Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mansaxel]

Actually, if Vince were to do that muticamera setup I was tossing around there, he'd need a video switcher.  And that's where the waveform monitor comes in, because as soon as you add a video switcher to the mix, it opens the door to all kinds of timing problems.  PAL's nicknamed Problems Are Lurking for a reason!

I'd rather have that than Never Twice (the) Same Colour.  For a multicamera setup one needs sync distribution, or the switching will be rolling. The W/V meter will help with signal quality and integrity, and will be useful to EQ the DA for the blackburst, but sync is a timing thing more than anything else.

Once it's all sorted out though, he can have some "talent" in front of the cameras doing a debate about whether tap water can be considered 100% ethically sourced vegan or not.

You evil you!

"All broadcast engineers are closet time-nuts."
(another forum member to me in PM.)

[mansaxel]

I am  set to bid on this Racal Dana 1998  Counter:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393856305682


no photos of the rear panel.  I am assuming it has the least desirable options.

Options 04a and 07, but the blanking plate where the GPIB intersnout sat is empty. There apparently was pics added.

[Andrew_Debbie]

I am  set to bid on this Racal Dana 1998  Counter:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393856305682


no photos of the rear panel.  I am assuming it has the least desirable options.

Options 04a and 07, but the blanking plate where the GPIB intersnout sat is empty. There apparently was pics added.

Photos were not there earlier.

07 is the battery pack, which is mutually exclusive with the GPIB option.   They share the same rear panel slot.  My guess is someone pulled the battery pack after the cells died and didn't put it back in.

04A (cheaper of the two crystal oven options) could well still be in there.   In the unlikely event I'm high bidder, I'll report back in detail.

[Neper]

Yet another Rohde & Schwarz URI and a bunch of other TE. Seller claims he's clearing a stock with thousands of items.

https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-bestandsliste.html?userId=52250665

[25 CPS]

Actually, if Vince were to do that muticamera setup I was tossing around there, he'd need a video switcher.  And that's where the waveform monitor comes in, because as soon as you add a video switcher to the mix, it opens the door to all kinds of timing problems.  PAL's nicknamed Problems Are Lurking for a reason!

I'd rather have that than Never Twice (the) Same Colour.  For a multicamera setup one needs sync distribution, or the switching will be rolling. The W/V meter will help with signal quality and integrity, and will be useful to EQ the DA for the blackburst, but sync is a timing thing more than anything else.

Once it's all sorted out though, he can have some "talent" in front of the cameras doing a debate about whether tap water can be considered 100% ethically sourced vegan or not.

You evil you!

"All broadcast engineers are closet time-nuts."
(another forum member to me in PM.)

Even with good sync to all devices that require a reference input to be genlocked, video switchers are notorious for introducing timing problems into NTSC systems due to propagation delay.  If Vince moves here, he can have fun with nice, even frame rate numbers that are ruined by multiplying by 1000/1001 while trying to figure out why the flesh tones on the reporter in the studio have suddenly turned purple while they were hyping up the audience by telling them that even if they're all feeling ok, it doesn't mean they're healthy, it means they're asymptomatic and that if COVID-19 doesn't kill them, something else will, so keep watching - details coming after the next commercial break - DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL!

[Saskia]

fun and games and Murphy hitting me in the crotch  ...
coolant warning light came back on yesterday on that Volvo again. Coolant missing.
all that while I still had to return the trailer ...

my former neighbor gave me his car and I was able to get rid of the trailer. scrawled back to the Mechanik who said that he was refusing further work on the car. he said that he suspected a ruptured head or head gasket. that would coincide with the white fog coming Out of the exhaust.
FML

[Vince]

[..}If Vince moves here, he can have fun with [..]

Oh no no no, I am staying here in France, no intention to move anywhere else on the planet ! 

Spending 3 years in the UK as a student just a stone throw away from home, on the other side of the channel, gave me an outside perspective of my home country... I now love it more than anything else and will forever be glad I was lucky enough to be born here rather than anywhere else on that big globe ! That's about as far as luck goes in my life though, the rest of it is a complete shit show since I was born... you can't have it all I guess    Too bad one can't go back in time to rewrite his own history 

[Specmaster]

Now chemistry is not my strong suit, in fact I know almost zero about it, but some of you do it seems, so what are your thoughts about this Aluminium-Air Battery, does it actually work and if so, is the possible future for EV vehicles?

[McBryce]

Now chemistry is not my strong suit, in fact I know almost zero about it, but some of you do it seems, so what are your thoughts about this Aluminium-Air Battery, does it actually work and if so, is the possible future for EV vehicles?

Two things spring to mind:

1 - They're not rechargeable, so you better have a compatible replacement at the place that it stops working.
2 - The cathode of such a battery contains a lot of silver, so that replacement battery may cost more than the entire vehicle

McBryce.

[Martin Miranda]

Now chemistry is not my strong suit, in fact I know almost zero about it, but some of you do it seems, so what are your thoughts about this Aluminium-Air Battery, does it actually work and if so, is the possible future for EV vehicles?

it's like buying AA batteries...  for now.

[mansaxel]

Even with good sync to all devices that require a reference input to be genlocked, video switchers are notorious for introducing timing problems into NTSC systems due to propagation delay.  If Vince moves here, he can have fun with nice, even frame rate numbers that are ruined by multiplying by 1000/1001

treize:~ mansaxel$ dc
2
k
1000
1001/
30*p
29.97

So that's where that perverse figure comes from! *barf*

while trying to figure out why the flesh tones on the reporter in the studio have suddenly turned purple while they were hyping up the audience by telling them that even if they're all feeling ok, it doesn't mean they're healthy, it means they're asymptomatic and that if COVID-19 doesn't kill them, something else will, so keep watching - details coming after the next commercial break - DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL!

Not The Same Colour as last time he turned purple though. NTSC has a reputation to defend, it ain't good but it's still a reputation!

I may be vile and pernicious
But you can't look away
I make you think I'm delicious
With the stuff that I say
I'm the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I'm the slime oozin' out
From your TV set

You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't go for help . . . no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold

That's right, folks
Don't touch that dial!

[Cerebus]

Now chemistry is not my strong suit, in fact I know almost zero about it, but some of you do it seems, so what are your thoughts about this Aluminium-Air Battery, does it actually work and if so, is the possible future for EV vehicles?

Wouldn't know where to start. Electrochemistry always makes my head hurt; I struggle to get beyond O.I.L.R.I.G.

[AVGresponding]

Now chemistry is not my strong suit, in fact I know almost zero about it, but some of you do it seems, so what are your thoughts about this Aluminium-Air Battery, does it actually work and if so, is the possible future for EV vehicles?

Yes, it does work, no it is not a practical battery for EV use. I seem to remember thunderfoot making a vid about this. Basically the problem is charging the battery; it's a primary cell technology...



Also re: petrol vs diesel torque, the way they output torque is quite different. Petrol engines do it at a much higher rev range which means by the time the torque is there, the angular velocity is such that it breaks traction very easily.

[m k]

fun and games and Murphy hitting me in the crotch  ...
coolant warning light came back on yesterday on that Volvo again. Coolant missing.
all that while I still had to return the trailer ...

my former neighbor gave me his car and I was able to get rid of the trailer. scrawled back to the Mechanik who said that he was refusing further work on the car. he said that he suspected a ruptured head or head gasket. that would coincide with the white fog coming Out of the exhaust.
FML

How much white, how it smells, sweet?
Missing coolant went somewhere, can you find any traces?

T-64

[ch_scr]

For the german speaking crowd, there is this new podcast called "Geladen" about battery technology from university karlsruhe:
https://geladen.podigee.io/
They had already some intresting facts in the interviews with experts, like:
- recycling LiPo batterys does get you stuff like nickel, copper & cobalt but not the lithium itself back
(it goes into the slag when melting)
- H2 cars (like they are shilled in germany strongly) need to go for a safety checkup of their 600 bar gas system every 10k km
and so on. Good stuff!

[tggzzz]

- H2 cars (like they are shilled in germany strongly) need to go for a safety checkup of their 600 bar gas system every 10k

Hydrogen at 600bar? What could possibly go wrong!

Start by thinking of a puncture/cut in a collision. If that doesn't raise red flags, consider a grease monkey repairing it afterward...

[mansaxel]

I did hint earlier today and yesterday that I had some ideas for working with my distortion analyser and its problems. Now, I've gone through some extra work to build a tool for this. We're all familiar with the recursive nature of electronic repair, especially so using old TE.

This is a bunch of firsts for me, actually. I've never controlled "classic TE" with a computer before, of course my NanoVNA mostly runs from the computer, but that does not really count. Here, it's a more typical benchtop device, the FeelTech.

https://youtu.be/QAs6Boujviw

The script is very simple:

Code: [Select]

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;
use diagnostics;
use Electronics::SigGen::FY3200;
 
my $fy3200 = Electronics::SigGen::FY3200->new( dev => "/dev/cu.wchusbserial1410" );
my $ch1 = $fy3200->channel(1);
$ch1->set_wave( 'sine' )->get;
$ch1->set_frequency( 1E3 )->get;

# turn off buffering. Only because cute output.
$| = 1;
my $duration = 1;
my $iter = 11 ;
my $volts = 21 ;
while($iter--) {
print "\nAt iteration $iter, ";
$volts = 21 ;
print "1kHz, volts: ";
while($volts--) {
my $rms = $volts * .353;
print "$rms ";
$ch1->set_amplitude( $volts )->get;
sleep($duration);
}
}
print "\n";
#
# EOF


[McBryce]

For the german speaking crowd, there is this new podcast called "Geladen" about battery technology from university karlsruhe:
https://geladen.podigee.io/
They had already some intresting facts in the interviews with experts, like:
- recycling LiPo batterys does get you stuff like nickel, copper & cobalt but not the lithium itself back
(it goes into the slag when melting)
- H2 cars (like they are shilled in germany strongly) need to go for a safety checkup of their 600 bar gas system every 10k km
and so on. Good stuff!

This thread isn't long enough for the list of reasons why hydrogen engines are a bad idea!

McBryce.

[ch_scr]

- H2 cars (like they are shilled in germany strongly) need to go for a safety checkup of their 600 bar gas system every 10k

Hydrogen at 600bar? What could possibly go wrong!

Start by thinking of a puncture/cut in a collision. If that doesn't raise red flags, consider a grease monkey repairing it afterward...

It's really a red herring to burn money on "green technologies". In 10 years they will say "nobody could know that would not work out, but at least we tried". To think they support research in H2 tram cars and overhead line lorrys 
Well, at least it's no solar roadway 

[med6753]

I see no problem with H2 powered vehicles. 

[Vince]

Just as I don't see any problem with battery powered EVs ! 
And to do that, they don't even require you to take an assault riffle at them to puncture the battery...

[Cerebus]

I see no problem with H2 powered vehicles. 

Well, the Hindenburg was diesel powered, the hydrogen just provided lift.

That would have been helium, as per the original design, if the US hadn't refused them an export license for the helium which caused a redesign. As Michael Caine would apocryphally say "Not a lot of people know that!".

[Robert763]

If we were already driving H2 cars and someone suggested using a liquid fuel that was highly flammable, toxic, irritating, poisoned waterways, and when spilt spread on the ground instead of dissipating safely. Then suggested it would be stored on the car in plastic tanks completly exposed in a crash people would say "no way that's far to dangerous".
I wish I could talk about this more but I can't because of my work.

[mansaxel]

That would have been helium, as per the original design, if the US hadn't refused them an export license for the helium which caused a redesign. As Michael Caine would apocryphally say "Not a lot of people know that!".

I knew it. I seem to recall I read it sometime back in the 80s when I spent all my money on books like "A Pictorial History of Air Warfare" and so on.

( Then, after that, the money was directed more towards rail; foremost to one of my more prized possessions, the conference papers from the Eisenbahntagung Berlin 1925. I still remember my mother shaking her head that I'd spent that much money on a 60 year old book. I still have both books. )

[Specmaster]

Also re: petrol vs diesel torque, the way they output torque is quite different. Petrol engines do it at a much higher rev range which means by the time the torque is there, the angular velocity is such that it breaks traction very easily.

That explains my findings about low revs of a diesel engine being just that much more controllable when grip is at a premium and the use of the lowest revs you can get away with.

This video shows the differance of that with a front-wheel drive car, high revs, wheel spins and loses both grip and direction control, the 36ft bus, low revs manages to maintain full control all the time.