Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[0culus]

Found this neat 1950s Tektronix oscilloscope pamphlet for sale while searching for more vintage -hp- catalogs and couldn't pass it up.

[mnementh]

FUUUUUU... I just looked at my pwn; weather app sez it's going down to 7 degrees tonight.

mnem
*closes bedroom window*

[0culus]

That's what you get for moving to an arctic wasteland. 

[med6753]

That's what you get for moving to an arctic wasteland. 

He's being a drama queen. That's 7 C or 45 F. Meh......

[mansaxel]

I've never had a problem with the GSP, as a buyer or a seller, it takes the hassle factor out as far as I'm concerned.

While I agree it works (the re-packing is not wonderful, at times), I've got a Harrison / -hp- 6206 in dubious condition ( The mains cable is cut, so with my luck the transformer is crapped out...  ) coming from the Pacific Northwest, a shipment that just spent the lions share of a week in the hands of US Post Office, only to end up in batch-related neglect in Erlanger for another. And for this we're paying a bit more than we oughta.  Good thing the USD is well below 9 SEK now; makes it a bit more bearable.
 
But, both the -hp- 428b and the Fluke 8060 saw Erlanger on their way to me, and are prized possesions now.

[Specmaster]

@mnementh if you do contact PP, select contact us, call us and they will give you a 6digit code and a number to call. Once through they will be connected to a robot who ask you pop in your code and then invite you tell it your problem and it will redirect you other robots or the web. What you need to is once connected is give your code, and say “Agent” and if needed keep repeating it, then you will speak to a real human. Good luck.

[Specmaster]

I've never had a problem with the GSP, as a buyer or a seller, it takes the hassle factor out as far as I'm concerned.

While I agree it works (the re-packing is not wonderful, at times), I've got a Harrison / -hp- 6206 in dubious condition ( The mains cable is cut, so with my luck the transformer is crapped out...  ) coming from the Pacific Northwest, a shipment that just spent the lions share of a week in the hands of US Post Office, only to end up in batch-related neglect in Erlanger for another. And for this we're paying a bit more than we oughta.  Good thing the USD is well below 9 SEK now; makes it a bit more bearable.
 
But, both the -hp- 428b and the Fluke 8060 saw Erlanger on their way to me, and are prized possesions now.

Likewise, all of my US purchases have come via Erlanger and they arrived here very well packed to withstand a nuclear blast, completely intact and fully working.

[capt bullshot]

https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/digitalmutimeter-hp-agilent-34401a/1505319398-168-1926

it seems to be one of the old ones ...

This seller offers another one for 400 EUR with exactly the same photo and text ...
Otherwise, if it's working and tested as he wrote, and the display looky okayish (depending on the photo, one cannot recognize a worn out VFD always) 330 EUR is very OK.

[Ice-Tea]

I think I need a consult. Potential eBay buyer:

Schönen Tag.

  Wie hoch sind die endgültigen Kosten des Artikels?

Vielen Dank

Me:

Hi,

Not sure what you mean? Aside from the listed price, there's a 20€ shipping charge? Other than that, all costs are included..


Dude:

Danke für deine Antwort,
Ich werde 440 EUR für den Artikel mit Versand nach Großbritannien bezahlen,
und ich möchte die Zahlung per Banküberweisung machen,
Bitte senden Sie mir die folgenden Informationen für die Zahlung
wenn Sie mit meinem Angebot einverstanden sind

DEIN NAME
BANK NAME
IBAN
BIC CODE
EMAIL
LAND
ARTIKELNAME
GESAMTPREIS

Vielen Dank

antworten Sie mir direkt auf meine E-Mail (xxx@gmail.com)

At this point I notice he has 0 feedback. Reply:

Hello,

My appologies, I hadn't noticed this was your first eBay purchase (I think..) I should have been more considerate. A few points:

- Handling this directly by mail is not allowed once contact has been established on eBay. Both your account and mine can be suspended because of that and I think I can be charged a fee for it.
- Just make sure to set your shipping address to the UK address you want it shipped to
- Purchase the item on eBay
- After this, eBay will give you access to all details you require (such as bank details etc...)
- eBay will also list the price including shipping (shipping to the UK is only 30€ by the way...)

if you have further questions, don't hesitate...

Him:

Meine Bank wird Sie bitten, mir die folgenden Details per E-Mail zu senden, damit ich die Zahlung vornehmen kann.

DEIN NAME
IBAN
EMAIL
ARTIKELNAME
GESAMTKOSTEN

Vielen Dank, dass wir bald von Ihnen hören

Hier ist meine E-Mail (xxx@gmail.com)

At this point I'm thinking scammer and I'm sure I'm not sending him anything outside eBay. Thoughts?

[Zucca]

PayPal only or you have a mule bank account to get the money.

[Ice-Tea]

Mule bank account?

[bd139]

Separate account just for PayPal. So basically you withdraw into that then transfer it to your main account. Stops PayPal emptying it if the buyer is a dick. I have one.

[AVGresponding]

34401a for 330 ... ok or not ? VFD ok, no leads.

Given your penchant for tinkering with high-end audio, shouldn't you be looking for a Keithley 2015/6?

[med6753]

What bd did for me a few years ago I'm paying forward today. Helping a newb with a 465 that has no -8VDC. Turns out that section of the PSU is identical 465 vs 465B except for the value of the main filter cap. So I pulled my 465B out of the case and took some measurements. Hopefully it will help him fix it. 

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/newbie-with-tek-465/

[McBryce]

I think I need a consult. Potential eBay buyer:

Schönen Tag.

  Wie hoch sind die endgültigen Kosten des Artikels?

Vielen Dank

Me:

Hi,

Not sure what you mean? Aside from the listed price, there's a 20€ shipping charge? Other than that, all costs are included..


Dude:

Danke für deine Antwort,
Ich werde 440 EUR für den Artikel mit Versand nach Großbritannien bezahlen,
und ich möchte die Zahlung per Banküberweisung machen,
Bitte senden Sie mir die folgenden Informationen für die Zahlung
wenn Sie mit meinem Angebot einverstanden sind

DEIN NAME
BANK NAME
IBAN
BIC CODE
EMAIL
LAND
ARTIKELNAME
GESAMTPREIS

Vielen Dank

antworten Sie mir direkt auf meine E-Mail (xxx@gmail.com)

At this point I notice he has 0 feedback. Reply:

Hello,

My appologies, I hadn't noticed this was your first eBay purchase (I think..) I should have been more considerate. A few points:

- Handling this directly by mail is not allowed once contact has been established on eBay. Both your account and mine can be suspended because of that and I think I can be charged a fee for it.
- Just make sure to set your shipping address to the UK address you want it shipped to
- Purchase the item on eBay
- After this, eBay will give you access to all details you require (such as bank details etc...)
- eBay will also list the price including shipping (shipping to the UK is only 30€ by the way...)

if you have further questions, don't hesitate...

Him:

Meine Bank wird Sie bitten, mir die folgenden Details per E-Mail zu senden, damit ich die Zahlung vornehmen kann.

DEIN NAME
IBAN
EMAIL
ARTIKELNAME
GESAMTKOSTEN

Vielen Dank, dass wir bald von Ihnen hören

Hier ist meine E-Mail (xxx@gmail.com)

At this point I'm thinking scammer and I'm sure I'm not sending him anything outside eBay. Thoughts?

That's screaming SCAM right in your face, don't walk away from it, run!

McBryce.

[Specmaster]

@Med6753, yup, thats the spirit 

[Saskia]

I think I need a consult. Potential eBay buyer:

Schönen Tag.

  Wie hoch sind die endgültigen Kosten des Artikels?

Vielen Dank

Me:

Hi,

Not sure what you mean? Aside from the listed price, there's a 20€ shipping charge? Other than that, all costs are included..


Dude:

Danke für deine Antwort,
Ich werde 440 EUR für den Artikel mit Versand nach Großbritannien bezahlen,
und ich möchte die Zahlung per Banküberweisung machen,
Bitte senden Sie mir die folgenden Informationen für die Zahlung
wenn Sie mit meinem Angebot einverstanden sind

DEIN NAME
BANK NAME
IBAN
BIC CODE
EMAIL
LAND
ARTIKELNAME
GESAMTPREIS

Vielen Dank

antworten Sie mir direkt auf meine E-Mail (xxx@gmail.com)

At this point I notice he has 0 feedback. Reply:

Hello,

My appologies, I hadn't noticed this was your first eBay purchase (I think..) I should have been more considerate. A few points:

- Handling this directly by mail is not allowed once contact has been established on eBay. Both your account and mine can be suspended because of that and I think I can be charged a fee for it.
- Just make sure to set your shipping address to the UK address you want it shipped to
- Purchase the item on eBay
- After this, eBay will give you access to all details you require (such as bank details etc...)
- eBay will also list the price including shipping (shipping to the UK is only 30€ by the way...)

if you have further questions, don't hesitate...

Him:

Meine Bank wird Sie bitten, mir die folgenden Details per E-Mail zu senden, damit ich die Zahlung vornehmen kann.

DEIN NAME
IBAN
EMAIL
ARTIKELNAME
GESAMTKOSTEN

Vielen Dank, dass wir bald von Ihnen hören

Hier ist meine E-Mail (xxx@gmail.com)

At this point I'm thinking scammer and I'm sure I'm not sending him anything outside eBay. Thoughts?

That's screaming SCAM right in your face, don't walk away from it, run!

McBryce.

I concur. Report it to eBay.

[Cerebus]

By the same token, it is a charming conceit amongst Brits, that they "stood alone".
The Commonwealth countries may well say:-"What are we, chopped liver?"

A general rule to go by with "the Mother Country" is that we all regarded as "British" when there is something particularly nasty going for Brits.
Other times, we are "Someone they don't know well, think they made the coffee, or something."

I don't think anybody says that any more and generally when it was said it was said by idiots who weren't there. My father fought alongside Indians and Gurkhas, we conspicuously had RAF squadrons styled like 123 (Canadian) Squadron during the Battle of Britain (just under 73,000 Canadians served in the Air Force in Britain alone in WWII, 100,000 Canadians served in the RCAF in Canada training pilots from all over the Commonwealth).

We even risked letting some of your lot loose over here, like 456 Squadron flying night fighters out of Anglesey. Had to keep them somewhere isolated because, for the life of them, they couldn't brew a proper cup of tea and we had to protect the natives from being offended by the sacrilege - you do not boil the tea leaves in a billy can and you don't put the milk in from a live sheep! The claim that the Australians insisted on being posted there in Wales because there were sheep is, I'm sure, a scurrilous rumour. 

[Cerebus]

That's what you get for moving to an arctic wasteland. 

He's being a drama queen. That's 7 C or 45 F. Meh......

We all figured that out, what with him now living in a country with civilised units and all, but it's early September (23º Science outside here at the moment) and 7º is a tad cool for the time of year when one ought to still be able to promenade in the evenings in nothing more than a light jacket with, perhaps, a cane to ward off Yankee ruffians.

[vk6zgo]

That's what you get for moving to an arctic wasteland. 

He's being a drama queen. That's 7 C or 45 F. Meh......

We all figured that out, what with him now living in a country with civilised units and all, but it's early September (23º Science outside here at the moment) and 7º is a tad cool for the time of year when one ought to still be able to promenade in the evenings in nothing more than a light jacket with, perhaps, a cane to ward off Yankee ruffians.

Hell, it's forecast at 7C tonight, here in Perth, Western Australia, & it's supposed to be Spring!

[med6753]

By the same token, it is a charming conceit amongst Brits, that they "stood alone".
The Commonwealth countries may well say:-"What are we, chopped liver?"

A general rule to go by with "the Mother Country" is that we all regarded as "British" when there is something particularly nasty going for Brits.
Other times, we are "Someone they don't know well, think they made the coffee, or something."

I don't think anybody says that any more and generally when it was said it was said by idiots who weren't there. My father fought alongside Indians and Gurkhas, we conspicuously had RAF squadrons styled like 123 (Canadian) Squadron during the Battle of Britain (just under 73,000 Canadians served in the Air Force in Britain alone in WWII, 100,000 Canadians served in the RCAF in Canada training pilots from all over the Commonwealth).

We even risked letting some of your lot loose over here, like 456 Squadron flying night fighters out of Anglesey. Had to keep them somewhere isolated because, for the life of them, they couldn't brew a proper cup of tea and we had to protect the natives from being offended by the sacrilege - you do not boil the tea leaves in a billy can and you don't put the milk in from a live sheep! The claim that the Australians insisted on being posted there in Wales because there were sheep is, I'm sure, a scurrilous rumour. 

But of course you fail to mention that there were American volunteers in the RAF too. Can't do that. It would invalidate your rant.

Damn Yankees. 

<---------- Uncivilized, Un-PC, unapologetic.

[Saskia]

<---------- Uncivilized, Un-PC, unapologetic.

Hmmmm. A man, and not a social justice do gooder.
Very inspiring and arousing.

[med6753]

<---------- Uncivilized, Un-PC, unapologetic.

Hmmmm. A man, and not a social justice do gooder.
Very inspiring and arousing.

Stop, people will talk. 

[bd139]

All I know is we're all miserable wankers 

Curve tracer fun. I have a semi working tracer now although the vertical amp is limited to about 60V running off the 6206B at the moment. Also the pass transistor, a BD139 is getting a little hot because I'm waiting for a more suitable replacement.

So some scope outputs to compare the results on a 2n3904.

Firstly we have the Tektronix TDS210 which is quite frankly a shit show of a result (this is a bd139 I think not a 2n3904)



This is followed by the HM605 which comes out pretty good but it turns out that the horizontal input range is easy to bang up against due to how the attenuation works.



Finally we have the SDS1202X-E. I used the ERES mode with 3 extra bits (at the cost of sample rate) as this isn't exactly a fast sweeping device at approx 400Hz. This gives a very nice X-Y plot that you can even see some looping due to either fixture or transistor reactance.



Very impressed with this SDS scope. 

Guess which scope is going on ebay next time 

[SilverSolder]

<---------- Uncivilized, Un-PC, unapologetic.

Hmmmm. A man, and not a social justice do gooder.
Very inspiring and arousing.

Hmmm,  I'm going to have to try that as a pick-up line, seems to work fine!