Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[xrunner]

LOL we all have two flags now ... 

Dave’s playing with settings and mucked it up.
He’s trying to implement a compulsory country flag when registering

Oh I thought I had dual citizenship - in the same country!

Compulsory flag? Good luck with it being set properly. They might be able to check on it looking at the person's IP, but are they going to enforce it being correct? 

[Specmaster]

Who the hell crawls into bed on a hot night? For the last month, the wife and I have been just laying on top of the bed with fan going all night when it’s really hot[emoji91]

The preposition "into" was meant in the generic sense - not specifically demanding that there were any bedclothes placed over oneself.  "Go to bed" might have been a better phrase.

[emoji106]

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

[Specmaster]

LOL we all have two flags now ... 

Dave’s playing with settings and mucked it up.
He’s trying to implement a compulsory country flag when registering

Oh I thought I had dual citizenship - in the same country!

Compulsory flag? Good luck with it being set properly. They might be able to check on it looking at the person's IP, but are they going to enforce it being correct? 

It would certainly be a great help when assisting someone, at least we would be able to refer them to links that were applicable to their location.

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

[Mr. Scram]

Oh I thought I had dual citizenship - in the same country!

Compulsory flag? Good luck with it being set properly. They might be able to check on it looking at the person's IP, but are they going to enforce it being correct? 

Some people set their country of origin and some set their current location. Some don’t like to set it at all. Neither is wrong. If you force people to set it you’ll just get people setting nonsense flags. IP’s aren’t so tightly relayed to people’s location anyway.

[bd139]

Fucks sake. You wouldn’t believe it but I just got bitten by a sodding spider here. Damn hand swollen up. Much grr.

[factory]

Funny story here, saved it to my watch list and the very next day the seller used the make offer on me.
"Pssstt! Want it for $50? (was $76)
"...... Twenty."
"Twenty five!"
""SOLD!....... DAMN IT THE SHIPPING IS $75!" 

I paid $100, three quarters of that shipping, for the chance to say I have three outta five. Let's hope it survives shipping, and in closing I do NOT have a problem, I'm mostly sure.
 
To do buy list;
HP 608(C) 10-500 megacycles (I own two of these actually, for god alone knows what reason)
HP 610(B) 450-1200 megacycles
HP 614(A) 800-2100 megacycles
HP 616(A) 1800-4000 megacycles
HP 618(B) 3800-7200 megacycles

I'm not surprised the shipping was $75, it's a HP (Hernia Producer) at 95lb (43Kg) the poor delivery guy will be glad to to the back of it too.

Only five!!! what about the 620A(B) and above? 

Reading the manual on the 618B and it has four capacitors in it, 4U 2000V, that are almost impossible to get replacements for. Any ideas? Short of throwing money at the problem or praying to the moon in the middle of the night that is.

Really? 4µF/2000V and then four of them? Wow, that's a lot of energy stored in them.
And they are probably huge. Could you provide a picture of them?

Here, for comparison, two Bosch MP capacitors, 6,3µF and 2µF

Edit:
Found these chaps here in ebay Germany: 1µF / 2000V ca. EUR 90.- / piece 

Sure I can and will post a picture of them... just as soon as i actually get it. The 618B is the one off ebay, coming in the mail, i just know what caps I need thanks to the manual I dug up online.

Where did you get 4x 2000V for the 4uF caps, two of them only need to be 1500V. From the description of paper dielectric for most of the capacitors I'm guessing they are oil filled types, which along with the two transformers will make up a lot of the weight.

David

[xrunner]

Fucks sake. You wouldn’t believe it but I just got bitten by a sodding spider here. Damn hand swollen up. Much grr.

Sorry to hear that. I get bit by some indoor spider every so often. I have never seen the thing, but it makes a damn nasty sore for about a week. 

[neo]

I'm not surprised the shipping was $75, it's a HP (Hernia Producer) at 95lb (43Kg) the poor delivery guy will be glad to to the back of it too.

Only five!!! what about the 620A(B) and above? 

Where did you get 4x 2000V for the 4uF caps, two of them only need to be 1500V. From the description of paper dielectric for most of the capacitors I'm guessing they are oil filled types, which along with the two transformers will make up a lot of the weight.

David

From the manual, the list of replaceable parts specifically, and 1.5KV isn't much better than 2K. BU508A posed a good point, they are likely to be so massive that I should be able to safely perform a bodge if I have to.

As for the 620A(B) That''s on my list now too! DAMN IT! But said list has to stop somewhere.... 

EDIT;
Just curious would you rate oil filed caps this old as shotgun parts like paper caps or are they any more reliable?

[bd139]

Fucks sake. You wouldn’t believe it but I just got bitten by a sodding spider here. Damn hand swollen up. Much grr.

Sorry to hear that. I get bit by some indoor spider every so often. I have never seen the thing, but it makes a damn nasty sore for about a week. 

Yeah doesn’t look too bad. Think it was a false widow. I saw it and it bailed out. I was in the garden so I did the “stampy stamp dance” around where it landed. Amazingly first time I’ve ever been bitten by one here. Our spiders are usually pretty chilled. 

I was clearing ivy so I can stick a new HF antenna up. Universe doesn’t want me to be a ham 

[tautech]

Fucks sake. You wouldn’t believe it but I just got bitten by a sodding spider here. Damn hand swollen up. Much grr.

Yeah  the little buggers have got me a couple of times over the years too !
Certain times of year we have lots of Daddy Long Legs spiders and the White Tail feeds on them with makes the little mongrel poisonous.
Since White Tails have been a problem here which hasn’t been log, maybe a decade or so we’ve had to get down on the poor innocuous Daddy Long Legs to prevent the White Tails hanging around.
They’re mobile little buggers to they can mobilise off somewhere else or get squished around here. 

[factory]

I'm not surprised the shipping was $75, it's a HP (Hernia Producer) at 95lb (43Kg) the poor delivery guy will be glad to to the back of it too.

Only five!!! what about the 620A(B) and above? 

Where did you get 4x 2000V for the 4uF caps, two of them only need to be 1500V. From the description of paper dielectric for most of the capacitors I'm guessing they are oil filled types, which along with the two transformers will make up a lot of the weight.

David

From the manual, the list of replaceable parts specifically, and 1.5KV isn't much better than 2K. BU508A posed a good point, they are likely to be so massive that I should be able to safely perform a bodge if I have to.

As for the 620A(B) That''s on my list now too! DAMN IT! But said list has to stop somewhere.... 

EDIT;
Just curious would you rate oil filed caps this old as shotgun parts like paper caps or are they any more reliable?

Depends a lot on the brand and if they are still sealed, if they are obviously leaking oil (which could be either mineral or PCB type) then it would be best to change them.
I found some pictures of the insides of a 620A, comparing it with the 618B manual it has similarities to the 618B inside, the capacitors are rectangular section cans, like those the military used a lot in the distant past.

You can just about see the connections for the capacitors in the picture.



David

[bd139]

I'm not surprised the shipping was $75, it's a HP (Hernia Producer) at 95lb (43Kg) the poor delivery guy will be glad to to the back of it too.

Only five!!! what about the 620A(B) and above? 

Where did you get 4x 2000V for the 4uF caps, two of them only need to be 1500V. From the description of paper dielectric for most of the capacitors I'm guessing they are oil filled types, which along with the two transformers will make up a lot of the weight.

David

From the manual, the list of replaceable parts specifically, and 1.5KV isn't much better than 2K. BU508A posed a good point, they are likely to be so massive that I should be able to safely perform a bodge if I have to.

As for the 620A(B) That''s on my list now too! DAMN IT! But said list has to stop somewhere.... 

EDIT;
Just curious would you rate oil filed caps this old as shotgun parts like paper caps or are they any more reliable?

The paper in oil caps are usually pretty stable. But only at low voltages ( <200V). They punch through over time on high voltages so I'd be tempted to replace them. However when they punch through they actually reduce the capacitance significantly so you can test if they are knackered with an LC meter. If they're not, leave 'em.

Main problem on replacement is that high voltage high value polypropylene film caps, the usual replacement, are pretty expensive.

Fucks sake. You wouldn’t believe it but I just got bitten by a sodding spider here. Damn hand swollen up. Much grr.

Yeah  the little buggers have got me a couple of times over the years too !
Certain times of year we have lots of Daddy Long Legs spiders and the White Tail feeds on them with makes the little mongrel poisonous.
Since White Tails have been a problem here which hasn’t been log, maybe a decade or so we’ve had to get down on the poor innocuous Daddy Long Legs to prevent the White Tails hanging around.
They’re mobile little buggers to they can mobilise off somewhere else or get squished around here. 

Yeah I've heard about those buggers before. Similar in effect to the worst ones we have here. I think 99% of the injuries here are not cleaning the bite up properly afterwards and letting it get infected. Mosquitoes do more damage TBH but it's fecking annoying.

[med6753]

I'm not surprised the shipping was $75, it's a HP (Hernia Producer) at 95lb (43Kg) the poor delivery guy will be glad to to the back of it too.

Only five!!! what about the 620A(B) and above? 

Where did you get 4x 2000V for the 4uF caps, two of them only need to be 1500V. From the description of paper dielectric for most of the capacitors I'm guessing they are oil filled types, which along with the two transformers will make up a lot of the weight.

David

From the manual, the list of replaceable parts specifically, and 1.5KV isn't much better than 2K. BU508A posed a good point, they are likely to be so massive that I should be able to safely perform a bodge if I have to.

As for the 620A(B) That''s on my list now too! DAMN IT! But said list has to stop somewhere.... 

EDIT;
Just curious would you rate oil filed caps this old as shotgun parts like paper caps or are they any more reliable?

Oil filled caps in general are pretty reliable. But keep in mind if they pre-date the 1970's (most do) chances are the oil is PCB. If they do let go you'll need a Hazmat team to clean up the mess.

[bd139]

I always thought they used castor oil for those. Then again ricin instead 

The 1960s and earlier were so hazardous. When we moved into this house and knocked the old shed down I had to get someone out to remove the jars of random chemicals that had been stashed.

[med6753]

I always thought they used castor oil for those. Then again ricin instead 

The 1960s and earlier were so hazardous. When we moved into this house and knocked the old shed down I had to get someone out to remove the jars of random chemicals that had been stashed.

It's a crap shoot. They may or may not contain PCB. If they were made by GE chances are they are filled with PCB and to this day the sediments in the upper Hudson River are contaminated with PCB from GE dumping the waste in the river.

[med6753]

So true. Why do we become old and grouchy? 

[Mr. Scram]

Probably because we wear out dealing with old grumpy fuckers.

[bd139]

So true. Why do we become old and grouchy? 

I have always been Squidward since the day I went to school.

[factory]

I always thought they used castor oil for those. Then again ricin instead 

The 1960s and earlier were so hazardous. When we moved into this house and knocked the old shed down I had to get someone out to remove the jars of random chemicals that had been stashed.

Some later stuff may also contain PCB up to 1989 according to this pdf;
https://www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/waste/haz/Final%20PCB%20Management%20Plan%20board%20approved11.pdf

You have to wonder if all those old fluorescent light fittings & street light fittings that have been replaced in the last 10 years of so were disposed of correctly, too often I see them chucked in scrap skips.   
And all the stuff dumped in landfill decades ago, some of which is reappearing to pollute the rivers & the sea due to land erosion, some very old battery packs were shown in a recent BBC programme, apparently they needed some fancy portable X-ray machine (XRF?) to work out they were mostly zinc. 

The capacitors in the 618B are listed as being made by Sangamo, the audio folks seem to like those oil capacitors too.

David

EDIT: There seems to be a lack of discharge resistors for those HV capacitors in the HP 618B, be careful.

[mnementh]

HOLY FUCKADOODLE THAT'S HOT!!!

I mean seriously... midnight and 84°/76% Humidity and Heat Index of 89°Fugginhottern'ell...

Whoinnahell even HAS appreciable heat index at fukkin' midnight?

mnem
shut up, bean... 

I wouldn't dream of laughing at you next winter whinging and bitching about the cold 

I grew up an afternoon's drive away from where we're moving to; so not like I don't know what I'm getting myself into.

That said... I also very well remember how the winters beat me up with my back injury, and how my answer (when we visited Florida for the winters) to people asking about the heat was not the ubiquitous "It's a DRY heat!" (it isn't down there; very much like Houston most of the time, except the occasional sea breeze which we don't even get a whiff of up here in Toxic Waste Central) but rather "Nobody ever died of a heart attack shoveling the sunshine!!!"

Right now, after a decade of record-setting hot-ass summers, I'm READY to be cold for a while. Of course, that surmise is also based on decades-old memories memories filtered through the lens of childhood...

You're probably right; in the harsh light of morning and after-breakfast clarity, I know the cold and changing weather fronts will probably cripple me for weeks at a time.

But it's a choice now between that and simply not being able to breathe most of the time. I don't really think there's much of a choice.

Let it snow. I don't care. Typically first snow is usually end of November but we did get a freak snow storm once on October 4th. Caused a lot of damage because the trees still had leaves on them. 

Having a great big case of THAT right now. LOL 

mnem
Plenty of misery... No regrets.

[mnementh]

   So true. Why do we become old and grouchy? 

I have always been Squidward since the day I went to school.

Not me; I was the quintessential Rebel Without a Clue most of my life... I didn't turn into Squidward until I'd been in Texas a few years. Pretty sure that's not a coincidence. 

mnem
I think it's the unending, oppressive, overwhelming heat. It literally boils the humanity out of a person; leaving all but a very few hardy souls a dried-up husk with nothing left but hate and regrets. It's the only thing that explains all those fucking maniacs in the middle-east; they have family feuds going back more than 700 years. That's 3x longer than we've been "America". 

[BU508A]

   So true. Why do we become old and grouchy? 

I have always been Squidward since the day I went to school.

Not me; I was the quintessential Rebel Without a Clue most of my life... I didn't turn into Squidward until I'd been in Texas a few years. Pretty sure that's not a coincidence. 

Hmm, no idea why this picture hits me:



 

[BU508A]

Main problem on replacement is that high voltage high value polypropylene film caps, the usual replacement, are pretty expensive.

Epcos capacitors, 40µF / 1100V=
27 of them for EUR 38.- + shipping

https://www.ebay.com/itm/132618476099

[neo]

The paper in oil caps are usually pretty stable. But only at low voltages ( <200V). They punch through over time on high voltages so I'd be tempted to replace them. However when they punch through they actually reduce the capacitance significantly so you can test if they are knackered with an LC meter. If they're not, leave 'em.

Main problem on replacement is that high voltage high value polypropylene film caps, the usual replacement, are pretty expensive.
-snip-

Oil filled caps in general are pretty reliable. But keep in mind if they pre-date the 1970's (most do) chances are the oil is PCB. If they do let go you'll need a Hazmat team to clean up the mess.

Given that 200V isn't even a mosquito bite in these units and that these caps are likely from the very early 50s if not 40s it seems to me it's best to just bite the bullet and buy the replacements when I can. I can get 10 8uf 1100V for $34 and connect two in series for each desired capacitor replacement. $77 for a complete recap on both units, the 618B eating most of that.

[mnementh]

I've sent a PM to a few people with today's science museum trip gallery in it. There are 342 images so I don't want to post the link here otherwise my transfer will get eaten in 2 minutes by robots/scrapers. If anyone else wants to have a look, PM me and I'll send you the link. Preview:

Spacecraft, measurement, electrical items, dangerous flying machines, robots, old transistors and valves/tubes, time standards, vintage computers, crypto machines, enigma communications, old radios, amateur radio equipment from the dark ages, a bit of the moon, big scary transmitters, telephones and exchanges, supercomputers, old mobile phones, historic computers, calculators, jet engines, aircraft, difference engine, gold plated bbc micro and a wannacry infected laptop. Some captures of info cards but most if it is a case of playing guess what it is

Not much TE in there. There's an Advance oscilloscope lurking in one photo however. Slightly disappointed by that

I FINALLY finished slogging through all of that this morning... very interesting, the collection of tube-era transatlantic cable repeaters; something I'd always been curious about. Also the recreation of the Marconi broadcast station from London... and it is awesome that you could get that close to a Spitfire and a Harrier. Was that the Gen1, that they used to call the "Flying Coffin" due to its crash history? And the exploratory spacecraft... I took a 3-day trip down the DAWN/DS1/Ion-Drive rabbithole alone... 

Thank you very much for sharing!!! 

mnem
Depth-first is a bitch... and she has puppies.