Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

It’s the floor I worry about when collecting equipment. I was sitting round a friend’s maisonette years ago and the TV disappeared through the floor 

Where I currently live, the downstairs floor is solid concrete. Joy to 1950’s ex local authority housing. Nuclear bomb and scope proof.

Hmm perhaps I should get a 7704 and matching trolley 

Wow, that must have been a very heavy TV set[emoji44]
D

[bd139]

36" FD trinitron + epic woodworm, probably big enough for Kyle MacLachlan to ride.

[0culus]

Anyone here have an HP 1670D or similar? I'm looking at one on ebay. I'd like to have a decent LA that's not dependent on Windoze (Tek TLA 715), and this one appears to come with probes too.

[med6753]

Investigated further the fuzzy trace condition on the 2430 because I had some suspicions. Pulled the front face plate and suspicions confirmed. The clear plastic over the face of the CRT was covered in dust. Cleaned it. It's now perfect!  This is what they must have thought was "display problems".

The noisy cooling fan. Swapped it over from the parts mule. No more high pitched whine. The fan is simply held in place with friction clips and took less than 5 minutes to change. This 2430 is now 100%. 

 

[bd139]

Minor miracle. TNT were going to deliver my scope today but I was out this morning. Got home to find a delivery missed slip. Just got in. Organised collection which meant a 30 min drive to Woking. Door bell rings. TNT driver did a second delivery attempt. Well done TNT 

[bd139]

Investigated further the fuzzy trace condition on the 2430 because I had some suspicions. Pulled the front face plate and suspicions confirmed. The clear plastic over the face of the CRT was covered in dust. Cleaned it. It's now perfect!  This is what they must have thought was "display problems".

Hahaha I’ve had that on a couple of teks so far. The bloke who sold me this said the display was ruined:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/tektronix-475-repair-assistance/msg1323878/#msg1323878

[med6753]

Minor miracle. TNT were going to deliver my scope today but I was out this morning. Got home to find a delivery missed slip. Just got in. Organised collection which meant a 30 min drive to Woking. Door bell rings. TNT driver did a second delivery attempt. Well done TNT 

[bd139]

Not very exciting picture as I have to go to the post office to dump off some more amateur radio crud that sold.

[bd139]

Slightly more exciting picture. Doing self-cal. Interestingly this is a LOT quieter than the last DS1054Z I had. Literally a whisper and air flow seems the same. Wonder if it's a new hardware revision.  Will crack it for 100Mhz shortly 



Edit: ordered a new ethernet switch as well. I can bus this and the DG1022Z to it and drive them from the laptop with python sitting on the sofa

[mnementh]

I know I'll probably get some soggy ol' boots thrown my way, but I see the 1054Z's greatest value being as a reality check on our old iron. Yes of course there are a lot of better scopes out there, and if you can afford them you probably SHOULD spend the money, as the 1054Z has known measurement defects and artifacts which make it NOT laboratory grade equipment. 

But none of these other scopes offer anything like the "value added" software suite you get with the 1054Z, even at 10x the cost. Well, okay, maybe with Siglent at 10x the cost after licensing... but that's not the same thing. I'm not going to get into the ethical debate over cracking the 1054Z's FW; we have a years-old thread devoted to the subject and I'm quite burned out on that circle-jerk.   

At this point it is quite obvious that RIGOL is leaving the FW "crackable" on purpose, as that is one of the main selling points of the machine. 'nuff sed.

mnem
That's a strange place to leave a piano...

[mnementh]

...Interestingly this is a LOT quieter than the last DS1054Z I had. Literally a whisper and air flow seems the same. Wonder if it's a new hardware revision.  Will crack it for 100Mhz shortly 

If you're feeling froggy and don't mind cracking it OPEN, I'm sure a lot of us would love to know if it's just a quieter fan, or if they maybe actually went with something thermally-controlled. I'll crack my old & noisy 1054Z and post some comparison pics; it's probably due for a dust-out anyways. 

mnem
*crak'd*

[bd139]

I know I'll probably get some soggy ol' boots thrown my way, but I see the 1054Z's greatest value being as a reality check on our old iron. Yes of course there are a lot of better scopes out there, and if you can afford them you probably SHOULD spend the money, as the 1054Z has known measurement defects and artifacts which make it NOT laboratory grade equipment. 

I think all scopes have a bunch of weirdness in this space. I've seen some horrific things with calibration stickers before, particularly from Gould 

But none of these other scopes offer anything like the "value added" software suite you get with the 1054Z, even at 10x the cost. Well, okay, maybe with Siglent at 10x the cost after licensing... but that's not the same thing. I'm not going to get into the ethical debate over cracking the 1054's FW; we have a years-old thread devoted to the subject and I'm quite burned out on that circle-jerk.   

Totally agree. In fact ALL the options are free and enabled by the reseller on this one apart from 100MHz. All the serial decoders and full memory depth and triggers.

At this point it is quite obvious that RIGOL is leaving the FW "crackable" on purpose, as that is one of the main selling points of the machine. 'nuff sed.

They are. The reseller I use don't even sell the 100MHz option now because they know no one is going to buy it 

If you're feeling froggy and don't mind cracking it OPEN, I'm sure a lot of us would love to know if it's just a quieter fan, or if they maybe actually went with something thermally-controlled. I'll crack my old & noisy 1054Z and post some comparison pics; it's probably due for a dust-out anyways. 

I'm going to leave this one sealed until it's well out of warranty I think. Don't think it's thermally controlled.

[mnementh]

Just one post regarding calculators.

With a term like 1 + 2 * 3 why do the RPN people naturally do
  2 ENTER 3 * 1 +
obeying the multiplication before addition rule?

They don't. They were taught to 1 enter 2 enter 3 * +

For example the HP35 manual includes...


Of course there are amateurs that neither RTFM nor learn how to use their tools, and that is especially prevalent with softies; FFI see https://thedailywtf.com

    RTFM:   

mnem
my brain hurts.

[bd139]

Easiest way is subcontracting it out to wolfram alpha 

[0culus]

"Burn the evidence" is my favorite part of that cartoon.

[mnementh]

Oh fuck. I was so busy fighting the auto-defect on my aPwn that I forgot to put up the most important part of that post: context. 

mnem
all fixxored now. 

[Specmaster]

Investigated further the fuzzy trace condition on the 2430 because I had some suspicions. Pulled the front face plate and suspicions confirmed. The clear plastic over the face of the CRT was covered in dust. Cleaned it. It's now perfect!  This is what they must have thought was "display problems".

The noisy cooling fan. Swapped it over from the parts mule. No more high pitched whine. The fan is simply held in place with friction clips and took less than 5 minutes to change. This 2430 is now 100%. 

That's an excellent result.

[Specmaster]

Not very exciting picture as I have to go to the post office to dump off some more amateur radio crud that sold.

Some people are so impatient [emoji23]

[mnementh]

So... after a trip to the dentist for my kids, which turned out to be a complete waste of an entire morning since they don't take our insurance, even though they told us over the phone they did... and THEN we were stranded on a bridge for over an hour due to an accident at the other end of our lane. 

When the fuck did a dumb blank look become an acceptable defense for complete and utter incompetence at one's job?   

These people have three jobs to do: answer phones, set appointments in a scheduling system that is so automated it literally requires zero cognitive faculty, and confirm CORRECTLY whether a potential client has the right type of insurance. These muppets can easily be replaced by a machine: this job can be done, and in many cases IS done, by a webpage/voicemail & html-driven kiosk in the waiting room. IN THIS VERY APPLICATION.

*sigh*

Anyways; now I'm done venting... (my spleen feels much better now, thank you for asking  ) ...I get home tired, aching back from too long in the car, and downright hangry as a result. Foraging in the fridge, I find leftover BBQ grilled cheddarwurst links and a bowl of steamed veggies...

Gawddammitt! I just HATE it when there's good healthy food just lying there, waiting to be eaten! This is so wrong on a fundamental level; it is downright un-American!

mnem
 

[bd139]

They ain’t paid because they’re good at the job. They’re paid because they’re cheap.

I was in a meeting once with an HR team about recruitment and it drifted off to more operational things which I find it hard to give a crap about. The question was posed “how do we stop people masturbating in the toilets?” (no joke and they left a mess on numerous occasions). The reply of “stop hiring wankers because they’re cheap” was not appreciated. Alas I learned a lot about HR and how incompetent muppets ended up with a job then. And it was HR that were first in the door.

[med6753]

There will be no TEA for me starting tomorrow and for a few days. The lady cop is coming up for a few days. She's finally feeling better after her on the job injury in the beginning of February. And she's scheduled to go back to work on March 26th pending approval from command.

It will be good to see her. Go to dinner, have some laughs and enjoy her company. Maybe she'll handcuff me to the bed. One can only hope. 

[mnementh]

They ain’t paid because they’re good at the job. They’re paid because they’re cheap.

I was in a meeting once with an HR team about recruitment and it drifted off to more operational things which I find it hard to give a crap about. The question was posed “how do we stop people masturbating in the toilets?” (no joke and they left a mess on numerous occasions). The reply of “stop hiring wankers because they’re cheap” was not appreciated. Alas I learned a lot about HR and how incompetent muppets ended up with a job then. And it was HR that were first in the door.

Cheap is a relative term. Typical pay for that gig is still 32-38K + full Medical around here, or approx $15/hr.

Having spent over a year just recently working my tail-scales off as a truly skilled IT Repair Tech for ~$17/hr, knowing that these useless holes in the air can keep their job kindof gives me a massive case of "Why the fuck bother?" 

mnem
Knowing stuff: The surest way to be underpaid & overworked.

[mnementh]

There will be no TEA for me starting tomorrow and for a few days. The lady cop is coming up for a few days. She's finally feeling better after her on the job injury in the beginning of February. And she's scheduled to go back to work on March 26th pending approval from command.

It will be good to see her. Go to dinner, have some laughs and enjoy her company. Maybe she'll handcuff me to the bed. One can only hope. 

This demands a proactive approach: bring your own handcuffs. 

mnem
Of course I have my own... who doesn't? 

[med6753]

What good cop would NOT have their handcuffs at the ready? 

[worsthorse]

There will be no TEA for me starting tomorrow and for a few days. The lady cop is coming up for a few days. She's finally feeling better after her on the job injury in the beginning of February. And she's scheduled to go back to work on March 26th pending approval from command.

It will be good to see her. Go to dinner, have some laughs and enjoy her company. Maybe she'll handcuff me to the bed. One can only hope. 

This demands a proactive approach: bring your own handcuffs. 

mnem
Of course I have my own... who doesn't? 

I found that showing up with them suggestively dangling off one wrist works fairly well.