Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tautech]

Since everyone is talking PC's/processors. This is what my media PC is made up from. About 5 years old now.

Opinions? Keep it? Toss it out the Window? It works fine for me and is plenty fast enough. Note....NOT a gamer.

Motherboard: MSI A78M-E35-AMD A78 Chipset FM2 + MicroATX

Processor: AMD A10-7850K APU 3.7Ghz Quad Core with Radeon R7 GPU
 
Memory: Two Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 MT/s PC3-12800  (8 GB)

Video Card: MSI NVIDIA GeForce GT610 2GB

PSU: Corsair 430W 80+ ATX

Keep it for a bit Med.
It will handle all you need unless you go 3D rendering lots.
Running 3.5 GHz i3 with just 8GB using W10 here.
Stable as and quite quick enough until I fire up Altium where it still loads a shite load faster than the previous PC I had it installed on.

[Mr. Scram]

Since everyone is talking PC's/processors. This is what my media PC is made up from. About 5 years old now.

Opinions? Keep it? Toss it out the Window? It works fine for me and is plenty fast enough. Note....NOT a gamer.

Motherboard: MSI A78M-E35-AMD A78 Chipset FM2 + MicroATX

Processor: AMD A10-7850K APU 3.7Ghz Quad Core with Radeon R7 GPU
 
Memory: Two Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 MT/s PC3-12800  (8 GB)

Video Card: MSI NVIDIA GeForce GT610 2GB

PSU: Corsair 430W 80+ ATX

Power consumption seems to be a common argument, especially when the computer is turned on for longer periods. How's that?

[med6753]

Since everyone is talking PC's/processors. This is what my media PC is made up from. About 5 years old now.

Opinions? Keep it? Toss it out the Window? It works fine for me and is plenty fast enough. Note....NOT a gamer.

Motherboard: MSI A78M-E35-AMD A78 Chipset FM2 + MicroATX

Processor: AMD A10-7850K APU 3.7Ghz Quad Core with Radeon R7 GPU
 
Memory: Two Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 MT/s PC3-12800  (8 GB)

Video Card: MSI NVIDIA GeForce GT610 2GB

PSU: Corsair 430W 80+ ATX

Keep it for a bit Med.
It will handle all you need unless you go 3D rendering lots.
Running 3.5 GHz i3 with just 8GB using W10 here.
Stable as and quite quick enough until I fire up Altium where it still loads a shite load faster than the previous PC I had it installed on.

I did forget to mention that it has a Samsung 840 EVO 250G SSD so that definitely helps too.

[tautech]

Since everyone is talking PC's/processors. This is what my media PC is made up from. About 5 years old now.

Opinions? Keep it? Toss it out the Window? It works fine for me and is plenty fast enough. Note....NOT a gamer.

Motherboard: MSI A78M-E35-AMD A78 Chipset FM2 + MicroATX

Processor: AMD A10-7850K APU 3.7Ghz Quad Core with Radeon R7 GPU
 
Memory: Two Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 MT/s PC3-12800  (8 GB)

Video Card: MSI NVIDIA GeForce GT610 2GB

PSU: Corsair 430W 80+ ATX

Keep it for a bit Med.
It will handle all you need unless you go 3D rendering lots.
Running 3.5 GHz i3 with just 8GB using W10 here.
Stable as and quite quick enough until I fire up Altium where it still loads a shite load faster than the previous PC I had it installed on.

I did forget to mention that it has a Samsung 840 EVO 250G SSD so that definitely helps too.

A PC without a SSD is so last century !

Maybe for peace of mind you might pop a new PSU in it.
What say others ?

[med6753]

Since everyone is talking PC's/processors. This is what my media PC is made up from. About 5 years old now.

Opinions? Keep it? Toss it out the Window? It works fine for me and is plenty fast enough. Note....NOT a gamer.

Motherboard: MSI A78M-E35-AMD A78 Chipset FM2 + MicroATX

Processor: AMD A10-7850K APU 3.7Ghz Quad Core with Radeon R7 GPU
 
Memory: Two Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 MT/s PC3-12800  (8 GB)

Video Card: MSI NVIDIA GeForce GT610 2GB

PSU: Corsair 430W 80+ ATX

Keep it for a bit Med.
It will handle all you need unless you go 3D rendering lots.
Running 3.5 GHz i3 with just 8GB using W10 here.
Stable as and quite quick enough until I fire up Altium where it still loads a shite load faster than the previous PC I had it installed on.

I did forget to mention that it has a Samsung 840 EVO 250G SSD so that definitely helps too.

A PC without a SSD is so last century !

Maybe for peace of mind you might pop a new PSU in it.
What say others ?

I have a spare PSU just in case. 

[Ice-Tea]

Since everyone is talking PC's/processors. This is what my media PC is made up from. About 5 years old now.

Opinions? Keep it? Toss it out the Window? It works fine for me and is plenty fast enough. Note....NOT a gamer.

Motherboard: MSI A78M-E35-AMD A78 Chipset FM2 + MicroATX

Processor: AMD A10-7850K APU 3.7Ghz Quad Core with Radeon R7 GPU
 
Memory: Two Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 MT/s PC3-12800  (8 GB)

Video Card: MSI NVIDIA GeForce GT610 2GB

PSU: Corsair 430W 80+ ATX

Keep it for a bit Med.
It will handle all you need unless you go 3D rendering lots.
Running 3.5 GHz i3 with just 8GB using W10 here.
Stable as and quite quick enough until I fire up Altium where it still loads a shite load faster than the previous PC I had it installed on.

I did forget to mention that it has a Samsung 840 EVO 250G SSD so that definitely helps too.

A PC without a SSD is so last century !

Maybe for peace of mind you might pop a new PSU in it.
What say others ?

I say there's nothing in that case that's worh saving with a new PSU.

[Ero-Shan]

You know you paid too much when ... no one else is interested to bid the starting price.

So maybe I have been ripped off, but you can't complain about the delivery: 46 hours from auction's end to its arrival at my front door.

I'm not all that sure I really bought an AC calibrator:



or a box with 25 meters bubble wrap and heaps of foam, only incidentally containing a bit of TE:



IMO, the box was too big, the cardboard rather thin, and too much foamy material. This allows the packaged goods to roam around. I prefer strong cardboard and some amount of cushioning with the device rather rigidly held in place. But I digress ...

When I made my photographs of all 6 sides I heard something rattle inside the machine, so: Don't turn it on, open it first! Glad I did.
Turned out to be a loose screw of a strange kind - with an extraordinary long hex head. Which actually is a good idea. You can screw it in at the bottom without all that fumbling getting it into a recessed area. Its the brass thing leaning at the mains filter. You can see another one (fastened) to the right of the transformer.



While the thing was open, I took a few gratuitous pictures of the inside:







Gave it a little try then. Meters have been warmed up for two hours, calibrator is still 'cold':



Will check the voltages after warmup. One thing's for sure, though: The J57 jet engine Yokogawa installed as a fan has to be replaced by something less ear-injuring.

[tggzzz]

Since everyone is talking PC's/processors. This is what my media PC is made up from. About 5 years old now.

Opinions? Keep it? Toss it out the Window? It works fine for me and is plenty fast enough. Note....NOT a gamer.

Motherboard: MSI A78M-E35-AMD A78 Chipset FM2 + MicroATX

Processor: AMD A10-7850K APU 3.7Ghz Quad Core with Radeon R7 GPU
 
Memory: Two Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 MT/s PC3-12800  (8 GB)

Video Card: MSI NVIDIA GeForce GT610 2GB

PSU: Corsair 430W 80+ ATX

Well I'm the one that started this recent topic.

As far as I can tell my big machine is:
Intel Core2 Duo CPU E7400 @ 2.80GHz L2 cache: 3072K  - that was replaced in 2008
6GB RAM, 160GB HD, 64GB SSD,

[Specmaster]

Sorry... that hasn't been true since Ryzen 29xx. But hey, whatever helps you sleep at night.

And now with Ryzen 3xxx... It's not JUST better multi-core, which AMD has had for like... EVER... it's that the single-core is now SO much better TOO. But as I predicted, after almost a year, active cooling on the chipset is a complete non-issue. It runs when I'm really hashing the SSDs, but the only way I even know it is when I have the stats overlay up.

I just wish AMD hadn't left us twisting in the wind for a top-level GPU for so long. I mean really; "Sometime Q5 2020" is the reason I finally bought fucking NVidia, even after swearing off their lazy asses "for good" a dozen times. 

mnem
 

It is for me, my MB has an AM3 socket, so that has to be upgraded to AM4 and I don't think that there's much to gained from then lumbering it with my DDR3 memory and other existing bits which were sort of optimised for the FX8350, the old bits will just throttle it back all the time.

Aww, come on Spec... I know that rig INTIMATELY; I STILL have it: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/random-mode-old-school-iron-1055trx580-rebuild-in-modern-gamer-case/msg2227704/#msg2227704

But even maxxed out with a RX580 GPU, it's really only good for checking eMail and watching yoobToob vids; I have a i7 laptop I bought used a year ago for $270 that's ALMOST as much CPU and much faster RAM; net is a MUCH snappier daily driver.

mnem
*prehysterical*

Hmm, suffering from frostbite or did that baby shark give a nasty bite  For some strange reason you seem to be confusing your AMD 1055T for my AMD FX-8350 which are not the same thing atall. Your 1055T has a CPU benchmark rating of 3181 and is ranked 1051st in the world, whereas my FX 8350 is rated at 5920 and is 642nd in the world. Or am I missing something here  Maybe you don't know it quite as intimidly as you thought 

[BU508A]

You know you paid too much when ... no one else is interested to bid the starting price.

So maybe I have been ripped off, but you can't complain about the delivery: 46 hours from auction's end to its arrival at my front door.

I'm not all that sure I really bought an AC calibrator:



or a box with 25 meters bubble wrap and heaps of foam, only incidentally containing a bit of TE:



IMO, the box was too big, the cardboard rather thin, and too much foamy material. This allows the packaged goods to roam around. I prefer strong cardboard and some amount of cushioning with the device rather rigidly held in place. But I digress ...

When I made my photographs of all 6 sides I heard something rattle inside the machine, so: Don't turn it on, open it first! Glad I did.
Turned out to be a loose screw of a strange kind - with an extraordinary long hex head. Which actually is a good idea. You can screw it in at the bottom without all that fumbling getting it into a recessed area. Its the brass thing leaning at the mains filter. You can see another one (fastened) to the right of the transformer.



While the thing was open, I took a few gratuitous pictures of the inside:







Gave it a little try then. Meters have been warmed up for two hours, calibrator is still 'cold':



Will check the voltages after warmup. One thing's for sure, though: The J57 jet engine Yokogawa installed as a fan has to be replaced by something less ear-injuring.

I'm very pleased to see that this nice calibrator has found a good home. Congrats to your acquisition.
Regarding the price: I think, it is reasonable. I don't know, why you were the only bidder on this item, because it
has been watched by 24 people (I was one of them ;-) ) but sometime you are the lucky guy.  :-)

I hope it will be useful for you. Yokogawa is usually building some good quality gear and I'm curious
how good this calibrator is. Hope to hear from you, soon.     

[Mr. Scram]

Didn't mnem also have an FX8350? Though both processors are put to shame by their modern brethren.

[bd139]

Mmmm “meatsink” on an FX ... https://youtu.be/zAEXuONMJCQ

Just fucked up my ankle running. That’ll teach me. On bus home  .  All transport is free at the moment in London though which is good.

[Specmaster]

Didn't mnem also have an FX8350? Though both processors are put to shame by their modern brethren.

I also thought that he had a FX-8350 but the link he provided goes to a 1055T which a Black Edition AMD Phenom, I also had a AMD 1065 Black edition AMD Phenom and I also have had AMD Phenom II X4 965 which have been passed onto my 2 boys who are still at home and these are also still daily usage. While they may well both be totally eclipsed by newer CPU's they remain as perfectly capable processors are running some reasonably demanding applications still. My sons use them for art and graphic programs and video editing and rendering. The 1065 is used extensively for graphic design artwork for a number of web sites and also graphic design and packaging design for a business as well.

[Mr. Scram]

Mmmm “meatsink” on an FX ... https://youtu.be/zAEXuONMJCQ

Just fucked up my ankle running. That’ll teach me. On bus home  .  All transport is free at the moment in London though which is good.

Sounds like an exercise allergy. I suggest full body ethanol infusion.

[Specmaster]

Mmmm “meatsink” on an FX ... https://youtu.be/zAEXuONMJCQ

Just fucked up my ankle running. That’ll teach me. On bus home  .  All transport is free at the moment in London though which is good.

LMAO at that steak BBQ vid, you could see that the poor CPU was objecting to it because the CPU warning LED was flashing like a mad thing. Sorry to hear you just screwed your ankle while running, maybe that a warning signal you should heed and cease such silly behaviour forthwith and just accept that you getting older and start looking yourself a bit better.

Free transport is a good thing but for you, its only temporary while this pandemic is around. Once its over, watch the fares rise to recoup their losses. In my own case however, I've had free travel now for a number of years, but CBA to use it very often as all the waiting around for a bus to arrive and the time restrictions they impose makes it a real PITA.

[Saskia]

hey, welcome back Papa Smurf !

after long deliberations with my boss he decided I do a write up why I want to fiddle with FPGAs and do some training while on the job.
 
if we do not train ourselves on our jobs, welll .....
anyway, it seems the bean counters are winning again.

just picked up one of those new fancy CPUs (R7 3700x), stuffed it into an X570 board that I still had flying around, and alas, it works. It's one of those refurbished boards that came back from Louis Rossmann Asus Repair Center. Asus also picked up my exploded graphics card for repairs today.
Got this shipping damage power supply which I need to have a look at, and also I am waiting for that other HP power supply that I ebayed ...

Also my car dealer called and asked me to pick up my car for the summer. There goes the fuel economy.

Anyway. shitloads of work to do, and everything annoying. Hubby is out of his feverish dreams and enjoying some numbnuts movie.

I'm pinybraining about how to get that missile silo ...

As for the Phalanx CIWS that was mentioned earlier, I almost got a permit to build a gatling at home along with a collector license. When the government critter heard that the gatling I had in mind was either an M61 or a GAU-8 he kindly withdrew his offer.

How did I get started with that stuff ...
8 years in a TLA company does strange stuff to you ...

[nixiefreqq]

don't have a single piece of tek here at stately freqq manor.

so i rely on others for an occasional tektronix fix.



welcome back med.

[med6753]

don't have a single piece of tek here at stately freqq manor.

so i rely on others for an occasional tektronix fix.



welcome back med.

Go check out my Type 561B repair/resto thread in the repair section for your fix. I'll be updating it soon. I have all the capacitors to do the PSU.

[AVGresponding]

Welcome back med!

I finally got around to making the shelf to fit the big-arsed Solartrons. At last, I can conveniently measure voltages to needless precision!



'scuse the leads, everything is linked in parallel to compare notes with one of the 584L's.

Fluke 8840A:  10.0065  (only meter in cal, just)
TTi 1906:  10.0063
Micronta 22-195:  9.99
Black Star 3210MP:  10.04/5
Black Star 4503:  10.001/2
Solartron 7150:  10.00667
Thurlby 1905a:  10.0094
Solartron 7065:  10.00662
Solartron 7075:  10.006382

I think we can conclude from this, that the voltage reference is running at something around 10 volts...   

[Neomys Sapiens]

Maybe someone is interested in a Tektronix 561A Mainframe or one of the plugin units offered:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Tektronix-3T2-Random-Sampling-Sweep/283866609225

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Tektronix-3S1-Dual-Trace-Sampling-Unit/283866610453

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Tektronix-Oszilloskop-Mainframe-561A/283866612779

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Tektronix-3T77-Sampling-Sweep/283866614605

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Tektronix-3A6-Vertikal-Verstarker/283866616040

No connection of any kind to that offer, just found it and thought someone might be interested!

[Saskia]

I started having a closer look at that power supply clobbered in shipping.
I found 3 major issues:

- that black clip which is holding the amp meter in place is broken on the side, it will have to be replaced.
- the bolts that hold the AC potential beyond this point are sheared off
- all PCBs and everything are covered in about 1 - 2 mm of gunk and grime

So, does anybody have a spare clip to fix that amp gizmo ?
I hope that I can replace those bolts somehow ..
and normally I would throw the entire thing into the ultrasonic.

We'll see.
Seems that I did not quite get what I bargained for, and all because of this shitbag and his below par packaging.
I can't even clobber Hermes for that,

[Neomys Sapiens]

I started having a closer look at that power supply clobbered in shipping.
I found 3 major issues:

- that black clip which is holding the amp meter in place is broken on the side, it will have to be replaced.
- the bolts that hold the AC potential beyond this point are sheared off
- all PCBs and everything are covered in about 1 - 2 mm of gunk and grime

So, does anybody have a spare clip to fix that amp gizmo ?
I hope that I can replace those bolts somehow ..
and normally I would throw the entire thing into the ultrasonic.

We'll see.
Seems that I did not quite get what I bargained for, and all because of this shitbag and his below par packaging.
I can't even clobber Hermes for that,

I doubt that the gunk and grime can be attributed to the packaging.
What do you mean by 'the bolts that hold the AC potential beyond this point'? Which point? Can you identify them in the manual? Or by picture?

[Neomys Sapiens]

Days like this one have the potential to cause a profund disdain towards against the human race: A total Nincompoop in the employ of the company I'm working for killed a perfectly fine FSH4 today.
But one thing is sure: he will not get away with it without a lasting remainder of his stupidity and total lack of diligence. I will find an opportunity to bring his sorry ass into contact with exactly the same conductor that killed the poor instrument. Then he will feel the bit of +60dBm RF whereever he can be connected to!

On a totally unrelated note, I was rather shocked today when I found out that the company of Dr. Mueller is no more in his hands and that the fine Hyperstone(tm) microcontroller/DSP is no more. The Hyperstone corporate entity has been sold and limits itself to flash memory controllers. This is very sad.

[tggzzz]

Whoops. Nice to see a nonnative English speaker use the word nincompoop

I have to ask. Is the perpetrator a serial offender? Are they negligent or merely having a brain fart?

We all make mistakes, and a blame-free atmosphere helps people admit mistakes, and then improve.

[Saskia]

sorry, the cover.
there is a red cover on the bottom side of the ps which has an imprint "this box is at ac potential"
it is held in place by 4 bolts which have sheared off.


The torn out instrument

and a burn mark on a PCB
[ Specified attachment is not available ]