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

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

Post by Specmaster »

Peter_O wrote: Sat Nov 12, 2022 10:02 am I'm definitely not a wilderness or hunting guy. I've just come here for the TEA stuff mainly,
(which is running in full color over here and somewhat dimmed only at the eevblog place, which many of us had expected to come.)
But I'm far from getting annoyed of the wilderness and hunting stuff.
(Fortunately it's in the constitution and understanding of this new old TEA home, that full color TEA stuff and a lifely community needs somewhat broader excurses as an habitat. I appreciate that.)

Friend of mine went to US for a business trip and vacation. While he was off to business, his wife and kids were driving a rented car over some country roads. They hit a a deer in the dusk and were lucky. Not so much the deer and the car. They got a new car. Two days later they managed to repeat the exact course of action. :? This comes when we central europe city guys are going 'wild'. :D
Yes, I had noticed that the pace has generally slowed down over at our old home, which is proof positive that if you make the rules too strict, you do actually deter people from participating. As a community grows, relationships forms between the members and folk want / feel the need to share things with their on-line friends and buddies in the same fashion as you would if meeting up at a local pub etc. It really is very sad when people cannot see that for themselves and simply skip passed things that hold no interest for them.

Long live this place, our new happy home and as Zenith has displayed for all to see, we do self-discipline if it is felt we are straying into dangerous waters. :) ;)
Who let Murphy in?

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

Post by tggzzz »

vk6zgo wrote: Sat Nov 12, 2022 12:26 am
Cerebus wrote: Fri Nov 11, 2022 9:30 pm
tggzzz wrote: Fri Nov 11, 2022 7:04 pm At least on Honourable [sic] Member (Matt Handcock)
As a Privy Councillor he's actually styled "The Right Honourable". Bit of joke for a man whose surname has such an apposite alternative appellation.
Yes, I often wondered --If Mr Carpenter did woodwork, & Mr Thatcher thatched roofs, just what Mr Handcock did?
We don't have to wonder what the Health Secretary (who imposed Covid social distancing rules on the country) was doing in a cupboard with his aide. They were both married at the time, but not to each other.

Image
More pruruient details at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... etary.html

You can judge Handcock's general competency by observing that photo was from a security camera in his office.
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mnementh
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by mnementh »

Specmaster wrote: Sat Nov 12, 2022 10:40 am Yes, I had noticed that the pace has generally slowed down over at our old home, which is proof positive that if you make the rules too strict, you do actually deter people from participating. As a community grows, relationships forms between the members and folk want / feel the need to share things with their on-line friends and buddies in the same fashion as you would if meeting up at a local pub etc. It really is very sad when people cannot see that for themselves and simply skip passed things that hold no interest for them.

Long live this place, our new happy home and as Zenith has displayed for all to see, we do self-discipline if it is felt we are straying into dangerous waters. :) ;)
Yes, well... when the owner of a forum deliberately chooses to make the people who contribute most to the single most interesting and popular thread on their site suddenly feel decidedly and personally unwelcome, the obvious happens: They leave.

And everyone else is left with the nice, tidy, boring remains.


mnem
"You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because you are all the same." ~mnem, age 12
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From the "All Y'alls Are Gonna Hate Me For This..." Dept

Post by mnementh »

Image
Image
Image
Image

http://the-whiteboard.com/autotwb1206.html

Why did I immediately think of Cerebus when I read this...? :rofl:


mnem
*sits in the corner awaiting duly-deserved punishment for inflicting this shaggy dog story upon his friends*
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bitseeker
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by bitseeker »

Wow, that does remind me of forum conversations that erupt from time to time. It's also reminiscent of a Key & Peele skit, if memory serves (though it serves less correctly as time passes).
TEA is the way.
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bd139
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by bd139 »

tggzzz wrote: Sat Nov 12, 2022 1:10 pm
vk6zgo wrote: Sat Nov 12, 2022 12:26 am
Cerebus wrote: Fri Nov 11, 2022 9:30 pm

As a Privy Councillor he's actually styled "The Right Honourable". Bit of joke for a man whose surname has such an apposite alternative appellation.
Yes, I often wondered --If Mr Carpenter did woodwork, & Mr Thatcher thatched roofs, just what Mr Handcock did?
We don't have to wonder what the Health Secretary (who imposed Covid social distancing rules on the country) was doing in a cupboard with his aide. They were both married at the time, but not to each other.

Image
More pruruient details at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... etary.html

You can judge Handcock's general competency by observing that photo was from a security camera in his office.
To be fair at least he's still hanging around with her.

Unlike who my ex wife had an affair with.

So he's at least 50% better than her 🤣
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Cerebus
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by Cerebus »

Does your ex-wife also have a bald spot that shows up so charmingly on CCTV?
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AVGresponding
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by AVGresponding »

Never mind the bollocks, come to Discord!
nuqDaq yuch Dapol?

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
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Specmaster
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by Specmaster »

AVGresponding wrote: Sat Nov 12, 2022 8:57 pm Never mind the bollocks, come to Discord!
Oh feck, its discord time again and once again RL gets in the way, sorry still decorating and will be for a while, massive long landing and hallway plus staircase to do and in those areas there are also 15 bleeding doors and heaps of stair spindles, handrail to paint strip back to the original hardwood, loads of cracks in the walls to fill and sand etc and all the nurse appointments, changing the dressings on my left ankle which has a massive sore patch which is taking a long time to heal up due to poor blood circulation. I have to go to the doctors every 2 days to get the wound cleaned and new dressings applied, because of staff shortages at the doctors, it means that I have to drive between 3 surgeries in the city to see which ever practise nurse can fit me in, currently booked in for 3 weeks and plenty of antibiotics to keep taking :roll:
Who let Murphy in?

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

Post by mnementh »

mnem
*toddles off to ded*
tggzzz
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by tggzzz »

bd139 wrote: Sat Nov 12, 2022 6:12 pm
tggzzz wrote: Sat Nov 12, 2022 1:10 pm
vk6zgo wrote: Sat Nov 12, 2022 12:26 am
Yes, I often wondered --If Mr Carpenter did woodwork, & Mr Thatcher thatched roofs, just what Mr Handcock did?
We don't have to wonder what the Health Secretary (who imposed Covid social distancing rules on the country) was doing in a cupboard with his aide. They were both married at the time, but not to each other.

Image
More pruruient details at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... etary.html

You can judge Handcock's general competency by observing that photo was from a security camera in his office.
To be fair at least he's still hanging around with her.

Unlike who my ex wife had an affair with.

So he's at least 50% better than her 🤣
Just wait.

Think Boris (and others).
mansaxel
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by mansaxel »

A slow, misty day compared to the high clear skies of yesterday.

Helped my brother-in-law and his partner change to winter wheels on their car, had lunch together (Almost full English, with black pudding and all).

Then I went to the bench and got through validation, calibration and adjustment of my -hp-427A, to the best of my abilities. I don't have a calibrator, but a DC supply, a function generator and a -hp- 974A DMM can do wonders. For the 1MHz amplitude (the 974A only goes to 100kHz) I fed the 400Hz signal to my 465 scope and observed amplitude on that while switching to 1MHz. Did not need adjustment at high frequency, so was just a verification.

I need a better function generator. The quantisation noise of the Chinesium generators at 10mV is not funny. Their output at 1V or thereabouts looks very nice, but not so down in the noise.

Cheap dude tip: A DC bench supply, say a 6200 series one, which is a bit rough down in the 10s of millivolts, is easier to adjust to 1mV resolution if output is divided by a 10:1 voltage divider, where ~100mV on the supply will yield 10mv or thereabouts on the output, but with much better resolution control.
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Specmaster
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by Specmaster »

mansaxel wrote: Sun Nov 13, 2022 2:46 pm
Then I went to the bench and got through validation, calibration and adjustment of my -hp-427A, to the best of my abilities. I don't have a calibrator, but a DC supply, a function generator and a -hp- 974A DMM can do wonders. For the 1MHz amplitude (the 974A only goes to 100kHz) I fed the 400Hz signal to my 465 scope and observed amplitude on that while switching to 1MHz. Did not need adjustment at high frequency, so was just a verification.
Totally agree, there is I believe for the hobbyist, rarely any need for absolute 100% accuracy, with enough bits of other kit like DMM's, variable power supplies etc it is pretty easy to get something like 99.8 to 99.9% accuracy which should be good enough for most things.
Who let Murphy in?

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

Post by Robert »

Started to work on the variable speed motor set up for my "new" ML7 lathe. I'd bought a used Toshiba Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) aka inverter on ebay. It was actually the control box for an electric gate. Powered it up and it works, BUT the parameters are password protected. The password is a 4 digit number. I've tried all the obvious ones with no success. There are now clues on the unit, case etc. I've ased the gate manufacturer if they have a common password but not holding out much hope. A bit of investigation found a EEPROM on the control panel PCB. Ereading it provided no obvious clues. Blanking it made the drive re-write most of it and removed the password. Unfortunatly it also causes the VFD to throw an eprom error. :(
Current plan is to buy another unit dump the eprom and use that. Cheapest one I can find at the moment is a bit bigger. but even that I could read it, change the password and see what bytes change. I can then try those on the smaller unit.
I don't suppose anyone here has a TosVert VF-cN3 VFD they could read?
dl6lr
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by dl6lr »

Just returned from collecting some items.

Scope Hameg HM312-8
20221113_171353.jpg
Scope Siemens Oscillar D1004
20221113_171346.jpg
Siemens Function Generator D2003
20221113_171407.jpg
Double power supply Zentro-elektrik LA2x30/1-BB-1
20221113_171401.jpg
Several old books on telecommunications and computers.
And a complete Z80 learners kit from the 80ies by SEL. Photos coming soon.

Total costs: €0.00 plus 400km highway driving.
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by Zenith »

That's the first time I've seen a Siemens scope, although looking on the web, they were making scopes from the 1940s.
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by Zucca »

Just to drop a line....

Image

https://forum.swissmicros.com/viewtopic ... 811#p24811

The WP43s is slowly landing on this planet.
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Can't love what you don't know. Zucca
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Specmaster
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by Specmaster »

Just out of curiosity, I was looking on Gumtree at a calculator and beneath it was an advert for getting your purchase delivered, so I filled in the questionnaire, a handheld, pocket calculator, in small box, distance 240 miles, cost from £128 :shock: I seriously doubt that they would sent a van to me with just my little calculator sliding about in the back of a van, dream on. :lol:
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by Zenith »

I haven't seen it, but you have to look at the small print in these things. It might give the impression of them sending a van with a single small box, but that's not what they have in mind. "Prices start from a low, low, £100...." is an obvious come on. You are not going to get whatever it is for £100.

Then there's the question of what exactly they are offering. They might be at liberty, according to the contract, to pack it, have it delivered by Hermes, and pocket their "commission". They could even drop it in the post.
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by bd139 »

Zucca wrote: Mon Nov 14, 2022 4:55 am Just to drop a line....

Image

https://forum.swissmicros.com/viewtopic ... 811#p24811

The WP43s is slowly landing on this planet.
Stop spending my money 🤣
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Robert
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by Robert »

Robert wrote: Sun Nov 13, 2022 7:30 pm Started to work on the variable speed motor set up for my "new" ML7 lathe. I'd bought a used Toshiba Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) aka inverter on ebay. It was actually the control box for an electric gate. Powered it up and it works, BUT the parameters are password protected. The password is a 4 digit number. I've tried all the obvious ones with no success. There are now clues on the unit, case etc. I've ased the gate manufacturer if they have a common password but not holding out much hope. A bit of investigation found a EEPROM on the control panel PCB. Ereading it provided no obvious clues. Blanking it made the drive re-write most of it and removed the password. Unfortunatly it also causes the VFD to throw an eprom error. :(
Current plan is to buy another unit dump the eprom and use that. Cheapest one I can find at the moment is a bit bigger. but even that I could read it, change the password and see what bytes change. I can then try those on the smaller unit.
I don't suppose anyone here has a TosVert VF-cN3 VFD they could read?
Update on this.
The gate manufacturer came through with the password :D I now have a usable VFD.
And if you need a power gate or door consider https://www.bft-automation.com/en_GB/ there after-sales service is great!
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by MED6753 »

I know a lot of us follow vintage aircraft and airshows. This happen over the weekend in Dallas, Texas. A B-17 and P-63 collided in mid-air.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOqXIjHjX3w
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by Cubdriver »

That was absolutely horrific. Very sad to lose the lives and the aircraft.
MED6753 wrote: Mon Nov 14, 2022 5:03 pm I know a lot of us follow vintage aircraft and airshows. This happen over the weekend in Dallas, Texas. A B-17 and P-63 collided in mid-air.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOqXIjHjX3w
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Specmaster
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

Post by Specmaster »

MED6753 wrote: Mon Nov 14, 2022 5:03 pm I know a lot of us follow vintage aircraft and airshows. This happen over the weekend in Dallas, Texas. A B-17 and P-63 collided in mid-air.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOqXIjHjX3w
Yeah, it was a freak accident for sure, the P63 suffers from very bad visibility due to its larger than normal engine cover the cockpit being positioned so far back means the pilot had no idea that the B17 was even there, it would have been completely hidden from the pilots view.

Feel for the family of the crews and also the owners of the planes. Just hope that the aviation authorities don't clamp down on air shows, like they did over here with the Shoreham crash and the Hunter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sceufd1Xutc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZBTcdLG0fc
Who let Murphy in?

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

Post by Cerebus »

MED6753 wrote: Mon Nov 14, 2022 5:03 pm I know a lot of us follow vintage aircraft and airshows. This happen over the weekend in Dallas, Texas. A B-17 and P-63 collided in mid-air.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOqXIjHjX3w
Actually made the BBC news over here.
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