Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Saskia]

umm, thanks, but I don't have an interest in X-Ray. I would have an interest in some gizmo to generate a directed 20 MW pulse in the several hundred MHz or even low GHz range and evaluate its ECM potential.

BUT as I am no longer working in that particular area (the SigInt/ ComInt part) I really don't need to know ...
 

[Cerebus]

what the hell do you need neptunium hexaflouride for ? Build smaller igniters for thermonuclear devices ? Improvements to Teller Ulam ?

I would guess "to separate Neptunium into its isotopes". Uranium Hexafluoride (in gas form) is used to separate ²³⁵U and ²³⁸U by using either gas diffusion apparatus or gas centrifuges. What you do with it once you've got it separated is anybody's guess.

[BU508A]

umm, thanks, but I don't have an interest in X-Ray. I would have an interest in some gizmo to generate a directed 20 MW pulse in the several hundred MHz or even low GHz range and evaluate its ECM potential.

BUT as I am no longer working in that particular area (the SigInt/ ComInt part) I really don't need to know ...

You probably need a bigger house for that 

[Saskia]

regarding Neptunium:
I know. Looking at the name of the lab which was apparently considering the use of FOOF I was just having an educated guess.

regarding that ECM / microwave stuff:
I had a chance to look at some serious air surveillance stuff some umphteen years back.
Memories ...

[mnementh]

what the hell do you need neptunium hexaflouride for ? Build smaller igniters for thermonuclear devices ? Improvements to Teller Ulam ?

I would guess "to separate Neptunium into its isotopes". Uranium Hexafluoride (in gas form) is used to separate ²³⁵U and ²³⁸U by using either gas diffusion apparatus or gas centrifuges. What you do with it once you've got it separated is anybody's guess.

MOSTLY GLOW IN THE DARK, I’LL WAGER...   

mnem
 

[Neomys Sapiens]

umm, thanks, but I don't have an interest in X-Ray. I would have an interest in some gizmo to generate a directed 20 MW pulse in the several hundred MHz or even low GHz range and evaluate its ECM potential.

BUT as I am no longer working in that particular area (the SigInt/ ComInt part) I really don't need to know ...

Ran NEMP testing somewhere. Talked shop there with someone about something built for another unit. Large suitcase, place upright, stick antenna to one side, aim, press button. Normal house, 100m, electronics reliably fried.

[Saskia]

Gimme ! Gimme ! Gimme !

[0culus]

So I don't want to say TOO much yet, but later this month...if all goes well...there will be a very very awesome TEA day here at my house. There is a very special piece of RF test equipment coming that is still factory sealed and brand new, even though it isn't new.    There will be photographs. 

You're just a big tease, aren't you? 

  

Well, it's not often that us hobbyists get the opportunity to buy a piece of very very high end equipment that's still factory sealed. So I want it to be a nice surprise for everyone ca Christmas.

Is it, by any chance, a Rohde & Schwarz  FSEK spectrum analyzer? 

Nope. Wrong brand. You're warm though.

[mnementh]

umm, thanks, but I don't have an interest in X-Ray. I would have an interest in some gizmo to generate a directed 20 MW pulse in the several hundred MHz or even low GHz range and evaluate its ECM potential.

BUT as I am no longer working in that particular area (the SigInt/ ComInt part) I really don't need to know ...

So what... got some pesky surveillance drones keep coming around that need to “Have a accident”...?

mnem
Amazon drone delivery: Skeet shooting with prizes.

[0culus]

umm, thanks, but I don't have an interest in X-Ray. I would have an interest in some gizmo to generate a directed 20 MW pulse in the several hundred MHz or even low GHz range and evaluate its ECM potential.

BUT as I am no longer working in that particular area (the SigInt/ ComInt part) I really don't need to know ...

So what... got some pesky surveillance drones keep coming around that need to “Have a accident”...?

mnem
Amazon drone delivery: Skeet shooting with prizes.

With 20 MW, you could wreak all kinds of havoc on virtually anything, even if it's shielded.

[Neomys Sapiens]

And another bump in the road to TE sufficiency.
Found that Chauvin Arnoux isolation meter - a 'megger' to most of you - which has a BNC as measurement connection. I wanted to give that thing out to that technicians that would use my Anritsu Sitemaster, which I am already renting to my company. Isolation measurement on coaxial lines using this and a BNC/N adaptor and the high quality leader cable from the Sitemaster.
What can I say? It does not work. And the great apes were already in there. Will post and show.

[BU508A]

umm, thanks, but I don't have an interest in X-Ray. I would have an interest in some gizmo to generate a directed 20 MW pulse in the several hundred MHz or even low GHz range and evaluate its ECM potential.

BUT as I am no longer working in that particular area (the SigInt/ ComInt part) I really don't need to know ...

So what... got some pesky surveillance drones keep coming around that need to “Have a accident”...?

mnem
Amazon drone delivery: Skeet shooting with prizes.

Our TEA dragon, always to be practical ... 

[mnementh]

 

mnem
*all Poke’d out*

[Saskia]

I'm calling the 5th. With 20 MW you should be able to fry low flying geese.
Save the time to start up the BBQ.

[0culus]

I'm calling the 5th. With 20 MW you should be able to fry low flying geese.
Save the time to start up the BBQ.

Fun anecdote: the (vacuum tube) radar of the Soviet MiG-25 interceptor would kill unfortunate small animals at surprising ranges during ground tests. Wonder how RF cooked goose tastes? 

[Neomys Sapiens]

Gimme ! Gimme ! Gimme !

They also had a steel plate of ~25mm with a hole in it. That was made on the occasion when someone high up wanted to know if that particle beam stuff is real. Needed some time, though. Nevertheless, I was impressed. That came out of a ~150m³ volume unit.

[Saskia]

I'm calling the 5th. With 20 MW you should be able to fry low flying geese.
Save the time to start up the BBQ.

Fun anecdote: the (vacuum tube) radar of the Soviet MiG-25 interceptor would kill unfortunate small animals at surprising ranges during ground tests. Wonder how RF cooked goose tastes? 

Did anybody test the unsuspecting pilots for radiation induced cancer ? Happened in Germany to those Radar operators. Due to insufficient shielding they were exposed to way too much radiation, got cancer and died.

As for the taste:
like chicken.

Seriously, put a goose in the microwave. Same thing.

[0culus]

I have no idea. I would imagine the pilot is mostly ok since the radar in a fighter or interceptor is highly directional. Who knows though? There is the story of Viktor Belenko, a Soviet MiG-25 pilot who defected and landed his plane in Japan. Very fascinating.

[0culus]

I'm calling the 5th. With 20 MW you should be able to fry low flying geese.
Save the time to start up the BBQ.

Fun anecdote: the (vacuum tube) radar of the Soviet MiG-25 interceptor would kill unfortunate small animals at surprising ranges during ground tests. Wonder how RF cooked goose tastes? 

Did anybody test the unsuspecting pilots for radiation induced cancer ? Happened in Germany to those Radar operators. Due to insufficient shielding they were exposed to way too much radiation, got cancer and died.

As for the taste:
like chicken.

Seriously, put a goose in the microwave. Same thing.

Well yeah, but at 20 MW I bet it would be burned to a crisp quickly.  Microwaves ruin meat anyway.

[BU508A]

I have no idea. I would imagine the pilot is mostly ok since the radar in a fighter or interceptor is highly directional. Who knows though? There is the story of Viktor Belenko, a Soviet MiG-25 pilot who defected and landed his plane in Japan. Very fascinating.

The microwave radiation of a radar will not create cancer but the x-ray radiation of the e.g. Thyratrons will.
That's why the technical personell got cancer when they worked on unshielded and operational radar units.

Edit:
Dangerous is the microwave radiation for your eyes, when the glass body of your eyes gets too warm it will damage it,
similiar to a grey star syndrome.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Trying to recomplete my Tek-Meter THM560:
I found out now that the threaded test leads Tek gave out with it were from Mueller Electric. And they don't list the missing yellow and blue accessories for order.
 

[Neomys Sapiens]

I'm calling the 5th. With 20 MW you should be able to fry low flying geese.
Save the time to start up the BBQ.

Fun anecdote: the (vacuum tube) radar of the Soviet MiG-25 interceptor would kill unfortunate small animals at surprising ranges during ground tests. Wonder how RF cooked goose tastes? 

Did anybody test the unsuspecting pilots for radiation induced cancer ? Happened in Germany to those Radar operators. Due to insufficient shielding they were exposed to way too much radiation, got cancer and died.

As for the taste:
like chicken.

Seriously, put a goose in the microwave. Same thing.

Radiation doesn't taste like chicken. It tastes salty. Seriously. Because of the petechia.

BTW, do you have 'personality pods' (CPU-specific) for that Agilent logic analyzer?

[0culus]

I have no idea. I would imagine the pilot is mostly ok since the radar in a fighter or interceptor is highly directional. Who knows though? There is the story of Viktor Belenko, a Soviet MiG-25 pilot who defected and landed his plane in Japan. Very fascinating.

The microwave radiation of a radar will not create cancer but the x-ray radiation of the e.g. Thyratrons will.
That's why the technical personell got cancer when they worked on unshielded and operational radar units.

Edit:
Dangerous is the microwave radiation for your eyes, when the glass body of your eyes gets too warm it will damage it,
similiar to a grey star syndrome.

Just to be clear, I am not claiming that rf is ionizing. High power microwaves are definitely dangerous for the reasons you state...heating flesh, particularly vulnerable parts like your eyes.

[med6753]

I'm calling the 5th. With 20 MW you should be able to fry low flying geese.
Save the time to start up the BBQ.

Fun anecdote: the (vacuum tube) radar of the Soviet MiG-25 interceptor would kill unfortunate small animals at surprising ranges during ground tests. Wonder how RF cooked goose tastes? 

Did anybody test the unsuspecting pilots for radiation induced cancer ? Happened in Germany to those Radar operators. Due to insufficient shielding they were exposed to way too much radiation, got cancer and died.

As for the taste:
like chicken.

Seriously, put a goose in the microwave. Same thing.

Radiation doesn't taste like chicken. It tastes salty. Seriously. Because of the petechia.

BTW, do you have 'personality pods' (CPU-specific) for that Agilent logic analyzer?

My Father was in the US Coast Guard in the late 1940's and early 1950's as a radio tech/radar operator. Standard procedure for doing a quick and dirty check of the radar was to suspend a piece of meat on a pole and place it in front of the dish. If the meat started smoking it was working. 

[med6753]

Got to admit I’m on the fence with Carlson. I respect what he has done and don’t find him patronising but I find him irritating for some reason. I still watch videos occasionally if on topic of interest but find them rather slow. Life’s not very long. As for the clean bench, I like a clean bench too! I agree with your points there though.

I wonder what they think of MIKROWAVE1 (my favourite channel). Typical content: https://youtu.be/WwMxbp0YwUA

I subscribed and I'll check it out later.

Started checking out his videos and he's mostly ham related but interesting. Watched his restoration of Heath HR-10 Receiver and he did something I totally disagree with and it did come back to bite him in the rear. He attempted to "re-form" the aluminum can B+ capacitors by bringing it up on a variac. Total waste of time. After he was done he had a receiver with low B+, hum, no sensitivity. ALWAYS assume those caps are bad. Changing them out is a given on typical consumer type gear. I always do that on tube gear before any attempt at power up. Saves time and aggravation. The ONLY exception to this is industrial gear like Tek and HP. Those capacitors are typically much higher quality and some will last damn near forever.