Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Ero-Shan]

And here's some more TEA.

Amazingly, I did not own a signal generator from hp (I do not count my 8018 serial data generator as such).
It didn't have to be a boat anchor (considering that I'm already overstuffed), so when I saw one offered as part of a bundle (I like bundles - several new things at once!), I just overbid all others.

That's the new lot (sorry for the substandard picture):

I do like the "Schopf" in the background.   

I actually cropped the picture so less of it can be seen. We call it "Gartenhäusle". My dad built it from scratch in the fifties. When he sold part of the land it had to be moved to a new place (which it survived easily). Alas, I allowed it to degenerate. There's little hope I can refurbish it, given my current physical state, though.
I'm still dreaming that once I've burned most of the wood in the shed below it, I get rid of the shed and restore it. I'm an undying sentimentalist. 

And a few moments ago, the Mastech MS8911 arrived, way before the scheduled date of mid February. 

[med6753]

Ah a Duracell. Unlucky

I got one with an Ever Ready battery in it a couple of years back that hadn't leaked. The battery was circa 37 years old at the time:



I was surprised at this!

My American cabinet and British meter (thanks to BD)  Heath VTVM are still happily married and no sign of any impending divorce. This relationship has lasted much longer than mine to a bat shit crazy English redhead. 

[med6753]

Having said that, I mostly bought it as a "directional MD21", with an idea to make a mock news presenter setup for WFH video conferencing. With the supplied desk stand (can be unscrewed into foot and clamp, and it's BSW 3/8" thread, ie. European standard microphone stand thread, so a definitive win there.) I'll only have to construct a setup with a screen behind me playing aircraft carrier accident videos off of Youtube, don a three-piece suit and serious expression, get an external camera selected in Teams, and I'm good to go. 

Don't forget the carafe of water with a glass on top, and a stack of papers for you to tap and square up on the desk when you're signing off. Also, you need a hooked over earpiece for one ear that you can occasionally put your hand to and say "I'm just being told that...".

Also you'll need a prepared item for immediately before you sign off. Something like this:

[Rostrum camera]

"And finally. A rare bird native only to mid-New York State has been spotted in Malmö. It was seen in the yard of an electronics recycling faculty where it was collecting brightly coloured components that had fallen from items waiting to be recycled. It was identified by Professor Mankell from Uppsala university by its call, which sounds like 'Gå av min gräsmatta!' and this is the first time it has been seen in Sweden.

Goodnight."

I know somehow I'm included in this but your humor (humour) is just too damn high brow for me to get. Now if it included farts or perhaps a Benny Hill like 3x speed comedy scene with a piss stop in the woods I might have gotten it.   

[Cerebus]

We call it "Gartenhäusle".

My poor grasp of German coming to the fore here. Is that "-le" a diminutive ending, like "-let" would be in English? So an English semi-translation would be 'Garden-Houselet', a 'little' house in the garden, yes? I've not (consciously) seen "-le" as a diminutive before, although I'd recognise "-chen", as in Kännchen (little pot) and Kätzchen (little cat, kitten) as a diminutive.

[capt bullshot]

We call it "Gartenhäusle".

My poor grasp of German coming to the fore here. Is that "-le" a diminutive ending, like "-let" would be in English? So an English semi-translation would be 'Garden-Houselet', a 'little' house in the garden, yes? I've not (consciously) seen "-le" as a diminutive before, although I'd recognise "-chen", as in Kännchen (little pot) and Kätzchen (little cat, kitten) as a diminutive.

It's only parts of Germany (e.g. Swabia) where you'd say "-le" instead of "-chen". So a "Gartenhäusle" would be a "Gartenhäuschen" here, and thats typically a shed or something in the garden, where you might put your lawn mower etc., or have a table and a few chairs for your enjoyment in summer.

[BU508A]

We call it "Gartenhäusle".

My poor grasp of German coming to the fore here. Is that "-le" a diminutive ending, like "-let" would be in English? So an English semi-translation would be 'Garden-Houselet', a 'little' house in the garden, yes? I've not (consciously) seen "-le" as a diminutive before, although I'd recognise "-chen", as in Kännchen (little pot) and Kätzchen (little cat, kitten) as a diminutive.

Yes, it is a diminutive.

Haus - Häuschen (High German) - Häusle (Swabian German) - Hüüsli (Swiss German)

Gartenhäuschen - Gartenhäusle - a little house or a shed in the garden

[Ice-Tea]

Can you guys cut the German? Makes me wanna go ski 

[BU508A]

How do you say it in Texas when a ski lift stops because of a rocket launch?

"Houston, we have a lift off!"

*duck and run*

  

[Cerebus]

I know somehow I'm included in this but your humor (humour) is just too damn high brow for me to get. Now if it included farts or perhaps a Benny Hill like 3x speed comedy scene with a piss stop in the woods I might have gotten it. 

"High brow" is where your joke relies on the listener knowing the cast list of "Tristan and Isolde" before they can get the joke, not merely engaging a degree of subtlety that's short of using a pail of whitewash and a squirting flower. My sense of humour has been accused of many things before, words and phrases like "puerile", "terrible puns", "get your coat", "filthy", "perverted" and "If you come back we're calling the Police" have been used, but never "high brow" until now.

[BU508A]

Perhaps, med had this in mind?

[Cerebus]

We call it "Gartenhäusle".

My poor grasp of German coming to the fore here. Is that "-le" a diminutive ending, like "-let" would be in English? So an English semi-translation would be 'Garden-Houselet', a 'little' house in the garden, yes? I've not (consciously) seen "-le" as a diminutive before, although I'd recognise "-chen", as in Kännchen (little pot) and Kätzchen (little cat, kitten) as a diminutive.

Yes, it is a diminutive.

Haus - Häuschen (High German) - Häusle (Swabian German) - Hüüsli (Swiss German)

Gartenhäuschen - Gartenhäusle - a little house or a shed in the garden

Ahh, High German, so I've been hanging around with posh Germans eh?  What do you call the dialect that you learn down the docks? That's probably more fitting for me to adopt. 

[med6753]

I know somehow I'm included in this but your humor (humour) is just too damn high brow for me to get. Now if it included farts or perhaps a Benny Hill like 3x speed comedy scene with a piss stop in the woods I might have gotten it. 

"High brow" is where your joke relies on the listener knowing the cast list of "Tristan and Isolde" before they can get the joke, not merely engaging a degree of subtlety that's short of using a pail of whitewash and a squirting flower. My sense of humour has been accused of many things before, words and phrases like "puerile", "terrible puns", "get your coat", "filthy", "perverted" and "If you come back we're calling the Police" have been used, but never "high brow" until now.

Well I guess it's because your targeted audience composes of some knuckle draggers with large brows. 

[med6753]

Perhaps, med had this in mind?

It would take a million years of evolution to get that high brow. 

[BU508A]

We call it "Gartenhäusle".

My poor grasp of German coming to the fore here. Is that "-le" a diminutive ending, like "-let" would be in English? So an English semi-translation would be 'Garden-Houselet', a 'little' house in the garden, yes? I've not (consciously) seen "-le" as a diminutive before, although I'd recognise "-chen", as in Kännchen (little pot) and Kätzchen (little cat, kitten) as a diminutive.

Yes, it is a diminutive.

Haus - Häuschen (High German) - Häusle (Swabian German) - Hüüsli (Swiss German)

Gartenhäuschen - Gartenhäusle - a little house or a shed in the garden

Ahh, High German, so I've been hanging around with posh Germans eh?  What do you call the dialect that you learn down the docks? That's probably more fitting for me to adopt. 

"High German" is the dialect which is usually spoken in and around Hannover. And which is defined in the Duden.

What do you mean with "down the docks"? Something similar like pidgin English or the dialect from Newcastle, Geordie?

I am a native "Alemannisch" speaker, because I'm living in the very southwestern part of Germany (Black Forest)

[AVGresponding]

How do you say it in Texas when a ski lift stops because of a rocket launch?

"Houston, we have a lift off!"

*duck and run*

  

I am going to chastise you with the smelliest pun I can find, for that.

I don't know what it is yet, but it will be a pungent punishment, I promise.

[mnementh]

Having said that, I mostly bought it as a "directional MD21", with an idea to make a mock news presenter setup for WFH video conferencing. With the supplied desk stand (can be unscrewed into foot and clamp, and it's BSW 3/8" thread, ie. European standard microphone stand thread, so a definitive win there.) I'll only have to construct a setup with a screen behind me playing aircraft carrier accident videos off of Youtube, don a three-piece suit and serious expression, get an external camera selected in Teams, and I'm good to go. 

Don't forget the carafe of water with a glass on top, and a stack of papers for you to tap and square up on the desk when you're signing off. Also, you need a hooked over earpiece for one ear that you can occasionally put your hand to and say "I'm just being told that...".

Also you'll need a prepared item for immediately before you sign off. Something like this:

[Rostrum camera]

"And finally. A rare bird native only to mid-New York State has been spotted in Malmö. It was seen in the yard of an electronics recycling faculty where it was collecting brightly coloured components that had fallen from items waiting to be recycled. It was identified by Professor Mankell from Uppsala university by its call, which sounds like 'Gå av min gräsmatta!' and this is the first time it has been seen in Sweden.

Goodnight."

I know somehow I'm included in this but your humor (humour) is just too damn high brow for me to get. Now if it included farts or perhaps a Benny Hill like 3x speed comedy scene with a piss stop in the woods I might have gotten it. 

       "ppplllrrrrptttttt!"


Here ya go, buddy. 

mnem

[Cerebus]

What do you mean with "down the docks"? Something similar like pidgin English or the dialect from Newcastle, Geordie?

Traditionally the most forthright, direct, simple people are those hardworking men found on the docksides of Glasgow, Hamburg, Marseilles, and similar places. They rarely have a command of the finer points of their native languages, indeed more refined speakers of that language may even find them hard to understand. However, for all the simplicity of their language they rarely have difficulty expressing their inner feelings in simple unadorned prose that is not without its own poetry. For instance, the utterance in a Gorbals accent of "Hey Pal! Do youse like hospital food?" leaves the hearer in no doubt of the feelings of the speaker, or indeed in any doubt of the events of the next few minutes.

[mnementh]

I know somehow I'm included in this but your humor (humour) is just too damn high brow for me to get. Now if it included farts or perhaps a Benny Hill like 3x speed comedy scene with a piss stop in the woods I might have gotten it. 

"High brow" is where your joke relies on the listener knowing the cast list of "Tristan and Isolde" before they can get the joke, not merely engaging a degree of subtlety that's short of using a pail of whitewash and a squirting flower. My sense of humour has been accused of many things before, words and phrases like "puerile", "terrible puns", "get your coat", "filthy", "perverted" and "If you come back we're calling the Police" have been used, but never "high brow" until now.

This comes to mind...

mnem
"One can hide a multitude of sins under that statement." ~mom

[mnementh]

How do you say it in Texas when a ski lift stops because of a rocket launch?

"Houston, we have a lift off!"

*duck and run*

  

I am going to chastise you with the smelliest pun I can find, for that.   I don't know what it is yet, but it will be a pungent punishment, I promise.

You can probably find it here: www.tearablepuns.org

mnem

[med6753]

I threw my $10 bid at this and someone tried to out bid me. How dare they. So I increased my max bid to an earth shattering $20 and they choked and I got it for $15.50. Now if I wind up with several chunks of inert carbon rather than precision resistors it's obviously my own fault. We'll see and I'll do a full and frank disclosure when I get it, but don't hold your breath. Catskill is about 40 miles away. Let's see how many weeks it takes for USPS to deliver it. 

[mnementh]

Yes, it is a diminutive.   Haus - Häuschen (High German) - Häusle (Swabian German) - Hüüsli (Swiss German)   Gartenhäuschen - Gartenhäusle - a little house or a shed in the garden

Ahh, High German, so I've been hanging around with posh Germans eh?  What do you call the dialect that you learn down the docks? That's probably more fitting for me to adopt. 

Dave ist nicht hier, Mann...

mnem
*shameless*

[mnementh]

I threw my $10 bid at this and someone tried to out bid me. How dare they. So I increased my max bid to an earth shattering $20 and they choked and I got it for $15.50. Now if I wind up with several chunks of inert carbon rather than precision resistors it's obviously my own fault. We'll see and I'll do a full and frank disclosure when I get it, but don't hold your breath. Catskill is about 40 miles away. Let's see how many weeks it takes for USPS to deliver it. 

$25 delivered...? Hell, the switches alone are worth that, even if the resistors are borked. And you know they won't ALL be.   

mnem
 

[BU508A]

My friends are fearing me and my funny jokes. 

In Germany we are calling them "Flachwitze" - literally flat jokes but the correct translation is lame jokes.

[Cerebus]

Yes, it is a diminutive.   Haus - Häuschen (High German) - Häusle (Swabian German) - Hüüsli (Swiss German)   Gartenhäuschen - Gartenhäusle - a little house or a shed in the garden

Ahh, High German, so I've been hanging around with posh Germans eh?  What do you call the dialect that you learn down the docks? That's probably more fitting for me to adopt. 

Dave ist nicht hier, Mann...

mnem
*shameless*

Groan...

That requires a tiger sized "head in hands":

[mnementh]

You're welcome.

mnem