Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

Asking a favor here to TEA brotherhood, anyone can help me on purchasing the Rigol license , here -> https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/rigol-bnd-msods1000z-license-clearance-one-penny-at-tequipment-net/

It seems like the web is acting up, nope, disguised as American won't help as it verify my CC details with my address as I'm not American.

TEq does accept PayPal. Not sure if that mollifies or exacerbates the frustration... 

mnem
"packing my life away..."

[mansaxel]

I wonder if they are still playing...

No. I've been there; it was recorded 45 km from my home town. They had left.

Do take a look at the 360° photos. It is a stunning place.

[mansaxel]

974A arrived.

Condition pristine.

Am happy.

Will this be my volt-nuttery rabbit hole?

Edit: Now, picture!

[med6753]

I have a nice letter from Guangdong..

and hope my Ass will not crash when I put the Telefunken E108 on the table.
The old Radio get them

(Attachment Link)

Have fun and be careful. I'm getting careless in my old age. I got bit off mains again today working on the 10MHz Reference and it was my own damn fault. 

[BU508A]

I have a nice letter from Guangdong..

and hope my Ass will not crash when I put the Telefunken E108 on the table.
The old Radio get them

(Attachment Link)

Have fun and be careful. I'm getting careless in my old age. I got bit off mains again today working on the 10MHz Reference and it was my own damn fault. 

Yes, please be careful. We want to see more Tek-blue painted stuff from you! 

[factory]

Here are some pictures of the TE lot I collected over a week ago.

HP 3400A & 403B voltmeters,


Racal digital LCR bridge,


4 Tektronix 24x5 series oscilloscopes, two have the TV option fitted, no other options,


HP 8410 network analyzer with polar display module, I already have a 8411A to go with this.


Muirhead variable Inductometer & a very heavy variable capacitance (not pictured).


I've currently got one of the Tek scopes in bits to work on the power supply, had to order a Torx T9 bit from RS as neither of my two sets had one.

David

[med6753]

The VR assembly is now built up and installed in the 10MHz Reference. Upon first power up with the oven consuming max current the voltage is down around -11.976V and slowly rises to just about -12V as the oven stabilizes. So it looks like the 1A transformer can handle the load without any issues. And the 7912 regulator does get pretty warm but so far is rock stable.



The VR assembly is to the right of the reference module.



First test after warm up.

 

Buttoned up and complete. Gonna let it burn in for a while.

[Martin.M]

E108Lw4    I want listen SAQ at christmas..

[AVGresponding]

This guy is imo the Ozymandias of home gaming.

I am aghast and agape

[factory]

@don.r

Please forgive me my ignorance, but could you explain this mysterious statement in your bottom line?

"Shippers: for the love of Pete and all that is holy, STOP USING UPS INTERNATIONAL!"

 

Thanks. 

Haha! Yeah sure. UPS is well known for levying high brokerage fees on items that don't even have duties on them. Even low value items can arrive at your door with a surprise $50 fee for "paperwork". It has been my experience that this is a consistent practice for items coming into Canada, probably applies to other countries as well. "For the love of Pete and all that is holy" is a phrase that hints at exasperation and is an offshoot of the phrase "For Pete's sake" which comes originally from "for God's sake". https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2011/02/pete.html

Don't think I've received much if anything international sent by UPS or Fedex, the reason being they are about three times more expensive then sending by USPS.

David

[mansaxel]

E108Lw4    I want listen SAQ at christmas..

There are several ways to listen to SAQ; I've tried but one.  The one I did try was "being on-site on Alexanderson day and listening to the transmitter". This requires hearing protection. A rather long , with most spoken words in Swedish, was made of the Christmas transmission 2018, and it gives an excellent impression of "listening to the transmitter".

[mansaxel]

Another assembly problem with the 428B then, that's three different problems now. 
Hopefully you can fix it, that transformer looks different to the one in my good 1960's 428B and what may have been in the spares one (which has two small round holes in the chassis for the wiring), how late is yours?

Mine is current with the last revision of the manual;

<snip>

But, the instrument works! 

Update:

As I'd received my "new" -- hp --  DMM today and I wasn't dead tired after the children had gone to bed, and so forth, I decided to take another stab at determining the state and performance of the instrument.  This is one sensitive bastard! Zeroing the movement requires very sensitive fingers. I must get a better understanding of the interaction of the vernier and the zero dial, I believe. Anyway, zeroed it became, and:



As can be seen from the picture, I reused my current source, with 1KΩ in series to limit it a bit. The DMM measures 6,98mA, while the 428b achieves, with the cable looped x2 to double the reading, just above 14mA on the 30mA range. Not bad, but not good enough. I need to get a higher-current source and do some more ranging tests per the manual before I determine where the inaccuracy comes from.

Also, on the topic of "instrument age" I first did not reflect on the mechanical differences between generations, but if one looks at an interior picture of my instrument and compares to those upthread, the differences are striking:



The green PCB gives it an almost modern look. Must be a really late model.

[bitseeker]

E108Lw4    I want listen SAQ at christmas..

There are several ways to listen to SAQ; I've tried but one.  The one I did try was "being on-site on Alexanderson day and listening to the transmitter". This requires hearing protection. A rather long , with most spoken words in Swedish, was made of the Christmas transmission 2018, and it gives an excellent impression of "listening to the transmitter".

I like those GE panel meters!

[xrunner]

There are several ways to listen to SAQ; I've tried but one.  The one I did try was "being on-site on Alexanderson day and listening to the transmitter". This requires hearing protection. A rather long , with most spoken words in Swedish, was made of the Christmas transmission 2018, and it gives an excellent impression of "listening to the transmitter".

Reminds me of Forbidden Planet -

[mansaxel]

I like those GE panel meters!

To me, while the meters are really swell, I was more caught by the contactors that the morse key pulls (no doubt via a number of intermediate steps) . From about 1 minute into this movie you can see them in operation:

 

[Kosmic]

I'm ready for my trip now!!!     

mnem
*wheels up in 10... 9... 8...*

Welcome to Canada mnem!   

[mnementh]

It's orificial... Our last bit of business (dropping off the cable modem) in Houston is done.

We are wheels up!!!

mnem
Happiness is fucking Texas in the rear view mirror...

[Kosmic]

974A arrived.

Condition pristine.

Am happy.

Will this be my volt-nuttery rabbit hole?

Edit: Now, picture!

Really like mine. Wanted to buy another one but they are sold out 

[med6753]

It's orificial... Our last bit of business (dropping off the cable modem) in Houston is done.

We are wheels up!!!

mnem
Happiness is fucking Texas in the rear view mirror...

Safe trip! 

[beanflying]

It's orificial... Our last bit of business (dropping off the cable modem) in Houston is done.

We are wheels up!!!

mnem
Happiness is fucking Texas in the rear view mirror...

I trust that Bacon has Maple Syrup for a dipping sauce to aid border crossing

[Neomys Sapiens]

Tales of instruments that do not exist (maybe they are unstruments?)

My two Heinzinger power supplies:


The left (HV) one has been with me for a long time. The right one (TNs300-120) was aquired just a few years ago. It is not only of very unique topology, enabling it to output  does 300V 400mA with 2 power transistors (LINEAR) and a thyristor preregulator while being well regulated and electrically robust, but it is also a very strange thing in itself.
When I received it, I called Heinzinger to obtain the Manual for it. I got into a discussion with a lady from their service department about the exact model that I have. She did know their product range well and had the documents to support her opinion. She did clearly show me that the 120W medium voltage model does not have external sense connections, only the bigger ones are such equipped.
But that jacks are there, as is the int/ext switch. And the labeling of the panel is not a Letraset bodge, but printed like all other markings. And the wiring behind is obviously factory wiring and not a retrofit of any kind.
She was adamant that this power supply does not exist. Who am I to argue with that?

And THIS is the Lucius&Baer video signal generator I mentioned recently.

It is non-operating and does not exist too.
I called L&B after a short test about 10yrs ago did show nothing akin to a video signal on its output. It took me about an hour to speak to the HW design, Service, internal T&M manager, even some older guys from their workshops. Their reaction was annoyingly uniform 'We are supposed to have built WHAT?, Nooo, I would know that.' Here it sits, unrepaired and full of (mostly) logic ICs, until my recent find of that small service monitor reminded me of it's (non)existence.

[Neomys Sapiens]

It's orificial... Our last bit of business (dropping off the cable modem) in Houston is done.

We are wheels up!!!

mnem
Happiness is fucking Texas in the rear view mirror...

Happiness should think twice about with whom she engages in such activities, especially where unwary motorists might be distracted!

Gute Reise!

[bitseeker]

I like those GE panel meters!

To me, while the meters are really swell, I was more caught by the contactors that the morse key pulls (no doubt via a number of intermediate steps) . From about 1 minute into this movie you can see them in operation:

 

Wowzers! That's some serious switching (and EMI generation ).

[bitseeker]

It's orificial... Our last bit of business (dropping off the cable modem) in Houston is done.

We are wheels up!!!

"Bon voyagee!" — Bugs Bunny

[bitseeker]

Tales of instruments that do not exist (maybe they are unstruments?)

Yes, I've been known to buy some TEAuctions just because they're unstruments.