Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Mr. Scram]

That doesn't really sound like a repair which restores the structural integrity of the car.

[bd139]

Yes. Can’t be as bad as the Land Rover I nearly bought once. I went round and tapped the chassis with a pen. Found about two feet of it which had been replaced with rolled up newspaper and covered in putty and painted 

[mnementh]

Don't you just love it when you get volunteered for shit like that? I feel your pain, it has happen to me more times than I can count. And it was always the wife's side that screwed up your weekends. And when you did help them it never seemed like they appreciated it. More like expected it. Bunch of losers. 

Nahhh... it's not like that. I get along with all the in-laws, aside from the "remarried" sob-in-law. He's just a troglodyte; even when he displays generosity, it's not for the good of others, but so he can brag about it. 

J is a good kid; just he's 22 going on 16, if you know what I mean. Perpetual superficial angsty teenager. We had him living with us for a while; had to boot him outta the nest a few months ago. We felt 2 years of "failure to launch" was enough; and we weren't doing him any favors coddling him any longer. I have my own angsty teenager (boy is starting a few year early, but still full of that attitude); I don't have enough patience for two with the moving project on top of it all.  Ifni save me when my daughter gets to that stage...   

mnem
Define "good".

[med6753]

That doesn't really sound like a repair which restores the structural integrity of the car.

It's a "redneck hillbilly repair" or "I'm too cheap to go to an auto body shop" 

[Mr. Scram]

Yes. Can’t be as bad as the Land Rover I nearly bought once. I went round and tapped the chassis with a pen. Found about two feet of it which had been replaced with rolled up newspaper and covered in putty and painted 

Too bad it's so hard to prove who did it, but I wouldn't mind if those kinds of things would be prosecuted as criminal negligence or something of that nature. You know a vehicle you did that to is going to be driven on the road, so you're willingly gambling with people's lives. Not to mention it could be considered a financial crime as well. Unfortunately they'd probably have to prove the alterations were actually posing a danger, which takes quite a bit of effort to prove in every case.

[tggzzz]

Yes. Can’t be as bad as the Land Rover I nearly bought once. I went round and tapped the chassis with a pen. Found about two feet of it which had been replaced with rolled up newspaper and covered in putty and painted 

Pah; it was a Land Rover.

I had the fuel tank partially drop off mine, but fortunately I had a suitable bolt in the car so I fixed that in my company's car park. I had the engine partially drop out, so I replaced the mounting for that in the campsite (yes, I had a spare mounting). Then a wheel dropped off as I was finishing overtaking on the A11; the RAC bloke and I agreed no damage was done so I took one bolt off each other wheel and continued.

I was once on the slip road to the M3 in a friends car (Ford Escort, IIRC), when the bonnet lifted - which was a little entertaining. More entertaining was that the bend in the bonnet revealed a 0.5" layer of filler over half the area.

The car was red, but he replaced it with a white bonnet, which was fine everywhere except Brighton - he kept on having people jump out in front of him. Eventually he twigged that Brighton taxis were red with a big white stripe

[Martin.M]

tru men must not read data sheets 

[mnementh]

That doesn't really sound like a repair which restores the structural integrity of the car.

It's a "redneck hillbilly repair" or "I'm too cheap to go to an auto body shop" 

We call that "shade-tree mechanicking".  My level of "Ghetto-Fab" is going to be a few steps higher on the food-chain than that.    I have the knowledge to do it right; I just don't have the facilities. But I wouldn't touch it if I didn't feel the finished product was something I'd drive myself. My "best eyeball" repair is going to be better than a lot of "Professionals", especially around here. 

Of course it's all about J not paying an auto body shop. None of the damage is anywhere near the K-frame or suspension anchors, so structural integrity is not a concern. Given the pre-existing half-assed repairs, I'm 99% positive the car's been totaled once already. Any further life the car gets is pure gravy.

mnem
I am MOOP.

[Mr. Scram]

We call that "shade-tree mechanicking".  My level of "Ghetto-Fab" is going to be a few steps higher on the food-chain than that.    I have the knowledge to do it right; I just don't have the facilities. But I wouldn't touch it if I didn't feel the finished product was something I'd drive myself. My "best eyeball" repair is going to be better than a lot of "Professionals", especially around here. 

Of course it's all about J not paying an auto body shop. None of the damage is anywhere near the K-frame or suspension anchors, so structural integrity is not a concern. Given the pre-existing half-assed repairs, I'm 99% positive the car's been totaled once already. Any further life the car gets is pure gravy.

mnem
I am MOOP.

Horrifyingly enough, plenty of people who stuff their cars with newspaper or tin foil actually drive it afterwards.

[bd139]

I was once on the slip road to the M3 in a friends car (Ford Escort, IIRC), when the bonnet lifted - which was a little entertaining. More entertaining was that the bend in the bonnet revealed a 0.5" layer of The car was red, but he replaced it with a white bonnet, which was fine everywhere except Brighton - he kept on having people jump out in front of him. Eventually he twigged that Brighton taxis were red with a big white stripe

These two things made me laugh out. I also had a friend who had a mk 2 escort and exactly the same thing happened to us. It actually smashed the windscreen. We kicked the glass out, tied the bonnet back down with a bungee and drove the rest of the way. This was on the way to a rave in the early 90s and we couldn’t find it 

Also my half-brother in law has the taxi problem. He’s a security guard and does a lot of night driving at weekends around London. Decided to buy a Prius and has had people try and get in his car about twenty times thinking it was an Uber 

[tautech]

That doesn't really sound like a repair which restores the structural integrity of the car.

It's a "redneck hillbilly repair" or "I'm too cheap to go to an auto body shop" 

We call that "shade-tree mechanicking".  My level of "Ghetto-Fab" is going to be a few steps higher on the food-chain than that.    I have the knowledge to do it right; I just don't have the facilities. But I wouldn't touch it if I didn't feel the finished product was something I'd drive myself. My "best eyeball" repair is going to be better than a lot of "Professionals", especially around here. 

Of course it's all about J not paying an auto body shop. None of the damage is anywhere near the K-frame or suspension anchors, so structural integrity is not a concern. Given the pre-existing half-assed repairs, I'm 99% positive the car's been totaled once already. Any further life the car gets is pure gravy.

mnem
I am MOOP.

First wheels, a '60's something Mk1 Cortina, I head on'ed another guy at low speed when we were both pulling out and turning right but looking left. 
His was an old Holden and built like a tank so all the crumpling was in the front of mine  and shoved it in enough to push the radiator back into the fan. 
Dad came to the rescue and dragged me home and we pushed it into the farm workshop where I put my 'growing' panel beating skills to the test.
Luckily the shed was built from steel portals so with a gas set softening the crumpled zones and a set of fencing wire strainers tied off to a portal I got most bits for the front of my wagon back close to where they should be. 
Nuthin like 3 ton of pull needed and after a couple of liters of bog and a lick of paint we were back on the road again. 

The things we did when we were skint ! 

[Mr. Scram]

What are some quality banana plug manufacturers? I'm striking out with Pomona and Hirschmann.

[Specmaster]

Yes. Can’t be as bad as the Land Rover I nearly bought once. I went round and tapped the chassis with a pen. Found about two feet of it which had been replaced with rolled up newspaper and covered in putty and painted 

Maybe it was not so much of a Land Rover but more of a River Rover previously 

Was it from Arthur Daley's car lot by any chance? 

[bitseeker]

Good news UK eBay lurkers. £1 listing weekend from Friday to Monday. That should clean up the test gear drought!

Wow, you guys keep getting those nice seller discounts. Lately, we got a 25% off and most recently a 50% off. Not bad, but we used to get 100% off (limited to like five items, but still nice).

[Kosmic]

Still working & trying to get solid baselines for these REF Resistors

On your 3456a, enter: "6" + "Store" + "N DIG DISP"

and you will have 1 more digit in resolution 

[bitseeker]

that HP-141s Restoration,   

the power input filter box, made by Sprague, was shorted inside, So I was sitting in the dark with the first test.
Now the little problem is removed, another plug.

and then ..

the noise from a refrigerator is more exactly then the signal what I have used here for testing, but the harmonics are there, so I think the HP ist healthy.

Nice job. I have enjoyed looking at the photos you have posted on this and the outcome. I am tempted to get one myself now but alas nowhere to put it (yet!). Such is life

I second that on all counts (nice restoration, now I want one, where would I put it).

[tautech]

Woohoo actually bought some test gear. MFJ-259B antenna analyser.

Does a whole variety of stuff including acting as an L/C meter

https://www.mfjenterprises.com/Downloads/index.php?productid=MFJ-259C&filename=MFJ-259C%20Manual%20Ver5.pdf&company=mfj

Review expected. 

[mnementh]

As if I didn't already have enough reasons to abandon fleaBay altogether in favor of slAmazon...   

https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/service-and-payments/managed-payments-on-ebay.html

Just ran into one of their "early adopters"; one of my previous go-to vendors. Trying to decide whether to go elsewhere, or just let fleaBay have my PP card.

Fuck 'em. Found same part on slAmazon, same seller, bought it there. Then went back to my fleaBay checkout, clicked on the little "Send us your comments" button, and told them about it. "Not interested, wasn't interested last time you tried this crap either. Goodbye eBay, hello Amazon."

mnem
*Couch tuber time widda kidzz*

[KWKolb]

No one at home or work will understand or appreciate this, but …

I picked up a Tektronix 492 spectrum analyzer w/options 1,2 and 3 from a nearby used test equipment reseller.  It needs work, but I used spectrum analyzers as a young engineer, I wanted it, and I got a good deal ($325). 

A Tektronix 2336 oscilloscope on the site also caught my eye, in good cosmetic condition, at a low price and looked cool.  They had multiple available, so I thought, "what the heck, buy two and I can scavenge from one if need be."   

I bought five. 

Now I have a litter of five Tektronix 2336's keeping my Tektronix 7603, 7633, 213, 2465A, 465M, and 468 oscilloscopes as well as a Dumont 190, Lecroy LC584AL, a Lecroy 9361C and Rigol DS1054Z oscilloscopes company.  Some of them need recapping, though, so maybe they don't really count. 


Now I find myself looking at getting more waveform generators (I have two of older analog Waveteks, an HP 83312A, an FY6800, and an Analogic 2045B Polynonmial Waveform Synthesizer) to keep the oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzer fed.

Oh, yeah, and now I am going to buy a bunch of scope probes and 50 ohm BNC cables.

Kevin

[bd139]

Woohoo actually bought some test gear. MFJ-259B antenna analyser.

Does a whole variety of stuff including acting as an L/C meter

https://www.mfjenterprises.com/Downloads/index.php?productid=MFJ-259C&filename=MFJ-259C%20Manual%20Ver5.pdf&company=mfj

Review expected. 

Review will be coming

This is my attempt to not spend £1300 on your magic siglent box yet

Plus it’s worth £230 and I only paid £150 for it so zero risk 

[Inverted18650]

Still working & trying to get solid baselines for these REF Resistors

On your 3456a, enter: "6" + "Store" + "N DIG DISP"

and you will have 1 more digit in resolution 

Thanks mate, bitseeker pointed this out the other day and I already forget, 6 STORE 9, for full res...maybe if I type it a few times itll stick, 6 STORE 9, 6 STORE 9, 6 STORE 9..for full res...

[Neomys Sapiens]

No one at home or work will understand or appreciate this, but …

Oh, my company appreciates it. They ask me for T&M rentals. 

Now I find myself looking at getting more waveform generators (I have two of older analog Waveteks, an HP 83312A, an FY6800, and an Analogic 2045B Polynonmial Waveform Synthesizer) to keep the oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzer fed.

Another colleague with a discerning taste. Are you already aware that the service manuals for the Analogic products are much sought around this forum? 2045, 2020 and 2040 in my case.
2020 is running ok, 2045 is running with some waveform issues and 2040 is showing nica displays, accepts commands, does not give an error but is stone dead at the output.

So, welcome to the TEA community.

[Neomys Sapiens]

What are some quality banana plug manufacturers? I'm striking out with Pomona and Hirschmann.

Both are ok, but I still prefer Staeubli (former MC). They have the best range of patterns and materials.

[med6753]

No one at home or work will understand or appreciate this, but …

I picked up a Tektronix 492 spectrum analyzer w/options 1,2 and 3 from a nearby used test equipment reseller.  It needs work, but I used spectrum analyzers as a young engineer, I wanted it, and I got a good deal ($325). 

A Tektronix 2336 oscilloscope on the site also caught my eye, in good cosmetic condition, at a low price and looked cool.  They had multiple available, so I thought, "what the heck, buy two and I can scavenge from one if need be."   

I bought five. 

Now I have a litter of five Tektronix 2336's keeping my Tektronix 7603, 7633, 213, 2465A, 465M, and 468 oscilloscopes as well as a Dumont 190, Lecroy LC584AL, a Lecroy 9361C and Rigol DS1054Z oscilloscopes company.  Some of them need recapping, though, so maybe they don't really count. 


Now I find myself looking at getting more waveform generators (I have two of older analog Waveteks, an HP 83312A, an FY6800, and an Analogic 2045B Polynonmial Waveform Synthesizer) to keep the oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzer fed.

Oh, yeah, and now I am going to buy a bunch of scope probes and 50 ohm BNC cables.

Kevin

Welcome to the Hotel TEA.  "Where you can check out but never leave" (See first page)

We expect pictures....pronto....like....now! 

[mnementh]

Oooooooh, it feels sooooo goooood... 

"Just to be perfectly clear:

This iPhone is smashed. It doesn't work and it doesn't have a battery. It is being sold AS-IS FOR PARTS OR REPAIR. If you bid on it, you buy it, and it is NOW YOURS. I am not accepting returns on this iPhone.

I've received several requests for the IMEI. I am not going to share that with anyone but the winning, paying bidder. This iPhone came to me DOA. Owner didn't want to pay for parts just to see if it can be resurrected and abandoned it, neither do I. I don't know whether it is iCloud locked; I assume it probably is. Bid accordingly.

I ran the IMEI on imei24's IMEI check just before I posted the listing, it's clean. They told me it is a 256GB model.

Please don't hassle me with PMs asking to run the IMEI on this or that site. I have a life. To me it's just salvageable parts for somebody who does a lot of iStuff and that is how I'm selling it, to recover something for my time. "

mnem
* Current mood: Karmic *