Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Vince]

Vince, looking at that pdf you need K16400FCT & K16400MCT, if you can work with non right angle pins then change the C for one of the other types, i.e. D for straight pins, S for solder bucket, V for wire wrap pins? and I'm non sure what F is.

This listing might have what you need (picture 5), contact the seller to confirm the measurements, to avoid disappointment, maybe they could be persuaded to sell the 16 way ones for less, without the rest you don't need.
https://www.ebay.fr/itm/203868155995

Yes K16400 it is. Best not to search for exact / full designations as there seems to be so few of them for sale ! K16-400 broadens the search and even then... the Ebay ad you found looks to be the only one around ! Searching on Google yields not much but again that same Ebay ad !


So yeah, not many for sale to say the least, so I contacted the seller... well, I used Ebay to send him an offer for the entire lot, seems he takes offer apparently... offered 19 Euros instead of 28, for the complete lot. That would be 25 Euros shipped, not bad for so many connectors and half a dozen of the ones I need, in various forms as well... very interesting ad. The other connectors might come handy when restoring other vintage pieces of TE from other manufacturers who might use different style connectors... or, I could just flog them to get some money back... I guess...

If he refuses my offer I will ask him as you suggested, if he might be willing to part the lot and sell me just the K16400 I need...


As for the " F " it stands apparently for " Fût " , not sure how to translate that... but basically in this context it refers to a terminal that is a hollow cylinder with a slot at the end. This way you can either stick the wire inside the terminal, "straight", or instead you can lay the wire inside the slot, hence making an angled / 90° connection. This is the type of terminal that the counter uses for the female/sockets on the chassis. This way they can use the slots to easily implement/run bus "bars" across all the boards. Clever and practical... you can see that in my presentation pics when I showed the underside of the chassis. You can see the bare/un-insulated thick wires running across all the lined up sockets.

[Vince]

EDIT : Ebay seller already replied to my offer.... he ACCEPTED it !!!     I offered only 19 instead of 28, he didn't even make a counter offer ?!

Well... FRB connectors soon on the bench then !! 

[Specmaster]

@Specmaster, if you were after the Thurlby CM200 earlier this week, it was me that nabbed it, sorry (not sorry).
If it's any consolation it's gone straight to the repair queue, though it shouldn't be a difficult fix as it's quite simple inside.

Other recent arrivals include a pair of PK-51 cable shears, £17 shipped as they are from a UK importer, pretty good value, and more or less identical to the CK design. Time will tell if they are as good quality, though naturally I immediately tried them on some 35mm² cable and they went through it without undue effort.

Also some NIB Pomona 6342 test leads, very thin cable and only rated 3A, but super sharp and gold plated probe tips, could use them as tattoo needles!

A LEM PR1235 1200A current clamp, looks unused. 30Hz to 300kHz for the -3dB point, 1mV/A.

Another 5kg box of RS/Farnell NOS, looks like an SK sale. Not as good for obscure semiconductors this time, but some nice stuff even so, like silicone stackable test leads, various good quality clips, a good number of various type battery holders, and they're the good ones, not those ones that melt when you try to solder to the tabs, some nice momentary SPCO flattened-toggle switches, a bag full of octal plug-in relays with a slightly odd coil voltage (48VDC), quite a number of Philips blue bastards, will be interesting to see how those test out, a crap-ton of modular screw terminal tag-strip (no use to me, may well donate that to a local model railway club), a few odd connectors, a 1kW element for an electric fire, should make a decent high-power load resistor, some 1mm and 2mm coils of rubber sleeving, various colours, oh and some amusing things, like racist TTL chips, (74C series, type 00N...), and an address label on one bag from Maplins which show the former owner lived on Brookside Close, in Knotty Ash...

Nah, you're OK, I already have a Thurlby CM200, remember? All mine needed was some nice new input sockets 

[mnementh]

EDIT : Ebay seller already replied to my offer.... he ACCEPTED it !!!     I offered only 19 instead of 28, he didn't even make a counter offer ?!

Well... FRB connectors soon on the bench then !! 

That's because you're the first wingnut to even nibble on them in months... and he was aboot to chunk 'em in the circular file.

mnem
fuck, children are a expensive habit... 

[AVGresponding]

Nah, you're OK, I already have a Thurlby CM200, remember? All mine needed was some nice new input sockets 

Only one..?   

Remember remember it's Saturday Dismember. Er, Discord.


Couple of ebay drops:

This has to be worth the coin just for the parts, shirley?  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373982261025





More miniscopiness:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373981646928





Argon tank not included, sadly:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373981737310





I quite like this, though if I was to buy it, it would only be after a successful extremely insulting lowball:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234472326950

[mansaxel]

I somehow feel I need a RF gen. Hens teeth, those, at least in this part of the world, and at decent prices.

(as soon as I get that, I'll find that I need a boat anchor SA. I know, I know.)

TE restoration news: Won a pair of 3A fuses, allegedly NIB, for the 8060A. Even with slightly exaggerated shipping price, cheaper than new ones from Mouser, who want 8,30€ a piece if I buy 10; the ones I won were 2€ plus 10€ shipping, for 2.

Now, if this works out, I'll have 2 working 8060A.

It somehow is with these fuses, as it is with arresting gear for working at height, with approved medical equipment, with aircraft parts, and so on. As soon as a spare part is crucial to getting a system approved, the price magically triples. At least.

I'm OK with things that need tighter QC costing more, that's not the issue here. It costs money to manufacture to a higher standard, and if we're talking about things like NDT of critical components, of course, that is expensive. But this much?  For a bunch of end caps and wire?

I can't shed the impression that there is a sizeable "because we can" in the price... (And that's without even getting close to conspiracy theories.)

[mansaxel]

This has to be worth the coin just for the parts, shirley?  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373982261025

That is only the remote control. 60 money is about what it is worth, not a penny more, unless it's complete. The actual work is being performed in a 19" rack mounted mainframe that usually is connected to the panel with RS-422 or Ethernet.

[Ice-Tea]

I somehow feel I need a RF gen. Hens teeth, those, at least in this part of the world, and at decent prices.

*raises hand*

waddayaneed?

[Saskia]

hey Monsieur Ice-Tea,

I need to plug and the sensing jumpers for a 50W module for the Keysight 6700.
Do you have any of those ?

Seems Datatec is unwilling to deliver stuff the way it's advertised.
I am tempted to ask Mike to tell them to piss up a rope.

[mansaxel]

waddayaneed?

Coverage to 1GHz, external and internal modulation. 10MHz input.  Quality. That's about it.

[Ice-Tea]

waddayaneed?

Coverage to 1GHz, external and internal modulation. 10MHz input.  Quality. That's about it.

PM me a budget?

hey Monsieur Ice-Tea,

I need to plug and the sensing jumpers for a 50W module for the Keysight 6700.
Do you have any of those ?

Plug and sensing jumpers? What would they look like?

[Saskia]

back on Keto diet.
Experimented a bit for a change.
simmer halibut and prawns in butter.

prepare pot with:
850 grams of chopped tomatoes
Mushrooms
chopped onions
feta cheese

add:
Oregano
Basil
Salt, Pepper
tiny bit of Jalapenos

let simmer until Feta "is one with the universe", umm has blended with the tomatoes

This piece of halibut would have been good enough for Jehova
*takes cover*

[Saskia]

unpacking Robert's Box. This looks interesting ...

[tautech]

Got money on Spec and BD not attending Discord......BD there now... 

[Ice-Tea]

just an fyi... seems the discord invite on the front page has lapsed?

[tautech]

just an fyi... seems the discord invite on the front page has lapsed?

Join up and PM me your ID and I'll try flick you an invite.

[tautech]

just an fyi... seems the discord invite on the front page has lapsed?

Found it, here ya go:
https://discord.gg/bcQSMJhZ

[Robert763]

Nah, you're OK, I already have a Thurlby CM200, remember? All mine needed was some nice new input sockets 

Only one..?   

Remember remember it's Saturday Dismember. Er, Discord.


Couple of ebay drops:
<SNIP>


Argon tank not included, sadly:

Hmm lack of an argon tank is not much of an issue. The presense of a 370 MBq (10 mCi) 63Ni radioactive source is. It's a foil source in the gas path. It has almost certainly corroded and is leaking  You really don't want to be palying with that. 63Ni is a low energy beta emitter so is hard to detect. A common geiger counter won't detect the Betas. It is not good to inhale the corrosion products.

[Specmaster]

Darn it, BD was there again but not Spec, that's because spec was working on his Thandar scope, after having dinner (late because I was working on the tractor restoration again etc), anyway, so far I have not been able to locate any shorted TANTS so I went back to basics, thou shall check voltages and I have all the required voltages, +5, -5, -10, +54 but the -540 reads as -493V.

All switches have been de-oxed and confirmed fully operational, so no crusty contacts, there, all pots have been cleaned as well, so back to the bench tomorrow, hopefully unless SWMBO finds me something to do.

[mnementh]

Try playing League of Legends for the first time ever on a 14-year-old Mac. 

mnem
Maybe I'll go back to the kitchen...

[med6753]

Darn it, BD was there again but not Spec, that's because spec was working on his Thandar scope, after having dinner (late because I was working on the tractor restoration again etc), anyway, so far I have not been able to locate any shorted TANTS so I went back to basics, thou shall check voltages and I have all the required voltages, +5, -5, -10, +54 but the -540 reads as -493V.

All switches have been de-oxed and confirmed fully operational, so no crusty contacts, there, all pots have been cleaned as well, so back to the bench tomorrow, hopefully unless SWMBO finds me something to do.

What are the symptoms? No trace? Even in the absence of a vertical signal or horizontal sweep if the CRT circuits are good you should at least have a dot in the center of the CRT. While the -540V reading -493V is a little troubling I don't think it would kill a trace or dot on the CRT. Check the CRT filament. Is it lighting up? If not there's your issue.

Edit....also check the retrace blanking. If it's "on" all the time it will kill the trace on the CRT.

[med6753]

Local CL has this Heath SB-301 for $90. Made me pause for a moment then dismissed it. Why? Well, it was a kit. Build quality is definitely a crap shoot. And who knows if it ever worked properly when it was complete. That's a definite consideration. I'll pass but I did give it some thought.



I've seen worse....much worse.

Seller has reduced this from $90 to $70. It's making me twitch but still no go. 

[Vince]

Local CL has this Heath SB-301 for $90. Made me pause for a moment then dismissed it. Why? Well, it was a kit. Build quality is definitely a crap shoot. And who knows if it ever worked properly when it was complete. That's a definite consideration. I'll pass but I did give it some thought.

I've seen worse....much worse.

Seller has reduced this from $90 to $70. It's making me twitch but still no go. 

Let the seller rot for a couple weeks and offer him 55 bucks....

[Vince]

Darn it, BD was there again but not Spec, that's because spec was working on his Thandar scope, after having dinner (late because I was working on the tractor restoration again etc), anyway, so far I have not been able to locate any shorted TANTS so I went back to basics, thou shall check voltages and I have all the required voltages, +5, -5, -10, +54 but the -540 reads as -493V.

All switches have been de-oxed and confirmed fully operational, so no crusty contacts, there, all pots have been cleaned as well, so back to the bench tomorrow, hopefully unless SWMBO finds me something to do.

What are the symptoms? No trace? Even in the absence of a vertical signal or horizontal sweep if the CRT circuits are good you should at least have a dot in the center of the CRT. While the -540V reading -493V is a little troubling I don't think it would kill a trace or dot on the CRT. Check the CRT filament. Is it lighting up? If not there's your issue.

Edit....also check the retrace blanking. If it's "on" all the time it will kill the trace on the CRT.

IIRC he did have a spot on the screen, but immobile, hence he suggested a sweep problem to begin with, not a CRT problem.

The 500V supply most likely is only involved with the CRT HV not any other circuitry. So since you get a dot, the HV supply is clearly good enough for now, and your sweep problem comes from elsewhere.
Well I guess you can be unlucky and have damaged deflection plates ?!      Unlikely I guess but at this early point can't be ruled out I guess.

Might be easier  ('accessibility wise) to probe for the presence of deflection signals directly at the CRT neck ? Unplug the neck connector and see if you have V deflection signals going on.... hopefully no, otherwise the CRT is dead...

[med6753]

Darn it, BD was there again but not Spec, that's because spec was working on his Thandar scope, after having dinner (late because I was working on the tractor restoration again etc), anyway, so far I have not been able to locate any shorted TANTS so I went back to basics, thou shall check voltages and I have all the required voltages, +5, -5, -10, +54 but the -540 reads as -493V.

All switches have been de-oxed and confirmed fully operational, so no crusty contacts, there, all pots have been cleaned as well, so back to the bench tomorrow, hopefully unless SWMBO finds me something to do.

What are the symptoms? No trace? Even in the absence of a vertical signal or horizontal sweep if the CRT circuits are good you should at least have a dot in the center of the CRT. While the -540V reading -493V is a little troubling I don't think it would kill a trace or dot on the CRT. Check the CRT filament. Is it lighting up? If not there's your issue.

Edit....also check the retrace blanking. If it's "on" all the time it will kill the trace on the CRT.

IIRC he did have a spot on the screen, but immobile, hence he suggested a sweep problem to begin with, not a CRT problem.

The 500V supply most likely is only involved with the CRT HV not any other circuitry. So since you get a dot, the HV supply is clearly good enough for now, and your sweep problem comes from elsewhere.
Well I guess you can be unlucky and have damaged deflection plates ?!      Unlikely I guess but at this early point can't be ruled out I guess.

Might be easier  ('accessibility wise) to probe for the presence of deflection signals directly at the CRT neck ? Unplug the neck connector and see if you have V deflection signals going on.... hopefully no, otherwise the CRT is dead...

OK, I must have missed that. If the dot is totally immobile then it's both a sweep and vertical issue. Pick one and trace it back. Chances are you fix one and it might fix the other. But no guarantee. My Type 547 had an immobile dot and it turned out to be 2 separate issues in both the vertical and horizontal.