Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Zucca]

Presumably Craigslist and Gumtree...

Ebay-Kleinanzeigen is becoming huge in Germany IMHO.

It would be nice to list all the "local Ebay" stores in Europe, since the shipping costs are not so high like over the ocean.
I know tutti.ch for Switzerland, subito.it or kijiji.it for Italy.

Example for Germany:
Metcal MX 500-21 with some accessories for 200€

[mnementh]

@mnem, let me guess, it's a cordless mouse, yes? I get similar results from my mouse at times unless the batteries are fresh ones.

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

Nope. Plain-jane MS optical mouse circa wheneverthefucktheywerestillgrey (the label's worn off) and MS KU-8933 keyboard. Not my first rodeo, buddy. This only happens when I'm in the BIOS; their GUI overlay has to be pretty low-resolution given it fits in a 16MB ROM. Feels like using a X console on a UBUNTU LIVE! distro; wouldn't be surprised if the entire overlay was lifted from there.

mnem
*sent by threatening an electron with bodily harm*

[med6753]

Here's the door installed on the modified scope cart. Specmaster's suggestion of a side table is an excellent idea and at some point I'll install one. 

And yes, the shelf that the plug-ins are sitting on has a slight warp to it (higher in the center). It was salvaged from an old project and is fine for this purpose.
 

[mnementh]

Thinking maybe I should wipe the drives individually with Partition Manager; just something NOT Windoze.

What I am doing, if I want to wipe drives:

- download grml    https://grml.org/
- create a bootable USB stick from the image (or a CD/DVD)
- boot grml
- once grml has been booted, check for your drives
   cat /proc/partitions
   this gives you a list of the installed drives, in most cases /dev/sda or /dev/hda is your first hard disk drive
- be careful with the next commands!
- if you want to wipe the first hard disk drive, e.g. /dev/sda, then do this:
         dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=1024k count=1000
  this will write zeros from the very first bit of the disk drive up to one gigabyte (nearly, 1000 instead of 1024)

After this procedures, your disk is as good as new.

If you want to wipe the complete disk, then do this:

        dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda

But this may take up to several hours to finish.
This is useful, if you are going to sell storage devices and want to wipe them completely.
The dd command is one of the most reliable tools in this respect I'm knowing.
dd is also used for forensic stuff if you need to create a copy image of a storage device.

DBAN imaged to a bootable USB FTW, dude. Start it, click it and forget it for the day and a half it takes to do a proper wipe. 

But that conversation was taken out of context; I just wanted to wipe the MBR with something NOT MicroSuck as I was half-convinced they might have written a "no-go flag" to drive zero of my brand-new RAID. 

Turned out, as usual, to be part software suckage/part PEBKAC error. 

mnem
PEBKAC: It's what's for breakfast.

[BU508A]

My very first PEBKAC   

[bd139]

Windows...

diskutil
sel disk N
clean

Gets rid of even stubborn ass grub configurations and GPTs.

If you have bitlocker on the device that's the entire volume secure erased as well. Takes <1 second on an SSD as it just sends a TRIM command down to reinit the entire block LUT . One reason I use bitlocker is it's a 1 second job to hose the machine then rather than be 3% of the way through when the feds kick the door down to bag and tag you 

I WAS JUST REINSTALLING WINDOWS OFFICER 

[mnementh]

The guy that I've bought from before on our local CL has one of those Non-Linear Systems Mini Scopes for sale. Doesn't mention if it works and doesn't give a price. Quick check of Ebay shows one on auction for a buy now price of $75 which seems a tad high. Anyone know anything about these mini scopes? I've never seen one much less used one. What you think a fair price is?

   Are you really going to be able to see anything useful on that glorious 1.5in screen?         They've updated the DSO203 to DS213; it now has a screaming 15MHz BW at 100 MSa/s. 

But seriously; that little bit of upgrade is, IMO, just the right amount to turn the DSO203 from a novelty to a useful pocket instrument. I've had a DSO203 in my hands; the CNC aluminum shell has a great feel, and 2 40V "analog" + 2 5V "digital" inputs is actually pretty decent. I've seen it on fleaBay as low as $139; if I were going to go back into automotive diag work, it would be the one in my toolbox for sure.

mnem
moo?

[mnementh]

My very first PEBKAC   

I SO miss UF.  They were my lifeline back when I worked HellDesk... *Makes mental note to do a deep-dive again, as I'm all caught up on Schlock Mercenary*

But I can't blame Illiad for burning out after producing daily for like 2 decades.  Most of us don't even keep a life partner that long nowadays... 

mnem
*Impairing Productivity Since Nineteen Mumblety-Mumble*

[mnementh]

Windows...

diskutil
sel disk N
clean

Gets rid of even stubborn ass grub configurations and GPTs.

If you have bitlocker on the device that's the entire volume secure erased as well. Takes <1 second on an SSD as it just sends a TRIM command down to reinit the entire block LUT . One reason I use bitlocker is it's a 1 second job to hose the machine then rather than be 3% of the way through when the feds kick the door down to bag and tag you 

I WAS JUST REINSTALLING WINDOWS OFFICER 

I would MUCH rather just delete the partition information... then sit back and laugh as they pull their hair out trying to decipher 20GB of ascii pr0n from a hex editor console. 

mnem
 

[BU508A]

Thanks for the Schlock Mercenary, didn't know that. And it is looking very promising like a huge time sink.   

Speaking of webcomics, here are some of my favourite.
I've left Dilbert and xkcd aside since I think, everybody here knows them.

The Order of the stick:  http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots.html

Dork Tower:  http://www.dorktower.com/

The unspeakable vault of doom: http://www.goominet.com/unspeakable-vault/vault/1/

I hope, you'll have a LOT of fun. 

[mnementh]

I prepared EXPLOSIVE RUNES today:

www.dresdencodak.com

http://archives.sluggy.com/books.php

http://goats.com/archive/

https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1998/11/18

NSFW:

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/archive

https://www.somethingpositive.net/sp12192001.shtml

 https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/FreakAngels/Issue-1?id=95399

VERY NSFW: (sexually explicit humor, downright pervy but also sharp-witted social commentary) Start bottom right if you are not easily offended: https://www.oglaf.com/archive/

mnem

[tggzzz]

My very first PEBKAC   

I SO miss UF.  They were my lifeline back when I worked HellDesk... *Makes mental note to do a deep-dive again, as I'm all caught up on Schlock Mercenary*

But I can't blame Illiad for burning out after producing daily for like 2 decades.  Most of us don't even keep a life partner that long nowadays... 

Last time I looked they were recycling them from the beginning. Unfortunately it is quite difficult to notice that, unless you know what's happening.

[Ero-Shan]

Thinking maybe I should wipe the drives individually with Partition Manager; just something NOT Windoze.

What I am doing, if I want to wipe drives:

- download grml    https://grml.org/
- create a bootable USB stick from the image (or a CD/DVD)
- boot grml
- once grml has been booted, check for your drives
   cat /proc/partitions
   this gives you a list of the installed drives, in most cases /dev/sda or /dev/hda is your first hard disk drive
- be careful with the next commands!
- if you want to wipe the first hard disk drive, e.g. /dev/sda, then do this:
         dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=1024k count=1000
  this will write zeros from the very first bit of the disk drive up to one gigabyte (nearly, 1000 instead of 1024)

After this procedures, your disk is as good as new.

If you want to wipe the complete disk, then do this:

        dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda

But this may take up to several hours to finish.
This is useful, if you are going to sell storage devices and want to wipe them completely.
The dd command is one of the most reliable tools in this respect I'm knowing.
dd is also used for forensic stuff if you need to create a copy image of a storage device.

I once used it to repair the partition table of an Amiga hard disk that was connected when Windows was booted. Windows, even though it couldn't understand the boot sector at all, actually altered it!
After learning that my Amiga wouldn't boot anymore from the disk, I used dd under Linux to repair it. It was no easy feat, but could be done. Never again did I allow Windows to stomp on it again.

That experience did not help my already strained relationship with Windows.

Unix is a dull box full of tools. Hundreds of them. Windows is a shiny but empty box.

[med6753]

   Are you really going to be able to see anything useful on that glorious 1.5in screen?         They've updated the DSO203 to DS213; it now has a screaming 15MHz BW at 100 MSa/s. 



mnem
moo?

Well thank you Captain Obvious. I know that. Duh.  It would be more a novelty more than anything else. Was just wondering if anyone has any experience with them.

[xrunner]

Hey I need TEA advice! Are these $100 - $200 thermal cameras any good? 

8GB IR thermal imaging camera

[AVGresponding]

Well thank you Captain Obvious. I know that. Duh.  It would be more a novelty more than anything else. Was just wondering if anyone has any experience with them.

Yes, and I advise avoiding them like the plague.

I bought a DS212 from ebay for a little short of eighty quid (that's about one hundred of your colonial dollars).

Initially I was well chuffed with it, but that changed after about 10 minutes of exploring the menus, when it decided to crash. Turning it off and on again had no effect; I was the proud owner of a (very small) brick.

I contacted the seller, who asked me to wait while they contacted their supplier regarding the issue, and after waiting to almost the point of the ebay case expiry, I contacted them again and was granted a full refund. They didn't even ask me to return the item. If you leave it long enough without turning it on(a few days) it will work again for a few minutes, but really, it's just a useless novelty.

The Tek TDS420A I got for about the same price was a much better investment... especially as it has all the options installed and came with 4 Tek x10 probes, a Tek x1/10 switchable, and 2 other x1/10 switchable probes (some nice quality German brand I never heard of), not to mention the user and service manuals

[Mr. Scram]

Hey I need TEA advice! Are these $100 - $200 thermal cameras any good? 

8GB IR thermal imaging camera

Ask Fraser, though I suspect he won't be impressed. These generally use cheap substitute sensor technologies.

[med6753]

Well thank you Captain Obvious. I know that. Duh.  It would be more a novelty more than anything else. Was just wondering if anyone has any experience with them.

Yes, and I advise avoiding them like the plague.

I bought a DS212 from ebay for a little short of eighty quid (that's about one hundred of your colonial dollars).

Initially I was well chuffed with it, but that changed after about 10 minutes of exploring the menus, when it decided to crash. Turning it off and on again had no effect; I was the proud owner of a (very small) brick.

I contacted the seller, who asked me to wait while they contacted their supplier regarding the issue, and after waiting to almost the point of the ebay case expiry, I contacted them again and was granted a full refund. They didn't even ask me to return the item. If you leave it long enough without turning it on(a few days) it will work again for a few minutes, but really, it's just a useless novelty.

The Tek TDS420A I got for about the same price was a much better investment... especially as it has all the options installed and came with 4 Tek x10 probes, a Tek x1/10 switchable, and 2 other x1/10 switchable probes (some nice quality German brand I never heard of), not to mention the user and service manuals

Hold it, we need to regroup. The question was not about the cheap miniature Chinese LCD scopes. Mnem muddied the waters by tossing them into the conversation. I'm not interested in those but thanks for the info.  My question is about the NLS mini CRT scopes you used to see advertised in the back of electronics magazines in the 1980's. There's one for sale on my local CL and while I realize it's usefulness is extremely limited it might be fun to play with.   

[mnementh]

My very first PEBKAC   

I SO miss UF.  They were my lifeline back when I worked HellDesk... *Makes mental note to do a deep-dive again, as I'm all caught up on Schlock Mercenary*

But I can't blame Illiad for burning out after producing daily for like 2 decades.  Most of us don't even keep a life partner that long nowadays... 

Last time I looked they were recycling them from the beginning. Unfortunately it is quite difficult to notice that, unless you know what's happening.

Well, the first clue is right there in that example strip; ClunkBox monitors. 

It's been recycling with sporadic updates for more than 10 years. Illiad has had more than one "life paradigm shift" which caused his strip to go on hiatus; sometime for more than a year at a time. He made it OFFICIAL a decade or so ago.

mnem
*Currently making a backup*

[mnementh]

Well thank you Captain Obvious. I know that. Duh.  It would be more a novelty more than anything else. Was just wondering if anyone has any experience with them.

Yes, and I advise avoiding them like the plague.

I bought a DS212 from ebay for a little short of eighty quid (that's about one hundred of your colonial dollars).

Initially I was well chuffed with it, but that changed after about 10 minutes of exploring the menus, when it decided to crash. Turning it off and on again had no effect; I was the proud owner of a (very small) brick.

I contacted the seller, who asked me to wait while they contacted their supplier regarding the issue, and after waiting to almost the point of the ebay case expiry, I contacted them again and was granted a full refund. They didn't even ask me to return the item. If you leave it long enough without turning it on(a few days) it will work again for a few minutes, but really, it's just a useless novelty.

The Tek TDS420A I got for about the same price was a much better investment... especially as it has all the options installed and came with 4 Tek x10 probes, a Tek x1/10 switchable, and 2 other x1/10 switchable probes (some nice quality German brand I never heard of), not to mention the user and service manuals

The TDS420A is a completely different sector. Unless you can plug it into your arse, it's irrelevant to this conversation. 

The DS212/DSO212 is a completely different machine from the DSO203/213; a cheap POS knockoff made by the same arseholes who cloned the SALAE LA so horribly. I've had a real DSO203 in my hands and used it, and it works, and it does not suck, though the BW and bit depth are limiting for any modern electronics bench. I'm not saying the DSO203 is a great scope; but it has developed a fanatical following as a portable diag unit. I personally feel that at ~$150 the DSO203 was an overpriced toy; especially the first gen that was riddled with firmware idiocies. However, the enthusiast community latched onto the thing and have fixed most of its originals sins; turning it into something useful.

The DS213 is the latest revision based on the DSO203; as I said, IMO that little bit of upgrade puts it over the line to being a real tool rather than just a novelty.

Cheers,

mnem
 

[bd139]

Quick "I made some test gear" post. This is a Tayloe SWR indicator. Note not meter. Basically it's a quick "is the SWR close to 1:1" or not circuit. Tune antenna for minimum LED brightness. Totally out = 1:1 SWR as there's no stray current in the bridge. The LED lights up from the return loss. Similar to a return loss bridge / 6dB hybrid. Awaiting a better LED and a box to whack it in at the moment. This will be used with the transmitter I've been building and the receiver I built ages ago for a minimal "discrete components only" transceiver setup (yes there are no ICs at in the whole damn set up)

I reckon with the right construction and sampling this could be scaled up quite a bit to VHF easily.



Input SWR is reasonably good up to 50MHz which was a surprise. Was expecting it to go mental around 14MHz



BTW used that rigexpert analyser a LOT. It's a damn fine piece of equipment that is. Am considering selling it and getting one that covers VHF as well as this is the cheap up to 6m one.

Edit: transmitter:



Will kick out 5W easy but gets a bit toasty. Much happier around 3W out. Need more heatsink. Possibly redesign so the MRF237 is upside down and attached to a chunk of metal directly. There's no LPF so it's probably illegal to use on air at the moment.

I confess I was too busy fiddling with the transmitter above to bid on that HP 200 series on ebay  . Fortunately it was relisted and no one bid!   

[mnementh]

Hold it, we need to regroup. The question was not about the cheap miniature Chinese LCD scopes. mnem muddied the waters by tossing them into the conversation. I'm not interested in those but thanks for the info.  My question is about the NLS mini CRT scopes you used to see advertised in the back of electronics magazines in the 1980's. There's one for sale on my local CL and while I realize it's usefulness is extremely limited it might be fun to play with.

Woops. I though you were considering it as a battery-op unit for portable diag like the Tek 211/212/213. Sorry.  My initial reaction was "Jeebus... I thought the screen on the old 200-series was small; that thing has got to be useless."

A closer look doesn't alter that reaction much, though. 

mnem
*tzzzzt*

[mnementh]

Quick "I made some test gear" post. This is a Tayloe SWR indicator. Note not meter. Basically it's a quick "is the SWR close to 1:1" or not circuit...      

I think you just needed to get your inductor-winding fix. 

mnem
Fuck Henry and every last one of his little micros.

[med6753]

Hold it, we need to regroup. The question was not about the cheap miniature Chinese LCD scopes. mnem muddied the waters by tossing them into the conversation. I'm not interested in those but thanks for the info.  My question is about the NLS mini CRT scopes you used to see advertised in the back of electronics magazines in the 1980's. There's one for sale on my local CL and while I realize it's usefulness is extremely limited it might be fun to play with.

Woops. I though you were considering it as a battery-op unit for portable diag like the Tek 211/212/213. Sorry.  My initial reaction was "Jeebus... I thought the screen on the old 200-series was small; that thing has got to be useless."

A closer look doesn't alter that reaction much, though. 

mnem
*tzzzzt*

Hey, if a Tek 211/212/213 comes my way at a reasonable (cheap) price I'll snap it up quick, fast, and in a hurry. 

[bd139]

Quick "I made some test gear" post. This is a Tayloe SWR indicator. Note not meter. Basically it's a quick "is the SWR close to 1:1" or not circuit...      

I think you just needed to get your inductor-winding fix. 

mnem
Fuck Henry and every last one of his little micros.

Got to be honest here. I love winding the things. I’m like some old woman doing her knitting. Just sit in front of Netflix winding them all night