Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

I reckon it'll be affordable in 30 years

[tggzzz]

Well, I'll try. (from memory)
It starts with an owner of a large estate, who is somewhere else, being called in the middle of the night and told that his cow Elsa (one of several hundred) is deceased.
After a short moment of anger the owner regains his composure and asks under what circumstances the bovine came to death. The answer is that a structural member of the stable hit her on the head after she had survived the stable burning down (with all the other cows).  Asking how that could happen, he is told that the fire started when his son dropped a lighter, with his arms being in plaster and such.
Now even more alarmed, he asks what happened to his son and is told that he fell down the stairs when trying to decorate for the funeral of his mother - the owner's wife.

Strangely such "knowledge elicitation" is becoming necessary when I go to my (rather elderly) mother's house

It is synonymous here with very bad news being fed to someone in a totally ridiculous way by starting with something totally insignificant while the truly shocking events come out one after another only after asking. I'm not really good at this, but I am sure that now you can relate it to a local equivalent.

Strangely I can't think of a local equivalent.

[beanflying]

Happy happy joy joy my Ender bed is warped  . Ordered glass one.

Was your original the Magnetic one? Mine suffered from thickness issues over time as it is fairly soft. Glass it worth the few $ extra anyway 

[McBryce]

Happy happy joy joy my Ender bed is warped  . Ordered glass one.

I noticed on mine, that if you turn the levelling screws too far it pulls the metal plate out of shape. Swapped to the glass plate anyway this week for other reasons. I ordered a sticker magnetic pad too, so the glass is held with magnetism like the original mat instead of using ugly metal clips.

McBryce.

[Marck]

What a fool i am asking a bunch of addicts if i need more TE.  I have a Symetricom Sync Sever S300 coming my way very soon it doesn’t have a 10Mhz output as standard but I am desperately hopeful that there is a way to extract 10Mhz from it or at least learn something before i let the smoke out trying. 

As for the Anritsu I hooked it up to the 1 Khz output on my rigol and it is displaying 1000.001 Hz.  The 10Mhz output is stable at 9.99997 Mhz according to my DSO.  This is after the frequency counter had been warming up for about 2 hours.  But without a standard i suppose its all just near enough is good enough. 

[bd139]

Happy happy joy joy my Ender bed is warped  . Ordered glass one.

Was your original the Magnetic one? Mine suffered from thickness issues over time as it is fairly soft. Glass it worth the few $ extra anyway 

It wasn't even the magnetic one. It's a bit of thin FR4 with a non stick surface taped to it which is clipped to the alu chunk with bulldog clips. I bought a new surface thinking that was fucked but it won't level properly now so I'm getting some thinning on adhesions in the middle. Alas some measurements with a decent metal ruler point to the surface being slightly higher in the middle. Probably from having to remove it to get stuff off.

Agree with the glass. From what I read it is apparently good adhesion and stuff just comes off rather than having to fight it off

Happy happy joy joy my Ender bed is warped  . Ordered glass one.

I noticed on mine, that if you turn the levelling screws too far it pulls the metal plate out of shape. Swapped to the glass plate anyway this week for other reasons. I ordered a sticker magnetic pad too, so the glass is held with magnetism like the original mat instead of using ugly metal clips.

McBryce.

Yeah that sounds reasonable. Good idea with the magnetic pad. The day I got it I crashed the extruder on a bulldog clip 

Edit: for my next trick I'm going to spend 6 months failing to make a 3d printed automatic toroid winding machine 

[Cerebus]

Probably an artefact of the irrational fear of three-phase in  UK corraborating (sic) with the technical debt of the brain-dead Edison DC distribution in US.

Eh? There's no fear of 3 phase here. Most 'men in the street' have no idea that it exists. There's a dislike of 3 phase only machinery because, outside industrial premises, the incoming feed will normally be single phase and getting a 3 phase incomer fitted is mucho expensivo.

[McBryce]

Additionally, I just bought one of these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Upgrade-Aluminum-Extruder-Drive-Feed-Frame-For-Creality-Ender-3-3D-Printer-/292865286118

Not because Aliminium is any better than the acryllic one that's there already, but mainly because the hole in the black one is almost impossible to find without turning the machine around (I can't access it from the side). So the red colour along with the tapered inlet should make things a bit easier.

McBryce.

[BU508A]

One day I will have it on my bench.

You and I, you and I...

Me as well ... one day ...      

[shakalnokturn]

What a fool i am asking a bunch of addicts if i need more TE.  I have a Symetricom Sync Sever S300 coming my way very soon it doesn’t have a 10Mhz output as standard but I am desperately hopeful that there is a way to extract 10Mhz from it or at least learn something before i let the smoke out trying. 

As for the Anritsu I hooked it up to the 1 Khz output on my rigol and it is displaying 1000.001 Hz.  The 10Mhz output is stable at 9.99997 Mhz according to my DSO.  This is after the frequency counter had been warming up for about 2 hours.  But without a standard i suppose its all just near enough is good enough. 

(Attachment Link)

Once you do have a frequency standard I bet the Anritsu is closer to the standard than your DSO is.

[Martin.M]

again generator... found this in the bay.
"with not used batteries" 

[Wolfgang]

One would think that they could at least call it a 3458B now, with the third name and another coulour and all.

My first thought as well when I saw the pic of it. How new can it be if they can't even increment the model suffix? Strange.

Do you really (I mean really?) think I just looked at it without asking?

1) They need to hunt for retired Keys... ehm HP eng. to design the black version. That thing is a glorious masterpiece like the SR-71, and you need eng with serious balls to design it. Not everyone can do it.
Amazing.
2) Keysight already tried to design in the past one with a touch screen (no VFD) and "Apple Steve Jobs" feeling for the users. It did not went good they needed to stop the project.
I think bd139 would say "they fell flat on their arse".
3) They can change the color but not the name. If they do all the certifications (i.e. for military) need to be re-done as well, a lot of papers and a pain in the ass for them and the customers.
By keeping the same name they can sell the unit immediately.
4) If took so long to find the Rohs components that when they decided to use some rohs parts were already obsolete. Back to square one.
5) No it is not the biggest project at Keysight, UXR1102A is the winner. This 8,5 puppy is an easy lego game compared to the 110GHz scope.
6) Now they are still trying the 2), go go Keysight you can do it!

More to come!

One day I will have it on my bench.

PS: you need wash your mouth before to call  it "Mathsalem" or "VCR" (that's what italians in naples say in this situation). I almost reported your post to the admins...   

I wont. It is a Methusalem, just in black. All specs are essentially the same, no progress. Look what Fluke has done (better specs overall, no retro GUI, ...). Instead of hiring back retired engineers they should have created something new that is really top notch *now*. Glory from the past does wear out (at least after some decades).   

[BU508A]

Speaking of a frequency standard:
How good are those Rubidium 10MHz ovenized oscillators?
They show up in the bay from time to time and I'm tempted to get one.
Just for, you know, to have one.

Not following this rabbit hole. No, Sir!       

[Wolfgang]

Speaking of a frequency standard:
How good are those Rubidium 10MHz ovenized oscillators?
They show up in the bay from time to time and I'm tempted to get one.
Just for, you know, to have one.

Not following this rabbit hole. No, Sir!      

I have two EFRATOM LPRO-101s and they work fine. You have to check that lamp voltage is still OK when you buy.

[bd139]

Additionally, I just bought one of these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Upgrade-Aluminum-Extruder-Drive-Feed-Frame-For-Creality-Ender-3-3D-Printer-/292865286118

Not because Aliminium is any better than the acryllic one that's there already, but mainly because the hole in the black one is almost impossible to find without turning the machine around (I can't access it from the side). So the red colour along with the tapered inlet should make things a bit easier.

McBryce.

That's interesting. Have the same problem trying to find the hole in the thing. Added to pimping list 

[Specmaster]

Beta or VHS? 

Either, with some application of force.

Application of force will provide you with an endless repair loop for your bench skills. 

[AVGresponding]

I read an article in a swedish electrics online publication the other day about the unbalanced loads resulting from sparkies wiring kitchen range and washer on same phase (L1, of course ) in every flat of an entire apartment block, out of sheer ignorance.  There are too few ampère meters around.

Either they didn't follow the board schedule, or the designer is a clown. Balancing the load on the phases is a pretty basic part of the job.

Missed out on a UPS by £1 on ebay yesterday, today a colleague has found one in a vacant unit which is twice the VA rating... sometimes it's better to lose those bidding wars   

[Specmaster]

I shall now taunt you a third time 

If you'd stop feeding the little bastards Chorizo, they wouldn't grow up to be dunny-killing monsters, ya hoser!!!

mnem
No moleste del pollo!

Problem with that is the fecking spiders have been at the Chorizo as well, feck that. 

[med6753]

Speaking of a frequency standard:
How good are those Rubidium 10MHz ovenized oscillators?
They show up in the bay from time to time and I'm tempted to get one.
Just for, you know, to have one.

Not following this rabbit hole. No, Sir!      

Yea, right...sure. 

[Specmaster]

Happy happy joy joy my Ender bed is warped  . Ordered glass one.

Maybe the 3D printer technology is not quite there yet then....maybe a bit more development time before dipping the toe into that rabbit hole eh

[med6753]

Happy happy joy joy my Ender bed is warped  . Ordered glass one.

Maybe the 3D printer technology is not quite there yet then....maybe a bit more development time before dipping the toe into that rabbit hole eh

You just had to go there and open up that wound again.....didn't you. 

[bd139]

Hahaha. This is standard stuff if you go with the lowest bidder.

Remember the T12. Same thing. Got replaced with Metcal which is perfect still.

[BU508A]

I wont. It is a Methusalem, just in black. All specs are essentially the same, no progress. Look what Fluke has done (better specs overall, no retro GUI, ...). Instead of hiring back retired engineers they should have created something new that is really top notch *now*. Glory from the past does wear out (at least after some decades).   

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/metrology/3458a-black-edition/

Seems, that they did a new ADC board and you can replace old ones with the new ones.
They did a swap test at the PTB in Braunschweig and it seems it was a success.

And as far as I know: the linearity of the 3458A is still the gold standard, even the Fluke 8508A cannot compete with that.

One thing with the specs of a 3458A may also be, that it operates really near some physical limitations, so I won't expect a huge progress step.

Just my humble thoughts about this.

Mounty

[Martin.M]

interesting if the new batteries from the 204B are healthy, they are the original batterie set (ca 1961) 

http://hpmemoryproject.org/wb_pages/wall_b_page_10a.htm

[Specmaster]

Hahaha. This is standard stuff if you go with the lowest bidder.

Remember the T12. Same thing. Got replaced with Metcal which is perfect still.

Yep I remember that, thing is my T12 is still perfect too, only problems I have is with the cheap tips, breaking the contact rings. So far my watch has made it through the shit hole of the sorting house in Shenzhen and is now in the UK, just 4 days after ordering, now lets see what the Brits can do to fuck things up