Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[beanflying]

They type a mean post but maybe they have strange voices 

[0culus]

Don't know if this was shared earlier, but Barrie Gilbert (father of the Gilbert cell among many other things) passed away on Feb 4.

https://www.microwavejournal.com/articles/33425-living-and-learning-with-barrie-gilbert

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=4785651

[mnementh]

Ifni save me...

I've just spent the last hour drooling over Arcade joysticks/fightsticks ranging from $40-240... 

mnem
*knocks self unconscious with a trackball mallet*

[beanflying]

Sydney gets all the good weather.  Should take care of a bunch of the ongoing fire threat and douse the embers. 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/fire-busting-rain-brings-new-threat-to-east-coast-20200209-p53z1m.html

[worsthorse]

Does anyone here have a willem programmer, version 6.0E?  I can't find the CD with the software and manual and a couple of hours of digging through the interwebs has left me empty-handed.

EDIT:  literally thirty seconds after typing this, i thought, wait, didn't i very carefully sort and file all the manual and software DVDs about six months ago just so i'd know where they were? of course i did...  down to the bench, open the cabinet, pull out the binder with filled with DVDs and find the missing disk.

a mind is a terrible thing to waste

[Cubdriver]

Does anyone here have a willem programmer, version 6.0E?  I can't find the CD with the software and manual and a couple of hours of digging through the interwebs has left me empty-handed.

EDIT:  literally thirty seconds after typing this, i thought, wait, didn't i very carefully sort and file all the manual and software DVDs about six months ago just so i'd know where they were? of course i did...  down to the bench, open the cabinet, pull out the binder with filled with DVDs and find the missing disk.

a mind is a terrible thing to waste

Fixed it for you.   

-Pat

[bd139]

Don't know if this was shared earlier, but Barrie Gilbert (father of the Gilbert cell among many other things) passed away on Feb 4.

https://www.microwavejournal.com/articles/33425-living-and-learning-with-barrie-gilbert

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=4785651

Thanks for posting this. RIP. We all use technology derived from his invention daily. Please spend a moment to read the impact this guy had on the RF industry and Tek.

[bd139]

Harwell done. Snagged a working Tek 2445 (yeah I know don’t even go there), an untested HP 3400A and a couple of ARRL books to bounce on eBay. Total spend was £83 on that which was pretty good. Bumped into tggzzz as well. Good day 

[AVGresponding]

Discord session is over. Seems, that the people from the UK are a bit shy.   

But the talk with med and bean, PA0PBZ and Sam Spastic was very nice.   

I guess I could join in, but not sure if anyone (even the other Brits) will understand my Yorkshire accent   

It sounds to me like some app or service you're using is linked to a Microsoft account; maybe TechRepublic or somesuch...?

mnem
*currently taking a break from Super Street Fighter IV widda boi*

I didn't link to my MS account as I forgot the pw, the only thing I linked to was my Google account.
I wasn't aware such things could have effects like that, seems a bit shit...

If you have a valid key for Win8, just use that on the windows10 install media. They want you away from everything non-10 enough to give it to you for free so they don't have to support archaic shit like that.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10

Use the tool, create a installation USB (8GB or more) or DVD. Bam.

If you have a OEM build machine with UEFI BIOS, it'll authenticate by itself; just select "I don't have a product key".

In fact, you can install & use Windows10 for weeks without a key before it even starts to nag you; you just can't change the wallpaper and font sizes, etc. Plenty of time to determine if the issue is Win8.x suckage related.

mnem
"Leftover potstickers...? in MY HOUSE...?!? This is something up with which I shall NOT put..."

It's a custom build, but I have a couple of w8.1 pro install disks with keys.

[worsthorse]

Harwell done. Snagged a working Tek 2445 (yeah I know don’t even go there), an untested HP 3400A and a couple of ARRL books to bounce on eBay. Total spend was £83 on that which was pretty good. Bumped into tggzzz as well. Good day 

you managed to get a tek scope with a 2, 4, and 5 thereby ignoring all the guideline with one purchase. nicely done.

 

* worsthorse is up again at two and wandering around quietly so as not to wake the other creatures round here.

[med6753]

Harwell done. Snagged a working Tek 2445 (yeah I know don’t even go there), an untested HP 3400A and a couple of ARRL books to bounce on eBay. Total spend was £83 on that which was pretty good. Bumped into tggzzz as well. Good day 

Good boy, if you're gonna say one thing and do something else at least you did well.  A 2445 (no suffix) uses EAROM rather than the battery rubbish. The A5 board has NO tants on it. In fact there's maybe only a total of 3 of the little bastards in the PSU. The only downfall is the Siemens fan motor which is a pain to service if it starts squealing. (I successfully fixed one and damaged another which resulted in the famous 2465 fan bodge).

The PSU is the same as the 2465 and I've successfully re-capped 2 of them with no mistakes and the complete process I documented in the 2465B teardown thread.

Finally....you must post pix. 

[med6753]

Here.....

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/tektronix-2465b-oscilloscope-teardown/msg1658102/#msg1658102

[med6753]

Discord session is over. Seems, that the people from the UK are a bit shy.   

But the talk with med and bean, PA0PBZ and Sam Spastic was very nice.   

I guess I could join in, but not sure if anyone (even the other Brits) will understand my Yorkshire accent   

There's only one way we are going to determine this. 

[grizewald]

I have to wonder what was going through the minds of the Solartron engineers when they designed the 7061. While using the same specially selected 1N829A diode as the other meters that they made, they seem to have made no effort to keep air currents and temperature gradients away from the reference.

Here's the poor thing, flapping in the breeze at the rear right of the analogue PCB (D301A).





Unlike the 7075 (which also has the reference diode in an oven), which has air slots in the upper and lower covers, the 7061 is a sealed unit. In operation, there are large temperature differences within the case, mainly from the transformer, which heats up the left rear of the unit considerably. Here's what it looks like to my thermal camera.





All that heat is going to add up to some significant thermally induced air currents inside that case. With the unit tilted upwards on its stand, the air currents are probably even larger.

I have had the 7061 powered on since Friday evening, so it's now had more than a 48 hour warm up. Putting my Weston cell on the meter again showed good short term accuracy (+13μV compared to the calculated voltage), but I saw some +/- 3μV variations over time, which is something that my 7075 with its ovenised reference doesn't exhibit.

The solution is a simple as can be. I took a piece of cotton pad, split it down the middle and enclosed the reference diode inside it.





After letting the meter warm up again, I'm now seeing +/- 300nV variation on the Weston cell's voltage over a 30 minute period.

[bd139]

Ok just got home. Today’s haul:



3400A meter is peeling badly And it has the old style line connector so will require some work. I know someone who has a 3400A meter floating around which will go in it if I can lever it off them for a decent price  . As for the rest of it as yet unknown. Bolometer and chopper are probably fecked knowing my luck. Worst case I paid less than the feet are worth for it.

Books. There’s a Hayward one I’ve been after for a while and a W1FB one I have three copies for already for eBay eBay bouncing.

Scope tear down coming later. It’s a plain 2445 so no nasty bits inside in theory. Will see. Sure there’s RIFAs in there.

[med6753]

Scope tear down coming later. It’s a plain 2445 so no nasty bits inside in theory. Will see. Sure there’s RIFAs in there.

Yes, there are. At least 3 plus the line filter. See my posts above.

[bd139]

Cool. I’ll replace them ASAP. Needs a new power switch as well. Not a biggy.

[med6753]

Cool. I’ll replace them ASAP. Needs a new power switch as well. Not a biggy.

Power switch is available at Digi-key. Had to replace one.

Edit....I'll go check and see if I can recall the stock number.

[med6753]

Here...

[AVGresponding]

Hmm, does my 7065 have a similarly uninsulated reference? I'll have to have a look, it's just been sitting around waiting for me to find a space for it...   

w10 seems to have the same resolution problems, at first glance. It'll take a while to download the only game I play on pc, around an 18GB size. I'm starting to wonder if there's some kind of firmware issue with the 1060, might fit an old GT210 and see if that helps.

Air raid siren went off this morning as I was contemplating getting out of bed (these days they use it for floods), seems we've had a bit of weather here in the UK.

[bd139]

Here...

Nice one thanks for that. Have the can open. There was some plug damage to the base which appears to have buggered the switch. The bar is intact and no filter or RIFA explosions yet. Refurb it is. 

Edit: fan motor is dead. Same one as a Tek 465 by the looks. I have one lying around so no mnem job required 

[Specmaster]

Harwell done. Snagged a working Tek 2445 (yeah I know don’t even go there), an untested HP 3400A and a couple of ARRL books to bounce on eBay. Total spend was £83 on that which was pretty good. Bumped into tggzzz as well. Good day 

Good boy, if you're gonna say one thing and do something else at least you did well.  A 2445 (no suffix) uses EAROM rather than the battery rubbish. The A5 board has NO tants on it. In fact there's maybe only a total of 3 of the little bastards in the PSU. The only downfall is the Siemens fan motor which is a pain to service if it starts squealing. (I successfully fixed one and damaged another which resulted in the famous 2465 fan bodge).

The PSU is the same as the 2465 and I've successfully re-capped 2 of them with no mistakes and the complete process I documented in the 2465B teardown thread.

Finally....you must post pix. 

What its got a fan!, thats gonna bounce for sure then, he hates bastard fans 

[Specmaster]

Ok just got home. Today’s haul:

(Attachment Link)

3400A meter is peeling badly And it has the old style line connector so will require some work. I know someone who has a 3400A meter floating around which will go in it if I can lever it off them for a decent price  . As for the rest of it as yet unknown. Bolometer and chopper are probably fecked knowing my luck. Worst case I paid less than the feet are worth for it.

Books. There’s a Hayward one I’ve been after for a while and a W1FB one I have three copies for already for eBay eBay bouncing.

Scope tear down coming later. It’s a plain 2445 so no nasty bits inside in theory. Will see. Sure there’s RIFAs in there.

Well that 2445 sure looks good, are they new BNC's or has it just had a sheltered life. I do like a 4 channel scope with cursors and shit but that one has a fan as well and you hate fans? Did you see it working or did they say it was working?

[med6753]

The 535A on it's side. Today's objective is to get those 5 cans bypassed with new caps. I'm going in....

[med6753]

Edit: fan motor is dead. Same one as a Tek 465 by the looks. I have one lying around so no mnem job required 

Hopefully U800 ain't dead as a result of no airflow.