I'm thinking I should maybe go to bed

quote of the day:

"Is experience exactly the same as pessimism?" .... "experience is much worse"

@PlasmaHH Another Dilbert fan?

not fan, but needed to start the day

Just had a conversation with someone about their "fool proof" product.. said "you know how they say its only fool proof until they invent another fool" and he replied "yeah, looks like no one invented a better one yet" ... so I think... maybe I should go into the business of inventing better fools?

Hm, looks like the Kind of speaker cables i am Used to from the 90s aren't "in" anymore

@PlasmaHH red/black 40V twin?

@Asmyldof not quite that old..

But the cables I was used to had 0.075mm thick litz wires, for a total of 2.5mm^2 ... Today I can find mostly 0.1mm litz wires

@PlasmaHH Are you thinking of going into the education business?

@PlasmaHH They can be arranged, but usually they do come in silicone sheathing, a bit like those I gave you in you box of surprises.

Or possibly Teflon

In fact I have 100m coils of "starter cables" made up of 1200 individual strands

Looks like we've got a live one here.

Quote "my electrical background is minimal." Trying to do a 2000 A load test with 500A power supply.

@JRE On the other hand, I'm actually really curious how the heck you'd actually do what he wants (deliver 2000 A for 1 s) without breaking the bank.

Typical auto batteries are what? 50-100 A or so? I guess a battery for a big truck starter would be more...

...searching...

Guess I'm off by a factor of 10.

@ThePhoton Can be done with only tinfoil and bottles, problem is that you'll need a heck of a lot more than 12V though

No hang on

I was thinking ms

never mind

I'm off by a factor 1000

* hides *

@Asmyldof 2000 F is a lot of tinfoil and bottles.

(assuming we allow 1 V of voltage sag)

No, that's why I was saying you need a hell of a lot more than 12V

If you have 10kV you don't mind losing a few kV

Or even all of them

@Asmyldof I'm not sure you want to test a switch with a 10 kV source.

I'm pretty sure I do want to, I can see how other people might not

@Asmyldof <smirk>

I'm gonna go measure stuff with oscilloscopes and lasers and stuff now.

Hell, I have tested my pencil drawings with 100kV

Pretty fun, by the way

You're going to measure stuff with stuff? That's a self-referential nightmare of offsets and run-away gain errors

@PlasmaHH What exactly do you need those cable for, by the way?

You're welcome to make me an offer for x meters of AWG28/22/18/14/10 of the silicone stuff

If that helps you

It's not exactly Litz, but it comes close to the make-up you talk about

Ending the workday a little happier

(Yes, I'm very slow to look at my Stack inbox at times)

@ThePhoton I remember accidentally turning off vias making pads on layers where they weren't connected once, but now I can't find it.... Any idea? ((altium, obvs)

@Asmyldof already found some at 0.01mm, that's near enough. And I even need them for their intended purpose: connecting loudspeakers. I have plenty of shorter ones, but the New House asks for longer, more convoluted runs... And I really just like how they feel, so soft and wobbly ;)

@PlasmaHH Let me know if'n'what you need, I have cable and sheathing aplenty of the better types

And if I haven't got enough length to make you happy, it means I was due for a new order anyway

BBL. Going home now

I hope it's good enough, that's why I ordered it ^^

Longest run is about 15m, and my longest cable is 10m... And I don't feel like attaching smaller ones

@Asmyldof I don't remember where, but I think the words you want to look for are "non-functional pads".

Maybe this?

techdocs.altium.com/display/ADOH/Unused+Pad+Shape+Removal

@ThePhoton That is exactly the function I need, but would love it if the via could be told to not make any pads on mid-layers to begin with... oh well, lots better than nothing

Plan break-out, run tool, same difference

Any hints for a very low energy isolated switch device are welcome. I'm fed up with my speakers' internal PSU making a buzzing sound while unloaded. It's not loud, but I can hear it

Most awesome would be an idea that can use 0.7Vpp at less than a mA directly without needing more alternative supplies

Intertek. Well, shit.

I have just lost a lot of faith in that test house.

What worries me more is that such things get detailed answers

how does somebody with that little knowledge (a) get a job with Intertek and (b) have so little self awareness that they ask a question like that with their company name as their username?

The latter is certainly a point

The prior is one I have grown desensitised to.

@PeterK I saw the name, and thought it looked like it belonged to some company. I had hoped I was wrong. Please let it be someone trolling and misusing Intertek's name.

@JRE @PeterK That may well be an actual one, I'm afraid. (I've had to deal with Intertek in my travels. I've lost faith in that outfit a while ago.)

@abdullahkahraman do you still have that picture of the burnt lizzard?

@NickAlexeev Scary

@JRE ... but cheap and easygoing.

@NickAlexeev Note to self: Make fake "ULIntern" account and post dumb questions to gain pricing leverage.

@jippie How about some magic smoke from a dead bug?

Magic smoke released from dead bug

@ThePhoton Pricing leverage for all! Might as well do TUVtechnician as well (for the sake of consistency).

@NickAlexeev Dibs on CSACoOp

@PeterK Can I have MetMechanic?

Oh... he deleted his account.

RIP @BPIntertek

Not before I archived it for the lols

@JRE :-)

@PeterK That was no troll then. That was a real deal. Well... shit.

@NickAlexeev I feel kind of bad now. That's a rough way to learn that lesson.

@jippie my best escape so far:

@Asmyldof how about a scope?

not really a component

what about some power transistor or regulator that melts glowing and dropping out molten stuff ^^

Not sure if I have regulators old enough to have no thermal shut off

But I could try a TIP???

@jippie How about a $6800 PC (in 1989 dollars)?