Oscilloscopes - Questions, Comments and WTF? (and NOLA too!)

I made winch trucks do things that couldn't be done...
 
I did.. caught a lot of fish, and hooked one that would have been a wall hanger had I got him in. Once hooked, could not change his speed or direction...a real monster..
 
I'm originally from the New Orleans area, and my wife lived in Gretna for a time. Believe it or not, I got the best beads for my gray hair... We were back home for Mardi Gras a few years ago. A lady on one of the floats actually motioned for me to come up to her. When she got there she commented on how nice it looked - then dumped a bunch of beads on me. WhatYaGonnaDo???

Wife gave me a condescending smirk, of course. Kids were thrilled with the beads.

View attachment 43118
New Orleans native here as well.
 
Scopes......I have one single piece of advice on a scope purchase. I love old analog scope as much as the next nerd but I like the "easy" button on the digital;s very much. Usually they are labeled "Auto" and you will put your probe on what you wanna see and hit the Auto button and it detects the input signal and sets the scope up automatically for you to see the waveform. I like the Tek TDS 210 and 220 for the value. You can usually pick one up on Fleabay for under 200 bux.
 
A week after Katrina I was working at the Shell Norco plant west of N.O. I had a room at one of the few hotels available. The Quarter was a ghost town with only mounted police and flat bed trailers with monster fans trying to dry out the buildings. The nightly rate at the hotel was a paltry $299 up from the standard rate of $129. There was no potable water but they did have bottled water. The Hilton at the airport was reserved for FEMA. They had a huge buffet breakfast for the workers and plenty of food and space. I stopped there hoping to get something to eat before going to work. Since I wasn't FEMA they couldn't serve me, despite my offer to pay cash. The manager escorted me out the door. Since then I've been back to Shell, Valero and the nuclear plant across the river. The Hilton is a different story.
 
Vince Vance and the Valiants were just getting traction when I left NOLA in 1973. For a local band they did very well. Local New Orleans bands, with a few exceptions, were generally gig paycheck to gig paycheck. They still are, except the gigs have dried up due to COVID. I'm a regular contributor to the clinic for musicians. Great cause to support NOLA music and culture.

https://neworleansmusiciansclinic.org/
 
I know more about what's going on at the moon than I know about the everyday use of scopes. I'm sure I'm not the only one here. And I know there are some well versed in scope usage. So instead of having little scope nuggets buried in a 123 page build thread......here we are...
I was hoping this thread could be a general discussion on terminology and understanding. Separate threads for specific procedures or tests may bode well for folks searching for that only....
Thanks Lee. As you said, same here. I know I have a scope and some probes and that is about it !
 
Charities don't have much to do with oscilloscopes, but I figured we need to uphold this forum's bad reputation. ;)
 
Katrina changed New Orleans in many ways. Certainly physical, went back in 2018 and there were aspects that are so different. Flooded houses abandoned everywhere. You'd look inside and it would all be black with mold. Diverted peoples lives onto different paths as well. My brother never recovered. Many other talented people had the same fate.

A week after Katrina I was working at the Shell Norco plant west of N.O. I had a room at one of the few hotels available. The Quarter was a ghost town with only mounted police and flat bed trailers with monster fans trying to dry out the buildings. The nightly rate at the hotel was a paltry $299 up from the standard rate of $129. There was no potable water but they did have bottled water. The Hilton at the airport was reserved for FEMA. They had a huge buffet breakfast for the workers and plenty of food and space. I stopped there hoping to get something to eat before going to work. Since I wasn't FEMA they couldn't serve me, despite my offer to pay cash. The manager escorted me out the door. Since then I've been back to Shell, Valero and the nuclear plant across the river. The Hilton is a different story.
 
Loved Vince Vance and the Valiants, the Meters, the Neville Brothers, Professor Longhair and Dr. John. Also loved Pet Fountain and Al Hirt, as well as the Marsalis family, who are still keeping it going after Ellis' passing.

I remember seeing the debris waterlines on the top of the buildings in an empty mall that was cordoned off with yellow crime tape... Damned wild and sad at the same time.
 
Last edited:
Worked Katrina in a data coms/telcoms VSAT role 2 weeks after (the soonest they would let us in). I have never seen anything even close. It was probably the saddest thing I have ever seen. Absolute mayhem. Got FedX up first, computers / telephones then off to all the USPS sites. We took the van and a big trailer 1st round then came back with the airstream after we finally found a campground about an hour or so south of N.O. That mall that you were talking about ^ I do not think they ever opened it back up....
 
Worked Katrina in a data coms/telcoms VSAT role 2 weeks after (the soonest they would let us in). I have never seen anything even close. It was probably the saddest thing I have ever seen. Absolute mayhem. Got FedX up first, computers / telephones then off to all the USPS sites. We took the van and a big trailer 1st round then came back with the airstream after we finally found a campground about an hour or so south of N.O. That mall that you were talking about ^ I do not think they ever opened it back up....
Thank you for doing what you could to help those folks. We still have family in the area. I believe that one of the properties my wife's uncle was working on was her grandparent's home. If I recall correctly, it was reduced to a slab. We saw so much ruin, even many months afterward, that the vision will remain with us forever.
 
Back
Top