Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Cerebus]

Lucky you. I'm currently fighting politics and cover your arse incompetence in the school system here today 

Have done nothing this week TEA related other than poking some batteries.

Recharging Old Sparky, cattle prod/opinion changer? 

[Specmaster]

I reckon he's got himself a taser TBH and shortly he may get beyond the threaten stage with it to actually using it 

[Cerebus]

Looks like we're all drumming our fingers and the postman's not delivering the goods (both literally and metaphorically)?

One thing I'm waiting for, brought with an eye to TEA related repairs, is some UV curing epoxy resin. Tripped across it and I thought it might be useful for a number of things so I decided to order a small (25ml) bottle to put it through its paces.

Does anybody have any tests for it that they'd like to see me do and report back on?

[bd139]

I got me a cool delivery today - my PCBs came back from OSHpark. One new "non shit" RF power meter coming up this evening.

Very interested in UV cure resin. Have some uses for that. Interested in over-exposure to see if it degrades (like if you left it outside in the sun).

Edit: add PCB photo:




This replaces this pile of cack:

[Specmaster]

It could be useful for perhaps repairing brittle plastic cases if it can be moulded first and maybe even accept a screw thread in it? I'm assuming that it's the same thing that dentists used to use?

[med6753]

Not exactly sure what you're looking for but I did get these from AliExpress last year. Extenders so I can use shrouded leads on my older Flukes. They fit tight and the quality is fine.

Thanks, I already have some of those (although green and yellow, red and black were not available at the time I ordered) also specifically for the same reason as you and also so I can use shrouded leads with my HP3478A, HP3468A and HP3466A meters as well.

What I'm trying to do is make up some jumper leads to make comparing readings on my various meters at the same time easier, especially when checking for calibration drift between them. I have some premade leads that go from socket doublers to croc clips, and I need to make or purchase some with socket doublers at one end a banana plug the other end in order to loop from meter to meter.

The first attached photo shows the premade leads with the type of plugs that plug into it, the 2nd shows the crappy Banggood socket doubler that I made up against a premade one and as you can see the plug pin on the Banggood is shorter and that cage rotates but not on the premade ones thus a better connection is made with the device.

Oh OK, I understand now what you are trying to do. And yes, the ones from Banggood do look like crap and cheap.

[tggzzz]

One reason I wanted a 7000 is that the plugins are far easier to work on than the 4xx scopes even if half the bits are the same 

Yes but...

You have connectors to contend with, and are they easy to work on when inserted in the scope?

In addition, the chassis is large, but you can get sampling plugins

[Specmaster]

Not exactly sure what you're looking for but I did get these from AliExpress last year. Extenders so I can use shrouded leads on my older Flukes. They fit tight and the quality is fine.

Thanks, I already have some of those (although green and yellow, red and black were not available at the time I ordered) also specifically for the same reason as you and also so I can use shrouded leads with my HP3478A, HP3468A and HP3466A meters as well.

What I'm trying to do is make up some jumper leads to make comparing readings on my various meters at the same time easier, especially when checking for calibration drift between them. I have some premade leads that go from socket doublers to croc clips, and I need to make or purchase some with socket doublers at one end a banana plug the other end in order to loop from meter to meter.

The first attached photo shows the premade leads with the type of plugs that plug into it, the 2nd shows the crappy Banggood socket doubler that I made up against a premade one and as you can see the plug pin on the Banggood is shorter and that cage rotates but not on the premade ones thus a better connection is made with the device.

Oh OK, I understand now what you are trying to do. And yes, the ones from Banggood do look like crap and cheap.

What I don't understand is that these plugs and meter probes etc all seem to be related around 30vdc and yet the test leads that came with my 867 state 1Kv on them WTF?

[mnementh]

(SNIP)        Meanwhile in other news, earlier in the week the 4mm stackable banana plugs I ordered from Bangood arrived, what a pile of poo they are, just don't buy these, they are rubbish, the cage just spins on the plug shaft, fair enough when not in the socket, but these were spinning while in the socket even  The cage was either made too large for the plug spindle, or the spindle was too small, either way not good news. The plug pin was also a bit on the short side so if the socket is slightly recessed which on most DMM they are then not all of the plug is inserted before the body of the plug collides with the fascia of the meter 

Out of 20 plugs I may be able to use 8 or 9 of them, some of them don't even have any hole in the plug pin for the cable to be soldered into  so on those ones I'll have to solder onto the sidewall of the plug pin.

Does anyone know of some decent plugs of this sort that I can get?  Banggood have given a partial refund so that reasonable seeing as I can use some of them but I cannot recommend these ones to anybody they are shit.

I bought some of those from another vendor a while back... the snap-together plastic shroud was a PITA too. I found that if I warmed it up with my heat gun a little I could get it to snap together without the plastic cracking.

I fixed the radial spring issue by using a large iron to put a spot of silver-bearing solder right at the ball end so it wicks underneath and makes a good lap joint in one spot.

Solder on the side opposite the split in the radial spring, and don't solder in more than one spot or it will bind when you plug it in.

If you're careful, you can get it so all the solder wicks underneath and you can't even see it once you wipe it all down with alcohol to get rid of flux residue. If these are the ones with the plastic permanently molded onto the pin, have a rag wetted with alcohol handy before you solder so you can wipe it down immediately and cool it to prevent melties.

They're still a POS, but a usable POS. Barely.

mnem
I fought the lawn and the lawn won.

[bd139]

Problem solved. Shitty banana plugs are gone!

One reason I wanted a 7000 is that the plugins are far easier to work on than the 4xx scopes even if half the bits are the same 

Yes but...

You have connectors to contend with, and are they easy to work on when inserted in the scope?

In addition, the chassis is large, but you can get sampling plugins

Ahha that's why I'm working on some extender boards

[Specmaster]

(SNIP)        Meanwhile in other news, earlier in the week the 4mm stackable banana plugs I ordered from Bangood arrived, what a pile of poo they are, just don't buy these, they are rubbish, the cage just spins on the plug shaft, fair enough when not in the socket, but these were spinning while in the socket even  The cage was either made too large for the plug spindle, or the spindle was too small, either way not good news. The plug pin was also a bit on the short side so if the socket is slightly recessed which on most DMM they are then not all of the plug is inserted before the body of the plug collides with the fascia of the meter 

Out of 20 plugs I may be able to use 8 or 9 of them, some of them don't even have any hole in the plug pin for the cable to be soldered into  so on those ones I'll have to solder onto the sidewall of the plug pin.

Does anyone know of some decent plugs of this sort that I can get?  Banggood have given a partial refund so that reasonable seeing as I can use some of them but I cannot recommend these ones to anybody they are shit.

I bought some of those from another vendor a while back... the snap-together plastic shroud was a PITA too. I found that if I warmed it up with my heat gun a little I could get it to snap together without the plastic cracking.

I fixed the radial spring issue by using a large iron to put a spot of silver-bearing solder right at the ball end so it wicks underneath and makes a good lap joint in one spot.

Solder on the side opposite the split in the radial spring, and don't solder in more than one spot or it will bind when you plug it in.

If you're careful, you can get it so all the solder wicks underneath and you can't even see it once you wipe it all down with alcohol to get rid of flux residue. If these are the ones with the plastic permanently molded onto the pin, have a rag wetted with alcohol handy before you solder so you can wipe it down immediately and cool it to prevent melties.

They're still a POS, but a usable POS. Barely.

mnem
I fought the lawn and the lawn won.

No the plug comes out so the cable can be soldered in the hole on the side of the pin, assuming the hole is there, some it is missing from.

The pin it self is quite long so has a reasonable mass to it and the T12 made short work of heating it to solder to be applied directly to the cable and hole without the iron getting in the way[emoji106] I could try dabbing some solder to the cage at the ball end, opposite the split and see how that goes for now.

[Cerebus]

Very interested in UV cure resin. Have some uses for that. Interested in over-exposure to see if it degrades (like if you left it outside in the sun).

Noted. I'll cure some blobs onto a little bit of aluminium sheet (probably anodised) and screw it up somewhere south facing in the garden and we can see how it fares over a few months or longer.

[bd139]

Very interested in UV cure resin. Have some uses for that. Interested in over-exposure to see if it degrades (like if you left it outside in the sun).

Noted. I'll cure some blobs onto a little bit of aluminium sheet (probably anodised) and screw it up somewhere south facing in the garden and we can see how it fares over a few months or longer.

Excellent 

[Cerebus]

It could be useful for perhaps repairing brittle plastic cases if it can be moulded first and maybe even accept a screw thread in it? I'm assuming that it's the same thing that dentists used to use?

No, this will be liquid resin. Not sure of the viscosity yet but I'm hoping it's on the lowish side for epoxy resins.

[Specmaster]

It could be useful for perhaps repairing brittle plastic cases if it can be moulded first and maybe even accept a screw thread in it? I'm assuming that it's the same thing that dentists used to use?

No, this will be liquid resin. Not sure of the viscosity yet but I'm hoping it's on the lowish side for epoxy resins.

I see, never mind.

[med6753]

Some more pron then I'm going to go take a nap. TD-1085/U Time Base Plug-in. Same as civilian 7B53A. Much more complex than the vertical plug-ins. There are 3 boards sandwiched together.

The scope has gone through several power cycles and left on for several hours. The retrace issue (so far) has not returned.

[mnementh]

Problem solved. Shitty banana plugs are gone!
(SNIP)

I LOVE Pomona cabling... as long as someone else is paying for it. 



Those 3-way stackable ends are quite nice. My only problem with them is the quality of the wires has degraded greatly over the years... used to be you could buy them with the vulcanized/synthetic rubber cable; that was 14-16ga rated 600V. Period. Now the cheap Chinese Pliovic wires they use are only 18ga and rated "60V hands-on, 1 KV hands-off" Complete and utter bullshit.   





By comparison, the 12-ga silicone wire I use to make my own comes in bulk or 1m lengths as pairs for ~US$3.50 shipped; used to cost half that. Ends another $1-2.

This power supply/battery charging extension set is more than 10 years old; I know that because it's all Turnigy parts from HobbyKing back when I first got back into RC.

To be fair, for this application heavy gauge is mission-critical, as voltage drop in cables=inaccurately charged LiPos; while most applications where you'd be running test gear don't NEED more than 18ga.

But it sure would be nice to be able to buy those nice Pomona ends and make your own with better quality wire, or longer if you need. Or different colors. 

mnem
*Recovering wire-a-holic*

[Mr. Scram]

What about some Hirschmann cables? Definitely more expensive than the Chinese options, but still doable and a lot of bang for your buck.

[Cerebus]

Now the cheap Chinese Pliovic wires they use are only 18ga and rated "60V hands-on, 1 KV hands-off" Complete and utter bullshit.   

The hands on/hands off rating is because they don't have the safety sheaths on the connectors. So that's really  a 1kV rating for those of us who know when to keep our hands in our pockets and don't leave live plugs lying around on the bench.

[bd139]

Problem solved. Shitty banana plugs are gone!
(SNIP)

I LOVE Pomona cabling... as long as someone else is paying for it. 



Those 3-way stackable ends are quite nice. My only problem with them is the quality of the wires has degraded greatly over the years... used to be you could buy them with the vulcanized/synthetic rubber cable; that was 14-16ga rated 600V. Period. Now the cheap Chinese Pliovic wires they use are only 18ga and rated "60V hands-on, 1 KV hands-off" Complete and utter bullshit.   




By comparison, the 12-ga silicone wire I use to make my own comes in bulk or 1m lengths as pairs for ~US$3.50 shipped; used to cost half that. Ends another $1-2.

This power supply/battery charging extension set is more than 10 years old; I know that because it's all Turnigy parts from HobbyKing back when I first got back into RC.

To be fair, for this application heavy gauge is mission-critical, as voltage drop in cables=inaccurately charged LiPos; while most applications where you'd be running test gear don't NEED more than 18ga.

But it sure would be nice to be able to buy those nice Pomona ends and make your own with better quality wire, or longer if you need. Or different colors. 

mnem
*Recovering wire-a-holic*

Nice cabling set up. TBH the stuff that comes from the RC side of things is usually pretty good. It has to be. Or fires! 

Yes Pomona stuff is not cheap. However I have literally killed a pile of test leads that cost way more than my entire Pomona collection before I got them though. These get very heavily used and are 2-5 years old now and still going strong.

Some quick Pomona and DMM pr0n:



With the radio stuff, the powerpole collection that is now growing is all 15A red/black speaker cable which does the job fine for sub-5A drains (there's a 5A fuse in that carrier and no I haven't popped it yet).



Problem is I have two power systems now so I need adaptors!

Now the cheap Chinese Pliovic wires they use are only 18ga and rated "60V hands-on, 1 KV hands-off" Complete and utter bullshit.   

The hands on/hands off rating is because they don't have the safety sheaths on the connectors. So that's really  a 1kV rating for those of us who know when to keep our hands in our pockets and don't leave live plugs lying around on the bench.

Exactly that. The lowest common denominator of employee is going to lick a tesla coil and then sue you. Just remember that.

[Specmaster]

Now the cheap Chinese Pliovic wires they use are only 18ga and rated "60V hands-on, 1 KV hands-off" Complete and utter bullshit.   

The hands on/hands off rating is because they don't have the safety sheaths on the connectors. So that's really  a 1kV rating for those of us who know when to keep our hands in our pockets and don't leave live plugs lying around on the bench.

Hmm, not quite so sure really, I got some of the shrouded panel sockets to accept shrouded meter leads and it stated on them as well 30VDC and theres nothing exposed on them at all.

[Cerebus]

Exactly that. The lowest common denominator of employee is going to lick a tesla coil and then sue you. Just remember that.

This is why Cerebus prefers vassals to employees. How can they lick it when Cerebus already has their backs chained to it?

[mnementh]

Now the cheap Chinese Pliovic wires they use are only 18ga and rated "60V hands-on, 1 KV hands-off" Complete and utter bullshit.   

The hands on/hands off rating is because they don't have the safety sheaths on the connectors. So that's really  a 1kV rating for those of us who know when to keep our hands in our pockets and don't leave live plugs lying around on the bench.

I don't know that I believe this 100%, as I've seen bulk cable rated this way online.

It may be one of those things that has slipped between the cracks as standards spiral downwards over the years. 




@Specmaster -

Going back and looking at this pic... forget everything I suggested about trying to fix that POS. It looks like the radial spring is made of plain, unplated spring steel... you'll play HELL trying to solder to that.

Amazing... they actually managed to make one even crappier than the ones I had. 

 

The only other suggestion I can make is to buy some 4mm bullets or 4mm HXTs and some silicone wire and make your own "Y" and "tri-Y" adapters; I'd trust them over that connector ANY day.

mnem
Time to make the cables...

[mnementh]

Nice cabling set up. TBH the stuff that comes from the RC side of things is usually pretty good. It has to be. Or fires! 

Yes Pomona stuff is not cheap. However I have literally killed a pile of test leads that cost way more than my entire Pomona collection before I got them though. These get very heavily used and are 2-5 years old now and still going strong.

Some quick Pomona and DMM pr0n:

   

With the radio stuff, the powerpole collection that is now growing is all 15A red/black speaker cable which does the job fine for sub-5A drains (there's a 5A fuse in that carrier and no I haven't popped it yet). Problem is I have two power systems now so I need adaptors!

Now the cheap Chinese Pliovic wires they use are only 18ga and rated "60V hands-on, 1 KV hands-off" Complete and utter bullshit.   

The hands on/hands off rating is because they don't have the safety sheaths on the connectors. So that's really  a 1kV rating for those of us who know when to keep our hands in our pockets and don't leave live plugs lying around on the bench.

Exactly that. The lowest common denominator of employee is going to lick a tesla coil and then sue you. Just remember that.

You leave a handgun lying around where monkeys can pick it up, you deserve to get shot by it... Or as they used to say when I was growing up, get "Lit up like Tim Taylor".

You can't fix stupid; but the law almost always sides with the numpties.

Those who know better are by default tasked with locking the dangerous stuff away to protect them from themselves; and half the time, we have to fight those numpties for the privilege. This is our cross to bear.   

mnem
"When I was young and had no sense,
I went & peed on a electric fence.
It scorched my d*** and zapped my ba**s;
made me pee all over my overalls."

Amazing what you'll think is a good bet when you're 12. 

[bd139]

@Cerebus: should I refer to you as lord going forth?

@mnementh: lmao. That made me snigger like a 12 year old.

Banggood always sounds like it should be a porn site.

Soldering up my PCBs now. Fingers cross I haven’t futzed anything.