Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[orin]

There we go and it's done. I'm attached to that TDS210 now. Even though it's crap it's so nice to use. Everything is two pokes away rather than seven pokes three encoder menus and stuff.

I still have a TDS210 that I got new... I even sent it in for calibration a few years back - it was still in spec.

Have to agree, it is much easier to use than the new digital scopes.

[bd139]

Indeed. Couldn’t agree more 

Also there’s virtually nothing inside it so very little to go wrong 

[Carl_Smith]

I grew up with the 160-in-1; I was 12-ish or so and my mother and I saved up together for it (this was my childhood in McKeesport; we were very poor, and it was for reals a big "discretionary expenditure"); I remember building the "crystal" radio (okay, ge AM detector and crystal earphone) and all I could receive was evangelist radio and Howard Stern between ball games. Even at that tender age, I knew he was a putz. 

But I learned a lot from that box; like how easy it was to kill LEDs and transistors, and that resistors are our friends.    I later found a 75-in-1 (not a lot of difference between the two, really) at a neighbor's yard sale; spent two whole week's allowance on it and happily ignored the Px with its penny candy aisle for most of the next month replacing the missing bits. I later hacked the crystal earphones from both kits into a stereo set with RCA plugs so I could listen to mom's old 8-track deck in bed...   

mnem

I had a "150-in-1" kit.  It looked just like that except I think the colors on the board were different.  Same components in the same arrangement.  So somewhere along the way they must have come up with 10 extra projects to bump it to a 160-in-1.

I probably did most every project in the book, then spent a lot of time modifying them to do other stuff.  I used the thing so much that the book fell apart.  I don't know how many light bulbs I burned out and replaced.  I killed the meter and Radio Shack was somehow able to just order a new meter.  I'm fairly sure I violated a few FCC laws in the process.  I remember modifying one of the transmitter projects to transmit for maybe half a mile...

Looking back I am a bit surprised what I accomplished with how little I actually understood about circuit design and operation at the time. 

[mnementh]

Today's hamfest wasn't as interesting as before; the only "interesting" items were some tasty switches - that I don't need.

Now, what should I do with them?

QUITE tasty.

Capacitor substitution boxes. One for electrolytics, one for ceramic disc and one for MLCCs. Make 'em all in shielded enclosure/enclosures.

I've never been a fan of capacitor boxes, since I don't do much audio frequency stuff where they might be applicable. Besides, when I foul up my calcuations, I find it easier to swap the associated resistors.

Doesn't seem much point in having boxes for electrolytics since their tolerance is so poor anyway. With MLCCs, again there isn't much point if you can lose 90% of the rated capacitance at the rated voltage. Mica caps seem the most relevant types.

Resistance boxes are, arguably, more useful. But I already have a 7 decade KVD, a 3+2 decade KVD and a 0->121.1ohm 4 decade pot. Maybe a Harmon resistor divider network.

I know you have several nice decade boxes... that's why I didn't suggest making a resistance box. 

I can see a dozen values or so of electrolytic caps being quite useful with SMPS troubleshooting; and as I've mentioned elsewhere, the transitive nature of MLCCs is precisely why a substitution box would be valuable. I've found myself wishing for such many times in my hobbyist experimentation with high-current H-Bridge brushless speed controllers. Enough so that I have made several little bricks of them of various accumulated values with short pigtails of silicone wire for quick solder-in substitution.

But hey... there's no way you can possibly NOT be able to come up with a good use for them... they're so tasty.


mnem
No numpties.

[Brumby]

Went looking for a 13W3 cable I had at one point for another member on the EEVblog ... and while I was unsuccessful, I started to notice the cables....

Oh, the cables .....  There's hundreds of them.  RF, RCA, jacks, modular, ethernet, phone, DVI, VGA, HDMI - the list goes on - and there's a whole range of combinations and lengths.  I even found a SCART connector with a metre of cable and a coax with a BNC on one end and an RCA on the other.

Do tell me ....

Do I need counselling, consoling or just an assurance that this is quite normal?

[tggzzz]

Today's hamfest wasn't as interesting as before; the only "interesting" items were some tasty switches - that I don't need.

Now, what should I do with them?

QUITE tasty.

Capacitor substitution boxes. One for electrolytics, one for ceramic disc and one for MLCCs. Make 'em all in shielded enclosure/enclosures.

I've never been a fan of capacitor boxes, since I don't do much audio frequency stuff where they might be applicable. Besides, when I foul up my calcuations, I find it easier to swap the associated resistors.

Doesn't seem much point in having boxes for electrolytics since their tolerance is so poor anyway. With MLCCs, again there isn't much point if you can lose 90% of the rated capacitance at the rated voltage. Mica caps seem the most relevant types.

Resistance boxes are, arguably, more useful. But I already have a 7 decade KVD, a 3+2 decade KVD and a 0->121.1ohm 4 decade pot. Maybe a Harmon resistor divider network.

I know you have several nice decade boxes... that's why I didn't suggest making a resistance box. 

I didn't want to presume that people remember the contents of my cupboards

I can see a dozen values or so of electrolytic caps being quite useful with SMPS troubleshooting; and as I've mentioned elsewhere, the transitive nature of MLCCs is precisely why a substitution box would be valuable. I've found myself wishing for such many times in my hobbyist experimentation with high-current H-Bridge brushless speed controllers. Enough so that I have made several little bricks of them of various accumulated values with short pigtails of silicone wire for quick solder-in substitution.

For SMPSs, the wire inductance can be a significant effect. For non-C0G MLCCs, the C-vs-V curve means you only have to choose the right decade!

The short pigtails seems to be "appropriate tech".

But hey... there's no way you can possibly NOT be able to come up with a good use for them... they're so tasty.

Just so.

They aren't quite pretty or interesting enough to sit in a display cabinet - unlike a dismantled Tek 465 tube, and bits of my cars that have failed in entertaining/unexpected ways, and containers of Italian scouring powder with a very unfortunate name.

[nfmax]

Indeed. Couldn’t agree more 

Also there’s virtually nothing inside it so very little to go wrong 

The TDS200 series basically pioneered the now ubiquitous 'lunch box' DSO format. They were absolutely ground-breaking products and Tek put a lot of engineering effort into them. Not just the UI, but also the CCD analog store-and-digitise front end architecture, which alone made the product possible given the technology of the time:t They were introduced in the early 90's. Not my 91 Tek catalogue, but there in the 97/98 edition. And no fan!

[Zucca]

My Metcal PS800 Iron is old...

Unfortunately the delivered tips (SFV-CH50 and SFV-CH10) are not compatible with my PS800 Metcal Iron.

I need the following tips instead:

PHT-750315
PHT-751384

I contacted Metcal and here what I got:

Please note that in 2017 we obsoleted the hand piece PS-CA1 that uses the PHT tips.
The PHT tips will therefore be made obsolete by the end of this year so you will not
be able to purchase them anymore.

We therefore recommend to purchase the PS-HC3 hand piece (the replacement for PS-CA1)

that uses the SFV tips you already have and also fits in your PS800 unit.

Now If I buy the PS-HC3 (only 100€, easy...  ) I think I can not use the PHT tips.
 

[Zucca]

PHT tips are only compatible with the PS-CA1 heater coil (It is slightly thinner than the PS-HC3 coil)
For the PS-HC3 only SxV tips can be used.
However, the PS-HC3 has an interchangeable heater. This means that they could order a PS-CA3 and fit it to this hand piece, which would enable them to use PHT tips.

I will buy then the PS-CA3 when the PS-CA1 will fail.
So I bought the two SFV tips for the drawer.

No matter how hard I try, at least once a month I do this:


 

[bd139]

Hahaha same

[Specmaster]

Amen to that 🤣

[med6753]

If I counted all the times over my adult life that I threw money down the toilet I could have retired years ago. 

[tggzzz]

Do tell me ....

Do I need counselling, consoling or just an assurance that this is quite normal?

Yes, you do. All of then, that is.

[Specmaster]

My 18" wind machine arrived today from germany (uk stocks had been depleted last week in the heat wave) and set it up at the bottom of my stairs (straight staircase) and switched it on. Wow, you could feel the draught alright on the landing from it so perhaps my plan will work next time we have a heat wave. The plan, is to blow cooler air from downstairs up the stairs where other fans will circulate that through to my lab and to my sons at their computer desks in their bedrooms. I'm kind of hoping now that we get some more really hot weather soon to try theory out.

[bd139]

Good stuff  .  That looks like it blow the tattoos off a pikey.

Just picked up my FT-818nd. Been dragged shopping on way home boo hiss.

[mnementh]

PHT tips are only compatible with the PS-CA1 heater coil (It is slightly thinner than the PS-HC3 coil)
For the PS-HC3 only SxV tips can be used.
However, the PS-HC3 has an interchangeable heater. This means that they could order a PS-CA3 and fit it to this hand piece, which would enable them to use PHT tips.

I will buy then the PS-CA3 when the PS-CA1 will fail.
So I bought the two SFV tips for the drawer.

No matter how hard I try, at least once a month I do this:


 

Jeez... looking at eBay prices on PHT series tips right now,    you might do better to sell your old ones and use the proceeds to buy the new handle. 


mnem
moo?

[Specmaster]

Just buy a T12, much cheaper and less down the bog each time.

[mnementh]

Good stuff  .  That looks like it blow the tattoos off a pikey.

Just picked up my FT-818nd. Been dragged shopping on way home boo hiss.

I have 3 of the 12" model... it was on sale for $10 a couple Halloweens ago, so I stocked up. They don't blow my tatts off, but they do make 'em whinge a little. 


https://youtu.be/ZDgi03e3n00


I had no idea they'd finally released a successor to the FT-817... however, it appears it was more of a BOM refresh than a real "successor". At least these guys aren't terribly impressed... Hope you find otherwise when you get yours up & running.


mnem
*Hiding out from the suck*

[factory]

Nice. I always wanted the Philips ones. They had more meat to them. Alas by the late 70s, Tandy had the mindshare so I got a 160-in-1 shitebox instead.

My dad just saw that clip of the Philips EE8 kit, he had one like that too and also an add on kit for it with a speaker & the big Philips logo (all long gone now though). I still have the 90's equivalent Tandy 200-in-1 like the one below, one thing that still puzzles me today is why all 6 of the small LED's died when the big one got accidently nuked (they all finally got replaced a few years ago), also the less said about smoke testing the Memorex Ni-cad batteries the better (followed by randomly ripping wires out till it stopped), amazingly the batteries still worked after this mishap abuse.

David

[Specmaster]

Good stuff  .  That looks like it blow the tattoos off a pikey.

Just picked up my FT-818nd. Been dragged shopping on way home boo hiss.

Sticking that in the Fiat then or just as a homebase?

[Cerebus]

Sticking that in the Fiat then or just as a homebase?

I thought for a minute that we were still on the big fans and that bd139 was planning to double the motive force on the Fiat by bolting on a couple pointing backwards.

[factory]

Today's hamfest wasn't as interesting as before; the only "interesting" items were some tasty switches - that I don't need.

Now, what should I do with them?

QUITE tasty.

Capacitor substitution boxes. One for electrolytics, one for ceramic disc and one for MLCCs. Make 'em all in shielded enclosure/enclosures.

Not a bad idea, I have a pile of those switches too (single deck versions) they looked far to good to part with, but I sell the lot of ordinary paxolin wafer switches that came with them.

Could they be used for making calibration check boxes for resistance, capacitance or inductance?

David

Certainly; they have quite broad self-cleaning contacts, so should be very low contact resistance. For the smaller values of capacitor and inductor common-mode noise would be a problem, so I'd want to use dual-stacked switches so both sides make/break. Fortunately these appear modular; it shouldn't be too hard to make a dual-stack out of 2 singles.

That 6 gang would nicely do all the common nF, pF and uF sizes; would be easy and tidy with 3 sets of jacks and all 3 would be independent.

I'd do another with the common MLCC (SMD ceramic) caps being used today; those tend to exhibit much lower ESR than common ceramic disc and older generation epoxy encapsulated ceramic caps. Also, they vary much more due to derating; choosing MLCCs correctly for a circuit often requires trial and error confirmation.

That Muirhead 3-gang looks like it is 12-position Double-Throw; it could be used to make R/C pairs or L/C pairs or could also be used to do the same make/break a pair of contacts at a time just like the 6-gang, only not as many selections.


Just a few ideas off the top of my head... 


mnem
*Back to my hole*

My memory is clearly not that great, I have a selection of one & two deck versions in two different sizes, also there is a box of alloy knobs for them somewhere. I'm thinking a couple of boxes with a selection of common values for testing/repairing some of the broken LCR measuring devices around here.

David

[Specmaster]

Sticking that in the Fiat then or just as a homebase?

I thought for a minute that we were still on the big fans and that bd139 was planning to double the motive force on the Fiat by bolting on a couple pointing backwards.

Nah, he shouldn't need the fans, his engine is already a multijet and as we all know, jets have tremendous thrust 

[mnementh]

If not, all he should need to do is bring the TEA thread up on his phone and point it out the back... certainly enough hot air in here to push a Kleenex box with wheels on it. 


mnem
*off to hell*

[xrunner]

A few months ago my GPSDO bit the dust. It had a Symmetricon unit inside I think they pull them from commercial equipment. It worked for about three years.

Last week I decided to get a BG7TBL unit Model 2017-10-09. It's been well reviewed elsewhere on this forum, it's very nicely constructed. It works really well and is ready to go a lot faster than the other unit. Has both 10 MHz sine and 1 PPS. It also outputs NMEA serial data which can be used with a program called VisualGpsView and displays some nice information updated about once a second.