Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

As to being generally suspicious of you personally. Well, you were the man who originated the eighty year old stripper thing. If that isn't grounds to at least cast a skeptical, "What's up with that fella?" sideways look at you, then I don't know what is. 

Well, that's easy to explain. Don't pussy foot around. Go for the throat. It's either "shock and awe" or fold your tent and go home. 

Yes, well... Cerebus tends to be more of the "surgeon's scalpel and razor wit" camp; you tend more towards the "blunt force" approach.

Both have their pros and cons.

mnem
Out. Standing. In my field.

Nice of you to say, but I suspect that I'm more notable for my pratfalls and encyclopaedic knowledge of perversions, fetishes and other paraphilias and tendency to spot the double entendre  potential for the latter in anything.

Now we know what it is that keeps you occupied once your daily tidy up is all done, dusted, vacuumed and polished, your surfing the dark web for all kinds of depravity and making copious notes ready to flame someone with your expert knowledge

[mnementh]

No, the dark web comes to him for advice on such matters.

mnem
 

[mnementh]

So how come I think the lamp made of auto parts is super cool yet a lamp made of an old and obsolete AVO meter is sacrilege? 

Rational explanation welcome because I don't have one. 

How about if that lamp was made out of an old and obsolete Simpson meter then?

I know you think I'm dissing AVO meters. I'm not. If it were an obsolete Simpson meter the question would be the same.

But your tea still sucks and belongs in the harbor. 

I agree with the Avo and Simpson viewpoint but I'm afraid I cannot accept that our tea belongs in the harbour. You Merikins just don't resect the good old cup of rosey lea, (tea) and that is because judging by your comment about it belongs in the harbour, I'd say that, IMO, thats the incorrect way to make tea, here let the Brits help you out here 

Don't mean to step on any toes here, but if anybody knows how to do tea (not TEA ), it's the Chinese. edit: And the Japanese; they've turned it into a freaking zen religious ceremony, where centuries old teapots are literally part of the recipe and the flavor of the brew.

And we all know where you Brits went for tea once it you found out aboot the kinds our Asian cousins had... hell, you fought wars over trade routes to be able to get it.

I'm fond of plain jane Orange Pekoe/pekoe-cut black tea blend for my iced tea; over on this side of the pond it appears Red Rose is the popular pick, and I like it because I can let the jug steep overnight and it hasn't turned manky by morning, which is not true of pretty much everything else short of going to a tea boutique.

But I will admit to being a tea heathen; I adore the tea ceremony for the ritual and connection to the past more than anything.

mnem
 

[Cerebus]

Unless you're very disciplined TEA grows to fill all space available !

.. And then some.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoarders_(TV_series)

If I ever turn into a hoarder I would hope that someone would put me out of my misery.

Have you ever known a hoarder that considers they have a problem?

I'm currently in the process of clearing my parents 8/16 room house. Tonight I filled 4ft high domestic waste bin with maybe 20% of my mothers clothes. It breaks my heart to junk so many useful clothes,.but I'm not prepared to pass Tineola bisselliella on to another home.

The museum clothes/fabric conservators trick for that is to put them in a freezer. After a few days/weeks (I don't know the exact period used) they're all dead. Also works for woodworm, if you've a big enough freezer.

[Specmaster]

So how come I think the lamp made of auto parts is super cool yet a lamp made of an old and obsolete AVO meter is sacrilege? 

Rational explanation welcome because I don't have one. 

How about if that lamp was made out of an old and obsolete Simpson meter then?

I know you think I'm dissing AVO meters. I'm not. If it were an obsolete Simpson meter the question would be the same.

But your tea still sucks and belongs in the harbor. 

I agree with the Avo and Simpson viewpoint but I'm afraid I cannot accept that our tea belongs in the harbour. You Merikins just don't resect the good old cup of rosey lea, (tea) and that is because judging by your comment about it belongs in the harbour, I'd say that, IMO, thats the incorrect way to make tea, here let the Brits help you out here 

Don't mean to step on any toes here, but if anybody knows how to do tea (not TEA ), it's the Chinese. They've turned it into a freaking zen religious ceremony, where centuries old teapots are literally part of the recipe and the flavor of the brew.

And we all know where you Brits went for tea once it you found out aboot the kinds our Asian cousins had... hell, you fought wars over trade routes to be able to get it.

I'm fond of plain jane Orange Pekoe/pekoe-cut black tea blend for my iced tea; over on this side of the pond it appears Red Rose is the popular pick, and I like it because I can let the jug steep overnight and it hasn't turned manky by morning, which is not true of pretty much everything else short of going to a tea boutique.

But I will admit to being a tea heathen; I adore the tea ceremony for the ritual and connection to the past more than anything.

mnem
 

Yep so true about the Chinese, but I didn't want to overload med with to much info, just sort of nudge him gently towards being able to brew to decent cuppa without all the collateral damage each time, or else the bloody boats will be crashing into all the floating tea chests in Boston Harbour and getting damaged, maybe even sink the boats

[BU508A]

So how come I think the lamp made of auto parts is super cool yet a lamp made of an old and obsolete AVO meter is sacrilege? 

Rational explanation welcome because I don't have one. 

How about if that lamp was made out of an old and obsolete Simpson meter then?

I know you think I'm dissing AVO meters. I'm not. If it were an obsolete Simpson meter the question would be the same.

But your tea still sucks and belongs in the harbor. 

I agree with the Avo and Simpson viewpoint but I'm afraid I cannot accept that our tea belongs in the harbour. You Merikins just don't resect the good old cup of rosey lea, (tea) and that is because judging by your comment about it belongs in the harbour, I'd say that, IMO, thats the incorrect way to make tea, here let the Brits help you out here 

Don't mean to step on any toes here, but if anybody knows how to do tea (not TEA ), it's the Chinese. They've turned it into a freaking zen religious ceremony, where centuries old teapots are literally part of the recipe and the flavor of the brew.

And we all know where you Brits went for tea once it you found out aboot the kinds our Asian cousins had... hell, you fought wars over trade routes to be able to get it.

I'm fond of plain jane Orange Pekoe/pekoe-cut black tea blend for my iced tea; over on this side of the pond it appears Red Rose is the popular pick, and I like it because I can let the jug steep overnight and it hasn't turned manky by morning, which is not true of pretty much everything else short of going to a tea boutique.

But I will admit to being a tea heathen; I adore the tea ceremony for the ritual and connection to the past more than anything.

mnem
 

The tea ceremony is more a japanese thing than chinese.

Quote:
"Japanese tea ceremony (known as sadō/chadō (茶道, "The Way of Tea") or cha-no-yu (茶の湯)) is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha (抹茶), powdered green tea, the art of which is called (o)temae ([お]手前/[お]点前).[1]

Zen Buddhism was a primary influence in the development of the Japanese tea ceremony. Much less commonly, Japanese tea practice uses leaf tea, primarily sencha, a practice known as senchadō (煎茶道, "the way of sencha") in Japanese, as opposed to chanoyu or chadō. "

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_tea_ceremony

[mnementh]

Hmm... it was my understanding that the tea ceremony as practiced in Japan was born in/evolved from practices of the Ming & Qing empires and that there are words in Mandarin which specifically come from this. Am I wrong in this?


*reads wiki*

Hmmm... it appears I conflated source of the tea and history of the ceremony. 

mnem
 

[Cerebus]

No, the dark web comes to him for advice on such matters.

mnem
 

I once ran into a former boss at the monthly London Fetish Fair.

Me:[taps him on shoulder]  "Hello Martin (not his real name)." [To his boyfriend] "Hello Bobby"
Him: [slightly taken aback] "Oh, hello. I didn't expect to meet you, here."
[We catch up briefly. As we do various people go past and say "Hi Cerebus" in passing]
Him: "Erm, you seem to know a lot of people here."
Me: [archly] "Yes, I do don't I."

Truthfully, I'm remarkably 'vanilla' as it is known in these circles, but at one point I knew everybody who was anybody among London's respectable perverted. I used to get invited to all the parties, and I've seen things that would have given Mary Whitehouse a heart attack on the spot.

I seem to attract weird and interesting people, not something that I have any intention of discouraging. Even if we don't share whatever defining characteristic that marks them out from 'ordinary' people I just take people as I find and that generally means that I can get on with almost anybody. As a consequence I have got to meet and know all sorts of odd fellows and it makes for an interesting life.

And that is my excuse for knowing what BD's on about when he makes a sideways reference to some obscure fetish. What's yours?

[mnementh]

I knew only the most disreputable perverts in my youth. All up & down the Eastern seaboard. 

And I grew up in the age of Dr Ruth. 

Oh, and Dominion Chat.

mnem

[Saskia]

why do I suddenly have to think of Frank Zappa ...

https://youtu.be/RrKKt6NprVM

[Vince]

Unless you're very disciplined TEA grows to fill all space available !

.. And then some.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoarders_(TV_series)

If I ever turn into a hoarder I would hope that someone would put me out of my misery.

There's a woman who I see around town who drives a green Toyota Corolla and the only available space in that car is where she sits to drive. Mounds and mounds of pure crap and garbage occupy every other available space. And it must smell delightful. I can only imagine what her house looks like.   

Well.. given that this is the USA we are talking about, her car being filled with stuff might well mean that she is homeless and her car actually IS her house !!!     

[mnementh]

why do I suddenly have to think of Frank Zappa ...

https://youtu.be/RrKKt6NprVM

Yeah... not experienced directly, but definitely "going on in the next room" in more than one gathering. I was more into TENS abuse back then.

mnem
Hey... it was worthless on my back injury; might as well get some use of it...

[BU508A]

why do I suddenly have to think of Frank Zappa ...

https://youtu.be/RrKKt6NprVM

Not Bobby Brown? I'm slightly surprised. 

[mnementh]

Unless you're very disciplined TEA grows to fill all space available !

.. And then some.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoarders_(TV_series)

If I ever turn into a hoarder I would hope that someone would put me out of my misery.

There's a woman who I see around town who drives a green Toyota Corolla and the only available space in that car is where she sits to drive. Mounds and mounds of pure crap and garbage occupy every other available space. And it must smell delightful. I can only imagine what her house looks like.   

Well.. given that this is the USA we are talking about, her car being filled with stuff might well mean that she is homeless and her car actually IS her house !!!     

Sadly, there is more than a grain of truth in that jape jest. Most of the working class lives only a few missed paychecks from homelessness.

mnem
"We don't have a homeless problem; we don't see them, they aren't real people. No problem!"

[mnementh]

why do I suddenly have to think of Frank Zappa ...

https://youtu.be/RrKKt6NprVM

Not Bobby Brown? I'm slightly surprised. 

D'oh! That was the one I was thinking of. Tho Broken is rife as well. 

mnem
Oh shit; I need to shave this jungle (on my face, you perv ) and shower before bed... I need the car so I can get my 2nd shot tomorrow so have to take wifey to work early.

[tggzzz]

Unless you're very disciplined TEA grows to fill all space available !

.. And then some.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoarders_(TV_series)

If I ever turn into a hoarder I would hope that someone would put me out of my misery.

Have you ever known a hoarder that considers they have a problem?

I'm currently in the process of clearing my parents 8/16 room house. Tonight I filled 4ft high domestic waste bin with maybe 20% of my mothers clothes. It breaks my heart to junk so many useful clothes,.but I'm not prepared to pass Tineola bisselliella on to another home.

The museum clothes/fabric conservators trick for that is to put them in a freezer. After a few days/weeks (I don't know the exact period used) they're all dead. Also works for woodworm, if you've a big enough freezer.

Yes; I believe a week in the deep freeze is considered enough to kill the eggs. I/we don't have enough freezer space for more than a small fraction.

My daughter does, having IIRC 4 chest freezers. But those are used for ice cream she flogs to the suspecting public - and she wouldn't want to lose her 5* hygiene rating (which must be displayed in Wales).

We also have a Barbary Ape - which she wants to inherit - to "disinfest". If that fits in my cheat freezer, fine. If not, she will have A Decision to make The Himalayan Moon Bear (value £2000 repeat £0)  is larger than she is, and won't fit in any of our freezers.

[hendorog]

Anybody is looking for a good old 26GHz VNA for 450$ ? Shipping might be a bit expensive though


This is sad but I don't think I have the place for a giant like that.

NOoooo run away.....
Two big issues, no RF source (needs a 8341A) and that big slot on the top right side marked "Tape" 
About the only bit of any value is the S parameter test set and even that needs major mods to work with other analysers.
Then there all the cables, calibration and verification kits.
You can do much better for les total outlay unless you really need ultimate performance.

I agree with Robert.
The RF hardware (8515A) is the special part, and you can't get it cheaply in modern equipment. The rest of it has been superseded and can be replaced using modern HW and SW.

On that note it isn't hard to repurpose the test set. I've got one working on my 8753C.
The samplers and VTO are either removed or disconnected and I added a second transfer switch to bring the dual R lines back into a single for the 8753.
No fan required - at least mine came without one anyway and I never bothered.

The test set functions are manually controlled currently using GPIB commands from a laptop, which a few of us worked out here a while ago.
I intend to make it automatic, but that intention has been sitting in the intention box for quite a while now.

[mnementh]

Sounds like the sort of thing that would be easy to whip up in Python for anyone with more chops than I. 

https://www.seeedstudio.com/Seeeduino-XIAO-Arduino-Microcontroller-SAMD21-Cortex-M0+-p-4426.html

mnem
I almost got it this time... I swear.

[tggzzz]

I once ran into a former boss at the monthly London Fetish Fair.

Nuff said.

I used to get invited to all the parties, and I've seen things that would have given Mary Whitehouse a heart attack on the spot.

A missed opportunity, which many people will regret.

I seem to attract weird and interesting people, not something that I have any intention of discouraging. Even if we don't share whatever defining characteristic that marks them out from 'ordinary' people I just take people as I find and that generally means that I can get on with almost anybody. As a consequence I have got to meet and know all sorts of odd fellows and it makes for an interesting life.

Have you switched from commenting on sex to commenting on TEA?

[Vince]

Unless you're very disciplined TEA grows to fill all space available !

.. And then some.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoarders_(TV_series)

If I ever turn into a hoarder I would hope that someone would put me out of my misery.

There's a woman who I see around town who drives a green Toyota Corolla and the only available space in that car is where she sits to drive. Mounds and mounds of pure crap and garbage occupy every other available space. And it must smell delightful. I can only imagine what her house looks like.   

Well.. given that this is the USA we are talking about, her car being filled with stuff might well mean that she is homeless and her car actually IS her house !!!     

Sadly, there is more than a grain of truth in that jape. Most of the working class lives only a few missed paychecks from homelessness.

mnem
"We don't have a homeless problem; we don't see them, they aren't real people. No problem!"

"jape" ?!  That's yet a new word for Vince, had to look it up... says "Childish joke "

Eh ?! What was childish in my phrase and where was the joke ?! 

I just meant what I said no more no less ! Can't you just take people seriously ? Everything has to be a joke in life ?

Here we regularly see on TV programs about the "wild" life in the US, where life is just for the fit and strong and wealthy, and every body else can just go fuck themselves and die on the kerb ! Last one I saw was from I can't remember what town where  a big company is located, Amazon maybe can't remember. They said the the city actually was OWNED by Amazon, for all practical intents and purposes, they dictated their rules to the local politicians. Amazon rules the city. It attracted lots of educated white collars to the city which made the rents skyrocket and all of a sudden lots of people just could not pay their rent anymore and now had to live in their car ! City even organized entire car park dedicated to these people ! What kind of world is that ! 

[Cerebus]

I seem to attract weird and interesting people, not something that I have any intention of discouraging. Even if we don't share whatever defining characteristic that marks them out from 'ordinary' people I just take people as I find and that generally means that I can get on with almost anybody. As a consequence I have got to meet and know all sorts of odd fellows and it makes for an interesting life.

Have you switched from commenting on sex to commenting on TEA?

My whole life since I was about 18/19 actually.

[tautech]

No, the dark web comes to him for advice on such matters.

mnem
 

I once ran into a former boss at the monthly London Fetish Fair.

Me:[taps him on shoulder]  "Hello Martin (not his real name)." [To his boyfriend] "Hello Bobby"
Him: [slightly taken aback] "Oh, hello. I didn't expect to meet you, here."
[We catch up briefly. As we do various people go past and say "Hi Cerebus" in passing]
Him: "Erm, you seem to know a lot of people here."
Me: [archly] "Yes, I do don't I."

Truthfully, I'm remarkably 'vanilla' as it is known in these circles, but at one point I knew everybody who was anybody among London's respectable perverted. I used to get invited to all the parties, and I've seen things that would have given Mary Whitehouse a heart attack on the spot.

I seem to attract weird and interesting people, not something that I have any intention of discouraging. Even if we don't share whatever defining characteristic that marks them out from 'ordinary' people I just take people as I find and that generally means that I can get on with almost anybody. As a consequence I have got to meet and know all sorts of odd fellows and it makes for an interesting life.

And that is my excuse for knowing what BD's on about when he makes a sideways reference to some obscure fetish. What's yours?

It's them black stockings !

[tautech]

Anybody is looking for a good old 26GHz VNA for 450$ ? Shipping might be a bit expensive though


This is sad but I don't think I have the place for a giant like that.

NOoooo run away.....
Two big issues, no RF source (needs a 8341A) and that big slot on the top right side marked "Tape" 
About the only bit of any value is the S parameter test set and even that needs major mods to work with other analysers.
Then there all the cables, calibration and verification kits.
You can do much better for les total outlay unless you really need ultimate performance.

I agree with Robert.
The RF hardware (8515A) is the special part, and you can't get it cheaply in modern equipment. The rest of it has been superseded and can be replaced using modern HW and SW.

On that note it isn't hard to repurpose the test set. I've got one working on my 8753C.
The samplers and VTO are either removed or disconnected and I added a second transfer switch to bring the dual R lines back into a single for the 8753.
No fan required - at least mine came without one anyway and I never bothered.

The test set functions are manually controlled currently using GPIB commands from a laptop, which a few of us worked out here a while ago.
I intend to make it automatic, but that intention has been sitting in the intention box for quite a while now.

Yep and I've seen this FrankenVNA and it's quite impressive.
Hendorog's pride and joy it is too and keep pushing him to write it all up and post it on the 'net somewhere and then watch the test set prices go through the roof !

[Cerebus]

By the way. I didn't mention this TEA/tool acquisition when I got it a few weeks back - Fluke 62 MAX+ IR thermometer. The black body radiator I'm measuring goes by Maija.

[mnementh]

Unless you're very disciplined TEA grows to fill all space available !

.. And then some.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoarders_(TV_series)

If I ever turn into a hoarder I would hope that someone would put me out of my misery.

There's a woman who I see around town who drives a green Toyota Corolla and the only available space in that car is where she sits to drive. Mounds and mounds of pure crap and garbage occupy every other available space. And it must smell delightful. I can only imagine what her house looks like.   

Well.. given that this is the USA we are talking about, her car being filled with stuff might well mean that she is homeless and her car actually IS her house !!!     

Sadly, there is more than a grain of truth in that jape. Most of the working class lives only a few missed paychecks from homelessness.

mnem
"We don't have a homeless problem; we don't see them, they aren't real people. No problem!"

"jape" ?!  That's yet a new word for Vince, had to look it up... says "Childish joke "

Eh ?! What was childish in my phrase and where was the joke ?! 

I just meant what I said no more no less ! Can't you just take people seriously ? Everything has to be a joke in life ?

Here we regularly see on TV programs about the "wild" life in the US, where life is just for the fit and strong and wealthy, and every body else can just go fuck themselves and die on the kerb ! Last one I saw was from I can't remember what town where  a big company is located, Amazon maybe can't remember. They said the the city actually was OWNED by Amazon, for all practical intents and purposes, they dictated their rules to the local politicians. Amazon rules the city. It attracted lots of educated white collars to the city which made the rents skyrocket and all of a sudden lots of people just could not pay their rent anymore and now had to live in their car ! City even organized entire car park dedicated to these people ! What kind of world is that ! 

Jape just means joke or prank; tho there are a lot of connotative values dependent on context. Jest might have been a better choice tho, as I meant joke as in a jibe or epigram.

As for Amazon... well, that's just the Golden Rule for ya. We privatized everything and sold it to the corporation; now the only people who can get things done aren't even a person... it's the biggest corporation that can put down the play.

mnem
"In a land where money is God, the only true sin is being poor." ~mom