Meyers Musings : Starting again ...

[bgm]

Not sure if this is the best place to post this.  It is kinda relevant as as of today, I'm still a supporter but by next week that will change (Sorry Dave ... I did send you a private message via Patreon as to the how's and why that has changed but if you haven't read that, then this will explain why). 


Insurance companies … next to politicians and lawyers, they are the absolute *WORST* …

Before we go any further … do something right now … if you have a home lab, go and photograph it.  Make sure you have an image of all of your scopes, probes, logic analysers, meters, solder stations, and so forth …

Don’t worry … I’m not going anywhere … I’ll wait. 

When you are done with that, then list out what you have. 

   Oh .. and don’t forget your parts inventory!!!

Done … good – because I do not want anyone to go through what I am presently going through and that is having lost pretty much everything and then being told that because it wasn’t specifically listed, it isn’t covered. 

A bit of background is probably in order here. 

I spend a fair chunk of my life these days working as a field tech.  I spend a whole lot of time in the middle of no-where working on stuff that is ancient old here in Australia. 

Last year, because I spend so much time working from my base of operations here in FNQ (Far North Queensland), I moved nearly my entire lab north. 

The property I have here is pretty nice (or at least was).  Our own micro-hydro setup, nice place in the world to live and a pretty good base of operations. 

…. at least until the 13th of December last year (2023) when Cyclone Jasper (or more specifically the over sized rain depression that it generated) which was bigger than anything in the last 200 odd years hit and my base of operations became a river bed. 

To say that I got hit hard, was to understate it – I lost pretty much everything. 

Watching a building disappear under a wall of water is pretty disheartening – especially when your entire life is in it. 

Oh … but it gets worse, because when you *think* you have insurance and then you find out that you don’t … yeah … that’s when it really bites.  I have to admit … in hindsight, they *did* tell me.  They changed the policy about eighteen months ago, and I didn’t read through the updated “terms and conditions” carefully enough (they dropped the ‘contents’ part and if I wanted to continue that, then I would have to pay additional for that which was previously included in the policy). 

So … aside from the massive mess and cleanup, now I’m back to square one. 

*  Next to non-existent income. 
*  A now non-existent lab. 
*  A site that is now missing about 900m of 6” Class 9 Pipe that runs from the waterfall to the hydro unit that provides power and water.
*  A site that buried from anywhere from between 3 inches and 3 feet of mud. 
*  Ablutions that are equally buried with septics that will need to be hand dug out (takes about 3 people 3 days to do a single septic … don’t ask how I know that … we have three of them). 

I had a good misery session a couple of weeks ago when I first saw it. 

Now … well … now it is the cleanup and … well … starting again from scratch. 

For your amusement … out of a very full featured lab, this is the only stuff that *DIDN’T* go down the river. 

1 x Rigol DS1104Z Oscilloscope
1 x VP Reflow oven
1 x PEP board for Xeltek 3000U programmer
1 x Xeltek 6500N programmer

… and that is it …

If that looks like a pretty mediocre list of stuff, don’t go there.  What I know *has* gone down the river ….

4 x multimeters (various brands)
1 x IR reflow oven.
1 x Siglent SDG1032X signal geneartor
32 channel logic analyser
1 x HP 8591E spectrum analsyer
1 x Rigol DS1104Z Oscilloscope (yes, I actually had 2)
1 x Xeltek 3000U programmer (and all of the adapters that go with it)
All the Xeltek 6500N adapter plugs and sockets
… and about 2000 odd parts of different types.  Everything from passives (inductors, resistors, capacitors to 74 series logic, 8051s ICs, FPGA, CPLDs, 6811s, 65xxs, and so on… if I had to list it it would fill sheet after sheet.  Some of this stuff is now really hard to get hold of). 
1 x Cisco ethernet switch
... microscopes, and magnifying glasses, tools and so on ...

So yeah … just a bit of advice from one who has now been wrecked by this:

1.  Double check your insurance policy.  Make sure you understand it – especially if they have “revised” their terms and conditions.  Make sure what you are paying for is what you *think* you are paying for. 
2.  List out what you have, and make sure you have photos of it all.

… and now, if you excuse me … I need to continue mucking out my living quarters (yes, I *AM* living in a tent) and then I will have to somehow have to work out if I can even begin to resurrect what I have been able to find to date). 

It’s said that:
   Misery loves company …

Don’t let my mistakes be yours ….

/BGM

[pcprogrammer]

Damm, that is tough shit that hit you. And then to find that you had no proper insurance is double bad luck. Hope you get back on your feet.

About insurance, over here in France, our insurance does not cover anything older then 10 years, and they pay for what it is worth based on age. Insuring against new value is very expensive, so I don't bother with that. Sure it will hurt when it goes up in smoke, but I'm not reliant on it to generate money.

To you all I can say is good luck with rebuilding and surviving.

Cheers,
Peter

[EEVblog]

Damn that's rough 
I have a fixed contents figure on my lab insurance. Not sure it would cover everything, but that would be the least of my cost worries if the lab building burned down.

This should be in the General Chat section?

[tautech]

1 x Siglent SDG1032X signal generator

PM your address and email please.

[Kean]

Ouch, that is horrible.  I've lived in bushfire prone areas most of my life, and even had some come quite close to my childhood home, and another when visiting a friends rural property.  I've also helped clients after they lost office equipment after fires.  A cyclone seems so scary in comparison, and I don't think I could bear to live in a flood or cyclone prone area.

I have a TDS2024B scope sitting on the shelf that I haven't used in a while.  It is 15 years old now and doesn't have any decoding features, but if it is of any use to you and could help you get back on your feet... then let me know and I'd be happy to ship it to you.  I'd be happy to throw in a multimeter as well.

No rush, but if of interest then PM me.

[bgm]

Damn that's rough 
I have a fixed contents figure on my lab insurance. Not sure it would cover everything, but that would be the least of my cost worries if the lab building burned down.

This should be in the General Chat section?

Probably.  I really hadn't given it a lot of thought but I figured the best thing was to at least remind others what *NOT* to do. 

Let my mistakes be a lesson for others ...

/BGM

[EEVblog]

This should be in the General Chat section?

Probably.  I really hadn't given it a lot of thought but I figured the best thing was to at least remind others what *NOT* to do. 
Let my mistakes be a lesson for others ...
[/quote]

Moved to General Chat.

[Hydro]

This is painful to read...

I read this several times with tears in my eyes.
I'm unlikely to be able to help with anything.

But, at least with a kind word....

[nctnico]

You might be able to clean the equipment (rinse with water + soap), dry it and see if it works. It likely will work just despite how dirty it looks right now.

Either way, insuring equipment is difficult. I looked into that but last time I check the insurance company only covers relatively new equipment and they want a service contract. In case of loss, I'll just claim clothes and other household items. That is more than enough to recover equipment costs.

[EEVblog]

You might be able to clean the equipment (rinse with water + soap), dry it and see if it works. It likely will work just despite how dirty it looks right now.

Surprisingly, my Tek 220 survived being taken through a mud obstacle race:

[nctnico]

You have to keep in mind that in regular use, equipment will get wet on the inside. For example when it has been transported in cold weather and is brought inside. It is not a problem for as long as you let the equipment aclimatise (=dry) before use. At some point I made the error to turn a piece of equipment on too soon and somewhere in the mains power supply a bare wire that was too close to the shielding, arced over and caused the fuse to blow. I chalk that up to an assembly error though and corrected the issue.

[Bud]

I am thinking the insurance company will do their best to Not pay you 

[EEVblog]

I am thinking the insurance company will do their best to Not pay you 

Always.
I believe my insurance is just a fixed contents amount. So if the place burns down I just get $XX,XXX reguardless of what was in there.

[nctnico]

You might be able to clean the equipment (rinse with water + soap), dry it and see if it works. It likely will work just despite how dirty it looks right now.

Surprisingly, my Tek 220 survived being taken through a mud obstacle race:

I don't see why that is a surprise. Realistically, every electronic part is hermetically sealed; designed to withstand washing with water and/or flux remover. In addition there is condensation. There is nothing in a typical piece of equipment that gets affected by water in a way that will break it. Most of us have been brought up with the notion water + electricity = danger which is true, but it doesn't mean water does any damage while a piece of equipment is off.

[ludzinc]

You’d want to check that and read the terms.

For unlisted items there’s usually a cap (e.g. $1000 for a TV regardless of what you paid for it) and you may need to justify the contents.

Never straightforward with insurance.

I got burgled once, when CDs were valuable and even though I’d listed the fact that I had over 100 CDs they didn’t cut me a cheque but asked for a list of titles….

[EEVblog]

You’d want to check that and read the terms.

Doesn't really matter that much. Like I said, if it did burn down then the contents is the least of my problems.
I have $59,384 contents cover for the lab, and $21,4525 contents for the dungeon.
Enough to rebuild a decent lab and years rent somewhere else.
$20,000 for contents theft.
$250,000 for property liability in my control. e.g. if a company loans me an expesnsive bit of kit and I drop it.
As for the building, I'd have to rent a new lab until the building was rebuilt. Don't know if I get anything for that, I think the building eventually gets rebuilt with the insuance money.

It actually gets really complicated with clauses about things being damaged by heat and smoke and driect vs indirect flame etc.
And if you tried to cover absolutely everything under every scenario it would cost a fortune. So insurance is always a bit of a tradeoff.

It's like that for life insurance too. Getting a few hundred thousand life insurance is already expensive enough, which actually doesn't go far at all when you are dead and the family is left incomeless.
But try and insure yourself for a few million that would make a real difference and you'll choke on the monthy cost.

[KG7AMV]

Them Xeltek 6100N's are tough I am sure ya can make it work again.