Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Sam Spastic]

That's it! No fancy shit, no variable temp, no flame throwers. 

And I hope the wrapped up cables annoy the shit out of you so perhaps you'll leave me alone. 

How can I remove those images from my mind now that I've been exposed? 

My Ungar doesn't say Princess on the iron, but the packaging did.

[Cubdriver]

well my $30 offer on that $45 hp 6227b just expired with no response from the seller.

thought he might at least counter offer at 35 or 40.

was my offer so low as to be offensive?  did not mean for that to happen.....thought it was just part of the bargaining process.

No I think it was a fair offer. Not sure why some of them add the option to receive offer and just don't answer ? 

That was a fixed price offer, not an auction, right?

sure.  it is still out there.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-6227B-DUAL-DC-POWER-SUPPLY/153732549763?hash=item23cb2c8c83:g:SUYAAOSwIbVd1bXJ

Damn you stop with the temptation - that looks to be in decent physical shape...

-Pat

offer him $30.01 just to see what happens.

LOL - that might be pushing it.  You just prompted me to try $35.   

We'll see what comes of it.

-Pat

[Cubdriver]

Geez....you make it sound like I turned down the opportunity of a life time.  "Solder school" was something like a 2 hour class during work time.  And this was in the 1970's before SMT. It was all pin thru hole. What the hell were they gonna teach me that I didn't already know? Not much. 

I dunno... maybe why a temp-controlled iron is important...? So you'd put away the firestarter and get a proper station... some time before somebody gave you one as a retirement gift in your old age...? 

mnem
*frantically looking about for my athletic cup or some similar form of armor*

Did anyone ever tell you that you can be a total pain in the ass at times?  I'll bet this isn't the first time...maybe the 9999th time.   

There were no temp-controlled irons used in that assembly/test area at that time. We had.....

The Ungar Imperial


The Hexacon Mini
 

That's it! No fancy shit, no variable temp, no flame throwers. 

And I hope the wrapped up cables annoy the shit out of you so perhaps you'll leave me alone. 

Pshaw.  Get a real soldering iron! 





Perfect for 0402 SMD components and 0.5mm pitch chips!

-Pat

[nixiefreqq]

well my $30 offer on that $45 hp 6227b just expired with no response from the seller.

thought he might at least counter offer at 35 or 40.

was my offer so low as to be offensive?  did not mean for that to happen.....thought it was just part of the bargaining process.

No I think it was a fair offer. Not sure why some of them add the option to receive offer and just don't answer ? 

That was a fixed price offer, not an auction, right?

sure.  it is still out there.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-6227B-DUAL-DC-POWER-SUPPLY/153732549763?hash=item23cb2c8c83:g:SUYAAOSwIbVd1bXJ

Damn you stop with the temptation - that looks to be in decent physical shape...

-Pat

offer him $30.01 just to see what happens.

LOL - that might be pushing it.  You just prompted me to try $35.   

We'll see what comes of it.

-Pat

roger roger.  will expect an after action report.

is that you who bid on the lightweight freq standard down in charm city?

[Kosmic]

Geez....you make it sound like I turned down the opportunity of a life time.  "Solder school" was something like a 2 hour class during work time.  And this was in the 1970's before SMT. It was all pin thru hole. What the hell were they gonna teach me that I didn't already know? Not much. 

I dunno... maybe why a temp-controlled iron is important...? So you'd put away the firestarter and get a proper station... some time before somebody gave you one as a retirement gift in your old age...? 

mnem
*frantically looking about for my athletic cup or some similar form of armor*

Did anyone ever tell you that you can be a total pain in the ass at times?  I'll bet this isn't the first time...maybe the 9999th time.   

There were no temp-controlled irons used in that assembly/test area at that time. We had.....

The Ungar Imperial


The Hexacon Mini
 

That's it! No fancy shit, no variable temp, no flame throwers. 

And I hope the wrapped up cables annoy the shit out of you so perhaps you'll leave me alone. 

Pshaw.  Get a real soldering iron! 





Perfect for 0402 SMD components and 0.5mm pitch chips!

-Pat

You call that a soldering iron, this is a soldering iron! 

[Cubdriver]

is that you who bid on the lightweight freq standard down in charm city?

I'm assuming that you mean that double rack GenRad system in Baltimore that was posted earlier, and if so, no, that's not me.    If it were within three hours or so, rather than 6-8 hours driving each way I would certainly have asked about pickup and if that was acceptable to the seller I'd have thrown my hat in the ring.  Alas it's a bit too far for my inclinations...   

-Pat

[nixiefreqq]

is that you who bid on the lightweight freq standard down in charm city?

I'm assuming that you mean that double rack GenRad system in Baltimore that was posted earlier, and if so, no, that's not me.    If it were within three hours or so, rather than 6-8 hours driving each way I would certainly have asked about pickup and if that was acceptable to the seller I'd have thrown my hat in the ring.  Alas it's a bit too far for my inclinations...   

-Pat

well the listing now says:



Local pickup or buyer to arrange freight

Museum piece / collectors item. Probably one of the last in existence.

General Radio Frequency Standard & Frequency Measuring Equipment.
(2) relay racks.  1940 Vintage.

Rack 1 Includes:
693B Synchronometer - Synchronous motor clock that runs off the freq standard
(4) 692B Multivibrators
698A Duplex Multivibrator
690C Piezo Electric Oscillator
691C Temperature Controller
676A Quartz Bar
694C Control Unit
696C Power Supply

Rack 2 Includes:
699A Comparison Oscilloscope - displays '3D' Lissajous patterns 
616D Heterodyne Frequency Meter
617C Interpolation Oscillator
619E Heterodyne Detector
612C Coupling Panel
619P1 Coil Drawer
614C Selective Amplifier

Listed as 'For parts, not working' because operating condition is unknown.
All units are in good physical condition, except that clock glass is cracked on Synchronometer.
Replacement domed clock glass available on ebay for less than $20.
All units worked when last powered up around 1980, except power supply has been bypassed with a Lambda unit in the rear of rack 1.

Must move soon.
Looking for a good home. I would hate to scrap.
I bought this in the early 1970's for $25
I'll start the auction for the same $25
Would donate to an interested museum - contact me

wwnd?

[beanflying]

But how can you really be sure @med ?  Time to get a calibrated source or meter ....

Spent part of the evening playing with now sharp blades. Brought a set of very poorly sharpened Marples chisels and took to them with stone and then several grades of wet and dry. Still some more to do but the hollows in the faces and the horrid rounding and chips on the tips are now gone not to mention one of them had a small bevel on the back face  .

Is that sandpaper on glass or a huge stone?

A fairly cheap stone board. I took a couple of straight edges into the shop to test if it was flat and true before buying. Yes I did get a few strange looks 

Used in this case as a backing for the wet and dry or also useful as a flat and true measuring surface as a poor mans metrology slab.

[Kosmic]

I'm starting to like how ebay is handling things. Found a cheap Lecroy DDA-260 on ebay last week. The DDA-260 is similar to the WavePro 960 but with 2Ghz bandwidth, 16GS/s sampling, 64Mpts memory. Was supposed to be non functional but in good physical shape.

Received the package couple days ago. Front panel was smashed during shipping (pretty typical for old lecroy scope) 



Contacted the seller, he told me to contact ebay since he shipped via global shipping program. Then contacted ebay, told me to open a case. I explain my case and add bunch of pictures. Then today, the seller asked ebay to intervene in the case.

So ebay just refunded me and I got to keep the scope    Look like since it went through GSP, ebay is going to cover it.

Now for the "non functional" part, I did some tests, and it look like the only problems are the rotary encoder and the screen backlight (uneven lighting). I think I found myself a nice 2Ghz scope 



Ha and I also need to find a solution for the front panel 

[beanflying]

Spent part of the evening playing with now sharp blades. Brought a set of very poorly sharpened Marples chisels and took to them with stone and then several grades of wet and dry. Still some more to do but the hollows in the faces and the horrid rounding and chips on the tips are now gone not to mention one of them had a small bevel on the back face  .

Being hollow ground is not a bad thing, tip to heel needs to be ~25^o and the honed edge @ 30^o. That way getting a nice edge back takes less effort as you're taking off less material.

Still got my honing guide exactly like yours from nearly 45 years back.  Rarely use it now, instead just freehand oil water stone stuff now.

That hollow was as per the photo proud outer tips and hollow between. I suspect they were sharpened on a bench grinder with untrue stones.

I don't get enough practice to freehand sharpen so the guide keeps it all nice. It is only a cheapy evilbay one that I reground to make it true. Just going with 25 degrees as a primary as most of what I do or are likely to do is softwood. Even with a secondary at some stage you then need to regrind the face back and start again.

[xrunner]

Ha and I also need to find a solution for the front panel 

Take it slow and you can glue it all back together. Try a test piece and see it if will weld with plastic welding cement like Plastruct.

[Kosmic]

Ha and I also need to find a solution for the front panel 

Take it slow and you can glue it all back together. Try a test piece and see it if will weld with plastic welding cement like Plastruct.

Will try that, thanks!

[Carl_Smith]

I'll just file this one under "Things that shouldn't exist."

[kj7e]

Just going to leave this gratuitous photo of a HP 4329A measuring the input impedance to an HP 427A right here;

[0culus]

is that you who bid on the lightweight freq standard down in charm city?

I'm assuming that you mean that double rack GenRad system in Baltimore that was posted earlier, and if so, no, that's not me.    If it were within three hours or so, rather than 6-8 hours driving each way I would certainly have asked about pickup and if that was acceptable to the seller I'd have thrown my hat in the ring.  Alas it's a bit too far for my inclinations...   

-Pat

well the listing now says:



Local pickup or buyer to arrange freight

Museum piece / collectors item. Probably one of the last in existence.

General Radio Frequency Standard & Frequency Measuring Equipment.
(2) relay racks.  1940 Vintage.

Rack 1 Includes:
693B Synchronometer - Synchronous motor clock that runs off the freq standard
(4) 692B Multivibrators
698A Duplex Multivibrator
690C Piezo Electric Oscillator
691C Temperature Controller
676A Quartz Bar
694C Control Unit
696C Power Supply

Rack 2 Includes:
699A Comparison Oscilloscope - displays '3D' Lissajous patterns 
616D Heterodyne Frequency Meter
617C Interpolation Oscillator
619E Heterodyne Detector
612C Coupling Panel
619P1 Coil Drawer
614C Selective Amplifier

Listed as 'For parts, not working' because operating condition is unknown.
All units are in good physical condition, except that clock glass is cracked on Synchronometer.
Replacement domed clock glass available on ebay for less than $20.
All units worked when last powered up around 1980, except power supply has been bypassed with a Lambda unit in the rear of rack 1.

Must move soon.
Looking for a good home. I would hate to scrap.
I bought this in the early 1970's for $25
I'll start the auction for the same $25
Would donate to an interested museum - contact me

wwnd?

I'm thinking about contacting the seller and letting him know about a museum local to me that might be interested in such a beast.

[med6753]

I'll just file this one under "Things that shouldn't exist."

A home made version of what's called a "cheater cord". What's the big deal?? 

[mnementh]

The Ungar Imperial      The Hexacon Mini 

That's it! No fancy shit, no variable temp, no flame throwers.     And I hope the wrapped up cables annoy the shit out of you so perhaps you'll leave me alone.

No doubt Sean will be along in a minute to tell us about his first 'soldering iron':     

Sure am glad I got my cup in place before I tuned in... I KNEW you'd be ready for a little testicular homicide by now.

Dude... I had that WTCPN on my bench in ummm...1981. They date back to the mid-70s. People in the soldering business KNEW BETTER back then.   And even IF THEY didn't know better in your little corner of Big Blue RIGHT THEN, they surely did soon after. So  's your excuse for the intervening ummmm... 3 decades or so...?

Had me one o' demm too. Only with the "arc reactor" TIG HF generator and a TWECO spoolgun for aluminum work.   

mnem
*certifiable AND certified*

[Cubdriver]

I'll just file this one under "Things that shouldn't exist."

Yeah, I never put a switch in my suicide cords.  No need for one.  And if for some reason I DID put in a switch, it would be closer to the business end than to the plug...

-Pat

[beanflying]

I have got boring and safe since buying my Quicktest.  The other two get plugged into a locally fused box which generally has a 3A fitted.

Time for more coffee the glass looks empty

[mnementh]

You call that a soldering iron, this is a soldering iron!     

I have one of those I put in the "Big pile O' Tools" in the trailer. Actually had it IN MY HANDS a few short months ago. 

        I'm starting to like how ebay is handling things. Found a cheap Lecroy DDA-260 on ebay last week. The DDA-260 is similar to the WavePro 960 but with 2Ghz bandwidth, 16GS/s sampling, 64Mpts memory. Was supposed to be non functional but in good physical shape.

Received the package couple days ago. Front panel was smashed during shipping (pretty typical for old lecroy scope)     Contacted the seller, he told me to contact ebay since he shipped via global shipping program. Then contacted ebay, told me to open a case. I explain my case and add bunch of pictures. Then today, the seller asked ebay to intervene in the case. So ebay just refunded me and I got to keep the scope    Look like since it went through GSP, ebay is going to cover it.

Now for the "non functional" part, I did some tests, and it look like the only problems are the rotary encoder and the screen backlight (uneven lighting). I think I found myself a nice 2Ghz scope  Ha and I also need to find a solution for the front panel 

That's a      score FOR SURE!!!

Ummm... can you keep a lookout for a beater/cheap scope for me?  My searches on fleaBay.ca & CL have been totally sucking ARSE for anything "hobbyist-grade" ever since I got here.   I actually considered one of these "just to get me by...":   



Dave's Blog on the 5012H BoguScope

mnem
Wiggly lines elude me.

[mnementh]

I'll just file this one under "Things that shouldn't exist."   

Yeah, I never put a switch in my suicide cords.  No need for one.  And if for some reason I DID put in a switch, it would be closer to the business end than to the plug...

-Pat

I usually put a light blub in mine... 

mnem
*tzzzzt*

[Neomys Sapiens]

I'll just file this one under "Things that shouldn't exist."

A home made version of what's called a "cheater cord". What's the big deal?? 

One plug good, two plugs better!

[tautech]

Spent part of the evening playing with now sharp blades. Brought a set of very poorly sharpened Marples chisels and took to them with stone and then several grades of wet and dry. Still some more to do but the hollows in the faces and the horrid rounding and chips on the tips are now gone not to mention one of them had a small bevel on the back face  .

Being hollow ground is not a bad thing, tip to heel needs to be ~25^o and the honed edge @ 30^o. That way getting a nice edge back takes less effort as you're taking off less material.

Still got my honing guide exactly like yours from nearly 45 years back.  Rarely use it now, instead just freehand oil water stone stuff now.

That hollow was as per the photo proud outer tips and hollow between. I suspect they were sharpened on a bench grinder with untrue stones.

Yep, that would do it. 

I don't get enough practice to freehand sharpen so the guide keeps it all nice. It is only a cheapy evilbay one that I reground to make it true. Just going with 25 degrees as a primary as most of what I do or are likely to do is softwood. Even with a secondary at some stage you then need to regrind the face back and start again.

Good, you've got it sorted then. 
Marples are pretty good steel and hard enough to hold a good edge while not too hard that they gap when you have to chisel through a knot or break when levering on them.
I've got a quite nice 1 1/2" Footprint firmer chisel that's too hard steel so you can't grind it fine cause the bugger gaps when you beat it into anything too hard or knotty. It's now reserved for mortising in stays into fencing strainer posts that I mostly drill the mortise hole out with numerous auger holes so to then only need clean up around the edges.

BTW Bean, used that new pump to fill my 1000L spray tank the other day and it took just 6 minutes ! 
The old bulldozer one took 8 !

[Kosmic]

Sine wave at 2GHz on the Lecroy DDA-260 

[tautech]

@ Kosmic......the jammy git !

FYI:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/restoration-of-lecroy-wavemaster-wavepro-front-bezel-by-3d-printing/