Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[med6753]

After like a year without any decent analog scope listing in our local second-hand market, I managed to score a Hitachi v-1085 scope!. It wasn't a bargain, really (~$140 USD), but that's still a reasonable price in my opinion for a 4-channel, 100Mhz analog scope with digital readouts and delayed sweep, especially considering that scopes here are REALLY expensive (even aftermarket; there's still some people trying to sell 2-CH, 20Mhz scopes for >$100).

It's also in pretty good shape, although it requires some minor calibration: CH2 "moves" when inverted, and adding CH1+CH2 also has an offset as well; there's probably one or two pots to adjust there. Also the test signal is a bit out of its 1Khz frequency (Currently sitting at 1.025Khz), but that is not really that important. Everything else is fine and completely within specs.

For you lucky guys in the States, there's a similar scope in eBay right now for $80 USD (Hitachi V-1100A), but just to show you why I can't get used tech equipment from that site; shipping to my country is $130 USD according to the listing, so even if I managed to win the auction at its minimum, and the parcel managed to miraculously dodge customs entirely, it would still be more expensive than what I ended up paying for mine.

Anyway, I'm quite happy with the purchase, and of course, as it would be expected from a member of this group, I had absolutely no need for it

Well... there are reasons the V-212 (That 20MHz scope you were probably talking about) still brings the same kind of money you paid for your V-1085; firstly, nostalgia. Pretty much everybody who went to any tech school in the 80s or 90s had one on the bench that they learned on. And the other reason is why they lasted so long on tech school benches: They just plain worked. And kept on just plain working; like that 19" RCA tabletop TV in your grandparents' bedroom for 30 years.

I'm considerably older than you young bucks and I attended school from 1971 to 1973 and we had something even better. It was (still is) an IBM town and at the time IBM was VERY generous with their cash. Over a dozen brand spanking new Tek 547's with 1A2 plug-ins AND 1 Tek 575 curve tracer AND Tek scope to characterize vacuum tubes (don't recall model). All fresh out of the box.   

In addition at least a dozen Hickok Nixie DMM's which turned out to be giant turds. ANY application of voltage to the ohms input would blow out the (then) expensive FET front end.  Within a month they were all dead. 

Edit....the Tek vacuum tube curve tracer was a 570.

[FransW]

BD139:
I am following your progress with the 5334B with interest.
My counter collection has grown. When I have 2 of a kind for one reason or another, a few months later the amount has at least doubled.
HP5315, 5316, 53132, PM 66xx series, etc.
This also happened with bench DMM's and handhelds.
I am also an active radioham so I understand your basic requirements.

The recently introduced IC-9700 has now upgraded firmware that allows synchronising with an external 10 MHz reference source and not only for calibrating purposes as initially intended.
You can easily envisage all my equipment being on the same time base.
They all are synchronised to the same external reference. As well as all the counters and my SA.

That's how I like it to be. No misunderstandings. 1, 10, 100, 1000 and 2000MHz.

Frans

[battlecoder]

I used to have loads of technical books but gave them all away when I got married and little ones came along  Never thought for a moment that I might want them again one day

:/ I used to have a copy of a book with really awesome and useful circuits. A sort of reference for learning electronics (contained many ideas for basic "building blocks", like small amplifiers, rectifiers, simple power supplies, signal generators, etc, both with dedicated ICs as well as only transistors and passives) and I got rid of it when I moved.... together with the ECG Master Replacement Guide I already mentioned in this thread, and other books that I thought "obsolete" or "no longer that useful". BIG. MISTAKE. :/

[med6753]

After like a year without any decent analog scope listing in our local second-hand market, I managed to score a Hitachi v-1085 scope!. It wasn't a bargain, really (~$140 USD), but that's still a reasonable price in my opinion for a 4-channel, 100Mhz analog scope with digital readouts and delayed sweep, especially considering that scopes here are REALLY expensive (even aftermarket; there's still some people trying to sell 2-CH, 20Mhz scopes for >$100).

It's also in pretty good shape, although it requires some minor calibration: CH2 "moves" when inverted, and adding CH1+CH2 also has an offset as well; there's probably one or two pots to adjust there. Also the test signal is a bit out of its 1Khz frequency (Currently sitting at 1.025Khz), but that is not really that important. Everything else is fine and completely within specs.

For you lucky guys in the States, there's a similar scope in eBay right now for $80 USD (Hitachi V-1100A), but just to show you why I can't get used tech equipment from that site; shipping to my country is $130 USD according to the listing, so even if I managed to win the auction at its minimum, and the parcel managed to miraculously dodge customs entirely, it would still be more expensive than what I ended up paying for mine.

Anyway, I'm quite happy with the purchase, and of course, as it would be expected from a member of this group, I had absolutely no need for it

Welcome to our group of wackos.  Some more off the wall than others. I won't say where I fit into that circus....you'll have to figure that out for yourself. 

Your remark about customs. You don't dodge customs in any South American country. In fact....NOTHING leaves customs unless you grease palms. (pay money). My sister found this out the hard way when her husband took a temporary assignment in Brazil. Customs would not release any of their property until agents were paid. Bastards! 

[battlecoder]

I'm considerably older than you young bucks and I attended school from 1971 to 1973 and we had something even better. It was (still is) an IBM town and at the time IBM was VERY generous with their cash. Over a dozen brand spanking new Tek 547's with 1A2 plug-ins AND 1 Tek 575 curve tracer AND Tek scope to characterize vacuum tubes (don't recall model). All fresh out of the box.   

That must've been paradise. I didn't really have a chance to use many oscilloscopes growing up, and the few I could use they were all pretty basic. Anyway, those Tektronix you had access to were real beasts as far as I understand. The closest I've seen around is a Tektronix 561A, and while it looks cool and almighty, it's like a fraction of what the 547 was.

Welcome to our group of wackos.  Some more off the wall than others. I won't say where I fit into that circus....you'll have to figure that out for yourself. 

Thanks! this thread is my home now, haha.

Your remark about customs. You don't dodge customs in any South American country. In fact....NOTHING leaves customs unless you grease palms. (pay money). My sister found this out the hard way when her husband took a temporary assignment in Brazil. Customs would not release any of their property until agents were paid. Bastards! 

That sucks :/ Here only light and small packages have some probability of dodging customs, because things under $30 are supposed to be exempt from import duties, and I guess it would be a hassle for them to check if the content of every small light parcel coming from China that says "Samples: $5" is really worth that little, or if it's actually tax-able.
Any heavy or big box, however, is punished with a truckload of taxes. They even make some of them up for good measure.
So yeah, there's no way in hell a scope is going to be ignored by customs, so eBay bargains are out of my reach.

[med6753]

I'm considerably older than you young bucks and I attended school from 1971 to 1973 and we had something even better. It was (still is) an IBM town and at the time IBM was VERY generous with their cash. Over a dozen brand spanking new Tek 547's with 1A2 plug-ins AND 1 Tek 575 curve tracer AND Tek scope to characterize vacuum tubes (don't recall model). All fresh out of the box.   

That must've been paradise. I didn't really have a chance to use many oscilloscopes growing up, and the few I could use they were all pretty basic. Anyway, those Tektronix you had access to were real beasts as far as I understand. The closest I've seen around is a Tektronix 561A, and while it looks cool and almighty, it's like a fraction of what the 547 was.

For an 18 year old coming from a Heathkit O-10 Oscilloscope it was paradise.  And yes, the 547's are beasts. For comparison the 561A that you saw is roughly 3/4 the size of a 547.   

[mnementh]

I'm considerably older than you young bucks and I attended school from 1971 to 1973 and we had something even better. It was (still is) an IBM town and at the time IBM was VERY generous with their cash. Over a dozen brand spanking new Tek 547's with 1A2 plug-ins AND 1 Tek 575 curve tracer AND Tek scope to characterize vacuum tubes (don't recall model). All fresh out of the box.   

That must've been paradise. I didn't really have a chance to use many oscilloscopes growing up, and the few I could use they were all pretty basic. Anyway, those Tektronix you had access to were real beasts as far as I understand. The closest I've seen around is a Tektronix 561A, and while it looks cool and almighty, it's like a fraction of what the 547 was.

For an 18 year old coming from a Heathkit O-10 Oscilloscope it was paradise.  And yes, the 547's are beasts. For comparison the 561A that you saw is roughly 3/4 the size of a 547.

Which is itself roughly 3/4 the size of a 747... 

mnem
"Ow my groin! And that's my favorite muscle!!!"

[bitseeker]

Welcome battlecoder and FransW. If you've been here before and I'm inadvertently welcoming you again, that's a bonus.

[Kosmic]

Ugh spent most of today putting a Bliley OCXO in a box. Got it working. Now which counter is right out of the four I have? Correct answer: fuck knows - they're all different!

Ordered a Leo Bodnar GPSDO. Will review when it turns up.

In the mean time, OCXO in a box. LM317 regulator, Bliley 10MHz module, 2n2369 level converter, 74AC14 driver for 50 ohms. Works nicely. Dead stable but absolute accuracy is completely unknown. Plan is to compare this to the GPSDO once every 3 motnhs and use this permanently wired as I have no provision for a permanent GPS time reference.



Now a mini rant about China. Fucking bastards sent me a dead OCXO. My third one is duff. Oven doesn't work. Angry 

Look really nice good job    I ought to do some dead bug assembly like that.

[med6753]

I'm considerably older than you young bucks and I attended school from 1971 to 1973 and we had something even better. It was (still is) an IBM town and at the time IBM was VERY generous with their cash. Over a dozen brand spanking new Tek 547's with 1A2 plug-ins AND 1 Tek 575 curve tracer AND Tek scope to characterize vacuum tubes (don't recall model). All fresh out of the box.   

That must've been paradise. I didn't really have a chance to use many oscilloscopes growing up, and the few I could use they were all pretty basic. Anyway, those Tektronix you had access to were real beasts as far as I understand. The closest I've seen around is a Tektronix 561A, and while it looks cool and almighty, it's like a fraction of what the 547 was.

For an 18 year old coming from a Heathkit O-10 Oscilloscope it was paradise.  And yes, the 547's are beasts. For comparison the 561A that you saw is roughly 3/4 the size of a 547.

Which is itself roughly 3/4 the size of a 747... 

mnem
"Ow my groin! And that's my favorite muscle!!!"

Here's a good comparison. While that's a 535A and not a 547 they are the same size. Compared to modern DSO.

 

[0culus]

Man that is a good looking 'scope. 

[kj7e]

Love all those big knobs to fondle.

[0culus]

Love all those big knobs to fondle.

I have used some fancy newfangled digital 'scopes at work, and truth be told, if I can get away with it, I far prefer running an analog CRO. I don't have to dig through menus to find stuff, and I can find the control I want via muscle memory most of the time.

[xrunner]

Anyone ever seen one of these? 

Ebay listing -

Tek Waveform Calculator

[worsthorse]

Let me ask you guys for advice, what is your goto transistor data/equivalents book?

I have one of these transistor kits and they are supposed to be general purpose transistors but the problem being is that I don't seem to be able to find much information about them, in the kits there are these transistors:
2N2222  PNP
2N5401  PNP
A1050    PNP
S8050    NPN
S9014    NPN
2N3904  NPN
2N5551  NPN
C1815    NPN
S9012    PNP
S9015    PNP
2N3906  PNP
2S945    NPN
S8550    PNP
S9013    NPN
S9018    NPN

The amplifier that I'm currently working on seems to be overloaded after the input stages and the transistors in use at this stage are 2 of 2N3904 with a high gain and I'm looking for something with less gain to prevent the next stage being over-driven.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

I may be late to this discussion but https://datasheet4u.com/, and https://www.datasheets360.com/, https://www.datasheetarchive.com/ are my go-to online sources. I tend to hunt for data sheets from Motorola, TI, Signetics, and Harris as being the most informative, but I mostly use parts from the 80s and 90s.

[0culus]

Anyone ever seen one of these? 

Ebay listing -

Tek Waveform Calculator

Yeah, it's for the 7854 "Waveform Processing Oscilloscope"

http://w140.com/tekwiki/wiki/7854


Interesting instrument; there's a couple of folks on the TekScopes list who own examples.

[worsthorse]

Thanks guys, I seem the odd one out in wanting information in book format. The thing I seem to remember back in the day was that you could books that not only gave date on the transistors abut also grouped them by their main and what they are best suited to, usage, even their power ratings etc so that when designing or modifying you could quickly select the most suitable ones by voltage, power, type etc. It made selecting an alternative device so much easier.

I have a transistor tester that will provide a guide as to gain and also the pin out but they can never give the max voltage that they can withstand, the total power output or indeed if the device best suited to RF, switching Gen Purpose of AF etc.

I used to have loads of technical books but gave them all away when I got married and little ones came along  Never thought for a moment that I might want them again one day

I much prefer paper databooks. Whenever I find one at a hamfest that fills a hole (and there are lots of them) in my working set, and it is not trashed, I buy it. But there are dozens of databooks that I am pretty sure I will never see again so web archives are my friend. I try to avoid of attacks of nostalgia for the days when I had a cabinet full of them, regularly updated by the semiconductor sales guys that visited on a regular basis. 

[GreyWoolfe]

Since we're on the subject of RF-ily, I recently got my hands on a bunch of secondhand Amphenol RF "plumbing" bits. It's amazing how much nicer these are than the cheap stuff. No contest on the tolerances; and little things like how smoothly the N connectors spin on.

That was one of the first things I learned when I got my ham license.  Amphenol only, no Damifino brand.  Fit, finish and solderability is 2nd to none.

Well... there are reasons the V-212 (That 20MHz scope you were probably talking about) still brings the same kind of money you paid for your V-1085; firstly, nostalgia. Pretty much everybody who went to any tech school in the 80s or 90s had one on the bench that they learned on. And the other reason is why they lasted so long on tech school benches: They just plain worked. And kept on just plain working; like that 19" RCA tabletop TV in your grandparents' bedroom for 30 years.

Oh, I wish the 20Mhz scopes that you normally see here were v-212. It's normally a Protek 6502 or derivatives (I'm looking at you, Hung Chang 6502 currently going for $120 USD).

When I went to ITT tech from 1997-1999, our scope du jour was the BK Precision 2120, 20 MHz scope.  I don't remember what other TE we had, just the scope.  I wouldn't mind having one, but it isn't worth the money to get one, they are going for about $100 and up with shipping.  Also, I just don't have the room for yet another scope.  It would, however, look at home on my ham radio desk with my Yaesu FT-1000MP.

[tautech]

Latest project.............



 https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/attempt-rejuvenating-old-gel-cell-lead-acid-batteries-with-a-bench-supply/msg2519661/#msg2519661

[med6753]

When I went to ITT tech from 1997-1999, our scope du jour was the BK Precision 2120, 20 MHz scope.  I don't remember what other TE we had, just the scope.  I wouldn't mind having one, but it isn't worth the money to get one, they are going for about $100 and up with shipping.  Also, I just don't have the room for yet another scope.  It would, however, look at home on my ham radio desk with my Yaesu FT-1000MP.

Ahem.     (And no, it's not for sale  )

[med6753]

Love all those big knobs to fondle.

I have used some fancy newfangled digital 'scopes at work, and truth be told, if I can get away with it, I far prefer running an analog CRO. I don't have to dig through menus to find stuff, and I can find the control I want via muscle memory most of the time.

Why do you think I have (lost count) analog scopes and exactly ONE DSO?  Oops...sorry...the Tek 2430 is kinda a DSO too. 

[mnementh]

When I went to ITT tech from 1997-1999, our scope du jour was the BK Precision 2120, 20 MHz scope.  I don't remember what other TE we had, just the scope.  I wouldn't mind having one, but it isn't worth the money to get one, they are going for about $100 and up with shipping.  Also, I just don't have the room for yet another scope.  It would, however, look at home on my ham radio desk with my Yaesu FT-1000MP.

   Ahem.     (And no, it's not for sale  )

I have the signal gen and counter that go widdat. You wannem? 

mnem
No, seriously. Have the NTSC/PAL Pattern generator too.

[worsthorse]

When I went to ITT tech from 1997-1999, our scope du jour was the BK Precision 2120, 20 MHz scope.  I don't remember what other TE we had, just the scope.  I wouldn't mind having one, but it isn't worth the money to get one, they are going for about $100 and up with shipping.  Also, I just don't have the room for yet another scope.  It would, however, look at home on my ham radio desk with my Yaesu FT-1000MP.

   Ahem.     (And no, it's not for sale  )

I have the signal gen and counter that go widdat. You wannem? 

mnem
No, seriously. Have the NTSC/PAL Pattern generator too.

*sigh*  all this oscilloscope talk has got me thinking about how I'd really like to have a 2465B (eBay auction: #312609263790) and if I did that would be the last oscilloscope I'd ever have to buy and this guy in San Antonio has one already recapped and it is expensive but not terrible expensive...
 
 

[Tomorokoshi]

*sigh*  all this oscilloscope talk has got me thinking about how I'd really like to have a 2465B and if I did that would be the last oscilloscope I'd ever have to buy and this guy in San Antonio has one already recapped and it is expensive but not terrible expensive...
 

If one with TEA acquires the last piece one has to buy, does one really have TEA? Let us ponder this...

[med6753]

When I went to ITT tech from 1997-1999, our scope du jour was the BK Precision 2120, 20 MHz scope.  I don't remember what other TE we had, just the scope.  I wouldn't mind having one, but it isn't worth the money to get one, they are going for about $100 and up with shipping.  Also, I just don't have the room for yet another scope.  It would, however, look at home on my ham radio desk with my Yaesu FT-1000MP.

   Ahem.     (And no, it's not for sale  )

I have the signal gen and counter that go widdat. You wannem? 

mnem
No, seriously. Have the NTSC/PAL Pattern generator too.

*sigh*  all this oscilloscope talk has got me thinking about how I'd really like to have a 2465B (eBay auction: #312609263790) and if I did that would be the last oscilloscope I'd ever have to buy and this guy in San Antonio has one already recapped and it is expensive but not terrible expensive...
 
 

If it's a later S/N 2465B with the SMT A5 board ask if he replaced the tants on it. If he didn't you will have to do it because they leak and destroy the board.

Edit...nevermind...I looked at the listing. He did replace them.