Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Cubdriver]

fat lot o' good being a member of this group did me!

swore an oath never to buy another nixie counter.

but decided to attend the fest over in york this morning and spotted this 5221a.

never would have touched it (honest!).....but had never seen one in a carry case before. (already have 2 each working 5221b's)

was about to put it back in its proper place when the guy snuck up behind me and whispered "5 bucks".   

damit!  i am only human after all.

had to wiggle the boards to get it counting.  but now it won't stop.

only 5 digits and 1Mhz.   

what is it goood for?  aaaabsolutely nothin'!

but it sure is cute.


ps  asta and i may both be sleeping in the garage if swmbo spots it.

Hot damn, you STOLE that!!!  It looks showroom fresh!  The one I got a few years ago looks like ten miles of bad road in comparison.

Sweet deal!   

-Pat

[mnementh]

What I like about the XJW01 is the fact that it can fully automatic or you operate manually. I find the auto mode is perfectly acceptable and the screen is illuminated and it displays 7 parameters about the item under test. You simply attach the kelvin clips to the part you want to test and it automatically detect if its a resistor, inductor or a capacitor and select the appropriate mode. The only think you need to do is select the frequency at which to test the capacitors at and thats a single button press that will scroll through the options of 100Hz, 1KHz or 7.8KHz which seems to fit in with most capacitor data sheets I've seen.

The Peak devices give a parameter at a time and you have to scroll through them to get to the one you want.

Of the 3 devices I have, I just did some tests on a known cap, resistor and an unknown inductor...

                                    Transparent case                   Black case                     XJW01
10uF                             10.32uF                                10.23uF                        9.74uF
                                    1.3ohm ESR                           0.84ohm ESR               1.39ohm ESR
                                    0.6% V Loss                           0.5 V Loss                   0.79% V Loss

3.298K                          3.261K                                  3.3K                            3.296K

Unknown Inductor
Pulled from PCB              .08mH                                  .08mH                         .07mH

The XJW01 is the go to tester on the bench the other 2 are useful for given approx values in circuit or as portables and they also have the added advantage of testing diodes and transistors including MOSFETS and will correctly identify the pin outs and the hfe.

So in practise there is very little between the results they present but sheer speed of testing the XJW01 is the clear winner.

There is connection between the screen on the BNC and mains earth so they are floating and the leakage to ground is 1.2v and that maybe more RF induced then actual mains leakage as the case is plastic on mine but the newer ones are extruded alloy but are powered via a wall wart and / or batteries.                         

Okay... that's pretty awesome feedback actually. I see that the AL Shell version has external power; to me this is a plus, especially considering how many 3S/4S LiPos I have floating around.

But... I'm seeing the DE-5000 for $78.00 or $101 full bundle (TL-21 alligators & TL-22 Tweezers) on eBay right now... It's pretty highly regarded here on EEVBlog. Can you make a considered comparison between the DE-5000 and the XJW01?

[EDIT]

Hmmm... the spec sheet for the DE-5000 is pretty informative. 100Hz, 120Hz, 1KHz, 10KHz, 100KHz test frequencies. 20,000uF/2000 H capacity with all the usual test parameters, and AC Resistance at the above test frequencies. Spec sheet says the TL-21 alligators & TL-22 Tweezers are both 4-wire measurement connected at the clips/tweezers. Sort mode with multiple tolerance ranges, and optional serial IR out to PC. Accuracy 0.3% to 3.0% depending on range. All with a common 9V battery for power. That is pretty damned impressive.


Further investigation of that LCR-TC1 Color Component Tester reveal a LOT of functionality for a small price ($US22-26 shipped); the usual Mega328 graphic component ID, looks like LiPo battery power supply built-in (Micro-USB charging?), IR Detector/Decoder, with junction test voltage up to 4.5V so Darlington HFe should be pretty accurate, and zener regulating voltage up to 30V. Sonuvacrap!  That is a genuine little gem right there, if the overall accuracy is as good as you suggest!

Hmmmm... it may be time for yet ANOTHER Mega328 tester in my arsenal. 

[/EDIT]


mnem
*wibble*

[Ero-Shan]

The Philips Lehrbriefe are only available second hand today AFAIK.

Abe Books has both parts as well, shipping from Germany. Seems pretty cheap. Hope that helps anyone looking for it.


mnem
*Currently being mauled by two small children*

Thank you. A long time ago I ordered lots of books from the US via ABE. Back then, shipping was one or two dollars (and a few cents for the book). Nowadays shipping is prohibitively expensive from the USA.
No problem here, though.
Actually, big problem here. Unless I buy a mobile phone, I simply can't pay them. I ought to sue the credit card company: I had to pay for the card, yet I cannot use it.

[bitseeker]

fat lot o' good being a member of this group did me!

swore an oath never to buy another nixie counter.

but decided to attend the fest over in york this morning and spotted this 5221a.

never would have touched it (honest!).....but had never seen one in a carry case before. (already have 2 each working 5221b's)

was about to put it back in its proper place when the guy snuck up behind me and whispered "5 bucks".   

damit!  i am only human after all.

had to wiggle the boards to get it counting.  but now it won't stop.

only 5 digits and 1Mhz.   

what is it goood for?  aaaabsolutely nothin'!

but it sure is cute.


ps  asta and i may both be sleeping in the garage if swmbo spots it.

Hot damn, you STOLE that!!!  It looks showroom fresh!  The one I got a few years ago looks like ten miles of bad road in comparison.

Sweet deal!   

-Pat

Yeah, I'd have bought it, too. It might be 1 MHz and have no ref in, but for $5 and in an enclosure I've never seen before, nice!

As for the confusion about the kind of "therapy" available here, it's the kind that helps you get over the fact that you've just added a neat little useless nixie counter to your existing wall-o-nixie.

I'd like to get one of the slim HP 5321A. I just wish they had a ref input in order to be able to use them as a numeric display device without modification.

By the way, welcome to Page 400 everyone!

[Ero-Shan]

Right in this thread, see here:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg1494187/#msg1494187
No CRO, Plasma DSO. 2Ch 40Ms/s 100MHz. Strange form factor like some early portable computers.

Although I do not own anything with a plasma display, this doesn't tempt me (and nothing to find about it, not even a lonely picture, and not even Google). The majority of my 20 scopes are Philips, most of them still need fixing. In all likelihood, I won't live long enough for this to happen. 

[bd139]

Either that or you’ll miss a RIFA and your house will burn down 

[Specmaster]

What I like about the XJW01 is the fact that it can fully automatic or you operate manually. I find the auto mode is perfectly acceptable and the screen is illuminated and it displays 7 parameters about the item under test. You simply attach the kelvin clips to the part you want to test and it automatically detect if its a resistor, inductor or a capacitor and select the appropriate mode. The only think you need to do is select the frequency at which to test the capacitors at and thats a single button press that will scroll through the options of 100Hz, 1KHz or 7.8KHz which seems to fit in with most capacitor data sheets I've seen.

The Peak devices give a parameter at a time and you have to scroll through them to get to the one you want.

Of the 3 devices I have, I just did some tests on a known cap, resistor and an unknown inductor...

                                    Transparent case                   Black case                     XJW01
10uF                             10.32uF                                10.23uF                        9.74uF
                                    1.3ohm ESR                           0.84ohm ESR               1.39ohm ESR
                                    0.6% V Loss                           0.5 V Loss                   0.79% V Loss

3.298K                          3.261K                                  3.3K                            3.296K

Unknown Inductor
Pulled from PCB              .08mH                                  .08mH                         .07mH

The XJW01 is the go to tester on the bench the other 2 are useful for given approx values in circuit or as portables and they also have the added advantage of testing diodes and transistors including MOSFETS and will correctly identify the pin outs and the hfe.

So in practise there is very little between the results they present but sheer speed of testing the XJW01 is the clear winner.

There is connection between the screen on the BNC and mains earth so they are floating and the leakage to ground is 1.2v and that maybe more RF induced then actual mains leakage as the case is plastic on mine but the newer ones are extruded alloy but are powered via a wall wart and / or batteries.                         

Okay... that's pretty awesome feedback actually. I see that the AL Shell version has external power; to me this is a plus, especially considering how many 3S/4S LiPos I have floating around.

But... I'm seeing the DE-5000 for $78.00 or $101 full bundle (TL-21 alligators & TL-22 Tweezers) on eBay right now... It's pretty highly regarded here on EEVBlog. Can you make a considered comparison between the DE-5000 and the XJW01?

[EDIT]

Hmmm... the spec sheet for the DE-5000 is pretty informative. 100Hz, 120Hz, 1KHz, 10KHz, 100KHz test frequencies. 20,000uF/2000 H capacity with all the usual test parameters, and AC Resistance at the above test frequencies. Spec sheet says the TL-21 alligators & TL-22 Tweezers are both 4-wire measurement connected at the clips/tweezers. Sort mode with multiple tolerance ranges, and optional serial IR out to PC. Accuracy 0.3% to 3.0% depending on range. All with a common 9V battery for power. That is pretty damned impressive.


Further investigation of that LCR-TC1 Color Component Tester reveal a LOT of functionality for a small price ($US22-26 shipped); the usual Mega328 graphic component ID, looks like LiPo battery power supply built-in (Micro-USB charging?), IR Detector/Decoder, with junction test voltage up to 4.5V so Darlington HFe should be pretty accurate, and zener regulating voltage up to 30V. Sonuvacrap!  That is a genuine little gem right there, if the overall accuracy is as good as you suggest!

Hmmmm... it may be time for yet ANOTHER Mega328 tester in my arsenal. 

[/EDIT]


mnem
*wibble*

Well the colour tester IMO is expensive just to gain the luxury of colour and a few extra functions like a cell tester, something DMM does very well, given that the one I have in the transparent case is a Mega 328, (one you recommended actually) is less then $10 shipped, https://www.ebay.com/itm/LCR-T4-ATmega328-Digital-Transistor-Tester-12864-LCD-Capacity-ESR-Meter-Case/382393050323?hash=item590866e4d3:m:mGKLzejgF8tduHqtYjVJLvw.

The DE-5000 I did consider briefly and the dropped it as in IMO it is just to complicated for its own good with to many button presses to access the right settings for each test etc, leads to mistakes being made aside from its price ruled it out of contention for me.

The black one $28 shipped https://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Component-Transistor-Tester-ESR-Meter-Diode-Triode-Capacitance-INDUCTOR/121505939311?_trkparms=aid%3D555019%26algo%3DPL.BANDIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20150817211856%26meid%3D485002d1270f490f8631a30d2637714b%26pid%3D100508%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26%26itm%3D121505939311&_trksid=p2045573.c100508.m3226 was the first one I tried to try and read ESR etc in circuit but is not as good in my view as the Mega 328 one above because the ZIF socket is not built in but a push in adaptor if required.

I attach 2 photos of them both testing the same transistor which is an S9018 and you will see almost identical results.

[Specmaster]

As there has been a bit of discussion about the merits of using a dim bulb tester or a variac when testing new equipment that may have some issues that could result in further damage if switched directly onto normal power without checking first. I though that I'd show my unit that I made up that can sit between the DUT and the supply, be it directly from a power socket, via a dim bulb tester or a variac to help provide some extra information that could be very useful. It provides by default the following information, the voltage being applied (useful with variac), the current being drawn and also the power being drawn in W. A single press of a button switches the device into mode 2 and it then reads and displays, power factor, Hz and KwH.





The meter can be sourced from Aliexpress https://de.aliexpress.com/item/Digital-AC-0-100-0A-Ammeter-AC80-300V-Voltmeter-Led-Display-Amp-Volt-Meter-Energy-Meter/32763863798.html?spm=a2g0x.search0104.3.1.24c12e45BDliAa&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_3_10152_10065_10709_10151_10344_10068_10130_10324_10342_10547_10325_10343_10340_5722611_10341_10548_10697_10696_5722911_10192_10190_5722811_10084_5722711_10083_10618_10307_10710_10301_10303_5711211_10059_10184_308_100031_10103_441_10624_10623_10622_10621_10620_5711311_5722511,searchweb201603_32,ppcSwitch_5&algo_expid=5cc4a082-a561-4a6d-8bb8-fd09339cfbe7-0&algo_pvid=5cc4a082-a561-4a6d-8bb8-fd09339cfbe7&transAbTest=ae803_2&priceBeautifyAB=0 and thecase is just a cheap 4 module din rail enclosure available from any electrical wholesaler, RS etc. 

[GerryBags]

Excellent idea. I rigged up a highly inelegant dim-bulb tester to fire up the abused 465B I received recently and even that proved useful, but your gadget adds much more info on top.  I've been on the lookout for a decent variac for a while, there is also a variable isolation transformer that speaks to the lazy in me, but when I've had the funds I've gone for more glamorous purchases.

Then I realized that I have one in an old Griffin LT var. voltage supply. It has a variac as the voltage output control, before the transformer, so that you can have either the rectified DC at 0-15v or AC at 50Hz 0-15v. I might see whether I can use that as the basis for my own variable autotransformer, with a 1:1 toroidal jobby in it and your meter on the front (there is plenty of room in the case and on the FP), I may even be able to switch between its usual function and its 'variac' - DBT function.... yes, I'd still want bulbs on top because they're pretty.

[Specmaster]

Yes, I like the little add in meter and its all modular so I can it as mentioned, wall socket to DUT, Variac to DUT, Dim Bulb to DUT, Isolation Transformer to DUT or any combination so I could if required, go isolation transformer, Variac, DUT with the meter inserted anywhere along the chain. Its particularly useful with the Variac as you don't need to tie up any of your multimeters in order to monitor the voltage being applied to the DUT.

[med6753]

Joking aside, PM me a snail mail address; I'll drop something in the post for you to tinker with. I'm currently sorting through a huge pile of just this sort of junk to archive or trash; I'm sure I have something appropriate. You need what, 300-500mA? IIRC, you said it also drives the LED panel, right?


mnem
I think that's the last of 'em.

PM sent.

[bd139]

Good spot with that fraudulent eBay stuff. The following has appeared by three different sellers now:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F253591551197

[Cerebus]

Ebay fraudulent listings again, Obviously the same guy, this time after hacking buckeye445's account.

Edited to add: Whoops, looks like our messages 'crossed in the post'. Interesting, as I didn't get the usual warning of a new posting having been made while I was posting.

[Specmaster]

Joking aside, PM me a snail mail address; I'll drop something in the post for you to tinker with. I'm currently sorting through a huge pile of just this sort of junk to archive or trash; I'm sure I have something appropriate. You need what, 300-500mA? IIRC, you said it also drives the LED panel, right?


mnem
I think that's the last of 'em.

PM sent.

I see this time it's in London then. The starting price is also a bit of a give away that's a con.

From mobile device so predictive text might have struck again [emoji83]

[Terry01]

Shitty Ebay crooks are murder! They should get a jaggy nettle dragged across their foreskin! 

[med6753]

Joking aside, PM me a snail mail address; I'll drop something in the post for you to tinker with. I'm currently sorting through a huge pile of just this sort of junk to archive or trash; I'm sure I have something appropriate. You need what, 300-500mA? IIRC, you said it also drives the LED panel, right?


mnem
I think that's the last of 'em.

PM sent.

I see this time it's in London then. The starting price is also a bit of a give away that's a con.

From mobile device so predictive text might have struck again [emoji83]

Me thinks you quoted the wrong post. I ain't no scammer! 

[GerryBags]

What a shitty way to earn yourself a crust: by ripping people off. I hope Karma pops a cap in their arse... not as a HipHopism, I mean literally I hope they wind up with a large capacity electrolytic in their anal cavity when it gets hooked up backwards to the mains. Might take some arranging, but I hear Karma is very resourceful.

[Specmaster]

Joking aside, PM me a snail mail address; I'll drop something in the post for you to tinker with. I'm currently sorting through a huge pile of just this sort of junk to archive or trash; I'm sure I have something appropriate. You need what, 300-500mA? IIRC, you said it also drives the LED panel, right?


mnem
I think that's the last of 'em.

PM sent.

I see this time it's in London then. The starting price is also a bit of a give away that's a con.

From mobile device so predictive text might have struck again [emoji83]

Me thinks you quoted the wrong post. I ain't no scammer! 

Quite correct, you also don't live in London do you, it was meant for bd139 but Tapatalk on my phone fucked up, sorry 

[Specmaster]

What a shitty way to earn yourself a crust: by ripping people off. I hope Karma pops a cap in their arse... not as a HipHopism, I mean literally I hope they wind up with a large capacity electrolytic in their anal cavity when it gets hooked up backwards to the mains. Might take some arranging, but I hear Karma is very resourceful.

Very good, just how the fuck do these people get away with it and where are Ebays own security team, they should be spotting these things happening and block them 

[tggzzz]

Ah, decisions decisions.

Should I

• go out and get yet another Tek 2456, presuming it hasn't been sold, or
• stay in to try to claim reply 10000, and almost certainly miss

[Cerebus]

Shitty Ebay crooks are murder! They should get a jaggy nettle dragged across their foreskin! 

C'mon Terry, you can do better than that. Around where you come from that's just a side effect of going for a wee countryside walk in a philabeg.

[med6753]

Joking aside, PM me a snail mail address; I'll drop something in the post for you to tinker with. I'm currently sorting through a huge pile of just this sort of junk to archive or trash; I'm sure I have something appropriate. You need what, 300-500mA? IIRC, you said it also drives the LED panel, right?


mnem
I think that's the last of 'em.

PM sent.

I see this time it's in London then. The starting price is also a bit of a give away that's a con.

From mobile device so predictive text might have struck again [emoji83]

Me thinks you quoted the wrong post. I ain't no scammer! 

Quite correct, you also don't live in London do you, it was meant for bd139 but Tapatalk on my phone fucked up, sorry 

Only been to London twice...actually not really. Heathrow to catch a connecting flight to Edinburgh and then return trip back across the pond.

[Cerebus]

Only been to London twice...actually not really. Heathrow to catch a connecting flight to Edinburgh and then return trip back across the pond.

Who d'y'all think you are? Elvis? 

(I think that was Glasgow Prestwick actually.)

[GerryBags]

Ah, decisions decisions.

Should I

• go out and get yet another Tek 2456, presuming it hasn't been sold, or
• stay in to try to claim reply 10000, and almost certainly miss

Go for the 2465, you know you want to.  I just got one and it would be nice to know someone clever here is also working on the same beast.  Oh, and try and get a "B", please, there's a good chap.

[BravoV]

Ah, decisions decisions.

Should I

• go out and get yet another Tek 2456, presuming it hasn't been sold, or
• stay in to try to claim reply 10000, and almost certainly miss

How dare you post these choices in here ... go grab it .... NOW !