Test Equipment Anonymous

"I love the smell of puked up hairball in the morning".

Of course it's on the carpet and not the kitchen floor. And Blondie wouldn't touch it. Said it was my cat, my job.

I do like pickled herring either plain or with sour cream. So I'd like to try kippers but I don't even know if they are available here.

It is the yellow shop on the left https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4549406,-2.6201361,3a,75y,298.92h,80.96t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1slw09LJy95U5QGQR1e7kKNw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D9.041276264831978%2...

Would be nice if we had 3 phase residential service over here. Electric motors would be more efficient and such. Instead residential service here is a single phase drop to a center tap grounded transformer. 120V hot leg to ground. 240V across the hot legs. It's called "split phase" service...

Papa Smurf sez...."Let there be blue light". And there was blue light. P11 CRT installed and working. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq70/922/wrqM1h.jpg With the intensity turned up to normal viewing levels the camera really reacts to the blue phosphor. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/...

I hope you are having a nice time. Is it a fairly relaxed day of eating and drinking too much, or is it a family thing where you are obliged to invite relatives you don't see very often? Then they kick off on politics, or their great interest in some sport nobody is interested in, or some family ro...

nixiefreqq wrote: ↑Thu Nov 27, 2025 1:20 pm
today is gonna' be a quiet holiday.......will not fire up the 99 lb tornado!

In case you Brits aren't aware, today is US Thanksgiving where everyone stuffs themselves silly with turkey and all the fixings. (It's always the last Thursday in November)

Gobble, gobble.

I haven't had Glenmorangie for years. I recall it was one of the nicer ones, with what I'd call a rounded flavour and not too fiery. I thought Highland Park was similar but smoother still. Just the thing for a winter night with the rain lashing against the windows. The Scottish whisky industry pref...

The TV ads said "American Express Traveler's Checks accepted world-wide". Except in the UK as I found out the hard way and got hosed on exchange rates. Damn Limeys.

EC8010 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 25, 2025 2:32 pm I wonder how long it will be before Trump's fizzog appears on US currency? (Mild stir.)

It will be on the new penny.

Last month after almost 250 years the last 1 cent penny was struck by the US Mint. It cost over 2.5 cents for each 1 cent penny struck. I guess Canada did the same a few years ago. I noticed that one of the fancy UK 50p coins celebrated UK's membership of the EU. Funny how that didn't work out. :P :...

I'm not aware of any reliable TE dealer on this side of the pond so you guys are lucky to have at least one. I've been avoiding browsing Ebay lately because the prices asked even for junk are ridiculous. Facebook Marketplace and sometimes Craigslist have been pure gold. The sellers typically don't u...

Tube and nixie rapists deserve a special place in hell. And there's a 3rd form of thievery that deserves a place in hell. Tube fraud. I've been a victim of it twice as documented here...

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Oooh er! Hadn't considered that. Anybody buying aged test equipment for its valves is an idiot; if not worn out, the valves will be well on their way. Would I buy a DMM using nixies? Not really; I want better accuracy than was achievable in that era. I can't imagine much useful test gear is lost to...

Amazingly Americans still use top loading washing machines. We have a high efficency washer and seperate heat pump drier (super efficent) both front loading. Most full size permanently installed washers sold here are also high efficiency front loaders but yes, you can still buy top loaders. Most po...

I know it is fairly typical in the UK, and probably in most of the EU, to have a clothes washer in the kitchen. That is unheard of here. The washer, along with usually a dryer, is located in a large closet or the basement. In this apartment complex there are 2 washers and dryers in the basement. So ...

Have you read the classic "Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid" ?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%2C_Escher%2C_Bach Copy arrived today with a thump. It isn't a book I could read from end-to-end: too detailed, convoluted (deliberately!), and abstruse (chosen style, difficu...

tggzzz wrote: ↑Wed Nov 05, 2025 10:15 pm

MED6753 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 05, 2025 7:33 pm Man you software guys are weird.

Have you read the classic "Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid" ?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6de ... er%2C_Bach

I guess I'm too much of a simpleton to understand what the fuck he's talking about.

Man you software guys are weird.

More 485 fun. I was about to put my original parts mule back into storage and I noticed these 2 options listed and was curious as to what they were. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq70/923/nBUVgk.jpg Option 4 is additional EMC shielding and option 78 is P11 (blue) phosphor! Really? So I pulled t...

Human, this box is unacceptable. It has holes in it.

Pat, sorry to hear about Gilmore. We do grow attached to our pets. And yes, Schottky does look exactly like Harley.

Our cats are the only domesticated mammal that isn't "domesticated". Case in point. About a month ago one evening I came into the kitchen and found Harley laying on the floor next to a dead mouse. Harley is an indoor cat and has never seen a mouse and in the 2.5 years we lived here we've n...

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. My cat Loki has the same habit. While stroking him, you have to be careful, otherwise you'll get a hurtful "love bite". Does he also bite you on the ...

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.