Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

Thought I'd throw in a gratuitous shot of my tower of TTi goodness, well some of it at least, I'm not stacking my power supplies  . The SM630 and 1906 I think I'll be swapping them over as the angled display on the SM630 would suit better if it was on the bottom of that pile. Incidentally, notice how other gear does indeed stack on top of the HP3466A and similar series perfectly happily. I will admit however that if you have more than 1 in a column, the slight angle of the other items above it would be more noticeable, but not a problem IMV as each item stacked on it could be pulled forward by a mm or 2 without any detriment to the appearance or operation. 

[xrunner]

Thought I'd throw in a gratuitous shot of my tower of TTi goodness, well some of it at least, I'm not stacking my power supplies  . The SM630 and 1906 I think I'll be swapping them over as the angled display on the SM630 would suit better if it was on the bottom of that pile. Incidentally, notice how other gear does indeed stack on top of the HP3466A and similar series perfectly happily. I will admit however that if you have more than 1 in a column, the slight angle of the other items above it would be more noticeable, but not a problem IMV as each item stacked on it could be pulled forward by a mm or 2 without any detriment to the appearance or operation. 

Nice, and here's a video I just recorded of the hobby room here -

[Vince]

Lab is suspiciously clean and tidy, this is obviously staged ! I want to see the REAL lab ! 

[xrunner]

Lab is suspiciously clean and tidy, this is obviously staged ! I want to see the REAL lab ! 

Vince - believe it or not, not everyone in this world is a slob. 

[Vince]

Thanks, didn't know what " slob " meant, just looked it up, I know a new word now, looking forward to using it !

[Cerebus]

No one over here will be able to get Freon, unless they find some old stock, the later P6015A version uses silicone compound according to the Tek datasheet.

The modern substitute would be a fluro-something from Galden but expect your wallet to have a heart attack.

Galden® PFPE’s excellent dielectric properties are the primary reason they are used in many applications. Dielectric strength is 40 kV at 2.54-mm gap. Volume resistivity is 1.5·10¹⁵Ohm·cm.

[mnementh]

...Cloudflare gives me "I'm a human" challenges all the time. Must look into moving away from HE, except for OOB access.

Me too! And here I figured it was just the scales and wings... 

mnem

[mnementh]

What is it with you Yanks having toggle switches that flick up for ON ? 

I guess it's because we like to aggravate the rest of the world just like we thumb our noses at the metric system. 

Seriously, it seems normal and natural. All my factory built equipment is like that and our wall switches are the same.

It's not just the North Americans who do this. It is standard for toggle switches on aircraft. The reasoning is that accidental operation to ON is less likely. This is because things fall down not up.

Exactly. 

We also put our TP & PT on the holder in the correct overhand fashion.   

mnem
Anything less would be uncivilized...

[Vince]

Why chose UP or DOWN logic ? Have 3 entry points in my living room, each have switches for the ceiling light. So there is no up or down position to turn the light on or off, just flick the switch to whatever position and it will toggle the light on or off depending on its last state.

For the other rooms where there is only one entry point, UP position is OFF, at least in France that's our logic. However to make everyone happy I am thinking maybe I will remove those boring toggle switches and just use a momentary action push-button wired to a flip-flop, works too !

[mnementh]

Lab is suspiciously clean and tidy, this is obviously staged ! I want to see the REAL lab ! 

Vince - believe it or not, not everyone in this world is a slob. 

Fuck dat noize. Life's too short to clean up before the mess reaches critical mass.

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Why chose UP or DOWN logic ? Have 3 entry points in my living room, each have switches for the ceiling light. So there is no up or down position to turn the light on or off, just flick the switch to whatever position and it will toggle the light on or off depending on its last state.

For the other rooms where there is only one entry point, UP position is OFF, at least in France that's our logic. However to make everyone happy I am thinking maybe I will remove those boring toggle switches and just use a momentary action push-button wired to a flip-flop, works too !

   

Oh, then you have the "switch with a pilot light" thing... where it glows faintly (or brightly, as the one above) when off so you can find it in the dark. 

But at least over here, the light switches that have ON and OFF molded into the switch have ON in the UP position, so that kindof makes it pretty clear. They make it so we mere users don't have to think aboot such things; and when we do, there are always guys like Bob Vila to give even the most hopeless home-fixers among us the basics so we shouldn't be killing ourselves.

https://www.bobvila.com/articles/how-to-replace-a-light-switch/

mnem
 

[bd139]

Lab is suspiciously clean and tidy, this is obviously staged ! I want to see the REAL lab ! 

Vince - believe it or not, not everyone in this world is a slob. 

Fuck dat noize. Life's too short to clean up before the mess reaches critical mass.

mnem
 

This.

Mine reached critical mass this week so I just spent half the day cleaning and tidying.

Got a whole week of activities and things on so have filed the test gear away for the week so I can concentrate on stuff I must do not want to do

[Specmaster]

@xrunner
It would be really nice to be able to have that amount of real estate for a "hobby room", just a couple of observations, how do you use the test gear that is tucked away high up on those shelves, do you drag them down when you need them, or do you use them where they are? Like many others have already commented on, that hobby room is just too tidy for my liking, when I'm working on a project, I like to keep things I'm using as close to hand as possible, no time to keep putting things away after each use. 

[mnementh]

I am constantly impressed by the vast deviation of topics generally 

Did I earn the title of honorary redhead ?

You're far too sensible for that title

Seriously people... 3 and a half hours of Discord shenanigans that I need to review...? 

mnem
fuck-nards. 

[xrunner]

@xrunner
It would be really nice to be able to have that amount of real estate for a "hobby room", just a couple of observations, how do you use the test gear that is tucked away high up on those shelves, do you drag them down when you need them, or do you use them where they are?

I pull them down as needed. Some I have just for the memories (used them in the 90's at work).

Like may others have already commented on, that hobby room is just too tidy for my liking, when I'm working on a project, I like to keep things I'm using as close to hand as possible, no time to keep putting things away after each use. 

Well I don't understand you guys as far as that goes. I'm single and I have the time to make my room as I see fit. If you don't, I couldn't care less - it YOUR room. Do what you want to, I don't care. I live my life as I like it and it's worked out just fine. Who cares? 

[Specmaster]

@xrunner
It would be really nice to be able to have that amount of real estate for a "hobby room", just a couple of observations, how do you use the test gear that is tucked away high up on those shelves, do you drag them down when you need them, or do you use them where they are?

I pull them down as needed. Some I have just for the memories (used them in the 90's at work).

Like may others have already commented on, that hobby room is just too tidy for my liking, when I'm working on a project, I like to keep things I'm using as close to hand as possible, no time to keep putting things away after each use. 

Well I don't understand you guys as far as that goes. I'm single and I have the time to make my room as I see fit. If you don't, I couldn't care less - it YOUR room. Do what you want to, I don't care. I live my life as I like it and it's worked out just fine. Who cares? 

I like to have all of my gear already plugged in and ready to go at the flick of a switch  apart from the finding and plugging in of the test leads, hence I keep everything as low and close to the work bench top as is possible and of course, my bench is not that extensive to allow me to drag something and plonk it down close to the project.

I never gave your martial status a single thought, I just thought that American homes are that much larger than European ones, as it seems judging by the number of hobby / lab rooms pictured on these forums from the USA, nearly always feature loads of space, that is it, plain and simple

[mnementh]

...Well I don't understand you guys as far as that goes. I'm single and I have the time to make my room as I see fit. If you don't, I couldn't care less - it YOUR room. Do what you want to, I don't care. I live my life as I like it and it's worked out just fine. Who cares? 

Yes, but it's just so much fun to pick on you neat-freaks. Y'all make it so rewarding! 

mnem

[xrunner]

I like to have all of my gear already plugged in and ready to go at the flick of a switch  apart from the finding and plugging in of the test leads, hence I keep everything as low and close to the work bench top as is possible and of course, my bench is not that extensive to allow me to drag something and plonk it down close to the project.

Most of what I need is already plugged in and ready to go. I have a lot of extra gear because I like to buy and restore it. I have an rf signal generator, two scopes, two DMMs, a spectrum analyzer, pulse generator, four PSUs, two frequency counters, A GPSDO, soldering iron, and microscope all there and a shit load of tools in the two drawers on that bench. What more do I need to pile on there? 

I never gave your martial status a single thought, I just thought that American homes are that much larger than European ones, as it seems judging by the number of hobby / lab rooms pictured on these forums from the USA, nearly always feature loads of space, that is it, plain and simple

My house is not that big really. Have you seen the amount of stuff some of these people accumulate? I frankly need to stop buying much more gear because it's just piling up.

Hey! Maybe I do have a mess after all! 

[bd139]

Your house is big. My lab is also my office, living room and bedroom 

[mnementh]

As of about a week ago Apple are added to the vendor shitlist here. There another thread about that though.

They still produce the best hardware and software combo but now compromised privacy and a compliance nightmare means I can’t conscientiously continue using their platform without endorsing a downward spiral for my kids.

As you’ve heard me say: always have an exit plan and that has been played.

Reference in context: https://www.macrumors.com/2021/08/18/german-politician-letter-tim-cook-csam-scanning/

Saw you talking more on this in the Discord... You mean you're actually getting rid of the iPuds & iPwns for the kidzz, etc as well...?

mnem
all I can say is... hide the shovels so they can't make you dig your own hole... 

[Neomys Sapiens]

What is it with you Yanks having toggle switches that flick up for ON ? 

I would never mount them otherwise. And I am not a yank. At least for a regular on/off function, especially as a mains switch, ergonomics and safety mandate so.

[xrunner]

Your house is big. My lab is also my office, living room and bedroom 

[MED mode on]

I get it. I'm used to having all this room at my disposal (no wife or kids (that I know of ...)). I can't stand a lot of clutter. That's me. If someone else likes that or needs to have some because of space requirements, I understand. But I don't like clutter, I'm 63, and I ain't fuckin' changin' now!

 

[MED mode off]

[bd139]

As of about a week ago Apple are added to the vendor shitlist here. There another thread about that though.

They still produce the best hardware and software combo but now compromised privacy and a compliance nightmare means I can’t conscientiously continue using their platform without endorsing a downward spiral for my kids.

As you’ve heard me say: always have an exit plan and that has been played.

Reference in context: https://www.macrumors.com/2021/08/18/german-politician-letter-tim-cook-csam-scanning/

Saw you talking more on this in the Discord... You mean you're actually getting rid of the iPuds & iPwns for the kidzz, etc as well...?

mnem
all I can say is... hide the shovels so they can't make you dig your own hole... 

Yep scrapping the whole lot. Have bounced all my personal devices other than iPhone as I’m waiting for a hardware token to turn up so I can still do MFA. Then that’s going. Youngest is keeping iPad for now as it’s heavily locked down anyway and all that shit disabled. Older two don’t use theirs much as they have laptops and desktops.

On a positive note I now have a fad wad of cash which is immediately going to be burned on something mirrorless with a decent amount of glass in front of it 

For anyone who doesn’t know, Apple accidentally introduced the first step of global totalitarian policing to their platform and everyone has shit the bed over it. Me included. When confronted about it they claimed misunderstanding and doubled down on it. So double bed shitting took place.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Seriously people... 3 and a half hours of Discord shenanigans that I need to review...? 

And we thought that we came out lucky, as with you present, that might have been more!

[bd139]

Your house is big. My lab is also my office, living room and bedroom 

[MED mode on]

I get it. I'm used to having all this room at my disposal (no wife or kids (that I know of ...)). I can't stand a lot of clutter. That's me. If someone else likes that or needs to have some because of space requirements, I understand. But I don't like clutter, I'm 63, and I ain't fuckin' changin' now!

 

[MED mode off]

Haha 

Got to be honest I can’t stand clutter or more appropriately “kipple”.

Today’s efforts finally finished. Test gear away. This was about a foot deep in shit this morning