Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mansaxel]

And...it's 95 degrees FAHREHEIT outside, 72 degrees FAHREHEIT in the bedroom, and 75 degrees FAHREHEIT in the living room. And later on I have to drive 3 MILES and pick up a QUART of milk. 

On a tad serious note, the inch vs metric thread (pun intended, post facto) went really poisonous in only a few posts. I don't want to stoke the fight,  but your continous failure to adhere to the nice early christmas gift of 1975 is indeed premium fuel.

Let's stay away from units and discuss "enter" vs "=" or other less contested subjects, shall we?

[Mr. Scram]

On a tad serious note, the inch vs metric thread (pun intended, post facto) went really poisonous in only a few posts. I don't want to stoke the fight,  but your continous failure to adhere to the nice early christmas gift of 1975 is indeed premium fuel.

Let's stay away from units and discuss "enter" vs "=" or other less contested subjects, shall we?

Let's discuss whether a Rigol, Siglent or GW-Instek is better. The more details you can address the better.

[med6753]

Bunch of pussies. Try driving in London, as in the city bit, in gridlocked traffic, in a manual for 20 years. My left arm and leg are bigger than the right one.

Complaining about Scotland and roundabouts 

Hey, I did drive in traffic in Edinburgh but it wasn't gridlock. 

Edit, I invite you come drive the streets of Manhattan. Even I won't do it unless absolutely necessary.

[med6753]

And...it's 95 degrees FAHREHEIT outside, 72 degrees FAHREHEIT in the bedroom, and 75 degrees FAHREHEIT in the living room. And later on I have to drive 3 MILES and pick up a QUART of milk. 

On a tad serious note, the inch vs metric thread (pun intended, post facto) went really poisonous in only a few posts. I don't want to stoke the fight,  but your continous failure to adhere to the nice early christmas gift of 1975 is indeed premium fuel.

Let's stay away from units and discuss "enter" vs "=" or other less contested subjects, shall we?

OK, but you did fail to mention that Ronald Reagan abolished the metrication act in 1982. 

[mansaxel]

OK, but you did fail to mention that Ronald Reagan abolished the metrication act in 1982. 

No, he dissolved the Metrification Board, but the act is in force.

Look! A "=" sign! Let's enter it into discussion!

[BU508A]

Found an educational video about "Karen" and the correspondent "Kevin" in Germany:



 

[mnementh]

I usually apply more solder, wet the joint and wiggle it out on those, even with the Metcal at it. Give it breaks to cool down between attempts.

Nothing touches ground plane joints easily. I had to rework the fuckers once with a weller vacuum iron and it was hell.

Yeah, that's how I got the little bastard out; was PITA enough in its own right. But it was prepping the vias for reassembly that turned into a total Charlie-Foxtrot. I'm serious when I say I wasn't sure I'd be able to get the holes cleared. I think putting that RIFA back in and then trying to do it all again would be just begging Murphy to make an example of me. 

I actually toyed with the idea of wrapping the little bastard in a few layers of Kapton tape and soldering it to other connected points on the bottom of the PCB; I'm probably lucky that trial-fitting showed just a hair too little clearance. 

mnem
Officer Training 101: DON'T. Taunt. Murphy.

[mnementh]

And...it's 95 degrees FAHREHEIT outside, 72 degrees FAHREHEIT in the bedroom, and 75 degrees FAHREHEIT in the living room. And later on I have to drive 3 MILES and pick up a QUART of milk. 

On a tad serious note, the inch vs metric thread (pun intended, post facto) went really poisonous in only a few posts. I don't want to stoke the fight,  but your continous failure to adhere to the nice early christmas gift of 1975 is indeed premium fuel.

Let's stay away from units and discuss "enter" vs "=" or other less contested subjects, shall we?

OK, but you did fail to mention that Ronald Reagan abolished the metrication act in 1982. 

I'm just wondering how many times you're going to see that quote before you realize that Fahrenheit has a n in it. 

mnem
Nope. Not even with rented lips. 

[Cerebus]

I actually toyed with the idea of wrapping the little bastard in a few layers of Kapton tape and ...

Freeze it in Carbonite, anything else would be underkill.

[Cerebus]

The cat has been sitting on my footstool just staring at me for the last 1/2 hour. If you don't hear from me again, avenge my death.

[mnementh]

Who do you think sent the cat...? 

mnem
All cats are solar-charged.

[Mr. Scram]

Who do you think sent the cat...? 

mnem
All cats are solar-charged.

You may be the expert at everything but claiming to command cats is overplaying your hand.

[mnementh]

I actually toyed with the idea of wrapping the little bastard in a few layers of Kapton tape and ...

Freeze it in Carbonite, anything else would be underkill.

   You're right; just a waste of perfectly good Kapton tape. 

mnem

[mnementh]

beats con air 

"Step away from the cuddly toy!"

mnem
True story. *chest thump*

[mnementh]

ummmmm.  just a thought.

while you were in there did you check the date code on the dallas nvram?  (am thinking that it may not outlive you per the plan) replaced the one in my hp54601 with separate sram, controller chip, and battery. (encapsulated batteries really piss me off)

but iirc yours uses an 8kx8 (and maybe STMicro vice dallas?), and mine was a 2kx8. 

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/hp-54601a-nvram-substitute/

   That... is a question for when I replace caps in the thing. I did notice a label on the back stating it contains a BR1225 coin cell; pretty sure that means NVRAM battery will be replaceable. May need some soldering, of course.

Hmmm... that warranty label appears OEM issue; maybe the Agilent-branded handle IS original. 

These points are also something I can get into after the move; in the meantime, just going to love it and use it as needed.

mnem
 

   Looks like you were right; good memory. 

While I was in there molesting the PSU, I looked all over and under the mainboard and nope, nothing like a coin cell anywhere. Pretty sure a peek at the datasheet on this NVRAM would tell me there's no way to connect a external battery (aside from that CNC the IC down to the battery mod I saw in the 2465 thread), but of course I had to see for myself. 

Now of course it's in the queue for recapping; no idea if I'll have time for that before the move or not. 

mnem
*sigh*

[tggzzz]

And...it's 95 degrees FAHREHEIT outside, 72 degrees FAHREHEIT in the bedroom, and 75 degrees FAHREHEIT in the living room. And later on I have to drive 3 MILES and pick up a QUART of milk. 

On a tad serious note, the inch vs metric thread (pun intended, post facto) went really poisonous in only a few posts. I don't want to stoke the fight,  but your continous failure to adhere to the nice early christmas gift of 1975 is indeed premium fuel.

Let's stay away from units and discuss "enter" vs "=" or other less contested subjects, shall we?

I'm disappointed. I was expecting that URL to refer to a calculator that had neither an "=" nor an "enter".

Can't see how that could possibly work? Try running this emulation

[mnementh]

This little BASTARD cap...      So I’m putting together my parts list for the 54645A, and I can’t find a schizzmatic or component level parts list to save my life.

Of COURSE, this is the side jammed up tight against the heat sink so I can’t tell what voltage, and parametric search on DigiKey returns bupkis for this value in the current P561 product line.

So I bite the bullet and remove the little stinkbomb; it’s a bit of a PITA due to silicone spooge entanglement, but not too bad. I keep telling myself.

I get my numbers, and I look for anything close available locally, but no. Gonna have to order. *sigh*

I go about cleaning up the pads on this and another bastard cap that was completely obfuscated with a heat-shrink wetsuit, and the ground pad is just a complete dicksore to get clear. Tried solder-wick multiple times, even dipped in flux, tried solder-sucker several times and finally got it by propping up the board on edge so I could get sucker on one side and big chisel iron on BOOST contacting the other side. That GND fill was just sucking away the heat like a vortex.

So now I want to put it all back together until parts arrive... and I realize I do NOT want to do that desoldering job ever again for fear of cooking the PCB to death.

Fuck me. With a shovel. Sideways.^* 

mnem
^*in the room. I may be a perv, but I’m not suicidal.

Okay... looking to find a sub for this little bastard; I was thinking of going to Y2 poly, and I've found a EPCOS MKP B3202 series that should just fit while having a lot more headroom. The manufacturer recommends this line for SMPS DC conversion applications, which is good, as this one is right across the gate/source of a big ol' IRFPC50 MOSFET in the first DC converter.

The only problem I see right now is that from experience these tend to have pretty low ESR, often similar to ceramic, so even for a 47nF I'd still expect ESR of 1Ω or less. The one I just took out measures 40Ω ESR. Can't tell from the datasheet if that's in the normal range or not. I know these can be used as drop-in replacements for the dread RIFAs in AC line applications; I've seen it oodles of times. But here I'm concerned about low ESR affecting the stability of the SMPS at these higher frequencies.

Opinions?

mnem
 

[TorinoFermic]

Hum, I appear to be winning the bid : eBay auction: #174379420503 but I have contacted the seller like 2 days ago inquiring the shipping to Canada since there wasn't an estimate of it.

[Mr. Scram]

Hum, I appear to be winning the bid : eBay auction: #174379420503 but I have contacted the seller like 2 days ago inquiring the shipping to Canada since there wasn't an estimate of it.

That's a good price. I hope it's not so good the seller is having regrets. I suspect it'll clean up nicely and a working 34401A at that price should always be a good deal.

[nixiefreqq]

ummmmm.  just a thought.

while you were in there did you check the date code on the dallas nvram?  (am thinking that it may not outlive you per the plan) replaced the one in my hp54601 with separate sram, controller chip, and battery. (encapsulated batteries really piss me off)

but iirc yours uses an 8kx8 (and maybe STMicro vice dallas?), and mine was a 2kx8. 

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/hp-54601a-nvram-substitute/

   That... is a question for when I replace caps in the thing. I did notice a label on the back stating it contains a BR1225 coin cell; pretty sure that means NVRAM battery will be replaceable. May need some soldering, of course.

Hmmm... that warranty label appears OEM issue; maybe the Agilent-branded handle IS original. 

These points are also something I can get into after the move; in the meantime, just going to love it and use it as needed.

mnem
 

   Looks like you were right; good memory. 

While I was in there molesting the PSU, I looked all over and under the mainboard and nope, nothing like a coin cell anywhere. Pretty sure a peek at the datasheet on this NVRAM would tell me there's no way to connect a external battery (aside from that CNC the IC down to the battery mod I saw in the 2465 thread), but of course I had to see for myself. 

Now of course it's in the queue for recapping; no idea if I'll have time for that before the move or not. 

mnem
*sigh*

crap.  unfortuately the specsheet says "caphat".  if it were a "snaphat" it would be a piece of cake.

my attempt to drill, file, or whittle down to the battery connections on a few of these bastards were unmitigated disasters.

maybe if you had an xray rig and a real milling machine it would be possible.  saw that a guy claimed he was able to "melt"  his way down to the battery leads.  good fecking luck with that.

https://www.st.com/content/ccc/resource/technical/document/application_note/9e/6f/ee/57/a8/56/44/d0/CD00004060.pdf/files/CD00004060.pdf/jcr:content/translations/en.CD00004060.pdf

that is what drove me to the ugly/hamfisted but workable sram, controller chip, coin cell in a holder bodge.  it worked in my 54502a, 54504a, and 54601a. 

but it is as elegant as a turd.


edit  if you come up with novel fix for this predicament please post details.   

[MathWizard]

Just looking up more 6 1/2D bench meters, and I see ones like the Keithley 2700, that must be pretty modern to have Ethernet. I see it just has the basic functions of a DMM, but no capacitance (and neither does the 34465A???) Then there's the whole scanner capability.

So I guess they're fine as a basic DMM, and can scan if you have the extra's and/or software for it.


What do people think of these 1990/2000's 6.5D scanner's ? What about vs the common ones like HP34401A / F8445 / K2000 ? ?

[Brumby]

Who do you think sent the cat...? 

mnem
All cats are solar-charged.

You may be the expert at everything but claiming to command cats is overplaying your hand.

If you read the statement properly, the claim was sending the cat.

Commanding cats is a journey into fantasy.

[Brumby]

.... and stop showing me 6.5 digit DMMs at prices that look good!

I've been very good at staying happy with my 5.5 digit 3478A ... and your sharing is starting to make me twitch......

[mnementh]

Who do you think sent the cat...? 

mnem
All cats are solar-charged.

You may be the expert at everything but claiming to command cats is overplaying your hand.

If you read the statement properly, the claim was sending the cat. Commanding cats is a journey into fantasy.

What; doesn't everybody mail felines...? They make this flat-rate box that's the perfect size...

mnem
"...like trying to stuff a cat into a sack..."

[mnementh]

ummmmm.  just a thought.

while you were in there did you check the date code on the dallas nvram?  (am thinking that it may not outlive you per the plan) replaced the one in my hp54601 with separate sram, controller chip, and battery. (encapsulated batteries really piss me off)

but iirc yours uses an 8kx8 (and maybe STMicro vice dallas?), and mine was a 2kx8. 

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/hp-54601a-nvram-substitute/

   That... is a question for when I replace caps in the thing. I did notice a label on the back stating it contains a BR1225 coin cell; pretty sure that means NVRAM battery will be replaceable. May need some soldering, of course.

Hmmm... that warranty label appears OEM issue; maybe the Agilent-branded handle IS original. 

These points are also something I can get into after the move; in the meantime, just going to love it and use it as needed.

mnem
 

   Looks like you were right; good memory. 

While I was in there molesting the PSU, I looked all over and under the mainboard and nope, nothing like a coin cell anywhere. Pretty sure a peek at the datasheet on this NVRAM would tell me there's no way to connect a external battery (aside from that CNC the IC down to the battery mod I saw in the 2465 thread), but of course I had to see for myself. 

Now of course it's in the queue for recapping; no idea if I'll have time for that before the move or not. 

mnem
*sigh*

crap.  unfortuately the specsheet says "caphat".  if it were a "snaphat" it would be a piece of cake.

my attempt to drill, file, or whittle down to the battery connections on a few of these bastards were unmitigated disasters.

maybe if you had an xray rig and a real milling machine it would be possible.  saw that a guy claimed he was able to "melt"  his way down to the battery leads.  good fecking luck with that.

https://www.st.com/content/ccc/resource/technical/document/application_note/9e/6f/ee/57/a8/56/44/d0/CD00004060.pdf/files/CD00004060.pdf/jcr:content/translations/en.CD00004060.pdf

that is what drove me to the ugly/hamfisted but workable sram, controller chip, coin cell in a holder bodge.  it worked in my 54502a, 54504a, and 54601a. 

but it is as elegant as a turd.


edit  if you come up with novel fix for this predicament please post details.

I think my novel fix will be to use the fecking thing until this battery dies, then look for a SNAPHAT equivalent and solder that to a SOIC breakout board and recal. I'm still looking for some evidence of a factory service menu that maybe has total hours; this may have a way to dump existing cal data to the screen.

Your solution could be made much more elegant if moved to a bit of perfboard or a similar SOIC PCB.

mnem
*toddles off to ded*