Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[capt bullshot]

What is the general consensus about this boot anchor, how low should I go  ?

https://www.ebay.de/itm/124844098849

Interesting item, but the price tag is defective.

Sholud we do a group buy, you can keep it at your place and I'll bring the stuff to calibrate, or viceversa and split the costs for a 300 offer or something ?

 Cheers,
 DC1MC

No thanks, you've seen all the stuff I already have (including two Fluke 5100 / 5101)

[capt bullshot]

Nah, that's not the real thing.

Also, as I commented on the video, a clock that does not talk NTP or PTP (and no %&€&%(#"%€ SNTP, if I may, please. ), or has a GNSS rx, should at least have a 10MHz/1PPS ref input so it'll actually show the time instead of an opinion. Seriously underwhelmed by most such designer efforts.

Fully agree. My (diy) clocks usually understand DCF77 (built-in receicer or input for demodulated pulses), my proprietary CAN "homebus" protocol, GPS PPS + NMEA, or NTP (broadcast by a local server).

Right on brothers! I mean, if it's more than ±100ns from UTC can you really call it a clock? Amiright, eh? 

OK, so the middle one of these three can be called a clock, according to my measurements.



Deviation from GPS PPS:

[bd139]

Oh man I just came here to get away from fixing Grafana dashboards. That didn’t work 

[mnementh]

Outside my budget but 60V 120A module fitted and was recently in Calibration if anyone is in the market for one. eBay auction: #294326799480

@Mnem - Just how quickly would you like to charge your LiPOs? 

I believe that is a load, not a power supply. There was a similarly-specced power supply unit at the rabbit warren up here with a $800 pricetag on it; as with most of his stuff, "If it's tested, it's gonna cost more." 

   

 
The 2x20A Reaktor is more than fast enough for my needs; plus it has a couple of little 120W brothers, all of which I can run at the same time (at approx 70-80% capacity). The Reaktor can also discharge at up to 20A, if you put a load resistor (or another battery that needs charge) across the other channel.

If I need serious juice (2400W/24V), I can fire up my copy of mnemPSU once I get my trailer back. It'll run them all at 110% capacity. Without breaking a sweat. 

mnem
*tzzzzt*

[mnementh]

Nah, that's not the real thing.

Also, as I commented on the video, a clock that does not talk NTP or PTP (and no %&€&%(#"%€ SNTP, if I may, please. ), or has a GNSS rx, should at least have a 10MHz/1PPS ref input so it'll actually show the time instead of an opinion. Seriously underwhelmed by most such designer efforts.

Fully agree. My (diy) clocks usually understand DCF77 (built-in receicer or input for demodulated pulses), my proprietary CAN "homebus" protocol, GPS PPS + NMEA, or NTP (broadcast by a local server).

Right on brothers! I mean, if it's more than ±100ns from UTC can you really call it a clock? Amiright, eh? 

±100ns...? Don't make me have to report all y'alls gross negligence to the TVA. Miss Minutes will FUCK. YOU. UP.  

mnem
Time is the Universe's way of keeping everything from happening all at one.

[mnementh]

Oh man I just came here to get away from fixing Grafana dashboards. That didn’t work 

*does a quick Gurrgle* Fuck. Looks almost as testicle-grindingly painful as multiple cuntcurrent Aruba consoles. 

mnem
That was a typo... I decided to leave it. 

[mnementh]

Two major changes since my return:

1) This thread is sticky
2) This thread is moving so so fast, avalanche effect.

1) Yes. We are sticky AND famous now at the same time. Except bd139. He was already sticky. 

2) Then I suggest you should become a zener diode. Could probably help you, then. 

   https://xkcd.com/814/

mnem
"Smoke 'em if you got 'em." ~me

[med6753]

Working the intermittent sweep mag issue on the horizontal board. See schematic. I went ahead and changed Q554 betting that transistor was going leaky or weird when hot. Seems like a good candidate anyway because the sweep mag switches are in that vicinity.

The Siglent is monitoring ramp trace from A Sweep at Q543. That waveform should not vary unless the Time/Div deck is exercised. The Fluke is monitoring the +100V current.

So far.....after about 20 minutes or so.....no mag variance. Will let it run and see what happens. 

[cyclin_al]

Nah, that's not the real thing.

Also, as I commented on the video, a clock that does not talk NTP or PTP (and no %&€&%(#"%€ SNTP, if I may, please. ), or has a GNSS rx, should at least have a 10MHz/1PPS ref input so it'll actually show the time instead of an opinion. Seriously underwhelmed by most such designer efforts.

It does have a ESP32 with WiFi... and the software comes with some sort of undescribed tool with a bootloader file... maybe someone smart can make it sync NTP over Internet
could be interesting project for when more information is available

I find it most interesting just as a display.  If the source code can be found, then there are all sorts of possibilities.  I did not look into it, only commenting, as I cannot allow myself to clutter my bench and brain with yet another un-started project.

If real nixxies are unobtainium or unaffordable, then this could make for some compromise to be considered.  Not necessarily to be implemented, but maybe as a last resort...

[Cerebus]

Oh man I just came here to get away from fixing Grafana dashboards. That didn’t work 

    

While you're at it, can you fix that one? That "Panel title" is beginning to make me develop a tic - I can feel the swish of a physics teacher's ruler towards the back of someone's hand and hear a voice saying "If you haven't labelled it properly it's not a graph, it's a meaningless doodle.". Sigh, old "Looby-Lou" who used to say that is probably dead now.

[mnementh]

I just found out I can order stuff from the 3D printing department in my new work:

- 3D SYSTEMS PROX 950
- F370 STRATASYS PRINTERS
- 3D SYSTEMS PROX 950

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

I think you have the wrong song of that name... Access to a 3DP Lab is, if anything, more addictive...

Leonard Cohen's version fits I think:



mnem
"Hallelujah"

Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

    Baby, I've been here before.
    I know this room, I've walked this floor.
    I used to live alone before I knew you.

    Yeah I've seen your flag on the marble arch,
    But listen, love is not some kind of victory march,
    No it's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah.

    Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, (Hallelujah...)

    There was a time you let me know
    What's really going on below,
    Ah but now you never show it to me, do you?

    Yeah but I remember, yeah when I moved in you,
    And the holy dove, she was moving too,
    Yes every single breath that we drew was Hallelujah.

    Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

    Maybe there's a God above,
    As for me, all I've ever seemed to learn from love
    Is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you.

    Yeah but it's not a complaint that you hear tonight,
    It's not the laughter of someone who claims to have seen the light
    No it's a cold and it's a very lonely Hallelujah.

    Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

    I did my best, it wasn't much.
    I couldn't feel, so I learned to touch.
    I've told the truth, I didn't come all this way to fool you.

    Yeah even though it all went wrong
    I'll stand right here before the Lord of Song
    With nothing on my lips but Hallelujah.

    Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
    Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

[bd139]

Oh man I just came here to get away from fixing Grafana dashboards. That didn’t work 

*does a quick Gurrgle* Fuck. Looks almost as testicle-grindingly painful as multiple cuntcurrent Aruba consoles. 

mnem
That was a typo... I decided to leave it. 

I’ve got a small Grafana installation here if you want pain.

It handles about 50 dashboards, over 50 physical HUDs, 15 odd kubernetes clusters in three geographical regions, 500 users and about 50mbits traffic.

Now that’s pain 

Edit: and I didn’t mention the 20-odd Prometheus clusters and global Thanos aggregator. 

[med6753]

I was going to ask what a Grafana was. Since it appears to be related to IT and software that's OK, I don't want to know. 

[bd139]

Draws screens full of pretty graphs so your operations centre looks cool. That’s all 

Edit: can be used for instrumentation as well. It’s pretty good for that. Using it in an IT capacity is just fucking miserable though because you just watch things going close to a red line all day hoping they don’t go over it and invoke lord Cthulhu who will dine from your open skull while shafting you with a traffic cone.

Edit 2: actually that’s a perfect description of my job 

[mnementh]

Oh man I just came here to get away from fixing Grafana dashboards. That didn’t work 

*does a quick Gurrgle* Fuck. Looks almost as testicle-grindingly painful as multiple cuntcurrent Aruba consoles. 

mnem
That was a typo... I decided to leave it. 

I’ve got a small Grafana installation here if you want pain. It handles about 50 dashboards, over 50 physical HUDs, 15 odd kubernetes clusters in three geographical regions, 500 users and about 50mbits traffic. Now that’s pain 

Edit: and I didn’t mention the 20-odd Prometheus clusters and global Thanos aggregator. 

*runs away shrieking into the distance*

mnem
you know which one is me.

[mnementh]

Draws screens full of pretty graphs so your operations centre looks cool. That’s all 

Edit: can be used for instrumentation as well. It’s pretty good for that. Using it in an IT capacity is just fucking miserable though because you just watch things going close to a red line all day hoping they don’t go over it and invoke lord Cthulhu who will dine from your open skull while shafting you with a traffic cone.

Edit 2: actually that’s a perfect description of my job 

There's a whole subgenre of hentai that's exactly that, you know. You could just watch instead of participating. 

mnem
you know; to catch your breath between rounds.

[Peter_O]

Just another orphant rescued: HP3438A
Low cost then, low cost now, 39 Eur.
That's kind of the price of the four original feets only, that are still in place.   
Ah, and an originally printed operating and service manual. 
It's showing heavy use but is complete and working fine. Some cleaning might help too.

[Saskia]

The problem with medical reports of biochemistry is that the buggers can't agree on what units to use, they vary from country to country and sometimes even between doctors/laboratories. There are four different ways of expressing HbA_1c results that are commonly used!

Fortunately it's one of the easier ones to guess, so your 5.5 is either 5.5% glycosylation or 5.5 mmol/L  - either way that is excellent news because neither of those is a diabetic or pre-diabetic figure, it's a completely normal healthy figure (unless some clever clogs has come up with yet another unit that I haven't heard of yet) and because HbA_1c is an indicator of medium term (roughly three months) blood sugar levels it means you've been "normal" for quite a while. Great news.

it's the 5.5% one, it was higher at the previous measurement. The problem was the fat liver which is receding (almost gone), the hyperactive pancreas pumping out insuline and the insuline levels which were through the roof.

Getting the insuline levels back under control and relieving the pancreas was the important part. Now it's just weight and fat loss (currently 22 kg and 17 cm tummy circumference in 3 months). Working on attaining the objective of 100 lbs ... should be doable ...

[Neomys Sapiens]

Oh man I just came here to get away from fixing Grafana dashboards. That didn’t work 

Any chance to build some Sysop-shock-patches in between the data and this 'Grafana'? Like some frequently watched graps suddenly redlining while nothing happened at all?
 

[Cerebus]

Oh man I just came here to get away from fixing Grafana dashboards. That didn’t work 

*does a quick Gurrgle* Fuck. Looks almost as testicle-grindingly painful as multiple cuntcurrent Aruba consoles. 

mnem
That was a typo... I decided to leave it. 

I’ve got a small Grafana installation here if you want pain.

It handles about 50 dashboards, over 50 physical HUDs, 15 odd kubernetes clusters in three geographical regions, 500 users and about 50mbits traffic.

Now that’s pain 

Edit: and I didn’t mention the 20-odd Prometheus clusters and global Thanos aggregator.

That sounds like Ming the Merciless giving instructions on what to do with Flash Gordon.

"Strap him to a chair in the Prometheus Cluster and use the Thanos Aggregator on him. He will talk or I am not Ming the Merciless!."


"Gordon's alive!"

"Brian? Shut up."

Edit:
    "BOFH - The Space Rock Opera*" - That's what we need.  BD, get your guitar, we have music to write!

*feat. Lebelle

[Cerebus]

The problem with medical reports of biochemistry is that the buggers can't agree on what units to use, they vary from country to country and sometimes even between doctors/laboratories. There are four different ways of expressing HbA_1c results that are commonly used!

Fortunately it's one of the easier ones to guess, so your 5.5 is either 5.5% glycosylation or 5.5 mmol/L  - either way that is excellent news because neither of those is a diabetic or pre-diabetic figure, it's a completely normal healthy figure (unless some clever clogs has come up with yet another unit that I haven't heard of yet) and because HbA_1c is an indicator of medium term (roughly three months) blood sugar levels it means you've been "normal" for quite a while. Great news.

it's the 5.5% one, it was higher at the previous measurement. The problem was the fat liver which is receding (almost gone), the hyperactive pancreas pumping out insuline and the insuline levels which were through the roof.

Getting the insuline levels back under control and relieving the pancreas was the important part. Now it's just weight and fat loss (currently 22 kg and 17 cm tummy circumference in 3 months). Working on attaining the objective of 100 lbs ... should be doable ...

I wish several of the type II diabetics I know would get the message and do what you've done. I know people who probably won't be here in 5 years because they won't do what you have done.  Bloody brilliant work, keep it up!

On a more cheery note, it's now over 6 years since I've had to go to a friend's funeral and at my age that's quite a good thing.

[Neomys Sapiens]

There are three resistors between unregulated and regulated paths (R676-678). Two at 47 ohms and one at 5K. Can stick voltmeter across one of them (probably one of the 47 ohms ones as they are connected to the regulators cathode) as a current sample. V/R=I. Then double that as there are two to get the current.

Good idea. And those two 47 ohm resistors are the pair that burn up when a short occurs.

Then I would connect a meter over both of them. A voltage of around 30 to 40 Volt I would consider as a safe state.
If the voltage is increasing significantly, I'd power off it immediatly.

maybe
Measurement Amp -> Limit comparator -> Inverting control input of a power switch device
is a solution?
Or, as you mentioned powering this rail externally, does none of your power supplies have an RC connector?

[capt bullshot]

Upcoming TEA(cquisition) alert - teaser pic:



Got the photo from the seller, hopefully the unit will arrive in a few days
Bonus points for recognizing the instrument or the make. (that's too easy). Won't disclose before it is on my bench.

[AVGresponding]

Are the unisolated (earth shield) wires aluminum?
Otherwise, this looks pretty normal, you'd find these boxes with wiring like this in most medium aged houses here. Except for the shielded red cables.

Edit: now that I've read the whole lot of posts between the original and mine, I know better. I quite looks alike a mains junction box, but isn't. So you won't find it in a typical house.

Nope, it's tinned copper, the screen is aluminium though.

https://docs.rs-online.com/bfb3/0900766b813d5565.pdf

[Neomys Sapiens]

Nah, that's not the real thing.

Also, as I commented on the video, a clock that does not talk NTP or PTP (and no %&€&%(#"%€ SNTP, if I may, please. ), or has a GNSS rx, should at least have a 10MHz/1PPS ref input so it'll actually show the time instead of an opinion. Seriously underwhelmed by most such designer efforts.

Fully agree. My (diy) clocks usually understand DCF77 (built-in receicer or input for demodulated pulses), my proprietary CAN "homebus" protocol, GPS PPS + NMEA, or NTP (broadcast by a local server).

Right on brothers! I mean, if it's more than ±100ns from UTC can you really call it a clock? Amiright, eh? 

It just means the display is more than 30m from the clock element (c~=1ns/ft)

And before my inner vision a virtual Grace Hopper appears holding 30cm of wire and exclaiming 'THIS is one nanosecond!'