Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Carl_Smith]

Found some TE items I haven't seen on the TEA thread before on an auction site.  An HP and an Agilent communications analyzers. 

https://www.k-bid.com/auction/29861/item/27?offset=27
https://www.k-bid.com/auction/29861/item/33?offset=33

Not anything I would have a need for but after hanging out in this thread for so long I figured I'd seen most everything in the way of HP equipment.

Also an Iwatsu digital multimeter I haven't heard of before:
https://www.k-bid.com/auction/29861/item/75?offset=74

This auction actually has a few more items I would be interested in if I could be bothered to go pick them up.  Two listings of two HP 3478A multimeters, and a Tek 2430A scope.  Not that I need these either but since this auction is one where you have to go pick up your items they will probably go for much less than they would on eBay, and I could clean them up, test them, and flip them for a bit of profit. 

But maybe I'm not up do the TEA standard since I am about 250 miles away from the pickup location, so it would take a long day to drive down and pick them up if I did win the auction, and my wish to acquire some TE does not override my unwillingness to put in that much effort.

[mnementh]

I was looking at this one:   https://www.k-bid.com/auction/29861/item/28   and this one:   https://www.k-bid.com/auction/29861/item/78

Fuuuuuu...   Why does this kindof shit ONLY come at times like this...?

mnem
"The perversity of the universe tends to the maximum."

[bitseeker]

But since you are looking for some vacuum tube boat anchors, here are some pictures of my
very small collection of electron tubes (yes, in german they are called "tubes" or "electron tubes")

This is the four-man-band:

Big choobs! Added to POI.

[bitseeker]

Here's photos of a few more interesting thermo-ionic valves or tubes as they may be known.

Cool! Added those, too.

[bitseeker]

Here's my collection of radio and microwave specific tubes. From left:

JAN Sylvania 1625/VT-136, WWII era transmitter tube, apparently used in aircraft radios according to my research.
GE GL-2040, I think is a civil market version of the GL-446A lighthouse tube
(behind lighthouse) RCA JAN CRC-832A, a double beam tetrode for VHF
Westinghouse WL-417, a reflex klystron
An actual JAN GL-446A in it's box, dated August 17, 1944
Another JAN CRC-832A
JAN RCA 8025, an air cooled UHF transmitting triode, which can operate either as an oscillator or an amplifier and deliver 50W at 400 MHz. Apparently the plates are supposed to glow red when at full power. 

OK, added.

[bitseeker]

Found some TE items I haven't seen on the TEA thread before on an auction site.  An HP and an Agilent communications analyzers. 

https://www.k-bid.com/auction/29861/item/27?offset=27
https://www.k-bid.com/auction/29861/item/33?offset=33

Not anything I would have a need for but after hanging out in this thread for so long I figured I'd seen most everything in the way of HP equipment.

I've seen a variety of berts, but not either of these. Nifty.

This auction actually has a few more items I would be interested in if I could be bothered to go pick them up.  Two listings of two HP 3478A multimeters, and a Tek 2430A scope.  Not that I need these either but since this auction is one where you have to go pick up your items they will probably go for much less than they would on eBay, and I could clean them up, test them, and flip them for a bit of profit. 

But maybe I'm not up do the TEA standard since I am about 250 miles away from the pickup location, so it would take a long day to drive down and pick them up if I did win the auction, and my wish to acquire some TE does not override my unwillingness to put in that much effort.

That's quite some distance, alright. You'd have to figure that cost into the equation if you were doing it for the flipping. It'd take more than just those items to get me out that far.

[Carl_Smith]

That's quite some distance, alright. You'd have to figure that cost into the equation if you were doing it for the flipping. It'd take more than just those items to get me out that far.

That's the thing, besides about $50 in gasoline and the cost of a fast food meal or two, it's a whole long day of my life gone just to go get the stuff.  Plus the time to flip the items on evil bay.  And lately I'm realizing that my time is worth a lot in just the missed opportunity to do something else that I would enjoy more.

The other thing is that if I start bidding on the interesting stuff, I'll feel like I have to bid on enough items to make the trip worth the trouble, and I might get into bidding wars and pay more for the items than I normally would just to keep high bid on enough items to make the trip worthwhile.

But I just cringe at seeing so many items with a $5 opening bid just sitting there with no bids.  If it was 100 miles away or less I'd be bidding on a lot of stuff just for the fun of it.

[bitseeker]

I got this today - an Andonstar HDMI microscope. Very crisp and clear display. Stand very well made of aluminum stock. Should be very useful for my SMD soldering needs.

Those images look great. I checked out some videos, too. Very clear, unlike the scopes from just a few years earlier. The ADSM302 is this year's model with twice the working distance (up to 22cm), but the 301 seems just fine (up to 12 cm), considering the lower cost, the same resolution, and the same frame rate.

Help me! It looks like I'm getting one, now. Order submitted.

Now I can stop putting in my resistors with the wrong polarity. 

I hate it when that happens.

[mnementh]

That's quite some distance, alright. You'd have to figure that cost into the equation if you were doing it for the flipping. It'd take more than just those items to get me out that far.

That's the thing, besides about $50 in gasoline and the cost of a fast food meal or two, it's a whole long day of my life gone just to go get the stuff.  Plus the time to flip the items on evil bay.  And lately I'm realizing that my time is worth a lot in just the missed opportunity to do something else that I would enjoy more.

The other thing is that if I start bidding on the interesting stuff, I'll feel like I have to bid on enough items to make the trip worth the trouble, and I might get into bidding wars and pay more for the items than I normally would just to keep high bid on enough items to make the trip worthwhile.

But I just cringe at seeing so many items with a $5 opening bid just sitting there with no bids.  If it was 100 miles away or less I'd be bidding on a lot of stuff just for the fun of it.

A younger me drove several hundred miles to see and buy a collection of Hawg parts that turned out to be approximately 1 1/2 “bike in a basket” ‘s worth. I never even thought about the time, and the trip turned out to be quite an adventure, on which I met a fellow who remains to this day one of my best friends, as well as a young woman whom I eventually almost married.

As with all things, my friend... the journey’s the larger part. Maybe it’s time for an adventure, and these bits of TEA are just the excuse you need.

mnem
*toddles off to ded*

[PA0PBZ]

Only one tube that's of any interest here (I'm not pulling the CRT out of my Tek 922 to show it off, because who would care?).

I can't find any info on the net about it, but I was told it's a power tetrode and I know it was used in a microwave transmitter design.  Just odd enough to be interesting to me.

Definitely looks like some sort of magnetron. 

It's the (pulse) modulator tube.

[factory]

Sorry Pat, as I couldn't find much of interest in the UK I was searching on ePay.com for digital counters & voltmeters and that is how I found the Dana, I'm looking forward to the teardown too.

I did end up buying this reversible counter though.   

(Attachment Link)

David

Whoops!! I'm afraid I wound up costing you about $25, then - I took a crack at that one, too, as I'd never seen that model listed before.  That's the danger of a bunch of us having similar interests.  Sorry!  I'd been watching it for months (he previously had it listed at $199 for a loooooong time).  I'd like to see the inside of it when it gets to you, and it's nice to know it will be going to a good home.

-Pat

It's OK an extra $25 is very little compared with the international shipping & import fees, it looked unusual enough & as I didn't have a HP reversible counter in my collection I decided to bid for it, it also seems to be the third HP item I have that I can't find in any of the catalogues.

Anyway I collected the HP K20-5280A counter from the local ParcelFarce depot & paid my fees last Friday, the seller did an excellent job of packing it in a large box with plenty of foam chips & bubble wrap all round , if only others would do the same.

After a quick check to see nothing had come loose inside, I decided to test it with the HP 3310A and found that it seems to work fine using either input A for counting up or input B for counting down, not tried both at once yet for the A-B, A+B or other functions. 



Inside there are quite a few unpopulated connectors on the motherboard for other option cards.



The power supply section seems to be the same as used in the 5325A and a few others.



Input board with reed relays for the attenuators and two separate counter? cards.



Function boards and main up/down counter & display board.



There is space on the main counter & display board for an extra Nixie, but I suspect that finding an extra 20pin 1820-0732 up/down counter IC would be impossible, given that I can't find anything about it, or any other TE that uses it. 



Does anyone know why the 1820-0732 IC's have bare sockets instead of the plastic ones?



David

P.S. I found a picture of another K20-5280A on the web with what looks like a preset function, there is one the same in nixiefreqq's "wall of nixie" picture on here too.

[xrunner]

Those images look great. I checked out some videos, too. Very clear, unlike the scopes from just a few years earlier. The ADSM302 is this year's model with twice the working distance (up to 22cm), but the 301 seems just fine (up to 12 cm), considering the lower cost, the same resolution, and the same frame rate.

Help me! It looks like I'm getting one, now. Order submitted.

I can't help you now it's too late. 

The base is solid aluminum but it's not great for laying a board on because it's too slippery-slidey. Just need to put on a material to help a board stay put. Looking at some options like a piece of ESD mat. I did some soldering with it yesterday and was very pleased with how it went.

Took another pic for you at full magnification.

[bd139]

It’s a deadode! 

[xrunner]

It’s a deadode! 

Looking at electronics up close makes you wonder how any of it works at all. 

[nixiefreqq]

Sorry Pat, as I couldn't find much of interest in the UK I was searching on ePay.com for digital counters & voltmeters and that is how I found the Dana, I'm looking forward to the teardown too.

I did end up buying this reversible counter though.   

(Attachment Link)

David

Whoops!! I'm afraid I wound up costing you about $25, then - I took a crack at that one, too, as I'd never seen that model listed before.  That's the danger of a bunch of us having similar interests.  Sorry!  I'd been watching it for months (he previously had it listed at $199 for a loooooong time).  I'd like to see the inside of it when it gets to you, and it's nice to know it will be going to a good home.

-Pat

It's OK an extra $25 is very little compared with the international shipping & import fees, it looked unusual enough & as I didn't have a HP reversible counter in my collection I decided to bid for it, it also seems to be the third HP item I have that I can't find in any of the catalogues.

Anyway I collected the HP K20-5280A counter from the local ParcelFarce depot & paid my fees last Friday, the seller did an excellent job of packing it in a large box with plenty of foam chips & bubble wrap all round , if only others would do the same.

After a quick check to see nothing had come loose inside, I decided to test it with the HP 3310A and found that it seems to work fine using either input A for counting up or input B for counting down, not tried both at once yet for the A-B, A+B or other functions. 


David



was very happy to see another k20-5280a in captivity

at first glance thought maybe it was exUSN since they used the acronym GPETE for TE (general purpose electronic test equipment).  but you are missing an "E".  (in the army it was TMDE...test measurement & diagnostic equipment).

no idea why they did not use all standard sockets.  as you can see....some of my sockets are bad....and my bodge was to stick a fat pinned socket in the wonky ones.

also seems odd that hp used a bliley crystal.  have never seen one in an hp counter other than this one (maybe they were just hidden behind hp part numbers?) (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link)

bd would like this counter.  it has no fan.

[bd139]

I like that indeed. But not those horrid slide switches.

[mnementh]

   So how's it work... count up to the preset on the left, then start counting backwards again? Will it start from zero again and continue forever? Or does it display on offset of the two inputs?

mnem

[mnementh]

Found some TE items I haven't seen on the TEA thread before on an auction site.  An HP and an Agilent communications analyzers. 

https://www.k-bid.com/auction/29861/item/27?offset=27
https://www.k-bid.com/auction/29861/item/33?offset=33

Not anything I would have a need for but after hanging out in this thread for so long I figured I'd seen most everything in the way of HP equipment.

I've seen a variety of berts, but not either of these. Nifty.

but no ernies... poor things must be so lonely. 

mnem
You'll have to excuse mnem... he's feeling sickly, and his associations have become rather loose of late...

[med6753]

mnem
You'll have to excuse mnem... he's feeling sickly, and his associations have become rather loose of late...

So your future coprolite will be a stain rather than a chunk? 

[med6753]

Here you go bd139. This is the same guy I've bought equipment from before. You can see the damn thing has problems. Look at the distortion on the upper sine wave (unless his source is fubar).

https://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/ele/d/campbell-hall-ham-radio-oscilloscope/6956373096.html

And this guy is smoking a giant doobie. 

https://hartford.craigslist.org/ele/d/suffield-oscilloscope-techtronix/6926955215.html

[factory]

Sorry Pat, as I couldn't find much of interest in the UK I was searching on ePay.com for digital counters & voltmeters and that is how I found the Dana, I'm looking forward to the teardown too.

I did end up buying this reversible counter though.   

(Attachment Link)

David

Whoops!! I'm afraid I wound up costing you about $25, then - I took a crack at that one, too, as I'd never seen that model listed before.  That's the danger of a bunch of us having similar interests.  Sorry!  I'd been watching it for months (he previously had it listed at $199 for a loooooong time).  I'd like to see the inside of it when it gets to you, and it's nice to know it will be going to a good home.

-Pat

It's OK an extra $25 is very little compared with the international shipping & import fees, it looked unusual enough & as I didn't have a HP reversible counter in my collection I decided to bid for it, it also seems to be the third HP item I have that I can't find in any of the catalogues.

Anyway I collected the HP K20-5280A counter from the local ParcelFarce depot & paid my fees last Friday, the seller did an excellent job of packing it in a large box with plenty of foam chips & bubble wrap all round , if only others would do the same.

After a quick check to see nothing had come loose inside, I decided to test it with the HP 3310A and found that it seems to work fine using either input A for counting up or input B for counting down, not tried both at once yet for the A-B, A+B or other functions. 


David

was very happy to see another k20-5280a in captivity

at first glance thought maybe it was exUSN since they used the acronym GPETE for TE (general purpose electronic test equipment).  but you are missing an "E".  (in the army it was TMDE...test measurement & diagnostic equipment).

no idea why they did not use all standard sockets.  as you can see....some of my sockets are bad....and my bodge was to stick a fat pinned socket in the wonky ones.

also seems odd that hp used a bliley crystal.  have never seen one in an hp counter other than this one (maybe they were just hidden behind hp part numbers?) (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link)

bd would like this counter.  it has no fan.

The quote has gone a bit wrong in Nixiefreqq's post, missing an end quote after my name.

That explains some of the option cards, there is a blank on the back for the crystal option (not fitted) in mine, I would also hazard a guess that the 5330 preset counter also has the same crystal board.

Maybe they ran out of 20 pin sockets and had to use the separate socket pins, I've had problems with dirty contacts on those long three section interconnects before as well.

   So how's it work... count up to the preset on the left, then start counting backwards again? Will it start from zero again and continue forever? Or does it display on offset of the two inputs?

mnem

I'm guessing it will send one pulse to the main counter each time it counts the number set on the preset switches. 

[Specmaster]

Right, OK, I'm back onto the Hacker Herald radio that I was attempting to replace all of the Ge transistors with Si and I was having problems with distortion on the modified amplifier, well it turns that bloody Murphy must have crept in my lab while I was snoozing , the bastard. I think I have found the source of the problem, but I'll let you know for certain later after dinner hopefully.

The problem that I think is causing it is that the transistors that should been in the preamp stage 2N3904's were not, but somehow I managed refit the BC148 which have 1.5 times the gain and in theory could well be the smoking gun here, over driving the output pair. I have now swapped them out and hopefully later this evening I'll be able to get around testing the theory out.

Could the problem be me all along, seems to pointing that way 

[mnementh]

mnem
You'll have to excuse mnem... he's feeling sickly, and his associations have become rather loose of late...

So your future coprolite will be a stain rather than a chunk? 

Yes, but you'll have to be on the moon in a few hundred thousand years to "discover" it. 

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Right, OK, I'm back onto the Hacker Herald radio that I was attempting to replace all of the Ge transistors with Si and I was having problems with distortion on the modified amplifier, well it turns that bloody Murphy must have crept in my lab while I was snoozing , the bastard. I think I have found the source of the problem, but I'll let you know for certain later after dinner hopefully.

The problem that I think is causing it is that the transistors that should been in the preamp stage 2N3904's were not, but somehow I managed refit the BC148 which have 1.5 times the gain and in theory could well be the smoking gun here, over driving the output pair. I have now swapped them out and hopefully later this evening I'll be able to get around testing the theory out.

Could the problem be me all along, seems to be pointing that way 

I blame the cockmoon: oglaf.com/moonbeams <~~~~ WARNING: Location VERY NSFW!!!   

mnem
Yes, you may touch it. 

[bitseeker]

Sorry Pat, as I couldn't find much of interest in the UK I was searching on ePay.com for digital counters & voltmeters and that is how I found the Dana, I'm looking forward to the teardown too.

I did end up buying this reversible counter though.   

(Attachment Link)

David

Whoops!! I'm afraid I wound up costing you about $25, then - I took a crack at that one, too, as I'd never seen that model listed before.  That's the danger of a bunch of us having similar interests.  Sorry!  I'd been watching it for months (he previously had it listed at $199 for a loooooong time).  I'd like to see the inside of it when it gets to you, and it's nice to know it will be going to a good home.

-Pat

It's OK an extra $25 is very little compared with the international shipping & import fees, it looked unusual enough & as I didn't have a HP reversible counter in my collection I decided to bid for it, it also seems to be the third HP item I have that I can't find in any of the catalogues.

Anyway I collected the HP K20-5280A counter from the local ParcelFarce depot & paid my fees last Friday, the seller did an excellent job of packing it in a large box with plenty of foam chips & bubble wrap all round , if only others would do the same.

Neat. Added to POI.

I've seen some other HP gear that had that model naming convention (i.e., the hyphenated prefix). Anyone know what the story is on it? Was it a format used by a company that HP acquired?