Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[med6753]

So now I'm stuck in, waiting for:



Yes, my free Keysight scope is finally getting delivered today. That is providing DHL don't stuff it up.

It's frustrating because this is all happening on someone else's schedule, so it's coming when I'm short of time to play with it. So when it does arrive all I'm going to get to do is unbox it, power it up, have the most minimal play and then have to put it away until I've got time (and cleared some space) to have a proper delve.

Consider yourself lucky. My play time is still stuck in a customs black hole for 8 days now. DHL certainly gets no awards for speedy service. 

BTW....what are you gonna do if, it doesn't work.....or it needs warranty service because you are not a corporate customer?

[mnementh]

Play time...? What is this "play time" you speak of...?     

Currently shopping parts to fix a chair, parts to fix a dresser, reserving a Uhaul for Easter Weekend and going back/forth between DMV and bank to get some title-related badunka-dunk resolved.

mnem
Oh, and maybe I'll get some lunch in there somewhere...

[Vince]

Visited mum last Sunday. She told me how this old TV has been taking up space for many many many years in the room in the basement of her building, where people go to hang their clothes to dry them.

I said mum, because I am good son , I will solve your problem, and do so right away, I will take it home with me !! 

So I did.

I just love old CRT TVs/monitors, lots of good things to salvage. Tactile switches, IR receiver, beefy caps, nice ceramic power resistors, little speakers, big power switch, a piece of shielded audio cable, some  Torx 20 screws, X2 caps, beefy diodes... some enameled wire... I love old TV's.

This one is not that old in the grand scheme of things... made by Thomson, flat 21" tube, video composite inputs at the front, and taken apart in just 5 minutes / easy construction.

What are you gonna do with the CRT?

Well as always, all the remains, the CRT and plastic cabinet will obviously go to the scrap yard for recycling as soon as it opens up at 14H30, in an hour or so. In the mean time I am having lunch...

*CoughRetroArcadeCough*

No, seriously... before you scrap any of it destructively, check with Saskia. She may have a arcade cabinet that can be retrofit to 21" CRT... and a low-years CRT is a beautiful thing. 

mnem
 

Too late, didn't see your message as I had already left for the scrappy. CRT is gone now. No I can't just go take it back, it's not allowed to take things from the special consumer appliances container, the guys monitor the security cameras and call the cops if your try to steal anything from this container. I tried once before, doesn't work. So I put the CRT on a huge stack of other appliances that I would have loved to fill my car with so I could salvage some components. Not allowed, and they aren't kidding.

Didn't know Saskia wanted one... never mind that she was OK paying hundreds of Euros to package some French random CRT of unknow specs and condition, not even knowing if it would arrive intact to begin with, and get it shipped on a palette.

Don't they have old CRT TV/monitors in Germany ?! 

Well if I find another one I will think of her... so modern 21" she wants...

[Cerebus]

BTW....what are you gonna do if, it doesn't work.....or it needs warranty service because you are not a corporate customer?

Leave Keysight with a lot of egg on their faces.  Rule one of PR/marketing/whatever: "Don't piss off an [ex-]journalist."

I doubt that I'll encounter any problems that need fixing unless Keysight quality has really gone down the crapper along with the ethos of the old HP days. Furthermore, Keysight have chosen to supply me, personally, with a brand new scope, irrespective of whatever capacity I am fulfilling (and I have made no representations as to my status), so they have obligations (both moral and legal) that they would find bothersome and embarrassing to side-step. I'm not really in the same boat as some poor souls, who bought as individuals and then later, after Keysight decided to change policy, found problems with getting service; this has been supplied post policy change. Anyway "gift horse" and all that...

[Cerebus]

Currently shopping parts to fix a chair, parts to fix a dresser, reserving a Uhaul for Easter Weekend and going back/forth between DMV and bank to get some title-related badunka-dunk resolved.

Unless you're talking about next year that boat has sailed.

[mnementh]

...Yes, my free Keysight scope is finally getting delivered today. That is providing DHL don't stuff it up.

Good for you, man. Seriously.

Not to be the wag of the group but... How does this mode of acquisition with your new scope play out re: the whole Commercial/Industrial Customers Only thing...?

Will you have any form of warranty, will you be able to get cal services or even FW updates and such from them? Or is that a TBD thing depending on what you find in the papers in the box?

EDIT: Just read your response to med. I'll be interested to see what you find out regarding the above; it may give some useful insight for others trying to navigate the Keysight Bureaucratic morass.

mnem

[med6753]

Currently shopping parts to fix a chair, parts to fix a dresser, reserving a Uhaul for Easter Weekend and going back/forth between DMV and bank to get some title-related badunka-dunk resolved.

Unless you're talking about next year that boat has sailed.

He could be referring to Orthodox Easter which is Sunday the 24th.

[mnementh]

BWAHAHAHAHA!

They love me at UHaul. The first thing my associate Samantha did was thank me for being a loyal UHaul account-holder for over 2 decades. Then I gave her the number of the reservation I'd started, and told her what I needed, when & where.

She did the usual clicky-clicky-clickety for a few moments, then came back with a trailer she could have brought in from another location for my desired time, confirmed the reservation and did my online check-in right there over the phone.  Took all of about 5 minutes.

Now all I need to do is show up at the correct time with the correct vehicle and I'll be good to go.

mnem
One item off the checklist... 

[Vince]

Don't think for one second that this won't happen with an EV. 

I can't speak for any others, but mine at least has the good sense to lock out the ignition if it senses a plug inserted in the charging port. Which goes on to force the question - why don't fossil fuel only vehicles also have a filler cap/flap interlock with the ignition? (The answer of course is that it would cost 50p to include on a vehicle and as any damage from driving off with the fuel hose still in place is an externality the auto manufacturer's cost accountants don't give a flying one.)

What next ? A camera with some AI S/W stuck on each fender, so that when the driver stops by the road side to replace a flat tyre, the AI can monitor him in case he removed the flat tyre but forgot to put the spare tyre on the car, or forgot to put the wheel nuts back on and is trying to drive on 3 wheels ? 

Then also put a sensor in the door shut, in case the driver or passengers try to slam the door while they have their fingers in the opening ? 

Or maybe some more AI and camera inside the car, in case the driver is out the car, and the front passenger is trying to drive off, driving the car from within the passenger seat, trying to operate the controls ? 

You have to set the cursor somewhere... we keep complaining about the stupid safety warnings on American products, like don't stick your fingers in the power outlet, or don't throw a bucket of water on your micro-wave oven while it's working... but looks like maybe these warning are ACTUALLY needed then ?!

Maybe the car should also automatically respect the speed limits, but German car owners won't be happy if their fancy super powerful BMW or Audi can't do the advertised 300++ km/h....


Tongue in cheek of course, I don't want to start a debate after the dreaded EV one ! 

I have much better things to do... like working on my PITA Nixie DMM 

[Cerebus]

So it begins:

[mnementh]

...No, seriously... before you scrap any of it destructively, check with Saskia. She may have a arcade cabinet that can be retrofit to 21" CRT... and a low-years CRT is a beautiful thing. 

Too late, didn't see your message as I had already left for the scrappy. CRT is gone now. No I can't just go take it back, it's not allowed to take things from the special consumer appliances container, the guys monitor the security cameras and call the cops if your try to steal anything from this container. I tried once before, doesn't work. So I put the CRT on a huge stack of other appliances that I would have loved to fill my car with so I could salvage some components. Not allowed, and they aren't kidding.

Didn't know Saskia wanted one... never mind that she was OK paying hundreds of Euros to package some French random CRT of unknow specs and condition, not even knowing if it would arrive intact to begin with, and get it shipped on a palette. Don't they have old CRT TV/monitors in Germany ?! 

Well if I find another one I will think of her... so modern 21" she wants...

Well, you gotta understand something here, V... 19" was the standard size for a lot of arcade games, so 21" may be close enuf to be readily adapted to an original cabinet.

But here's the thing... these games are now 40-plus years old. CRTs of any sort with low hours are a endangered species; enough so that refurbished analog chassis-mount CRTs bring upwards of $400 on fleaBay if they are reasonable bright w/o screen burn. The TV you have there is likely 15-20 years old and has never spent hours with a high-score screen burning into it, so it may very well be worth the assache of modding into a vintage cabinet. I really don't know.

I figured the person to ask would be Saskia, since that's kinda her thing.

mnem
*toddles off to have my credit cards molested at Homeowner Hell*

[Saskia]

currently looking for a crt for my outrun

[Cerebus]

Well she works, user interface is intuitive, and nice and snappy, fan is blissfully quiet. Mega-Zoom works a well as you'd expect from the originators. Probe compensation caps are a bit 'sticky', tend to jump rather than change smoothly but that's hopefully a minor annoyance. Feels like it'll be a nice scope to use, I can see this becoming my 'daily driver'. On the downside, I forgot that as a newer Keysight model it was gonna be 'goth black'.

[med6753]

I like the Goth Black. 

[mnementh]

Ditto. Tho I imagine C might prefer titty-pink. 

mnem
 

[mnementh]

currently looking for a crt for my outrun

What size?

Since you're in the hobby... is modding consumer-grade TVs that have composite input into these vintage arcades a "thing"...? Or has the desperation level not quite gotten that bad yet...?

Yes, I know that the JAMMA standard is RGB with split sync, but I also know there are adapters. Also, I've never actually tried modding a consumer-TV CRT into one of those consumer monitors, though I understand it can and has been done, at least on the 25" models.


mnem
 

[Cerebus]

I like the Goth Black. 

I've found with my Rigol, which is also all gothed up, that it's a lot harder to find seldom used buttons (i.e. ones where you have to actually read what they are for) on a black front panel. I see no reason for the Keysight to be different in this regard.

[Cubdriver]

I like the Goth Black. 

I've found with my Rigol, which is also all gothed up, that it's a lot harder to find seldom used buttons (i.e. ones where you have to actually read what they are for) on a black front panel. I see no reason for the Keysight to be different in this regard.

Agreed.  It looks sharp at a glance, but strikes me as fashion over function.  <edit to add - even more so as I look at the pic again and realize that the text is gray rather than white, further reducing the contrast and making it harder to see in less than optimal lighting>  I like my black stereo gear, but as I look around here at equipment built by various manufacturers over the past 60+ years, nearly all of it has light colored panels/dark printing, and what doesn't is usually white or silver text against the dark color.

-Pat

[mnementh]

Didn't you know... Dark Mode is supposed to be easier to read, and less fatiguing to the eyes...?

mnem
 

[Cubdriver]

Last week we had temperatures as high as 27C. Right now it's 1C and raining. But earlier it was snow. Got about 2 inches on the ground. Catskills could get 6 - 8 inches. Adirondacks as much as 12 - 18 inches.  Winter just won't give up. 

Power flashed for a second just enough to mess up the clocks. FD just called out for a tree down on wires about 2 miles from here.

https://www.weather.gov/aly/winter#tab-1

Edit...

Thankfully just rain here, but definitely a stark contrast these past few days compared to last Wed/Thu-ish!

-Pat

[Cubdriver]

Didn't you know... Dark Mode is supposed to be easier to read, and less fatiguing to the eyes...?

mnem
 

Missed the memo - perhaps it was too dark to read.      

-Pat

[AVGresponding]

Didn't you know... Dark Mode is supposed to be easier to read, and less fatiguing to the eyes...?

mnem
 

I've seen the marketing wank and I expect it's about as truthful as usual.

[Specmaster]

Last week we had temperatures as high as 27C. Right now it's 1C and raining. But earlier it was snow. Got about 2 inches on the ground. Catskills could get 6 - 8 inches. Adirondacks as much as 12 - 18 inches.  Winter just won't give up. 

Power flashed for a second just enough to mess up the clocks. FD just called out for a tree down on wires about 2 miles from here.

https://www.weather.gov/aly/winter#tab-1

Edit...

Yeah same here. snow has been gone for weeks and now we have 10cm on the ground. Kids are happy though. They think Christmas is back 

Hehe I was thinking of starting the pool yesterday 

They are also forecasting snow for my area before the end of the month, I certainly hope not.

[tggzzz]

Didn't you know... Dark Mode is supposed to be easier to read, and less fatiguing to the eyes...?

That's why everybody swapped from green on black glass TTYs to black on white glass paper.
Oops.

Those that forget the past are condemned to repeat it.

(Mind you, dark mode does allow you to see all the reflections, and hence when a cow-orker or SWMBO is sneaking up on you)

[Specmaster]

Too late, didn't see your message as I had already left for the scrappy. CRT is gone now. No I can't just go take it back, it's not allowed to take things from the special consumer appliances container, the guys monitor the security cameras and call the cops if your try to steal anything from this container. I tried once before, doesn't work. So I put the CRT on a huge stack of other appliances that I would have loved to fill my car with so I could salvage some components. Not allowed, and they aren't kidding.

Didn't know Saskia wanted one... never mind that she was OK paying hundreds of Euros to package some French random CRT of unknow specs and condition, not even knowing if it would arrive intact to begin with, and get it shipped on a palette.

Don't they have old CRT TV/monitors in Germany ?! 

Well if I find another one I will think of her... so modern 21" she wants...

Its the same over here as well, even if you ask nicely they won't let you.