Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Zucca]

I am thinking to DIY the solar panel installation.

[AVGresponding]

Fixing the exceptions list when it blocks content you actually want.

I suppose more recent versions are better at not fucking up your browsing... but honestly, I just don't care. Most of the sites I frequent, I don't mind letting them get their 0.1c per pagehit. 

mnem
I don't even mind the little Jack Russel terrier. ruff!

Oh... I don't bother with that. If it's hidden in an ad, I'm not interested. Install and forget!

[Cubdriver]

Spent some time over the past few nights poking and prodding at an old counter made by an (apparently now defunct) company from Manchester, NH called Northeastern Engineering.  I haven't been able to find any documentation on it, and a web search resulted in nothing more than a video about an earlier boat-anchor counter they made that appears to be very similar to the big HP 524 units; this one is about the size of the HP 5245 family.  Bringing it up on a variac resulted in the crystal oscillator heater warming up and cycling, but nothing else.  Resistance readings across the power cord showed no change as the power switch was cycled, so I started tracing out the mains wiring - both sides of the line are fused, then pass through a pair of feedthrough capacitors and on to a 120/240V range switch stuffed into the corner of the back panel, then off in various directions bundled into harnesses, making it a bit challenging to suss things out.  Peering at things with a flashlight and some tracing with an ohmmeter ultimately led me to find that one side of the DPST power switch on the front panel is intermittent, so it'll need to be replaced.

Fuses feeding feedthrough caps:


Input power range switch top:

Bottom:

Large, cloth-covered wires on left feed the transformer that powers the always-on crystal oscillator, thinner wires on right feed transformer, and grey four-wire cable runs to power switch on front panel.

Power switch:




Snapping it back and forth enough eventually gets it to close completely, and the unit powered up once this happened.  It appears to be at least fundamentally operational, but isn't particularly accurate compared against the dial on the HP 3310B I grabbed to feed it; it reads high relative to the dial indication.  I was too lazy to get either another counter or a known accurate signal source to determine which is off, but it seems something is.




Still need to look at the power rails and see how the filter caps are, and give it a good cleaning, but it's nice to see it's not totally dead as I'd first feared when it failed to power up.

-Pat

[mansaxel]

Fixing the exceptions list when it blocks content you actually want.

I suppose more recent versions are better at not fucking up your browsing... but honestly, I just don't care. Most of the sites I frequent, I don't mind letting them get their 0.1c per pagehit. 

mnem
I don't even mind the little Jack Russel terrier. ruff!

I'm running µMatrix in my browsers, and while it is annoying to fix sites (by selectively allowing shit js code dragged in by people who "build" web sites by using runnable code downloaded from ${DEITY}-knows-where, runtime) and some don't even work even with everything allowed, I' more angry with the slop and leakage of my information to Google and Facebook and others.

It is a matter of observed fact that many sites, including EEVBlog, have a small Facebook tracking device. El Zuck has no business in gathering data on me, who has decided against participation in that cesspool. 

Likewise, it's been found in court, that Google Analytics on a public web site in the EU is a breach of the rules regarding export of personal information outside the union.

Freedom is a complicated concept. In the electronic world, to keep this at least a little on-topic, the first line of defence is that my data is mine, and my computers run the code I am expecting them to, and very little else. Just as I expect my TE to perform as expected, report results to me, and so on.

This is why I refuse subscription software like F360 and the entire evilness that is Adobe Creative Shite, and will do my utmost to stay outside "cloud" services unless I've done a thorough analysis of what will be lost. I'm OK with my grocery shopping list leaking, not much more.

The convenience gained is not worth the freedom lost.

[Saskia]

there we are in complete agreement.

[med6753]

Spent some time over the past few nights poking and prodding at an old counter made by an (apparently now defunct) company from Manchester, NH called Northeastern Engineering.  I haven't been able to find any documentation on it, and a web search resulted in nothing more than a video about an earlier boat-anchor counter they made that appears to be very similar to the big HP 524 units; this one is about the size of the HP 5245 family.  Bringing it up on a variac resulted in the crystal oscillator heater warming up and cycling, but nothing else.  Resistance readings across the power cord showed no change as the power switch was cycled, so I started tracing out the mains wiring - both sides of the line are fused, then pass through a pair of feedthrough capacitors and on to a 120/240V range switch stuffed into the corner of the back panel, then off in various directions bundled into harnesses, making it a bit challenging to suss things out.  Peering at things with a flashlight and some tracing with an ohmmeter ultimately led me to find that one side of the DPST power switch on the front panel is intermittent, so it'll need to be replaced.

That's a cool unit. Never heard of them either. However......and maybe it's because it's so dirty but the condition of that wiring does not inspire much confidence. It looks like at any moment that cloth wiring could break down resulting in magic smoke. 

And yes, definitely influenced by hp in overall design. A quick glance could easily convince you it was made by hp. 

[Saskia]

I am thinking to DIY the solar panel installation.

I'm not. I have no intention of climbing around my roof and handling 20+ kg panels alone. I don't fear the electrical tgggzzzzt poff side, but I don't know enough about proper mechanical installation of these things and I don't want to eff around with a house that has not yet been paid for ...(i.e. paid back the mortgage)

[TERRA Operative]

I don't even see them... I see the weirdness in eevBlog, then I see probable cause. 

Adblockers in general are more assache than they're worth to me. The maintenance annoys me as much or more than the ads.

mnem

Use a Pi-Hole with a high endurance SD card (as standard for a Raspberry Pi). They "just work". I just run update commands when I remember and besides that (which is rare), it needs no care or feeding.

[BU508A]

Use a Pi-Hole with a high endurance SD card (as standard for a Raspberry Pi). They "just work". I just run update commands when I remember and besides that (which is rare), it needs no care or feeding.

From my Pi-hole:

Code: [Select]

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo su -

Wi-Fi is currently blocked by rfkill.
Use raspi-config to set the country before use.

root@raspberrypi:~# crontab -l
0 2 * * * /root/pihole.sh                                                                                                                                   
root@raspberrypi:~# cat /root/pihole.sh                                                                                                                     
#!/bin/bash                                                                                                                                                 
# rm -rf /root/pihole.txt                                                                                                                                   
# touch /root/pihole.txt                                                                                                                                     
/bin/date >> /root/pihole.txt                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                             
/usr/bin/apt-get update                                                                                                                                     
/bin/echo " " >> /root/pihole.txt
/bin/echo "apt-get update" >> /root/pihole.txt

/usr/bin/apt-get -y upgrade
/bin/echo " " >> /root/pihole.txt
/bin/echo "apt-get upgrade" >> /root/pihole.txt

/usr/bin/apt-get -y dist-upgrade
/bin/echo " " >> /root/pihole.txt
/bin/echo "apt-get dist-upgrade" >> /root/pihole.txt

/usr/bin/apt-get -y auto-remove
/bin/echo " " >> /root/pihole.txt
/bin/echo "apt-get auto-remove" >> /root/pihole.txt

/usr/local/bin/pihole -up
/bin/echo " " >> /root/pihole.txt
/bin/echo "pihole -up" >> /root/pihole.txt
/bin/echo " " >> /root/pihole.txt                                                                                                                           
/bin/date >> /root/pihole.txt                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                             
/bin/echo "rebooting now ..." >> /root/pihole.txt
/bin/echo " " >> /root/pihole.txt
/bin/echo "#*****************************************" >> /root/pihole.txt
/bin/echo " " >> /root/pihole.txt
/sbin/init 6                                                                                                                                                 
root@raspberrypi:~# ls -la pihole.*
-rwxr-x--- 1 root root  1479 Dec  9 10:40 pihole.sh
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 24416 Mar 30 02:01 pihole.txt
root@raspberrypi:~#


I've created a cronjob which is doing an update every 24 hours.
A log file will be written as well. Can be helpful for troubleshooting.

Log file example:

Code: [Select]

#*****************************************
 
Tue 29 Mar 02:00:01 BST 2022
 
apt-get update
 
apt-get upgrade
 
apt-get dist-upgrade
 
apt-get auto-remove
 
pihole -up
 
Tue 29 Mar 02:00:31 BST 2022
rebooting now ...
 
#*****************************************
 
Wed 30 Mar 02:00:01 BST 2022
 
apt-get update
 
apt-get upgrade
 
apt-get dist-upgrade
 
apt-get auto-remove
 
pihole -up
 
Wed 30 Mar 02:01:57 BST 2022
rebooting now ...
 
#*****************************************


[med6753]

 

[mnementh]

Fixing the exceptions list when it blocks content you actually want.

I suppose more recent versions are better at not fucking up your browsing... but honestly, I just don't care. Most of the sites I frequent, I don't mind letting them get their 0.1c per pagehit. 

mnem
I don't even mind the little Jack Russel terrier. ruff!

I'm running µMatrix in my browsers, and while it is annoying to fix sites (by selectively allowing shit js code dragged in by people who "build" web sites by using runnable code downloaded from ${DEITY}-knows-where, runtime) and some don't even work even with everything allowed, I' more angry with the slop and leakage of my information to Google and Facebook and others.

It is a matter of observed fact that many sites, including EEVBlog, have a small Facebook tracking device. El Zuck has no business in gathering data on me, who has decided against participation in that cesspool. 

Likewise, it's been found in court, that Google Analytics on a public web site in the EU is a breach of the rules regarding export of personal information outside the union.

Freedom is a complicated concept. In the electronic world, to keep this at least a little on-topic, the first line of defence is that my data is mine, and my computers run the code I am expecting them to, and very little else. Just as I expect my TE to perform as expected, report results to me, and so on.

This is why I refuse subscription software like F360 and the entire evilness that is Adobe Creative Shite, and will do my utmost to stay outside "cloud" services unless I've done a thorough analysis of what will be lost. I'm OK with my grocery shopping list leaking, not much more.

The convenience gained is not worth the freedom lost.

That's awesome.    Build me a cumputer, and teach me how to use it....?    Oh, and can you do it before dinnertime...? Wifey wants to play Farmville when she gets home from school; she's aboot a week behind harvesting her tomatoes.

mnem
That was a typo typing error; but I decided it needed to stay.

[Specmaster]

 

[mnementh]

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Spent some time over the past few nights poking and prodding at an old counter made by an (apparently now defunct) company from Manchester, NH called Northeastern Engineering.  I haven't been able to find any documentation on it, and a web search resulted in nothing more than a video about an earlier boat-anchor counter they made that appears to be very similar to the big HP 524 units; this one is about the size of the HP 5245 family.  Bringing it up on a variac resulted in the crystal oscillator heater warming up and cycling, but nothing else.  Resistance readings across the power cord showed no change as the power switch was cycled, so I started tracing out the mains wiring - both sides of the line are fused, then pass through a pair of feedthrough capacitors and on to a 120/240V range switch stuffed into the corner of the back panel, then off in various directions bundled into harnesses, making it a bit challenging to suss things out.  Peering at things with a flashlight and some tracing with an ohmmeter ultimately led me to find that one side of the DPST power switch on the front panel is intermittent, so it'll need to be replaced.

That's a cool unit. Never heard of them either. However......and maybe it's because it's so dirty but the condition of that wiring does not inspire much confidence. It looks like at any moment that cloth wiring could break down resulting in magic smoke. 

And yes, definitely influenced by hp in overall design. A quick glance could easily convince you it was made by hp. 

100x this. The first thing I thought when I saw that fabric-clad wiring was Eeeeep!   

Pat's a wee bit braver than I am, applying line voltage to that mess... or maybe he's just gotten to a point where he has no fear of The Reaper. 

mnem

[mnementh]

there we are in complete agreement.

Same here... in principle. In practice... I have a wife, and a life, and shit needs to get done, and only a few hours a day of usable vertical-ness.

I choose my battles; and sadly, at this point, the bar has gotten pretty low purely due to "I ran out of GAF."

Now if you''ll excuse me, I need to go get ready for my appointment at the DMV...

mnem
*sigh* I remember when I was young, and I ran for the sheer joy of running... and tilting at windmills made perfect sense...   

[Zucca]

I am thinking to DIY the solar panel installation.

I'm not.

In US you have wood everywhere, so the installation is not as complicated. Drilling into wood is a piece of cake.
There are some DIY installation rail kits which are nice quality in my eyes.

Yes safety (I have my climbing equipment I used when I went in the dolomites  I miss them so much) and at least another pair of (man) hands are essential.

[mansaxel]

there we are in complete agreement.

Same here... in principle. In practice... I have a wife, and a life, and shit needs to get done, and only a few hours a day of usable vertical-ness.

Wife agrees with me here, and if she did not agree (she in fact does at times disagree, and has made choices I would not, with very well informed wide open eyes.) she's able to take care of those things herself.

Guess I'm lucky in that.

[mnementh]

LOL... yes, you are. My wife still has a FurkBook account, and I can't make her give it up. Partly I understand; it is an important part of the web presence she uses to recruit private music students. But Ifni save me, I can't get her to even use a separate account on the PC for that, or to not have their spyware on her phone. 

With that garbage riding on my network, all other considerations quickly become moot; I just use a VPN when I'm doing something I give a rat's ass about and never access any of my business accounts on the same machine I use for this kind of faffery.

mnem
 

[Ice-Tea]

I am thinking to DIY the solar panel installation.

I'm not. I have no intention of climbing around my roof and handling 20+ kg panels alone. I don't fear the electrical tgggzzzzt poff side, but I don't know enough about proper mechanical installation of these things and I don't want to eff around with a house that has not yet been paid for ...(i.e. paid back the mortgage)

My roof, yesterday morning 

[mnementh]

And now for something completely... ON TOPIC.




I got tired of not having this tip (1mm med-length chisel) in the correct temp for leaded solder; I finally bit the bullet and paid full-price (US$26... ehhh.  ) direct from Amazon (not Amazon marketplace; Metcal doesn't appear to have a Amazon store) so best chance I can muster to not get counterfeit short of buying from DigiKey, etc.

Oooooooh... it's like buttah. 




And tangentially relavent:

I gave up. I just couldn't stand to use that damned Acer with 4 gig RAM one more minute; so I just ordered a 8 Jiggabachi SODIMM. TG branded from the TG store was actually one of the cheapest available, and Amazon promises it'll be here tonight along with the french-fry slicer I bought yesterday.

Meanwhile on evilBay, equivalent used is within a couple dollars of this part.   

mnem
Damn Bezos' online crack shop... just reaches into your pocket. 

[mnementh]

I am thinking to DIY the solar panel installation.

I'm not. I have no intention of climbing around my roof and handling 20+ kg panels alone. I don't fear the electrical tgggzzzzt poff side, but I don't know enough about proper mechanical installation of these things and I don't want to eff around with a house that has not yet been paid for ...(i.e. paid back the mortgage)

My roof, yesterday morning 

Izzat the start of mounting bracketry, or scaffolding hangers...?

mnem
I loathe working on the roof. Main reason I stopped doing satellite installs, even tho I was good at it.

[Neper]

This is the first batch; about 1/3 of 2 potatoes hand-cut into fries. Wifey is telling me I need to make more. 

They're really crispy right out of the air-fryer... but withing a minute or so they seem to soak up enough moisture from the air to get a little limp and more like traditional home fries.

The trick with air-fried chips is to soak them in water for 15 minutes after cutting them, in order to extract some of the starch, before drying them and adding the oil.

BTW, real Belgian chips aren't fried in oil but in suet. Gives them their unique flavour.

[Cerebus]

Just picked up a 34465a for $460. Seller stated it had an error but went away.
I had him run a dedicated self test and it showed no errors.
Interesting.
it has firmware A.02.04, early firmware

Read the instructions for the firmware upgrade carefully. There's a version below which you cannot upgrade directly to the latest firmware (I think from memory it's 02.17 but check for yourself) and have to go through a two step upgrade, first to an intermediate version (again, I think 2.17 but check) and only then can you upgrade to the latest which is 3.03.

You'll get the digitising and advanced triggering option added for free with the latest firmware.

[mnementh]

This is the first batch; about 1/3 of 2 potatoes hand-cut into fries. Wifey is telling me I need to make more. 

They're really crispy right out of the air-fryer... but withing a minute or so they seem to soak up enough moisture from the air to get a little limp and more like traditional home fries.

The trick with air-fried chips is to soak them in water for 15 minutes after cutting them, in order to extract some of the starch, before drying them and adding the oil.

BTW, real Belgian chips aren't fried in oil but in suet. Gives them their unique flavour.

Yeah, I thought about making them with bacon fat... but realized that if I were gonna do that, might as well just dump them in the griddle right after cooking the bacon.

It might still happen... we make a lot of bacon when I'm on the Keto.

As for washing veggies... it's a mixed bag in our household. ~100 year old New England home; has copper plumbing so lead is a concern. As this is the first place since I was a kid where this is so, we're still trying to decide how to address the issue. For the meantime, everything we eat or drink is made with bottled water... which of course carries its own laundry list of potential ills. 

mnem

[Saskia]

Urps. Bacon, eggs, Entrecote, Broccoli.
All made in the same pan without any cleaning in between.

Plus a Latte Macchiato with just a minute amount of milk and one bit of 100% cocoa chocolate (Lindt) to wash it down.

Got 3 boxes today.
1) from Greywulf (company here): Leupold Mark AR IMS. Highly recommended for folks who are in need of a Picatinny mount
2) Contorion: circular saw blade for Festool KS (the standard one). Plus an angle gizmo.
zat zere:
https://www.contorion.de/p/festool-winkelschmiege-sm-ks-93149579?q=SM-KS
3) Learning Deep Learning (Addison Wesley, Magnus Ekman). Mah head hurtz ...