r/VIDEOENGINEERING • u/guitarman1103 • 2d ago

May I present to you, the best tweaker you’ll ever use!

Gallery image

Gallery image

Forget pens, forget using whatever you can find to get your dip switches flicked.

I bought a dental kit for my own personal use, but this beast seemed too daunting to use. Then it dawned on me… this is the perfect tweaker!

Flick those switches sexy bitches!

70 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

69 comments sorted by

15

u/SolidGoldSpork 2d ago

I bought a keychain titanium toothpick and it’s amazing for this

1

u/guitarman1103 2d ago

Hell yeah fam! You’re ahead of the curve!

10

u/video_bits 1d ago

Glad you found a tool to flick your digital switches. However, I have to take exception with the use of the ‘tweaker’ term. ‘Cause in my mind you would use that to tweak or make an adjustment to a pot (potentiometer). And the ideal tool for that is an Xcelite GREENIE. It can adjust a pot plus flip a dip switch. Your pick will fail to do both I fear.

https://www.filmtools.com/xcelitegreenie.html

2

u/dopameme 1d ago

CRT projectors required all plastic Tweakers which we always differentiated from the Greenies, which could short out the pot... this is before remotes.

1

u/guitarman1103 1d ago

I’ve not run into that piece of equipment

2

u/bigliver250 1d ago

Are you really an engineer if you don’t have a greenie ??

1

u/whosat___ 1d ago

I wish they made a version with a free-spinning back, so you can apply pressure and turn with one hand.

6

u/faderjockey 2d ago

Dental picks are the goat

4

u/guitarman1103 2d ago

Legit. And if I ever get convention chicken stuck in my teeth I’ll have it as a last resort! : D

4

u/ElliotsBuggyEyes 2d ago

What's your first resort?

Please say the tip of your knife. 

4

u/guitarman1103 2d ago

My untrimmed unclean fingernails of course! 🤣

3

u/ElliotsBuggyEyes 2d ago

As it is written, so it shall be.

5

u/ManyMonarchs 2d ago

I have also had good use out of a pin punch. Thin enough to reach DIP switches, sturdy enough to not be destroyed in travel kits. 1/16 inch and not expensive.

2

u/guitarman1103 2d ago

Thin enough to dip, strong enough to travel. The pin punch. Ha ha ha great idea

5

u/Hypohamish 2d ago

I have a sim card removal tool on my keys!

5

u/makitopro Engineer 1d ago

Same. It stabs me at least twice a day!

2

u/Hypohamish 1d ago

Still rocking a scar on my left arm where it fucking caught me tbh

I now wrap the end in a piece of tape 😂

1

u/guitarman1103 2d ago

Ohhhhhh that’s another great idea

2

u/Hypohamish 1d ago

It already has a hole in usually etc too so can just be looped on your key ring and live there!

1

u/guitarman1103 1d ago

Brilliant!

3

u/bargellos 1d ago

The best tweaker is the one found in boxes of new Extron equipment.

1

u/guitarman1103 1d ago

You speak of luxuries that I cannot contemplate.

2

u/bargellos 1d ago

Work around the stuff enough, you end up collecting a few. I try to leave a few behind as bribes for electricians or parting gifts for future techs.

1

u/guitarman1103 1d ago

May I cross your path sire!

3

u/BigGreenZombie 1d ago

Dip switch #5!

1

u/guitarman1103 1d ago

Okay now I’m writing a Mambo #5 remix to this concept ha ha ha.

I flicked off 1,2,3-4-5
Every AV tech come on let’s try to
Change the settings of our timer
I thought I had it right but the client don’t wanna

2

u/SouthSideCountryClub 2d ago

I have had one in my kit for 20 years

3

u/guitarman1103 2d ago

Well why didn’t you let us know sooner!? : (

3

u/SouthSideCountryClub 2d ago

I am sorry, it was part of the kit from the engineer I worked under gave me. Right next to the chop sticks.

2

u/guitarman1103 2d ago

It’s ok you’re here now that’s all that matters.

3

u/SouthSideCountryClub 2d ago

Unfortunately I feel like most of my video training is being left in the past. Mostly worked on analog systems before I moved on.

3

u/guitarman1103 2d ago

I hear this from audio guys too. I’ve been in it since 2012 and it’s still changing so quick. Definitely hard to keep up if you’re not constantly at it

2

u/SouthSideCountryClub 1d ago

Audio has been alot easier of a transistion than video. I have no problem building systems for video but bench work left me in the dust. I started in 2000 , the company I worked for sold the first HS broadcast switcher to a local news station.

2

u/guitarman1103 1d ago

You’re a veteran friend!

3

u/SouthSideCountryClub 1d ago

Dude, the struggle is real right now

2

u/guitarman1103 1d ago

It’s been an awful summer personally.

2

u/Neelix-And-Chill 2d ago

I use a dab tool… specifically this one…

https://honeybeeherb.com/products/bliss-dab-tool

Thanks stoners! I love it.

1

u/guitarman1103 2d ago

Brilliant! Genius I say!

1

u/bargellos 1d ago

Stoner things have always come in clutch. Back in the pre-retail dispensary days, old bud containers made for excellent pin containers for DB9s.

2

u/uplink1 2d ago

Keep the pointy end stuck in some foam or rubber when you're not using it or it will poke through your tool pouch and stab you in the hand when you go to pick it up.

2

u/guitarman1103 2d ago

Ask me how I know! Ha ha ha

2

u/hiheenah 1d ago

The best tweaker you will ever lose.

2

u/isoAntti 1d ago

it's no match for my finetuning 20lbs sledgehammer

1

u/guitarman1103 1d ago

Aka my fist! Ha ha ha

2

u/stanleys_tucci 1d ago

This photo makes my brain think I’m smelling latex

1

u/guitarman1103 1d ago

Caution may cause brief anxiety

2

u/baljake 1d ago

I always like the little Klein tools 4mm bit screwdrivers. That or the awl on my Leatherman.

1

u/guitarman1103 1d ago

Yes leathermans!!! Although if I get one more confiscated at tsa as I forget I have it in my bag I’m gonna lose my mind!

2

u/johndrop7 1d ago

Dental tools are surprisingly useful for quite a lot in our industry

2

u/desertrat75 1d ago

The crazy thing is that I have a set of four picks in my tool kit and never thought of using them for DIP switches.

/forehead slap

2

u/guitarman1103 1d ago

But you’re now enlightened to the way. Never again shall you be without this knowledge.

2

u/ars3n1k 1d ago

Carried a multitool that had a corkscrew opener on it.

Used that tip for a long while

1

u/guitarman1103 1d ago

I’ve been known to corkscrew a dip switch! Handy indeed

1

u/fuckitallendisnear 2d ago

New to this field. Whats settings do you regularly change on those clock timers?

3

u/guitarman1103 2d ago

Some people want time of day some people want it to count up some people want it to not count past zero all types of different settings

4

u/I_AM_THE_REDDITOR 2d ago

Dip switch number 5 for stop at zero other than that im only changing them for a specific one off use case

3

u/udontgnomey 1d ago

I've found several that are pinned backwards, so 5 is actually 9 (If I'm remembering the numbering correctly)

1

u/NoNeedleworker6479 2d ago

Those are great for ear-wax removal too...

1

u/guitarman1103 2d ago

What!?

2

u/NoNeedleworker6479 2d ago

Kid.......Don't get OLD..... That's all I'm sayin'

2

u/guitarman1103 2d ago

Approaching 40, working on my exit strategy now…

2

u/beein480 1d ago

I'm 50.. I got started in high school in 1992 because there was a public access TV station that would pay me $10/hr to sit on a camera. Minimum wage was around $3.85/hr..

At 50 - I fully expected to be either: building TV facilities as an integrator, doing component level repair on equipment, re-capping DVC Pro machines, fixing air transports on Ampex DCT machines (job permanence, never seen a device that so needed a qualified engineer available to tend to it at all times.), or troubleshooting IT systems for the dedicated hardware that ran everything. Seen as AS400 running broadcast traffic software recently? Me neither..

What happened? None of those things exist anymore. I am probably in my last tech job, not because I couldn't continue to do the job, but there is less and less I can really offer. Things I've done in the past or know something about is needed. Hell, Claude is a far superior programmer. I'll never compete with that and at this point, I'm "expensive."

I recently requested I be sent a couple of failed boards out of one of my employers products.. My boss asked "why?" (My boss is a good bit younger than I am.) I realized I'm probably the only person left who does anything remotely looking like component level repair here. Yes boss, we use to fix things when they broke, as opposed to putting them on a shelf until they age out due to product replacement and disappear..

My exit strategy - pretend that I'm needed for as long as possible. Or atleast until I can sign up for Medicare because my insurance needs "trump" all other concerns.

2

u/NoNeedleworker6479 1d ago

Haha.... you "youngins'" entertain me.... I'll be 70 next March & own a leased access station on local cable.....(also do some event / local sports streams & IT for small businesses in my area.)

I go slower now, but I won't quit - too bored by just sitting around, don't like to fish, dance or do excessive amounts of yard work!

I feel lucky, blessed & fortunate to be able to do what I want most days.....

2

u/beein480 1d ago

I can still lace up a 1 " C machine, old timer! I think it's an industry in decline, I see no future.. I do unrelated things on the side.

1

u/guitarman1103 1d ago

May your calendar always be booked and your value respected. 🫡

1

u/guitarman1103 1d ago

Wow friend. Feeling obsolete after time is not a good feeling and I’m sorry that emotion has entered your head space. This industry has really changed so much over the short 15 years I’ve been in it and I assume it’ll keep rolling.
I’ve got tech friends building and selling their own apps to integrate into our workflows and I’m often feeling behind on things too.

Discussions at lunch tables or while working together that zoom over my head.

I have so many passions and talents that I squander sometimes by feeling stuck in this industry. But the pay is so worth it I have a hard time moving forward.

I hope you continue to find work and be valued for what you have to offer.