Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[AVGresponding]

If somebody else is interested, there are more 1M 0.005% Vishay VHA516-T resistors available:

four of them:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/402841099981


three of them:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/402841100427

Versendet nicht nach Großbritannien   

[ch_scr]

I'm back from with the auction lot, turns out I'm half a precision mechanical lab now 
It's a 20x30cm surface plate & 0.001mm height gauge with 13mm travel.
Had a chance to check the surface plate @work with a automated tactile sensor:
in a 1x1cm grid it showed a max. deviation to flat of +-0.0022mm.
Quite good for something from 2002, no too heavily used 

[PA0PBZ]

Versendet nicht nach Großbritannien   

Ships to: European Union

Makes sense 

[bd139]

Exactly! Amazing how many people in this country shot their own toes off 

Big loss for me was TME in Poland which on average had better stock and arrived quicker than RS, Farnell and CPC 

[med6753]

And in other news.....USPS is just plain laughable. That 6BY8 tube that was supposed to be delivered on Monday went from a Newark, NJ distribution center to a Kearney, NJ distribution center and still is not enroute to my local area.   

[bd139]

That's annoying here as well as I was looking forward to the next installment of "med's tales of 547 woe" 

[SilverSolder]

And in other news.....USPS is just plain laughable. That 6BY8 tube that was supposed to be delivered on Monday went from a Newark, NJ distribution center to a Kearney, NJ distribution center and still is not enroute to my local area. 

They do seem to have a propensity for "shipping in circles" recently...   wonder what's going on...

[med6753]

That's annoying here as well as I was looking forward to the next installment of "med's tales of 547 woe" 

Have no fear, I'm going to work on it tomorrow anyway without that tube. Look to the West for smoke signals tomorrow. 

[BU508A]

If somebody else is interested, there are more 1M 0.005% Vishay VHA516-T resistors available:

four of them:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/402841099981


three of them:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/402841100427

Versendet nicht nach Großbritannien   

If you want, I can play parcel proxy.

[mansaxel]

That's annoying here as well as I was looking forward to the next installment of "med's tales of 547 woe" 

Have no fear, I'm going to work on it tomorrow anyway without that tube. Look to the West for smoke signals tomorrow. 

Here's one for you, oh mighty recapper, a job lot of NoS RIFAs. If you're not, I'm tempted, and then I can mail them to bd139 for Experiments.

[Cerebus]

That's annoying here as well as I was looking forward to the next installment of "med's tales of 547 woe" 

Have no fear, I'm going to work on it tomorrow anyway without that tube. Look to the West WSW for smoke signals tomorrow. 

FTFY, ya lily-livered southener. 

[bd139]

That's annoying here as well as I was looking forward to the next installment of "med's tales of 547 woe" 

Have no fear, I'm going to work on it tomorrow anyway without that tube. Look to the West for smoke signals tomorrow. 

Here's one for you, oh mighty recapper, a job lot of NoS RIFAs. If you're not, I'm tempted, and then I can mail them to bd139 for Experiments.

I actually have one I'm brewing here ready to go. It was a nice cracked one I yoinked out of my Henry vacuum cleaner a few months back that I've left on the bathroom shelf ever since to pick up some damp.

It's going on the end of a suicide cord and being powered up outside when the weather has improved a bit 

[SilverSolder]

I go to my pre-surgical screening this morning and come back to nearly 2 pages of OT drivel. When TEA re-surfaces someone send me a memo.

In the meantime I'm gonna go wash the car. 

...and I'm going to mow the lawn! 

Did that yesterday. Broke these in:   

Today I'm hoeing oot the back shed; getting my old bipsychos out to put up on Kijiji while they're still worth the assache. Will no doubt break those boots in some more.

mnem
 

The always exciting "first start of a small gasoline engine for the season" went surprisingly well, started on the 2nd try on last year's fuel still in the tank.   Marine grade fuel stabilizer, gotta love it!

Same thing with the strimmer, and the blower.

These things are all between 3 and 8 years old.

Really I can't see going electric with these things any time soon...  starting the season with new lithium-ion battery packs after a few years would be a real downer, compared to just pulling on a starter rope!


Those boots look "Serious" by the way! 

[mnementh]

Yeah; Ozark Trail is like a discount Carhartt or Columbia Sportswear.

Found them in stock at Wally World for a couple Jacksons in 13W when I was looking for sneakers for the boi... wound up buying like 6 pair of shoes between us and the wife because they were right there, right then, and at a price we could afford. Finding leather boots that fit me was a bit of good fortune I decided that I should not let go to waste, so set them aside until I was ready for the assache of oiling them so they would last as long as a cheap pair of leather boots could.

The mink oil really does help with the breaking in process; they're instantly much softer, and working it in makes the leather relieve right where you want it when they're on your feet.

mnem
 

[SilverSolder]

Yeah; Ozark Trail is like a discount Carhartt or Columbia Sportswear.

Found them in stock at Wally World for a couple Jacksons in 13W when I was looking for sneakers for the boi... wound up buying like 6 pair of shoes between us and the wife because they were right there, right then, and at a price we could afford. Finding leather boots that fit me was a bit of good fortune I decided that I should not let go to waste, so set them aside until I was ready for the assache of oiling them so they would last as long as a cheap pair of leather boots could.

The mink oil really does help with the breaking in process; they're instantly much softer, and working it in makes the leather relieve right where you want it when they're on your feet.

mnem
 

Interesting trick with the mink oil - it softens the leather and makes the break-in faster/less painful?

[bd139]

I just buy ones that don't hurt me to start with 

[mnementh]

Yeah; Ozark Trail is like a discount Carhartt or Columbia Sportswear.

Found them in stock at Wally World for a couple Jacksons in 13W when I was looking for sneakers for the boi... wound up buying like 6 pair of shoes between us and the wife because they were right there, right then, and at a price we could afford. Finding leather boots that fit me was a bit of good fortune I decided that I should not let go to waste, so set them aside until I was ready for the assache of oiling them so they would last as long as a cheap pair of leather boots could.

The mink oil really does help with the breaking in process; they're instantly much softer, and working it in makes the leather relieve right where you want it when they're on your feet.

mnem
 

Interesting trick with the mink oil - it softens the leather and makes the break-in faster/less painful?

Well yeah; that's true of any leather (that isn't pressure-treated with polymer), but especially suede; oiling it softens it up and makes it supple. How long that lasts depends on exposure to damp or harsh chemicals vs the kind of oil vs how often you retreat.

My experience with mink oil is that it tends to be a bit of a PITA to work in, as it's actually aboot the consistency of CRISCO or margarine (both of which I've also used in a pinch on work boots), but once you get it rubbed in the natural water-resistance it imparts helps the leather stay supple with less frequent reapplication.

Stabil fuel treatment was my hero yesterday too; mower started first pull and ran smooth as glass all afternoon. I hope for similar with the 2-strokes later in the week when I do the edging and blow the porch off.

As for electric start... I've had it on garden tractors and snowblowers ever since growing up in the salt belt; would never give it up on those things. I think a spinner dome on the engine for a rubber cup on a cordless drill would be a grand idea on those small motors tho... like we use on model airplanes. But that kind of generic solution doesn't give the MFR parts turnover/upsale opportunities.

mnem

[Saskia]

went to the Metro wholesale place in Bremen and lo and behold, they had a PacMan Arcade in stock.

Not anymore.

I hate lugging that stuff upstairs ...

[Specmaster]

@bd139, I took your advice re eBay account and opened another bank account specifically for eBay payments to go in otherwise it will remain empty to prevent chargebacks, thanks for the tip 

[SilverSolder]

@bd139, I took your advice re eBay account and opened another bank account specifically for eBay payments to go in otherwise it will remain empty to prevent chargebacks, thanks for the tip 

Won't eBay just close your account or some other drastic thing, if you prevent chargebacks?

[SilverSolder]

Yeah; Ozark Trail is like a discount Carhartt or Columbia Sportswear.

Found them in stock at Wally World for a couple Jacksons in 13W when I was looking for sneakers for the boi... wound up buying like 6 pair of shoes between us and the wife because they were right there, right then, and at a price we could afford. Finding leather boots that fit me was a bit of good fortune I decided that I should not let go to waste, so set them aside until I was ready for the assache of oiling them so they would last as long as a cheap pair of leather boots could.

The mink oil really does help with the breaking in process; they're instantly much softer, and working it in makes the leather relieve right where you want it when they're on your feet.

mnem
 

Interesting trick with the mink oil - it softens the leather and makes the break-in faster/less painful?

Well yeah; that's true of any leather (that isn't pressure-treated with polymer), but especially suede; oiling it softens it up and makes it supple. How long that lasts depends on exposure to damp or harsh chemicals vs the kind of oil vs how often you retreat.

My experience with mink oil is that it tends to be a bit of a PITA to work in, as it's actually aboot the consistency of CRISCO or margarine (both of which I've also used in a pinch on work boots), but once you get it rubbed in the natural water-resistance it imparts helps the leather stay supple with less frequent reapplication.

Stabil fuel treatment was my hero yesterday too; mower started first pull and ran smooth as glass all afternoon. I hope for similar with the 2-strokes later in the week when I do the edging and blow the porch off.

As for electric start... I've had it on garden tractors and snowblowers ever since growing up in the salt belt; would never give it up on those things. I think a spinner dome on the engine for a rubber cup on a cordless drill would be a grand idea on those small motors tho... like we use on model airplanes. But that kind of generic solution doesn't give the MFR parts turnover/upsale opportunities.

mnem

Would it help to use a heat gun to persuade the oils to penetrate the leather?  - apparently, many military guys swear by heat guns on ordinary shoe polish...  makes it a snap to get to a parade shine when the wax melts into the boot...

Re small engines, I wasn't so much thinking about electric start, as the latest fashion of making electric versions of these tools that use lithium ion batteries.  You can just foresee how expensive they will be to run...   just keeping some cordless drills alive is already over $100 every few years, as the cells only have a limited life even if you don't use them much...

[mnementh]

And now for something completely... ON TOPIC:



A week's worth of random fiddly-bits orders all arrived today. Guess Amazon Logistics was just feeling "Wednesday"... 

The Mousepad of Doom was a "unbirthday" present to myself cuz $15; I liked it so much I got the boi one too, and waited on mine for his to arrive so I could surprise him.

      

While ordering random bits  for making battery packs, I stumbled across these all selling ridiculously cheap; got a 5-pack of 50Ω BNC 90s for $12 from Eightwood. Evidently they're a well-known storefront on Amazon...?  They looked like better-than average quality for cheapies, and I figured they could serve to protect my BNC cables from the crappy clone jacks on my UTG962E until I get around to replacing them. Quality of what arrived appears quite the same as the stock photo in the center; we'll see how they work out in service.



Also found two of these cheap Chinese P57 50Ω load terminators for $4.50 each; got the "last two" at that price figuring someone on eevBlog had probably done a teardown, and no matter what, cheap insurance for my scope and/or TinySA. Supposedly DC-1GHz/1Watt... 



Also got some RG174 N-connector to BNC cables for my TinySA cuz $6 each; the cables feel decent and well-terminated, but the N-connectors are fair quality at best.



And the last item; these Keystone #209 battery contacts for making 18650 cell test jigs, bag of 20 for $6 as a add-on item. I also intend to investigate whether these will replace the clips in my Simpson meter from forever ago.

Cheers!

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Would it help to use a heat gun to persuade the oils to penetrate the leather?  - apparently, many military guys swear by heat guns on ordinary shoe polish...  makes it a snap to get to a parade shine when the wax melts into the boot...

Re small engines, I wasn't so much thinking about electric start, as the latest fashion of making electric versions of these tools that use lithium ion batteries.  You can just foresee how expensive they will be to run...   just keeping some cordless drills alive is already over $100 every few years, as the cells only have a limited life even if you don't use them much...

Heat gun...? I suppose it might help. Never tried it; got enough to handle just holding the boot and cloth and trying to keep it all from flying off helter-skelter when I need to dip my rag in the tub of goopy...

Oh, yeah... the trend towards Li-xx powered lawn equipment is, I'm sure, driven by the fact they can be made almost entirely of plastic, plus the high turnover of abusing Li-xx batteries with seasonal use and intermittent high current loading without ever putting them down to a storage charge. Literally a Homeowner Hell executive's wet dream if they could replace all gas-powered lawn equipment with that; the equivalent of Gillette locking you into a lifetime of blades, only at hundreds of dollars a pop.

mnem
 

[Brumby]

And in other news.....USPS is just plain laughable. That 6BY8 tube that was supposed to be delivered on Monday went from a Newark, NJ distribution center to a Kearney, NJ distribution center and still is not enroute to my local area. 

They do seem to have a propensity for "shipping in circles" recently...   wonder what's going on...

It's called the Carousel Distribution Model - developed and refined in airport terminals.  As the result of it having been successfully implemented in airports around the world, it has now spread out into the wider logistics scene.

Look for ex-baggage handlers in management and supervisory roles.  Front line workers with a strong arm and reasonable aim are prime candidates for such positions.  (This also explains many of the mechanical stresses to which packages are subjected.)

With this model in mind, it becomes exceptionally clear why (for example) items from LA destined for Dallas can be found holidaying in Poughkeepsie.  It is rumoured that the movie "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is based on such experiences.

[SilverSolder]

Would it help to use a heat gun to persuade the oils to penetrate the leather?  - apparently, many military guys swear by heat guns on ordinary shoe polish...  makes it a snap to get to a parade shine when the wax melts into the boot...

Re small engines, I wasn't so much thinking about electric start, as the latest fashion of making electric versions of these tools that use lithium ion batteries.  You can just foresee how expensive they will be to run...   just keeping some cordless drills alive is already over $100 every few years, as the cells only have a limited life even if you don't use them much...

Heat gun...? I suppose it might help. Never tried it; got enough to handle just holding the boot and cloth and trying to keep it all from flying off helter-skelter when I need to dip my rag in the tub of goopy...

Oh, yeah... the trend towards Li-xx powered lawn equipment is, I'm sure, driven by the fact they can be made almost entirely of plastic, plus the high turnover of abusing Li-xx batteries with seasonal use and intermittent high current loading without ever putting them down to a storage charge. Literally a Homeowner Hell executive's wet dream if they could replace all gas-powered lawn equipment with that; the equivalent of Gillette locking you into a lifetime of blades, only at hundreds of dollars a pop.

mnem
 

You just know that the younger generation will sign up for this, thinking they are being environmentally responsible, "easy monthly payments" plan in hand...


Heat gun shoe shine: