Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

If you lurk enough you can get them for not much. Paid £60 for my last one     See here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/tektronix-tds210-teardown-and-bnc-replacement/

Okay, NOW you're just rubbing my nose in it... 

mnem

You deserved it. 

Aye... I cannae deny it; may as well own it. 

mnem
"Loud & proud; the dragon way."

[med6753]

The issue. Nothing would remove it.



The fix.

[bd139]

You can see the blue from the previous victim in the top picture 

[med6753]

You can see the blue from the previous victim in the top picture 

Yep, and there's going to be more victims. 

[tggzzz]

I really cannot see why everybody is on bd's back, OK, it's a Tek, etc, but as he has already stated he does have a reason for his actions and also the TDS210 is perfectly adequate for his stated purpose, audio work, even with its crappy digital display and lack of memory depth. Yes, we all know that analogue scopes have a far better display, I have both a Fluke PM3390B 200MHz combiscope and a Tek TDS210, but the TDS210 gets used most because it is quick to switch on, actually sits on my bench so is right in front of me and takes a very small footprint.

If I had bench space like a lot of you have, then I'd probably use the combiscope more, but space prevents it from being the main go to scope. Yes I'd like a colour display etc. but really cannot justify the cost, so the TDS210 suits me just fine, and I daresay bd can identify with a lot of that as well. 

All this hating on Tek TDS210s just makes me want one more.

Compared to the old Hameg 20MHz analog scopes I used at college and work, it's pretty fancy, as is my TDS420.

A real problem with the 2.5k points is that it can't emulate the traditional dual-timebase technique to zoom in. I know there are sort-of-workarounds, but it took me a long while to realise the TDS340 was unpleasantly deficient in that regard.

[Specmaster]

You can see the blue from the previous victim in the top picture 

There must loads of little blue patches around Meds house then from the overspray so it would easy to double check if you had the right house, just look for the tell-tale blue spots on the ground 

[Neomys Sapiens]

Also freshly in and in fine condition: a Steinmeyer interior micrometer. (5...55mm)

[Neomys Sapiens]

You can see the blue from the previous victim in the top picture 

There must loads of little blue patches around Meds house then from the overspray so it would easy to double check if you had the right house, just look for the tell-tale blue spots on the ground 

Just wait until a new neighbour goes full panic. 'AAAAH, the blue spores! They are everywhere!'

[25 CPS]

I really cannot see why everybody is on bd's back, OK, it's a Tek, etc, but as he has already stated he does have a reason for his actions and also the TDS210 is perfectly adequate for his stated purpose, audio work, even with its crappy digital display and lack of memory depth. Yes, we all know that analogue scopes have a far better display, I have both a Fluke PM3390B 200MHz combiscope and a Tek TDS210, but the TDS210 gets used most because it is quick to switch on, actually sits on my bench so is right in front of me and takes a very small footprint.

If I had bench space like a lot of you have, then I'd probably use the combiscope more, but space prevents it from being the main go to scope. Yes I'd like a colour display etc. but really cannot justify the cost, so the TDS210 suits me just fine, and I daresay bd can identify with a lot of that as well. 

All this hating on Tek TDS210s just makes me want one more.

Compared to the old Hameg 20MHz analog scopes I used at college and work, it's pretty fancy, as is my TDS420.

A real problem with the 2.5k points is that it can't emulate the traditional dual-timebase technique to zoom in. I know there are sort-of-workarounds, but it took me a long while to realise the TDS340 was unpleasantly deficient in that regard.

To be fair to the TDS-210, they're cheap, they're fairly rugged, and they're compact and they do get the basic job done so they do have their uses.  I'd toss mine in a bag with some adapters and cables, and a power cord and take it on the road along with a small HP function generator whenever I was going to buy test equipment or if I was going to be doing test or service work.  I've gotten more than the $60 CDN of use out of mine for that purpose and if anything bad happens to it, it's not the end of the world since I don't have much money in it.  It's only recently that I picked up an inexpensive Agilent u1602b handheld scope that's replaced it for that purpose.

On that note, does anybody have any recommendations for a battery powered portable, ideally similarly ruggedized, function generator to add to the road kit?

[med6753]

You can see the blue from the previous victim in the top picture 

There must loads of little blue patches around Meds house then from the overspray so it would easy to double check if you had the right house, just look for the tell-tale blue spots on the ground 

Just wait until a new neighbour goes full panic. 'AAAAH, the blue spores! They are everywhere!'

Good, I want my neighbors to fear me. That way they leave me alone. 

Gives me an idea. Take a white t-shirt and spray blue spots on it. 

[Saskia]

if you paint your t-shirt blue, you might be mistaken for Pelosis garden smurf. You sure you want that ?

[Robert763]

54600 series were best early digital scopes.

Agreed, My 54645D MSO with measurement and I/F module is still my favorite all-round 'scope. Handles like an analog but has digital attributes. Even has a CRT.

[Specmaster]

You can see the blue from the previous victim in the top picture 

There must loads of little blue patches around Meds house then from the overspray so it would easy to double check if you had the right house, just look for the tell-tale blue spots on the ground 

Just wait until a new neighbour goes full panic. 'AAAAH, the blue spores! They are everywhere!'

Good, I want my neighbors to fear me. That way they leave me alone. 

Gives me an idea. Take a white t-shirt and spray blue spots on it. 

hah, better hope its not one of us moving in then, because we all that you're really a big old softie underneath, really 

[bd139]

I really cannot see why everybody is on bd's back, OK, it's a Tek, etc, but as he has already stated he does have a reason for his actions and also the TDS210 is perfectly adequate for his stated purpose, audio work, even with its crappy digital display and lack of memory depth. Yes, we all know that analogue scopes have a far better display, I have both a Fluke PM3390B 200MHz combiscope and a Tek TDS210, but the TDS210 gets used most because it is quick to switch on, actually sits on my bench so is right in front of me and takes a very small footprint.

If I had bench space like a lot of you have, then I'd probably use the combiscope more, but space prevents it from being the main go to scope. Yes I'd like a colour display etc. but really cannot justify the cost, so the TDS210 suits me just fine, and I daresay bd can identify with a lot of that as well. 

All this hating on Tek TDS210s just makes me want one more.

Compared to the old Hameg 20MHz analog scopes I used at college and work, it's pretty fancy, as is my TDS420.

A real problem with the 2.5k points is that it can't emulate the traditional dual-timebase technique to zoom in. I know there are sort-of-workarounds, but it took me a long while to realise the TDS340 was unpleasantly deficient in that regard.

Check the windowing functions. It can indeed do that. I'll set up a demo at some point and youtube it.

[SilverSolder]

54600 series were best early digital scopes.

Agreed, My 54645D MSO with measurement and I/F module is still my favorite all-round 'scope. Handles like an analog but has digital attributes. Even has a CRT.

If you look at the newer Keysight MSOs, they seem to have a lot of 546xx genetic material in them...

[Neomys Sapiens]

On that note, does anybody have any recommendations for a battery powered portable, ideally similarly ruggedized, function generator to add to the road kit?

I saw a rather basic thing which was build in a multimeter form factor and sold by one of the hobbyist's outlets, like Conrad or ELV over here. But it was almost certainly lacking several features of a basic function generator, as the controls were not sufficient for that. I think one of the older small HPs can be operated on batteries. If not, you have the choice between several popular chips! An energy-efficient output stage will be among the challenges here.

[mnementh]

You can see the blue from the previous victim in the top picture 

There must loads of little blue patches around Meds house then from the overspray so it would easy to double check if you had the right house, just look for the tell-tale blue spots on the ground 

Just wait until a new neighbour goes full panic. 'AAAAH, the blue spores! They are everywhere!'

That's not overspray... it's Smurf-squeezins. 

mnem
 

[mnementh]

To be fair to the TDS-210, they're cheap, they're fairly rugged, and they're compact and they do get the basic job done so they do have their uses.  I'd toss mine in a bag with some adapters and cables, and a power cord and take it on the road along with a small HP function generator whenever I was going to buy test equipment or if I was going to be doing test or service work.  I've gotten more than the $60 CDN of use out of mine for that purpose and if anything bad happens to it, it's not the end of the world since I don't have much money in it.  It's only recently that I picked up an inexpensive Agilent u1602b handheld scope that's replaced it for that purpose.

On that note, does anybody have any recommendations for a battery powered portable, ideally similarly ruggedized, function generator to add to the road kit?

I'll give you $65 for it. 

mnem
$75 if it comes with usable probes.

[bd139]

 

Put offer on something else. Going batshit this week 

Edit: oh I need a calibrated voltage reference. What’s currently in vogue?

Edit 2: offer accepted and I own an HP 6206B now which looks considerably less skanky than that last one I bought

[mnementh]

eBay auction: #362975806263

mnem
 

[bd139]

Yup but slightly scabbier 

Needs unstickering. Hopefully not too scratched up.

[tggzzz]

Here's the 585A showing a stable trigger on a signal more than twice the datasheet bandwidth for the 585A + type 82 plugin system.  Yes, it's way rolled off, but it's rock stable.

Here's my 485, nominal bandwidth 350MHz. The astute amongst you will note the timebase is 1ns/div, which means it is triggering on a 1.25GHz and 1.5GHz (just) square wave signals.

Unsurprisingly at 3.5 and 4.4 times the rated bandwidth, the amplitude is somewhat reduced.




And it has a real 50ohm attenuator and input, so TDS{2,3}* can disappear up their own fundaments

[bd139]

Not very good under 50Hz or so though 

[tggzzz]

Not very good under 50Hz or so though 

Use a DVM for DC

Nothing interesting happens at DC, unless it involves 8 significant digits.

[bd139]

Plenty of analogue computation happens near DC 

I actually want to test some simple Sallen-key filters i have designed with cut-offs around 20Hz. That's a little low for DMMs and analogue scopes