Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[med6753]

Math being universal and undeniable, it's the most reliable way of eliminating confusing.

Ask people what is "1+2*3"? Include teachers

They'll just google it, and Google recognises this, rewrites it as 1+(2*3) = 7, and case closed. (Because that's true; multiplication takes precedence, so the () are redundant but instructive.)

Even I know that. And I suck at math. 

[Robert763]

Tek 2467B

@Papy Smurf :

Thanks for the BOM ! Only 25 bucks for the whole lot from Mouser... I so wish Mouser (or Digikey) had operations in Europe so I could get the same prices !
Have to make do with Farnell with has less choice and is more expensive. The same BOM will probably cost me 50/100% as much 

<SNIP>

Mouser operate in Europe https://eu.mouser.com/aboutus/
You might not get the same price as the USA though.....

[Ice-Tea]

So does digikey.

[med6753]

Tek 2467B

@Papy Smurf :

Thanks for the BOM ! Only 25 bucks for the whole lot from Mouser... I so wish Mouser (or Digikey) had operations in Europe so I could get the same prices !
Have to make do with Farnell with has less choice and is more expensive. The same BOM will probably cost me 50/100% as much 

<SNIP>

Mouser operate in Europe https://eu.mouser.com/aboutus/
You might not get the same price as the USA though.....

But you do get free shipping from Mouser in the EU over a certain amount. Not the case here in USA. No free shipping regardless of amount.

[Robert763]

Type 105: Successful power up. No smoke. But we do have some issues.

First issue. The critical -150V reference won't go any lower than about -160V. Line voltage related? Not sure yet. It's wired for 117V and my line voltage is typically 123V and higher. There's no wiring option for 125V. It could be something else and I'll check into it.

Looking good so far ! 

However I don't understand why you are complaining that the ref voltage won't go lower than -160V ?! It's not supposed to go lower than that, or even get as low as -160V to begin with, it's supposed to HIGHER Med, HIGHER , at -150V !! 
If it can go as far as -160V then why can't you adjust it -150V ?

Vince, this is an old argument, in that many people used to say negative voltages were, by definition, "lower" than positive ones, hence, greater numerical values of negative voltage were regarded as "lower" than lesser numerical values.

This point of view has largely died out, as it is confusing &, at least, to me, counterintuitive.
It is much easier to go by the numerical values of voltages of the same polarity-------thus, -160v is a higher voltage than -150v.

Oh, didn't know that was a "subject " ! 

I guess to each their own, but over here at least, it's the other way around. -160 is factually a lower number than -150. Math being universal and undeniable, it's the most reliable way of eliminating confusing.

Saying that -160V is higher than -150 however IS very confusing to me !

But that's OK... the numbers don't lie, so as long as people don't write (+)160V when they reallymean -160V, we should be alright and circuits will still work! 

-160V is a greater potential than -150V. The negative is relative to some notional referance. There is no such thing as a negative volt.

[Saskia]

mouser sucks. will try to avoid them in the future

[med6753]

mouser sucks. will try to avoid them in the future

That is surprising. Been ordering from them for quite a few years and the only time I had delayed delivery was last year when they had a double whammy of Covid and loss of power due to an ice storm.

[dl6lr]

But you do get free shipping from Mouser in the EU over a certain amount. Not the case here in USA. No free shipping regardless of amount.

Yes, but noone (except companies where money doesn't matter) would buy there as Mouser and DK are asking for €20,-/€25,- shipping.

[med6753]

But you do get free shipping from Mouser in the EU over a certain amount. Not the case here in USA. No free shipping regardless of amount.

Yes, but noone (except companies where money doesn't matter) would buy there as Mouser and DK are asking for €20,-/€25,- shipping.

2 day shipping from Mouser either via FedEx or UPS is $8 USD. I don't recall what Digi-Key charges.

[dl6lr]

I don't understand. Do you mean that Digikey now has operations in EUROPE ?! 

They have a european office in Munich, but rthat is for support only. All is imported from the US of A. Using the european site and €, they offer (at different prices than the US site) Incoterms DDP (you can see on the order preview). Using US$, Incoterms are depending on the freight carrier: DDP for UPS, CPT for FedEx or DHL.
That is clearly stated on their web site.

[dl6lr]

2 day shipping from Mouser either via FedEx or UPS is $8 USD. I don't recall what Digi-Key charges.

That is a similar tariff as local dispatch in Germany. But DK with UPS global express normally takes only 2 days, where local delivery is often slower (i.e. Reichelt is located nearby, but one rarely gets his parts in a week, and the quality level is much lower). Even Conrad is faster now and often has better quality.

[AVGresponding]

Will someone please buy this, so that I don't have to?  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255419336197

Nope 

Well, someone bought it for 99p + shipping. Wasn't me.

[Vince]

MATH : Wow, I am baffled that this even a point of discussion really, honest ! Arguing with my math teacher that -160 is a higher number than -150 would not have gotten me very far in my studies for sure.

So if you have to sort numbers in rising order, you would put -150 first and -160 second ?! 

Even a scope knows that a +2V trace goes higher on the screen than a -5V trace 

So if need to compare two numbers, -150 and +150, what's the result then, 300 ? When sorting them, which one comes first ?!   

Anyway, just kidding, I don't care, no flame war here... I just find it funny to see how the human brain works ! 

@tggzzz : didn't know about this scratch game story, good one, thanks for sharing, does prove my point ! 



MOUSER / DIGIKEY : thanks all for your replies. So as I though neither of them have operations in France or Europe.  Rob this is just a website in French language, not a French merchant site. Looks like they work just like they did 15 year ago when I bought that AVR programmer from them : they only operate from their one and only huge warehouse in the USA, that's all. They export anywhere of course, just like any other company. Having "operations" I though meant that the company has to have a warehouse either in France or at elast in the Euro zone, so that they ship from France/Europe to use local shipping and not have to pay and handle taxes and import shit. Farnell does have operations in Europe. When I buy from them it ships from FDrance, with local shippers, no importing shit to pay or deal with.

I tried to order a 2N2222 tranny 2 minutes ago just to see, and indeed I have to import it from the US warehouse, it does not come from Europe never mind from France.

However... thanks to your comments at least I know that both DK and Mouser have improved the situation by handling all fees and admin stuff so that the customer has as smooth/transparent an experience as possible. 60 Euros for free shipping and including all the taxes and stuff as well, paper work etc... that's quite good compared to the situation of 15 years ago.
For lower orders, my 2 euros tranny, they want 20 Euros for the same service, which is quite good. Farnell charges 10 Euros or so. So having to pay only 10 more Euros for overseas shipping and taxes and what not, and not have to deal with the admin stuff yourself... I applaud.

So to sum it up... when I can't find what I want from Farnell/ RS/ TME, I now know I can now go shopping at Mouser and DK. That's quite something. Thanks people for letting me know !

... and of course hoping that one day they both will have a warehouse over here...


OK now if you will excuse me, I have a 2467B PSU to take apart and crapacitors to look at ! 

[Vince]

Will someone please buy this, so that I don't have to?  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255419336197

Nope 

Well, someone bought it for 99p + shipping. Wasn't me.

I am surprised ! 99p fits even YOUR usual budget ! 

[Cerebus]

Math being universal and undeniable, it's the most reliable way of eliminating confusing.

Ask people what is "1+2*3"? Include teachers

That would be 223, because I chose to read '*' as a string operation. Although I must confess that I too do it all the time, '*' is not a standard arithmetic operation, whereas \$\times\$ is.

[AVGresponding]

Will someone please buy this, so that I don't have to?  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255419336197

Nope 

Well, someone bought it for 99p + shipping. Wasn't me.

I am surprised ! 99p fits even YOUR usual budget ! 

tbh if I'd bought it I'd just have made it into a clock. Hopefully whoever did buy it will use it as intended.

[mnementh]

In other news: My geothermal pump had a guru meditation moment yesterday, and needed a controller reboot.

I hate those sporadic failures so much.... It is an indicator the board was not properly developed.
It should never ever happen.

I am black or white regarding this matter: either rock solid and always 100% working, or sporadic shit.
Am I the only one?

PS: That's why I sold ALL my raspy evil berry stuff on ebay. I am raspy free!

Time to go balls-deep in QT-Pi, then... 

mnem
Or, if you can't stomach Python on a micro... you could flash it into a Java host...   

[mnementh]

Type 105: Successful power up. No smoke. But we do have some issues.

First issue. The critical -150V reference won't go any lower than about -160V. Line voltage related? Not sure yet. It's wired for 117V and my line voltage is typically 123V and higher. There's no wiring option for 125V. It could be something else and I'll check into it.

Looking good so far ! 

However I don't understand why you are complaining that the ref voltage won't go lower than -160V ?! It's not supposed to go lower than that, or even get as low as -160V to begin with, it's supposed to HIGHER Med, HIGHER , at -150V !! 
If it can go as far as -160V then why can't you adjust it -150V ?

Vince, this is an old argument, in that many people used to say negative voltages were, by definition, "lower" than positive ones, hence, greater numerical values of negative voltage were regarded as "lower" than lesser numerical values.

This point of view has largely died out, as it is confusing &, at least, to me, counterintuitive.
It is much easier to go by the numerical values of voltages of the same polarity-------thus, -160v is a higher voltage than -150v.

Oh, didn't know that was a "subject " ! 

I guess to each their own, but over here at least, it's the other way around. -160 is factually a lower number than -150. Math being universal and undeniable, it's the most reliable way of eliminating confusing.

Saying that -160V is higher than -150 however IS very confusing to me !

But that's OK... the numbers don't lie, so as long as people don't write (+)160V when they really mean -160V, we should be alright and circuits will still work! 

It's simple... and still mathematically valid. Just understand that in terms of potential, we're usually talking about absolute value, not which number is "most positive".

If you can wrap your head around peak-peak voltage, getting used to this should be a cakewalk.

mnem
*tzzzzzzt*

[McBryce]

Math being universal and undeniable, it's the most reliable way of eliminating confusing.

Ask people what is "1+2*3"? Include teachers

You've got to be kidding! Anyone who has learnt any amount of maths should have learnt the "PEMDAS" rules and know what order things should be calculated!

McBryce.

[Vince]

Type 105: Successful power up. No smoke. But we do have some issues.

First issue. The critical -150V reference won't go any lower than about -160V. Line voltage related? Not sure yet. It's wired for 117V and my line voltage is typically 123V and higher. There's no wiring option for 125V. It could be something else and I'll check into it.

Looking good so far ! 

However I don't understand why you are complaining that the ref voltage won't go lower than -160V ?! It's not supposed to go lower than that, or even get as low as -160V to begin with, it's supposed to HIGHER Med, HIGHER , at -150V !! 
If it can go as far as -160V then why can't you adjust it -150V ?

Vince, this is an old argument, in that many people used to say negative voltages were, by definition, "lower" than positive ones, hence, greater numerical values of negative voltage were regarded as "lower" than lesser numerical values.

This point of view has largely died out, as it is confusing &, at least, to me, counterintuitive.
It is much easier to go by the numerical values of voltages of the same polarity-------thus, -160v is a higher voltage than -150v.

Oh, didn't know that was a "subject " ! 

I guess to each their own, but over here at least, it's the other way around. -160 is factually a lower number than -150. Math being universal and undeniable, it's the most reliable way of eliminating confusing.

Saying that -160V is higher than -150 however IS very confusing to me !

But that's OK... the numbers don't lie, so as long as people don't write (+)160V when they really mean -160V, we should be alright and circuits will still work! 

It's simple... and still mathematically valid. Just understand that in terms of potential, we're usually talking about absolute value, not which number is "most positive".

If you can wrap your head around peak-peak voltage, getting used to this should be a cakewalk.

mnem
*tzzzzzzt*

....I am sorry but this does not address the questions I had in my message !

No just kidding, game over, I am outta here !   

[Vince]

FIREFOX : need to insall an extension to download Pornhub Youtube videos and whatnot, what is the most popular/better one to use these days ??

Firefox lists a bunch of them when I do a search for "video download "...

Immediate goal is to download TerraOperative's video on his 2467B restoration, as it's really good. I would like to save it to my hard drive i my 2467B folder, so that I am 100% sure I have it at hand when I want, even if Terra goes mad and deletes it, or YT fucks up, or my internet connection goes completely kaput.

[m k]

I have the first on.

BTW,
I'm zero centered.

Higher and lower are also a bit off.
Usually more and less or bigger and smaller instead.

[factory]

Re: PP auctions

Someone on the UK vintage radio forum commented that some auction companies, can bid on behalf of the seller and that it is in the terms & conditions, well they were right.

From https://www.ppauctions.com/terms-and-conditions
12. The Auctioneers my divide, combine, add to or withdraw lots and make any catalogue alterations without notice or reason; they shall regulate bidding, accept or reject any bid (at their absolute discretion and without justification) and bid on behalf of the Client, where there is a reserve price or at their authorised discretion.

This certainly explains the unsold lots & bidder with no bidding limit. 

David

[mansaxel]

FIREFOX : need to insall an extension to download Pornhub Youtube videos and whatnot, what the most popular/better one to use these days ??

Firefox lists a bunch of them when I do a search for "video download "...

https://youtube-dl.org/

Not an extension then though.  I have "privatkopiera" in my Chrome. Swedish, and named "private copying" because the goons in the media industry have lobbied legislation in place for a tax on recordable media because "everyone uses empty cassettes to make copies of our precious music that the artist we've enslaved have made so we can profit from it."   These are the people that wanted a tax on iPods because they could store music. And won.


Since we're taxed, the software creator thought, might as well get our money's worth. Hence.

[factory]

Will someone please buy this, so that I don't have to?  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255419336197

Nope 

Well, someone bought it for 99p + shipping. Wasn't me.

Wasn't me either, but I have got the five digit version TC12 (bought locally for about £15), they both use very obsolete Fairchild logic ICs. Oh and if you do buy one of these, the socket/switch for the external reference input is very very unreliable, these had already been replaced on mine by a previous owner.

David