Funny Metrology Stories

Started by dallanta, 07-23-2005 -- 12:14:33

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measure

#45
09-26-2011 -- 13:41:37
One more...

While at McChord, I had the opportunity to work in several areas of the PMEL. One night (we had a scant swing shift crew in those days), I was working on some sort of NavAids test set (the model number escapes me) that required 110 V, 60 Hz, 110 V, 400 Hz, and 28 VDC all to be connected simultaneously with the covers removed, exposing the internals. I left for lunch break and came back afterwards to pick up where I left off. I started to proceed through the 33K when all of a sudden smoke started pouring out of the unit. Being a new troop, I started jerking all of the power connections out as fast as I could, hoping to minimize the damage. Subsequently, I stepped out to the break room to have a smoke and calm down where I ran into TSgt. Jim Howes, laughing profusely. Once he regained his composure, he showed me how, while I was out to lunch, he ran some small diameter tubing into the lab from outside, and when I returned, lit up a smoke himself and started blowing through the tubing. In my naiveté, I didn't notice that the smoke smelled like cigarettes, only that I was somehow 'burning up' a piece of mission critical equipment. Howes wouldn't let me live that down for a long time...

Twhman138

#46
08-21-2013 -- 09:31:57
One of my proudest and most idiotic moments happened a few years ago while i was stationed out in Oki. Our shelters that we use when we deploy all had the same electrical error in them and all of the staff had given up on trying to troubleshoot them. Well i was in a tad of trouble at the time so this was a perfect way for me to avoid the people in the company office, be productive in my own space and give me a nice large project to work on. While trying to test a relay with a multimeter i was reaching much further then i should of been. Another problem is the system runs on 3-phase power and was live so i could trace the problem backwards. So with my left shoulder on the breaker (i didn't know this until it was too late) i reached forward until i completed the circuit with my throat. With everything white and my body locked, for an unknown amount of time my back finally twitched enough and i was freed. Best part is it jump started my brain, i was described as running around like an intelligent like crack head. One of my guys saw me using 3 highlights with one hand, talking abnormally fast and actually making sense. Through this i actually managed to figure out the problem as well as create a new personal level of electrocution. I was only privy to getting zapped, shocked, electrocuted and the new one electro-****ing-cuted.

USMCPMEL

#47
08-23-2013 -- 17:41:18
I notice that most of the stories about playing "pranks" on people seem to have occurred in the Air Force. We were to busy actually working in the Marines to waste time pulling pranks on each other... :evil:

spanishfly25

#48
08-26-2013 -- 09:37:08
some pranks doesn't take any time, my favorite is one time a tech took a scope apart and when he put it back together he had two screws left that he forgot where they went. we give him hell for days about that. so a few weeks later he was taking another scope apart and we drop a couple of spare screws on his bench to mess with him again...  some how he manage to put ALL the screws on the scope, including the extras that we put on his bench....

Hawaii596

#49
08-26-2013 -- 10:21:49
That is rough.  I remember years ago taking an HP 414T pretty much completely apart (all the chassis in pieces with at least dozens of screws).  I put it all back together and had a few left over.  One of my co-workers said that you weren't a real man unless you had screws left over on a job like that.  Words of "wisdom."
"I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind."
Lord Kelvin (1824-1907)
from lecture to the Institute of Civil Engineers, 3 May 1883

spanishfly25

#50
08-27-2013 -- 10:30:25
LOL  so you have to screw up a lot to be a good PMEL tech.  LOL

CalibratorJ

#51
08-27-2013 -- 11:27:21
1999, Keesler AFB, Day 1, EP - The chief (Mr Brown I believe), during his welcome to PMEL and EP speech, asked "How often should a good airman need to be told to get a haircut?"

Well, this young Army PVT (me) raised his hand, "Sir, it's a trick question. There is no such thing as a good airman!" The look on his face, and our instructor's (who was an Army SSG) was PRICELESS!

USMCPMEL

#52
08-27-2013 -- 19:44:07
now that is pretty funny!!!!

CalibratorJ

#53
08-27-2013 -- 21:57:41
To this day, I still can't believe I said that and got away with it. And with a straight face too! Lucky for me, the class was mostly PMEL and had a great sense of humor (we were seriously outnumbered, some odd 20 airmen to 5 of us soldiers)!

Hawaii596

#54
08-28-2013 -- 08:43:40
To modify my previous posting, I put "an HP 414T "(no such thing - nobody caught me on that).  It should have read, "an HP 141T."
"I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind."
Lord Kelvin (1824-1907)
from lecture to the Institute of Civil Engineers, 3 May 1883

metrologygeek

#55
08-28-2013 -- 14:33:08
A 141T? Dang, you ARE old!

griff61

#56
08-30-2013 -- 11:17:25
Quote from: metrologygeek on 08-28-2013 -- 14:33:08
A 141T? Dang, you ARE old!

Shhh...humor him...respect your elders....olders...ancient something something...
Sarcasm - Just one more service I offer

Hawaii596

#57
09-04-2013 -- 13:00:24
I just figured out that was about me.....  The 141T was a good solid mainframe.  When packed with an 8552A IF section and 855x series RF section, it did quite nicely.  I guess I'd better not mention the HP 8640B either then???  Or a Tektronix 545 oscilloscope mainframe???
"I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind."
Lord Kelvin (1824-1907)
from lecture to the Institute of Civil Engineers, 3 May 1883

metrologygeek

#58
09-06-2013 -- 13:59:44
A buddy of mine used to heat his studio apartment with a TEK 545 he bought from surplus then fixed.
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