Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Mr. Scram]

My ballsack is just cringing at the idea of riding those cellular tires on anything but astroturf. And the "motorcyclist" in me cringes at the idea of how sloppy everything on the frame will feel after just a few hours riding, and how the entire COG is going to be out to lunch with that single hub motor. You notice they don't dare ride the fucking thing at anything approaching highway speeds.

[EDIT]

But yeah; really nifty on the large-scale 3D printing technology... not entirely sanguine about this project as an example though. A $40,000 printer + $2,600 in materials = a street motorcycle that's not fit for purpose; little more than a novelty. 

[/EDIT]

mnem
*poit!*

There's no way three days of printing on a decent industrial printer only adds up to $2600. But it's pretty obvious this isn't intended to be a realistic project. The manufacturer wants to showcase its printers with a product that entices and I gather that's been a success, considering it got posted on the BBC and then here.

Ah, after reviewing the video I see it's plastic and not metal. Sure, $2600 in plastic might do it. That's not anywhere near the printing cost though, let alone the final cost. Then again, 3D printing has so far never been about creating affordable mass products. It's all about creating one-off or small production objects which would be stupidly expensive to make with traditional technology. Though it's slowly becoming more production worthy. It's slowly bridging the gap between needing one item and needing 10000 at a stupidly low price.

[bd139]

Toddles back  to back to wrestling with electronic cad programs 

Recipe I am working on:

1. Idea on paper with calculator first.
2. Try out fragments in LTspice.
3. Build 'em and see if LTspice was right.
3. Stick all the fragments into KiCad and make a PCB
4. Send PCB to JLCPCB.
5. Receive PCB from JLCPCB
6. Solder all the stuff to it.
7. Realise you screwed up, go to 3 until you've done this at least 3 times.
8. Working board!

[Specmaster]

Toddles back  to back to wrestling with electronic cad programs 

Recipe I am working on:

1. Idea on paper with calculator first.
2. Try out fragments in LTspice.
3. Build 'em and see if LTspice was right.
3. Stick all the fragments into KiCad and make a PCB
4. Send PCB to JLCPCB.
5. Receive PCB from JLCPCB
6. Solder all the stuff to it.
7. Realise you screwed up, go to 3 until you've done this at least 3 times.
8. Working board!

Reminds me of your waiting for a parcel to be delivered cartoon...


At the moment I'm just evaluating the various options in electronics cads. Kicad has a very steep learning curve and is not helped out with its poorly written manual and "Lets get started" guide where the author assumes that the person reading the notes knows as much about the program as they do, thats an epic fail right there 

[Mr. Scram]

Recipe I am working on:

1. Idea on paper with calculator first.
2. Try out fragments in LTspice.
3. Build 'em and see if LTspice was right.
3. Stick all the fragments into KiCad and make a PCB
4. Send PCB to JLCPCB.
5. Receive PCB from JLCPCB
6. Solder all the stuff to it.
7. Realise you screwed up, go to 3 until you've done this at least 3 times.
8. Working board!

I like how you have two number 3s.

[Mr. Scram]

Reminds me of your waiting for a parcel to be delivered cartoon...


At the moment I'm just evaluating the various options in electronics cads. Kicad has a very steep learning curve and is not helped out with its poorly written manual and "Lets get started" guide where the author assumes that the person reading the notes knows as much about the program as they do, thats an epic fail right there 

Try "Getting to blinky" on Youtube.

[bd139]

At the moment I'm just evaluating the various options in electronics cads. Kicad has a very steep learning curve and is not helped out with its poorly written manual and "Lets get started" guide where the author assumes that the person reading the notes knows as much about the program as they do, thats an epic fail right there 

It's not a terrible guide to be honest. It's what I followed and my background is using Eagle when it worked on Windows NT in the distant past.

I like how you have two number 3s.

I think that occured because I was in the middle of shitposting about what a fucking gigantic pile of cat turds NuGet is and got distracted.

[Mr. Scram]

I think that occured because I was in the middle of shitposting about what a fucking gigantic pile of cat turds NuGet is and got distracted.

It illustrates the point nicely, though.

[Specmaster]

It's not a terrible guide to be honest. It's what I followed and my background is using Eagle when it worked on Windows NT in the distant past.

Well I'm trying to follow it and learn how  to create new symbols etc and it's like thick porridge, keeps referring to items on the screen in various windows that make no sense to the first time user, when they show in the notes what the image is that you have just loaded following their notes is nothing at all like what you loaded following their instructions. Maybe its because the latest versions have been developed but the guide notes have not kept up with the revisions to the program, who knows?

There is no doubt about its ability to take standard parts in its database already (assuming that have been all checked) and produce some really good pcb gerber files and schematics from them but it is and feels it too, work in progress.

[Mr. Scram]

Well I'm trying to follow it and learn how  to create new symbols etc and it's like thick porridge, keeps referring to items on the screen in various windows that make no sense to the first time user, when they show in the notes what the image is that you have just loaded following their notes is nothing at all like what you loaded following their instructions. Maybe its because the latest versions have been developed but the guide notes have not kept up with the revisions to the program, who knows?

There is no doubt about its ability to take standard parts in its database already (assuming that have been all checked) and produce some really good pcb gerber files and schematics from them but it is and feels it too, work in progress.

Don't expect much better from other EDA packages though. They all seem to have traits which make you want to tear your hair out.

[med6753]

Started build of a 500VDC reference. Made progress and a set back. First, the progress.

The build is centered around 2 inverter cards in series each set to 250VDC. One card can only output a maximum of 390VDC hence the 2 cards in series. The card is set to approx 275VDC and supplies a regulator assembly similar to the 190VDC reference. So each assembly is built up and tested as a separate unit before connecting them in series.
 
Here's the first test setup. After a 15 minute warm up it was set to 250VDC.



After .5 hour. Nice and stable. Success.



The set back. The 2nd inverter card is defective. It works fine for about 10 minutes and then suddenly it's output sags to about 209VDC. If you let it cool down and restart it's fine then craps out again. So some component has a thermal issue. I'll look it over and see if I can fix it but failing that I'll simply order another one. I need to order some more metal film resistors anyway.   

Once it's all built up and working I'll update and post the schematic.

[Martin.M]

I see you have 8600A there.
what is the different to 8600AU?
Martin

[med6753]

I see you have 8600A there.
what is the different to 8600AU?
Martin

I don't know.  Perhaps it refers to the Battery Option (Option 1) or the Data Acquisition Option (Option 2).

[Martin.M]

I don`t like features with name "option1"
(see Tek 76xx)

[Specmaster]

Well I'm trying to follow it and learn how  to create new symbols etc and it's like thick porridge, keeps referring to items on the screen in various windows that make no sense to the first time user, when they show in the notes what the image is that you have just loaded following their notes is nothing at all like what you loaded following their instructions. Maybe its because the latest versions have been developed but the guide notes have not kept up with the revisions to the program, who knows?

There is no doubt about its ability to take standard parts in its database already (assuming that have been all checked) and produce some really good pcb gerber files and schematics from them but it is and feels it too, work in progress.

Don't expect much better from other EDA packages though. They all seem to have traits which make you want to tear your hair out.

Yeh, I'm fairly proficient with AutoCad Electrical and I would have expected that these EDA's would be similar but that's not the case 

[Martin.M]

http://azurelectronics.com/HP%208556A%20LF%20Section.htm

 I have buyed 8556A 
(brings the shouting on the screen)

[mnementh]

All very true of course but just look at that finished quality unless your going to tell me that each piece has been sanded to perfection 

Mock all you like, but think back to the Wright Brothers and how they must have been mocked with their heavier then air machine and its first few feet of flight compared with what we have achieved today with planes made out of metal many times heavier than their machine 

Toddles back  to back to wrestling with electronic cad programs 

Ummm... seriously? Did you actually bother to expand that video to fullscreen? Print quality is atrocious. I'm guessing they printed at 1mm LH. It looks okay in a 480 pixel instance of yoobToob playing video shot from a meter or two away at closest; but even there you can see the layer lines.

As you say; it is a rough proof of concept. VERY rough.

Now leverage this tech to create direct-castable molds, doing away with all the "lost material" and foundry work... THAT would be a effing game-changer.

Well I'm trying to follow it and learn how  to create new symbols etc and it's like thick porridge, keeps referring to items on the screen in various windows that make no sense to the first time user, when they show in the notes what the image is that you have just loaded following their notes is nothing at all like what you loaded following their instructions. Maybe its because the latest versions have been developed but the guide notes have not kept up with the revisions to the program, who knows?

There is no doubt about its ability to take standard parts in its database already (assuming that have been all checked) and produce some really good pcb gerber files and schematics from them but it is and feels it too, work in progress.

Don't expect much better from other EDA packages though. They all seem to have traits which make you want to tear your hair out.

Yeh, I'm fairly proficient with AutoCad Electrical and I would have expected that these EDA's would be similar but that's not the case 

That was pretty much my experience with KiCad as well. Even after successfully muddling through for several years and several small projects with Eagle, KiCad was STILL a massive paradigm shift. And Altium a similar shift along a slightly different tangent.

Makes you wish for something a little more intuitive; like Star Trek voice commands where you can say, "No, not THERE you idiot! Why would you put it THERE?!?" and have it at least STOP trying to put it THERE...  Fuck, even a dog can learn THAT.   

mnem
Why do I have this ball just floating in space on my Sketchup?!? 

[0culus]

I've been trying KiCad this past week and it doesn't seem too terrible. Then again, I'm used to FPGA toolsets which kind of define terrible when it comes to documentation and usability.

[bd139]

I’ve fought worse bastards. Autotrax for example.

Honestly you haven’t had suck until you’ve dealt with Cadence VLSI design on a cranky old sun4c machine with three people using it as well to run network copies of mosaic on their sun3 xservers to look at porn gifs. 16Mb of RAM 

[tggzzz]

I’ve fought worse bastards. Autotrax for example.

Honestly you haven’t had suck until you’ve dealt with Cadence VLSI design on a cranky old sun4c machine with three people using it as well to run network copies of mosaic on their sun3 xservers to look at porn gifs. 16Mb of RAM 

Is that better or worse than Mental Mentor Graphics stuff?

That was so awfully overcomplicated that the old Orcad schematic/PCB application was faster, even though it was keyboard without a mouse.

[Mr. Scram]

I've been trying KiCad this past week and it doesn't seem too terrible. Then again, I'm used to FPGA toolsets which kind of define terrible when it comes to documentation and usability.

I was wondering what kind of ass backwards order that is, when I realized I walked a similar path. The FPGA toolset came before the EDA.

[bd139]

I’ve fought worse bastards. Autotrax for example.

Honestly you haven’t had suck until you’ve dealt with Cadence VLSI design on a cranky old sun4c machine with three people using it as well to run network copies of mosaic on their sun3 xservers to look at porn gifs. 16Mb of RAM 

Is that better or worse than Mental Mentor Graphics stuff?

That was so awfully overcomplicated that the old Orcad schematic/PCB application was faster, even though it was keyboard without a mouse.

I dealt with Mentor later on but only in a license management capacity aka anti-buggering negotiator.

[Neomys Sapiens]

I’ve fought worse bastards. Autotrax for example.

Honestly you haven’t had suck until you’ve dealt with Cadence VLSI design on a cranky old sun4c machine with three people using it as well to run network copies of mosaic on their sun3 xservers to look at porn gifs. 16Mb of RAM 

Is that better or worse than Mental Mentor Graphics stuff?

That was so awfully overcomplicated that the old Orcad schematic/PCB application was faster, even though it was keyboard without a mouse.

I dealt with Mentor later on but only in a license management capacity aka anti-buggering negotiator.

Are you talking about THAT Mentor EDA tool which did still emulate the look of a vector screen (with green lines, maybe red but no other colours and no fills)? For electronic circuits, I've seen much worse!
Symbol creation was straightforward, you were not pulled into any PCB-related parts if you did not want to, the necessary tools were implemented and the circuits looked good.

[0culus]

I've been trying KiCad this past week and it doesn't seem too terrible. Then again, I'm used to FPGA toolsets which kind of define terrible when it comes to documentation and usability.

I was wondering what kind of ass backwards order that is, when I realized I walked a similar path. The FPGA toolset came before the EDA.

Right now I’m using Vivado for my work and while it’s ui isn’t the worst their documentation SUCKS. It’s all buried in huge PDF files with the relevant details you need often scattered round.

[Inverted18650]

what is the biggest difference between a Keithley 2001 and the 2010? If i were going to drop 1k+ on a meter, anything else I should consider? maybe save a litte and just get the champ in the 3458?

[beanflying]

what is the biggest difference between a Keithley 2001 and the 2010? If i were going to drop 1k+ on a meter, anything else I should consider? maybe save a litte and just get the champ in the 3458?

If you want to stay closer to the $1k keep an eye out for Solartron 7061 or 7081. This is cheap buy on looking carefully at the feedback I decided not to eBay auction: #https://www.ebay.com/itm/Solartron-Schlumberger-Enertec-7061-8-7-1-2-Dig-DMM-Calibrated-WORLDWIDE-SHIP/254096428094?hash=item3b2953cc3e:g:Cu4AAOSwcOZb~Sle:rk:11:pf:0 You will find plenty of info on the Forum. I have seen good condition 7081's go for $1-1.5k