Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[worsthorse]

I restored all four of them. It is difficult to distinguish from some kind of fetish.

If you have four of them, it is no longer that difficult to distinguish. 

Too late. I still have my (boxed) 12" slide rule and Sinclair Scientific that I used at school, and I've since added an HP35

You do? An HP35? That's awesome! My vo-tech electronics instructor had one. While we struggled to learn how to use a slide rule, he lorded his superior calculating power over us. My current slide rule:

There are plenty for sale, none with a visible trace, and some with an entertaining price tag. The tunnel diodes are fragile (hence the strange shorting BNC) and notoriously difficult to obtain.

Be aware that the PSU is strange in the extreme: there's an off-24V switcher based around a PUJT and an SCR, and it attempts to keep a constant mean current going into the battery. They don't even switch on unless there is a working NiCd battery in them (or NiMH but watch the currents, especially for ~400ms after you plug in the mains).

Yeah, one look inside that box, along with glancing over and noticing the stack of oscilloscopes I have yet to address, managed to temporarily temper my desire. Plus it reminded of the RF power meter discussion a while back. 

edit: corrected quote fail. 

[med6753]

Give me the one calibrated in inches/feet and keep the other one. Problem solved.   

Will do. All you have to do is cross my palm with sufficient gold.

I notice you said "gold". That figures. I found out the hard way that you Brits won't accept USD.  Given that and the fact that I can't rob Fort Knox I guess it ain't gonna happen. 

I'll accept platinum, but I'm not familiar with those payment devices. Gold is more readily available and tradeable; I suggest one Britannia or one Krugerrand would be sufficient, but others may be acceptable.

On second thoughts, make that Britannias or Sovereigns since I won't have to pay CGT on them when the pound falls. Buy them here:
https://www.royalmint.com/invest/bullion/bullion-coins/gold-coins/

Oh, so I have to buy them from the Royal Mint and take a Royal bend over here it comes on the exchange rate. No thank you! 

[med6753]

I don't know what happen to my slide rules. I had 2. One was cheap plastic and the other if I recall was made in Germany. Over the years they disappeared. 

[mnementh]

Also, is it possible that loading from the X-Y plugins are the cause of the variance? (Easy to test)[/EDIT]

  Ooooooooh.... shiny....  Were you saying something dude? I was just taking in all that sexy golden-age Tektronix pr0n...  

mnem
SCHWANNNG!!!

[tggzzz]

Give me the one calibrated in inches/feet and keep the other one. Problem solved.   

Will do. All you have to do is cross my palm with sufficient gold.

I notice you said "gold". That figures. I found out the hard way that you Brits won't accept USD.  Given that and the fact that I can't rob Fort Knox I guess it ain't gonna happen. 

I'll accept platinum, but I'm not familiar with those payment devices. Gold is more readily available and tradeable; I suggest one Britannia or one Krugerrand would be sufficient, but others may be acceptable.

On second thoughts, make that Britannias or Sovereigns since I won't have to pay CGT on them when the pound falls. Buy them here:
https://www.royalmint.com/invest/bullion/bullion-coins/gold-coins/

Oh, so I have to buy them from the Royal Mint and take a Royal bend over here it comes on the exchange rate. No thank you! 

No, you can buy them from many places; mine came from an anonymous warehouse in a trading estate at the eastern end of the tube lines But the Royal Mint isn't far from me, and I would just go and pick it up. (Old joke derived from an older advertising campaign for Polo mints: Llantrisant is the hole with the mint in it.)

The face value of a Britannia is £100, so if the GBP falls you "ought" to be able to buy it cheaper

Actually, the USD/XAU rate is independent of the GBP/anything rate, so the exchange rate wouldn't really affect you much.

[med6753]

Give me the one calibrated in inches/feet and keep the other one. Problem solved.   

Will do. All you have to do is cross my palm with sufficient gold.

I notice you said "gold". That figures. I found out the hard way that you Brits won't accept USD.  Given that and the fact that I can't rob Fort Knox I guess it ain't gonna happen. 

I'll accept platinum, but I'm not familiar with those payment devices. Gold is more readily available and tradeable; I suggest one Britannia or one Krugerrand would be sufficient, but others may be acceptable.

On second thoughts, make that Britannias or Sovereigns since I won't have to pay CGT on them when the pound falls. Buy them here:
https://www.royalmint.com/invest/bullion/bullion-coins/gold-coins/

Oh, so I have to buy them from the Royal Mint and take a Royal bend over here it comes on the exchange rate. No thank you! 

No, you can buy them from many places; mine came from an anonymous warehouse in a trading estate at the eastern end of the tube lines But the Royal Mint isn't far from me, and I would just go and pick it up. (Old joke derived from an older advertising campaign for Polo mints: Llantrisant is the hole with the mint in it.)

The face value of a Britannia is £100, so if the GBP falls you "ought" to be able to buy it cheaper

Actually, the USD/XAU rate is independent of the GBP/anything rate, so the exchange rate wouldn't really affect you much.

This whole deal is just fraught with "no fucking way" 

[mnementh]

Also, is it possible that loading from the X-Y plugins are the cause of the variance? (Easy to test)[/EDIT]

There's no significant loading there; all the problems are in the cavity. In the picture below, the cavity walls have been removed to allow you to see the internal stripline at the bottom of the picture. The tunnel diode is on the right, the shorting BNC connector on the left, and the sampling diodes between the two.

Seriously though... is it possible the difference is in components used to repair as in the discussion on that Wiki you got the pic from? If the Avago HSMS-2822/HSMS-282C they say is commonly used as a sub is the cause of the different response, perhaps you could experiment with one of the ones you don't like as much to see if it makes things better or worse?

mnem
*Just me fulminating at the mind again* 

[tggzzz]

Also, is it possible that loading from the X-Y plugins are the cause of the variance? (Easy to test)[/EDIT]

  Ooooooooh.... shiny....  Were you saying something dude? I was just taking in all that sexy golden-age Tektronix pr0n...  

They are better in the flesh. A fun demo is to run two fingers along a 50ohm stripline and watch the ripples move in sympathy.

The twinkling sampling display is, of course, mesmeric. I'd show you a video, but they are difficult to make since the sweep speed beats with the frame rate

[tggzzz]

Give me the one calibrated in inches/feet and keep the other one. Problem solved.   

Will do. All you have to do is cross my palm with sufficient gold.

I notice you said "gold". That figures. I found out the hard way that you Brits won't accept USD.  Given that and the fact that I can't rob Fort Knox I guess it ain't gonna happen. 

I'll accept platinum, but I'm not familiar with those payment devices. Gold is more readily available and tradeable; I suggest one Britannia or one Krugerrand would be sufficient, but others may be acceptable.

On second thoughts, make that Britannias or Sovereigns since I won't have to pay CGT on them when the pound falls. Buy them here:
https://www.royalmint.com/invest/bullion/bullion-coins/gold-coins/

Oh, so I have to buy them from the Royal Mint and take a Royal bend over here it comes on the exchange rate. No thank you! 

No, you can buy them from many places; mine came from an anonymous warehouse in a trading estate at the eastern end of the tube lines But the Royal Mint isn't far from me, and I would just go and pick it up. (Old joke derived from an older advertising campaign for Polo mints: Llantrisant is the hole with the mint in it.)

The face value of a Britannia is £100, so if the GBP falls you "ought" to be able to buy it cheaper

Actually, the USD/XAU rate is independent of the GBP/anything rate, so the exchange rate wouldn't really affect you much.

This whole deal is just fraught with "no fucking way" 

Oh, don't over-complicate things; the USD/XAU exchange rate (which is what matters to you) hasn't varied much in the last month, and I'd absorb any difference => zero risk to you.

[mnementh]

No, you can buy them from many places; mine came from an anonymous warehouse in a trading estate at the eastern end of the tube lines But the Royal Mint isn't far from me, and I would just go and pick it up. (Old joke derived from an older advertising campaign for Polo mints: Llantrisant is the hole with the mint in it.)

The face value of a  is £100, so if the GBP falls you "ought" to be able to buy it cheaper

Actually, the USD/XAU rate is independent of the GBP/anything rate, so the exchange rate wouldn't really affect you much.

This whole deal is just fraught with "no fucking way" 

Or you could... I dunno... PP the guy £100 and let him turn it into a Britannia when he feels like he can be arsed to.   

PP will do the heavy lifting exchange maths for you.

mnem
The [EASY BUTTON] is right there on your phone... 

[tggzzz]

Also, is it possible that loading from the X-Y plugins are the cause of the variance? (Easy to test)[/EDIT]

There's no significant loading there; all the problems are in the cavity. In the picture below, the cavity walls have been removed to allow you to see the internal stripline at the bottom of the picture. The tunnel diode is on the right, the shorting BNC connector on the left, and the sampling diodes between the two.

Seriously though... is it possible the difference is in components used to repair as in the discussion on that Wiki you got the pic from? If the Avago HSMS-2822/HSMS-282C they say is commonly used as a sub is the cause of the different response, perhaps you could experiment with one of the ones you don't like as much to see if it makes things better or worse?

I haven't had to repair anything there; all I've done is follow the calibration instructions and tweak a few trimpots/trimcaps. There's about 7 pages on that topic in the service manual, including sections "Building an 'Aberration Suppressor'" and "Dressing the Stripline". (Just as well it isn't termed a strippole.)

There's also about 12 pages on how to refit the front panel and put the case on. No, I'm never going to follow that, so it would have to be sold as "parts only" since I'm not going to guarantee it can be stored 12" under water. Seriousl.

[bd139]

FFS windows just hosed itself on me while trying to make a new dial for this GDO. Having a week off the turd thus now using xubuntu.

Really need a poop emoji on this forum.

[tggzzz]

No, you can buy them from many places; mine came from an anonymous warehouse in a trading estate at the eastern end of the tube lines But the Royal Mint isn't far from me, and I would just go and pick it up. (Old joke derived from an older advertising campaign for Polo mints: Llantrisant is the hole with the mint in it.)

The face value of a  is £100, so if the GBP falls you "ought" to be able to buy it cheaper

Actually, the USD/XAU rate is independent of the GBP/anything rate, so the exchange rate wouldn't really affect you much.

This whole deal is just fraught with "no fucking way" 

Or you could... I dunno... PP the guy £100 and let him turn it into a Britannia when he feels like he can be arsed to.   

Not acceptable, but if you gave me a Britannia then I'd give you USD200

[tggzzz]

FFS windows just hosed itself on me...

In other "news", bd139 continued to breathe.

[0culus]

FFS windows just hosed itself on me while trying to make a new dial for this GDO. Having a week off the turd thus now using xubuntu.

Really need a poop emoji on this forum.

Funny how it manages to do that right as you need it. 

That Tek TDR is gorgeous...would look nice next to my 2456B and HPAK equipment... 

[mnementh]

FFS windows just hosed itself on me while trying to make a new dial for this GDO. Having a week off the turd thus now using xubuntu.

Really need a poop emoji on this forum.

Here ya go buddy... I keep my own for just such emergencies. 

mnem

[mnementh]

No, you can buy them from many places; mine came from an anonymous warehouse in a trading estate at the eastern end of the tube lines But the Royal Mint isn't far from me, and I would just go and pick it up. (Old joke derived from an older advertising campaign for Polo mints: Llantrisant is the hole with the mint in it.)

The face value of a  is £100, so if the GBP falls you "ought" to be able to buy it cheaper

Actually, the USD/XAU rate is independent of the GBP/anything rate, so the exchange rate wouldn't really affect you much.

This whole deal is just fraught with "no fucking way" 

Or you could... I dunno... PP the guy and let him turn it into a Britannia when he feels like he can be arsed to.   

Not acceptable, but if you gave me a Britannia then I'd give you USD200

Well then, the fault here is a matter of information exchange, not financial instrument exchange. Telling med that the face value of the posited "1 Britannia" is £100 does him no good if that isn't the amount you can buy one for.  Just as telling him you'd give back US$200 for one Britannia is not the same as telling him how much you can buy one for, or saying how much of any specific currency you'd accept in its place, including the hassle of dealing with procurement of said "1 Britannia" yourself.

mnem
 

[med6753]

No, you can buy them from many places; mine came from an anonymous warehouse in a trading estate at the eastern end of the tube lines But the Royal Mint isn't far from me, and I would just go and pick it up. (Old joke derived from an older advertising campaign for Polo mints: Llantrisant is the hole with the mint in it.)

The face value of a  is £100, so if the GBP falls you "ought" to be able to buy it cheaper

Actually, the USD/XAU rate is independent of the GBP/anything rate, so the exchange rate wouldn't really affect you much.

This whole deal is just fraught with "no fucking way" 

Or you could... I dunno... PP the guy and let him turn it into a Britannia when he feels like he can be arsed to.   

Not acceptable, but if you gave me a Britannia then I'd give you USD200

Well then, the fault here is a matter of information exchange, not financial instrument exchange. Telling med that the face value of the posited "1 Britannia" is £100 does him no good if that isn't the amount you can buy one for.  Just as telling him you'd give back US$200 for one Britannia is not the same as telling him how much you can buy one for, or saying how much of any specific currency you'd accept in its place, including the hassle of dealing with procurement of said "1 Britannia" yourself.

mnem
 

That's why I said "no fucking way"  . Besides...shipping would be a killer. 

[bd139]

FFS windows just hosed itself on me while trying to make a new dial for this GDO. Having a week off the turd thus now using xubuntu.

Really need a poop emoji on this forum.

Here ya go buddy... I keep my own for just such emergencies. 

mnem

Thank you kindly 


Only draft copy at moment hence the crap cutting and I haven't done anywhere near as much image processing as I need to yet on the new dial (only done the Model No text fills). New versus old:



Yes I am taking this one too far...

Courtesy of the GIMP

Edit: also it's shit inkjet printed paper. I'll get some nice stuff and use the laser printer when I've dug it out.

[mnementh]

Seriously though... is it possible the difference is in components used to repair as in the discussion on that Wiki you got the pic from? If the Avago HSMS-2822/HSMS-282C they say is commonly used as a sub is the cause of the different response, perhaps you could experiment with one of the ones you don't like as much to see if it makes things better or worse?

I haven't had to repair anything there; all I've done is follow the calibration instructions and tweak a few trimpots/trimcaps. There's about 7 pages on that topic in the service manual, including sections "Building an 'Aberration Suppressor'" and "Dressing the Stripline". (Just as well it isn't termed a strippole.)

There's also about 12 pages on how to refit the front panel and put the case on. No, I'm never going to follow that, so it would have to be sold as "parts only" since I'm not going to guarantee it can be stored 12" under water. Seriously.

Well yeah... I wasn't saying you'd done any repairs; only that someone might have subbed one of those Avago diode packs at some point, and that might be the cause of your variance. If you experimented on one of the ones you don't like as much, you might find it is what makes that one unit better once calibrated. 

Or you could just ship it to med and not have it there niggling at you... getting inside your head and gnawing on your brain like some terrible insect... why, med's doing you a favor, taking it off your hands! The peace of mind he's offering is a blessing!!! Surely worth the cost of shipping one measly TDR...

mnem
No, no no... don't thank me. Just me doing a public service... 

[0culus]

2 pairs of HP 4U rack handles and 2 pairs of 3U rack handles, with hardware. Now the 8664A can have undamaged rack handles and my 8569B spectrum analyzer gets to have rack handles...which is desperately needs.

[neo]

So i''m pretty pissed with amazon, not necessarily on topic but either i tell it here or i go yell at God. And i don't feel like being struck down for impiety today.

5 dollar CD, used but guaranteed by amazon. THIS IS HOW IT FUCKING GOT HERE!



THE BASTARDS MAY AS WELL HAVE RAN IT OVER WITH A TRUCK! DAMN THEIR EYES!
Yelling now safely out of the way i will admit it isn't even the cd itself that has me so pissed. It is the principle, yes I will gladly embrace that stereotype. I paid $5 for this, not alot, and they completely fail to deliver. Can't even return it because then i''d have to pay return shipping. So i bought it again, if they break the second one I'm calling them damn it! At least the second one gets me a digital version.

[mnementh]

So i''m pretty pissed with amazon, not necessarily on topic but either i tell it here or i go yell at God. And i don't feel like being struck down for impiety today.

5 dollar CD, used but guaranteed by amazon. THIS IS HOW IT FUCKING GOT HERE!         THE BASTARDS MAY AS WELL HAVE RAN IT OVER WITH A TRUCK! DAMN THEIR EYES!

Yelling now safely out of the way i will admit it isn't even the cd itself that has me so pissed. It is the principle, yes I will gladly embrace that stereotype. I paid $5 for this, not alot, and they completely fail to deliver. Can't even return it because then i''d have to pay return shipping. So i bought it again, if they break the second one I'm calling them damn it! At least the second one gets me a digital version.

Amazon is not eBay. They provide 100% free returns on everything they sell, especially if it is a matter of damaged or faulty goods.

Even if this is a marketplace seller, I suggest you call Amazon Customer Service at 888.280.4331. They're great, polite, and wait times are rarely long. I've had problems twice with unresponsive marketplace vendors, which they sorted immediately. Like 30 minutes later in one case; I received a very apologetic eMail with return waybill attached. 

Cheers,

mnem
 

[neo]

But i have to ship it back, that is the problem. At least thats what they said. Going to pay for that are they?

EDIT; that came off way more passive aggressive than i intended.

[worsthorse]

But i have to ship it back, that is the problem. At least thats what they said. Going to pay for that are they?

EDIT; that came off way more passive aggressive than i intended.

Pay for it they will; one photo of the damaged box and destroyed CD will take care of that.