Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bitseeker]

What say you?

Sold! And duly added. This is an excellent entry that not only has a complete definition, it even includes an example of word usage. Well done!

[rrinker]

 Well, no more TEA but some TLA - Test Lead Acquisition. Did run in to MarkL. I think he took some pictures.
Kind of disappointing. There were some Tek CROs, but the prices were crazy. Not to mention many of them had the modules removed, and then around some other corner you'd find the modules that got pulled, also for crazy prices. Tons of old computers, lots of C64 and C128s, Apple II's, etc. But everything was parted out. They had Disk controllers and lots of disk drives for the Apple II's, but it was all separated. So you could buy an Apple II, but  then you'd have to buy a disk controller and the disk drives. Same with the TRS-80s, they had a few Model 1's, but the were selling the monitors separately. The nice Model 4, they wanted $500 for. No thanks. There was one Timex 1000, another one I somehow lost along the way, but with a peeling keyboard, $50 was way too much. Lots of parts - vintage wire wound resistors and big beercan caps, some stuff is straight out of Radio Shack, still in the original packaging. Tons of hardware, terminal strips, fuses, fuse holders. Bunch of TTL, transistors, diodes, etc.
 I left with a pack of alligator clip jumper leads and 2 sets of dual banana plug to individual red and black banana plug leads for power supplies. Paid too much for each of them, but not a whole lot total. I may or may not go back, maybe if I need an oddball component or something - they have all sorts of odd switches and stuff.

[mtdoc]

I don't know about others, but I seem to be afflicted with a variant of  GAS that I call BATSOWITSEF - "bought a second one with intent to sell the first". (Perhaps a new entry to the glossary?)

My recent relapse into this was buying a second Tek 1103 Tekprobe power supply because it was an even better condition, better deal than the first one I recently bought.  "I'll just sell the first one for what I paid for it"  I've told myself.  We'll see....

[mmagin]

I got a HP 35660A to try to fix.  Damn it's a beast.

On the good side I'm going to be getting rid of my Tektronix 7000 stuff, it's been mostly pain and annoyances for me.

[xrunner]

HP 3478A itinerary.

I noticed it stopped in New Mexico and Arizona to see the sites on the way from California. 

[Cubdriver]

I don't know about others, but I seem to be afflicted with a variant of  GAS that I call BATSOWITSEF - "bought a second one with intent to sell the first". (Perhaps a new entry to the glossary?)

My recent relapse into this was buying a second Tek 1103 Tekprobe power supply because it was an even better condition, better deal than the first one I recently bought.  "I'll just sell the first one for what I paid for it"  I've told myself.  We'll see....

 

I've said that too.

 

-Pat

[med6753]

Well, no more TEA but some TLA - Test Lead Acquisition. Did run in to MarkL. I think he took some pictures.
Kind of disappointing. There were some Tek CROs, but the prices were crazy. Not to mention many of them had the modules removed, and then around some other corner you'd find the modules that got pulled, also for crazy prices. Tons of old computers, lots of C64 and C128s, Apple II's, etc. But everything was parted out. They had Disk controllers and lots of disk drives for the Apple II's, but it was all separated. So you could buy an Apple II, but  then you'd have to buy a disk controller and the disk drives. Same with the TRS-80s, they had a few Model 1's, but the were selling the monitors separately. The nice Model 4, they wanted $500 for. No thanks. There was one Timex 1000, another one I somehow lost along the way, but with a peeling keyboard, $50 was way too much. Lots of parts - vintage wire wound resistors and big beercan caps, some stuff is straight out of Radio Shack, still in the original packaging. Tons of hardware, terminal strips, fuses, fuse holders. Bunch of TTL, transistors, diodes, etc.
 I left with a pack of alligator clip jumper leads and 2 sets of dual banana plug to individual red and black banana plug leads for power supplies. Paid too much for each of them, but not a whole lot total. I may or may not go back, maybe if I need an oddball component or something - they have all sorts of odd switches and stuff.

Oh well, sounds like it was somewhat of a let down. At least you did get to meet a fellow blogger and TEA addict. 

I saw the Tek scopes on their website and I was curious as to the price.

[bitseeker]

@rrinker: Thanks for the Alderaan report. At least you didn't need a truck.

@mtdoc: I've had a few cases of BaSOwItSeF too. Note that I couldn't resolve the extra 'T' in there and dropped it. Hope you don't mind. I also added a definition for the glossary entry.

[Carl_Smith]

Does anyone here have any advice on using some sort of plastic polish to remove minor scratches or abrasions from the displays of test equipment?

I got my latest TEA - a GW Instek GPD-3303S power supply.  Looks good except that it's got a couple scratches on the display and someone tried to remove some gunk on the display with something abrasive so there's a slightly cloudy spot around where the gunk was.  They should have used alcohol to remove the gunk - it was still there and when I wiped it with alcohol it came right off.  The scratches aren't that bad and actually aren't that visible when the display is on, but I figure if it isn't very hard to polish out I might as well try and make it look like new.

Had to rearrange the stuff on my workbench shelves to give it a home beside my other power supply.  The GW Instek multimeter I bought a few weeks ago was given a home on top of my old Tek 465 scope.

[xrunner]

Does anyone here have any advice on using some sort of plastic polish to remove minor scratches or abrasions from the displays of test equipment?

Yep - CD/DVD scratch remover polish. Used it for exactly your issue lots of times. I got mine at the old Radio Shack but you can find it on Ebay. 

[mtdoc]

@mtdoc: I've had a few cases of BaSOwItSeF too. Note that I couldn't resolve the extra 'T' in there and dropped it. Hope you don't mind. I also added a definition for the glossary entry.

Ha! I have no idea where that extra T came from. Thanks for catching it and adding to the glossary.

[mtdoc]

Does anyone here have any advice on using some sort of plastic polish to remove minor scratches or abrasions from the displays of test equipment?

Novus plastic polish works pretty well.

[Towger]

Does anyone here have any advice on using some sort of plastic polish to remove minor scratches or abrasions from the displays of test equipment?

Brasso

[bitseeker]

Does anyone here have any advice on using some sort of plastic polish to remove minor scratches or abrasions from the displays of test equipment?

Additional products that work are automotive scratch/swirl remover/clearcoat polish and motorcycle helmet scratch remover.

For deeper scratches, 1000-3000 grit wet sanding followed by any of the scratch remover or plastic polishes.

[Cubdriver]

A plastic headlight lens polishing kit would give you what you need too.

-Pat

[tggzzz]

Does anyone here have any advice on using some sort of plastic polish to remove minor scratches or abrasions from the displays of test equipment?

Probably better to ask that in the "Repair" sub-forum.

(That would have another advantage: avoiding having an interesting thread derailed.)

[tautech]

There's lots of TE clean up tips in Rob's thread in the Repair subforum:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/vintageclassic-renovation-techniques/

[Martin.M]

my actually problem is still the WAF
(womens acceptance factor)

Martin

[MarkL]

I agree with rrinker about Kemner's in Pottstown, PA.  It was a disappointment.  I ran into him as we were checking out.  I bought some Pomona BNC to banana adapters ($2/ea).  I had already been there for at least two hours and I was on borrowed time at that point.

It's a large warehouse with one main area and about a dozen smaller rooms.  We were greeted at the door and given a 5 minute tour of the place before rummaging around on our own.  It seemed to be a father and daughter running the place.  Religious music was piped into all rooms.

Stuff was mostly organized into shelves and piles, but parts and equipment were spread out everywhere.  It looks like they stopped 99% of their inventory acquisition in the mid- to late-80's.  If I was still experimenting with tube projects/repair, this would have been a goldmine back then.  I was surprised to find a few inches of SMD tape (MMBT3906 transistors) in a parts drawer.

They had a bunch of old scopes, including some Tek 7000 mainframes and plugins, but they were all in need of some serious care and were priced about 2x to 5x what you might find on ebay for stuff in better shape.  Haggling was encouraged, we were told on our tour, but there weren't any high price items I wanted so I don't know how low they would go.  There were some assorted Tek probes that weren't in terrible shape for $25.  I would have bought them for the sticker price if I needed some probes.

There was an RF coupler for $12, which wasn't too bad, and a Tek P6430 temperature probe for $25.  The P6430 is somewhat of a rare item, and was one of the few things priced reasonably (I didn't buy it - nothing to plug it into).

Books, training manuals, and magazines were everywhere from as far back as 1889.  Maybe there were some even older, but every time I started moving around the stacks my nose started running.  Everything was very dusty.  You also had to watch where you were walking.  I was constantly kicking boxes that were placed on the floor in front of the shelves because there was no more room on the shelves.

It would be a good place to play "name that thing".  I recognized almost all of it except for an item or two.  I don't know if that's good or bad.  There's one thing I had no idea, which is the big orange trapezoid thing you can see in one of the pictures.

My wife's favorite item for combined technology was a clock/radio/can-opener.  It was missing the can-opener mechanics.  No surprise.

As far as TEA goes, the visit was partially curative.  I couldn't help thinking about all the stuff that I'm buying (or collecting?) now that will end up rusting away in a place like this.

Here are the photos I took:

  https://www.flickr.com/photos/148987694@N07/sets/72157678542428013

(I generally don't use/like photo sharing sites; hopefully the above works ok.)

If you're in the area, go for the experience.  But if you have TEA with antiquing complications, you might be in trouble.

[Cubdriver]

It looks like someplace I'd get in trouble at.  The distance and prices will likely be enough to keep me away unless I happen to be passing close by for other reasons, though.  That's probably a good thing...

Thanks for the pics.

-Pat

[VK5RC]

Does anyone here have any advice on using some sort of plastic polish to remove minor scratches or abrasions from the displays of test equipment?

As described above almost any light abrasive/polishing cream will help - just watch out for any Text - I have faded the HP logo and model number on one of my units. Do a test off visual axis first. Also be careful, some cloths/tissues/cotton buds can be quite hard and can add scratches.
Car buffing cream/polish, plastic headlight renovating cream.

[rrinker]

I agree with rrinker about Kemner's in Pottstown, PA.  It was a disappointment.  I ran into him as we were checking out.  I bought some Pomona BNC to banana adapters ($2/ea).  I had already been there for at least two hours and I was on borrowed time at that point.

It's a large warehouse with one main area and about a dozen smaller rooms.  We were greeted at the door and given a 5 minute tour of the place before rummaging around on our own.  It seemed to be a father and daughter running the place.  Religious music was piped into all rooms.

Stuff was mostly organized into shelves and piles, but parts and equipment were spread out everywhere.  It looks like they stopped 99% of their inventory acquisition in the mid- to late-80's.  If I was still experimenting with tube projects/repair, this would have been a goldmine back then.  I was surprised to find a few inches of SMD tape (MMBT3906 transistors) in a parts drawer.

They had a bunch of old scopes, including some Tek 7000 mainframes and plugins, but they were all in need of some serious care and were priced about 2x to 5x what you might find on ebay for stuff in better shape.  Haggling was encouraged, we were told on our tour, but there weren't any high price items I wanted so I don't know how low they would go.  There were some assorted Tek probes that weren't in terrible shape for $25.  I would have bought them for the sticker price if I needed some probes.

There was an RF coupler for $12, which wasn't too bad, and a Tek P6430 temperature probe for $25.  The P6430 is somewhat of a rare item, and was one of the few things priced reasonably (I didn't buy it - nothing to plug it into).

Books, training manuals, and magazines were everywhere from as far back as 1889.  Maybe there were some even older, but every time I started moving around the stacks my nose started running.  Everything was very dusty.  You also had to watch where you were walking.  I was constantly kicking boxes that were placed on the floor in front of the shelves because there was no more room on the shelves.

It would be a good place to play "name that thing".  I recognized almost all of it except for an item or two.  I don't know if that's good or bad.  There's one thing I had no idea, which is the big orange trapezoid thing you can see in one of the pictures.

My wife's favorite item for combined technology was a clock/radio/can-opener.  It was missing the can-opener mechanics.  No surprise.

As far as TEA goes, the visit was partially curative.  I couldn't help thinking about all the stuff that I'm buying (or collecting?) now that will end up rusting away in a place like this.

Here are the photos I took:

  https://www.flickr.com/photos/148987694@N07/sets/72157678542428013

(I generally don't use/like photo sharing sites; hopefully the above works ok.)

If you're in the area, go for the experience.  But if you have TEA with antiquing complications, you might be in trouble.

 I see you caught that System/34 up front. Too bad some important pieces are missing.
There were a couple of reels of resistors on top of the one cabinet near the register. I kind of wanted that Heath experimenter unit, it was in great shape, but $75 is too much. They also had next to it all of the parts to go with the courses, for which they had the books over by the computers. But I already have a very large powered breadboard with toggles and pushbuttons (everything but the clock/pulse generator) that came from the electronics lab back in college. I rarely use it because it needs all the breadboard modules replaced, they are getting worn out from probably 20 years of use and another 30 years mostly in storage since I've had it. And I have yet to open it up and see if the caps in the power supply are any good, it does run and puts out close enough o 5V (big TO-3 package regulator and heatsink on top).
 After you left a few more people came in and the daughter was talking to them and mentioned they had only about 10% of their stuff inventoried, so at this point I'm not sure if they even know all of what they have. Could have used that place a year ago - when I checked out I noticed on their flyer it says they take old stuff. I had to pay to have all my old computers and huge box full of various cards hauled away, could have just taken everything except the CRTs there. You probably saw the box of misc computer cars they had sitting across from where all the Apple II drives were, they had a lot, but almost all the same - I had a much better variety   
 It looks like a lot of their stuff came from local school districts. I may stop back again in a few months to see what's new. The daughter also mentioned something about selling on eBay at some point as well.
 And yes, the religious music was driving me nuts.

[mmagin]

I satisfied two of my old HP voltmeter desires in one day:
Yesterday I "won" a Sentinel ME-26D/U VTVM (Second source of the 410B), and I also bought someone's 411A RF millivoltmeter.

I'm justifying this as okay because I have someone coming over in an hour to take my Tektronix 7000 stuff off my hands

[xrunner]

I just checked FedEx tracking and the HP 3478A I was expecting on Wed is already in town! Suhweet! 

[AF6LJ]

I just checked FedEx tracking and the HP 3478A I was expecting on Wed is already in town! Suhweet! 

I have been Jones'ing for one of those..............