Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

Horribly engineered those are. I’d run a mile. Also selenium fucktifier in it 

I thought it came from the same stable where your Mum worked, no?

[mnementh]

I don't hate him... I just can't listen to him talk without wanting to goad him with a cattleprod to move along to the point.

I watch his videos, but I bump the speed up to 1.25x. He's got good tips for noobs like me and his troubleshooting skills are excellent. I like when he plays with audio gear. The only person that can make RF interesting to me is Shahriar of The Signal Path, when he is in a mood to explain things to non-RF-people.

I also like FesZ Electronics since he has interesting topics, and also Kasyan TV since he has limited resources and yet is always making useful things. He's one of the few guys that can make SMPS interesting to me. And who doesn't love EEVblog? Can't get enough of Fundamentals Fridays. It was watching Dave that got me into electronics enough to start making monthly payments to ebay, AliExpress, and Digi-Key.

EDIT:

Still no word from USPS as to where my Digi-Key package is. USPS tracking is as useless as tits on a bull when they fail to deliver the package then mark it "Delivered" on their web site. Either that, or there is a very disappointed mail thief. "Ooh, it says 'electronics' on the package!"

USPS tracking is more of "an optimistic projection" of your package's progress through the innards of a Postal Service  deliberately disemboweled by the previous regime at the demand of its corporate overlords that there would be an excuse to privatize it completely. The fact that sack of shit is still PostBitch-General is all the proof you need that this admin will be aboot as effective at real change as the Obama admin.

This I know from personal experience, living within driving distance of the sorting center that serves the entire Southeast corner of the nation; it is completely normal for a package to move through the entire system, showing incremental progress along the way, until it is actually scanned for the first time since it was tendered when the carrier puts it in the day's line of deliveries. it was not unusual for me to see them making deliveries as late as 8PM; of course, the usurious contracts they made with Amazon and Wally World Marketplace meant that regular deliveries took third place at best.

This means that at some point the carrier has to pull the plug on the day's deliveries, done or not. It is then SOP for them to mark all packages as delivered to keep their metrics from tanking, and make a "best effort" attempt at actually completing the delivery ASAP; whereupon the "delivered" package magically appears in your mailbox the next business day or day after that.

Honestly; given the hours these people are forced to work and the utterly psychotic workloads that are demanded of them, it's no surprise they run out of GAF halfway through the week. I doubt I could last a month doing it.

Put the blame where it belongs: the sociopathic drive in all things business to not pay a person for doing a job. This particular flavor of bullshit has infected every aspect of modern life.

mnem
 

[med6753]

I'm quirky, weird, grouchy, anal, set in my ways, but I never claimed to be an engineer. But my last position at IBM I did get a play one for a while and boss said I did a good job. And I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn the night before. 

   

[mnementh]

Horribly engineered those are. I’d run a mile. Also selenium fucktifier in it 

I thought it came from the same stable where your Mum worked, no?

bd has related countless stories from his mum of what a fustercluck that gig really was.

mnem
 

[Vince]

Linux/UNIX doesn't care, if it is / or // or //////

Good to know ! 20 years using Linux as my main and only OS and I never noticed that ! 

Anyway, Kicad problem just been FIXED ! 

My post on the Kicad forum was fruitful !
A gentlemen pointed me to a page on their forum which solves my problem.

Conflict between left over user config files of my previous v4 version in some hidden folder. Removed the old offending library config file, in turn that made Kicad ask me if I wanted to setup the default library config.. said YES !

Now it all works, PHEW ! 

Can now get back to trying to route this bloody board.. only 6 components but trying to make them fit into a fly ass hole is no easy task for a beginner !  Never used Kicad and my last CAD/board design was 15 years ago...hmmm.....

[bd139]

Horribly engineered those are. I’d run a mile. Also selenium fucktifier in it 

I thought it came from the same stable where your Mum worked, no?

bd has related countless stories from his mum of what a fustercluck that gig really was.

mnem
 

That one was before her time there. I’ve seen inside them. This was an early PCB attempt scope. So is brown FR1 junk and it was designed to be assembled and never repaired and kicked out of the door for a low price for basic servicing only.

[bd139]

Linux/UNIX doesn't care, if it is / or // or //////

Good to know ! 20 years using Linux as my main and only OS and I never noticed that ! 

Anyway, Kicad problem just been FIXED ! 

My post on the Kicad forum was fruitful !
A gentlemen pointed me to a page on their forum which solves my problem.

Conflict between left over user config files of my previous v4 version in some hidden folder. Removed the old offending library config file, in turn that made Kicad ask me if I wanted to setup the default library config.. said YES !

Now it all works, PHEW ! 

Can now get back to trying to route this bloody board.. only 6 components but trying to make them fit into a fly ass hole is no easy task for a beginner !  Never used Kicad and my last CAD/board design was 15 years ago...hmmm.....

Perhaps ironically my kicad on my Mac did something similar the other day. I clicked the wrong thing on setup and ended up with no libraries 

[Cerebus]

I have no real problem with Carlson and I usually enjoy his videos in spite of his repetition. I understand why because he realizes many beginners view his videos.

But him and I work together? No way, it would be like Clash of the Titans. 

I don't get the hate for him myself. He has his own schtick, and I think it works. I enjoy him because he tends to work on older stuff that Shahriar (my other favorite youtuber) tends to not bother with.

...as to other posters talking about magic boxes...you can get into his patreon for $1 and get the schematics and all that. Build it yourself, test it, see if it's reproducible. Unlike a lot of the crap that passes for science these days, he actually does provide access to everything you need to reproduce his work.

I don't think anyone has expressed "hate for him myself". No one has said that he sacrificed babies, is secretly behind undermining the world's financial system, or anything like that. All people seem to have expressed is a dislike for his presentation style and the whole secret magic box thing. Except Med, Med's simply recognised that if the two had to work together there would be a severe personality clash - that sounds more like self awareness than hatred.

I've only watched a handful of his videos, or rather tried to watch. I don't think I've got to the end of any because the s-l-o-w, repetitive, "For god's sake man, get on with it!" presentation style really grates after 10 minutes. But even in that brief engagement with his stuff I've heard about the super secret capacitor tester way too many times. The constant plugging  gets annoying, especially when combined with the fact that a capacitor leakage tester is a very ordinary instrument for one to design and one shouldn't sound super pleased with oneself every bloody time you mention it. I've designed and built a prototype GPSDO, it produces an rms output error of [checks overnight run] 61 uHz on a 10 MHz signal - [sarcasm] whoop de do, clever me [/sarcasm]. But would you want to hear about it in every bloody message I posted here - I think not.

Whether the secret squirrel capacitor tester works properly or not isn't really what gets peoples' goat, it's the perceived smugness about it. Combine that smugness with the fact that, on first examination, it can't work properly "because physics" and that smugness begins to sound like hubris. That, I suspect is what moves people from "He's not for me." to "Oh. Him!".

[mnementh]

In my mind, there is absolutely no doubt that he knows his stuff

Indeed he is knowledgeable -- far more so than I am.

The twisting of SMD caps makes me nervous. It might work, but I'd rather not try it ;-)  Hmm. I've got a friend who's got one of those
-hp- scopes which is what I saw him perform that in.

The testing of HV caps with not HV is iMNSHO not conclusive, but probably a result of desperately not wanting ones name behind a dangerous product.  Understandable.

Engineering types can be quirky. Hell, I am. We should cut ourselves and those like us (here I'm claiming to be quirky, not pretending to be an engineer..) some slack.

That fact in and of itself tells me it is probable that the man has never worked on/refuses to work on anything with modern levels of component density and the concomitant tiny traces which will lift off the PCB if you look at them crossly. ie; there's a reason he sticks with hollow-state; it's a lot harder to completely fuckerize what you're supposedly fixing.

I suspect he has chosen to ignore anything with multi-layer PCBs for that reason which is perfectly fine; it is after all his shop and his show. Just don't follow this example/advice on anything made since the Reagan administration.

Do, however, put that knowledge to use where it belongs: an understanding that while this guy may know a lot aboot his particular bailiwick in electronics; that knowledge is limited and does not necessarily apply to anything modern.

mnem
Just like my own knowledge. 

[McBryce]

In my mind, there is absolutely no doubt that he knows his stuff

Indeed he is knowledgeable -- far more so than I am.

The twisting of SMD caps makes me nervous. It might work, but I'd rather not try it ;-)  Hmm. I've got a friend who's got one of those
-hp- scopes which is what I saw him perform that in.

The testing of HV caps with not HV is iMNSHO not conclusive, but probably a result of desperately not wanting ones name behind a dangerous product.  Understandable.

Engineering types can be quirky. Hell, I am. We should cut ourselves and those like us (here I'm claiming to be quirky, not pretending to be an engineer..) some slack.

I've swapped hundreds of leaking SMD electrolytic caps on Amiga 600/1200 systems. If the cap hasn't leaked yet, then unsoldering works best, but if there is any sign of leaking, the pads will float off the board as soon as they warm up. In those cases, it's much safer to twist the cap off so that the tabs can be unsoldered while holding the pad in place or you can clean and re-glue the pad before removing the remaining tab.

McBryce.

[Cerebus]

Horribly engineered those are. I’d run a mile. Also selenium fucktifier in it 

I thought it came from the same stable where your Mum worked, no?

[Fx: Rowan Atkinson voice] BD's mother is a horse?

[Specmaster]

In my mind, there is absolutely no doubt that he knows his stuff

Indeed he is knowledgeable -- far more so than I am.

The twisting of SMD caps makes me nervous. It might work, but I'd rather not try it ;-)  Hmm. I've got a friend who's got one of those
-hp- scopes which is what I saw him perform that in.

The testing of HV caps with not HV is iMNSHO not conclusive, but probably a result of desperately not wanting ones name behind a dangerous product.  Understandable.

Engineering types can be quirky. Hell, I am. We should cut ourselves and those like us (here I'm claiming to be quirky, not pretending to be an engineer..) some slack.

You know, I seem to recall that I tried that twisting off that twisting off the circular SMD electrolytic caps on a old scrap board, and it did in fact work. I think the trick is to grip it firmly and push the cap down onto the board, and twist gently at the same time. I have also tried using a soldering iron, without much success unless there is a large amount of pad exposed on each side, in order to get the iron to transfer a lot of heat under the cap and gently lifting that leg from the pad, I have had the pad lift of the board that way, and sometimes it also lifts the other side pad at the same time.

On reflection, it seems that the push down and twist method has worked the best, provided the board is in good shape, if the cap being removed has leaked its electrolyte and has been there for some time, there is a risk that it may have seeped under the pad and weakened its grip to the board. In such instance, then there is a high risk that any method you use will lift or tear the pad away.

[Specmaster]

In my mind, there is absolutely no doubt that he knows his stuff

Indeed he is knowledgeable -- far more so than I am.

The twisting of SMD caps makes me nervous. It might work, but I'd rather not try it ;-)  Hmm. I've got a friend who's got one of those
-hp- scopes which is what I saw him perform that in.

The testing of HV caps with not HV is iMNSHO not conclusive, but probably a result of desperately not wanting ones name behind a dangerous product.  Understandable.

Engineering types can be quirky. Hell, I am. We should cut ourselves and those like us (here I'm claiming to be quirky, not pretending to be an engineer..) some slack.

I've swapped hundreds of leaking SMD electrolytic caps on Amiga 600/1200 systems. If the cap hasn't leaked yet, then unsoldering works best, but if there is any sign of leaking, the pads will float off the board as soon as they warm up. In those cases, it's much safer to twist the cap off so that the tabs can be unsoldered while holding the pad in place or you can clean and re-glue the pad before removing the remaining tab.

McBryce.

I think that those Amiga boards were almost certainly pre unleaded days, so unsoldering is always an option if you can get in to the tabs OK. Problem is with the unleaded solder, you have to hold the iron there for so long in order to get the solder to melt, that it also softens the glue beneath the pad and once risks lifting/tearing the pad from the board.

[mnementh]

Naaahhh...

Most stuff made in the last couple decades has such high density and sub-mm trace/pad width that looking at the traces crossly will make them fall off the board. He just avoids stuff made that way.

mnem
 

[mnementh]

...Whether the secret squirrel capacitor tester works properly or not isn't really what gets peoples' goat, it's the perceived smugness about it. Combine that smugness with the fact that, on first examination, it can't work properly "because physics" and that smugness begins to sound like hubris. That, I suspect is what moves people from "He's not for me." to "Oh. Him!".

I suspect that is a large part of the secret squirrel capacitor decoder is the fact that the guy does in fact mostly only do hollow-state. It may very well be that for the kinds of fossil capacitors used therein, it is actually a halfway-serviceable prognostication tool, especially if you have decades of experience using some form of it. 

Just like how most of us have learned, from experience, how long a beep from the continuity tester or how fast a needle swing on our favorite meter indicates a likely not garbage electrolytic cap on a PCB when we're doing our preliminary round of troubleshooting. That internal table of reference we all develop... it is something very personal and not easily transferable to another person or meter. 

mnem
 

[bd139]

On SMD caps, it works until it doesn't. And then it take the pad, traces and any via rings with it. Or even cracks a trace or two. Perhaps people like fixing blind vias and debugging intermittent thermal issues down the line

If it's cocked up, use a fibreglass pencil to get some of the corrosion off, then apply flux and hot air. Then scrub the board down, re-tin the pad and resolder a new one to it.

[McBryce]

In my mind, there is absolutely no doubt that he knows his stuff

Indeed he is knowledgeable -- far more so than I am.

The twisting of SMD caps makes me nervous. It might work, but I'd rather not try it ;-)  Hmm. I've got a friend who's got one of those
-hp- scopes which is what I saw him perform that in.

The testing of HV caps with not HV is iMNSHO not conclusive, but probably a result of desperately not wanting ones name behind a dangerous product.  Understandable.

Engineering types can be quirky. Hell, I am. We should cut ourselves and those like us (here I'm claiming to be quirky, not pretending to be an engineer..) some slack.

I've swapped hundreds of leaking SMD electrolytic caps on Amiga 600/1200 systems. If the cap hasn't leaked yet, then unsoldering works best, but if there is any sign of leaking, the pads will float off the board as soon as they warm up. In those cases, it's much safer to twist the cap off so that the tabs can be unsoldered while holding the pad in place or you can clean and re-glue the pad before removing the remaining tab.

McBryce.

I think that those Amiga boards were almost certainly pre unleaded days, so unsoldering is always an option if you can get in to the tabs OK. Problem is with the unleaded solder, you have to hold the iron there for so long in order to get the solder to melt, that it also softens the glue beneath the pad and once risks lifting/tearing the pad from the board.

Yup, it's leaded solder, but access is the main issue. Here's the power input area of the A600. Those 3x 100µf caps are the first to leak and getting an iron in between the cap and the modulator is all but impossible. Even my smallest iron (iCon Nano) with the smallest tip doesn't fit in there.

McBryce.

[mnementh]

Yeah... that's a job I'd tackled with a 3mm nozzle on my hot air and some scraps of flashing aluminum as a heat shield. But before that, I'd probably try heating from underneath on a sacrificial board, just to see.

mnem
 

[Kosmic]

In my mind, there is absolutely no doubt that he knows his stuff

Indeed he is knowledgeable -- far more so than I am.

The twisting of SMD caps makes me nervous. It might work, but I'd rather not try it ;-)  Hmm. I've got a friend who's got one of those
-hp- scopes which is what I saw him perform that in.

The testing of HV caps with not HV is iMNSHO not conclusive, but probably a result of desperately not wanting ones name behind a dangerous product.  Understandable.

Engineering types can be quirky. Hell, I am. We should cut ourselves and those like us (here I'm claiming to be quirky, not pretending to be an engineer..) some slack.

That fact in and of itself tells me it is probable that the man has never worked on/refuses to work on anything with modern levels of component density and the concomitant tiny traces which will lift off the PCB if you look at them crossly. ie; there's a reason he sticks with hollow-state; it's a lot harder to completely fuckerize what you're supposedly fixing.

Just for fun I tried his technique on a scrap board and stripped the pads. Can't believe he did a video on this. In the same category as "If you don't have any toothpaste, you can brush your teeth with sand."

[bd139]

Yep it’s stupid. 

[Specmaster]

In my mind, there is absolutely no doubt that he knows his stuff

Indeed he is knowledgeable -- far more so than I am.

The twisting of SMD caps makes me nervous. It might work, but I'd rather not try it ;-)  Hmm. I've got a friend who's got one of those
-hp- scopes which is what I saw him perform that in.

The testing of HV caps with not HV is iMNSHO not conclusive, but probably a result of desperately not wanting ones name behind a dangerous product.  Understandable.

Engineering types can be quirky. Hell, I am. We should cut ourselves and those like us (here I'm claiming to be quirky, not pretending to be an engineer..) some slack.

That fact in and of itself tells me it is probable that the man has never worked on/refuses to work on anything with modern levels of component density and the concomitant tiny traces which will lift off the PCB if you look at them crossly. ie; there's a reason he sticks with hollow-state; it's a lot harder to completely fuckerize what you're supposedly fixing.

I suspect he has chosen to ignore anything with multi-layer PCBs for that reason which is perfectly fine; it is after all his shop and his show. Just don't follow this example/advice on anything made since the Reagan administration.

Do, however, put that knowledge to use where it belongs: an understanding that while this guy may know a lot aboot his particular bailiwick in electronics; that knowledge is limited and does not necessarily apply to anything modern.

mnem
Just like my own knowledge. 

Guys, you really don't like him, do you and may I suggest that you are allowing your bias to wire your eyes shut when it comes to his skills. You are so far removed from the truth when you say that he only works on tubes, or hollow state devices. Take a serious look through his back catalogue of videos and you will see just how blinkered you have become towards him. He has worked on many modern items such as ICOM IC-751A, ICOM IC-746, Yaesu FT-900, Tek TDS420, Sony CRF320, Yaesu FT-1000MP, Panasonic RF4900, TEN-TEC Eagle 599 and many others and these most certainly are not tubes.

All of his new devices that he designs are done using DMD devices and he has many of those in his toolkit and library, so he is just as much in his comfort zone working on HV tube devices as he is on TH and SMD alike.

I suggest that the reason why he has so many videos featuring hallow tube devices is that he enjoys restoring these bad boys, and he is not alone in that dept, there are dedicated groups for such people as well.

Am I a person who worships him, hell no, I have admitted I find some of the things he does and how he speaks at times mind-numbingly boring, and I'm also guilty of falling a sleep just listening to him at times, but I still think that he deserves to be fairly represented which he isn't 

[Specmaster]

In my mind, there is absolutely no doubt that he knows his stuff

Indeed he is knowledgeable -- far more so than I am.

The twisting of SMD caps makes me nervous. It might work, but I'd rather not try it ;-)  Hmm. I've got a friend who's got one of those
-hp- scopes which is what I saw him perform that in.

The testing of HV caps with not HV is iMNSHO not conclusive, but probably a result of desperately not wanting ones name behind a dangerous product.  Understandable.

Engineering types can be quirky. Hell, I am. We should cut ourselves and those like us (here I'm claiming to be quirky, not pretending to be an engineer..) some slack.

That fact in and of itself tells me it is probable that the man has never worked on/refuses to work on anything with modern levels of component density and the concomitant tiny traces which will lift off the PCB if you look at them crossly. ie; there's a reason he sticks with hollow-state; it's a lot harder to completely fuckerize what you're supposedly fixing.

Just for fun I tried his technique on a scrap board and stripped the pads. Can't believe he did a video on this. In the same category as "If you don't have any toothpaste, you can brush your teeth with sand."

Maybe you did not push down towards the board and twist at the same time, in the same way as you would remove a BC light bulb? There is a topic somewhere on this forum regarding the removal of these caps, and it seems that a lot of people do use the push and twist method very successfully.

Here is another method which I have also used

[Andrew_Debbie]

Anyone else read customer reviews on AliExpress for their entertainment value?

The donkey came quickly. Checked, works. In all modes did not chase. Noisy on the screen. The ideal smooth line does not allow even when turning the BNC input. For measurements does not interfere much. The screen is bright. 17 Apr

[Kosmic]

In my mind, there is absolutely no doubt that he knows his stuff

Indeed he is knowledgeable -- far more so than I am.

The twisting of SMD caps makes me nervous. It might work, but I'd rather not try it ;-)  Hmm. I've got a friend who's got one of those
-hp- scopes which is what I saw him perform that in.

The testing of HV caps with not HV is iMNSHO not conclusive, but probably a result of desperately not wanting ones name behind a dangerous product.  Understandable.

Engineering types can be quirky. Hell, I am. We should cut ourselves and those like us (here I'm claiming to be quirky, not pretending to be an engineer..) some slack.

That fact in and of itself tells me it is probable that the man has never worked on/refuses to work on anything with modern levels of component density and the concomitant tiny traces which will lift off the PCB if you look at them crossly. ie; there's a reason he sticks with hollow-state; it's a lot harder to completely fuckerize what you're supposedly fixing.

Just for fun I tried his technique on a scrap board and stripped the pads. Can't believe he did a video on this. In the same category as "If you don't have any toothpaste, you can brush your teeth with sand."

Maybe you did not push down towards the board and twist at the same time, in the same way as you would remove a BC light bulb? There is a topic somewhere on this forum regarding the removal of these caps, and it seems that a lot of people do use the push and twist method very successfully.

Here is another method which I have also used

My approach is pretty traditional since I dislike fixing pads and traces on a board.

I Normally:

1. Clean the board with IPA, if there is any contaminant (Electrolytic fluid and such).
2. If enough clearance, Use soldering tweezer with flux. Optionally adding new solder to help the process.
3. If #2 was not possible, Preheat the board, then use hot air + flux + tweezer.

I never broke anything this way.

[Specmaster]

I have no real problem with Carlson and I usually enjoy his videos in spite of his repetition. I understand why because he realizes many beginners view his videos.

But him and I work together? No way, it would be like Clash of the Titans. 

I don't get the hate for him myself. He has his own schtick, and I think it works. I enjoy him because he tends to work on older stuff that Shahriar (my other favorite youtuber) tends to not bother with.

...as to other posters talking about magic boxes...you can get into his patreon for $1 and get the schematics and all that. Build it yourself, test it, see if it's reproducible. Unlike a lot of the crap that passes for science these days, he actually does provide access to everything you need to reproduce his work.

I don't think anyone has expressed "hate for him myself". No one has said that he sacrificed babies, is secretly behind undermining the world's financial system, or anything like that. All people seem to have expressed is a dislike for his presentation style and the whole secret magic box thing. Except Med, Med's simply recognised that if the two had to work together there would be a severe personality clash - that sounds more like self awareness than hatred.

I've only watched a handful of his videos, or rather tried to watch. I don't think I've got to the end of any because the s-l-o-w, repetitive, "For god's sake man, get on with it!" presentation style really grates after 10 minutes. But even in that brief engagement with his stuff I've heard about the super secret capacitor tester way too many times. The constant plugging  gets annoying, especially when combined with the fact that a capacitor leakage tester is a very ordinary instrument for one to design and one shouldn't sound super pleased with oneself every bloody time you mention it. I've designed and built a prototype GPSDO, it produces an rms output error of [checks overnight run] 61 uHz on a 10 MHz signal - [sarcasm] whoop de do, clever me [/sarcasm]. But would you want to hear about it in every bloody message I posted here - I think not.

Whether the secret squirrel capacitor tester works properly or not isn't really what gets peoples' goat, it's the perceived smugness about it. Combine that smugness with the fact that, on first examination, it can't work properly "because physics" and that smugness begins to sound like hubris. That, I suspect is what moves people from "He's not for me." to "Oh. Him!".

I agree, with the repetition and also the constant plugging of his cap tester etc, but at the end of the day, we all have to remember that we have heard it before, but there are also loads of new people getting involved in electronics daily, and they will not have heard it before  I also don't like it when YouTubers say don't forget to Like, Subscribe and click that Bell, while others actively push people towards their Patreon channel which only costs the equivalent of a coffee a month for getting to be either the first to see new content or get exclusive content. When it gets to that part of their presentation, I just ignore it if the rest of it is worth watching. I think of it more like people skills, many people have little mannerisms or sayings, just as mnem has his little dragon thing going, if that is not your cup of tea then ignore that aspect of it. Like it or not we all have our little quirks and those quirks make it a very colourful and interesting world, it would be so boring if we were all the same.