Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

Lloyds is the only bank I haven’t used so far 

[Robert763]

Back to TEA.
There was a Ramco auction dedicated to R&S CMS-33 communications test sets. There were 14 of them. Prices went a bit high I thought. Some over £1000 and there is 15% buyers premium and 20% VAT (38% total increase) on top of that.
Some had visible lines across the LCD and even one that had a smashed front glass and damaged panel went for about £700.
I sold a working one for £1500 on ebay last week......

My HEME 2000L clamp meter arrived today. Seems OK, proper tests later. These meters seem very under valued. Auto ranging with 19.99 A / 199.9A ("100" model), 199.9 A / 1000A ("1000" model) and 199.9 / 1999A for the 2000L ranges. All models are AC/DC, True RMS to 1kHz (important for motor drives etc) and have peak hold.
And like the Fluke 25/27 they can double as a weapm or hammer...
 

[Specmaster]

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.

I don't have a mic or webcam on my desktop either, they can be hacked and as far I'm concerned, they are a security risk. I do have a mic that I can plug in if required, one which I had to buy in order to conduct a online meeting with someone from RS when I was pissed with them. I sent off my HP3478A for calibration to them, and a couple of weeks later they claimed they couldn't do it and retuned it to me and offered a discount against a new meter. Strange how they couldn't calibrate it, but I managed to do it myself in the end without all of their fancy gear.

Anyway, I do have a laptop as well, and I have taped up the webcam on that and disabled the mic so good luck any hackers getting access to that, especially as it sits under my bench most of the time not used.

Good luck with the interview. Fingers crossed for you.

[bd139]

It’s not the hackers I worry about seeing and hearing me. It’s my staff 

[Specmaster]

Got curious and found some info on iPhone 6s support. Might be ending when iOS 16 is out. Don't know any more than what I'm finding at the moment.

https://www.macworld.com/article/561009/ios-16-support-iphone-6s-iphone-se.html

Thanks, so I'm crossing an iPhone 6 off my list of 2nd hand phones then, I would like a high-end model which will have longer support but not the associated costs, so I'm thinking of a second hand model, unlocked of course.

[bd139]

Got curious and found some info on iPhone 6s support. Might be ending when iOS 16 is out. Don't know any more than what I'm finding at the moment.

https://www.macworld.com/article/561009/ios-16-support-iphone-6s-iphone-se.html

Thanks, so I'm crossing an iPhone 6 off my list of 2nd hand phones then, I would like a high-end model which will have longer support but not the associated costs, so I'm thinking of a second hand model, unlocked of course.

Be careful where you buy them. Some of them are mutants stuffed with crap parts. Apple sell refurbs but you’re looking at £529+. Giffgaff sell refurb iPhone 11 for a reasonable price with warranty https://www.giffgaff.com/mobile-phones/apple/apple-iphone-11/refurbished

[Specmaster]

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. 

You must be pulling our plonkers. Natural gas that has happily spent millions of years underground is suddenly going to start floating up into the air if we don't use it?

Undersea methane clathrate/hydrate? (Note the question mark)

Methane in permafrost.

And methane rising from landfill sites, sewage works, cows and other sources, and yes it was a bit of tongue in cheek but it does make you think, and don't forget that now we have drilled into the earths crust and disturbed the balance, so there is always the possibility of leaks and blow outs, even from capped wells, at some time in the future I'm sure that there will be a major event, but when is the question.

[Cerebus]

6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon...?




mnem
Huh... there's a un-app for dat too: https://oracleofbacon.org/movielinks.php

I actually have a Bacon number! It's 3 - I was in something with Robbie Coltrane (whose Bacon number is 2). Sadly I don't have an Erdös number so I can't have an Erdös-Bacon number, or the best to have, an Erdös-Bacon-Sabbath number and sadly nobody does Bacon-Sabbath numbers, which I probably have as I used to play with (and share a flat with) Dougie Scarratt from Saxon who has beyond a doubt played with someone with a Sabbath number.

Also, a Bacon Sabbath sounds like something I'd like to be invited to. Mmmm, bacon...

[tggzzz]

Got curious and found some info on iPhone 6s support. Might be ending when iOS 16 is out. Don't know any more than what I'm finding at the moment.

https://www.macworld.com/article/561009/ios-16-support-iphone-6s-iphone-se.html

Thanks, so I'm crossing an iPhone 6 off my list of 2nd hand phones then, I would like a high-end model which will have longer support but not the associated costs, so I'm thinking of a second hand model, unlocked of course.

Be careful where you buy them. Some of them are mutants stuffed with crap parts. Apple sell refurbs but you’re looking at £529+. Giffgaff sell refurb iPhone 11 for a reasonable price with warranty https://www.giffgaff.com/mobile-phones/apple/apple-iphone-11/refurbished

£379 upwards?! I'm not going to spend that much on cellphones/calls in the rest of my life! I'd be surprised if I spend £20/year.

[tggzzz]

I actually have a Bacon number! It's 3 - I was in something with Robbie Coltrane (whose Bacon number is 2). Sadly I don't have an Erdös number so I can't have an Erdös-Bacon number, or the best to have, an Erdös-Bacon-Sabbath number and sadly nobody does Bacon-Sabbath numbers, which I probably have as I used to play with (and share a flat with) Dougie Scarratt from Saxon who has beyond a doubt played with someone with a Sabbath number.

Also, a Bacon Sabbath sounds like something I'd like to be invited to. Mmmm, bacon...

Bacon number 3, pah.

I have a Putin number of 3. Relative -> mother-in-law -> Putin,  before he was president, not sure about now.

[Cerebus]

Benefits are more questionable, especially when it starts to be used for biometric login, e.g. facial recognition. Certificate revocation anyone?

Easy. Go into the wrong kind of Irish pub and shout "God bless England, King Billy and St. George!". Your certificate will be summarily revoked for you. 

[bd139]

Got curious and found some info on iPhone 6s support. Might be ending when iOS 16 is out. Don't know any more than what I'm finding at the moment.

https://www.macworld.com/article/561009/ios-16-support-iphone-6s-iphone-se.html

Thanks, so I'm crossing an iPhone 6 off my list of 2nd hand phones then, I would like a high-end model which will have longer support but not the associated costs, so I'm thinking of a second hand model, unlocked of course.

Be careful where you buy them. Some of them are mutants stuffed with crap parts. Apple sell refurbs but you’re looking at £529+. Giffgaff sell refurb iPhone 11 for a reasonable price with warranty https://www.giffgaff.com/mobile-phones/apple/apple-iphone-11/refurbished

£379 upwards?! I'm not going to spend that much on cellphones/calls in the rest of my life! I'd be surprised if I spend £20/year.

I probably make less calls than you do.

The phone bit is a fairly minor function between the camera, navigation, research, entertainment, organisational, social, banking, transaction and identity functions.

Research function is great for avoiding lemons and checking bounce prices in the middle of a field at a hamfest 

[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*

Nope. 

EDIT: LOL!!! Specmaster found this very video while I was snoozing...

mnem
 

Yep I can be first sometimes, snooze, and you lose 

[Cerebus]

Too many of the local branches are in the city centre, and it will soon cost £9 to enter there (30% of people will be caught by a congestion charge) plus car park charges. I have an almost unreasonable hatred of paying to park a car, let alone a congestion charge.

A few years back, say 15-20, I used to be able to claim, with some justification, that you could name anywhere in Central London and I could tell you where to park legally for free for at least an hour within a 5-10 minute walk, often closer. Those days are a gone with (1) increasing parking restrictions everywhere and (2) I haven't kept my knowledge up to date.

[Cerebus]

Lloyds is the only bank I haven’t used so far 

Ditto. I'm saving them for a rainy day...

[Specmaster]

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 

Burning fossil fuel in 2022 with potentially tons of PV energy on the roof (my case), it is just bad for everybody.
Again it's not just the business case, it the mostly right thing to do.

Yep, I have PV on my roof as well and it is currently making a massive difference in our energy bill. SWMBO didn't want the PV array when I first went for it (I could see the writing on the wall) but now she is very pleased we have them.

[Specmaster]

Woohoo housing nightmare sorted. Moving 26th Aug now. Place slightly smaller than last one but plenty of storage for TE and secure underground car park so the TE doesn't get wet unloading it from the car

Riverview or not this time?

[tggzzz]

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. 

You must be pulling our plonkers. Natural gas that has happily spent millions of years underground is suddenly going to start floating up into the air if we don't use it?

Undersea methane clathrate/hydrate? (Note the question mark)

Methane in permafrost.

And methane rising from landfill sites, sewage works, cows and other sources, and yes it was a bit of tongue in cheek but it does make you think, and don't forget that now we have drilled into the earths crust and disturbed the balance, so there is always the possibility of leaks and blow outs, even from capped wells, at some time in the future I'm sure that there will be a major event, but when is the question.

Landfill sites and sewage works often "harvest" the methane now. Cows I'm suspicious of, but I've never bothered to investigate whether there's any more substance than PETA/Greenpeace propaganda.

But there is a hell of a lot of methane in permafrost and in clathrates/hydrates.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/colossal-crater-found-Siberia-what-made-it
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=siberian+methane+craters+2020&t=ffsb&iar=images

[Specmaster]

Yes... he will install / set up his lab... in the garage....

I doubt that, from my experience, these garages underground are more of an open plan car park, much the same as normal car parks but with gates on the entrances to keep non-residents out.

[tggzzz]

Got curious and found some info on iPhone 6s support. Might be ending when iOS 16 is out. Don't know any more than what I'm finding at the moment.

https://www.macworld.com/article/561009/ios-16-support-iphone-6s-iphone-se.html

Thanks, so I'm crossing an iPhone 6 off my list of 2nd hand phones then, I would like a high-end model which will have longer support but not the associated costs, so I'm thinking of a second hand model, unlocked of course.

Be careful where you buy them. Some of them are mutants stuffed with crap parts. Apple sell refurbs but you’re looking at £529+. Giffgaff sell refurb iPhone 11 for a reasonable price with warranty https://www.giffgaff.com/mobile-phones/apple/apple-iphone-11/refurbished

£379 upwards?! I'm not going to spend that much on cellphones/calls in the rest of my life! I'd be surprised if I spend £20/year.

I probably make less calls than you do.

The phone bit is a fairly minor function between the camera, navigation, research, entertainment, organisational, social, banking, transaction and identity functions.

Research function is great for avoiding lemons and checking bounce prices in the middle of a field at a hamfest 

Yes, that last one and avoiding traffic jams are benefits. Either uses many more bits/£ than speech+SMS!

The rest, not so much: a major benefit of going out is to inhabit somewhere completely different, not to stay in cyberspace.

[Specmaster]

..... but plenty of storage for TE and secure underground car park so the TE doesn't get wet unloading it from the car

Who else can see where this is going to end up!!   

eBay 

Just sold one of those HP displays for £25. That covers the 3776A purchase already!

Well they didn't hang around long did they 

[tggzzz]

Too many of the local branches are in the city centre, and it will soon cost £9 to enter there (30% of people will be caught by a congestion charge) plus car park charges. I have an almost unreasonable hatred of paying to park a car, let alone a congestion charge.

A few years back, say 15-20, I used to be able to claim, with some justification, that you could name anywhere in Central London and I could tell you where to park legally for free for at least an hour within a 5-10 minute walk, often closer. Those days are a gone with (1) increasing parking restrictions everywhere and (2) I haven't kept my knowledge up to date.

I know what you mean, but I only used that very rarely, e.g. (checks streetview) 15 yards from a loudspeaker shop in Tottenham Court Rd. Since then I've always preferred to take my bike.

It is definitely harder in Brizzle too.

[Specmaster]

Yep BD it's old, as I said the phone is from 2012 so 10 year old now  !

Yes they sent me an e-mail with a link / "invite "to join the meeting. I clicked on that, it then asked me to install the app. I click to do that, it opens up the " Android Store " , which then immediately says, in red letters : " Sorry your phone is not compatible with this version of the app ".

Well too bad !!! 

Yeah you are a "0.5% user". No one cares about you any more. Literally. Have to keep the plates spinning. 3 years old or newer oldest these days. I cycle mine out every 2 years.

It gets worse... as far as I can see the Barclays banking app only works on iPones, not on Androit.

And my phone is a phone, not a minaturised Merlin Tonto / ComputerPhone / One-per-desk nor an HP OmniGo 700LX

And worse...

Barclays sent me the introductory pack, telling me to sign the paper and return it in the prepaid envelope. But didn't provide that envelope.

Can't get in touch, since their chat facility out of order (and indications are it will never be in order).

Tried unsocial media. Response indicated they hadn't comprehended that I can't use their app! And didn't state what I should do with the signature!

Told to write a complaint - but can only do that on their app!

I suspect I'll be opening an account at another bank soon.

precisely, it pisses me off that so often all you want to do is to phone them, and they make finding a phone number so sodding difficult, if not at not sometimes impossible, and I'm OK with tech and can use it pretty well, but there are many hundreds of thousands of perhaps of older folk out there who cannot make use of modern means. My MIL is one such person, we have brought her an iPad with a sim card so that she can keep in contact with family down in Aus etc but she cannot use it.

[tggzzz]

Yes... he will install / set up his lab... in the garage....

I doubt that, from my experience, these garages underground are more of an open plan car park, much the same as normal car parks but with gates on the entrances to keep non-residents out.

Underground car parks near rivers in cities are often earmarked as a last-ditch (ho ho) flood defence. Better to let the (hopefully small) amount of flood water fall into those sumps than swish across streets.

I know of some in Brizzle, Gloucester, Rotterdam, and I'm sure there are others.

I've seen some TE that was probably stored in such places

[tggzzz]

..... but plenty of storage for TE and secure underground car park so the TE doesn't get wet unloading it from the car

Who else can see where this is going to end up!!   

eBay 

Just sold one of those HP displays for £25. That covers the 3776A purchase already!

Clearly underpriced. I presume you will put the other one up for sale at twice the price, and encourage the same person to buy that.

Historical posts will be rewritten.