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

[vk6zgo]

Haven't heard that, but Cockney rhyming slang continually mutates. If it is that, then you would only ever say "ginger"; the "beer" must be omitted.

Hence "I'm going up the apples to have a butchers to see if there is a whistle" would mean "I'm going up the stairs (apples and pears) to have a look (butchers hook) to see if there is a suit (whistle and flute).

A few have become common parlance; "butchers" is widely understood.

Australian rhyming slang has had 200 odd years to mutate from the Cockney original.
"Butchers" in Oz means somebody is "going crook" (very angry & ranting).
To have a look is to "Have a Captain" (Captain Cook).

"Down the frog & toad to the Rubbidy Dub" translates OK, but "I'm going up the apples to have a butchers to see if there is a whistle" would be gibberish to an Aussie.

Of course, an Aussie might say "She'll be apples", but that is a different genre of slang, altogether.

[MED6753]

Speaking of which.....do the new pound notes still have images of Lizzie or changed to dumbo ears? And Canadian dollars too? What about OZ notes?

[vk6zgo]

Speaking of which.....do the new pound notes still have images of Lizzie or changed to dumbo ears? And Canadian dollars too? What about OZ notes?

I think Oz one & two dollar coins have gone over to Charlie's picture, but coins being so durable, there will be plenty with Bess on them for years.

[bd139]

Speaking of which.....do the new pound notes still have images of Lizzie or changed to dumbo ears? And Canadian dollars too? What about OZ notes?

No idea! The only cash I have had lying around is euros.

[bd139]

Correctly guessed. It is the Pompeii archaeological site.

Currently lying in bed in Naples. Off to the archeological museum in an hour. Hopefully the rain stops by then. Yes it’s bloody raining.

Do try some local excessively sensual fresh fruit, but don't gorge on them. Ficus carica, of course.

You might consider visiting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlegraean_Fields where the altitude is increasing 2cm/month.

Edit: discovered how to travel and stay in (nice) places cheaply thus have been spending the TE budget on that. I can’t remember if I posted last month’s excursion. This one’s a bit easier.

If you like that, seriously consider Sicily. Even though she was less than 4yo, my daughter still remembers the amphitheatre and temple at Segesta, and the monks strung up in the Catacombe dei Cappuccini, and the reason they stopped stringing them up: Rosalia Lombardo.

There are many many other sites and sights worth seeing, some of them Norman.

All things added to the list. This one was a whirlwind trip due to some conveniently cheap flights announced on boxing day so didn't have the time to do much.

Need a break from Italians for a bit though. The flight on the way back was stuffed with them. They were loud, irritating and generally a shit show. A very small Italian child who appeared to have snooted a lot of cocaine before getting on the plane was the most tiring . Lots of turbulence so they were screaming as well ffs.

[tggzzz]

took me 10 minutes to figure out that you guys like to rhyme things.

ginger beer apparently equals engineer?

what's next....videos of morris dancing?

guess that's what happens when you are isolated on a little island. too bad the roman empire pulled out and left you to alone to develop your strange ways and culture. AND you fucking drive on the wrong side of the road.


edit am old and senile.....and forgot for a moment that swmbo was naturalized here but born a brit. ok.......that's something else that annoys me about the UK (but not as much as morris dancing).

edit 2 so what are the rules about UK citizenship? any chance you will take her back?

I'm from a very large island, & I don't really know if the Brits use the term "ginger beer" or not, but it is common in Australia.
I had a Morris once, & it did dance a bit on corrugated roads!

PS: A quote from Bill Bryson;

"Why do Morris Dancers wear bells?
"So they can piss off blind people, too!"

Tee hee.

Morris dancers are maligned too much. They rarely manifest themselves, they can be ignored, they make everybody else look sane, they only hit themselves with truncheons, and they quickly quieten down when they become sozzled.

I wish all pub visitors had those virtues.

[nixiefreqq]

Correctly guessed. It is the Pompeii archaeological site.

Currently lying in bed in Naples. Off to the archeological museum in an hour. Hopefully the rain stops by then. Yes it’s bloody raining.

Do try some local excessively sensual fresh fruit, but don't gorge on them. Ficus carica, of course.

You might consider visiting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlegraean_Fields where the altitude is increasing 2cm/month.

Edit: discovered how to travel and stay in (nice) places cheaply thus have been spending the TE budget on that. I can’t remember if I posted last month’s excursion. This one’s a bit easier.

If you like that, seriously consider Sicily. Even though she was less than 4yo, my daughter still remembers the amphitheatre and temple at Segesta, and the monks strung up in the Catacombe dei Cappuccini, and the reason they stopped stringing them up: Rosalia Lombardo.

There are many many other sites and sights worth seeing, some of them Norman.

All things added to the list. This one was a whirlwind trip due to some conveniently cheap flights announced on boxing day so didn't have the time to do much.

Need a break from Italians for a bit though. The flight on the way back was stuffed with them. They were loud, irritating and generally a shit show. A very small Italian child who appeared to have snooted a lot of cocaine before getting on the plane was the most tiring . Lots of turbulence so they were screaming as well ffs.

what? italians may be a little noisy sometimes.......but they are generally relaxed and easy to abide. for instance......can't find a parking spot.....just pull the vehicle onto the sidewalk and abandon it there......no worries. do that in heidelberg and guys (or girls) wearing reflective vests and carrying sub-machine guns show up. (don't ask how I know this)

full disclosure - my central pennsylvania grandmother referred to my mom as "the daughter who married that eye-talian feller from philly". as a result my last name has five vowels and only two consonants. it was once suggested that I run for township supervisor. the chairman thought I would do ok.......but then it was pointed out that none of the local cletus or billy bob's would vote for a guy with that many vowels.

[bd139]

what? italians may be a little noisy sometimes.......but they are generally relaxed and easy to abide. for instance......can't find a parking spot.....just pull the vehicle onto the sidewalk and abandon it there......no worries. do that in heidelberg and guys (or girls) wearing reflective vests and carrying sub-machine guns show up. (don't ask how I know this)

Alas not a plane full of slightly intoxicated ones. Worse than we are. I did notice in Naples the parking was insane. Literally just like someone had just rolled their car into the parking space. Every single car was smashed to bits! Regarding the machine guns, recently travelling in Naples and Rome there are literally gazebos everywhere with two Italian soldiers clutching AR70 and a silver jeep parked next to it. No parking enforcement unlike Heidelberg, just boredom enforcement by the looks.

full disclosure - my central pennsylvania grandmother referred to my mom as "the daughter who married that eye-talian feller from philly". as a result my last name has five vowels and only two consonants. it was once suggested that I run for township supervisor. the chairman thought I would do ok.......but then it was pointed out that none of the local cletus or billy bob's would vote for a guy with that many vowels.

A common problem that apparently. One of our local council candidates was shot down, despite being the only capable person in the lot, because her surname sounded "a bit foreign". Quek.

Some people are stupid. I am sorry for your fellow citizens

[tggzzz]

... I'm from a very large island ...

Everybody lives on an island (and is an island )

If one hemisphere was water and the other land, would there be an island in the sea or a lake in the land?

[tggzzz]

I did notice in Naples the parking was insane. Literally just like someone had just rolled their car into the parking space. Every single car was smashed to bits!

Now you are beginning to appreciate the north-south divide in Italy.

In Palermo a numerical majority of cars had noticeable damage, up to and including missing front wings (makes it trivial to inspect the tyres' tread depth )

The trick is to realise that they don't give a damn how you drive provided they can predict what you will do next. Hence

• driving straddling the centre white line is fine, but keeping as far right as possible (and weaving in/out) is not OK
• at traffic lights with two lanes in each direction, lining up three abreast is OK
• if blocked in while parked at the roadside, driving down the pavement and back onto the road at a pedestrian crossing doesn't raise an eyebrow

I've driven there. I drove assertively (but considerately) so that everybody knew what was going to happen. Not even a scratch, which slightly surprised the hire car company when I returned

[Cerebus]

took me 10 minutes to figure out that you guys like to rhyme things.

ginger beer apparently equals engineer?

Haven't heard that, but Cockney rhyming slang continually mutates. If it is that, then you would only ever say "ginger"; the "beer" must be omitted.

While it's true that Cockney rhyming slang evolves it is not true that only the first word of a couplet is used. Whether the first word alone is used, or the whole couplet is specific to the particular phrase.

So, "Pete Tong" is new slang, but is in real live, non-contrived, usage. "Pete Tong" in this case rhyming with "wrong" and always used with both words, as in the prime idiom "It's all gone Pete Tong".

An example of tradition CRS is "Dog and Bone" for "telephone" and is almost always used with the full phrase, not just "Dog".

"Butchers", for "Butcher's Hook"/"Look" is invariably used as a single word, as are Barnet, Boat, Bristols, Chalfonts, Joanna, Loaf, Ruby, Septic, Syrup, Trouble, Jimmy, China, Daisies, Dicky, Elephants, Plates, Bird and others. If questioned, genuine actual users of this slang may not even be able to name the full phrase, these are now just part of everyday slang and the rhyming element is often lost. Many people won't know that "bird" (doing bird, to be in prison) is from Bird Lime/Doing Time SWBMO, a pukka Cockernee, didn't know the latter but did know what "doing bird" was.

Other common live (i.e. still genuinely commonly used) phrases that take the full form are Adam and Eve, Barney Rubble, Brahms and Liszt, Brass tacks, Brown Bread, Current Bun, Lady Godiva, Jam Jar, Tea Leaf, ...

How to spot a Mockney: One, they will mess up which take single word form and which don't; and they may use the phrase Apples and Pears, which fell completely out of live use at least 40 years ago.

[bd139]

I did notice in Naples the parking was insane. Literally just like someone had just rolled their car into the parking space. Every single car was smashed to bits!

Now you are beginning to appreciate the north-south divide in Italy.

In Palermo a numerical majority of cars had noticeable damage, up to and including missing front wings (makes it trivial to inspect the tyres' tread depth )

The trick is to realise that they don't give a damn how you drive provided they can predict what you will do next. Hence

• driving straddling the centre white line is fine, but keeping as far right as possible (and weaving in/out) is not OK
• at traffic lights with two lanes in each direction, lining up three abreast is OK
• if blocked in while parked at the roadside, driving down the pavement and back onto the road at a pedestrian crossing doesn't raise an eyebrow

I've driven there. I drove assertively (but considerately) so that everybody knew what was going to happen. Not even a scratch, which slightly surprised the hire car company when I returned

Very interesting indeed. I will have to try driving in Italy. I'm used to driving in London which can get a bit like that on a bad day but it's mostly more civilised. If I do hire something I'm paying the damage wavier fee though.

Worst place I've driven was Iceland. The drivers there are half American and half moron.

[Robert]

Yeah I think the 8060A was aimed more at electronics guys, the rubber baby buggy bumper brigade are more a sparky thing.

@Robert, identifying the connector on this seems the sort of thing you excel at: [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdHZahE ... DJDMxpZBFm[/youtube]

Alden connector. Single pole.
The double pole polariss version is common on HENE lasers.
Catalog:
https://www.amphenolalden.com/sites/def ... CT2017.pdf

One supplier: https://www.surplussales.com/wire-cable/hvwire-2.html
Datasheet: https://www.surplussales.com/Wire-Cable ... 101set.pdf
Che

By the way the black thing on the front panel of the tester is a electronic sounder.

Robert,
The connector guy

[Robert]

On the Fluke 80xx handhelds with side "key" switches I've never had or heard any complaints.
For a manual ranging meter a button per range is great. You can go straight to the range you want.
The side keys allow single handed selection of function and range. Unless you have tiny hands...

[tggzzz]

I did notice in Naples the parking was insane. Literally just like someone had just rolled their car into the parking space. Every single car was smashed to bits!

Now you are beginning to appreciate the north-south divide in Italy.

In Palermo a numerical majority of cars had noticeable damage, up to and including missing front wings (makes it trivial to inspect the tyres' tread depth )

The trick is to realise that they don't give a damn how you drive provided they can predict what you will do next. Hence

• driving straddling the centre white line is fine, but keeping as far right as possible (and weaving in/out) is not OK
• at traffic lights with two lanes in each direction, lining up three abreast is OK
• if blocked in while parked at the roadside, driving down the pavement and back onto the road at a pedestrian crossing doesn't raise an eyebrow

I've driven there. I drove assertively (but considerately) so that everybody knew what was going to happen. Not even a scratch, which slightly surprised the hire car company when I returned

Very interesting indeed. I will have to try driving in Italy. I'm used to driving in London which can get a bit like that on a bad day but it's mostly more civilised. If I do hire something I'm paying the damage wavier fee though.

Worst place I've driven was Iceland. The drivers there are half American and half moron.

Iceland is so big and the roads so remote that the probability of a collision is remote. Italy - the exact opposite.

OTOH in Iceland you have to know how to ford rivers, traverse glaciers and deserts.

Icelanders appear to be like UK aggies - too much time and too isolated, so they end up doing impressively silly things with custom vehicles.

[bd139]

Iceland is so big and the roads so remote that the probability of a collision is remote. Italy - the exact opposite.

OTOH in Iceland you have to know how to ford rivers, traverse glaciers and deserts.

Icelanders appear to be like UK aggies - too much time and too isolated, so they end up doing impressively silly things with custom vehicles.

Surprisingly it was mostly the Germans with the silly vehicles. Then again we didn't hit any F roads.

Next time and with better company I would.

[vk6zgo]

On the Fluke 80xx handhelds with side "key" switches I've never had or heard any complaints.
For a manual ranging meter a button per range is great. You can go straight to the range you want.
The side keys allow single handed selection of function and range. Unless you have tiny hands...

No, I don't have tiny hands, & offset rotary switches like on a Fluke 77 also allow single handed selection of function & range.

[AVGresponding]

Yeah I think the 8060A was aimed more at electronics guys, the rubber baby buggy bumper brigade are more a sparky thing.

@Robert, identifying the connector on this seems the sort of thing you excel at: [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdHZahE ... DJDMxpZBFm[/youtube]

Alden connector. Single pole.
The double pole polariss version is common on HENE lasers.
Catalog:
https://www.amphenolalden.com/sites/def ... CT2017.pdf

One supplier: https://www.surplussales.com/wire-cable/hvwire-2.html
Datasheet: https://www.surplussales.com/Wire-Cable ... 101set.pdf
Che

By the way the black thing on the front panel of the tester is a electronic sounder.

Robert,
The connector guy

Ooops, I should have been more specific... I meant the three pole one on the back, for controlling the timer lockout

[25 CPS]

Speaking of which.....do the new pound notes still have images of Lizzie or changed to dumbo ears? And Canadian dollars too? What about OZ notes?

The coins were changed over in 2023 but apparently the $20 bill won't be until 2027. I haven't come across any coins with the king on them yet though. The right leaning media tried to make it a bit of a scandal with how our government was dragging their feet on changing things given Trudeau's post-national-no-identity-or-values and associated blather but nobody much cared.

Interestingly, at least as of February, 2023, the UK government was still issuing passports that made reference to "Her Majesty" in the preamble printed on the inside of the front cover. I wonder how long it took for the old stock to be used up?

[mnementh]

Her ghost will stalk the halls of power long after I'm gone, I have little doubt.

mnem
*toddles off to ded*

[Specmaster]

Arriving early part of next week, something that has been eluding me at the right price for years. This beauty will take boards upto 240 mm long and a tad over 100 mm in depth, 3.2 litres in fluid capacity, just what I needed when I did that Black Star 4503 bench meter with that very high impedance front end.

86.jpg

[tggzzz]

Her ghost will stalk the halls of power long after I'm gone, I have little doubt.

As a kid I enjoyed coming across ghosts of Victoria in my pocket.

The oldest, which I still have, was a 1d coin from 1863.

[nixiefreqq]

Arriving early part of next week, something that has been eluding me at the right price for years. This beauty will take boards upto 240 mm long and a tad over 100 mm in depth, 3.2 litres in fluid capacity, just what I needed when I did that Black Star 4503 bench meter with that very high impedance front end.

86.jpg

was not logged in and could not see the picture. scanned your post quickly and thought you bought a pick up truck with a 3.2 liter engine, because it would accommodate long boards.

every other driveway in my development has at least one pick up (as does mine).

are they a thing in the UK? two local farmers have told me that ambulances are for pussies. real men just crawl into the bed of the truck and their wives drive them to emergency.

[Robert]

Yeah I think the 8060A was aimed more at electronics guys, the rubber baby buggy bumper brigade are more a sparky thing.

@Robert, identifying the connector on this seems the sort of thing you excel at: [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdHZahE ... DJDMxpZBFm[/youtube]

Alden connector. Single pole.
The double pole polariss version is common on HENE lasers.
Catalog:
https://www.amphenolalden.com/sites/def ... CT2017.pdf

One supplier: https://www.surplussales.com/wire-cable/hvwire-2.html
Datasheet: https://www.surplussales.com/Wire-Cable ... 101set.pdf
Che

By the way the black thing on the front panel of the tester is a electronic sounder.

Robert,
The connector guy

Ooops, I should have been more specific... I meant the three pole one on the back, for controlling the timer lockout

That is a Bulgin / Belling Lee minature 3 pole. Basically a reverse sex of the ones on the old Weller TCP soldering irons.
Old part number was P438-Plug and P438-Socket.
Now discontinued.

[Specmaster]

Arriving early part of next week, something that has been eluding me at the right price for years. This beauty will take boards upto 240 mm long and a tad over 100 mm in depth, 3.2 litres in fluid capacity, just what I needed when I did that Black Star 4503 bench meter with that very high impedance front end.

86.jpg

was not logged in and could not see the picture. scanned your post quickly and thought you bought a pick up truck with a 3.2 liter engine, because it would accommodate long boards.

every other driveway in my development has at least one pick up (as does mine).

are they a thing in the UK? two local farmers have told me that ambulances are for pussies. real men just crawl into the bed of the truck and their wives drive them to emergency.

LMAO, nope, no such luck as a pickup truck or Ute just a boring old ultrasonic cleaner with a 3.2 Litre tank.