Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

How about Jethro, always worth watching in my book.

[0culus]

I'm no fan of Mrs. Browns Boys, but it is anything but British: Irish writer, Irish Director, Irish Producer, Irish cast. Other than the fact that BBC Scotland got involved later there was nothing British about it. Equally so with Father Ted, Irish writer, Irish Director, Irish cast, Irish location.

IT Crowd was also written by an Irish writer, but I would consider it British as (almost) everthing else about it came from Britain.

I've nothing against British stuff or people, but could you please learn that there's a difference between Irish and British. We didn't call Friends a Canadian series.

McBryce.

HEY, I said "British Isles" 

[med6753]

I'm no fan of Mrs. Browns Boys, but it is anything but British: Irish writer, Irish Director, Irish Producer, Irish cast. Other than the fact that BBC Scotland got involved later there was nothing British about it. Equally so with Father Ted, Irish writer, Irish Director, Irish cast, Irish location.

IT Crowd was also written by an Irish writer, but I would consider it British as (almost) everthing else about it came from Britain.

I've nothing against British stuff or people, but could you please learn that there's a difference between Irish and British. We didn't call Friends a Canadian series.

McBryce.

HEY, I said "British Isles" 

Ouch, be careful. Saying "British Isles" and including all of Ireland isn't going to win you any friends. It's like saying the USA is part of the British Isles. The Republic of Ireland, or "southern" Ireland if you will, is a fully independent and sovereign nation not part of the UK or British Isles. It has been that way since the 1920's when full independence from the UK was granted. Northern Ireland is part of the UK and loyal to the Crown. Now I'm not going to go into the history and politics involved here but let's just say that it hasn't been a very peaceful arrangement and there are still many unresolved issues.

Here's a picture to help you out. And if you're not Irish or Irish descent like me it's understandable that you aren't aware of the issues or differences.


 

[25 CPS]

I’m impressed with the diode check function on the Agilent 34401A.

One of my friends bought this 12 V LED light bar from some lady on Facebook Marketplace.  I’m not sure how the deal went down but the pictures were stock photos of the unit and when he got it home, he hooked it up and nothing happened and then he saw a nice burn under the lenses.  The lady stopped returning messages as soon as he complained it was DOA.  So I got the call and said bring it over and we’ll take a look at it.  Getting the housing apart was a pain but a hammer and flathead screwdriver did the trick to get the strips that hold the cover in place slid out of their troughs. And we have a cooked regulator and some passive components.  D2 turned out to be shorted so I clipped it out.  The thought was to isolate the LEDs and if they were still good, knock together a driver circuit on a daughter board instead of trying to repair the charred and destroyed mess.



I was having trouble getting on to the surface mount components with regular leads so I got out the new set that I bought in an order of miscellaneous Keysight parts and got some very fine tip probes out that did the trick and spun up the 34401A with the idea of checking the LEDs.  It’s trying.  It says “Open” but it’s trying.  It had enough oomph to make the LEDs that survive light up.  The others are all blown open.  I probed a bunch of them and there was no action but the good ones would light up from the power and ground rails being backfed from each of the blown ones I tested.



My friend decided to write it off since more than half of the LEDs got totalled when the driver circuit self destructed.  The lady on Facebook Marketplace still isn’t replying to messages.  We figure it blew up so she decided to unload it and run so it looks like my friend’s out his $20 for it unfortunately.  I’m going to try to savage the inductors off the board for my parts bin but that’s about all it’s good for.

[Cerebus]

Ouch, be careful. Saying "British Isles" and including all of Ireland isn't going to win you any friends. It's like saying the USA is part of the British Isles. The Republic of Ireland, or "southern" Ireland if you will, is a fully independent and sovereign nation not part of the UK or British Isles. It has been that way since the 1920's when full independence from the UK was granted. Northern Ireland is part of the UK and loyal to the Crown. Now I'm not going to go into the history and politics involved here but let's just say that it hasn't been a very peaceful arrangement and there are still many unresolved issues.

Here's a picture to help you out. And if you're not Irish or Irish descent like me it's understandable that you aren't aware of the issues or differences.

Sorry Med but they are called the British Isles. Eire (and Northern Ireland) is part of the British Isles, so is the Isle of Man (another separate sovereign nation) so are the Orkneys and so on. That's just what that group of islands is called.

See wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_the_British_Isles

Here's their illustration of the "British Isles":


I qualify for an Irish passport, so if we're going to use "Irish decent" as the arbiter of who knows what about the name of the island group that includes Eire then I strongly suspect that I'm closer to the sod than you are.

[0culus]

I'm no fan of Mrs. Browns Boys, but it is anything but British: Irish writer, Irish Director, Irish Producer, Irish cast. Other than the fact that BBC Scotland got involved later there was nothing British about it. Equally so with Father Ted, Irish writer, Irish Director, Irish cast, Irish location.

IT Crowd was also written by an Irish writer, but I would consider it British as (almost) everthing else about it came from Britain.

I've nothing against British stuff or people, but could you please learn that there's a difference between Irish and British. We didn't call Friends a Canadian series.

McBryce.

HEY, I said "British Isles" 

Ouch, be careful. Saying "British Isles" and including all of Ireland isn't going to win you any friends. It's like saying the USA is part of the British Isles. The Republic of Ireland, or "southern" Ireland if you will, is a fully independent and sovereign nation not part of the UK or British Isles. It has been that way since the 1920's when full independence from the UK was granted. Northern Ireland is part of the UK and loyal to the Crown. Now I'm not going to go into the history and politics involved here but let's just say that it hasn't been a very peaceful arrangement and there are still many unresolved issues.

Here's a picture to help you out. And if you're not Irish or Irish descent like me it's understandable that you aren't aware of the issues or differences.


 

I used  for a reason.

[0culus]

Ouch, be careful. Saying "British Isles" and including all of Ireland isn't going to win you any friends. It's like saying the USA is part of the British Isles. The Republic of Ireland, or "southern" Ireland if you will, is a fully independent and sovereign nation not part of the UK or British Isles. It has been that way since the 1920's when full independence from the UK was granted. Northern Ireland is part of the UK and loyal to the Crown. Now I'm not going to go into the history and politics involved here but let's just say that it hasn't been a very peaceful arrangement and there are still many unresolved issues.

Here's a picture to help you out. And if you're not Irish or Irish descent like me it's understandable that you aren't aware of the issues or differences.

Sorry Med but they are called the British Isles. Eire (and Northern Ireland) is part of the British Isles, so is the Isle of Man (another separate sovereign nation) so are the Orkneys and so on. That's just what that group of islands is called.

See wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_the_British_Isles

Here's their illustration of the "British Isles":


I qualify for an Irish passport, so if we're going to use "Irish decent" as the arbiter of who knows what about the name of the island group that includes Eire then I strongly suspect that I'm closer to the sod than you are.

FWIW, I can trace ancestors back to Ireland and Scotland. I doubt I qualify for a passport though. 

[mnementh]

On The Bench Tonight: $40 Hot-air Rework Station

While reading up on this particular variant of the Cheap-Ass Blow-Job, one of the reviewers posted a very cogent rundown of the pros & cons. Even though it came wired wrong (fuse in the neutral line), he gave it high marks because excellent build quality for literally a few dollars.

He was absolutely right on both counts. I was expecting a disposable cheapest-possible styrene case; this is epoxy-painted steel everywhere, including front & rear panels. The plastic you see is just bezel rings. Inside... Okay, they use hot-snot as a primary building material for one thing: To hold the red filter over the LED to the front panel. That considered, I still prefer it to the option a great many variants take: omit it altogether.

A quick teardown showed mine wired similarly wrong; continuity test to the plug made absolutely certain. And really nerve-grating... the "hot" wire from the switch is made from wire in one of the universal color codes for a GND circuit. 




Those grumps corrected and a proper ESD bleeder resistor in the GND wire for the handset; I just had to do something aboot that hot lead so committed a little Sharpie abuse to turn it bloo.

After discovering how well & truly fooked this thing was, I've gone back & rewired with a new cord in North American color code. Handset GND restored to original direct to Earth GND configuration after seeing inside of handset and noting close proximity of heater element to metal shell.



Here it it tootling away at 380°; good range of flow control and very little fan vibration. I got lucky with this one.  It comes with 5mm, 8mm & 10mm nozzles. They are a twist-lock design; we'll see how well they hold on in use.




One nice thing is the UI is "pick it up and start using it simple" and intuitive. Design is Spartan, but not without features. I like the red filter over the LED; makes it look finished. The rightmost decimal point illuminates to indicate PWM cycling on the heat. LED indicates set temp when you're pressing buttons and when it first starts heating up, then shows measured temp as it heats. Set temp is retained after power off.

The cradle has a magnet in it; a sensor in the handle detects when you've put it up and starts a cooldown process, running the fan until temp drops below 100°, then switching to this null display mode to indicate it is asleep. Very straightforward & intuitive. 

All in all, just like the other buyer described it; QC on the wiring is a weak point, but an incredible value for only ~US$40 as long as you open it and inspect it (and correct as necessary) before you power it up. I'm not going to call it a good daily use unit for any kind of a pro... the handset is one of the cheapest made, and I still prefer the tactile feedback you get with a remote blower model. But perfect for occasional hobbyist use. Just enough to get the job done in most cases. 

For the price... you could almost treat the whole thing as a consumable supply.

mnem
*toddles off to ded*

[beanflying]

Get him to listen to the original radio series. For a start, the pictures are better.

I was first introduced to this by listening to The Goon Show.  That was whacky, crazy ... and brilliant stuff.

A Goon Show classic:

Bluebottle   What time is it Eccles?
Eccles   Err, just a minute. I, I've got it written down 'ere on a piece of paper. A nice man wrote the time down for me this morning.
Bluebottle   Ooooh, then why do you carry it around with you Eccles?
Eccles   Well, umm, if a anybody asks me the ti-ime, I ca-can show it to dem.
SNIPPY
Bluebottle   My granma.
Eccles   Ohh... Ohh, ah wait a minute. How does she know when it's eight o'clock?
Bluebottle   She's got it written down on a piece of paper!

I know people who even now can quote slabs of the Goon show as they could 30+ years ago 

[VK5RC]

..... He's fallen in da water!

[med6753]

Sorry Med but they are called the British Isles. Eire (and Northern Ireland) is part of the British Isles, so is the Isle of Man (another separate sovereign nation) so are the Orkneys and so on. That's just what that group of islands is called.

See wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_the_British_Isles


I qualify for an Irish passport, so if we're going to use "Irish decent" as the arbiter of who knows what about the name of the island group that includes Eire then I strongly suspect that I'm closer to the sod than you are.

From your same source.

"The term British Isles can also be considered irritating or offensive by some[50] on the grounds that the modern association of the term British with the United Kingdom makes its application to Ireland inappropriate. "

Consider me irritated. 

[Zucca]

I’m impressed with the diode check function on the Agilent 34401A.

34401A is a joy forever.

[bd139]

Re: British Isles...

For reference, the general real state of affairs is that 99.9% of the population here don’t actually give a crap what you call it and think of those who do as mentalists which is probably right considering they dress up in funny clothes, march around and shoot each other while everyone else tuts and shakes their heads.

What we do find weird though is a former tea drowning colony which decided it didn’t want anything to do with us several generations ago obsessing about ancestry when such massive cultural deviation has occurred.

Really though we’re a bunch of moneys stuck to an insignificant rock and there more important things to worry about than ancestry because quite frankly in the scale of things we were born in each other’s back gardens.

[mansaxel]

I'm afraid, I cannot contribute anything here, because we Germans are known for our non-existing sense of humour.

says you're wrong. 

[mansaxel]

I’m going to try to savage the inductors off the board for my parts bin but that’s about all it’s good for.

Poor inductors.

[BU508A]

Ouch, be careful. Saying "British Isles" and including all of Ireland isn't going to win you any friends. It's like saying the USA is part of the British Isles. The Republic of Ireland, or "southern" Ireland if you will, is a fully independent and sovereign nation not part of the UK or British Isles. It has been that way since the 1920's when full independence from the UK was granted. Northern Ireland is part of the UK and loyal to the Crown. Now I'm not going to go into the history and politics involved here but let's just say that it hasn't been a very peaceful arrangement and there are still many unresolved issues.

Here's a picture to help you out. And if you're not Irish or Irish descent like me it's understandable that you aren't aware of the issues or differences.

Sorry Med but they are called the British Isles. Eire (and Northern Ireland) is part of the British Isles, so is the Isle of Man (another separate sovereign nation) so are the Orkneys and so on. That's just what that group of islands is called.

See wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_the_British_Isles

Here's their illustration of the "British Isles":


I qualify for an Irish passport, so if we're going to use "Irish decent" as the arbiter of who knows what about the name of the island group that includes Eire then I strongly suspect that I'm closer to the sod than you are.

I'm missing the Falkland Islands on that picture....      

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkland_Islands

[BU508A]

I'm afraid, I cannot contribute anything here, because we Germans are known for our non-existing sense of humour.

Stapelfahrer Klaus says you're wrong.

Thanks.

Looks like, I need to watch more videos like this one

 

[tggzzz]

Get him to listen to the original radio series. For a start, the pictures are better.

I was first introduced to this by listening to The Goon Show.  That was whacky, crazy ... and brilliant stuff.

A Goon Show classic:

Bluebottle   What time is it Eccles?
Eccles   Err, just a minute. I, I've got it written down 'ere on a piece of paper. A nice man wrote the time down for me this morning.
Bluebottle   Ooooh, then why do you carry it around with you Eccles?
Eccles   Well, umm, if a anybody asks me the ti-ime, I ca-can show it to dem.
SNIPPY
Bluebottle   My granma.
Eccles   Ohh... Ohh, ah wait a minute. How does she know when it's eight o'clock?
Bluebottle   She's got it written down on a piece of paper!

I know people who even now can quote slabs of the Goon show as they could 30+ years ago 

... even though the last Goon Show was 60 years ago (1951-1960)

[tggzzz]

Ouch, be careful. Saying "British Isles" and including all of Ireland isn't going to win you any friends. It's like saying the USA is part of the British Isles. The Republic of Ireland, or "southern" Ireland if you will, is a fully independent and sovereign nation not part of the UK or British Isles. It has been that way since the 1920's when full independence from the UK was granted. Northern Ireland is part of the UK and loyal to the Crown. Now I'm not going to go into the history and politics involved here but let's just say that it hasn't been a very peaceful arrangement and there are still many unresolved issues.

Here's a picture to help you out. And if you're not Irish or Irish descent like me it's understandable that you aren't aware of the issues or differences.

Sorry Med but they are called the British Isles. Eire (and Northern Ireland) is part of the British Isles, so is the Isle of Man (another separate sovereign nation) so are the Orkneys and so on. That's just what that group of islands is called.

See wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_the_British_Isles

Here's their illustration of the "British Isles":


I qualify for an Irish passport, so if we're going to use "Irish decent" as the arbiter of who knows what about the name of the island group that includes Eire then I strongly suspect that I'm closer to the sod than you are.

I'm missing the Falkland Islands on that picture....      

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkland_Islands

As a rule I hate yootoob videos. GCP Grey's videos are a notable exception.

His 5 minute information dense[1] video on this subject explains it all, and more. Graphics on "British Isles" at 1:21 and 2:17, Gibraltar at 4:05, Falklands at 4:10, Summary at 5:05. But do yourself a favour and watch it all. If you are in the right mood, it is as good as any of the comedy programs mentioned elsewhere



[1] I find it useful to turn on the closed caption titles so I don't miss bits, it is that good.

[beanflying]

I know people who even now can quote slabs of the Goon show as they could 30+ years ago 

... even though the last Goon Show was 60 years ago (1951-1960)

It made regular repeats on the local National Radio well into the 80's and maybe is still doing the rounds for all I know.


Wikipedia snip

The series has remained consistently popular ever since, with the show being broadcast weekly by Australia's ABC network as late as 2012.[21] The show is also broadcast upon BBC Radio 4 Extra.[22]

[tautech]

I know people who even now can quote slabs of the Goon show as they could 30+ years ago 

... even though the last Goon Show was 60 years ago (1951-1960)

It made regular repeats on the local National Radio well into the 80's and maybe is still doing the rounds for all I know.


Wikipedia snip

The series has remained consistently popular ever since, with the show being broadcast weekly by Australia's ABC network as late as 2012.[21] The show is also broadcast upon BBC Radio 4 Extra.[22]

I well remember as a kid sneaking dads transistor radio into bed under my pillow to listen to the Sunday night Goon show in the late 60's.
Neddy Segoon and his mates.....now distant but fond memories.

[Zucca]

 __     __     ______        ______     ______     ______        ______   ______     ______   
/\ \  _ \ \   /\  ___\      /\  __ \   /\  == \   /\  ___\      /\__  _\ /\  ___\   /\  __ \   
\ \ \/ ".\ \  \ \  __\      \ \  __ \  \ \  __<   \ \  __\      \/_/\ \/ \ \  __\   \ \  __ \ 
 \ \__/".~\_\  \ \_____\     \ \_\ \_\  \ \_\ \_\  \ \_____\       \ \_\  \ \_____\  \ \_\ \_\
  \/_/   \/_/   \/_____/      \/_/\/_/   \/_/ /_/   \/_____/        \/_/   \/_____/   \/_/\/_/
                                                                                               




Just making a few steps back and watiching this TEA thread....

1) We have sooo much passion
2) We become friends
3) "Finally someone who can understand me"
4) We are the only one I know with a Discord channel

5) This is the best EEVBlog product ever made....

we should invite Dave on our Discord at Sat night...

PS: Why too much coffee make me write this...

Keeeepp pumping current in this TEA device!!!!

[Brumby]

Get him to listen to the original radio series. For a start, the pictures are better.

I was first introduced to this by listening to The Goon Show.  That was whacky, crazy ... and brilliant stuff.

A Goon Show classic:

Bluebottle   What time is it Eccles?
Eccles   Err, just a minute. I, I've got it written down 'ere on a piece of paper. A nice man wrote the time down for me this morning.
Bluebottle   Ooooh, then why do you carry it around with you Eccles?
Eccles   Well, umm, if a anybody asks me the ti-ime, I ca-can show it to dem.
Bluebottle   Wait a minute Eccles, my good man...
Eccles   What is it fellow?
Bluebottle   It's writted on this bit of paper, what is eight o'clock, is writted.
Eccles   I know that my good fellow. That's right, um, when I asked the fella to write it down, it was eight o'clock.
Bluebottle   Well then. Supposing when somebody asks you the time, it isn't eight o'clock?
Eccles   Ah, den I don't show it to dem.
Bluebottle   Ooohhh...
Eccles   [Smacks lips] Yeah.
Bluebottle   Well how do you know when it's eight o'clock?
Eccles   I've got it written down on a piece of paper!
Bluebottle   Oh, I wish I could afford a piece of paper with the time written on.
Eccles   Oohhhh.
Bluebottle   'Ere Eccles?
Eccles   Yah.
Bluebottle   Let me hold that piece of paper to my ear would you? - 'Ere. This piece of paper ain't goin'.
Eccles   What? I've been sold a forgery!
Bluebottle   No wonder it stopped at eight o'clock.
Eccles   Oh dear.
Bluebottle   You should get one of them tings my grandad's got.
Eccles   Oooohhh?
Bluebottle   His firm give it to him when he retired.
Eccles   Oooohhh.
Bluebottle   It's one of dem tings what it is that wakes you up at eight o'clock, boils the kettil, and pours a cuppa tea.
Eccles   Ohhh yeah! What's it called? Um.
Bluebottle   My granma.
Eccles   Ohh... Ohh, ah wait a minute. How does she know when it's eight o'clock?
Bluebottle   She's got it written down on a piece of paper!

Top choice! .... One of my favourite scenes.

I can just about recite it word perfect - and I haven't heard it for an embarrassingly long time....!

[Ero-Shan]

and I suppose I'll give an honorable mention to Fawlty Towers. I just enjoy John Cleese.

One of the few moments in life where I've laughed so hard that I began to fear that I might die from asphyxiation, is the moment in Fawlty Towers where Basil, in one room, put his hand back through the door and tries to use the Australian girl's nipple as a light switch while Sybil is, unbeknownst to Basil, watching on.

I had that same fear not just once watching Coupling. Just thinking about some scenes is killing me ... "But I'm a bi-vegetarian!"
Now I have to pull out the DVDs and watch it.

[Cerebus]

A quick teardown showed mine wired similarly wrong; continuity test to the plug made absolutely certain. And really nerve-grating... the "hot" wire from the switch is made from wire in one of the universal color codes for a GND circuit. 

Those grumps corrected and a proper ESD bleeder resistor in the GND wire for the handset; I just had to do something aboot that hot lead so committed a little Sharpie abuse to turn it bloo.

It's worth noting that here in IEEE/IET Wiring Regulations land there's an official way of abusing wire when you don't have cable with the proper colour coding for what you're using them for and that is to fit sleeving of the appropriate colour at every point you terminate a wire.

So if you're wiring a lighting circuit where the blue conductor is used as a live conductor you're required to use brown sleeving at the points where it is terminated to identify it as a live conductor. Similarly you're required to sleeve any bare copper protective earth conductors (such as are found in twin-and-earth) with yellow/green sleeving. Although officially one isn't explicitly forbidden from sleeving a yellow/green PE conductor to another use, most people would say that it's a no-no but in Mem's particular case "needs must when the devil drives" - It's not like there's an NIC-EIC inspector lurking around the corner.

Officially here one can paint conductors to indicate the use but I suspect that Sharpie would be frowned upon as insufficiently permanent. (Especially if you coloured the hot phase blue given that brown is what the civilised world uses for hot on a single phase circuit, blue is neutral. I realise that in the strange world of North America white is neutral, black is hot* and that additionally blue is potentially a hot phase colour.)

*The world is big enough that at some point in history in one of the more backward states a black man will have walked past a white electrician getting his apprentice to learn to repeat by rote "Black is hot" and as he walks by, quietly he says to himself "Yes it is brother, yes it is" with a chuckle.