Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

Yeah... it was just yesterday my son was a little squirming blob in my arms... now he's 11 going on 16 and his baby sister is too big for daddy dwagon rides. 

How to you prevent dwagon claws from getting stuck between keyboard keys ? 

Not preventable... happens all the time. *schlorrrk* fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff~* *POINK!* DAMMITTT!!!

mnem
I go through so many keyboards... 

[tautech]

Nice coming on back at you, mnem, I LOL'ed. 
Have a good one buddy.

[Mr. Scram]

Yeah... it was just yesterday my son was a little squirming blob in my arms... now he's 11 going on 16 and his baby sister is too big for daddy dwagon rides. 

How to you prevent dwagon claws from getting stuck between keyboard keys ? 

Not preventable... happens all the time. *schlorrrk* fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff~* *POINK!* DAMMITTT!!!

mnem
I go through so many keyboards... 

Now I'm imagining you typing like one of those callcentre ladies with nails that are way too long.

[Specmaster]

Nah, this is how I imagine him typing with his claws 

[bd139]

In the search of a suitable gif contribution I found a thing called "dragons fucking cars" by accident. I suggest people do not google that 

[mnementh]

How do you prevent dwagon claws from getting stuck between keyboard keys ? 

Not preventable... happens all the time. *schlorrrk*  ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff~* *POINK!* DAMMITTT!!!

mnem
I go through so many keyboards... 

   Now I'm imagining you typing like one of those callcentre ladies with nails that are way too long.

*schlorrrk*  is the sound when a dragon's claw(s) impale something. *POINK!* is the sound when they pull or shake it off, usually with a look of disgust. All that in between was the death of another keyboard... 

I think maybe I need to buy one with replaceable keys. *adds item to Amazon shopping list*

  Nah, this is how I imagine him typing with his claws 

That is... PERFECT!!! *Snurrches & files away* And a proper Welsh Red, too. That, BTW, is the face I make whenever med posts that pic of the "Jank Ghetto-Fab 2465 Fan Fix of Doom"... 

In the search of a suitable gif contribution I found a thing called "dragons fucking cars" by accident. I suggest people do not google that 

meh. Rule 34, man.

mnem
“Listen, three eyes,” he said, “don’t you try to outweird me, I get stranger things than you for free with my breakfast cereal.” ~Zaphod Beeblebrox

[med6753]

  Nah, this is how I imagine him typing with his claws 

That is... PERFECT!!! *Snurrches & files away* And a proper Welsh Red, too. That, BTW, is the face I make whenever med posts that pic of the "Jank Ghetto-Fab 2465 Fan Fix of Doom"... 


mnem

 

[mnementh]

   More work on the Heath OL-1 Scope.

The DC filament supply is complete and running. I used an LM350T adjustable regulator and set it to 6.3VDC. The only issue is I may have to increase the size of the heatsink. It does get rather warm...in fact...too hot to touch. We'll see....that regulator does have overheat shutdown built in. And can the comments about the long screw attaching the regulator to the heatsink. My stock of small hardware is limited. I'll get the correct size tomorrow...

Why is everybody looking at me?!?     

mnem
"Small hardware... heh-heh-heh... heh-heh-heh... heh-heh-heh..."

[med6753]

   More work on the Heath OL-1 Scope.

The DC filament supply is complete and running. I used an LM350T adjustable regulator and set it to 6.3VDC. The only issue is I may have to increase the size of the heatsink. It does get rather warm...in fact...too hot to touch. We'll see....that regulator does have overheat shutdown built in. And can the comments about the long screw attaching the regulator to the heatsink. My stock of small hardware is limited. I'll get the correct size tomorrow...

Why is everybody looking at me?!?     

mnem
"Small hardware... heh-heh-heh... heh-heh-heh..."

 

[syau]

Finally some time for TEA indulgence.  At a hamfest a few months back, I found a B+K 501A curve tracer. The seller had no idea if it worked and gave it to me for twenty-five bucks.  I put it on the shelf when I got home, lured by the siren call of some of the more complex gear in the repair queue. I pulled it out tonight to see if it worked (and if I could remember how to set up a scope in XY mode)...



[snip}

I am going to snuggle with the manual and get reacquainted with how these things work. After I do that, I will decide if I want to tear it completely down, and check to see if all the parts are still in tolerance given that the caps and carbon comp resistors are, I dunno, forty-five years old. 

Oh, one neat feature... the 501A has two sets of sockets so you can match transistors, whether of the same type or complementary.  And the sweep voltage goes up to 100V, so it will handle power transistors.

That was a very good price, I paid quite a lot more for my Heathkit IT-1121.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg1766804/#msg1766804

Very handy for testing/comparing old obsolete components to find more readily available ones, also great for checking unusual parts such as tunnel diodes.

David

P.S. I'm curious to see what is inside the Leader LTC-905, which is the only other small vintage curve tracer I've seen for sale in the UK.

Leader LTC-905 photo as per requested 

[mnementh]

My answer to Bitseeker's question about good coaxial adaptors - slightly revised:

Without blame:
Huber&Suhner, Rosenberger, Radiall, Spinner, Kings, Amphenol RF, Pasternack, Automatic Connector, Southwest Microwave, Delta Electronics Mfg., Trumpeter, Midisco

Former Brands/Makers: Sealectro,  Omni Spectra, Astrolab(now H&S), Siemens

Telegärtner, TE interconnect, Pomona, JyeBao only for uncritical applications
Former ones: Greenpar, WiSi

No idea how good Coaxicom, Anoison, Genex.it, Coaxsol (short for Coaxial Solutions), are.

Thanks, NS! Added your post to the POI.

During my searches thus far, I also ran across some MACOM (M/A-COM) brand. Don't know much about them. Some packaging I saw indicated it's owned by AMP.

MACOM is a major industrial/commercial RF/satellite comms gear manufacturer, right up there with Moldy-rola and Yae-hu. If they put their name on a connector/coupler/splitter or any sort of RF plumbing, it's going to be decent quality.

mnem
 

[Specmaster]

In the search of a suitable gif contribution I found a thing called "dragons fucking cars" by accident. I suggest people do not google that 

I did that and I must say that VW Golf was getting a right good old pounding  , maybe VW should use that gif when they say "Tough as Boots" like they did with the old Jetta advert years ago.

[bd139]

Hahaha that's the one I saw. There was also this ad for VW 

[Specmaster]

Yep, I remember that one, I was actually looking for the one where when they dropped the Jetta, it fell through the floor.

Just stumbled across this old comic sketch.

s

[bd139]

Hahaha that's a classic that one

Managed to source a free NIB and tested Brimar 12AU7 for this VTVM after begging in the right places so conversion is off 

[med6753]

Hahaha that's a classic that one

Managed to source a free NIB and tested Brimar 12AU7 for this VTVM after begging in the right places so conversion is off 

What was wrong with the old one? They are very robust tubes and rarely crap out, especially in a VTVM.

[bd139]

Getter started to change colour. Gain (transconductance) was way off where it should have been even though it was biased correctly.

[med6753]

Getter started to change colour. Gain (transconductance) was way off where it should have been even though it was biased correctly.

Ah ha....it's gone gassy.  Yep......NFG.....bin it.

[med6753]

Decided that the Heath OL-1 project is a wrap. The only additional done today was add 2 – 2.7uf tants across the input and output of the LM350T to prevent any possible oscillation. I am going to order a TO-220 chassis mount kit for it because IMHO it's running way too hot. I'll bolt it to the rear chassis plate which should provide plenty of heat dissipation.

As far as anything else the scope is working as intended. I've been spoiled by sharp Tek traces. This scope will NEVER have that sharp Tek trace and is nothing more than an entry level hobby scope. Performing additional mods are not worth the effort. But it definitely has been a fun project.

Mnem...look what showed up today! Are you going to break into a happy dance?     

[med6753]

Hahaha that's the one I saw. There was also this ad for VW 

Oh wow...that commercial would never fly over here for more reasons than I can count.

[bitseeker]

Yeah, no kidding. 

[Specmaster]

I'm not so sure it was aired over here either for similar reasons.

[bitseeker]

P.S. I'm curious to see what is inside the Leader LTC-905, which is the only other small vintage curve tracer I've seen for sale in the UK.

Leader LTC-905 photo as per requested 

Cool. Added to POI.

[bitseeker]

During my searches thus far, I also ran across some MACOM (M/A-COM) brand. Don't know much about them. Some packaging I saw indicated it's owned by AMP.

MACOM is a major industrial/commercial RF/satellite comms gear manufacturer, right up there with Moldy-rola and Yae-hu. If they put their name on a connector/coupler/splitter or any sort of RF plumbing, it's going to be decent quality.

Excellent. Thanks for the info, mnem!

[bd139]

Done it again. Thanks to half a bottle of wine reducing inhibitions, some regret at selling the two that I had before and a thread that prompted me and just being paid for contract, I now own a Philips PM3217 

Ergo I am not going for Tek stuff any more but that doesn't mean I'm not going for the scopes. That's s a Hameg and Philips this month