Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tautech]

@tautech: that was a bit high for that scope. Works out about £35 here. I'd have paid about £25 for it. My mother did indeed work on the V4 amps. Maybe even in that unit

When I spotted it I immediately thought of you. 
Yeah, $50 was my limit even though it looks a clean as a whistle.
That it had 2x V4 input amps and therefore was 4 ch did temp me.
My guess was the series inrush limiting thermistor on the unreg 30V supply to the EHT inverter.
My D83 had one that had fallen to bits with age and heat and by chance I stumbled on the exact value replacements in an Auckland surplus store. Still got a few as they were cheap as shite. 

You would think that there would be suitable PPTC to substitute; as you have the correct NOS part, you could do your fellow TEA-timers a solid and plot a response curve so they might be able to figure that out for future resurrections. 

OK a pic and a couple of simple measurements.
Telequipment D83 identifier, Part # and Description
    TH301          307-0258-00        Thermistor NTC 130



Garage temp ~20^o 139   Held in fingers for ~1 min 78

In circuit as startup surge control for the EHT inverter it has R310, 220 paralleled with the TH301 NTC thermistor.

[mnementh]

While these measurements are useful, what I was thinking is more current measurements of the circuit it limits; max inrush current and final operating current. This would give folks a baseline of what a healthy, properly operating circuit draws to select an appropriate PPTC. Sorry... since you spoke about repairing a D83 with this part, I thought you had one on hand and could easily do the testing.

Alternately, similar testing with a power supply at similar operating voltage and a variety of resistive loads could help plot a useful response curve for this as a current-limiting device.


Cheers,


mnem
*currently trying to figure out how to decimate my workbench for moving*

[nixiefreqq]

I didn’t hold to myself, and get this big one for 50 bucks seems working fine and pretty neat [emoji18]


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usually 7 segment led counters bore the hell outa' me.

BUT the 5335a is an exception.  interpolation allows it to resolve 9 digits per second.  ya' sure can't do that with a direct count unit.  mine sits on the bench as my every day driver, because it is just plain useful (although without the eye candy of nixies).

looks like you got a great deal on it.   does it have the ocxo option?  seem to remember that adding it involves lifting just one jumper.

[leoakirakblo]

I didn’t hold to myself, and get this big one for 50 bucks seems working fine and pretty neat [emoji18]


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usually 7 segment led counters bore the hell outa' me.

BUT the 5335a is an exception.  interpolation allows it to resolve 9 digits per second.  ya' sure can't do that with a direct count unit.  mine sits on the bench as my every day driver, because it is just plain useful (although without the eye candy of nixies).

looks like you got a great deal on it.   does it have the ocxo option?  seem to remember that adding it involves lifting just one jumper.

No sign of ocxo i took 10mhz from backside [emoji30] i just opened for the first time right  now. No dust or any marks inside just wow!




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[Specmaster]

Yah, postlady has been today and brought my 7045 with her. Early indications are that it is pretty much there on specification, maybe a slight tweak later to bring into line with my 3466A as they disagree by a single least significant digit so I'm a happy camper at the moment. Just going through a cleaning process and later I'll post the cleaned photos (leaving the porn though  ) and maybe I'll tweak it before as well, who knows. This still had the RAF calibration stickers on the sides so that makes my tally of ex RAF instruments something like 12 now, all functioning 

[Specmaster]

I didn’t hold to myself, and get this big one for 50 bucks seems working fine and pretty neat [emoji18]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

usually 7 segment led counters bore the hell outa' me.

BUT the 5335a is an exception.  interpolation allows it to resolve 9 digits per second.  ya' sure can't do that with a direct count unit.  mine sits on the bench as my every day driver, because it is just plain useful (although without the eye candy of nixies).

looks like you got a great deal on it.   does it have the ocxo option?  seem to remember that adding it involves lifting just one jumper.

No sign os oxco [emoji30] i just opened for the first time right  now. No dust or any marks inside just wow!




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Wow, I'd say by the looks of it that its only seen a few hours use in its lifetime, you got a great score there even without the ocxo option fitted 

[Brumby]

Now that ... is ... beautiful.

[AF6LJ]

Nice

[nixiefreqq]

yep....it is like a piece of art inside.  a real beauty.

put an ocxo in mine.......but maybe not worth the bother since usually it is referenced externally with a rhubidum standard.

[leoakirakblo]

yep....it is like a piece of art inside.  a real beauty.

put an ocxo in mine.......but maybe not worth the bother since usually it is referenced externally with a rhubidum standard.

I’m trying to look for rhubidum standard in Japan but i never see in auction. Since last year, some times test equipment from auction in Yahoo Auction Japan you must sign a term declaring that you would not sell to north Korea or will not make use for nuclear test [emoji848]
Btw im following this vintage nixie ddm [emoji23]


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[nixiefreqq]

you used to be able to find lots of lpro-101 rubidium modules on ebay for around 50 bucks.

the word on the street was that they were pulls from cell tower upgrades.

snagged a couple and stuck one in an old hp sweep generator chassis. 

mounted on a beefy side rail it seemed to have adequate heat sinking.

stuck in an old pc power supply for 5v and a junk box 24v supply.

made up some ttl dividers for 5 and 1 mhz outputs and some logic to light a green led when the physics package says it is warmed up.

badda bing.......a useable standard for the bench. (with almost no investment)

48 hour comparison testing against the gps frequency receiver indicated both of my modules agree with gps to about 1 part in 10 to the 11th.

no one ever asked if I was splittin' atoms down in the basement.

[bitseeker]

I’m trying to look for rhubidum standard in Japan but i never see in auction. Since last year, some times test equipment from auction in Yahoo Auction Japan you must sign a term declaring that you would not sell to north Korea or will not make use for nuclear test [emoji848]
Btw im following this vintage nixie ddm [emoji23]


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Great score on that 5335 for only $50. Neat DMM. I haven't seen one of those before.

[Cerebus]

OMG, that twisted pair cable! It looks like it was loomed by hand.

[bd139]

yep....it is like a piece of art inside.  a real beauty.

put an ocxo in mine.......but maybe not worth the bother since usually it is referenced externally with a rhubidum standard.

I’m trying to look for rhubidum standard in Japan but i never see in auction. Since last year, some times test equipment from auction in Yahoo Auction Japan you must sign a term declaring that you would not sell to north Korea or will not make use for nuclear test [emoji848]
Btw im following this vintage nixie ddm [emoji23]


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That looks like a rather nice bit of equipment. I’m slightly obsessed with Japanese engineering from the 1970s and 1980s if I’m honest. Particularly Mizuho radios.

OMG, that twisted pair cable! It looks like it was loomed by hand.

It probably was. I worked with a woman who’s job was making looms like that for avionics kit. Her hobby was lace work. She was a bit weird but the cables were really good.

[tggzzz]

It probably was. I worked with a woman who’s job was making looms like that for avionics kit. Her hobby was lace work. She was a bit weird but the cables were really good.

Early in my first employment there was a new graduate training week. It was ostensibly to give u a a little clue, but I think also allowed the Personnel Department[1] to see which of us had a clue.

One of the activities was learning how to tie up a wiring harness. I never used that skill; thank god for ribbon cable

[1] note to youngsters: back then we were people, not resources

[Cerebus]

It probably was. I worked with a woman who’s job was making looms like that for avionics kit. Her hobby was lace work. She was a bit weird but the cables were really good.

Agreed, I just don't expect hand looming on that kind of cable for production gear from this period; I would have expected the IDC style of twisted pair ribbon cable. Good hand looming persisted in military work until comparatively recently. I suspect it still does for big things like airframes. I had a friend (also female) whose job was crawling around inside Tornados installing the cabling.

[mnementh]

It probably was. I worked with a woman who’s job was making looms like that for avionics kit. Her hobby was lace work. She was a bit weird but the cables were really good.

Early in my first employment there was a new graduate training week. It was ostensibly to give u a a little clue, but I think also allowed the Personnel Department[1] to see which of us had a clue.

One of the activities was learning how to tie up a wiring harness. I never used that skill; thank god for ribbon cable

[1] note to youngsters: back then we were people, not resources

We are still people. It's just the people in charge who've turned into complete tools.


mnem
Inhuman resources is more like it.

[Cerebus]

One of the activities was learning how to tie up a wiring harness. I never used that skill; thank god for ribbon cable

I really enjoy making a good cable loom. I'll get out my lacing cord and the Herlermann-Tyton rubber sleeving (you know the kind, applied with the evil looking three pointed sleeve stretcher) at the flimsiest excuse. Aside from the fact that it produces something that, when finished, allows you to stand back and say "proper job", done properly it's the most reliable way to wire up anything that's going into a harsh environment.

[tautech]

It probably was. I worked with a woman who’s job was making looms like that for avionics kit. Her hobby was lace work. She was a bit weird but the cables were really good.

Agreed, I just don't expect hand looming on that kind of cable for production gear from this period; I would have expected the IDC style of twisted pair ribbon cable. Good hand looming persisted in military work until comparatively recently. I suspect it still does for big things like airframes.

It still does, well here anyway.

One of my customers has a whole lab dedicated to leaching loom building for their trainies.
All manner of cabling types and flyers of any type popping out wherever and length accuracy to just a few mm.
Gorgeous stuff and pretty neat to know it's still being taught.

[nixiefreqq]

40 years ago was shocked when two old timers almost became mortal enemies because one preferred the Kansas city stitch while the other advocated the Chicago stitch.

but then they found common ground on the issue of waxed twine being for wimps while real men used the stuff impregnated with arsenic (to prevent rodent damage?).

all those old ww2 vets retired while I was still a shave tail.  they sure were an interesting bunch.

[tautech]

40 years ago was shocked when two old timers almost became mortal enemies because one preferred the Kansas city stitch while the other advocated the Chicago stitch.

but then they found common ground on the issue of waxed twine being for wimps while real men used the stuff impregnated with arsenic (to prevent rodent damage?).

all those old ww2 vets retired while I was still a shave tail.  they sure were an interesting bunch.

 

Probably to prevent decay like done with CCA for timber treatment.

[nixiefreqq]

hmmmmmm.  could be.  never saw any of that old stuff go rotten.

by the mid 80's it was all done with plastic ties in telephone offices.

by the mid 90's no one knew what a "waterfall" cable job was.  it was just tossed in like a pile of pasta.

[Specmaster]

And now for some 39 year old porn, plastic is a bit delicate as expected but amazingly it is still in calibration, ok, its ex RAF so it has had a few calibration checks in its life but I have no idea when the last one was done, Ni-Cd battery charging board requires attention, someone had a go before and disconnected a couple of diodes and tants, not sure if they spotted the burnt out resistor or not? I'll be working on that soon  and then the 7045 will be joining the 3466A in my bench stack.

Push buttons on the Volts, Amps and resistance ranges have seen some use and just catch the case bottom and were sticking in at times, shaved some of the case away and now work OK so may have to replace the switches in time. The ugly duckling cleaned up pretty well considering how scratched the case is but luckily the front panel is in good shape.








10k 1% resistor


10v reference from AD584-M


Same 10V reference from AD584-M on a HP3466A

[Ero-Shan]

And now for some 39 year old porn, plastic is a bit delicate as expected but amazingly it is still in calibration, ok, its ex RAF so it has had a few calibration checks in its life but I have no idea when the last one was done, Ni-Cd battery charging board requires attention, someone had a go before and disconnected a couple of diodes and tants, not sure if they spotted the burnt out resistor or not? I'll be working on that soon  and then the 7045 will be joining the 3466A in my bench stack.

I have 3 of them, and the plastics of all are just terrible. The top and bottom half barely hold together. The tilt up front looks IMHO ugly, but improves readability quite a bit. I've only done a quick test on one of them, which looked spot on.
And then there were a bunch of them that went to the dumpster where I wasn't able to rescue them, as I learned it only when it was too late.

[Ero-Shan]

After someone posted a link to https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/(deeu)-group-sale-of-5-anritsu-mg3633a-signalgenerators-(10-khz-to-2700-mhz)/ I gave it a try. So I'm finally the owner of an Anritsu MG3633A signal generator. I got lucky: Mine seems to work well, at least up to 1.2 GHz.

So I hooked up my 'new' Kontron counter and gave it a try:



Above 1.123 GHz the counter gave in. So, despite the shabby appearance of Kontron's craftmanship, it functions well (and restores some faith in their engineering competence).

This is TEA at its best (or worst?): I bought a counter to check the signal generator, and the signal generator to check counters. Complete self satisfaction.

Thanks go to capt bullshot and DC1MC for their time, devotion and work.