Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[med6753]

So how come every time there is a spike in the cases you Aussies clean out all the toilet paper? 

[Zoli]

This wouldn't be horribly overpriced even on the BIN if the description is truthful:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255070849654

Thank you.

I now own that. It does indeed look new based on the binding posts.

That is HORRENDOUSLY cheap for the condition. Usually £200 for a manky one and they are about £800 new in that condition 

The weird reading on the display is expected as well as none of the measurement buttons are poked in.

Edit: used to own one years ago

Did you take care of the suspect from the top left corner(yes, that's a picture of mines)?

[beanflying]

So how come every time there is a spike in the cases you Aussies clean out all the toilet paper? 

Surprisingly last short break TP only became reduced stock not wiped out. I am hoping around the country there is some idiots unable to put cars in Garages for years to come and have to look over their shoulders to make sure no one is watching their embarrassment every time they open the door 

[bd139]

Did you take care of the suspect from the top left corner(yes, that's a picture of mines)?

Oh yes 100%. The first thing that happens to any inbound kit is it is de-RIFA’ed.

I’m probably going to crack the new E3630A open as well and check it. It’s been on a shelf for the last 10 years in theory so you never know what moisture ingress has done to the buggers.

[Brumby]

So how come every time there is a spike in the cases you Aussies clean out all the toilet paper? 

Shit happens.


But, as Bean said, the lockdown rush this time around has been fleeting.  I was at Aldi a couple of days ago and their TP stock was FULL.  Two weeks earlier, it was very thin ... but not empty.

[AVGresponding]

So how come every time there is a spike in the cases you Aussies clean out all the toilet paper? 

Shit happens.


But, as Bean said, the lockdown rush this time around has been fleeting.  I was at Aldi a couple of days ago and their TP stock was FULL.  Two weeks earlier, it was very thin ... but not empty.

Pancake thin, or crêpe thin..?   

[mansaxel]

Just watched a local sparky firm on youtube, out on a "fire in junction box" call -- screw terminals badly applied, replaced with Wago 221, of course. "They won't fail and heat up like screw terminals." 



dragon-ticklingishly,

/M

[Specmaster]

Nearly all our lockdown restrictions were lifted weeks ago but with this delta variant rearing it's ugly head I fully expect a new lockdown. Now that my medical issues are pretty much taken care of I scheduled my first shot for Monday morning. I'll be sure to wear my "I hate people" t-shirt when I go. 

Yes, I think that you're correct about there will be another lockdown, our restrictions have been lifted, and now the government are claiming cases are in decline, which I seriously doubt. Only yesterday I heard on the news the opposite is true. I suspect the real truth is that cases are rising quite rapidly as far as the medical profession are concerned, but the government have possibly come with a revised method of how these are recorded to make the figures look lower in order to discredit the NHS so that they and the public shoulder the blame for the resultant chaos and thus make selling the NHS even easier.
 

[Saskia]

Let me pour some fire into the gasoline ...

Nagoya style breakfast

[bd139]

Oh now that's nice 

Beats my blueberry wheats 

[bd139]

Nearly all our lockdown restrictions were lifted weeks ago but with this delta variant rearing it's ugly head I fully expect a new lockdown. Now that my medical issues are pretty much taken care of I scheduled my first shot for Monday morning. I'll be sure to wear my "I hate people" t-shirt when I go. 

Yes, I think that you're correct about there will be another lockdown, our restrictions have been lifted, and now the government are claiming cases are in decline, which I seriously doubt. Only yesterday I heard on the news the opposite is true. I suspect the real truth is that cases are rising quite rapidly as far as the medical profession are concerned, but the government have possibly come with a revised method of how these are recorded to make the figures look lower in order to discredit the NHS so that they and the public shoulder the blame for the resultant chaos and thus make selling the NHS even easier.

Cases are declining now. The hospitalisations are rising as there's a "phase lag" of approximately 2-3 weeks after the peak. Plus quite frankly most of the folk in the NHS are literally incapable of looking at the rumours going around their own establishment. I experienced a lot of that from an actual doctor yesterday who was seriously misinformed about such matters.

We're waltzing into conspiracy theory territory here.

[tautech]

Oh now that's nice 

Beats my blueberry wheats 

Coffee, homemade bread and jam was mine but lamb shanks, roasted spuds and cheese coated broccoli for dinner washed down with a couple of double JB's and coke.......that's me done for the day.....10pm Sunday 

[mansaxel]

Oh now that's nice 

Beats my blueberry wheats 

And my yoghurt with the Luxury Fruit And Nut Müsli, Lidl own brand -- probably the most rich and complete müsli there is on the market here. Gorgeous though.

Now, am making tomato soup from scratch. Will heat some "buns" from the freezer to go with it. I've been saving a 5-pack of my own Brötchen/Semmerl/Rolls that I made with dark poppy seeds on.

Obligatory comms work: The Rπ that failed yesterday evening with "no i2c bus devices found" was rebooted the Norwegian way (pulling power to it) during the Discord session, and once it'd come back up (with some ferrules on the 5V supply line for good measure) I was able to verify that reports were coming in on the sensors.

Then, this morning, as I was patching Windows for the youngest one, I also put in a second Cat5E jack in his room, saving him from having to daisy-chain the PC off his Snom IP phone. As a result, he went from 100Mbit to GE LAN connection, which of course just affects his local work because the fibre still is capped to 100M.

[nfmax]

...I won't put up with the "bread" that's found in North America. I have my own sourdough culture and make baguettes from it.

For a whole new rabbit-hole of bready nerdery, start at: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1140945355992965121.html

[bd139]

Heads up for UK TE folk. New museum: https://www.museumofeverythingelse.com/

Full of Nixie tubes, VFDs, scopes and weird stuff. Run by the dude with the Furby organ.

[BU508A]

Heads up for UK TE folk. New museum: https://www.museumofeverythingelse.com/

Full of Nixie tubes, VFDs, scopes and weird stuff. Run by the dude with the Furby organ.

"Look Mum, no computer!"

 

[bd139]

Further video

[Specmaster]

Guys in the UK, Shpock is beginning to look like a secondary source of gear to eBay with some sellers willing to ship items for those buyers who cannot collect. There is a buyer protection program which is a premium on top of the buy it prices and shipping cost. Not sure if this is a set cost or a percentage of the final value, but on my recent purchase of gear, price was £50 and the on cost for protection was £3.70. Shpock handle the payments using debit or credit cards.

[bd139]

Interesting. I shall start looking on there. I notice a lot of people giving up on eBay now. Thanks for the tip off 

Also nice to see the eBay and gumtree monopoly being broken.

[Specmaster]

Nearly all our lockdown restrictions were lifted weeks ago but with this delta variant rearing it's ugly head I fully expect a new lockdown. Now that my medical issues are pretty much taken care of I scheduled my first shot for Monday morning. I'll be sure to wear my "I hate people" t-shirt when I go. 

Yes, I think that you're correct about there will be another lockdown, our restrictions have been lifted, and now the government are claiming cases are in decline, which I seriously doubt. Only yesterday I heard on the news the opposite is true. I suspect the real truth is that cases are rising quite rapidly as far as the medical profession are concerned, but the government have possibly come with a revised method of how these are recorded to make the figures look lower in order to discredit the NHS so that they and the public shoulder the blame for the resultant chaos and thus make selling the NHS even easier.

Cases are declining now. The hospitalisations are rising as there's a "phase lag" of approximately 2-3 weeks after the peak. Plus quite frankly most of the folk in the NHS are literally incapable of looking at the rumours going around their own establishment. I experienced a lot of that from an actual doctor yesterday who was seriously misinformed about such matters.

We're waltzing into conspiracy theory territory here.

I think that you might find the cases are going down because there is less actual testing going on now as a result of the altered conditions required for testing. Therefore if testing is being reduced, so will the number of positive results. There have been many reports of people experiencing problems in getting a test and even home kits supply is being interrupted presently.

It is also largely reported that the government have already laid the necessary groundwork in parliament for the possible privatisation of the NHS using the emergency powers and their massive majority. 

[Robert763]

OK enough of the foodie stuff, back to TEA.
I went to my first hamfest/radio rally in over two years this morning (missed a bunch pre-covid due to being overseas for work). Only a small one and didn't stay long. I took the new dog and she was not totally happy, still a bit nervous.
I did however score big time. A HP 8640B. I've been after a low phase noise generator (at the right price) either a 8640B or TF2017 for many years.  This one has option 001 the wide range udio oscillator. I'm not bothered abot the internal doubler, 'Ive plenty of UHF signal generators and an external doubler if I need it.
The photo is as bought, I' slowly bringing it up to temperature. Supposed to be workig and the RAF calibration stickers are in place so it's not been messed with.
The big question (other than will it work) how much? £40, yes forty, I didn't miss a digit. I had the cash out before he changed his mind.   
Also picked up a Rapco 1804 P2 GPSDO for £20  no I don't need another GPSDO but this is TEA

[AVGresponding]

Guys in the UK, Shpock is beginning to look like a secondary source of gear to eBay with some sellers willing to ship items for those buyers who cannot collect. There is a buyer protection program which is a premium on top of the buy it prices and shipping cost. Not sure if this is a set cost or a percentage of the final value, but on my recent purchase of gear, price was £50 and the on cost for protection was £3.70. Shpock handle the payments using debit or credit cards.

It's always good to find new ways of spending money on TE.

The search method in there will take some getting used to.

[Specmaster]

OK enough of the foodie stuff, back to TEA.
I went to my first hamfest/radio rally in over two years this morning (missed a bunch pre-covid due to being overseas for work). Only a small one and didn't stay long. I took the new dog and she was not totally happy, still a bit nervous.
I did however score big time. A HP 8640B. I've been after a low phase noise generator (at the right price) either a 8640B or TF2017 for many years.  This one has option 001 the wide range udio oscillator. I'm not bothered abot the internal doubler, 'Ive plenty of UHF signal generators and an external doubler if I need it.
The photo is as bought, I' slowly bringing it up to temperature. Supposed to be workig and the RAF calibration stickers are in place so it's not been messed with.
The big question (other than will it work) how much? £40, yes forty, I didn't miss a digit. I had the cash out before he changed his mind.   
Also picked up a Rapco 1804 P2 GPSDO for £20  no I don't need another GPSDO but this is TEA

Wow, if that actually works then you did very well getting that one 

[Andrew_Debbie]

Heads up for UK TE folk. New museum: https://www.museumofeverythingelse.com/

Full of Nixie tubes, VFDs, scopes and weird stuff. Run by the dude with the Furby organ.

It is in Kent, which saves Debbie from being dragged down there. 

Still hoping to visit Blechley Park.  Been on my list for ages, but it is too darn far for a day trip and never seems to fit in the schedule for a weekend in London.    Debbie might actually enjoy Blechley.   

[bd139]

OK enough of the foodie stuff, back to TEA.
I went to my first hamfest/radio rally in over two years this morning (missed a bunch pre-covid due to being overseas for work). Only a small one and didn't stay long. I took the new dog and she was not totally happy, still a bit nervous.
I did however score big time. A HP 8640B. I've been after a low phase noise generator (at the right price) either a 8640B or TF2017 for many years.  This one has option 001 the wide range udio oscillator. I'm not bothered abot the internal doubler, 'Ive plenty of UHF signal generators and an external doubler if I need it.
The photo is as bought, I' slowly bringing it up to temperature. Supposed to be workig and the RAF calibration stickers are in place so it's not been messed with.
The big question (other than will it work) how much? £40, yes forty, I didn't miss a digit. I had the cash out before he changed his mind.   
Also picked up a Rapco 1804 P2 GPSDO for £20  no I don't need another GPSDO but this is TEA

Oh now that 8640B is a bargain and a half at £40. May you be blessed with unbroken gears, properly imprisoned contacts and non exploded hybrid