Author Topic: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread  (Read 14563895 times)

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Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13250 on: July 15, 2018, 08:20:27 am »
You don't have to get an additional program with Open Office. It allows you to export the document into PDF format which I probably (definitely) should have done. I had forgotten that the compatibility went the other way. That is....Open Office could always handle MS documents but MS refused to acknowledge that they had competition...until recently.     
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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13251 on: July 15, 2018, 08:35:18 am »
You can print to PDF in windows 10 from any piece of software...
 

Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13252 on: July 15, 2018, 08:53:53 am »
You can print to PDF in windows 10 from any piece of software...
I use Windows 10 but still use cute pdf because I used it for years with earlier versions of Windows, old habits die hard I guess.
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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13253 on: July 15, 2018, 08:58:27 am »
Similar. I used to buy Adobe Acrobat (the full paid up version) as I was doing a lot of technical writing years ago. Then I noticed I could just get away with print to PDF :)
 

Online tggzzz

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13254 on: July 15, 2018, 09:04:44 am »
I can’t stand grocery shopping.

I love it; cooking is another form of geek construction. There is even a rather good book "Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Cooks, and Good Food".

And, if you restrict yourself to the "for quick sale" items, it is like being at a hamfest :) Plus that reduces the choices you have to make and encourages you to buy things you might not think of.

Whenever I do that, I come home with a stack of $3 apple and cherry pies from the "reduced for quick-sale" bakery rack. And because they're so close to over-due, I just HAVE to freshen them up in the convection oven (325 degrees/convection bake/30-40 minutes works MAGIC on a RFQS pie) and eat them up RIGHT AWAY...  :-DD

You don't have to buy it because it is cheap - I remind myself of that at hamfests :)

Besides, people are too worried about datestamps:
  • I have food in my store cupboard marked "use by Dec 1992". I still eat it and give it to my daughter
  • I have meat that has been hanging in my cellar since last November. The instructions say to cut off any mould before eating. You'll see many such things in bars in Spain, hanging from roof with little inverted unbrellas to catch the drips (see picture)
  • I regularly leave "21 day aged" steaks in the fridge for another week, to improve the flavour
  • the old rule of thumb with pheasants was that you should leave them hanging by their neck until the body falls off. Personally I think that is too long :)
The point is that being a geek means you know how and why food becomes dangerous (and avoid that), and when food is unlikely to be dangerous.

There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
Glider pilot's aphorism: "there is no substitute for span". Retort: "There is a substitute: skill+imagination. But you can buy span".
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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13255 on: July 15, 2018, 09:18:35 am »
Completely agree.

Talking of which, dinner tonight. Got some ox tail from the butchers they were going to chuck out for two quid versus the usual tenner or so. Sealed off here with a bit of flour. Going in slow cooker for the entire day with some carrots, onions, half a bottle of red someone gave us at christmas, beef stock.



I am dying already because I need to eat it.
 

Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13256 on: July 15, 2018, 10:06:05 am »
I'm not touching you Brits food safety habits with a ten foot pole other than to say that over here if it's moldy or out of date it gets trashed. Wasteful? Perhaps. Better safe than sorry. But I make a point of only buying what I'm going to consume in a weeks or two time to avoid waste. So don't try to convince me of the goodness of cutting mold off meat. I ain't having it.  :o  :-DD

But I am curious as to what you guys keep for documentation and records for your TEA or related activities. This is my record book. It is a printout of items such as schematics of home built projects, all my test equipment along with a record of all repair activity, diagrams of items such as interconnects of my audio system and video system. Security such as passwords and where they are located...most of them in a locked strongbox. And lastly, vehicle repair records and reference materials. Everything is softcopy except the reference materials. The programs I use are MS Paint, Open Office, TinyCAD, etc. Every time I make a repair, change, or addition I update the files. I kinda anal about that.

And related to that, what are your backup strategies? Each of my 3 computers have an external hard drive which is normally shut off. Once a month I run a complete clone on each using Macrium Reflect. This laptop also has cloud storage which I update manually. And certain critical files are sync'ed across all 3 computers using Allway Sync. It's not a fool proof backup plan but certainly better than 99% of the rest of the computer users which is none.       
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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13257 on: July 15, 2018, 11:10:36 am »
I am also suitably anal :)

I am currently using windows, unfortunately as it is a requirement for something I am working on. I have in my Documents directory a directory called projects. Each project is named and has service manuals in PDF format, all photos I take, notes that I write up (in vim). This is automatically rsync'ed off to my NAS every 30 minutes. This is exported weekly onto an encrypted USB stick I carry with me at all times (along with other important stuff like photos, videos). This is also rdiff-backup'ed onto a relatively hefty EC2 instance I run in AWS overnight. All paperwork I have is scanned and similarly organised.

If something requires maintenance there is a log.txt file. That only usually appears AFTER I've unbuggered it.

Typical folder structure:



All software is version controlled as well via Fossil.
« Last Edit: July 15, 2018, 11:12:30 am by bd139 »
 

Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13258 on: July 15, 2018, 11:24:59 am »
Same deal. Most of my service or user manuals are softcopy. Some both. Hardcopies are kept in separate notebooks.
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Offline PartialDischarge

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13259 on: July 15, 2018, 11:52:44 am »
  • I have meat that has been hanging in my cellar since last November. The instructions say to cut off any mould before eating. You'll see many such things in bars in Spain, hanging from roof with little inverted unbrellas to catch the drips (see picture)

Well, don't know about your meat, but that is dry-cured Spanish jamón serrano, which undergoes a time tested process. Yummy with good wine.

Funny story, a couple of years ago I visited the annual Solar Messe in Munich. At noon I decided to sit in a rest area to eat something, took out a pack of sliced jamón serrano from my backpack and started eating it one by one. A German next to me, looked at me and said, you are from Spain right? We laughed as I explained to him that all there was to eat at the Messe were hotdogs and I didn't feel like it
 

Offline PartialDischarge

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13260 on: July 15, 2018, 11:57:31 am »
Also, I've been bitten by a taste for the Tek 7000 & 5000 plug-ins  |O, I'm starting to buy models I already have, and the worst part is that I'm trying to understand the circuits inside by reading the service manuals.
« Last Edit: July 15, 2018, 12:01:34 pm by MasterTech »
 

Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13261 on: July 15, 2018, 12:03:32 pm »
Flicking through the HP catalogs for 1989 and I had to pinch myself to make sure that I was awake because I could not believe that 3478A was actually cheaper to buy than a 3466A, $995 as opposed to $1290, are you kidding me? How can a 4.5 digit meter be more expensive then a 5.5 one??? :o
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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13262 on: July 15, 2018, 12:06:56 pm »
If it’s the portable version then that was likely more expensive. The battery option wasn’t cheap!
 

Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13263 on: July 15, 2018, 12:12:53 pm »
True, it was the battery version, but the none battery was a whopping great $1215?
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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13264 on: July 15, 2018, 12:13:55 pm »
Perhaps they wanted people to buy the 3478A :)
 

Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13265 on: July 15, 2018, 12:19:44 pm »
Could be that, the price did leap up by nearly $300 while the 3478A stayed the same, even in 1986

EDIT UPDATE;

That was the reason, seems that they had difficulties convincing customers to take the 3478A meter so in 1993 the dropped the 3466A and then the price of the 3478A rose to $1295 and they introduced portable versions 3468A and 3468B with and without batteries, the battery option made almost the same as the 78A version but they also dropped the 30mV range from the portables.
« Last Edit: July 15, 2018, 12:41:44 pm by Specmaster »
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Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13266 on: July 15, 2018, 01:03:48 pm »
Also, I've been bitten by a taste for the Tek 7000 & 5000 plug-ins  |O, I'm starting to buy models I already have, and the worst part is that I'm trying to understand the circuits inside by reading the service manuals.

Once you've been bitten by the Tek bug it will never let go. I have a 465 that any sane person would have trashed a long time ago because of all it's issues. But I can't bring myself to do it and I keep plugging away.  :-/O
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Online tggzzz

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13267 on: July 15, 2018, 01:33:45 pm »
I'm not touching you Brits food safety habits with a ten foot pole other than to say that over here if it's moldy or out of date it gets trashed.

We're doing our best not to touch US food safety habits! E.g. chicken contaminated with faeces and bacteria that is "made safe" by allegedly washing it in chlorine.

Have you never eaten a blue cheese of any kind?

I've trashed many things that were "in date" because they had become dangerous.
« Last Edit: July 15, 2018, 01:39:44 pm by tggzzz »
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
Glider pilot's aphorism: "there is no substitute for span". Retort: "There is a substitute: skill+imagination. But you can buy span".
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Online tggzzz

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13268 on: July 15, 2018, 01:38:39 pm »
  • I have meat that has been hanging in my cellar since last November. The instructions say to cut off any mould before eating. You'll see many such things in bars in Spain, hanging from roof with little inverted unbrellas to catch the drips (see picture)

Well, don't know about your meat, but that is dry-cured Spanish jamón serrano, which undergoes a time tested process. Yummy with good wine.

Yup, mine is jamón serrano, which goes well with many drinks :) I've also had Norwegian dried lamb in my fridge for a year, without problems.

I also have some 1987 homemade strawberry jam, made with Cambridge Royals. I'm still waiting for a very special occasion before opening and eating it. (Something similar was done with WI (Women's Institute) jam; tests showed it was OK and delicious :) )
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
Glider pilot's aphorism: "there is no substitute for span". Retort: "There is a substitute: skill+imagination. But you can buy span".
Having fun doing more, with less
 

Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13269 on: July 15, 2018, 01:39:39 pm »
I keep catalogs and manuals, both user and service along with any data sheets in folders on the PC and back those up to a nas drive (only switched on for archiving purposes) and also on a plug in external hard drive.
Who let Murphy in?

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Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13270 on: July 15, 2018, 01:56:42 pm »
I'm not touching you Brits food safety habits with a ten foot pole other than to say that over here if it's moldy or out of date it gets trashed.

We're doing our best not to touch US food safety habits! E.g. chicken contaminated with faeces and bacteria that is "made safe" by allegedly washing it in chlorine.

Have you never eaten a blue cheese of any kind?

I've trashed many things that were "in date" because they had become dangerous.

Of course I have. I love cheese of all types. Especially blue cheese. Along with items such a yogurt. Beneficial molds and bacteria. But to age meat until it shows signs of mold? Not quite.

Dunno about your assertion that chicken is washed in chlorine. I would assume if it were you'd smell it. I have yet to open a package of chicken gotten a whiff of chlorine. It wouldn't take much and I doubt they could get it all washed off.   
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Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13271 on: July 15, 2018, 02:03:54 pm »
I'm not touching you Brits food safety habits with a ten foot pole other than to say that over here if it's moldy or out of date it gets trashed.

We're doing our best not to touch US food safety habits! E.g. chicken contaminated with faeces and bacteria that is "made safe" by allegedly washing it in chlorine.

Have you never eaten a blue cheese of any kind?

I've trashed many things that were "in date" because they had become dangerous.

Of course I have. I love cheese of all types. Especially blue cheese. Along with items such a yogurt. Beneficial molds and bacteria. But to age meat until it shows signs of mold? Not quite.

Dunno about your assertion that chicken is washed in chlorine. I would assume if it were you'd smell it. I have yet to open a package of chicken gotten a whiff of chlorine. It wouldn't take much and I doubt they could get it all washed off.   
I wouldn't have thought that hanging meat up like they do Spain would be very hygienic, gathering dust, flies on it not to mention smoke fumes etc, but they do and enjoy eating it apperently. I doubt that I would be brave enough to try it though although I do regularly eat food beyond its best by date.
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Online tggzzz

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13272 on: July 15, 2018, 02:06:04 pm »
I'm not touching you Brits food safety habits with a ten foot pole other than to say that over here if it's moldy or out of date it gets trashed.

We're doing our best not to touch US food safety habits! E.g. chicken contaminated with faeces and bacteria that is "made safe" by allegedly washing it in chlorine.

Have you never eaten a blue cheese of any kind?

I've trashed many things that were "in date" because they had become dangerous.

Of course I have. I love cheese of all types. Especially blue cheese. Along with items such a yogurt. Beneficial molds and bacteria. But to age meat until it shows signs of mold? Not quite.

Dunno about your assertion that chicken is washed in chlorine. I would assume if it were you'd smell it. I have yet to open a package of chicken gotten a whiff of chlorine. It wouldn't take much and I doubt they could get it all washed off.   

https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/buying-and-supplying/food-safety/chlorinated-chicken-explained-why-do-the-americans-treat-their-poultry-with-chlorine/555618.article
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
Glider pilot's aphorism: "there is no substitute for span". Retort: "There is a substitute: skill+imagination. But you can buy span".
Having fun doing more, with less
 

Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13273 on: July 15, 2018, 02:16:24 pm »
Interesting article. I never knew that. In fact, most people are completely ignorant of how their food is prepared/treated before it reaches the shelf in the store...no matter what country you're in.
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Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #13274 on: July 15, 2018, 02:17:53 pm »
Interesting article. I never knew that. In fact, most people are completely ignorant of how their food is prepared/treated before it reaches the shelf in the store...no matter what country you're in.
That's very true.
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