Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

Had some tea time today and have written a list of objective purchases, or a new year’s resolution list for 2019... here we go:

1. Synthesised RF signal generator good to 1.2GHz
2. 34401A
3. Decent modernish SA, HP/Agilent
4. 53181A
5. E3632A if one comes along
6. 200Mhz tek digital scope if one comes along.

One moon needs to be screwed to a stick 

That would be a blue moon I take it then with a wish list like that? 

[bd139]

If I get three of them I’ll be happy

[mnementh]

"Democracy can't work. Mathematicians, peasants, and animals, that's all there is - so democracy, a theory based on the assumption that mathematicians and peasants are equal, can never work. Wisdom is not additive; its maximum is that of the wisest man in a given group."  -- Robert Heinlein

”You don’t count brains by counting noses.” ~ Ben Franklin

“Democracy is the worst system of government possible; except for all the others.” ~ Damifino

mnem
“Making anything foolproof is impossible; fools are too damned inventive.”

[Specmaster]

If I get three of them I’ll be happy

Well I certainly hope that the rest of 2019 dramatically improves for you, the last few weeks must have been a living hell for you.

That stabbing you said happened while you were sleeping never made it onto national TV, unless I missed it but the other one and the shooting did, and to think that your street looks like a normal typical estate road. Not that our street is any better, we had a woman, either pissed or high on drugs yelling and screaming abuse at a young lad who lives a few doors away, very dignified 

[Specmaster]

@ URI My tweezers aren't due until Tuesday 8th.

[Specmaster]

Fecking postman pissed me off big time today, lying bastard. This morning I gets an email and a text message telling me that the new control panel for my dishwasher was being delivered today. Great I thought, I'll fix it after I take down the Christmas decorations.

Sometime later in the morning I get another email telling me that they had tried to deliver it but I was not in  it went on to say that I should refer to the card that they left for me??

I had been downstairs all f..ing day, nobody had rang the doorbell or knocked on the door and as it turned out never left a fecking card either.  I rang the local sorting office and complained, they said that they would leave a message for the delivery manager about it and also that they would re-deliver the parcel on Friday.

This afternoon I get another email informing me that my parcel was now available for collection at the local collection office on the other side of the bleeding city, so what happened to the re-delivery then???

Now do I go and collect it or wait till Friday and see what transpires???

[beanflying]

@ URI My tweezers aren't due until Tuesday 8th.

Want to start a Tweezer thread when our new toys get in? Mine are due late next week at this stage.

[tautech]

@ URI My tweezers aren't due until Tuesday 8th.

Want to start a Tweezer thread when our new toys get in? Mine are due late next week at this stage.

Nah, just carry on with the ‘truth’ one you started.

[bitseeker]

Woooh, ...

I'm not trying to copy bd but I wasn't writing here
1. because of touring parents/parents in law over X-Mas
2. had a few days marriage-on-hold after a hefty marital argument that kept me away from TEA and anything other too.   
3. have to catch up all the postings   

Fixed that second issue now I hope. A marriage [EDIT]seems to be is real work sometimes.

...third item now fulfilled.   
The slightly off topic postings made it easier than it would have been with only TEA-related ones.   

Heh, heh. Who knew being off-topic could be helpful. Yay!

TEA again: I'm currently looking for a sig gen because I realised I can't do complete performance and functional tests of all of my counters (225MHz/300MHz) with my equipment.
The highest frequency I can generate is 80MHz (HP 3335A) but I would need at least 300MHz.   
If I'd pimp my new HP 53132A with the 3rd channel option (3GHz) I'd need a sig gen going up to at least 3 GHz..      

Classic TEA alright!

[bitseeker]

Well this year is shit so far. Outbid on one amateur radio auction, two test gear auctions, RS delivered a whole consignment of parts to someone three doors away who is on holiday until March (apparently according to another neighbour) and I had to return my new MacBook because the keyboard started bouncing keys and was basically totally unusable after only two weeks

I've haven't seen much of interest TEA-wise on this side of the pond so far this year. No matter. Got plenty to keep me busy for a while. The only thing I have to spend is a few eBay Bucks I earned last

[bitseeker]

Well this year is shit so far. Outbid on one amateur radio auction, two test gear auctions, RS delivered a whole consignment of parts to someone three doors away who is on holiday until March (apparently according to another neighbour) and I had to return my new MacBook because the keyboard started bouncing keys and was basically totally unusable after only two weeks

I've haven't seen much of interest TEA-wise on this side of the pond so far this year. No matter. Got plenty to keep me busy for a while. The only thing I have to spend this month is a few eBay Bucks I earned last quarter. Maybe a DMM case from China.

[bitseeker]

Allergies have been kicking my scaly dwagon arse; I feel like I've got the freaking flu. 

That sounds like a major fire hazard.

[LapTop006]

This afternoon I get another email informing me that my parcel was now available for collection at the local collection office on the other side of the bleeding city, so what happened to the re-delivery then???

Now do I go and collect it or wait till Friday and see what transpires???

You go and collect it, just to find out they don't have it, only to return home to a note saying they tried to deliver it but nobody was in.

[bitseeker]

File this away for safe keeping.....

http://w140.com/tekwiki/wiki/Russian_tunnel_diodes

Added to POI under Electronics Miscellany.

[beanflying]

Anyone in the USA want to rescue this classy old bit of kit or need an extra Anchor? $25 plus frt. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hickok-Model-288X-Universal-Crystal-Controlled-Signal-Generator-With-manual/143013190396?hash=item214c401afc:g:10kAAOSwyXVbae9Q:rk:44:pf:0&LH_ItemCondition=4%7C10

[ArthurDent]

bd139 – “Had some tea time today and have written a list of objective purchases, or a new year’s resolution list for 2019... here we go:”

1. Synthesised RF signal generator good to 1.2GHz  -----I picked up a nice HP8657A (1040Mhz) locally for under $50
2. 34401A     -----Found a like new HP3457A w/relay module board that checks out in cal locally for $150
3. Decent modernish SA, HP/Agilent   ----none yet
4. 53181A  ----Got a 53132A with high stab OXCO and 3Ghz channel with fairly bright display for $425
5. E3632A if one comes along  ----Bought 2 with problems cheap and one is now 100%
6. 200Mhz tek digital scope if one comes along. ------Bought a 200Mhz Siglent SDS-1202X (non E) cheap locally

I did recap the HP53132A power supply with high temp high quality electrolytics. A couple had started to bulge so I replaced them all.

The first HP E3632A had suffered physical damage. It had the front panel push buttons pushed in but it worked if you used a pen to push the buttons through the slots in the front panel. I had to dismantle it and resecure the display/switch PC board to the front panel. I had to be creative on getting the board back in place but there were no dents or scratches on the front and after the repair it looked and worked great.

Some of the stuff I found on Craigslist and quite often there aren’t many local people looking for high end stuff so you can get a deal if you are patient and willing and able to do some repairs. I got a couple of HP3586B selective level meters, one with a loud fan and one that didn’t power up. The seller wasn’t into electronics and wanted them gone so he sold me the dead one for $50. It turned out to be a bad contact on a connector that had to be rebent.  All of these HP3586 meters have NiCd batteries that have leaked long ago and need a good cleaning on one of the boards.

These are some of the things I bought over the last year. I can't pass up a 'good buy' and have a backlog of stuff that I'm working on. At least it keeps me off the streets as they say.

[bitseeker]

Woohoo! I've caught up with the thread.

Anyone in the USA want to rescue this classy old bit of kit or need an extra Anchor? $25 plus frt. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hickok-Model-288X-Universal-Crystal-Controlled-Signal-Generator-With-manual/143013190396

Well, now that's a nifty piece. I'd grab it if I was in Ohio.

[Specmaster]

Well this year is shit so far. Outbid on one amateur radio auction, two test gear auctions, RS delivered a whole consignment of parts to someone three doors away who is on holiday until March (apparently according to another neighbour) and I had to return my new MacBook because the keyboard started bouncing keys and was basically totally unusable after only two weeks

I've haven't seen much of interest TEA-wise on this side of the pond so far this year. No matter. Got plenty to keep me busy for a while. The only thing I have to spend this month is a few eBay Bucks I earned last quarter. Maybe a DMM case from China.

Yeh, Banggood have one on offer at the minute, looks like a autoranger version of the Beside ones I got this time last year, I'm tempted to get one myself for my collection 

[Specmaster]

Allergies have been kicking my scaly dwagon arse; I feel like I've got the freaking flu. 

That sounds like a major fire hazard.

Only if it makes him cough a lot

[0culus]

I feel more TEA coming...wanting to get an HP 8568B to complement my 8569B microwave SA... 

[bd139]

bd139 – “Had some tea time today and have written a list of objective purchases, or a new year’s resolution list for 2019... here we go:”

1. Synthesised RF signal generator good to 1.2GHz  -----I picked up a nice HP8657A (1040Mhz) locally for under $50
2. 34401A     -----Found a like new HP3457A w/relay module board that checks out in cal locally for $150
3. Decent modernish SA, HP/Agilent   ----none yet
4. 53181A  ----Got a 53132A with high stab OXCO and 3Ghz channel with fairly bright display for $425
5. E3632A if one comes along  ----Bought 2 with problems cheap and one is now 100%
6. 200Mhz tek digital scope if one comes along. ------Bought a 200Mhz Siglent SDS-1202X (non E) cheap locally

I did recap the HP53132A power supply with high temp high quality electrolytics. A couple had started to bulge so I replaced them all.

The first HP E3632A had suffered physical damage. It had the front panel push buttons pushed in but it worked if you used a pen to push the buttons through the slots in the front panel. I had to dismantle it and resecure the display/switch PC board to the front panel. I had to be creative on getting the board back in place but there were no dents or scratches on the front and after the repair it looked and worked great.

Some of the stuff I found on Craigslist and quite often there aren’t many local people looking for high end stuff so you can get a deal if you are patient and willing and able to do some repairs. I got a couple of HP3586B selective level meters, one with a loud fan and one that didn’t power up. The seller wasn’t into electronics and wanted them gone so he sold me the dead one for $50. It turned out to be a bad contact on a connector that had to be rebent.  All of these HP3586 meters have NiCd batteries that have leaked long ago and need a good cleaning on one of the boards.

These are some of the things I bought over the last year. I can't pass up a 'good buy' and have a backlog of stuff that I'm working on. At least it keeps me off the streets as they say.

You did good there!

Supply and demand is a big problem here. Not much supply and a lot of demand which makes me sad

Got new washing machine today. Life is good again 

[med6753]

Got new washing machine today. Life is good again 

Is she a redhead? 

[med6753]

Woohoo! I've caught up with the thread.

Anyone in the USA want to rescue this classy old bit of kit or need an extra Anchor? $25 plus frt. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hickok-Model-288X-Universal-Crystal-Controlled-Signal-Generator-With-manual/143013190396

Well, now that's a nifty piece. I'd grab it if I was in Ohio.

Ditto. A little too far for a road trip. 

[beanflying]

Ditto. A little too far for a road trip. 

It said in the add they will post it

[bd139]

Is she a redhead? 

No had enough trouble with one of those already in my life