Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

And Now for Something Completely...

I am currently polluting my son's mind with Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This is his first Monty; a Rite of Passage.

"The Life of Brian" was deemed so mind-polluting that quite a few local councils banned it from their cinemas. Example: Aberystwyth banned it for 30 years until 2009.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/7514423.stm

Funny thing about being so vocally anti-establishmentarian... it seems the establishment tends to take offense. Who knew...?

mnem

[mnementh]

Things That Make Me So Very Happy:



My new fridge has a drawer full of Bits O' Pig.

mnem
Dagwood Bumstead, eat your heart out.

[grizewald]

Most of the repairs / restorations I do are on retro equipment and I prefer not to contaminate them with this new fangle lead-free rubbish. However, my preferred supplier has just discontinued all lead based solders, despite the fact that they are (as far as I know) still being manufactured. Is this going to happen with other distributors, or are they just being over enthusiastic on the green front? Is it time to stock up?

I assume others here also only use lead solder on older equipment, or are there people here that use lead free on a PCB that was manugactured with the good old stuff?

McBryce.

The time to stock up may already have passed. The EU (in their wisdom) has decided that only companies are allowed to buy leaded solder now. The bureaucrats obviously have no understanding of the world and didn't even contemplate that some private people need to buy leaded solder for fixing old kit (and because they have a preference for not having to solder at the stupidly high temperatures needed for the lead free crap).

Consequently, I can see that Elfa still stock leaded solder, but they won't sell me any. Just like they won't sell me UV-curing solder resist. 

There's plenty available on eBay though.
 

[Cerebus]

Good luck with both growing and eating that here in Europe. I manage to grow about 5 chillis a year here. Don’t know why I bother. 

Some good many years ago I planted some chillis one year. Used a couple of growbags underneath a west facing window (facing onto a school playing field so it was almost completely open to the south and west) with a ~ 4 foot high fence about 3 ft away to the north. I was a little sceptical about how successful it might be. Had a bumper crop. I had so many that I didn't do it again because even I can't eat that many chillis in a year - I had half a shelf in the freezer dedicated to chillis.

[mnementh]

have ordered seeds: Trinidad Moruga Scorpion   the flowerpot is need for calibrating Scovilles

Good luck with both growing and eating that here in Europe. I manage to grow about 5 chillis a year here. Don’t know why I bother.     Edit: actually this current electronics resurgence in my life is owed to chillis as I spent some time designing an analogue sequencer that would periodically blow the seedlings around with a couple of PC fans to strengthen them. It escalated from there 

Do a quick Guurgle for "POT LEDs". You'll find more cheap LED grow lights than Trump has lawyers. Enough to build your own Little Shop of Horrors. 

mnem
When I was young, I read a story called "The 10 Inch Sun"; about a flower that grew up entirely in the light of a tabletop TV... Does anybody remember who wrote it?

[mnementh]

And Now for Something Completely...

I am currently polluting my son's mind with Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This is his first Monty; a Rite of Passage.

mnem
*snif* They grow up so fast...

Poor kid, he'll be having nightmares now full of exploding sheep and a big foot squashing things.

Naaahhh.... that was the TV show. Not a single incident of either in Grail.

mnem
Lots of satirical blood & dismemberment, tho... 

[med6753]

Look at the page number. It's med's year of birth!

Don't you have something to do besides annoy me? 

[mnementh]

Since my ISP is a cable TV company they keep trying to get me to sign up for free 200 down if I get the 3 way package of TV, phone, internet for $99 plus tax for one year. After the one year watch out and take out a mortgage.

I dumped their TV service a year ago because of their ridiculous prices. I don't want nor need a house phone. So they can stick it. 

Did the same over a decade ago; never looked back. I refuse to have commercial broadcast of any sort in my home; it's full of children who need to grow up knowing it isn't normal to be bludgeoned with advertising every 10 fucking minutes.

mnem
The adults can go shit up a crooked stick, however.

[med6753]

Yes, you are seeing double. The recently repaired 485 is the lower on the “Torture Rack” for burn-in. It still has 2 issues but holding off until the tants in the PSU are changed out. First issue is that every once in while the trigger goes wonky and I lose it. Even the baseline trace in “Auto” mode. And then mysteriously it comes back. 2nd issue is both channels still have low gain. I've checked every gain adjustment both in the attenuator section as well as the vertical amplifier.  It still falls short. I suspect something in the vertical amplifier but again going to hold off until I re-cap the PSU. Then if it's still low I'll troubleshoot it or get lazy and swap out the entire vertical board.

[bsudbrink]

And Now for Something Completely...

I am currently polluting my son's mind with Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This is his first Monty; a Rite of Passage.

mnem
*snif* They grow up so fast...

So you are wisely saving the FF Nudity and Biggus Dickus for next week  

vale Terry Jones 

And the girl in the news stand:

[mnementh]

  24V 2.2A (around 50VA). Issue is size and mounting.

Sounds close to a common HVAC/Doorbell transformer. Over here they're typically 120VAC IN / 24V-28V@48-60VA OUT, and come in either "screw to the outlet" wall-wart style or encased/flanged as this one. Available at most Homeowner Hell type stores for $15-20.

I expect you'll have the same for 240VAC over there.

mnem
*wire-nut*

[bd139]

24V 2.2A (around 50VA). Issue is size and mounting.

(Attachment Link)

Sounds close to a common HVAC/Doorbell transformer. Over here they're typically 120VAC IN / 24V-28V@48-60VA OUT, and come in either "screw to the outlet" wall-wart style or encased/flanged as this one. Available at most Homeowner Hell type stores for $15-20.

I expect you'll have the same for 240VAC over there.

mnem
*wire-nut*

Nothing like that here now. All battery powered.

[mnementh]

STILL looks better than your last booty-fab.

mnem
 

[bd139]

Don’t make me post the ass of your Tek 

Edit: actually the last thing I threw together is a right piece of shit. Bob Pease style. I was experimenting to see if I can use a Widlar current mirror instead of two resistors to control a BJT multivibrator frequency yet keep consistent 3:1 duty. It worked!

[mnementh]

Oh, I LOVE me some ugly circuits; the dead-bugger the better. 

mnem
"Oooohh... you have been some very, very naughty electrons... and you must be pew-nished-ed..."

[med6753]

Don’t make me post the ass of your Tek 

His Tek?  No.....that's MY famous ass end Tek bodge. In full booty fab glory and I take full credit. 

[mnementh]

Most of the repairs / restorations I do are on retro equipment and I prefer not to contaminate them with this new fangle lead-free rubbish. However, my preferred supplier has just discontinued all lead based solders, despite the fact that they are (as far as I know) still being manufactured. Is this going to happen with other distributors, or are they just being over enthusiastic on the green front? Is it time to stock up?

I assume others here also only use lead solder on older equipment, or are there people here that use lead free on a PCB that was manugactured with the good old stuff?

McBryce.

In a nutshell, yes. I think it is a EU directive but I stocked up with plenty of leaded solder while my supplier still had it. My advice is to do likewise before all suppliers run out of it. I think that leaded solder is still available professionally under certain conditions, maybe someone else will be able to confirm that and what those conditions are etc?

Another issue is the quality of the flux in the remaining brands of 63/37. A lot of the cheaper manufactures are using the same halogenated petrochem flux as they use for unleaded; add that to the "recovered from old batteries" lead (which, to be fair, even the name brands are using now) and you have a recipe for ugly bubbly fillets that cool dull grey and look just like unleaded. 

It's getting harder and harder to find any quality solder with clean lead and simple, organic rosin flux anymore. Well, without pay a kidney and a spleen for it, that is. 

mnem
*Current mood: 60/40*

[Kosmic]

Found couples of 2N2369 laying around and decided to improvise quickly a Jim Williams pulse generator on the breadboard (yes breadboard  ) And it's not that bad!



The Owon XDS3202E is doing a good job and reporting 1.2ns (rated 1.7ns) while probing with it's 200Mhz 10x probe.



The Lecroy DDA-260 is reporting 965ps while probing with a AP020 1Ghz active probe.



Next step is to try with better connector and enclosure.

Fun, but because you don't know the peak amplitude and waveform, it doesn't tell you very much about the risetime. For that you need a step.

I'm not done yet 

[worsthorse]

Honestly what do you do with all that bandwidth?  I'm quite happy here on 63/16. I can crank that to 270/35 but I don't need it.

Haha, this house is known as the Techno House, this is my equivalent to the 8.5 digit meter I suppose, don't really need it, but why the hell not, especially when they are effectively giving it to me because of being a long and loyal customer 

We have 3 games consuls which are connected for long periods, playing interactive online games with friends and other family members in the area, 3 desktop PC's streaming video, downloading large files, Internet radios, 4 mobile phones, 5 tablets that could also be connected to the web, 2 smart TV's and many other bits and bobs all connecting to the web.

I do loads of downloads of books etc, many never get read from cover to cover because they are technical reference books and the like and I like to be a speed demon when it comes to downloading, it's the only kind of speeding that is possible days that isn't frowned upon 

Besides when they chuck into the mix, the complete TV package, sport and films included a SIM for my phone on a monthly payment plan with unlimited data for the monthly plan cost of £0, and the total price per month is slightly less than I currently pay, it seems rude not to really 

I have gigabit fiber here and I get 800Mb/sec speeds at the router. I don't need that much bandwidth nor I am likely to.

But I wrangled a fixed price deal and am getting that it for about the same price as the 100MB copper based connection without signing up for a "package deal".  It is certainly more reliable than my old service and who knows, maybe I will set up a bitcoin operation or sublet bandwidth to my neighbors or hire it out to a porn server farm and use it all up someday. 

[worsthorse]

It's getting harder and harder to find any quality solder with clean lead and simple, organic rosin flux anymore. Well, without pay a kidney and a spleen for it, that is. 

mnem
*Current mood: 60/40*

In one of my ohmygawdtheyaretryingtochangemyworld moments I decided that good quality solder and solder wick was transforming into unobtanium and I started looking around for bargains.  At one point I bought twenty six rolls of various width NOS solder wick at a hamfest. At another, I found an electronics dealer going out of business sale and acquired five one pound rolls of multicore lead solder in various diameters and a smaller roll of silver solder. I think I have enough to last a while.

Once I bought a beat-to-hell piece of Tek gear to get the untouched roll of silver solder tacked inside. At that point, I started to think that maybe I had a problem.

[mnementh]

Yeah, a "Too fucking lucky" problem...

mnem
 

[mnementh]

   It's on its way thanks to my "enabler wife"; as a combined Valentine's Day / Anniversary present. I still can't believe it myself.

mnem
*desperately seeking power cables on amazon.ca*

Ho-o-o-ly Chit, mang. It's here already; a day early. Forget all that horrible shit I said about Amazon.ca...

mnem

[Specmaster]

Look at the page number. It's med's year of birth!

Don't you have something to do besides annoy me? 

Apparently not it seems 

[Martin.M]

cute little scopes, ok 



the moste cute mini scopes ever are british COSSOR

[Specmaster]

  24V 2.2A (around 50VA). Issue is size and mounting.

(Attachment Link)

Sounds close to a common HVAC/Doorbell transformer. Over here they're typically 120VAC IN / 24V-28V@48-60VA OUT, and come in either "screw to the outlet" wall-wart style or encased/flanged as this one. Available at most Homeowner Hell type stores for $15-20.

I expect you'll have the same for 240VAC over there.

mnem
*wire-nut*

Nope, they are all about 8 to 15VA only over here.