Hello From NZ
 

25 Years Merchant Navy, various overseas and NZ companies sailed as Elect. and then Engineer , Andy

Welcome to SH, Andy.

S2182

Greetings AndyD and welcome to SH. Bon voyage.

Welcome aboard Andy!
Plenty to see here.

It must have taken many of those 25 years to re-train you to be a real engineer. Poacher turned gamekeeper, no longer would a guy with a pristine boiler suit, a Megger and a Fluke Meter bamboozle you with AVR's and earth faults.

Welcome aboard.

It must have taken many of those 25 years to re-train you to be a real engineer. Poacher turned gamekeeper, no longer would a guy with a pristine boiler suit, a Megger and a Fluke Meter bamboozle you with AVR's and earth faults.

Welcome aboard.

Bamboozability is in the mind of the bamboozerlee. Those searching for faults on inherently low impedance systems can become self-bamboozled when using a Fluke (other brands are available) instead of an Avo (ditto). There is no corollary with plumbing tools. A shifter is just a lazy guy's spanner, both are suitable for nuts.

Andy D

Welcome to SH. I used to live in Auckland NZ.

Welcome Andy, this is a great site, with lots going on.

I lived in NZ for some 26 years, Pukekohe, then Rangiora (went South to work on the ChCh recovery).

Andy D,

Welcome to SH.

Neville

ES I was never known as one of the sparkling white brigade, my electrical days were spent crawling around gantry cranes and the like always covered in crap, the E/R as a 4th was bless compared, didn’t go much on scavenge or crankcase work but soon adapted , and I could go ashore. Bless ! And not have to worry about cranes etc

Yes the fluke meter was a trap for the inexperienced

Andy

Welcome aboard from a fellow newbie

Electric cranes what a blessing, I still have the odd nightmare about Hagglunds cranes.

Worry not about the Fluke Meter as many of the Leckys and all the Sparkies on here never figured them out.

A wet thumb is quite sufficient for the competent practitioner......
.....as Faversham often says.

I was on one ship 4 Hagglunds they didn’t do my health much and my bar bill went up this was followed by a bout with a Liebherr gantry crane ,I think its serial number was 0001, talk about nightmares !!!

V often used the Wet Thumb Technique but when the shock wore off he couldn't remember why he had stuck his thumb in so the Batti Walla was sent for the Avometer which was the size of a breeze block and just as heavy. The solution was always the same, put heating lamps on the bit of kit, be it a radio transmitter or the fecal pump. And lay to the bar.

The Regent Westminster was launched in 1968 and was Extensively Automated. This was Swan Hunter code for all equipment to have serial number 001 and not have the ability to talk to any other equipment. It also emboldened the bean counters to declare minimum manning with the inevitable shambles down below.

"and just as heavy"

And just as useful.

:)

What do mean? my AVO makes an excellent door stop.

I was with Cunard.
We couldn't afford doors.

Any ex R/O's remember drawing this time after time?

Never did! I used one at radio college then never saw one again untii I left the sea and, while working for Marconi in South Shields, I was offered a job in their Chelmsford head office and went to work at Elettra House.

It was a regular question on the MRGC tech elect section of the Part 1 as i recall.
Every meter at FNC was an AVO 8......i don't remember seeing any other make until the American coast.
In Ft. Lauderdale i had a problem atop the radar mast which required shoreside attendance.
The engineer .....Ex US army who had only ever worked with radar and nothing else.....quite a luxury i remember thinking.....had a hand held solid state mini oscilloscope which had come straight from "Star Trek".
"A different world" .....was my abiding memory.

I remember having to draw and explain its workings for Electrotechnology & Electronics. I cannot remember if it was Phase I or III. We engineers had to suffer too on Diploma courses! I clearly remember in Phase I the Wheatstone Bridge and how to find where a cable break was, taught by an ex-GPO engineer. It was all a mystery to me. Then again, I had to resit Electrotech, the information went in one ear and out the other, which I had to explain to the Super.

I saw mention above of the "breeze block" Avo. I remember it well, with a sturdy leather case that just added to the weight.

Years ago, probably thirty odd, I was in, of all places, one of those big pharmacies in the States that sell absolutely everything, just that the stuff was good, not like the Chinese emporiums which seem to have made a comeback.

Anyway, there on the racks, amongst Stilsons, insulation tape and glitter pom-poms (!?) was the smallest multimeter I had ever seen, about the size of a packet of cigarettes. I bought it as more of a novelty, not expecting it to work, but work it did! I have no idea where it is though.

I was, a few years later walking through a department store here in Mexico (curiously called Liverpool) and I checked out the clearance items in the tool section. There was a digital multimeter at a real knockdown price. I bought it and still use it. I have never had to change the battery! It is a bit smaller than a paperback, no leather case though!

I also have some odd bits and pieces: A digital Bosch laser tape measure that came free with a mini angle grinder, a digital tube and wire detector (which doesn't work well here in Mexico because the houses are bricks and mortar), a laser level (which I use to make the cats do exercise), amongst others.

Digital multimeters and battery screwdrivers/drills/hammer drills/socket drivers came along to revolutionize the world! (I recently replaced my Bosch 12V with a Bosch 18V because it was cheaper and a smarter working option, than buying new batteries! It also has adjustable torque).

Rgds.
Dave

Using an Avo instead of a breeze block contravenes building control.

As well as Meggers I have a smaller collection of Avos (suggest you offer them on Ebay before incorporating them in your next wall). I am not sure what Ingress Protection code is needed for excluding mortar but suspect any form of inclusion in 'the built environment' will make them difficult to use and suspect with regard to calibration.