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Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

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Cerebus:

--- Quote from: Specmaster on July 06, 2022, 08:44:10 am ---
--- Quote from: tggzzz on July 06, 2022, 08:28:25 am ---
--- Quote from: bd139 on July 06, 2022, 06:46:00 am ---Yeah there are some recent advances which pretty much make the paper maps a backup option only in the UK. It has got to the point where even on the mountain leader courses it’s secondary navigation only.

The OSMaps app is a fine example. You have vector, 25k and 50k layers, full offline support, precise positioning and backtracking. Importantly it’s far more up to date than paper maps, particularly in areas with coastal erosion which change very rapidly.   This all fits in a little box that lasts all day, is waterproof and takes photos too and works in the dark without having to shoot your adjusted eyes with a torch. And it syncs with the compass on your wrist to give you absolute bearings for each leg. Of course I have backup nav. I usually carry an eTrex 10 for backtracking and GPX plotting and paper map in bag.
...
I’ll take the phone any day! It’s much better.

--- End quote ---

Yes, but in the UK it isn't illegal to sit in a stationary car and read a paper map. Touch a phone to do that and you've committed an offence which can get your driving licence revoked.

Yes, I know it is more nuanced than that. The whole topic is subject for creative misinterpretation by drivers and the police :(

Try to choose an alternative route on a satnav, and it is nearly impossible. The best route is what the manufacturer in their "wisdom" decides is the best route. Plenty of scope for arguments with daughter there :)

--- End quote ---
Even using a satnav unless it is built into the car can land you in trouble, clearly these new laws have been written by an idiot who has zero idea of what they are doing. What harm are you doing if you are stationary (not in a traffic jam, but parked at road side), your not currently driving so no danger to others. I expect the next thing will be banning drivers from talking to passengers FFS.

--- End quote ---

Wrong, on many points.

You can't use a hand-held phone or other device while driving. You can use one when parked at the side of the road.


--- Quote ---Exceptions
You can use a device held in your hand if:

* you need to call 999 or 112 in an emergency and it’s unsafe or impractical to stop
* you’re safely parked
* you’re making a contactless payment in a vehicle that is not moving, for example at a drive-through restaurant
* you’re using the device to park your vehicle remotely
Using devices hands-free

You can use devices with hands-free access, as long as you do not hold them at any time during usage. Hands-free access means using, for example:


* a Bluetooth headset
* voice command
* a dashboard holder or mat
* a windscreen mount
* a built-in sat nav
The device must not block your view of the road and traffic ahead.


--- End quote ---

Source: https://www.gov.uk/using-mobile-phones-when-driving-the-law

So it's simple. Hold it in your hand while driving and you're nicked, and should be. Pull over safely, to a situation where you don't need to concentrate on or react to other traffic and you're golden. Common sense, not "laws have been written by an idiot who has zero idea of what they are doing.".

AVGresponding:

--- Quote from: Vince on July 06, 2022, 10:02:42 am ---
--- Quote from: AVGresponding on July 06, 2022, 08:17:09 am ---

--- Quote from: Vince on July 05, 2022, 10:31:12 pm ---TV REPAIR

I guess of course the most likely suspect is the MOSFET. So I could just remove it, should be easy, and stick it in my superb, very helpful 5 Euros Chinese component tester... I am so happy I bought this horrible thing, one of the best investments in the lab  8)

Stay tuned !!!    :-DD

--- End quote ---



Did you check those MOSFETs yet?

--- End quote ---

Nope, I only just woke up, the microwave oven just rang the bell to inform that my bowl of hot chocolate is warm.
Yes I know it's 12, but hey I can't go to bed so late and wake up at 5AM can I !  ;D
Being unemployed has some good sides to it.... I will miss that.  :-DD

I will have a look at that TV later today. I have other stuff that need my attention first. In the process of fitting plinths in the bedroom. I cut all the bits yesterday, now need to glue them to the wall, then acrylic to hide the gaps and misery, then two coats of paint... I need t have it all finished and presentable by Saturday, in time for a family visit on Sunday.
Will work on the TV while the glue will be setting.


--- Quote from: AVGresponding ---
Interesting to see that the two are from different batches/manufacturers, and also to note that the left-hand one appears to have far less heatsink compound between it and the heatsink.

--- End quote ---

Well it's chinese crap, I guess we should be happy there is heat sink to begin with, and compound is just luxury ! We got lucky to have some at all here, can't complain ! >:D

They are from the same manufacturer though , I guess ? I mean the "KF" prefix designates the manufacturer, it's  " KEC ". The 3 digits bottom right is the lot number according to the datasheet, and they there following one another, 837 and 838.
I agree that the font used is different though, between the two... could the manufacturer have allowed other manufacturers to use their "KF" prefix ?! Under license maybe, I don't know... maybe you are right and the different font is indicative of that...
But having two lot numbers that follow each other, if they were from a different manufacturer, would be really a hell of coincidence...
So I would guess they are from the same manufacturer, but they decided to change the font starting with batch 838 !  ;D

They are 500V 5A 1.4ohm, with a body diode inside. What I don't understand, had never seen before, it that there is more that just the body diode. Look at the datasheet attached below... the symbol they give shows what looks like a DIAC between the Gate and the Source pins ?!  :-//
They don't talk about it in the text, strange... If I don't know what that do and how important it is, I might cause damage to teh board if I replace that MOSFET with another one that does not have this DIAC in it... :-BROKE

EDIT : somehow, my end at least, the forum shows a picture thumbnail below for the PDF datasheet I attached... strange. But I swear it's not a picture, just click on it and you will get the datasheet not a picture...

--- End quote ---

Not just the font; the casing plastic appears to be a slightly different colour. That and the observation about the heatsink compound infers there may be a thermal issue. TO-220P have a pretty horrible thermal resistance compared to regular TO-220.

Vince:

--- Quote from: PA0PBZ on July 06, 2022, 10:16:31 am ---
--- Quote from: Vince on July 06, 2022, 10:02:42 am ---EDIT : somehow, my end at least, the forum shows a picture thumbnail below for the PDF datasheet I attached... strange. But I swear it's not a picture, just click on it and you will get the datasheet not a picture...

--- End quote ---

I clicked on the picture and it disappeared  :wtf:

--- End quote ---

How funky eh ! I think this forum software has a mind of its own... it must be haunted....

bd139:

--- Quote from: Specmaster on July 06, 2022, 10:15:33 am ---
--- Quote from: Cerebus on July 06, 2022, 09:13:29 am ---
--- Quote from: tggzzz on July 06, 2022, 12:30:09 am ---Just so.

OSmaps show interesting features that you didn't know existed.
VR stuff tends to have advertising features that you don't care exist. Plus black propaganda, fake news, and people/organisations flashing "look at me".

No contest really.

--- End quote ---

You used to be able to get that just from a quiet stroll on Hampstead Heath.  :-DD

--- End quote ---
Where have all the flashers moved onto then?  :P

--- End quote ---

Urban Hounslow apparently. Big problem round here. Although the last one I heard about did it to some teenage girls and they told him he had a very tiny penis and laughed.

Specmaster:

--- Quote from: bd139 on July 06, 2022, 09:30:08 am ---
--- Quote from: tggzzz on July 06, 2022, 09:23:38 am ---
--- Quote from: bd139 on July 06, 2022, 08:48:51 am ---
--- Quote from: tggzzz on July 06, 2022, 08:28:25 am ---
--- Quote from: bd139 on July 06, 2022, 06:46:00 am ---Yeah there are some recent advances which pretty much make the paper maps a backup option only in the UK. It has got to the point where even on the mountain leader courses it’s secondary navigation only.

The OSMaps app is a fine example. You have vector, 25k and 50k layers, full offline support, precise positioning and backtracking. Importantly it’s far more up to date than paper maps, particularly in areas with coastal erosion which change very rapidly.   This all fits in a little box that lasts all day, is waterproof and takes photos too and works in the dark without having to shoot your adjusted eyes with a torch. And it syncs with the compass on your wrist to give you absolute bearings for each leg. Of course I have backup nav. I usually carry an eTrex 10 for backtracking and GPX plotting and paper map in bag.
...
I’ll take the phone any day! It’s much better.

--- End quote ---

Yes, but in the UK it isn't illegal to sit in a stationary car and read a paper map. Touch a phone to do that and you've committed an offence which can get your driving licence revoked.

Yes, I know it is more nuanced than that. The whole topic is subject for creative misinterpretation by drivers and the police :(

Try to choose an alternative route on a satnav, and it is nearly impossible. The best route is what the manufacturer in their "wisdom" decides is the best route. Plenty of scope for arguments with daughter there :)

--- End quote ---

Full circle. Thanks to the ML processor on my phone I talk to it so I don’t have to touch it.

And it works with alternative routes with trade offs and noticed traffic changes.

--- End quote ---

Traffic changes, sometimes but not always.

How does it display multiple alternative routes and the tradeoffs? How do you tell it what tradeoffs you regard as important?


--- Quote ---And the audio integrates with the car and the built in control stalks.

--- End quote ---

Ah yes, the old voice recognition trick in which you walk up to someone's computer and say "sudo rm -rf /"  :(

--- End quote ---

You tell it what tradeoffs are important up front i.e. you don't want toll roads, don't like motorways etc. Then it remembers your preference. When you ask it to navigate to an address it gives you a shortest time and shortest distance option. When traffic changes it notifies you that it thinks it can save X minutes by rerouting and you can choose to accept it or decline it.

As for the voice recognition it doesn't allow you to do anything destructive by design i.e. you can't incur cost or delete things with it. That's a manual process. It's very well engineered in that respect.

I appreciate your cynical outlook on it. The ideas need testing. I am usually the first person to shred an idea that doesn't work or is stupid but these tools are significantly saving time, energy and cost or improving life in some way.

Importantly they enable me to have more time to enjoy what I want to do.

--- End quote ---
My TomTom has built in voice control and will present you with alternative routes if it detects problems on your current route and you select it verbally if you want. While I love it over the cars built-in satnav, the voice control is extremely finicky, the ability to feed you live traffic info is very impressive when paired with my phone as it talks to other TomTom units so if there are others in front of you, your unit will be aware of any problems they are having on the roads, and it uses that info to help you avoid the delays. So much better than the built-in system which can only respond once it gets a radio TMC signal from the radio station that carries traffic information and that is always after someone has phoned in the with the problem, so you may get a warning or not, but it is always incurring a delay. More often than not, it alerts you to the problem after you have become stuck in it, so the TomTom wins hands down, plus of course, with my particular model, I have lifetime free map and speed camera updates which saves a mint each year.

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