Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bitseeker]

There are some sources, archive.org is one of them Did you see, that they have a full manual section?
There is also that polish repository you might already know - the repo is huge!

Thanks, frozenfrogz. I didn't know about the polish repository. Huge, indeed!

[BravoV]

Yeah, you can say that again. Looks almost new. What a score! Can't wait to see how it performs.

Thanks, and yes, as I'm going to tear it down for inspection is has some very-very faint ticking sound when powered on, suspect something stuck at rear fan. Also planning to replace the floppy drive with floppy emulator that uses USB thumb drive.

[neo]

Anyone here understand how the HP 5340a counts? 

What i wouldn't give for a gigantic laid out schematic of the thing with actual signal paths and not notations. 

[Specmaster]

Having just received the 7A18 spare knobs i noticed that the shaft length is different, so now I'm forced to buy a coupling shaft. But that should be here in a few days, and i now have most of a 7A18, shafts included.

All i took off the thing was the 2 volt div knobs, a volt div vernier and a single screw.

But to buy those would cost more than you paid for the whole thing and you still have more spares for later should you need any.

[neo]

Having just received the 7A18 spare knobs i noticed that the shaft length is different, so now I'm forced to buy a coupling shaft. But that should be here in a few days, and i now have most of a 7A18, shafts included.

All i took off the thing was the 2 volt div knobs, a volt div vernier and a single screw.

But to buy those would cost more than you paid for the whole thing and you still have more spares for later should you need any.

True, i can also add Lockheed Martin to my growing collection of notable previous owners.

Just curious, is collecting things due to prior owner a form of TEA or a side effect?

[Specmaster]

I don't think so but it does add another interesting dimension, a bit like the people who buy an old school bus and convert them into nice RV's, they nearly always seem to be able to track down their buses complete history, also the vintage car brigade and thats sometimes interesting to know who had it before you I think.

[neo]

I don't think so but it does add another interesting dimension, a bit like the people who buy an old school bus and convert them into nice RV's, they nearly always seem to be able to track down their buses complete history, also the vintage car brigade and thats sometimes interesting to know who had it before you I think.

Currently i have two collections, more multimeters than i can count and what used to belong to notable entities.
8300, USAF
8400, i know the spare parts came from government but i don't know which part. They kept the labels.
3456, Martin Marietta, part of lockheed martin
608C, USN
5340, communications satellite corp of Washington DC
2 of the oscilloscope plug ins, 7A18 and 7B53 came from DOT aviation division. Another came from lockheed martin thus entailing a long list of possible alphabet agencies.

[bd139]

My old Philips PM3217 was previously owned by the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment 

[neo]

My old Philips PM3217 was previously owned by the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment 

Neat! 

[Specmaster]

I have several fluke meters that came from RAF and Army, a Solartron  bench meter ex Royal Navy and a while ago I had a Marco r RF generator that was ex military, not sure of which division and a old Hartley 13 oscilloscope, again not sure of its precise origins and I have a bench meter Keithley 160 which had a military style ID written on the case, which I removed and repainted as it was in a bad state cosmetically.

[GerryBags]

My old Philips PM3217 was previously owned by the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment 

I used to live on a boat within sight of one of the facilities on Foulness. I'm not sure, but I think that was an AWE site for donkeys' years. You still get them blowing up things there on a regular basis.... nothing atomic but big enough booms to make the whole deck throb when the tide was in.

I've seen a guy who has a stack of Tek 2465's in rack mounts from an MOD facility. I hope he has some left when my bank account heals up from the knifing I've given it the last couple of months.

[bitseeker]

Just curious, is collecting things due to prior owner a form of TEA or a side effect?

It might be a variant or related to EMI. Sounds like a good condition to add to the glossary. Needs a name.

[neo]

Just curious, is collecting things due to prior owner a form of TEA or a side effect?

It might be a variant or related to EMI. Sounds like a good condition to add to the glossary. Needs a name.

POS
Previous Owner Syndrome, when you collect and hoard based solely on who previously owned it. Extreme cases may included ex-military, ex-government and detailed notes of provenance. Aerospace, nuclear as well as corporate origins also qualify. Highly prized would be items which possess a metal identification tag on their front, or some other means of direct identification though also qualifiable is probable origins as well as associated origins. Functionality is of course a bonus, as is knowing the actual history.

Hows that?

[Brumby]

My suggestion:

NSA - Nefarious Source Acquisition.  Describes equipment and materials that have been obtained due to their history, previous ownership or use, such as ex military, aerospace or nuclear industry items.  Highly prized are those with a means of positive identification, such as customized front panel, enclosure and/or markings.  Functional capability is a bonus.  Similar to POS, NSA is further down the rabbit hole, especially when it comes to being able to (or not able to) trace the chain of ownership.  Sufferers of NSA (and POS) have a number of similarities in behaviour to those with EMI and material discussing EMI is useful in understanding NSA and POS.

(Amendment to include POS)
(Another amendment to cross reference EMI)

[Brumby]

I'm going to get tagged by the NSA for that ... aren't I?

[neo]

I'm going to get tagged by the NSA for that ... aren't I?

Maybe, but then again i'm the one purposefully buying with POS.

[bitseeker]

These are great. I'm going to further generalize the definition of POS so that NSA is specifically a form of it.

[neo]

These are great. I'm going to further generalize the definition of POS so that NSA is specifically a form of it.

OK, i only made it so specific such as to not leave anything out.

[bitseeker]

Yep, no problem. It made sense since you had posted before Brumby's NSA. I've added them both with the aforementioned adjustments. POS applies to all kinds of sources, whereas NSA is more specifically those more colorful (or dark, as the case may be) ones.

[neo]

Yep, no problem. It made sense since you had posted before Brumby's NSA. I've added them both with the aforementioned adjustments.

A dream realized. 

You worded it wonderfully by the way.  I definitely have symptoms of both.

[mnementh]

https://youtu.be/K9q70zCJYBc

My old Philips PM3217 was previously owned by the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment 

I used to live on a boat within sight of one of the facilities on Foulness. I'm not sure, but I think that was an AWE site for donkeys' years. You still get them blowing up things there on a regular basis.... nothing atomic but big enough booms to make the whole deck throb when the tide was in.

I've seen a guy who has a stack of Tek 2465's in rack mounts from an MOD facility. I hope he has some left when my bank account heals up from the knifing I've given it the last couple of months.

Be it cash, aggravation, time or simple hard work, you'll never regret the wherewithal spent to acquire a 2465/67, no matter which variant. They are like the SR-71; more than just important history, they are the pinnacle of their art form and true works or art in their own right.

Not that I'm prejudiced or anything.

My old Philips PM3217 was previously owned by the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment 

Neat! 

My original Fluke 87 (that I had for 20 years before it was stolen in a house move) was from Philips Lighting; the calibration stickers and the paperwork were from the "Fluke & Philips T&M Alliance". I'm told this was the end of Philips TMI and a significant move for Fluke, garnering them the digital comms instrumentation expertise and custom silicon manufacturing capabilities which ensured that they survive to this day.

I've mentioned before that I have one 2465 that came to me in New York from NASA by means of Albuquerque; then after traveling up & down the Eastern seaboard with me for most of a decade before I settled down, eventually found its way less than 20 miles from home, and the 2230 I'm currently quite annoyed with was originally a steed in Verizon's stable. Of course, who knows where my old HeathKit IM-1202 has been in the last 40-odd years.

I'm going to get tagged by the NSA for that ... aren't I?

You've been seen on my computer; you're already hosed. Sorry about that. 


mnem
I know you're listening.

[BravoV]

I've seen a guy who has a stack of Tek 2465's in rack mounts from an MOD facility. I hope he has some left when my bank account heals up from the knifing I've given it the last couple of months.

Be it cash, aggravation, time or simple hard work, you'll never regret the wherewithal spent to acquire a 2465/67, no matter which variant. They are like the SR-71; more than just important history, they are the pinnacle of their art form and true works or art in their own right.

Similar situation here, a guy here has a working 2467B gathering dust in his garage, still he doesn't want to let it go even he is not interested in electronics. 

[neo]

Speaking of oscilloscopes, I've been thinking as to how my mainframe is configured. I think the 7A18 and 7B53 are from a different oscilloscope system originally. To me at least, the 7B53 doesn't appear to have a place in an oscilloscope with two time base slots.

Perhaps then if i put a 7B80 in it's place and left the rest untouched, would that qualify as well configured? Primary 2 channels at full 200MHz and a further two limited to 75MHz, with a 7B85/7B80 timebase pair.

I need more things to tinker on, so that i'll stop thinking so much. 

[beanflying]

A good mate of mine spent a good amount of time working for DSD in Oz and spent time in unlabeled windowless buildings in the US and under 'special' domes in Oz. I never asked about details because the truth might have been as bad as I thought 

Bite me DSD and NSA 

[Specmaster]

My old Philips PM3217 was previously owned by the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment 

I used to live on a boat within sight of one of the facilities on Foulness. I'm not sure, but I think that was an AWE site for donkeys' years. You still get them blowing up things there on a regular basis.... nothing atomic but big enough booms to make the whole deck throb when the tide was in.

I've seen a guy who has a stack of Tek 2465's in rack mounts from an MOD facility. I hope he has some left when my bank account heals up from the knifing I've given it the last couple of months.

Yes, that site was active for many years, I used to go on site for a company I was working for and drive the length of the island to the top of it. There they used to be some special buildings where they subject normal munitions to various tests to conditions  that they may encounter during storage or movement, so yes, it's not all atomic. Aldermaston was however and when I had to go there, I was always escorted by police on site to the buildings I needed to visit.