Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

Well, I got that sort-of wrong. There I was thinking I'd have a nice little resistance box to put on the shelf on top of my HP3468a or new Agilent 34410A. But, ... not quite ...

   I'll have to build a shelf for that pit prop. Still, at least they are 0.03% resistors, 2mOhm switches, and 25mohm excess resistance.

   Looks to me like a problem that solves itself; all you need is a couple of these and that thing BECOMES the shelf.

mnem
 

[tggzzz]

Just sniped a bargain:
16 pieces of 1k resistors, Vishay S102C (Y00071K00000T9L) 0.01% for ca. 77 Euro.   

https://www.ebay.de/itm/133490619724

I've just snagged 80 0.03% resistors between 100mohm and 1Mohm for £34+35%. They are ready mounted on switches with a 2mohm resistance, and in a nice enclosure with the legend "JJ Instruments R802 Resistance Box".  There were 4 other examples, which went for £50-80+35%. I'm not sure why I was lucky; the only visible reason is that mine was upside down on the shelf

Well, I got that sort-of wrong.

There I was thinking I'd have a nice little resistance box to put on the shelf on top of my HP3468a or new Agilent 34410A. But, ... not quite ...



I'll have to build a shelf for that pit prop.

Still, at least they are 0.03% resistors, 2mOhm switches, and 25mohm excess resistance.

Surely the 4mm Binding Posts should have given you an idea. That's how I judge the size of unknown equipment.

Don't be so ....... logical. All I saw was 8 decades of  0.03% resistors for a small-change price. Didn't factor in the cost of room alterations.

The first clue, and a bit of a shock, was when I saw the far-too-large parcel on my doorstep. It is 33*46*76cm. From previous experience Ranco use bubble wrap, but not excessive amounts of it.

Now I have enough bubble wrap to last me a lifetime. I suppose I'll have to flog some preciouses in September.

[Cerebus]

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/have-i-been-sent-a-used-or-refurbished-saelig-oscilloscope/

It's too bad Dave locked it before I saw it or else I would have passed him the Internet Butthurt Form to fill out. 

That’s a fairly large fail. Telonic always open my shit to put a U.K. mains lead in it and stick some annoying stickers on the unit.  It’s just how they roll 

And leave a mini-multimeter for you to sell, don't forget that.

Also, at least in the case of my Rigol scope, they put the latest firmware and the latest 'special offer' of Rigol options licenses on it - which was good because it meant that I didn't have to navigate redeeming the 'special offer' from Rigol. OK, so I immediately went and hacked it so it had all the options, but that's not the point. The service was appreciated and their price was no worse than anyone else's and no import hassles. I don't recall any stickers (checks scope) - no, nothing annoying, just a PAT test sticker (another bonus).

[tonyalbus]

Just got paid this morning so got my baby back again after this year's earlier disaster

Congrats!!...

Yeah lovely machine...... still finding out more things it can do

[tonyalbus]

BTW @bd , you talked about hacking scopes.... is there more to unlock on this SDS1202X-E ?

[Cerebus]

Ahh you got the manufacturer tools for it 

Some but not all and they didn't come from the factory. 
Also some key press sequences for 'special' tasks also that we share between distributors....they are official but secret. 

And you're saying that here?

OK lads (and Saskia), let's get the comfy chair and the colour telly out ...

[mnementh]

Surely the 4mm Binding Posts should have given you an idea. That's how I judge the size of unknown equipment.

Don't be so ....... logical. All I saw was 8 decades of  0.03% resistors for a small-change price. Didn't factor in the cost of room alterations.

The first clue, and a bit of a shock, was when I saw the far-too-large parcel on my doorstep. It is 33*46*76cm. From previous experience Ranco use bubble wrap, but not excessive amounts of it. Now I have enough bubble wrap to last me a lifetime. I suppose I'll have to flog some preciouses in September.

Still not seeing a downside here; sounds like they spent all the money you gave them just getting it tooya. 

My daughter would mug you for that bubble wrap; popping them pimples is like a OCD thing for her.

mnem
 

[tggzzz]

Surely the 4mm Binding Posts should have given you an idea. That's how I judge the size of unknown equipment.

Don't be so ....... logical. All I saw was 8 decades of  0.03% resistors for a small-change price. Didn't factor in the cost of room alterations.

The first clue, and a bit of a shock, was when I saw the far-too-large parcel on my doorstep. It is 33*46*76cm. From previous experience Ranco use bubble wrap, but not excessive amounts of it. Now I have enough bubble wrap to last me a lifetime. I suppose I'll have to flog some preciouses in September.

Still not seeing a downside here; sounds like they spent all the money you gave them just getting it tooya. 

My daughter would mug you for that bubble wrap; popping them pimples is like a OCD thing for her.

I'm not complaining per se; bewildered perhaps.

If your daughter popped all my bubblewrap, she would end up with RSI. And I would be able to fit it in my bin.

I paid (yesterday!) £15+20%VAT for it to materialise at my feet; that's their standard charge.

[factory]

Just sniped a bargain:
16 pieces of 1k resistors, Vishay S102C (Y00071K00000T9L) 0.01% for ca. 77 Euro.   

https://www.ebay.de/itm/133490619724

I've just snagged 80 0.03% resistors between 100mohm and 1Mohm for £34+35%. They are ready mounted on switches with a 2mohm resistance, and in a nice enclosure with the legend "JJ Instruments R802 Resistance Box".  There were 4 other examples, which went for £50-80+35%. I'm not sure why I was lucky; the only visible reason is that mine was upside down on the shelf

Well, I got that sort-of wrong.

There I was thinking I'd have a nice little resistance box to put on the shelf on top of my HP3468a or new Agilent 34410A. But, ... not quite ...



I'll have to build a shelf for that pit prop.

Still, at least they are 0.03% resistors, 2mOhm switches, and 25mohm excess resistance.

Surely the 4mm Binding Posts should have given you an idea. That's how I judge the size of unknown equipment.

Don't be so ....... logical. All I saw was 8 decades of  0.03% resistors for a small-change price. Didn't factor in the cost of room alterations.

The first clue, and a bit of a shock, was when I saw the far-too-large parcel on my doorstep. It is 33*46*76cm. From previous experience Ranco use bubble wrap, but not excessive amounts of it.

Now I have enough bubble wrap to last me a lifetime. I suppose I'll have to flog some preciouses in September.

If you wanted something small enough to put above your bench DMM then a Time decade box would have been better, but they aren't built the same as the larger boxes.
Or another small (& probably knackered) choice would be the Levell six decade resistance box. We had lots of the Time units at work, a couple of the Levell and only a couple of big decade resistors.

What happened to the alu discs from the knobs of the JJ box you bought? the other picture shows a different unit.

David

[Cerebus]

If your daughter popped all my bubblewrap, she would end up with RSI. And I would be able to fit it in my bin.

Has lightbulb moment. Ever come across a pastry docking roller?



The ideal tool (possibly after sharpening the pins) for deflating bubble wrap.

Certain speciality shops stock these



as diagnostic tools (neurology) or *ahem* personal items.

[bd139]

BTW @bd , you talked about hacking scopes.... is there more to unlock on this SDS1202X-E ?

Probably not. Unlike the Rigol offerings it's 100% unlocked out of the box.

[bd139]

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/have-i-been-sent-a-used-or-refurbished-saelig-oscilloscope/

It's too bad Dave locked it before I saw it or else I would have passed him the Internet Butthurt Form to fill out. 

That’s a fairly large fail. Telonic always open my shit to put a U.K. mains lead in it and stick some annoying stickers on the unit.  It’s just how they roll 

And leave a mini-multimeter for you to sell, don't forget that.

Also, at least in the case of my Rigol scope, they put the latest firmware and the latest 'special offer' of Rigol options licenses on it - which was good because it meant that I didn't have to navigate redeeming the 'special offer' from Rigol. OK, so I immediately went and hacked it so it had all the options, but that's not the point. The service was appreciated and their price was no worse than anyone else's and no import hassles. I don't recall any stickers (checks scope) - no, nothing annoying, just a PAT test sticker (another bonus).

Yeah I think Telonic have stopped the free gift thing now though. Which is a shame as I was doing ok out of the BM22s meters. 

I assume yours was the aforementioned black and red beasty that was cracked?

[tonyalbus]

BTW @bd , you talked about hacking scopes.... is there more to unlock on this SDS1202X-E ?

Probably not. Unlike the Rigol offerings it's 100% unlocked out of the box.

Silly me.,. i indeed remember someting Dave said , with one of its compair. video.. about the Siglent
better we don't need to break it, i am crap at any-nix os system anyway..

[tonyalbus]

Yes that was cool.... bought a battery drill.... batrery screwer, what ever its called.. from Bosch... propper stuff
10,- incl local shipping
incl its case and charger.. because battery was death....
guess what.. if you apply 40 Amps for 30 secs...
fully working )))
 

[tonyalbus]

not sure is was @robert??
i needed to check a tube..
Yes it is indeed a AZ1

@Terra .. its still on my list, you Trio Scope pictures are coming one of these days... just organyzing a bit in my little shack here first.
need more space..

[tggzzz]

Just sniped a bargain:
16 pieces of 1k resistors, Vishay S102C (Y00071K00000T9L) 0.01% for ca. 77 Euro.   

https://www.ebay.de/itm/133490619724

I've just snagged 80 0.03% resistors between 100mohm and 1Mohm for £34+35%. They are ready mounted on switches with a 2mohm resistance, and in a nice enclosure with the legend "JJ Instruments R802 Resistance Box".  There were 4 other examples, which went for £50-80+35%. I'm not sure why I was lucky; the only visible reason is that mine was upside down on the shelf

Well, I got that sort-of wrong.

There I was thinking I'd have a nice little resistance box to put on the shelf on top of my HP3468a or new Agilent 34410A. But, ... not quite ...



I'll have to build a shelf for that pit prop.

Still, at least they are 0.03% resistors, 2mOhm switches, and 25mohm excess resistance.

Surely the 4mm Binding Posts should have given you an idea. That's how I judge the size of unknown equipment.

Don't be so ....... logical. All I saw was 8 decades of  0.03% resistors for a small-change price. Didn't factor in the cost of room alterations.

The first clue, and a bit of a shock, was when I saw the far-too-large parcel on my doorstep. It is 33*46*76cm. From previous experience Ranco use bubble wrap, but not excessive amounts of it.

Now I have enough bubble wrap to last me a lifetime. I suppose I'll have to flog some preciouses in September.

If you wanted something small enough to put above your bench DMM then a Time decade box would have been better, but they aren't built the same as the larger boxes.
Or another small (& probably knackered) choice would be the Levell six decade resistance box. We had lots of the Time units at work, a couple of the Levell and only a couple of big decade resistors.

What happened to the alu discs from the knobs of the JJ box you bought? the other picture shows a different unit.

The ali disks are legit; only one of the five units had all present.

Indeed Time boxes are small, and there's even been one donated to my local hackspace. But they are 10* the price and 1/10 or 1/30 the accuracy - and the controls are definitely not so pornographic to the touch.

As for needing an 8-decade resistance box - hell no I don't, no more than I need a 121.1ohm Dekastat.

But this is the TEA enclave, and I'm feeling quite proud of myself because I didn't bid on something to measure my 10Gohm and 1Tohm resistors

[SilverSolder]

Awesome - I don't think I've ever seen an 8 decade box before! 

[Ice-Tea]

Yes that was cool.... bought a battery drill.... batrery screwer, what ever its called.. from Bosch... propper stuff
10,- incl local shipping

Blue Bosch. Dang, that's nice...

[med6753]

More PSU capacitor replacement on the HP 5248L.

2 replaced here while leaving the original cans in place. Was able to mount the terminal strip on mounting screw for adjacent board. The original cans were an odd ball value of 975uf/40V. Replaced both with 1000uf/50V.



3 capacitors left to replace. This is going to involve drilling. Going to drill out one rivet on each of those smaller cans and replace it with a screw/nut so I can install 2 terminal strips. That's follow on. Powered up the counter after replacing above and testing it out.

[capt bullshot]

Awesome - I don't think I've ever seen an 8 decade box before! 

Got this one from mother Russia:






The smallest decade is 1mOhm steps, the largest 10kOhm steps. Residual resistance is specified as 23mOhm. Box size is 30cm * 21cm * 13cm. Forgot to put an HP multimeter or calculator to the photo setup as reference
Alas, wasn't as cheap as the one tggzzz bought
At least, it's specified 0.02%

[med6753]

Looking good. Both the counter and the reference have only been powered up so far for about a half hour.

[bd139]

Random "fuck you" to the whole computer industry. High DPI displays are a complete shit show across the board:

1. macOS only works properly if you have 2:1 pixel scaling and like hell you can get anything other than Apple branded or integrated displays which have the correct pixel density.
2. half the stuff on windows only works at 1:1 scaling anyway. that's legacy stuff. All the new metro cack and microsoft apps are fine but they are a bunch of sweaty balls anyway.
3. anything that sort of works at high DPI, consider libreoffice, runs slow as crap.
3. everything on a 4k 27" display is the right size at 1.5x scaling. but nothing works properly at 1.5x scaling. Why does a 4k 27" display exist? Why did I buy one 
4. Any fractional scaling on linux is just a complete shit show beyond all compare and at 2:1 scaling nothing works properly and you can't get any decent displays for the money. Also when you fire up a linux machine on a 4k display it loads 1:1 fonts into the framebuffer at full whack 4k resolution which means they are so small you can't read the damn console until X starts unless you plant your head 5 inches away from the screen.

So my 27" 4k display is going on ebay and I'm buying a 27" 1440p display instead  Recommendations accepted - needs IPS, <5ms and a decent professional grade stand which can be adjusted so the middle of the screen is at least 35cm off the desk.

[capt bullshot]

I just like my 1600x1200 screens. Didn't find anything more useful over long time. 16:9 or 16:10 is no good for me.

[tggzzz]

Awesome - I don't think I've ever seen an 8 decade box before! 

It is a bit OTT, isn't it

Mind you, I think the 7-decade Kelvin-Varley Dividers are more interesting. I have one of these https://www.eevblog.com/forum/metrology/teardownjulie_reasearch_labs_vdr1067_vdr307_kelvin_varley_voltage_divider/msg1103686/#msg1103686 and there's no way I'm tearing it down! Look at the specs: resolution 0.1 ppm, accuracy 1 ppm, stability 1 ppm/year.

Makes 300ppm look anaemic

[bd139]

I just like my 1600x1200 screens. Didn't find anything more useful over long time. 16:9 or 16:10 is no good for me.

I like a wide screen as mostly I run tmux and PuTTY all day with the occasional browser. Gives me more real estate on the screen. Plus also better if you're watching media which this machine is used for.

This is likely contender for replacement: https://www.cclonline.com/product/iiyama-prolite-xub2792qsu-b1-monitor-27-inch-2560-x-1440-qhd-ips-panel-amd-freesync-black-xub2792qsu-b1-227291/

Exactly the same as what I've got but 1440p panel.