Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Cerebus]

Same here. Hand sanitizer sold out for decades. Remedy: Hombrew your own according to WHO mixture: Isopropyl acohol, peroxide 3%, glycerine, done.
Costs 10% of industrial products max.

And the peroxide is only beneficial for bacteria, not viruses.

Er, no. Peroxide will denature protein and nucleic acids (which is all a virus is), as will bleach by the same mechanism, oxidation. However, I'd say that peroxide is a poor biocide to use in a hand sanitiser; it has no persistence and will itself dissociate very quickly on drying.

70-80% IPA or ethanol by volume, topped up by water is sufficient.

70% is generally regarded as optimal. An alcohol water mixture is considerably more effective than alcohol alone.

... But is ineffective if there is grime present, and soap plus water is also effective.

Not for an alcohol water mixture. Muck will have little effect. I think you're getting confused by the fact that many biocides like quaternary ammonium compounds are rendered less effective by the presence of organic contamination - totally ineffective at standard concentrations if there is sufficient contamination.

[Cerebus]

Is anyone here running a book on which airline will announce bankruptcy first? 

Already happened. Flybe, which was tottering anyway, curled up and died a week or two back.

[tautech]

Is anyone here running a book on which airline will announce bankruptcy first? 

Already happened. Flybe, which was tottering anyway, curled up and died a week or two back.

Before this is over bankrupt airlines will be the least of our worries. Real scary stuff will confront each of us.

[bd139]

Indeed. I wish everyone here good fortune when it comes with dealing with the impending problems however whether they manifest as health or societal issues. I'm more worried about the latter if I'm honest.

[WastelandTek]

yeah

the way we treat each other is way more dangerous than the virus

already noticing a decline in civility

[beanflying]

Not only the civility but it has brought out the conspiracy and alternative truthers  So pleased I dumped farcebook a few years ago and just avoid the comments sections on youtube 

[Kosmic]

Went to the grocery store today. They still had a lot of toilet paper in stock. Maybe I should start selling some on ebay   



meanwhile somewhere else:
https://twitter.com/9NewsAUS/status/1236088663093608448?s=20

The whole thing about toilet paper is so funny 

Well, I went over there tonight and it's all gone!!!

I saw one of the perpetrator leaving the site hastily. 

[Specmaster]

There is perhaps a bright side to this and that is that when ever it is all over, and we have beaten the virus, the bean counters may not have anywhere near as much control over companies as they currently do. By that I mean with all the attention on running everything on a just in time basis, may have met its match with the possibility of more countries having to adopt mandatory shutdowns, that good old-fashioned stock may become king again. With the shops being cleaned out and factory shutdowns, there will be no more available until the all clear is given and raw supplies etc begin to be delivered to factories, and then they will take time to get product flowing out their doors again, many people could very well be extremely desperate.

If there was stock being held at shops, distributors and the manufacturers, then everything can be returned to near normal far quicker.   

[Cerebus]

Every trolley at the supermarket today, except ours, had multiple packs of toilet paper in them - ours had none, having bought our normal, sensible bulk pack a month ago, which I expect will last another 2 months. WTF is up with people. If there was a dysentery epidemic making its way towards us it might make some sense. Do other people live hand to arse on the quantity of toilet paper they can afford to keep on hand?

Also, the now normal completely empty pasta shelves. Do people think that massive carbohydrate intake is the cure? That Italy is about to enter the apocalypse and we'll never see real Italian pasta again? That a cupboard groaning with pasta is going to be anything but pure survival rations if you don't at least have a few vegetables to go with it? Will I be making a fortune in a few weeks selling my home-made pasta sauce through the soon-to-be fortified bars of my front door?

The new feature is the empty rice shelves. Again, a remarkable unpalatable diet if you have nothing to go with it.

The flour shelves seemed quite heavily depleted too. As if Joe Public has a clue how to make bread or pastry.

Yet, there were masses of fresh fruit and vegetables on the shelves. Stacks of potatoes. Enough salad for 2 hundred BBQs. Two cows, three sheep and about twenty pigs worth of meat. Enough cheese, milk and butter to feed a regiment for a week. None of the shops freezers looked anything other than as well stocked as normal - meat, fish, pizzas, ice cream, complete frozen meals, pies, pasties, the full range of frozen potato products and vegetables.

Even the canned goods had hardly taken a dent. Quite a lot of tinned tomatoes gone (but I could still get my regular two tins of my favourites). Baked beans perhaps at half stock. Soup, beans and (yuck) canned vegetables untouched.

In fact all the food items for sale were at normal stock levels apart from those already mentioned.

Is the nation planning to live on pasta in rice gruel while they sob into their huge stack of tissues and toilet rolls?

[Brumby]

It seems IPA is suffering a similar fate as toilet paper here in Oz.

I don't use much, but over time my stock for cleaning was getting low and over the last few weeks I had been casually looking around at prices, getting ready to order.  I bought from an eBay seller and waited.  Just over a week after a tracking number had been provided, there was no indication the item had been shipped, so I got in touch.  Seems their supplier had run out of stock (guess why) and they had only just sourced an alternative supply.

Wondering if I should just cancel or wait, I checked out a local supplier (who's prices have gone up around 20% in the last two months) who is having an IT issue with their website, so I can't order it from them just yet.


The insanity grows.

[med6753]

To take our minds off the gloom and doom....and absolute stupidity for a moment I did some more troubleshooting on the 485 and I made progress but it is pointing towards an apocalypse.

See schematic. If I pull either Q686 and Q688 (BTW, both test OK) the scope powers up. That can really only point to one thing. U660. Somehow I damaged it (and the one on the other board too) probably due to this mystery nylon washer which I never saw nor does the manual give any direction on proper installation. U660 is unobtanium.

As a last resort I may try to find a suitable nylon washer and give it a try. But I don't hold out much hope it will make any difference.


Oh well. Gotta take the occasional loss. Can't win them all.     

[Kosmic]

Every trolley at the supermarket today, except ours, had multiple packs of toilet paper in them - ours had none, having bought our normal, sensible bulk pack a month ago, which I expect will last another 2 months. WTF is up with people. If there was a dysentery epidemic making its way towards us it might make some sense. Do other people live hand to arse on the quantity of toilet paper they can afford to keep on hand?

Also, the now normal completely empty pasta shelves. Do people think that massive carbohydrate intake is the cure? That Italy is about to enter the apocalypse and we'll never see real Italian pasta again? That a cupboard groaning with pasta is going to be anything but pure survival rations if you don't at least have a few vegetables to go with it? Will I be making a fortune in a few weeks selling my home-made pasta sauce through the soon-to-be fortified bars of my front door?

The new feature is the empty rice shelves. Again, a remarkable unpalatable diet if you have nothing to go with it.

The flour shelves seemed quite heavily depleted too. As if Joe Public has a clue how to make bread or pastry.

Yet, there were masses of fresh fruit and vegetables on the shelves. Stacks of potatoes. Enough salad for 2 hundred BBQs. Two cows, three sheep and about twenty pigs worth of meat. Enough cheese, milk and butter to feed a regiment for a week. None of the shops freezers looked anything other than as well stocked as normal - meat, fish, pizzas, ice cream, complete frozen meals, pies, pasties, the full range of frozen potato products and vegetables.

Even the canned goods had hardly taken a dent. Quite a lot of tinned tomatoes gone (but I could still get my regular two tins of my favourites). Baked beans perhaps at half stock. Soup, beans and (yuck) canned vegetables untouched.

In fact all the food items for sale were at normal stock levels apart from those already mentioned.

Is the nation planning to live on pasta in rice gruel while they sob into their huge stack of tissues and toilet rolls?

 

[beanflying]

To take our minds off the gloom and doom....and absolute stupidity for a moment I did some more troubleshooting on the 485 and I made progress but it is pointing towards an apocalypse.

See schematic. If I pull either Q686 and Q688 (BTW, both test OK) the scope powers up. That can really only point to one thing. U660. Somehow I damaged it (and the one on the other board too) probably due to this mystery nylon washer which I never saw nor does the manual give any direction on proper installation. U660 is unobtanium.

As a last resort I may try to find a suitable nylon washer and give it a try. But I don't hold out much hope it will make any difference.


Oh well. Gotta take the occasional loss. Can't win them all.     

No doom and gloom here. Things are sunny and sawdusty.

And while on a Coffee break let me find you another potential project eBay auction: #233519650961

[worsthorse]

Every trolley at the supermarket today, except ours, had multiple packs of toilet paper in them - ours had none, having bought our normal, sensible bulk pack a month ago, which I expect will last another 2 months. WTF is up with people. If there was a dysentery epidemic making its way towards us it might make some sense. Do other people live hand to arse on the quantity of toilet paper they can afford to keep on hand?

Also, the now normal completely empty pasta shelves. Do people think that massive carbohydrate intake is the cure? That Italy is about to enter the apocalypse and we'll never see real Italian pasta again? That a cupboard groaning with pasta is going to be anything but pure survival rations if you don't at least have a few vegetables to go with it? Will I be making a fortune in a few weeks selling my home-made pasta sauce through the soon-to-be fortified bars of my front door?

The new feature is the empty rice shelves. Again, a remarkable unpalatable diet if you have nothing to go with it.

The flour shelves seemed quite heavily depleted too. As if Joe Public has a clue how to make bread or pastry.

Yet, there were masses of fresh fruit and vegetables on the shelves. Stacks of potatoes. Enough salad for 2 hundred BBQs. Two cows, three sheep and about twenty pigs worth of meat. Enough cheese, milk and butter to feed a regiment for a week. None of the shops freezers looked anything other than as well stocked as normal - meat, fish, pizzas, ice cream, complete frozen meals, pies, pasties, the full range of frozen potato products and vegetables.

Even the canned goods had hardly taken a dent. Quite a lot of tinned tomatoes gone (but I could still get my regular two tins of my favourites). Baked beans perhaps at half stock. Soup, beans and (yuck) canned vegetables untouched.

In fact all the food items for sale were at normal stock levels apart from those already mentioned.

Is the nation planning to live on pasta in rice gruel while they sob into their huge stack of tissues and toilet rolls?

 

I've been doing my usual once a week "fresh goods and top off" grocery run (I've kept a month deep pantry for decades) and things still seem to be pretty normal, other than the absence of hand sanitizer.  Things seem to be a little different at the big box stores where runs on stuff (toilet paper, bleach, kleenex, protein bars, rice) go in waves. I imagine that's related to consumption of certain brands of "news" and social media but who knows? Lots of people are uninformed, frightened, and crazy which is a bad combination.

What worries me most though are the economic consequences of all the closures and shutdowns (as necessary as they are).  I have a lot of friends who don't have a cash cushion and live paycheck to paycheck or who own very small businesses. For them losing a week or two to illness or forced closures may well precipitate a disaster.

[Brumby]

As well as the impact to small business, I'm also wondering about those manufacturers of toilet paper and other products that have had a run on.

The panic buyers will have forced overproduction in the short term and once the hysteria has died down, they are going to find themselves with months of reserves.  They can either sit on these reserves (in true Prepper style) or work their way through them.  If the latter, then production would need to ramp down and we could see pressure on those manufacturers to cut staffing until things stabilise.


Or are we seeing the beginning of a global Prepper explosion?

[beanflying]

More than likely they made a crap load of money selling their stock. The only way it goes to poo for them is over manufacturing to cope with apparent demand. So basically if they are greedy they finish up in the sh1T where they belong. 

[Zucca]

Er, no. Peroxide will denature protein and nucleic acids (which is all a virus is), as will bleach by the same mechanism, oxidation. However, I'd say that peroxide is a poor biocide to use in a hand sanitiser; it has no persistence and will itself dissociate very quickly on drying.

I wish I would had studied chemistry with the same passion I did for electronics.
The chemical stuff unforunately never triggered me somehow.
Thanks cerebus!

[beanflying]

Cool Nixie counter. Not at that price but very stylish  eBay auction: #143542015353

[Cerebus]

Er, no. Peroxide will denature protein and nucleic acids (which is all a virus is), as will bleach by the same mechanism, oxidation. However, I'd say that peroxide is a poor biocide to use in a hand sanitiser; it has no persistence and will itself dissociate very quickly on drying.

I wish I would had studied chemistry with the same passion I did for electronics.
The chemical stuff unforunately never triggered me somehow.
Thanks cerebus!

My ex-wife was a biochemist and, had I not encountered computer science when I did, that's a career path that I might have taken too. So, by dint of natural leanings, sitting in on work/study discussions between biochemists, helping with exam revision and a tendency to read New Scientist cover to cover I've managed to get myself reasonably educated in that field. Also a reasonable grasp of chemistry is required to satisfy my small boy's interest in rapid exothermic reactions. (I don't have a small boy, I am the small boy!)

[mansaxel]

Yes well a diff probe might be the preferred solution and certainly offers a wider use case however you can buy a few 100:1 probes for the cost of just one differential probe.

And a 100:1 probe still is a short circuit waiting to happen.  I'm using my ScopeMeter which of course is equivalent to a diff probe, and built to take mains probing, but if I did not have that, I'd look really hard into getting a proper diff one.

[Specmaster]

To take our minds off the gloom and doom....and absolute stupidity for a moment I did some more troubleshooting on the 485 and I made progress but it is pointing towards an apocalypse.

See schematic. If I pull either Q686 and Q688 (BTW, both test OK) the scope powers up. That can really only point to one thing. U660. Somehow I damaged it (and the one on the other board too) probably due to this mystery nylon washer which I never saw nor does the manual give any direction on proper installation. U660 is unobtanium.

As a last resort I may try to find a suitable nylon washer and give it a try. But I don't hold out much hope it will make any difference.


Oh well. Gotta take the occasional loss. Can't win them all.     

What happens if you pull Q682?

[Cerebus]

What worries me most though are the economic consequences of all the closures and shutdowns (as necessary as they are).  I have a lot of friends who don't have a cash cushion and live paycheck to paycheck or who own very small businesses. For them losing a week or two to illness or forced closures may well precipitate a disaster.

Yeah, I share those concerns. In an age where employment is much less settled, and various freelance/zero-hours jobs are the norm for many, this could have some poor consequences for a significant slice of society. I shall now go and count my blessings (which at the moment thankfully includes more shekels in the bank than I will need for some good time).

[Specmaster]

Yes well a diff probe might be the preferred solution and certainly offers a wider use case however you can buy a few 100:1 probes for the cost of just one differential probe.

And a 100:1 probe still is a short circuit waiting to happen.  I'm using my ScopeMeter which of course is equivalent to a diff probe, and built to take mains probing, but if I did not have that, I'd look really hard into getting a proper diff one.

Precisely my point, with a diff probe the earth path has a 2M resistance  so will not create a problem.

[BU508A]

Yes well a diff probe might be the preferred solution and certainly offers a wider use case however you can buy a few 100:1 probes for the cost of just one differential probe.

And a 100:1 probe still is a short circuit waiting to happen.  I'm using my ScopeMeter which of course is equivalent to a diff probe, and built to take mains probing, but if I did not have that, I'd look really hard into getting a proper diff one.

Precisely my point, with a diff probe the earth path has a 2M resistance  so will not create a problem.

Sadly, this one is out of stock (but I own one anyway ):
https://www.eevblog.com/product/hvp70/

[mansaxel]

In fact all the food items for sale were at normal stock levels apart from those already mentioned.

Is the nation planning to live on pasta in rice gruel while they sob into their huge stack of tissues and toilet rolls?

People buying things other people have been seen buying because hysteria. My storage (which is always at or close to these levels) will see us good through two or three weeks with some (but not at rice-only levels) boredom in selections. We've got cooking and lighting methods independent of mains supply, and there is a plan for water.

I do not expect neither mains nor water supply running out, because most of these functions can be operated with skeleton staff.