Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

I recently got a pair of Pomona itty bitties with pogo tips that should be just the ticket if I ever have to extract information from people rather than circuitry. Just hook them up to the PSU instead of the meter. I've already had one up a finger nail, when they do finally lose grip you're exerting a fair amount of force. I'd confess to the Great Train Robbery rather than have that happen again.

I would as well, not a pleasant feeling at all really has the power to make a grown man squeal like a stuck pig[emoji23]

[Specmaster]

Mmm Has Probes. Should I buy a meter to suit 

Certainly buy an Avo, great meters 🤣
Just replace those probes, I think they are terrible compared to todays ones.

[bd139]

Avos are only ok if they haven’t been dropped and have been stored with the movement shorted. Some idiot sellers leave it in volts mode or something and ship it they end up bust. Oh and they need old batteries.

[URI]

Wow, mouser is really challenging me regarding waiting for an order.   
I placed my first order from mouser on October 18th, 2017. Still not delivered.
I ordered just three items:


I already believe Lemo does manufacture all their special connectors manually and on demand.   

And yes, mouser set an arc of suspense by sending emails for every subtle change of my order:
2017, Oct. 19th: Confirmation that one Pomona Triax Cconnector is in stock.   
Nov. 1st: Notice of Estimated Shipment Date for the second item, the Lemo FFA.1S.303.CLAC57: Dec 12th
Nov. 22nd: Update of the notice from Nov. 1st: Dec 6th
Dec. 20th: Confirmation that one Lemo FFA.1S.303.CLAC57 is in stock
Dec. 27th: Notice that no change happened     
2018, Jan. 24th: Notice of Estimated Shipment Date for the first item, the Lemo FFA.1S.303.CLAL62: 2018, Apr. 5th
And last:
Feb. 28th: Update of the notice from Jan. 24th: 2018, Mar. 23rd

I'm so excited, I can't wait any longer.. *noooop* What the **ll is going on there?   

I wonder how Lemo keep up their business. Yes, they will earn their money elsewhere.
But if I had to decide in a project what connectors to be chosen I wouldn't opt for Lemo because of this experience of epic delivery times.   

This is the school of life.. learning how to wait calmly.. *Ommmm.*   

Edit: Typos..   

[Zucca]

Can we make, sorry design, a TEA-Shirt? I woulb be proud to wear it.

[beanflying]

Mouser have been great so far until todays little screwup 

Lucky/Unlucky I need to order a few more bits so they should be able to just add the plastic. Terillium Copper Covered with Pamona gold btw $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.......... 

[Cubdriver]

Ahh!  Found it!  It was in the 'what did you buy today' thread.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what-did-you-buy-today-post-your-latest-purchase!/msg1429850/#msg1429850

D'oh! No wonder why I couldn't find it by searching this thread.

All these threads, they're merging in my mind.

Understandable in this case as that post was a bit of a TEA tangent in the other thread, trying to lure a new sucker ...err... I mean new person to join us in here the loony bin, so it had a definite TEA vibe to it.

-Pat

[Specmaster]

Avos are only ok if they haven’t been dropped and have been stored with the movement shorted. Some idiot sellers leave it in volts mode or something and ship it they end up bust. Oh and they need old batteries.

By old, I take it that you're referring to the 15V one, this can still be purchased OK or you could get 5 x 10L4's and and arrange in a tube and bingo, you have your 15v requirement.

[Neomys Sapiens]

My go-to probes are these sets of Oldaker Screw-Tite modular probes from the Golden Age of HAM radio; I made adapters to fit standard 4mm modular leads when the original shrouds & leads died of crackage. These are all that remain of a dozen pairs of tips and leads bought for cheap (stolen, really) from a local electronics vendor that was closing up when I was in my 20s. They are a joy in the hand, have medium-hard nickel-stainless tips and are medical-sharp when new; I sharpen them sparingly now to keep these last few alive as long as possible, and to dampen their taste for blood a little. 

Cheers,

mnem
"Oww... oww... owwdammit OWWW!" ~ me, more than once.   

They look nice and curvy - you have to be careful not to draw comments from 'Electro Detective' again.

and ~smooth~ pear shaped curves to get techs perving and whistling at the action, and pinching meter bottoms.. 

You are on the safe side as long as you don't give names to them.
BTW, what is the thread size on the probe tip?
Are they still on offer?

As we have established that there is no such thing as 'too many test leads', this came right in from the parcel gremlins:
Keithley Mod.1754 test lead kit, for meters with safety (shrouded) jacks.
The probe handle has a recessed 4mm plug again, which will not fit into safety jacks, because the collar around is a bit larger. Here the various tip attachments can be fitted. (Normal tips, needle tips, spade lugs, alligator clips, 4mm open plugs - and hook tips.) The inclusion of the latter I find interesting.
I am not yet convinced about retention forces - for example with the open 4mm plugs. It is unclear which connection will separate when when you disconnect. But will try them out.

There are further specimen of this kit available on german Ebay.

[bitseeker]

Can we make, sorry design, a TEA-Shirt? I woulb be proud to wear it.

That's a fun idea. How many people would have to buy one in order to get them with the design silkscreened rather than heat transferred (CafePress, Zazzle, etc.)?

[mnementh]

...I sharpen them sparingly now to keep these last few alive as long as possible, and to dampen their taste for blood a little. 
mnem
"Oww... oww... owwdammit OWWW!" ~ me, more than once.   

Yeah, same, after purchasing a couple sets of ProbeMaster DMM probes.

Similar taste for blood to mine, or cost?

Similar taste for blood. Somehow, your quote of me quoting you ended up with an extra line of context that my quote didn't have, resulting in the ambiguity. Fascinating.

Oh, no. That was me editing for clarification; I should have made that clear. Original quote edited again to reflect. 

The taste for blood with these probes is real... an ongoing thing. They have enough weight to drop like a pub dart and they strike in the blink of an eye like a viper; I can't count the number of times they've stuck in a hand or leg over the last *mumblety-mumble* odd years.

My grandfather used to say that "A machine isn't really yours until you'd bled for it."; I think maybe I got the inverse function of that property with these probes. They must own ME and all my offspring by now. 

740B is back on the rack waiting for parts again. Get the feeling a 6 month restoration is coming up ....


Time to defluff the 6632B and fit some Terillium copper front terminals to it. For 100w output the transformer is maybe a little over specced.

I don't think the transformer in my MIG welder is that big.  No, seriously.

My go-to probes are these sets of Oldaker Screw-Tite modular probes from the Golden Age of HAM radio; I made adapters to fit standard 4mm modular leads when the original shrouds & leads died of crackage. These are all that remain of a dozen pairs of tips and leads bought for cheap (stolen, really) from a local electronics vendor that was closing up when I was in my 20s. They are a joy in the hand, have medium-hard nickel-stainless tips and are medical-sharp when new; I sharpen them sparingly now to keep these last few alive as long as possible, and to dampen their taste for blood a little. 

Cheers,

mnem
"Oww... oww... owwdammit OWWW!" ~ me, more than once.   

They look nice and curvy - you have to be careful not to draw comments from 'Electro Detective' again.

and ~smooth~ pear shaped curves to get techs perving and whistling at the action, and pinching meter bottoms.. 

You are on the safe side as long as you don't give names to them.
BTW, what is the thread size on the probe tip?
Are they still on offer?

As we have established that there is no such thing as 'too many test leads', this came right in from the parcel gremlins:
Keithley Mod.1754 test lead kit, for meters with safety (shrouded) jacks.
The probe handle has a recessed 4mm plug again, which will not fit into safety jacks, because the collar around is a bit larger. Here the various tip attachments can be fitted. (Normal tips, needle tips, spade lugs, alligator clips, 4mm open plugs - and hook tips.) The inclusion of the latter I find interesting.
I am not yet convinced about retention forces - for example with the open 4mm plugs. It is unclear which connection will separate when when you disconnect. But will try them out.

There are further specimen of this kit available on german Ebay.

"No! No... He wants the Precious... Always he’s looking for it, and the Precious is wanting to go back to him. But we mustn’t let him have it!" 


mnem
I can neither confirm nor deny any interest in the TEA shirt. 

[bitseeker]

TEA shirt. Very punny.

[frozenfrogz]

I could not resist but to buy a lot of three 1980s hungarian made function generators via small ads.
Seller says they are all in good working condition and I am curiously waiting for the package to arrive...

EMG 1257 TR-0463

0.01 Hz – 10 MHz

[bitseeker]

Cool. I think that's the first bit of Hungarian test equipment I've seen.

[frozenfrogz]

Cool. I think that's the first bit of Hungarian test equipment I've seen.

I'll write a short teardown / initial review when they get here.

I already own an old Voltcraft labeled oscilloscope type 1536 that has also been built by EMG in Hungary.

[Specmaster]

It looks neat and full of function, so lets hope its functional as well.

[beanflying]

Dust levels were beyond a simple air blast. Time for a wet wash..

[tautech]

Dust levels were beyond a simple air blast. Time for a wet wash..

Be careful of static damage using compressed air. Nuked a PC Mobo with just air once ! 

[Mr. Scram]

I could not resist but to buy a lot of three 1980s hungarian made function generators via small ads.
Seller says they are all in good working condition and I am curiously waiting for the package to arrive...

EMG 1257 TR-0463

0.01 Hz – 10 MHz

It looks fabulous. I love that Soviet retro look.

[Zucca]

Nuked a PC Mobo with just air once ! 

How? In my case I noticed the CPU fan was spinning at light speed. Ops... too late I fried the fan driver circuit and who knows what else....

LeLe: If you use compressed air never let the fan spin freely, stick something to block it.

PS: +1 fot the Shirt. Maybe need a separate thread... and someone who comeup with a cool design.

[tautech]

Nuked a PC Mobo with just air once ! 

How?

Hit it with 120 psi to shift all the grud off it.
Been playing around with PC boxes for decades and when I went to power it up again it was dead as a dodo !
Static is the greatest suspect. IIRC the RAM might've been pulled for cleaning too so open static path to the CPU. 

In my case I noticed the CPU fan was spinning at light speed. Ops... too late I fried the fan driver circuit and who knows what else....

Yep, been playing with mechanical stuff and air for decades and seen what things can do if they're spun hard or too long with lots of air. Don't do it, believe me !



Now I use a natural bristle paintbrush and geeeeeentle air !

[Specmaster]

Nuked a PC Mobo with just air once ! 

How?

Hit it with 120 psi to shift all the grud off it.
Been playing around with PC boxes for decades and when I went to power it up again it was dead as a dodo !
Static is the greatest suspect. IIRC the RAM might've been pulled for cleaning too so open static path to the CPU. 

In my case I noticed the CPU fan was spinning at light speed. Ops... too late I fried the fan driver circuit and who knows what else....

Yep, been playing with mechanical stuff and air for decades and seen what things can do if they're spun hard or too long with lots of air. Don't do it, believe me !

I always use either a can of compressed air or a hand pump, not sure of what kind of pressure they are capable of delivering but I seriously doubt that is anywhere near 120psi which to my mind is a little excessive and is certainly capable of doing all kinds of physical damage. It is certainly capable of causing an already temperamental contact to break contact completely but still appear to the naked eye to be OK. 

[bd139]

I use a medium sized horse hair paint brush I nicked off the wife for dusting. This has been used for about a decade with no damage to anything at all. The air dusters are somewhat variable in quality. Occasionally they will squirt a bit of propellant out and freeze something which is annoying.

I use the same brush for washing boards with isopropyl alcohol. That and distilled water from the local garage.

[Specmaster]

I also use a brush, 2" paint brush and so no damage done either with it or the air dusters, they will normally move most of the dust but if any remains IPA moves it effectively if worked with the brush and then the air duster.

[mnementh]

..."No! No... He wants the Precious... Always he’s looking for it, and the Precious is wanting to go back to him. But we mustn’t let him have it!" 


mnem
I can neither confirm nor deny any interest in the TEA shirt. 

TEA shirt. Very punny.

*Ducks random soggy ol' boot thrown in his direction*

Aye... I'm known to pun with neither provocation nor remorse, and the worse the pun the better. 

Nuked a PC Mobo with just air once ! 

How?

Hit it with 120 psi to shift all the grud off it.
Been playing around with PC boxes for decades and when I went to power it up again it was dead as a dodo !
Static is the greatest suspect. IIRC the RAM might've been pulled for cleaning too so open static path to the CPU. 

In my case I noticed the CPU fan was spinning at light speed. Ops... too late I fried the fan driver circuit and who knows what else....

Yep, been playing with mechanical stuff and air for decades and seen what things can do if they're spun hard or too long with lots of air. Don't do it, believe me !

Now I use a natural bristle paintbrush and geeeeeentle air !

While it is theoretically possible to create a static charge with compressed air, it is really hard to do with a properly grounded air compressor; the body of the tank provide an excellent capacitive circuit to ground. Air has to be dry, high volume, high velocity, low pressure from an ungrounded source. Pretty much the exact opposite of what an air compressor generates.

Now on the other hand, a gas-powered leaf-blower can generate quite a charge; but if you're using one of those on PC motherboards, there are a lot of other things in your process that warrant review.

I much more suspect the human element; that you yourself were carrying a static charge, and forgot to discharge yourself ONE TIME out of dozens in a session before reaching for a sensitive piece of electronics.     It's inevitable, really. You work with electronics long enough, it's gonna happen.


That said... I usually use a natural bristle paint brush & a dirt sucker for everything I clean on the bench; compressed air blows schizz all over the place, and it doesn't do me any good to clean the lint & fuzz out of a computer or stereo only to have them sucked into my bench power supply or 'scope.

That's not cleaning; it's Rescue, Rehabilitate & Release for dust bunnies. 

If something is crusty enough to need 120 psi air, I'll take it to the driveway on a crash cart before I unleash the Hounds of Pascal on it's arse.


mnem
*Currently nuking a TSGER T12 Soldering Controller*