Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Martin.M]

Big Iron from Dr. Rohde & Dr. Schwarz, proceed to take a glowy shot of the inside ... 

No popcorn. Fried transformer or like that. 
It will go back to life now.
Inside is a steel octal tube, any EBF, an Power penthode EL11, and 2 real big gas stabi, the 7475.
Can be good for christmas, 7475 are beauties when they work. SRV is a sine oscillator, working up to 250kc 

R+S iron classified: little.  :

units with one handle = little.
units with 2 handles = mid size.
units with 4 handles = adult.

[Specmaster]

It has started, right on time. 

What are the 3 cones for, are they your crude attempt to measure the depth of snow fall? It looks very idealic at the moment I must say, almost Christmas card ish.

[med6753]

It has started, right on time. 

What are the 3 cones for, are they your crude attempt to measure the depth of snow fall? It looks very idealic at the moment I must say, almost Christmas card ish.

Funny you should ask. I didn't put them there, the landlord did. We all have designated parking. But we have one lazy ass with a sense of entitlement that if he feels like it will park there and block the sidewalk. The cones prevent that and the fat slob has to walk off some of his excess blubber. 

[Mr. Scram]

Funny you should ask. I didn't put them there, the landlord did. We all have designated parking. But we have one lazy ass with a sense of entitlement that if he feels like it will park there and block the sidewalk. The cones prevent that and the fat slob has to walk off some of his excess blubber. 

Just clamp the dick until he figures out he's better off parking properly.

[nixiefreqq]

jeebus!

you have sent me down the path of evil once again.  (you know who you are!)

ya' gave me power supply fever, and the result is an offer on an hp 6227b.  so my sorry ass is dual cursed if accepted.  my only hope is that the guy turns me down.

AMF!  (adios......my friends)

[Kosmic]

Sometimes ago I realized I could only measure resistance to about 1-2 GOhm with my best multimeter. This was completely unacceptable and I decided to correct the situation. I looked quickly at the cheap insulation tester from China but decided against it, because of the limited range and accuracy. I ended up finding something a lot better but also heavier

Got myself a General Radio 1644a. At the core, this is a self-contained wheatstone bridge designed to measure high value resistors. I can now measure up to a Peta Ohm (1000 Tera Ohm)  The device can also be used for insulation testing and test capacitor for leakage.



The interesting part about the Genrad 1644a is the self-calibration feature. You don't need super expensive equipment to calibrate and adjust the instrument. I serviced the instrument according to the manual and everything is now in specs. The main rheostat is quite impressive and can be adjusted with its 8 adjustment screws.

Very nice, it even has three vacuum bulbs, not seen much using those wire ended miniature ones either.
I finally found a Yokogawa built HP 4329A (with test leads) for my collection this year, plus there is a Levell TM14 here which is a toy in comparison with your Genrad one.

David

The HP 4329A look like a fine instrument. kj7e got one I think and he posted some pictures a while ago. Just added to my search list

Removed from the search list

[Kosmic]

I guess I have some kind of obsession with high resistance meter and electrometer. Found this little puppy on ebay, advertised as broken for parts. Since it was broken I tried negotiating a bit. Worked pretty well and ended up paying less than the Genrad 1644a.

In pristine condition, HP instruments from that era are really quite a sight. The one I got is in pretty good shape, and still has his 2 feet 









After some testing I realised the instrument was working perfectly This one will skip the repair queue.

Measuring 200GOhms. Pretty close to the Genrad 1644a.


Now I need to make / find the test leads and do calibration and adjustment.

[ZhuraYuk]

Everything has started from 20$ LCR meter, and then I got the idea "how I can be sure that it is showing correct readings?" or how it is exactly measuring stuff. Then I got doubted in other equipment so I started checking each piece of gear I had, even the cables and adapters to know their characteristics.
More stuff in the way, so I can perform more measurements over the measurements. This is really satisfying to do.

[Kosmic]

Everything has started from 20$ LCR meter, and then I got the idea "how I can be sure that it is showing correct readings?" or how it is exactly measuring stuff. Then I got doubted in other equipment so I started checking each peace of gear I had, even the cables and adapters to know their characteristics.
More stuff in the way, so I can perform more measurements over the measurements. This is really satisfying to do.

Nice scope  I really like Lecroy. Got a DDA-110, 1Ghz here.

[Sam Spastic]

car battery charging 

I have limited the Rohde+Schwarz to 20A so it will not boil the test cables.

I have to admit to abusing by HP 6002A in the same fashion.

My battery chargers are in the garage. The favourite is an old GE unit my father got in the 1950's, and which I upgraded to a slightly more modern spec by removing the smellenium rectifier bridge before it went all skunky on me, though I do still have a few around NOS. added in some rudimentary charge control using a SCR and also reverse battery connection protection.

The other is a little different, it is a simple rectifier diode in a stud package, with an ammeter on the output that reads up to 50A, and an old 40A Fuchs thermal circuit breaker in series with it. Use with an old oil cooled arc welder. or with the slightly lighter air cooled one I use more, and it will charge a battery up from stone dead to start in around 3 minutes, or around 5 resets of the thermal breaker if you do not wind the current all the way down on the welder. Leave it on for more than 10 minutes and you boil the battery.

Actually batteries like that half wave action.  Gives cathodes and anodes a chance to recover.  And speeds charging.

[Kosmic]

Everything has started from 20$ LCR meter, and then I got the idea "how I can be sure that it is showing correct readings?" or how it is exactly measuring stuff. Then I got doubted in other equipment so I started checking each peace of gear I had, even the cables and adapters to know their characteristics.
More stuff in the way, so I can perform more measurements over the measurements. This is really satisfying to do.

Nice scope  I really like Lecroy. Got a DDA-110, 1Ghz here.

You saw this thread, right ?    https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/lecroy-options-recovery/

[Brumby]

Well, no... my point in THIS post was that rather than destroying the thing, you should turn it into a victory by retrofitting one of those inexpensive LED rings and designing a nice quiet linear supply to power it.

mnem
*tzzzt*

my good man, i didn’t destroy it, i disassembled it. you, of all people, should recognize the difference. 

* worsthorse wanders off to find the coffee.

Well, disassembling it and scattering its parts to the 4 corners of the earth house like the remains of The Blood Queen is not exactly the same thing. 

Once you've finished with your current obsession (or at least grown so annoyed with it you hide it away in a closet in defense of your own sanity) I suggest you reassemble it and retrofit an LED ring to it.

The fear ... it is real ...

https://youtu.be/WjeptaI2T8E?t=36

[Neomys Sapiens]

I guess I have some kind of obsession with high resistance meter and electrometer. Found this little puppy on ebay, advertised as broken for parts. Since it was broken I tried negotiating a bit. Worked pretty well and ended up paying less than the Genrad 1644a.

Now I need to make / find the test leads and do calibration and adjustment.

Yes, with the aquisition of the Philips LCR the Hi-Ohm and Low-Ohm requirement moved up a bit in priority. Except that neither tubes nor manual bridges will be accepted. The only current offer that I have is for a HP Milliohm-Meter, but the condition is rather dubious. Still looking.

[Neomys Sapiens]

@Cubdriver, @Med: I'm a bit confused - your power supplies seem to have the same range? Are you sure that one of them isn't mislabeled?

[Neomys Sapiens]

Everything has started from 20$ LCR meter, and then I got the idea "how I can be sure that it is showing correct readings?" or how it is exactly measuring stuff. Then I got doubted in other equipment so I started checking each piece of gear I had, even the cables and adapters to know their characteristics.
More stuff in the way, so I can perform more measurements over the measurements. This is really satisfying to do.

I keep my mouth shut on the light-blue abomination, as no one should suffer that much.
But nice Generator and DMM above.
We can see clearly that the west-east relations have mostly equalized.
But for LCR you are still stuck with the original?
Anyway, welcome to the most peculiar thread on a already peculiar forum..

[Neomys Sapiens]

@freqq: did you really have nothing but the midget HP as a power supply? Sorry, but I think you are pulling our legs, aren't you?

[mnementh]

...Typically these winter storms are about 12 – 18 hours max. This one is predicted to be around for over 24 hours. Could raise the snow totals significantly.

  More.....I have one of these coming probably next week. A Hakko FM-203 valued at over $570 USD. My Brother is the lead maintenance tech for a device placement company. Their soldering stations tried out these Hakko's for a while but decided to go with Metcal's instead. So the Hakko's became surplus. I'm getting one for the cost of shipping. I thought about bringing it back with me from Colorado but I have only carry on luggage and I doubt the Hakko would have made it through security. Mnem...you can now stop bitching about the cheap POS soldering station I bought recently. This Hakko will replace it.

Rant mode on.....I thought we had a Gentleman's agreement to keep political posts out of this thread. I seem to recall asking an innocent question once of the UK folks of their opinion of Boris and I got a quick and terse reply of “Don't go there”. OK, fine. The last few days I've been reading diatribes on here about the London terrorist shooting and whether it was justified or not. Isn't that a “Don't go there” or is that for some reason acceptable? I think not. So is political in or out? And I really don't think you'd much like to hear the opinion of a right to bear and does own a gun Yankee.  Rant mode off.

Aside from the utterly infuriating firmware & UI of the thing, I loved my FX-951 until it spontaneously combusted and tried to take half my bench with it in an all-consuming fireball. My 2465 still has soot marks on the bottom from the event. 

You WILL love the feel of the FM-2027 handset. But you'll have to get used to the foamie grip getting grubby-looking; it's unavoidable, and frequent cleaning with alcohol works, but makes it look ratty quickly. Fortunately, the whole grip assembly is sortof a consumable supply; the intended usage is to get one for each of your T12/T18 cartridges, so you swap them together grip and all. This is in contrast to using the silicone "potholder" pad they include with the FX-9501 handset.

Also make sure you get the "lockout" card with it. On the 951 it was located in literally the most "in the fucking way possible" place on the front of the unit, and you can't change the temp without it in place. Looks like yours has it more out of the way, which is good. I just hope the firmware isn't the same as the FX-951... that was the most gawd-awful, ANTI-CONVENIENT fucking piece of binary shit ever created. Every time you go to do ANYTHING with it... even once you get to where you know how it's fucking bipolar peeweeny little brain is supposed to work... it will kick you in the balls at least twice before you get it set the way you want it.

Of course, that may be the reason your brother's company decided to go Metcal... which does have a pretty closed ecosystem, but everything they make is pretty much "it just fucking works" mentality.

As for "politics"... Like Spec said; as long as it's just a quick vent, and not trolling... and we continue to successfully self-police... I feel it's entirely appropriate. There are VERY FEW things I personally have a zero-tolerance policy on; but generally speaking, zero-tolerance policy itself is one of those things. Remember, I am ALSO a gun-owning Yankee, born & bred. I have a VERY restrictive attitude towards the whole "right to bear" thing, especially as the concept has been very clearly perverted in the US, both socially and legally.

mnem
*woops... I 4got 2 post this like... 8 hours ago*

[mnementh]

Now that is a right proper jammy git if I have ever seen one.  I never get that lucky.

I won't consider myself lucky until I have it in my hot little hands. 

Hear hear!!! Spoken like a true fleaBay veteran! 

mnem
Or, like me, someone whose life is a neverending parade of Murphy's Law...

[tautech]

Now that is a right proper jammy git if I have ever seen one.  I never get that lucky.

I won't consider myself lucky until I have it in my hot little hands. 

Hear hear!!! Spoken like a true fleaBay veteran victim ! 

mnem
Or, like me, someone whose life is a neverending parade of Murphy's Law...

Fixed that for ya ^ !

Still a bit forked off the seller wouldn't ship the P6021 Tek current probe I won to another EEVblog member in NC so I got a P6022 instead and a good bit cheaper, again with a last second bid. 
This one had to ship right across the US and mentioned member checked it out as fine and dandy and sent it onward to NZ. 
Arrived in NZ last night and should have it in my grubby wee hands in the next day or so.

[Cubdriver]

@Cubdriver, @Med: I'm a bit confused - your power supplies seem to have the same range? Are you sure that one of them isn't mislabeled?

HP made a series of these small 10W power supplies in four different voltages (0-10, 0-25, 0-50 & 0-100) with two versions of each.  The odd-numbered supplies are constant voltage with max current limiting (med's supply - note two knobs labeled voltage, coarse and fine) and the even-numbered ones are constant voltage/constant current (the one I posted - look closely and you'll see that the knobs are coaxial - outer coarse and inner fine - with voltage on the left and current on the right).  Unless you know, the differences are subtle and easy to miss at a glance.

The version med has lets you set the voltage only, and it will fold the voltage back when the output current limit is reached - 1A for the 10V unit; 400mA for the 25V one; 200mA for the 50V; and 100mA for the 100V one.

The ones I have also let me set the current limit from 0 to whatever the max noted for that voltage supply above is, and they will limit to either the voltage setting or the current setting, whichever is reached first.

I like the CV/CC versions for trickle-charging batteries as I can set the voltage limit to the desired max and set the current limit as well; it will maintain the current until the battery charges up to the max voltage, then the current will naturally drop as the battery continues to charge.

-Pat

[mnementh]

...As for your project, my fear was mostly that recovering the odd bits you might have felt were no longer important, like the lens mounting hardware and such... would make the project no longer feasible. And depending on her mood, prizing the lens away from Amy could become a quest in its own right.

mnem

* worsthorse wanders in, sips coffee, and ponders his response.

pluueeeeeze!  i never throw the odd bits away. that's why i have hummus containers filled with small metal bits of uncertain origin (after I have removed the hummus, of course) stacked everywhere around here. the real question is whether i will be able to find these particular bits when i get around to building an LED version of this lamp, which is my plan (so thank you for the T9 pointer, very helpful), although my list of projects is long and this one is not at the top since I have a halogen light with a linear supply handy and working.

for a while, whenever i took something apart (and i am always taking things apart. i am, unfortunately much better at disassembly than reassembly, which has been an issue for at least fifty-ish years.) i was filling small plastic bags with the bits, blue taping the bags to whatever big hunks were left over, and putting it in the, um, project bin. inevitably the bags for three or four or ten such packages would get damaged during the storage process and I would open some crate and find a bunch of random parts in the bottom.

anyway, i never did like the maginifying lens and it isn't necessary to rebuilding the light into a usable form, which is good because i know better than to try to reclaim any hardware/software/bucket/tool/etc that amy has labeled ikebana only   

Ahhh... now we're on the same page. See, my whole diatribe was directed at getting a half-decent swingarm illuminated magnifier at a sufferable price. On my bench anyways, it's an absolute necessity. While you CAN get both in the same unit from these China-direct vendors, it is usually one or the other; and the preponderance does seem to lean towards cheaping out on the illumination & chassis. If you get one with a halfway decent lens, it's worth the time getting decent illumination on it as well.

I too am a horrible "random bits" hoarder. I've gotten to a point where I no longer even try to stop myself... I have two of the 7-drawer Sterilite storage towers... one is for random fasteners and fastening hardware, the other is just random "Bits" and pieces of "material" for fabricating other stuff. I sort VERY broadly... A drawer of "Metal Bits & Scraps", another of "Plastic Bits & Scraps", another of "Electrical Bits & Scraps"... this entirely separate from the usual bins & boxes of electronic components & modules, etc.

mnem
And yes, it has already begun anew in the new house... 

[mnementh]

Inspired by @mnen's encouraging words, today's project is a new LED light for my bench.  Rooting around in the furnace room/inventory cage, I found an LED light that is perfect for this project. I can't believe I forgot I had one already. 
A little work fastening the light to the cover and here's the finished product, ready to re-install on the arm:      Sure am glad I saved all those parts.   

You, my good sir, are a whole ass.       Well done! 

mnem
Please carry on agitating.

[Kosmic]

I guess I have some kind of obsession with high resistance meter and electrometer. Found this little puppy on ebay, advertised as broken for parts. Since it was broken I tried negotiating a bit. Worked pretty well and ended up paying less than the Genrad 1644a.

Now I need to make / find the test leads and do calibration and adjustment.

Yes, with the aquisition of the Philips LCR the Hi-Ohm and Low-Ohm requirement moved up a bit in priority. Except that neither tubes nor manual bridges will be accepted. The only current offer that I have is for a HP Milliohm-Meter, but the condition is rather dubious. Still looking.

Digital high resistance meters are out of my league. I'm probably too cheap  .

It's completely analog but the resolution of the genrad 1644a is interesting. It will probably die as soon as one of the tube give up though. Not sure if it's still possible to find those.

[Kosmic]

@freqq: did you really have nothing but the midget HP as a power supply? Sorry, but I think you are pulling our legs, aren't you?

Hehe 

[Brumby]

I too am a horrible "random bits" hoarder. I've gotten to a point where I no longer even try to stop myself... I have two of the 7-drawer Sterilite storage towers... one is for random fasteners and fastening hardware, the other is just random "Bits" and pieces of "material" for fabricating other stuff. I sort VERY broadly... A drawer of "Metal Bits & Scraps", another of "Plastic Bits & Scraps", another of "Electrical Bits & Scraps"... this entirely separate from the usual bins & boxes of electronic components & modules, etc.

This is just common sense - especially when you recognise the bits, but just can't remember from where each came.  With one category, I had a stash of random battery covers that you just knew belonged somewhere.  I think it was useful 2 or 3 times over the last 20 years - so definitely worth having.   

And yes, it has already begun anew in the new house... 

A leopard and his spots....  The same applies to Dwagons and the fire in their belly.

No need to be apologetic.  (This is what I constantly tell myself ....)