Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[0culus]

Not TEA related (but certainly related to funding more TEA and a bigger house to put it all in  ), but I walked with my MS in Computer Science today. Looking forward to working for a little while before possibly adding shit piled higher and deeper! 

[tggzzz]

A busy couple of weeks, with some good bits, some interesting bits, some disappointing bits, some irks, and a bloody annoyance.

The bloody annoyance was my mother's flat roof has started to leak. She retired to a 4 storey house 25 years ago. Now that's going to be an interesting bodge.

The interesting bits related to my leopard and gharial. Took one to be repaired on the way from back from picking up some equipment; found I probably ought to insure them.

The disappointing bit was an HP Modulation Domain Analyser: useless, destined for the tip. Fortunately it looks like the 10MHz OCXO still works, and the fleabay price is about what I paid, so not much of a financial loss. Is there anything else worth salvaging, e.g. a few coax cables?

The good bits were the other equipment works: a 100MHz reciprocal frequency counter, a TDR (if you fiddle the LCD), and a strange HP7562 ac/dc log voltmeter/converter. There's bugger all info about that available on the web, and the observant will notice that it has an input and an output.

Today I picked up an hp8562b 22GHz spectrum analyser for £350, sight unseen, then toddled across the country to pick it up from the auction house (it had to be picked up today or Monday, and on Monday I'm in another country. The irksome bit was that when picking it up I chatted to someone who had bought an Anritsu portable spectrum analyser, and he said it had been a bankruptcy sale. If I'd known that, I'd have bid on some other items, grrr.

The good news is that the hp8562b works

[worsthorse]

Not TEA related (but certainly related to funding more TEA and a bigger house to put it all in  ), but I walked with my MS in Computer Science today. Looking forward to working for a little while before possibly adding shit piled higher and deeper! 

Congrats!      Though how anyone manages to get through a degree program while maintaining a serious TEA habit is beyond me.   

[0culus]

Not TEA related (but certainly related to funding more TEA and a bigger house to put it all in  ), but I walked with my MS in Computer Science today. Looking forward to working for a little while before possibly adding shit piled higher and deeper! 

Congrats!      Though how anyone manages to get through a degree program while maintaining a serious TEA habit is beyond me.   

I was fully funded, had a good stipend. Also had pay from my year round internship since last summer. Most importantly: I have zero student debt. [edit] and also, you know what they say..."all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". 

[bd139]

Excellent. Love to hear stuff like this. Big congratulations 

As someone who graduated with literally one metric fuck ton of student debt, I'm honestly relieved for you. It was crippling mainly thanks to the Midland Bank here.

Now go do a PhD and avoid industry as long as possible

[worsthorse]

One of the plugins on my wish list is the AM503 with the associated current probe.  This week a beaut showed up on auction, had two probes - the A6302 and A6303 - and came in a TM502 frame with a blank plugin. The buyer even had a fourteen day return window, so low risk of it being a total loss. Quite the find:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tektronix-current-probe-set-Am503B-2-A6302-A6303-TM502A-Self-test-ok/192907308891

The bids seemed quite low and I thought, hell, i don't really need one but i'd pay a couple of hundred bucks to have that capability on my bench so I've been watching the auction. About an hour before the close the bidding started and the price rose to $443 well out of what I'd invest in a low frequency of use tool for my bench.   

It just sold for $510.  The funny thing was there appeared to be only one snipe bidder even though 21 people were following the auction.

[syau]

A busy couple of weeks, with some good bits, some interesting bits, some disappointing bits, some irks, and a bloody annoyance.

The bloody annoyance was my mother's flat roof has started to leak. She retired to a 4 storey house 25 years ago. Now that's going to be an interesting bodge.

The interesting bits related to my leopard and gharial. Took one to be repaired on the way from back from picking up some equipment; found I probably ought to insure them.

The disappointing bit was an HP Modulation Domain Analyser: useless, destined for the tip. Fortunately it looks like the 10MHz OCXO still works, and the fleabay price is about what I paid, so not much of a financial loss. Is there anything else worth salvaging, e.g. a few coax cables?

The good bits were the other equipment works: a 100MHz reciprocal frequency counter, a TDR (if you fiddle the LCD), and a strange HP7562 ac/dc log voltmeter/converter. There's bugger all info about that available on the web, and the observant will notice that it has an input and an output.

Today I picked up an hp8562b 22GHz spectrum analyser for £350, sight unseen, then toddled across the country to pick it up from the auction house (it had to be picked up today or Monday, and on Monday I'm in another country. The irksome bit was that when picking it up I chatted to someone who had bought an Anritsu portable spectrum analyser, and he said it had been a bankruptcy sale. If I'd known that, I'd have bid on some other items, grrr.

The good news is that the hp8562b works

What’s wrong with the MDA ?

[0culus]

Excellent. Love to hear stuff like this. Big congratulations 

As someone who graduated with literally one metric fuck ton of student debt, I'm honestly relieved for you. It was crippling mainly thanks to the Midland Bank here.

Now go do a PhD and avoid industry as long as possible

Thanks! I know people with crushing student debt...not a great place to be. 

As for myself, I need some break from school. But, there's a good chance I can get my PhD funded too when the time comes. 

[tggzzz]

A busy couple of weeks, with some good bits, some interesting bits, some disappointing bits, some irks, and a bloody annoyance.

The bloody annoyance was my mother's flat roof has started to leak. She retired to a 4 storey house 25 years ago. Now that's going to be an interesting bodge.

The interesting bits related to my leopard and gharial. Took one to be repaired on the way from back from picking up some equipment; found I probably ought to insure them.

The disappointing bit was an HP Modulation Domain Analyser: useless, destined for the tip. Fortunately it looks like the 10MHz OCXO still works, and the fleabay price is about what I paid, so not much of a financial loss. Is there anything else worth salvaging, e.g. a few coax cables?

The good bits were the other equipment works: a 100MHz reciprocal frequency counter, a TDR (if you fiddle the LCD), and a strange HP7562 ac/dc log voltmeter/converter. There's bugger all info about that available on the web, and the observant will notice that it has an input and an output.

Today I picked up an hp8562b 22GHz spectrum analyser for £350, sight unseen, then toddled across the country to pick it up from the auction house (it had to be picked up today or Monday, and on Monday I'm in another country. The irksome bit was that when picking it up I chatted to someone who had bought an Anritsu portable spectrum analyser, and he said it had been a bankruptcy sale. If I'd known that, I'd have bid on some other items, grrr.

The good news is that the hp8562b works

What’s wrong with the MDA ?

The power input / voltage selector had been removed, together with the wires that go to the connector on the transformer. A dual 15A 200V chassis mounted diode was missing. There was a post-it note on a PSU board indicating a problem.

That's all deliberate; too little chance of resurrecting it.

[med6753]

Excellent. Love to hear stuff like this. Big congratulations 

As someone who graduated with literally one metric fuck ton of student debt, I'm honestly relieved for you. It was crippling mainly thanks to the Midland Bank here.

Now go do a PhD and avoid industry as long as possible

Thanks! I know people with crushing student debt...not a great place to be. 

As for myself, I need some break from school. But, there's a good chance I can get my PhD funded too when the time comes. 

Let me extend congrats too!  The furthest I went with my education was a 2 year Associates degree in Electrical Technology. Thought about going for the BS in Engineering but Itty Bitty Morons hired me right out of school as a technician. And marriage and kids intervened so I never went for it. Regrets? Not really. But if I had to do it all over again I would go for it. That way I could have driven the train rather than shovel the coal.   

[Kosmic]

Not TEA related (but certainly related to funding more TEA and a bigger house to put it all in  ), but I walked with my MS in Computer Science today. Looking forward to working for a little while before possibly adding shit piled higher and deeper! 

Big achievement, Congrats! 

[Neomys Sapiens]

Not TEA related (but certainly related to funding more TEA and a bigger house to put it all in  ), but I walked with my MS in Computer Science today. Looking forward to working for a little while before possibly adding shit piled higher and deeper! 

Congratulations.

[Mr. Scram]

One of us! One of us!

[worsthorse]

Not TEA related (but certainly related to funding more TEA and a bigger house to put it all in  ), but I walked with my MS in Computer Science today. Looking forward to working for a little while before possibly adding shit piled higher and deeper! 

Congrats!      Though how anyone manages to get through a degree program while maintaining a serious TEA habit is beyond me.   

I was fully funded, had a good stipend. Also had pay from my year round internship since last summer. Most importantly: I have zero student debt. [edit] and also, you know what they say..."all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". 

I am glad that you've avoided that faustian bargain of borrowing to pay for your education.

/begin(OMR)

I am old enough to have gotten my undergraduate and graduate degrees by working while I went to school and without taking on a metric fuck ton (note to self, add this phrase to synonym list) of debt. My last student loan was paid off six years after I finished and the program was structured so that it didn't suck the life out of me while I was at it.  At least in the United States, that's almost impossible these days, at least at the undergraduate level, and it sucks.  School debt is creating a generation of serfs here and nothing good is going to come of it.

/end(OMR)<sup>(1)

(1)</sup>Old Man Rant

[bd139]

Yeah totally agree. UK has turned into that as well now.

If I was 17 now I'd start a business and hide behind the facade of it but really be an imposter which is basically what I do now 

[Kosmic]

The good news is that the hp8562b works

Nice Specan! Now you need something to generate a signal up to 22Ghz. You know, just to check if it's working fine 

[Neomys Sapiens]

The interesting bits related to my leopard and gharial. Took one to be repaired on the way from back from picking up some equipment; found I probably ought to insure them.

What are those? 

[mnementh]

That looks like those ancient exploding NiCd cells. I used to chuck them in a fire. That's what made them explode 

I do have to say that there's something nice about that little circuit. Looks neat and purposeful.

Yeah, aside from the self-detonating 1st gen MMLC capacitor, it actually is quite elegant in its simplicity; I love the beauty of form following function. It does have me thinking about just getting 4 AAA NiMHs and dropping them in there; would double its runtime and probably brighter longer due to lower IR of modern cells. Just that for 2-ish watts, you can get so much more out of LED & LiPo.[/b][/color]

Except it isn't. Looks very much like Siemens uncoated MKT (foil) capacitor.

I thought the MKT line were rolled foil/polyester? These are definitely stacked and have solder pads on the ends; pretty sure it's plastic-coated ceramic.

Meh. It's a 40-ish year-old capacitor; by definition it's as likely to explode as do it's job every time you plug the damn thing in. 

mnem
*charged*

[tggzzz]

The good news is that the hp8562b works

Nice Specan! Now you need something to generate a signal up to 22Ghz. You know, just to check if it's working fine 

Yup. I have an evaluation board that can, nominally, go to 15GHz.

[tggzzz]

The interesting bits related to my leopard and gharial. Took one to be repaired on the way from back from picking up some equipment; found I probably ought to insure them.

What are those? 

Google is your friend, and they aren't test equipment, nor are they still alive.

My mother's house is famous amongst the ambulance staff that attend her occasionally. Some might regard it as creepy, but apparently taxidermy is becoming fashionable again

[mnementh]

Not TEA related (but certainly related to funding more TEA and a bigger house to put it all in  ), but I walked with my MS in Computer Science today. Looking forward to working for a little while before possibly adding shit piled higher and deeper! 

Yup. Gitcher PHD so you don't have to DO it anymore... you just have to talk about it and accrue tenure. 

Excellent. Love to hear stuff like this. Big congratulations 

As someone who graduated with literally one metric fuck ton of student debt, I'm honestly relieved for you. It was crippling mainly thanks to the Midland Bank here.

Now go do a PhD and avoid industry as long as possible

Same here; still paying off 3/4 of a NetAdmin degree. Good you got this far debt-free; you really need to ride that bitch as far as she'll woof you.

What’s wrong with the MDA ?

The power input / voltage selector had been removed, together with the wires that go to the connector on the transformer. A dual 15A 200V chassis mounted diode was missing. There was a post-it note on a PSU board indicating a problem.

That's all deliberate; too little chance of resurrecting it.

Sounds to me like rebuilding a power supply; those are usually my preferred pet projects.   

mnem
Futurama is a documentary from the Historical Pre-enactment Society.

[bd139]

The interesting bits related to my leopard and gharial. Took one to be repaired on the way from back from picking up some equipment; found I probably ought to insure them.

What are those? 

Google is your friend, and they aren't test equipment, nor are they still alive.

My mother's house is famous amongst the ambulance staff that attend her occasionally. Some might regard it as creepy, but apparently taxidermy is becoming fashionable again

I always rather liked it. Hence why we have a growing family of taxidermy mice that get rolled out once a year for Christmas as tree decorations. This also has the effect of causing emotional distress in my mother in law 

One is dressed up as a witch and has a little broom.

[Kosmic]

Yeah totally agree. UK has turned into that as well now.

If I was 17 now I'd start a business and hide behind the facade of it but really be an imposter which is basically what I do now 

Education is mostly free here (you still need to pay something like 1k per session) and the government is generous with loans and grants. I was mostly living on grants when I was doing my master degree.

Now I'm paying everything back each year in tax 

[nixiefreqq]

The interesting bits related to my leopard and gharial. Took one to be repaired on the way from back from picking up some equipment; found I probably ought to insure them.

What are those? 

Google is your friend, and they aren't test equipment, nor are they still alive.

My mother's house is famous amongst the ambulance staff that attend her occasionally. Some might regard it as creepy, but apparently taxidermy is becoming fashionable again

I always rather liked it. Hence why we have a growing family of taxidermy mice that get rolled out once a year for Christmas as tree decorations. This also has the effect of causing emotional distress in my mother in law 

One is dressed up as a witch and has a little broom.

its not that I don't believe you,  but could you post pictures that would help to explain what the hell "taxidermy mice" are?

is it a brit thing?  (would ask swmbo but am afraid she might have some hidden in one of those boxes in the basement.  when we were first dating she did have a pet rat named jasper).

[ArthurDent]

Kosmic (post #31124) -“Some weeks ago, I got another piece for my instrument collection from ESI. This time it's a SV-194B Voltage Calibrator.” ….”After some tests I realized the resistors had drifted though. Will need to find a solution for that.”

Are you sure the resistors have drifted? Here are the readings I get on my SV194 B without removing the resistors from the circuit. Some values are common, some aren’t but these resistors just don’t drift. The nine identical ones on the fuse side are all 40K and I have the ones across the bottom from right to left as 20K, 16K, 2K and 1.5922K The two up the other side are 1.038 ohms and 7.414 ohms. The four staggered ones from bottom to top are 200.13 ohms, 160.15 ohms, 20.172 ohms, and 20.172 ohms.