Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[med6753]

No more daily commute, no more tolls, no more bullshit, no more working for assholes. I think I'm gonna like this. 

Woo this is pretty cool! Congrats 

Yea, thanks!  The only issue I'm going to have is transitioning back to awake during the day and sleep at night. I've worked the overnight shift for almost 10 years and I dragged my biological clock kicking and screaming to adjust to it. Now I want to go back to the rest of the world. So why am I sitting here just after midnight wake awake?     

Fuckin' A-diddy!!! I'll have to come bug the shit outta you once I get settled in The Great White North... 

Oh shit, and you know my address too.   

Welcome home! 

[med6753]

Either Australians have a lot of massive spanners around, or being an Australian isn't all it's cracked up to be. Bonus points for whoever came up with the idea for that picture, though.

Must be in the water. 

[Mr. Scram]

A life changing event took place tonight. I am now retired. It happen sooner than I had planned but I'm OK with it. I had announced late last year that I had intentions of retiring sometime in February or March of this year. I wanted to make sure my Social Security payments were set up and in place before stopping work. Well, my place of employment had other plans. They decided to do some lay offs and since I said I was retiring soon they “retired” me today. Since they went this route that obligates them to pay me unemployment until I collect SSI. It will take about a month before the SSI kicks in. And unemployment doesn't pay all that much so it will be a little lean here for a month but I have other assets so I'll be OK. But I will have to curb some big TEA spending for a while.

No more daily commute, no more tolls, no more bullshit, no more working for assholes. I think I'm gonna like this. 

Now you just have us assholes to contend with!

[med6753]

A life changing event took place tonight. I am now retired. It happen sooner than I had planned but I'm OK with it. I had announced late last year that I had intentions of retiring sometime in February or March of this year. I wanted to make sure my Social Security payments were set up and in place before stopping work. Well, my place of employment had other plans. They decided to do some lay offs and since I said I was retiring soon they “retired” me today. Since they went this route that obligates them to pay me unemployment until I collect SSI. It will take about a month before the SSI kicks in. And unemployment doesn't pay all that much so it will be a little lean here for a month but I have other assets so I'll be OK. But I will have to curb some big TEA spending for a while.

No more daily commute, no more tolls, no more bullshit, no more working for assholes. I think I'm gonna like this. 

Now you just have us assholes to contend with!

Compared to what I had to deal with that will be a piece of cake. 

[Mr. Scram]

Compared to what I had to deal with that will be a piece of cake. 

We'll be sure to remind you of that.

[Wolfgang]

A life changing event took place tonight. I am now retired. It happen sooner than I had planned but I'm OK with it. I had announced late last year that I had intentions of retiring sometime in February or March of this year. I wanted to make sure my Social Security payments were set up and in place before stopping work. Well, my place of employment had other plans. They decided to do some lay offs and since I said I was retiring soon they “retired” me today. Since they went this route that obligates them to pay me unemployment until I collect SSI. It will take about a month before the SSI kicks in. And unemployment doesn't pay all that much so it will be a little lean here for a month but I have other assets so I'll be OK. But I will have to curb some big TEA spending for a while.

No more daily commute, no more tolls, no more bullshit, no more working for assholes. I think I'm gonna like this. 

Now you just have us assholes to contend with!

Compared to what I had to deal with that will be a piece of cake. 

Welcome to the club. Now you can live your dreams. TEA prevails !

[Specmaster]

Getting back to more mainstream TEA for a while 

I came across a couple of inductors that were salvaged from an old SKY TV box, I have no idea as to what their true values are but I put them to the test using all 4 of my LCR testers and the only 2 that produced any results were the new Iso-Tech LCR 1705 tweezers and my old XJW01 digital bridge and the results shown on the photo, show the height from pins to the top of the former respectively and the readings are shown in both cases with 1705 first and the XJW01 second and they are very close results in the 1st and the 2nd identical.

Just how good these are I have no idea as the actual values are not known to me but I thought it was interesting to see how close the results are.

[beanflying]

Yeah... I stumbled across that whilest looking for an image on spanners; I just HAD to give it an honorable mention. 

mnem
*Back to my normal state of abnormal*

At least one more oldy but a goody you missed. 'Footprints' most likely an illegal Pommie immigrant like my Grandfather when he jumped ship in the 30's

And sort of back on topic anyone want to dare me to put 1000V on this multi meter probe and hang on I have the TEA to do it Somewhere in my cleanup will be my 40 year old 20k meter it belongs to.

[Specmaster]

I have an equally rust pair of footprints like those somewhere in one of my many toolboxes in the garage. As for that meter lead, are you sure about the 20k meter, it looks like the type of leads you get with those Harbour Freight meters 

[beanflying]

Never owned a cheapy digital apart from a pocket one I had 30 years ago with attached leads. I am waiting on an $8USD digital clamp meter to arrive so I can compare lead quality then

I still use the Footprints instead of Stilsons sometimes as the jaw teeth are a much sharper angle and work better on Galvanised Pipe.

[bitseeker]

And sort of back on topic anyone want to dare me to put 1000V on this multi meter probe and hang on I have the TEA to do it Somewhere in my cleanup will be my 40 year old 20k meter it belongs to.

Hmmm, refried bean?

[Mr. Scram]

One has to appreciate the little FAQ one eBay seller has added to his ads.

Frequently asked questions

How are you?
About the same, thanks for asking.

So what's included in your listing?
Everything you see in the pictures and nothing you don't.

Anything else?
I'll throw in a box.

Oh, a smart guy, eh?
In case that's not rhetorical: I'm no expert, and I'm certainly not smart enough to know about everything that passes my way. I do my best to evaluate the things I sell, but often defer to the superior knowledge of the prospective buyer.

Will you ever learn?
Probably not.

What if the item I buy from you doesn't work?
You have 30 days from receipt to return it for a refund if it doesn't do as I describe.

What if I don't like the color?
Then you have 14 days.

If I tell you how crappy and obsolete your item is in a condescending enough tone, will you do me the favor of selling it to me for a fraction of your asking price?
No.

Can I pick up my winnings in person?
I don't know you well enough to know your capabilities.

OK, may I?
Certainly!

Did I forget anything?
What am I, a mind reader?

Will you discuss these imaginary conversations with your psychiatrist?
The conversations are quite real, it's you who are imaginary.

You just blew my mind.
Who said that?

[Specmaster]

Thats so funny 

[Cubdriver]

Either Australians have a lot of massive spanners around, or being an Australian isn't all it's cracked up to be. Bonus points for whoever came up with the idea for that picture, though.

Must be in the water. 

I think it's because they're down their on the bottom of the world, hanging upside-down all the time.  All the blood rushing to their heads makes them more inclined to do weird things.   The mystery to me is what makes 'Florida man' do all the crazy crap he does.  THAT could be something (alligator poop??) in the water...

-Pat

[mnementh]

"All the nuts roll downhill to Florida." ~local saying

mnem

[bitseeker]

One has to appreciate the little FAQ one eBay seller has added to his ads.

I like it. I may have to do something similar.

[beanflying]

So I am confused 

I have been looking at secondhand Sig Gens to about 100mHz (sub $6-700USD) to most likely totally replace my Feeltech 30mHz (get rid of/sell) one, the Feeltach has more features than most of these in spite of some other short comings.

Is there any point continuing to look or sugguest a model# or do I just need to accept the fact that the Siglent SDG2042x with a little firmware tweakage is the best way to go? I do lack the $8-10k to consider the Keysight option and correct I did not mention Rigol as an option

Tautech should be banned from input here as he is on holidays 

[0culus]

So I am confused 

I have been looking at secondhand Sig Gens to about 100mHz (sub $6-700USD) to most likely totally replace my Feeltech 30mHz (get rid of/sell) one, the Feeltach has more features than most of these in spite of some other short comings.

Is there any point continuing to look or sugguest a model# or do I just need to accept the fact that the Siglent SDG2042x with a little firmware tweakage is the best way to go? I do lack the $8-10k to consider the Keysight option and correct I did not mention Rigol as an option

Tautech should be banned from input here as he is on holidays 

I personally went the "old" route. After my cheapass DDS died, I added a beautifully maintained HP 3325B to my setup. I have an HP 8657A for high frequency and RF. The 3325B honestly has all the features I need in a function generator. YMMV.

BTW, according to AusPost that stuff you sent me is at US Customs.

[beanflying]

Oops Customs has picked up the mysterious analogue switches and they can't figure out what it does

I have used the Arb side of my Feelcrud a bit and I was hoping to do away with it as part of the plan. 3325B (with the 60mHz option) could work and would be $4-600 USD landed. For ease of use I guess I am still leaning toward modern. What's the Arb programming like or have you tried?

[tautech]

So I am confused 

I have been looking at secondhand Sig Gens to about 100mHz (sub $6-700USD) to most likely totally replace my Feeltech 30mHz (get rid of/sell) one, the Feeltach has more features than most of these in spite of some other short comings.

Is there any point continuing to look or sugguest a model# or do I just need to accept the fact that the Siglent SDG2042x with a little firmware tweakage is the best way to go? I do lack the $8-10k to consider the Keysight option and correct I did not mention Rigol as an option

Tautech should be banned from input here as he is on holidays 

But still watching.

C’mon bean, take the plunge, you won’t be disappointed.

[Kosmic]

So I am confused 

I have been looking at secondhand Sig Gens to about 100mHz (sub $6-700USD) to most likely totally replace my Feeltech 30mHz (get rid of/sell) one, the Feeltach has more features than most of these in spite of some other short comings.

Is there any point continuing to look or sugguest a model# or do I just need to accept the fact that the Siglent SDG2042x with a little firmware tweakage is the best way to go? I do lack the $8-10k to consider the Keysight option and correct I did not mention Rigol as an option

Tautech should be banned from input here as he is on holidays 

I was shopping for a function generator recently and was trying to avoid the cheap Chinese models (Feeltech and cie). I was also looking for a cheap logic analyser.

I ended buying a Adalm2000 for 99$. It's made by Analog Devices and showcase a lot of their chips. Feature wise, it's similar to the Analog Discovery 2 by Digilent. It's a Oscilloscope, Function generator, Spectrum Analyser, Network Analyser, Logic Analyser, Digital Pattern Generator, Digital IO, Voltmeter and Power Supply 

In term of signal generation it does around 25Mhz Sine, 5 Mhz Square and 10 Mhz Triangle. I benchmarked with my 5335A and at 10Mhz it's like 1-2 Hz off.

Don't let the appearance fool you. It look like a toy for kids but it's really useful tool in a hobbyist setup.

https://wiki.analog.com/university/tools/adalm2000/users

[bitseeker]

3325B (with the 60mHz option) could work and would be $4-600 USD landed.

There's a 60MHz option for it? The only options I was aware of are the OCXO (001) and 40V_p-p output (002). Topping out at 60 would make it much more interesting.

For ease of use I guess I am still leaning toward modern.

And space!

There's also the HP 33120A, but it's only 15 MHz. I haven't tried the arb on it, so not sure how user-friendly it is to add your own waveform.

[bitseeker]

I ended buying a Adalm2000 for 99$. It's made by Analog Devices and showcase a lot of their chips. Feature wise, it's similar to the Analog Discovery 2 by Digilent. It's a Oscilloscope, Function generator, Spectrum Analyser, Network Analyser, Logic Analyser, Digital Pattern Generator, Digital IO, Voltmeter and Power Supply 

Ah, I didn't know that was available now. It's not only similar, it looks like it practically is an AD2 in a different enclosure. They even use the same I/O header (that's Digilent's BNC adapter in the pic).

[Kosmic]

Ah, I didn't know that was available now. It's not only similar, it looks like it practically is an AD2 in a different enclosure. They even use the same I/O header (that's Digilent's BNC adapter in the pic).

Yes pinout is the same so I bought the Digilent breakoutboard. Working really well with real probe and bnc connectors.

[med6753]

Time for me to get back on topic. Re-visit the 190VDC reference I put together last month. It worked but it had excessive drift, sometimes as high as +/-200mV. Bd139 recommended replacing the carbon comp resistors with 1% metal film. The parts finally arrived yesterday. Replaced today. The results have been dramatic. My ambitious goal was to get the drift under +/-50mV. I've achieved that and more.  I didn't heat sink the regulator and I don't think it will buy me anything additional.

After .5 hour warm up. Set to 190.0V.


45 minutes later. It sometimes would spike up to 190.035V but then settle back down. Certainly not lab standards but I can live with this.  Thanks bd for your suggestion! 


Other pending projects: I currently have a 190.0mV, 1.900V, and 19.00V reference based upon a 723 regulator that I use to check/calibrate the lower DC ranges. It's accurate enough for 3.5 digit DMM's but a little dodgy for 4.5 digit DMM's. So I came up with a scheme to put together a much more accurate reference. Going to start working on that this week. And then I have this wild plan to try to achieve an accurate 500VDC reference to calibrate 1000V ranges. That should be interesting if I don't kill myself.