[Noisebridge-discuss] New Multimeter needed....

Tue Jan 25 00:20:25 UTC 2011

I call BS on the whole "we can't have locks at Noisebridge because OMG
hackers will pick your lock JUST BECAUSE ITS THERE" thing.  I believe that
the next thing taken out of a locked box against the box's owner's wishes at
Noisebridge will be the first.

If you want to keep good but "walkable" stuff, get a toolbox or something
with a padlock on it and put it on your  shelf.

Or we could become more serious about access control.

--S

On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 12:26 PM, Dr. Jesus <j at hug.gs> wrote:

> As I've said before, there's something in the hacker psyche that
> become irrationally upset when confronted by a lock.  It happens more
> to some than others, but for some members it makes them very, very
> angry.  We all have to live together, so installing a locked cabinet
> is probably not worth it.
>
> Besides, I made arrangements to safely keep safety-critical gear
> elsewhere in the building out of Noisebridge's control.  I can show
> anyone else who needs to keep nice things at 2169 how that works when
> I'm there on Tuesday.
>
> On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 11:17 AM, John E <neurofog at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Jim,
> > I was under the impression borrowing any equipment, books etc. from
> > noisebridge was considered unexcellent, especially when people are
> "sloppy"
> > about returning it.
> > Perhaps we should consider having a lockable "crate" with the expensive
> test
> > equipment and dev boards, so that random people can't walk off with it.
> >
> > Regards,
> > John
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 11:06 AM, jim <jim at well.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>    Holy Moly! Thanks for the link to the $6 MPJA meter!
> >>
> >>    For me, el cheapos work great, but i do power supply
> >> and audio work where most of the measurements are
> >> discovering catastrophic failures and continuity.
> >>    I'd love to know detailed criteria for assessing a
> >> multimeter. One approach might be to point to the specs
> >> of a good model (fluke 17{5,7,9}, which i looked up).
> >>    But it'd be really helpful to understand the why of
> >> each criterion: in measuring capacitance, what are the
> >> use cases and acceptable tolerances? For me, if the RC
> >> figure allows, I can look to see if the "needle" moves
> >> to know if it's working (can't do that with pfs, of
> >> course); cap tolerances for me are +-50%, give or take....
> >>    Is there a need for a does-all meter or is it
> >> acceptably useful to have a reasonably good VOA meter
> >> along with separate cap and L measurement tools (maybe
> >> a frequency generator and scope...)?
> >>
> >>    As to "Why We Can't Have Nice Things at Noisebridge",
> >> that issue makes me furious!
> >>    It's horribly inconsiderate to take things away: I'm
> >> guessing mainly it's a sloppy, selfish mentality to the
> >> effect that "I'll just use it and bring it back after
> >> I'm done", which very often fails to "I'll just use it
> >> and let it sit around unused and forgotten somewhere at
> >> my house forever more after I'm done."
> >>    Possible approaches include
> >> * We Can't Have Anything Nice at Noisebridge
> >> * People can bring in their personal nice things and
> >>  label them and put them in their member shelves and
> >>  loan them out when/if they see fit.
> >> * Have a checkout system for some things--probably a
> >>  signout sheet: probably a fair number of people will
> >>  sign stuff out before they take things home and leave
> >>  them there, and when asked, they'll probably be able
> >>  to find the things and bring them back.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Mon, 2011-01-24 at 09:11 -0800, Jonathan Foote wrote:
> >> > Hey Zach, thanks for noticing! But I'm with  Dr. J. here.
> >> >
> >> > I wouldn't get a Fluke, it will just walk like the last one. (Another
> >> > demonstration of Why We Can't Have Nice Things at Noisebridge.) Sounds
> >> > like you could use one for yourself, though!
> >> >
> >> > I have a spare El Cheapo I can donate. I'll bring it tonight and slap
> >> > some stickers on it.
> >> > For the price of a Fluke we can get a few of these $6 ones which will
> >> > work great for 99% of anything we want to do at NB.
> >> > (How many people not doing power engineering really need accurate
> >> > capacitances > 400 uF?)
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> http://www.mpja.com/Category/Test_Equipment/Digital_Multi_Meters/LARGE_CHARACTER__LCD_MULTIMETER_17191_TE.asp
> >> >
> >> > As Dr. J mentioned we can loan ya an expensive one should you need it.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > On Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 10:52 PM, Dr. Jesus <j at hug.gs> wrote:
> >> > >
> >> > > I've noticed that the people who need a trustworthy DVM just bring
> >> > > their own.  I have a pretty nice one you can borrow if that will
> help get
> >> > > some of the LCDs working.
> >> > > On Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 10:46 PM, Zach . <organic_unity at yahoo.com>
> >> > > wrote:
> >> > >>
> >> > >> Hey folks,
> >> > >>
> >> > >>    Zach here and this is my first attempt at posting to the email
> >> > >> list.  I'm writing this because I believe we desperately need a new
> >> > >> multimeter to work with and am not sure how to go about the process
> of
> >> > >> noisebridge getting one.  But allow me to explain first...
> >> > >>
> >> > >> noisebridge used to have a very nice Fluke multimeter that went
> >> > >> missing some months ago.  I have looked all over for it but it has
> yet to
> >> > >> turn up.  I am in the process of repairing some LCDs for
> noisebridge (got
> >> > >> one working already) and could be saved a great deal of time and
> effort with
> >> > >> a better multimeter.  The best one we have now is a "Vichy" brand.
>  I
> >> > >> personally find it incredibly low quality and a very large pain to
> use.  And
> >> > >> its capacitance readout maxes out under 400uf...which is a joke.
> >> > >>
> >> > >> I recommend we collect donations for this very important electrical
> >> > >> tool for the benefit of noisebridge and everyone else at the space.
>  Great
> >> > >> Fluke meters are inexpensive these days and a quick ebay search
> pulls up one
> >> > >> at a good price:
> >> > >>
> >> > >>
> >> > >>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/FLUKE175-TRUE-RMS-MULTIMETER-EXC-CONDITION-CASE-/190484916097?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c59c92781
> >> > >>
> >> > >> the Fluke 175 is a superb meter measuring capacitance to 10,000uf
> or
> >> > >> TWENTY TIMES higher than our current best meter.  This will make
> repairs far
> >> > >> easier.  It also has RMS frequency reading, high voltage (600v),
> and is far
> >> > >> more accurate.  It also reads more than twice as fast.
> >> > >>
> >> > >> so....what do people think?  sorry I don't know how this process is
> >> > >> supposed to work, people just told me to post to the list so here I
> am...
> >> > >>
> >> > >> best,
> >> > >> Zach
> >> > >>
> >> > >>
> >> > >> _______________________________________________
> >> > >> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> >> > >> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> >> > >> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
> >> > >>
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > _______________________________________________
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> >> > > Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> >> > > https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
> >> > >
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> >> > Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> >> > https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
> >> >
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> >> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> > https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
> >
> >
> _______________________________________________
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>

-- 
Shannon Lee
(503) 539-3700

"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
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