Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Ice-Tea]

My AP022's (and a PP094) arrived... Now, for the tough question: keep'm for myself or toss them on the bay so someone can make a nice set out of it with one of the WavePros...

[Specmaster]

With ebay and the other sites being very quiet at the moment I'm getting a bit bored with no real TEA action. I did toy with the idea of getting another Fluke 8840AF from Express Auctions in the USA but decided that I have 5 bench meters already including 2 Flukes (8840A and 8842A) and how many meters does one person actually need  so I decided to leave them for you all to get a go at em 

Then last week I get a email from Wish with some offers on it and one of them was mechanical gaming keyboard backlit with Cherry Red switches, just like my Corsair K70 which I'm very impressed with apart from the fact the backlight is all red, the Wish one was RGB, all for just £20 delivered. So I ordered it, thinking that if it turned to be shit, I could use it as a back up keyboard, that was on the 5th Feb. Well today the darned thing was delivered, all the way from China in just 7 days 

I unwrapped it and was surprised to see how much space on my bench this going to save me, manual was all in Chinese, why do that if your selling worldwide  .

Its quite well constructed too, the top is alloy so its stiff unlike some keyboards in its price range which Linus tested and they flex badley, this one is very stiff. I pulled a couple of key caps off and sure enough, the switches do appear to be Cherry Red just like the Corsair keyboard and the key caps are in the most part interchangeable with those on the Corsair. Plugging it in it all lit up and the RGB is not quite what I thought, each row has its own colour and is not changeable, RGB turns out to be just 6 colours, yellow, white, green, magenta, blue and red but it does have lots of cool lighting effects and 3 customisable modes that can be saved to the 1,2 and 3 keys. This allows you to select 3 games and then you select which keys are used in the game and save them, each game to its own key and this locks out all other keys and also turns off their backlighting as well.

It has 2 selectable settings for key rollover as well, hmm this is getting better by the minute. You can control the the speed and brightness of the various (9) lighting effects. Does not have the usual LEDs for the caps lock etc, instead it lights up the legend on the key cap if the locks are selected, cool touch. Another cool touch is that it has a braided USB lead and is nicely protected where it enters the keyboard with a strain relief. It has a nice typing feel to it and the only thing I think against is that like the Corsair, because the legends are designed to be illuminated, if you normally use a keyboard with the backlight off when not gaming, the legends are pretty hard to read.

I'll leave you to look at the video I found on line which shows this keyboard and its lighting effects and in case anyone wants to get one, this reviewer has kindly worked what the controls are for lighting and has included them below his video.

So to sum up this turned out to be a far better bargain than I thought it would be, the only improvement on it would be if each key was truly RGB but for £20 I'm well stoked. Mine has black keycaps.



EDIT:
The FN keys don't show when viewing the video over this link, so here is the list apart from the rollover function which I need to fathom out first.

==== KEYBOARD FUNCTIONS ====
Key combinations:
FN + F10 = Volume Down
FN + F11 = Volume Up
FN + F12 = Mute
FN + F5 = Opens File Explorer
FN + F6 = Opens default web-browser
FN + F7 = Opens default mail application
FN + F8 = Opens Calculator
FN + F9 = Cycle Lightning modes
FN + Page Up = Increase Brightness
FN + Page Down = Decrease Brightness
FN + "+" = Pattern speed increase
FN + "-" = Pattern speed decrease
FN + END = Lock/Unlock FN-button
FN + WIN = Lock/Unlock Windows Button
==== CUSTOM PROFILES ====
When on FN + 1 (CM1), FN + 2 (CM2) , FN + 3 (CM3) you can change the lightened keys.
Example:
Press FN + 1 (CM1) to chose CustoM 1
Press FN + ESC to start recording active keys (numlock, scroll-lock and numlock will blink during this)
Press W,A,S,D to light WASD up
End recording session with FN + ESC
Use FN + 1 (CM1) to use your new lightened WASD-keys only.

[mnementh]

This week on "As the Product Churns..."

               

So last night, my $60 AIO Liquid Cooler arrived from Amazon; I know I found myself wondering just how bad it could be at that price. Surprisingly, not that bad. 

Kit comes complete with 2 LED illuminated PWM controlled fans; these appear identical to ones sold by popular modding shops for $15 or so each. Also included is a Y-splitter with PWM out for both fans, and single channel speed sense back to the MB. For the pump, they included a MOLEX connector in case you don't have a free chassis fan socket on your MB.

Radiator appears to be all-aluminum; 12-row U-channel design with divided reservoir on the hose barb end. I expected some really tin cheesy undersized radiator at that price; surprisingly no. Active area is 115mm x 242mm, and cores are a respectable 15mm thick. 

There's a complete hardware kit for most popular Intel and AMD CPUs, some Silver-oid thermal paste, and even a few velcro ties for routing the hoses.

The block is covered by a plastic housing that just snaps on; the illuminated lens also just snaps in, so customized logos should be easy. At this price, it only offers single color illumination with no effects; I'm totally down with that. If I get a bug to do it, I may isolate the LED circuit and tap it into the case illumination controller; it doesn't look like it would be at all difficult. Alternately, I might just stuff some RGB strip inside there. 

Those of you with a sharp eye might have noticed the broken tab on one of the fans; this kit has a replacement on the way even as I write. Since I'm not going to get to install it and do use testing for a few days, I figured I'd do the complete teardown and snap some pics of the insides. Extra care was taken to hold everything perfectly level just long enough to take pics of the plate and pump cavities; then everything reassembled without spilling a drop of coolant.

This ain't the dwagon's first rodeo. 

Closeups show the copper block is approx 3mm thick, with a passable flycut surface. Definitely NOT mirror-finish, but also definitely serviceable, and there is sound argument that this finish is better for the longevity of your thermal paste, as it tend to force even thicker pastes to disperse evenly into self-encapsulating bands.

Inside we can see that there is a proper microchannel covalent area, with a deflector plate to force coolant to flow through those channels. Looking at the pump, we can see a relief cut out for that plate, so that when assembled the pump has separated intake and outlet chambers.

The plastic housing appears to be glas-impregnated nylon; this has excellent durability with ethylene glycol coolant, which by look and taste, it appears this system uses. (Okay, so ONE drop was lost as a sample) 

All in all, it actually looks like fair quality for the money... the only question will be longevity. Which, of course, is a matter of time.

mnem
*Off to do errands*

[tautech]

You could cool a big block with that radiator mnem ! 

[mnementh]

Oh, thanks for reminding me... I forgot to put up specs on the radiator. Done now! 

Yeah, well... it is going to be cooling some old-school big-block iron. That 1055T is a 135W chip; more if it kicks in the afterburners. There's a reason I sprung for the $60 cooler instead of the $43 one with half a radiator. 

mnem
Watt?

[Zucca]

I could use it as a back up keyboard

Specmaster! USE THE OTHER ONE AS A SHORTCUT-AUTOHOTKEY MONSTER:

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=69169.0

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/hasu-usb-to-usb-controller-converter-usb-keyboard-remapping/

[bd139]

Not TEA related as such as there is nothing happening at the moment (boo hiss) and on topic sort of as "crap from China"....

I just blew the crap out of a cheap no brand SMPS module. It let the switching diode go with one hell of a crack. Was running it about 70% capacity. Clearly too much for the engineering in question. Alas I now no longer have an RF PA  .... going to grab a MeanWell one this time with 5A out instead of 4A and see how long that lives.

[Zucca]

bd139, did you tested it at 100% before installing it? My guess: you did and it was fine.

[bd139]

Yeah it has been working fine for about three months now.

Edit: still considering the "fuck it" option and buying this K2 kit. This is what you get for your money:

[med6753]

I just added a whole bunch of 7000 series time base plug-ins to my EBay watch list. 7B70 and 7B71. Going to need them for the 7704. I already have enough vertical plug-ins...for now. 

Oh and...I sent an E-mail to Circuit Specialists yesterday AM concerning a service manual for the Mastech MS8040 DMM. No response yet. I'm getting the feeling they are blowing me off. 

[med6753]

Yeah it has been working fine for about three months now.

Edit: still considering the "fuck it" option and buying this K2 kit. This is what you get for your money:

Is it an actual "kit" that you assemble or are you just using your generic British "kit" term?

[tggzzz]

Well, well, well.

My latest TEA acquisition contains this arcane assembly in front of the mains transformer; what do you think it is? (Yes, I've chosen the angle to minimise obvious information )

[bd139]

Yeah it has been working fine for about three months now.

Edit: still considering the "fuck it" option and buying this K2 kit. This is what you get for your money:

Is it an actual "kit" that you assemble or are you just using your generic British "kit" term?

It's an actual kit of parts you have to assemble and align yourself:

[med6753]

Yeah it has been working fine for about three months now.

Edit: still considering the "fuck it" option and buying this K2 kit. This is what you get for your money:

Is it an actual "kit" that you assemble or are you just using your generic British "kit" term?

It's an actual kit of parts you have to assemble and align yourself:

Should be fun...go for it! 

[med6753]

Well, well, well.

My latest TEA acquisition contains this arcane assembly in front of the mains transformer; what do you think it is? (Yes, I've chosen the angle to minimise obvious information )

Well, those are 2 high current solid state rectifiers with a trimmer cap. Beyond that you got me. 

[GreyWoolfe]

90 second epoxy?  Wouldn't it cure before you even get it mixed well?

Its from Mighty Fine Junk. No way it cures in 90 seconds! 

Nope, wrong.  MFJ- Mighty Fine Junk- is a purveyor of fine ham radio gear for the discriminating amateur radio operator.

[bd139]

Well, well, well.

My latest TEA acquisition contains this arcane assembly in front of the mains transformer; what do you think it is? (Yes, I've chosen the angle to minimise obvious information )

Clues:

1. Tektronix blue
2. Transistor and PCB era so around 1963-1977
3. RCA Nuvistors so very early, pre-FET.
4. Tuned so possible frequency multiplier implying accurate frequency somewhere. Timing!
5. Visit to w140.com and look for nuvistor page, discount plugins have none have big ass transformers. Not a scope
6. BINGO

Tek 184 time mark generator

Edit: also, and I remembered this AFTER I went through the above, you mentioned it here https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg2191665/#msg2191665 

Edit 2: VERY nice bit of kit. Annoyed I didn't get there sooner or you'd have to fight me for it. How much did you have to drop for it?

[tggzzz]

Well, well, well.

My latest TEA acquisition contains this arcane assembly in front of the mains transformer; what do you think it is? (Yes, I've chosen the angle to minimise obvious information )

Well, those are 2 high current solid state rectifiers with a trimmer cap. Beyond that you got me. 

1 out of 3: they are not rectifiers and not solid state.

[med6753]

You know, my second thought was nuvistors too but what threw me was the large strap attached to the top plate implying high current and nuvistors are not high current devices. So it's a tuned circuit?

[tggzzz]

Well, well, well.

My latest TEA acquisition contains this arcane assembly in front of the mains transformer; what do you think it is? (Yes, I've chosen the angle to minimise obvious information )

Clues:

1. Tektronix blue
2. Transistor and PCB era so around 1963-1977
3. RCA Nuvistors so very early, pre-FET.
4. Tuned so possible frequency multiplier implying accurate frequency somewhere. Timing!
5. Visit to w140.com and look for nuvistor page, discount plugins have none have big ass transformers. Not a scope
6. BINGO

Tek 184 time mark generator

Edit: also, and I remembered this AFTER I went through the above, you mentioned it here https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg2191665/#msg2191665 

Edit 2: VERY nice bit of kit. Annoyed I didn't get there sooner or you'd have to fight me for it. How much did you have to drop for it?

Bugger. I expected people to get the Tek blue, but I'm impressed by the rest of your reasoning.

How much would you have paid for it, bearing in mind it didn't come with the rather strange mains plug?

When I got home I realised that the Tek 191 I liberated an hour or so later does have a mains lead (But I refuse to look and see if all the pins are safely shrouded; evolution in action and all that!).

[bd139]

You know, my second thought was nuvistors too but what threw me was the large strap attached to the top plate implying high current and nuvistors are not high current devices. So it's a tuned circuit?

It is tuned.



Looking at the circuit it multiplies the 100MHz to 500MHz so X5. Needs some black magic to get to 500MHZ which is why it is how it is

Looks like tuned push-pull with 500MHz tank. The tank inductor is the bent bit of metal (L61/62) tuned with the butterfly cap. Input signal is coupled to it via the wire loop generating two 180 degree out of phase signals so it can shift a lot of current very quickly (required for high delta-V at 500MHz)

How much would you have paid for it, bearing in mind it didn't come with the rather strange mains plug?

When I got home I realised that the Tek 191 I liberated an hour or so later does have a mains lead (But I refuse to look and see if all the pins are safely shrouded; evolution in action and all that!).

I probably would have spent £30 on it TBH untested. If it was working possibly £60. The oven was likely a risk and a headache

The 191 is rather nice too. Don't look at the mains leads on old Tek and HP kit - just pretend you didn't see them (and check the earth pin still makes contact!)

Edit: in retrospect that was the most excitement I've had all week 

[tggzzz]

You know, my second thought was nuvistors too but what threw me was the large strap attached to the top plate implying high current and nuvistors are not high current devices. So it's a tuned circuit?

I've only just opened it up. I haven't downloaded the manual, so I don't know - yet.

However, that is a sensible presumption given the trim cap and the half-hidden thin loop of wire (behind the solid strap) marked L69. I suspect I'll encounter some adventitious use of parasitics and coupling there!

[tggzzz]

How much would you have paid for it, bearing in mind it didn't come with the rather strange mains plug?

When I got home I realised that the Tek 191 I liberated an hour or so later does have a mains lead (But I refuse to look and see if all the pins are safely shrouded; evolution in action and all that!).

I probably would have spent £30 on it TBH untested. If it was working possibly £60. The oven was likely a risk and a headache

The 191 is rather nice too. Don't look at the mains leads on old Tek and HP kit - just pretend you didn't see them (and check the earth pin still makes contact!)

Edit: in retrospect that was the most excitement I've had all week 

Well, all bits are working, but not on all switch settings.

I offered £10 before realising it was a silent key sale, and they happily accepted.  Ditto the 191.

Sorry about that (not)!

[bd139]

That was a good deal. Was that the SK stand with the HP pulse generator on it?

I enquired about the large box of "solid state devices" and was told that was already spoken for. Grr 

[med6753]

Well, all bits are working, but not on all switch settings.

I offered £10 before realising it was a silent key sale, and they happily accepted.  Ditto the 191.

Sorry about that (not)!

You robbed the grave!