Author Topic: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread  (Read 14551487 times)

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Offline Robert763

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119900 on: May 17, 2022, 09:44:54 am »
Oh great, even more sensors to go wrong. The one time the 19yo Toyota Yaris failed was due to a sensor.

Well the "misting" sensor is just some LEDs and photodiodes, if those don't outlive the capacitors in rest of the electronics I'd be very surprised. The air pollution sensor is another story, it's the kind that uses a heated sensor matrix which to me dictates a certain maximum power-on hours; thankfully it's about as accessible as possible and entirely self-contained on a plug-in connector, replacing it would be a five minute job and it has a list price of €55 so not too terrifying.

The downside of all modern cars is the sheer quantity of electronics, sensors and servo motors they rely on. There most be upwards of 20 or 30 servo motors in the BMW: engine, lights, ventilation, seats, the list is endless.

Physical controls are fine.

The Tesla (and other?) touchscreen / voice activated controls are a serious problem.

I'm against touch-screen only controls on things I use on a desktop, like 'scopes, on something potentially safety critical such as in a car or plane I think they're criminal.
Likewise, my car has shitloads of servo motors and numerous mini computers or ECU's, each door has one FFS for example. The service manual shows them wedged in all over the place, under seats, in doors, loads under the dash, in the boot and engine bay, its quite scary really, just how much cars have been drive by wire devices these days.

Most of the motors in vehicles are simple DC motors, not servo motors. But what have the motors and ECU's to do with "Drive by wire"?? I can assure you, your car is not drive by wire, at the very most it might have an electric throttle system (unless you own an Infiniti Q50, in which case you will have recieved an appointment to have the steer by wire replaced with a mechanical solution). Brake by wire and steer by wire aren't on any commercially sold vehicle I know of.

Most of the smaller ECU's are just to reduce wiring and complexity. It's simpler to send commands via CAN or LIN to a door and then break it out into discrete i/o than to have a huge bunch or discrete wires going through the door hinge.

McBryce.

While I agree that most motors on modern cars are not servo motors, the throttle butterfly on virtually every moden spark ignition engine IS a servo moter with no mechanical back-up This is certainy throttle by wire. Direct injection compression ignition engines also use eectronic throttles.
Steering uses an electric or electrically controlled hydraulic servo system on a lot of modern cars. This is steer by wire. There is a mechanical connection for back-up but it is only to get you to the side of the road. Automatic transmissions on modern cars have no mechanical linkage to the selector So three out of the four major controls require electronics for operation. I think that makes it Drive by Wire. On most cars the brake system also requires electronics to work fully. some even have electric parking / emergency brakes so that bit is brake by wire.
I agree too much electronics in general.
 
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Offline Ice-Tea

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119901 on: May 17, 2022, 09:55:50 am »
Two weeks or so before I leave my current project. Some time left to play around with some new toys. Too bad the Bode 100 doesn't come in before I leave  :-[
 
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Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119902 on: May 17, 2022, 09:57:00 am »


While I agree that most motors on modern cars are not servo motors, the throttle butterfly on virtually every moden spark ignition engine IS a servo moter with no mechanical back-up This is certainy throttle by wire. Direct injection compression ignition engines also use eectronic throttles.
Steering uses an electric or electrically controlled hydraulic servo system on a lot of modern cars. This is steer by wire. There is a mechanical connection for back-up but it is only to get you to the side of the road. Automatic transmissions on modern cars have no mechanical linkage to the selector So three out of the four major controls require electronics for operation. I think that makes it Drive by Wire. On most cars the brake system also requires electronics to work fully. some even have electric parking / emergency brakes so that bit is brake by wire.
I agree too much electronics in general.

The CR-V has all that crap except the parking brake. It is cable operated.

The Civic has none of that crap. Mechanical throttle. Vacuum assisted power brakes with no ABS. Hydraulic power steering. Manual transmission. No traction control or similar. Manual roll down windows. Manual door locks. The ECU controls engine functions only and maybe the HVAC and charging system. 
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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119903 on: May 17, 2022, 10:00:14 am »
Retro bench day... ironically designing filters with analogue toys...



It's cool that you have a little bench to play with but... I am very confused. Maybe I missed an episode or two, but I thought you were in the process of PACKING stuff in preparation for a soon to come move to an appartement in town center ?  Or have you already moved in there since you last posted about it ?

Oh no that was taken years ago. I don’t own any of that kit now  :-DD

The only certainty here is throughput of things turned from broken into working.
 
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Offline Vince

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119904 on: May 17, 2022, 10:06:11 am »
Think I'm going to go buy a Peak Atlas ZEN50 Zener diode tester tomorrow. I've needed a zener diode tester on a number of occasions now and setting up a multimeter, power supply and resistor is a pain in the bum.

Anyone got any reason why I shouldn't?

I too would like a way to quickly test Zener diodes. Can't justify the money for a dedicated tester though. Instead I put my Zener need in the balance to strengthen my motivation to get a proper / modern power supply these old  HP / Agilent ones with a VFD display every one has but not me, where you can control the short circuit accurately and display the voltage accurately too.

I could just shove the Zener in the jacks of the PSU and limit the current to 1mA and see what voltage that gives me. Then increase the current and see how the voltage behaves.
Now I think of it maybe it's not a good idea : the output caps in the PSU might discharge into the Zener when I connect it, and blow it ?
But if I set the output voltage to Zero and current limit it to 1mA say, then slowly increase the voltage,  should be safe ?

Anyway, I could still put a series resistor to limit the current to a safe level. Could make a little test jib with  ZIF socket, a resistor, couple 4mm binding posts and I could just grab that whenever I need to test a Zener, grab a couple test leads to connect it to the PSU and that's it.

I think that's how I will go about it. Cheap, simple, efficient... and an excuse to buy a decent PSU.

Back in the day, we used the Calibrate output on a Tek 545b as a voltage source, & hung a probe across the diode.
Unlike modern 'scopes, "Cal" was adjustable right up to around 150v.

The Calibrator has a reasonably high output resistance, so we didn't need a series resistor.

We would start out at 1v or so, then increase the calibrator setting till the display on the 'scope screen suddenly dropped.
That was the zener point of that device.

OK, the resolution was only as good as the screen display, but it was usually near enough, as the vertical gain could be set on the CRO beforehand, using the calibrator normally.

Hey sounds cool, gonna try that....I knew there must have been a good reason why I amassed 25 of these glowing Tek scopes, and you just gave it to me, thanks a lot !!  >:D

Of course now that I have that 575 curve tracer, even better  8)

Hopefully I can soon resume work on its restoration.... can't wait to be able to actually put it in service.

 

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119905 on: May 17, 2022, 10:27:26 am »
I actually have a design in the works, adapted from one I found online. It's not finished by a long shot, but one day when I have time (hahahahaha) I'll finish it.
https://www.nutsvolts.com/magazine/article/november2014_Hoffman

See below for my schematic.

Hmm,
Typical weird Hoffman design.  As an absolute minimum it needs some series resistance between the output capacitor (C4 on N&V circuit) and the DUT. Yes he has a discharge resistor but an intermittant contact on the zenner could dump a currrent spike from a capacitor charged to 50 odd volts inot the DUT. It's "only" 300 uJ but enough to damage a small zenner. And do you really want to put 100-200mW into the DUT?  I would also be interested to see what the output wave form looks like. If it's not smmoth DC accuracy will depend on the meter response. And of course a separate pair of sockets or flying leads to connect the meter (as per your version) would make it much more usable.

Yeah, I have a few improvements and tests to make before I finalise the design. One day.... one day..... :D
Where does all this test equipment keep coming from?!?

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119906 on: May 17, 2022, 10:29:52 am »
Got my Zener tester and case today.   ;D

Also picked up the SOT23 test adapter becsuse it looks really handy for general testing, so I'll use it with my other testers.

Now, I have a hole to fill.......
Where does all this test equipment keep coming from?!?

https://www.youtube.com/NearFarMedia/
 
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Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119907 on: May 17, 2022, 10:31:56 am »
Oh great, even more sensors to go wrong. The one time the 19yo Toyota Yaris failed was due to a sensor.

Well the "misting" sensor is just some LEDs and photodiodes, if those don't outlive the capacitors in rest of the electronics I'd be very surprised. The air pollution sensor is another story, it's the kind that uses a heated sensor matrix which to me dictates a certain maximum power-on hours; thankfully it's about as accessible as possible and entirely self-contained on a plug-in connector, replacing it would be a five minute job and it has a list price of €55 so not too terrifying.

The downside of all modern cars is the sheer quantity of electronics, sensors and servo motors they rely on. There most be upwards of 20 or 30 servo motors in the BMW: engine, lights, ventilation, seats, the list is endless.

Physical controls are fine.

The Tesla (and other?) touchscreen / voice activated controls are a serious problem.

I'm against touch-screen only controls on things I use on a desktop, like 'scopes, on something potentially safety critical such as in a car or plane I think they're criminal.
Likewise, my car has shitloads of servo motors and numerous mini computers or ECU's, each door has one FFS for example. The service manual shows them wedged in all over the place, under seats, in doors, loads under the dash, in the boot and engine bay, its quite scary really, just how much cars have been drive by wire devices these days.

Most of the motors in vehicles are simple DC motors, not servo motors. But what have the motors and ECU's to do with "Drive by wire"?? I can assure you, your car is not drive by wire, at the very most it might have an electric throttle system (unless you own an Infiniti Q50, in which case you will have recieved an appointment to have the steer by wire replaced with a mechanical solution). Brake by wire and steer by wire aren't on any commercially sold vehicle I know of.

Most of the smaller ECU's are just to reduce wiring and complexity. It's simpler to send commands via CAN or LIN to a door and then break it out into discrete i/o than to have a huge bunch or discrete wires going through the door hinge.

McBryce.
You are right, I was referring to the throttle and the transmission, I know from first-hand experience just how bloody scary that is when you're in the middle of overtaking a long queue of slower vehicles, and suddenly you lose all throttle control and the car is suddenly plunged into limp home mode, especially when you are not the only car doing that, you have others behind, gaining on you  :o :scared: Although I have to say that on the occasions that happened to me, it has always been in Volkswagen Passats, my current car and the 3 before, although extremely close cousins to the Passat, have never done anything like that. I know that somefolk love to pour scorn on Skoda's, but they are seriously misguided and I suggest that they go test drive one and have their minds changed. I remember one of the Passats I had, and I had a few, just as I was turning right into a road and was accelerating in the turn, the F/NS/door flew open all on its own, despite having the central locking device automatically locked at speeds over 10mph.  :scared:
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Offline EEVblog

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119908 on: May 17, 2022, 10:32:19 am »
I have a new toy, but I'm not allowed to show you  :(
 
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Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119909 on: May 17, 2022, 10:38:48 am »
I have a new toy, but I'm not allowed to show you  :(
Oh go on you teaser
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Offline McBryce

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119910 on: May 17, 2022, 10:39:32 am »
Oh great, even more sensors to go wrong. The one time the 19yo Toyota Yaris failed was due to a sensor.

Well the "misting" sensor is just some LEDs and photodiodes, if those don't outlive the capacitors in rest of the electronics I'd be very surprised. The air pollution sensor is another story, it's the kind that uses a heated sensor matrix which to me dictates a certain maximum power-on hours; thankfully it's about as accessible as possible and entirely self-contained on a plug-in connector, replacing it would be a five minute job and it has a list price of €55 so not too terrifying.

The downside of all modern cars is the sheer quantity of electronics, sensors and servo motors they rely on. There most be upwards of 20 or 30 servo motors in the BMW: engine, lights, ventilation, seats, the list is endless.

Physical controls are fine.

The Tesla (and other?) touchscreen / voice activated controls are a serious problem.

I'm against touch-screen only controls on things I use on a desktop, like 'scopes, on something potentially safety critical such as in a car or plane I think they're criminal.
Likewise, my car has shitloads of servo motors and numerous mini computers or ECU's, each door has one FFS for example. The service manual shows them wedged in all over the place, under seats, in doors, loads under the dash, in the boot and engine bay, its quite scary really, just how much cars have been drive by wire devices these days.

Most of the motors in vehicles are simple DC motors, not servo motors. But what have the motors and ECU's to do with "Drive by wire"?? I can assure you, your car is not drive by wire, at the very most it might have an electric throttle system (unless you own an Infiniti Q50, in which case you will have recieved an appointment to have the steer by wire replaced with a mechanical solution). Brake by wire and steer by wire aren't on any commercially sold vehicle I know of.

Most of the smaller ECU's are just to reduce wiring and complexity. It's simpler to send commands via CAN or LIN to a door and then break it out into discrete i/o than to have a huge bunch or discrete wires going through the door hinge.

McBryce.

While I agree that most motors on modern cars are not servo motors, the throttle butterfly on virtually every moden spark ignition engine IS a servo moter with no mechanical back-up This is certainy throttle by wire. Direct injection compression ignition engines also use eectronic throttles.
Steering uses an electric or electrically controlled hydraulic servo system on a lot of modern cars. This is steer by wire. There is a mechanical connection for back-up but it is only to get you to the side of the road. Automatic transmissions on modern cars have no mechanical linkage to the selector So three out of the four major controls require electronics for operation. I think that makes it Drive by Wire. On most cars the brake system also requires electronics to work fully. some even have electric parking / emergency brakes so that bit is brake by wire.
I agree too much electronics in general.

Yes, mostly correct, but the steering you describe is not steer by wire, it's EPS. The mechanical bit isn't there as a backup, you have mechanical steering at all times with the electrical part just providing steering assist. If the steering electronics failed you can still drive as long as you want, it's just more difficult. Real steer by wire is still too unreliable for the safety concious among us. However, I still agree that there's too much electronics involved, despite it being what pays my rent. :D

McBryce.
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Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119911 on: May 17, 2022, 10:46:50 am »
Oh great, even more sensors to go wrong. The one time the 19yo Toyota Yaris failed was due to a sensor.

Well the "misting" sensor is just some LEDs and photodiodes, if those don't outlive the capacitors in rest of the electronics I'd be very surprised. The air pollution sensor is another story, it's the kind that uses a heated sensor matrix which to me dictates a certain maximum power-on hours; thankfully it's about as accessible as possible and entirely self-contained on a plug-in connector, replacing it would be a five minute job and it has a list price of €55 so not too terrifying.

The downside of all modern cars is the sheer quantity of electronics, sensors and servo motors they rely on. There most be upwards of 20 or 30 servo motors in the BMW: engine, lights, ventilation, seats, the list is endless.

Physical controls are fine.

The Tesla (and other?) touchscreen / voice activated controls are a serious problem.

I'm against touch-screen only controls on things I use on a desktop, like 'scopes, on something potentially safety critical such as in a car or plane I think they're criminal.
Likewise, my car has shitloads of servo motors and numerous mini computers or ECU's, each door has one FFS for example. The service manual shows them wedged in all over the place, under seats, in doors, loads under the dash, in the boot and engine bay, its quite scary really, just how much cars have been drive by wire devices these days.

Most of the motors in vehicles are simple DC motors, not servo motors. But what have the motors and ECU's to do with "Drive by wire"?? I can assure you, your car is not drive by wire, at the very most it might have an electric throttle system (unless you own an Infiniti Q50, in which case you will have recieved an appointment to have the steer by wire replaced with a mechanical solution). Brake by wire and steer by wire aren't on any commercially sold vehicle I know of.

Most of the smaller ECU's are just to reduce wiring and complexity. It's simpler to send commands via CAN or LIN to a door and then break it out into discrete i/o than to have a huge bunch or discrete wires going through the door hinge.

McBryce.

While I agree that most motors on modern cars are not servo motors, the throttle butterfly on virtually every moden spark ignition engine IS a servo moter with no mechanical back-up This is certainy throttle by wire. Direct injection compression ignition engines also use eectronic throttles.
Steering uses an electric or electrically controlled hydraulic servo system on a lot of modern cars. This is steer by wire. There is a mechanical connection for back-up but it is only to get you to the side of the road. Automatic transmissions on modern cars have no mechanical linkage to the selector So three out of the four major controls require electronics for operation. I think that makes it Drive by Wire. On most cars the brake system also requires electronics to work fully. some even have electric parking / emergency brakes so that bit is brake by wire.
I agree too much electronics in general.

Yes, mostly correct, but the steering you describe is not steer by wire, it's EPS. The mechanical bit isn't there as a backup, you have mechanical steering at all times with the electrical part just providing steering assist. If the steering electronics failed you can still drive as long as you want, it's just more difficult. Real steer by wire is still too unreliable for the safety concious among us. However, I still agree that there's too much electronics involved, despite it being what pays my rent. :D

McBryce.
Hmm, good luck trying to steer cars from the VW stable when the electrics fail. My steering is impossible to turn the wheel with no electrics and the car is stationary, and no its that I'm too weak to do it, hell I used to drive and service buses that no power steering on them at all, and they weighed in at 8 tons. I could turn the wheels on them when stationary even.
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Offline VK5RC

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119912 on: May 17, 2022, 10:59:58 am »
I have a new toy, but I'm not allowed to show you  :(
Oh come on - you know the 'rule' of this thread - if no photos it doesn't exist 😂
Whoah! Watch where that landed we might need it later.
 
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Offline McBryce

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119913 on: May 17, 2022, 11:20:46 am »
Hmm, good luck trying to steer cars from the VW stable when the electrics fail. My steering is impossible to turn the wheel with no electrics and the car is stationary, and no its that I'm too weak to do it, hell I used to drive and service buses that no power steering on them at all, and they weighed in at 8 tons. I could turn the wheels on them when stationary even.

It's almost impossible to turn the steering on any stationary vehicle without assist and on top of that the manufacturers have made it more difficult in modern vehicles by changing the ratios of the mechanical steering. When the car is moving you should still be able to steer, just more effort is involved.

McBryce.
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Offline Vince

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119915 on: May 17, 2022, 11:27:08 am »
Got my Zener tester and case today.   ;D

Also picked up the SOT23 test adapter becsuse it looks really handy for general testing, so I'll use it with my other testers.

Now, I have a hole to fill.......

Is that a joke ? All this talk about long term plans of making a DIY tester and now you got a ready made one with far superior performance and convenience... JKust be honest and say that you can't be arsed to make your own and that it will never see the light of day !  >:D

Well I am not usually a big fan of these PEAK testers in general, but in the particular case of this Zener tester, after looking at prices, it's more affordable than I thought. 55 Euros or so.
Like that you can select the current and have the dynamic resistance measured, decent voltage range at 50 Volts which can be used to test white LEDs or LEDs at large... compact, simple and fast, I might be tempted...  Just wish one could select the colour of the case. Every instrument tehy sell has a different colour, and colours are always a matter of taste  :-\

Flashy gree looks Rigol like... in a bad sense I mean...

I like the bright yellow case of their basic LCR meter... can I have yellow please ?

All their cases are the same across their product range, so it shouldn't cost that much to let one pick whatever colour he prefers, or just generic matte black ?! :-//

 

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119916 on: May 17, 2022, 11:30:39 am »
You are right, I was referring to the throttle and the transmission, I know from first-hand experience just how bloody scary that is when you're in the middle of overtaking a long queue of slower vehicles, and suddenly you lose all throttle control and the car is suddenly plunged into limp home mode, especially when you are not the only car doing that, you have others behind, gaining on you  :o :scared:

When going round a very busy city-centre roundabout, the engine cut out. I instantly declutched, and rolled 50yards to a safe parking spot.

The hall-effect sensor had failed.

The local dealer couldn't do anything(!), but a specialist garage fixed it easily.
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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119917 on: May 17, 2022, 11:33:44 am »
I have a new toy, but I'm not allowed to show you  :(
Yeah right and how long has one ever been a secret for ?  ::)
Spill the beans, you know you want to.  :P
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Offline mnementh

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119918 on: May 17, 2022, 11:41:24 am »
Most of the motors in vehicles are simple DC motors, not servo motors. But what have the motors and ECU's to do with "Drive by wire"?? I can assure you, your car is not drive by wire, at the very most it might have an electric throttle system (unless you own an Infiniti Q50, in which case you will have recieved an appointment to have the steer by wire replaced with a mechanical solution). Brake by wire and steer by wire aren't on any commercially sold vehicle I know of.

Most of the smaller ECU's are just to reduce wiring and complexity. It's simpler to send commands via CAN or LIN to a door and then break it out into discrete i/o than to have a huge bunch or discrete wires going through the door hinge.

McBryce.
Yeah, except the shift towards this mentality actually helps ensure that engineers with no fucking sense stay employed, and their shit design work gets to production unvetted. You've heard me rant about the moronic implementation of Keyless Entry on my Rav4; where you have to wait 5 seconds to open the doors because the motor pulse is sent after the door chime completes playing. 4 times|O Here's another:

We've had electric windows for over half a century now; in all that time, they've all worked the same way (at least in North America): The driver's controls are the master controls, and they always have control over all the windows in the car, even when you lock out the non-driver windows to prevent them being played with by kids and assholes. Except when they don't: On our Rav4, the lockout also disables driver's control of those windows... meaning that if they're locked, he has to first deal with the natural "something doesn't work"  :o  momentary confusion, then divert attention from driving to find the lock and deactivate it.  ::)

Another bit of stupidity: The seat-belt bitchamatron beeping takes precedence over all other auditory notification, including essential driver information like the turn-signal tick-tick and even the collision-avoidance emergency klaxon.

Just plain horrible design from engineers who evidently have no knowledge of the history and evolution of the modern automobile, compounded by evidently zero usability testing on features prior to production.

This drive towards "just let the computer handle it" design ethos allows bad design to get through to production, and it also props up incompetent designers (be they engineers or committees) who should have gotten the axe long before they get to a point of designing actual automobiles for the largest manufacturer on the planet.

mnem
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Offline tautech

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119919 on: May 17, 2022, 11:53:04 am »
...............
Another bit of stupidity: The seat-belt bitchamatron beeping takes precedence over all other auditory notification, including essential driver information like the turn-signal tick-tick and even the collision-avoidance emergency klaxon.

Just plain horrible design from engineers who evidently have no knowledge of the history and evolution of the modern automobile, compounded by evidently zero usability testing on features prior to production.
Nothing in the modern vehicle is worse than this and if it can't be easily disabled I'm buying something else !  :horse:
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Online tggzzz

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119920 on: May 17, 2022, 11:56:55 am »
I have a new toy, but I'm not allowed to show you  :(


Oh no, you don't have anything - without photos.

Now prove me wrong :)
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Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119921 on: May 17, 2022, 11:57:59 am »
Hmm, good luck trying to steer cars from the VW stable when the electrics fail. My steering is impossible to turn the wheel with no electrics and the car is stationary, and no its that I'm too weak to do it, hell I used to drive and service buses that no power steering on them at all, and they weighed in at 8 tons. I could turn the wheels on them when stationary even.

It's almost impossible to turn the steering on any stationary vehicle without assist and on top of that the manufacturers have made it more difficult in modern vehicles by changing the ratios of the mechanical steering. When the car is moving you should still be able to steer, just more effort is involved.

McBryce.
All I know is that with the ignition on but the engine not running I'm unable to turn my steering wheel. My steering is electrical assist and not hydraulic. Had it been hydraulic that would explain it, but with the engine running I can turn the steering wheel with ease. As to if I can or can't turn the wheel when the car is moving, I have no idea, but would certainly have expected that to be the case for safety sake. That said, I seriously doubt that it would be safe to continue driving without the restoration of the power assistance.
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Offline AVGresponding

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119922 on: May 17, 2022, 12:05:04 pm »
Hmm, good luck trying to steer cars from the VW stable when the electrics fail. My steering is impossible to turn the wheel with no electrics and the car is stationary, and no its that I'm too weak to do it, hell I used to drive and service buses that no power steering on them at all, and they weighed in at 8 tons. I could turn the wheels on them when stationary even.

It's almost impossible to turn the steering on any stationary vehicle without assist and on top of that the manufacturers have made it more difficult in modern vehicles by changing the ratios of the mechanical steering. When the car is moving you should still be able to steer, just more effort is involved.

McBryce.

When the serpentine belt jumped off the pulleys on my Insignia recently, of course I lost power steering, alternator, and A/C, and I can tell you right now, few people would have been able to steer it, even when rolling.



All I know is that with the ignition on but the engine not running I'm unable to turn my steering wheel. My steering is electrical assist and not hydraulic. Had it been hydraulic that would explain it, but with the engine running I can turn the steering wheel with ease. As to if I can or can't turn the wheel when the car is moving, I have no idea, but would certainly have expected that to be the case for safety sake. That said, I seriously doubt that it would be safe to continue driving without the restoration of the power assistance.

That's because the electric power steering uses a lot of current, and won't work unless the engine is running and the alternator can shoulder the load, otherwise you'd soon not have enough in the battery to turn the engine over.



I have a new toy, but I'm not allowed to show you  :(

Clearly the words of someone wanting to be persuaded to show and tell all!
nuqDaq yuch Dapol?
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Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119923 on: May 17, 2022, 12:06:39 pm »
I have a new toy, but I'm not allowed to show you  :(

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Offline Zucca

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #119924 on: May 17, 2022, 12:07:07 pm »
I have a new toy, but I'm not allowed to show you  :(

Me too! It will be released in a few months, let's see if it is the same toy. The internal secret name is a city in the USA.
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