Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Neper]

While doing a quick Google on weather topics, I had this ad presented...



Seriously..        

Well I suppose if you stick a compass in the sockets then you’re not going to have to pay the bill again 

Oh, it would cut both the power and the bill: things wouldn't be switched on.

In my high-school, there was a mains socket in the staircase that was on the same circuit/fuse as the bell. Every few days, someone would insert a mains plug with a built-in short towards the end of the lunch break to give us an additional 5 minutes - the time the janitor took to run to his den and reset the fuse.

He never found out why the fuse kept tripping but the socket got a bit black over the years...

[Cerebus]

This is my preferred climate over the year:

Well you could move there, the Shetlands have been haemorrhaging people and they'd probably be glad of a new warm body or two.

But, should you do so, you'd have to get used to the phrase "We do not deliver to the Highlands and islands.".

[BU508A]

This is my preferred climate over the year:

Well you could move there, the Shetlands have been haemorrhaging people and they'd probably be glad of a new warm body or two.

But, should you do so, you'd have to get used to the phrase "We do not deliver to the Highlands and islands.".

There are always drawbacks and disadvantages ....

[mnementh]

...That shit wouldn't be good for anything except to spray one of those stoopit little tchotchke craft boxes... certainly not meant for furniture. What a waste of $11; 3/4 of the can floating in the air, nothing on the tabletop....

mnem
And of course, now I'm done and can barely breathe with my lungs coated in urethane, there's a bluebottle fly buzzing around in here with it...

Which is why I own a 3 hp compressor that's really too big for my place because it was the smallest one that would drive a pukka DeVilbiss spray gun which eats 14 cuft/min at around 2 bar. Rattle cans are fine for small things, but as soon as something's bigger than maybe a foot square you just can't get paint/varnish/whatever on fast enough to stop yourself from trying to lay wet paint onto stuff that's already part dry.

Yeah, what I should do is set up both my compressors in tandem like I did when I painted Franken-Cruiser; but I dunno if I kept my HVLP sprayer when we moved.

That said, this rattle-can was egregiously bad; simply not fit for purpose. I can usually get a passable job with a rattle-can that actually works; this was not that. It was obviously never vetted for usability, or some 1d10t substituted a different can/nozzle that was wrong for this product sometime during production. 

I looked in all my automotive stuff; couldn't find my HVLPS. There's a tiny chance it's buried in one of the tool bins I haven't opened yet, but I'm not gonna hold my breath waiting for that expedition to happen.

   Went to Target today; needed moo and yo for the kids.

While I was there, I popped in and looked at the half a 10-foot aisle which is all they have now for "Home Improvement/Hardware". Found no paint brushes except these, which the website said were zero stock. They had 10. 

As they were now on clearance for 59c a pack, I took them all. We'll see if they eliminate the "loose bristles" problem or if they just introduce new problems of their own. If no joy, I guess the next step will be another fruitless search for my HVLPS, followed by a trip to Horror Fraught.

Some time after the weather breaks; it's 88% humidity right now, and last night's spray-coat is still too tacky to sand. As if I'd be able to breathe that liquid air long enough to finish sanding it all again anyways...

mnem
*drops back and punts*

[Cerebus]

People "in the know" who were sweltering at 38C plus outside would hurriedly pull on wooly jumpers (pullovers) & jackets in the foyer before entering.

Only an Aussie would have to say "wooly jumpers (pullovers)" so that we didn't think they meant "wooly jumpers (sheep)" in case we'd mistaken them for a Kiwi. 

[Cerebus]

Now where did I see it ...?  Something about a bodily function and a rope... ... ...

You can forgive the Poms as they've yet not learnt how to properly chill beer !

Oh, we've tried. We found that it is impossible to do.

Chilling gnat's piss is easy, however.

Gnat's piss examples include Coors and anything that needs to be advertised by a "muscle man" (Which may or may not also be Coors; nobody cares)

Maybe its due to the higher alcohol content of our beers, gnats piss is by default, largely just coloured water 

I don't think so. Some gnat's piss has standard alcohol content, and some beer has a low alcoholic content - and is quite pleasant in summer

What ever, consuming quantities of said amber nectar over here in the UK is not to be advised during this heat as the alcohol actually dehydrates you so the experts warn...hang on, isn't that confirming the sentence above has some truth to it 

Beer will dehydrate you less than, say, a G&T. If 10mg of alcohol "dehydrates" you by encouraging urination, then with a beer you will get more water with that 10mg to "rehydrate" you.

The whole thing about beer dehydrating you is an old wives' tale. Each gram of alcohol consumed causes a net loss of around 10 ml of water (generally accepted and easy to remember figure). So a pint (568 ml) of 4% abv beer contains 22.7 ml of alcohol, giving 17.9 g of alcohol. This will cause the loss of 180ml of water, but the pint of beer will have supplied about 540 ml of water (with perhaps a small fudge factor for dissolved solids), leaving a net result of at 360 ml of additional hydration.

The G&T case is actually marginal as well: 25 ml shot of 40% gin - ~8gm alcohol - net fluid loss (80 - 15) = 65 ml to be made up with tonic water and ice. So as long as your G&T is 1:2.6 gin and tonic respectively you're not going to suffer dehydration, with any excess tonic over the 2.6 contributing to hydration, but by the time you get any significant hydration from drinking it you're going to be pissed as an admiral.

[med6753]

The Summer's first genuine heat wave this week.

[bd139]

Now where did I see it ...?  Something about a bodily function and a rope... ... ...

You can forgive the Poms as they've yet not learnt how to properly chill beer !

Oh, we've tried. We found that it is impossible to do.

Chilling gnat's piss is easy, however.

Gnat's piss examples include Coors and anything that needs to be advertised by a "muscle man" (Which may or may not also be Coors; nobody cares)

Maybe its due to the higher alcohol content of our beers, gnats piss is by default, largely just coloured water 

I don't think so. Some gnat's piss has standard alcohol content, and some beer has a low alcoholic content - and is quite pleasant in summer

What ever, consuming quantities of said amber nectar over here in the UK is not to be advised during this heat as the alcohol actually dehydrates you so the experts warn...hang on, isn't that confirming the sentence above has some truth to it 

Beer will dehydrate you less than, say, a G&T. If 10mg of alcohol "dehydrates" you by encouraging urination, then with a beer you will get more water with that 10mg to "rehydrate" you.

The whole thing about beer dehydrating you is an old wives' tale. Each gram of alcohol consumed causes a net loss of around 10 ml of water (generally accepted and easy to remember figure). So a pint (568 ml) of 4% abv beer contains 22.7 ml of alcohol, giving 17.9 g of alcohol. This will cause the loss of 180ml of water, but the pint of beer will have supplied about 540 ml of water (with perhaps a small fudge factor for dissolved solids), leaving a net result of at 360 ml of additional hydration.

The G&T case is actually marginal as well: 25 ml shot of 40% gin - ~8gm alcohol - net fluid loss (80 - 15) = 65 ml to be made up with tonic water and ice. So as long as your G&T is 1:2.6 gin and tonic respectively you're not going to suffer dehydration, with any excess tonic over the 2.6 contributing to hydration, but by the time you get any significant hydration from drinking it you're going to be pissed as an admiral.

“Beer shits” do however lead to rapid dehydration.

[Specmaster]

Now where did I see it ...?  Something about a bodily function and a rope... ... ...

You can forgive the Poms as they've yet not learnt how to properly chill beer !

Oh, we've tried. We found that it is impossible to do.

Chilling gnat's piss is easy, however.

Gnat's piss examples include Coors and anything that needs to be advertised by a "muscle man" (Which may or may not also be Coors; nobody cares)

Maybe its due to the higher alcohol content of our beers, gnats piss is by default, largely just coloured water 

I don't think so. Some gnat's piss has standard alcohol content, and some beer has a low alcoholic content - and is quite pleasant in summer

What ever, consuming quantities of said amber nectar over here in the UK is not to be advised during this heat as the alcohol actually dehydrates you so the experts warn...hang on, isn't that confirming the sentence above has some truth to it 

Beer will dehydrate you less than, say, a G&T. If 10mg of alcohol "dehydrates" you by encouraging urination, then with a beer you will get more water with that 10mg to "rehydrate" you.

The whole thing about beer dehydrating you is an old wives' tale. Each gram of alcohol consumed causes a net loss of around 10 ml of water (generally accepted and easy to remember figure). So a pint (568 ml) of 4% abv beer contains 22.7 ml of alcohol, giving 17.9 g of alcohol. This will cause the loss of 180ml of water, but the pint of beer will have supplied about 540 ml of water (with perhaps a small fudge factor for dissolved solids), leaving a net result of at 360 ml of additional hydration.

The G&T case is actually marginal as well: 25 ml shot of 40% gin - ~8gm alcohol - net fluid loss (80 - 15) = 65 ml to be made up with tonic water and ice. So as long as your G&T is 1:2.6 gin and tonic respectively you're not going to suffer dehydration, with any excess tonic over the 2.6 contributing to hydration, but by the time you get any significant hydration from drinking it you're going to be pissed as an admiral.

This is what I mean about the relaxed topic rules we enjoy here, we can all learn new things that will enrich our lives 

For the record, the temp here in Chelmsford, UK is 37C in the shade.


Edit:
Just picked SWMBO up from work and its now 39C  And its currently 32C in my lab with all the windows and curtains closed.

[Vince]

COMPONENT SORTING

currently working my way through 25 or so DIP8 packages, half done.

Having trouble with this one :

Marked " M6569-3 KSS ".

Can't find a datasheet for this thing, nor even know what kind of chip it is, at large.

Google can find me pics of packages marked 100% like mine, so I don't have a one-off prototype for sure... and it found me an ad on Aliexpress where that chip was for sale at no less than 8 Euros ! 

https://fr.aliexpress.com/i/1487116884.html

All I can gather is that " KSS " is the name of the manufacturer, whoever that is.

IF anyone knows what KSS does for a living and has a datasheet for this thing, before I add it to my "destined to the trash bin" pile, well that would be nice...


Temperature-wise, here today is the peak / worst day of the heat wave, and it's 17H30 so we have now reached max temp for the day. It's 41°C (106°F) in my little village.
It's freaking 27°C in my living room according to the built-in thermostat in the heater, which is normally lethally high for me (anything above 18°C is uncomfortable for me... hate heat), but somehow I am still alive. Probably because the air is very dry, luckily, zero sweat. Of course I am naked in my living room and take cold showers every now and then, come out soaking wet out of the shower and straight in front of the fan in the living room... physics does the rest and cools me down.

[Zoli]

Last summer the hottest place on the planet was here, in BC(over 50°C, IIRC).
And this is the current situation:

[mnementh]

Fuck you, Zoli. Very cordially, of course. 

The Summer's first genuine heat wave this week.

Yeah; we're supposed to get the same after the humidity breaks with tonight's thunderstorms. Temps will climb starting tomorrow with a high of 96/70%RH Wed & Thurs. Which is exactly when they're supposed to be coming to work on the AC. In the attic. 

Who wants to start a pool on how long it takes them to piss off somewhere else and what the excuses will be...? 

mnem
I'm expecting a call tomorrow night rescheduling til some time next week "due to overruns at a current job".

[mnementh]

...Temperature-wise, here today is the peak / worst day of the heat wave, and it's 17H30 so we have now reached max temp for the day. It's 41°C (106°F) in my little village.

It's freaking 27°C in my living room according to the built-in thermostat in the heater, which is normally lethally high for me (anything above 18°C is uncomfortable for me... hate heat), but somehow I am still alive. Probably because the air is very dry, luckily, zero sweat. Of course I am naked in my living room and take cold showers every now and then, come out soaking wet out of the shower and straight in front of the fan in the living room... physics does the rest and cools me down.

Now I feel a bit ashamed for complaining about only having half my AC working; still better than your lot with that heat and none at all.

Take care of yerself, brother. As someone who grew up on a farm with a fish pond right out back of the house, I know from personal experience that there's only a few things stink worse than a dead frog baking in the sun. 

Unless it's a dozen of 'em. 

mnem
No, this really happened when I was like 12. To this day still a total happened...

[Vince]

COMPONENT SORTING


ANother DIP8 to pick your brain, if you know what it is / datasheet :

It's marked " C81DC ".

Again somehow Aliexpress has one for sale :

https://es.aliexpress.com/item/1005001738808933.html

But the ad doesn't say what it is, so not much help.

All Goolge can tell me is that most likely, this chip is made by Toshiba, and maybe it's an analog / Linear IC, and maybe just maybe, it could have something to do with fast signals like video signals, most likely in consumer gear I imagine...
Also possible, not sure, that this C81DC a code and not the actual part number, which does not help.

The winner gets a bucket load of ice cubes.

[Zenith]

All I can gather is that " KSS " is the name of the manufacturer, whoever that is.

IF anyone knows what KSS does for a living and has a datasheet for this thing, before I add it to my "destined to the trash bin" pile, well that would be nice...

https://www2.jotrin.com/manufacturer/details/KSS

American KSS was bought by AVX in 2004. It's quite likely some sort of filter or oscillator.

That site has data sheets for some other KSS chips, if you register.

Joseph Fourier, who came from your general neck of the woods, had a thing about heat. He made significant contributions to the theory of heat flow, amongst other things. He also believed that the hotter he was the better his brain worked. He was often found in the middle of summer, wearing heavy clothing with a blazing log fire, working at his mathematics.

[Vince]

...Temperature-wise, here today is the peak / worst day of the heat wave, and it's 17H30 so we have now reached max temp for the day. It's 41°C (106°F) in my little village.

It's freaking 27°C in my living room according to the built-in thermostat in the heater, which is normally lethally high for me (anything above 18°C is uncomfortable for me... hate heat), but somehow I am still alive. Probably because the air is very dry, luckily, zero sweat. Of course I am naked in my living room and take cold showers every now and then, come out soaking wet out of the shower and straight in front of the fan in the living room... physics does the rest and cools me down.

Now I feel a bit ashamed for complaining about only having half my AC working; still better than your lot with that heat and none at all.

Take care of yerself, brother. As someone who grew up on a farm with a fish pond right out back of the house, I know from personal experience that there's only a few things stink worse than a dead frog baking in the sun. 

Unless it's a dozen of 'em. 

mnem
No, this really happened when I was like 12. To this day still a total happened...

Strangely, the air is so dry, desert-like, that although I have never in my entire life experienced such a silly high temperature.... I feel quite OK, zero sweat, not sticky at all.... bone dry. It's incredible. Usually I can be all sweaty at only 20 or 25°C because of the humidity here by the ocean, but today at 41, not even sticky. Humidity is everything !! 

Still, can't complain. 41 outside 27 inside, that's 14 degrees less than the outside temp, for a house that's oriented south and no air-con, I think it's doing pretty well. I think once I install sprinklers on the roof and south wall, it should be enough to drop the temps to 20°C and not even need aircon, which I can't afford anyway, neither to buy the H/W, never mind to pay for the electricity to power it.

[AVGresponding]

Now where did I see it ...?  Something about a bodily function and a rope... ... ...

You can forgive the Poms as they've yet not learnt how to properly chill beer !

Oh, we've tried. We found that it is impossible to do.

Chilling gnat's piss is easy, however.

Gnat's piss examples include Coors and anything that needs to be advertised by a "muscle man" (Which may or may not also be Coors; nobody cares)

Maybe its due to the higher alcohol content of our beers, gnats piss is by default, largely just coloured water 

I don't think so. Some gnat's piss has standard alcohol content, and some beer has a low alcoholic content - and is quite pleasant in summer

What ever, consuming quantities of said amber nectar over here in the UK is not to be advised during this heat as the alcohol actually dehydrates you so the experts warn...hang on, isn't that confirming the sentence above has some truth to it 

Beer will dehydrate you less than, say, a G&T. If 10mg of alcohol "dehydrates" you by encouraging urination, then with a beer you will get more water with that 10mg to "rehydrate" you.

The whole thing about beer dehydrating you is an old wives' tale. Each gram of alcohol consumed causes a net loss of around 10 ml of water (generally accepted and easy to remember figure). So a pint (568 ml) of 4% abv beer contains 22.7 ml of alcohol, giving 17.9 g of alcohol. This will cause the loss of 180ml of water, but the pint of beer will have supplied about 540 ml of water (with perhaps a small fudge factor for dissolved solids), leaving a net result of at 360 ml of additional hydration.

The G&T case is actually marginal as well: 25 ml shot of 40% gin - ~8gm alcohol - net fluid loss (80 - 15) = 65 ml to be made up with tonic water and ice. So as long as your G&T is 1:2.6 gin and tonic respectively you're not going to suffer dehydration, with any excess tonic over the 2.6 contributing to hydration, but by the time you get any significant hydration from drinking it you're going to be pissed as an admiral.

I don't think this is how it works. AFAIK the water passes through your system quite quickly, while the alcohol takes time to break down. Also I believe the headache associated with hangovers is caused by the buildup of acetaldehyde, which needs more water to help flush it from the system? After a quick read of this I'm not really much the wiser; looks like the answer is "it's complicated".

The fact remains however, that if I had enough to drink that I got wobbly the night before, the morning after I'll have a mouth drier than a sachet of desiccant beads in the Atacama desert.

[TERRA Operative]

I for one piss like a racehorse after 'breaking the seal' after a few beers...

I've taken to interleaving beer with water to try to keep up. The cottonmouth is real, and somehow I keep thinking more beer is the answer.

[tggzzz]

Now where did I see it ...?  Something about a bodily function and a rope... ... ...

You can forgive the Poms as they've yet not learnt how to properly chill beer !

Oh, we've tried. We found that it is impossible to do.

Chilling gnat's piss is easy, however.

Gnat's piss examples include Coors and anything that needs to be advertised by a "muscle man" (Which may or may not also be Coors; nobody cares)

Maybe its due to the higher alcohol content of our beers, gnats piss is by default, largely just coloured water 

I don't think so. Some gnat's piss has standard alcohol content, and some beer has a low alcoholic content - and is quite pleasant in summer

What ever, consuming quantities of said amber nectar over here in the UK is not to be advised during this heat as the alcohol actually dehydrates you so the experts warn...hang on, isn't that confirming the sentence above has some truth to it 

Beer will dehydrate you less than, say, a G&T. If 10mg of alcohol "dehydrates" you by encouraging urination, then with a beer you will get more water with that 10mg to "rehydrate" you.

The whole thing about beer dehydrating you is an old wives' tale. Each gram of alcohol consumed causes a net loss of around 10 ml of water (generally accepted and easy to remember figure). So a pint (568 ml) of 4% abv beer contains 22.7 ml of alcohol, giving 17.9 g of alcohol. This will cause the loss of 180ml of water, but the pint of beer will have supplied about 540 ml of water (with perhaps a small fudge factor for dissolved solids), leaving a net result of at 360 ml of additional hydration.

The G&T case is actually marginal as well: 25 ml shot of 40% gin - ~8gm alcohol - net fluid loss (80 - 15) = 65 ml to be made up with tonic water and ice. So as long as your G&T is 1:2.6 gin and tonic respectively you're not going to suffer dehydration, with any excess tonic over the 2.6 contributing to hydration, but by the time you get any significant hydration from drinking it you're going to be pissed as an admiral.

Just so.

I suspect the concept of dehydration stems from conflating a headache when you've drunk too much or are dehydrated. The Delicious impurities in the dilute alcohol are more likely culprits than the alcohol itself.

[Vince]

All I can gather is that " KSS " is the name of the manufacturer, whoever that is.

IF anyone knows what KSS does for a living and has a datasheet for this thing, before I add it to my "destined to the trash bin" pile, well that would be nice...

https://www2.jotrin.com/manufacturer/details/KSS

American KSS was bought by AVX in 2004. It's quite likely some sort of filter or oscillator.

That site has data sheets for some other KSS chips, if you register.

Wow.. sounds like you know Jotrin and even have an account there ?! I alwyas thought it was a ghost / fake website, a scam... like the billions of such component sellers that Google floods me with when I search for stuff. So you mean that Jotrin is legit ?! It's a real business, they really sell you components, they don't just run away with your money ?! 

Joseph Fourier, who came from your general neck of the woods, had a thing about heat. He made significant contributions to the theory of heat flow, amongst other things. He also believed that the hotter he was the better his brain worked. He was often found in the middle of summer, wearing heavy clothing with a blazing log fire, working at his mathematics.

That's why people are scared of scientist and nerds... because we are really weird !!! 


18H30 I am freaking hungry, haven't eaten anything today... but I can't cook anything otherwise the gas cooker will raise the temperature in the living room (small house here), I have no extraction apparatus for now in the kitchen.... top priority for now is building the garage, building the kitchen is way down in the list... 

[nixiefreqq]

Random spur of the moment TEA Acquisition... Just cos' I've always wanted one, the price was rather low and it seems to be in great condition.

McBryce.

your mileage may vary....but that is my least favorite piece of TE.

bought mine new in about 1993 and it gets very little use.

the little slide on clip ground leads on the probes are dogshit, unreliable, and mostly self destructed in the first couple of years.

had to replace the electroluminescent backlight panel about 10 years ago.  it was not too difficult but the color has never looked right since.

the banana jacks on top are used only for ohms, diode test, and mV up to 3V.  for any voltage test above 3V you have to switch to the bnc jacks and use a probe.  i always forget and it annoys the shit outa' me.

the connector on the power supply is dogshit and practically unobtanium when you have to replace it. and replace it you will.

but it is handy when you need to make isolated/differential measurements.  just slap in some batteries.  then it is for sure isolated and you are good to go.

why do i keep it?  because it is one of the things the evil one wanted out of the divorce in '94.....but i got it.

[AVGresponding]

Random spur of the moment TEA Acquisition... Just cos' I've always wanted one, the price was rather low and it seems to be in great condition.

McBryce.

your mileage may vary....but that is my least favorite piece of TE.

bought mine new in about 1993 and it gets very little use.

the little slide on clip ground leads on the probes are dogshit, unreliable, and mostly self destructed in the first couple of years.

had to replace the electroluminescent backlight panel about 10 years ago.  it was not too difficult but the color has never looked right since.

the banana jacks on top are used only for ohms, diode test, and mV up to 3V.  for any voltage test above 3V you have to switch to the bnc jacks and use a probe.  i always forget and it annoys the shit outa' me.

the connector on the power supply is dogshit and practically unobtanium when you have to replace it. and replace it you will.

but it is handy when you need to make isolated/differential measurements.  just slap in some batteries.  then it is for sure isolated and you are good to go.

why do i keep it?  because it is one of the things the evil one wanted out of the divorce in '94.....but i got it.

You'd have a fight on your hands if you tried to take mine away from me!   

[bd139]

Just so.

I suspect the concept of dehydration stems from conflating a headache when you've drunk too much or are dehydrated. The Delicious impurities in the dilute alcohol are more likely culprits than the alcohol itself.

Definitely agree with this. Observations from experimentation with remaining hydrated and pissed at the same time:

Bottle of wine -> banging headache.

Several beers -> banging headache.

Bottle of port -> worst headache I have ever had.

Litre of Pepsi Max -> banging headache.

Couple of glasses of absinthe -> banging headache.

Way too much vodka -> no headache.

So the answer is to drink vodka and remain hydrated. To celebrate that discovery I'm going to ignore the findings and crack open another Punk IPA

[Zenith]

All I can gather is that " KSS " is the name of the manufacturer, whoever that is.

IF anyone knows what KSS does for a living and has a datasheet for this thing, before I add it to my "destined to the trash bin" pile, well that would be nice...

https://www2.jotrin.com/manufacturer/details/KSS

American KSS was bought by AVX in 2004. It's quite likely some sort of filter or oscillator.

That site has data sheets for some other KSS chips, if you register.

Wow.. sounds like you know Jotrin and even have an account there ?! I alwyas thought it was a ghost / fake website, a scam... like the billions of such component sellers that Google floods me with when I search for stuff. So you mean that Jotrin is legit ?! It's a real business, they really sell you components, they don't just run away with your money ?! 

Never tried them and had no intention of registering. I just found them with a search. The information on KSS seems legit, at least I can't imagine they would make it up from nothing.

My experience of those sorts of places selling obsolete chips, comes from trying to get an out of production CMOS eprom chip for a CRT monitor. There were a few specialist suppliers in the UK with stocks, but they had a minimum order of £50, for a £2 part. The monitor was scrapped. I have no idea whether Jotrin is a bona fide business, but I'd be reluctant to deal with them.

[Specmaster]

Now where did I see it ...?  Something about a bodily function and a rope... ... ...

You can forgive the Poms as they've yet not learnt how to properly chill beer !

Oh, we've tried. We found that it is impossible to do.

Chilling gnat's piss is easy, however.

Gnat's piss examples include Coors and anything that needs to be advertised by a "muscle man" (Which may or may not also be Coors; nobody cares)

Maybe its due to the higher alcohol content of our beers, gnats piss is by default, largely just coloured water 

I don't think so. Some gnat's piss has standard alcohol content, and some beer has a low alcoholic content - and is quite pleasant in summer

What ever, consuming quantities of said amber nectar over here in the UK is not to be advised during this heat as the alcohol actually dehydrates you so the experts warn...hang on, isn't that confirming the sentence above has some truth to it 

Beer will dehydrate you less than, say, a G&T. If 10mg of alcohol "dehydrates" you by encouraging urination, then with a beer you will get more water with that 10mg to "rehydrate" you.

The whole thing about beer dehydrating you is an old wives' tale. Each gram of alcohol consumed causes a net loss of around 10 ml of water (generally accepted and easy to remember figure). So a pint (568 ml) of 4% abv beer contains 22.7 ml of alcohol, giving 17.9 g of alcohol. This will cause the loss of 180ml of water, but the pint of beer will have supplied about 540 ml of water (with perhaps a small fudge factor for dissolved solids), leaving a net result of at 360 ml of additional hydration.

The G&T case is actually marginal as well: 25 ml shot of 40% gin - ~8gm alcohol - net fluid loss (80 - 15) = 65 ml to be made up with tonic water and ice. So as long as your G&T is 1:2.6 gin and tonic respectively you're not going to suffer dehydration, with any excess tonic over the 2.6 contributing to hydration, but by the time you get any significant hydration from drinking it you're going to be pissed as an admiral.

I don't think this is how it works. AFAIK the water passes through your system quite quickly, while the alcohol takes time to break down. Also I believe the headache associated with hangovers is caused by the buildup of acetaldehyde, which needs more water to help flush it from the system? After a quick read of this I'm not really much the wiser; looks like the answer is "it's complicated".

The fact remains however, that if I had enough to drink that I got wobbly the night before, the morning after I'll have a mouth drier than a sachet of desiccant beads in the Atacama desert.

That has always been my understanding as well. Now I still enjoy a nice cold beer or two, especially on a hot day, but I always wake in the middle of the night with a mouth that feels like I have gob full of blotting paper. I always get a dry mouth in my sleep anyway as have never been able to breathe freely with my mouth closed when I'm asleep, so I have to breathe through my mouth at times, but add any form of alcohol and that makes it far worse.