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

[mnementh]

Oh hell no to the Brompton. I borrowed one from a colleague years ago for a weekend. I would never ride a foldable. As for nickable, I have a fairly hefty D lock with separate cable and insurance. It's not an expensive or difficult to replace bike (Halfords < 400 quid) so I would not be devastated if it's nicked.

But boat anchors; indeed. I reckon I could get a 465 on each side of the pannier rack...

And if anybody here would, I reckon it's you.

mnem
*toddles off to Lost in Space widdatt wife*

[Specmaster]

Oh hell no to the Brompton. I borrowed one from a colleague years ago for a weekend. I would never ride a foldable. As for nickable, I have a fairly hefty D lock with separate cable and insurance. It's not an expensive or difficult to replace bike (Halfords < 400 quid) so I would not be devastated if it's nicked.

But boat anchors; indeed. I reckon I could get a 465 on each side of the pannier rack...

When it comes to boat anchors and fetching loads of TE from distant fields somewhere along a motorway, I've got your beaten, I can carry 625 litres in the boot and with the rear seat folded, a whopping 1,760 litres is all mine (how many 465's is that?), and it only needs a gnats fart to run on

[tggzzz]

Oh hell no to the Brompton. I borrowed one from a colleague years ago for a weekend. I would never ride a foldable. As for nickable, I have a fairly hefty D lock with separate cable and insurance. It's not an expensive or difficult to replace bike (Halfords < 400 quid) so I would not be devastated if it's nicked.

But boat anchors; indeed. I reckon I could get a 465 on each side of the pannier rack...

When it comes to boat anchors and fetching loads of TE from distant fields somewhere along a motorway, I've got your beaten, I can carry 625 litres in the boot and with the rear seat folded, a whopping 1,760 litres is all mine (how many 465's is that?), and it only needs a gnats fart to run on

That's small. No cigar for you

Tall: standard bike fits in upright, with front wheels turned through 90 degrees. Damn sight easier taking sproglet to uni that it was for me: I had to partially disassemble my bike and put it on an estate car's (=station wagon) roof rack.

"At just 3.86m long, 1.69m wide and 1.6m tall, Yaris Verso offers lots of interior space. With all seats in position, it is a full five-seater with 390 litres of boot space.

However, Yaris Verso also has a versatility that is unequalled by other small cars on the market today thanks to its unique design of second row ‘flat-in-floor’ retractable rear seats. Within seconds, any member of the family can fold away the left and right rear seats to create a low, flat floor and an incredible 2,160 litres of load space "
https://media.toyota.co.uk/yaris-verso/

Seconds? Realistically 60 per rear seat

Flat? Notably so...

[Specmaster]

That's small. No cigar for you

Tall: standard bike fits in upright, with front wheels turned through 90 degrees. Damn sight easier taking sproglet to uni that it was for me: I had to partially disassemble my bike and put it on an estate car's (=station wagon) roof rack.

"At just 3.86m long, 1.69m wide and 1.6m tall, Yaris Verso offers lots of interior space. With all seats in position, it is a full five-seater with 390 litres of boot space.

However, Yaris Verso also has a versatility that is unequalled by other small cars on the market today thanks to its unique design of second row ‘flat-in-floor’ retractable rear seats. Within seconds, any member of the family can fold away the left and right rear seats to create a low, flat floor and an incredible 2,160 litres of load space "
https://media.toyota.co.uk/yaris-verso/

Seconds? Realistically 60 per rear seat

Flat? Notably so...

Yep, you win the cigar on the space factor, especially as yours is a full metre shorter than mine, but I'd still rather have mine, its about the only car that will take people of 6ft 4" in front and back in comfort with no compromise without having many thousands more for an Audi A6 or other higher end car.

But yours does offer a lot of versatility in a small package that for dammed sure.

[tggzzz]

Yep, you win the cigar on the space factor, especially as yours is a full metre shorter than mine, but I'd still rather have mine, its about the only car that will take people of 6ft 4" in front and back in comfort with no compromise without having many thousands more for an Audi A6 or other higher end car.

But yours does offer a lot of versatility in a small package that for dammed sure.

I wouldn't know about the problems of being 6'4". I enjoy saying I don't like being upgraded to the pointy bits of a 747 because the seats are too large to be comfortable. I do have relatives who are significantly taller than me; one (height is a "secret") has to duck when walking across the middle of ordinary rooms - to avoid central luminaires.

Yes, the Verso is versatile. I regularly think of getting something <20 years old (especially since the exhaust is becoming iffy), but then I think about how useful that boot is. (I also think about touchscreen controls and keyless operation, but those are different topics!)

[Specmaster]

As if people don't have enough problems with EV charging at some locations, you then get these blithering idiots, total disregard for rules and regulations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbKLknqeuy0

[mnementh]

What aboot right to peaceful assembly...? You scone-eaters dunn' believe innit?

I mean... our local burger joints welcome the impromptu motorhead meets... even ask them to gather during normally slow times so they can get a boost in business, and the meetup.com cruiser crowd usually happily oblige.

Whuttizzit... a couple hunnerd cars? Any midsize strip mall should easily be able to handle that, and welcome the traffic.

mnem
.

[MED6753]

While I do see some jackassery with that gathering I do agree with mnem. We have organized car meets all the time in malls/plazas with no cop Nazis deciding who can/cannot enter.

You Brits need to lighten up.

[AVGresponding]

That particular tuber is a complete doofus.

The problem with car meets in the UK is space; we genuinely don't have it, for the most part. Added to that, there's a large enough percentage of seriously antisocial behaviour that local authorities are more or less obliged to "do something about it".

[Specmaster]

If they were just having a car meet up, that one thing but when it's at a motorway services, with cars parking on the hard shoulder at the exit point to them then that is a definite NO and everyone who did so should have the book thrown at them as it presents a serious hazard to other drivers on the motorway. Also It also blocked up all the EV charging bays or did you all miss that point, if anyone needed to recharge their EV car, they couldn't because of the illegally parked cars. Had they chosen a town centre car park etc on a quiet day I doubt that the "nazi" police would have been so heavy handed. Also of course the jackassery involved using their cars in a fashion that could so easily have become an serious accident and the internet is awash with videos where that has happened as they "drivers" lose all control and crash into other cars / bystanders.

We do have some proper organised car meets at many of the private aviation airfields and also even drag racing events, but the airfield is for the duration, closed to those not involved.

[Specmaster]

Whuttizzit... a couple hunnerd cars? Any midsize strip mall should easily be able to handle that, and welcome the traffic.
mnem
.

That is part of the problem, it is not a shopping mall but a service station on a motorway where people pull in for a toilet break, grab a coffee or to refuel their cars, shopping is not part of it. I expect those people that the police were letting in were people who were attempting to do just that, refuel before running out on the motorway which is then creates further dangers for everyone and a huge expense getting towed off the motorway etc.

[Robert]

Yes properly organised car meets with the site owners permission are common and not a issue. The problem is when lots of barely legal (at best) vehicles turn up un-announced and start making noise and smoke (burn-outs). This is fundamentally illegal. These people don't care about others. Note they generally don't do it in their own back yards.
Robert.

[bd139]

The problem is as always: bell ends.

[Specmaster]

This is another video by the same tuber and clearly shows just what these car meets deteriorate into and much of this video is shot on UK roads which are still open for the public and shows crashes and near misses etc and this explains just why the police appeared to be heavy handed as they are mayor accidents just waiting to happen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufB_uS-QrJI

[mnementh]

Whuttizzit... a couple hunnerd cars? Any midsize strip mall should easily be able to handle that, and welcome the traffic.
mnem
.

That is part of the problem, it is not a shopping mall but a service station on a motorway where people pull in for a toilet break, grab a coffee or to refuel their cars, shopping is not part of it. I expect those people that the police were letting in were people who were attempting to do just that, refuel before running out on the motorway which is then creates further dangers for everyone and a huge expense getting towed off the motorway etc.

Ahhh... okies... I misunderstood that part. I thought it was a strip mall/outlet mall which just happened to have gas stations at the ends by the on/off ramps; this is a very common scenario here.

Like my my whirry little flying thing habit... and as bd139 said: The bells ends will fuckerize it for everybody.

mnem
*toddles off to roast a bit of cow*

[mnementh]

This is another video by the same tuber and clearly shows just what these car meets deteriorate into and much of this video is shot on UK roads which are still open for the public and shows crashes and near misses etc and this explains just why the police appeared to be heavy handed as they are mayor accidents just waiting to happen.

Yeah, this guy's a fuckwit. So are most of the hoons he's filming.

mnem
I grew up with Bo & Luke Duke as neighbors so... no further comment.

[mnementh]

The Pultra I got isn't as tidy as that one. I've fancied one (or a Schaublin) for years. Didn't think I'd get one for £40. I've already got a possible line on a cross slide.
Looks like mine is a bit of a hybrid. It has an earlier bed probably a P type and a 1750 headstock. Not an issue, it was a feature of these that they were precision made to size so you can swap parts from one to another and still maintain accuracy without adjustment. This was important in a production environment with several lathes. It meant that a single capstan unit could be used on different lathes as requred for a job. This one looks like it was set up for coaxial drilling which may explain the lack of cross slides.
Pultra-1.jpg

No pics of the tailsstock, chucks etc yet.

40 quid...?

mnem
here, take my coffee to wash it down...

I've been offered a compound slide for £50. Can't say no to that. A motor is no problem I have several suitable ones about. I might still make my own compound slide as I have two assemplies from laser scanners that each have a pair of minature linear bearings and a fine leadscrew driven by a stepper motor. Hmm that could be a CNC Pultra....
It will be better for small parts than running the Myford flat out.

Yes very jammy indeed.

Tripped over this today...

And this:

mnem

[Specmaster]

Over on this side of the pond, we don't put malls on motorways as you can only get to them by road, no public transport or pedestrian access and then also only qualified drivers allowed on motorways. Services on our Motorways are only to let drivers take a rest if they wish, lorry drivers must take strict rest periods and they are there to allow drivers who may be running low on fuel to top.

[MED6753]

This is another video by the same tuber and clearly shows just what these car meets deteriorate into and much of this video is shot on UK roads which are still open for the public and shows crashes and near misses etc and this explains just why the police appeared to be heavy handed as they are mayor accidents just waiting to happen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufB_uS-QrJI

We have our share of douche bags here too. And it's usually the rich boys with their Lambo's and Ferrari's who think they are above the law, not the average Joe with his classic, muscle car, or hot rod. I once saw a group of exotics blasting down the I-87 Thruway at 100+ MPH only to get nailed by troopers miles later. But to those guys tickets are chicken feed and the cost of being a douche bag.

But this douche bag thought he could drive away from a parking ticket. He got what he deserved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lKwkn6JT74

[mnementh]

Just Finnish things: reindeer, Nokia, and $130k speeding tickets

speeding=$$$.JPG

. On Sunday, a man in Finland was fined €121,000 (~$130,000) for going ~20 mph over the speed limit.

Before you decide to never rent a car in Helsinki, know two things: 1) it’s really the best way to explore the Lapland countryside and 2) speeding tickets in Finland are calculated based on income.

It’s called the “day fine” system, wherein half of the offender’s daily income is multiplied by a certain number of days, which increases according to the severity of the offense. And the driver hit with the six-figure fine has a fairly large daily income—it was Anders Wiklöf, founder of the multimillion-dollar Wiklöf Holding company and one of Finland’s richest people.

Finland established its day fine system in 1921, and other countries have adopted it since, including Switzerland, which is far from neutral when it comes to the rules of the road. In fact, the Swiss hold the world record for the biggest speeding fine: the equivalent of over $1 million to a man who went Mad Max: Fury Road on his motorcycle.

It could happen here: A bill was introduced in the New York City Council last month that would make parking fines proportional to income in an attempt to alleviate the affordability crisis and recover some of the city’s ~$1 billion of outstanding parking and speeding tickets.—CC

Source: https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/stori ... ng-tickets

Maybe all the adults in the room need to move to Finland...

mnem

[MED6753]

Just Finnish things: reindeer, Nokia, and $130k speeding tickets


speeding=$$$.JPG
. On Sunday, a man in Finland was fined €121,000 (~$130,000) for going ~20 mph over the speed limit.

Before you decide to never rent a car in Helsinki, know two things: 1) it’s really the best way to explore the Lapland countryside and 2) speeding tickets in Finland are calculated based on income.

It’s called the “day fine” system, wherein half of the offender’s daily income is multiplied by a certain number of days, which increases according to the severity of the offense. And the driver hit with the six-figure fine has a fairly large daily income—it was Anders Wiklöf, founder of the multimillion-dollar Wiklöf Holding company and one of Finland’s richest people.

Finland established its day fine system in 1921, and other countries have adopted it since, including Switzerland, which is far from neutral when it comes to the rules of the road. In fact, the Swiss hold the world record for the biggest speeding fine: the equivalent of over $1 million to a man who went Mad Max: Fury Road on his motorcycle.

It could happen here: A bill was introduced in the New York City Council last month that would make parking fines proportional to income in an attempt to alleviate the affordability crisis and recover some of the city’s ~$1 billion of outstanding parking and speeding tickets.—CC

Source: https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/stori ... ng-tickets

Maybe all the adults in the room need to move to Finland...

mnem

A better alternative is to stay the hell out of cesspool NYC.

[MED6753]

Oh hell no to the Brompton. I borrowed one from a colleague years ago for a weekend. I would never ride a foldable. As for nickable, I have a fairly hefty D lock with separate cable and insurance. It's not an expensive or difficult to replace bike (Halfords < 400 quid) so I would not be devastated if it's nicked.

But boat anchors; indeed. I reckon I could get a 465 on each side of the pannier rack...

When it comes to boat anchors and fetching loads of TE from distant fields somewhere along a motorway, I've got your beaten, I can carry 625 litres in the boot and with the rear seat folded, a whopping 1,760 litres is all mine (how many 465's is that?), and it only needs a gnats fart to run on

Pfft. I carried two 500 series scope carts plus two Type 547's 200 miles in the CR-V. But it did require an elephant's fart in fuel.

[Cerebus]

Oh hell no to the Brompton. I borrowed one from a colleague years ago for a weekend. I would never ride a foldable. As for nickable, I have a fairly hefty D lock with separate cable and insurance. It's not an expensive or difficult to replace bike (Halfords < 400 quid) so I would not be devastated if it's nicked.

But boat anchors; indeed. I reckon I could get a 465 on each side of the pannier rack...

When it comes to boat anchors and fetching loads of TE from distant fields somewhere along a motorway, I've got your beaten, I can carry 625 litres in the boot and with the rear seat folded, a whopping 1,760 litres is all mine (how many 465's is that?), and it only needs a gnats fart to run on

Could you get a whole touring bicycle in it? I managed to get mine in the MGF.

It's not how big it is, it's how you use it.

[Specmaster]

Could you get a whole touring bicycle in it? I managed to get mine in the MGF.

Judge for yourself

5903364-scaled.jpg

5903367-726x420.jpg

It's not how big it is, it's how you use it.

Oh you are awful, but I do like you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vawBiuGHq1c

[tggzzz]

Could you get a whole touring bicycle in it? I managed to get mine in the MGF.

Judge for yourself

So, only if you put it on top of something, or have something on top of it, or perhaps have the boot open. Even then you can only have one passenger.

In the Toyota Yaris Verso I've had three people plus all the crap a daughter said was absolutely essential at university. Or you could have the bike plus a two person inflatable bed (provided you made sure the bike didn't fall over.

Unfortunately you'll have to wait until I leave this country for a photo.