Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[med6753]

Haven't tried D100. I'll have to get some. I looked up S5 and no hit. You sure you got that right?

[Kosmic]

Haven't tried D100. I'll have to get some. I looked up S5 and no hit. You sure you got that right?

https://caig.com/deoxit-shield-s-series/

[med6753]

Haven't tried D100. I'll have to get some. I looked up S5 and no hit. You sure you got that right?

https://caig.com/deoxit-shield-s-series/

OK, found it on Amazon...thanks. Wow, that stuff is expensive. $34 USD for spray can. 

[Kosmic]

Haven't tried D100. I'll have to get some. I looked up S5 and no hit. You sure you got that right?

https://caig.com/deoxit-shield-s-series/

OK, found it on Amazon...thanks. Wow, that stuff is expensive. $34 USD for spray can. 

Yep 

For me it was cheaper to buy directly from a caig distributer. All the distributer are listed on their web site.

[med6753]

Uh-oh.  The Tek 7904 is giving me a warning. Power up today revealed "tick mode" for a few seconds then it powered up. Noticed that the CRT readout waving a bit like a flag in the breeze. Then it settled down. Looks like classic ripple. Quick check of power supplies revealed everyone healthy except +/- 15VDC. Reading +14.72V and -14.82V. Definitely on the low side. Time for a re-cap of the pre-regulator board. That will refresh the +5VDC and the +/-15VDC. 

[mnementh]

The real problem with TEA is fitting the gear into the space available, spent the weekend, rebuilding a taller shelving unit, behind and incorporating the desk- on the north wall. Not finished yet - I want a split shelf - on the right side - so I have to get some nice aluminium angle. I am starting to rearrange the other shelves as well.A bit of a PITA - but I am not moving country!

That is some proper JENGA you've got going there! Well done!   

Well good job I didn’t go to that ham fest as my youngest just kneed herself in the face doing ninja kicks and knocked a tooth out then proceeded to wipe blood over everything and the older two didn’t even notice 

Oh no! A primary or secondary tooth?

Primary (baby tooth here) fortunately although there was a bit of a panic working out if it was one or not. The oldest two were both glued to Netflix  As usually I was in the damn shower when this event occurred 

That sounds like an entirely predictable "But in my defense, I WAS left unsupervised..." moment from over here.   

We are notorious crack smokers when it comes to the roundabouts 

   Not only no, but HEYULL NO!!!

We have a saying here that applies to stupid things people attempt to do - What did the redneck say right before he died?

"Hey - hold my beer and watch this!"

 

Yeah, Texas is the home of THAT school of driving.  And Drive-Thru Liquor Stores. 

Uh-oh.  The Tek 7904 is giving me a warning. Power up today revealed "tick mode" for a few seconds then it powered up. Noticed that the CRT readout waving a bit like a flag in the breeze. Then it settled down. Looks like classic ripple. Quick check of power supplies revealed everyone healthy except +/- 15VDC. Reading +14.72V and -14.82V. Definitely on the low side. Time for a re-cap of the pre-regulator board. That will refresh the +5VDC and the +/-15VDC.

I'll say a prayer for you; that the "tzzzzt" Fairy stays far, far away.

mnem
Hey!!! don't come HERE, ya manky little git!!! 

[VK5RC]

The real problem with TEA is fitting the gear into the space available, spent the weekend, rebuilding a taller shelving unit, behind and incorporating the desk- on the north wall. Not finished yet - I want a split shelf - on the right side - so I have to get some nice aluminium angle. I am starting to rearrange the other shelves as well.
A bit of a PITA - but I am not moving country!

Volt-nut question: whats the purpose of the metal box on the 3458 terminals ? Equilibrate temperature and protect from thermal emf ?

Yes, it is actually a painted pcb box, soldered plain double sided pcb.
If you are doing sub microvolt readings - in my model you need to have it connected to a pc to get them - the results drift (more) for 10mins, I presume because of temp differences. The real problem is that the pc blows out the readings by all the EMI it introduces.
I leave the cover on to try and keep the terminals clean as well.
Rob

[mnementh]

1999 called; they want their media back...

Found these in the bottom of a box of CDs and *gulp* cassette tapes... 

mnem
Yes, I AM older than dirt.

[0culus]

1999 called; they want their media back...

Found these in the bottom of a box of CDs and *gulp* cassette tapes... 

mnem
Yes, I AM older than dirt.

Well, at least you have a lot of free targets for the range. 

 

[xrunner]

At some point the decision was made to offer 1045 hours instead of only 1025 hours. Historians are still trying to research the cause for the change.

[0culus]

Today I amused myself by testing out more of the stuff I got in the box with that trombone line. Also finally grokked how to do complex impedance measurements using the 8405A VVM, using a 778D dual directional coupler, the trombone line, and the probe tees.  VNAs do all the hard work for you (other than buying itself and a cal kit ), but I've learned a lot more learning to use the VVM. And it's really an elegantly designed instrument.

[med6753]

"Kosmic the Enabler" pointed me towards this....

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/free-to-good-home-heathkit-ag-9a-audio-generator/


A deal has been struck. Will have it soon and of course complete pron. 

[med6753]

1999 called; they want their media back...

Found these in the bottom of a box of CDs and *gulp* cassette tapes... 

mnem
Yes, I AM older than dirt.

I had some similar stuff up until last year that I finally tossed.

If you're old than dirt then what does that make me? 

[mnementh]

1999 called; they want their media back...    Found these in the bottom of a box of CDs and *gulp* cassette tapes... 

mnem
Yes, I AM older than dirt.

Well, at least you have a lot of free targets for the range.   

Sadly, I have only one such artifact disc in my collection; the tins are all full of decades-old data archives. Fortunately, that one A0L virus disc is so badly scratched and scarred as to be unreadable, aside from the label on the top. 

I'm currently reviewing what data can be recovered from those archive discs before I chunk them; I'll probably keep a couple of the tins out of sentiment. 

I had some similar stuff up until last year that I finally tossed. If you're old than dirt then what does that make me? 

medthuselah...? 

mnem
*toddling off to ded*

[tggzzz]

1999 called; they want their media back...

Found these in the bottom of a box of CDs and *gulp* cassette tapes... 

mnem
Yes, I AM older than dirt.

I had some similar stuff up until last year that I finally tossed.

If you're old than dirt then what does that make me? 

I've kept - and recently used - some floppies from the mid 80s.

It is Apple's Smalltalk running on a fat Mac, which alerted me to the superiority of an OOP language and environment. God it is glacial; treacle doesn't begin to describe it. But, after all, it was fully intepreted with the object table; JITting was in the process of being invented, elsewhere.

Ob TEA: some test equipment from HP and Tektronix runs Smalltalk internally.

[Specmaster]

Yeh back in the day it seemed that no what ever print publication you picked up, there would be at least 1 CD for a Internet provider offer some inducement to go with them, like free hours on line, dropping out of the pages  I mean how much profit must they have been making to be able to flood that huge amount of CD's at us? 

[Mr. Scram]

Yeh back in the day it seemed that no what ever print publication you picked up, there would be at least 1 CD for a Internet provider offer some inducement to go with them, like free hours on line, dropping out of the pages  I mean how much profit must they have been making to be able to flood that huge amount of CD's at us? 

CD's in bulk are cheap. Very cheap.

[Kosmic]

"Kosmic the Enabler" pointed me towards this....

Hehe glad you got it 

[med6753]

"Kosmic the Enabler" pointed me towards this....

Hehe glad you got it 

Other than a function generator, which can be used for audio, I currently don't have an audio generator. I had a Heath IG-5282 but I sold it many years ago. So this will be a nice addition and it's tubes to boot.   

[Specmaster]

I'm puzzled as I had some transistors delivered or the Hacker Herald radio that are supposed to be equivalents for an AC128, all have the same part number TT1322, some check out OK but others are identified as being PJFET's 

[bd139]

Odd. I'd claim them just in case.

[Cerebus]

God it is glacial; treacle doesn't begin to describe it. But, after all, it was fully intepreted with the object table; JITting was in the process of being invented, elsewhere.

Not elsewhere, but in fact invented for Smalltalk by L. Peter Deutsch as documented in the paper "Efficient Implementation of the Smalltak-80 System" DOI:10.1145/800017.800542.

[mnementh]

Yeh back in the day it seemed that no what ever print publication you picked up, there would be at least 1 CD for a Internet provider offer some inducement to go with them, like free hours on line, dropping out of the pages  I mean how much profit must they have been making to be able to flood that huge amount of CD's at us? 

CD's in bulk are cheap. Very cheap.

Yup. One of the first China-direct-manufacture products to flood our shores was those discs. Literally by the shipping-container-full.

I'm puzzled as I had some transistors delivered or the Hacker Herald radio that are supposed to be equivalents for an AC128, all have the same part number TT1322, some check out OK but others are identified as being PJFET's 

This is not unusual with GE transistors and the cheap Chinese component checkers... they don't know what to do with the (relatively) leaky junctions and low forward voltage.

mnem

[Specmaster]

Odd. I'd claim them just in case.

Yeh, already contacted the seller in Bulgaria they were listed GT1322 =SFT322 Germanium Transistors NEW NOS AC128 2N2706 EFT322, 20pcs but all have marked as TT1322 but I can't locate any data-sheets on them.

[mnementh]

Odd. I'd claim them just in case.

Yeh, already contacted the seller in Bulgaria they were listed GT1322 =SFT322 Germanium Transistors NEW NOS AC128 2N2706 EFT322, 20pcs but all have marked as TT1322 but I can't locate any data-sheets on them.

Ummmm... okay... So what do they test at? AC128s will be a PNP GE transistor with .28-.32 forward voltage and approx 100-130 hfe. Anywhere near that IRL?

This little bastard is still pretty popular (again) for guitar fuzzboxes; there actually is enough demand to support new production.

mnem