Author Topic: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread  (Read 14550606 times)

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Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12650 on: July 01, 2018, 01:10:49 am »
We're into a 2nd day of a heat wave here with temperatures exceeding 90 degrees F and high humidity. And mains power is all over the place. First noticed it with the LED desk light quickly flashing. Monitoring mains right now and steady 125VAC then a quick drop to 122VAC and back up. And some dips too quick to see on the Fluke 87 LCD but the bargraph is going nuts. Either some load shedding going on or someone has a big arse A/C compressor that might be taking a dump. Seems to have settled down now.   
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Offline bitseekerTopic starter

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12651 on: July 01, 2018, 02:02:14 am »
It's rather toasty in my neck of the woods this weekend, too.

As for eBay, I didn't win anything. So, I had some fun hitting the "Report Listing" on a bunch of fraud items. Might've been the same hacked account that bd was talking about. I recognized some of the photos right away; probably used by the same crackpot breaking into accounts. Other listings are also pretty obvious with expensive equipment at initial bid prices under $10, free shipping, closing in 24 hrs and thousands of items in recently added inventory. Lots of red flags.
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Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12652 on: July 01, 2018, 02:22:55 am »
In other useless news....heard on police scanner: A hapless driver just clobbered a black bear. That must have done some damage that won't buff out. Much more than hitting a deer.

A few weeks ago my neighbor photo'ed this 2 year ago in their yard. It completed ignored them standing on their deck but ran off when a car approached. That's a little disconcerting because I get home from work at about 4:45 AM and it's barely (pardon the pun) light out and I have to walk past our community dumpster. The last thing I want to run into is Smokey looking of breakfast.  :scared: :scared: :scared:
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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12653 on: July 01, 2018, 10:27:59 am »
Back on the somewhat rare subject of TEA, I dragged out a project I could suddenly be arsed with again. Back from page 453, the Heathkit IM-5238. The inlet side of this was a mess, a typical Heathkit style and the transformer had fallen to bits and the power supply was shot. I fixed the power supply here:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg1568431/#msg1568431

Now for the inlet. Did the metal work this morning nice and early just to piss off the neighbours who had a party last night and are probably totally hung over :-DD ... cut a new hole for the IEC socket which overlapped the original line voltage selector and used the old cable inlet for the fuse holder. This is 240v only now!

One of the top holes will be repurposed as the device's earth bond and the rest including the small gap on one corner of the IEC socket with filler epoxy.



Gubbins:



Now I'm completely stuck because I have run out of (a) filler epoxy (b) screw lock (c) M3 lock washers (d) earth tags (e) wire (f) countersunk m3 screws and (g) heatsink. And the usual source of such goodies in non industrial and wallet buggering quantities, bitsbox, is on holiday until 2nd of July  :--
 

Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12654 on: July 01, 2018, 11:29:13 am »
Nice work. What holiday is it over there? This Wednesday is our Holiday (7/4) which is the day we celebrate our independence from....ahem....you guys!  :-DD
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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12655 on: July 01, 2018, 11:39:58 am »
Sunday or slack day at least.

Oh great that means shitty film reruns here in the U.K.  :-DD
 

Offline Cerebus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12656 on: July 01, 2018, 11:49:43 am »
No general public holiday, just Bitbox's own/factory holiday.

Fourth of July eh? Bet you're all regretting that around about now; if you'd stayed with Old Blighty your biggest governmental/political headache at the moment would have merely been Brexit. Mind you, you'd still have a buffoon in charge of the government, just with a blue rinse instead of the worst comb-over known in the history of coiffure.  :)

And as far as being the bear's breakfast - We've got the Canadian side of the family over for a visit at the moment and this used to be a regular problem for them back in Saskatchewan. They say as long as you don't cover yourself in maple syrup before you walk home that the bear'll ignore you.

Sorry, slight misquote there. That should have been "... the bear'll ignore you, eh."
« Last Edit: July 01, 2018, 11:51:25 am by Cerebus »
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Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12657 on: July 01, 2018, 11:49:56 am »
Oh, so just a normal Sunday. Got it. Today is also "Canada Day" where they celebrate the joining of the provinces into one nation I think in 1867. But they don't celebrate independence because technically they are a Commonwealth and still pledge allegiance to the crown.

Back to TEA....I pulled out the 465 that I put aside weeks ago and going to FINALLY get the Vertical Board out and fixed.   

Edit...yes...The Donald is a perpetual embarrassment.  :-- :rant:

Another edit...Yep, I have some Canadian friends...eh??  :-DD
« Last Edit: July 01, 2018, 11:58:09 am by med6753 »
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Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12658 on: July 01, 2018, 02:18:01 pm »
Oh, so just a normal Sunday. Got it. Today is also "Canada Day" where they celebrate the joining of the provinces into one nation I think in 1867. But they don't celebrate independence because technically they are a Commonwealth and still pledge allegiance to the crown.

Back to TEA....I pulled out the 465 that I put aside weeks ago and going to FINALLY get the Vertical Board out and fixed.   

Edit...yes...The Donald is a perpetual embarrassment.  :-- :rant:

Another edit...Yep, I have some Canadian friends...eh??  :-DD
It's a special Sunday for me, out in the sun on an airfield in Kent with loads of old warbirds almost as good as TEA, with a ticket costing £9 that allows admission on both Saturday and Sunday great[emoji106]

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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12659 on: July 01, 2018, 02:33:31 pm »
Too bloody hot to be outside  :(

Too bloody hot to solder as well. Double :(

Sitting inside in front of the fan with some orange juice and some chilled out music :-+
 

Online BravoV

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12660 on: July 01, 2018, 03:17:49 pm »
Not test equip. though, recent awesome scores, 3 bucks a piece.  >:D

One of them will be used to replace a TEA related equipment's power supply.

« Last Edit: July 01, 2018, 03:20:07 pm by BravoV »
 

Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12661 on: July 01, 2018, 03:26:15 pm »
Cor thats a bargain. Used them years ago and I’m sure BOM cost was about 200 a go.
 

Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12662 on: July 01, 2018, 03:51:57 pm »
Too bloody hot to be outside  :(

Too bloody hot to solder as well. Double :(

Sitting inside in front of the fan with some orange juice and some chilled out music :-+

I guess residential A/C isn't all the common over there?

It's not even noon here and already the actual air temp is 90 F with a relative humidity of 61%. That gives an equivalent "heat index" of 102 F. The National Weather Service has an "Excessive Heat Warning" in effect until tomorrow at 10 PM.

In here it's a comfortable 74 F with a relative humidity of 50%. My electric bill is taking a beating but I don't care. I hate the heat.  :phew:
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Offline BillB

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12663 on: July 01, 2018, 03:56:34 pm »
Too bloody hot to be outside  :(

Too bloody hot to solder as well. Double :(

Sitting inside in front of the fan with some orange juice and some chilled out music :-+

I guess residential A/C isn't all the common over there?

It's not even noon here and already the actual air temp is 90 F with a relative humidity of 61%. That gives an equivalent "heat index" of 102 F. The National Weather Service has an "Excessive Heat Warning" in effect until tomorrow at 10 PM.

In here it's a comfortable 74 F with a relative humidity of 50%. My electric bill is taking a beating but I don't care. I hate the heat.  :phew:

Summer in the southeast!  Our electric company continuously advertises a savings of $25/year if you give them permission to connect a remote cut-off switch to your HVAC condenser!   Not a chance! :-DD  In fact, when the rolling brown-outs start happening, I'm prepared to keep the house ice cold with my 12kW backup generator  >:D.
   
 

Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12664 on: July 01, 2018, 04:02:40 pm »
Too bloody hot to be outside  :(

Too bloody hot to solder as well. Double :(

Sitting inside in front of the fan with some orange juice and some chilled out music :-+
Standing behind a Spitfire with the engine running is the best bloody fan you'll ever have. Actually it's quite cool not only with the "big fans" but there's a lovely breeze in the countryside [emoji41]

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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12665 on: July 01, 2018, 04:08:06 pm »
I’d love AC here. Some of the new apartment blocks they built around here have AC but not this place. It’s relatively uncommon. Not worth it for a month a year.  Using farenheight, it was 87 today. Humidity 38% which is ok.

@specmaster: sounds good. Much  cooler out in the countryside. London is too bloody hot.
 

Offline Cerebus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12666 on: July 01, 2018, 04:52:03 pm »
Although it's been around the 28-30C mark (83-86F) the past few days, the nights have been as cool as 16C (61F) so it's been OK.

What I fear is that it's going to stay warm overnight the next few days, certainly feels like it will tonight. I've just been tacking up the solar control film (aka RAF surplus plane cover material. Silvered one side, low IR emitting the other) over the bedroom windows which catch the afternoon/evening sun in the hope of keeping it cool enough to make sleeping bearable. It also means that, as the 'film' is opaque, I can leave the blinds open tonight to let some breeze in but keep the 4:30 AM daylight attenuated enough to not wake us up..

I keep on pondering some A/C for the rare hot periods that could be used as an air source heat pump in the cooler months, but with a Victorian end of terrace property I've problems with siting the outdoor parts. Either they would overhang the back gardens of my neighbours (who I'd need to tap for access and agreement) or I have to plumb through the typically awkward Victorian construction to take it out to the side by my back garden. Either way, I never get around to planning or deciding and put it off until next year's hot spell gets me thinking about it again.
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Online Kosmic

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12667 on: July 01, 2018, 05:10:42 pm »
In here it's a comfortable 74 F with a relative humidity of 50%. My electric bill is taking a beating but I don't care. I hate the heat.  :phew:


Same here, AC is working full time now  :)

It was so cold until now that I didn't really cleaned the pool.  This morning I was rushing trying to do something but I just made it worst.
 

Online tggzzz

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12668 on: July 01, 2018, 06:15:20 pm »
Although it's been around the 28-30C mark (83-86F) the past few days, the nights have been as cool as 16C (61F) so it's been OK.

What I fear is that it's going to stay warm overnight the next few days, certainly feels like it will tonight. I've just been tacking up the solar control film (aka RAF surplus plane cover material. Silvered one side, low IR emitting the other) over the bedroom windows which catch the afternoon/evening sun in the hope of keeping it cool enough to make sleeping bearable. It also means that, as the 'film' is opaque, I can leave the blinds open tonight to let some breeze in but keep the 4:30 AM daylight attenuated enough to not wake us up..

I keep on pondering some A/C for the rare hot periods that could be used as an air source heat pump in the cooler months, but with a Victorian end of terrace property I've problems with siting the outdoor parts. Either they would overhang the back gardens of my neighbours (who I'd need to tap for access and agreement) or I have to plumb through the typically awkward Victorian construction to take it out to the side by my back garden. Either way, I never get around to planning or deciding and put it off until next year's hot spell gets me thinking about it again.

Ever thought of opening doing what the Victorians did: open the window? Beyond that electric punkah wallahs are very cheap and effective nowadays.
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Online tggzzz

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12669 on: July 01, 2018, 06:19:31 pm »
London is too bloody hot.
London is too bloody most things. It is only tolerable if you live right in the centre, or at or beyond the outer boundary. Anywhere between is not tolerable, for me at least.

FWIW, I grew up within 1/4 mile of the boundary - after that you could walk for 4 miles across common land without crossing a road :)
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
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Offline Cerebus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12670 on: July 01, 2018, 06:32:12 pm »
Ever thought of opening doing what the Victorians did: open the window? Beyond that electric punkah wallahs are very cheap and effective nowadays.

Literally every window in the house is open and probably has been since mid-may. The fan is already on and I would seriously consider getting the little boy from across the road to work as a Punka Wallah but only if he'll call SWMBO Memsahib and stop kicking his football around near my car. I doubt his Mother and Father would approve but I suspect his Grandfather Chandu would greet the prospect with something close to glee - "Proper employment for a small Indian boy, teach him manners, respect for his elders, give him some exercise!"*. Electric? I would consider wiring him up to a little Wimshurst machine if he otherwise lacked motivation...

*Imagine Sanjeev Bhaskar saying it and you won't be far wrong.
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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12671 on: July 01, 2018, 06:37:41 pm »
Opening the windows is fun here. I live right next to a shit farm so that invites in a nasty smell and a metric ton of mosquitoes. I just put insect nets up this afternoon for this year so that should improve things a bit.

London is too bloody hot.
London is too bloody most things. It is only tolerable if you live right in the centre, or at or beyond the outer boundary. Anywhere between is not tolerable, for me at least.

FWIW, I grew up within 1/4 mile of the boundary - after that you could walk for 4 miles across common land without crossing a road :)

I was born in the city. Now I’m slowly crawling outwards. One day I’ll get myself a nice place in the middle of Cambridgeshire on a hill.
 

Online tggzzz

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12672 on: July 01, 2018, 07:48:01 pm »
I was born in the city. Now I’m slowly crawling outwards. One day I’ll get myself a nice place in the middle of Cambridgeshire on a hill.

Having lived in Cottenham, both "nice" and "hill" are problematic.

Look at a 1:50000 OS map, and pick an ink colour.  Compare how much ink there is in Cambridgeshire and elsewhere. Then realise that ink, any ink, represents something, anything, of interest.
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12673 on: July 01, 2018, 07:55:31 pm »
Yes well aware of that. Was thinking the Mepal / Chatteris outback. There are a few houses above sea level there. Nothing around means nothing to get in the way of my antennas and no one to complain about the masts. Plus I rather like cycling and foraging and generally avoiding the human race.
 

Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #12674 on: July 01, 2018, 07:56:33 pm »
Don't they sell portable window A/C units over there? (See pix for example). They can be very effective and very efficient if sized properly.

That's what I have. It's either an 8K or 10K BTU unit (forget which). Installed in a bedroom window. I have a box fan on the floor between the bedroom and living room to circulate the cool air through out the apartment. Works perfectly.   :-+

Up to about 10K BTU you can operate it off 120V mains. Larger than that requires a 240V tap. You guys would certainly have the advantage here since you are 240V   
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