Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[BU508A]

@Ero-Shan:

Now you need a DER DE-5000 for cross-referencing. You know, the man with the two clocks ... 

https://www.ebay.de/itm/151970240054

Edit:
Fixed URL 

[mnementh]

Heh.... I was just about to go agitating about the DE-5000... thanks for saving me the trouble!

If my only choices were a Fiat vs a Citroen it would be a no brainer. Clearly Fiat. For some reason Citroen want's their cars to look like giant dildos. Must be a French thing. 

I find myself struggling to agree with this, which model in particular are you thinking of here   

I had A Citroen DS during my first interlude with Higher Education. Everybody laughed at it until they wanted to go out partying; then I was everybody's best friend because I had wheels. Poor thing met its end as a result of such an outing with me driving while stupid; I sideswiped a parking lot pylon hard enough to fold the right front tire almost horizontal. But... it still got us all home; we piled everybody on the driver's side of the car and the magic suspension made up the difference enough to keep it rolling.

@ AVGresponding Can't disagree with you, I love cars and watch many motoring blogs and TV programs but I also love commercial vehicles as well, often thought about buying an old bus and converting it into a reasonable RV but have nowhere to park or work on it so thats a none starter Always been a dream of mine that if I were to win a reasonable amount of money on the Lottery that I'd love to buy a Volkswagen Phaeton W12. Thats a car that slips under the radar of all but a few, as a dull and boring VW so you could take it and park it almost anywhere and not have to worry about it being vandalised or stolen. Safe in the knowledge that you were driving essentially a Bentley Continental with disguised body on it, That would be the ultimate Q car for me

Aside from the Beetle (which I've owned an even 6, if you include 2 dune buggies), I think the only veedub that could attract me now would be the Audi TT Quattro from back when, which actually looks like someone stretched a Beetle to sedan proportions. No, wait... I take that back. When I worked for the Chrysler dealership, our parts runner was the weirdest little pickup truck thing; it looked like they started with a Rabbit or Golf and turned it into a mini Ranchero or El Camino. Thing had a tiny little turbo-diesel (like 1.3 or 1.6L...?) with a 5-speed that was actually a hoot to drive (as long as it was empty); a tire-peeling little bastard that topped out about 100MPH wound tight.

   OK, I will concede that the new ones don't look like that. But the old ones? Without a doubt. 

WTFE, dude. Pretty is as pretty does. Mine served me well; it was spacious, comfortable, well-mannered to drive, and it was my own teenage stupidity that killed it, not any engineering or reliability fault. I'd drive one again any fucking day, and enjoy it. ESPECIALLY if it came in that lascivious shade of candy-apple red. 

mnem

[Ice-Tea]

If my only choices were a Fiat vs a Citroen it would be a no brainer. Clearly Fiat. For some reason Citroen want's their cars to look like giant dildos. Must be a French thing. 

I find myself struggling to agree with this, which model in particular are you thinking of here   

OK, I will concede that the new ones don't look like that. But the old ones? Without a doubt. 

Some say, the name of this car is "goddess".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_DS#Name

Doesn't have a lot in common with a dildo, I think. 

Nah, sorry Med, I'm still not seeing what you're seeing. What I see is a beautiful sleek aerodynamic body shape designed to slice through the air with as little drag as possible. To me a dildo is the opposite and users of them actually want to be made aware of its presence   , I'm with BU508A on this one. 

On my 4th Citroen. Pretty happy with 'm. Mostly.

[Specmaster]

@mnem, I have driven one of the top models with the swivel headlights and I enjoyed it so much that I actually did think about getting one of my one but was put off by the complicated hydraulic system. Those seat on their own are just so soft and welcoming, you sit in them all day long without fatigue. You can actually drive them on 3 wheels as no doubt you had to after you pranged your wheel. The biggest and hardest thing to get used to is the rubber bulb that they use as the brake pedal, that is so sensitive that the first few times of using it, you almost stand the car on its nose 

[Specmaster]

@BU508A Ref Xtal tester.

I have made mine and it all fitted together very nicely, including the case, although I think the testing socket needs to be raised up to all crystals to be tested and not just new ones with long leads.

When I powered it all up, all segments of the LEDs lit up and then switched off leaving just the 4th digit displaying a zero which the so called instructions state, means that it is functioning correctly. With the jumper in the correct position for testing a crystal, and a crystal in the test socket, the display is still showing the 4th zero and nothing else. Is this what you found when yours stopped functioning or what?

I have to pop out and do a quick bit of shopping before picking SWMBO up from the local law courts where she works and when I return plan to dismantle the unit and check the internal crystal to see if it has suffered the same as yours did.

[Cerebus]

If my only choices were a Fiat vs a Citroen it would be a no brainer. Clearly Fiat. For some reason Citroen want's their cars to look like giant dildos. Must be a French thing. 

I find myself struggling to agree with this, which model in particular are you thinking of here   

OK, I will concede that the new ones don't look like that. But the old ones? Without a doubt. 

Some say, the name of this car is "goddess".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_DS#Name

Doesn't have a lot in common with a dildo, I think. 

Ya think? We won't go there. 

I don't know how to break this to you Med, but if your 'thingy' is shaped like a Citroën DS I'd suggest you see a urologist P.D.Q. 

[nixiefreqq]

@BU508A Ref Xtal tester.

I have made mine and it all fitted together very nicely, including the case, although I think the testing socket needs to be raised up to all crystals to be tested and not just new ones with long leads.

When I powered it all up, all segments of the LEDs lit up and then switched off leaving just the 4th digit displaying a zero which the so called instructions state, means that it is functioning correctly. With the jumper in the correct position for testing a crystal, and a crystal in the test socket, the display is still showing the 4th zero and nothing else. Is this what you found when yours stopped functioning or what?

I have to pop out and do a quick bit of shopping before picking SWMBO up from the local law courts where she works and when I return plan to dismantle the unit and check the internal crystal to see if it has suffered the same as yours did.

does swmbo wear a powdered wig?

[mnementh]

@mnem, I have driven one of the top models with the swivel headlights and I enjoyed it so much that I actually did think about getting one of my one but was put off by the complicated hydraulic system. Those seat on their own are just so soft and welcoming, you sit in them all day long without fatigue. You can actually drive them on 3 wheels as no doubt you had to after you pranged your wheel. The biggest and hardest thing to get used to is the rubber bulb that they use as the brake pedal, that is so sensitive that the first few times of using it, you almost stand the car on its nose 

https://youtu.be/JlGSbNWInIQ

Huh... mine didn't have "the mushroom" brake button like that... Well, it did, but there was a hinged pedal over it with a wide rubber pad on it. I wonder if that was something someone fabbed to change the pedal feel? Or maybe some export-only trim item for troglodyte Westerners...? I assumed they all came like that until I went & looked for one like mine just now... 

mnem
 

[Specmaster]

@BU508A Ref Xtal tester.

I have made mine and it all fitted together very nicely, including the case, although I think the testing socket needs to be raised up to all crystals to be tested and not just new ones with long leads.

When I powered it all up, all segments of the LEDs lit up and then switched off leaving just the 4th digit displaying a zero which the so called instructions state, means that it is functioning correctly. With the jumper in the correct position for testing a crystal, and a crystal in the test socket, the display is still showing the 4th zero and nothing else. Is this what you found when yours stopped functioning or what?

I have to pop out and do a quick bit of shopping before picking SWMBO up from the local law courts where she works and when I return plan to dismantle the unit and check the internal crystal to see if it has suffered the same as yours did.

does swmbo wear a powdered wig?

Not last time I looked  No, she is a court usher and normally does the murder trails.

[BU508A]

Hi Spec,

@BU508A Ref Xtal tester.

I have made mine and it all fitted together very nicely, including the case, although I think the testing socket needs to be raised up to all crystals to be tested and not just new ones with long leads.

Yes, had the same thought. I think, I'll get some of these Nixie-tubes sockets which are able to support up to 1.2mm and make a new socket for testing crystals.

When I powered it all up, all segments of the LEDs lit up and then switched off leaving just the 4th digit displaying a zero which the so called instructions state, means that it is functioning correctly. With the jumper in the correct position for testing a crystal, and a crystal in the test socket, the display is still showing the 4th zero and nothing else. Is this what you found when yours stopped functioning or what?

Yes, found the same behaviour. The reason in my case was, that I putted the crystal in the blue socket with the screws. 
When I switched the crystal into the other socket (with these adapter-legs), then it worked out-of-the-box. Right after putting
the crystal into the socket, the meter showed immediatly the correct value.

I'd suggest to check the onboard crystal if it is oscillating on 20MHz. It could be, that your tester is suffering from the same
issue Ero-Shan URI had found: a shortcut from the crystal case to a via, where the crystal has been assembled.

I have to pop out and do a quick bit of shopping before picking SWMBO up from the local law courts where she works and when I return plan to dismantle the unit and check the internal crystal to see if it has suffered the same as yours did.

Ah, yes, right.   

Hope, it will turn out good in the end.

Edit:
URI was the forum fellow, not Ero-Shan, sorry

[BU508A]

And now for something completely unrelated:



"Whoever made these bar stools is a pure genius. I had to look twice ."
by SLYGUY79     25 days ago

[Specmaster]

@mnem, I have driven one of the top models with the swivel headlights and I enjoyed it so much that I actually did think about getting one of my one but was put off by the complicated hydraulic system. Those seat on their own are just so soft and welcoming, you sit in them all day long without fatigue. You can actually drive them on 3 wheels as no doubt you had to after you pranged your wheel. The biggest and hardest thing to get used to is the rubber bulb that they use as the brake pedal, that is so sensitive that the first few times of using it, you almost stand the car on its nose 

https://youtu.be/JlGSbNWInIQ

Huh... mine didn't have "the mushroom" brake button like that... Well, it did, but there was a hinged pedal over it with a wide rubber pad on it. I wonder if that was something someone fabbed to change the pedal feel? Or maybe some export-only trim item for troglodyte Westerners...? I assumed they all came like that until I went & looked for one like mine just now... 

mnem
 

No, I've only ever seen them like this and I think the CX, SM and the GS had the same system, photo below is of a DS Pallas 23

[mansaxel]

If my only choices were a Fiat vs a Citroen it would be a no brainer. Clearly Fiat. For some reason Citroen want's their cars to look like giant dildos. Must be a French thing. 

A DS19 or similar (the real Citrôen, with some allowance for deux chevaux and the Tractiòn Avant) is soo much more interesting than the Fiats. That's the 70s car I'd like to have in the garage, with a Scania SBAT111 and a Volvo 164 next to it.

[SeanB]

My mother loved her assorted Citroen's, from around 1955 till 1966, where she drove them solely. The suspension was great on the central African rutted tracks that were called roads, and they were great there.  Servicing them as well was no problem, my father owned (the only) Citroen dealership, so every model year he would get a pile of brochures for the new model line delivered, as well as the most important thing needed to work on them, the assortment of service manuals and the special tools you needed.  He might only sell 10 vehicles in that year, but the old ones still needed spares and support, plus he also had contracts for the mines for trucks.

One of his customers would send his car 400km by truck for service, as the alternative was to put it on a rail car, and send it though half of Africa to South Africa, where the other dealership was. Truck might take 3 or more days to make the trip, one way, from Belgian Congo to Northern Rhodesia.

[Specmaster]

If my only choices were a Fiat vs a Citroen it would be a no brainer. Clearly Fiat. For some reason Citroen want's their cars to look like giant dildos. Must be a French thing. 

A DS19 or similar (the real Citrôen, with some allowance for deux chevaux and the Tractiòn Avant) is soo much more interesting than the Fiats. That's the 70s car I'd like to have in the garage, with a Scania SBAT111 and a Volvo 164 next to it.

Now your talking my language, interesting truck that , ex military?

[Neomys Sapiens]

If my only choices were a Fiat vs a Citroen it would be a no brainer. Clearly Fiat. For some reason Citroen want's their cars to look like giant dildos. Must be a French thing. 

A DS19 or similar (the real Citrôen, with some allowance for deux chevaux and the Tractiòn Avant) is soo much more interesting than the Fiats. That's the 70s car I'd like to have in the garage, with a Scania SBAT111 and a Volvo 164 next to it.

Now your talking my language, interesting truck that , ex military?

I was going to congratulate him too on his Terrängbil40

[mnementh]

@mnem, I have driven one of the top models with the swivel headlights and I enjoyed it so much that I actually did think about getting one of my one but was put off by the complicated hydraulic system. Those seat on their own are just so soft and welcoming, you sit in them all day long without fatigue. You can actually drive them on 3 wheels as no doubt you had to after you pranged your wheel. The biggest and hardest thing to get used to is the rubber bulb that they use as the brake pedal, that is so sensitive that the first few times of using it, you almost stand the car on its nose 

https://youtu.be/JlGSbNWInIQ

Huh... mine didn't have "the mushroom" brake button like that... Well, it did, but there was a hinged pedal over it with a wide rubber pad on it. I wonder if that was something someone fabbed to change the pedal feel? Or maybe some export-only trim item for troglodyte Westerners...? I assumed they all came like that until I went & looked for one like mine just now... 

mnem
 

   No, I've only ever seen them like this and I think the CX, SM and the GS had the same system, photo below is of a DS Pallas 23

Yup, that's what mine looked like, complete with the plastic bit (only no hideous red carpets; black instead ). On top of that was a long steel bar with a hinge at the top that laid on top of the mushroom, with a pedal about 1.5x as wide as the one in that pic. I always assumed it was original.

mnem
 

[mnementh]

I'm just going to leave this here, where any med might trip over it...

mnem
 

[Specmaster]

I was going to post that myself earlier, but my hosting site refused to accept it, kept telling me that the format was not suitable 

[URI]

@BU508A Ref Xtal tester.

I have made mine and it all fitted together very nicely, including the case, although I think the testing socket needs to be raised up to all crystals to be tested and not just new ones with long leads.

When I powered it all up, all segments of the LEDs lit up and then switched off leaving just the 4th digit displaying a zero which the so called instructions state, means that it is functioning correctly. With the jumper in the correct position for testing a crystal, and a crystal in the test socket, the display is still showing the 4th zero and nothing else. Is this what you found when yours stopped functioning or what?

I have to pop out and do a quick bit of shopping before picking SWMBO up from the local law courts where she works and when I return plan to dismantle the unit and check the internal crystal to see if it has suffered the same as yours did.

It was me, spec & BU508A, to solder the 20MHz XTAL in way that it short-circuited. 

And no, mine was just dead, it didn't show any numbers.
Seems as the XUT (XTAL under test) doesn't oscillate or its oscillation doesn't reach the µprocessor.
Just for the basics: You did set the jumper in the right position for measuring the XTAL?

[mansaxel]

If my only choices were a Fiat vs a Citroen it would be a no brainer. Clearly Fiat. For some reason Citroen want's their cars to look like giant dildos. Must be a French thing. 

A DS19 or similar (the real Citrôen, with some allowance for deux chevaux and the Tractiòn Avant) is soo much more interesting than the Fiats. That's the 70s car I'd like to have in the garage, with a Scania SBAT111 and a Volvo 164 next to it.

Now your talking my language, interesting truck that , ex military?

Yep. All-wheel drive, straight 6 cylinder aspirated (SBA111) or turbo (SBAT111) engine, automatic gearbox, and came in a number of special builds apart from the normal Terrängbil 30 and Terrängbil 40 models, including airport fire truck (Räddningsterrängbil 4112) and airfield snow clearing vehicle (Snöslunga 77) -- the latter with a Scania V8 to drive the snow blower, and 2 steering positions, forward and backward.  For its rôle as artillery tractor in the coastal artillery, they built a hydraulic transmission that drove hydraulic motors in the "12 cm rörlig kustartilleripjäs m/80" gun carriage from the truck giving the entire vehicle train all-wheel drive. According to ex-colleagues in that service, it was a formidable off-road vehicle.

They won the truck class in Paris-Dakar when they took part.

I'm getting one as soon as I can (whenever that is...). A bit expensive, but available to civilians, most ex-stores with low kilometer counts, and common spares are still orderable from any Scania dealer.

[Specmaster]

@URI I've double checked my connections and that everything was fitted in the right locations and also the correct way round and it checks out OK. The fact that the 4th digit displays a zero is indication of the circuit being correct anyway.

I removed the Xtal and checked to if any solder had crept through the holes and shorted to the case and there was no sign of that happening. By way checking the xtal, I substituted the 2.4MHz test Xtal for the 20MHz and powered up. The display just flickered rapidly. Fitted the 20MHz one again and on power up, all digits and all segments lit, then all went off and then 4th digit lit a Zero than after a few seconds like this that zero then starts on and off at 5 seconds intervals, 5 seconds OFF, 1 second ON. This is the same regardless of which position the jumper is in or indeed even if the jumper is even fitted.

Plugging the 2.4MHz xtal in the test socket, jumper in the top position, display still shows a zero only on the 4th digit, all others are off.  I found another xtal (54MHz written on case), plugged it in and the display now reads 17.989,  The device is only meant to be good for upto 50MHz, so is this 17.989 an error code or what. I'll have go on another hunt for other crystals that fall within its range and see how it reacts to those. Its possible that the 2.4MHz one was dead anyway.                                                                                                                                                       

[bd139]

Just had a look at those and it looks like a small colpitts xtal oscillator + counter. If you're seeing 54MHz come up at 17.989 it's probably a "third overtone" crystal so that's correct-ish. The fundamental vs overtone frequency isn't necessarily a multiple

I'm surprised they work at all considering a colpitts generally has to be tuned for a specific load capacitance.

[Specmaster]

Doh, your right,  was I thinking, its pretty obvious if I thought about it  , multiply 17.989 x 3 = (yes thats an equals sign) 53.97MHz. So my tester is working after all that  .

I enjoyed building the kit and it looks pretty neat in its acrylic case but like so many of these kits, the documentation is piss poor at best. The Chinese really need to up their game when it comes these inexpensive TE kits.

[bd139]

If you think that's bad buy one of these pieces of shit 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32801038540.html

There are no instructions usually, half the resistors and capacitors are off, you have to decipher the IF can colours and when you do find some shonky instructions on the internet the transistors all get rather toasty and smoke comes out because the thing is poorly biased