Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Brumby]

It was more the carnage that triggered my response....

[bd139]

Much joy. Got an email from someone local a few days ago I really couldn't be arsed to reply to. He's gone a bit mental what with "idle hands" and has turned into a doomsday prepper. Item one to purchase, well probably item three after toilet paper and pasta, was apparently a Baofeng and he now wants me to show him how to use it. Bear in mind he doesn't even have any conceptual knowledge of how HT radios work, doesn't have an amateur radio license and doesn't know anyone to talk to with it and probably assumes there's some world he can't see that he has to be a part of.  .  (really it's mostly racists, brexit, strawberries and lots of people unable to hear each other properly)

So I woke up this morning and was saved by a cut and paste video from VK3YE uploaded last night. The production values are awful, but the content is good:



Worthy of relaying to anyone who comes up with the inevitable questions to save yourself having to explain it.

[Specmaster]

One thing about your prepper is that he should have a good stock of TP 

[bd139]

Yeah and I know where he lives when I run out 

[beanflying]

Do you need a license in the UK for basic 70cm UHF sets? Here providing you stay with the Power and standard channels you are all good, That said my little Baofeng can play outside that and above the power should I want to 

[bd139]

Yep. Min foundation license here for 2m / 70cm. It's a piece of piss to get. Multiple choice questions and a practical test to make sure you can screw in a PL259 and turn the radio on  . Got 100% on my test in 10 minutes 

Edit: the foundation license here is basically an idiot test. There are plenty of idiots who have absolutely no critical thinking ability or the ability to retain even simple facts so it sort of filters them out of the process. Yes there were failures x2.

[Specmaster]

Does RS operate a system where you can pull of information of old part numbers etc? 

[bd139]

Usually you just google the RS product code and it leads to the page that contained the product. If you're lucky there are datasheets. Failing that you are screwed or need an old RS catalogue. What are you after in particular?

[Specmaster]

Just curious about my 4503, it was sold as a RS product on code 254-027. So far I have discovered that it was tested on week 6 of 1998 so its just 22 years old.

[bd139]

No product data for that https://int.rsdelivers.com/product/MN/MPN/SD/0254033

Best bet would be an old hardcopy RS catalogue. It's probably still in their ERP system but not on the public web.

[Specmaster]

Coincidentally, it was also 1998 that RS opened for business on the web.

[tggzzz]

Yeah and I know where he lives when I run out 

My daughter prepped for Brexit, and is now grateful albeit for different purposes.

She was interviewed by and quoted in a notable range of publications - but people like you made her obfuscate her personal details

It will be interesting to see whether, in 5 years time, people think keeping a full stock cupboard / pantry is a good idea,

[Specmaster]

Yeah and I know where he lives when I run out 

My daughter prepped for Brexit, and is now grateful albeit for different purposes.

She was interviewed by and quoted in a notable range of publications - but people like you made her obfuscate her personal details

It will be interesting to see whether, in 5 years time, people think keeping a full stock cupboard / pantry is a good idea,

Thats something that time will tell, we might not have even left by then, who knows?

[tggzzz]

Yeah and I know where he lives when I run out 

My daughter prepped for Brexit, and is now grateful albeit for different purposes.

She was interviewed by and quoted in a notable range of publications - but people like you made her obfuscate her personal details

It will be interesting to see whether, in 5 years time, people think keeping a full stock cupboard / pantry is a good idea,

Thats something that time will tell, we might not have even left by then, who knows?

To pick up on the ambiguity of "have left", I've told my daughter that my success criterion for the next year is that both of us are still alive.

[Specmaster]

Yeah and I know where he lives when I run out 

My daughter prepped for Brexit, and is now grateful albeit for different purposes.

She was interviewed by and quoted in a notable range of publications - but people like you made her obfuscate her personal details

It will be interesting to see whether, in 5 years time, people think keeping a full stock cupboard / pantry is a good idea,

Thats something that time will tell, we might not have even left by then, who knows?

To pick up on the ambiguity of "have left", I've told my daughter that my success criterion for the next year is that both of us are still alive.

Thats so very true, lets get out of the current crisis first and then worry about Brexit.

[bd139]

Yeah and I know where he lives when I run out 

My daughter prepped for Brexit, and is now grateful albeit for different purposes.

She was interviewed by and quoted in a notable range of publications - but people like you made her obfuscate her personal details

It will be interesting to see whether, in 5 years time, people think keeping a full stock cupboard / pantry is a good idea,

It's always a good idea to obfuscate your details when having a supply of any particular resource which may be in short supply and never advertise your whereabouts as well. My favourite is always the folk who post their holiday photos on facebook and come back and find out someone has nicked their telly.

As for keeping stock I tend to keep quite a bit in usually to ride out a couple of weeks of carnage but it is apparent from this that a few months is a good idea. My experience comes from having £12 to feed two adults and a baby on for a week once. There's only so much tesco value bread you can stomach, assuming there is any to buy when you need it.

Objectively I believe our departure from the EU will result in the same again, possibly lasting a couple of years. It appears as a nation we're incapable of adapting quickly to anything. We also have the Russians kicking off propaganda, and the Hungarians and Polish going all nazi and at the moment as well attempting to fragment Europe further.

To pick up on the ambiguity of "have left", I've told my daughter that my success criterion for the next year is that both of us are still alive.

Thats so very true, lets get out of the current crisis first and then worry about Brexit.

I'd hold that mentality for now. While your back is turned, things are afoot to make things worse.

Incidentally my father-in-law and mother appear to have picked this up now. My mother went vegetable shopping the other day out of the blue at an open air greengrocers because she was bored and "fed up of being inside".  . Getting the feeling I'm going to be clearing house out later this year. My father in law, who is quite frankly useless and only eats KFC and McDonalds, had to change his diet, got clogged up and ended up in hospital and caught it in there.

[Saskia]

quick update: Canon has assigned the broken lens to a technician.
My fever is down (still elevated temp about 1.2 C above the norm) but stable.
The cough has subsided and I am waiting for Hubby to go out to the pharmacy and grab my wholesale order.
Also called in sick to work but will attend a meeting in an hour or so.

Could all be worse.

[Specmaster]

I'd hold that mentality for now. While your back is turned, things are afoot to make things worse.

Incidentally my father-in-law and mother appear to have picked this up now. My mother went vegetable shopping the other day out of the blue at an open air greengrocers because she was bored and "fed up of being inside".  . Getting the feeling I'm going to be clearing house out later this year. My father in law, who is quite frankly useless and only eats KFC and McDonalds, had to change his diet, got clogged up and ended up in hospital and caught it in there.

Tend to agree with that, there are dark storm clouds bubbling up alright. I see that Mr Johnson and also Mr Hancock, who are both alleged to have got Covid-19 and both are supposed to coming back to public life 1-2 weeks before the isolation period laid down by them, has elapsed,  If the reports are true, did they fake having it to escape being scrutinised about why we are not taking part of the EU's bulk purchase for ventilators, or, did they only catch a special VIP version of it  , or are they going to be spreading it wide and far within the cabinet and government and wider???

[bd139]

Exactly.

Worth referring to this as well https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/31/hungary-emergency-law-incompatible-with-being-in-eu-say-meps-group-viktor-orban

[mnementh]

Could not resist, I found another of those really nice Power Designs power supply on ebay at a really reasonable price. This time it's model 2010 0-20v 1A.

One day I'll get one of these beauties. One day ...   

I've not even seen one offered! That 'One day ...' might be a long time off. And then we might be fighting over it.

With teeth, claws and Handflammpatronen!!!

Mit Geduld, List und Tücke, fängt man eine Mücke.     

Manchmal hilft ein bisschen dummes Glück.

mnem
"Man who catch fly with chopstick... accomplish ANYTHING."

[Brumby]

Found the DMM calibration data and put the 3478A through its paces...

Measure temp: 25.3ºC 4.9969 VAC 1.025 mA 0.999 <> 1.000 mA 100.094 1.00010 k 10.0017 k 100.074 k There doesn't seem to be a value for DC volts - but this is what was measured:  4.9999 VDC

[beanflying]

Found the DMM calibration data and put the 3478A through its paces...

Measure temp: 25.3ºC 4.9969 VAC 1.025 mA 0.999 <> 1.000 mA 100.094 1.00010 k 10.0017 k 100.074 k 4.9999 VDC

Good enough for 'stralia 

[Brumby]

Resistance checks were done with 4 wire setup.  (Something I've always yearned for)

Considering the age of both bits of kit, I'm happy. 

[mnementh]

   Having ignored they "nay-sayers" and the why-bother gang, I went ahead and finished my 3D printed attachment for my DER EE DE5000 LCR meter. I can now connect my BNC Kelvin tweezers and probes to the meter.

McBryce.

  PPPPPPPTTTTTPPPPBBBBB!

That said... how did adding all that coax & connectors affect your accuracy & ability to zero out the poor fucker...? Net gain, or just more assache...?

In all honesty... I didn't mean to sound so negative; it just seemed a lot of work to try & achieve Lab-grade measurement process from a device which was designed primarily to be quick & versatile in connectivity yet reasonably accurate for diag work. Kind of the antithesis of what the DE-5000 is all about.

mnem
*currently hating the "oh, so close..." aspect of Murphy's Law*

I haven't wired it up yet. The PCB in the picture is still the 1.6mm version which doesn't fit into the meters slots. The 1mm PCB has arrived, but I haven't had a chance to cut and fit it yet. It shouldn't be an issue to zero it out. If it's properly shielded and the internal connections kept to a minimum length and seperated it should have results equal or better than the standard crocodile clip version.

McBryce.

You & I both know that "shouldn't be" & "should have" are BOTH Murphy's pups. I can see just the capacitance of all that extra coax fscking with your head bigtime. Good luck, my friend.

mnem
The Devil, she never sleeps.

Yes, but we won't be able to answer that question until I actually build and test one.

And to answer your 3D question above. I've had best results with the brass coloured fitting on the far right of your pictures.

McBryce.

Agreed. And I promise; I was being sincere when I wished you luck. More power tooya.

Thanks. I'm trying to decide whether to keep the red extruder or send it back while I can, along with a few other bits. More data points helps make that an informed decision.

mnem

[med6753]

The overnight run on the 8505A appears to be a fail but I discovered the issue. I mentioned that I thought there were cal issues with the 100V range and 1000V range. This proved to be correct. The ABSOLUTE cal data in memory is indeed correct but the ZERO point is incorrect and that was screwing up the readings.

See pix. The 8505A powers up default 1000VDC manual range. Look at the display. 10mV? That ain't right. If you short the input still reads 10mV. I found the procedure in the manual to set an absolute zero. Turns out all the DC ranges needed to be reset. Now that it's done this 8505A is freaking BANG ON.  But I'm going to repeat the burn in to make sure. I'll post results tomorrow.