Test Equipment Anonymous

Just make yourself comfortable anywhere.

You are staff now

"Hoooo-mannnn... I see hands, and they aren't petting me. You understand how this is completely unacceptable, don't you?"

mnem
"handle it... handle it-handle it!!!"

Nice TE, I hope, the purr-o-matrix is properly calibrated.

bd139 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 13, 2023 4:19 pm You are staff now

Exactly! Dogs have owners, cats have staff.

-Pat

Looks like Harleys is definitely your lab cat/assistant now for sure, just got to train him not to climb all over the scopes when you're working on them or his testicles will be the least of his problems

He is certainly growing and he's very cute too.

Specmaster wrote: ↑Wed Sep 13, 2023 11:38 pm Looks like Harleys is definitely your lab cat/assistant now for sure, just got to train him not to climb all over the scopes when you're working on them or his testicles will be the least of his problems

He is certainly growing and he's very cute too.

Yea well check this shit out. We are gonna have to have a come to Jesus meeting.

Specmaster wrote: ↑Wed Sep 13, 2023 11:38 pm Looks like Harleys is definitely your lab cat/assistant now for sure, just got to train him not to climb all over the scopes when you're working on them or his testicles will be the least of his problems

Can I suggest a gentle introduction to high voltages: a Zerostat.

Worked for my daughter. Seriously.

High places, warm places, warm high places…






Small spaces..




All are perfect if you fit.

-Pat

Who's going to start the "Post a picture of a cat" thread here?

BU508A wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 4:27 am Who's going to start the "Post a picture of a cat" thread here?

I almost did a while back…

-Pat

Incidentally this is one of the reasons I don’t have cats. I’m fine if other people do but I won’t myself!

bd139 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 7:08 am Incidentally this is one of the reasons I don’t have cats. I’m fine if other people do but I won’t myself!

At least the ones with the four paws.

Cubdriver wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 4:56 am

BU508A wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 4:27 am Who's going to start the "Post a picture of a cat" thread here?

I almost did a while back…

-Pat

What did prevent you from doing so?

Nah, cats are fine, if they get in places where you would rather they didn't, like on the bench, or on the TE gear, after you pick them and put on the floor a few times, they soon learn that you don't want them there and stop doing it. Or at least mine have learned not to jump on my bench now.

BU508A wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 7:49 am

Cubdriver wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 4:56 am

BU508A wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 4:27 am Who's going to start the "Post a picture of a cat" thread here?

I almost did a while back…

-Pat

What did prevent you from doing so?

Good point. Done!

-Pat

Off on an actual TEA mission today. Jumped on train to Ramsgate, a somewhat boring 3h trip.

Visiting two things potentially of interest…

https://this-museum-is-not-obsolete.com/

And

https://www.themicromuseum.org/

Will report back with photos of course

Looks fun.

Unfortunately Ramsgate is a three and a half hour drive for me. It's almost all motorway and so is straightforward, but boring and a long drive.

Is there a rally in the area with which it could be combined? The only one that springs to mind is Dover, which I gather is distinctly average.

Dunstable Downs fitted in nicely with a visit to The National Museum of Computing.

When you are down there, could you have a go at persuading them to move it to somewhere more central, like Reading or Milton Keynes? If they have a need to be by the sea, there's Weston-super-Mare, or if they are more for a trendy, hey-wow spiritual vibe, Glastonbury.

It’s a three and a half hour train ride from here too. Fortunately only £30 with a railcard. Still on the train now.

Dover rally is apparently crap as you said. Don’t think they would move because Ramsgate is really cheap

There is a new rally at Bury St Edmunds at the end of the month. Anyone planning to go?
Buying?
Sellng?

Robert wrote: ↑Sat Sep 16, 2023 12:39 pm There is a new rally at Bury St Edmunds at the end of the month. Anyone planning to go?
Buying?
Sellng?

Not me; too far.

Will go to Hackgreen to hand over a DVM and see the bunker.
Will go to Newport since it is nearby and has electricity so things can be seen working (or not!)

bd139 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 02, 2023 8:57 pm Is that the broken 465B you keep humming and hawing about palming off on me for about 2 years now?

Finally got around to looking at that 465B.

Spent too long chasing my tail around the sweep-trigger FSM. What caused it to be in holdoff? Unobtanium IC fault? Bad contact? Trigger trimpot settings or TD failure? Comparator faulty?

Eventually took a different tack, and discovered that the load resistor in the sweep generator was invisibly open circuit. Not trivial to replace since it was a 3kohm 5% 3W wirewound job. I found two "big" 6kohm film resistors, inserted them in parallel - nice old PCBs have plenty of space!

Now I have a trigger and sweep, and can see the risetime is ~3ns. On channel 2, that is. Now to look at channel 1, which has a strange display.

Robert wrote: ↑Sat Sep 16, 2023 12:39 pm There is a new rally at Bury St Edmunds at the end of the month. Anyone planning to go?
Buying?
Sellng?

It's good that some new rallies are popping up. There are a couple of other new ones, just about within reasonable traveling distance for me, one in Carmarthen and one in mid-Devon. I doubt I'll do either because I suspect they are minor rallies, which won't justify the fairly long journey.

It sounds like an interesting venue, but it's a three and a half hour drive, which is too far and involves starting out before 6:00. I just might do it for a Newbury/Dunstable Downs scale event, but I doubt it's that big. At this time of year, it's probably all indoors, which suggests the size will be limited.

It also clashes with Hack Green (**** with added secret nuclear bunker ****), which I feel obliged to go to once, and also with Weston-super-Mare, which is quite close and although small, I've had reasonable luck there in the past. So, on the 24th, if I wake up early and feel full of energy I'll go to Hack Green and if I'm a bit lethargic I'll go to W-s-M, which has the added advantage of a very civilised 10:00 start.

Early trip report.

Ramsgate is a fucking dump. Do not go there for any other reason. Home of the mono-crutched neck tattoo’ed suspiciously scantily clad Morlock. Reminds me why I live inside the M25.

This Museum is Not Obsolete is a good 7/10. Good range of stuff crammed in wall to wall. Plenty of things to play with including Furbies and the giant organ. Lots of display technology on display. Notably though there are some horrors such as scopes being abused.

The Micro museum I was unable to visit due to technical difficulties they were having. Will go another day.

Will post more photos later but one for now

bd139 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 16, 2023 2:15 pm Ramsgate is a fucking dump.

Where to start...

It is a seaside town out of season. Oops. Nearby Broadstairs has tourist traffic. Oops. The arty mob prefer to infest Margate. Oops.

It is a port for for cross channel traffic using hovercraft. Oops.

The port has been making a loss for a decade. Oops.

It is home to Seaborne Freight, which was given a contract by BoJo[1] for a freight contract to Ostend which could be used in the event of a no deal Brexit. Shame the company had no ships and the port could not be ready. Oops.

As for other feral inhabitants, there is a colony of ring-necked parakeets. So the feral population is like London.

And you're surprised it is cheap there?! Maybe I can interest you in a property in Merthyr Tydfil? I'd suggest Bruton, but George Osborne and successful artists live there

[1] autocorrupted correctly to "No No"!