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

[Zenith]

Nothing specific but an interesting read.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/nixie-tube

The Soviet Union was the last country in which the tubes were continuously manufactured, into the early 1990s.

The transition would have been gradual as 7 segment LED displays became better and brighter. As a WAG I'd say by 1980 there wasn't much new gear being designed with Nixies.

[bd139]

From what I know of the Soviet defence sector, the persistence of the things is because they had regulatory requirement to be able to be self-sufficient as a nation and they had a lot of stock left lying around. On top of that the cost was much lower than newer technology.

Suitable meme

cJpvQY1.jpeg

That reminds me I must buy something stupid and soviet...

[Cubdriver]

I've seen two versions of that counter, the classic one with the nixie tube display and a later version with an LED readout. I'm kind of curious when Hewlett Packard redesigned the display section of the machine. I'm also curious in general, when did the manufacture of equipment with nixie tube displays end - who made them, what they were and when the last new gear with nixies was built.

I did some digging in my catalog collection. It appears that 1982 was the last year for the nixie display in the 5340A; the 7 segment LED version debuted in the 1983 catalog. There was probably a transition during those years.

The counter was a regular catalog item up until 1991; it was then listed as a 'mature' product until 1993. The last year is was listed, it was $18,100; the first year as a mature product it jumped to $21,900 and in 1993 it jumped another grand to $22,900.

Interestingly, the thumbnail shown with it in the mature product pages was the old nixie display version.

-Pat

[Zenith]

From what I know of the Soviet defence sector, the persistence of the things is because they had regulatory requirement to be able to be self-sufficient as a nation and they had a lot of stock left lying around. On top of that the cost was much lower than newer technology.

There were also restrictions on sales of hi-tech items, such as computers, to the USSR and they didn't have companies anywhere near the leading edge of development on these things. I recall they were eventually allowed to buy things like PDP11s, but only ones that were about 15 years off the price list.

That reminds me I must buy something stupid and soviet...

A mail order Babushka doll wife?

[tggzzz]

From what I know of the Soviet defence sector, the persistence of the things is because they had regulatory requirement to be able to be self-sufficient as a nation and they had a lot of stock left lying around. On top of that the cost was much lower than newer technology.

There were also restrictions on sales of hi-tech items, such as computers, to the USSR and they didn't have companies anywhere near the leading edge of development on these things. I recall they were eventually allowed to buy things like PDP11s, but only ones that were about 15 years off the price list.

And even AWGs.

I had to import an HP AWG that was classed as a munition Reportedly it could seriously confuse advanced fighter aircraft.

Not too long before IRA bombs repeated detonated "too early", while still in the possession of the bombers. I always presumed similar things were part of the reason.

[25 CPS]

That radio looks cool, and it's nice to see AM/FM stations still alive, in these days of trashy DAB

We actually don't have DAB here anymore. Canada allocated a different chunk of spectrum for that than Europe did which resulted in receiver incompatibility. There were very few DAB receivers available here since manufacturers didn't have much interest in building a Canada-only product for the limited market here, what was available was expensive, and there was next to nothing available as far as car radios and listeners in cars is a major market, maybe the last remaining market of any size, for the over the air broadcasters.

The result of DAB completely flopping here left the status quo of analog AM and FM going. There's been some very belated uptake of HD radio (Hybrid Digital - Ibiquity's marketing department probably made the words fit the acronym to take advantage of the HDTV hype going on at the time) cramming some nasty sounding digital streams into the guard bands on either side of FM stations. I don't think I've heard of any Canadian radio stations using HD on AM so that seems to be done in the US only.

Pop/top 40 music on AM held on for a very long time here due to CRTC regulations about the kind of content that could be played on FM until the early to mid-1990s. Since then, everyone who was able to jump from AM to FM did which left AM filled with news/sports/talk only so having lived through that change, driving with the windows down and hearing 90s music playing out of a car radio on AM in 2024 is a pretty wild throwback.

[mansaxel]

That radio looks cool, and it's nice to see AM/FM stations still alive, in these days of trashy DAB

We actually don't have DAB here anymore.

Good, mostly. No, but seriously. DAB (backronymed as "Dead At Birth" by some here) was promising. Until people started to realise what kind of transmitter density was required, and what costs were associated with quality audio. The codec is respectable, if and only if, one keeps bitrate up at 256kbit/s. And you can't swap the codec, except by fork lift upgrading everyone. One reason for DAB is that every second to eighth channel in the multiplex is essentially free. And then channel no 9 will cost as much as channel 1. This is because a DAB multiplex is a 2Mbit E1 TDM package in which the channels are multiplexed in time slots; you must transmit the entire package and as long as there are slots free you can add programs, essentially for free. Guess what the commercial broadcasters did? They waited for my old employer to build out their 4 channels and then fought like hell to get one of the remaining slots, without causing the 9th to be built. The other reason has to do with multi path distortion. In mountain country, DAB will be more effective than FM, simply because multi path reception is cumulatively good, not destructive as in analog. Hence, Norway and Switzerland had good reasons to build it. The rest, not so much.

The result of DAB completely flopping here left the status quo of analog AM and FM going.

Also, good. Mostly. FM still is better. And this from the quality issues and also from robustness.

Pop/top 40 music on AM held on for a very long time here due to CRTC regulations about the kind of content that could be played on FM until the early to mid-1990s.

The last station that worked AM here was talk only, somewhat focused on transmissions toward Eastern Europe. Pity it has been decommissioned -- having an AM station telling the truth in Russian would have been an asset.

Now, why am I so negative? Well, the Internet won. If we're keeping something non-IP, it might as well be very resilient and not as sensitive as DAB. Also, on the Internet, the use of codec is a matter of negotiation, per user. That is mostly a good thing.

FM -- No static at all! ( https://youtu.be/wdoCQn_Tjac?feature=shared )

[teadmin]

Note: Upcoming TEA house maintenance

[bd139]

From what I know of the Soviet defence sector, the persistence of the things is because they had regulatory requirement to be able to be self-sufficient as a nation and they had a lot of stock left lying around. On top of that the cost was much lower than newer technology.

There were also restrictions on sales of hi-tech items, such as computers, to the USSR and they didn't have companies anywhere near the leading edge of development on these things. I recall they were eventually allowed to buy things like PDP11s, but only ones that were about 15 years off the price list.

They made their own PDP11's I believe for a while as well.

That reminds me I must buy something stupid and soviet...

A mail order Babushka doll wife?

Actually no it was a soviet RPN calculator. There's a guy in Ukraine shipping them out. I didn't bother in the end and ended up buying an old Unix book and a Telequipment D32 oscilloscope to play with (I am hopeless)

[bd139]

From what I know of the Soviet defence sector, the persistence of the things is because they had regulatory requirement to be able to be self-sufficient as a nation and they had a lot of stock left lying around. On top of that the cost was much lower than newer technology.

There were also restrictions on sales of hi-tech items, such as computers, to the USSR and they didn't have companies anywhere near the leading edge of development on these things. I recall they were eventually allowed to buy things like PDP11s, but only ones that were about 15 years off the price list.

And even AWGs.

I had to import an HP AWG that was classed as a munition Reportedly it could seriously confuse advanced fighter aircraft.

Not too long before IRA bombs repeated detonated "too early", while still in the possession of the bombers. I always presumed similar things were part of the reason.

Bombers blowing their load early. There's medication for that (anti-psychotics).

[vk6zgo]

From what I know of the Soviet defence sector, the persistence of the things is because they had regulatory requirement to be able to be self-sufficient as a nation and they had a lot of stock left lying around. On top of that the cost was much lower than newer technology.

Suitable meme


cJpvQY1.jpeg


That reminds me I must buy something stupid and soviet...

Reminds me of Marconi.
Some of the clunky parts they used looked as if they were expecting WW2 to last a few decades & stocked up, only to be stuck with them for a much longer period.
When the 1959 vintage TV Transmitters & associated equipment were installed at ABW2 Bickley, some of the parts looked a bit ancient, but to see some of the same parts turn up in 1974 when we did the PAL colour mods was a bit strange.

The original Marconi control desk had a bank of push button switches all in a self contained frame, & there was a spare one in the store.
With the new mods we received a piece of Marconi test gear called a "Gain & Delay tester"
This had a problem that required opening it up, & when we did, there was the identical switch bank, along with an ancient pot also similar to those used in the 1959 stuff

[bd139]

Ok so all this thinking of Soviet stuff made me book another stupid holiday next year, because bugger all those normal places. So I'm off to Azerbaijan for a week or so. A small country wedged between Russia and Iran. This will involve flying past Ukraine, avoiding getting arrested and deported or chucked in jail, not getting shot by Armenians, skirting the Russian border, checking out the remains of the Soviet side of things in Baku and eventually hiking in the mountains and staying entirely with local families and guest houses. Can't wait. What an adventure that's going to be!

image.jpeg

[Zenith]

Reminds me of a gal I worked with years ago who told me she was going to East Africa for a holiday. I asked if she'd arranged insurance. She said that had been done through Endsleigh which used to be the Students Union insurance company.

I said I was thinking more in terms of a 600 nitro express and a .357 magnum as a side arm. She gave me a strange look.

I later found out they cut the holiday short after a few days and spent the rest of the time in Switzerland, but I wasn't supposed to know.

[vk6zgo]

Reminds me of a gal I worked with years ago who told me she was going to East Africa for a holiday. I asked if she'd arranged insurance. She said that had been done through Endsleigh which used to be the Students Union insurance company.

I said I was thinking more in terms of a 600 nitro express and a .357 magnum as a side arm. She gave me a strange look.

I later found out they cut the holiday short after a few days and spent the rest of the time in Switzerland, but I wasn't supposed to know.

Back in the day GEC were involved as co-contractor along with the Oz PMG's Dept themselves & EPT in installing the East-West microwave bearer system ----a very large project indeed.

One of the GEC EEs came off the plane in Oz, wearing a sidearm (airlines were somewhat more "laid back " in those days) & was promptly expedited to the ground by several police officers.

It appears that his previous jobs for the company were in fairly "wild & wooly" places where such weaponry was a prudent addition to the apparel of a well dressed Engineer, & he had been given to believe by his workmates that Australia was a similarly scary place.

[tautech]

Reminds me of a gal I worked with years ago who told me she was going to East Africa for a holiday. I asked if she'd arranged insurance. She said that had been done through Endsleigh which used to be the Students Union insurance company.

I said I was thinking more in terms of a 600 nitro express and a .357 magnum as a side arm. She gave me a strange look.

I later found out they cut the holiday short after a few days and spent the rest of the time in Switzerland, but I wasn't supposed to know.

Back in the day GEC were involved as co-contractor along with the Oz PMG's Dept themselves & EPT in installing the East-West microwave bearer system ----a very large project indeed.

One of the GEC EEs came off the plane in Oz, wearing a sidearm (airlines were somewhat more "laid back " in those days) & was promptly expedited to the ground by several police officers.

It appears that his previous jobs for the company were in fairly "wild & wooly" places where such weaponry was a prudent addition to the apparel of a well dressed Engineer, & he had been given to believe by his workmates that Australia was a similarly scary place.

LOL
And it is, gut raking Roo's and Emu's along with drop bears so a man needs protect himself.

[tggzzz]

Ok so all this thinking of Soviet stuff made me book another stupid holiday next year, because bugger all those normal places. So I'm off to Azerbaijan for a week or so. A small country wedged between Russia and Iran. This will involve flying past Ukraine, avoiding getting arrested and deported or chucked in jail, not getting shot by Armenians, skirting the Russian border, checking out the remains of the Soviet side of things in Baku and eventually hiking in the mountains and staying entirely with local families and guest houses. Can't wait. What an adventure that's going to be!

Presumably you are going to have a Naftalan oil bath for wellness (pun intended) reasons.

Do the travel insurance companies say it is OK except for Nagorno-Karabakh and the Armenian border?

[bd139]

Ok so all this thinking of Soviet stuff made me book another stupid holiday next year, because bugger all those normal places. So I'm off to Azerbaijan for a week or so. A small country wedged between Russia and Iran. This will involve flying past Ukraine, avoiding getting arrested and deported or chucked in jail, not getting shot by Armenians, skirting the Russian border, checking out the remains of the Soviet side of things in Baku and eventually hiking in the mountains and staying entirely with local families and guest houses. Can't wait. What an adventure that's going to be!

Presumably you are going to have a Naftalan oil bath for wellness (pun intended) reasons.

Do the travel insurance companies say it is OK except for Nagorno-Karabakh and the Armenian border?

I had to google the oil bath thing. Hell no

I have specialist and rather expensive travel insurance that covers stupid places and altitude etc. The restrictions there are to stay out of the Armenian border area only. The North-East mountainous area where we're going after Baku is somewhat less exciting. The guide who is running it has been out there a number of times and knows the language and locals pretty well so we're ok (unless he's been banging one or promised to marry one and legged it).

[tggzzz]

Ok so all this thinking of Soviet stuff made me book another stupid holiday next year, because bugger all those normal places. So I'm off to Azerbaijan for a week or so. A small country wedged between Russia and Iran. This will involve flying past Ukraine, avoiding getting arrested and deported or chucked in jail, not getting shot by Armenians, skirting the Russian border, checking out the remains of the Soviet side of things in Baku and eventually hiking in the mountains and staying entirely with local families and guest houses. Can't wait. What an adventure that's going to be!

Presumably you are going to have a Naftalan oil bath for wellness (pun intended) reasons.

Do the travel insurance companies say it is OK except for Nagorno-Karabakh and the Armenian border?

I had to google the oil bath thing. Hell no

I have specialist and rather expensive travel insurance that covers stupid places and altitude etc. The restrictions there are to stay out of the Armenian border area only. The North-East mountainous area where we're going after Baku is somewhat less exciting. The guide who is running it has been out there a number of times and knows the language and locals pretty well so we're ok (unless he's been banging one or promised to marry one and legged it).

The only things I know about Azerbaijan are those baths that it was an early "oil capital", and that the modern architecture in Baku makes Donald Trump look restrained and tasteful.

If I was young enough to go to silly places, I think it would be places in the Himalaya and one of the old Silk Roads.

Hmmm. Micromorts being what they are, which is your insurance company?

[bd139]

Presumably you are going to have a Naftalan oil bath for wellness (pun intended) reasons.

Do the travel insurance companies say it is OK except for Nagorno-Karabakh and the Armenian border?

I had to google the oil bath thing. Hell no

I have specialist and rather expensive travel insurance that covers stupid places and altitude etc. The restrictions there are to stay out of the Armenian border area only. The North-East mountainous area where we're going after Baku is somewhat less exciting. The guide who is running it has been out there a number of times and knows the language and locals pretty well so we're ok (unless he's been banging one or promised to marry one and legged it).

The only things I know about Azerbaijan are those baths that it was an early "oil capital", and that the modern architecture in Baku makes Donald Trump look restrained and tasteful.

If I was young enough to go to silly places, I think it would be places in the Himalaya and one of the old Silk Roads.

Hmmm. Micromorts being what they are, which is your insurance company?

That is a very very accurate observation.

I've done some of a Silk Road already. It was full of Chinese labelled articulated lorries swerving around donkeys having an amble in the middle of the road.

Insurance company is World Nomads https://www.worldnomads.com/ - they will cover weird destinations including the US and I know people who have made claims and they were exceptionally good at getting them out of the crap.

[tggzzz]

I had to google the oil bath thing. Hell no

I have specialist and rather expensive travel insurance that covers stupid places and altitude etc. The restrictions there are to stay out of the Armenian border area only. The North-East mountainous area where we're going after Baku is somewhat less exciting. The guide who is running it has been out there a number of times and knows the language and locals pretty well so we're ok (unless he's been banging one or promised to marry one and legged it).

The only things I know about Azerbaijan are those baths that it was an early "oil capital", and that the modern architecture in Baku makes Donald Trump look restrained and tasteful.

If I was young enough to go to silly places, I think it would be places in the Himalaya and one of the old Silk Roads.

Hmmm. Micromorts being what they are, which is your insurance company?

That is a very very accurate observation.

I've done some of a Silk Road already. It was full of Chinese labelled articulated lorries swerving around donkeys having an amble in the middle of the road.

Insurance company is World Nomads https://www.worldnomads.com/ - they will cover weird destinations including the US and I know people who have made claims and they were exceptionally good at getting them out of the crap.

That's cheap insurance! It wouldn't give me any worthwhile cover

The Chinese are building railways under their belt and braces road initiative, which should reduce the artics. Don't know how the Russia invasion of Ukraine will affect that.

[Zenith]

It appears that his previous jobs for the company were in fairly "wild & wooly" places where such weaponry was a prudent addition to the apparel of a well dressed Engineer, & he had been given to believe by his workmates that Australia was a similarly scary place.

LOL
And it is, gut raking Roo's and Emu's along with drop bears so a man needs protect himself.

Roos and Emus are small beer.

Cassowaries, numerous deadly snakes, Funnel Web spiders, gympie-gympie trees and that's just on land. In the water there are Salt Water crocodiles, Great White sharks, Box Jellyfish, Blue Ringed octopuses, sea snakes even more venomous than their land dwelling cousins, and no doubt other horrors.

[vk6zgo]

It appears that his previous jobs for the company were in fairly "wild & wooly" places where such weaponry was a prudent addition to the apparel of a well dressed Engineer, & he had been given to believe by his workmates that Australia was a similarly scary place.

LOL
And it is, gut raking Roo's and Emu's along with drop bears so a man needs protect himself.

Roos and Emus are small beer.

Cassowaries, numerous deadly snakes, Funnel Web spiders, gympie-gympie trees and that's just on land. In the water there are Salt Water crocodiles, Great White sharks, Box Jellyfish, Blue Ringed octopuses, sea snakes even more venomous than their land dwelling cousins, and no doubt other horrors.

You are in greater danger from "city-block long" Road trains, Klingons blasting you off into the mulga when they pass at 2/3rds light speed, drunks, cattle grids, car sized bulls, feral camels, tourists, etc,
An ancient GEC issued Webley wouldn't help much with those things.

[tggzzz]

LOL
And it is, gut raking Roo's and Emu's along with drop bears so a man needs protect himself.

Roos and Emus are small beer.

Cassowaries, numerous deadly snakes, Funnel Web spiders, gympie-gympie trees and that's just on land. In the water there are Salt Water crocodiles, Great White sharks, Box Jellyfish, Blue Ringed octopuses, sea snakes even more venomous than their land dwelling cousins, and no doubt other horrors.

You are in greater danger from "city-block long" Road trains, Klingons blasting you off into the mulga when they pass at 2/3rds light speed, drunks, cattle grids, car sized bulls, feral camels, tourists, etc,
An ancient GEC issued Webley wouldn't help much with those things.

Doesn't it rather depend on where you are? I doubt you see many Cassowaries and salties in Perth. For me I suspect the most dangerous aspect would be the AT apparent temperature. While Perth is a reasonable 12C, Wyndham. Kununurra and Fitzroy Crossing (all in Kimberley and Pilbar) are >37C. In winter. Ugh.

For Europeans it is difficult to realise how large Australia is. My daughter, who spent 6 months travelling up the East coast and down through the interior, sent me a postcard to drive the point home (ho ho)

[tautech]

Yup, Aussie is massive and on our occasional trips to vk6zgo woods, 4 hrs of the flight is across Aussie.
Never done any of the east coast or NT and have little desire to.
Perth @ Xmas @ 40C is quite warm enuf.

@vk6zgo, if we haven't both carked it by then, a Xmas 2025 catchup ?

[Zenith]

LOL
And it is, gut raking Roo's and Emu's along with drop bears so a man needs protect himself.

Roos and Emus are small beer.

Cassowaries, numerous deadly snakes, Funnel Web spiders, gympie-gympie trees and that's just on land. In the water there are Salt Water crocodiles, Great White sharks, Box Jellyfish, Blue Ringed octopuses, sea snakes even more venomous than their land dwelling cousins, and no doubt other horrors.

You are in greater danger from "city-block long" Road trains, Klingons blasting you off into the mulga when they pass at 2/3rds light speed, drunks, cattle grids, car sized bulls, feral camels, tourists, etc,
An ancient GEC issued Webley wouldn't help much with those things.

It was a bit of a leg pull. South Africans find it funny that Europeans are very concerned about snakes. They are aware of them and don't do things that ask for trouble, but they are not constantly worried about snakes. It also depends a lot on where you are.

If you go to South Africa these days, you have far more immediate concerns than being bitten by a snake.