Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Cerebus]

Except that generating and delivering an equivalent amount of heat as electricity is an order of magnitude less efficient than burning the natural gas directly to heat your food or water. No matter what mumbo-jumbo they're spouting, you still need to expend a certain amount of kilocalories to heat a galllon of water or to cook a dozen eggs.

Except that the pots and pans we use are horribly inefficient. You only have to hold your hand above the edge of pan on a gas cooker to realise that an awful lot of very hot air is rushing past the pan and not having its heat extracted from it. A while back I saw some pans that, unsurprisingly, had a bottom and sides that looked very heatsink like which improved the efficiency of the pan by at least a factor of two.

On the other hand it's hard to believe that the inefficiencies and losses involved in electricity are not going to be bested by a well designed water heater. Both burn gas in the first place, the thermal efficiency of heat transfer to water is probably going to be similar in both cases, but electricity then has generation and transmission losses to cope with. Obviously there are some indirect transmission inefficiencies in distributing gas too, pumping the stuff uses significant energy (There are 520 MW worth of gas turbines just used to pressurise the UK national gas core pipelines, before you consider what's used for local distribution). For heating hot water both methods could of course be greatly improved by using the energy not to heat the water directly, but to drive a heat pump to heat the water - even if you only get a CoP of 2 that's a huge efficiency gain..

[Specmaster]

Yes indeed it is an iPad Air 1, model is A1474 as printed on the back cover, but according to the model number in the settings menu it is MD768B/B for which I can find zero information.

I don't know why Apple chose to describe that as "Model Number" in the UI when it's what they describe everywhere else as an "Order Number" i.e. the number you have to quote to get a model number A1447 with the right options, country specific stuff and so on. If you tap the actual displayed order code in that field it changes to the actual model number. Go figure...

How odd, I just tried that myself. I'm guessing that it must be some code that Apple use for something but what?, surely anything that is country specific would be flagged in the about tab anyway and all references on internet all mention MD785LL/A 

[ch_scr]

Fuck cars and  smartphones, all junk.

Instead let's do something on topic and much more interesting : have these 3 lovely cans with lots of gold plated leads, how sexy.

Can't identify them. Does any old beard here have a clue  what they are ?

First two from the left, the two shortest ones, have 8 leads. The third / taller one has 10 leads no less.

Probably some vintage OP-amp or comparator or linear voltage regulator I assume, but well... Google didn't help me here.

EDIT : if you know the answer but DO NOT have an old beard, that's fine, I will listen none the less.

   

Your Harris Op-Amps are attached below. That Texas Instruments CT305 is being a total cunt. Even TI doesn't want to admit to it.

mnem
Maybe we need to call it a CunT305...?

Thanks BD and Dragon, I knew TEA was worth something ! 

I have already downloaded the two datasheet and had a look, then refreshed the TEA page and saw Dragon attached them, how kind 


So wow... can't believe it, this 2525 is a RACE CAR !!!! 120V/µs 20MHz ?!! 

The 2215 is his little brother, 12MHz 60V/µs, still not shabby eh !


Wow, 120V.... so far all the op-amps I garnered  were at best 20V for the TL054.. and have some that do LESS than one volt IIRC ! 

So 120V for a vintage part.. just wow....... wow.

You can bet your ass I will keep these two little guys preciously ! 

Can't help, I now feel the urge to wire them up and see that slew rate for myself ! Datasheet specifies what parameters to use to have a chance of getting that...

Too bad for the TI CT305 ... if anyone knows.... it says " 814 " at the bottom... maybe it's a date code, 1981 something ? So if I can find a 1981 scanned TI catalogue, or close to 1981, I might find the datasheet for that IC....

Vince beware! These are uncompensated amplifiers. Which means they are fast, damn fast! But this also means they will oscillate below a certain amplification, usually 5 or so. Have a close look at the datasheet. Which means you can't just set them up as a buffer to try them out and you also have to take care to decouple them appropriately (100nF ceramic cap close to the IC for both rails to gnd, as a starting point). Fast Opamps can be temperamental, have a look at Jim Williams Application Note #13 for a short intro and at #47 for a deep dive. These app notes (and all of Jim Williams stuff really...) are a treasure trove of information, have fun!

[bd139]

They have an external compensation pin so you shove a cap between that and ground to bring them back to docile normality for testing. 220pF or so would slow it right down.

Aaaand now I’m going to be stuck reading AN’s for the next day 

[vk6zgo]

In the UK gas is much cheaper than electricity, and is commonly used for central heating, water heating, and cooking.

I have two problems with gas.

1)

Look at the efficiency of my gas water heater:



I can't sleep at night when I thing that 38% of my DHW gas (bill) is going to heat up the sky/stars.

2)



BTW: I adore climate town YT channel.

That's why I am switching to a Rheem Pro Terra

Except that generating and delivering an equivalent amount of heat as electricity is an order of magnitude less efficient than burning the natural gas directly to heat your food or water. No matter what mumbo-jumbo they're spouting, you still need to expend a certain amount of kilocalories to heat a galllon of water or to cook a dozen eggs.

You want to really save energy and minimize your CF, get a more efficient washer and dryer and keep the gas heater and stove. Get a more efficient gas water heater; current models extract so much of the heat they vent through 2inch PVC.

mnem
 

If you live somewhere with a civilised amount of sunlight, you can use a solar HWS. Direct conversion of the incident suns rays to heat, which heats your water.
Ours does have a electric "booster", but it is "off" most of the time.

Another bonus of a better climate is that you can dry your clothes on a rotary clothesline in the backyard.

Of course, if you live in "a high rise apartment building" (sales bullshit for a "block of flats"), you are out of luck, as they won't let you hang clotheslines between buildings, except maybe in Hong Kong!

[McBryce]

There is your problem right there, the phone is 10 years old and is only really any good for a pure phone alone, almost all apps will refuse to run on such an old platform.

That said however, I do still agree with you about the interviews, it is my firm belief that these should be conducted in person, and I also believe that the interviewer should reimburse the cost of attending such interviews. Today it is common place for some people to have been out of work for a period and therefore may not have the wherewith all to afford to attend the interview, having other greater priorities for their cash, like eating, rent etc.

In the past, I have been asked to attend interviews over 100 miles away   . When I used to interview people for positions, I used to go to a hotel close to them and do the interview there, and likewise, the better companies who have interviewed me for a job, have all come to see me, either at home or in a very local hotel. But these days, such etiquette  seems to be alien to most companies.

But back to your phone, it is a thorny point in my side as well about phone companies and app developers not being willing to at least ensure that their products are capable of being used to their full design capability for at least a 10-year period. Not everyone can afford to splash many hundreds of pounds on new phones every 2 to 3 years, when inflation is creeping up and up all the time and wages failing miserably to keep pace, so in essence most people today are far worse off than they were 10 years ago

EDIT
I'm in a similar position now with my phone, it is 3 years old, and some apps are already incompatible with it and the phone makers are no longer supporting it with software updates. The phone is taking longer and longer to respond to anything these days, and I don't even have a single game installed on it, has 64GB internal storage with only 28.5Gb used and also has a 64GB memory card fitted with only 288MB used, so space is not an issue. I'm already looking for another phone but don't want to spend hundreds on a phone when my income is limited to pension only.

Well the point is that even if I had the money, I would not want to renew my phone unless it's broken, because that would be encouraging hyper-consumerism and e-waste, which I hate.

I am not anti-tech, having a new phone would not make me any better at tech than using my 10 year old phone... newer one will not do more than the old one did, all it will do is have the latest OS so that apps actually accept to install on it....  Phones allow you to phone, go to the web and run XY app. Any smartphone does that. Using the latest Smartphone will not make me any worse or better at tech. Just like replacing your car every year will not make you a more skilled and knowledgeable drier than me in my 23 year old Safrane. The guy and brain holding the wheel never change.

Anyway, think I got an idea.... I don't need to use MY phone to connect to their TEAM interview, it's just a link. I can open it using any phone so... I will ask a friend or two see if they can pass me their phone Friday morning for an hour...

I did plan on upgrading my phone fairly soon I admit, because it's uselessly slow at switching between open applications (say switching from the phone app to Firefox), and Firefox / browsing is extremely slow at loading pages / running websites, it is very painful.

But, I checked and you can now get a brand new smartphone for only 50 Euros ! Might push it to 75 Euros but not more. All I want is more strage space and a faster processor, which even a 50 Euros brand new phone should I guess be able to provide, compared to my 10 year old one. So I will cough 50 Euros sometime in the next year or two, and will keep that hopefully for another 10 years. The cheaper it is, the longer you keep it, the less damaged it does to your wallet and the environment.
That why I fully intend to run my 1999 Safrane and it's 345.000kms, to the ground. Chassis has not rust, engine is strong and bullet proof, 5 cylinder N/A Mansaxel engine, it can do much more than that.
Previous car 4 years ago almost,  was my Renault 21 Turbo diesel. Sold it at 450.000kms. Engine and gearbox were still working like new, was even still on its original clutch... I would still have that car today if it were not for the rust cancer which, although was not in any safety related / dangerous  area, failed to pass the recently strengthened MOT. Now they are overly critical about rust. A blown head gasket and worn out shocks, they don't give a fuck, but rust that's not even putting the safety at risk... they somehow care.


OK so now let's find somebody who can pass me his more modern phone....

Why are you trying to do this on a phone at all?? I'm sure you have a PC with a speaker, microphone and internet connection. Click the link on a PC and you don't need the phone to be involved at all. For free, without having to register or give credit card details.

McBryce.

[Specmaster]

In the UK gas is much cheaper than electricity, and is commonly used for central heating, water heating, and cooking.

I have two problems with gas.

1)

Look at the efficiency of my gas water heater:



I can't sleep at night when I thing that 38% of my DHW gas (bill) is going to heat up the sky/stars.

2)



BTW: I adore climate town YT channel.

That's why I am switching to a Rheem Pro Terra

Except that generating and delivering an equivalent amount of heat as electricity is an order of magnitude less efficient than burning the natural gas directly to heat your food or water. No matter what mumbo-jumbo they're spouting, you still need to expend a certain amount of kilocalories to heat a galllon of water or to cook a dozen eggs.

You want to really save energy and minimize your CF, get a more efficient washer and dryer and keep the gas heater and stove. Get a more efficient gas water heater; current models extract so much of the heat they vent through 2inch PVC.

mnem
 

Ok, then that video does sort of make some sense, but here is another angle, what would happen with all that natural gas if we don't use it for heating or cooking? It's going to get released into the atmosphere and do what? Build up to become a huge big gas cloud that we are going to be breathing in and then one day a lightening strike ignites it and the entire planet erupts into a huge fireball and incinerates everything and everyone or worse, the planet blows apart and ceases to be a planet any more. 

I don't know the answers really, and I'm pretty sure nobody else does, we may think that we do..but do we really

Looking at the animal / plant world for instance, it would seem that each animal, insect or plant has a specific role to play in the grand scheme of things and in one form or other all rely on each other for food and regulation. So how can we really be certain that fossil fuels aren't just a spoke in the great circle / wheel of life and that man was meant to discover it and use it like we do Didn't early man have fires in their caves and use fire to scare off predators like wild lions etc. It makes you think what if... don't it?

[tautech]

All it takes is one fucker with a hedge trimmer to ruin your day. Doesn't matter where you live.

Not with a 250MB/s P-P wireless connection and your ISP's UPS in the house keeping your connection up ! 

The Pop part of Mom& Pop was here today for a coffee and checked our connection speed ....as just reported and also dropped off a new 3 blade 24V wind gen to go up the hill on our backhaul site as this winter the PV panels have struggled to keep the batteries full which has pissed us off some needing to keep an eye on the bloody things every time we have a session of dull weather......then a few days back it became obvious why, apparently at high altitudes the southern hemisphere still has a lot of fine ash aloft from the big Tonga eruption a few months back.

Anyways, one of these suckers:
http://www.primuswindpower.com/wind-power-products/air-30-turbine-2/
Wonder how long it will last 200m ABSL where there are unrestricted views between Aussie and Chile....translation = blows like a real SOB !
Pics to follow when installed.

In that case, all it takes is a stray cow to scratch it's ass on the pole 

The wind gen site is already up and running with an 8' galv pipe mast bolted to one of the posts on the post and rail around the control cabinet and 6M timber pole but with a vertical helical POS generator that's only good for landfill !

That helical thing has been a real disappointment so it must go and be replaced with something designed in the US of A that might actually work ! 

And so over the last couple of days it was done. 
Yesterday (Monday) in readiness for the real installation work, the useless helical turbine, its 3 phase controller and wiring was removed and new 2 core tinned marine wiring installed and ~600mm extension to the 1.5" galv pipe mast so to make today's efforts simpler. The weather was closing in and we did most of this in light rain but with barely a breeze, thank heavens ! 
This thing:
Air X Marine wind turbine with 110mph survivability....and it will need it !
http://www.primuswindpower.com/files/7816/0709/3270/PWP_Manual_-_NOV_2020_-_3-CMLT-2020.pdf

The 3 carbon fiber blades are as sharp as one thing hence the need to add an extension to the pole to prevent it from scalping us anytime we needed to work on any part of the installation.
Now blowing 20+kph tonight and already we can see the batteries benefitting from charging after the sun has long gone.
Pop of the Mom&Pop ISP is well pleased as we can both see 25.16V at the batteries from the solar logging whereas just after dark 3hrs back it was 24.42V.
In a few days I'll grab a screenshot of the latest logging which should clearly demonstrate the challenges we've had with keeping this installation fully charged this winter.

Anyways, you've probably seen pics in previous postings so I won't bore you with old ones, just one of the new turbine and a bonus one of the indicator LED's on the radio of the 900mm 11 GHz dish with 900W of solar panels in the background.

Next upgrade is to the DC powered POE 1GB/s switch, of which the current 6 port one is full so no spare ports for local management without unplugging something and a local POE camera is planned to be added.

[Specmaster]

In the UK gas is much cheaper than electricity, and is commonly used for central heating, water heating, and cooking.

I have two problems with gas.

1)

Look at the efficiency of my gas water heater:



I can't sleep at night when I thing that 38% of my DHW gas (bill) is going to heat up the sky/stars.

2)



BTW: I adore climate town YT channel.

That's why I am switching to a Rheem Pro Terra

Except that generating and delivering an equivalent amount of heat as electricity is an order of magnitude less efficient than burning the natural gas directly to heat your food or water. No matter what mumbo-jumbo they're spouting, you still need to expend a certain amount of kilocalories to heat a galllon of water or to cook a dozen eggs.

You want to really save energy and minimize your CF, get a more efficient washer and dryer and keep the gas heater and stove. Get a more efficient gas water heater; current models extract so much of the heat they vent through 2inch PVC.

mnem
 

Also of course, the heat lost in the process of cooking, is not really lost in the winter as it contributes to the warming of your house? Its only in the summer months that the heat loss is really adding to global warming without adding anything useful in return 

[Specmaster]

For the nixie tubes lover, this one seem to be cheap (40$). Not sure why someone hacked-in a 7 segments display ?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/134158692838   

IIRC, that "digit" is just a long neon bulb for a "1". I don't believe there is an actual digit, is there?

mnem
*knocks self unconscious with a nixie mallet*

Yes, I think you are right, as can be seen here. The display starts to flash as soon as it passes 1.99 volts.

[tggzzz]

Nothing like it. The previous model, the iPhone 6s (first sold sept 2015, end of sale sept 2018), runs the current version of iOS and is still getting updates.

Yep 6s here working like a champ and does everything I need. But will upgrade eventually.

My current phone is the original iPhone SE (which is basically a 6s in a 5 sized case). I got it specifically because it was the physically largest iPhone I could tolerate and as a Mac user of many years it was time that I gave in and just accepted that if I wanted a phone and computer that would work together (after many failures with Android working with any computer) I had to get an iPhone.

I'm upgrading when I'm forced to and not a minute sooner, unless by some miracle Apple realise that there are people who want a phone that fits a pocket comfortably and are content to leave it there 99% of the time.

I require that my phone fits in my pockets since that's the only place which I can use to ensure that I don't put it down and forget to pick it up.

I require the pockets are in my trousers since that the only pockets where things won't fall out and it is the only thing I won't change during the day.

That requires that the phone be a clamshell, firstly to fit comfortably, and secondly so the screen isn't rapidly scratched/broken.

I might well use a modern equivalent of an integrated HP OmniGo 700, but nobody makes anything remotely similar.

Hence, no minaturised "One Per Desks" for me.

[tggzzz]

In the UK gas is much cheaper than electricity, and is commonly used for central heating, water heating, and cooking.

I have two problems with gas.

1)

Look at the efficiency of my gas water heater:



I can't sleep at night when I thing that 38% of my DHW gas (bill) is going to heat up the sky/stars.

2)



BTW: I adore climate town YT channel.

That's why I am switching to a Rheem Pro Terra

Except that generating and delivering an equivalent amount of heat as electricity is an order of magnitude less efficient than burning the natural gas directly to heat your food or water. No matter what mumbo-jumbo they're spouting, you still need to expend a certain amount of kilocalories to heat a galllon of water or to cook a dozen eggs.

You want to really save energy and minimize your CF, get a more efficient washer and dryer and keep the gas heater and stove. Get a more efficient gas water heater; current models extract so much of the heat they vent through 2inch PVC.

mnem
 

Also of course, the heat lost in the process of cooking, is not really lost in the winter as it contributes to the warming of your house? Its only in the summer months that the heat loss is really adding to global warming without adding anything useful in return 

Precisely.

Electricity generation (in a thermal plant) is only 28% efficient. The rest of the energy is usually wasted in the power station.

Heating food with gas deposits the "excess" energy in your house. In a cool country that isn't wasted. In a hot first world country you will probably use extra energy in air conditioning to remove that heat.

[tggzzz]

So wow... can't believe it, this 2525 is a RACE CAR !!!! 120V/µs 20MHz ?!! 

And then you look at the slew rates of earlier current feedback opamps Or modern opamps that have to be capable of driving modern ADCs/DACs

[m k]

Back to the PAL.
I measured 54622D visible screen area from online picture and got exactly 5:4.
Is that correct?
Pictured knobs were round.
Vertical resolution was also sort of HD compared to 54600B but picture was JPG and not huge.

@mnem, did you measure your machine's H-sync, what was it's frequency?
From online pictures I'd guess that resolution is double and double compared to old model.
True double from that old schematics would be 24720Hz * 2, pretty much.

Back to the monitor.
Single color CRT doesn't need any rasters, if not for picture enhancement purposes.
Some older 546xx model online pictures have clearly straight edged pixels but some other ones are far from it.
So no raster.

Many kinds of CRT glow properties were also available.
So even if video monitor can be tuned to accept 546xx signal maybe its CRT internals are not suitable.
Resolution per se is not a problem.

Computer world had MDA and HGC but both are still under 20kHz horizontally.
MCGA was also available once, it is vertically like CGA/VGA.

The main issue with video monitor is interlace and its process.
There deflection goes from top to bottom twice and second round must be informed somehow.
If that then is controlled by a chip it may not like that half picture just continue continuing.
Vertical size is not usually a problem, usually it can be trimmed out of proportion.

With high resolution monitor its resolution can be an issue though.
There vertical pixel count is meant to be high and less of it can make a sparse picture.
There it can also go so that one line is missing but third is not, that is also what can be expected when resolution of signal and resolution of LCD are not buddies.

E,
H -> V

[Vince]

Why are you trying to do this on a phone at all?? I'm sure you have a PC with a speaker, microphone and internet connection. Click the link on a PC and you don't need the phone to be involved at all. For free, without having to register or give credit card details.

McBryce.

No there are no mic or camera on my computer, otherwise I would as you say just use that, rather than trying to get it working on a bloody smartphone ! 

It's a desktop computer not a modern laptop which have mic and camera as standard since these days laptops are basically closer to a glorified smartphone than an actual computer.

[Vince]

So wow... can't believe it, this 2525 is a RACE CAR !!!! 120V/µs 20MHz ?!! 

Wow, 120V.... so far all the op-amps I garnered  were at best 20V for the TL054.. and have some that do LESS than one volt IIRC ! 

Can't help, I now feel the urge to wire them up and see that slew rate for myself ! Datasheet specifies what parameters to use to have a chance of getting that...

Vince beware! These are uncompensated amplifiers. Which means they are fast, damn fast! But this also means they will oscillate below a certain amplification, usually 5 or so. Have a close look at the datasheet.

[..]

Yeah no worries, the datasheet is upfront about that. At the top f the front page they say :

These dielectrically isolated amplifiers are controlled at closed loop gains greater than 3 without external compensation.

and also :

Compensation pin for unity gain capability

So as BD said just put a cap on the compensation input.

To decouple the power pins, the datasheet shows a 1nF cap in  // with a 1uF for the negative rail, and for the positive rail 1nF cap in  // with a 1F cap, which I assume is a typo ! 

That said, seeing the amp oscillate is interesting and educational in itself, then add a compensation cap, starting from a very low value, increasing it progressively to see how it affects the oscillation.
Hiding the ugly stuff is bad, makes the student think / believe that IC's are magical things that "just work" and don't require you to think. 

[tggzzz]

Three questions about the components below, on two different test equipment boards:

• what's the "perforated tube" in the centre of both pictures? My guess is an inductor, but why that peculiar construction?
• is there anything interestingly special about the reed relay, Electrol R4174-1
• how long would it take for a ferengi to spot the gold and other components?

[Robert763]

Why are you trying to do this on a phone at all?? I'm sure you have a PC with a speaker, microphone and internet connection. Click the link on a PC and you don't need the phone to be involved at all. For free, without having to register or give credit card details.

McBryce.

No there are no mic or camera on my computer, otherwise I would as you say just use that, rather than trying to get it working on a bloody smartphone ! 

It's a desktop computer not a modern laptop which have mic and camera as standard since these days laptops are basically closer to a glorified smartphone than an actual computer.

So go buy a USB camera / Mic or better a USB camera and standard headset with mic and off you go!

[Robert763]

Three questions about the components below, on two different test equipment boards:

• what's the "perforated tube" in the centre of both pictures? My guess is an inductor, but why that peculiar construction?
• is there anything interestingly special about the reed relay, Electrol R4174-1
• how long would it take for a ferengi to spot the gold and other components?

I think it is a delay line. It's construction is a bit like a non-inductive power resistor but it's clearly not a power circuit.

[Vince]

So wow... can't believe it, this 2525 is a RACE CAR !!!! 120V/µs 20MHz ?!! 

And then you look at the slew rates of earlier current feedback opamps Or modern opamps that have to be capable of driving modern ADCs/DACs

No, sounds to me like you are comparing apples to bananas, that's naughty.

This 2525 looks like, still,  a fairly conventional / general purpose op-amp, so you need to compare it other mainstream op-amps of the era.

So I am looking at the datasheet of old op-amps I have in my stock, let's see... have 358 and LM4250. Slew rate is so spectacular that tehy don't even specify it ?! 
I guess that means ; " If you care about slew rate, this isn't the right part for you Sir.... ".
Then I looked at the 741 so a bit more recent... and it's given at 0.5V/µs .................

[Vince]

Why are you trying to do this on a phone at all?? I'm sure you have a PC with a speaker, microphone and internet connection. Click the link on a PC and you don't need the phone to be involved at all. For free, without having to register or give credit card details.

McBryce.

No there are no mic or camera on my computer, otherwise I would as you say just use that, rather than trying to get it working on a bloody smartphone ! 

It's a desktop computer not a modern laptop which have mic and camera as standard since these days laptops are basically closer to a glorified smartphone than an actual computer.

So go buy a USB camera / Mic or better a USB camera and standard headset with mic and off you go!

You missed the part where I have zero money to buy anything at the moment....   

I doubt I could find that at a local store, or if I do it won't be 10 Euros for the lot, and if it is, the camera probably won't work on my Linux machine. Buying new H/W for Linux is a gamble and must be carefully studied and planned. You can't just go and buy anything off the shelve... sadly.

[tautech]

Why are you trying to do this on a phone at all?? I'm sure you have a PC with a speaker, microphone and internet connection. Click the link on a PC and you don't need the phone to be involved at all. For free, without having to register or give credit card details.

McBryce.

No there are no mic or camera on my computer, otherwise I would as you say just use that, rather than trying to get it working on a bloody smartphone ! 

It's a desktop computer not a modern laptop which have mic and camera as standard since these days laptops are basically closer to a glorified smartphone than an actual computer.

So go buy a USB camera / Mic or better a USB camera and standard headset with mic and off you go!

You missed the part where I have zero money to buy anything at the moment....   

I doubt I could find that at a local store, or if I do it won't be 10 Euros for the lot, and if it is, the camera probably won't work on my Linux machine. Buying new H/W for Linux is a gamble and must be carefully studied and planned. You can't just go and buy anything off the shelve... sadly.

At this price you almost can’t afford not to own it:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/225046460684?epid=97030624&hash=item3465d0790c:g:GjkAAOSwe2tit6U7&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA0EnBw2b2%2FLSi2BQVM4v8XcA5ajZ%2FC3M7%2Fv%2F5KR%2B4f48JnZkF7cdugpupG%2FaLf1QWrtYVCn0SC%2FfFO5k8aBVNajmnxJRLSL9QP9997jmGnLpFbjSd9nvvxh0yLbFHBKyG3sENPxaI7LtEsc8iG3WfghpKZ4c8kBDn2qSEuqKKLUgzb5r%2F%2FRrUMpf%2FVUbog4Qqpso%2BJ5QCLLd3sMv69XuSdgqVUJuptdKBkRqbaF46d4d8avzoYEhqR6hQlROE6L1Z4tP5G7fiS1bZnfW8mc5dp3Y%3D%7Ctkp%3ABFBMrv3h4blg

[Vince]

Why are you trying to do this on a phone at all?? I'm sure you have a PC with a speaker, microphone and internet connection. Click the link on a PC and you don't need the phone to be involved at all. For free, without having to register or give credit card details.

McBryce.

No there are no mic or camera on my computer, otherwise I would as you say just use that, rather than trying to get it working on a bloody smartphone ! 

It's a desktop computer not a modern laptop which have mic and camera as standard since these days laptops are basically closer to a glorified smartphone than an actual computer.

So go buy a USB camera / Mic or better a USB camera and standard headset with mic and off you go!

You missed the part where I have zero money to buy anything at the moment....   

I doubt I could find that at a local store, or if I do it won't be 10 Euros for the lot, and if it is, the camera probably won't work on my Linux machine. Buying new H/W for Linux is a gamble and must be carefully studied and planned. You can't just go and buy anything off the shelve... sadly.

At this price you almost can’t afford not to own it:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/225046460684?epid=97030624&hash=item3465d0790c:g:GjkAAOSwe2tit6U7&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA0EnBw2b2%2FLSi2BQVM4v8XcA5ajZ%2FC3M7%2Fv%2F5KR%2B4f48JnZkF7cdugpupG%2FaLf1QWrtYVCn0SC%2FfFO5k8aBVNajmnxJRLSL9QP9997jmGnLpFbjSd9nvvxh0yLbFHBKyG3sENPxaI7LtEsc8iG3WfghpKZ4c8kBDn2qSEuqKKLUgzb5r%2F%2FRrUMpf%2FVUbog4Qqpso%2BJ5QCLLd3sMv69XuSdgqVUJuptdKBkRqbaF46d4d8avzoYEhqR6hQlROE6L1Z4tP5G7fiS1bZnfW8mc5dp3Y%3D%7Ctkp%3ABFBMrv3h4blg

MIssing the mic, plus you need to wait for delivery, no time for that. Plus how do you know it works on Linux ? By default any piece of H/W needs to be considered non-working on Linux, unless proven otherwise by practical experiment, sad reality.

Anyway, problem probably solved : a friend just phoned me... he has an old ex work-laptop that he used to use at Airbus to do TEAMS meetings ! Yes, the very thing I need to do !!
I will meet him at his house this evening once he gets back from work. We will dig out and dust off that laptop and see if it still works.

Hopes are high !!! 

[tautech]

Great news, good luck Vince….. you need it to get that TEA budget back on track !

[Vince]

Yes indeed ! My RM17 rack mount glowing Tek scope has been waiting for caps and adapter PCB's for some time now, it's taking space on my bench !