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I might agree with you if atheist didn't celebrate their birthday. A birthday is celebrating life, not religion. I guess a person can dig deep enough and find a religious connection but the same idea can be applied towards the SuperBowl.

I can open a bottle of champagne from 100 yards!

Although birthdays have nothing to do with the bible, I feel you.

I would buy a CNC machine, that way I can build cool things and tools.

No, your not dumb Mr. Conductor... but why buy a fluke meter that's re-badged? It will cost more in the long run. Although the student discount is nice, thats a great find. As far as the RS232, that not a very useful feature. Most computers don't even have an RS232 port so count on buying an adapter. Also, I use RS232 a lot for microcontroller projects to talk to my PC but not much for viewing my meter. On some occasions I do use it to save data points but I think for automotive stuff a meter doesn't need to log data points. A scope will work much better. Dave Jones has done a very in-depth meter reviews, including the $100 shoot-out. Its worth a look.

I vote for Wiha. I use them everyday at work and at home. I even did a write-up on TIA. here

Don't get me wrong, I love MAC tools, but .. If I'm spending that kind of money I am going to buy a Fluke. Fluke is the standard, MAC is the new guy.. A good name brand but MAC doesn't invest as much into meters as Fluke, or even Klein. Same concept goes for hand tools, I would buy a MAC over a Fluke wrench. Although the MAC meter is a good tool, the only reason to buy it over a Fluke or Agilent (HP) is to match your other tools. Much like buying an Apple vs a PC, when you get down to the engineering level of components on a PC Board, with the Apple your paying more for less. Guess it's all about marketing.

I have a few multimeters and use them everyday. My all time favorite meter is the Fluke 87V, it's overkill for a mechanic or DIY guy but it's the best general purpose meter so if you have the money I would get an 87V. Also, there is no reason not to get an auto ranging meter. Although I do not have the MM1000 I can say Klein makes solid meters and I would trust the MM1000, however... The MM1000 does not measure RMS and is not a high impedance meter. Root Mean Square is a method of averaging a varying magnitude. It's important because AC is a sinusoid wave with poor regulation. Often people talk about house voltage and define it as a different value, 110/115/120v AC. Partly due to poorly regulated AC but more often because of the way the measurement was taken. In fact I spoke with a few engineers at Fluke, they confirmed that the only reason they even make a non-RMS meter is because a lot of Mil-SPECs that were written before the RMS standard are still used. Meaning the in some cases, military can only buy a non RMS meter. (Stupid!) Anyway, true RMS might not be important to you, and if all your going to do with your meter is DC, (auto) then the MM1000 is a great cheap meter. However, I would take a look at the Klein MM2000. Is a few dollars more but it gives you more features that bring the meter into the realm of professional vs hobby.

They may be using that to mean "Useable Watts Out" ?

A Watt is a unit of measure for Power. 1 Watt = 1 joule per second. A joule is a unit of energy, heat, or ‘work’. Essentially it’s the rate of energy converted or transferred. Think of it like this, if I pump in a bunch of electricity into a light bulb a few things happen. First light is produced. The amount of light that shins from the bulb is measured in Watts. It’s a ratio of energy from pumping electricity (volts) into the light bulb (resistance). The formula for power is (volts)^2/resistance, that = total Watts. The key concept is, it takes work to convert electrical energy into light and the amount of work is what we are interested in (Watts). A byproduct from producing light is heat. The heat produced from the light can be calculated with a related power formula. In the example of the light bulb we would need to know the current the bulb requires to run. Knowing this we can calculate the dissipated power. Dissipated power is heat. As you can see the measurement Watt, can be used for more then just energy. Substitute a motor for the light bulb in the above example. Electricity powers the motor and the motor creates mechanical movement. I think you can see how Watts can be derived from a simple equation. Things get complicated though, the motor uses gear reduction to change the torque and depending on what your drilling/impact, resistance/’current’ changes. What the tool guys do is account for best case ‘max’ values (MWO). The RPM and Torque are dependent on the motor and voltage but more so on the gearing. RPM is speed and torque is force. I don’t know if it’s a better way to measure the performance of a power tool but I suspect that because it’s a somewhat complicated theory, the OEM’s can throw meaningless numbers at people.. wow factor. *Watt was discovered and named after James Watt, a Scottish engineer, thus because its a proper name we always capitalize Watt

Very cool, I bet it makes going to work more fun when there is free bagels. TIA sticker bomb!

Welcome, always good to see some electricians around these parts.

Welcome aboard shipmate. Should we call you Boats? I was an FC aboard LPD's

Hello aboeingmech, Welcome to the forums

Well if you win, give me the truck, I'll pay the gift tax and buy you a beater.

Yes, it's small but that just means you need to be creative. Build models in pieces. It is a good entry point for many people to get into 3d printing, if you really do like it and use it, then step up to the $3k unit.

Wes studied that tech a bit in drafting, pretty cool.. You can print water/swear pipes in place, everyday new material is available to print, from food to wood, to organs

Why don't you ship the TIA boys a few to review and give away...

Here is the user manual for your opener. http://www.liftmaster.com/CatalogResourcesV3/en-us/shared/files/tucmanuals/A2094M.pdf First check the lock feature. If the door push bar is flashing, your lockout is active: Press and hold the the push bar for 2 sec. The bar will flash for as long as the lockout is active. Push and hold for another 2 sec and the flashing will stop, lock disabled. (Page 28) If that does not work, you need to reprogram your remote. First clear all the old codes out. Press and hold the "smart" button on the opener unit until the indicator light goes out. (6 sec) To program a remote, press and hold one of the buttons on your remote. Don't let it go, Then, press and release the smart button on the garage opener unit.. The indicator lights on the opener unit will begin to blink, when your remote is paired the lights will flash, after the light flashes ones.. You can let go of the remote button. The remote is now programmed, test it and program any other remotes. (P29) And if that doesn't work, let me know if: 1) while programming a remote, the light never stops blinking... Or 2) when programming a remote, the lights stop blinking and I see the flash, but the door still won't open.

3D Printers are a great tool, fun hobby, and just really cool. Recently the tech has caught up to user demand and cost has gone down. A pro 3D Printer goes for $50k+ but you can buy a hobby printer from a company like MakerBot for about $3k, a reasonable price however still out of reach for many consumers. Yesterday a kickstarter campaign launched, with an initial goal of $50,000; The Micro 3D printer raised the money in only 11 minuets! Clamming to be "The first truly consumer 3D printer that is incredibly intuitive, easy to own, and seamless by design" Early adopters were able to pick up a Micro for only $199! Although this reward level is sold out, you can still claim a printer for $299, an incredible value! As of 4/8/2014 @ 12.27 pacific time, The Micro campaign has raised close to $1.2 million dollars. With 28 days remaining on the campaign, it will be interesting to see how much they can raise. The tragedy is, I don't have $299 to back this project.

All a man needs in order to make a hot meal is some tin foil and a warm engine block. If you want toast, better grab a blow torch. .. Anyone remember the ToolTime episode where they did "man cooking"

Hello, I might be able to help you out. Please answer these questions to the best of your abilities 1)Model Number of Garage opener 2)age of opener and remotes 3)do you see an antenna wire hanging from the garage door opener? 4)do you have door safety sensors? Although radio frequency protocols have changed throughout the years for garage door opener remotes, one constant is the fact they operate via radio frequency. Some WiFi routers and other electronic devices can corrupt the garage door spectrum, however this is very unlikely. WiFi and phones operate around the 2.4GHz-5GHz range, while garage door openers are somewhere in the 315MHz-390MHz, still check newly acquired devices, as sometimes the device fails FCC regs. Most likely the problem is the antenna. You should see a piece of wire hanging from the garage door opener. That's the antenna, and it needs to be in good working order to pick up the Tx Freq from the remote. If your unit is old or if you live in a high humidity are, the wire can rust inside the insulator. Another possibility is what's called a "cold" solder joint. The solder point where the wire attaches to the PCB may be bad. A "cold joint" is often very hard to see and difficulty to troubleshoot. Good news though, it's very easy to fix. Bad soldering techniques and cheap parts cause "cold" solder joints. Removing the old antenna wire from the PCB (some disassembly required) and replace it with a new wire. Solder the new wire in place with 60/40 flux core solder. Should work a treat

Thanks guys, I didn't mean to drop a black cloud on TIA Forum. Just wanted to keep his memory alive a little longer. We all live very busy and crazy life's, sometimes we forget about the people sacrificing everything for our freedom. I'm worried most about my buddy, he has TBI/PTSD from Iraq, he acts tough but loosing a brother can't be easy.

Battery Powered cooler/microwave is not in the cards my friend. Battery tech is not 'there' yet. You could get one of those small plug in coolers. they use your cars cig lighter adapter. you might be able to use a small microwave with an inverter on your truck, but you better make sure its small and your alternator is a beast. if you run a welding rig your truck can do it.

controlled burn.. I dont know if it will work, but it would be fun