Test Equipment Anonymous

I now think the lump that had to be sawn off the bottle before the cork could be found was a Sainsbury's addition. Some sort of anti-theft device. But there didn't seem to be a loop aerial or any electronics in there and SWMBO wasn't challenged at the door. It should probably have been removed at t...

I wonder how long it will be before Trump's fizzog appears on US currency? (Mild stir.) I suspect this is as close as he'll get: https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%2Fid%2FOIP.UfT8UEgEkNnrupEYXil4SwHaFj%3Fpid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=d64c4d0b4e7acb53750e38...

There was a lot of experimentation in the 60s and early 70s. While working for Plessey, my brother gave me lots of hookup wire from West Drayton air traffic control centre, and later gave me a 19" rack insert full of 1" hollow metal cubes. Inside each cube there was four of these surround...

I bought the radio series on six CDs on the same day I bought my first CD player. The original radio series was by far the best and the television version was a severe disappointment for the reasons you mentioned. I didn't like the TV Marvin either. No idea what Marvin should have looked like, but ...

MED6753 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 22, 2025 5:03 pm Harley likes to sometimes give me a "love bite" on my hand and his fangs break the skin. He doesn't comprehend that it's painful.

Making a noise like a distressed kitten has always worked for me. Works with rambunctious dogs as well, though I wouldn't try it with an aggressive one

bd139 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 04, 2025 8:33 am

tggzzz wrote: ↑Fri Oct 03, 2025 10:09 am Realism: you didn't say "find the faulty tant"

Hey I did find it in the end. It was however disguised as a silver mica!


post6_vJAH1z1_gpEbN.jpg

The yellow bead one with the brown dot?

As for accuracy, I regard it as sufficient for a quick pass/fail test or sanity check - a bit like an old 2% analogue multimeter. A bit better than that. I've just checked it with a couple of 1.2k 0.01% resistors and it says both are 1198R. I make that < 0.2%. My Brymen 867s says both of those resi...

Probably is one of those Atmel 328 clones, but that's a good price; you'd pay more for one in a case on fleabay EDIT: I've found them to be remarkably accurate compared to my bench LCR. Haven't checked the transistor readings, but they are consistent and plausible, at least, and it's usually quite ...

This little jewel popped up for parts only at a well known UK bomb-site trader, listed for £150. I threw a semi-lowball, (£100), and they came back with £125 (+£16.95 p&p), so I pulled the trigger, as I could see that although it wouldn't power on, the cal stickers were intack, so there was a r...

tggzzz wrote: ↑Fri Jul 25, 2025 11:05 am "pole bending"

What a great, descriptive phrase!

Someone replaced the VFD of a Keithley 2000 with an OLED display. Technical details can be found here: https://github.com/RM-Engineering/Keithley-2000-replacing-the-VFD-with-a-5.5-inch-OLED- After seeing this and also stumbling on a Zenwizard video on replacing the piss poor display in the HP 8904A...

Londoners are considerably nicer than the average across the country. You don't realise this until you're a parent and have a buggy to shove around. Anywhere else wouldn't piss on the buggy if it was on fire from experience. In London a veritable army of people assist with doors, stairs and buses w...

Say wut?!?

When they wanted to make them well, they did. My 8300A's both are within a few LSDs of my 8840A, which agrees with my Keithley 2000, 2015THD, and late Agilent 34401A. Not to mention that all my Fluke handhelds agree in a similar way, from the 8060A to the 289. The 8000A really does seem to be an ab...

Or the earlier voltmeter with a digital readout, the 893A. Still my only meter that will read 1kV while taking zero current. None of the normal 0.1mA at 1kV crap :) Perhaps they were different companies, with rebadged low-end scopes, or equivalent to the Tek/Telequipment divide. Is that a null mete...