Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

  Please tell her we all said congratulations, and wonder what the hell she's doing hooked up with a wingnut like you. 

Very simple...she has a thing for dirty white boys. 

So you ARE her "scope-killing long-term booty call"... 

mnem

[Kosmic]

I looked at a 5335A and discounted that due to the fan. I actually had one and a half 5328A's a couple of years back but the things are soooooo noisy. It's like living in a room with a 747.

You’re definitely right. The noise coming out of the 5335A is impressive. One of the noisiest piece of equipment I have here. Has soon has I can monitor temperature accurately I’m planning to try something to fix that problem.

[kj7e]

Spent my lunch cleaning. 6286A looking better without sticker crud:




Still can't believe that was only £15

Don't forget to zero the needle!

[bd139]

Yeah that'll be done on the calibration task which I'll do once I've cleaned the insides out. The metering switch needs a good clean out as well.

I looked at a 5335A and discounted that due to the fan. I actually had one and a half 5328A's a couple of years back but the things are soooooo noisy. It's like living in a room with a 747.

You’re definitely right. The noise coming out of the 5335A is impressive. One of the noisiest piece of equipment I have here. Has soon has I can monitor temperature accurately I’m planning to try something to fix that problem.

They have 120v fans if I remember as well so buggers to replace with something quiet.

Edit:  my 5334B is arriving tomorrow apparently. Good seller. Hopefully it works properly.

[med6753]

It finally arrived. Encouraged and pointed out by Kosmic the Enabler and sold by fellow blogger James_s for the cost of shipping. Heath AG-9A Audio Generator. It's in good shape. One knob not original, no biggie. Missing one foot. Hmmm...this is a Heath, not an HP.  That too will be an easy fix. Initially the meter wouldn't zero. Fixed that.



Inside. Very clean!  But where's the Aluminum B+ can? Big hole in chassis. Uh-oh. And the #47 pilot lamp is missing.



The under side. Has had work done. Modern caps on the right apparently replaced the B+ can. They are just kinda hanging in the breeze. I don't want to call it a bodge but yes, it is a bodge.    Plan is to re-cap the whole thing anyway so we'll fix it.



According to James it does work but I found this severe cut in the line cord. So until I replace that no bueno. This guy will go into the project cue for now.

[mnementh]

Spent my lunch cleaning. 6286A looking better without sticker crud:

   More gold!      Still can't believe that was only £15

I think your seller priced it "To NEVER have to lift it again in my life"... 

mnem
"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe." -Carl Sagan

[med6753]

Looks like the blog is back although I still can't get in via Firefox but Chrome is OK.

Edit....now Firefox OK.

[bd139]

Forum is up and down this evening! At least it's not my problem for once 

[Mr. Scram]

Forum is up and down this evening! At least it's not my problem for once 

I've lost at least one of my brilliant posts. I assume we al mourn the loss.

[bd139]

RIP

[bitseeker]

Extended outage = easier time catching up on this thread

[Specmaster]

So true.

[xrunner]

Extended outage = easier time catching up on this thread

I was just posting a solution to the problem of nuclear fusion power for the world and it was lost! 

[med6753]

Not exactly TEA but related. Lately I've been having issues with the police/fire scanner receiving signals on VHF around 151 - 155MHz. Even on repeaters I get rapid fade and sometimes severe audio distortion. The county must have made some sort of change to their repeater set up. At first I thought it was my scanner but I have a backup and it was the same.

The one common theme with the scanners is that they are on their whip antennas. Landlord was not keen on me hanging an outside antenna. So decided to try an alternative. Purchased a 2M ham band mobile antenna with it mounted inside. It should be resonant enough at 155MHz to give me some gain. Well, it does and the results have been very good. Almost always consistent signals with little fade and no distortion.

Here's what I got. Nagoya UT-72. It also covers 440MHz.

       

[TERRA Operative]

I managed to score this over the weekend (Should arrive today or tomorrow).
Fluke 332D Voltage Standard, in non-working condition, so it should be fun to try to fix.....

Does anyone here have experience with these who can give me any pointers or tips on getting this thing all working nice?

[beanflying]

I managed to score this over the weekend (Should arrive today or tomorrow).
Fluke 332D Voltage Standard, in non-working condition, so it should be fun to try to fix.....

Does anyone here have experience with these who can give me any pointers or tips on getting this thing all working nice?

There is several threads in the Metrology section - WELCOME to voltnuttery  I do own a 335D btw

[Brumby]

I have imposed an aversion strategy to timenuttery and voltnuttery as either of these can have very deep rabbit holes.  Currently, I am skirting around the timenuttery event horizon with an HP sig gen (courtesy of Bean), but the voltnuttery risk seems safe.

Wait ...  I just realised I have a 24bit ADC dev board tucked away.  I daren't fire it up now.   

[beanflying]

Not exactly TEA but related. Lately I've been having issues with the police/fire scanner receiving signals on VHF around 151 - 155MHz. Even on repeaters I get rapid fade and sometimes severe audio distortion. The county must have made some sort of change to their repeater set up. At first I thought it was my scanner but I have a backup and it was the same.

The one common theme with the scanners is that they are on their whip antennas. Landlord was not keen on me hanging an outside antenna. So decided to try an alternative. Purchased a 2M ham band mobile antenna with it mounted inside. It should be resonant enough at 155MHz to give me some gain. Well, it does and the results have been very good. Almost always consistent signals with little fade and no distortion.

Here's what I got. Nagoya UT-72. It also covers 440MHz.

What's not to love about having a Echidna stuck above the roof  Beanflying is not now or ever becoming a HAM 

Actually been up on the roof replacing the nails with screws and some guttering work the last few days. Next job is put up a short mast for the Discone if the weather holds.

[Kosmic]

It finally arrived. Encouraged and pointed out by Kosmic the Enabler and sold by fellow blogger James_s for the cost of shipping. Heath AG-9A Audio Generator. It's in good shape. One knob not original, no biggie. Missing one foot. Hmmm...this is a Heath, not an HP.  That too will be an easy fix. Initially the meter wouldn't zero. Fixed that.

really nice, can't wait to see it in action!

[worsthorse]

@mnen, do you recognize this?



i will post photos of the inside and outside refurb tomorrow, after i finish touching up the paint and making one last upgrade.

btw, getting the GR variac remounted took a toll on my carefully wrought paint job. 

[0culus]

Ended up pulling the trigger on some probemaster multimeter probes with retractable shields to use with my two old voltmeters. Considered making some, but I wanted to get something with a cat rating.

[bitseeker]

Extended outage = easier time catching up on this thread

I was just posting a solution to the problem of nuclear fusion power for the world and it was lost! 

I hate it when that happens!

[bitseeker]

Ended up pulling the trigger on some probemaster multimeter probes with retractable shields to use with my two old voltmeters. Considered making some, but I wanted to get something with a cat rating.

I bought a couple pairs of those for universal bench DMM use. If they're your first ProbeMasters, be prepared to lose some blood as initiation.

[bitseeker]

Hey, guys. Check out this poor fellow's situation : https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/just-scored-a-hp-4140b-in-pristine-working-condition-now-what/msg2509320/#msg2509320

Don't all drool at once, now. I left a lure invitation for Hal to come over to our house.

[0culus]

Ended up pulling the trigger on some probemaster multimeter probes with retractable shields to use with my two old voltmeters. Considered making some, but I wanted to get something with a cat rating.

I bought a couple pairs of those for universal bench DMM use. If they're your first ProbeMasters, be prepared to lose some blood as initiation.

Eh, can't be much worse than this pair of Fluke extenders I have, with needle sharp tips.  They are junk though...won't stay on the probes.