Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tggzzz]

Have just cancelled my house sale. Whole fucking chain has fallen to bits. So far about £3000 down the shitter

I am now stuck with my little corner for more months. I actually have a half height rack that is currently living in my parents' garage at the moment which I nabbed from work which was going in the new house and was going to be filled with marvellous TEA toys. It will have to sit and rot for longer.

We're discussing buying somewhere out in the sticks that no one wants to live now because we're fed up of the human race.

Bummer.

At least in the sticks you would have more time for using the equipment, because the internet connectivity is, um, leisurely.

[bd139]

True! I’m in the middle of one of the most populated bits of London and it’s leisurely here. Can’t even get fibre and it tops out at 10 megs plus contention on top of that. It really annoys me that I go to some village in the middle of nowhere and they have fibre boxes

[AF6LJ]

Have just cancelled my house sale. Whole fucking chain has fallen to bits. So far about £3000 down the shitter

I am now stuck with my little corner for more months. I actually have a half height rack that is currently living in my parents' garage at the moment which I nabbed from work which was going in the new house and was going to be filled with marvellous TEA toys. It will have to sit and rot for longer.

We're discussing buying somewhere out in the sticks that no one wants to live now because we're fed up of the human race.

Bummer.

At least in the sticks you would have more time for using the equipment, because the internet connectivity is, um, leisurely.

I think after withdrawal and the DTs I could get use to life below 50mb downstream.
I might have to attend IA meetings.......

[Specmaster]

True! I’m in the middle of one of the most populated bits of London and it’s leisurely here. Can’t even get fibre and it tops out at 10 megs plus contention on top of that. It really annoys me that I go to some village in the middle of nowhere and they have fibre boxes

I'm going to piss you off then with the test results on mine, and thats with a full network in the house and 2 wireless access points plus the hub and I have in my lab a 24 way switch with about 14 devices linked up to system and currently at the time this test was run, there was 3 desk top computers, 1 laptop, 3 tablets, 4 phones, 2 games consuls, 2 smart TV's, 1 printer and 2 NAS drives otherwise it would much nearer to 300mb/s download speed.

Maybe you should move next door?

[bd139]

But it’s virgin media

I’m on zen with adsl2 at the moment. It’s a business line however.

[Specmaster]

Precisely my point, in my street because I requested the upgraded speed, 300MB/s can be achieved and is one of the few streets in the area to have it 

[mnementh]

Apologies for the length - but these are not simple conditions.....

And inaccurate !

However, some of those satisfied with this are conflicted when they encounter manufacturer issues - such as Siglent  Tektronix rust. 

FYI
Siglent don't have a monopoly on chassis rust, which BTW on cut panel edges goes no further due to the cathodic protection of the zinc plating.

I've never seen any rust in a Siglent chassis but I don't teardown each instrument I sell and a Tektronix TDS2012B that was my first DSO has very noticeable rust on the guillotined chassis edges, which again goes no further due to the same zinc plating protection.

As this Tek is older than any equipment Siglent has ever built, Tektronix are really the marketplace leaders in chassis rust.       

How about making it brand agnostic? I changed it thusly: "However, some of those satisfied with this are conflicted when they encounter manufacturer issues - such as chassis rust."

I think he was referring in particular to the phenomenon of Siglent gear coming NIB from an authorized vendor with rust on large areas of chassis parts and undersides of covers due to their use of cheapest possible unplated cold-roll steel sheet; something I have yet to encounter on HP or Tek gear. I've seen this in ProTek "scholastic grade" gear as well.

IMO, specifying it as "Siglent Rust" is quite reasonable IN CONTEXT.


mnem
*Rusty, crusty ol' tinkerdwagon*

[bd139]

I’ve always thought that HP screws rust faster than a Lada.

[Specmaster]

Nowt wrong with my HP screws, cant say the same for the screws on one of my newly acquired Fluke 27s though, it looks like its been sat in a pool of water or some other corrosive substance for a long time, good job job they are waterproof and the rubber washers were still in place on the screws.

[bd139]

I’m hoping my Keysight U1241C is built like that. Time will tell

Older HP kit from the 60’s and early 70’s has rusty bits terribly.

[tautech]

Nowt wrong with my HP screws,.........

Yeah right !

Memory loss ?

.......HP1740 timebase grubscrews...........

[bd139]

Hope no one won the HP 427A on eBay that just finished. Was going to bid but noticed at the last minute the zero cal screw cap on the meter was missing meaning you can’t zero the thing.  Shame really.

[Specmaster]

Nowt wrong with my HP screws,.........

Yeah right !

Memory loss ?

.......HP1740 timebase grubscrews...........

No visible sign of rust on the grub screw under the microscope, more of a loss of a distinct hexagonal hole to allow the Allen key wrench to get a good enough purchase on the sides to undo it. Looked like some muppet had over tightened them with a undersized key and chewed up the head.       

[bd139]

The phantom buggerizer struck one night and ruined all your screws with his mighty stick of buggery, or so the legend goes

[Specmaster]

Hope no one won the HP 427A on eBay that just finished. Was going to bid but noticed at the last minute the zero cal screw cap on the meter was missing meaning you can’t zero the thing.  Shame really.

May be the same Muppet, oh you was after that one then, thought you was after one that finished earlier.

[Specmaster]

The phantom buggerizer struck one night and ruined all your screws with his mighty stick of buggery, or so the legend goes

Haha that sounds like something might have come out the BFG's mouth.

[neo]

Well i was going to buy a Fluke 8505A from Specmaster, but, Ebay global shipping being what it is, that was rendered impossible.

So instead i bought a HP 5346A instead, and i got my eyes on some nixie tubes to cheer myself up.

Oh and i also bought a capacitance decade box, damn it if addictions were games i'd be racking up a hell of a score! 

Edit to add: That HP is shown working and was last calibrated in '97.

[Specmaster]

Well i was going to buy a Fluke 8505A from Specmaster, but, Ebay global shipping being what it is, that was rendered impossible.

So instead i bought a HP 5346A instead, and i got my eyes on some nixie tubes to cheer myself up.

Oh and i also bought a capacitance decade box, damn it if addictions were games i'd be racking up a hell of a score! 

Edit to add: That HP is shown working and was last calibrated in '97.

Yep, it sits here already boxed up and sealed waiting for the Ebays green light to flash indicating that it was eligible for the global shipping but because multimeters fall into the business and industry category, Ebay UK cannot allow it. Even when told that Ebay USA accepted it when I purchased it? Its a bit like saying its OK to import a banned substance but you can't export it. I can't understand the logic in that at all.

Edit; Looks like a nice meter as well, but once again its a big old boat anchor and theres no room for that size of anchor in my harbour 

[neo]

You see the boat anchors serve a purpose in my case, without them my table might even get up and walk off...   

[Specmaster]

You see the boat anchors serve a purpose in my case, without them my table might even get up and walk off...   

If it did that it'd take your racked up score with it 

I only just noticed that the anchor in question doesn't have the capability of measuring currents and yet they call it a multimeter, much the same as the 8505A less the options. Makes you have a even greater appreciation for the humble hand held meters, they are the Swiss army knife in comparison.

While comparing my Fluke 27's against my other hand helds, I only just noticed that my old Robin OM840 was actually a 4.5 digit one, spends most of its life tucked away in its case as its a manual ranger, but like the flukes does not auto switch off so good for extended tests. I must get it out more often.

[neo]

Current is nice but then again all you need to do to measure that is have a low value resistor, measure it, then measure the volts. Not perfect i will admit but it has served me well. Though i have a Keithley 177 that i can use for known small current checks.

P.S. Anyone know where i can get the current fuses for my fluke 8010A and 8000A?

[Specmaster]

Current is nice but then again all you need to do to measure that is have a low value resistor, measure it, then measure the volts. Not perfect i will admit but it has served me well. Though i have a Keithley 177 that i can use for known small current checks.

P.S. Anyone know where i can get the current fuses for my fluke 8010A and 8000A?

I think you'll find RS stock them.

[bd139]

RS stock both for certain. The one in your 8010A is an HRC and will set you back some cash. Farnell sell them individually.

Back on the subject of the T12 soldering stuff. Got my little 100W boost converter from China this morning. Have hooked it up to the T12 and a hefty new 13.8v radio power supply (20A) to see what sort of load I am likely to see and it can’t deiver more than 16v into the T12 without stalling and whining away like mad. Total shit. Widlarizing the turd tomorrow. I stuffed a fat 15000uF 50v cap across the input as well and that didn’t even help.

[neo]

I meant the little 2A fuse on the input jack. RS i don't believe will sell to me.

[bd139]

Oh that thing. Should be able to get that locally.