Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[med6753]

@Housedad, great idea that movable soldering station platform is, great way of freeing up valuable bench space when you need it too. 

Agreed, that is cool! 

[Specmaster]

Three months down the line you’re all going to give up and buy Pomona ones anyway

I doubt it, the other Banggood leads I got have these double plugs on one end and decent croc clips on the other, and they really are great leads, and very flexible to boot.

You guys should step away from the keyboard and have a banana. 

Sorry no more room left, mnementh is stuffed full of flaming custard pies and I'm equally stuffed with doughnuts 

[Cerebus]

   

Many hours later ...

"Here's to, to, to, ..."

"Chevy small, small, small...hemi...Dell'Oar...oar...paddle...engine thingy."

"Cheers! Hic!"

[Housedad]

Thanks, guys. 

The monitor stand works great.  Gets the clutter off the desk and I don't have to move a bunch of stuff to use the end of the bench.  Just push it out of the way.

And for only $2, you can't beat it with a beating machine.

[mnementh]

@Housedad -

I used to use one of those for a laptop stand by my workbench. Was very handy to be able to put a diagram right at eye level right next to what I was working on without having to print it out first. Now I use a tablet with a magnet on the back and just stick it up.

@tggzzz - that DekaStat totes belongs on the TARDIS.     



In Other News...

I've emerged victorious from my deep dive into AliEx and their oceans of electric spaghetti. *blarrf*

I finally settled on these:

   

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/TL320-12pcs-lot-R-B-1-0meter-High-Quality-13AWG-flexible-silicone-test-leads-4mm-straight/32681958679.html

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/50pcs-5color-Gold-Plated-Retractable-4mm-Stackable-Plug-Soldering-Type/1781741357.html

That gives me 12 sets of .66 meter 13ga test leads in 4 colors; 8 with shrouded plug on one end and retractile shrouded stackable connector on the other, and 4 with retractile shrouded stackable connectors on both ends. Seems like a pretty good deal for $35 delivered.

mnem
*Twitch... twitch... twitcha-twitch...*

[Specmaster]

The plug in portion of the stackable plugs looks to be like those that I got last time from Banggood https://www.banggood.com/DANIU-P3002-10Pcs-4mm-Stackable-Nickel-Plated-Speaker-Multimeter-Banana-Plug-Connector-Test-Probe-Binding-p-1109687.html?rmmds=myorder which I discovered is NOT long enough to be reliable especially when used on equipment like Flukes, HP meters such as your recently acquired 3478A which have deep recessed sockets will only accept about 4mm of the "ballon" sping on the plug pin before the plastic body fouls houseing of the meter etc. I hope that I'm wrong on this one but to my eye they look about the same as the Daniu loose plugs I purchased and complained about. The actual tip of the plug does not make contact with the socket tubes, only the ballon or cage or whatever you call it does.

[mnementh]

Hmmm...

Of course, on shrouded connectors the end doesn't make contact at all; it's a plastic insulator... but your point about them not appearing very long is valid. A little calculation with a pair of dividers indicates the radial spring portion is approximately 12mm long, which means optimum contact area is at ~4-8mm depth or so.

I also am a bit annoyed at not getting green with my cable set... though I can pretty easily buy a couple meters of green silicone wire from Banggood to go with my ends.

Dammit...

mnem
Fuck Chinese cabling for now; there's Chinese FOOD calling my name.

[bd139]

[Cerebus]

... only accept about 4mm of the "ballon" sping on the plug pin ...

Just FYI that's usually called a "lantern" spring - from the resemblance to a classic lantern glass chimney:

[Specmaster]

Hmmm...

Of course, on shrouded connectors the end doesn't make contact at all; it's a plastic insulator... but your point about them not appearing very long is valid. A little calculation with a pair of dividers indicates the radial spring portion is approximately 12mm long, which means optimum contact area is at ~4-8mm depth or so.

I also am a bit annoyed at not getting green with my cable set... though I can pretty easily buy a couple meters of green silicone wire from Banggood to go with my ends.

Dammit...

mnem
Fuck Chinese cabling for now; there's Chinese FOOD calling my name.

Even on none shrouded ones where the end is not insulated, it still does not make contact as the dia is way less than 4mm, about 3.6mm  so the onlu connection being made is the bulbous part as mentioned before, the Pomona ones do not have the smaller tip, the ballon or bulbous section starts right at the very tip of the plug as does the ones I have selected, picture below.

Yes there is a small tip on those as well but then the 6 individual springs along the side of the shaft are widest just behind the small tip and they have a total length of 22mm of insertable plug before hitting the insulation of the body whereas the ones that I think you have ordered and I previously ordered that total length is only 15mm and the length of the smaller non contacting tip, from the tip to the start of the bulbous section is 5mm, which means at least 7mm of the bulbous section of the ones I picture below is actually in the input socket of the device being connected. I love this type and have had zero problems so far.

@bd139, do you know how long the insertable section of the Pomona one is at all?

[bitseeker]

Fixed the Sleep issue. The WIN10 1809 Feature release didn't like current Intel UHD Graphics 620 driver so it disabled it. Manually updated the graphics driver and fixed.

I haven't found any other issues. Overall I'm OK with WIN10 but geez....stop with the bullshit. 

Ah, that's good. At least your 1809 upgrade didn't delete all your files like it has done with many users of OneDrive. Windows auto-upgrades are a scary thing. I set mine for delayed feature updates — I don't like being on Microsoft's bleeding-profusely-and-making-you-cry edge.

My start menu breaks at least once a day.

Yes, at least once a day. Frequently multiple times a day for no apparent reason and then starts working again.

The hibernate vs sleep issue is well known in win 10. It is tuned for laptop use by default where the lid closing triggers the PM event. Desktops don’t have lids.

Solution:

Windows key + X, shutdown submenu, sleep.

Yep, I do that even on my laptop since I often use an external monitor and don't necessarily have the lid open.

But you are only a mortal user. How dare you question MSFT on their design decisions. Bow before Satya. Take your the telemetry probe in the orifice of your choice. Servitude will be in the form of updates where cheese is moved.

Edit: more seriously I’ve worked out all the applications I use now are on Linux. May end up rebuilding this with CentOS in a week or two.

Since my laptop came with Windows, I keep it for running MS Office (for work) or the occasional (but more and more rare) session of Minecraft, Cities Skylines, etc. Otherwise, I have several VMs for work and personal instances of Linux. I run them in "seamless mode" so that the Linux application windows coexist on the Windows desktop.

[Specmaster]

... only accept about 4mm of the "ballon" sping on the plug pin ...

Just FYI that's usually called a "lantern" spring - from the resemblance to a classic lantern glass chimney:

Thanks, I knew there was a proper name for it but was unable to think of it. Do you know if the same name applies to the Pomona plugs, as their spring does not follow the same shape / style at all?

[bitseeker]

Different pr0n, from a 4 decade ESI 121.1ohm Dekastat. Yes, some scales go up to 11

Those Dekastats look so cool. One day, one (or more) may find their way to my bench.

[bitseeker]

NO, the wife could not stand for me to have a day to putter in the basement and garage on Saturday.  Uh-uh.  Nope.  She had me go with her to Delaware to go shopping at a Flea market, a mall, some shops in strip malls, and then to a Goodwill outlet.  9 hours.  So much for working on the Wavetek generator.

Oh, yes, I know those "let's go shopping" days well. That's when I take my Kindle along. SciFi novels are a nice counter balance to shopping.

While we will stop at a goodwill store when we see one, we had never been to a Goodwill outlet.  An eye opening experience for sure.

Is that were they sell stuff by the pound? I saw LGR go to one of those.

Anyway,  while walking around the tubs of junk, my eye just happened to catch something.  A new, sealed monitor stand from 1993. All steel in the main parts.  9 lbs.  After a few seconds, the light bulb in my brain glowed very dimly and I put it in my cart.  Ended up costing all of $2.

So I present an Odd Cup of TEA (OCTEA), my new movable soldering platform:

That's a good idea. I suppose a scope (non-boat anchor type) could go nicely on one as well.

[Cerebus]

Do you know if the same name applies to the Pomona plugs, as their spring does not follow the same shape / style at all?

Complete blank here. Maybe, maybe not?

[bd139]

@bd139, do you know how long the insertable section of the Pomona one is at all?

Click the datasheet link here: https://www.pomonaelectronics.com/products/patch-cords/stacking-banana-plug-patch-cord

Actually get measurements for these, and they have been the same for at least 30 years 

[bitseeker]

Yeah, both the datasheet and the Pomona catalog refer to it simply as a spring.

[Cerebus]

NO, the wife could not stand for me to have a day to putter in the basement and garage on Saturday.  Uh-uh.  Nope.  She had me go with her to Delaware to go shopping at a Flea market, a mall, some shops in strip malls, and then to a Goodwill outlet.  9 hours.  So much for working on the Wavetek generator.

Oh, yes, I know those "let's go shopping" days well. That's when I take my Kindle along. SciFi novels are a nice counter balance to shopping.

Pish and tush! That's when sir deserves a visit to GadgetPub^tm for a well deserved rest, a beer or two, and an opportunity to peruse our fine selection of gadgetry.

[tggzzz]

Different pr0n, from a 4 decade ESI 121.1ohm Dekastat. Yes, some scales go up to 11

Those Dekastats look so cool. One day, one (or more) may find their way to my bench.

More that simply look cool. The touchy-feely part is seriously addictively ... satisfying. (Sad, but everybody that has groped them has agreed, and here I'm amongst those that just understand.)

Strictly speaking, that consititues a fetish rather than pornography. Now, what backronym can we fit to "fetish"? I'm lousy at such games.

I have no intention whatsoever of disassembling my 7-decade Julie Research Labs KVD Nor my 3+2 decade ESI KVD.

[bitseeker]

NO, the wife could not stand for me to have a day to putter in the basement and garage on Saturday.  Uh-uh.  Nope.  She had me go with her to Delaware to go shopping at a Flea market, a mall, some shops in strip malls, and then to a Goodwill outlet.  9 hours.  So much for working on the Wavetek generator.

Oh, yes, I know those "let's go shopping" days well. That's when I take my Kindle along. SciFi novels are a nice counter balance to shopping.

Pish and tush! That's when sir deserves a visit to GadgetPub^tm for a well deserved rest, a beer or two, and an opportunity to peruse our fine selection of gadgetry.

I'll drink to that! (closest thing we have to a beer smiley)

[bitseeker]

Different pr0n, from a 4 decade ESI 121.1ohm Dekastat. Yes, some scales go up to 11

Those Dekastats look so cool. One day, one (or more) may find their way to my bench.

More that simply look cool. The touchy-feely part is seriously addictively ... satisfying. (Sad, but everybody that has groped them has agreed, and here I'm amongst those that just understand)

Looking is all I have at the moment. Thanks for adding fuel to the fire. One day...

[Specmaster]

@bd139, do you know how long the insertable section of the Pomona one is at all?

Click the datasheet link here: https://www.pomonaelectronics.com/products/patch-cords/stacking-banana-plug-patch-cord

Actually get measurements for these, and they have been the same for at least 30 years 

Hmm 15mm it is then, same as the crap ones I have, but their saving grace is that the spring starts right at the tip, I think prefer the ones in my photo as more of the plug gets to be inserted into the socket, those Pomona plugs and the el cheapo shit I got the other day look to more suited to the shallow type of sockets as fitted to the Heathkit V-7AU meters etc.

[tggzzz]

Different pr0n, from a 4 decade ESI 121.1ohm Dekastat. Yes, some scales go up to 11

Those Dekastats look so cool. One day, one (or more) may find their way to my bench.

More that simply look cool. The touchy-feely part is seriously addictively ... satisfying. (Sad, but everybody that has groped them has agreed, and here I'm amongst those that just understand)

Looking is all I have at the moment. Thanks for adding fuel to the fire. One day...

Why wait to get A Round Tuit? Christmas is coming ( ); start drooling in the right direction:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?&_nkw=(dekastat%2Cdekapot)&_sacat=0 ( )

[bitseeker]

Oh my! (in George Takei voice)

[bd139]

@bd139, do you know how long the insertable section of the Pomona one is at all?

Click the datasheet link here: https://www.pomonaelectronics.com/products/patch-cords/stacking-banana-plug-patch-cord

Actually get measurements for these, and they have been the same for at least 30 years 

Hmm 15mm it is then, same as the crap ones I have, but their saving grace is that the spring starts right at the tip, I think prefer the ones in my photo as more of the plug gets to be inserted into the socket, those Pomona plugs and the el cheapo shit I got the other day look to more suited to the shallow type of sockets as fitted to the Heathkit V-7AU meters etc.

They work fine in all sockets I've tried across everything. One of the cool things is that I have *never* had a single reliability problem or worn out plug.