Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tautech]

You sonuvabitch... you've been holding out on me!!!  All those times you posted those pics of tortured cables just to torque my turkey... and here you have a nice little Pomona-style cable-rack, all full of happy little UN-TORTURED cables... and one that by all appearances was crafted by your own hand!!!

You crusty, agitating, ornery old COOT!!! 

mnem
Oh yeah... nice job incorporating the TEA into your living space. Looks almost civilized.

Guilty as charged. And proud of it.  Keep'em on their toes and keep'em guessing. 

A variant of that:
Treat them like mushrooms: Keep them in the dark and feed them on bullshit. 

[mnementh]

Well you know you've got the kids right when the postman arrives and the six year old points to your delivery and says "toroids"     As for living space, living room corner it is for me. Keeping it tidy is an art though. And I'm not an artist 

   Edit: and for some RS "description craziness" 

The writer was suffering from  letting his mind go walk about while compiling the catalogue 

Or he had ball-pein hammers on his mind because one had been liberally applied to his brainpan... 

mnem
Step 3: "Apply cluebrick; test for compliance. Repeat as necessary."

As has your MB FFS, that is not good, is it working OK when in the case or not? I'd be inclined to take it back and swap it over, that's an accident waiting to happen right there. 

I've installed a MB in a $10000 server which looked as bad, at direction of the manufacturer on the phone. If they're not worried about a little warpage, I'm not. This sits on a full set of 7mm standoffs (unlike some of the iTX and microATX MBs that sit on like 3 plus a couple plastic clippies) so not likely going to short out; I expect the board will eventually flatten out.

I was mostly just kvetching about the PITA of having to take it out and double-check for obstructions. 

mnem
*build-ity build-build... build-ity...*

[med6753]

I've seen heavily populated circuit boards look like they are warped many times due to the lack of mounting support and the weight of the components. It's not an issue and should be OK once properly mounted and supported.

[mnementh]

Agreed. 

But I know the difference; not my first rodeo. The PCB is definitely warped, and there was enough "springback" tension I was really concerned I might have had something stuck under the MB.

Now making the "+4-pin" ATX power cable...

mnem
 

[Specmaster]

Agreed. 

But I know the difference; not my first rodeo. The PCB is definitely warped, and there was enough "springback" tension I was really concerned I might have had something stuck under the MB.

Now making the "+4-pin" ATX power cable...

mnem
 

I was coming at it with the assumption that it became warped due to the soldering process and that during the mounting and subsequently being used, applied a stress in the opposite direction on joints and or components causing at a later date failure of the board. 

[GreyWoolfe]

There is no end of this road, is it?      

You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

Hotel California, The Eagles, in case you don't get the reference.

[xrunner]

Okaaaay... no, there isn't something jamming up under the MB or effed up in the case... my new MB is just warped AF.

Do not try and bend the Motherboard - that's impossible. Only try to realize the truth - there is no Motherboard.

Then you'll realize it is not the Motherboard that bends, it is only yourself.

 

[Mr. Scram]

You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

Hotel California, The Eagles, in case you don't get the reference.

I hate this ride. Lust after a nice piece of gear and finally hunt down a good deal and buy it. Be happy for a week or two. Enthusiastically read up on the subject matter. Find out there's more to be had. Slowly come to the realisation your prize isn't all that and there's bigger fish. Lust after a nice piece of gear..

[mnementh]

Agreed. 

But I know the difference; not my first rodeo. The PCB is definitely warped, and there was enough "springback" tension I was really concerned I might have had something stuck under the MB.

Now making the "+4-pin" ATX power cable...

mnem
 

I was coming at it with the assumption that it became warped due to the soldering process and that during the mounting and subsequently being used, applied a stress in the opposite direction on joints and or components causing at a later date failure of the board.

Agreed AGAIN.  In principle. 

But I am at the point now where I'm much more concerned about getting it done. My perspective is that the MFR 3-year/30-day OTC warranty is more than reasonable, and such failure is definitely "manufacturing defect" related.

mnem
But I may buy a Squaretrade for it once it goes live.

[mnementh]

Okaaaay... no, there isn't something jamming up under the MB or effed up in the case... my new MB is just warped AF.

Do not try and bend the Motherboard - that's impossible. Only try to realize the truth - there is no Motherboard.

Then you'll realize it is not the Motherboard that bends, it is only yourself.

 

I too am warped AF; therefore we must complement each other. 

mnem
Or cancel each other ou... *~POOF!~*

[mnementh]

I hate this ride. Lust after a nice piece of gear and finally hunt down a good deal and buy it. Be happy for a week or two. Enthusiastically read up on the subject matter. Find out there's more to be had. Slowly come to the realisation your prize isn't all that and there's bigger fish. Lust after a nice piece of gear..

Oh, but you haven't even TOUCHED the surface of "The Ride"; eventually you start looking for... ACCESSORIES. 

mnem
You're welcome. 

[bd139]

Better than finally get that bastard you want and then it’s broken 

[med6753]

Better than finally get that bastard you want and then it’s broken 

Oh snap! 

The Tek gods put a jinx on you. 

[0culus]

Ended up pulling the trigger on a 13" lenovo "thinkpad", to use as a dedicated machine for running GPIB instruments and stuff. First job? Completely fresh Windoze install, to remove any and all crapware. At least, unless there's some "extra features" at the hardware level.   

[Whales]

Okaaaay... no, there isn't something jamming up under the MB or effed up in the case... my new MB is just warped AF. 

This is completely normal.  Typically the CPU cooler mounts+screws+force are the primary source of this distortion.  Most motherboards out there are like this, just in varying amounts.  Some have better rear-metal brackets to counteract it, others (like a pentium D rig I have under my bed) look like a banana.

[xrunner]

Ended up pulling the trigger on a 13" lenovo "thinkpad", to use as a dedicated machine for running GPIB instruments and stuff. First job? Completely fresh Windoze install, to remove any and all crapware. At least, unless there's some "extra features" at the hardware level.   

Kool. I really need to get back into some GPIB control of my stuff. Did quite a bit when I was working with LabVIEW.

[Mr. Scram]

This is completely normal.  Typically the CPU cooler mounts+screws+force are the primary source of this distortion.  Most motherboards out there are like this, just in varying amounts.  Some have better rear-metal brackets to counteract it, others (like a pentium D rig I have under my bed) look like a banana.

I assume it's under your bed to keep you warm on those long winter nights?

[Mr. Scram]

Oh, but you haven't even TOUCHED the surface of "The Ride"; eventually you start looking for... ACCESSORIES. 

mnem
You're welcome. 

My trick is to keep funds low by perpetuating the cycle. I have a long list of wanted accessories, but devices have right of way so there's never funds to be allocated to them.

[bitseeker]

TEA is really a plague! 

Once I sneaked around ebay (yes, here the evil starts) I stumbled over a
HP 3460A meter. A 6 1/2 digit nixe tube digital voltmeter for EUR 120.- in "for parts only / defect" condition.

I couldn't resist and pulled the trigger. 
Now I can't wait until it arrives.   

This is the evil thing:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/202722194710

picture of it:


I hope that the surprises won't be that nasty. We'll see.

It comes with no power cord and it has this weird oval HP connector.
But, surprisingly, a guy is offering some of those cords, so I ordered two of them:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/202531165401

Picture:


Now I'm looking for a service manual which doesn't cost a fortune for shipping...

There is no end of this road, is it?      

Now that you're properly on-board, I shall re-welcome you to the TEA house.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Ended up pulling the trigger on a 13" lenovo "thinkpad", to use as a dedicated machine for running GPIB instruments and stuff. First job? Completely fresh Windoze install, to remove any and all crapware. At least, unless there's some "extra features" at the hardware level.   

Which one did you get? And which 'windoze'?

[Neomys Sapiens]

Here's a mission for y'all, if you choose to accept it.

I'm restoring a Yokogawa 2554 DC volt/current standard and I need new banana jacks as the screw-down bits are missing on mine...

Problem is, they are a bit of a strange looking type.
If anyone has seen something like this or knows what the manufacturer/part number is, let me know! This device is working really well so far otherwise after a little tweak of the trimpots (I think I'll replace some of the single-turn with multi-turn so I can really dial it in), so it'll be awesome to get it all 100% complete if I can...

A good guess: they are probably Japan-made non-catalogue parts manufactured by a small shop for Yokogawa. Best method might be pestering Yokogawa until they tell you. Then pester the source.
Of course I could be wrong. But that would fit the local mode of operations most closely.

[0culus]

Ended up pulling the trigger on a 13" lenovo "thinkpad", to use as a dedicated machine for running GPIB instruments and stuff. First job? Completely fresh Windoze install, to remove any and all crapware. At least, unless there's some "extra features" at the hardware level.   

Which one did you get? And which 'windoze'?

L380 and Win10 Pro. First thing I did was boot from the usb the pro license came with and obliterate the existing install. 

[med6753]

Ended up pulling the trigger on a 13" lenovo "thinkpad", to use as a dedicated machine for running GPIB instruments and stuff. First job? Completely fresh Windoze install, to remove any and all crapware. At least, unless there's some "extra features" at the hardware level.   

Which one did you get? And which 'windoze'?

L380 and Win10 Pro. First thing I did was boot from the usb the pro license came with and obliterate the existing install. 

Wouldn't one of the Linux distros have been a better choice?   

[mindcrime]

Finally dragged the two hand-held multimeters out of storage... they'd been packed away in a toolbox that I used to keep parked at the hackerspace down the street. But now that my home setup is finally coming together, it seemed appropriate to pull them out and complete the family (the 3rd member is my Rigol DM3068 bench meter).









Sadly, the older Radio Shack meter seems to be pining for the fjords... it is an ex-multimeter.  Tried it out earlier and it would power up and the LCD would display digits, with one digit blinking, and it would beep when you changed ranges or functions. But beyond that, nada. No resistance measurement, no continuity test, no voltage measurement, nothing.

I tried fresh batteries, then opened it up and looked for obvious signs of damage... nothing but some corrosion on a couple of the battery contacts. Cleaned that off with sandpaper and isopropyl alcohol, but still the same. Tested the fuse, that was good.  Finally pulled the main board out, and found some electrolytic caps, but no bulging or obvious signs of problems. And I don't have an ESR meter.  I wound up desoldering one of them just for the shits and giggles of it, and it measured OK using the DM3068 at least. And for further shits and giggles, I replaced that cap with a brand new one with identical specs and buttoned the whole thing back up. And now it's even deader than it was!   

To be fair, I did knock a ground wire loose during my surgery attempt, and while I *think* I soldered it back to the same spot, I can't be 100% sure.  Anyway, since you can buy a better meter for like $10.00 these days, I'm giving up on that one, even though I have a bit of a sentimental attachment to it. I've probably had that meter for 25 years or so.   

To make up for the loss, I jumped on Amazon and ordered a cheapo no-name TRMS 6000 handheld meter.    And a new USB microscope.   

[beanflying]

Ended up pulling the trigger on a 13" lenovo "thinkpad", to use as a dedicated machine for running GPIB instruments and stuff. First job? Completely fresh Windoze install, to remove any and all crapware. At least, unless there's some "extra features" at the hardware level.   

Which one did you get? And which 'windoze'?

L380 and Win10 Pro. First thing I did was boot from the usb the pro license came with and obliterate the existing install. 

Wouldn't one of the Linux distros have been a better choice?   

The answer almost always is NO where you want to connect to something a little out of the ordinary unless you are an extreme masochist