Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[SilverSolder]

you guys were right about this ebay seller. tdm_electronics   a seller in poland
i am totaly scruwed with this Anritsu... bottons missing, tube all pushed back in de back.... no arm, feet missing completely defferent from what they sell..
 

Send him a nice email with the pictures and ask (nicely) what he's going to do to fix the issue. Give him a chance first. If he turns asshole then go for the throat and file a claim.

Seller is already an asshole, so there is no need to wait with opening a case...   it can cause confusion and extra work later,  and even risks losing the case.  (Ask me how I know...)

[med6753]

you guys were right about this ebay seller. tdm_electronics   a seller in poland
i am totaly scruwed with this Anritsu... bottons missing, tube all pushed back in de back.... no arm, feet missing completely defferent from what they sell..
 

Send him a nice email with the pictures and ask (nicely) what he's going to do to fix the issue. Give him a chance first. If he turns asshole then go for the throat and file a claim.

Seller is already an asshole, so there is no need to wait with opening a case...   it can cause confusion and extra work later,  and even risks losing the case.  (Ask me how I know...)

Oh OK, if known to be an asshat already then nix what I said. Give him both barrels right up the ass.

[bd139]

What a steamer. I'd get that for free in about two minutes with PayPal lol

[bitseeker]

Warning @bd139 or others giving GTA5 a go. When you actually get in a Tank firing off explosive shells DO NOT aim at targets next to you  KaBoom..... 

Woo! Blast radius!

[bitseeker]

Just noticed gnif was watching this topic. He must be wondering where 91,7% of his resources are going...

I noticed that too since his name shows up red. Sort of stands out. 

Edit...oops, we scared him off. 

Or, simply he was in need of some entertainment. 

No need to panic. There have been attachment issues lately (as mentioned the other day) including occurrences in this thread. More info in the server errors thread.

[Ice-Tea]

Soldered my arm. Apparently, you're not supposed to do that?



Now it smells like burned RIFA AND pork around here.

[bitseeker]

you guys were right about this ebay seller. tdm_electronics   a seller in poland
i am totaly scruwed with this Anritsu... bottons missing, tube all pushed back in de back.... no arm, feet missing completely defferent from what they sell..
 

Oof! Talk about a clear case of "not as described." That's an instant fail. Open a case with lots of photos (be sure that you include pics of the entire back panel, not just closeups) and hopefully you won't have to wait for eBay to step in to resolve it.

And don't let the seller convince you that you have to pay to ship it back if he wants it back. The seller has to pay the shipping if you don't get what they claimed you're buying. eBay has a mechanism for the seller to generate a pre-paid shipping label to give to you for the return.

[bitseeker]

Soldered my arm. Apparently, you're not supposed to do that?

(Attachment Link)

Now it smells like burned RIFA AND pork around here.

Ah, testing the iron with the organic thermometer. It works, but not ideal for operator comfort. Ouch!

Rough day today. Hope your weekend is more pleasant.

[salvagedcircuitry]

Someone please convince me that I don't need a 13ghz Agilent DSO80000b Oscilloscope. Someone. Anyone. Please 
I'd say $2000 and she'll be right 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/332777124009

Expect all elcos on the motherboard to be as dry as dust.

$20 cap replacement is well worth it Previously, a few of the 2ghz versions went for ~$4000. I've already sent out too many offers to hold back now. Wish me luck guys  .

[bitseeker]

Big money, big money! It's MegaTEA time.

[Ice-Tea]

Rough day today. Hope your weekend is more pleasant.

Well, the in)laws are coming over 

It's not all bad though. Had some spare Schaffner filters laying around, so a quick recovery was made. Of the VNA. Not my arm. I suspect that will take a bit longer.

[mansaxel]

Indeed. Classy as a pavement pizza.

Super busy day today sitting in meetings being bored out of my skull. Am expending some time on mentally setting up some projects. Think I'm going to build a half decent audio PA first. Something analogue, something 100% home designed from scratch and with reasonable performance. Am considering basically low noise opamps with a couple of discrete output stages using modern BJTs. But rather than using passive crossovers I'm going to build one amplifier chain per speaker range with suitable low/high/bandpass analogue filters in line. Each speaker enclosure will contain an amplifier and there will be differential inputs from a preamplifier with bluetooth receiver and analogue inputs in it in the middle. Sitting here throwing ideas out in LTspice.

Yes. That's how it's done. Exactly so. Passive crossovers belong in the same class as the voltage regulator for one of the more sensitive consumers on US WW2 submarines, that was in effect a a motorised rheostat with a control loop involving bimetal themostats..

[Cubdriver]

Nice VNA, I-T.  I should open mine and take a look to see if it has the kersploding RIFAs in it, though it seems that they're a bit less grenade-y here in the states with our lower mains voltage...

...and ouch - that burn does not look pleasant!  Yeek!  It's best to keep the sizzley end of the slobbering iron away from flesh.

-Pat

[PA0PBZ]

Ah, testing the iron with the organic thermometer. It works, but not ideal for operator comfort. Ouch!

I did that with my lip once  not recommended!

[Specmaster]

you guys were right about this ebay seller. tdm_electronics   a seller in poland
i am totaly scruwed with this Anritsu... bottons missing, tube all pushed back in de back.... no arm, feet missing completely defferent from what they sell..
 

Out of interest, did the seller state that he has more than one of these for sale and that the one that is in the photo may not be the one that you receive? If he did then it might not be quite such an open and shut case, you need to really examine the description and any other notes on the page that you purchased against. If there was no mention that your one might have other issues etc, then you have him by the short and curlies 

The fact that others are already well aware of this seller suggests that he is well known for this type of thing, so I would go straight for a refund via the eBays system and do everything via them, give them all the details and loads of photos and you should get a refund within hours I think.

[Ice-Tea]

Nice VNA, I-T.  I should open mine and take a look to see if it has the kersploding RIFAs in it, though it seems that they're a bit less grenade-y here in the states with our lower mains voltage...

...and ouch - that burn does not look pleasant!  Yeek!  It's best to keep the sizzley end of the slobbering iron away from flesh.

-Pat

All Schaffner line filters of the era seem to have them. They're potted, so not too much to see.

Accidentlty, mine has a dead battery. Any idea what it is used for?

[PA0PBZ]

Out of interest, did the seller state that he has more than one of these for sale and that the one that is in the photo may not be the one that you receive? If he did then it might not be quite such an open and shut case, you need to really examine the description and any other notes on the page that you purchased against. If there was no mention that your one might have other issues etc, then you have him by the short and curlies 

Ehm well... Taken from the auction: "The pictures presented at the auction show an example item." 

[tonyalbus]

you guys were right about this ebay seller. tdm_electronics   a seller in poland
i am totaly scruwed with this Anritsu... bottons missing, tube all pushed back in de back.... no arm, feet missing completely defferent from what they sell..
 

Out of interest, did the seller state that he has more than one of these for sale and that the one that is in the photo may not be the one that you receive? If he did then it might not be quite such an open and shut case, you need to really examine the description and any other notes on the page that you purchased against. If there was no mention that your one might have other issues etc, then you have him by the short and curlies 

The fact that others are already well aware of this seller suggests that he is well known for this type of thing, so I would go straight for a refund via the eBays system and do everything via them, give them all the details and loads of photos and you should get a refund within hours I think.

It was one item and it did not say that the pictures where a sample or for reference they made it apear it was that actial device.
Problem.. ebay sents me to paypal and paypal to ebay...

[tonyalbus]

Out of interest, did the seller state that he has more than one of these for sale and that the one that is in the photo may not be the one that you receive? If he did then it might not be quite such an open and shut case, you need to really examine the description and any other notes on the page that you purchased against. If there was no mention that your one might have other issues etc, then you have him by the short and curlies 

Ehm well... Taken from the auction: "The pictures presented at the auction show an example item." 

i don't see that.... its this one
https://www.ebay.nl/itm/Anritsu-MS610C-Spectrum-Analyzer-9-kHz-2-GHz-Good-Condition-hs/283917433715

[bd139]

Either way if the image is a real one it must not misrepresent the item. Which it clearly did here.

Just got a refund on PayPal today after a dispute where they sided with me lol. £45 up 

[mnementh]

To change all old capacitors or not???

Yeah; whether a cap is good or not has to do with a LOT more than just ESR. I had one of the Dick Smith ESR meters; chunked it in favor of the Atlas ESR70+ when I discovered it would read a leaky cap as low ESR. 

ESR is a good QUICK & DIRTY test to save time diag-ing a board full of suspect caps. Using it as a "definitive answer" as to whether a cap is actually doing its job by testing out of circuit... that just shows this guy's complete ignorance. 

mnem

[bd139]

Completely agree. I had a cap that was pissing out acid like something out of Alien that was testing good ESR. It's one of many metrics for evisceration determination.

[Cubdriver]

Nice VNA, I-T.  I should open mine and take a look to see if it has the kersploding RIFAs in it, though it seems that they're a bit less grenade-y here in the states with our lower mains voltage...

...and ouch - that burn does not look pleasant!  Yeek!  It's best to keep the sizzley end of the slobbering iron away from flesh.

-Pat

All Schaffner line filters of the era seem to have them. They're potted, so not too much to see.

Accidentlty, mine has a dead battery. Any idea what it is used for?

Off the top of my head, I'd assume that the battery saves instrument setups and perhaps waveforms in memory, but am not 100% certain.

-Pat

[mnementh]

You'll have to excuse me now... I need to go do... ummm... things.   

mnem
"Yes, honey I'll share... in a little while. We're just getting to know each other..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ0f1o4HtLQ#t=2m18s

 

Pffft... sheep...? Nah... I'm stalking the wolf in sheep's clothing. 

Eating sheep is like... Well, imagine trying to swallow a 150kg Q-Tip... dipped in Lanolin. *blerk*

mnem
Spyro is my spirit animal.   

[0culus]

To change all old capacitors or not???

Yeah; whether a cap is good or not has to do with a LOT more than just ESR. I had one of the Dick Smith ESR meters; chunked it in favor of the Atlas ESR70+ when I discovered it would read a leaky cap as low ESR. 

ESR is a good QUICK & DIRTY test to save time diag-ing a board full of suspect caps. Using it as a "definitive answer" as to whether a cap is actually doing its job by testing out of circuit... that just shows this guy's complete ignorance. 

mnem

Yeah. Plus, ESR is dependent on circuit conditions. A cap that tests high in a meter might be fine in the circuit it's in. The funny thing for me is that, for all the equipment I've accumulated, I only have two items (a pair of Data Precision Data 6000 digitizers) that have overt capacitor problems. Both have a filter cap somewhere that is super leaky and lets 60Hz through to the CRT until it reforms after running for about 10 minutes. However, these are a little further down the queue to be repaired so they will have to wait.