Going free: Fluke 760A Voltage Calibrator

[MED6753]

100 miles vs. 100 years. My house in 95 years old. My parents house was 170 years old. Then we get to old houses. I enjoy walking down streets 2000 years old, and sitting on rocks placed in a circle by people completely forgotten to time who spoke in an unknown (and forevermore unkowable) language. Or crawling under rocks into a barrow called Hetty Pegler's Tump, named after a recent owner in the 17th century.

The prior apartment (flat) I lived in before moving here was in a house originally built in the 1860's but of course completely updated. But it's frame and cellar were still the original hand cut beams and stone foundation with a dirt floor and a water spring in a corner.

[Cubdriver]

It's funny how what you're used to can completely color your perception of things. I have a private pilot ticket, and spent quite a few years in the 80s/90s flying around here in the northeastern U.S. In summer it gets hazy. VERY hazy. Like five miles of visibility aloft is a good VFR day hazy. I was in AZ on a service call in the mid 90s and went to a gliderport outside of Phoenix to get a bit more stick time towards the sailplane ticket that I never did finish. Was chatting with the instructor pilot while we were aloft and he learned where I was from. He then pointed out a mountain some indeterminate distance away, and commented "it's a bit hazy today - see that mountain?" Yeah, I replied. "That's about 125 miles away - usually you can see it much more clearly than today." If I could see 20-30 miles in the northeast it was an incredibly clear day, and here to him 125+ miles was 'hazy'!! Crazy!

Talking to someone else there, I learned that the private pilots from the southwest had no qualms about flying in crazily strong winds, but felt like they were on instruments if they couldn't see at least 20 miles. I was the opposite from my experience - wasn't keen on high winds, but to me 7 miles in summer was CAVU (ceiling and visibility unlimited).

-Pat

[vk6zgo]

100 miles vs. 100 years. My house in 95 years old. My parents house was 170 years old. Then we get to old houses. I enjoy walking down streets 2000 years old, and sitting on rocks placed in a circle by people completely forgotten to time who spoke in an unknown (and forevermore unkowable) language. Or crawling under rocks into a barrow called Hetty Pegler's Tump, named after a recent owner in the 17th century.

The prior apartment (flat) I lived in before moving here was in a house originally built in the 1860's but of course completely updated. But it's frame and cellar were still the original hand cut beams and stone foundation with a dirt floor and a water spring in a corner.

When I went to Southampton UK back in the day, one of the interesting sights was a warehouse from the mid 1400s, which was notable for some other reason now lost in the mists of receding memories.
What struck me was that it was virtually indistinguishable from some made in Fremantle WA in the 1840s.
400 years with no progress in methods, or just that they got the design right & saw no reason to change it?

[tggzzz]

When I went to Southampton UK back in the day, one of the interesting sights was a warehouse from the mid 1400s, which was notable for some other reason now lost in the mists of receding memories.
What struck me was that it was virtually indistinguishable from some made in Fremantle WA in the 1840s.
400 years with no progress in methods, or just that they got the design right & saw no reason to change it?

Curious; I don't remember one.

Was it in Southampton? That would mildly surprise me since most of Southampton city centre and docks were extensively redeveloped[1] by the Luftwaffe. The nearest I can see is https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/ ... ry/1339976 but that is stated to be 19th century.

[1] compare the map above with https://maps.nls.uk/view/231283524 which shows it as a "malt house".

[vk6zgo]

When I went to Southampton UK back in the day, one of the interesting sights was a warehouse from the mid 1400s, which was notable for some other reason now lost in the mists of receding memories.
What struck me was that it was virtually indistinguishable from some made in Fremantle WA in the 1840s.
400 years with no progress in methods, or just that they got the design right & saw no reason to change it?

Curious; I don't remember one.

Was it in Southampton? That would mildly surprise me since most of Southampton city centre and docks were extensively redeveloped[1] by the Luftwaffe. The nearest I can see is https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/ ... ry/1339976 but that is stated to be 19th century.

[1] compare the map above with https://maps.nls.uk/view/231283524 which shows it as a "malt house".

It was quite small, basically a shed with a front door & I think, one small window.
The one in Fremantle was a similar size, so maybe I was flattering it by the term warehouse but the Freo one is so described.
They were both of very similar rough stone construction, & I seem to remember a plaque on the Soton one mentioning a 1400s date, but it was 50 odd years back when I saw it, so I might have, (at this remove), "The bull by the bum!".

[tggzzz]

When I went to Southampton UK back in the day, one of the interesting sights was a warehouse from the mid 1400s, which was notable for some other reason now lost in the mists of receding memories.
What struck me was that it was virtually indistinguishable from some made in Fremantle WA in the 1840s.
400 years with no progress in methods, or just that they got the design right & saw no reason to change it?

Curious; I don't remember one.

Was it in Southampton? That would mildly surprise me since most of Southampton city centre and docks were extensively redeveloped[1] by the Luftwaffe. The nearest I can see is https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/ ... ry/1339976 but that is stated to be 19th century.

[1] compare the map above with https://maps.nls.uk/view/231283524 which shows it as a "malt house".

It was quite small, basically a shed with a front door & I think, one small window.
The one in Fremantle was a similar size, so maybe I was flattering it by the term warehouse but the Freo one is so described.
They were both of very similar rough stone construction, & I seem to remember a plaque on the Soton one mentioning a 1400s date, but it was 50 odd years back when I saw it, so I might have, (at this remove), "The bull by the bum!".

I've finally divined how to use that search function, so now I can see other possibilities that I never knew existed. The links show picture and location, with the "official list entry" tab indicating warehouse and age. All are down by the docks.

I suspect the first of these is the one you remember.

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/ ... ry/1092060 C14 with C18 alterations. This was built, after the French raid of 1338, by Cistercian Monks as a storehouse for wool to be exported to Europe. It is the only surviving freestanding mediaeval warehouse in Southampton. Two storeys built of stone rubble with angle quoins. Old tiled roof..... Grade I, so "cannot be touched".

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/ ... ry/1179384 C15 restored 1973-4. Built before 1428, this building originally stood in St Michael's Square. The upper floors were used as the town Woollen Cloth Hall and the open arcaded ground floor as the Fishmarket. By the C17 it had become derelict and was sold in 1634 to Alderman Edward Exton for 20 marks for re-erection on the present site as a warehouse. The arcaded ground floor was filled in. Three storeys. Five bay timber-framed building with plaster infilling on stone rubble ground floor....

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/ ... ry/1339983 Vault, probably C14 altered in C15 and probably originally a warehouse storing wines and commodities.

[Zenith]

There are a surprising number of mediaeval buildings in Southampton, despite the mauling it had in WWII.

http://sotonopedia.wikidot.com/page-browse:wool-house

http://sotonopedia.wikidot.com/page-browse:weigh-house

[nixiefreqq]

100 miles vs. 100 years. My house in 95 years old. My parents house was 170 years old. Then we get to old houses. I enjoy walking down streets 2000 years old, and sitting on rocks placed in a circle by people completely forgotten to time who spoke in an unknown (and forevermore unkowable) language. Or crawling under rocks into a barrow called Hetty Pegler's Tump, named after a recent owner in the 17th century.

The prior apartment (flat) I lived in before moving here was in a house originally built in the 1860's but of course completely updated. But it's frame and cellar were still the original hand cut beams and stone foundation with a dirt floor and a water spring in a corner.

back in the 80's I owned and lived in a former one room brick school house that was built in 1863. a couple of confederate divisions marched right down the road past it while under construction (heading for the dust up in gettysburg). my uncle Bob knew a guy who claimed to have gone to school there, and said he spent a lot of time in the basement canoodling with girls while pretending to get coal for the stove. it had been extensively renovated/remodeled in the 60's and was really a pretty cool place to live.

as far as I know "she whose name must never be spoken" still lives there. she was a hell of a housekeeper. yep.....kicked me out and kept the house.

[Zenith]

It was quite small, basically a shed with a front door & I think, one small window.
The one in Fremantle was a similar size, so maybe I was flattering it by the term warehouse but the Freo one is so described.
They were both of very similar rough stone construction, & I seem to remember a plaque on the Soton one mentioning a 1400s date, but it was 50 odd years back when I saw it, so I might have, (at this remove), "The bull by the bum!".

There's The Roundhouse in Fremantle.

https://emmajaneexplores.com/visiting-f ... und-house/

It was built as a prison in the 1830s, but it was used for storage later on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOIpzSQq_Wk

The Youtube video is only four minutes long. It gives good views of the courtyard, and some of the buildings look of similar construction to the ones in Southampton.

[MED6753]

It's funny how what you're used to can completely color your perception of things. I have a private pilot ticket, and spent quite a few years in the 80s/90s flying around here in the northeastern U.S. In summer it gets hazy. VERY hazy. Like five miles of visibility aloft is a good VFR day hazy. I was in AZ on a service call in the mid 90s and went to a gliderport outside of Phoenix to get a bit more stick time towards the sailplane ticket that I never did finish. Was chatting with the instructor pilot while we were aloft and he learned where I was from. He then pointed out a mountain some indeterminate distance away, and commented "it's a bit hazy today - see that mountain?" Yeah, I replied. "That's about 125 miles away - usually you can see it much more clearly than today." If I could see 20-30 miles in the northeast it was an incredibly clear day, and here to him 125+ miles was 'hazy'!! Crazy!

Talking to someone else there, I learned that the private pilots from the southwest had no qualms about flying in crazily strong winds, but felt like they were on instruments if they couldn't see at least 20 miles. I was the opposite from my experience - wasn't keen on high winds, but to me 7 miles in summer was CAVU (ceiling and visibility unlimited).

-Pat

Pat, what aircraft did you generally pilot?

Unlimited visibility. Same deal at my brother's place in Colorado. You can see the Rockies from his town and it looks like they are "right there" but in fact 40 - 50 miles away. But when the wind is right you can smell the slaughterhouses and pig farms.

[vk6zgo]

Curious; I don't remember one.

Was it in Southampton? That would mildly surprise me since most of Southampton city centre and docks were extensively redeveloped[1] by the Luftwaffe. The nearest I can see is https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/ ... ry/1339976 but that is stated to be 19th century.

[1] compare the map above with https://maps.nls.uk/view/231283524 which shows it as a "malt house".

It was quite small, basically a shed with a front door & I think, one small window.
The one in Fremantle was a similar size, so maybe I was flattering it by the term warehouse but the Freo one is so described.
They were both of very similar rough stone construction, & I seem to remember a plaque on the Soton one mentioning a 1400s date, but it was 50 odd years back when I saw it, so I might have, (at this remove), "The bull by the bum!".

I've finally divined how to use that search function, so now I can see other possibilities that I never knew existed. The links show picture and location, with the "official list entry" tab indicating warehouse and age. All are down by the docks.

I suspect the first of these is the one you remember.

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/ ... ry/1092060 C14 with C18 alterations. This was built, after the French raid of 1338, by Cistercian Monks as a storehouse for wool to be exported to Europe. It is the only surviving freestanding mediaeval warehouse in Southampton. Two storeys built of stone rubble with angle quoins. Old tiled roof..... Grade I, so "cannot be touched".

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/ ... ry/1179384 C15 restored 1973-4. Built before 1428, this building originally stood in St Michael's Square. The upper floors were used as the town Woollen Cloth Hall and the open arcaded ground floor as the Fishmarket. By the C17 it had become derelict and was sold in 1634 to Alderman Edward Exton for 20 marks for re-erection on the present site as a warehouse. The arcaded ground floor was filled in. Three storeys. Five bay timber-framed building with plaster infilling on stone rubble ground floor....

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/ ... ry/1339983 Vault, probably C14 altered in C15 and probably originally a warehouse storing wines and commodities.

I think the Woolhouse looks a lot like what I remember, & the construction was very similar to the Fremantle one, but I thought they were both smaller.
In retrospect, I'm surprised that I didn't take a photo back then.
I haven't even seen the Freo one for nearly a decade, but I seem to remember some activity occurring in it with a reasonable number of people, so it may well be of similar size to the SOTON one.
The Fremantle one certainly wasn't multi storey, but it had a high roofline so may have had the top floor removed.

[vk6zgo]

There's The Roundhouse in Fremantle.

https://emmajaneexplores.com/visiting-f ... und-house/

It was built as a prison in the 1830s, but it was used for storage later on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOIpzSQq_Wk

The Youtube video is only four minutes long. It gives good views of the courtyard, and some of the buildings look of similar construction to the ones in Southampton.

The one I remember was definitely a stand alone building, but of similar construction to both the Roundhouse & the Soton one.
In retrospect,the reason for using the same techniques 400 years later is probably a obvious one, reflecting the kind of building materials available.
Just as in 1400s Southampton, in early to mid 1800s in Fremantle, stone was readily available, dictating the building design.

It seems that the Fluke 760A has got lost in this quite interesting thread, on other fora, we would have moderators screeching!

[tautech]

There's The Roundhouse in Fremantle.

https://emmajaneexplores.com/visiting-f ... und-house/

It was built as a prison in the 1830s, but it was used for storage later on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOIpzSQq_Wk

The Youtube video is only four minutes long. It gives good views of the courtyard, and some of the buildings look of similar construction to the ones in Southampton.

The one I remember was definitely a stand alone building, but of similar construction to both the Roundhouse & the Soton one.
In retrospect,the reason for using the same techniques 400 years later is probably a obvious one, reflecting the kind of building materials available.
Just as in 1400s Southampton, in early to mid 1800s in Fremantle, stone was readily available, dictating the building design.

It seems that the Fluke 760A has got lost in this quite interesting thread, on other fora, we would have moderators screeching!

Not to mention some of the early Perth inhabitants were experts at breaking rocks.
The Freo jail still stands as testament.

[tggzzz]

I think the Woolhouse looks a lot like what I remember, & the construction was very similar to the Fremantle one, but I thought they were both smaller.
In retrospect, I'm surprised that I didn't take a photo back then.

We did have a rather different attitude back then. Photos were taken on holidays and family events, not on "ordinary" day trips. So I wouldn't have take a photo.

That's no bad thing. IMHO there's too much seeing the world through a small rectangle. For everyday life it is better to open your eyes and see and remember the photons hitting your retina.

Having said that, there are exceptions. I've recently put this photo on https://www.geograph.org.uk , a low-key pleasing UK site. I used to walk the dogs there and, as I noted in the caption, it used to encourage me to make a donation.



Long gone, of course; the past is a foreign country.

I've added a more recent photo of the PS Waverley in Tenby harbour, but it hasn't appeared on the website yet.

There are some more drawings and photos of the Wool House at https://dancingmanbrewery.co.uk/wool-house-history/

[tggzzz]

Not to mention some of the early Perth inhabitants were experts at breaking rocks.
The Freo jail still stands as testament.

Clearly a jail was a high priority: "The Roundhouse is the oldest public building in the State of Western Australia. Opened in January 1831, just 18 months after settlement, it was built to hold any person convicted of a crime in the settlement and was used until 1886." https://www.fremantleroundhouse.com.au/aboutus/

One of the many uses of the Wool House was also used as a jailhouse. "During the Napoleonic wars, the Wool House is used as prison for French sailors who used the Itchen River for their surprise attacks. It was a brutal place. The names of some can still be seen today, carved on the beams of the roof. Check out the graffiti in the stone at the top of our stairs."

[Zenith]

It seems that the Fluke 760A has got lost in this quite interesting thread, on other fora, we would have moderators screeching!

It will run its course.

I have a few electronics projects which have been held up for various reasons. I did dig out a Wavetek 1801C sweep generator and check whether it still works and whether a service manual has appeared anywhere yet. Yes it does work, and no, I couldn't find a manual. It's a 1MHz to 1GHz sweeper intended for CATV work. For anything I want a sweeper for, the HP8601A or a DDS function generator are more use. I have an SA anyway, Nothing to write up really. There are numerous jobs to do on the house and garden, and the sun is shining. I'm off on holiday in early May. No rallies to acquire more junk until the middle of May. So all in all, little to report on the TE front.

When the stars are better aligned and the roadblocks on the projects have been lifted, I am sure the reports will come as a flood.

[tggzzz]

It seems that the Fluke 760A has got lost in this quite interesting thread, on other fora, we would have moderators screeching!

It will run its course.

I've had that thought, and that this thread would have been barely conceivable only 30 years ago.

I remember reading https://philip.greenspun.com/samantha/ for the first time in 1994 (possibly after it was in "Best of Web '94"). Back then I used find new and interesting pages by looking at http://cern.ch where people added websites they had created. When that ran out of steam, altavista and yahoo took over, later followed by google.edu.

Anyway, Travels With Samantha was one of the first "database backed websites", with photos and links to the Xerox map server. The latter was pioneering but crude, with not much more than line graphics. That seamless combination of data from multiple sources made me realise that the web was the start of something new and big.

Ten years earlier it was usenet and bang addressing for emails. Oh, the fun we had with "the email has been bounced at kremvax; try icuucp since that is well connected" conversations.

On topic: looks like Tam Hanna is thinking of flying in to pick up the 760A.

[Zenith]

I think the Woolhouse looks a lot like what I remember, & the construction was very similar to the Fremantle one, but I thought they were both smaller.
In retrospect, I'm surprised that I didn't take a photo back then.

We did have a rather different attitude back then. Photos were taken on holidays and family events, not on "ordinary" day trips. So I wouldn't have take a photo.

That's no bad thing. IMHO there's too much seeing the world through a small rectangle. For everyday life it is better to open your eyes and see and remember the photons hitting your retina.

Photography was expensive and cumbersome. You either lugged your SLR with you, or a compact plus light meter, or a simple camera, which couldn't cope with even reasonably difficult conditions. It took ages to get through 36 exposures, or you did your own darkroom work, and that was a performance. Most people had no idea of how to frame a photograph anyway. Then you had wads of prints or transparencies, which had their own problems. No flipping through them on the laptop and discarding any bad ones. No looking at them on the camera and deleting duds straight away.

You can argue that something has been lost, but film photography is an aspect of the past I don't miss. Something I do like is being able to take 10 or 20 photos of something I'm taking apart, which saves a lot of trouble putting it back together properly. That wasn't really practical with film. You might have done it for an expensive antique, such as a clock, but not for something that cost the equivalent of a few pints of beer.

[tggzzz]

I think the Woolhouse looks a lot like what I remember, & the construction was very similar to the Fremantle one, but I thought they were both smaller.
In retrospect, I'm surprised that I didn't take a photo back then.

We did have a rather different attitude back then. Photos were taken on holidays and family events, not on "ordinary" day trips. So I wouldn't have take a photo.

That's no bad thing. IMHO there's too much seeing the world through a small rectangle. For everyday life it is better to open your eyes and see and remember the photons hitting your retina.

Photography was expensive and cumbersome. You either lugged your SLR with you, or a compact plus light meter, or a simple camera, which couldn't cope with even reasonably difficult conditions. It took ages to get through 36 exposures, or you did your own darkroom work, and that was a performance. Most people had no idea of how to frame a photograph anyway. Then you had wads of prints or transparencies, which had their own problems. No flipping through them on the laptop and discarding any bad ones. No looking at them on the camera and deleting duds straight away.

You can argue that something has been lost, but film photography is an aspect of the past I don't miss. Something I do like is being able to take 10 or 20 photos of something I'm taking apart, which saves a lot of trouble putting it back together properly. That wasn't really practical with film. You might have done it for an expensive antique, such as a clock, but not for something that cost the equivalent of a few pints of beer.

I don't disagree, but seeing everything through a viewfinder (or equivalent) misses "being there, in the moment".

I only stopped taking "35mm" photos when it became impossible to get 64ASA positive film developed. I still miss that, because the photos were stereoscopic, taken in a camera made between '47-'75, the one extensively advertised by the likes of Fred Astaire, Eisenhower, Cecil B DeMIlle etc.

When I show people the photos, they actively look at them for much longer than they do with flattie photos. That's partly because they have to look into a slide viewer, which excludes external distractions. More interestingly, it is because their eyes wander around the scene in the same way they do in a real scene.

I ought to find out how people use digital cameras to take stereoscopic photos. The issue is to get the two cameras to take the picture with the same exposure at exactly the same instant. Mistiming would, for example, make water fountains visually incomprehensible.