On Saturday, 2 July 2022 at 17:30:14 UTC+1, Commander Kinsey wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Jun 2022 01:44:41 +0100, Whisky-dave <whisk...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Sunday, 26 June 2022 at 17:52:57 UTC+1, Commander Kinsey wrote:
> >> >> > Not worth the effort and I doubt that would happen if we bought 50, which was the last large purchases of 5Amp PSU's
> >> >> > China but from a reputable source.
> >> >> You buy a couple from 25 different sellers.
> >> >
> >> > We can;t do that we have to go through a process with finance and get approvals and quotes for some things.
> >> So did I, until I kicked up a fuss and quoted several instances where I could save up to two thirds on the price.
> >
> > We've rarely found that when searching for the cheapest price.
> The "deals" with suppliers we had were ridiculous.

Ours seem fine for most things.

> >> > we bought 50 of these Bench Top Linear Power Supply, 0-30V 5A with Twin Outputs.
> >> These? Did you drop a link?
> >
> > was from onecall but the site was down for maintenance, seemed more expensive on ebay when we looked and only had a couple and weighing about 5-6KG each P&P was expensive .
> Occasionally it's cheaper elsewhere, but I always start with Ebay, and if the price looks too much I have a search elsewhere. And absolutely never used overpriced Amazon. That's just Ebay with less choices and more cost.

That's not my experience , the dd thing is cheaper on ebay but not by much.
> >> >> >> > we're having problems getting raspberry Pi 4s at the moment.
> >> >> >> Problems getting them at all, or problems getting them at a reasonable price?
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Problems getting them, they filter though 1 per customer from some suppliers.
> >> >>
> >> >> Then get each member of staff or student to buy one each.
> >> >
> >> > yuo can;t do that as it's open to fiddling and not very efficient.
> >> If it's the only way to get them....
> >
> > If they really need them but they don't normally need the latest tech for an undergrad project even masters and MSc don't need them for a project.
> > One student asked us to buy a 5KV pulse generator and some high octane fuel we sent him back to his supervisor
> > for funding to get a research grant , never heard from him again.
> That sounds like an interesting project! What was he aiming to do?

Some sort of fast propulsion drive for probes to other planets he claimed it was faster than anything NASA had, he wanted to prove it. Not sure we could do that in a lab.
Can you image the problems using a 5KV pulse generator to ignite high octane fuel :-0
I'm guessing he didn't account for the weight of fuel needed just to get it into orbit.
Trouble with some academics they just say go to the teaching labs borrow what you can from them and buy the rest from your project fund, which is normally £100 max, anything else needs to eb paid for by a research grant.
Another student wanted some resistors and an LED that worked at 5KV as he was rotating a magnet in a magnetic field, he wanted to stick a probe in close to the magnet rotating at 30K RPM of something
he estimated he'd get a few KVs from a coil placed in the field so wanted to touch it with an LED.
Again we sent him back to his supervisor to approve any purchases and to add the items to the on-line order form we provide, but he never found a supplier for either a LED or resistor with a 5KV rating.
He asked me what would happen if he used our standard 1/4w resistors.
I said they'd just go open circuit with a big flash and I wouldn't want to be holding a stick with one on.

> >> >> >> > Most of the stuff we buy isn't cheaper on ebay anyway.
> >> >> >> Some stuff is, some stuff isn't. I don't understand some sellers, when you subtract what they must pay for postage and Ebay fees, they end up with 50p. So unless they're stealing the goods, that's not a profit.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > could be for currency.
> >> >> Huh?
> >> >
> >> > Money laundering .
> >> I don't know how that works.
> >
> > Me neither. But I think when you send them the money they then order from a supplier in their currency
> > so they get £ and spend rupees or yen or whatever.
> Which must mean the conversion rate available in banks is wrong.

>
> And it's hardly laundering, I thought that was someone disposing of some stolen money by buying and selling things with it.
> >> > If something is cheaper on ebay we have used it in the past we bought 100 RGB LEDs
> >> > cheap and easy to test if woiking the 10% or so they didn't you can just throw away.
> >> Ah so you can use Ebay. You were objecting to it earlier.
> >
> > The college doesn't like it especially for high value items .
> > We're allowed about £2k per month and anything over £500 has to be ordered by finance
> > on an account which I think they pay 1-3 months later. Most ebayers want the money up front I don't blame them.
> Finance departments are a waste of fucking space. You're the one that knows what you need and where the best place to get it is, not them.

They have all the account codes for budgets for each area and grants.

> >> >> >> But he's a fat fuck.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > and that's being polite about him
> >> >> His policies are wonderful.
> >> >
> >> > He doesn't have any other than to make himself rich.
> >> He's far right, which I like.
> >
> > He's a con artist.
> Don't care, I'm fed up of left wingers. I see trader4 in alt.home.repair is now moaning about Biden after he used to moan about Trump....

It's easy to moan , people get pissed of when they can;t have what they think they should have.

> >> > I wonder if he'll be able to run for office next year or will he end up on prison.
> >> > How can anyone lose money running a casino .
> >> > An airline that doesn;t fly, and as for trump university.
> >> Americans always try to get their politicians in prison. They vote someone in then get upset about it, it's pathetic.
> >
> > Then they vote them out .
> That doesn't seem enough for the childish suing culture.

Yeah America is a pretty backwards country in a lot of ways.

> >> >> >> > Strange he needed so many doctors and drugs to cure him from a fake disease.
> >> >> >> It doesn't kill fit people.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > It can and has .
> >> >> Not often. And you never know when someone has a hidden defect.
> >> >
> >> > Often enough
> >> Those people need to be removed from the gene pool.
> >> >> >> How come this guy, who has a heart condition, survived it twice?
> >> >> >> https://www.patreon.com/krzyszp
> >> >> >> >> It only kills the weak.
> >> >> >> > Only the weak minded think that.
> >> >> >> Mind and body are one and the same.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Like stephen hawking you mean .
> >> >> That's hardly the norm.
> >> >
> >> > He was lucky he was found to be intelligent before he became ill.
> >> He didn't live as good a life as you think. His relatives didn't take care of him.
> >
> > It shouldn't be up to them to look after them that's going back 100s of years .
> So you wouldn't look after your ill relative?

Look after is one thing, I haven;t the skills to do liver transplants, heart ops or even personal care.
Even lifting someone up to go on the toilet can do your back in and dropping them.

> >> >> >> Also ice baths prevent colds.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > We don't have them in the lab, or on public transport.
> >> >> You use one at home or in a gym.
> >> >
> >> > Why did they close the gyms then oh yeah all that putting and blowing .
> >> They closed stuff because they're stupid.
> >
> > gyms are crowded places .
> And nobody was forcing anyone to go.
> >> > I had to stop a couple of students doing a project where they were measuring heart rates and stuff jumping about
> >> > sharing heart rate sensors pulse sensors . If they want to do that go outside not in a lab.
> >> What was your objection?
> >
> > Spearding infection one came in coughing and splutters didn't even have a mask on, the next day he asked for his stuff in the project cupboard to be posted to him as he'd tested positive. He lives opposite the college in the student accommodation.
> > Apparent;y the place was riddled with positive cases.
> So what? It's just a bad cold.

It's a bit more serious than that.