Author Topic: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread  (Read 14407898 times)

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Offline kj7e

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32725 on: June 07, 2019, 02:59:27 am »


Is that a dedicated ground bar you have at your desk? Do you ground each of your instruments to it first? What do you use it for? Is that tied directory to your house ground or to your water pipes? Just curious. I have the same isobars too :D Thanks.

Old broadcast Eng habit mostly, low RF impedance earth ground.  I have a pair of 8' ground rods below my work bench, the copper bar is tied to the rods via 2" strap.  When doing some low level volt-nut stuff I found it helpful to lesson some stray noise.
« Last Edit: June 07, 2019, 03:21:06 pm by kj7e »
 
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Offline mnementh

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32726 on: June 07, 2019, 03:32:37 am »
Yes, while in some cases it will act as an aggregator for common-mode noise. It's all about trade-offs, and having options.  ;)

But it damn sure is a pretty piece of copper-wrangling.  :-+

mnem
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« Last Edit: June 07, 2019, 03:45:24 am by mnementh »
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Online beanflying

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32727 on: June 07, 2019, 03:47:00 am »
Over the battle with microsnot non networking W7 - W10  |O :horse:

Time to splurge on a small NAS Synology DS218J with Seagate Ironwolves eBay auction: #252329544896 just on $400 USD with discounts and free shipping. Anything else better featured for the $ I should look at ?

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Offline 0culus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32728 on: June 07, 2019, 04:11:35 am »
Probably not unless you want to build your own NAS. I'm thinking of potentially building my own, exactly to the specs I want.
 

Offline mnementh

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32729 on: June 07, 2019, 04:23:04 am »
Meh. Cheap WiFi router with whatever USB3.x/3.5in external drive WD is flogging at the moment. I picked up a 6TB Passport for $89 this Christmas. Sure, not a substitute for a server; but then, most of the desktop NAS aren't either. I just use it for video and backup storage anyways.  :-//

mnem
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Offline 0culus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32730 on: June 07, 2019, 04:29:05 am »
Since you can get rather huge capacity 2.5" portable drives now for reasonable prices, I prefer those because they take up less space and typically can be powered off bus, so I also reduce the number of wall warts I have to have plugged on. The latest one I got is 4 TB.
 

Online beanflying

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32731 on: June 07, 2019, 04:38:04 am »
Meh. Cheap WiFi router with whatever USB3.x/3.5in external drive WD is flogging at the moment. I picked up a 6TB Passport for $89 this Christmas. Sure, not a substitute for a server; but then, most of the desktop NAS aren't either. I just use it for video and backup storage anyways.  :-//

mnem
*little-endian*

I have a couple of external HDD for backups and one also doubles as Media storage on the bedroom mini ITX. Part of the reason to look at the Synology is the Raid/automated nature of the backup with then occasional dumps to the external HDD. Also nice you can later on swap the drives out for larger ones fairly easily.
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Offline bitseekerTopic starter

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32732 on: June 07, 2019, 04:46:36 am »
Forgive me Father for I have sinned
Darkness put her painted claws in me again...

Hi, I'm Nomad and I buy tools and electronics for almost 6 years. I'm quite new to pack, but I think I had a TEA syndrome since I was 14yo. Thanks to grandpa who did teach me how to use a hammer and screwdriver I got into quality tools and tinkering. Since I moved a lot and started to earn good money, my collection grew. Lindstrom, Wera, Erem, Mitutoyo, you know, the good ones.

Then I started to work in R&D and it got worse. But seriously, a lot worse, I think I overdid it this time  :scared: As picture is worth thousand words, please see attached.

Fortunately, my Miss does not find it wrong. She is supportive and loving. And I am looking for AFG right now on EBay, because I just bought two HP 3478A and I don't have AFG.

Regards lads!

Welcome, No.Mad. You'll be happy here. ;D
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Offline Housedad

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32733 on: June 07, 2019, 05:11:08 am »
Forgive me Father for I have sinned
Darkness put her painted claws in me again...

Hi, I'm Nomad and I buy tools and electronics for almost 6 years. I'm quite new to pack, but I think I had a TEA syndrome since I was 14yo. Thanks to grandpa who did teach me how to use a hammer and screwdriver I got into quality tools and tinkering. Since I moved a lot and started to earn good money, my collection grew. Lindstrom, Wera, Erem, Mitutoyo, you know, the good ones.

Then I started to work in R&D and it got worse. But seriously, a lot worse, I think I overdid it this time  :scared: As picture is worth thousand words, please see attached.

Fortunately, my Miss does not find it wrong. She is supportive and loving. And I am looking for AFG right now on EBay, because I just bought two HP 3478A and I don't have AFG.

Regards lads!

Welcome! We don't forgive here. We are fellow sinners. And proud of it. We love to see new faces and new stuff. So keep buying and come back often.  :-+ :-DD

Ah, more fresh meat to add to the grinder to further our justification of this insidious and forsaken lust for electron pumping machines.  >:D

BTW, welcome.   :-+
« Last Edit: June 07, 2019, 05:52:08 am by Housedad »
At least I'm still older than my test equipment
 
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Offline Housedad

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32734 on: June 07, 2019, 05:44:31 am »
I mentioned before that the wife had bought me a new 24" VIZIO Smart TV for my bench.  All  I wanted was a monitor for the microscope camera but it is far more.    Cranked up the Amazon credit card sucking machine and got an articulated arm for it. It fits perfect.  The arm platform for the soldering station fits right under it without interference.    Second picture shows it pulled forward but not nearly as far as it can go and it can turn to face me at full extension.
The workspace is getting better and better.
« Last Edit: June 07, 2019, 05:48:49 am by Housedad »
At least I'm still older than my test equipment
 

Online beanflying

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32735 on: June 07, 2019, 07:37:09 am »
Ever have a problem keeping your wood stiff  ;) Friday Night - Time to go drink Beer and eat food at the Pub :popcorn:
Coffee, Food, R/C and electronics nerd in no particular order. Also CNC wannabe, 3D printer and Laser Cutter Junkie and just don't mention my TEA addiction....
 
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Offline No.Mad

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32736 on: June 07, 2019, 09:46:23 am »
I mentioned before that the wife had bought me a new 24" VIZIO Smart TV for my bench.  All  I wanted was a monitor for the microscope camera but it is far more.

Can I spy with my little eye AmScope on a boom stand with bearings fitted?

Nice setup you have here sire :D

Regards
 

Offline Mr. Scram

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32737 on: June 07, 2019, 11:18:17 am »
Over the battle with microsnot non networking W7 - W10  |O :horse:

Time to splurge on a small NAS Synology DS218J with Seagate Ironwolves eBay auction: #252329544896 just on $400 USD with discounts and free shipping. Anything else better featured for the $ I should look at ?


It's no use fighting the removal of homegroups. Either keep hitting your head or deal with the new reality. Be sure to check out power consumption. That's typically a large part of the TCO for always on systems.
 

Offline xrunner

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32738 on: June 07, 2019, 11:33:30 am »
The Hood is getting ATT Fiber. They are punching through underground with their air-powered hammer and pulling the conduit. The access point to be buried is the size of a small doghouse.  :phew:

I am glad I do not dig holes for a living.  :clap:
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Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32739 on: June 07, 2019, 11:42:49 am »
It will probably be a cold day in hell before I get fiber in my hood.  ::)
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Offline GreyWoolfe

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32740 on: June 07, 2019, 11:52:08 am »
It will probably be a cold day in hell before I get fiber in my hood.  ::)

Not in my lifetime either.  |O
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Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32741 on: June 07, 2019, 12:03:58 pm »
Bd139 hard at work fixing "time" issues.  :-DD

PS....needs more cowbell.  :-+

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Online beanflying

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32742 on: June 07, 2019, 12:39:25 pm »
It will probably be a cold day in hell before I get fiber in my hood.  ::)

Not in my lifetime either.  |O

We actually have a fiber run 5m from the front of the house and are supposed to get access to it this month. Generally Oz is getting fiber to a node point then copper but we got luckier than most. Still a bastardised system thanks to the muppets in power  :horse:
Coffee, Food, R/C and electronics nerd in no particular order. Also CNC wannabe, 3D printer and Laser Cutter Junkie and just don't mention my TEA addiction....
 

Offline kj7e

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32743 on: June 07, 2019, 12:51:00 pm »
Over the battle with microsnot non networking W7 - W10  |O :horse:

Time to splurge on a small NAS Synology DS218J with Seagate Ironwolves eBay auction: #252329544896 just on $400 USD with discounts and free shipping. Anything else better featured for the $ I should look at ?



I recommend building your own NAS on FreeNAS  https://freenas.org/.  If power consumption is a concern, consider SSD's for the storage array.

Just built a pair of 140TB systems for work, still migrating off all the old Buffalo NAS's my predecessors implemented.  ZFS file system is really nice, the Snapshot and Snapshot replication to the second system is fantastic.  Just recovered data for a department they thought they had lost due to a disgruntled former employee.  They only THINK they are deleting the data.

 

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32744 on: June 07, 2019, 01:51:55 pm »
It will probably be a cold day in hell before I get fiber in my hood.  ::)

Not in my lifetime either.  |O

We actually have a fiber run 5m from the front of the house and are supposed to get access to it this month. Generally Oz is getting fiber to a node point then copper but we got luckier than most. Still a bastardised system thanks to the muppets in power  :horse:

Local villages are in the process of getting FTTP installed using overhead fibre on poles. Lots of splice chambers, plastic widgets to coil excess cable without inducing microbending, and connectorised distribution points appearing overhead. The CDPs are made by Corning and use their 'Opti-Tip' weatherproof connectors. Our village has cabling in ducts, though, so I don't expect to see anything better than FTTC here. There were plans to install a new 'fill-in' cabinet/DSLAM locally to me to reduce the copper length, but BT Openreach managed to screw up the planning application paperwork.

All this is to meet the March 2020 deadline for 'universal' 10Mb/s access...
 

Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32745 on: June 07, 2019, 03:01:04 pm »
They only just put fibre in here because the NIMBYs whined about the planning permission. Every other postcode around us has had it for over a year. Asshats.

Anyway today is a steamer for sure. Decided to have an hour out to check the K2 for frequency drift after calibration and my good Racal 9915 just made an awful smell and gave out. Looks like the transformer primary has gone open fuuuuuu bastard thing. Seriously considering just buying a new one. I've now got two dead Racals and a pretty shit DG1022Z.
 

Offline mnementh

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32746 on: June 07, 2019, 03:07:12 pm »
 
   I mentioned before that the wife had bought me a new 24" VIZIO Smart TV for my bench.  All  I wanted was a monitor for the microscope camera but it is far more.    Cranked up the Amazon credit card sucking machine and got an articulated arm for it. It fits perfect.  The arm platform for the soldering station fits right under it without interference.    Second picture shows it pulled forward but not nearly as far as it can go and it can turn to face me at full extension.   The workspace is getting better and better.

I'll recommend that you do (or research online) a color rendering/color gamut test on your new acquisition while you can still return it. TVs usually make poor monitors as they are designed around a limited color reproduction range. The panels are actually different, as are the driving electronics and software. Documents and all-digital video (like that from your microscope camera) will tend to be pretty potato-looking, with poor contrast and color over/under-saturation and artifacts like ghosting/haloing of bright objects.

There's a reason gaming monitors cost so much more, and it isn't JUST marketing; it's different technology.   :o

The defects can be pretty subtle; that's why I'm recommending you research this NOW and be very critical of it while the no-quibble return window is still open, and before you get too attached. Displays sold as being "good for everything" are usually crap-to-barely-passable at any single task.  ;)

   Ever have a problem keeping your wood stiff  ;) Friday Night - Time to go drink Beer and eat food at the Pub :popcorn:

Aww, man... so close, and then the last accordion section broke.  :'(
Will you be able to epoxy it back together inconspicuously, or will you have to make another 2nd panel? Other than this painful example of the usual CNC/laser pitfalls though, pretty effing nifty.  :-+   :bull shit:*
It will probably be a cold day in hell before I get fiber in my hood.  ::)

Not in my lifetime either.  |O

We actually have a fiber run 5m from the front of the house and are supposed to get access to it this month. Generally Oz is getting fiber to a node point then copper but we got luckier than most. Still a bastardised system thanks to the muppets in power  :horse:

Local villages are in the process of getting FTTP installed using overhead fibre on poles. Lots of splice chambers, plastic widgets to coil excess cable without inducing microbending, and connectorised distribution points appearing overhead. The CDPs are made by Corning and use their 'Opti-Tip' weatherproof connectors. Our village has cabling in ducts, though, so I don't expect to see anything better than FTTC here. There were plans to install a new 'fill-in' cabinet/DSLAM locally to me to reduce the copper length, but BT Openreach managed to screw up the planning application paperwork.

All this is to meet the March 2020 deadline for 'universal' 10Mb/s access...

Yeah, as opposed to here where we get "unlimited 100Mb/s" service that's really 5Mb up and damifino down depending on the carrier's mood.  :palm:

* Okay... I think maybe it's time to get rid of this effing Redragon Mouse and shitpost it on Amazon. It has something wrong with the driver where it will randomly highlight something NOT in the current dialog box and bring it into whatever you're currently typing, as it just did above, now highlighted in red. I thought it was probably just my ancient upgrade-over-upgrade build of Windoze, but it persists even with the brand-new fresh install on my SSD.  :-\

   My personal confuser is enough of a PITA already, without my mouse literally injecting BULLSHIT into what I'm writing.
  |O

mnem
You may now commence with [insert BS-dwagon joke here]...  ::)

« Last Edit: June 07, 2019, 03:36:51 pm by mnementh »
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Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32747 on: June 07, 2019, 03:29:31 pm »
They only just put fibre in here because the NIMBYs whined about the planning permission. Every other postcode around us has had it for over a year. Asshats.

Anyway today is a steamer for sure. Decided to have an hour out to check the K2 for frequency drift after calibration and my good Racal 9915 just made an awful smell and gave out. Looks like the transformer primary has gone open fuuuuuu bastard thing. Seriously considering just buying a new one. I've now got two dead Racals and a pretty shit DG1022Z.

That's a shit blow, I bet you wish you still had your TF930 now?
Who let Murphy in?

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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32748 on: June 07, 2019, 03:39:35 pm »
No comment  :-DD

Transformer is good in the other one so may be ok after surgery.

Edit: Tek 2445 £50 Swindon: https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-miscellaneous-goods/tektronix-2445a-oscilloscope-for-sale/1342372839
« Last Edit: June 07, 2019, 03:45:10 pm by bd139 »
 

Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #32749 on: June 07, 2019, 03:45:17 pm »
   I mentioned before that the wife had bought me a new 24" VIZIO Smart TV for my bench.  All  I wanted was a monitor for the microscope camera but it is far more.    Cranked up the Amazon credit card sucking machine and got an articulated arm for it. It fits perfect.  The arm platform for the soldering station fits right under it without interference.    Second picture shows it pulled forward but not nearly as far as it can go and it can turn to face me at full extension.   The workspace is getting better and better.

I'll recommend that you do (or research online) a color rendering/color gamut test on your new acquisition while you can still return it. TVs usually make poor monitors as they are designed around a limited color reproduction range. The panels are actually different, as are the driving electronics and software. Documents and all-digital video (like that from your microscope camera) will tend to be pretty potato-looking, with poor contrast and color over/under-saturation and artifacts like ghosting/haloing of bright objects.

There's a reason gaming monitors cost so much more, and it isn't JUST marketing; it's different technology.   :o

The defects can be pretty subtle; that's why I'm recommending you research this NOW and be very critical of it while the no-quibble return window is still open, and before you get too attached. Displays sold as being "good for everything" are usually crap-to-barely-passable at any single task.  ;)

   Ever have a problem keeping your wood stiff  ;) Friday Night - Time to go drink Beer and eat food at the Pub :popcorn:

Aww, man... so close, and then the last accordion section broke.  :'(
Will you be able to epoxy it back together inconspicuously, or will you have to make another 2nd panel? Other than this painful example of the usual CNC/laser pitfalls though, pretty effing nifty.  :-+   :bull shit:*
It will probably be a cold day in hell before I get fiber in my hood.  ::)

Not in my lifetime either.  |O

We actually have a fiber run 5m from the front of the house and are supposed to get access to it this month. Generally Oz is getting fiber to a node point then copper but we got luckier than most. Still a bastardised system thanks to the muppets in power  :horse:

Local villages are in the process of getting FTTP installed using overhead fibre on poles. Lots of splice chambers, plastic widgets to coil excess cable without inducing microbending, and connectorised distribution points appearing overhead. The CDPs are made by Corning and use their 'Opti-Tip' weatherproof connectors. Our village has cabling in ducts, though, so I don't expect to see anything better than FTTC here. There were plans to install a new 'fill-in' cabinet/DSLAM locally to me to reduce the copper length, but BT Openreach managed to screw up the planning application paperwork.

All this is to meet the March 2020 deadline for 'universal' 10Mb/s access...

Yeah, as opposed to here where we get "unlimited 100Mb/s" service that's really 5Mb up and damifino down depending on the carrier's mood.  :palm:

* Okay... I think maybe it's time to get rid of this effing Redragon Mouse and shitpost it on Amazon. It has something wrong with the driver where it will randomly highlight something NOT in the current dialog box and bring it into whatever you're currently typing, as it just did above, now highlighted in red. I thought it was probably just my ancient upgrade-over-upgrade build of Windoze, but it persists even with the brand-new fresh install on my SSD.  :-\

   My personal confuser is enough of a PITA already, without my mouse literally injecting BULLSHIT into what I'm writing.
  |O

mnem
You may now commence with [insert BS-dwagon joke here]...  ::)


Wow, we Brits have scored big time here then, well some of us have at least here are my speeds and there is another speed level available to me if I want it, (at a price of course  >:D)
Who let Murphy in?

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