Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bitseeker]

The Tektronix 106 is on the bench. A whole different animal than the 114.

Very nice. Added to POI.

[BU508A]

Today some tinkering. I have a little collection of some wet tantalums sitting on my shelf for some time
which I wanted to measure the leakage current. I want to use them in another project (measure amplifier
to measure the noise of some voltage sources, in my case the LTFLU-1).
I had the idea to built a little thing with 10 12V batteries in it so I can have different voltages in 12V steps.
I added a 1kOhm and a 1MOhm between the ground and the DUT (capacitor) which I can select with a jumper.
1kOhm setting is equal to 1µA at 1mV; 1MOhm setting 1nA at 1mV.
Since 5 hours or so I'm running this setup with two caps (1kOhm setting) and one cap is now nearly 100nA
the other one is around 370nA.

My tantalums have a capacity from 680µF to 1300µF (Voltage 30 - 60V)
and the date codes are starting around 1962 and go up to 1973.

Here are some pictures (as I know you guys love pictures  )
Background music today: Classic Rock hits of the 70s and 80s.

My little collection (2 caps missing because they are in the testing setup)


126.5V - do NOT lick!


PCB assembled:


the usual suspects under test, answering questions:


Answers:


The e-function at work:


So, and now I'm looking for a nice glas of an 18yo Highland Park. 

[bd139]

I just hope I’m not proselytizing the progenitors of SkyNet...

A company we both know is working on it . Fortunately they are constrained by the monkey on the back of Six Sigma which means they never deliver anything competently 

Actually that jogged a memory for some unknown reason: "Alita Battle Angel" downloading. Forgot how much more convenient desktops are for torrenting 

Edit: today's print. 3d topographical map of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland.



I frikking love this printer

STL courtesy https://terrainator.com/ ... cost £5 

Edit 2: this PC thing is getting expensive. I've currently got a shitty Advent £6 from Currys (UK equivalent of Worst Buy) keyboard which was bought to fill the gap in the availability of a working keyboard On the ThonkPad (past tense there). So I am now dragged into the world of Cherry MX. Previously I had a Cherry Business Line keyboard which was fine but turns out there are lots of nice mechanical keyboard out there now. Amazing. I'm glad that gaming is not a marginalised thing with a niche market these days as I can leverage it for a decent programmers keyboard!

[0culus]

WASD Code. Last mechanical keyboard I'll ever need to buy. I have one at home and at the office, both with Cherry Clears. 

I love how 1) it's nondescript but clean looking and 2) it's build like a tank. My keyboard at home took a tumble off a bench thanks to cats, and while the micro USB cable was ruined, the keyboard is A-OK. They have a heavy steel sheet that the switches sit on, so not only is it durable it also provides a solid foundation for heavy typists like yours truly. 

[bd139]

Thanks. That was EXACTLY the keyboard on the list at the moment 

[Martin.M]

 

[Martin72]

the usual suspects under test, answering questions:

The bad Hirschmann clamps at work…..

[0culus]

Thanks. That was EXACTLY the keyboard on the list at the moment 

You'll love it!

[xrunner]

It's either a volcano or a failed print that you want us to believe is a volcano ... 

That's the beauty of 3D printing the results can be anything you want them to be!



No really it's cool.   

Edit: today's print. 3d topographical map of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland.

[bitseeker]

Another Brick in The Wall (Of Test Equipment)

Boat anchors have made me scream a bit over the years and Great Gig in the Sky seems a perfect anthem for them. 

https://youtu.be/T13se_2A7c8?t=68

Really.

Here's the re-do of

"Another Brick In The Wall (Part II)"

Contributions by certain members are obvious. 



We don't need no crappy test leads
We don't need no broken probes
No burned-out nixies in our counters
Kitty, leave them scopes alone

Hey, kitty, leave them scopes alone!

All in all it's just another stack that's too tall
All in all another scope with a hair ball

[Chorus by members of the Test Equipment Anonymous forum thread]

We don't need no crappy test leads
We don't need no broken probes
No burned-out nixies in our counters
Kitty, leave them scopes alone

Hey, kitty, leave them scopes alone!

All in all it's just another stack that's too tall
All in all another scope with a hair ball

[Spoken:]
Wrong! Solder it again!
Wrong! Solder it again!
If you don't own any Tektronix, you can't have any pudding!
How can you have any pudding if you don't own hp!
You! Yes, you, behind the equipment rack, stand still, laddy!

Made a new section in the OP called "TEA Songs" to link this.

To anyone else who has made a TEA song here in the past, PM to me a link to the post and I'll add it to the new section.

[BU508A]

The bad Hirschmann clamps at work…..

Mouser is your friend, I have ordered some Pomonas 3925-0 ... -9 but, honestly, I don't know why the Hirschmann Kleps 30 are "bad"? 

Surely, they aren't the best for precise measurements, can you recommend something better? 

[mansaxel]

Thanks. That was EXACTLY the keyboard on the list at the moment 

The IBM Model M keyboards with buckling-spring mechanisms are still being made by Unicomp. As I have a stash of the originals, as well as a stash of Sun Type 5 keyboards I'm not shopping for one; my reasonable estimate is that I'm set for life. Of my grandchildren.

I'm debating with myself whether I'll risk dragging a Model M to work, or if I'll play it safe with a Type 5. I have USB adaption for both. 

[factory]

Edit: 428B ground fault is in the mains transformer. Wonder what happened to it. Need me a parts unit, because that transformer surely is unobtanium without a donor.

Is the transformer primary or secondary shorted to ground?
If it definitely is the transformer then you will need patience to find a cheap one for parts (usually missing the probe), they do appear in Europe occasionally.

I did buy a parts one a few years that was missing most of the switches, the fuse holder & power neon, I didn't expect to find the transformer missing when I opened it up, a few of the circuit boards were also missing, but they left almost all of the vacuum bulbs. 
It also came with a factory assembly failure, a resistor with the leads left long, almost touching the case.

David

[Martin72]

The bad Hirschmann clamps at work…..

Mouser is your friend, I have ordered some Pomonas 3925-0 ... -9 but, honestly, I don't know why the Hirschmann Kleps 30 are "bad"? 

Surely, they aren't the best for precise measurements, can you recommend something better? 

We had problems with them what E.g. inductive influence concerns.
We use as long it´s possible the ordinary alligator clamps.

[bitseeker]

Was a crazy busy week at work and I got myself 27 pages behind. "Only" took six hours today. My, what a turbulent time it was in the thread. Glad to see things have come back on track. 

Now, I just have to catch up on those 30 or so pages I missed last month.

[BU508A]

Do you guys know WEY TEC keyboards? Imho they are the ultimative keyboards.
They are used on the trading floors by those exchange dealers.

Link to their website:
https://www.weytec.com/en/

This is an example for a modular keyboard MK06:



They are VERY expensive keyboards, in theory you can buy them here (for example):
https://dataedge.ie/product/wey-tec-multifunctional-keyboards/

[beanflying]

Depending on how my box runs over this upcoming summer I might still look at water cooling as there is plenty of space in the case I built in. But as someone who has played with pumps and pipes and chemicals for a chunk of time sealed systems is not where I would likely go.

When sealed AIO water cooling goes URK.



@bd installed Fusion next thing you know he will be using Eagle 

[factory]

I wasn't looking for another scope but this appeared yesterday, it looked complete, nice condition and in working order. I put in an offer then got a counteroffer of £60, I resisted for about half an hour but failed and ending up buying it.
(Attachment Link)

David

Looks good and I hope that you enjoy it when you receive it.

Well two weeks ago I didn't have a single non-sampling analogue CRT scope capable of more then 50MHz, I now have five.

Here is the first, the 275MHz HP 1725A that I won on evilbay.

It mostly looks in good condition, footless at the back as expected, a small bit a corrosion on the side of the case.
Channel B is good & the delayed timebase works , but I can't get a decent square wave on channel A, it's not the probe compensation, a forum search suggests reseating connectors & checking the attenuators.
This unit also has one of other common problems mentioned, the timebase switch needs re-greasing, possibly the time interval function needs looking at too, or I need to RTFM again.

David

[mnementh]

 

Thanks for that diversion... I passed it on to my wife, the music teacher. 

mnem
*hiding out from the suck*

[mnementh]

Depending on how my box runs over this upcoming summer I might still look at water cooling as there is plenty of space in the case I built in. But as someone who has played with pumps and pipes and chemicals for a chunk of time sealed systems is not where I would likely go.

When sealed AIO water cooling goes URK.



@bd installed Fusion next thing you know he will be using Eagle 

so... this one breed of AIO manufacturer did something stupid that made them fail prematurely. Happens with everything. That doesn’t make it reasonable to condemn the entire species.

So you undo 6-8 screws and plonk in a new one, radiator & all, for $40-150.The nature of liquid-cooling is that it requires periodic maintenance; THIS is how you make that maintenance “YouTuber-proof”. If you feel the life of a specific cooler isn’t acceptable, change your model or brand just like any other commodity device.

Unrealistic expectations that a liquid cooling device should be a “lifetime system” is the problem, not the technology. As the tech evolves, units with longer & longer warranty will become commonplace; eventually most will even meet or exceed those warranties. 

Seriously... this is a non-issue.

mnem
 

[Mr. Scram]

I can't remember the last time I heard about issues with heatpipe coolers. I'm sure someone will be able to dig up some incident or dud model but the failure rate of those is essentially zero. The whole "passive" convection system is beautiful engineering. Apply a thermal gradient and it all just works.

[beanflying]

Sealed anything with a water base is an issue that goes unseen. It is an unknown given how these cheaper systems are built. At least with a grotty caked up fan and heatsink you can see it.

The 'Lifetime' for most users is also an unknown unless you run X stress test every Y time and keep an eye on thermals. Either that or you wait until your system stops throttling and starts not running.

There is a problem with the implementation not the technology by shaving it to the last $ and effectively making it zero possible maintenance until failure.

[0culus]

I wasn't looking for another scope but this appeared yesterday, it looked complete, nice condition and in working order. I put in an offer then got a counteroffer of £60, I resisted for about half an hour but failed and ending up buying it.
(Attachment Link)

David

Looks good and I hope that you enjoy it when you receive it.

Well two weeks ago I didn't have a single non-sampling analogue CRT scope capable of more then 50MHz, I now have five.

Here is the first, the 275MHz HP 1725A that I won on evilbay.

It mostly looks in good condition, footless at the back as expected, a small bit a corrosion on the side of the case.
Channel B is good & the delayed timebase works , but I can't get a decent square wave on channel A, it's not the probe compensation, a forum search suggests reseating connectors & checking the attenuators.
This unit also has one of other common problems mentioned, the timebase switch needs re-greasing, possibly the time interval function needs looking at too, or I need to RTFM again.

David

I have that thing's "big brother", the 1727A storage scope. Very neat "little" scopes. I don't know how deep the 1725 is, but the storage tube makes the 1727A easily as deep as a Tek 7000 mainframe.

[mnementh]

Sealed anything with a water base is an issue that goes unseen. It is an unknown given how these cheaper systems are built. At least with a grotty caked up fan and heatsink you can see it.

The 'Lifetime' for most users is also an unknown unless you run X stress test every Y time and keep an eye on thermals. Either that or you wait until your system stops throttling and starts not running.

There is a problem with the implementation not the technology by shaving it to the last $ and effectively making it zero possible maintenance until failure.

AAAAND...? SO WHAT?

Your CPU thermal throttles until it shuts down; if you’re a moron and you don’t NOTICE that it’s running slow and take a quick look at the dashboard (or the LED thermometer on the front of the case) then soon enough the temp alarms go off, and you know it’s time to replace the ducking cooler.

BIG FAT HAIRY DEAL.    When was the last time you actually saw a consumer CPU permanently damaged by anything short of no contact with the heat sink at all? So rare nowadays as to be statistically insignificant.

Much likelier to be damaged by Linus dropping it. 

mnem
 

[beanflying]

Number of CLOSED systems without maintenance provisions in use in industry about SFA. Number of OPEN systems or ones that can be maintained properly lets say 98%+. Personally I can not recall ever seeing a system not designed or implemented this way and no Engineer or even maybe a Plumber (don't start me on what I think of plumbers in industrial systems) would design or install.

AIO is an idea for the masses and built down to a price and is poor engineering. I did in the first post here

  ..... sealed systems is not where I would likely go....

There is a very clear line between the two and those generally installing and using them.

Adding additional parts and complexity that result in similar results in the real world and trying to compete on price KISS generally wins out for reliability.