Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

In a few years I will be moving to somewhere with no neighbours. At that point I'm going to invest in some decent speakers. Until then, for the sake of being a good neighbour, it's earphones (and my monitor speakers which are pretty good). The earphones have the advantage of external moron cancellation that works quite well

On a good note, was sorting stuff earlier and discovered that at least one set of Pomona 3782's escaped my incompetence. 

Also found two dead Lenovo ThinkPad front batteries which I need to dispose of which have been sitting around for years 

[Specmaster]

My sound system in my workshop is THX certified 5.1 speakers and sounds great. I used to have a proper Hi-Fi system in the lounge but SWMBO hated it, to big etc, she was perfectly happy listening to music via Youtube on her iPads built-in crappy speakers

So as I spend most of my time in the workshop (box room really), I decided to appease here and got rid of the Hi-Fi and make do with the other sound systems I have in the name of harmony and peace to all.

Reason #25678 why I live alone. Screw that. Turn it up! 

Now here's a thought, that might the reason why some of your neighbours are unreasonable with regard to the way they use the laundry room 

[Specmaster]

In a few years I will be moving to somewhere with no neighbours. At that point I'm going to invest in some decent speakers. Until then, for the sake of being a good neighbour, it's earphones (and my monitor speakers which are pretty good). The earphones have the advantage of external moron cancellation that works quite well
<snip>

The problem with earphones is that they also remove any chance of hearing the doorbell when that Herme's (Evri) driver calls, so he chucks your parcel over the garden gate for you 

[bd139]

The problem with earphones is that they also remove any chance of hearing the doorbell when that Herme's (Evri) driver calls, so he chucks your parcel over the garden gate for you 

Now I don't have that problem. They just leave it on the porch and leg it without ringing the damn thing 

Actually that DMM and the counter were both left like that. The worst was DPD who left my Z50 kit on the front door step for 5 hours ffs 

[TERRA Operative]

Speaking of GPIB.....



I also got a cheap TDS210 with a TDS2CM comms module but burnt out polarizers on the LCD.
I'll have fun replacing them, and hacking the comms module to a maths module.
Anyone got suggestions for the correct type of polarizing film to use?

This one might go to a friend who wants to get back into building tube amps.
He doesn't need close to 60MHZ, but the small size is good and the 300V CAT II rated inputs will help when probing his guitar amps.
More scope than he needs but a good cheap simple scope to play with.

[Specmaster]

Post details of the mods you make to the TDS210 comms module to make it do the maths function here, I'm interested in that as well, might well do the same to mine then as well, please.

[mnementh]

...The ubiquitous Mole grip, in case it goes by another name in foreign parts:   

"Mole grip"?   did you make that up?   them there are properly called "vise grips".  and please don't start that vise vs vice bullshit again!

I hereby direct and decree that this be the last and final word on the subject. 

This is the "pliers" drawer of my rolling work cart. These are the tools I use all the time when "mechanicking". You'll not that the general-purpose pliers are all different makes... Crescent, Matco, Kobalt, ChannelLock, even Chinesium for the ones I consider a "consumable" like needle-nose pliers and dikes that get abused all the time.

But there is only one name in locking pliers: Vise-Grip. All others are invariably made of thinner metal, or metal that isn't hardened, or made by people who don't really understand how Vise-Grips need to work, so when they make their copy of the tool, it just plain works wrong.

I don't know whose similar product might be considered to be "the one name" elsewhere in the world... but I've tried them from every brand I could lay my hands on, and the only ones that didn't disappoint are Vise-Grip.

mnem
*toolish*

[Saskia]

...
Wanted to bring my music streamer online.
...

... In the garage while I'm working I have a 8-year-old Kindle Fire/Prime Music app & a 10-year-old iHome BT speaker...

Advantage studio apartement: The main hifi of the living room is available in the workshop too. 

I am not done rearranging my stuff yet, and the reason the battery was empty was that I left it powered off for too long and it's an old Haswell board.

I like my stereo and have put great emphasis on selecting the equipment that I like and enjoy.

For those playing along at home:
Quadral Vulkan Mk 3 speakers
Threshold T200 power amp
Threshold Fet 9 pre amp
Esoteric Audio Research 519 power amps
Audio Geometry FDN 3S active crossover
Nakamichi OMS 5 Mk2 CD player
Nakamichi OMS 7 Mk2 CD player (currently undergoing repairs)
Nakamichi RX 505 tape deck
Nakamichi 680 tape deck (in restoration)
custom built audio streamer
Denon DP 47 turntable
Nakamichi NR200 Dolby C
Revox B77 reel to reel recorder

Backup:
Quadral Montan Mk3
Sony TA-E 86B preamp
Nakamichi PA-5E Mk2 power amp
Custom built audio streamer
various cd players
Pro-Ject Xperience Acryl  turntable

I do have a secondary, tertiary ... backup for the backup, however quality wise those actually are nowhere near ...
If any of you is in need of a stereo set, please let me know. I think I have 3 or 4 complete sets up for grabs.

[TERRA Operative]

Post details of the mods you make to the TDS210 comms module to make it do the maths function here, I'm interested in that as well, might well do the same to mine then as well, please.

Will do, probably make a youtube vid on the restoration too for that sweet sweet internet money.

It basically involves burning the MM firmware to a ROM chip and using it to replace the existing ROM that contains CM firmware, and replacing a RAM chip with a larger capacity item.

[mnementh]

...
Wanted to bring my music streamer online.
...

... In the garage while I'm working I have a 8-year-old Kindle Fire/Prime Music app & a 10-year-old iHome BT speaker...

Advantage studio apartement: The main hifi of the living room is available in the workshop too. 

I said garage, not workbench/dwagon cave.   Until I get something better unpacked, that has this:

Now that I have my bench started, time to get some tuneage...

      

Yes, the JBL XTi 10S are biamp... and the Panny SA-PM29 receiver is actually a pretty good match in both power and X-O frequencies, aside from having a world-class CD deck/DSP design. I also have the matching amplified sub here somewhere... but as it is, still good down to ~60hz before LF really starts to tank. Quite surprising little monitors, those JBLs.

Out in the garage... where I'm running air tools and grinders and belt sanders ATM... yeah, the BT spooker is more than adequate.

mnem

[Specmaster]

...The ubiquitous Mole grip, in case it goes by another name in foreign parts:   

"Mole grip"?   did you make that up?   them there are properly called "vise grips".  and please don't start that vise vs vice bullshit again!

I hereby direct and decree that this be the last and final word on the subject. 

This is the "pliers" drawer of my rolling work cart. These are the tools I use all the time when "mechanicking". You'll not that the general-purpose pliers are all different makes... Crescent, Matco, Kobalt, ChannelLock, even Chinesium for the ones I consider a "consumable" like needle-nose pliers and dikes that get abused all the time.

But there is only one name in locking pliers: Vise-Grip. All others are invariably made of thinner metal, or metal that isn't hardened, or made by people who don't really understand how Vise-Grips need to work, so when they make their copy of the tool, it just plain works wrong.

I don't know whose similar product might be considered to be "the one name" elsewhere in the world... but I've tried them from every brand I could lay my hands on, and the only ones that didn't disappoint are Vise-Grip.

mnem
*toolish*

Yeah, well pretty much the same thing over this side of the pond if you get genuine mole grips, they work just fine, but some others didn't. I think it must be just the gauge of the metal used, maybe the lesser ones just slowly flexed enough over a period of time to slacken their grip?

[tggzzz]

In a few years I will be moving to somewhere with no neighbours. At that point I'm going to invest in some decent speakers. Until then, for the sake of being a good neighbour, it's earphones (and my monitor speakers which are pretty good). The earphones have the advantage of external moron cancellation that works quite well
<snip>

The problem with earphones is that they also remove any chance of hearing the doorbell when that Herme's (Evri) driver calls, so he chucks your parcel over the garden gate for you 

My "earphones" enable me to hear the doorbell.

When they aren't in, I rely on a wireless "portable" receiver with an added flashing light.

[mnementh]

In the garage while I'm working I have a 8-year-old Kindle Fire/Prime Music app & a 10-year-old iHome BT speaker... It just works. Put Kindle to sleep, speaker goes to sleep. Start playing music and the Kindle reconnects, speaker wakes up in less than a second. 

Too simple. I've got a central matrix with balanced outputs to all rooms, and a collection of sound sources, among those a bluetooth receiver.  The matrix, being old, is controlled via MIL-STD-1782, which is used by a Perl-CGI script (running on the media web server VM) that makes a routing panel webpage available. In each room, there are active loudspeakers or passive ones with a power amp. There also is a simple voltage divider potentiometer volume control.

Bet you wish you had one-a deez!

mnem
 

[Cubdriver]

...The ubiquitous Mole grip, in case it goes by another name in foreign parts:   

"Mole grip"?   did you make that up?   them there are properly called "vise grips".  and please don't start that vise vs vice bullshit again!

I hereby direct and decree that this be the last and final word on the subject. 

This is the "pliers" drawer of my rolling work cart. These are the tools I use all the time when "mechanicking". You'll not that the general-purpose pliers are all different makes... Crescent, Matco, Kobalt, ChannelLock, even Chinesium for the ones I consider a "consumable" like needle-nose pliers and dikes that get abused all the time.

But there is only one name in locking pliers: Vise-Grip. All others are invariably made of thinner metal, or metal that isn't hardened, or made by people who don't really understand how Vise-Grips need to work, so when they make their copy of the tool, it just plain works wrong.

I don't know whose similar product might be considered to be "the one name" elsewhere in the world... but I've tried them from every brand I could lay my hands on, and the only ones that didn't disappoint are Vise-Grip.

mnem
*toolish*

I have an ancient Craftsman locking pliers originally bought by my father (I’d guess late 60s/early 70s vintage) that I’d say are pretty much equal to Vise Grips, but otherwise agree - most others are rough, pale imitations.  That said, current production ones have not impressed me as much finish-wise.  Perhaps because my old ones are well broken in they are smoother, but the tension adjustment on newer ones seems way rougher.

-Pat

[mnementh]

   This is the "pliers" drawer of my rolling work cart. These are the tools I use all the time when "mechanicking". You'll not that the general-purpose pliers are all different makes... Crescent, Matco, Kobalt, ChannelLock, even Chinesium for the ones I consider a "consumable" like needle-nose pliers and dikes that get abused all the time.

But there is only one name in locking pliers: Vise-Grip. All others are invariably made of thinner metal, or metal that isn't hardened, or made by people who don't really understand how Vise-Grips need to work, so when they make their copy of the tool, it just plain works wrong.

I don't know whose similar product might be considered to be "the one name" elsewhere in the world... but I've tried them from every brand I could lay my hands on, and the only ones that didn't disappoint are Vise-Grip.

mnem
*toolish*

Yeah, well pretty much the same thing over this side of the pond if you get genuine mole grips, they work just fine, but some others didn't. I think it must be just the gauge of the metal used, maybe the lesser ones just slowly flexed enough over a period of time to slacken their grip?

Nope... it's more than that... it's all the corners the cheapies cut. Trying to get out of welded construction on the fixed jaw, making the body/levers out of mild steel instead of hardened, the quality of the threads on the adjuster and the tool steel used in the teeth/jaws.

The shape of the levers is often just wrong... it hurts to actually use them... or the engineering is just wrong, and not enough compound leverage to get a proper grip, or not enough leverage on the release lever to get it to release without having to use another pair of pliers. Every. Fucking. Time. 

I'll have to take your word for it on the Mole-Grip pliers. But looking at the pic C posted, they're just plain wrong from a mechanicking POV. Yo want straight jaws, not those curved ones; they really only get a good grip on round things like a borked stud or water pipes.

I have an ancient Craftsman locking pliers originally bought by my father (I’d guess late 60s/early 70s vintage) that I’d say are pretty much equal to Vise Grips, but otherwise agree - most others are rough, pale imitations.  That said, current production ones have not impressed me as much finish-wise.  Perhaps because my old ones are well broken in they are smoother, but the tension adjustment on newer ones seems way rougher.   -Pat

It's entirely possible Craftsman contracted with Vise-Grip to make them; they would get the Vise-Grip patented design along with. They did a lot of that back in the day, when the Crafstman name was more than just marketing wank.

mnem
 

[med6753]

My sound system in my workshop is THX certified 5.1 speakers and sounds great. I used to have a proper Hi-Fi system in the lounge but SWMBO hated it, to big etc, she was perfectly happy listening to music via Youtube on her iPads built-in crappy speakers

So as I spend most of my time in the workshop (box room really), I decided to appease here and got rid of the Hi-Fi and make do with the other sound systems I have in the name of harmony and peace to all.

Reason #25678 why I live alone. Screw that. Turn it up! 

Now here's a thought, that might the reason why some of your neighbours are unreasonable with regard to the way they use the laundry room 

Incorrect. 99% of the time I'm quiet and stay to myself. When I moved into this place 11 years ago it was quiet. Rarely any noise. Now I have that ugly biatch upstairs who walks across her floor like a drunken pachyderm and regularly yells at people on her phone. Slob next door neighbor who slams cabinet doors, toilet seats, and doors at all hours. And downstairs a stressed out mother of 4 young rug rats who one day is gonna have a stroke from all her yelling, and yes, literally screaming. 

In the automotive world there is a saying. "There is no substitute for cubic inches (liters)". In the audio world there is no substitute for clean, raw, power. In those rare occasions when I get tired of all these noisy shenanigans I get my revenge. I can literally throw this entire building into resonance with the heartbeat from Dark Side of the Moon. And I don't give a flying fuck. 

In other news. The frame for the A/C unit is installed in the window. Now I wait until my muscle boy shows up later today.         

[med6753]

It's entirely possible Craftsman contracted with Vise-Grip to make them; they would get the Vise-Grip patented design along with. They did a lot of that back in the day, when the Crafstman name was more than just marketing wank.

mnem
 

Who owns the Craftsman name now? Is it Stanley? Black and Decker? Or someone else? I'm too lazy to Google it.

[tggzzz]

In the automotive world there is a saying. "There is no substitute for cubic inches (liters)".     

I'd have thought there was: skill plus imagination, but you can buy volume.

But what do I know; such things have too many wheels and too few wings.

[mansaxel]

Bet you wish you had one-a deez!

The Trompeter (as the most common brand is known) is a legend, but I do audio, not video. Not needed for barrier strips and XLRen.

[Specmaster]

In a few years I will be moving to somewhere with no neighbours. At that point I'm going to invest in some decent speakers. Until then, for the sake of being a good neighbour, it's earphones (and my monitor speakers which are pretty good). The earphones have the advantage of external moron cancellation that works quite well
<snip>

The problem with earphones is that they also remove any chance of hearing the doorbell when that Herme's (Evri) driver calls, so he chucks your parcel over the garden gate for you 

My "earphones" enable me to hear the doorbell.

When they aren't in, I rely on a wireless "portable" receiver with an added flashing light.

Wow, a stereophonic hearing aid

[Specmaster]

<snip>
I can literally throw this entire building into resonance with the heartbeat from Dark Side of the Moon. And I don't give a flying fuck. 
<snip>   

Don't ya just love it when the walls, floors, and windows vibrate and anything that is loose just rattles wildly with that rhythmic drum beat on that sound track 

[Saskia]

hmmm, audio jimmy git territory ?

I picked up an audiophool designer rack yesterday that actually comes in somewhat handy.
a Schroers & Schroers Deltastatic https://www.schroers.de/audio-m%C3%B6bel-furniture/deltastatic/
gross shipping weight: 100 kg. Cost new: 1699 Brussels pesos.

Price paid: 50 Pesos. Condition: few minor scratches, not visible when populated.

Now reassembling my stereo stuff ...

may be talked into making photo when done.

[med6753]

hmmm, audio jimmy git territory ?

I picked up an audiophool designer rack yesterday that actually comes in somewhat handy.
a Schroers & Schroers Deltastatic https://www.schroers.de/audio-m%C3%B6bel-furniture/deltastatic/
gross shipping weight: 100 kg. Cost new: 1699 Brussels pesos.

Price paid: 50 Pesos. Condition: few minor scratches, not visible when populated.

Now reassembling my stereo stuff ...

may be talked into making photo when done.

 

[Cubdriver]

I have an ancient Craftsman locking pliers originally bought by my father (I’d guess late 60s/early 70s vintage) that I’d say are pretty much equal to Vise Grips, but otherwise agree - most others are rough, pale imitations.  That said, current production ones have not impressed me as much finish-wise.  Perhaps because my old ones are well broken in they are smoother, but the tension adjustment on newer ones seems way rougher.   -Pat

It's entirely possible Craftsman contracted with Vise-Grip to make them; they would get the Vise-Grip patented design along with. They did a lot of that back in the day, when the Crafstman name was more than just marketing wank.

mnem
 

I don’t think these were made by Vise Grip - the release lever is a different setup (which, truth be told, I like better) - the lever on VGs gets pinched against the movable arm on them; on the Craftsman pliers it extends beyond the end of the movable arm and gets pulled towards the adjusting screw/body of the plier.  If they’re not cranked down super tight, it’s easily released with a squeeze of the little finger; takes a bit more when tight but can still normally be done one handed.  With VGs, I often need to use two hands to release them.

And yeah, these are definitely from the good times of the Craftsman brand.

-Pat

[bd139]

<snip>
I can literally throw this entire building into resonance with the heartbeat from Dark Side of the Moon. And I don't give a flying fuck. 
<snip>   

Don't ya just love it when the walls, floors, and windows vibrate and anything that is loose just rattles wildly with that rhythmic drum beat on that sound track 

Try “All is full of Love” by Bjork.

That one really fucks off the neighbours