Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Cerebus]

Err, guys, this is getting a bit too much like "Politics" and we don't really want it to descend into that that - I can feel the urge to clarify or correct or whatever some of what's being  and that's a clear sign to me that it's heading for a full blown political rant from someone or other at some point and then the riposte and so on.

It's one thing to have passing references as the world goes by, I'm not suggesting we pretend there isn't a big contentious election going on, but I'd rather the 'big' and 'contentious' keeps out of here.

Perhaps it's time to cool it a bit and just stick to taking the piss out of the bobble-heads involved. We can't agree on politics, but I'm sure we can all agree on the fatuousness of politicians.

[bd139]

Perhaps it's time to cool it a bit and just stick to taking the piss out of the bobble-heads involved. We can't agree on politics, but I'm sure we can all agree on the fatuousness of politicians.

"It is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it... anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." - Douglas Adams.

I'll leave it at that

Now doing AWS training which involves trying not to fall unconscious. Soooo booooored.

[Cerebus]

It was the UK that essentially founded the whole EU thing;

Not really, Britain were one of the driving forces behind the Council of Europe, but not the EU (and its forebears the ESCC and EEC). The Council of Europe and the ESCC/EEC/EU were and are very different beasts. Britain only joined the EEC in January 1972. The EEC was created by the Treaty of Rome in March 1957.

[Robert763]

Lets get back to TEA.
The other discussions seem to have buried some TEA commments.
So did anyone else buy one of the Lidl digital hot air guns?
I've played with mine and it's actually very good for heatshrink etc. It even sits on the bench (yes I had to clear a spot) nozzle up at an angle that is good if you are doing a repeditive job.

[BU508A]

Perhaps it's time to cool it a bit and just stick to taking the piss out of the bobble-heads involved. We can't agree on politics, but I'm sure we can all agree on the fatuousness of politicians.

"It is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it... anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." - Douglas Adams.

I'll leave it at that

Now doing AWS training which involves trying not to fall unconscious. Soooo booooored.

Think about something exciting, e.g. your next TEA acquisition. 

[mnementh]

Err, guys, this is getting a bit too much like "Politics" and we don't really want it to descend into that that - I can feel the urge to clarify or correct or whatever some of what's being  and that's a clear sign to me that it's heading for a full blown political rant from someone or other at some point and then the riposte and so on.

It's one thing to have passing references as the world goes by, I'm not suggesting we pretend there isn't a big contentious election going on, but I'd rather the 'big' and 'contentious' keeps out of here.

Perhaps it's time to cool it a bit and just stick to taking the piss out of the bobble-heads involved. We can't agree on politics, but I'm sure we can all agree on the fatuousness of politicians.

Ehhh... I thought we were being pretty level-headed aboot it. 

Whatevs... I have outdoor work needs doin', and finally some human weather. The politics can wait; as I said, I've used up my daily allotment.

mnem
You may all now return to your regularly scheduled insanity. 

[bd139]

Lets get back to TEA.
The other discussions seem to have buried some TEA commments.
So did anyone else buy one of the Lidl digital hot air guns?
I've played with mine and it's actually very good for heatshrink etc. It even sits on the bench (yes I had to clear a spot) nozzle up at an angle that is good if you are doing a repeditive job.

I don't buy Lidl tools as a rule. Same as I didn't buy Rolson ones

[Cerebus]

Perhaps it's time to cool it a bit and just stick to taking the piss out of the bobble-heads involved. We can't agree on politics, but I'm sure we can all agree on the fatuousness of politicians.

"It is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it... anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." - Douglas Adams.

I'll leave it at that

Now doing AWS training which involves trying not to fall unconscious. Soooo booooored.

Indeed, by dint of me being one of the people who most actively would not want to be British Prime Minister I'm probably one of the most qualified for the job. Everybody has the odd daydream of being "the King" or "the Boss" or "the Prime Minister" or "whatever" and I'm no different in that respect. Where I am different is that I snap out of that daydream within 10 seconds because I'm actually capable of realising how horrible it would be - every fawning lick-spittle in the country crawling up to you, lying and trying to get their way, and you aren't even allowed to have them thrown in the Scorpion Pit any more.

I think of myself more as "Grand Vizier" material. ["Bwa-ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha"]

[Cerebus]

Ehhh... I thought we were being pretty level-headed aboot it. 

We were, so far. Best not tempt fate, eh?

[bd139]

Indeed, by dint of me being one of the people who most actively would not want to be British Prime Minister I'm probably one of the most qualified for the job. Everybody has the odd daydream of being "the King" or "the Boss" or "the Prime Minister" or "whatever" and I'm no different in that respect. Where I am different is that I snap out of that daydream within 10 seconds because I'm actually capable of realising how horrible it would be - every fawning lick-spittle in the country crawling up to you, lying and trying to get their way, and you aren't even allowed to have them thrown in the Scorpion Pit any more.

I think of myself more as "Grand Vizier" material. ["Bwa-ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha"]

That's why I'd rather be Grand Hegemon than Prime Minister. At least I admit that

Edit: to be clear that Hegemon the Orson Scott Card universe hegemon variety.

Edit 2: my first decree would be the public flogging of people who extract tubes from test gear and radios to stick in guitar amplifiers and audio equipment.

[Cerebus]

I don't buy Lidl tools as a rule. Same as I didn't buy Rolson ones

"Rolson tools, one letter away from setting your house on fire."

[McBryce]

Lets get back to TEA.
The other discussions seem to have buried some TEA commments.
So did anyone else buy one of the Lidl digital hot air guns?
I've played with mine and it's actually very good for heatshrink etc. It even sits on the bench (yes I had to clear a spot) nozzle up at an angle that is good if you are doing a repeditive job.

LIDL tools are like paper cups. They usually only work once and even the first use probably didn't do the job well.

McBryce.

[med6753]

I'll have something TEA related later this afternoon. Stay tuned. 

[Specmaster]

Lets get back to TEA.
The other discussions seem to have buried some TEA commments.
So did anyone else buy one of the Lidl digital hot air guns?
I've played with mine and it's actually very good for heatshrink etc. It even sits on the bench (yes I had to clear a spot) nozzle up at an angle that is good if you are doing a repeditive job.

No I didn't, but then I don't need one, I already have hot air rework station with good temp control, but if it follows my own personal experience of Lidl gear, it will be good for the money.

[sb42]

Yeah, I still don't get the resistance there. It was the UK that essentially founded the whole EU thing; did they not think they would have to actually give up some of their privilege for the sake of the union...?

To address the second part of that question: yes, of course the UK knew that at the time, pooled sovereignty being a fundamental aspect of the EEC, and naturally a central part of the debate in every country that joined it. That decision was reversed later, and all of that is yesterday's news.

[Specmaster]

Perhaps there aren't that many Americans who can count left? 

Edit: in no way am I suggesting we're any better here. We're not far off rural Alabama in some places.

The ones that can't count are also the ones who breed and have 10 kids. We are fucked. 

This has already been documented in a film:
https://archive.org/details/idiocracy_202005       

Brilliant film  "If you have a bucket that holds 2 gallons and another bucket that holds 5 gallons, how many barrels do you have?" 

[BU508A]

Perhaps there aren't that many Americans who can count left? 

Edit: in no way am I suggesting we're any better here. We're not far off rural Alabama in some places.

The ones that can't count are also the ones who breed and have 10 kids. We are fucked. 

This has already been documented in a film:
https://archive.org/details/idiocracy_202005       

Brilliant film  "If you have a bucket that holds 2 gallons and another bucket that holds 5 gallons, how many barrels do you have?" 

What is this in SI units?

[tggzzz]

Edit 2: my first decree would be the public flogging of people who extract tubes from test gear and radios to stick in guitar amplifiers and audio equipment.

Boring.

The penalty should involve re-insertion into the nearest available orifice.

[bd139]

How about stuff the useless gassy tubes up them until one breaks? 

[tggzzz]

How about stuff the useless gassy tubes up them until one breaks? 

Yup, that'll do.

[Robert763]

Lets get back to TEA.
The other discussions seem to have buried some TEA commments.
So did anyone else buy one of the Lidl digital hot air guns?
I've played with mine and it's actually very good for heatshrink etc. It even sits on the bench (yes I had to clear a spot) nozzle up at an angle that is good if you are doing a repeditive job.

LIDL tools are like paper cups. They usually only work once and even the first use probably didn't do the job well.

McBryce.

I've used it a few times and it's still OK
The do vary in quality tme will tell but at least it's only a £20 investment. Hard to justify 10 time that for a professional 2kW temperature controlled heat gun.

I have a hot air rework station but it is not very handy for heatshrink sleeving etc s it's pretty much tied to the bench. It's also not 2kW

[25 CPS]

Y'all may have noticed the ol' dwagon has been conspicuously absent from the forum today... that's because I went down to York to meet up with 25CPS again and look for some TEA. He had a shopping list; which I believe he satisfied (and then some) as did I; I got what I needed but not what I wanted. And on my way out the door to go meet him, I found my TinySA from Bang-em-good waiting in the mailbox!



We met at Tim Horton's for breakfast (again) but due to new COVID Wave 2 restrictions, there is again no "dine-in" service available in the greater Toronto area. 

So we had our little meetup in his truck because more room than the Rav4; we each brought a few of our favorite shinies and new acquisitions for the other to ogle and fondle. I brought my MS8911, my NanoVNA SAA2, and of course, we did the unboxing of my TinySA too. Above you can see 25CPS scoping out my TinySA; I have to admit that although the screen is tiny, it does appear quite usuable even with my poor eyesight. 



Here you can see my haul along with the TinySA; I suppose it is technically part of today's TEAcquisitions.  I gave CAD$40 (~US$30.50) for a Amphenol # 74868 N-BNC, TE Connectivity Stainless body N-SMA,  a 50cm M17/152-00001 N-90° to N-90° by Harbour Industries, (these so I can connect my NanoVNA to other stuff) and one set of apparently unused AMPROBE Model DTL-12 CAT III/1KV/10A test leads as backups for my 189.

We just couldn't come to an agreement on the HP 8111A function generator he had. He wanted CAD$275 for it; I had just been looking at a similar FLUKE 81 50MHz model on Alltest for US$95, so no way to close that gap. 

While I was there, I snapped a few pics of some other interesting and amusing tidbits to pass along:

         

mnem


   just for med...

That was a lot of fun.  I brought some show and tell stuff as well and I'll post pics later when I get a chance.  In the picture that Mnementh posted, we had 88-108 MHz spanned on the TinySA and the peak marker was hopping between the two competing inoffensive office background soft mush rock music stations out of Toronto and I was bouncing between them on the car radio so we could hear what we were seeing on the display there.

Both of us were able to strike off a number of items from our shopping list at two different shops; didn't get to the third one because it had already closed by the time we left the second place we stopped in at.  Instead we took a short drive around the neighbourhood and did a bit of a tour of where I started out my working life as the sun went down and rush hour traffic made things a bit tricky.  I did get to see Mnementh give the finger to someone who was blasting the horn at me for not riding the rear bumper of the car ahead so he could get over quicker but that's typical Toronto these days.

After we parted ways, I filled up the truck for a surprisingly reasonable (<90 cents/litre) price and stopped by my storage unit and picked up the dashboard from a defunct trolley bus thinking back to Tony Albus's tachometer video.  Getting the indicator lights going on this isn't going to be difficult at all but I'm going to try to wake up the speedometer and maybe the air pressure gauge if I can borrow an air compressor from someone.

[Specmaster]

Oh shit, I cocked up that quote didn't I? So here it is amended.

Brilliant film  "If you have a bucket that holds 2 gallons and another bucket that holds 5 gallons, how many buckets do you have?" 

"Anyone fancy a Starbucks"  , that line in the film creased me up 

[0culus]

Got some new bubble LED goodness on the bench tonight....and it's not a calculator? 

Cute! A big clock with a f-ing tiny display.
Is it GPS synced?

Not exactly. It has to be set either manually or programmatically, but it does accept as 1, 5, or 10 MHz external reference frequency so my plan is to connect it to the GPSDO. The internal xtal is good to about a minute per month.

[med6753]

The 310 fan base chassis has been cleaned up and repainted. Decided to go with a matte gray finish. Going to let it sit for 24 hours before reassembly.