Test Equipment Anonymous

NZ mains is not for sissies
235VAC single phase....unpleasant and life threatening if across the heart.
415VAC between phases......if you're lucky you only get a zap between a phase and ground = 235VAC just to check you're still awake.

What I've noticed is that there are parrot people, who are immensely enthusiastic about them, and owning one seems to be more a way of life than owning a pet. Parrots also have particular views about people. Some don't like boys, some don't like girls, and some take an immense dislike to certain pe...

I may try a trackerball. But the mice I particularly dislike are the ones abandoned in my shoes. Or eviscerated in the dark bit of the hall. Just be sure not to confuse the more ergonomic Trackman with a Trackball. With a Trackman all pointer manipulation is done with the thumb leaving the fingers ...

Never tried a Trackball only the more ergonomic Trackman and 100% agree these style of mouse are hard to beat on a busy bench. On the #1 workstation still using a USB Trackman that is showing its age as the microswitches sometimes miss a click but I now have spares should it get to a truly bothersom...

Primary computer is XP and talks GPIB to sixteen instruments. .............................................. Wireless mice are really useful in a lab, as are dinky keyboards. Do you have a GPIB card or a USB adapter? I hate mice and have always (since 1990) used a track ball . Wireless dinky keyboa...

Mike, try to find a TP-Link TL-WR802N N300 WiFi 4 Nano Router locally and they're quite cheap.
Configure it in Bridge mode to give access to your WiFi LAN for any device with a wired LAN connection.

I will admit that I haven't been in the habit of jumping on the Bantam's brake. Perhaps I should get into the habit, especially as there isn't room to fit a handle to the Bantam. But until I spot a 127 tooth gear at a sensible price, the Bantam is limited to Imperial threads. The Hobbymat has enoug...

That Harrison is very similar to my Bantam except for the screwcutting gearbox. The Bantam has a big three-phase plug on it that goes to a fixed inverter (same with BCA3 mill). Yes, happy with the torque/power argument. The Hobbymat usually runs at its maximum speed of 2000 rpm because it mostly do...

Fact or fiction ?

The Simple British Trick That Made Nazi Radio Towers Electrocute Their Own Crews Until Declassified
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4QvBOO2kFU

More poles on an electric motor = more torque and less RPM. My Harrison 12 lathe came fitted with a 3HP 3 Ph motor wired for 2 or 4 pole operation. Normal operation is 4 pole = 1440 RPM and 2 pole is 2880 RPM or thereabouts on a 50 Hz supply. (6 pole is ~960 and 8 pole ~720 RPM in other 3ph motors I...

WOW thanks lads for the card and tape history lesson. :clap: Never seen such up close but punched some card with a pen at HS which was sent away to be run somewhere Ahrs. We got marked if out code ran properly and how complex it may have been. IIRC we got a dot matrix printout back...well over 50 yr...

Just as an interest, what sorta card feed rate /s was achievable ?
How might that convert to a data baud rate ?

Ah yes, a cave would have a nice stable temperature and humidity too, making it pleasant in both summer and winter and allowing test gear to be stable. All my test gear backs onto a South-facing wall whose temperature oscillates wildly . Never thought of that when house-hunting. Not so in the south...

Ah yes, a cave would have a nice stable temperature and humidity too, making it pleasant in both summer and winter and allowing test gear to be stable. All my test gear backs onto a South-facing wall whose temperature oscillates wildly . Never thought of that when house-hunting. Not so in the south...

Best way to prevent short term overloads triggering breakers is to fit D class (motor rated) breakers.

Power outages in rural areas are a lot more common and often only last a few minutes but sometimes an hour or 3. Big storm winds are our main risk from tree damage to the network....it's a pet hate of mine and anywhere along our road frontage I've ensured no tree can impact the infrastructure....I o...

Yup ~6hrs is all one can expect from the major connectivity suppliers.

But those that give a stuff will go to a bit of trouble to keep their systems alive.....that's if you can get a genset from a hire company before everyone else cleans them out.

"Making" and SBCs such as Raspberry Pi cater to the same sheddy, tinkering instinct the amateur electronics rags covered. It's a constructive interest and no bad thing. .... I know someone who came home to a freezer full of rotting food, because while she was on holiday, poorly thought ou...

I really can't see why anyone would wish to control a washing machine, dishwasher etc from a mobile phone, or pay extra for the feature. Those with grid tied solar installations use remote and/or delayed appliance activation when they are at work and getting good solar output rather than have to pa...

I am slipping. I have not bought any TE since last Summer. Shame on me. :shock: Slacker ! :o $20k's worth purchased yesterday. Not entirely for yourself, I guess..? :lol: Yup, correct. Things are getting pretty crazy when the day your previous $20k order turns up you need to order as much again.......

MED6753 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 08, 2026 7:21 pm I am slipping. I have not bought any TE since last Summer. Shame on me.

Slacker !

$20k's worth purchased yesterday.

A DIY PSU is a right of passage and not that hard at all unless current limiting is required......escaping magic smoke always teaches us lessons....

America Had No Radio Crystals in 1941 — So Engineers Cut 30 Million From Brazilian Quartz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1_l8Qdsq5A

It's much more efficient to remove known dud LED's with a scalpel just pushed sideways between the pads to shatter the plastic and have just the pads remain...then hit them with the iron to remove them.....but Ali PCB's are a whole nuther level of difficulty. Had a porch lamp with 18V LED's on a Ali...

Yup ceramic was the term that I couldn't pull up after a few days away and a long drive home, some 900km and 4 visits to friends and customers.....14 hrs on the road in total after first dropping the grandson at school. I only use the K style tip for SMD passives and it invariably saves firing up th...