Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mansaxel]

In my book, there are two kinds of multimeter probes: Hirschmann and the rest.

I bought a reasonably large batch of Kleps 30 off one of the Bundeswehr surplus dealers. Some Gefreiter-Schäden ("squaddie treatment") are present, but I've got enough of them that I can cope. Yeah, I like them.

I also have a set of high-voltage remote operated croc clips, with fuses and shielding; of course for insulated bananas. Very impressive. Very pinchy. Wide enough jaw to grab a hefty bus bar or a stud terminal, and long enough that I don't mind the bar being energised.

[xrunner]

My pet hate with various types of mini-grabbers is that they would be better named "mini-things that ping off the second that your back is turned". I have several types, and all off them seem to have just one size and shape of thing that they will reliably and consistently actually grab.

Yes I have experienced that myself. For example, the ones I show in the pic had the tips bent a little bit by pliers to grab things a bit better than the factory "bend". 

[mnementh]

I would like to start a new project, number 134 on my list.

I need an old portable DMM, requirements:

1) Must have a large needle display!
2) As cheap as it can be
3) possibly still easily available on the used market
4) banana 4mm input jacks
5) easy to disassemble/hack.
6) nice to have: good old feeling
7) nice to have: not a company big writing on the front

Simpson 260, Triplett 630? any other suggestions?

Triplett 800

ooooh... shiny! Now he needs 3 of them to make one of these:   

mnem
*agitating-ily*

[bd139]

Quick TDS2012B test. I'm quite impressed with the low voltage performance of these and the measurement. Shitty memory depth aside it's not a terrible scope. If all you're doing is repetitive signals then it's probably fine.

2mV sine RMS measurement on 8060A + TDS2012B.



Trigger is better than the 475 under 10mV p-p.

Also USB screenshots like much less shit scopes!

[Cerebus]

Naahhh... lots of Indian families in our neighborhood, so pretty conservative actually. I fear we may be the ones bringing down the property values this time.

Waddya mean, this time? 

[mnementh]

Dang, I never realized MrCarlson had so many Tek scopes!

He's holding the poor things hostage and torturing them with his home brew contraptions 

I think you're just jealous of the new digs. And the discretionary time/funds that whole mess represents.

mnem
Who am I kidding...? I'd move in. 

[BU508A]

Today arrival: 150mm 5 + 20 D lense from Komerci.

One of my best purchases I ever did! 

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B078W8C29J



I had previously installed the 3 D lense which wasn't bad but this lense is a real game changer.
Much more easy to work on fine stuff. With the 20 D lense it is a piece of cake to read the labelling of SMD parts.
I cannot understand, why I've waited so long to buy one of them.
  up from my side.

Edit: URL fixed.

[Vince]

Link doesn't work...

What is the working distance of this thing, enough to use a soldering iron, or only  good enough for visual inspection i.e. need to stick the board to the lens in order to focus the picture ?!...

[25 CPS]

I haven’t been posting much or doing much for the last month or so.  I’ve been going through a pretty rough patch that’s more or less left me in ‘just get through the day’ survival mode but I’m finally starting to climb out of it and got back to hunting around for parts for a couple of projects I’m working on for my test bench at home and mobile kit.  This afternoon, I managed to strike a couple of things off the list:



A box lot of GPIB cables that were industrial surplus from a tech company not too far from home and a Fluke i410 Hall effect current clamp.  The GPIB cables are for some of my bench equipment at home and the current clamp is going to go with that Scopemeter once I get the right shrouded banana to BNC adapter.  All in all a satisfying day.  I guess I’d better get Python and the PyVISA libraries set up on the computer at home.  Actually, does anybody know if the LabView community version works with GPIB instruments?  I’ve got an Agilent 82357A (A - no USB 2.0) interface and the cabling to stitch everything together with, I just need to sort out the software end and program up what
I need.

[mnementh]

Speaking of toasty. I was doing some routine cleaning today and noticed this black mark on bench 2. Puzzled me for a moment then I realized what it was. A burn. While I was troubleshooting the Type 547 I left the bottom plate off so I could have access to the PSU components. Well during one of the sessions where the +100V supply decided to blow up one of the cathode resistors got so hot that it unsoldered itself and fell down on the bench burning it. 

yummm... battle scars. 

mnem
"It's not truly yours until it's tasted your blood." ~granddad

[mnementh]

urrrghhh... chiddlers at home and TV decides to have a nervous breakdown. Now trying to get all my router and schizz pulled together so my streaming boxes work on the other TV.

So much for a quiet morning afternoon relaxing with the TEA... 

mnem
Of course... no matter how many remotes I have, I can never find the one I need...

Didn't they start school today up there? They did here. Full sessions with face masks required.

Not required. Also, until we have our work visas, still home schooling in any event. Kids' computers are the next step, once we actually have stuff cleared and someplace to set them up.

mnem
moo?

[mnementh]

Warning - While you were reading 96 new replies have been posted. You may wish to review your post.  

It's orificial: The dwagon has landed... In Brampton. 

The truck's been returned intact and 7 hours early at 2am; the WiFi is online and tomorrow's iced tea is brewing on the counter.

Time for me to drag my sorry carcass off to bed; myassiss dragon.

mnem
 yes dear, I'll bring some bath tissue up with me...

Hold on, you drove a truck through Brampton and it's still intact?

Did you squeak by without being subjected to insurance fraud as well?

Sounds like a fun area. Canuck form of "the hood"? 

Brampton's where you go if you want to play bumper cars with real vehicles.  Insurance fraud scams are rampant there.  One of the most frequent is to pull out of a parking lot in front of a moving car and slam on the brakes to get rear ended, then claim no end of back problems.  I've had a few go-rounds as has everyone I know that's spend time driving through Brampton dealing with the garbage the scam artists pull there.  48% increase on my car insurance after this sort of thing after picking up some soldering equipment.

Ahhh.... the old "swoop & squat"; now I understand. Thanks for the heads-up.  May be time to start driving with a dashcam...

mnem
...and forward mounted grenade launchers.

[Cerebus]

Link doesn't work...

What is the working distance of this thing, enough to use a soldering iron, or only  good enough for visual inspection i.e. need to stick the board to the lens in order to focus the picture ?!...

Distance to let your eyes focus as if at infinity is, by definition, 1m/20 - so 5 cm.

I wouldn't want to work soldering with more than the 7d in my OptiVisor. I've tried more with trial lenses in a trial frame (like at the opticians) and anything more than 7d to too much for soldering.

[25 CPS]

Warning - While you were reading 96 new replies have been posted. You may wish to review your post.  

It's orificial: The dwagon has landed... In Brampton. 

The truck's been returned intact and 7 hours early at 2am; the WiFi is online and tomorrow's iced tea is brewing on the counter.

Time for me to drag my sorry carcass off to bed; myassiss dragon.

mnem
 yes dear, I'll bring some bath tissue up with me...

Hold on, you drove a truck through Brampton and it's still intact?

Did you squeak by without being subjected to insurance fraud as well?

Sounds like a fun area. Canuck form of "the hood"? 

Brampton's where you go if you want to play bumper cars with real vehicles.  Insurance fraud scams are rampant there.  One of the most frequent is to pull out of a parking lot in front of a moving car and slam on the brakes to get rear ended, then claim no end of back problems.  I've had a few go-rounds as has everyone I know that's spend time driving through Brampton dealing with the garbage the scam artists pull there.  48% increase on my car insurance after this sort of thing after picking up some soldering equipment.

Ahhh.... the old "swoop & squat"; now I understand. Thanks for the heads-up.  May be time to start driving with a dashcam...

mnem
...and forward mounted grenade launchers.

The insurance and health care scams are only part of it.  The quality of the driving skills in Brampton is on the whole bad in general on top of what stunts are done deliberately for fraudulent purposes.

One of my friends is a paralegal who’s had to defend people that have gotten caught up in deliberately caused scam setup accidents and one of them only got off the hook because there was dashcam footage showing the other driver pulling out of a parking lot exit right into the path of the oncoming car.  The footage showed the car causing the accident empty apart from the driver which immediately put a stop to the “passengers” - three or four they lie, the driver swears to it friends who are in on it - from claiming that they suffered such horrific and debilitating injuries in the accident that they were never going to be able to work again and need ongoing care.

Brampton’s an insurance premium increasing set of postal codes for things like this.  As for my minor accident with an Uber driver, changing insurance companies sorted that problem out.

[mnementh]

I wouldn’t eat soylent green made out of them.

So... only tender young redheads for your soylent green...? 

mnem
and Klondike bars.

[mnementh]

I may have to uninstall ebay   

You mean for yourself, or uninstalled from the internet entirely...? 

mnem
if only...

[BU508A]

Link doesn't work...

Thanks, it's fixed. Sorry, but it points now to the German site, though.

What is the working distance of this thing, enough to use a soldering iron, or only  good enough for visual inspection i.e. need to stick the board to the lens in order to focus the picture ?!...

Just measured it. Working distance is approx. 120mm between object and lense which should be enough for soldering.
Distance between lense and my eyes approx. 120mm as well.
The biggest advantage (to me) is the huge visible area.

Link to the Komerci website:
https://www.komerci.de/shop/lampen-licht/lupenleuchten/rollstative-und-zubehoer/kml-9006-wl-5-20d-wechsel-linse-lupenleuchte

[mnementh]

Yep they're all much of a muchness at this range. As long as it puts curtains up and makes holes in Hammond boxes then I'm happy. If it doesn't, Amazon are getting it back 

And if you decide you don't like the smell of it after doing all your shit, becomes another instance of the Amazon tool lending program. 

mnem
...or flash the firmware for new features and flip it for a profit.

[BU508A]

Link doesn't work...

What is the working distance of this thing, enough to use a soldering iron, or only  good enough for visual inspection i.e. need to stick the board to the lens in order to focus the picture ?!...

Distance to let your eyes focus as if at infinity is, by definition, 1m/20 - so 5 cm.

I wouldn't want to work soldering with more than the 7d in my OptiVisor. I've tried more with trial lenses in a trial frame (like at the opticians) and anything more than 7d to too much for soldering.

The main lense has 5D only the small additional one has 20D as per website.

[mnementh]

Ooooooh 577 curve tracer 20 miles from me. Broken. Buyer collects. Starts at £50 

But will it fit in the French POS of yours? 

Plenty of room  . 7603 for size:   

Oh my... but loaded down like that, mileage must go to complete shit. You'll have fuel it with horsefly farts or badger toots to keep above the minimum speed on the freeway. 

mnem
*dwagon poot!* here's a little octane boost for ya buddy... 

  66 mpg avg. Try that on your vehicles that side of the pond. Might get to the gas station on a tank 

_{Disclaimer: realistically 50mpg the way I drive it though} 

mmmhmmm... might try one, if it were rated for the load of my fat arse. I'd wind up going over a pothole and break the damn thing in half. 

mnem
I sat my ass in a Mini Cooper once. Well, half my ass was in it...

[cyclin_al]

Warning - While you were reading 96 new replies have been posted. You may wish to review your post.  

It's orificial: The dwagon has landed... In Brampton. 

The truck's been returned intact and 7 hours early at 2am; the WiFi is online and tomorrow's iced tea is brewing on the counter.

Time for me to drag my sorry carcass off to bed; myassiss dragon.

mnem
 yes dear, I'll bring some bath tissue up with me...

Hold on, you drove a truck through Brampton and it's still intact?

Did you squeak by without being subjected to insurance fraud as well?

When I was a wee small kid, my great-grand parents lived there.  It was quite genteel at the time.  Nice homes with nice gardens.

Recently, I have heard it referred to as Brama-dehli, but it has been many years since I have been even close to that area, so I have no idea what it is like now.

[mnementh]

Dewalt stuff always looks like space dildos 

Performs like that too.   



mnem
yup. Dewalt powered.

[Vince]

Link doesn't work...

What is the working distance of this thing, enough to use a soldering iron, or only  good enough for visual inspection i.e. need to stick the board to the lens in order to focus the picture ?!...

Distance to let your eyes focus as if at infinity is, by definition, 1m/20 - so 5 cm.

I wouldn't want to work soldering with more than the 7d in my OptiVisor. I've tried more with trial lenses in a trial frame (like at the opticians) and anything more than 7d to too much for soldering.

Oh OK thanks, didn't know that... interesting ! So his 5D lens is supposed to give him 20cm working distance which is very generous... but in practice he says it's more like 12cm.... I guess one has to take into account its particular eye sight problems as well to get the complete picture so to speak ! 

As for me, with my Optivisor thingie whatever dioptrie it has, just an off the shelf 10 Euros Chinese special from Amazon, I absolutely cannot focus unless the board is at most an inch from touching the lens. It is a disaster... but still better than not being able to see at all, so I make do !

[Vince]

Link doesn't work...

Thanks, it's fixed. Sorry, but it points now to the German site, though.

What is the working distance of this thing, enough to use a soldering iron, or only  good enough for visual inspection i.e. need to stick the board to the lens in order to focus the picture ?!...

Just measured it. Working distance is approx. 120mm between object and lense which should be enough for soldering.
Distance between lense and my eyes approx. 120mm as well.
The biggest advantage (to me) is the huge visible area.

Thanks, link works now. I was mistaken, you only bought the lens itself... so I would need to buy the entire lamp/stand on top of that. So basically it's quite convenient / versatile... you can use it either as a lamp, or add a lens to it but only if you need it, and you can use different lenses on it depending on the job at hand... so it's win-win, no need to comprise.
visible area is also a big problem with lenses, so it the one you got gives good results, that's a huge bonus indeed !

Hmmm  I am tempted now ! 

[mnementh]

Naahhh... lots of Indian families in our neighborhood, so pretty conservative actually. I fear we may be the ones bringing down the property values this time.

Waddya mean, this time? 

Hey, we weren't always country bumpkins. Sometimes we were Cajun bayou escapees. 

mnem
and Ifni save their poor heathen souls, both our kids are honest to goodness Texans.