Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Ero-Shan]

Actually I just found a new option to view low frequency on a regular SA. Yesterday night, was looking for BG7TBL devices and found this: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Spectrum-Analyzer-Low-Frequency-Converter-BG7TBL-with-N-SMA-BNC-SMA-Adapter/283324546382

Look like a upconverter that raise everything from 1Hz to 2 Mhz in the 10Mhz zone.
I ordered one yesterday and should be able to report back when it finally arrive 

Yup, looks interesting and  has a reasonable price tag.

But, as I wrote, I don't really need an SA in the first place ... but wait a moment, I actually might have a use for it! Last week I decided to scan for new stations with my TV and PVR. And both couldn't receive a bouquet at 114 MHz. This is rather close to the upper FM limit of 108 MHz, and the filters in the socket (2 x SAT, TV, Radio) might have to do with it. Except that it worked before.
 A spectrum analyzer might help here I guess.

[Inverted18650]

I suppose the cost of the license will be included in the BOM...too late to learn something else as well as I know OnShape... upgrade is the only answer.

[Ero-Shan]

Look a bit harder at the data sheets. 
SSA and SVA sweep from 9 KHz.

You're referring to Siglent SAs, right?

My complaint about the rather high starting frequency wasn't aimed at Rigol and Siglent, but a general impression I had from the boat anchors found at eBay.

[beanflying]

I don't mind giving away my designs as STL's and even CAD files selectively as some of you know but some of what I do what I make a $ from so an automatic open source and file share for all things is a nono even if you choose to omit you are making a $ from your work. I don't upload my stuff to Thingiverse as I have some issues with who owns the rights to it and the difficulty of removing content later (may have changed).

On Shape played into Fusion/Autodesks hands when they made the changes and to strengthen their position Fusion reduced their Pricing to a lot of their paid users. No doubt OnShapes Board will get a bonus for removing those pesky free users and making them go to the opposition product. 

[BravoV]

Does anyone ever owned or used HP 6024A 60V 10A PSU, is this good one ?

[bd139]

Look a bit harder at the data sheets. 
SSA and SVA sweep from 9 KHz.

You're referring to Siglent SAs, right?

My complaint about the rather high starting frequency wasn't aimed at Rigol and Siglent, but a general impression I had from the boat anchors found at eBay.

That’s because it’s difficult dealing with signal coupling at that low frequency AFAIK.

Does anyone ever owned or used HP 6024A 60V 10A PSU, is this good one ?

Been after one for a while after a recommendation for using one as a comms power supply. Has OVP which is essential when you plug £700 radios into it

[Specmaster]

Yeah, I saw that when I scoped it out while waiting for my printer to warm up.

https://youtu.be/vRKBBUK6KNI

Looks like the first of the blems printed just fine; that little blob of layer shift is all it amounted to. If it all looks that good, I'll print the other three. Or 7. Or dozen. 

mnem
Fucking AutoDesk... I knew they'd find a way to get their hooks in me again. 

I find watch this very hypnotic 

[GreyWoolfe]

I just scored another HP 3478A.  It has a current calibration sticker from Tektronix good until April 2019 and the seller states it passes self test.    $70 plus $28 shipping.  No feet, of course, but I still have some of the feet that I put on the first 3478A.  I will probably sell a 3466A off so Mrs GreyWoolfe won't try to kill me in my sleep.  If I do sell, I will still have 7 meters.  Will that still keep me in TEA?    What is the minimum number of meters for TEA, obviously, there is no maximum.

[bd139]

Damn that's a steal!

Got my eye on a 3455A but it's (a) too expensive (b) I have nowhere to put it (c) probably knackered (d) will eat into the 34401A sniping fund.

[tggzzz]

Damn that's a steal!

Got my eye on a 3455A but it's (a) too expensive (b) I have nowhere to put it (c) probably knackered (d) will eat into the 34401A sniping fund.

If the vendor is in Somerset, there's a reasonable chance he would accept a 33% discount.

Failing that, here's a newer item https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Agilent-34401A-6-1-2-Digital-Multimeter/392209763019 The front panel is "interesting".

[med6753]

Most DMM's, regardless of  “closed case calibration” or twist pot calibration, seem to require standards of 190.000mv, 1.9000V, 19.000V, and 190.00V for set up. The 723 based calibrator that I currently use for 19V and below is too unstable for my liking and not really accurate enough for 4.5 digit DMM's. So how can I get a stable and accurate standard without spending thousands on a Fluke calibrator? The answer was right under my nose. The AD584-M reference! Stable? Absolutely! But how to I get 19V out of a 10V max reference? Right under my nose again. Put 2 in series! So this is the proof of concept test setup. I tied into an old 10.00V, 1.000V, 100.00mV reference. Added a 10K/4 turn pot in series with the divider string and pesto....19.008V. And then 1.900V, then 190.00mV. This proves the concept works and is absolutely stable. And once set up properly and divider resistors tweaked more than accurate enough for my needs. 



19.000V


1.9000V


190.00mV


And now to design and build up a prototype. I think I'm going to make it so each voltage can be individually set for maximum accuracy. Once I get that drawn up and tested I will share it. 

[bd139]

Damn that's a steal!

Got my eye on a 3455A but it's (a) too expensive (b) I have nowhere to put it (c) probably knackered (d) will eat into the 34401A sniping fund.

If the vendor is in Somerset, there's a reasonable chance he would accept a 33% discount.

Failing that, here's a newer item https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Agilent-34401A-6-1-2-Digital-Multimeter/392209763019 The front panel is "interesting".

Interesting. Although for something ultimately untested of that calibre I'd give it a miss unless it's £75 or lower.

"Interesting" as in the synonym of "fucked"? I might pay £100 or so for that based on the risk of other buggerage. They go for less than that in perfect condition in an auction.

Annoyingly I missed a 34401A throwing errors a few weeks back for £50 from the dude round the corner from me. Display and panel were good and it looked like the typical shorted tants on analogue supply problem so was low risk. Was on a conference call and doing a screen share at the time so couldn't bid. Grr. Was gone before I got back to it.

[Specmaster]

Personally, I'd stick with a 34401A, one's bound to come again soon, its more modern, smaller, probably more accurate and is certainly more versatile and has that nice calming green display just right for soothing you while using it. 

[Specmaster]

Most DMM's, regardless of  “closed case calibration” or twist pot calibration, seem to require standards of 190.000mv, 1.9000V, 19.000V, and 190.00V for set up. The 723 based calibrator that I currently use for 19V and below is too unstable for my liking and not really accurate enough for 4.5 digit DMM's. So how can I get a stable and accurate standard without spending thousands on a Fluke calibrator? The answer was right under my nose. The AD584-M reference! Stable? Absolutely! But how to I get 19V out of a 10V max reference? Right under my nose again. Put 2 in series! So this is the proof of concept test setup. I tied into an old 10.00V, 1.000V, 100.00mV reference. Added a 10K/4 turn pot in series with the divider string and pesto....19.008V. And then 1.900V, then 190.00mV. This proves the concept works and is absolutely stable. And once set up properly and divider resistors tweaked more than accurate enough for my needs. 

And now to design and build up a prototype. I think I'm going to make it so each voltage can be individually set for maximum accuracy. Once I get that drawn up and tested I will share it. 

Now that is a great and clever idea, I await the schematic when you finish it 

[BravoV]

Been after one for a while after a recommendation for using one as a comms power supply. Has OVP which is essential when you plug £700 radios into it

I understand what OVP is, but mind elaborate further on plugging £700 radios into it ? 

[Kosmic]

Personally, I'd stick with a 34401A, one's bound to come again soon, its more modern, smaller, probably more accurate and is certainly more versatile and has that nice calming green display just right for soothing you while using it. 

Totally agree with that. I had a 3455a, 3456a and 34401a at one point­. Definitly prefer the 34401a. Second is the 3456a, and It's also really solid.

The 3455a was just more unstable and it was more a 5.5 digits meter. Might have been a tired cap inside but I never really took the time to investigate. I sold it 6 months ago for 90$.

[bd139]

Been after one for a while after a recommendation for using one as a comms power supply. Has OVP which is essential when you plug £700 radios into it

I understand what OVP is, but mind elaborate further on plugging £700 radios into it ? 

Typical scenario seen down the local shop more than once:

1. Person buys £700-7k radio on credit.
2. Person buys the cheapest power supply without OVP to go with it.
3. Person runs it to the line doing FT8 and the pass transistor goes CE short dumping unregulated DC into radio
4. Radio gives up permanently if you go a nanovolt over about 18V.
5. Remaining credit payments are made regretfully.

Personally, I'd stick with a 34401A, one's bound to come again soon, its more modern, smaller, probably more accurate and is certainly more versatile and has that nice calming green display just right for soothing you while using it. 

Totally agree with that. I had a 3455a, 3456a and 34401a at one point­. Definitly prefer the 34401a. Second is the 3456a, and It's also really solid.

The 3455a was just more unstable and it was more a 5.5 digits meter. Might have been a tired cap inside but I never really took the time to investigate. I sold it 6 months ago for 90$.

Well that’s sorted then

If I get a 34401A I’m going to pay for calibration though.

[BravoV]

4. Radio gives up permanently if you go a nanovolt over about 18V.

Thanks, so it's OVP is really good, is that what are you saying ? Say compared to other decent adjustable bench PSU ?

Anything else that I should know or aware about it ?

[Kosmic]

Talking about multimeters, I sold all the Philips I had (PM2535 & PM2534). When you start comparing them to HP or Keithley products they really fall short.

Both had badly drifted (+-100mv) and one of them has been calibrated in 2016.

[tggzzz]

Damn that's a steal!

Got my eye on a 3455A but it's (a) too expensive (b) I have nowhere to put it (c) probably knackered (d) will eat into the 34401A sniping fund.

If the vendor is in Somerset, there's a reasonable chance he would accept a 33% discount.

Failing that, here's a newer item https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Agilent-34401A-6-1-2-Digital-Multimeter/392209763019 The front panel is "interesting".

Interesting. Although for something ultimately untested of that calibre I'd give it a miss unless it's £75 or lower.

"Interesting" as in the synonym of "fucked"? I might pay £100 or so for that based on the risk of other buggerage. They go for less than that in perfect condition in an auction.

"Interesting" as in "may you live in interesting times". I wouldn't fork out for that, unless I found it in a crate under the bench at a hamfest

[bd139]

4. Radio gives up permanently if you go a nanovolt over about 18V.

Thanks, so it's OVP is really good, is that what are you saying ? Say compared to other decent adjustable bench PSU ?

Anything else that I should know or aware about it ?

Most other supplies don’t have OVP at all which is the killer feature. Even my nice TTi ones don’t. When using radio kit I stick a 12V SLA across the supply as that works as lame OVP 

Damn that's a steal!

Got my eye on a 3455A but it's (a) too expensive (b) I have nowhere to put it (c) probably knackered (d) will eat into the 34401A sniping fund.

If the vendor is in Somerset, there's a reasonable chance he would accept a 33% discount.

Failing that, here's a newer item https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Agilent-34401A-6-1-2-Digital-Multimeter/392209763019 The front panel is "interesting".

Interesting. Although for something ultimately untested of that calibre I'd give it a miss unless it's £75 or lower.

"Interesting" as in the synonym of "fucked"? I might pay £100 or so for that based on the risk of other buggerage. They go for less than that in perfect condition in an auction.

"Interesting" as in "may you live in interesting times". I wouldn't fork out for that, unless I found it in a crate under the bench at a hamfest

Yes there’s definitely something not repairable in it potentially. My worst case risk assessment is “what can I palm off the bits for” I did well out of that HP54602 scope.

[mnementh]

Yeah, I saw that when I scoped it out while waiting for my printer to warm up.

   Looks like the first of the blems printed just fine; that little blob of layer shift is all it amounted to. If it all looks that good, I'll print the other three. Or 7. Or dozen. 

mnem
Fucking AutoDesk... I knew they'd find a way to get their hooks in me again. 

I find watch this very hypnotic 

Yeah... that's part of why I post video of it chugging away from time to time. It's quite soothing, and in an existential sense it breaks all the rules of alchemy... you're almost making something from nothing. You turn pixels on the screen, which are nothing more than inconvenienced electrons that go away when you turn the computer off, into a real, tangible and (hopefully) useful object. Very Zen.

https://youtu.be/5JZDlFrkT88

Here's some more... you've probably seen this one before, but it's still very calming, aside from the *~POP!~* at around 2:05 that made me jump.    I need to get out the tripod and make a long, closeup video of something... maybe a full-duration video of the project I'm working on.

I'm installing Fusion right now; SketchVurp has fuxxored me for the last time. Gawddamn print failed right at the last 5%; Solid Inspector was full of LIES. I knew it probably was... but the arseache involved in doing ANYTHING with SketchPoop since they took away the merge/subtract object functionality from the free version makes it pretty much unusable. I HAD IT, and they made me "upgrade" to the new version that took it away from BOTH versions. Fucking cock-knockers.

I'm going to use Fusion and learn it, starting by making the simple project I'm working on now from scratch instead of trying to unfuck an imported .stl . 

mnem
Pray for me... and all the little inconvenienced electrons.

[nfmax]

This morning the Keysight van called at Nfmax Towers. Taking advantage of the end-of-year promotion, I've sent my 34401A DVM, 53131A counter/timer (with high stability OXCO option) and 4263B LCR meter off for calibration. Now I will have traceable values for the nfVolt, nfOhm, nfAmpere, nfFarad, nfHenry & nfSecond!

Clearly my TEA is getting worse - I think I'm becoming a calcoholic

[bd139]

Woot. That’s some classy service there!

[beanflying]

I'm going to use Fusion and learn it, starting by making the simple project I'm working on now from scratch instead of trying to unfuck an imported .stl . 

Try this. Import your STL. and place one face on the origin and centered (as close as you can).

Create 'New Body'

Then 'Start Sketch' on that origin plane ......

The STL will sit there as a ghost and not be effected by what you do but will give you a scaled model to draw from. When you are done just delete the stl or hide it.

Welcome to the Darkside