Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[med6753]

More experimentation and checking voltages on the Type 547 HV issue and unfortunately it has led to one dreadful conclusion. The HV transformer is toast. It's a very solid conclusion based upon my individual results as well as the experiences of others on the Facebook Tek Group.

I'll run through the set up and results.

Ref schematics.




The set up monitoring the HV with HV probe at the HV Test Point at the cathode of the CRT. Monitoring the grid voltage at Pin 8 of V800 (6AU5). Should read approx +90V nominal. Monitoring the +350V from the main PSU. The screwdriver is on the HV pot adjust just in case. 



Upon power up here's what we got. The 8800A is on the +350V. The SDM3055 is on the grid of V800. The 8060A is on the HV. The trace is sharp, in focus, and no "blooming" or expansion.



After about 20 minutes the grid of V800 rose to the nominal +90V. The HV rose approx 70V. The trace was still normal.



10 minutes later the grid of V800 was up to +100V. And then it began to rise rapidly and I shut it down. In this pix it's at +112V. By the time I got it shut down it was +114V and rising. The HV had risen perhaps 100V and the trace was still normal.



From what I've read and seen on the Tek Group this is a toasted HV transformer. The grid will soar as high as +150V and then the HV will shutdown. But you risk damaging V800. That's probably what was about to happen when I observed the trace bloom the other day. I'm going to put the other Type 547 on the same experiment and see if the results duplicate. I suspect they will.

So what to do? The transformer needs to be replaced (unobtainium) or rewound. There's a member of the Tek group in OZ who managed to get a hand winding device and he successfully rewound a 547 and a 556 HV transformer and they perform perfectly. But here's the issue. He won't perform that work for anyone else UNLESS they fork over a pristine Type 1A4 plug-in. He says the rewind takes hours and he doesn't want to get swamped with requests. But then he flaunts over and over his repair and is being somewhat of a dickhead about it. I got a damp rope for him. 

There's member in the US who claims to be working on a rewind device but haven't heard anything from him lately. There is a company in Michigan called "Heyboer Transformers" who can build and rewind transformers. You can request a quote. I can just imagine how expensive that might be.        

[Specmaster]

With all due respect... you can kiss my scaly dwagon arse.

A good carrot cake full of walnuts and cinnamon-sugar and shredded carrots... layered with with orange marmalade glaze & topped with decadent cream-cheese icing... it is a thing of beauty.

It was what I got for my wedding cake, and we try to make it happen for dwagon birthdays as well... tho infrequently enough do we find a decent one that it hasn't happened since I left San Antonio and the sphere of influence of a certain Jewish bakery...

mnem
*toddles off to look for a drool sponge*

Marmalade? Ugh, it just keeps getting worse! 

Not orange marmalade... orange marmalade glaze. That starts with orange marmalade and adds enough confectioner's sugar and a wee bit of honey such that it turns a bit crunchy.

mnem
yummmm.

Indeedy, yummy, nom nom.

[Cubdriver]

More experimentation and checking voltages on the Type 547 HV issue and unfortunately it has led to one dreadful conclusion. The HV transformer is toast. It's a very solid conclusion based upon my individual results as well as the experiences of others on the Facebook Tek Group.

<snippage>

From what I've read and seen on the Tek Group this is a toasted HV transformer. The grid will soar as high as +150V and then the HV will shutdown. But you risk damaging V800. That's probably what was about to happen when I observed the trace bloom the other day. I'm going to put the other Type 547 on the same experiment and see if the results duplicate. I suspect they will.

So what to do? The transformer needs to be replaced (unobtainium) or rewound. There's a member of the Tek group in OZ who managed to get a hand winding device and he successfully rewound a 547 and a 556 HV transformer and they perform perfectly. But here's the issue. He won't perform that work for anyone else UNLESS they fork over a pristine Type 1A4 plug-in. He says the rewind takes hours and he doesn't want to get swamped with requests. But then he flaunts over and over his repair and is being somewhat of a dickhead about it. I got a damp rope for him. 

There's member in the US who claims to be working on a rewind device but haven't heard anything from him lately. There is a company in Michigan called "Heyboer Transformers" who can build and rewind transformers. You can request a quote. I can just imagine how expensive that might be.      

I haven't tested my 547 (got it in late spring after an unknown amount of time - doubtless a LONG time - in a damp storage unit), but am pretty sure its transformer will be even wetter than those in the scopes you have, Mike.  I've been contemplating getting a vacuum chamber and leaving the transformer in there under partial vacuum for who knows how long in a warm spot to try to dry it out.  Seems like something that might be worth a shot.  Knowing how you instrumented yours, perhaps Ill get ambitious while snowed in this weekend and run a similar test on mine and see how it behaves (assuming I can even bring it to life).  If, as I suspect, it fails, I'll try the vacuum chamber thing.

<heads off to look for something to use as a vacuum chamber...>

-Pat

[Andrew_Debbie]

At least three of the lots that I got outbid on, are in the pictures in the email, bet the Wavetek 164 you were interested in last time will be back too, the lot of trashed Tek scopes is back too (just rearranged). I guess it's a mix of what didn't sell last time & some new stuff.

David

Is there no obligation on the high bidder?   If the Wavetek is back, I may try again. 

Other than that, I doubt I'll bid on anything.  But we shall see. I could use a small linear bench power supply.   I have extremely limited space. I have to pick and choose carefully.  PP are far.  I'd have to spend the night or risk having them ship it.  It would be quite the adventure in my "100-mile"  BEV.   

Perhaps one last road trip before I hand the i3 back to the leasing company.  I don't think we are going to replace it.   - at least not if / until car prices settle down a bit.

[mnementh]

As much as I do love me somev good ol' ghetto-fab on protoboard, I look forward to your attempts to bring your project up out of those Stygian depths. 

Oh, the 4558s are OK to use even if new. The trouble is with the bucket brigade delay lines that Panasonic used to make, they're not made by them anymore, and haven't been since about 1999.  Any  "Panasonic new old stock" today likely isn't.

There is of course enough demand, that clones - marked as such - turned up pretty early, and I'm guessing that there's about 2 factories who make them, and it's likely that some of that production is siphoned off to being repainted with Matsushita markings.  My stockpile contains both "M" and other circuits.

I remember reading about that somewhile back, when I was researching some of my vintage transistors & ICs... there was enough demand that one of the bigger boutique musician gear makers actually commissioned new manufacture of the Panasonic design for their equipment.

mnem
 

[Neomys Sapiens]

More experimentation and checking voltages on the Type 547 HV issue and unfortunately it has led to one dreadful conclusion. The HV transformer is toast. It's a very solid conclusion based upon my individual results as well as the experiences of others on the Facebook Tek Group.

<snippage>

From what I've read and seen on the Tek Group this is a toasted HV transformer. The grid will soar as high as +150V and then the HV will shutdown. But you risk damaging V800. That's probably what was about to happen when I observed the trace bloom the other day. I'm going to put the other Type 547 on the same experiment and see if the results duplicate. I suspect they will.

So what to do? The transformer needs to be replaced (unobtainium) or rewound. There's a member of the Tek group in OZ who managed to get a hand winding device and he successfully rewound a 547 and a 556 HV transformer and they perform perfectly. But here's the issue. He won't perform that work for anyone else UNLESS they fork over a pristine Type 1A4 plug-in. He says the rewind takes hours and he doesn't want to get swamped with requests. But then he flaunts over and over his repair and is being somewhat of a dickhead about it. I got a damp rope for him. 

There's member in the US who claims to be working on a rewind device but haven't heard anything from him lately. There is a company in Michigan called "Heyboer Transformers" who can build and rewind transformers. You can request a quote. I can just imagine how expensive that might be.      

I haven't tested my 547 (got it in late spring after an unknown amount of time - doubtless a LONG time - in a damp storage unit), but am pretty sure its transformer will be even wetter than those in the scopes you have, Mike.  I've been contemplating getting a vacuum chamber and leaving the transformer in there under partial vacuum for who knows how long in a warm spot to try to dry it out.  Seems like something that might be worth a shot.  Knowing how you instrumented yours, perhaps Ill get ambitious while snowed in this weekend and run a similar test on mine and see how it behaves (assuming I can even bring it to life).  If, as I suspect, it fails, I'll try the vacuum chamber thing.

<heads off to look for something to use as a vacuum chamber...>

-Pat

Many applications for that in drying, curing etc. of parts and modules. How are you going to evacuate it? I think that it can be done intermittently if you can achieve a good seal. That would make it feasible using a venturi ejector coupled to a water tap, which seems to be the cheapest device.

[mnementh]

No TEA activity here for a while - currently celebrating my father’s hundredth birthday! 🎂

Congrats, centenarian dad! 

mnem
*toddles off to take a nap*

[mnementh]

Anybody know where I can get a decent carrot cake...? you know, like with actual flavor...?

I'm slowly getting flavour sensations back. But I'm with those who regard carrot as not-a-cake-ingredient.

We never lost sense of taste... well, aside from the usual flu-induced loss caused by lost sense of smell due to congestion.

I guess I must be on the mend; yesterday I cooked for the first time in a week: stir-fry teriyaki chicken, rice & steamed veggies. Let my wife take all the hot stuff out and serve everyone.

Today I scrubbed the pots & pans, and ran then through the washer on a sanitize cycle.

mnem
glerp.

[Specmaster]

Yesterday I posted about the Lynx at North Weald Airfield, well I have an update for those interested in military aviation, the company doing the restoration now has a further 2 more Lynx's in the hangar that are future restoration candidates once the completed surveys of them are completed. Another company on the field also has a Jaguar awaiting restoration, be really nice, to see these birds flying again on the air show circuit.

[tggzzz]

At least three of the lots that I got outbid on, are in the pictures in the email, bet the Wavetek 164 you were interested in last time will be back too, the lot of trashed Tek scopes is back too (just rearranged). I guess it's a mix of what didn't sell last time & some new stuff.

Is there no obligation on the high bidder?   

Sometimes the high bidder doesn't pay.

A more subtle variant hit me recently. Online bids were higher than the final bid. Apparently someone new had turned up in the auction room, rapidly won many lots, staff became suspicious and basket to validate his credit card. He said it was in his car, went to it and never returned. The lots were awarded to the underbidder, which doesn't displease me since we knew it was the maximum they were prepared to pay.

[factory]

At least three of the lots that I got outbid on, are in the pictures in the email, bet the Wavetek 164 you were interested in last time will be back too, the lot of trashed Tek scopes is back too (just rearranged). I guess it's a mix of what didn't sell last time & some new stuff.

David

Is there no obligation on the high bidder?   If the Wavetek is back, I may try again. 

Other than that, I doubt I'll bid on anything.  But we shall see. I could use a small linear bench power supply.   I have extremely limited space. I have to pick and choose carefully.  PP are far.  I'd have to spend the night or risk having them ship it.  It would be quite the adventure in my "100-mile"  BEV.   

Perhaps one last road trip before I hand the i3 back to the leasing company.  I don't think we are going to replace it.   - at least not if / until car prices settle down a bit.

They haven't yet deleted the lots from the previous sale, compare the trashed Tek lot with the pictures in the recent email & flyer, all I'm going to say is the bidder in the link bought won a hell of a lot in the last sale, including at three lots I outbid on, if they don't reappear then I guess they were a non-payer.
https://www2.ppauctions.com/lot/161599/lot-351
https://www.ppauctions.com/assets/auctions/attachments/Flysheet_336017995.pdf

Oh and two lots I did buy had old lot numbers underneath the lot number sticker.

David

[tggzzz]

At least three of the lots that I got outbid on, are in the pictures in the email, bet the Wavetek 164 you were interested in last time will be back too, the lot of trashed Tek scopes is back too (just rearranged). I guess it's a mix of what didn't sell last time & some new stuff.

Is there no obligation on the high bidder?   

Sometimes the high bidder doesn't pay.

A more subtle variant hit me recently. Online bids were higher than the final bid. Apparently someone new had turned up in the auction room, rapidly won many lots, staff became suspicious and basket to validate his credit card. He said it was in his car, went to it and never returned. The lots were awarded to the underbidder, which doesn't displease me since we knew it was the maximum they were prepared to pay.

Another possibility is that the winner paid, couldn't pick it up, and asked them to put it in the next auction

[cyclin_al]

Lardy cake might have a southern origin (it might not, I really have no idea) but in my lifetime it's not been a southern thing but, like all the best things involving lard, been a northern thing. You have to remember that the south-east of England has since the 1960s been been turning into the fat-free, sugar-free, gluten-free, taste-free, pleasure-free capital of Europe.

Same here for heavy foods.  To get the best cinnamon bun, one must go to the north of the GWN.  The best I have ever had was at the base, before venturing along the Dempster Highway...
The place is Braeburn Lodge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braeburn_Lodge.
A single cinnamon bun covers an entire plate and will certainly provide lots of energy to fend off the cold ... at least that is the excuse for not sharing my bun 

EDIT:  Visiting Japan some time ago, I did a tour of a chocolate factory and museum in Sapporo. There is a large consumption of chocolate in the colder north of Japan, which is Hokkaido island.  There is very little chocolate consumption on the warmer main Honshu island.  This supports our observations.

[Cubdriver]

More experimentation and checking voltages on the Type 547 HV issue and unfortunately it has led to one dreadful conclusion. The HV transformer is toast. It's a very solid conclusion based upon my individual results as well as the experiences of others on the Facebook Tek Group.

<snippage>

From what I've read and seen on the Tek Group this is a toasted HV transformer. The grid will soar as high as +150V and then the HV will shutdown. But you risk damaging V800. That's probably what was about to happen when I observed the trace bloom the other day. I'm going to put the other Type 547 on the same experiment and see if the results duplicate. I suspect they will.

So what to do? The transformer needs to be replaced (unobtainium) or rewound. There's a member of the Tek group in OZ who managed to get a hand winding device and he successfully rewound a 547 and a 556 HV transformer and they perform perfectly. But here's the issue. He won't perform that work for anyone else UNLESS they fork over a pristine Type 1A4 plug-in. He says the rewind takes hours and he doesn't want to get swamped with requests. But then he flaunts over and over his repair and is being somewhat of a dickhead about it. I got a damp rope for him. 

There's member in the US who claims to be working on a rewind device but haven't heard anything from him lately. There is a company in Michigan called "Heyboer Transformers" who can build and rewind transformers. You can request a quote. I can just imagine how expensive that might be.      

I haven't tested my 547 (got it in late spring after an unknown amount of time - doubtless a LONG time - in a damp storage unit), but am pretty sure its transformer will be even wetter than those in the scopes you have, Mike.  I've been contemplating getting a vacuum chamber and leaving the transformer in there under partial vacuum for who knows how long in a warm spot to try to dry it out.  Seems like something that might be worth a shot.  Knowing how you instrumented yours, perhaps Ill get ambitious while snowed in this weekend and run a similar test on mine and see how it behaves (assuming I can even bring it to life).  If, as I suspect, it fails, I'll try the vacuum chamber thing.

<heads off to look for something to use as a vacuum chamber...>

-Pat

Many applications for that in drying, curing etc. of parts and modules. How are you going to evacuate it? I think that it can be done intermittently if you can achieve a good seal. That would make it feasible using a venturi ejector coupled to a water tap, which seems to be the cheapest device.

Rotary vane pump.  Bought it a few years ago (used a work project to justify it to myself) and knew it would come in handy for other things eventually.


-Pat

[Vince]

RESISTOR STORAGE


Thanks for another round of replies, new ideas and cool pics ! 

AVG and Factory eat the cake, I am impressed... 

Tubes ?! Interesting !  That's original... but not for me, reminds me too much of the tubes they used to suck my blood a few years ago when I was doing lab exams ! All the medical gear scares the shit out of me, makes me shiver, brrr !!!     Only exception : I am OK to buy a big syringe... of flux ! That's about as far as I am willing to compromise... 

The envelope idea seduced me ! Same principle as the zip-lock bags, without the drawbacks of Zip-lock bags. They are floppy, and opening them up, when they are small like that, with my big fingers takes time and is a pain, brrr... not to mention that the component leads like to stab the bag or get caught in the Zip-lock part, and then you have to stick two fingers in the bag to try to "free" the components.. and again it's a pain to do because bag is so small. I think an envelope will solve all these problems at once, and even add value on top of that : brown paper is more qualitative to me, more natural/pleasing a material, both to look at and handle/play with... goes well with my wooden drawers as well, it's all a consistent theme. Also the envelope will be much less floppy, will make it easier to flick through them looking for the one you want. The while labels will also visually contrast better with a brown paper than a transparent bag. Will make it easier/faster/more comfortable to look at and flick through, I think.

Yeah, I think an envelope, for me at least, will be a winner in every department. So I have just ordered some ! The "pay slip"/ wage ones, 10x10cm are cool... but searching a bit more, I realized there are tons of similar small envelopes with slightly different dimensions. I found some 6x10cm ones. So same width as the Zip-lock bags, hence I will be able to achieve the same compactness/ storage density ! 
They are dirt cheap too.... in the UK ! Like 5 Euros for 100 of them..  (even found an ad, a guy selling a whole 1,000 box of the 10x10 ones, for only 16 money.. ON OFFER on top of that !  )... BUT I have to add no less than 20 Euros for shipping and import duties !! 
So instead I searched French Ebay.. but not much luck.  So looked at Amazon instead... found some, yeah but.... at 2 or 3 times the price ! 11 Euros for 120 envelopes ! 

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B08GSKBJVQ/ref=pe_27091421_487052621_TE_item

But... no import duties to pay, no import bullshit to deal with eventually, faster shipping, and... I could even get free shipping if I accepted to get the parcel delivered to a local shop near me, rather than having it delivered directly to my house. So doing that, somehow the final bill is less than if I bought from the UK. Also, since I can get free and fast shipping, I don't "need"  to buy many hundreds of them at once... so I bought only 120, to see how it goes, and if I like it I can always buy some more.

Should get them by Wednesday according to amazon. However amazon sucks ! It does not offer me to pay with Paypal ! I have some money there which I could have used !

So now I just need to buy some labels for my laser printer, and get cracking...

@BU : thanks for the link for the metal resistor kit ! Much more affordable than I thought, and fast shipping from Germany, not 3 months wait from China-direct ! Am tempted  !
Then I would just have to get the other half of the E24 series, and I will be in business !    Well I probably already have most of them in my existing drawers... albeit 1/4W carbon not 0.6W metal.

Also, this evening just picked at one of my local H/W stores, a couple drawer units.  Have 3 H/W stores near me, that one I never go to because it's at the other side of the city, takes times and lots of traffic, brr... but I looked at the websites for these 3 stores, and the farthest one was the only one of the 3 stores to have drawers units that looked decent to me, and with good value for money, so I decided to make the trip down there for once.
Did so at 19H30 (they close at 20H00) this way I avoided the traffic on the road and nobody in the store to slow me down at the checkout.... cool.

Anyway, good value I said, at least around here : a 50 drawer unit, with nice polypropylene drawers not shitty britle plastic, and a very decent looking metallic frame, that looks just as good as my old red racco I showed yesterday. Cost 26,90 Euros :

https://www.castorama.fr/casier-de-rangement-mac-allister-metal-50-tiroirs/3663602905448_CAFR.prd

The only thing that put me off at first, was the horrible, screaming, eye bleeding flashy blue colour ! 
But in real life, thank goodness the blue is not that bright, it's much more toned down. I think the guy who took the photo for the website, went a bit crazy with the studio lights that's all ! 
In the flesh, they are much more acceptable.... they look... yeah, they look 100% smurf blue ! 
That's the price to pay to get good value for money : the store sells these drawers under their own "brand" name ( " Mac Allister " ), hence they used their corporate colour, which is that blue. Every tool they sell with their brand, bears this shade of blue...

Anyway, now that I have the unit on my bench... I don't find this blue so ugly, somehow it kinda "works"... might live with it.  If not, it should be quick and easy to just repaint them, seeing as it's painted metal, not cheap crap plastic.

I also bought another unit from them, smaller, but useful because it has some large drawers at the bottom :  3 medium sized ones, and one mega large / full width one. So adds some flexibility.. like when storing large electrolytic caps, say... or power resistors, or what not.

Anyway, it's too early for now for me to know how exactly I will end up storing all my stuff, but I bought these units if just as an interim solution, en route towards a more permanent solution....to help me clear the bench as I just keep unpacking and sorting stuff...

[Vince]

Vince what have you done without us for so many years?

 

Not much indeed  ! 
But it's changing fast thanks to TEA, I am empowered by all your collective madness !

[Cubdriver]

Was it someone here that snagged the RM567 on the Bay of Evil just now?  I took a crack at it, but somebody wanted it more.   

-Pat

[BU508A]

@med6753

I've found this article where someone used a vacuum chamber and beeswax to seal a HV transformer of a 547:

https://richardsears.wordpress.com/2015/08/23/tektronix-547/

HV Transformer, disassembled:


Vacuum chamber, evacuated:


To me, the transformer does not look that complicated. Perhaps I'm naive, but if it is toast anyway,
I would give it a try and rewind it. This time, using PTFE band as an insulation layer.
Eventually trying it first with a HV transformer from another 547 (parts mule).

Perhaps this could become a new part of your hobby ...     
and if it works, making some money just for fun.   

[BU508A]

[snipp]
@BU : thanks for the link for the metal resistor kit ! Much more affordable than I thought, and fast shipping from Germany, not 3 months wait from China-direct ! Am tempted  !
Then I would just have to get the other half of the E24 series, and I will be in business !    Well I probably already have most of them in my existing drawers... albeit 1/4W carbon not 0.6W metal.
[snapp]

One of the reasons why I've bought it were their technical specs (from the ebay ad):

Technische Daten:

    Toleranz - 1%
    Leistung - 0,6 Watt
    Bauform - 0207
    Spannung - max. 350V
    Temperaturkoeffizient - ±50ppm/°C
    Temperatur Arbeitsbereich - -55°C to +155°C
    Hersteller - YAGEO
    Herstellerserie - MF0

[Vince]

@med6753

I've found this article where someone used a vacuum chamber and beeswax to seal a HV transformer of a 547:

https://richardsears.wordpress.com/2015/08/23/tektronix-547/

Sadly the guy in his article also updated his blog entry to warn people that this method did NOT hold up with time... so rewiring looks like the only real good long term / reliable option, sadly 
But as you say, nothing fundamentally impossible, and others have already doen it before, so I agree.. it could be just a new part of the hobby ! 

Get good at it and I will send you mine to redo, have two 547 in my queue ! 

[mansaxel]

In Britain there used to be a clear distinction between wages and salary. Wages was weekly, usually paid in cash on a Thursday. Salary was monthly and  was normally paid by cheque. Manual workers, secretaries and lower grade clerks got wages, senior grades and management got a salary. In the 70s a factory worker would have been most likely paid weekly in cash. By the mid eighties pretty much everything had moved to bank transfers, but a lot of people still got paid weekly wages. By the mid 90s I think everybody had moved to monthly salaries.

The move from weekly to monthly payment was resisted by the unions here - there's nothing more conservative than a working class man who would nevertheless never vote Conservative.

Yes, the gist of it was pretty much the same here -- except that the unions wanted salary more and earlier here.  Mostly it was the womens' organised parts of social democracy together with the temperance movement who were the driving force.  Cash payment on a Thursday meant drinking and no money for food, in many places.

In Sweden, we have a history of interwoven early-industrialism anti-oppression movements that started with religious movements (consisting of those who weren't as insane so as to emigrate west and practice religion there) in conflict with the State Church, morphed into the temperance movement and matured as unions in concert with the social democratic party. Their relations make for a strong corporativistic trait in Swedish political life, especially to the left.

Anyway,

• The Unigor 6e should be with me come Monday.
• I just got some cute roundface Chinesium volt and amp meters for the stomp box DC PSU project.

[Vince]

[snipp]
@BU : thanks for the link for the metal resistor kit ! Much more affordable than I thought, and fast shipping from Germany, not 3 months wait from China-direct ! Am tempted  !
Then I would just have to get the other half of the E24 series, and I will be in business !    Well I probably already have most of them in my existing drawers... albeit 1/4W carbon not 0.6W metal.
[snapp]

One of the reasons why I've bought it were their technical specs (from the ebay ad):

Technische Daten:

    Toleranz - 1%
    Leistung - 0,6 Watt
    Bauform - 0207
    Spannung - max. 350V
    Temperaturkoeffizient - ±50ppm/°C
    Temperatur Arbeitsbereich - -55°C to +155°C
    Hersteller - YAGEO
    Herstellerserie - MF0

Yes good tempco and much higher power dissipation capabilities... what's not to love.
Obviously the price is not the same...
As far as noise goes, can't remember if metal film are better than carbon film ?
If so, could be yet another motivation to cough the extra cash for them.

[BU508A]

[snipp]
@BU : thanks for the link for the metal resistor kit ! Much more affordable than I thought, and fast shipping from Germany, not 3 months wait from China-direct ! Am tempted  !
Then I would just have to get the other half of the E24 series, and I will be in business !    Well I probably already have most of them in my existing drawers... albeit 1/4W carbon not 0.6W metal.
[snapp]

One of the reasons why I've bought it were their technical specs (from the ebay ad):

Technische Daten:

    Toleranz - 1%
    Leistung - 0,6 Watt
    Bauform - 0207
    Spannung - max. 350V
    Temperaturkoeffizient - ±50ppm/°C
    Temperatur Arbeitsbereich - -55°C to +155°C
    Hersteller - YAGEO
    Herstellerserie - MF0

Yes good tempco and much higher power dissipation capabilities... what's not to love.
Obviously the price is not the same...
As far as noise goes, can't remember if metal film are better than carbon film ?
If so, could be yet another motivation to cough the extra cash for them.

I would never ever use carbon resistors anymore. Even if they are more expensive, metal resistors are superior in nearly every case.
Except, perhaps, price wise.

[mansaxel]

I remember reading about that somewhile back, when I was researching some of my vintage transistors & ICs... there was enough demand that one of the bigger boutique musician gear makers actually commissioned new manufacture of the Panasonic design for their equipment.

Yes, there's a chinese factory "Shanghai Beilling" who make it, and the other source is the CoolAudio, part of the Behringer empire. Not exactly "Boutique" -- Behringer is anything but, yet their gear is extremely competetive and much of it is considerably better than its reputation.

Now, the cross-sourcing is complex at best, so it may very well be that there's only one production line.

[BU508A]

@med6753

Here in Germany is somebody selling HV parts for a 547 but one has to request a quote for them:



Edit:
This guy is also offering a repair service. He is doing this as a part of his hobby, not as a business:
Quote:
"Defekte HV-Unit, ein Reparatur-Beispiel

Bei Rückgang der Bildschirmhelligkeit mit gleichzeitiger Bildvergrößerung bis zum Ausfall des Bildes ist meistens der HV-Trafo defekt. Sie schicken mir zum Beispiel beim TEK 547 die aus dem Plastikgehäuse ausgebaute HV-Unit und ich repariere den HV-Trafo in einem speziellen Verfahren. Lässt dieser sich nicht mehr reparieren, schicke ich eine Austausch-Unit, soweit der Vorrat reicht. Das ist ein Beispiel für eine Reparatur durch Sie mit meiner Hilfe!"

Translation (via DeepL):
Defective HV unit, a repair example

If the brightness of the screen decreases and the image is enlarged at the same time, the HV transformer is usually defective. For example, with the TEK 547, you send me the HV unit removed from the plastic housing and I repair the HV transformer using a special procedure. If it can no longer be repaired, I send a replacement unit, as far as stocks last. This is an example of a repair by you with my help!

Let me know if you are interested and if I can assist you.