Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mansaxel]

I need a shed, a big shed with a concrete floor and 3 phase...

I have the garage. The garage has 3-phase. The garage has no concrete floor. Which is why my Storebro still occupies 4 euro pallets and is not assembled and runnable in a corner of it. Also, I need a crane to assemble the lathe from the kit of parts.

[BU508A]

I need a shed, a big shed with a concrete floor and 3 phase...

I have the garage. The garage has 3-phase. The garage has no concrete floor. Which is why my Storebro still occupies 4 euro pallets and is not assembled and runnable in a corner of it. Also, I need a crane to assemble the lathe from the kit of parts.

I'd say: the first thing you need is a concrete floor. 

[tautech]

I need a shed, a big shed with a concrete floor and 3 phase...

I have the garage. The garage has 3-phase. The garage has no concrete floor. Which is why my Storebro still occupies 4 euro pallets and is not assembled and runnable in a corner of it. Also, I need a crane to assemble the lathe from the kit of parts.

I'd say: the first thing you need is a concrete floor. 

A roof over it first is even better. 

My 40x12 3ph baby for when I get time to use it. 

[Zucca]

Bloody marriage, relocation to new home and corona....
Tonight I fired up the dragon device for the first time:




So I need to upgrade a few parts and download the prusa slicer and I will serve you soon a FU YOU octopus.

EDIT: I just realized jet every time I print I need to load the gcode on a card? Are we in 2020? 

[BU508A]

Question:
If you have to choose between a

- Siglent SDG1025 (310 Euro)
- GW Instek AFG-2225 (300 Euro)

which one would you choose and why?
Both are in nearly new condition.

[Cubdriver]

I need a shed, a big shed with a concrete floor and 3 phase...

Don't we all!!

I have the garage. The garage has 3-phase. The garage has no concrete floor. Which is why my Storebro still occupies 4 euro pallets and is not assembled and runnable in a corner of it. Also, I need a crane to assemble the lathe from the kit of parts.

I'd say: the first thing you need is a concrete floor. 

A roof over it first is even better. 

My 40x12 3ph baby for when I get time to use it. 

My Southbend 10K is currently serving as a shelf while I do a bunch of cleaning and wiring in the garage...



Cleaning in my garage is a Sisyphean task if ever there was one...

-Pat

[Cerebus]

I need a shed, a big shed with a concrete floor and 3 phase...

I have the garage. The garage has 3-phase. The garage has no concrete floor. Which is why my Storebro still occupies 4 euro pallets and is not assembled and runnable in a corner of it. Also, I need a crane to assemble the lathe from the kit of parts.

I'd say: the first thing you need is a concrete floor. 

The first thing he needs is a fork lift to move the pallets so that he can lay the concrete floor. Shortly followed by half a dozen friends, all nicknamed 'Björn'.

[tautech]

Question:
If you have to choose between a

- Siglent SDG1025 (310 Euro)
- GW Instek AFG-2225 (300 Euro)

which one would you choose and why?
Both are in nearly new condition.

Not that SDG as ch2 has lesser spec than ch1.
SDG1032X is just $319 new and better speced AWG.

[BU508A]

I need a shed, a big shed with a concrete floor and 3 phase...

I have the garage. The garage has 3-phase. The garage has no concrete floor. Which is why my Storebro still occupies 4 euro pallets and is not assembled and runnable in a corner of it. Also, I need a crane to assemble the lathe from the kit of parts.

I'd say: the first thing you need is a concrete floor. 

The first thing he needs is a fork lift to move the pallets so that he can lay the concrete floor. Shortly followed by half a dozen friends, all nicknamed 'Björn'.

Not sure, if this is a good idea.   

[TorinoFermic]

So I need to upgrade a few parts and download the prusa slicer and I will serve you soon a FU YOU octopus.

EDIT: I just realized jet every time I print I need to load the gcode on a card? Are we in 2020? 

Yes, that's why we use Octoprint on a raspberry pi to not have manage with cards, especially when having more than 1 printer being in use.

[Cerebus]

So the moral of BJörn's tale seems to be "Kill all the nuns first". Hmm, as a man with friends who were schooled by nuns I can see the justice in that.

[tautech]

I need a shed, a big shed with a concrete floor and 3 phase...

Don't we all!!

I have the garage. The garage has 3-phase. The garage has no concrete floor. Which is why my Storebro still occupies 4 euro pallets and is not assembled and runnable in a corner of it. Also, I need a crane to assemble the lathe from the kit of parts.

I'd say: the first thing you need is a concrete floor. 

A roof over it first is even better. 

My 40x12 3ph baby for when I get time to use it. 

My Southbend 10K is currently serving as a shelf while I do a bunch of cleaning and wiring in the garage...

-Pat

@ 700kg mine's beyond sticking on a shelf ! 
Even our old 2wd tractor FEL had trouble lifting it off a trailer and getting it into the shed.
Once there and on pipe rollers it was easy to get into position where it remains today. 

[hwalker]

  hugen (nanoVNA-H, nanoVNA-H4, SAA2) has introduced a new member to his family of low cost hobbyist test equipment.  Its called the tinySA and is a spectrum analyzer costing $50 in the same form factor as his NanoVNA-H.

  The product is being sold at his Alibaba store https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Hand-held-tiny-Spectrum-analyzer-TinySA_1600085564565.html  and details can be found at https://tinysa.org/wiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.HomePage .

  For a hobbyist, this item is definitely worth taking a look at.  The designer is Erik Kaashoek, a well respected member of the electronics community.

[mnementh]

...find something worth taking a punt on are long gone; the intardnet has made that kind of scrounging nigh-extinct. 

mnem
*sigh*

Says the man who almost literally tripped over two industrial sewing machines on the sidewalk.

Or did he, maybe he snuck them out the backdoor of an old factory somewhere in the frozen north 

No almost about it.   Discovery of said machines occurred as I blithely stubbed my toe on the Juki; it was hiding quite stealthfully between the sidewalk and the street on the other side of a shrubbery (no doubt planted by The Society for the Prevention of Parsley Placement on People's Plates in Public Places in cooperation with The Knights Who Say "Nee!") as I was returning on walkies with my little grrl.

I tried to talk myself out of bringing them home, but my mother's ghost wouldn't let me let them go to the tip. She was a textile maestro of rather unique ability; she worked her way through nursing college running Jacquard looms in a factory and literally knew how to make most popular fabrics from scratch. She could make a pair of blue-jeans that fit like second skin and were indistinguishable from Levis; she had a couple dozen regular customers that paid her well to do so when I was growing up in Pittsburgh. I remember her telling me several times that a machine like this was a business in itself for folks who did textiles; I really had no choice but to save them.

But... that REALLY was one of those "Once in a Lifetime" curb-scores, and really only valuable to a very narrow niche market. You certainly can't count on a lathe crossing your path that way, especially if you're wanting one.

mnem
*Stitch-ily*

[mnementh]

My Southbend 10K is currently serving as a shelf while I do a bunch of cleaning and wiring in the garage...      Cleaning in my garage is a Sisyphean task if ever there was one...

-Pat

Whuf! That brings back high-school metal shop memories... Row after row of that war-production beast, every one wearing a dozen layers of deckplate grey and lined up like soldiers at attention; and old man Kirsch yelling at us not to push the belt-tension lever underneath with our foot so we wouldn't break the iron casting they were attached to: "There's a reason they have handles; you're supposed to use your HANDS! If you were supposed to use your feet, they'd have FOOTLES!!!"

*sigh*

*~mnemories~*

[tautech]

You certainly can't count on a lathe crossing your path that way, especially if you're wanting one.

mnem

Actually my first lathe came to me something like that.
The hubby of a bird I went through school with had the thing and had tried to use it for wood turning  and as it was an ancient flat bed thing with busted and half missing leadscrew gearing, gone powerfeed shaft and generally beaten up ol' girl I got it for nicks other than a 30 minute run in the truck to collect it.
Did many turning jobs over the years with it relearning the little I knew about lathes from high school.

Nevertheless it was a worn out old POS with so much slop and wear everywhere it was the very last thing I cried about when most of my gear was lost in a fire a few years back.

[bitseeker]

Did some work on the 6206b this morning. Checked out caps - all good. Calibrated and destickered half of the front. Other half still to go. Annoyed about the scratches from the previous idiot owner who used a screwdriver to get a cal label off.

Ugh! The screwdriver-wielding idiots are much too prevalent. I've passed on many TE because of them.

[bitseeker]

Tektronix TM500. Modular test gear.

Rest of 6206B cleaned up. Some permanent marker and scratches left but better for sure. Took all flipping day to do a 10 minute job 

Before:



After:



Most important thing is it works properly!

Wow, that sure cleaned up nicely. Just looking at all those stickers screams "rabbit hole!" Well done, bd.

[bitseeker]

Now this is what a real repair queue looks like. Geez I just wish I had half that space for my lab

I just watched this one today. So. Much. Space. And all his shelves match, too.

Although his dream-like lab (or labs, as the case may be) makes mine look abysmal and minuscule, I'm relieved to have a much smaller collection of gear. His is TEA of another order, in volume, neatness, and cool factor.

[Cerebus]

But... that REALLY was one of those "Once in a Lifetime" curb-scores, and really only valuable to a very narrow niche market. You certainly can't count on a lathe crossing your path that way, especially if you're wanting one.

Well, if I was to stumble into one on the kerb by crashing my testicles into the drip tray it would save SWMBO the trouble of removing them when she found it in her living room. 

[mnementh]

And NOW... a Little Jackleg Machinistry...!

   Dammitt. This Juki is just kicking my ass. Thought I was all done fix'er-uppering, so went through the user manual rereading the setup and usage instructions so I can take her on her new "maiden flight"... and I find that there's a second lift lever for the presser foot... and it's broken.

   Of course there are replacements available, for like $12. Evidently, ONLY from China. And I'm moving right NOW.

Murphy... your timing, as usual, is impeccable.    

So After some deliberation over whether to make the part in Fusion and print it, I decided to look at other solutions based on what I had in my junk drawer. I found a nice-looking hex standoff that had had the stud broken off; a little Dremel work to square up the fugly end and I was ready to drill & tap. Normally I'd do the boring part with a drill press; but I pretty much still have no more shop than what can be fit in a couple toolbags, so gonna have to get shadetree on its ass.

A little Sharpie as ersatz Dykem Blue and scribe center with a knife; then prickpunch and drill. But to keep me from drilling dangerously crooked, I'm going to do it bass-ackwards; the bit will follow the center of rotation as much as possible provided I keep the drill straight enough not to break it.

Thankfully I have oodles of leftover mineral oil from filling the machine; drilling and tapping both cut smooth and painless. 




Looks like the drill still managed to walk a few thou even being center-punched...  Eh, still good enough for this application.




A younger me would've just ground the face of that hex with a curve to match the shaft and have done with it, or put the shaft in a vise and ground/filed a flat on it; I was sorely tempted to do the latter, but I knew it would look like a scabbed-together POS on a otherwise decent condition machine I was looking to sell. So I decided to do it the hard way... 




So first I drilled out the bleeping bastard child M3.5 thread in the shaft to 4mm (using my $4 set of metric drill bits from Dollarama-yo mama...! ) and screwed the hex to the shaft. Then a little more scribing with a knife to lay out the work.




This kind of project is like whittling; first you start with bigger cutters and work your way down. Got a good start roughing it out with a 25mm cutoff wheel...




... and now move onto a almost used-up wheel saved for just such purposes.




After that it's just "a little here, a little there" trial & error fettling for 30-40 min with various cutters and diamond bits.




And the first screwed-down test-fit is GO!




Here it is installed on the machine... much better than the broken nylon piece that came on it. While not the original lever, appearance is in keeping with the manufacturing tech of the machine; it looks like it belongs there. 




I knew that being a big hamfisted old tinkerdwagon, my estimate of actuation force and feel was not reasonable; I could pinch the bare shaft and turn the thing if I had to.  As a final test, I had my wife sit at the machine to test the lever action and feel of the hex in the hand.




Mrs "The Dragon" gave two thumbs up for both ease of use and tactile feel, but politely declined a photo op. This will have to do.

mnem
*tinker-ily*

[Brumby]

  hugen (nanoVNA-H, nanoVNA-H4, SAA2) has introduced a new member to his family of low cost hobbyist test equipment.  Its called the tinySA and is a spectrum analyzer costing $50 in the same form factor as his NanoVNA-H.

  The product is being sold at his Alibaba store https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Hand-held-tiny-Spectrum-analyzer-TinySA_1600085564565.html  and details can be found at https://tinysa.org/wiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.HomePage .

  For a hobbyist, this item is definitely worth taking a look at.  The designer is Erik Kaashoek, a well respected member of the electronics community.

 

I've been looking at the NanoVNA with no real need, but a decided yearning for such an affordable bit of such delightful kit - but at the same time thinking it would be nice to have a SA along the same lines.  Seems someone was already tuned into that idea.

Now, I don't have a real need for a SA ... other than to have something to put on the other end of the bits I got to make Dave's $10 DIY EMC Probe.



Who am I kidding?   

[mnementh]

Buy a broken 4 channel DSO. That’s a larger challenge these days 

Okay. But just 'cuz you sed to. 

mnem
Fine, fine, fine... I'll get it's brother too so I can make 4 channels.

[mnementh]

Speaking of Colchesters, I saw an imperial Colchester "Student" mark II the other day, for a good price, in good condition (as far as one can judge from photographs), DRO, coolant pump. The price was "jump for it" good. However, if I bought it I wouldn't have a living room anymore - as that's the only space I've got left that's big enough to take it. I also shortly afterward would probably find myself missing my two favourite 'little ball bearings' after the missus found the sofa replaced by over a ton of iron, grease and swarf.

I need a shed, a big shed with a concrete floor and 3 phase...

That sort of deal is what they make stock & lock storage units for. At least until you get the shed built...

I actually worked out of one for a while back when I flipped cars for fun & profit; the owner was cool but he made me buy the inclusive insurance (cover his ass in case I got hurt doing stuff other than moving in/out) after he noticed I was there when he opened and when he closed. 

Had a neighbor across the way who operated her accounting office out of one of the bigger units.

Probably couldn’t get away with any such fuck-duckery anymore... not in these litigious times. 

mnem
 

[bitseeker]

I've been looking at the NanoVNA with no real need, but a decided yearning for such an affordable bit of such delightful kit - but at the same time thinking it would be nice to have a SA along the same lines.  Seems someone was already tuned into that idea.

Now, I don't have a real need for a SA ... other than to have something to put on the other end of the bits I got to make Dave's $10 DIY EMC Probe.

Who am I kidding?   

Yeah, I didn't have a real need for a SA, either. So, I got an RTL-SDR. Pretty cool device. But, you know how it is with the eBay watch list. Next thing I knew, I had an Advantest R3465 (9kHz-8GHz). Pretty nice machine. Color LCD, too. Well, you know how only after you get one piece of TE, other interesting ones like it seem to start showing up? Yep, after I got the R3465, that's when an HP 8560E (30Hz-2.9GHz) showed up with the tracking generator option(!) at a local auction. No one bid on it, but me. So, now I really don't need a SA.

The other day, I saw an Advantest R3272 (9kHz-26.5GHz) on eBay for $500. The faceplate was broken (common damage) and was missing the main rotary encoder knob, but what a deal. No, I didn't buy it.

It was tempting, though, because the seller also had listed another one for only $300, with a good faceplate and knob, but it locked up during boot. So, getting both would have resulted in at least a complete, unbroken SA for $800 with a little parts swapping. The working one could also provide some clues to debug the other one and maybe get it working, otherwise it'd provide lots of spare parts.