Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[SilverSolder]

What...you don't have a pair of calipers!!! Just grab yourself a cheapo pair of digital ones, they are so bloody useful. I struggle to comprehend that don't have a pair.

I knew someone was going to bust my balls over having no calipers.    Since when does an ELT tech and sometimes carpenter need them?  If I were a sometimes machinist then sure.....but I'm not. 

Even having one is no guarantee it will be available when you need it------my "El Cheapo" one seeems to find
an unending number of spots to hide in.

My grandfather used to say, "A place for everything - and everything in its place!"  (especially after I had been "helping" him in his workshop)

[beanflying]

The reason to buy cheap and keep a few known things to measure is none of them care when you bounce them on the concrete 

The thing I miss currently is a good set of inside micrometers, Calipers suck badly at this but for outside cheapo Digitals are way better than my old eyes can read my good set of Vernier's (non dial). Like all test gear and I would include them in it having something resembling a standard or better some test of linearity over the range makes a lot of sense.

edit batteries out or minimum spares always Must cut the foam too in my 'spare' time 

[Specmaster]

Due to @Meds short Arms (surprising given the Tek Lumps he moves) and long pockets this is what is needed by his Foot Fetishist Fab 

We all of course need a larger set of Calipers for ...... 

Hey Bean, I just noticed that we both have the same calipers, they take a lot of beating for the price. I don't need anything with better accuracy for my usage, they suit my needs perfectly 

[Specmaster]

Just be wary of the very cheap digital calipers. [snip]

That's a good point. The cheap mechanical ones (like my Clarke imperial dial caliper) tend to be more reliable. Also the cheap Chinesium digital calipers are well known for eating batteries such that, by the time you need them next, you pull them out to find that they've got a flat battery.

My experience also .... but I found a simple solution.  Can you spot it?



My AUD$19.95 Aldi special (of many years ago.)

Yep, I do like the tools on offer from both Aldi and Lidl, many would claim that they are not very good, but truth is that they are ideal for the hobbyist and more than adequate leaving you laughing all the way to the bank with your savings.

[dl6lr]

Also the cheap Chinesium digital calipers are well known for eating batteries such that, by the time you need them next, you pull them out to find that they've got a flat battery.

Can not confirm this, two of my cheap calipers are in heavy use and I find I have to swap batteries only around once a year or two. And they start blinking months before they really go deaf.
Of course a Mitutoyo is a totally different league, but I do throw the chinesium ones into the rear trunk without thinking much about it (same with a cheap mutimeter).

[Kosmic]

Wow, pox on the Gorilla burned up the original and double pox on the Gorilla who thought that replacement was an acceptable substitute. The integrity of that unit is now compromised.

If you're going to use it strictly as a reference and not for design work where appreciable currents might be involved why not hand select a 0.01%, 10ohm resistor?

Did the seller advert it as "non-working" or "fully functional"? If the later you might have a case for a refund.   

Those resistor are 20ppm or 0.002%. And they are matched together at 10ppm. They also have a tempco of 1ppm/DegC. I'm not sure I'm even equipped to match a 10\$\Omega\$ resistor at that level with the equipment I have here.

Not really a problem though since most of the time you only use 10 resistors. And I have 11 left 

I don't think the seller knew one of the original resistor has been damaged. Anyway, I had a good deal so I'll let it pass.

[Cerebus]

I'm just soldering up a little board with a 74HC14, lots of decoupling and properly (back) terminated coax leads in hope of cleaning up some of my signal integrity problems while testing out the GPSDO prototype.

So, I solder a joint and turn the board over to check the other side, and out of the corner of my eye I start reading "20KD17..." off the IC. "Oh Shit! What have I picked up and soldered in instead of that 74HC14?".

I was reading off the batch number and date code!  Doh! Panic over.

[kj7e]

When you need to be sure...

[Cerebus]

Those resistor are 20ppm or 0.002%. And they are matched together at 10ppm. They also have a tempco of 1ppm/DegC. I'm not sure I'm even equipped to match a 10\$\Omega\$ resistor at that level with the equipment I have here.

You probably have if you set it up right. If you can get to a test setup where you're making a differential null measurement (i.e. the good old Wheatstone bridge) then you can get to very high precision with very modest equipment.

I'm not suggesting that you go and do it, just that you probably could if you needed to.

[Ice-Tea]

What...you don't have a pair of calipers!!! Just grab yourself a cheapo pair of digital ones, they are so bloody useful. I struggle to comprehend that don't have a pair.

I knew someone was going to bust my balls over having no calipers.    Since when does an ELT tech and sometimes carpenter need them?  If I were a sometimes machinist then sure.....but I'm not. 

Even having one is no guarantee it will be available when you need it------my "El Cheapo" one seeems to find
an unending number of spots to hide in.

There's a simple solution. Have an unending number of calipers.

[Cerebus]

What...you don't have a pair of calipers!!! Just grab yourself a cheapo pair of digital ones, they are so bloody useful. I struggle to comprehend that don't have a pair.

I knew someone was going to bust my balls over having no calipers.    Since when does an ELT tech and sometimes carpenter need them?  If I were a sometimes machinist then sure.....but I'm not. 

Even having one is no guarantee it will be available when you need it------my "El Cheapo" one seeems to find
an unending number of spots to hide in.

There's a simple solution. Have an unending number of calipers.

Is that to go with the never-ending supply of Round Tuits that nobody can ever find?

[Cerebus]

Ahh, that's better. The GPSDO's 10MHz output is now looking like this:



I'm not showing you what it looked like before, but "Dog's breakfast" wouldn't be an unfair assessment. Amazing what soldering a couple of 100nF SMD caps across a chip's power lines can do for you.

[Kosmic]

Those resistor are 20ppm or 0.002%. And they are matched together at 10ppm. They also have a tempco of 1ppm/DegC. I'm not sure I'm even equipped to match a 10\$\Omega\$ resistor at that level with the equipment I have here.

You probably have if you set it up right. If you can get to a test setup where you're making a differential null measurement (i.e. the good old Wheatstone bridge) then you can get to very high precision with very modest equipment.

I'm not suggesting that you go and do it, just that you probably could if you needed to.

I have a ESI 240 Kelvin Bridge I need to put back into service. But anyway the problem is mostly finding enough 1ppm tempco resistor to find one that match Or an exceptionally stable trimpot.

[Ice-Tea]

What...you don't have a pair of calipers!!! Just grab yourself a cheapo pair of digital ones, they are so bloody useful. I struggle to comprehend that don't have a pair.

I knew someone was going to bust my balls over having no calipers.    Since when does an ELT tech and sometimes carpenter need them?  If I were a sometimes machinist then sure.....but I'm not. 

Even having one is no guarantee it will be available when you need it------my "El Cheapo" one seeems to find
an unending number of spots to hide in.

There's a simple solution. Have an unending number of calipers.

Is that to go with the never-ending supply of Round Tuits that nobody can ever find?

Had to look that up

It also goes with
- scope probes
- dmm leads
- solder
- solder wick
- ballpoints
- ...

It's simple, really, if you add enough units at some point you'll reach an equilibrium between the ones you're loosing and finding back and you'll always have "one" handy.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Had a call from another department at work to see if I had a "big" DC supply at home.
.
.
.

Glad to hear that this happens to other people too. I was almost thinking that this was not a normal condition, but now I am much relieved. 
My previous boss was even bolder it taking advantage of my TEA. He actually tried to influence my aquisitions.

[Ice-Tea]

Had a call from another department at work to see if I had a "big" DC supply at home.
.
.
.

Glad to hear that this happens to other people too. I was almost thinking that this was not a normal condition, but now I am much relieved. 
My previous boss was even bolder it taking advantage of my TEA. He actually tried to influence my aquisitions.

Have him contact me 

[mnementh]

What...you don't have a pair of calipers!!! Just grab yourself a cheapo pair of digital ones, they are so bloody useful. I struggle to comprehend that don't have a pair.

I knew someone was going to bust my balls over having no calipers.    Since when does an ELT tech and sometimes carpenter need them?  If I were a sometimes machinist then sure.....but I'm not. 

Even having one is no guarantee it will be available when you need it------my "El Cheapo" one seeems to find
an unending number of spots to hide in.

There's a simple solution. Have an unending number of calipers.

Is that to go with the never-ending supply of Round Tuits that nobody can ever find?

Had to look that up

It also goes with
- scope probes
- dmm leads
- solder
- solder wick
- ballpoints
- ...

It's simple, really, if you add enough units at some point you'll reach an equilibrium between the ones you're loosing and finding back and you'll always have "one" handy.

*crosses arms and Harrummmphs loudly*

Doesn't work with tape measures; I own easily a dozen bought just since I crossed the border. They have no problem finding a way not to be found whenever I really need one.     I have no reason to believe this approach would work any better on a little digital segmented stick.

mnem

   I call Shenanigans on Murphy!!!

[Ice-Tea]

What...you don't have a pair of calipers!!! Just grab yourself a cheapo pair of digital ones, they are so bloody useful. I struggle to comprehend that don't have a pair.

I knew someone was going to bust my balls over having no calipers.    Since when does an ELT tech and sometimes carpenter need them?  If I were a sometimes machinist then sure.....but I'm not. 

Even having one is no guarantee it will be available when you need it------my "El Cheapo" one seeems to find
an unending number of spots to hide in.

There's a simple solution. Have an unending number of calipers.

Is that to go with the never-ending supply of Round Tuits that nobody can ever find?

Had to look that up

It also goes with
- scope probes
- dmm leads
- solder
- solder wick
- ballpoints
- ...

It's simple, really, if you add enough units at some point you'll reach an equilibrium between the ones you're loosing and finding back and you'll always have "one" handy.

*crosses arms and Harrummmphs loudly*

Doesn't work with tape measures; I own easily a dozen bought just since I crossed the border. They have no problem finding a way not to be found whenever I really need one.     I have no reason to believe this approach would work any better on a little digital segmented stick.

[mnementh]

Hardly a fair comparison. No way in Hell am I gonna buy 7.9 billion tape measures or calipers just to have one when I need it.

mnem
We also don't need that many people for the same reason...

[Ice-Tea]

I can totally see we don't need so many people, but how can you say we don't need that much *stuff*.

You're just weird. Obviously, the answer to everything is always: more stuff.

[mnementh]

No, the answer to "everything" is still 42. 

In the interest of everyone's sanity, I'm willing to compromise on that number; if a person owns that many of either measurement device and can't find one when they need the thing, it is clearly time to bow before Murphy's awesome power and do something else... lest he make an example of you in truly Darwin-Award-worthy fashion.   

mnem

[kj7e]

No, the answer to "everything" is still 42. 

In the interest of everyone's sanity, I'm willing to compromise on that number; if a person owns that many of either measurement device and can't find one when they need the thing, it is clearly time to bow before Murphy's awesome power and do something else... lest he make an example of you in truly Darwin-Award-worthy fashion.   

mnem

42 is the ultimate answer to the ultimate question, just no one remembers the question.

[AVGresponding]

Ugh, I would be all over this like a cheap suit if not for the location   

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/194160591309

[Cerebus]

Ugh, I would be all over this like a cheap suit if not for the location   

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/194160591309

As would I, like a cheap 70s Crimplene suit.

[Robert763]

Had a call from another department at work to see if I had a "big" DC supply at home.
.
.
.

Glad to hear that this happens to other people too. I was almost thinking that this was not a normal condition, but now I am much relieved. 
My previous boss was even bolder it taking advantage of my TEA. He actually tried to influence my aquisitions.

When thay ask "what don't you have" my answer is "space and money"