Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tggzzz]

Digging out that story on the German involvement in the adulteration scandal was a bit weird. I'd forgotten how news media always used to prefix German with either East or West and it just felt a little odd reading it. It's also an object lesson in how we normalise propaganda in the media. Sure, for some things it's mere necessary clarification differentiating between East and West Germany, but the media always used to differentiate the two, even in contexts where it wasn't necessary, and that smacks of a form of unconscious rhetoric which only becomes obvious when you see it years later from a fresh and somewhat more neutral perspective.

Having been through the curtain 6 times (plus within a week of it falling), the difference was remarkable.

Both sides would have been as incensed as the other at being lumped together, cf Ireland - Northern Ireland, or North - South Cyprus etc.

[mansaxel]

Whenever a Chieftain tank is parked or stands idle for some time an oil puddle is left behind.

Please do not say that EVs do not have fluid containment problems.

I'm only claiming the British ICE industry have a long standing tradition of precise instrumentation indicating that there is has been oil in an engine. And, coincidentally, where the engine was at the time. 

Also, I've never experienced a fluid containment problem in a German car. My previous Volvo did have one; the coolant leaked out past two silicon O-rings in the coupé heater baffle, and made the rubber mat on the driver side a bit soggy. It also leaked oil through the crankshaft seals because the crankcase ventilation was stuffed.  Both are common problems.

[vk6zgo]

Whenever a Chieftain tank is parked or stands idle for some time an oil puddle is left behind.

That's not an oil puddle, that's the dregs from the crew's teapot.

no wonders english tea tastes like recycled tank oil and the separatists
 thew it in the harbour to kill the fish as they ran out of dynamite for fishing.

Says a man from a country whose wine could be actively improved in flavour by adding anti-freeze to it, and worse still, actually has been by its makers. At least I'm describing the waste from the process of producing the drink, not the end product.

Can you imagine they make wine in east germany? And on a north slope none the less...
The old timers said the taste was "slightly above turpentine" 

Meh! They make wine in Bali---the vineyard is halfway up a mountain.
It's a nice drop, too!

[xrunner]

Boonton Model 42A repair

I focused on the sensor / cable because I needed to get the "touchy" issues to go away. I took the connector off one end of the sensor cable to inspect it. I probably would have cut it back and re-built both ends. However they used some sort of brass tubing to clamp the end together, and that would have been a pain to re-do. It looked OK and I tested the wires while moving the cable around and it didn't show any signs of issues. I cleaned the pins on both ends and put it back together.

The sensor came apart easily. The area where the components are located was pretty clean so all I did was back out the screws a bit and re-tighten. Just to see what happened, I put it back together partially and re-tested the system. At this point the issues now had completely disappeared.



But, there were signs of corrosion around the outside rim and shell, so I proceeded to clean all that up really well. I used new copper tape and reassembled the sensor and checked it out. All flaky (a technical term  ) issues were gone and the power level I'd been looking at showed no signs of change (0 dBm).

I'm going to calibrate all the ranges later anyway. It's very simple as the underside of the lid shows where each pot is located for calibration.

[mnementh]

Bet it was still better than Corona... Or Dos Equis (named after the 2 horses it came from, I'll wager) 

mnem
oh, who am I kidding... It all tastes like pee.

On a really hot day I'm quite partial to a really cold Mexican or South American style beer, Sol for preference, but I'd drink a Corona or Dos Equis. Like many drinks they don't travel well, and you at least need to recreate the conditions they were brewed for before you can appreciate their good qualities.

At the moment I'm gagging for decent pint of heavy English Winter Ale - Young's Winter Warmer or something similar. Dark, malty, redolent of mixed dried fruit, somewhat sweet, and thick enough to need knife and fork to consume. In a damp, cold English winter it's just the thing. In the climate of Mexico or the Southern US I imagine it would go down like trying to drink a pint of syrup of figs.

My grand-dad used to contend that after a long hot day out in the fields, nothing would quench your thirst like a single ice-cold beer. Unfortunately, he rarely ever stopped at one. Even more unfortunately, he usually had Genny or Old Swill in the fridge as it was always the loss leader, and these were the nor'eastern equivalent of sunburned Tecate. I have had more than a few occasions to test that theory, as usually all I could choke down at his urging was one... and I often found myself going to the convenience store for a cold Gatorade afterwards.

Move ahead 20 years and I'm sowing my oats with my fiancee in Tejas, and honestly, it all tasted like Old Swill; and mind you, I was living less than 100 miles from where they're all brewed. So, sorry... the "you need to get it local" argument falls flatter than the above-mentioned Tecate.

In all honesty I would much rather drink a nice frosty Guinness (I know, I know... Sacrilege..! Sorry, I cannot drink any beer-oid beverage that isn't ice-cold; the smell and mouth feel turns my stomach), even tho what we get over here has most of the chunky bits filtered out for weak 'murrican stomachs and hardly even needs the marble in the bottom at all.

It's not a matter of not knowing about good beers... to the contrary, I spent decades trying to find some beer/lager/ale I could actually enjoy to be sociable with friends and coworkers. In the end I decided it wasn't worth lying to myself to fit in; I just don't like beer.

Maybe it's the conflicting barrage of smells that comes with all of them... maybe it's the weak alcohol content when I'm drinking to get a buzz on, or maybe it's operant conditioning from too many times getting a pounding headache and turning into a stereotypical barroom redneck drunk, and all the trouble that comes with.

Most likely it's all of the above.

Cheers,

mnem
Guinness - The beer that eats like a meal!   

[mnementh]

Oh Lord have mercy I am a sinner, have mercy on me. I sinned again...      first time I buy Metcal tips from Amazon.

Z - You tweezin' mutherfu**er you!!! 

No, seriously... if this is your first time using the MetCal tweezers, you're in for a treat. They're like buttah. 

mnem
*tsssssst...*

[TERRA Operative]

It was a solder splash!, a freaking solder splash.....   
Hours of troubleshooting and poking and in the end is was a damned solder splash shorting two traces that got me, damn HP and their sexy, sexy gold plated boards with no solder mask! 

Ah well, at least the Option 002 High Voltage output on my spare 3325A Function Gen is now working perfectly... 

[TERRA Operative]

Oh Lord have mercy I am a sinner, have mercy on me. I sinned again...      first time I buy Metcal tips from Amazon.

Z - You tweezin' mutherfu**er you!!! 

No, seriously... if this is your first time using the MetCal tweezers, you're in for a treat. They're like buttah. 

mnem
*tsssssst...*

Ooh, I've been meaning to get tips for my Hakko tweezers. Can anyone recommend a good all-round general purpose size?

[TERRA Operative]

And on the subject of beer, I'll never go past an Asahi Super-dry. Good stuff. Also Bass is awesome too, too bad you can't get in in Japan at all anymore...

[Neomys Sapiens]

Anyone in or near Germany in need of serious power? (No connection to seller)

https://www.ebay.de/itm/333616616974

Warning! This device weighs as much as TWO fully grown pigs!

[mnementh]

So... almost as much as a mnem then...? 

mnem
*draconis-assius-maximus*

[mnementh]

Ooh, I've been meaning to get tips for my Hakko tweezers. Can anyone recommend a good all-round general purpose size?

The DIP-8 size, which is what I believe Z just posted, are your best first set. They are small enough to maneuver and do most resistors/caps, big enough to do DIP-16 by wiping side-to-side while heating, or even larger with a second iron to spread some extra solder. After that, I'd do a set of straight or angled cap-resistor size, then something extra wide for DIP-20 and larger.

mnem
 

[dl6lr]

Can you imagine they make wine in east germany?

Sure, "Der verdiente Wein des Volkes" (Top Secret!)
Yes, I know a little german!

[Kosmic]

Boonton Model 42A repair

I focused on the sensor / cable because I needed to get the "touchy" issues to go away. I took the connector off one end of the sensor cable to inspect it. I probably would have cut it back and re-built both ends. However they used some sort of brass tubing to clamp the end together, and that would have been a pain to re-do. It looked OK and I tested the wires while moving the cable around and it didn't show any signs of issues. I cleaned the pins on both ends and put it back together.

The sensor came apart easily. The area where the components are located was pretty clean so all I did was back out the screws a bit and re-tighten. Just to see what happened, I put it back together partially and re-tested the system. At this point the issues now had completely disappeared.



But, there were signs of corrosion around the outside rim and shell, so I proceeded to clean all that up really well. I used new copper tape and reassembled the sensor and checked it out. All flaky (a technical term  ) issues were gone and the power level I'd been looking at showed no signs of change (0 dBm).

I'm going to calibrate all the ranges later anyway. It's very simple as the underside of the lid shows where each pot is located for calibration.

Which model is your sensor ?

They are normally compatible with the more advanced Boonton 4200 meters if you want something more modern at some point.

[xrunner]

Which model is your sensor ?

They are normally compatible with the more advanced Boonton 4200 meter if you want something more modern at some point.

It's a Model 41-4B.

Hey I'm glad you asked, because I want to ask you (or anyone of course) if you know the damage level of this sensor. For example, the hp sensors I have state the range is +20 to -30 dBm. But it is written on the case the absolute Max input is 300 mW (+24.8 dBm).

Reason I ask is that I may give this unit to a ham who has proven to me he understands how to use these types of power meters with attenuators and understands the way they can be damaged. I want him to know the absolute Max power input. It is not written on the label and I'm not sure I've seen it on any documentation I have found.

[Cerebus]

That did not only hit Siemens. I did a project at ABB Henschel Schienenfahrzeuge (later AdTrans, now part of Bombardier) while another branch of them sold light rail vehicles to the local operator. One day I (and several other colleagues) showed up rather late for work. Asked what had happened, we were able to report that we were held up by the doors not opening on our own bloody trains.

    

Regarded here as funny enough to be read out to SWMBO.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Can you imagine they make wine in east germany?

Sure, "Der verdiente Wein des Volkes" (Top Secret!)
Yes, I know a little german!

Probably either a disinformation measure or a diversification attempt from the 'VEB fuer Most- und Essigproduktion'. Yuck. And there are people still missing that awful 'Schaumwein' of theirs.

[Cerebus]

Digging out that story on the German involvement in the adulteration scandal was a bit weird. I'd forgotten how news media always used to prefix German with either East or West and it just felt a little odd reading it. It's also an object lesson in how we normalise propaganda in the media. Sure, for some things it's mere necessary clarification differentiating between East and West Germany, but the media always used to differentiate the two, even in contexts where it wasn't necessary, and that smacks of a form of unconscious rhetoric which only becomes obvious when you see it years later from a fresh and somewhat more neutral perspective.

Having been through the curtain 6 times (plus within a week of it falling), the difference was remarkable.

Both sides would have been as incensed as the other at being lumped together, cf Ireland - Northern Ireland, or North - South Cyprus etc.

It's the constant use in contexts that didn't justify the differentiation that I'm taking about. When reporting politics or geo-political events it's justified. No German, East or West, was going to consider it being 'lumped together' to say that Germans like Beer, pork, hunting or any of the other myriad things that are German in character and had nothing to do with which side of the border one came from, but in hindsight I'm very conscious that the media would never mention Germany without introducing the differentiator (e.g. harsh weather across the whole of Germany would have been reported with respect to the borders).

[Kosmic]

Which model is your sensor ?

They are normally compatible with the more advanced Boonton 4200 meter if you want something more modern at some point.

It's a Model 41-4B.

Hey I'm glad you asked, because I want to ask you (or anyone of course) if you know the damage level of this sensor. For example, the hp sensors I have state the range is +20 to -30 dBm. But it is written on the case the absolute Max input is 300 mW (+24.8 dBm).

Reason I ask is that I may give this unit to a ham who has proven to me he understands how to use these types of power meters with attenuators and understands the way they can be damaged. I want him to know the absolute Max power input. It is not written on the label and I'm not sure I've seen it on any documentation I have found.

Work up to 20dBm, damage level at 30dBm

[Neomys Sapiens]

That did not only hit Siemens. I did a project at ABB Henschel Schienenfahrzeuge (later AdTrans, now part of Bombardier) while another branch of them sold light rail vehicles to the local operator. One day I (and several other colleagues) showed up rather late for work. Asked what had happened, we were able to report that we were held up by the doors not opening on our own bloody trains.

    

Regarded here as funny enough to be read out to SWMBO.

That company came with an abundance of such moments. At one time several colleagues were seen giggling and peering into an office not known to me and belonging to an older guy who was absent at that moment. When I took a look too, I could see why. Every wall as well as the front of the cabinets were covered with several hundreds of sticky notes, which was the incumbent's idea of modelling a climate control system for rail coaches.
When I asked where to obtain some document, the adressed co-worker vaguely pointed along the main axis of the building and mumbled 'Q-Stelle'. Now especially when mumbled, this sounds like 'Kuhställe', which would mean 'cow stables'. Errr....whaaat?

[xrunner]

Work up to 20dBm, damage level at 30dBm

Great thanks. I'll make up a P-Touch label in some bright color to stick on the sensor. 

[Robert763]

Work up to 20dBm, damage level at 30dBm

Great thanks. I'll make up a P-Touch label in some bright color to stick on the sensor. 

NO. 30dBm (1W) is pulse. CW is only 300mW say 24dBm (24.77 to be exact).

[Robert763]

Which model is your sensor ?

They are normally compatible with the more advanced Boonton 4200 meter if you want something more modern at some point.

It's a Model 41-4B.

Hey I'm glad you asked, because I want to ask you (or anyone of course) if you know the damage level of this sensor. For example, the hp sensors I have state the range is +20 to -30 dBm. But it is written on the case the absolute Max input is 300 mW (+24.8 dBm).

Reason I ask is that I may give this unit to a ham who has proven to me he understands how to use these types of power meters with attenuators and understands the way they can be damaged. I want him to know the absolute Max power input. It is not written on the label and I'm not sure I've seen it on any documentation I have found.

Work up to 20dBm, damage level at 30dBm PULSE  CW is 300mW 24.77 dBm

FTFY the 1W rating is only pulse.

[mnementh]

That company came with an abundance of such moments. At one time several colleagues were seen giggling and peering into an office not known to me and belonging to an older guy who was absent at that moment. When I took a look too, I could see why. Every wall as well as the front of the cabinets were covered with several hundreds of sticky notes, which was the incumbent's idea of modelling a climate control system for rail coaches.
When I asked where to obtain some document, the adressed co-worker vaguely pointed along the main axis of the building and mumbled 'Q-Stelle'. Now especially when mumbled, this sounds like 'Kuhställe', which would mean 'cow stables'. Errr....whaaat?

I read that at first as a climate control system for cockroaches. Second time too. 

It took me 3 times before I read it right, so "Errr....whaaat?" right back atcha! 

mnem
air conditioning for cockroaches and cow stables...? Ka-CHINNNNG!

[xrunner]

NO. 30dBm (1W) is pulse. CW is only 300mW say 24dBm (24.77 to be exact).

Yes understood.