Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tautech]

Phew but fuck that seller in particular 

It's a fairly crap scope but do I get the jammy git award for paying less than £100 for it? 

So, you've got now an EDU-scope? Will you learn how to use a scope properly?

The only learning BD wants to do with it is:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/tektronix-tbs1000-series-hacking/

[BU508A]

Anybody in the UK?

Fluke 8520A, 18 minutes available

https://www.ebay.de/itm/203560819683

[bd139]

Phew but fuck that seller in particular 

It's a fairly crap scope but do I get the jammy git award for paying less than £100 for it? 

So, you've got now an EDU-scope? Will you learn how to use a scope properly?

The only learning BD wants to do with it is:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/tektronix-tbs1000-series-hacking/

Yes step one is make it into a not EDU scope with more MHz 

To be fair the EDU stuff built in looks fairly decent.

[Andrew_Debbie]

Here are some very salty prices on eBay UK

I often wonder if some of the absurdly priced auctions are in fact money laundering.

[Cerebus]

The 27 arrived.



It's pristine, mint, has not popped its cherry fuse. As BD noted, a small mark on the plastic of the screen (looks like an errant drop of solvent, subsequently left to dry) and that's it. Cosmetically it otherwise looks like it just came out of the factory wrappings. The display is crisp and high contrast, sadly this makes me realise how much the 25's display has declined over the years.

Only checked out on DC so far but it agrees digit for digit with the 25, except for an occasional ±1 last digit difference on the 3.0V range while running it through the whole 3.0V range. That is why people buy Fluke handhelds; two meters that have had very different lives, one spent years in a tank under desert conditions (literally), one pampered and apparently hardly, if at all, used, and they still agree down to the last digit.

I can dial up any 4 digit display I want on the resistance range with my Vishay 5 decade resistance box. The DC current range agrees with the 25 and what the readback on my E3616A says.  Just boring old Fluke predictability really.

Not bad for £29.99 and £4.95 postage. Perhaps the seller is into charity work for skinflint impoverished TEA addicts because it came packed in a "Karl Lagerfeld Kids" shoebox, so they aren't short of a bob or two.

[Cerebus]

I would argue that this is best stop-motion done for many years.
https://youtu.be/41BX9zn_qZo

"Electronics for dogs" and "Spare Track" does it for me. W & G deserve a very special place in the Pantheon of moving pictures, indeed.

(One should perhaps think about the resources available to Rymdreglage and Aardman, respectively -- the former is a rural 2-man hobby operation, while someone paid Aardman. )

One should also note that "A Grand Day Out", the first Wallace and Gromit, was a student film made while Nick Park was still at college - so in the same terms a 1-man hobby operation.

[bd139]

Glad the Fluke 27 worked. I near had it at least 5 times before deciding to pass it on 

[Andrew_Debbie]

Anybody in the UK?

Fluke 8520A, 18 minutes available

https://www.ebay.de/itm/203560819683

No bids, seller relisted.

I am thinking about making a low offer and seeing what happens.

I've already got two working budget bench DMMs plus my £25 Dana 5100.    Properly adjusted the Dana 5100 should come close to the accuracy of an 8520A.   

*The 5100 has better specified accuracy than a 5100AF.   

[Cerebus]

Glad the Fluke 27 worked. I near had it at least 5 times before deciding to pass it on 

You're now forgiven for the hp OCXO.

[AVGresponding]

Any chance that the meter can do Moisture readings too?

Without the manual and only very thin documentation available online your guess is as good as mine :-) ... I still hope that someone around here has a Normameter 900-950, Siemens B1024-B1028 and can provide me with (parts of) the manual to uncover the mistery.

However, moisture is most of the time measured in some percentage relative to some saturation point, so I would guess it's actually a temperature input.

My knowledge about temperature measurement is very limited to the standard types, RTD and NTC, and I rarely need to touch characteristics, so I can only guess. But based on the straight line, whatever it is, it looks still fine ;-)

Well, Mo is the symbol for Molybdenum, and I found quite a few discussions of temperature sensors that have Mo (molybdenum) involved in the design of them. I don't know why Mo on the meter would mean anything else. 

MOLYBDENUM (Mo):
Excellent mechanical properties at elevated temperatures. Melting point at 4750°F. Excellent in reducing or neutral atmospheres. It has low thermal-neutron capture cross-section and excellent thermal shock resistance. Poor in oxidizing atmospheres. Excellent for thermal cycling applications.

https://www.convectronics.com/Sensors26.php

Mode? As in, J, K, T, E, N, R, S etc?

[mansaxel]

The 27 arrived.

Now I want one. But a 27FM.

[xrunner]

Mode? As in, J, K, T, E, N, R, S etc?

Damn people now you're dragging me into this rabbit hole! 

OK, if the printing is MD (notice that's a small capital "D") it might indicate "Mode". I looked at a lot of pics and I can't say whether the letter after the "M" is a small "O" or a small "D". Can anyone definitively state which it is?

[tggzzz]

Anybody in the UK?

Fluke 8520A, 18 minutes available

https://www.ebay.de/itm/203560819683

I don't know whether to be sad or happy that I now go "only 5.5 digits? Meh!"

[med6753]

Door installed. Left to do: 2 coats poly then hardware install. Then done.

[tonyalbus]

Who will join me in a group buy of those small LCR sweezers SMD tester thingy
it says only 1 more needed.
$ 56 and now instead of $100

Participants needed！Come group shopping together and save more!
https://banggood.app.link/TyjinxVJQib

[Cerebus]

The 27 arrived.

Now I want one. But a 27FM.

I'd have an FM out of preference if I could, but I'm not looking a 30 quid gift horse in the mouth.

I've had good mileage out of the 25. Nothing fancy, basic V, and I in both AC and DC,  , continuity, conductivity (there's a semi-concealed nS range) with 3200 count and nothing else; but it's accurate, it gets the job done and you're not scared to take it somewhere it might get dropped, run over, or otherwise physically abused. Also has the best tilting bail of any multimeter I've ever used, you can push banana plugs in without the meter skittering off somewhere. Also, you can even reverse the bail to use as a hook/carrying handle or to give you more reach in a bar fight. Bonus for the troglodytes is that it has intrinsically safe rating for mines.

[Zucca]

Participants needed！Come group shopping together and save more!
https://banggood.app.link/TyjinxVJQib

I tried, but the stupid website crashed on the checkout page. Now it tells me only new users can join the group. 
I keep trying...

Why is so difficult to waste my money?

EDIT: I have to try when I am home tonight, it looks like they detect my public ip and blocked me out as new user.

[tonyalbus]

Thanks Zucca for trying... so as i understand it is just a way for them to get NEW clients.
has nothing to do with group buy... who would have guessed they are so sneaky...

[25 CPS]

what would they do with an Oscope on an old rustbucket like that?



https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/naval-subjects-collection/l45--us-navy-ships/121-140/l45-132-05-01-uss-illusive--mso-448-.html

Easy. Look at all the antennas on the main mast.

Yeah... any Navy craft is full of electronics... and they are constantly being retrofit until decommissioned. A battery-op scope is an obvious necessity here, and yours now has provenance...

mnem
 

I haven't been on the HMCS Haida since I was a kid and it was still docked at Ontario Place, and I don't remember much/anything about the electronics on it.  I'll have to pay a visit out of curiosity assuming it's open and see what radio and radar stuff was left on it.

[bd139]

The 27 arrived.

Now I want one. But a 27FM.

I'd have an FM out of preference if I could, but I'm not looking a 30 quid gift horse in the mouth.

I've had good mileage out of the 25. Nothing fancy, basic V, and I in both AC and DC,  , continuity, conductivity (there's a semi-concealed nS range) with 3200 count and nothing else; but it's accurate, it gets the job done and you're not scared to take it somewhere it might get dropped, run over, or otherwise physically abused. Also has the best tilting bail of any multimeter I've ever used, you can push banana plugs in without the meter skittering off somewhere. Also, you can even reverse the bail to use as a hook/carrying handle or to give you more reach in a bar fight. Bonus for the troglodytes is that it has intrinsically safe rating for mines.

Also you can beat an elephant to death with it quite easily should you need to defend yourself 

[AVGresponding]

I can't imagine having to defend yourself from an elephant attack while trying to use a multimeter for something is a particularly common occurrence, especially in the UK.

[mansaxel]

The 27 arrived.

Now I want one. But a 27FM.

I'd have an FM out of preference if I could, but I'm not looking a 30 quid gift horse in the mouth.

I'm all with you, a 25, 27, or 27FM all would be adequate tools, but my desire lies with the 27FM, preferably with the HV probe; because that's something I miss today. Bar ruggedness, as you write, the rest of the meter has capabilities I easily surpass with my other meters; save for HV measurements above 2,5KV which is the limit of my Avos and other VOMen.

[mansaxel]

I can't imagine having to defend yourself from an elephant attack while trying to use a multimeter for something is a particularly common occurrence, especially in the UK.

But think of the movie plot that scenario is part of. Especially if it is stop-motion clay animation 

[Cymaphore]

Mode? As in, J, K, T, E, N, R, S etc?

Damn people now you're dragging me into this rabbit hole! 

OK, if the printing is MD (notice that's a small capital "D") it might indicate "Mode". I looked at a lot of pics and I can't say whether the letter after the "M" is a small "O" or a small "D". Can anyone definitively state which it is?

Update on the Mystery "Mo" type RTD input:

In St1 ("Mo") I measured TCR = 0.003
(Based on 100 Ohm -> 0 °C; 130 Ohm -> 100 °C)

In St2 ("Pt") I measured TCR = 0.0039
(Based on 100 Ohm -> 0 °C; 139 Ohm -> 100 °C)

Intermediate conclusions:

St2 ("Pt") matches pretty good the platinum-based PTC sensor that I have for testing Pt100 inputs. That much was more or less confirmed by my simple comparison to the BM789 Type K comparison mesurement.

St1 ("Mo") matches no standard TCR I know of. Maybe it's some molybdenium special sensor requested by some steel industry customer (Voest Alpine) or similar? Maybe it's configurable somehow (0.003 looks to round for my taste)? Anyone has a Table of TCRs for non-standard materials?

[BU508A]

The 27 arrived.

Now I want one. But a 27FM.

I'd have an FM out of preference if I could, but I'm not looking a 30 quid gift horse in the mouth.

I'm all with you, a 25, 27, or 27FM all would be adequate tools, but my desire lies with the 27FM, preferably with the HV probe; because that's something I miss today. Bar ruggedness, as you write, the rest of the meter has capabilities I easily surpass with my other meters; save for HV measurements above 2,5KV which is the limit of my Avos and other VOMen.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/154034358475