Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bitseeker]

My car also exploded. The connector overheated, melted and shorted. This caused the shell to vacuum form itself to the firey mess. Fortunately the solder melted before it got really bad.

Now that sounds really over the top when out of context.

[neo]

Well i think i just won two lotteries. The decade box i bought is in fact capacitance which is what i wanted, originally the 3000pf didn't work but that cap wasn't even soldered in. Quick fix there.

Second one is my 3456A showed up today, have yet to test every feature, there are a hundred of them, but what i have tested is spot on. Agreeing with my 8400A to the last digit, this 3456A was made about 91, calibrate in 97 and is my first 6.5 digit meter. 

The packaging actually consisted of 6" think soft foam, like you might see in some beds, and Styrofoam.

[bitseeker]

5346A or 5345A? I've seen the latter, but not the former.

[Specmaster]

Well i think i just won two lotteries. The decade box i bought is in fact capacitance which is what i wanted, originally the 3000pf didn't work but that cap wasn't even soldered in. Quick fix there.

Second one is my 5346A showed up today, have yet to test every feature, there are a hundred of them, but what i have tested is spot on. Agreeing with my 8400A to the last digit, this 5346A was made about 91, calibrate in 97 and is my first 6.5 digit meter. 

The packaging actually consisted of 6" think soft foam, like you might see in some beds, and Styrofoam.

Wheres our TEA porn then?

[neo]

5346A or 5345A? I've seen the latter, but not the former.

3456A, i for the life of me can't keep it straight in my head. 

Really i suck with numbers, edited post to fix it.

[bitseeker]

Ah, OK. No worries. HP model numbers are a pain to keep straight.

[neo]

Wheres our TEA porn then?

Coming soon.

[Specmaster]

Wheres our TEA porn then?

Coming soon.

Wallet = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallet 

[bitseeker]

Wheres our TEA porn then?

Coming soon.

Likewise. My 5327A arrived safe and sound despite being packed rather loosely in its box. As a result, the box ended up semi-deformed after traversing the country. It looks and smells pretty crusty, but does, indeed, have 8 Nixie choobs, all four feet, and even the tilting bail. Wahoo!

I haven't opened it yet to see if it still has its OCXO.

[Neomys Sapiens]

This one btw  I won't be paying Mr Marshman $600 AUD much as it is in mint condition. I do already have the meter for one.

If yours is like that, then its a thing of beauty, look at the lovely condition of it and that wood shines as if its has been french polished all its life.

Oh my. now we are becoming stylish! That is nearly colour-matched to my wooden Tektronix probe boxes!
Nonono! Must not think about! Got bitten by the ESI Dekavider bug, that is bad enough.

[neo]

Something to oggle at, their still not fully warmed up but here you go. https://youtu.be/__m7YoGO87U

[Neomys Sapiens]

IPA as in Isopropanol or as in India Pale Ale?

[Specmaster]

IPA as in Isopropanol or as in India Pale Ale?

Haha you beat me to it.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Still wouldn’t touch them.

TE connectivity make decent ones as well.

Good question: you’ve got a £2000 instrument and you run it on £5 cables.  ... I’ve worked places where the probes and cables cost more than the instruments.

I do not trust TE anymore. Also Telegaertner only for applications, not for T&M.
Besides Amphenol: Radiall, Huber&Suhner, Spinner, Pasternack, Trumpeter, Rosenberger
Also the isolated BNC by MC (Staeubli)

I've relegated nearly all RG-58 to reserve duty, anything in frequent usage is RG-400, RG-223 or Sucoflex.

[bd139]

TE are fine if you pick the ex Greenpar parts out

[kj7e]

Thought I would add more love for the 3456A;



Even love the smell, when it warms up its like a solder flux and nicotine scented candle.

Just thought of something interesting, if I add up all the digits from all of my multi-meters, that comes to 49.5, must find another .5 somewhere.

[Specmaster]

Very nice, but what about the 3478A?

[kj7e]

Very nice, but what about the 3478A?

The 3478A is a great meter, warms up very fast, very stable or maybe its LM399 is just a bit overkill for 5.5 digits.

Fixed it for ya,



Including the 3457A as well;

[Specmaster]

Nice, my preference would be the 3478A's in your line up, you could almost fit 2 of those in the same foot print of the 3456A, I could live without the extra digit 5.5 is heaps for my requirements.

I take it the busbar below the racking, is an earth bar? just curious why you feel the need for such an extra, surely the equipment is on 3 pole plug and sockets so why the extra earthing?

[kj7e]

Solid copper earth bar, 2" braid on the left ties it directly to a 8' ground rod in the shop floor just below it.  From my RF and Broadcast Engineering days, old habits mostly.  It does seem to help when trying to measure at the nanovolt level.  I love over doing grounds, my Ham Radio has another 8' ground rod just below the radio bench and a star point grounding with 2" strap to the HF radio and high power amplifier.  Ground is good.

[neo]

Could someone tell me in laymans terms how to make this thing display all 6 digits?

[mnementh]

My other half didn’t even turn her head when I said “fuck me that’s hot”. Think she’s used to it now.

*From the "Crude, but effective..." Department*




I'm just gonna leave this here, where any dummy load might trip over it... 


mnem

That’s, err, interesting. In a 1950s style, similar to smoking a pipe while cleaning a live radio chassis with a bottle of IPA open on the living room table.

Thanks, I try to keep it amusing. It was this, or two 1KW braking resistors in a bucket. Since I had several coathangers on hand for the cost of "left over from drycleaning" vs around $80 and waiting on the slow boat from China for the resistors, I opted for the former.

A large wirewound resistor in clean water in a glass bowl is hardly what I'd consider a safety hazard, even at ~24VDC. Now if it were the other way around...

Personally, I think pulling 1700W from a PSU connected to a single 120VAC outlet is pretty damned impressive. 


mnem
*tzzzzt*

[neo]

Could someone tell me in laymans terms how to make this thing display all 6 digits?

I found the magic combination of button presses.... This is going to be a steep learning curve.

[bd139]

Personally, I think pulling 1700W from a PSU connected to a single 120VAC outlet is pretty damned impressive. 

Especially with those funny little flame throwing plugs you have over there 

[Specmaster]

Personally, I think pulling 1700W from a PSU connected to a single 120VAC outlet is pretty damned impressive.  [emoji14]

Especially with those funny little flame throwing plugs you have over there 

Which ones, inline connectors or the wall variety?