Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

Well today its been Doctors appointment, Hospital appointment for a suspected clot scan, false alarm Doc, back to the drawing board on that one I think so I can stop taking these bloody blood thinning drugs  and maybe start on some antibiotics  .

Got a confirmation email from Amazon USA, my airbag error code resetting tool has been dispatched, so that's a win seeing as its sold as an airbag, ABS and automatic transmission code reader / re setter rather then an ECU can scanning tool (can't get over the low price of that thing, must have made an RS style error .

UK based TEAers might like to look at the upcoming sale in just over 2 days time https://www.ppauctions.com/auction.php?id=255 some nice things there, quite few main frame Tek scopes 7 series and Lecroy ones running well up in the GHZ ranges.

[mnementh]

New arrival, a Brymen 869s, i like that getting DC and AC together on the same screen does not involve 5 button pushes, if you push it with this 'mixed mode' ie mod dc voltage and small ripple - the accuracy drops off a bit, I was mucking about with the brymen up to an HP 3255A universal source.   joeqsmith has extensively tested it - in his multimeter high voltage posts.
I did NEED a red DMM!

Love the smile of mnem holding his RC aircraft! - A bear (or dwagon) in his natural habitat!
Rob

My 289 does that by default. *Huggles it close*

You can call me the TeddyDwagon... while it IS my wife's pet name for me, others coined the term in our chatrooms on the internet long ago...

Meh not sure I give a crap these days about that sort of stuff.

Which explains why things are going to hell in a handbasket. I'm done with it, bowing over too many times costs too much energy.

   

I see you've filled a basket with my fucks to give. 

Well, you did notice that the basket was empty to begin with. 

   *Throws a rat's ass holding half a crap in med's basket so he doesn't feel his effort was wasted* 

I'm going to the national hamfest. Someone sent me pictures from last year.

Edit: found some online: http://ok1ghz.goo.cz/gallery/Hamfest_2018/

I recognise some of those people/boxes from smaller hamfests.

I may decide to go on the Thursday, camp, and get in there early on the Friday.

Yeah there are a few regulars I've noticed. And regular buyers. A few stand out more than others!

The regular traders are pretty poor to be honest. 10x 2n3904's for £1.50 for example, preying entirely on the people who have not managed to make it on to the Internet and find out they are 100 for $1.

Yes, I too find that baffling. I suspect it is merely that the traders haven't moved into the 21st century, and are have old stock to shift. What's the trader equivalent of "silent key"?

It works in the other direction, too. Diligent searches of the interwebs  has uncovered some real bargains, often for parts I thought to be unobtanium.  And my experience of hamfest sellers is that there are far more folks selling under the going rate than over.  In either case, i think finding good deals is mostly a matter of being patient, knowing what you are buying, and being ready to pounce. 

My best example? The fifty foot long rack of NTE parts at the Xenia flea market.  On the rack were a lot of transistors that cost fifty cents and a few that are hard to buy for less than five to thirty bucks.  They were all priced at two dollars each.  I bought a bunch at probably fifteen percent of the going rate.

Yeah, but identifying those deals requires a large investment in time and "current market savvy" to know the gems in the sea of poop. The seller probably bought them by the pound, so for him $2 a pack is a the golden price... cheap enough that even folks who know the $1/doz parts are overpriced won't care thanks to the time saved and known NTE quality, while still making a decent profit on the "$5 actual value" parts because he bought them so cheap. Remember too that there is blessed little NTE in single-serving packs that $2 each isn't a decent price; just because YOU know the transistor under that part number is $1/5-20 is NOT the same as the value of the NTE name.

And the seller gets to go on about his life the REST of the time... blissfully ignorant of the money "left on the table" AND having time to live his life rather than staying up on the current trends in component pricing. 

This difference in valuation is where all middlemen come from.  

mnem

[med6753]

I have sunk to a new low of not giving a crap today. Watching old Jerry Springer's on YouTube and completely enjoying it. 

For you guys across the pond....look up Jerry Springer Show. 

[mnementh]

*Runs away and hides, lest some of what med's watching should splatter on him*

mnem

[med6753]

Let it splatter...I can take a shower later. 

When the white girls fight...it's lame.

The black girls get into it real good. Always entertaining.

But absolute best fighters are the rarest. The Puerto Rican girls. They fight for keeps and don't screw around. And I have first hand knowledge of this. My ex. Put one or two drinks in her and she'll fight with anyone.   

[Specmaster]

I have sunk to a new low of not giving a crap today. Watching old Jerry Springer's on YouTube and completely enjoying it. 

For you guys across the pond....look up Jerry Springer Show. 

Med, you can rest assured that we already know about Jerry Springer, did you know that he is British born, in Highgate Underground (subway) station during the 2nd world war?

[mnementh]

...The Puerto Rican girls. They fight for keeps and don't screw around. And I have first hand knowledge of this. My ex. Put one or two drinks in her and she'll fight with anyone. 

And now we know why every mirror in med's house has been punched out... 

mnem
*randomly-ily*

[bd139]

Ahh but do you guys know of Jeremy Kyle?

[tggzzz]

UK based TEAers might like to look at the upcoming sale in just over 2 days time https://www.ppauctions.com/auction.php?id=255 some nice things there, quite few main frame Tek scopes 7 series and Lecroy ones running well up in the GHZ ranges.

I guess you are after the 2465 or the 7104 plus plugins.

I'll  bet the LeCroy will be unreasonably expensive, but we'll see.

[tggzzz]

I have sunk to a new low of not giving a crap today. Watching old Jerry Springer's on YouTube and completely enjoying it. 

For you guys across the pond....look up Jerry Springer Show. 

Ah, the fog of daytime TV: dull and wet. Same here; even the movies are lame.

[med6753]

...The Puerto Rican girls. They fight for keeps and don't screw around. And I have first hand knowledge of this. My ex. Put one or two drinks in her and she'll fight with anyone. 

And now we know why every mirror in med's house has been punched out... 

mnem
*randomly-ily*

All my mirrors are intact thank you very much.  Her and I were done over 10 years ago. Our fights/arguments were never physical. But 2 incidents come to mind of many that I prefer to forget. One time we were in a crowded and standing room only bar. A girl happen to bump into her accidentally. She went nuts and went after her. I grabbed her just in time and pulled her away. She would have killed her. Another time she thought someone was breaking into the house while I was at work. I rushed home and found her in the bedroom sitting on the bed brandishing a 12 inch butcher knife. I quickly de-knifed her.  Turns out no one tried to break in but if there had been I pity the fool.     

[bd139]

UK based TEAers might like to look at the upcoming sale in just over 2 days time https://www.ppauctions.com/auction.php?id=255 some nice things there, quite few main frame Tek scopes 7 series and Lecroy ones running well up in the GHZ ranges.

I guess you are after the 2465 or the 7104 plus plugins.

I'll  bet the LeCroy will be unreasonably expensive, but we'll see.

There was a 7104 at the Newark rally. They wanted £10 for it. It was left dumped because the arse half of it was missing and there were no plugins. If I had a 7104 I'd have got it for parts. There were also some vector voltmeter front panels detached from the rest of the kit. Quite a scary trailer full of tat that was.

...The Puerto Rican girls. They fight for keeps and don't screw around. And I have first hand knowledge of this. My ex. Put one or two drinks in her and she'll fight with anyone. 

And now we know why every mirror in med's house has been punched out... 

mnem
*randomly-ily*

All my mirrors are intact thank you very much.  Her and I were done over 10 years ago. Our fights/arguments were never physical. But 2 incidents come to mind of many that I prefer to forget. One time we were in a crowded and standing room only bar. A girl happen to bump into her accidentally. She went nuts and went after her. I grabbed her just in time and pulled her away. She would have killed her. Another time she thought someone was breaking into the house while I was at work. I rushed home and found her in the bedroom sitting on the bed brandishing a 12 inch butcher knife. I quickly de-knifed her.  Turns out no one tried to break in but if there had been I pity the fool.     

This reminds me of my ex who was half Spanish. She was 5 foot 1 inches tall, built like a match stick. Very quiet girl. So we're asleep in her flat in Somers Town, London, the equivalent of the shittiest bit of NY and hear rustling outside the window. She leaps out of bed and hits the floor and disappears under the bed. Figure she's hiding. Nope, rolls back out with basically Sinbad's machete and proceeds to the window and climbs out onto the roof. There's some swearing, I hear "oh fuck!", the sound of distant feet and she comes back in again, puts the machete neatly under the bed and gets back in.  . The quiet ones are the scariest.

[mnementh]

The scary ones are the only ones worth the effort.

mnem
*forever falling prey to a well-swung tail*

[Specmaster]

UK based TEAers might like to look at the upcoming sale in just over 2 days time https://www.ppauctions.com/auction.php?id=255 some nice things there, quite few main frame Tek scopes 7 series and Lecroy ones running well up in the GHZ ranges.

I guess you are after the 2465 or the 7104 plus plugins.

I'll  bet the LeCroy will be unreasonably expensive, but we'll see.

There was a 7104 at the Newark rally. They wanted £10 for it. It was left dumped because the arse half of it was missing and there were no plugins. If I had a 7104 I'd have got it for parts. There were also some vector voltmeter front panels detached from the rest of the kit. Quite a scary trailer full of tat that was.

Did I say that I was after anything...., certainly not boat anchors..., I don't have the harbour for them  Somehow though I do expect that these 7104's will go much more than that as they are stuffed full with plugins and the vector voltmeter appears to be intact not just the front panel. I don't think that there's much there apart from a power supply that interests me this time 

[med6753]

The scary ones are the only ones worth the effort.

mnem
*forever falling prey to a well-swung tail*

And I've had my share besides the wacko Puerto Rican. Bat shit crazy redhead. Hot tempered Italian. The current Lady Copper for the past 8 years is a welcome relief to all that drama. 

[bd139]

I'm still married to the batshit redhead    Hope she never finds this thread as that will make things even more difficult than they already are

[tggzzz]

UK based TEAers might like to look at the upcoming sale in just over 2 days time https://www.ppauctions.com/auction.php?id=255 some nice things there, quite few main frame Tek scopes 7 series and Lecroy ones running well up in the GHZ ranges.

I guess you are after the 2465 or the 7104 plus plugins.

I'll  bet the LeCroy will be unreasonably expensive, but we'll see.

There was a 7104 at the Newark rally. They wanted £10 for it. It was left dumped because the arse half of it was missing and there were no plugins. If I had a 7104 I'd have got it for parts. There were also some vector voltmeter front panels detached from the rest of the kit. Quite a scary trailer full of tat that was.

Did I say that I was after anything...., certainly not boat anchors..., I don't have the harbour for them  Somehow though I do expect that these 7104's will go much more than that as they are stuffed full with plugins and the vector voltmeter appears to be intact not just the front panel. I don't think that there's much there apart from a power supply that interests me this time 

Somebody said they were after a 2465

[bd139]

I don't need it but I want it https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123813270235 

Someone else buy it please!

I could retrofit one of those spare OCXOs I have lying around to it you see.

But I just bought a PFM3000 .... 

[Terry01]

Well today its been Doctors appointment, Hospital appointment for a suspected clot scan, false alarm Doc, back to the drawing board on that one I think so I can stop taking these bloody blood thinning drugs  and maybe start on some antibiotics  .

Got a confirmation email from Amazon USA, my airbag error code resetting tool has been dispatched, so that's a win seeing as its sold as an airbag, ABS and automatic transmission code reader / re setter rather then an ECU can scanning tool (can't get over the low price of that thing, must have made an RS style error .

UK based TEAers might like to look at the upcoming sale in just over 2 days time https://www.ppauctions.com/auction.php?id=255 some nice things there, quite few main frame Tek scopes 7 series and Lecroy ones running well up in the GHZ ranges.

Some very interesting stuff for sure! I have no idea what most of it is for but cool to look at all the same. 

[URI]

I don't need it but I want it https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123813270235 

Someone else buy it please!

I could retrofit one of those spare OCXOs I have lying around to it you see.

But I just bought a PFM3000 .... 

Don't go for it! There seem to be no service manuals/schematics available on the 'net, but for the HP5334B.   

[tggzzz]

UK based TEAers might like to look at the upcoming sale in just over 2 days time https://www.ppauctions.com/auction.php?id=255 some nice things there, quite few main frame Tek scopes 7 series and Lecroy ones running well up in the GHZ ranges.

I guess you are after the 2465 or the 7104 plus plugins.

I'll  bet the LeCroy will be unreasonably expensive, but we'll see.

There was a 7104 at the Newark rally. They wanted £10 for it. It was left dumped because the arse half of it was missing and there were no plugins.

In which case it wasn't a 7104 - much like the modulation domain analyser I got from the last PPAuction Salvaged the OCXO (qv), tipped the rest.

[bd139]

I don't need it but I want it https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123813270235 

Someone else buy it please!

I could retrofit one of those spare OCXOs I have lying around to it you see.

But I just bought a PFM3000 .... 

Don't go for it! There seem to be no service manuals/schematics available on the 'net, but for the HP5334B.   

Yeah come to the same conclusion. Also it has a battery in it apparently that has probably leaked by now!

[med6753]

Speaking of the Lady Cop....just got off the phone with her. She has to attend a department wide award ceremony this Thursday in full dress blues to receive a dept award. She has no clue what the award is for. An NYPD division commander personally told her supervisor that she was required to attend. 

Unfortunately the ceremony is not open to friends/family or else I'd be hoping a train to Manhattan to attend.   

[bd139]

Oooooh seller had a 5334B for sale as well for £20 less. Missing one foot and the carry handle but meh. Shown working.  I now own it 

Five excuses:

1) It allows you to specify offset so you can plug an IF frequency in when you are playing around with VFOs
2) No battery like the 5334A
3) Reading around, the board is partially populated with option C so it's possible to retro-fit it: https://www.davmar.org/pdf/HP5334B-C-channel-retrofit.pdf
4) has external 10MHz in so I now have an excuse to buy or build a GPSDO
5) Does rise time measurements so why the hell not 

Time nuttery here I come.

[tggzzz]

Oooooh seller had a 5334B for sale as well for £20 less. Missing one foot and the carry handle but meh. Shown working.  I now own it 

Five excuses:

1) It allows you to specify offset so you can plug an IF frequency in when you are playing around with VFOs
2) No battery like the 5334A
3) Reading around, the board is partially populated with option C so it's possible to retro-fit it: https://www.davmar.org/pdf/HP5334B-C-channel-retrofit.pdf
4) has external 10MHz in so I now have an excuse to buy or build a GPSDO
5) Does rise time measurements so why the hell not 

Time nuttery here I come.

You know it is serious when you get into phase noise and Allen deviations.