Then and Now

Not too far from where I grew up is a little town named Vale, Oregon.  (Click any image to enlarge)

Early Springtime Chores

It's the time of year when we go from being hunkered down for cold and snow, to getting ready for summer weather.

"The Best a Man Can Get"

I'm done buying disposable shaving products, thanks to a recent offensive commercial from a well-known razor blade manufacturer.

The Winter Blues

Winter wasn't terribly bad this year... until February through early March.

Calibrating the Tektronix 2225

The shop is really freaking cold right now.  February and early March was brutal and snowy, and I keep the shop thermostat set just a few degrees above freezing.  I do this to minimize propane use, while also preventing the plumbing from freezing.

Isolation transformer and Variac

The isolation transformer that I ordered arrived recently, and today I had a chance to get it apart and have a look inside.

Tektronix 2225 troubleshooting update

Update:  I set the noisy Tektronix 2225 oscilloscope aside for a while.

Here it is with both channels grounded, showing plenty of garbage on the screen. Both traces should be completely flat.

The end of the Winter Blues

I always have a blah period between Superbowl and the beginning of the MotoGP season.  It's still cold and snowy, and there's very little sun between the overcast and short northern days.  I have a follow-up post about the Winter Blues and why I got them here.

Tektronix 2225 checkout and inspection

One of the things that an oscilloscope can do is "freeze" a signal, so that you can look it over and see what the device you are testing is doing.    You can spot normal and abnormal signal patterns if you can visualize the signal.