Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Kosmic]

And now for my original reason for logging in tonight:

Does anyone know what a fair price is for a used working Fluke 8060A multimeter?
I might be able to get one locally if I am lucky.
I want *need* more multimeters, handheld or bench.
(to be honest, I should at least get some proper leads for the few I already have before getting more)

The recent inexpensive Fluke 27's available in the US were too expensive when shipping and crossing the border was factored in.

I paid US$70 which probably is a bit much, but it works and the display is pristine. Add GSP and the pain is obvious.

Still looking into an Israeli 27, because some of them come with the HV probe.

In reality, I should care for my bank account and wait for the Gossen unit I did buy last week. 

I’ve never seen anything remotely worth paying the massively inflated prices for, most items from Israel look like they’ve been dragged through a swamp first.

25s are safe for use in an explosive atmosphere; I expect 27s are the same.

A swamp in Israel?

Perhaps he meant a salt swamp?    Sometimes good deals can be had from Israel. The replacement CCD hybrid modules for the 2430 came from one of those sellers. And considering that they sent me 2 of them for the advertised price of one and no additional desert sand included made me a happy camper. 

Got also some good deals from Israel. But mostly for parts. I guess when the thing look like crap they just rip the parts and throw the carcass away.

Just bought a 2-18GHz power divider from Israel. 30$ 

[Martin.M]

yipiee    .. got it.

[ Specified attachment is not available ]

[Martin.M]

the "large nixies DMM" , a very cute instrument.
This was expensive. It needs a repair, looks to have a missing voltage in PSU

[Cerebus]

Still looking into an Israeli 27, because some of them come with the HV probe.

Mine came from the USA with the HV probe (ex-army - had a US army calibration sticker on it and looks like regular calibration was the only use it ever got).

My 25 was clearly ex-British Army, came with free desert sand and the characteristic smell of tank.

[BU508A]

yipiee    .. got it.

Very nice! I have the V540 and it is working nicely.

If you need the schematics, have a look at this website:

http://bee.mif.pg.gda.pl/Oktoda/index.php/Polskie_przyrz%C4%85dy_pomiarowe

[Martin.M]

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/40050/

nearly the same 

[Specmaster]

Zen Internet + OpenReach I am impressed.

Yesterday - 20 pair trunk cut. Reported at 10:30



Issue resolved this morning at 11:45  .

Hats off - they really did a damn good job.

It was a good job you switched to fibre for your internet in the end then, you would have been totally screwed if still on copper.

[capt bullshot]

If anyone (in EU) is interested in one (or both) of these, PM me:

It's the MFR-PS1100 power supply (nothing else included nor available). They should work, tested them a while ago with a borrowed handpiece and cartridge. It's the low frequency (450kHz or whatever) variant.

[Robert763]

Last time I was in a Tim Hortons the temperature outside was 112deg F 
Quite surprisingly there are Tim Hortons (and Denny's) in Abu Dhabi
https://www.google.com/maps/search/abu+dhabi+tim+hortons/@24.4511884,54.4922024,10z

[shakalnokturn]

A little more Nixieness for this page:
Heathkit IM-102, Schneider electronique mn124.
The mn124 looks like a rare beast... Any schematics?

[Cerebus]

Oh joy, oh joy, Thames Water have buggered up something big time, most London E postcodes haven't had any mains water since ~16:20. That's got to be something really major, power loss or worse at a major pumping station. My guesstimate is that it's got to be affecting ~500,000 people based on the list of postcodes they were showing on their status page earlier, they've since updated it to just say "East London".

Thank god for paranoia. I turned on a tap at ~16:15 and got a trickle (< 2 litres/min) before I knew there was a major problem and had the good sense to use it to quickly fill up an empty 5L bottle I keep handy for just such an event. At least I've got drinking water.

[mnementh]

Oh fuck me... I think I just had a penis fingers event and smoked a FET on my 3DP mainboard... 

mnem

[med6753]

The 6AQ5 HV Oscillator vacuum tube showed up. Didn't fix the HV. I really didn't think it would. I decided to pull the socket on the CRT and see if the HV would come up. It did, somewhat. From prior -900V to -1300V. It should be -1675V. Re-installed the CRT socket. Then I pulled the 6.3V CRT filament winding at the power transformer. The reason? The CRT filament is raised to HV cathode potential through a resistor to prevent internal arcing in the CRT between the filament and cathode. So that also applies approx -1675V to the power transformer. I have seen cases where the power transformer develops leakage to ground which results in low HV. Disconnecting the filament resulted in approx -1300V again.

Conclusion so far: It appears that the CRT and power transformer are OK. Something else is loading down the HV. The HV capacitors are in route and will be here tomorrow. At that time I'll replace them as well as the two 5642 HV Rectifiers. If it STILL doesn't fix the HV the only thing really left is the HV transformer. Most likely unobtanium unless I buy a parts unit. Hopefully it won't have to go there.   

[med6753]

Oh fuck me... I think I just had a penis fingers event and smoked a FET on my 3DP mainboard... 

mnem

Did it go with a bang or a whimper? 

[Specmaster]

Oh joy, oh joy, Thames Water have buggered up something big time, most London E postcodes haven't had any mains water since ~16:20. That's got to be something really major, power loss or worse at a major pumping station. My guesstimate is that it's got to be affecting ~500,000 people based on the list of postcodes they were showing on their status page earlier, they've since updated it to just say "East London".

Thank god for paranoia. I turned on a tap at ~16:15 and got a trickle (< 2 litres/min) before I knew there was a major problem and had the good sense to use it to quickly fill up an empty 5L bottle I keep handy for just such an event. At least I've got drinking water.

You make it sound as if it was a regular occurrence, which it isn't, surely?

[tggzzz]

Oh joy, oh joy, Thames Water have buggered up something big time, most London E postcodes haven't had any mains water since ~16:20. That's got to be something really major, power loss or worse at a major pumping station. My guesstimate is that it's got to be affecting ~500,000 people based on the list of postcodes they were showing on their status page earlier, they've since updated it to just say "East London".

Thank god for paranoia. I turned on a tap at ~16:15 and got a trickle (< 2 litres/min) before I knew there was a major problem and had the good sense to use it to quickly fill up an empty 5L bottle I keep handy for just such an event. At least I've got drinking water.

Meanwhile, out in the wild west, I had to take a 15 mile detour to avoid breathing in the smoke from this "scrap metal" fire; shame about Filton!
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/avonmouth-fire-update-fire-service-4581940

And today, 200m-700m away from that fire, there's an "excess of water" https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/huge-water-leak-avonmouth-way-4580728

[bd139]

Zen Internet + OpenReach I am impressed.

Yesterday - 20 pair trunk cut. Reported at 10:30



Issue resolved this morning at 11:45  .

Hats off - they really did a damn good job.

It was a good job you switched to fibre for your internet in the end then, you would have been totally screwed if still on copper.

I'm still waiting for the fibre. I ordered it and am paying for it but they haven't done the site install yet due to Covid . I'm getting refunded every 2 months.

Anyway that cable now looks like this:

[bd139]

Oh joy, oh joy, Thames Water have buggered up something big time, most London E postcodes haven't had any mains water since ~16:20. That's got to be something really major, power loss or worse at a major pumping station. My guesstimate is that it's got to be affecting ~500,000 people based on the list of postcodes they were showing on their status page earlier, they've since updated it to just say "East London".

Thank god for paranoia. I turned on a tap at ~16:15 and got a trickle (< 2 litres/min) before I knew there was a major problem and had the good sense to use it to quickly fill up an empty 5L bottle I keep handy for just such an event. At least I've got drinking water.

Don't get me started on Thames Water. I live near one of their well known facilities which smells of shit 2 months a year 

[Cerebus]

Oh joy, oh joy, Thames Water have buggered up something big time, most London E postcodes haven't had any mains water since ~16:20. That's got to be something really major, power loss or worse at a major pumping station. My guesstimate is that it's got to be affecting ~500,000 people based on the list of postcodes they were showing on their status page earlier, they've since updated it to just say "East London".

Thank god for paranoia. I turned on a tap at ~16:15 and got a trickle (< 2 litres/min) before I knew there was a major problem and had the good sense to use it to quickly fill up an empty 5L bottle I keep handy for just such an event. At least I've got drinking water.

You make it sound as if it was a regular occurrence, which it isn't, surely?

No it's not regular, but it's not unprecedented. London's underground infrastructure is getting old and a bit fragile in places. We've had more localised water service interruptions before because of more minor faults, so I've learned to treat any reduction in pressure as a warning sign of impending failure and act accordingly. You don't realise how much you rely on being able to turn a tap and just get fresh clean water whenever you want it, until you can't. I suspect this outage is down to modern infrastructure, not old creaking stuff.

[med6753]

Oh joy, oh joy, Thames Water have buggered up something big time, most London E postcodes haven't had any mains water since ~16:20. That's got to be something really major, power loss or worse at a major pumping station. My guesstimate is that it's got to be affecting ~500,000 people based on the list of postcodes they were showing on their status page earlier, they've since updated it to just say "East London".

Thank god for paranoia. I turned on a tap at ~16:15 and got a trickle (< 2 litres/min) before I knew there was a major problem and had the good sense to use it to quickly fill up an empty 5L bottle I keep handy for just such an event. At least I've got drinking water.

You make it sound as if it was a regular occurrence, which it isn't, surely?

Interesting fact: The NYC water system does not require pumps. It is almost completely gravity fed from the Shokan Reservoir in the Catskill Mountains. And.....several times it has been judged the best tasting water in the entire US.   

[mnementh]

Oh fuck me... I think I just had a penis fingers event and smoked a FET on my 3DP mainboard... 

mnem

Did it go with a bang or a whimper? 

Nope... nothing fun. 

I just plugged in a new heater cartridge wrong so it bridged 24V rail and sinked-drain output and the PSU shut down when I started a heatup cycle. Now hotend running constantly until software detects thermal runaway and shuts it down. 

Yup... heater FET short as a Dort.  Dammit, Aneng, why didn't you do your job?  You're the meter I bought to tell me reassuring lies; when I want painful truths I reach for my 189... 


Good luck rebuilding your HV chain. I've seen those doubler circuits do some fucking weird shit... hope the caps resolve it for ya.

mnem
*prepping for surgery now*

[Cubdriver]

Saw this and immediately thought of Saskia

[Robert763]

Got a package coming from Skegness. Not mainstream stuff, that went too high IMHO.
Details when it arrives.

[bd139]

Interesting 

[Fungus]

is single eyebrow and unibrow the same thing?

Yep.

Nope. If I shave off one eyebrow I don't get a unibrow.