Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

  now you just have to wait a week or so until their stock is gone

[tggzzz]

The resistor decade box is definitely top shelf though, scientific grade in good condition and also dead on accurate. It has proven invaluable with all the questionable multimeters i buy.

I only have a couple of decent resistors (and several very acceptable ones). I do my voltmeter testing with a 7 decade KVD like this: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/metrology/teardownjulie_reasearch_labs_vdr1067_vdr307_kelvin_varley_voltage_divider/

It will never be "top shelf" though. Getting it onto the bench is dangerous enough!

The first fundamental rule of TEA, there will always be better. The second fundamental rule of TEA, the top shelf is not the limit, in either storage or quality.

Given my KVD weighs 45lbs, "top shelf" is not an option. Even "benchtop" is stretching it (where "it" == my arms).

I think it's top shelf now but if i were to get a meteorological grade decade box of any decade it would become a lot less usefull in comparison 

At first I presumed you had used a spulling chucker, but then I finished reading the sentence

[Specmaster]

now you just have to wait a week or so until their stock is gone

I like their quality and the look, now I rather fancy their function generator 

I see you already have their power supply 

[bd139]

I had a TG210 function generator. Rock solid bit of kit. Triangle and square to 2MHz. My DG1022Z can’t manage a ramp of more than 100KHz.

Power supplies are good too. Well the later ones are. The early black and white ones are dicks. Late PL310/320/330 are good. There’s one for sale on eBay at the moment but it’s broken even though it looks like it isn’t.

[mnementh]

The resistor decade box is definitely top shelf though, scientific grade in good condition and also dead on accurate. It has proven invaluable with all the questionable multimeters i buy.

I only have a couple of decent resistors (and several very acceptable ones). I do my voltmeter testing with a 7 decade KVD like this: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/metrology/teardownjulie_reasearch_labs_vdr1067_vdr307_kelvin_varley_voltage_divider/

It will never be "top shelf" though. Getting it onto the bench is dangerous enough!

The first fundamental rule of TEA, there will always be better. The second fundamental rule of TEA, the top shelf is not the limit, in either storage or quality.

I think it's top shelf now but if i were to get a meteorological grade decade box of any decade it would become a lot less usefull in comparison 

Of course it's never fully top shelf until you have the best makes and the latest models. But in reality it's subjective, someone with cheapo, often free Harbour Freight meter would kill for those you own [emoji23]

A year ago i was that guy with hazard fraught multimeter 

Traumatized me so much i went completely overboard on quality.

So you're saying that Horror Frigg-it was your gateway drug then? 

They seem to serve that role for many folks in many disciplines... all of which I at least dabble in. 

Indeed. Last time I got invited to someone's office to empty it out, we found an Avaya telecoms switch which didn't work, a fridge with a cthulhu growing in it and some dead rats. That's as far as my luck ever goes!

Last steady gig I had, the Cthulhu in the back of the fridge kept eating our lunches until we put the boss's birthday cake in there. 

Enjoy: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/tektronix-new-8-channel-scope-with-the-largest-touchscreen-display/

Thanks for bringing up that clustercopulation.

Well, there's 10 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Though... bd139 did, IMO, make the most salient post of the entire exchange:

« Reply #91 on: October 13, 2017, 07:05:35 AM »
 
I showed my wife this thread as a neutral party of the opposite gender.

Her muttered comments were:

1. Not an engineer with nails like that. They’d break in two minutes flat.
2. She’s just earning a living.
3. You’re not thinking about buying one of them are you? You’ve already got lots of oscilloscopes.
4. Wow people take things way too seriously.
5. What’s the big red thing that looks like a butt plug?


The following users thanked this post: mnementh

You better treat that woman right; she's too good for you. 


mnem
 

[Specmaster]

You better treat that woman right; she's too good for you. 

mnem
 

I don't think you have anything to worry about on that score 

EDIT.

[mnementh]

You better treat that woman right; she's too good for you. 

mnem
 

I don't think you have anything about on that score 

As in "You don't have anything to talk about on that score" ?

Damn skippy. Many times I've though to myself "This woman has known me for nearly 2 decades, and not only has she not run off screaming into the wilderness, she hasn't cut my throat or kicked me to the curb. She has to be absolutely bonkers."

Alas, as I am the beneficiary of said madness, I am loathe to bring up the point to her lest she come to her senses. 


mnem
"When you fall in love, you leave your brains at the door." ~ my mother

[Specmaster]

You better treat that woman right; she's too good for you. 

mnem
 

I don't think you have anything about on that score 

As in "You don't have anything to talk about on that score" ?

Damn skippy. Many times I've though to myself "This woman has known me for nearly 2 decades, and not only has she not run off screaming into the wilderness, she hasn't cut my throat or kicked me to the curb. She has to be absolutely bonkers."

Alas, as I am the beneficiary of said madness, I am loathe to bring up the point to her lest she come to her senses. 


mnem
"When you fall in love, you leave your brains at the door." ~ my mother

Well not quite that  I just read what I actually wrote and there was a major typo, more of a word missing, I'm editing it now. 

[bitseeker]

We must have a TEA and BISCUIT party then 

 

What about a kolache too?

keithey
owners
love
additional
calibrated
hobby
equipment

Sounds tasty!

[Specmaster]

We must have a TEA and BISCUIT party then 

 

What about a kolache too?

keithey
owners
love
additional
calibrated
hobby
equipment

Sounds tasty!

Maybe on my anniversary in 13 days time, it'll be 1 year since i joined this fun group / forum 

[Cerebus]

My TF930 finally landed a few minutes ago. Slightly, ever so slightly dusty, otherwise mint condition.

Very sensitive. I stuck a 10x scope probe onto it to clip it to the compensation output on the front of the scope - nearest signal source to hand - for a basic test. Once I was done I just stuck the probe to one side next to a mains distribution block and it happily started displaying the mains frequency.

For all of you complaining of the display not being backlit - get to the opticians. It's sitting two meters away in the living room illuminated by - gets luxmeter* - replaces luxmeter battery - 40.5 lux and it's clear as a bell.

I've found a DC jack that will fit, but now I have to find the calipers and micrometer to figure out what size it is. More later once I've found them.

*Of course I had a luxmeter in the other room, this is TEA you know.

[Specmaster]

My TF930 finally landed a few minutes ago. Slightly, ever so slightly dusty, otherwise mint condition.

Very sensitive. I stuck a 10x scope probe onto it to clip it to the compensation output on the front of the scope - nearest signal source to hand - for a basic test. Once I was done I just stuck the probe to one side next to a mains distribution block and it happily started displaying the mains frequency.

For all of you complaining of the display not being backlit - get to the opticians. It's sitting two meters away in the living room illuminated by - gets luxmeter* - replaces luxmeter battery - 40.5 lux and it's clear as a bell.

I've found a DC jack that will fit, but now I have to find the calipers and micrometer to figure out what size it is. More later once I've found them.

*Of course I had a luxmeter in the other room, this is TEA you know.

Haha I have a lux meter as well but I don't have the 2 metre distance between me and the counter, unless I push my chair though into my sons bedroom. Those LCD displays do not read easily at acute angles, and I already wear glasses, just recently purchased following an eye test [emoji23]

[mnementh]

You better treat that woman right; she's too good for you. 

mnem
 

I don't think you have anything about on that score 

As in "You don't have anything to talk about on that score" ?

Damn skippy. Many times I've though to myself "This woman has known me for nearly 2 decades, and not only has she not run off screaming into the wilderness, she hasn't cut my throat or kicked me to the curb. She has to be absolutely bonkers."

Alas, as I am the beneficiary of said madness, I am loathe to bring up the point to her lest she come to her senses. 


mnem
"When you fall in love, you leave your brains at the door." ~ my mother

Well not quite that  I just read what I actually wrote and there was a major typo, more of a word missing, I'm editing it now. 

I stand behind my statements; I regret nothing. 

My TF930 finally landed a few minutes ago. Slightly, ever so slightly dusty, otherwise mint condition.

Very sensitive. I stuck a 10x scope probe onto it to clip it to the compensation output on the front of the scope - nearest signal source to hand - for a basic test. Once I was done I just stuck the probe to one side next to a mains distribution block and it happily started displaying the mains frequency.

For all of you complaining of the display not being backlit - get to the opticians. It's sitting two meters away in the living room illuminated by - gets luxmeter* - replaces luxmeter battery - 40.5 lux and it's clear as a bell.

I've found a DC jack that will fit, but now I have to find the calipers and micrometer to figure out what size it is. More later once I've found them.

*Of course I had a luxmeter in the other room, this is TEA you know.

Haha I have a lux meter as well but I don't have the 2 metre distance between me and the counter, unless I push my chair though into my sons bedroom. Those LCD displays do not read easily at acute angles, and I already wear glasses, just recently purchased following an eye test [emoji23]

So now should we call you Spectacle-master? 


This is something I stumbled across while digging around in one of my lesser used cabinets; a remnant of my old analog days. Not exactly a Lux Meter, but there is a cheat-sheet here around here somewhere that lets you convert this meter's output to Ft-Candles dependent on the scale settings.


mnem
*Member of the 4-Eyez Club since nineteen-mumblety-mumble*

[bd139]

20/20 vision, no glasses here 

Apart from the massive bastard floater in my left eye 

[Specmaster]

You better treat that woman right; she's too good for you. 

mnem
 

I don't think you have anything about on that score 

As in "You don't have anything to talk about on that score" ?

Damn skippy. Many times I've though to myself "This woman has known me for nearly 2 decades, and not only has she not run off screaming into the wilderness, she hasn't cut my throat or kicked me to the curb. She has to be absolutely bonkers."

Alas, as I am the beneficiary of said madness, I am loathe to bring up the point to her lest she come to her senses. 


mnem
"When you fall in love, you leave your brains at the door." ~ my mother

Well not quite that  I just read what I actually wrote and there was a major typo, more of a word missing, I'm editing it now. 

I stand behind my statements; I regret nothing.  [emoji14]

My TF930 finally landed a few minutes ago. Slightly, ever so slightly dusty, otherwise mint condition.

Very sensitive. I stuck a 10x scope probe onto it to clip it to the compensation output on the front of the scope - nearest signal source to hand - for a basic test. Once I was done I just stuck the probe to one side next to a mains distribution block and it happily started displaying the mains frequency.

For all of you complaining of the display not being backlit - get to the opticians. It's sitting two meters away in the living room illuminated by - gets luxmeter* - replaces luxmeter battery - 40.5 lux and it's clear as a bell.

I've found a DC jack that will fit, but now I have to find the calipers and micrometer to figure out what size it is. More later once I've found them.

*Of course I had a luxmeter in the other room, this is TEA you know.

Haha I have a lux meter as well but I don't have the 2 metre distance between me and the counter, unless I push my chair though into my sons bedroom. Those LCD displays do not read easily at acute angles, and I already wear glasses, just recently purchased following an eye test [emoji23]

So now should we call you Spectacle-master? 


This is something I stumbled across while digging around in one of my lesser used cabinets; a remnant of my old analog days. Not exactly a Lux Meter, but there is a cheat-sheet here around here somewhere that lets you convert this meter's output to Ft-Candles dependent on the scale settings.


mnem
*Member of the 4-Eyez Club since nineteen-mumblety-mumble*

Anyone else got an RCD tester?

[Specmaster]

20/20 vision, no glasses here 

Apart from the massive bastard floater in my left eye 

Those shades are hiding your floater I suppose [emoji16]

[tautech]

If anyone has managed to work out the size of the DC connector on the TF930, please can you let me know. I can't get my crappy calipers in the hole to measure the centre pin size.

Small diameter holes can be checked with the shank of small drill bits until a snug fit is found, then measure the drill shank. A selection of engineers small # drills is useful for this but they're typically imperial but easy to convert to metric.

[Specmaster]

Your right, all my drill sets are in the garage buried somewhere and if no one has found the size by tomorrow, I'll dig them out and measure it so I can get another supply rigged up.

[Kilo Tango]

Can't you estimate the plug size from the pin diameter ?. there are 3 main sizes, 1.4mm ( small) 2.1mm ( bigger ) and 2.5mm ( even bigger ). I would think that the 2.5mm is mainly for things that take a lot of current and this takes about 15VA so probably one of the 2 smaller sizes.

You could always buy 5 of each, they cost around £0.99 so you have some for next TEA time purchase. 

No mine hasn't arrived yet. 

Ken

[bd139]

There’s also 1.7. It’s either 1.4 or 1.7.

I wish there was a better DC jack standard.

[tautech]

There’s also 1.7. It’s either 1.4 or 1.7.

I wish there was a better DC jack standard.

Really ? 

So let's standardise on something like 2.1 x 5.5......yeah right, it's way overkill for a Bluetooth hands-free earpiece.
Horses for courses.

[Specmaster]

Can't you estimate the plug size from the pin diameter ?. there are 3 main sizes, 1.4mm ( small) 2.1mm ( bigger ) and 2.5mm ( even bigger ). I would think that the 2.5mm is mainly for things that take a lot of current and this takes about 15VA so probably one of the 2 smaller sizes.

You could always buy 5 of each, they cost around £0.99 so you have some for next TEA time purchase. 

No mine hasn't arrived yet. 

Ken

Well it has got a bit further to then most.

[Specmaster]

There’s also 1.7. It’s either 1.4 or 1.7.

I wish there was a better DC jack standard.

Really ? 

So let's standardise on something like 2.1 x 5.5......yeah right, it's way overkill for a Bluetooth hands-free earpiece.
Horses for courses.

Well it certainly is not 2.1, thats quite large in comparison. The actual plug is a tad larger then the ones fitted to Nokia phone chargers.

[tautech]

There’s also 1.7. It’s either 1.4 or 1.7.

I wish there was a better DC jack standard.

Really ? 

So let's standardise on something like 2.1 x 5.5......yeah right, it's way overkill for a Bluetooth hands-free earpiece.
Horses for courses.

Well it certainly is not 2.1, thats quite large in comparison. The actual plug is a tad larger then the ones fitted to Nokia phone chargers.

Scroll through to find the right one:
https://www.jaycar.co.nz/interconnect/plugs-sockets-adaptors/dc-power/c/300I
Calipers, some drills or various wire diameters and you'll have it sorted in minutes.
It ain't rocket science.

[bd139]

There’s also 1.7. It’s either 1.4 or 1.7.

I wish there was a better DC jack standard.

Really ? 

So let's standardise on something like 2.1 x 5.5......yeah right, it's way overkill for a Bluetooth hands-free earpiece.
Horses for courses.

2.1x5.5 connectors are stupid. Most are quoted to 1A max. Micro USB can do better than that. This is the problem. There are so many better options out there. Also ones which have defined standard voltage and simple current negotiation. Also no insidious devices where someone uses the centre pin for ground. And they fall out, wear out, have exposed conductors etc.

I’m using high quality DB9’s on my TRX as a power bus.