From: muratlanne@gmail.com   
      
   "Gerry"  wrote in message news:cs76hjd5p0qhg3argcc3n9bp3ucbccu3iq@4ax.com...   
      
   Like my $3 "some kind of electrical meter" (Fluke 77) around twenty   
   years ago!   
      
   ----------------------------------   
   Good one!   
      
   I bought a Fluke 8800A for $25 and a Keithley 580 for $15 from sellers who   
   did know what they were. They are both old enough to have no value to   
   industry which complies with ISO standards, and more specialized and   
   accurate than most hobbyists need. I don't either but high precision is a   
   habit (obsession?) left from building and using scientific instruments.   
   Often the bargains need some work, like fuel system cleaning on the Honda   
   EU1000i inverter generator.   
      
   The 8800A still reads a 10.0022V standard correctly to the least significant   
   digit after the 30 minute warmup. The 580 can show the resistance of an inch   
   of 10AWG wire, which is about one milliOhm. Recently bought wire is near the   
   high tolerance limit, as little copper as they could get away with. I can   
   measure from a microOhm for high current contacts to a GigOhm for leakage at   
   500 or 1000V.   
      
   I made a gas tank pressurizer for the genny with a 1-5/8" rubber stopper,   
   siphon bulb and rubber flap check valve under the stopper, as the siphon   
   bulb lacked one. My thumb is the intake valve. The stopper doubles as the   
   safety relief valve. It pushes -all- remaining gas in the tank, valve and   
   lines out the carb bowl drain for safe indoor storage near a wood stove so   
   it's accessible after a winter storm snows/ices me in, and primes the carb   
   after refilling it. Their instructions use a kerosene suction pump to drain   
   the tank which leaves some at the bottom. The EU1000i should NOT be turned   
   over to drain it because motor oil goes where it shouldn't.   
      
   When I was little my father was an accountant at a company that made   
   submarine telephone cable. They carefully tested all incoming material and   
   rejected quite a bit of it, which went to local scrappers and employees   
   offering to help dispose of it for free. Dad brought home enough steel and   
   copper wire and foil for my projects, I've even seen the center wire used as   
   flagpole rope. Apparently the extra time cost of selling it surplus was more   
   than it was worth.   
      
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TAT-1   
   Simplex Wire and Cable of Newington NH made the long part on large spindle   
   bore lathes with wire and insulation spools on the faceplates and passed it   
   directly into the Monarch as it was completed and tested. The incoming cable   
   was guided into tight spirals by hand. The repeaters contained $50,000 of   
   platinum wiring each. They were powered from (several?) thousand volts DC on   
   the center lead.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)