Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

In little-dumbfuckistan here. Nothing good. All trash. I was hoping to pick up some bits for my eldest’s Christmas present (gaming pc)

Well I managed to pick up this little number https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07S34CS24/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 for the princely sum of £5.49 thanks to a £10 voucher that Amazon sent to me when I purchased my recent Dashcam from them, the proper price of the hose kit was £32.19, so I'm a happy bunny.

[Ice-Tea]

I just spent half an hour looking for the reason why I have 0.3V on that cap rather than filtered mains.

Go fuck yourself, Rigol.

[bd139]

https://www.amazon.ca/NanoVna-Analyzer-Measuring-Parameters-Standing/dp/B089CNMD4V

Quick Thumbs-up/Thumbs-down guys: Would you spend US$81 to get a clone NanoVNA-V2 (small screen) with battery and Prime next-day?

Not terrible. About 10 USD over UK price which is about right for Amazon overheads. Worst case you can send it back 

[bd139]

I just spent half an hour looking for the reason why I have 0.3V on that cap rather than filtered mains.

Go fuck yourself, Rigol.

Ugh that UI is fucking terrible! Took me a minute to parse it.

[Kosmic]

https://www.amazon.ca/NanoVna-Analyzer-Measuring-Parameters-Standing/dp/B089CNMD4V

Quick Thumbs-up/Thumbs-down guys: Would you spend US$81 to get a clone NanoVNA-V2 (small screen) with battery and Prime next-day?

mnem
 

You should check the SAA-2N. Got nice big Type N connectors, 4" screen, metal case, really nice cables et calibration standard and integrated battery. All that for not a lot more money.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001326331886.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.5ba04c4dMyyLi2

Edit: Also they started selling the  NanoVNA V2 plus4 recently. Got 4" screen, it's 4x faster, goes to 4G and has better sensitivity.

[Ice-Tea]

So, moving on I found a secundary fuse that's blown. Surely it can't be so easy that my magic box holds the solution?

EDIT: yes, I'm only posting this to show you my fuse collection.

[Ice-Tea]

OH HELLO THERE!!

[Specmaster]

I think I have (hopefully) found the culprit on the PL310 that Ice-Tea kindly sent me, the load resistor, a 10W aluminium clad jobbie which has printed on it R10, the manual states it as being 0R1, which unless I’m mistaken, means 1ohm. Looks to be perfect, no discolouration or nothing, seems to give a sensible value in circuit, whip it out and it measures .1ohms WTF?, no wonder it goes into CC mode at 190mA and voltage drops to 1.8V

[mnementh]

https://www.amazon.ca/NanoVna-Analyzer-Measuring-Parameters-Standing/dp/B089CNMD4V

Quick Thumbs-up/Thumbs-down guys: Would you spend US$81 to get a clone NanoVNA-V2 (small screen) with battery and Prime next-day?

mnem
 

 


https://www.banggood.com/Tinysa-100kHz-350MHz-2_8-Inch-Handheld-Two-Inputs-Tiny-Spectrum-Analyzer-Touch-Screen-Spectrum-Analyzer-100-KHz-350MHz-Input-Frequency-p-1738031.html   



https://www.banggood.com/50KHz-3GHz-4-Inch-Display-Antenna-Analyzer-SAA-2N-NanoVNA-V2-50KHz-3GHz-Vector-Network-Analyzer-HF-VHF-UHF-p-1738059.html

Never mind... Got these coming from Banggood with $14 off for affiliate points. Net was USD$153.54 for both pieces; expected to ship before the end of October. TinySA "pre-order" & 4in NanoVNA-V2, with proper N-connectors!

Just hope mine doesn't arrive with crooked-ass connectors like the one in the pix...

mnem
 

[Kosmic]

https://www.amazon.ca/NanoVna-Analyzer-Measuring-Parameters-Standing/dp/B089CNMD4V

Quick Thumbs-up/Thumbs-down guys: Would you spend US$81 to get a clone NanoVNA-V2 (small screen) with battery and Prime next-day?

mnem
 

 
   

Never mind... Got these coming from Banggood with $14 off for affiliate points. Net was USD$153.54 for both pieces; expected to ship before the end of October. TinySA "pre-order" & 4in NanoVNA-V2, with proper N-connectors!

Just hope mine doesn't arrive crooked-ass like the one in the pix...

mnem
 

Look like you're all set 

[bd139]

I think I have (hopefully) found the culprit on the PL310 that Ice-Tea kindly sent me, the load resistor, a 10W aluminium clad jobbie which has printed on it R10, the manual states it as being 0R1, which unless I’m mistaken, means 1ohm. Looks to be perfect, no discolouration or nothing, seems to give a sensible value in circuit, whip it out and it measures .1ohms WTF?, no wonder it goes into CC mode at 190mA and voltage drops to 1.8V

0R1 = 0.1 ohms. that is correct value as it's the current sense resistor. Is that the one that hangs off the back of the front panel board?

[tonyalbus]

Not NIXIE... but those lovers will love this too... Oscilloscope -tube Clock
4 days ... time laps etc... and no! did not put it in a plastic box.

[mnementh]

...Edit: Also they started selling the  NanoVNA V2 plus4 recently. Got 4" screen, it's 4x faster, goes to 4G and has better sensitivity.

Fucking assholes!!!

I messaged them over a month ago asking when the 4" version was due out... last week I checked in on their Tindie again and still no response; they were "away" for some reason til mid-October. I have literally had their Tindie up on a tab for almost 6 months!!!

You'd think they could at least say "Almost here!" or somesuch... 

mnem

[bd139]

Not NIXIE... but those lovers will love this too... Oscilloscope -tube Clock
4 days ... time laps etc... and no! did not put it in a plastic box.

Gah you already cost me a tinySA. This could be another problem 

[med6753]

Not NIXIE... but those lovers will love this too... Oscilloscope -tube Clock
4 days ... time laps etc... and no! did not put it in a plastic box.

Gah you already cost me a tinySA. This could be another problem 

I could have the same problem. I have that fully functional 3EP1 CRT sitting on display. 

[med6753]

This military 7603N has been sitting under bench 2 and behind the scope cart for nearly a year. When I purchased the 7904 it got kicked off the scope cart and basically forgotten. So today I pulled it out, dusted it off, and powered it up. Came up fine except the left 7A15A plug-in had noisy attenuator switch. IPA to the rescue.

I've not done much to this scope other than knock out the dents in the covers and re-paint. Checked and adjusted the +50V reference and cleaned any noisy pots/switches. Burned it in several times and called it good.

I wanted to re-cap it but it looked like getting to the PSU was going to take some major disassembly. So I left it. Well all I had to do was RTFM and discovered that the entire PSU pulls out the back after removing 6 screws. The last pix shows it partially pulled out. There's a bunch of connectors that have to be pulled so I didn't go any further. But yes, I'm going there. It's going to get a PSU re-cap. And we can debate the merits or stupidity of doing that ad nauseam but I'm convinced for long term reliability it's the right thing to do. 

In the meantime it's going up on the torture rack to get some power up time. 

[mnementh]

...Edit: Also they started selling the  NanoVNA V2 plus4 recently. Got 4" screen, it's 4x faster, goes to 4G and has better sensitivity.

Fucking assholes!!!

I messaged them over a month ago asking when the 4" version was due out... last week I checked in on their Tindie again and still no response; they were "away" for some reason til mid-October. I have literally had their Tindie up on a tab for almost 6 months!!!

You'd think they could at least say "Almost here!" or somesuch... 

mnem

https://www.banggood.com/50KHz-3GHz-4-Inch-Display-Antenna-Analyzer-SAA-2N-NanoVNA-V2-50KHz-3GHz-Vector-Network-Analyzer-HF-VHF-UHF-p-1738059.html

https://www.tindie.com/products/hcxqsgroup/4-nanovna-v2-plus4/

Okay guys... think I should cancel the SAA-2N and order the NanoVNA V2 plus4? The price sure has gone up; with shipping it'll cost almost as much as the other 2 pieces put together. If I spring for DHL, will actually be more... plus my butt hurts just thinking about DHL rapism on Duty & brokerage fees...

That 4X scan rate sure sounds tasty tho... *wibble*

No matter which way I go, I'll be lucky to see any of them by Christmas, so... 

mnem

[Specmaster]

I think I have (hopefully) found the culprit on the PL310 that Ice-Tea kindly sent me, the load resistor, a 10W aluminium clad jobbie which has printed on it R10, the manual states it as being 0R1, which unless I’m mistaken, means 1ohm. Looks to be perfect, no discolouration or nothing, seems to give a sensible value in circuit, whip it out and it measures .1ohms WTF?, no wonder it goes into CC mode at 190mA and voltage drops to 1.8V

0R1 = 0.1 ohms. that is correct value as it's the current sense resistor. Is that the one that hangs off the back of the front panel board?

Yes thats the one, as you can see it clearly states R10 5% on it?  The 2.2K below it has been getting hot, this has been replaced, the board has been recapped and the quad amp LM324 has also been replaced and is now in a socket. 

All joints have been reflowed in case they were dry as well.

Edit. I also spoke to engineer in TTi's technical dept and he thought that it should be 1 ohm although, he also claimed that the resistor R51 in the schematic is not fitted on the PL310?? and on the PL320 it is a 1K job, 

[bd139]

I think I have (hopefully) found the culprit on the PL310 that Ice-Tea kindly sent me, the load resistor, a 10W aluminium clad jobbie which has printed on it R10, the manual states it as being 0R1, which unless I’m mistaken, means 1ohm. Looks to be perfect, no discolouration or nothing, seems to give a sensible value in circuit, whip it out and it measures .1ohms WTF?, no wonder it goes into CC mode at 190mA and voltage drops to 1.8V

0R1 = 0.1 ohms. that is correct value as it's the current sense resistor. Is that the one that hangs off the back of the front panel board?

Yes thats the one, as you can see it clearly states R10 5% on it?  The 2.2K below it has been getting hot, this has been replaced, the board has been recapped and the quad amp LM324 has also been replaced and is now in a socket. 

All joints have been reflowed in case they were dry as well.

Hmm looks ok. So it goes straight into CC mode as a short?

Check the diode across the front panel terminals isn’t short.

[Ice-Tea]

I think I have (hopefully) found the culprit on the PL310 that Ice-Tea kindly sent me, the load resistor, a 10W aluminium clad jobbie which has printed on it R10, the manual states it as being 0R1, which unless I’m mistaken, means 1ohm. Looks to be perfect, no discolouration or nothing, seems to give a sensible value in circuit, whip it out and it measures .1ohms WTF?, no wonder it goes into CC mode at 190mA and voltage drops to 1.8V

0R1 means 0.1Ohm. At least to me... Just like 3V3 means 3.3V..

[Ice-Tea]

I think I have (hopefully) found the culprit on the PL310 that Ice-Tea kindly sent me, the load resistor, a 10W aluminium clad jobbie which has printed on it R10, the manual states it as being 0R1, which unless I’m mistaken, means 1ohm. Looks to be perfect, no discolouration or nothing, seems to give a sensible value in circuit, whip it out and it measures .1ohms WTF?, no wonder it goes into CC mode at 190mA and voltage drops to 1.8V

0R1 = 0.1 ohms. that is correct value as it's the current sense resistor. Is that the one that hangs off the back of the front panel board?

Yes thats the one, as you can see it clearly states R10 5% on it?  The 2.2K below it has been getting hot, this has been replaced, the board has been recapped and the quad amp LM324 has also been replaced and is now in a socket. 

All joints have been reflowed in case they were dry as well.

Edit. I also spoke to engineer in TTi's technical dept and he thought that it should be 1 ohm although, he also claimed that the resistor R51 in the schematic is not fitted on the PL310?? and on the PL320 it is a 1K job, 

You're having your money's worth of repair fun on this one, eh? 

[Kosmic]

...Edit: Also they started selling the  NanoVNA V2 plus4 recently. Got 4" screen, it's 4x faster, goes to 4G and has better sensitivity.

Fucking assholes!!!

I messaged them over a month ago asking when the 4" version was due out... last week I checked in on their Tindie again and still no response; they were "away" for some reason til mid-October. I have literally had their Tindie up on a tab for almost 6 months!!!

You'd think they could at least say "Almost here!" or somesuch... 

mnem

https://www.banggood.com/50KHz-3GHz-4-Inch-Display-Antenna-Analyzer-SAA-2N-NanoVNA-V2-50KHz-3GHz-Vector-Network-Analyzer-HF-VHF-UHF-p-1738059.html

https://www.tindie.com/products/hcxqsgroup/4-nanovna-v2-plus4/

Okay guys... think I should cancel the SAA-2N and order the NanoVNA V2 plus4? The price sure has gone up; with shipping it'll cost almost as much as the other 2 pieces put together. If I spring for DHL, will actually be more... plus my butt hurts just thinking about DHL rapism on Duty & brokerage fees...

That 4X scan rate sure sounds tasty tho... *wibble*

No matter which way I go, I'll be lucky to see any of them by Christmas, so... 

mnem

You can upgrade the SAA-2N to a Nanovna V2Plus with 2x the scan rate.

Edit: I don't really like the form factor of the Nanovna V2 4 plus but 4G, better sensitivity and scan rate is interesting.

[Specmaster]

I think I have (hopefully) found the culprit on the PL310 that Ice-Tea kindly sent me, the load resistor, a 10W aluminium clad jobbie which has printed on it R10, the manual states it as being 0R1, which unless I’m mistaken, means 1ohm. Looks to be perfect, no discolouration or nothing, seems to give a sensible value in circuit, whip it out and it measures .1ohms WTF?, no wonder it goes into CC mode at 190mA and voltage drops to 1.8V

0R1 = 0.1 ohms. that is correct value as it's the current sense resistor. Is that the one that hangs off the back of the front panel board?

Yes thats the one, as you can see it clearly states R10 5% on it?  The 2.2K below it has been getting hot, this has been replaced, the board has been recapped and the quad amp LM324 has also been replaced and is now in a socket. 

All joints have been reflowed in case they were dry as well.

Hmm looks ok. So it goes straight into CC mode as a short?

Check the diode across the front panel terminals isn’t short.

No it doesnt go straight into CC mode, if I only have a high impedance load such as multimeter, analogue or DMM it seems to work OK and the output volts can be adjusted upto 32V and the current display can also be set to any value in the normal way for these supplies if the load switch is OFF. Switch the output ON and the connected multimeter as well as the LED display will go upto 32V if you adjust the knobs, connect say a 15 ohm load, and no matter what you preset the current to, it goes straight into CC mode and volts drop to 1.8V.

EDIT. No the diode across the output terminals is OK.

[Specmaster]

I think I have (hopefully) found the culprit on the PL310 that Ice-Tea kindly sent me, the load resistor, a 10W aluminium clad jobbie which has printed on it R10, the manual states it as being 0R1, which unless I’m mistaken, means 1ohm. Looks to be perfect, no discolouration or nothing, seems to give a sensible value in circuit, whip it out and it measures .1ohms WTF?, no wonder it goes into CC mode at 190mA and voltage drops to 1.8V

0R1 = 0.1 ohms. that is correct value as it's the current sense resistor. Is that the one that hangs off the back of the front panel board?

Yes thats the one, as you can see it clearly states R10 5% on it?  The 2.2K below it has been getting hot, this has been replaced, the board has been recapped and the quad amp LM324 has also been replaced and is now in a socket. 

All joints have been reflowed in case they were dry as well.

Edit. I also spoke to engineer in TTi's technical dept and he thought that it should be 1 ohm although, he also claimed that the resistor R51 in the schematic is not fitted on the PL310?? and on the PL320 it is a 1K job, 

You're having your money's worth of repair fun on this one, eh? 

You're not wrong there, I'm not giving up on it though, its a challenge

[Specmaster]

I think I have (hopefully) found the culprit on the PL310 that Ice-Tea kindly sent me, the load resistor, a 10W aluminium clad jobbie which has printed on it R10, the manual states it as being 0R1, which unless I’m mistaken, means 1ohm. Looks to be perfect, no discolouration or nothing, seems to give a sensible value in circuit, whip it out and it measures .1ohms WTF?, no wonder it goes into CC mode at 190mA and voltage drops to 1.8V

0R1 means 0.1Ohm. At least to me... Just like 3V3 means 3.3V..

I suppose that is what the R10 means that is printed on it. The person in TTi I spoke to thought it was 1ohm.