Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[xrunner]

In the interest of getting "back to basics" and reinforcing fundamental understanding, I had the idea of splitting my lab into two. On one side, I have 'modern' stuff (low-end DSO, PSU with digital meters, PC, electronic calculator, etc.) On the other, I have set up the Simpson, an Elenco xp720 kit, junk soldering iron, an older Tek CRO, and a bamboo slide rule, among others. The idea is to work through an older textbook and lab manual and have the same or similar tools that were used in that time period to navigate it.

I've never posted in this thread before, but I think this is TEA for sure. I am trying to do this "the hard way" using the giveaway analog stuff without spending a fortune, but the older stuff is clunky, bulky, and gives me an occasional hard stare as though I should "cut the crap" and just use the more modern equipment I actually had to save up for (which is currently collecting dust on the other side of the partition since I decided to do this). I thought this might be amusing to some of you.

Yes interesting idea. I think we're all kindof spoiled these days with what we are presented from modern instruments. I need to get an analog DMM and use the mirrored scale to make some measurements. 

[med6753]

I picked up a Simpson 260-8P with original leads last week for a song. One of the leads was bad, intemittent connection, but the unit's cal seemed spot-on, so I got Probemaster to send the oddball leads it uses; they arrived three days later. Strangely, the unit reads slightly high on volt ranges now; not sure what to think about that.

In the interest of getting "back to basics" and reinforcing fundamental understanding, I had the idea of splitting my lab into two. On one side, I have 'modern' stuff (low-end DSO, PSU with digital meters, PC, electronic calculator, etc.) On the other, I have set up the Simpson, an Elenco xp720 kit, junk soldering iron, an older Tek CRO, and a bamboo slide rule, among others. The idea is to work through an older textbook and lab manual and have the same or similar tools that were used in that time period to navigate it. I've never posted in this thread before, but I think this is TEA for sure. I am trying to do this "the hard way" using the giveaway analog stuff without spending a fortune, but the older stuff is clunky, bulky, and gives me an occasional hard stare as though I should "cut the crap" and just use the more modern equipment I actually had to save up for (which is currently collecting dust on the other side of the partition since I decided to do this). I thought this might be amusing to some of you.

First, welcome to our nuthouse. Grab a chair, relax.....and spend lots of money on Ebay. 

Second, why separate the "old" from the "new"? I got my stuff all mixed up and it works out just fine. 

[med6753]

I gotta stop browsing Ebay. There's a Tek Type 114 Pulse Generator in good shape for the reasonable price of $75 USD and free shipping. So tempted to pull the trigger. Somebody save me and grab it first! 

In other news. Started working on the B&K 3010 Function Generator. Started by checking all the supply voltages and they are OK. Then went to the main oscillator and it was working. Continue probing and everything looks OK. Check the output and now the damn thing is working! I hate intermittents! Damn. Been beating and flexing it the board and still working. Gonna let it run for a while but all those capacitors are going to get replaced.

[worsthorse]

I am off to Mt Hood for a couple of days. Not a test probe to be found for miles up there.

I imagine there will be four hundred posts for me to read by Sunday night...      

[bd139]

In the interest of getting "back to basics" and reinforcing fundamental understanding, I had the idea of splitting my lab into two. On one side, I have 'modern' stuff (low-end DSO, PSU with digital meters, PC, electronic calculator, etc.) On the other, I have set up the Simpson, an Elenco xp720 kit, junk soldering iron, an older Tek CRO, and a bamboo slide rule, among others. The idea is to work through an older textbook and lab manual and have the same or similar tools that were used in that time period to navigate it.

I've never posted in this thread before, but I think this is TEA for sure. I am trying to do this "the hard way" using the giveaway analog stuff without spending a fortune, but the older stuff is clunky, bulky, and gives me an occasional hard stare as though I should "cut the crap" and just use the more modern equipment I actually had to save up for (which is currently collecting dust on the other side of the partition since I decided to do this). I thought this might be amusing to some of you.

Yes interesting idea. I think we're all kindof spoiled these days with what we are presented from modern instruments. I need to get an analog DMM and use the mirrored scale to make some measurements. 

We are indeed spoiled.

Although I have to be honest, the instruments that I get the most value from tend to be the much much older ones. In fact I've been working on the transceiver that's going in that £2 HP attenuator switch wreck chassis. It's a bitx variant with some mods (IF that doesn't suck balls, dual band, MOAR POWR!). The bits of kit I have mostly been using are a 51 year old HP 6284A, 40 year old HP 400E and a 20 year old Fluke 87. I intend to purchase an 8640B and an HP 427A at some point now I've got the 1740A as that'd be a nice and complete set (women like matching underwear, why shouldn't I like matching TE!  )

Also look at this. This is glorious. Why would you not want to use it over the new stuff?



(HP 400E)

[mnementh]

We’re terrible enablers. Sorry. 

Speak for yourself. I'm not the least bit sorry; though I am terrible and an unrepentant enabler from way back. 

Speak for yourself. I'm not sorry. 

JINX!!! 

   Not so much a dry joint as a non joint      I have owned this Coffee Roaster for 7 or 8 years and today was getting a weird occasional reset on the current PID as I start sorting out the Arduino based replacement for it. Only showed up because I snipped all the cable ties and had moved some of the wires, sorry PID it wasn't you I should have been swearing at.    Oh and the moral to this is the CRO and DMM I had deployed to try and bug track it was of no use

Yeah, sometimes the electrons we inconvenience to get our work done inconvenience us right back.

I actually stayed the only one interested, and so acquired my first hp 5254L (with 5253B converter) for 50 bucks + 10 shipping.

Wow! You lucky dog!  Amazing it wasn't damaged what  piss-poor packing job. That's a real prize I congratulate you. Thanks for the pictures.

Ditto! Amazing all that hollow-state goodness survived the trip! Well-glommed you  

My 2465 fan bodge is apparently world famous, isn't it? 

Yup; it's right there at the top of the  "How NOT to do it!"  Wiki... 

mnem

[mnementh]

       In other news. Started working on the B&K 3010 Function Generator.

Started by checking all the supply voltages and they are OK. Then went to the main oscillator and it was working. Continue probing and everything looks OK. Check the output and now the damn thing is working! I hate intermittents! Damn. Been beating and flexing it the board and still working. Gonna let it run for a while but all those capacitors are going to get replaced.

Iffy crystal in the circuit somewhere? Tappity-tap? I can tell you that those both ran on my personal bench for over a decade without a lick of trouble, kept hot whenever the bench was powered up. I only took them out of service a few years (okay, 7-8 years... fuck, where did the time go...? ) ago when I got the two Proteks I'm using now.

mnem
So much more fun kibbutzing.

[bd139]

Found a random photo from the pre-TEA dark ages:



UT61E (yuck), Heath IP-2718, PM3217, function generator the brand I can't remember, PIC16F84 frequency counter and a broken Thandar SC110A scope.

Got it working in the end. Dry solder joint. These scopes really are tiny...



For reference, those scopes are absolutely bloody awful things. Don't buy one!

[tggzzz]

Also look at this. This is glorious. Why would you not want to use it over the new stuff?

And not a bit of acid spewed anywhere

[bd139]

Yes indeed

RIP D75.

[med6753]

       In other news. Started working on the B&K 3010 Function Generator.

Started by checking all the supply voltages and they are OK. Then went to the main oscillator and it was working. Continue probing and everything looks OK. Check the output and now the damn thing is working! I hate intermittents! Damn. Been beating and flexing it the board and still working. Gonna let it run for a while but all those capacitors are going to get replaced.

Iffy crystal in the circuit somewhere? Tappity-tap? I can tell you that those both ran on my personal bench for over a decade without a lick of trouble, kept hot whenever the bench was powered up. I only took them out of service a few years (okay, 7-8 years... fuck, where did the time go...? ) ago when I got the two Proteks I'm using now.

mnem
So much more fun kibbutzing.

There's no crystal. Feedback oscillator.

[med6753]

Put the 3010 back in the case and it's still working. Tis a mystery but I'll let it continue to burn-in for a few hours.

I have the parts list and here's something very interesting. The 5 - 47uf/6.3V caps are supposed to be tants. They aren't. 4.7uf/10V aluminum. Same with the 5 - 10uf/25V. They are actually 10uf/35V aluminum. And they are original. No one has been in here as far as I can tell. Hell, if it works fine with the aluminum caps that's what it's gonna get replaced with. 

   

[BU508A]

Went today with a friend of mine to a thing which is called "Repair Bar". We are a part of the repairing team
and we try to fix stuff, people bringing in. Most times electric and electronic gear but we are also
fixing some minor mechanical issues.

Today I've had a Technics record player, where driving belt disintegrated.



I showed the lady where to get a new one so next time we can fix it.

Another one was a vacuumcleaner with a broken mains switch. The lady which brought this vacuum cleaner
agreed to bypass it. During disassembling this thing I've invented some new curses.   

This is my mobile repair lab:



And this was our workbench, my colleague is actually fighting with a DAB+ ghettoblaster thingie (no sound):



It looked like the main audio amplifier IC was dead somehow, but without any schematics it is just a guess.

[bd139]

Ah so that's like the Apple Genius Bar but with some skills and knowledge and can actually repair stuff then? 

Great idea TBH. We should do that here. Most people just throw shit in the bin and buy more even if it's trivially broken. My nice 32" Samsung dumbass (not smart) TV cost me £0.99 thanks to a duff capacitor and buyer collects only on ebay. I had the pleasure of handing the woman £1 and saying "keep the change"

[Johnboy]

First, welcome to our nuthouse. Grab a chair, relax.....and spend lots of money on Ebay. 

Thanks. Sadly, I believe I've been skulking in the shadows of gear acquisition syndrome long before I felt compelled to start taking partially-working gear apart or buying mules to repair them. I'm a musician and a recording engineer, so I've been stacking half-full rack cases for most of my life. Or should I say "half-empty"? 

Second, why separate the "old" from the "new"? I got my stuff all mixed up and it works out just fine. 

It's just too tempting to me to reach for a calculator or pc to get an answer quickly instead of doing my own estimations and calculations on paper, and part of this masochistic exercise is learning to improvise my own solutions; relying on a tone from my old kit theremin, for example, instead of busting out a sine on my recently acquired (and currently unplugged) HP3312A. I've resolved to keep that sort of temptation at [bay], pun intended.

In that way I also hope to actually curb buying additional gear (for a while). I looked at my expenditures recently and thought, "maybe I should've just gotten an Analog Discovery and taken night classes."

[bd139]

I had to put the drool back in at the mention of a 3312A, probably the finest thing HP ever knocked out!

[Johnboy]

I had to put the drool back in at the mention of a 3312A, probably the finest thing HP ever knocked out!

Agreed, it's one of my favorites. But if I don't absolutely need it right now, maybe I'll appreciate it more the next time I merely have to connect a 50 Ohm coax to look at a waveform instead of rigging clothespins and chip clips to hold my case open. How many of you guys buy stuff you don't need just because of its integral beauty? I'm half hoping my function generator has some sort of massive failure so I can pretend it's modern art and fasten it to the wall...

Then I caught myself looking at that Thurlby Thandar SC110A and thinking "man, that's a nice-looking scope."
Luckily the TT stuff is uncommon enough in the States that shipping would hopefully be TEA-prohibitive.

[VK5RC]

@ero-shan, re the 5245L, good unit! Think about the number of courier's toes that unit broke on its way to you! Revenge taken by the TE! (HiHi)
I am sure you are aware but the crystal oven remains on if the unit is plugged into the mains, mine had a burnt out x-tal heater and transformer. There is a post with pics on the forum about it somewhere.
Lots of lovely plugins to acquire - be a bit careful - check out the serial number of your unit, some changes occurred during its run, some plugins only suitable after either a mod or a after a certain serial number.
Rob

[BU508A]

I had to put the drool back in at the mention of a 3312A, probably the finest thing HP ever knocked out!

Hmm, this looks very nice:


But I have to disagree. One of (or the most) finest part HP brought out was the 3458A. Imho.

[bd139]

Remember that beauty is on the inside of all things...

[0culus]

So I hit up hamfest this weekend....and well, here's a list of the damage.  Pics to come as I recuperate and get things organized.

Tek Type 204 Scope-Mobile (already got the 7904A mounted on it)
Tek P6015 HV probe
Tek P6042 current probe
Tek 7A13
Tek 7A11
Tek calibration fixture
HP 5385A counter (perfect size to perch on top of the 7904A to use on the SIG OUT!)

Last (but not TEA) is an ICOM HD51A plus DSTAR capable HT.


And that's my TEA purchasing budget for a while!   

[bd139]

Blimey that was a good haul. I am moving to the US 

[mnementh]

...How many of you guys buy stuff you don't need just because of its integral beauty?

Each. And Every. One of us.

mnem

One of us! One of us! One of us! One of us! One of us!

[xrunner]

So I hit up hamfest this weekend....and well, here's a list of the damage.  Pics to come as I recuperate and get things organized.

Tek Type 204 Scope-Mobile (already got the 7904A mounted on it)
Tek P6015 HV probe
Tek P6042 current probe
Tek 7A13
Tek 7A11
Tek calibration fixture
HP 5385A counter (perfect size to perch on top of the 7904A to use on the SIG OUT!)

Last (but not TEA) is an ICOM HD51A plus DSTAR capable HT.


And that's my TEA purchasing budget for a while!   

[BU508A]

Remember that beauty is on the inside of all things...

Very true.    Does this count for the specs as well? 

This is the heart of the 3458A (the ADC module) coming from TiN's website: