Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

So... yesterday's post brought this enigmatic grey baggie from downtown... 

But there's still a lot of fun to be had with the tinies, and tiny quads means tiny LiPos and motors; this translates into smaller, cheaper everything which reduces cost-of-entry greatly. I'm loving it. 

mnem

that looks like fun. i know even less about copters and drones than i do 3DP which i know is hard to imagine but true. where would a man wanting to get started in a hobby like that find a rabbit hole in which to peer?

Start Here:

https://oscarliang.com/

And here:

https://www.fpvknowitall.com/

Watch here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX3eufnI7A2I7IkKHZn8KSQ

Learn here:

https://betaflight.com/

Shop here:

https://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-FPV-Racing-Drone-c-8771.html

When you find something that looks interesting, search for a relevant thread here:

https://www.rcgroups.com/aircraft-electric-fpv-861/

   

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2903684

I recommend you look into quadcopters known as the "Tiny Whoop" variety first; they are small, inexpensive and great for indoor flight, plus when you crash they mostly bounce instead of breaking. Search out "SilverWare" firmware on RCG; this turns little cheapies like the above (which firmware is what we call "2D"; essentially it tries to stay in a level hover and returns to that when you release the sticks) into "Acro" or "3D" quads; which are primarily flown in "Fast Forward Flight", which flight characteristics are generally like a very fast, nimble airplane. Those, most of the attitude control is YOU and your reflexes.

All the quads you'll see in that section of Banggood are going to be the latter; particularly the brushless models. They all run on Betaflight firmware (or something similar) and the most popular radios for FPV are FRSky and Spektrum. Right now my new baby is a RadioMaster TX16S with TBS Crossfire TX module; before that I was a FRSky Taranis hacker of some small reknown.

Cheers,

mnem

[mnementh]

So... it would appear I have a new assistant. 

Went Thrifting today since the boi wanted to; who found and decided that "I needed Emmet"... he was only a few dollars, and I always had a soft spot for the daft little nebbish, m'self... so I agreed.  Also found a right proper Scholastic-type globe for the education/office area; it's exactly the same as the ones I remember in every classroom when I was in school. Could be that old too; It has the Post-Soviet States/CIS still labeled as the USSR/Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic; so definitely pre-1991.

Don't care; it'll still be useful in general. If there's discrepancies, that'll give the boi a reason to use Google and do... gasp.... research. 

mnem
*toddles off to ded* 

[mnementh]

Good deal on the ender 

Can anyone come up with a good excuse to buy a 20v 10a supply that isnt for RF PA supply because I’m not doing that shit any more. It weighs 15kg and is rack mounted and blessed with an H and a P and happens to be not terribly far from here and buyer collects thus will probably not go too expensive.

In here, you need to be looking for an excuse NOT TO get it...   

No, don't look at ME; I don't have any excuse good enough.   

mnem
What...? You're still HERE...?!?

[capt bullshot]

In case that wasn't 100% clear: that's my shop and my gear. Folks that trust me and that I trust can get the special 'screw eBay' price but in all honnesty, I don't get why it hasn't sold already for this price. I've sold 1GHZ HP SA's for roughly that amount, and this does RF gen, SA and then some other stuff.

Once you get known to the subtle differences of this kind of Test Set vs. a true SA / Sig Gen / Audio Analyzer, you won't go for a Test Set anymore. Learned my lessons by buying a CMU200 some years ago, with quite good to somewhat impressive specs on the SA part, Audio Gen and Analyzer is included also, ... So about the same feature set as your offering. Won't recommend this kind of gear (Test Set) to anyone who asks for a SA or any other of the included features.

Maybe you know the owner of one of these businesses similar to yours in Duesseldorf, bought several items there and had some technical chats while browsing through part of his inventory. He pointed at one of these HPAK E4xxx transmitter tester units (sorry, don't remember the exact model no, but it's a quite shiny and modern thing) and mentioned them having not enough span, otherwise these could be bestsellers. It's another case of a specialty instrument that contains a really impressive SA, but is artificially locked down to not serve well as a SA because HPAK fears to sell more of these instead the more expensive general purpose SAs. Knowing about these restrictions, it's a nice and shiny instrument to have in your pile of TEA, but intending to get real use out of it, IMHO not worth to pay more than about 150 EUR which is way below the price tag the sellers puts on it.

Eh, well. People are strange.

No, just experienced

[bd139]

So... it would appear I have a new assistant. 

Went Thrifting today since the boi wanted to; who found and decided that "I needed Emmet"... he was only a few dollars, and I always had a soft spot for the daft little nebbish, m'self... so I agreed.  Also found a right proper Scholastic-type globe for the education/office area; it's exactly the same as the ones I remember in every classroom when I was in school. Could be that old too; It has the Post-Soviet States/CIS still labeled as the USSR/Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic; so definitely pre-1991.

Don't care; it'll still be useful in general. If there's discrepancies, that'll give the boi a reason to use Google and do... gasp.... research. 

mnem
*toddles off to ded* 

Awesome 

[med6753]

So... it would appear I have a new assistant. 

Went Thrifting today since the boi wanted to; who found and decided that "I needed Emmet"... he was only a few dollars, and I always had a soft spot for the daft little nebbish, m'self... so I agreed.  Also found a right proper Scholastic-type globe for the education/office area; it's exactly the same as the ones I remember in every classroom when I was in school. Could be that old too; It has the Post-Soviet States/CIS still labeled as the USSR/Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic; so definitely pre-1991.

Don't care; it'll still be useful in general. If there's discrepancies, that'll give the boi a reason to use Google and do... gasp.... research. 

mnem
*toddles off to ded* 

Awesome 

Let's go back even further.....

[bd139]

What the hell is that acid trip worthy thing? 

[med6753]

What the hell is that acid trip worthy thing? 

Gumby and Pokey didn't play in the UK?

[Specmaster]

Some carnage to report. XBox One S “tea spill”. I’m not even going to bother with this  . Situation means SWMNLBO pays the money to replace it fortunately as she did it during a fleeting visit

(Attachment Link)

Surely that's not the result of the spill? That looks nasty.

Well it's in the middle of what looks like 3 SMPSs, and the 2.5V rating on the capacitor suggests that at least one of them is low voltage - which in modern computer equipment implies "lots of amps". Add a conductive polar solvent with some solutes in it and ... you get to do some impromptu welding. In fact the end of one of the ceramic caps looks like someone's been at it with an arc welder.

Personally, I'd still be inclined to have a go at cleaning that mess up and looking to see if it can be repaired, as a second platform / flip

[Specmaster]

What the hell is that acid trip worthy thing? 

Gumby and Pokey didn't play in the UK?

Nope

[capt bullshot]

[tonyalbus]

Which boat anchor? The one Tony linked to or this one ->



If you're talking about mine, the TL;DR is that it listed for 600€. This included eBay and Paypal, so outside eBay 525€ through a bank transfer. 500€ round would be OK for me. Still includes 21% belgian VAT so if you are VAT registered ex VAT price is 425.

if i knew about the 425,- .. i would not have bought the Ansitsu but this HP  one for sure... if that helps you to make a choice...it has a TG!

[tonyalbus]

 

[Saskia]

Anritsu boat anchor pickup tonight.

[tonyalbus]

Anritsu boat anchor pickup tonight.

pics!! pics !!   

[tonyalbus]

Now i like analogs ..why they sell so cheap... i just... arghh... 

[capt bullshot]

Anritsu boat anchor pickup tonight.

Didn't even know you were going to visit my place



Image courtesy by Ero-Shan, or is it his place you plan to visit?

[tonyalbus]

Anritsu boat anchor pickup tonight.

Didn't even know you were going to visit my place

Image courtesy by Ero-Shan, or is it his place you plan to visit?

 

[tonyalbus]

The bird is longer out of the egg then i am...cool, the guy left this not inside...

[Ice-Tea]

Eh, well, keep it in mind for the future if you see something on the ebay shop you fancy. But the 425 is ex. VAT only, so only if you have a valid VAT number.

Accidently, I offered this before but I think perhaps you missed it. I have a PM6654 (with 1.5G option) that's in need of a repair. If you're looking for a victim for a repair video, perhaps you're interested. Free delivery & pickup. No strings or purchase obligation attached.

[tonyalbus]

Eh, well, keep it in mind for the future if you see something on the ebay shop you fancy. But the 425 is ex. VAT only, so only if you have a valid VAT number.

Accidently, I offered this before but I think perhaps you missed it. I have a PM6654 (with 1.5G option) that's in need of a repair. If you're looking for a victim for a repair video, perhaps you're interested. Free delivery & pickup. No strings or purchase obligation attached.

Thanks, Ice,  yes i have a VAT... so will keep that in mind..
if i can push the Anritsu i might also come back at that one...it says GSM test-set..but is functions as a SA with TG right? have not looked into the specs to be honest..

Making the video with your PM6654 sound good... but i am better in making videos then repair itself (buts its coming back after 20 years)...
i have a few videos that still need a part two 
but you will get it back cleaned 
But seriously, it is an option for later, i am starting to run out of money, so at some point i need those repairs for making videos and also help a TEA brother, sounds like a good idea.
lets keep in touch...well we are here...deff. not a no

Tony

[capt bullshot]

Accidently, I offered this before but I think perhaps you missed it. I have a PM6654 (with 1.5G option) that's in need of a repair. If you're looking for a victim for a repair video, perhaps you're interested. Free delivery & pickup. No strings or purchase obligation attached.

There's an old thread and Service Manuals @ KO4BB available:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/philips-fluke-pm6654c-high-resolution-counter-teardown/

Must admit, it's tempting. Would be an interesting thing to procrastinate myself from other stuff I want (or at least try to make myself believe I want them) to do. TBH, might want to keep it, but my offer would be quite low, but would include some kind of publicly available repair report (no videos) as you can find on my homepage, cryptically and positively mentioning you as the source, since it's part of the game "Look at this great TEA stuff, I've got it for nearly free, only had to repair it!". And I wouldn't let you nail me on any time frame.

[Ice-Tea]

But is functions as a SA with TG right? have not looked into the specs to be honest..

Actually, I don't think it does TG..

As for something to repair: I have an impressive repair queue. Whenever you're looking for something to repair/make a video off: let me know. That goes for all of you 

Must admit, it's tempting. Would be an interesting thing to procrastinate myself from other stuff I want (or at least try to make myself believe I want them) to do. TBH, might want to keep it, but my offer would be quite low, but would include some kind of publicly available repair report (no videos) as you can find on my homepage, cryptically and positively mentioning you as the source, since it's part of the game "Look at this great TEA stuff, I've got it for nearly free, only had to repair it!". And I wouldn't let you nail me on any time frame.

LOL! I like all of that. Well, if one of you two wants to give it a shot, just ping me. I'm not expecting you to commit to a timeline and if it breaks, it breaks.

[FransW]

Accidently, I offered this before but I think perhaps you missed it. I have a PM6654 (with 1.5G option) that's in need of a repair. If you're looking for a victim for a repair video, perhaps you're interested. Free delivery & pickup. No strings or purchase obligation attached.

There's an old thread and Service Manuals @ KO4BB available:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/philips-fluke-pm6654c-high-resolution-counter-teardown/

1  Philips / Fluke PM6654C High Resolution Counter - Teardown:
Products => Test Equipment => Topic started by: CaptnYellowShirt on February 28, 2014, 03:13:33
PM
Title: Philips / Fluke PM6654C High Resolution Counter Teardown
Post by: CaptnYellowShirt on February 28, 2014, 03:13:33 PM

2  [time-nuts] question Alan deviation measured with Timelab and counters
Stéphane Rey steph.rey at wanadoo.fr
Tue Jan 13 16:18:30 EST 2015

3  By SaabFAN: Re: Replacement for the PM9610 Prescaler for Philips PM6654 High precision Counter
« Reply #16 on: October 20, 2016, 11:42:20 am »
Well, I got it mostly to work now.

Frans

[ArthurDent]

The Fluke/Philips PM6654C is actually a very nice counter. Both of mine have the high stability timebase. Here's a photo of the counter and some of its friends.