Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Andrew_Debbie]

The nerve of some people

"This unit will be shipped in it's case ONLY.  it will NOT be packaged!"


- This is for a Prolog M980 .   Asking $199   (not working)  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333994404266

[mnementh]

Probably still safer than most eBay packing. And it already needs a good scrubbing with alcohol, so as far as tape/shipping label residue... meh.

mnem
*toddles off to fix somethin'*

[mnementh]

   https://www.amazon.com/Soldering-Kit-Temperature-Desoldering-Electronics/dp/B07XKZVG8Z/

Fuck me... I just spent $10 on this POS because I need it ASAP to fix a thermostat, and available for same-day delivery. So far, I've prolly spent ~$100 on cheap tools "to get me by" or "to get a job done" since we left Cleveland. I guess that's really not that bad...   

mnem
 

[0culus]

Next step: Widlarizer.   

My post driver with its 340kg freefall hammer beats them all nearly......except for the neighbor's 3 tonne hammer on his 35t digger mounted 12m mast pole driver.

The judicious application of plastic explosive beats all that for a proper, 100% irreversible, widlarization. 

Ahaha, love that channel. Though a front loading washer doesn't need a hand grenade to really grenade itself if it gets into an out of balance condition at speed. 

[0culus]

Next step: Widlarizer.   

My post driver with its 340kg freefall hammer beats them all nearly......except for the neighbor's 3 tonne hammer on his 35t digger mounted 12m mast pole driver.

The judicious application of plastic explosive beats all that for a proper, 100% irreversible, widlarization. 

Hmmm, although not safe to be anywhere near. 

This has me thinking a wee demonstration could be worthwhile but just what old shagged instrument do I select....
The very sick HP1740 stashed on top of a locker might be a worthy candidate. 

LOL, unless the crt is knackered take that out first!

I do have a Tek if you'd rather see that squashed. 
Or a couple of Phillips............

LOL!!! It doesn't really matter as long as it's something that is truly too far gone to save. 

[0culus]

Next step: Widlarizer.   

My post driver with its 340kg freefall hammer beats them all nearly......except for the neighbor's 3 tonne hammer on his 35t digger mounted 12m mast pole driver.

The judicious application of plastic explosive beats all that for a proper, 100% irreversible, widlarization. 

Maybe not. A terrorist bomb maker in the UK was jailed because a section of PCB (IIRC it had a NE555 on it) recovered from bomb debris fitted neatly like a puzzle piece into the "donor" PCB which was still in his workshop. It's surprising how much of a device survives.
Nothng like a nice bit of physical evidence to convince a jury. I guess most of them start to glaze over when things like MALDI-TOF Mass Spectroscopy are mentioned.

Whoa, I hadn't heard about this. That's crazy. Good they were able to get him dead to rights though.

[mansaxel]

   https://www.amazon.com/Soldering-Kit-Temperature-Desoldering-Electronics/dp/B07XKZVG8Z/

Fuck me... I just spent $10 on this POS because I need it ASAP to fix a thermostat, and available for same-day delivery. So far, I've prolly spent ~$100 on cheap tools "to get me by" or "to get a job done" since we left Cleveland. I guess that's really not that bad...   

mnem
 

It is very expensive to be poor. And it pays to have a tool kit in the car at all times of extended TDY. I feel sorry for you.

[mnementh]

Speaking of AllTest... Spotted this in my inbox today: https://shop.alltest.net/models/used

Huh. Now a full-fledged corporate entity, with new equipment and "Cal Services". 

mnem
 

[mnementh]

   https://www.amazon.com/Soldering-Kit-Temperature-Desoldering-Electronics/dp/B07XKZVG8Z/

Fuck me... I just spent $10 on this POS because I need it ASAP to fix a thermostat, and available for same-day delivery. So far, I've prolly spent ~$100 on cheap tools "to get me by" or "to get a job done" since we left Cleveland. I guess that's really not that bad...   

mnem
 

It is very expensive to be poor. And it pays to have a tool kit in the car at all times of extended TDY. I feel sorry for you.

Well, it's not so much that as choices I made left me ill-equipped. I chose not to lug a MFT of tools in 4 huge-arse bins across 4 states (particularly into and out of NYC) as I felt I had higher priorities what with 4 of us in one little SUV with 6 bins total capacity, and I actually considered this scenario when I decided I didn't have time or energy for rummaging and putting together a "just in case" toolkit when I was still at the stock & lock.

Honestly, in the grand scheme, it really isn't that much expense... particularly compared against some of the other shit we've been hemorrhaging money over. 

Case in point: $1000 reconsignment fees to get the trailer here... and $800 for COVID testing for a border crossing we weren't allowed to make... and then there's 3 months rent on the Canada place we ate because that was what we promised as security for us being high-risk tenants.

Of course, coming in and bitching about THE GRIPE OF THE DAY is a big part of why this place is here; sometimes all it takes is knowing somebody out there heard your cries in the wilderness, even for just a moment, to lighten the load enuf that you can haul your sorry arse out into the fray again.

mnem
*frayed*

[AVGresponding]

Things don't disappear to powder in an explosion; debris size follows a bell-curve just like almost everything else in the universe (with some biasing due to situational circumstances).

It's just quite difficult to find parts that are relatively small and are likely to be a considerable distance away.

[mnementh]

Then obviously, insufficient explosive has been used.   If escape velocity is achieved and that still isn't enough to satisfy, then I suggest something powerful enough to include any observers who might choose to object. 

mnem
"Can you say ' BOOM! ' boys and girls...?"

[Cerebus]

Next step: Widlarizer.   

My post driver with its 340kg freefall hammer beats them all nearly......except for the neighbor's 3 tonne hammer on his 35t digger mounted 12m mast pole driver.

The judicious application of plastic explosive beats all that for a proper, 100% irreversible, widlarization. 

Hmmm, although not safe to be anywhere near. 

Not necessarily. You could slice and dice it with a few linear cutting charges, there'd be very little actual explosive involved - only 5 or 10 grams in the hands of a real expert. You could stand relatively close (wearing ear defenders) as long as you chucked an explosive blanket* over it to avoid getting the odd flying fragment (such as a 0.22 tant or the remains of the cutting jet) up yer jacksie.

* Not a blanket that explodes, but a fabric blanket designed to trap flying fragments - you'll see them used during explosive demolition of buildings wrapped around columns over the charges to stop chips of concrete flying off and smashing every window within 1/4 - 1/2 a mile.

[tautech]

...This has me thinking a wee demonstration could be worthwhile but just what old shagged instrument do I select....
The very sick HP1740 stashed on top of a locker might be a worthy candidate. 

LOL, unless the crt is knackered take that out first!

I do have a Tek if you'd rather see that squashed. 
Or a couple of Phillips............

No, no, no... it should be a Telequipment D83. Because... reasons.

mnem
*raises the last sip of his coffee to bd139; wherever the fuck you are, mate*

Actually a D83 would be my last choice to squash......a bit too much Tek DNA in that one......not that bd139 would agree with me. 

[srb1954]

I do have a Tek if you'd rather see that squashed. 
Or a couple of Phillips............

No, no, no... it should be a Telequipment D83. Because... reasons.

mnem
*raises the last sip of his coffee to bd139; wherever the fuck you are, mate*

If we are nominating something from the Telequipment product line to be Widlarized I would vote for the DM64.

[med6753]

500 series extender cable version 1. Giant fail. I was naive to think that I could get away with plain hookup wire for both power and signal. Well, power is OK but not signals. Test plug-in and scope have no clue they are connected. Back to the drawing board.



500 series extender cable version 2. All signals RG316 coax. But the extender STILL does not work. And at this point not sure why. All cabling as been verified several times. It's nothing more than a one to one substituting for the 2 connectors. No wires are crossed. No signals shorted to ground. I can take the test plug in off the extender and plug it directly into the scope and it works fine. So tomorrow I have to pull the Type 547 out of corner so I can get the side cover off and take measurements with just the plug in and then plug in on extender.   

 

[Robert763]

You don't have a chassis "earth" connection.
Put a braid strap between theee mounting screws of the connectors.

[25 CPS]

500 series extender cable version 1. Giant fail. I was naive to think that I could get away with plain hookup wire for both power and signal. Well, power is OK but not signals. Test plug-in and scope have no clue they are connected. Back to the drawing board.



500 series extender cable version 2. All signals RG316 coax. But the extender STILL does not work. And at this point not sure why. All cabling as been verified several times. It's nothing more than a one to one substituting for the 2 connectors. No wires are crossed. No signals shorted to ground. I can take the test plug in off the extender and plug it directly into the scope and it works fine. So tomorrow I have to pull the Type 547 out of corner so I can get the side cover off and take measurements with just the plug in and then plug in on extender.   

That's a headscratcher.  My first thought was that there could be a problem with the connectors you're using not mating properly with the ones on the scope and/or plugin but if the tube filaments in the plugin come up, we know that at least some power and ground are good, which suggests the connectors probably are too.  It's going to be interesting to see what turns up when you probe it on the 547 to see what's happening to the signals.

[factory]

Sprague Extra-Knackered x2 from the 5340A above.

David

Shocking. Sprague capacitors NEVER short out. 

Trouble is I don't know the history, the rectifier might have failed first, then blew the fuse, maybe many larger size fuses got tried before they gave up, who knows. 

And we occasionally had similar large can caps from Philips shorted in stuff at work.

David

Perhaps you didn't catch my sarcasm. When we are talking 45+ years or so ALL capacitors, including Sprague, are suspect. But we always get the story of this 60 year Spraque with ESR less than a new. Yep....OK.....watch it suddenly on a random power up spill it's guts.     

Well maybe if I make it to retirement, I'll have the time to recap everything as you have been doing.
Unfortunately I spend most of my time at work, I also have fatigue problems due to poor health, both leave me with less TE time than I would like and when the new year starts I'll lose the half days off I've been having.

As for the Sprague caps, most failures have been O/C until now and the majority of those have been lower voltage ones such as these cans & smaller axial types.
And I did restuff the large 2000uF can in the Tek 321 with two modern 1000uF caps, afterwards the ESR was below what the Peak ESR60 could measure. The rest will get replaced as time permits.

David

[factory]

5340A update;

This afternoon I pulled the other small rectifier, this one is shorted & split apart (the one I pulled yesterday had been cooking itself, but not shorted), both have now been replaced with the nearest equivalent I have in stock, the originals were MDA922-6 (1.8A 400V), replacements are 2KBB40R (1.9A 400V), some PTFE sleeving and rearrangement of the leads was required to get them to fit. 




Once this was down I fitted the missing 500mA fuse and with the regulator cards removed I verified the transformer was good, next will be to use what capacitors I have to make up replacements for the four Sprague capacitors (the two OK ones smell bad), then pull the two Sangamo caps and check them too.

I've already had a search for similar screw fit can caps and couldn't find any in my stocks that fit. It wasn't a complete waste of time, as I found the bag of high value resistors that I can further check the Sullivan Megohmeter with. 

David

[Robert763]

Med @med6753
The 547 has a plug in detection switch S673

[med6753]

Med @med6753
The 547 has a plug in detection switch S673

Holy shit, I never noticed that. Thanks!  The switch is way up high on the right. Pulled it out and now it works....with lots of noise on the signal but that's a don't care.

[Cubdriver]

500 series extender cable version 1. Giant fail. I was naive to think that I could get away with plain hookup wire for both power and signal. Well, power is OK but not signals. Test plug-in and scope have no clue they are connected. Back to the drawing board.



500 series extender cable version 2. All signals RG316 coax. But the extender STILL does not work. And at this point not sure why. All cabling as been verified several times. It's nothing more than a one to one substituting for the 2 connectors. No wires are crossed. No signals shorted to ground. I can take the test plug in off the extender and plug it directly into the scope and it works fine. So tomorrow I have to pull the Type 547 out of corner so I can get the side cover off and take measurements with just the plug in and then plug in on extender.   

Mike, for what it's worth, I dug out my 013-019 plug-in extender; it came with one of my 500-series scopes a while back.  Can't find anything about it on TekWiki, but opened up it's just one-to-one interconnections front to rear.







-Pat

[Robert763]

Med @med6753
The 547 has a plug in detection switch S673

Holy shit, I never noticed that. Thanks!  The switch is way up high on the right. Pulled it out and now it works....with lots of noise on the signal but that's a don't care.

I checked the schematic and there is a chassis ground on pin 2. So my first guess was wrong. Next obvious thing was a switch. Probably to stop CRT burn with no plug in.

[med6753]

Mike, for what it's worth, I dug out my 013-019 plug-in extender; it came with one of my 500-series scopes a while back.  Can't find anything about it on TekWiki, but opened up it's just one-to-one interconnections front to rear.


-Pat

Yep, the 560 extender is same construction. But see my prior post. We got it working thanks to sharp-eyed Robert. 

[med6753]

I checked the schematic and there is a chassis ground on pin 2. So my first guess was wrong. Next obvious thing was a switch. Probably to stop CRT burn with no plug in.

Checking for good ground was the first thing I did when version 1 wouldn't work. But I never gave a "no plug-in switch" a thought.