Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[beanflying]

And the reason evilbay showed me the Heathkit Hybrid Horror was this now new addition to the shack  eBay auction: #323941274905

Not far from me and a seller I have brought from before so all should be well. One project I was planning to build now can come off 'the list'.

[0culus]

Found the HP-16C I keep at work dead today.  Turns out the knucklehead I bought it from had put LR44 alkaline cells in it. One shows early signs of leaking. Got em out and replaced with a trio of proper silver oxide cells. Apparently, Best Buy is a good source of new silver oxide cells that work on the voyager calculators, so going to go stack up tomorrow. 

[Kosmic]

And the reason evilbay showed me the Heathkit Hybrid Horror was this now new addition to the shack  eBay auction: #323941274905

Not far from me and a seller I have brought from before so all should be well. One project I was planning to build now can come off 'the list'.

Nice! I wanted one of those but they are always kind of expensive. Ordered one of those cheap ThaiKit curve tracer instead.

[beanflying]

And the reason evilbay showed me the Heathkit Hybrid Horror was this now new addition to the shack  eBay auction: #323941274905

Not far from me and a seller I have brought from before so all should be well. One project I was planning to build now can come off 'the list'.

Nice! I wanted one of those but they are always kind of expensive. Ordered one of those cheap ThaiKit curve tracer instead.

I had started to assemble bits including a fairly HV transformer, plugs and bits and had a bunch of references on making one but this will more than fulfill my needs and save me the time and effort.

Some sort of mount Lasered/3D Printed hybrid shelf/bracket off the Tek Stand is sort of the plan but see when it arrives.

[bitseeker]

This thread is only 2/3 on topic

Looking at the ~75 posts since 41100, about 27 are clearly not TEA related, so the 1/3 isn't a bad estimate - even if 1/3 does feel too optimistic at times

I need to up my game...

Seriously tho... there is something to be said for the “casual conversation at the pub with friends” aspect of this memespace.

Every question comes with trust issues; both of the knowledgeability of the respondent and often more importantly, of what axe the respondent may have to grind.

Most of the folks that frequent this space have demonstrated that for the most part, the biggest axe they carry is their wit, and more often than not, it is used primarily to enhance their curmudgeonly apprehension rather than to drive any avaricious ulterior motive.

In short, there is “do you know what you’re talking about” trust, and there’s “are you steering me towards/away from a solution for your own benefit” trust. Both are important.

For better or worse, we make it work, and the result is special. 

[bitseeker]

The big question obviously is whether the Canucks will let mnementh in. Mnem, the traditional greeting is "I'm sorry" and when bacon is mentioned prepare for a disappointment.

Yeah, the bacon was the first alarm that went off when I first heard mnem was moving to Canada.

[worsthorse]

And the reason evilbay showed me the Heathkit Hybrid Horror was this now new addition to the shack  eBay auction: #323941274905

Not far from me and a seller I have brought from before so all should be well. One project I was planning to build now can come off 'the list'.

The 3121 is a nice piece of kit. I have been looking for one for quite a while but could never bring myself to pay the going price. Last year I bought a B+K 501A at a ham fest for 35USD, repaired it and satisfied the itch, at least temporarily.

[beanflying]

I have some restriction of my 'spare' time so to some degree getting a working bit of kit over building it factors into the price too. This is more cool toy than serious need in my case too.

More time for Lasering, 3D Printing and making hardware packs and drinking Beer and ....... 

Reckon the joints are just right, Jarrah is the material.

[Brumby]

Jarrah is a nice timber.   

[bd139]

That’s looking pretty good that. The way this is going I’m going to have a laser table next year 

[tautech]

That’s looking pretty good that. The way this is going I’m going to have a laser table next year 

Can I not tempt you with other/better TEA ? 

[Brumby]

That’s looking pretty good that. The way this is going I’m going to have a laser table next year 

Hey ... let me catch up before you go charging ahead!  I've still got to settle in on 3D printing.


Oh - it's hell in a handbasket for me.   

[bd139]

That’s looking pretty good that. The way this is going I’m going to have a laser table next year 

Can I not tempt you with other/better TEA ? 

That's still on the list 

I don't actually need one though at the moment. I managed to bodge through the last problem with a homebrew SWR meter and my AWG for £5 total expenditure 

[tautech]

I managed to bodge through the last problem with a homebrew SWR meter and my AWG for £5 total expenditure 

Good luck getting your AWG to 3.2 GHz ! 

Just playing widda new model..............

[bd139]

Yeah it certainly won't go that high. I actually used a chinese Si5351A board and a simple LPF to get something up to 180MHz though which was pretty handy. Surprisingly good little chip that is for RF stuff.

[tggzzz]

That’s looking pretty good that. The way this is going I’m going to have a laser table next year 

Can I not tempt you with other/better TEA ? 

That's still on the list 

I don't actually need one though at the moment. I managed to bodge through the last problem with a homebrew SWR meter and my AWG for £5 total expenditure 

Noise source, SDR dongle, splitter/combiner, Python, cost approx £30 will get you to 1.5GHz, with limited dynamic range.

[bd139]

Yeah I have an RTLSDR dongle here somewhere. Haven't used it yet. Good option though for sure.

[med6753]

Okay......I may be a bit (a lot) DSO challenged but I'm pretty sure my SDS 1052DL won't do that. Although I could be wrong because I don't know what the hell that plot is supposed to represent. 

[bd139]

Different domain. That's frequency domain. X axis = frequency, Y axis = power usually.  So that's analysing an antenna by the looks, the S11 parameter. S11 = reflected power back from antenna. Blue is represented as SWR, Yellow as return loss by the looks, Purple is a Smith Chart which shows the complex impedance over the frequency range (only VNA does complex impedance and measures more than basic S-parameters)

[McBryce]

Okay......I may be a bit (a lot) DSO challenged but I'm pretty sure my SDS 1052DL won't do that. Although I could be wrong because I don't know what the hell that plot is supposed to represent. 

It's a vector analysis on a smith chart. I'd be extremely suprised if ANY DSO could do that

I assume Tautech is trying out some new SVA/VNA from Siglent?

McBryce.

[med6753]

OK, got it. Now that explains why I have a deer in the headlights look on my face. 

[tautech]

Different domain. That's frequency domain. X axis = frequency, Y axis = power usually.  So that's analysing an antenna by the looks, the S11 parameter. S11 = reflected power back from antenna. Blue is represented as SWR, Yellow as return loss by the looks, Purple is a Smith Chart which shows the complex impedance over the frequency range (only VNA does complex impedance and measures more than basic S-parameters)

Yep all that of 2.4 GHz WiFi whip antenna using the VNA mode of the new SVA1032X.
But this thing is a spectrum analyser too ! 

[beanflying]

OK, got it. Now that explains why I have a deer in the headlights look on my face. 

This will make sense to you and I more or other non RF nerds 

[bd139]

Yep all that of 2.4 GHz WiFi whip antenna using the VNA mode of the new SVA1032X.
But this thing is a spectrum analyser too ! 

If I wasn't such a cheap ass you'd have bankrupted me by now 

OK, got it. Now that explains why I have a deer in the headlights look on my face. 

This will make sense to you and I more or other non RF nerds 

That looks like the plot of my antenna after Mr Tree ate it. Revenge is going well there 

[med6753]

Yep all that of 2.4 GHz WiFi whip antenna using the VNA mode of the new SVA1032X.
But this thing is a spectrum analyser too ! 

If I wasn't such a cheap ass you'd have bankrupted me by now 

OK, got it. Now that explains why I have a deer in the headlights look on my face. 

This will make sense to you and I more or other non RF nerds 

That looks like the plot of my antenna after Mr Tree ate it. Revenge is going well there 

RF is a "no go" zone for me. Too much voodoo wizardry.