Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[VK5RC]

@tautech - turning away the boys in blue - you must have the grumps bad!
@Saskia - glad to hear the other half is back close to 'normal' - 'any problems you now experience are your own problem'  HHGTTG
@med - welcome back, hope all goes well
Re uploading a new OS - I can't stand doing it, it takes so long, you have to half hang around - you can't really leave it but it takes too long to devote your full attention - that's x hours of my life I won't get back.
Re TIG as a 200A PS - mmmmmmm - I wonder why my leads melted.

[Saskia]

@tggzzz Neomys Sapiens does not assign blame, he just doles out punishment ... 

he could have just thrown that spectrum analyzer in my direction, there was no need to kill it ...

[Saskia]

@vk5rc unfortunately I do not have an SEP field generator. I really wish I had. 本当

[bd139]

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" (Attachment Link)
it is held in place by 4 bolts which have sheared off.
(Attachment Link)

The torn out instrument
(Attachment Link)
and a burn mark on a PCB
(Attachment Link)

Standard HP power supply. The meter housings break really easy and burn marks are a feature. At least your wasn't full of rust.

Here's one I got a couple of years back 



Cleaned up ok!





Looked pathetic after a recap!

[Saskia]

cleaning it is not the big deal.
I am just aggravated because this damage could have easily been avoided by packing it correctly.
I could possibly send it back, but I would have no power supply if I did so

[bd139]

You might end up with it free if you complain. I got a free PL330QMD because they packed it loose and it rattled around. Plug exploded and the master power switch was destroyed but this was a £3 fix. Complaining works at least 50% of the time. A similarly buggered HP 6216A power supply I received to yours was however (ebay user jvincent120) a pain in the arse to deal with the seller.

[tautech]

@tautech - turning away the boys in blue - you must have the grumps bad!

No, not at all as far as 'the thin blue line' is concerned when in fact we have an open door policy for any of them.
At anytime I can give them a few minutes shelter and reprieve from serving us and the mainly arsehat sods they mainly deal with I will. Coffee and bickies are always on offer for them however currently they are a high risk contact for us so will need to wait until things cool down before some normality can resume.

I did however wonder if it was some little test that we were complying with NZ's lockdown and properly not accepting visitors however the cop in particular is not the sort of guy that might pursue a thing like that with us.
We had another visit from a closer friend cop early into our lockdown just to check we were all faring well and he's overdue to call on us again but when word gets out the missus has done another batch of rocky road he'll be here in a flash ! We see a good few cops such as the bad buggers we are. 

[Specmaster]

You might end up with it free if you complain. I got a free PL330QMD because they packed it loose and it rattled around. Plug exploded and the master power switch was destroyed but this was a £3 fix. Complaining works at least 50% of the time. A similarly buggered HP 6216A power supply I received to yours was however (ebay user jvincent120) a pain in the arse to deal with the seller.

Totally agree with this 100%, its always well worth a try, you never know if you don't try, serves them right for careless and sloppy packing in my view.

[mnementh]

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 

If you actually bothered to scroll all the way down, you'd know I upgraded to a FX-8350 along with the RX580 as a last ditch effort, and posted benchmarks, and it STILL sucked out loud. I used that rig for almost 5 months before I finished the Ryzen build; I know it painfully well.

Good thing I got my $50 back from AMD on that Turd-Dozer processor... it'll be here any day now, any day now... 

mnem
"Welcome back, welcome back, welcome ba-a-a-ack..."

[duckduck]

First score (you always remember your first...).

I'm building out my lab from just a few DMMs in a drawer to something bigger and better.

I really dig solid, old equipment like what I see on this thread. I don't have to explain anything to you people.

I won an HP system power supply on Ebay but the seller said that he couldn't get to his warehouse and refunded me. Argh. That would have been cool, even though the shipping was almost as much as the price of the thing.

I got the following off of Craigslist from a guy that was in the process of getting divorced and about to move:

(4) Pomona alligator-banana leads @ US$3 each, two still unopened(!)

(2) Akro-Mills parts storage thingies @ US$9 each, and

(1) Topward TPS-4000 (Model 4303) DC power supply @ US$40

The TPS-4000 has two CV/CC outputs 0-30V @ 3A and one fixed 5V @ 3A output. I tested it out with a Fluke DMM before I bought it. The voltages for both of the variable channels seem to change appropriately when the knobs are twiddled and the fixed channel puts out 5.0V. The power switch looks like someone hit it with a tack hammer because it's bent and all wobbly, but it's functional.

I found the manual and some (all?)  schematics already: https://www.dudleylab.com/Power%20Supply%20TPS-4000.pdf

I plan on verifying that it has the right fuse, cleaning it up, replacing the wonky power switch, making sure the caps aren't bulging, putting on some binding posts that don't look like they came off of an AliExpress breadboard, and verifying that the ground post is actually grounded. I'll perform the calibration procedure (from the user manual) as much as I'm able to, and build a bench and a shelf to hold it.

Edit: I'll figure out the attachments thing. ack.

[Cubdriver]

I just bought a somewhat battered looking Tek 191 Constant Amplitude Signal Generator (ya know, to go with the other Tek 191 that I bought several years ago that's still in the box I shipped it home from CA in  ) from the great bank account hoover of the interwebs.  I wonder if it will get here before the counter I mentioned the other day that was then in limbo with the USPS?

To update that trek, as of yesterday (9 days after it shipped) it had traveled about 100 miles south of its origin to arrive at a network distribution center in Jersey City, NJ.  It is now once again 'In Transit to Next Facility'. I hope it's at least on a pony rather than the tortoise it apparently made it's first travel leg on.  FWIW, the power supply ordered four days later arrived from Southern California today.  Craziness.

-Pat

[Specmaster]

If you actually bothered to scroll all the way down, you'd know I upgraded to a FX-8350 along with the RX580 as a last ditch effort, and posted benchmarks, and it STILL sucked out loud. I used that rig for almost 5 months before I finished the Ryzen build; I know it painfully well.

Good thing I got my $50 back from AMD on that Turd-Dozer processor... it'll be here any day now, any day now... 

mnem
"Welcome back, welcome back, welcome ba-a-a-ack..."

I did scroll all the way down, the whole page of the entire posting and the only mention of a FX-8350 that I could see was in the last benchmark report, which I thought you had posted by accident because nowhere in your write-up, could I see anything to say that you had decided to go with the 8350 

[mnementh]

Nope. That was the beginning of the end for the M78/1055T. I put the 1055T in its box, and put that up in my keepsakes box for future mnemories... The FX-8350 Resto-Rod is packed away with my other crap... by the time I see it again, it'll be worth approx about what I paid for the case and the PSU. Not sure if putting the RX580 back in there will help that much...   

mnem
*flashiebackie music*

[Specmaster]

Nope. That was the beginning of the end. I put the 1055T in its box, and put that up in my keepsakes box for future mnemories...   

mnem
*flashiebackie music*

The most power hungry thing I do now is the odd game of C&C and the very occasional small schematic in AutoCAD and the 8350 positively flies along running those , the Ryzen won't fit my Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 MB as it is a 3+ socket not a 4 socket.

If the rest of my gear, like 32GB DDR3 RAM, graphics card, SDD and the HDD's would all work with a Ryzen and a new MB then I might be tempted but otherwise, no because the total cost of the parts would wipe out a whole months pension, or I'd have to sell loads of my TE, cuddles the TE close to me

[mnementh]

I hear ya man... you remember, I chronicled every step of the build in this thread; built my Ryzen 7 a few pieces at a time over several months... and just this week actually "finished" it with the 2nd 16GB RAM acquisition.

mnem
No Regrets.

[ArthurDent]

This turned up on the local ads. today, I'm sure I saw the same piece of equipment with a different name on it on evilbay a few months ago, I can't find it now...
I didn't want to clutter the T.E. section with a dedicated topic and figured the wild bunch that hang-out here wouldn't mind being cluttered some more anyway.
Anyone know who the OEM for this DMM is?

(Attachment Link)

 
 I own 3 of these. They aren't too bad. There is a manual available somewhere.
You can now believe me when I posted in post #57859 that I have an outbuilding full of 'treasures'. 

It's not that we don't believe you; more that we DO. And we fear for you a little, my friend.
mnem
The road to TE Hell is paved with semi-functional meters...
[/quote]

... I got the following off of Craigslist from a guy that was in the process of getting divorced and about to move:
(1) Topward TPS-4000 DC power supply @ US$40

The TPS-4000 has two CV/CC outputs 0-30V @ several amps and one fixed 5V @ 3A output. I tested it out with a Fluke DMM before I bought it. The voltages for both of the variable channels seem to change appropriately when the knobs are twiddled and the fixed channel puts out 5.0V. The power switch looks like someone hit it with a tack hammer because it's bent and all wobbly, but it's functional.

Hey, Ive also got a Topward 4000 and I kind of like it because of the analog meters. That I have this does reinforce my claim to having an outbuilding full of 'treasures'. 

[mnementh]

And now for Something Completely... ON TOPIC:



Looks like we have a new contender for "Worst cheap POS Oscilloscope available via the slow boat from China": MUSTOOL-MDS2112P on bang-em-good

  izzat... "10KHz memory depth"...? Can that actually be 10 Kilobits...? Furr Realllzzz?!? 

I think I'd rather have that CRO I posted about the other day...    

mnem
"I'm never surprised, but I am constantly amazed at the SHIT some people will try to sell."

[Kosmic]

I Didn't know Keysight was able to remove virus from test equipment 

https://youtu.be/h6L2RuyGb-o?t=79

[0culus]

And now for Something Completely... ON TOPIC:



Looks like we have a new contender for "Worst cheap POS Oscilloscope available via the slow boat from China": MUSTOOL-MDS2112P on bang-em-good

  izzat... "10KHz memory depth"...? Can that actually be 10 Kilobits...? Furr Realllzzz?!? 

I think I'd rather have that CRO I posted about the other day...    

mnem
"I'm never surprised, but I am constantly amazed at the SHIT some people will try to sell."

I think if you look up "Wun Hung Lo" in the dictionary, this oscilloscope's photograph is right next to it. 

[Kosmic]

And now for Something Completely... ON TOPIC:



Looks like we have a new contender for "Worst cheap POS Oscilloscope available via the slow boat from China": MUSTOOL-MDS2112P on bang-em-good

  izzat... "10KHz memory depth"...? Can that actually be 10 Kilobits...? Furr Realllzzz?!? 

I think I'd rather have that CRO I posted about the other day...    

mnem
"I'm never surprised, but I am constantly amazed at the SHIT some people will try to sell."

It's a rebranded Owon SDS1000

https://www.owon.com.hk/products_owon_sds1000_series_super_economical_type_digital_oscilloscope

Talking about Owon, my XDS3202E has been working fine for the last few months. I 'm a bit surprise since I was not expecting much. Screen is great, features are limited but overall performance is good.

[mnementh]

Damn... I was hoping you'd decide you HATE that XDS3202E and sell it to me for what you have innit. 



Looks like the memory depth is only referred to as "10K Max Record Length" with 8-bit ADC; even with that res on one channel that seems pitifully small, and they actually have it configured to capture both channels at that rate...?

Or is it 10,000 points, with an 8-bit resolution, so 10KB...? Still seems  ridiculously small...

mnem
*toddles off to look for some new juice*

[Kosmic]

nahh i'm keeping the Owon

I think that little Mustool is a bit too expensive for what it is really. If you need a cheap scope Rigol still has the DS1202Z-E on sale at 385$CAN on their web site.

[tautech]

Damn... I was hoping you'd decide you HATE that XDS3202E and sell it to me for what you have innit. 



Looks like the memory depth is only referred to as "10K Max Record Length" with 8-bit ADC; even with that res on one channel that seems pitifully small, and they actually have it configured to capture both channels at that rate...?

Or is it 10,000 points, with an 8-bit resolution, so 10KB...? Still seems  ridiculously small...

mnem
*toddles off to look for some new juice*

Nope, one channel only has the full 10Kpts and if both are active they have to share it !

[AVGresponding]

Damn... I was hoping you'd decide you HATE that XDS3202E and sell it to me for what you have innit. 



Looks like the memory depth is only referred to as "10K Max Record Length" with 8-bit ADC; even with that res on one channel that seems pitifully small, and they actually have it configured to capture both channels at that rate...?

Or is it 10,000 points, with an 8-bit resolution, so 10KB...? Still seems  ridiculously small...

mnem
*toddles off to look for some new juice*

Nope, one channel only has the full 10Kpts and if both are active they have to share it !

Dafuq? Even my steam-powered TDS420A which everyone disses when I mention it has 120Kpts...

Heck, even the PM99 has 30Kpts...   

[McBryce]

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.     

I was another of those 24. The size was making me hesitate, possibly hoping it would get relisted at a lower price and then I would HAVE to buy it despite the size!

McBryce.