Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Vince]

Nope, nothing high-end here. That pickup looks nice with it die cast metal body. Wish I had one though, Google found a NOS one for sale at 189 Euros ?!  

http://www.lasertrader.de/english/index.htm?frame=sg_opticallaserpickup_hifiupto1995.htm

Overpriced though.. since they also sell Philips CDM4/19 used units for 50 Euros, when this one is found in lots of layers you can find for 10 Euros. So I could make a 40 Euros profit for every 10 Euro spent, good deal !    Have a few CDM4/19 but they are cheaply engineered.

Much prefer the cast CDM 4/11 and brushless motor. Have a white one that looks sexy as hell. I am more into old Philips swing arms now, with the CDM4/11 in white being my favorite. The CDM 4/19 was starting to go downhill...

Anyway, the only " high-end" pickup I have, with a cool cast metal body like the one you are talking about, is one I found in a cool Technics player that has linear motor to move the pickup. Looks cool, uncommon. I don't know the make and molde of that pickup, but looks different to the one you are after. Plus, I love this player (from an engineering perspective... as a player it does not work at present.. might try to fix it at some point).

[Saskia]

wow.
Thanks for the link, I thought they had sold out years ago.
btw, totally worth it, the Nakamichi players go for insane money, and I have a couple of those, namely OMS 5/7 Mk2 (both of them), OMS4 and OMS 3, the latter 2 not functioning.

May try to swap out the toasted mechanic from the oms3 and put it into the oms 4, the laser of the 4 is completely toast where as the mechanical drive of the OMS 3 is broken.

[Vince]

Keep in touch Vince. 

Hey no worries I am still there...  only giving up on keeping up with the insane daily traffic on here. Will still keep en eye, and I think also drop a quickie every time I start a new thread in the repair section of the forum, since most of my repairs are about old test gear.
Would probably also post when I have a question related to test gear of course, since the collective knowledge on here is vast no doubt.

Think it might be time to start work on that old Philips scope I bought for dirt cheap some time ago, with the sole purpose of turning a profit.
Might get 50 to 75 Euros from it, if I can fix it. Should be enough to pay the paint I need to buy to finish the house (remains toilets and bathroom to be done).

Slowing down on TEA and lab stuff in favour of the house construction work, but slowing down only, not taking it to a complete stop ! That I could not live with, need my dose of electrons to remain sane 

[Vince]

wow.
Thanks for the link, I thought they had sold out years ago.
btw, totally worth it, the Nakamichi players go for insane money, and I have a couple of those, namely OMS 5/7 Mk2 (both of them), OMS4 and OMS 3, the latter 2 not functioning.

May try to swap out the toasted mechanic from the oms3 and put it into the oms 4, the laser of the 4 is completely toast where as the mechanical drive of the OMS 3 is broken.

Oh, you sound like an audiophile, which I am not... so I will trust you on these players !
Yes, if you can make a working pickup from several spares, that's by far the cheapest route !

[mnementh]

Tried to murder a UNI-T UTG362E ... it survived .. and it has some extra holes here and there 



if you want external ref... go for Feeltech.. they use 10 MHz... and easy to mod..

How was the size of this thing a surprise Tony...? 

The MFR's videos show it next to (IIRC) a 1054Zed, and I've posted numerous pics of this sig-gen with my 54645A all over eevBlog since I got mine for Christmas; first with the wedge base I printed up to tuck it underneath, as seen above, then again a PSA regarding the really crappy BNC jacks that come on it:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg3392706/#msg3392706

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg3410116/?topicseen#msg3410116

You might want to follow up on the latter; I found the BNCs that came on mine were actually damaging the center pin on my BNC cables.

Cheers,

mnem
 

[med6753]

Remember I said that I had strong evidence that nuvistors need an extended burn-in after years of slumber?

To wit: The Type 1A1 Vertical plug-in from the Type 547. It is loaded with at least 6 nuvistors. And I tested it in the Type 535A and topped out both vertical gain pots and couldn't get it spec. Been letting it burn-in all afternoon and now vertical gain is right at spec but gain pots are still topped out. But at least that's progress and I'm sure there's more "gain" to be had.

I'm convinced nuvistors do not like a long Rip Van Winkle sleep.     

[bd139]

Told you there was a project hiding on all those tubes 

[BU508A]

Speaking of projects, I've assembled today one of those huge A4 PCBs designed by Big Clive.
Very satisfying. Just soldering the 1206 and LEDs and then watching the result.
So relaxing ...




And on Saturday a little parcel from China arrived, containing some OCXO and a little surprise add-on:

[xrunner]

3-TEA-printed object

Having an anal need to have my hp power meter sit level atop a different (ahem) manufacturer's item, I whipped up a very simple but useful (for me) part. A riser for the hp style feet.

It fits into the bottom of the foot using a nub that seats into the (almost) square opening. I don't know if anyone has made this before (I didn't see) but it's made now. It's pretty simple but if anyone wants the file let me know. I'd imagine you would want the F360 file, since the height of it now is completely determined by the particular need I had.

[Brumby]

For those of us who wanted some OCXO playthings but don't feel the NEED for 10. This seller has a twofor sale reduced for 3 hours more eBay auction: #143779790317 now for the waiting...... 

You rat bastard.

I stayed away because of the prices for 10 - but now I am waiting on two pair ..... all thanks to you.

AAAAAAAAANNDD.... they are out for delivery today - according to Australia Post (which are pretty spot on with such notifications).

So - someone please tell me - WHY is it that something you are not in a hurry for turns up in 2 weeks, when the estimated delivery time starts at more than 3 weeks and runs out to nearly 11 weeks?

I haven't had time to let the GPSDO thoughts fade away enough to save my wallet.   

[salvagedcircuitry]

Lame-Brain seller alert:
"Channel 3 and 4 just need recalibration"   



Uhh Huh. Sure BoBo. Sounds like your channel 3 and 4 are not working correctly 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/203386304462

[beanflying]

Seriously stop spouting 'maybes' as 'reasons. Life has risks so on this application get over the 

Q1: is it a risk to yourself (->I don't care) or a risk to others (->I do care)?

Q2: is the benefit worth the possible penalty?

Q3: is there another way of avoiding the penalty?

The answer to the first question is the most important, since it trumps Q2 and Q3.

And spouting more  when it is NORMAL industry practice to use this method? Irrational spouting of ambit non specified risks without 'evidence' is just crap.

Hopefully people in industry have been trained what to do and possible hazards. I most countries there is a legal requirement to wear eye protection when carring out this kind of "normal industry practice". This risks may not be obvious to eveyone who might read this forum.

Safety is all about maybes. It's part of of my day job to think of the maybes and ensure they are mitigated against as far as reasonably practical.

Given some of the things written on this forum, I'm certain that risks wouldn't be obvious.

One of the things about professional engineers is that they consider not only how something works, but also how something fails.

So as a 'Professional Engineer' you will be giving out Safety advice about Bridge Building and Construction next too 

[mnementh]

Lame-Brain seller alert:   "Channel 3 and 4 just need recalibration"   

   https://www.ebay.com/itm/203386304462]https://www.ebay.com/itm/203386304462

Uhh Huh. Sure BoBo. Sounds like your channel 3 and 4 are not working correctly 

LOL... looks like one or more of us "advised" him that nobody who would be interested in that scope would take him seriously with a red flag like that in the description; especially at that price.     I'm sure y'all were just as sweet as sugar, too...

mnem
*toddles off to ded* 

[mnementh]

   https://xkcd.com/705/

mnem
you know when you are.

[Saskia]

@beanflying
that's actually quite easy. Don't fall off and don't stand under it while it is collapsing ....

[bd139]

@beanflying
that's actually quite easy. Don't fall off and don't stand under it while it is collapsing ....

I was once told by an engineer of that variety to avoid buildings with roofs and bridges with spans.

[BU508A]

@beanflying
that's actually quite easy. Don't fall off and don't stand under it while it is collapsing ....

I was once told by an engineer of that variety to avoid buildings with roofs and bridges with spans.

I hope, he was a "professional engineer" then.   

[tonyalbus]

Tried to murder a UNI-T UTG362E ... it survived .. and it has some extra holes here and there 



if you want external ref... go for Feeltech.. they use 10 MHz... and easy to mod..

How was the size of this thing a surprise Tony...? 

The MFR's videos show it next to (IIRC) a 1054Zed, and I've posted numerous pics of this sig-gen with my 54645A all over eevBlog since I got mine for Christmas; first with the wedge base I printed up to tuck it underneath, as seen above, then again a PSA regarding the really crappy BNC jacks that come on it:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg3392706/#msg3392706

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg3410116/?topicseen#msg3410116

You might want to follow up on the latter; I found the BNCs that came on mine were actually damaging the center pin on my BNC cables.

Cheers,

mnem
 

Thanks mnem  ,
guess i missed that... yes the bnc's are those white plastic onces.... allmost look like 75 Ohms onces...
but they fitted nice here....maybe they improved?

edit: i read now your post, ..you even mention the 75 Ohm too )

[FransW]

http://w7zoi.net/rca_plugs-sockets.pdf

The article might benefit from an impedance vs frequency graph.
The way it is written does not give any clues.

[Specmaster]

I see that Big Clive is on todays AMP hour with Dave.

[psykok]

Page 3562A...



1 kHz sine fundamental



1 kHz square fundamental with harmonics.

This machine was a lucky eBay score that I got for tiny money.

The 3562A is an amazing piece  of equipment and there is not actual equivalent.

The only downside is the size of this beast.

[beanflying]

@beanflying
that's actually quite easy. Don't fall off and don't stand under it while it is collapsing ....

I was once told by an engineer of that variety to avoid buildings with roofs and bridges with spans.

Professional Software Engineer no doubt 

Fancy Lead Stash arrived today too. Ex Digikey 6 days from order not sure how much cooling the pack was still doing. Plus some other TEA building goodies in the usual oversized box.

[capt bullshot]

Got a small package from china, too.

As I've murdered by my own imbecility my neat and handy AD587 reference board (note to myself: they don't like reverse polarity supply at all  ), I found and ordered some quite cheap AD587 (missed the opportunity to get one of the boards DC1MC discovered).



They arrived in good shape, looked new and pristine, but were quite obvious fakes. Unadjusted output looks OK, but temperature drift and power supply rejection is way off. Also, the external adjustment range doesn't meet the datasheet at all.



At least I've got the refund within half a day and no discussions.

The other item is that neat isolation amplifier (ISO122), quite cheap too.



These also look unused and shiny, and are working too. There's not much of a choice of chips one could package as a faked ISO122 that is working and behaving like an ISO122, so I believe these might be the correct chips inside. But they're at the margins (and somewhat over) of their specs (fuil scale gain, linearity), so I think these might be factory rejects that found their way to chinese sellers.

[BU508A]

Got a small package from china, too.

As I've murdered by my own imbecility my neat and handy AD587 reference board (note to myself: they don't like reverse polarity supply at all  ), I found and ordered some quite cheap AD587 (missed the opportunity to get one of the boards DC1MC discovered).



They arrived in good shape, looked new and pristine, but were quite obvious fakes. Unadjusted output looks OK, but temperature drift and power supply rejection is way off. Also, the external adjustment range doesn't meet the datasheet at all.



At least I've got the refund within half a day and no discussions.

The other item is that neat isolation amplifier (ISO122), quite cheap too.



These also look unused and shiny, and are working too. There's not much of a choice of chips one could package as a faked ISO122 that is working and behaving like an ISO122, so I believe these might be the correct chips inside. But they're at the margins (and somewhat over) of their specs (fuil scale gain, linearity), so I think these might be factory rejects that found their way to chinese sellers.

Do you need some replacements? 

https://www.ebay.de/itm/233981212016



NAWTS 

[capt bullshot]

NAWTS 

NIce, even the price tag looks OK. Still a bit too expensive as I need only one piece.