Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Cerebus]

Got some spare boards from the same seller and found they had robbed all the tunnel diodes. 

Maybe they weren't robbed. Maybe they escaped. Tunnelled out. 

I'll get my coat..

[Cerebus]

Currently doing the family time thing at the Hartford Science Center.

Is that something like doing time at the Hartford Correctional Facility?

[factory]

Is there something I don't know about old TI BC183L trannystors, auction of 20 sold for £210. 
eBay auction: #314026002138



Or much better price from Langrex, 10 for £2.25. https://www.langrex.co.uk/products/bc183l-92-npn-transistor-x1opcs/

David

[Squarewave]

I offered some transistors once, they were free to collector.....

[Robert763]

Is there something I don't know about old TI BC183L trannystors, auction of 20 sold for £210. 
eBay auction: #314026002138



Or much better price from Langrex, 10 for £2.25. https://www.langrex.co.uk/products/bc183l-92-npn-transistor-x1opcs/

David

Used in Fuzz boxes 

[Specmaster]

I offered some transistors once, they were free to collector.....

And charged to the emitter, I suppose 

[Squarewave]

I offered some transistors once, they were free to collector.....

And charged to the emitter, I suppose 

Only if they didn't collect from my base.

[bd139]

Is there something I don't know about old TI BC183L trannystors, auction of 20 sold for £210. 
eBay auction: #314026002138



Or much better price from Langrex, 10 for £2.25. https://www.langrex.co.uk/products/bc183l-92-npn-transistor-x1opcs/

David

WTF. I've got about 200 of those.

I suspect this was for some crack baggies with some free transistors next to them 

Either that or it's Texas Instruments specific ones have some weird guitar tone or something that no one can hear or measure 

[AVGresponding]

Bad enough the audiophools destroy old tube gear, now they're gonna smash up solid state as well?   

[Squarewave]

What's an audiophool? And why are they smashing up chewb gear?

[bd139]

Bad enough the audiophools destroy old tube gear, now they're gonna smash up solid state as well?   

If that happens I'm starting a liberation army.

[mnementh]

Currently doing the family time thing at the Hartford Science Center.

Is that something like doing time at the Hartford Correctional Facility?

Yes... But not as entertaining, and the food isn't as good. 

mnem
And we won't even start on their fashion sense... 

[mnementh]

What's an audiophool? And why are they smashing up chewb gear?

They're dickbags who gut old TE like a fish for the choobs... then leave the corpse at the dump or worse, up on fleaBay by the pound. They don't even have the decency to smash it and put it out of its misery...

mnem

[Robert763]

Not much TEA today Went to Ely and amongst other things I visited a charity shop connected to the animal shelter we got our dog from. In a bin was a Canon EOS 40D camera. It said untested due to no battery charger. It did have a body cap, strap, battery and fast 8GB CF card. At £30 it was worth a punt. They offered a refund if it didn't work but I'm not going to ask a charity for  refund... My current DSLR is a EOS 20D bought new back in 2004 for $1400 (in the USA). So this would be a bit of an upgrade.
Got home, charged battery and - nothing, dead. So to TE. Got the Fluke 8060 out. Battery read OK and some continuity across contacts in the camera. However the contacts on the battery looked greasy. So quick wipe with contact cleaner, stuck it back in and it all works. Not a bad DSLR. "only" 10 megapixels but the overall image quality beats the 15 MP 50D that replaced it.

Also got a chance to check the resistance of the Current probe cal fixture Fluke sez Bam 50R (no, not taken with the Canon, it was taken before I went out).
 

[mnementh]

I offered some transistors once, they were free to collector.....

And charged to the emitter, I suppose 

Only if they didn't collect from my base.

mnem
Not enough soggy ol' boots in all the land... not near enough...

[Zenith]

Is there something I don't know about old TI BC183L trannystors, auction of 20 sold for £210. 
eBay auction: #314026002138



Or much better price from Langrex, 10 for £2.25. https://www.langrex.co.uk/products/bc183l-92-npn-transistor-x1opcs/

David

Or 100 for £3.20 (plus VAT) from ESR Components.

https://www.esr.co.uk/shop/contents/en-uk/d2112001_AC_to_BC_Series.html

Could be some daft thing, like with valves, where only a Mullard ECC81 with the code from such and such a factory and a particular anode construction will do, as its musicality and sheer sonic competence is overwhelming.

[Zenith]

What's an audiophool? And why are they smashing up chewb gear?

People who pay a lot of money for things they believe will improve the sound of their hifi, including particular subtypes of valve, solid silver loudspeaker cables, particular brands of capacitor and audiophile IEC mains cables. All of this is highly dubious on an engineering basis.

Some valves which were never considered audio valves back in the day, such as E180F and ECC88 have become popular in these circles. E180F had gold flashed pins for solid technical reasons, but gold flashed pins clearly improve the sound.

[Robert763]

As I said earlier, but obviously too briefly:

Texas Instruments BC183L transistors were used in certain guitar effects units "Fuzz Boxes" obviously you will only get the "right" distortion if you use the same TI transistors 

[Squarewave]

What's an audiophool? And why are they smashing up chewb gear?

They're dickbags who gut old TE like a fish for the choobs... then leave the corpse at the dump or worse, up on fleaBay by the pound. They don't even have the decency to smash it and put it out of its misery...

mnem

Oh like the ones who take nixie choobs cos they look cool.

[Squarewave]

What's an audiophool? And why are they smashing up chewb gear?

People who pay a lot of money for things they believe will improve the sound of their hifi, including particular subtypes of valve, solid silver loudspeaker cables, particular brands of capacitor and audiophile IEC mains cables. All of this is highly dubious on an engineering basis.

Some valves which were never considered audio valves back in the day, such as E180F and ECC88 have become popular in these circles. E180F had gold flashed pins for solid technical reasons, but gold flashed pins clearly improve the sound.

That's just another hobby thing then, like most hobbies, people want nice things, whether it's any better or not is another thing....

[AVGresponding]

What's an audiophool? And why are they smashing up chewb gear?

People who pay a lot of money for things they believe will improve the sound of their hifi, including particular subtypes of valve, solid silver loudspeaker cables, particular brands of capacitor and audiophile IEC mains cables. All of this is highly dubious on an engineering basis.

Some valves which were never considered audio valves back in the day, such as E180F and ECC88 have become popular in these circles. E180F had gold flashed pins for solid technical reasons, but gold flashed pins clearly improve the sound.

It's not dubious at all, it's complete bollocks, and they are all fuckwits with more money than sense or morals.

[mnementh]

What's an audiophool? And why are they smashing up chewb gear?

They're dickbags who gut old TE like a fish for the choobs... then leave the corpse at the dump or worse, up on fleaBay by the pound. They don't even have the decency to smash it and put it out of its misery...

mnem

Oh like the ones who take nixie choobs cos they look cool.

Those are a subset of the "choob rapist" genus of Morlocks we're talking about, yes.

mnem
 

[bitseeker]

Completely forgot about that one!

-Pat

Only just got it on the right page.   

Oh, yeah! Nicely done. Also added to the POI page.

[bitseeker]

WAF Improvement Project: FINAL UPDATE

Excellent work. I am impressed  . Now it needs some scopes on it

And some soldering irons. With brandmarks nearby.   

This is as much assache as I was willing to put up with for the sake of a quick snappy... tho I did try to bring some of the ones that don't get to come out & play as often anymore...

DS1054Zed, USMC Fluke 27, 54621D, in front of those Weller GT7A, Chinesium 60W/110V iron, BSIDE ESR02 Pro component tester, then 54645A & 54600A, in front of those 3478A, 60dBm's 1.5GHz Lo-Z Probe, MASTECH MS6252A Anemometer, Zeenko Brand SAA-2N V2.2 NanoVNA, Micronta 22-182 DMM W/RS-232, and finally my Teledyne/LeCroy T3DSO2102 MSO.

mnem
yes, you may touch it.

A nice family photo around the dinner table.

[Zenith]

What's an audiophool? And why are they smashing up chewb gear?

People who pay a lot of money for things they believe will improve the sound of their hifi, including particular subtypes of valve, solid silver loudspeaker cables, particular brands of capacitor and audiophile IEC mains cables. All of this is highly dubious on an engineering basis.

Some valves which were never considered audio valves back in the day, such as E180F and ECC88 have become popular in these circles. E180F had gold flashed pins for solid technical reasons, but gold flashed pins clearly improve the sound.

That's just another hobby thing then, like most hobbies, people want nice things, whether it's any better or not is another thing....

I suppose you can look on it as a leisure activity people spend time and money on, like golf, or vintage cars, or collecting clocks or books or model trains etc. I don't do any of those things, but I can see the appeal of them.

I find audiophoolery painfully silly. I see it as more like being sucked into a cult than a hobby.