Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

Mjolnir...? Righteous! 

...even though I have a 35 gallon tote FULL of power supplies and VARIAC already packed up. 

*Snurches that toon and saves it for later torment* 

   In my defense, that lot has been literally decimated... I'm down to ONE 15 gallon bin, and THAT is INCLUDING all the cut-off ends and adapter tips I've collected over the years for "DIY" power packs.  I shipped off 6 boxes to the Goodwill. Same with "Networking" (routers, switches, cables & Panduit down to a single 15 gallon bin) Same with "AC Cords & Extensions" and "Wiring & Connectors". I've even gotten my "Computer Bits" down to 2 such bins, including my iPads, laptops & bags/accessories. It has been a long harrowing trek, but I made it and emerged mostly intact on the other side. 

   THIS is what I was talking about re: power supplies. There's about 800 Amps or so, mostly high-current 12-48VDC fixed.  The empty hole is for the three power supplies on my bench, when it gets packed down. The AMSCO Variac I kept is under the black UPS. We won't talk about the 2U 1500 VA SmartUPS in the living room; it's too much for even my biggest bin. 

RC Hobbyist stuff though; that's at 6 bins & counting...  NOT including this:      or its smaller siblings scattered from Hell to breakfast about the living areas.

I used to have them all "splatted on the walls" as tggzzz likes to say. 

mnem
*still too juicy*

[med6753]

You might want to make sure the table itself is up to task.

And there you go again with words unknown to me. "Mjolnir"?  Looked it up. OK....nothing more than a BFH*. 



*BFH...for those of you that don't know. Big Fucking Hammer. 

[0culus]

You might want to make sure the table itself is up to task.

And there you go again with words unknown to me. "Mjolnir"?  Looked it up. OK....nothing more than a BFH*. 



*BFH...for those of you that don't know. Big Fucking Hammer. 

http://www.hilariousgifs.com/i/thor-pranks-spiderman-toilet-HWh2JRW.gif

[mnementh]

Mjolnir, for those who don't know, is a BFH which is enchanted such that only Thor (or someone the magical forces themselves deem "worthy") can lift it.

mnem
*chest thump*

[tggzzz]

In my defense, that lot has been literally decimated...

So when are you getting rid of some of the remaining 90%?

Decimation occurred when Roman unit was disgraced, and every 10th man had to step forward and be executed.

I used to have them all "splatted on the walls" as tggzzz likes to say. 

Well, I think "splatting" would be a good description of this on the wall:

[mnementh]

"Decimated" means "reduced by a factor of 10"; as in only 1/10th of the original number remain. That is what remains.   



mnem
*splatted*

[mnementh]

Hey... for those of you into "RF-ily" things... I remember back in the day there was a hacker contingent revolving around the old WiMax gear when it was being dumped by the truckload, because at the heart of the thing was a 10W PEP-capable SDR. I can't find anything on it in the sea of shit that Google has become now; does anybody here know anything of this little niche? I just tripped over one in the back of my office and wanted to find a good home for it...

mnem
Also, moo.

[tggzzz]

"Decimated" means "reduced by a factor of 10"; as in only 1/10th of the original number remain. That is what remains.   
mnem
*splatted*

See https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decimate or many others

[Specmaster]

   In my defense, that lot has been literally decimated... I'm down to ONE 15 gallon bin, and THAT is INCLUDING all the cut-off ends and adapter tips I've collected over the years for "DIY" power packs.  I shipped off 6 boxes to the Goodwill. Same with "Networking" (routers, switches, cables & Panduit down to a single 15 gallon bin) Same with "AC Cords & Extensions" and "Wiring & Connectors". I've even gotten my "Computer Bits" down to 2 such bins, including my iPads, laptops & bags/accessories. It has been a long harrowing trek, but I made it and emerged mostly intact on the other side. 

mnem
*still too juicy*

Yep, I've got myself at least 1 and half big boxes of those wall warts like that from equipment that I still have somewhere or they have out survived the equipment and the thinking was they might be handy someday  but strangely enough that has been proven to be true on many occasions so I don't see them being thinned down or disposed of in the near future. 

[worsthorse]

Hey... for those of you into "RF-ily" things... I remember back in the day there was a hacker contingent revolving around the old WiMax gear when it was being dumped by the truckload, because at the heart of the thing was a 10W PEP-capable SDR. I can't find anything on it in the sea of shit that Google has become now; does anybody here know anything of this little niche? I just tripped over one in the back of my office and wanted to find a good home for it...

mnem
Also, moo.

I have no idea what you are talking about but I am suddenly curious as any sentence with the phrase "10W PEP-capable SDR" gets my attention because you know RF.

/me sighs and wanders off to find the google and ask it some questions.

[Specmaster]

To me, the 10W PEP means 10W peak envelope power and SDR is software defined radio but how they relate to each other 

[worsthorse]

Yep, I've got myself at least 1 and half big boxes of those wall warts like that from equipment that I still have somewhere or they have out survived the equipment and the thinking was they might be handy someday  but strangely enough that has been proven to be true on many occasions so I don't see them being thinned down or disposed of in the near future. 

Here in RF-ily land¹, we have a love-hate relationship with wall warts. We cherish the linear kind and we banish the switching kind or burden them with ferrites of many shapes and sizes. Our treasure rooms are filled with one kind, waiting to be used, and our trash heaps with the other, scorned forever.

¹RF-ily Land, a place inhabited by beings with a strange habit of hanging wire in the sky. They typically spend their days cursing switched mode power supplies and cheap power inverters, making odd strings of ferrite, and listening to static crashes.

[0culus]

Heck, even I can remember when virtually all wall warts were heavy affairs that contained a transformer. At some point, they all became SMPS. 

[mnementh]

"Decimated" means "reduced by a factor of 10"; as in only 1/10th of the original number remain. That is what remains.   
mnem
*splatted*

See https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decimate or many others

 

*Consults the one true dictionary* Damn, you're right. I stand subjected; a victim of my own hubris.  Oh fucking well. 

To me, the 10W PEP means 10W peak envelope power and SDR is software defined radio but how they relate to each other 

*Kewpie doll* 

Yep, I've got myself at least 1 and half big boxes of those wall warts like that from equipment that I still have somewhere or they have out survived the equipment and the thinking was they might be handy someday  but strangely enough that has been proven to be true on many occasions so I don't see them being thinned down or disposed of in the near future. 

Here in RF-ily land¹, we have a love-hate relationship with wall warts. We cherish the linear kind and we banish the switching kind or burden them with ferrites of many shapes and sizes. Our treasure rooms are filled with one kind, waiting to be used, and our trash heaps with the other, scorned forever.

¹RF-ily Land, a place inhabited by beings with a strange habit of hanging wire in the sky. They typically spend their days cursing switched mode power supplies and cheap power inverters, making odd strings of ferrite, and listening to static crashes.

Most of the ones I didn't shove out the Goodwill airlock are of this sort; a few are actually linear-regulated. I kept a few name brand laptop power packs, and a few universal ones.

mnem
*off to dinner and a monkey two small monkeys*

[med6753]

I posted the promised follow up to this thread......

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/restoring-tektronix-attenuator-switch-deck-assemblies/

[Specmaster]

Yep, I've got myself at least 1 and half big boxes of those wall warts like that from equipment that I still have somewhere or they have out survived the equipment and the thinking was they might be handy someday  but strangely enough that has been proven to be true on many occasions so I don't see them being thinned down or disposed of in the near future. 

Here in RF-ily land¹, we have a love-hate relationship with wall warts. We cherish the linear kind and we banish the switching kind or burden them with ferrites of many shapes and sizes. Our treasure rooms are filled with one kind, waiting to be used, and our trash heaps with the other, scorned forever.

¹RF-ily Land, a place inhabited by beings with a strange habit of hanging wire in the sky. They typically spend their days cursing switched mode power supplies and cheap power inverters, making odd strings of ferrite, and listening to static crashes.

Thankfully, most of mine are of the linear type. heavy big bastards some of them are, the rest are just noise generators 

[xrunner]

While I'm sure my parts inventory isn't as extensive as yours I did take the time to categorize cables/parts/components as you see here in the TEA closet. Being a coffee addict made selection of containers easy.   

Well I'm a coffee addict too but I have a problem using my used coffee containers for storage. 

[tggzzz]

"Decimated" means "reduced by a factor of 10"; as in only 1/10th of the original number remain. That is what remains.   
mnem
*splatted*

See https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decimate or many others

 

*Consults the one true dictionary* Damn, you're right. I stand subjected; a victim of my own hubris.  Oh fucking well. 

Arguably "reduce by 90%" is now the "correct" usage, since most people think decimate means that.

What is the world coming to?... lack of classical education... all nouns can be verbed... 1+2*3=9... Victor Meldrew was an optimist.

[beanflying]

While I'm sure my parts inventory isn't as extensive as yours I did take the time to categorize cables/parts/components as you see here in the TEA closet. Being a coffee addict made selection of containers easy.   

Well I'm a coffee addict too but I have a problem using my used coffee containers for storage. 

Coffee Lightweights mine comes in 30-70kg sacks 

Just because of the labels implications Instunt and Pods contain 'some' but not all coffee

[Cubdriver]

While I'm sure my parts inventory isn't as extensive as yours I did take the time to categorize cables/parts/components as you see here in the TEA closet. Being a coffee addict made selection of containers easy.   

Well I'm a coffee addict too but I have a problem using my used coffee containers for storage. 

Switch to working with SMD parts...  You'll be able to fit a lot in one of those k cups.

-Pat

[beanflying]

Just because I can 

Cork is for an actual gasket 'job' but I may have got a little more than needed 

[bitseeker]

475 is pretty clean inside. The horzontal fine position pot is broken (when isn't it?) and it's pretty clean but the feet and screws are missing off the back and the case is dinked. I'll swap that for the 465 case which is good.

I can see what happened though. The seller had a shitty firestick or something and tried to fix it. He was on the right track but clearly lacked the competence to carry it off.

Looks like typical power supply problems.

Got a War of the Worlds vibe going on here:



So will ESR check the power caps, check the bridges out for shorts and then the power rails for shorts and write up a shopping list. This one doesn't look too bad yet.

Nice scores, bd! I like the War of the Worlds reference.

[bitseeker]

Yeah they are damn handy. But I'm sitting at the checkout then I realised I had some lying around somewhere. Went digging, found one and installed it

And guess what....



Everything appears to be functional as well!

So: 475 = £5 ... service manual £5 .... parts cost £0 (already had them). Total £10 for a decent 200MHz analogue scope.

Not finished yet. Needs full check out, calibration, clean up, the case bashing out a bit and the arse end of my 465 installed on it.

That is just excellent! We really need a happy 'scope emoticon!!

[bitseeker]

"Decimated" means "reduced by a factor of 10"; as in only 1/10th of the original number remain. That is what remains.   
mnem
*splatted*

See https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decimate or many others

 

*Consults the one true dictionary* Damn, you're right. I stand subjected; a victim of my own hubris.  Oh fucking well. 

Arguably "reduce by 90%" is now the "correct" usage, since most people think decimate means that.

Given the high percentage that was eliminated, mnem did decimate his collection, despite the definition.

...all nouns can be verbed...

...including that one. Oh, wow, it has officially been verbed. I feel an infinite loop coming on.

[GregDunn]

Long ago...