Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Neper]

The ones in the UK sported the "bare concrete" look, some complete with the rough surfaces of the wooden planks which had surrounded the formwork.

As a matter of fact, the term brutalism doesn't have anything to do with brutality. The original French term was béton brut, raw concrete, as it came out of the encasing it was poured into, wood grain, warts and all.

[Peter_O]

In German it's "Sichtbeton", something like "visible concrete", which is exposed concrete in english.
Often the form boards are sandblasted to enhance the wood grain.

At home it would make me feel like beeing some kind of architecture exhibition attendant. I like it far more 'gemütlich'.

[med6753]

Beautiful restoration with the original DB 605 engine. That Daimler engine starts instantly and runs smooth thanks to the fuel injection. Merlin and Allison engines would crank and crank then sputter and stammer and blow all sorts of smoke while starting.

I guess the swastika is illegal in Germany to display even on historical objects hence the partial swastika on the tail.

That FW-190 in the hanger is damn cool too.

[Neper]

I guess the swastika is illegal in Germany to display even on historical objects hence the partial swastika on the tail.

It is indeed and rightly so. I don't even see the point of restoring nazi objects, from Messerschmitt planes to Volksempfänger radios.

[Robert763]

Two garages, no prize for guessing which is mine and which is the new rental 

Started moving stuff already but hasn't made much of a dent in the mess. Looks like there are going to be  lot of old EI laminated transformers going to the scrap yard though.

[med6753]

I guess the swastika is illegal in Germany to display even on historical objects hence the partial swastika on the tail.

It is indeed and rightly so. I don't even see the point of restoring nazi objects, from Messerschmitt planes to Volksempfänger radios.

Gee, I don't want to start a controversy or political discussion. It's fair game to condemn the people of the Nazi regime but you can't ignore the technological developments made during that era. For example....would you favor tossing the axial flow turbojet engine back into the dust bin? And what about all the German companies still in existence today? Daimler, BMW, Bosch, etc? 

[med6753]

Two garages, no prize for guessing which is mine and which is the new rental 

Started moving stuff already but hasn't made much of a dent in the mess. Looks like there are going to be  lot of old EI laminated transformers going to the scrap yard though.

Ever hear of Fibber McGee's closet? 

[factory]

I guess the swastika is illegal in Germany to display even on historical objects hence the partial swastika on the tail.

It is indeed and rightly so. I don't even see the point of restoring nazi objects, from Messerschmitt planes to Volksempfänger radios.

Gee, I don't want to start a controversy or political discussion. It's fair game to condemn the people of the Nazi regime but you can't ignore the technological developments made during that era. For example....would you favor tossing the axial flow turbojet engine back into the dust bin? And what about all the German companies still in existence today? Daimler, BMW, Bosch, etc?

Daimler predate both world wars, they go back to the 1880's making car engines, OK BMW made aircraft engines from WWI.
Bosch also go back to the 1880's, making electrical parts including magnetos, they even had a subsidiary in the UK in the 1920's, which was part of Lucas in 1930's and stuff was branded CAV-Bosch for a few years.
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Bosch

I have a small Villiers generating set from the 1930's and most of the electrical parts are CAV-Bosch.
Sort of TEA related.

My Dad has a Bosch generating set from the first world war, it got dumped (air drop) in a field & whoever found it didn't hand it in to the authorities.

David

[Neper]

Gee, I don't want to start a controversy or political discussion. It's fair game to condemn the people of the Nazi regime but you can't ignore the technological developments made during that era. For example....would you favor tossing the axial flow turbojet engine back into the dust bin?

There's a difference between useful technology and nazi war paraphernalia.

[Cubdriver]

Snagged this from the bay of evil a long time ago. It arrived very poorly packed bouncing around in its carton with a cracked handle (fortunately not completely broken free, but it still pissed me off), missing the fuse holder cap and mains fuse.  I was so aggravated it went straight to the repair queue.

The approach of this page prompted me to dig it out and poke at it a bit.  Borrowed a fuse cap from something else and still had no indication of life when brought up on a variac. Troubleshot a bit and found the power switch was not closing (getting it out requires removal of the side casting; it's in a little aluminum box and rather snugly nestled in place).  Fortunately some Deoxit dribbled into the gap between the plunger and housing followed by some exercise got the switch unstuck and working again, and things look pretty good after a cursory check with a few small caps I had kicking around.







It still needs a good going over and a serious bath, but I’m glad I was finally motivated to look at it!

More pics to come when it gets a proper examination.

-Pat

<edit - typos. I hate posting from an iPad!>

[med6753]

It's a wrap. Complete. It's got over 48 hours of defect free burn-in.

At some point I will install the rectifier upgrade so generously sent to me by TERRA Operative. When I feel like torturing myself with the disassembly/assembly. 

[Cerebus]

Those 4 Caddock 1776-10 decade divider resistor arrays I mentioned a few days back turned up. Herein follow the details from our Inbound Inspection Department for the information of anyone else who may be tempted by some.

-snip-

Nominal accuracy +0-0.5%, nominal ratio accuracy ±0.1%. All specimens well within their specifications, particularly good ratio matching.

-snip-

What about the measuring meter's uncertainty? I'm guessing it's small enough that the possible range of values for the resistors remains within the specs, but you know I had to ask...

My spreadsheet has the actual standard deviation of the readings in, but I wasn't going to fuss with posting that. The whole uncertainty, including the meter uncertainty, for the absolute values comes at about 900 ppm (k=2) or 0.09% for the 10M end of things down to 130 ppm (k=2) or 0.013% at the 10k end , ratio values on the other hand just boil down to the 24 hour uncertainties of the meter, which is about 25ppm (k=2) or 0.0025%.

If one was going to be really finicky you'd work out the Johnson noise of the resistances and RMS add that to the existing measurement uncertainties assuming that HPAK haven't already accounted for that in the range by range uncertainties which, judging from the trends of the figures in the data sheet they already have (0.015%+0.001%) for 10M range, 24 hours, versus (0.002%+0.0005%) for 10k range, 24 hours.

[Cubdriver]

Very nicely done, Mike!  Things that small and throwable should know better than to be as aggravating as that little bugger was when you were fixing it - I know I’d have been very sorely tempted to fastball pitch it at a wall multiple times based on the saga you shared with us here!  (Wouldn’t have done so, but resisting the urge would have been tough to do.)

-Pat

[med6753]

Very nicely done, Mike!  Things that small and throwable should know better than to be as aggravating as that little bugger was when you were fixing it - I know I’d have been very sorely tempted to fastball pitch it at a wall multiple times based on the saga you shared with us here!  (Wouldn’t have done so, but resisting the urge would have been tough to do.)

-Pat

The nearly 6 month saga with the Type 547 taught me (some) patience. So while it would have been very easy and tempting to smash the 212 against the wall a few deep breaths convinced me not to.

But I still hate people. 

[Specmaster]

Beautiful restoration with the original DB 605 engine. That Daimler engine starts instantly and runs smooth thanks to the fuel injection. Merlin and Allison engines would crank and crank then sputter and stammer and blow all sorts of smoke while starting.

I guess the swastika is illegal in Germany to display even on historical objects hence the partial swastika on the tail.

That FW-190 in the hanger is damn cool too.

Hmm, only poorly maintained merlins are like that, those on the Hangar 11 collection Spitfires start on almost first turn of the engine with no smoke and their not injection either.

[Cerebus]

The ones in the UK sported the "bare concrete" look, some complete with the rough surfaces of the wooden planks which had surrounded the formwork.

That effect was often deliberately produced by sandblasting the boards used for the shuttering that was used to mould the concrete. This showed up any grain in the wood, but also relieved the edges of the wood slightly leaving visible 'seams' in the concrete. You can see that precise effect on the lecture centre at Brunel - the building directly behind Fulton McKay and Malcolm McDowell above and shown in closer detail here:



You can see all the vertical lines where the side-by-side shuttering boards butted up to each other and occasionally horizontal lines where two boards in line abutted. E.g. A broken horizontal line about 8-10 feet off the ground on the foreground pillar (to the left of the central walking man in the picture) where alternate boards ended at the same length.

Brunel is actually one of the better examples of the style. It was very carefully done and the original building work is first rate. It still looks as miserable as a wet Wednesday. The typical British Brutalist build was, by comparison, "thrown up" and makes Brunel look sunny by comparison.

[Cerebus]

As a matter of fact, the term brutalism doesn't have anything intentionally to do with brutality. The original French term was béton brut, raw concrete, as it came out of the encasing it was poured into, wood grain, warts and all.

TFTFY

[Cerebus]

In German it's "Sichtbeton", something like "visible concrete", which is exposed concrete in english.
Often the form boards are sandblasted to enhance the wood grain.

At home it would make me feel like beeing some kind of architecture exhibition attendant. I like it far more 'gemütlich'.

Sichtbeton? Scheißbeton more like. 

[Cerebus]

Gee, I don't want to start a controversy or political discussion. It's fair game to condemn the people of the Nazi regime but you can't ignore the technological developments made during that era. For example....would you favor tossing the axial flow turbojet engine back into the dust bin?

There's a difference between useful technology and nazi war paraphernalia.

The Spitfire is much loved as a aircraft (good) and as an icon for the RAF of WWII (a perfectly socially acceptable attitude to display but possibly not so good because that RAF also firebombed civilians). I see no problem with admiring, say, the ME109 as an aircraft but not as a symbol of Nazi military might. If the Spitfire can, for the sake of historical accuracy, carry the same RAF roundels the planes that firebombed Dresden carried, then in the same spirit I personally have no problem with an ME109 carrying historically accurate markings.

One positive point in mutilating the Nazi markings on WWII German planes is that it offers the possibility of a teaching moment when taking small boys around aircraft museums. "Father, why is that marking only half there?", "Well son, in the Second World War there were some bad Germans...". Perhaps we should do the same to RAF roundels and USAF markings on museum planes to encourage everybody to tell the whole truth. "Well son, the RAF did some good and very brave things in the second World War, however they also did some bad things...".

[Cerebus]

Snagged this from the bay of evil a long time ago...

I'm glad to see that Pat shares my fondness for the most useful lab tool of all - blue tape.

[med6753]

Gee, I don't want to start a controversy or political discussion. It's fair game to condemn the people of the Nazi regime but you can't ignore the technological developments made during that era. For example....would you favor tossing the axial flow turbojet engine back into the dust bin?

There's a difference between useful technology and nazi war paraphernalia.

The Spitfire is much loved as a aircraft (good) and as an icon for the RAF of WWII (a perfectly socially acceptable attitude to display but possibly not so good because that RAF also firebombed civilians). I see no problem with admiring, say, the ME109 as an aircraft but not as a symbol of Nazi military might. If the Spitfire can, for the sake of historical accuracy, carry the same RAF roundels the planes that firebombed Dresden carried, then in the same spirit I personally have no problem with an ME109 carrying historically accurate markings.

One positive point in mutilating the Nazi markings on WWII German planes is that it offers the possibility of a teaching moment when taking small boys around aircraft museums. "Father, why is that marking only half there?", "Well son, in the Second World War there were some bad Germans...". Perhaps we should do the same to RAF roundels and USAF markings on museum planes to encourage everybody to tell the whole truth. "Well son, the RAF did some good and very brave things in the second World War, however they also did some bad things...".

Couldn't have said it better myself. And least we forget. "Little Boy" and "Fat Man".

[Cubdriver]

Snagged this from the bay of evil a long time ago...

I'm glad to see that Pat shares my fondness for the most useful lab tool of all - blue tape.

Ha - that tape has probably been there for a good ten years now - that’s an old (like 60s era) Formica table (think it was my parent's first kitchen table) that I started using years ago to hold my computer keyboard and monitor.  The adhesive holding the edge banding in place was giving up the ghost, so I temporarily taped it in place so as not to catch and tear it completely off.  That was in about 2011 or 12.  Gotta love ‘temporary' fixes!

-Pat

[Cerebus]

I use that blue tape (genuine 3M, naturally) left, right, and centre. Holding cables in place while making up cables, stabilising cables on test hookups where the cables are trying to pull the board about/off the test point, taping down PCBs and stencils for applying paste, 1001 lab uses and more. Sometimes I even use it to mask something for painting.

[Neper]

One positive point in mutilating the Nazi markings on WWII German planes is that it offers the possibility of a teaching moment when taking small boys around aircraft museums. "Father, why is that marking only half there?", "Well son, in the Second World War there were some bad Germans...". Perhaps we should do the same to RAF roundels and USAF markings on museum planes to encourage everybody to tell the whole truth. "Well son, the RAF did some good and very brave things in the second World War, however they also did some bad things...".

Makes the whole war sound like a friendly football match with a few rough moments.

[Specmaster]

Not quite TE but is related ish, this guy brought a electric super car from China over the internet.....



Part 2



Guys, there are other videos on this scam, if you want to see them, just subscribe to his channel, but this video shows the car he thought he was buying, not bad either...