Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

mnem
I think I may have said this recently but... KILL IT. KILL IT WITH FIRE!!! 

Just the response we come to expect from a fire breathing dwagon 

Saskia has her ceefour; I'm more... primal. 

mnem
EVERYTHING is flammable, given enough heat.

[BU508A]

EVERYTHING is flammable, given enough heat.

You mean: everything can become a plasma, if it's hot enough?

Well, except for med. He'll become grumpy when he's hot.   

[mnementh]

They’re not “great” encoders. Better than the Rigol ones. Let us know how it goes later when you get home.

I'd expect them to be functional though.
These are sending the scales in random directions and magnitudes.

Are they mechanical or optical?

I have seen an article on this problem in the past but cannot remember where it was. IIRC the cure was to carefully drill a very small hole in the encoder housing and only allowing the drill to just break though and no more, sucking the swarf away as you dill slowly to keep it from entering inside and the dowsing the inside with contact cleaner and operating the control a few times, after which it worked perfectly. Do a Google search and you might be lucky and find the article.

You mean this one?
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/the-old-crazy-tektronix-td-210-rotary-encoder-problem-solution/

Found this one as well:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/rotary-encoders-for-tds210/

I too have my TDS2014's encoders fixed with CRC contact cleaner (a no residue solvent). Instead of drilling a whole on the encoder body, I noticed that there is a tiny gap between encoder casing and PCB. Spraying directly to the gap with the supplied red nozzle/tubing drove the cleaning solvent into the internal contacts quite effectively. Be sure to clean the PCB before spraying so that dust won't get into the contacts along with the solvent.

This is my usual FIRST attempt before trying to dismantle such things; the nozzle tube is critical. I'll often use a thin sewing needle applied right at the junction (use hemostats gripped right at the end to get the angle as acute as possible) equidistant between fasteners to wedge the cap up and "get a little more gap" so the cleaner can actually get in there. After that, a afternoon on a towel on the dash of a car to make sure it's all dry.

mnem

[mnementh]

EVERYTHING is flammable, given enough heat.

You mean: everything can become a plasma, if it's hot enough? Well, except for med. He'll become grumpy when he's hot.   

Can't get much more primal than that. 

mnem
*passes med a nice hot cup of plasma to dip his doughnut in*

[mnementh]

I guess, 50 g of ceefour would make that thing pretty unhackable.

I can nuke/pave the HDDs from a LIVE CD (If I can be arsed for the sake of 240GB of spinning rust...  ); but it WOULD have been nice to find out this was a little box of leprosy BEFORE I contaminated them. 

mnem
*toddles off to tape a duck*

[TERRA Operative]

My 6035A arrived today, first power test didn't go pop, and open circuit voltage looks suitably dangerous.

Fan is too loud as usual, maybe I'll look at it if I can be bothered. I think this one just needs some Rifa exorcism and it can be called good (pending load tests) and then I'll take a look at building a front panel terminal jig with shrouded jacks.

[bd139]

Ooh a deathinator!

[mnementh]

STILL has not shipped yet. Think maybe he's making me suck spite for faffing about asking for a repeat customer discount. 

mnem


http://amultiverse.com/comic/2010/06/28/ghostco/

[med6753]

When I did a teardown of the 5248L last week I forgot to also teardown the 5253B Frequency Convertor that came with it. Here it is...

[mnementh]

Is that where the death rays come out...?

mnem
 

[med6753]

Is that where the death rays come out...?

mnem
 

Yep, and pointed towards Toronto. 

[Zucca]

Using git for a small project at work...

1) read the git manual: check done.
2) remote bitbucket repository: check done.
3) forked my first branch: check done.
4) completely lost where I am and how I can go back where I was: check done.

Is pain in the ass a motivation to learn something?

[mnementh]

Yes. Usually motivation to move somewhere else. 

mnem
I prepared Explosive Runes this morning.

[mnementh]

Is that where the death rays come out...?

mnem
 

Yep, and pointed towards Toronto. 

As long as it's only pointed at the FrenchCanadians...

mnem
 

[TERRA Operative]

Ooh a deathinator!

For when only the crispiest deathinating will do!  

When I did a teardown of the 5248L last week I forgot to also teardown the 5253B Frequency Convertor that came with it. Here it is...

(images)

Mmmm, I do like me some old HP, old RF gear always looks like it's from some mad scientists lab.

[mnementh]

It is. 

mnem
ALL of it.

[AVGresponding]

Yeah I figured they were probably mechanical, given the fault symptoms.

No drills, needles, or ceefour required to fix it, just worked the controls a bit when I got home, they've settled down some.

Needs a good clean, the previous owner seems to have been a smoker, it's got that lovely nicotine and tar patination and tackiness to the touch.



Stopped at Argos on my way home to pick up a couple of new toys tools; a graphics tablet, and a FUCKING REFILLABLE TANK printer.

Sorry, just had to blow off some steam on that one... yes yes, I know you can hack the cartridges and refill them with syringes, but seriously, too much mucking about, and then you have to waste more ink printing alignment pages etc etc and yeah no ty.

The graphics tablet should enable me to engage with some other projects I've been mulling over for some time.

[bd139]

Oh nice. Nothing I hate more than cleaning nicotine off things   

[BU508A]

Yeah I figured they were probably mechanical, given the fault symptoms.

No drills, needles, or ceefour required to fix it, just worked the controls a bit when I got home, they've settled down some.

Needs a good clean, the previous owner seems to have been a smoker, it's got that lovely nicotine and tar patination and tackiness to the touch.



Stopped at Argos on my way home to pick up a couple of new toys tools; a graphics tablet, and a FUCKING REFILLABLE TANK printer.

Sorry, just had to blow off some steam on that one... yes yes, I know you can hack the cartridges and refill them with syringes, but seriously, too much mucking about, and then you have to waste more ink printing alignment pages etc etc and yeah no ty.

The graphics tablet should enable me to engage with some other projects I've been mulling over for some time.

That's why I've bought earlier this year a colour laser printer from Brother. No messing around with clogged nozzles, dried ink, dirty corners in the printer etc.
I hate these ink pissing machines.

[BU508A]

Oh nice. Nothing I hate more than cleaning nicotine off things   

+1
Cleaning dirty old TV sets covered in a nice patina of smoke, nicotine and dust ... *blerk*
I hated it.

[bd139]

Yeah I figured they were probably mechanical, given the fault symptoms.

No drills, needles, or ceefour required to fix it, just worked the controls a bit when I got home, they've settled down some.

Needs a good clean, the previous owner seems to have been a smoker, it's got that lovely nicotine and tar patination and tackiness to the touch.



Stopped at Argos on my way home to pick up a couple of new toys tools; a graphics tablet, and a FUCKING REFILLABLE TANK printer.

Sorry, just had to blow off some steam on that one... yes yes, I know you can hack the cartridges and refill them with syringes, but seriously, too much mucking about, and then you have to waste more ink printing alignment pages etc etc and yeah no ty.

The graphics tablet should enable me to engage with some other projects I've been mulling over for some time.

That's why I've bought earlier this year a colour laser printer from Brother. No messing around with clogged nozzles, dried ink, dirty corners in the printer etc.
I hate these ink pissing machines.

Waiting for my HP squid to give up or me to take all my pent up anger on it and will be doing exactly the same.  Bastard thing is nothing but trouble.

[BU508A]

Yeah I figured they were probably mechanical, given the fault symptoms.

No drills, needles, or ceefour required to fix it, just worked the controls a bit when I got home, they've settled down some.

Needs a good clean, the previous owner seems to have been a smoker, it's got that lovely nicotine and tar patination and tackiness to the touch.



Stopped at Argos on my way home to pick up a couple of new toys tools; a graphics tablet, and a FUCKING REFILLABLE TANK printer.

Sorry, just had to blow off some steam on that one... yes yes, I know you can hack the cartridges and refill them with syringes, but seriously, too much mucking about, and then you have to waste more ink printing alignment pages etc etc and yeah no ty.

The graphics tablet should enable me to engage with some other projects I've been mulling over for some time.

That's why I've bought earlier this year a colour laser printer from Brother. No messing around with clogged nozzles, dried ink, dirty corners in the printer etc.
I hate these ink pissing machines.

Waiting for my HP squid to give up or me to take all my pent up anger on it and will be doing exactly the same.  Bastard thing is nothing but trouble.

Forget it. It will not give in just for one simple reason: annoying you. 

[bd139]

Every time it causes me problems it gets a literal kicking. Eventually it will receive a fatal blow. 

[25 CPS]

Is that where the death rays come out...?

mnem
 

Yep, and pointed towards Toronto. 

Excellent.

Give me about 10 minutes to drive down to the beach and park and get a folding chair out of the back of the truck so I can get comfortable and watch, then push the big red button to fire the thing.

[Cerebus]

Looks like phase modulation.

And there was me thinking that it looks like mountains or boobies.