Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

[mnementh]

I never ONCE said they were a good idea... only that they are everywhere, and that NiCd is NOT dead; it's just lying low in craptastic products like these. If you guys in the UK really have gotten rid of them, it's only relatively recently, and "GOOD FOR YOU!". And I'll bet more than a few containerloads still sqweek by around the holidaze.

mnem
smeesh.

How many have you taken apart in Europe? Nicad cells and batteries have be restricted in the EU since September 2006.
Yes, there are exceptions but not for toys. I've only ever taken one of these apart and it had a AAA size Ni-Mh cell in it.
Just because the north americans put profit before toxic waste does not mean the rest of the world do. The americans are causing issues in aerospace becase the exemptions for Cadmium and some Chromium compounds used on aircraft in Europe are expiring but the OEMS like Lockheed and Boeing are not interested in approving alternatives. I can sort of see why because there can be unforseen results. Pratt & Whitney had turbofan engine shaft failures due to using an anti-sieze compund that had had the lead (a minor consituent) removed from it. The shafts where cracking due to stress corrosion before they even got into service. One in a Boeing failed on the aircrafts first test flight. Nevertheless we need to get rid of these heavy metals.

Robert.

Just out of curiosity, I took a quick look on the Ebay UK site. Hundreds of listings for NiCd batteries, most being sold as NEW, and most often as either packs or individual tabbed cells.

So hardly "outlawed".

The only thing that appears hard to find is NiCd replacements for regular disposable Alkaline battery applications with the button on the (+) terminal, but even a few listings for those did appear.

Yes, most of the listings for cheap solar batteries are for NiMH, often saying "To replace old NiCd batteries"... I only saw a couple in my quick scroll through that were for actual solar lighting NiCd batteries as seen in mine.

But what makes you think that your little island is the definition for what the whole world is or should be?

Nothing you've said or shown negates what I said right here... nor does it amount to a fat steaming pile of dingoes' kidneys to what the rest of the world is doing.

Whether you like it or not, NiCd is still very much alive. Even in your little corner of the globe, and even for hobbyist use.

Can we please stop inventing a fucking argument over nothing, and then spending days arguing over it...?

PLEASE?

mnem
Merry Plucking Christmas.

[mnementh]

Well, it almost fits under the Christmas tree.

mnem
*toddles off to buy a few bales of wrapping paper*

.

[Specmaster]

Guys, guys, come on, tone it down a bit, its bleeding Christmas. With regard to Nicad batteries, I have been using a lot of them, all sourced from Ebay UK. It made perfect sense to me to replace Nicads with Nicads as makers of calculators are not in the habit of publishing schematics in order to work just how their charging circuits are designed. The same goes for other devices like toothbrushes etc and seeing as they are all designed to accept batteries with solder tags. Anyway, the EU might well have outlawed their use in new equipment, but I am unaware of any ban preventing them being used in old equipment which was designed around them.

[Specmaster]

Quick update regarding the Tissue Viability unit, they called today and I have taken a cancellation slot on Tuesday 3rd Jan at a clinic 11 miles away, fingers crossed.

Youngest son woke up this morning complaining about sore throat and a headache, alarm bells ringing loud and clear in my head, just taken a test, and he is currently negative, so it might just be the flue this time, hopefully dodged a bullet there. Also, folks, I have just discovered that pets can also catch covid if they have close contact with an infected person, one of my cats is always in close contact with my middle son, and actually snuggles up close and personal when he is in bed. She is currently engaged in trying to dig through the carpet trying to gain access to his room, good job we are replacing that carpet as soon as decorating is done.

[Robert]

I never ONCE said they were a good idea... only that they are everywhere, and that NiCd is NOT dead; it's just lying low in craptastic products like these. If you guys in the UK really have gotten rid of them, it's only relatively recently, and "GOOD FOR YOU!". And I'll bet more than a few containerloads still sqweek by around the holidaze.

mnem
smeesh.

How many have you taken apart in Europe? Nicad cells and batteries have be restricted in the EU since September 2006.
Yes, there are exceptions but not for toys. I've only ever taken one of these apart and it had a AAA size Ni-Mh cell in it.
Just because the north americans put profit before toxic waste does not mean the rest of the world do. The americans are causing issues in aerospace becase the exemptions for Cadmium and some Chromium compounds used on aircraft in Europe are expiring but the OEMS like Lockheed and Boeing are not interested in approving alternatives. I can sort of see why because there can be unforseen results. Pratt & Whitney had turbofan engine shaft failures due to using an anti-sieze compund that had had the lead (a minor consituent) removed from it. The shafts where cracking due to stress corrosion before they even got into service. One in a Boeing failed on the aircrafts first test flight. Nevertheless we need to get rid of these heavy metals.

Robert.

Just out of curiosity, I took a quick look on the Ebay UK site. Hundreds of listings for NiCd batteries, most being sold as NEW, and most often as either packs or individual tabbed cells.

So hardly "outlawed".

The only thing that appears hard to find is NiCd replacements for regular disposable Alkaline battery applications with the button on the (+) terminal, but even a few listings for those did appear.

Yes, most of the listings for cheap solar batteries are for NiMH, often saying "To replace old NiCd batteries"... I only saw a couple in my quick scroll through that were for actual solar lighting NiCd batteries as seen in mine.

But what makes you think that your little island is the definition for what the whole world is or should be?

Nothing you've said or shown negates what I said right here... nor does it amount to a fat steaming pile of dingoes' kidneys to what the rest of the world is doing.

Whether you like it or not, NiCd is still very much alive. Even in your little corner of the globe, and even for hobbyist use.

Can we please stop inventing a fucking argument over nothing, and then spending days arguing over it...?

PLEASE?

mnem
Merry Plucking Christmas.

No.
As we know there is nothing illegal on ebay- not.
I did a quick check on ebay uk and almost all the ni-cads on sale were either for an exempted application, old stock or actually Ni-Mh being mis-represented.
And it's not just our "little island" it is the whole of the European Union as well.
I note that GP batteries stopped production in 2006 due to health issues with their workers in China. Also Toys R Us in the USA have recently announced they are phasing them out starting with a ban on use in items made for them.

Robert.

[mnementh]

*throws hands up in gesture of surrender*

Fine, fine... whatever. You win. I am wrong, the whole world is exactly the way you say it is.

I'll now go inject my brain with enough alcohol to destroy any brain cells that dared conflict with your view of reality, and hunt down every electron inconvenienced in the creation of those posts, and murder them with extreme prejudice.

mnem
Can we please put a end to this now...?

[mnementh]

Well, credit where credit is due, I said yesterday that my doctor's nurse had referred me to the NHS Tissue Viability unit with reference to my ankle, well, the unit phoned today to make me an appointment. Sadly I was out, and they chose to call the house phone, not my mobile, but not to worry, they will call me tomorrow, but seeing, as I have loads of errands to run tomorrow, and also another nurse appointment for another dressing change, I'll be calling first thing, along with my Doctor requesting an Asthma inhaler for my son. So the NHS can really get their finger out sometimes, whereas the press are always complaining about the long delays in getting appointments, so this has me wondering, are the reports true, or is my case that serious I guess tomorrow I might get some answers on that

Good for you. I hope they get you sorted; maybe a giant bunion ring around the wound would help?

We just got the bill for the MRI related to my back injury; my portion is over $1700. In other words, probably what it should reasonably cost in a world where the price of medical care isn't completely and artificially fucking insane. We'll just ignore the 2nd house note we pay to the insurance companies to have the privilege of paying that.

mnem
"Hold onto yer butts." ~Zar'eh Chton Axt; Campaign of the Holy Plasma Fire

[mnementh]

Obviously whomever made that statement is a wee bit out of touch with the realities of cooking. Full stop.

My ex-wife went vegan, so yes.

My suggestion is to get and cook whatever bird you A) like the flavor of and 2) you can get your best deal on, then freeze the excess.

This is exactly what I did with my 20-lb turkey for Thanksgiving, which will make another appearance at Christmas dinner alongside the ham I'm making so that my family has a choice in what meat they eat.

mnem
You are what you eat; at least enjoy it.

Those are my objectives, but it isn't easy finding something interesting that will fit into the oven I'm allocated. I'm buggered if I'm going to eat a partial bird (e.g. turkey crown, ugh) that is aimed at people too incompetent to carve. I want sausage and chestnut stuffing that has been saturated by the bird's fat.

Ahhh... I see now. So they "gave you" a countertop oven, something like the "Toaster Oven on Steroids" I have for a air fryer.

I suggest you scour the local CL or eBay for a thing known as a "Dutch Oven". Ignore any of the small round ones as they're little more than a stovetop slow-cooker; what you want is one of the huge oval ones. It's a ginormous roaster made of cast iron or aluminum, and I still have my grammummaw's.

Many's the time she roasted a second bird or haunch of beast on the stovetop when we had the whole gaggle over for a holiday or family picnic.

mnem
Good hunting!

[Specmaster]

Well, credit where credit is due, I said yesterday that my doctor's nurse had referred me to the NHS Tissue Viability unit with reference to my ankle, well, the unit phoned today to make me an appointment. Sadly I was out, and they chose to call the house phone, not my mobile, but not to worry, they will call me tomorrow, but seeing, as I have loads of errands to run tomorrow, and also another nurse appointment for another dressing change, I'll be calling first thing, along with my Doctor requesting an Asthma inhaler for my son. So the NHS can really get their finger out sometimes, whereas the press are always complaining about the long delays in getting appointments, so this has me wondering, are the reports true, or is my case that serious I guess tomorrow I might get some answers on that

Good for you. I hope they get you sorted; maybe a giant bunion ring around the wound would help?

We just got the bill for the MRI related to my back injury; my portion is over $1700. In other words, probably what it should reasonably cost in a world where the price of medical care isn't completely and artificially fucking insane. We'll just ignore the 2nd house note we pay to the insurance companies to have the privilege of paying that.

mnem
"Hold onto yer butts." ~Zar'eh Chton Axt; Campaign of the Holy Plasma Fire

Strewth, $1700 good job you have some sort of insurance. As to the point about artificially fucking insane, I'm beginning to think for us it also almost there. Turns out that my Doctors which was a NHS practise, is now a subcontractor to the NHS, which totally explains why at my local surgery, they have no nurses left (I thought they were on holiday, nope they all left at the same time) and currently have a junior health worker standing in. Also explains why you have to sit in a long telephone queueing system trying to get an appointment, always about 50 in front of you and each one can take over 5 minutes to deal with, only 1 person taking phone calls. This I was told today by a nurse at another surgery in the practise, and they get paid £10,000 a year less than a NHS nurse This nurse said that she had emailed a prescription to my pharmacist for new dressings as they used the last 2 on me today, and that I would have to bring the dressings with me on my next appointment on the 28th. The pharmacy said that they never had the email, so back on the phone again, only 3 in front of me, still took 20 minutes though . Once more they told me they sort it out and call me back, no call so I popped to the pharmacy who had only received the prescription after almost 2 hours. They told me that dressings are extremely special and none of the pharmacies in the City had any as they all operate together and also are part the wholesalers so they would have to get them in special from the factory, sometime in the New Year, WTF. I have to have dressing changed and the wound cleaned on the 28th and the 30th ready for the hospital on the 3rd.

Now waiting for them to sort out something as an alternative that the pharmacy might have, geez.. Also turns out the hospital is also a subcontractor to the NHS, so if you ask me, the battle to save the NHS going the same route as your health service is already effectively lost because large parts of it already are in the hands of private enterprise where profit is king, bugger the patient, it will be the same here, soon, pay up or piss off, no money / insurance to pay your bill with, tough. Our Politicians are lying to us once again and trying to portray the service as not fit for service and sell of the rest of it. These subcontractors are not running their services as a charity, they are lining their pockets at the taxpayers expense. RANT MODE OFF

[Cerebus]

I'm told that a bird bigger than 11cm high is "unnecessary", which only leaves a baby chicken.

Goose is pretty flat once it's ready for the oven.

What lunatic has (A) decided that necessity has anything to do with a midwinter feast, (B) chosen to determine the size of a bird by height rather than the rather more customary weight?

Lunatic? A vegan I divorced partly because she had become a militant irrational vegan; since relapsed somewhat but still an extreme vegetarian. (Before we married she chose to eat calves brain with me!)

Ah. Perhaps the calve's brains are to blame. Moooooooo!

Unfortunately the other dimensions of the minioven tray are 28*19cm, which aren't a problem for many birsa, especially stuffed.

All is now clear. Quail? He questioned disappointingly.

While I really like a goose at Christmas, I don't enjoy decanting the fat that drips down. OTOH I do freeze it and use it for roast potatoes later in the year

That is one of the greatest arguments for having goose.

[Cerebus]

Turns out that my Doctors which was a NHS practise, is now a subcontractor to the NHS,

The norm, since the founding of the NHS, is for GPs to be self-employed, and thus contractors who provide services for the NHS. A GP practice that is run directly by the NHS and employs doctors directly is the exception rather than the rule.

[Specmaster]

Turns out that my Doctors which was a NHS practise, is now a subcontractor to the NHS,

The norm, since the founding of the NHS, is for GPs to be self-employed, and thus contractors who provide services for the NHS. A GP practice that is run directly by the NHS and employs doctors directly is the exception rather than the rule.

In other words, it is privatization by stealth, another way of robbing the public purse to put profits in the hands of private people, instead of allowing the money to remain within the NHS where it could be used to fund even more healthcare, like clearing some of the backlog of appointments / operations. It is now a question of economics V clinical care and to think that we were once the envy of the world, have our ruling classes no shame? It seems apparently not, god help us all.

[Cerebus]

Turns out that my Doctors which was a NHS practise, is now a subcontractor to the NHS,

The norm, since the founding of the NHS, is for GPs to be self-employed, and thus contractors who provide services for the NHS. A GP practice that is run directly by the NHS and employs doctors directly is the exception rather than the rule.

In other words, it is privatization by stealth, another way of robbing the public purse to put profits in the hands of private people, instead of allowing the money to remain within the NHS where it could be used to fund even more healthcare, like clearing some of the backlog of appointments / operations. It is now a question of economics V clinical care and to think that we were once the envy of the world, have our ruling classes no shame? It seems apparently not, god help us all.

No, it's not. Did you not read the bit that said this is the way it has been since the founding of the NHS in 1948. GPs have always been independent, self-employed contractors to the NHS ever since the NHS was founded. You can't privatise something that was never nationalised in the first place.

[Specmaster]

The norm, since the founding of the NHS, is for GPs to be self-employed, and thus contractors who provide services for the NHS. A GP practice that is run directly by the NHS and employs doctors directly is the exception rather than the rule.

In other words, it is privatization by stealth, another way of robbing the public purse to put profits in the hands of private people, instead of allowing the money to remain within the NHS where it could be used to fund even more healthcare, like clearing some of the backlog of appointments / operations. It is now a question of economics V clinical care and to think that we were once the envy of the world, have our ruling classes no shame? It seems apparently not, god help us all.

No, it's not. Did you not read the bit that said this is the way it has been since the founding of the NHS in 1948. GPs have always been independent, self-employed contractors to the NHS ever since the NHS was founded. You can't privatise something that was never nationalised in the first place.

Curses, if it smells like a fish, it is fish in the embryo stage.

[tggzzz]

We just got the bill for the MRI related to my back injury; my portion is over $1700. In other words, probably what it should reasonably cost in a world where the price of medical care isn't completely and artificially fucking insane. We'll just ignore the 2nd house note we pay to the insurance companies to have the privilege of paying that.

A couple of times I have wanted a second opinion on sporting-type injuries. I paid the local expert consultant, and had an MRI as part of the diagnosis. Without any health insurance, I had to pay to have all that done in a local private hospital. The bill, including consultant and equipment fees was in, IIRC the £800 range.

In no case was there a significant discrepancy between the private consultants' advice and the NHS consultants' advice.

When appropriate, I have chosen to have free NHS surgery rather than private.surgery.

[tggzzz]

[...RANT MODE OFF

You local GPs have long been independent and self-employed, contracted to the NHS. That is not a reason for not employing nurses and support staff; there must be another reason.

However other parts of the NHS are being vigorously cherry picked by the.corporate healthcare industry, to the extent that it is becoming a national health insurance service.

That (plus Uber-style surge pricing for agency nurses/doctors) is why the vast amounts of extra cash being poured into the NH(I)S aren't increasing the quality of service.

[tggzzz]

Turns out that my Doctors which was a NHS practise, is now a subcontractor to the NHS,

The norm, since the founding of the NHS, is for GPs to be self-employed, and thus contractors who provide services for the NHS. A GP practice that is run directly by the NHS and employs doctors directly is the exception rather than the rule.

In other words, it is privatization by stealth, another way of robbing the public purse to put profits in the hands of private people, instead of allowing the money to remain within the NHS where it could be used to fund even more healthcare, like clearing some of the backlog of appointments / operations. It is now a question of economics V clinical care and to think that we were once the envy of the world, have our ruling classes no shame? It seems apparently not, god help us all.

Yes, for parts other than GP practices. No news there

The ruling classes have never had any shame. James Clavell realised that as a POW in Changi in Singapore during WW2. He used that as the basis for his book (and film) King Rat. Well worth reading, as are some of his other novels.

[tggzzz]

Goose is pretty flat once it's ready for the oven.

What lunatic has (A) decided that necessity has anything to do with a midwinter feast, (B) chosen to determine the size of a bird by height rather than the rather more customary weight?

Lunatic? A vegan I divorced partly because she had become a militant irrational vegan; since relapsed somewhat but still an extreme vegetarian. (Before we married she chose to eat calves brain with me!)

Ah. Perhaps the calve's brains are to blame. Moooooooo!

Late 80s, before BSE, in France

I stopped eating beef earlier than most, because the safety statements were clearly nonsense. Example: we don't know what causes transmission, but beef is safe because we are not ruminants.

I have since restarted enjoying beef

[Specmaster]

[...RANT MODE OFF

You local GPs have long been independent and self-employed, contracted to the NHS. That is not a reason for not employing nurses and support staff; there must be another reason.

However other parts of the NHS are being vigorously cherry picked by the.corporate healthcare industry, to the extent that it is becoming a national health insurance service.

That (plus Uber-style surge pricing for agency nurses/doctors) is why the vast amounts of extra cash being poured into the NH(I)S aren't increasing the quality of service.

The head nurse at my Doctors claims she is 68 and only working because she has a sense of loyalty to the patients, she earns £27,000 pa and has to travel 48 miles a day to and from work. She claims that her wages are some 10K less than if she worked in the hospital, disgraceful. She is retiring at the end of 2023, she can't take it any longer, she said.

[Peter_O]

My provider offered an upgrade of my 100Mbit VDSL to 250Mbit for the same monthly fee and restart of 24 month commitment to the contract.
Online signing process offered to opt for "have own HW" and avoiding 5-10 Euro/month for renting one out of three different HW options from the provider.
Did that and bought a AVM Fritzbox 2590ax for 240 Euro, which would have been 10 Euro/month from the provider, so I'm cheaper off after 24 month.

Today provider's welcome package arrived.
Including the credentials, information, ...
... and a branded Fritzbox 2590ax for free.

Would have been even better if they had announced that in the pre-signing telephone or online dialogue.

Now the question is: Selling the AVM Fritzbox again or keeping it as a spare one? From experience Fritzboxes never die.

[Specmaster]

This is now officially the worst Christmas on record for us, SWMBO and I now have Covid, both of us tested positive this morning, only the youngest boy has escaped but he has a rotten cold, so that's 3 down and 1 to go. Saving grace should be that both SWMBO and I have had our boosters so it should be milder for us. Thank god I left the big turkey in the freezer because we postponed family Christmas dinner as my eldest boys girlfriend is a high risk person. The downside is that we have a smaller bird in the fridge and don't know what we are going to be like tomorrow, so that may be cooked and eaten or it might just be tossed out later.

MIL is still in hospital but the nurses or someone told the in laws that she was coming home yesterday, they were in a panic to get food in etc for her to arrange for 2 people to stay with her, SWMBO now cannot do that, and now (no surprise to me, had it before with my Mum), it turns out that MIL will be staying hospital over Christmas as the Pharmacy is now closed till after Christmas and she would not able to get her medication until then.

WE are all now keeping our fingers crossed that SWMBO has not accidentally taken Covid into the hospital, although she did always take a test first. So yes, it is the perfect storm for the Specmaster family.

[mnementh]

Time to bring this one out again, if only for the sake of tradition and such...


This old Chestnut... By mnem

Chestnuts roasting on an open Tek scope;
Jacks and plugs all aligned in rows...
Yuletide songs played on tube amplifiers,
And hollow-state folk warming hands by the triodes' glow.

Every TEA'er knows... a little extra grid bias and a heated cathode,
Will help to make their nixies bright.
EEs and HAMs with their benches all aglow,
Will find it hard to flip that breaker tonight.

They know the carrier's on his way;
He's loaded all kinds of scopes and meters and maybe a 2-way...
And every nerdling's child... is going to spy,
To see if a Theremin can really make you fly.

And so I'll offer to tune the phase;
on antennas from one to ninety-two...
Although it's been tuned, many times, many ways,
There's no such thing as just right, even when it's Christmas morning, at two...

Merry Christmas all you maniacs, and may your God go with you!

mnem

[Cerebus]

This is now officially the worst Christmas on record for us, SWMBO and I now have Covid, both of us tested positive this morning, only the youngest boy has escaped but he has a rotten cold, so that's 3 down and 1 to go. Saving grace should be that both SWMBO and I have had our boosters so it should be milder for us. Thank god I left the big turkey in the freezer because we postponed family Christmas dinner as my eldest boys girlfriend is a high risk person. The downside is that we have a smaller bird in the fridge and don't know what we are going to be like tomorrow, so that may be cooked and eaten or it might just be tossed out later.

MIL is still in hospital but the nurses or someone told the in laws that she was coming home yesterday, they were in a panic to get food in etc for her to arrange for 2 people to stay with her, SWMBO now cannot do that, and now (no surprise to me, had it before with my Mum), it turns out that MIL will be staying hospital over Christmas as the Pharmacy is now closed till after Christmas and she would not able to get her medication until then.

WE are all now keeping our fingers crossed that SWMBO has not accidentally taken Covid into the hospital, although she did always take a test first. So yes, it is the perfect storm for the Specmaster family.

You seem to have pissed off the same god/gods that Saskia has. You two should get together and stage a huge sacrifice to the offended deity(s). With parliament in recess I can suggest a pool of victims that nobody will notice have gone missing until well into the New Year.

[Specmaster]

You seem to have pissed off the same god/gods that Saskia has. You two should get together and stage a huge sacrifice to the offended deity(s). With parliament in recess I can suggest a pool of victims that nobody will notice have gone missing until well into the New Year.

Good idea about the pool of victims

I take it then that Saskia was on discord then, I was only thinking the other day that we haven't heard from her lately .

[mnementh]

This is now officially the worst Christmas on record for us, SWMBO and I now have Covid, both of us tested positive this morning, only the youngest boy has escaped but he has a rotten cold, so that's 3 down and 1 to go. Saving grace should be that both SWMBO and I have had our boosters so it should be milder for us. Thank god I left the big turkey in the freezer because we postponed family Christmas dinner as my eldest boys girlfriend is a high risk person. The downside is that we have a smaller bird in the fridge and don't know what we are going to be like tomorrow, so that may be cooked and eaten or it might just be tossed out later.

MIL is still in hospital but the nurses or someone told the in laws that she was coming home yesterday, they were in a panic to get food in etc for her to arrange for 2 people to stay with her, SWMBO now cannot do that, and now (no surprise to me, had it before with my Mum), it turns out that MIL will be staying hospital over Christmas as the Pharmacy is now closed till after Christmas and she would not able to get her medication until then.

WE are all now keeping our fingers crossed that SWMBO has not accidentally taken Covid into the hospital, although she did always take a test first. So yes, it is the perfect storm for the Specmaster family.

We've all been sick with flu-like symptoms the last few days; I've been sick over a week. Every time I feel like I'm getting better, it comes back the next morning with a vengeance. Two home COVID tests have been negative.

Hope you get well quicker than I; of course I have only myself to blame as I refuse to stop going out and doing holiday prep type stuphs.

mnem
moo.