two wire colors and no markers.   


In our Atlanta house, the  hard wired  hood over the stove had  reversed L and N with no ground.  I'm surprised no one was hurt -  the exposed metal was  leaky /  live.   The sort of thing where you can feel something is not right if you touch it.

[med6753]

If a certain colour of conductor is typically used for the neutral over here, never call it neutral based on its colour.
You can only call it neutral if you trace it back to the mains supply cabinet and you know it is actually neutral. 
Conductor colours mean absolutely nothing in north american building wiring.
The worst circuits are lighting circuits with 3-way or 4-way switches, along with very "inventive" ways of using minimal copper to get the switches and light sockets working as intended. 

Exactly. Even though 99% of the time white is neutral in 120V wiring never assume that it is unless you verify it. It could be a loop circuit for a wall switch. According the code if a white wire is hot the sparky is SUPPOSED to mark it at termination with black marker but if you rely on that you be dead. 

The discussion on Fiber: I think it will be a cold day in Hell before Verizon ever installs fiber in my area. So I'm stuck for now with my over priced cable TV ISP.

[bd139]

What precautions should I take, other than to migrate any email addresses?

Having email tied to your landline provider is sooo much a 90s thing. My parents have it, and I'm not happy with that but they'll not budge.

I've never had it. Always went separate. Like BD writes, always have an exit plan.

I would like to advice anyone in that situation to -- regardless whether planning to switch providers of landline or not -- move away from it ASAP in a controlled manner. It's always going to suck doing it; the key is to do it when you're not doing a metric shit-ton of other changes in parallel, because the aggregate fuckup potential is immense.

Agreed on all counts.

Originally my (unimportant) email addresses weren't associated with my landline provider, but a few years ago I saved some money by swapping both to VM. My main single points of failure are my fleabay and paypal accounts. There are duplicates of everything else.

Paypal is quite handy as you can add more than one email address to your account and just set the primary one to the one you still control. That allows you to take payments at old addresses.

[med6753]

Neutral is supposed to always be the white wire in the US -- it is in the code.

Not true. Unless code has changed it was acceptable to use white as a hot in a loop circuit for a wall switch.

[med6753]

Some details about my 'new' Dana 5100 DMM.   

By design, the front panel is not flush with the case.  The meter 'looks down' unless you tilt it up on the bail.  I've never seen this on another DMM.

...snip

Unfortunately it shows lots of evidence of Gorilla activity. Hopefully they didn't screw it up too bad. 

[med6753]

The foam filters used for window A/C units worked perfectly as a fan filter for the Type 547. Simply cut to size with scissors. And it's washable.

And yes, that heavy bastard is lying on it's side. I had no choice when troubleshooting the vertical/plug-in issue. So I have to very carefully get it back on it's feet without busting a nut. Luckily I can roll it without lifting but go slowly.   

[McBryce]

Does that foam allow enough air to get through? I tried using a similar foam on one of those cheap solder extrusion fans (https://www.ebay.de/itm/391024007986) and there was barely any air flow.

McBryce.

[med6753]

Does that foam allow enough air to get through? I tried using a similar foam on one of those cheap solder extrusion fans (https://www.ebay.de/itm/391024007986) and there was barely any air flow.

McBryce.

Yes. At certain angles you can see through the foam so it's not restrictive.

[AVGresponding]

Not quite TE but electronically interesting, is this Mk 3 Cortina prototype from the 1970s with a factory digital dash:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154544120839

[med6753]

  The steering wheel is on the wrong side. No wonder it never got passed the prototype stage. 


And if anyone cares the Type 547 is back on it's feet and my nuts are intact.