Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[med6753]

Looks brand new. Good job! 

[0culus]

What is a grid dip meter for?

[med6753]

Oh FFS...

Got the kids, give my wife back her car... came back home & go to wash a pot so I can make some Mac & Cheese for the little blighters, and the sink drain blows apart, dumping a sinkful of water in all the crap under the sink. 

Ifni save me, I swear as soon as my wife gets home I'm going to bed.

mnem
The monsters can't get me under all these covers!!! Right?!? Right? right...?

How the hell did that happen? Did the slip joint on the elbow assembly give way? 

[bd139]

What is a grid dip meter for?

It's a bit of a weird bit of kit from the distant past. Basically you can use it to:

1. Tune antennas.
2. Measure capacitance.
3. Measure inductance.
4. As an RF signal generator for alignment.
5. Determining resonant frequency of circuits (LC / crystals)
6. Measuring filter response.
7. Q measurements
8. Wavemeter (tuned field strength meter)
9. Impedance measurement (with external bridge)
10. Testing transmitters (you can actually monitor the signal with some headphones plugged into it)
11. Use as a BFO for a crap SW radio to pick up SSB/CW
12. Looking for undesired harmonics.

Quick overview: https://g4rvh.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/waht-you-can-do-with-a-dip-meter.pdf

It's a swiss army knife of a tool really. These ones are big, tube based and mains powered. I'm going to convert one to battery + JFET

Edit: add some more uses

[mnementh]

M&M, WCH

I'd buy you a beer if i could, poked around and turns out they WILL foot the bill. I am way too conditioned when it comes to what to expect when i see that i have to return it.

Excellent news! 

Glad we could steer you towards the joy that is actual customer service! 

Seriously, there's a reason Amazon is hoovering up everybody's money... I just wish they'd fix how horribly they treat their warehouse staff. 

mnem
What a concept. 

[mnementh]

More goodness from the vintageTek youtube channel:

And unfortunately most, if not all of it, is gone now. Subcontracted assembly to China. I suspect the only thing left in Beaverton is engineering development. 

Oh wow... you actually said Beaverton with a straight face! I'm SO proud of you!!! 

mnem
Remind me to never play Poker with you. 

[beanflying]

M&M, WCH

I'd buy you a beer if i could, poked around and turns out they WILL foot the bill. I am way too conditioned when it comes to what to expect when i see that i have to return it.

Excellent news! 

Glad we could steer you towards the joy that is actual customer service! 

Seriously, there's a reason Amazon is hoovering up everybody's money... I just wish they'd fix how horribly they treat their warehouse staff. 

mnem
What a concept. 

Evilbay seems to be trying to keep up I thought I would give ebayplus a try and apart from reduced shipping it also gets you free return postage on items. Also a little strange I received 10 10W 22 resistors out of Hong Kong that should have been 250  launched a case with a single photo and one sentence description to be instantly given a refund and told I could keep the parts. Not sure if this will apply to larger $ items but for small ones at least things seem to have changed.

[beanflying]

That happened to me a few years ago. It flooded the kitchen to the point it got under the lino. After a week it stank. So dude came to replace the lino, which was there when we moved in and found asbestos floor tiles. Those had to come out at great expense. I took all the kitchen units out, floor was screeded, reassembled the kitchen, then new lino. Cost just short of £1800 that fuck up 

On TEA material, some restoration work done...

As received. Date code is 1972. Tube in it is date code 1958 and is Heathkit branded. They must have bought a metric ton of the damn things.

After waaaay too much OCD:

Waiting for parts to arrive for the electrical refurb. Evicted a double electrolytic cap, selenium stinker and some shitty soldering so far.

I have enjoyed watching Alan's videos on Grid Dip meters not sure I will ever own one but a cool tool 

[0culus]

More goodness from the vintageTek youtube channel:

And unfortunately most, if not all of it, is gone now. Subcontracted assembly to China. I suspect the only thing left in Beaverton is engineering development. 

Yeah, it really makes me sad to see all this wonderful high tech manufacturing just evaporate. Nobody builds stuff like Tek and HP did back in the day. It's not that it moved to China...it's gone. 

[worsthorse]

The postal carrier showed up at my door with a stack of junk mail and an evil disposition, i have a really really heavy package for you, what do you want me to do with it? umm, bring it to the house?

Fearing a passive-aggressive mode of delivery, I met him at the base of the stairs and relieved him of his burden; as I suspected it was my $125 as-is ebay 8640B. Not badly packed, though certainly not double-boxed.

The seller claimed that it powered up and feeling reckless, I found a power cable and took him at his word:



A quick check with my scope and the SA showed a very clean signal that actually varied when the knobs were twiddled. Good to at least 485MHz. No binding in the gear works, either. The measurement section is clearly bodged as neither the meter nor the counter is working but overall, it is in much better shape than I hoped for.

I bought it for parts, mainly mechanical, but who knows, maybe it goes into the rehab queue.

My wife, as she watches me lug it downstairs, how many signal generators do you actually need?

Good question, that. 

[worsthorse]

What is a grid dip meter for?

It's a bit of a weird bit of kit from the distant past. Basically you can use it to:

1. Tune antennas.
2. Measure capacitance.
3. Measure inductance.
4. As an RF signal generator for alignment.
5. Determining resonant frequency of circuits (LC / crystals)
6. Measuring filter response.
7. Q measurements
8. Wavemeter (tuned field strength meter)
9. Impedance measurement (with external bridge)
10. Testing transmitters (you can actually monitor the signal with some headphones plugged into it)
11. Use as a BFO for a crap SW radio to pick up SSB/CW
12. Looking for undesired harmonics.

Quick overview: https://g4rvh.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/waht-you-can-do-with-a-dip-meter.pdf

It's a swiss army knife of a tool really. These ones are big, tube based and mains powered. I'm going to convert one to battery + JFET

Edit: add some more uses

GDOs, especially the transistorized versions (that's what we used to call them, transistorized) are great rough and ready field RF instruments. I have a heathkit HD1250 that I have used in all of the ways listed above at one time or another.  Never really understood why they went out of style.

[0culus]

The postal carrier showed up at my door with a stack of junk mail and an evil disposition, i have a really really heavy package for you, what do you want me to do with it? umm, bring it to the house?

Fearing a passive-aggressive mode of delivery, I met him at the base of the stairs and relieved him of his burden; as I suspected it was my $125 as-is ebay 8640B. Not badly packed, though certainly not double-boxed.

The seller claimed that it powered up and feeling reckless, I found a power cable and took him at his word:



A quick check with my scope and the SA showed a very clean signal that actually varied when the knobs were twiddled. Good to at least 485MHz. No binding in the gear works, either. The measurement section is clearly bodged as neither the meter nor the counter is working but overall, it is in much better shape than I hoped for.

I bought it for parts, mainly mechanical, but who knows, maybe it goes into the rehab queue.

My wife, as she watches me lug it downstairs, how many signal generators do you actually need?

Good question, that. 

Sounds like you got a good deal on that. As to how many signal generators you need...always 1 more...

Now that I have coverage to 3 GHz with the 8664A, now I need to find a generator to cover the microwave bands I want to use. 

[worsthorse]

Nice work on the dial! 

[tautech]

The postal carrier showed up at my door with a stack of junk mail and an evil disposition, i have a really really heavy package for you, what do you want me to do with it? umm, bring it to the house?

Fearing a passive-aggressive mode of delivery, I met him at the base of the stairs and relieved him of his burden; as I suspected it was my $125 as-is ebay 8640B. Not badly packed, though certainly not double-boxed.

The seller claimed that it powered up and feeling reckless, I found a power cable and took him at his word:



A quick check with my scope and the SA showed a very clean signal that actually varied when the knobs were twiddled. Good to at least 485MHz. No binding in the gear works, either. The measurement section is clearly bodged as neither the meter nor the counter is working but overall, it is in much better shape than I hoped for.

I bought it for parts, mainly mechanical, but who knows, maybe it goes into the rehab queue.

My wife, as she watches me lug it downstairs, how many signal generators do you actually need?

Good question, that. 

@wch
SSA or SVA in the background ?

[0culus]

Here's a funny video I came across on reddit. Workers opening the weather shield on a microwave reflector antenna to discover some 35-40 lbs of acorns that some enterprising squirrel had been storing up. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/b5lisr/some_poor_squirrel_somewhere_just_lost_a_fortune/

[worsthorse]

SSA3021X that has the DIY upgrade. Pretty amazing piece of gear for thirteen hundred bucks, though I hope to get good enough at this repair/maintenance thing again to get something more in keeping with the mid-80s vibe of my test and radio benches. 

[mnementh]

Oh FFS...

Got the kids, give my wife back her car... came back home & go to wash a pot so I can make some Mac & Cheese for the little blighters, and the sink drain blows apart, dumping a sinkful of water in all the crap under the sink. 

Ifni save me, I swear as soon as my wife gets home I'm going to bed.

mnem
The monsters can't get me under all these covers!!! Right?!? Right? right...?

How the hell did that happen? Did the slip joint on the elbow assembly give way? 

*BINGBINGBINGBINGBINGBINNNG!!!* Give the man a Kewpee doll!!!

I notice you have no comment on the monsters vs covers issue... 



*Cue Flash-forward music...*

So I'm under the sink with huge slip-joint pliers and an aching back after moving everything and mopping up the water with several towels... but otherwise pretty pleased with myself, since I managed to get every joint tight without cracking any of them, and only pinched my finger once...

*RATTLE-RATTLE... Creak of front door opening... *Whummp* *Clomp-clomp-clomp*

"Daddy. whatchoo dooin' under there..." as my son gallumphs into the kitchen, clumsily stomping right on my ankle before I even realize what's happening.

"AIIIEEEEEE!!!!" *THUDDD-CLUMP!!!* my head smacks into the bottom of the Dispose-All, and at the same time the pliers fall down right on my nose, making my eyes water. I drag myself out from under, but my son has disappeared like vapor. *~POOF!~*

"Fuckin' Owwwww..." I grunt with eyes half-shut, sitting up against the cupboard doors and rubbing the greasy bump on my forehead.

"Daddeee... why you crying...?" I look up and it's my daughter, real worry in her eyes.

"Aww baby grrl... I'm not..."  I start to say, but before I know it she's in my lap, arms wrapped around me and squeezing me tight.

I sigh softly, then smile as I wrap my great big gorilla arms around her and hold her, just soaking it in.

Baby grrl hugs are the best. 

mnem
"Life goes on."

[tautech]

That's so funny mnem  just the sort of BS that happens to me.
As long as no dwagons blood leaked out consider it a job well done. 

[mnementh]

...     I bought it for parts, mainly mechanical, but who knows, maybe it goes into the rehab queue.

My wife, as she watches me lug it downstairs, how many signal generators do you actually need?

Good question, that. 

The part which really should worry you is that she's seen you lug enough of them that she knows a signal generator when she sees one. 

mnem
"...move over little dog, the big ol' dog is movin' in... 

[tautech]

SSA3021X that has the DIY upgrade. Pretty amazing piece of gear for thirteen hundred bucks, ...............

I like the same price SVA more despite it's restricted to 1.5 GHz max but you can DIY it for the VNA and SA options too.
When the SVA3kX models are released they'll be a step up even more to a 3.2 GHz SA/VNA AFAIK.
Not even a whisper about their actual specs yet. 

[mnementh]

Here's a funny video I came across on reddit. Workers opening the weather shield on a microwave reflector antenna to discover some 35-40 lbs of acorns that some enterprising squirrel had been storing up. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/b5lisr/some_poor_squirrel_somewhere_just_lost_a_fortune/

EhrrrMuhhhGhrrrddd... That video is making another round. I remember it from years and years ago, when I was doing a training seminar on field service and wireless infrastructure. Antenna is part of a wireless backhaul for a small ISP.

mnem
p00t!

[worsthorse]

SSA3021X that has the DIY upgrade. Pretty amazing piece of gear for thirteen hundred bucks, ...............

I like the same price SVA more despite it's restricted to 1.5 GHz max but you can DIY it for the VNA and SA options too.
When the SVA3kX models are released they'll be a step up even more to a 3.2 GHz SA/VNA AFAIK.
Not even a whisper about their actual specs yet. 

The SVA came out after I bought the SSA.  Trying to avoid a severe case of DBR (delayed buyers remorse) as I'd love to have even a basic VNA, so I haven't done more than glance at the specs.  And I imagine that 1.5GHz would be plenty good enough, as the stuff I work on rarely oscillates at more than 100MHz. 

Except for, of course, all the test gear I own. 

[Brumby]

Here's a funny video I came across on reddit. Workers opening the weather shield on a microwave reflector antenna to discover some 35-40 lbs of acorns that some enterprising squirrel had been storing up. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/b5lisr/some_poor_squirrel_somewhere_just_lost_a_fortune/

You should pay a little more attention to the text:


That was one busy squirrel.

[0culus]

HA! I fail at reading comprehension. 

[mnementh]

That's so funny mnem  just the sort of BS that happens to me.
As long as no dwagons blood leaked out consider it a job well done. 

LOL... Yeah, that'll happen in a day or two when the blood blister pops. 

Still, a win overall. Sometimes we get so caught up in the indignities of the moment... we forget what's really important. 

mnem
I have a fantastic wife, and after 20 years we're still in love... and we have two beautiful children who love us and love each other. *Soooo lucky*