Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

The thought of all those bloody SMD electrolytics is what puts me off buying one of them.

[PA0PBZ]

Are you sure there's no GPIB connector on the back? AFAIK, all the TDS500, 600, 700 series had GPIB, but the serial/parallel was optional on some units.

I bet the scope has GPIB but he has nothing to connect that to.

[mansaxel]

Any year now.

Ooohhh, that sounds like fun! I bet there's leaky electrolytics all over that thing.
Also, replace the Rifa caps, and the C17 capacitor (47uf, 80V or more low-ESR electrolytic) in the PSU before it self destructs.

Are you sure there's no GPIB connector on the back? AFAIK, all the TDS500, 600, 700 series had GPIB, but the serial/parallel was optional on some units.
In any case, I have spare GPIB connectors, and spare serial/parallel option too if you are interested.
If you need any other spare bits, let me know and I'll see what I got.

Oh, there is a GPIB connector all right (as well as serial and parallel). I don't however have any GPIB gear to connect to it. No usb host adapters, no ISA/PCI/PCMCIA cards, no cables, nothing at all.  Minor hurdle, I know.

[tggzzz]

With of course the moat filled with piranha and a drawbridge over it that you can pull up and keep mad redheads at bay.

To clarify it's to keep HMRC and pikeys out and the crazed redheads in.

If you want to be unpleasant to someone, call the police. If you want to be mean, call the tax inspector. If you want to be vicious, call HMRC. HMRC has nastier abilities than the police, stemming from the days before police, and when they travelled on horses and used candles. A moat won't keep them out unless you use lethal force.

I have no experience of the others, fortunately.

I went away for university. It was hell. Halls were an insecure, overpriced shit show of chaos, decay, rivers of actual human shit and no sleep. The property we rented after that was infested with everything possible. Fortunately some of the worst things it was infested with were eaten by the less bad things. We learned to appreciate those ones and even fed them.

Snowflake. I saw a similar house when at uni. One of my daughter's digs developed a hazardous hole in the kitchen floor, the electricity board took one look at where the mains entered the house and called for backup, and the shower had reliable hot water even when there was no electricity or central heating

All good lessons for life, and why it is worth working hard to avoid them!

Glad you found your connectors. I hope to be able to do similar things, but it is reaching the point where even when I remember what I bought "just in case", I can't necessarily find it

[mansaxel]

Some TDS 520 pics:

Not very clean inside..



This also applies to caps. Apparently dust has stuck in something..



Version as shipped:

[Neper]

Isn't there a way to turn the bed into a workbench?

[mansaxel]

Re: TDS520, right funny buggers they are, hiding the RIFAs behind a compact gazillion of screws.  Finally found them. Two tiny 2200pF ones, innit?

[mnementh]

...Now all I have to do is "persuade" her that her bedroom really is going to be cleared to make way for TE. So far I've applied "squatters rights", but she is content to walk around my preciouses. But in a few days/weeks I will be able to simply dump all her stuff on her doorstep without feeling bad about it. And my preciouses will be stored more sanely.

   

If that picture doesn't qualify as a demonstration of the consequences of TEA and GAS, I don't know what does. Yes, there is "invisible" stuff like my Agilent 53310A and one 2465 (etc) on the floor under the lowest bookshelf.

That looks like my, well...  pretty much whole house!  TEA, GAS and lack of SWMBO...   -Pat

Definitely some TETRIS/BOT synergy, DMZ and Type 2 JENGA demonstrated there; maybe even Type 4 as well... I can't tell for sure; is there a hand-truck buried under one of those stacks...?

Jeez.... this conversation sounds awfully familiar... Oh yeah, here it is; from the early years of TEAnonymous:

Some suggestions....

RAM:  Random Access Management.  The process of locating various pieces of test equipment in a manner so that they are quickly and easily accessible.  This process can be applied to both equipment storage areas as well as the active work bench.  Failure to implement a RAM protocol will result in equipment getting buried, requiring the moving of several other pieces of equipment to gain access to a specific item or, even worse, to prevent that specific item from being found.

TETRIS:  Test Equipment Torment - Reorganization In Situ.  The equivalent of changing spark plugs while driving down the highway, this is the high stress process of rearranging equipment - but being limited to doing so in the existing space.  Any attempt to 'borrow' space in another area of the premises is met with threats of items found outside the boundaries of toleration will be immediately disposed of.  Protests are met with references to some storage area that was temporarily borrowed 3 years ago - that you still occupy.

BOT:  Boundaries Of Toleration.  The limits of acceptability for the physical and/or financial impact of one's hobby - as defined by other members of the household.

The nature of my Electronics/RC Hobby workbench make it a perpetual TETRIS zone; I call it "Organized Chaos" while my wife calls it "A study in Surrealism". That is, when she does more than just give me that "Spock Raised Eyebrow" look.

Similarly, the needs of Laundry & Storage space make my Wood-Metal-Welding Shop/Garage into a combination JENGA: Junk Engulfing Nearby Garage Areas (wherein all garage space is subject to a constantly moving and contested scrimmage line) and DMZ: De-Mobilized Zone (wherein all manner of junk accumulates in precisely the perfect manner to produce a nigh-immovable obstruction between you and some object you desperately need).


These three phenomena form a symbiotic Quantum Entanglement; whenever there is a decrease in one, the others increase to eliminate any net free space.


JENGA is not a simple single entity; it is a term which encompasses a constellation of several disorderly disorders:

(1) Junk Engulfing Nearby Garage Areas - wherein all garage space is subject to a constantly moving and contested scrimmage line;
(2) Junk Encroaching Nonpermissible General Areas - usually defined by other household members and their "need" to use nonessential spaces like living rooms, kitchens and bathrooms;
(3) Junk Engulfing Nonvertical Geometric Areas - the inevitable spontaneous accumulation of all manner of tools and junk on any available table-like horizontal surface;
(4) Junk Emigrating Non-Garage Areas - the inexplicable migration of entire stacks to other rooms, often discovered by other household members with a hand truck still underneath; and quite possibly the most relevant here,
(5) Junk Engulfing Nonhorizontal Growth Areas - the accumulation of box-shaped objects stacked from floor to ceiling, and the inevitable need to remove one object from the middle of the stack without all of it falling down on your head.


Your discovery of the BOT phenomenon and my own observations of how it seems to ebb and flow in relation with the frequency and severity of localised TETRIS and JENGA outbreaks makes me suspect that it may also be part of this quantum entanglement; I think we as a group should make an empirical study and publish our findings.

We'll need a number of households and lots of time to document various types of outbreaks against the general BOT level in each household and cumulatively. This will require many data points collated against several timelines; possibly years of accumulated junk... err, data... to be absolutely sure. 

mnem


  "In my defense; I WAS left unsupervised."

[AVGresponding]

@Terra Operative, did you ever find an HP 1QF7-0067? May need one myself...

[mnementh]

3D printer refused to print due to my lack of proper filament care. had to go into hulk mode and force the blob out of the extruder by shoving in new filament.

Technically you might want to call that "gorilla"

It's now printing without permanent damage.

Why am I getting this vibe right now...?   

mnem
Welcome to the dark 3DP side, BTW...

[mnementh]

I'm pondering whether I will make it to the FRARS hamfest on Sunday, and/or the Rugby hamfest next weekend. Both are equally distant. Any recommendations based on past experience?

Congratulations and commiserations in equal amounts. Had the same problem with my old Fiat. Someone removed the side of it when it was parked outside the school. I didn't bother claiming because I was looking for excuses to get rid of it. It didn't die quite enough to write it off though.

As for the hamfests, I have not been to either yet. I will be attending FRARS tomorrow though on recommendation elsewhere. After I've loaded the car up with goodies, I hope, I will be mugged an extortionate fee for parking and lunch and go and have an amble around here with the older assistant:

   Rugby is a no for me. Maybe next year.

Next one for me will be MKARS (Milton Keynes) on the 28th, which is on my "half way through house move day off". Also dangerously close to TNMOC.

Speaking of the car... repaired, or ailment mysteriously self-healed?

Also, best wishes for a painless move.


mnem
...you know, the exact opposite of my moves for the last 3 years. 

[Specmaster]

With of course the moat filled with piranha and a drawbridge over it that you can pull up and keep mad redheads at bay.

To clarify it's to keep HMRC and pikeys out and the crazed redheads in.

If you want to be unpleasant to someone, call the police. If you want to be mean, call the tax inspector. If you want to be vicious, call HMRC. HMRC has nastier abilities than the police, stemming from the days before police, and when they travelled on horses and used candles. A moat won't keep them out unless you use lethal force.

<snip>

Well that why the piranhas are in the moat, can't much more lethal than that?

[Brumby]

You know, I was getting comfortable with the number of scopes I have (thus avoiding reactions from co-habitants) .... and then you bring up this:

Here’s my 2018 haul from that: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg1775525/#msg1775525

Specifically:


Sigh.  There's just something about the 7 series... ... ...  Heaven help me if I ever have the opportunity to score one.

[tggzzz]

Isn't there a way to turn the bed into a workbench?

Daughter used to have bed up top and her homework desk underneath.

Now the bed is below (so her dog doesn't whine all night), and the upper shelf is full of her stuff (and some more TE).

Not yet sure how I'm going to rearrange the rooms. Thar room might become the prime TE room.

[mnementh]

That's only one room, unfortunately.  The backstory is that I dislike throwing out things that remind me of the past, so my house is full. Daughter inherited that affliction. Then I succumbed to TEA and GAS...

no comment.

mnem
...lest Karma come bite my scaly dwagon arse.

[bd139]

I'm pondering whether I will make it to the FRARS hamfest on Sunday, and/or the Rugby hamfest next weekend. Both are equally distant. Any recommendations based on past experience?

Congratulations and commiserations in equal amounts. Had the same problem with my old Fiat. Someone removed the side of it when it was parked outside the school. I didn't bother claiming because I was looking for excuses to get rid of it. It didn't die quite enough to write it off though.

As for the hamfests, I have not been to either yet. I will be attending FRARS tomorrow though on recommendation elsewhere. After I've loaded the car up with goodies, I hope, I will be mugged an extortionate fee for parking and lunch and go and have an amble around here with the older assistant:

   Rugby is a no for me. Maybe next year.

Next one for me will be MKARS (Milton Keynes) on the 28th, which is on my "half way through house move day off". Also dangerously close to TNMOC.

Speaking of the car... repaired, or ailment mysteriously self-healed?

Also, best wishes for a painless move.


mnem
...you know, the exact opposite of my moves for the last 3 years. 

Self healed. Being treated with suspicion. Has routine service on Monday so they’re going to look at it then. Fingers crossed.

Thank you

[tggzzz]

...Now all I have to do is "persuade" her that her bedroom really is going to be cleared to make way for TE. So far I've applied "squatters rights", but she is content to walk around my preciouses. But in a few days/weeks I will be able to simply dump all her stuff on her doorstep without feeling bad about it. And my preciouses will be stored more sanely.

   

If that picture doesn't qualify as a demonstration of the consequences of TEA and GAS, I don't know what does. Yes, there is "invisible" stuff like my Agilent 53310A and one 2465 (etc) on the floor under the lowest bookshelf.

That looks like my, well...  pretty much whole house!  TEA, GAS and lack of SWMBO...   -Pat

Definitely some TETRIS/BOT synergy, DMZ and Type 2 JENGA demonstrated there; maybe even Type 4 as well... I can't tell for sure; is there a hand-truck buried under one of those stacks...?

I also play such games/acronyms elsewhere, as a few of the other pictures hinted

The hand truck is my daughter's bicycle trailer, and that's in the "garage" in front of her van axle/carburettor/etc. I'm not sure how quickly I'll take that to her new house

[tggzzz]

I'm pondering whether I will make it to the FRARS hamfest on Sunday, and/or the Rugby hamfest next weekend. Both are equally distant. Any recommendations based on past experience?

Congratulations and commiserations in equal amounts. Had the same problem with my old Fiat. Someone removed the side of it when it was parked outside the school. I didn't bother claiming because I was looking for excuses to get rid of it. It didn't die quite enough to write it off though.

As for the hamfests, I have not been to either yet. I will be attending FRARS tomorrow though on recommendation elsewhere. After I've loaded the car up with goodies, I hope, I will be mugged an extortionate fee for parking and lunch and go and have an amble around here with the older assistant:

   Rugby is a no for me. Maybe next year.

Next one for me will be MKARS (Milton Keynes) on the 28th, which is on my "half way through house move day off". Also dangerously close to TNMOC.

Speaking of the car... repaired, or ailment mysteriously self-healed?

Also, best wishes for a painless move.


mnem
...you know, the exact opposite of my moves for the last 3 years. 

Self healed. Being treated with suspicion. Has routine service on Monday so they’re going to look at it then. Fingers crossed.

Thank you

I suppose I ought not to note that there are more geraniums listed by your supplier. You might not have enough cash leftover for the hamfests and car repairs (or even petrol).

[mnementh]

In the other bedroom there a lot of small stuff in a dresser that is a cargo cult homage to Jim Williams, plus a couple of HP/Tek 21Ghz SAs, the 19" rack on the floor waiting for me to gain enough courage to debug the 1kV supply with lots of exposed 4mm banana plugs and spade connectors, other cupboards, plus ...

And no cat ? 

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

mnem
*snortling iced tea out his nose*

[Specmaster]

I'm pondering whether I will make it to the FRARS hamfest on Sunday, and/or the Rugby hamfest next weekend. Both are equally distant. Any recommendations based on past experience?

Congratulations and commiserations in equal amounts. Had the same problem with my old Fiat. Someone removed the side of it when it was parked outside the school. I didn't bother claiming because I was looking for excuses to get rid of it. It didn't die quite enough to write it off though.

As for the hamfests, I have not been to either yet. I will be attending FRARS tomorrow though on recommendation elsewhere. After I've loaded the car up with goodies, I hope, I will be mugged an extortionate fee for parking and lunch and go and have an amble around here with the older assistant:

   Rugby is a no for me. Maybe next year.

Next one for me will be MKARS (Milton Keynes) on the 28th, which is on my "half way through house move day off". Also dangerously close to TNMOC.

Speaking of the car... repaired, or ailment mysteriously self-healed?

Also, best wishes for a painless move.


mnem
...you know, the exact opposite of my moves for the last 3 years. 

Self healed. Being treated with suspicion. Has routine service on Monday so they’re going to look at it then. Fingers crossed.

Thank you

That is according to Top Gear about normal behaviour, that and spontaneous combustion for a French car   

[bd139]

I'm pondering whether I will make it to the FRARS hamfest on Sunday, and/or the Rugby hamfest next weekend. Both are equally distant. Any recommendations based on past experience?

Congratulations and commiserations in equal amounts. Had the same problem with my old Fiat. Someone removed the side of it when it was parked outside the school. I didn't bother claiming because I was looking for excuses to get rid of it. It didn't die quite enough to write it off though.

As for the hamfests, I have not been to either yet. I will be attending FRARS tomorrow though on recommendation elsewhere. After I've loaded the car up with goodies, I hope, I will be mugged an extortionate fee for parking and lunch and go and have an amble around here with the older assistant:

   Rugby is a no for me. Maybe next year.

Next one for me will be MKARS (Milton Keynes) on the 28th, which is on my "half way through house move day off". Also dangerously close to TNMOC.

Speaking of the car... repaired, or ailment mysteriously self-healed?

Also, best wishes for a painless move.


mnem
...you know, the exact opposite of my moves for the last 3 years. 

Self healed. Being treated with suspicion. Has routine service on Monday so they’re going to look at it then. Fingers crossed.

Thank you

I suppose I ought not to note that there are more geraniums listed by your supplier. You might not have enough cash leftover for the hamfests and car repairs (or even petrol).

My eBay scraper already notified me 

As for the transistors, not interested in those ones. The quantity and types do not excite me too much 

[mnementh]

I'm pondering whether I will make it to the FRARS hamfest on Sunday, and/or the Rugby hamfest next weekend. Both are equally distant.

Any recommendations based on past experience?

Rugby has been good to me in the past, particularly for hard to find components I'd been looking for, but some TE. There are one or two things I regret not snapping up at the time.  I'd rate it slightly better than McMichael but not up to Newbury. It's always been boiling hot when I've been there, so definitely remember your hat and a bottle of water.

FRARS I've never been to because it's towards the edge of my rally radius and it's an awkward drive. I get the impression it's a lot bigger than a Chippenham type micro-rally, but it's no more than an impression. I've always wondered about it.

After a couple of years of rally deprivation, I shall go to both.

One I wonder about is MK. It's doable but I've always had a distaste for Milton Keynes. I'd go to that one if it was McMichael size or better.

MK one depends on how rainy it is. I’ve seen it down to about 20 plots but up to 50 plots.

Here’s my 2018 haul from that: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg1775525/#msg1775525

Edit: I may do rugby as well. I have an excess of space coming up the following week 

My experience with marché aux puces over here is that particularly for electronics, the small ones can be much more rewarding than the large ones if you get there early. Folks get antsy seeing only a few dozen vendors around them and only one or two customers... and if the electronics are as-is junque they're just bringing to get rid of, you can do a stroke of business and be on your way home in time to hit the drive-thru for brekkers...

mnem
 

[AVGresponding]

I'm pondering whether I will make it to the FRARS hamfest on Sunday, and/or the Rugby hamfest next weekend. Both are equally distant. Any recommendations based on past experience?

Congratulations and commiserations in equal amounts. Had the same problem with my old Fiat. Someone removed the side of it when it was parked outside the school. I didn't bother claiming because I was looking for excuses to get rid of it. It didn't die quite enough to write it off though.

As for the hamfests, I have not been to either yet. I will be attending FRARS tomorrow though on recommendation elsewhere. After I've loaded the car up with goodies, I hope, I will be mugged an extortionate fee for parking and lunch and go and have an amble around here with the older assistant:

   Rugby is a no for me. Maybe next year.

Next one for me will be MKARS (Milton Keynes) on the 28th, which is on my "half way through house move day off". Also dangerously close to TNMOC.

Speaking of the car... repaired, or ailment mysteriously self-healed?

Also, best wishes for a painless move.


mnem
...you know, the exact opposite of my moves for the last 3 years. 

Self healed. Being treated with suspicion. Has routine service on Monday so they’re going to look at it then. Fingers crossed.

Thank you

I suppose I ought not to note that there are more geraniums listed by your supplier. You might not have enough cash leftover for the hamfests and car repairs (or even petrol).

My eBay scraper already notified me 

As for the transistors, not interested in those ones. The quantity and types do not excite me too much 

Good! I don't want to get overbid again!

[mnementh]

while I am in no way such a capable 3D print enthusiast as mnem is I am currently printing away on the missing knobs for the Yamaha KX260 tape deck I picked up at a flea market for a tenner. I do need a tape counter belt though to bring it fully back to life.

Welcome to the 3DP nuttery.  If your printer will do 0.16LH or 0.12LH, you can actually print very usable square drive belts with most of the currently popular formulations of TPU; they are made a little hard to be able to work with Bowden, but for thin prints the result is still quite usable for non-critical belts, or even critical ones if you're prepared to do some trial/error to get it just right.

EDIT: Saw your finished knobbery. Looking good! 

You'll be making all sorts of useful stuff before you know it.

mnem

[Robert763]

Talking of JENGA, I've sold a 8574A VNA. I now have to extract it from the analyser stack. It's above the HP 8568B but under a 3U PC, 2U pull-up keboard / display, R&S CRTU, R&S CMW-CU, GPSstar GPSDO HP 5335A Counter and a couple of DMMs