Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[med6753]

Shit just got real. Now I have to actually do the repair... not just putter around with the tools. That is 0.8mm solder for comparison...

mnem
*wibble*

Talk is cheap. Get cracking Hoser. 

[mnementh]

Yeah, when I get done juddering after shoveling 6" of wet-pack snow so wifey could go to her school.

I thought I was gonna keel over a couple times there... even with the boi out there "helping".

mnem
*hosed*

[tggzzz]

This is why I still recommend All-Test. Yes, you pay top dollar for shipping. But you get thermonuclear protection on your busted TE; it arrives EXACTLY as you bid/bought from their store. 

Expensive indeed; the $112 is double what I paid for my similar Agilent 53310 MDA.

But the astute TekHeads will notice that 2465DMS is missing the multimeter's 747-like hump on top of the main chassis, and that the legend on the picture is actually a 2465.

[mnementh]

Over here that is listed as US$150 OBO. It is a 2465 that lights up and passes all tests. That is a fucking bargain, even if you're just going to harvest boards due to the questionable CRT.

mnem
 

[med6753]

There are actually three listings from All-Test listing a 2465 DMS and the pix shows a 2465. I have seen All-Test list the wrong picture before. I'm sure a quick inquiry to All-Test will verify that you'll get a 2465 DMS.

And yes, $150 USD is a screaming deal for them.   

[mnementh]

No, the pics will always be of the actual item with AllTest, and the listing always has the serial number of the item you're bidding on.

That's a big part of why I always prefer to do business with them; WYSIWIG fer reallzz.

Somebody just fucked up; probably recycled text from a listing that WAS for a 2465DMS. 


mnem
 

[tggzzz]

So it is a case of "yes, repeat no"

And the cost to me wouldn't be $150, it would be ~$335.

[jjoonathan]

My first purchase from AllTest was my last. Worst deal I ever did. It was a for parts/repair spectrum analyzer that in hindsight had clearly been used as a parts mule but wasn't listed or priced as such. It was also the first spectrum analyzer I ever repaired, so it was a rough intro to the hobby.

[McBryce]

I just thought of something you could do to be even more horrible. If you have a few banked ROMs in a system (think sideways ROMS in BBC style modularity), rotate the address lines by one bit for each ROM. That'd mean that they have to both be programmed correctly for the position and go in the correct sockets to work  

Sneak in some AES encryption into an FPGA built memory controller and store the key for decryption of the boot prom in the DRAM's config data chip. Actually that could be Apple engineering.

It was a Z80 based system, AES, if even possible would have taken up 100% of the CPU.

McBryce.

[bd139]

That'd be fine to make sure there are no cycles to execute any bugs.

Discovery of the day: in three successive companies, things only get worse 

[mnementh]

My first purchase from AllTest was my last. Worst deal I ever did. It was a for parts/repair spectrum analyzer that in hindsight had clearly been used as a parts mule but wasn't listed or priced as such. It was also the first spectrum analyzer I ever repaired, so it was a rough intro to the hobby.

That's the "cross-the-pond asshole tax", not anything to do with their prices, which are always more than reasonable. I paid a similar across-the-border GWN Asshole tax on my 54645A; it literally cost more to get it to me and pay the Governor's share than the scope itself. However... what I got was a very low-hours scope with bright, crisp screen and controls that everything felt like a new scope. I still feel a bit jammy on that deal; just like my 189.

No, their stuff is not "steal of a deal" cheap. It's just "way cheap for someone in the TE business", and always honest listings, not listed "As-is for parts or repair" when it's actually all rebuilt of borked boards pulled off of other units when they were repaired. When they rob parts off a unit, you can plainly see it right there in the listing; they don't try to hide it.

mnem
 

[med6753]

No, the pics will always be of the actual item with AllTest, and the listing always has the serial number of the item you're bidding on.

That's a big part of why I always prefer to do business with them; WYSIWIG fer reallzz.

Somebody just fucked up; probably recycled text from a listing that WAS for a 2465DMS. 


mnem
 

Dude, you calling me a liar? WTF.  I follow what All-Test posts quite often and I've seen "stock" or wrong pictures used before. I would NOT have said it if I didn't see it for myself.

Your perfect and I'm always right attitude to me and others is really beginning to piss me off.   

[factory]

More ebay madness a badly stored and corroded Tek 7603 bid up to over £200 dead spiders free. 
/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/tektronix-7603-Oscilloscope/333811431519
Seller is 0 feedback but been a member for a year. Normally tht would indicate a stolen account but hs start prices are low and it cash on collection so not likely to be a scam.

It looked decent until I zoomed in......Yikes! 

It doesn't look corroded* to me, just very dirty, with maybe a tiny bit of rust where the paint is chipped on the top cover at the back. Strange it seems to have been relisted and some odd bidding going on most of the other lots, either a newbie with 0 feedback or someone running the lots up.

*Most of the stuff I've bought locally has been far worse, something to do with all those damp leaky sheds, garages & attics we have in the UK. 

David

[mnementh]

RANDOM MODE:  https://www.pcmag.com/news/forget-tesla-why-classic-car-fans-pay-big-bucks-to-electrify-their-rides

Tripped over this while rummaging in the back drawers of the intardnet; made me smile.

mnem

[med6753]

More ebay madness a badly stored and corroded Tek 7603 bid up to over £200 dead spiders free. 
/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/tektronix-7603-Oscilloscope/333811431519
Seller is 0 feedback but been a member for a year. Normally tht would indicate a stolen account but hs start prices are low and it cash on collection so not likely to be a scam.

It looked decent until I zoomed in......Yikes! 

It doesn't look corroded* to me, just very dirty, with maybe a tiny bit of rust where the paint is chipped on the top cover at the back. Strange it seems to have been relisted and some odd bidding going on most of the other lots, either a newbie with 0 feedback or someone running the lots up.

*Most of the stuff I've bought locally has been far worse, something to do with all those damp leaky sheds, garages & attics we have in the UK. 

David

Zoom in on the bottom of bezel of the CRT. That is significant aluminum corrosion. The bezel on my 7603N has SOME....but nowhere near that amount.

[mnementh]

No, the pics will always be of the actual item with AllTest, and the listing always has the serial number of the item you're bidding on.

That's a big part of why I always prefer to do business with them; WYSIWIG fer reallzz.

Somebody just fucked up; probably recycled text from a listing that WAS for a 2465DMS. 

mnem
 

Dude, you calling me a liar? WTF.  I follow what All-Test posts quite often and I've seen "stock" or wrong pictures used before. I would NOT have said it if I didn't see it for myself.

Your perfect and I'm always right attitude to me and others is really beginning to piss me off.

Nope, just that I think you're wrong, or maybe confused someone else's listing with them. 

I shop their store often; like weekly. It's one of my quiet-time things to do. I've never ever seen recycled photos; every listing has multiple original photos of the actual item being sold warts, missing knobs, dings and all, usually including one of the actual serial number.

What I have noticed they often do is to recycle the text of the listing; sometimes it is for a completely different unit, ie HP and Tek both showing up in the wording of a listing for a HP or Tek scope.

If you're going to take offense at that, I can't stop you. But I promise, none was intended, and I'm sorry for my careless words. 

mnem

[mnementh]

More ebay madness a badly stored and corroded Tek 7603 bid up to over £200 dead spiders free. 
/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/tektronix-7603-Oscilloscope/333811431519
Seller is 0 feedback but been a member for a year. Normally tht would indicate a stolen account but hs start prices are low and it cash on collection so not likely to be a scam.

It looked decent until I zoomed in......Yikes! 

It doesn't look corroded* to me, just very dirty, with maybe a tiny bit of rust where the paint is chipped on the top cover at the back. Strange it seems to have been relisted and some odd bidding going on most of the other lots, either a newbie with 0 feedback or someone running the lots up.

*Most of the stuff I've bought locally has been far worse, something to do with all those damp leaky sheds, garages & attics we have in the UK. 

David

Zoom in on the bottom of bezel of the CRT. That is significant aluminum corrosion. The bezel on my 7603N has SOME....but nowhere near that amount.

Yeah, something went wrong with the deal, too... winning bidder did not like something about how seller wanted to close the deal and backed out, I'll wager.

It's been relisted: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=333819751534

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Meanwhile, on planet  :   https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AGILENT-54610B-OSCILLOSCOPE-500-MHz-PARTS-REPAIR-SN-US38420198/303647586407

mnem
that 2465 is looking better all the time...

[dl6lr]

I had a project a few years back to expand on an existing design, where the original creator had swapped some of the data pins on an EPROM to supposedly protect the data  So I had to bit swap the bin file every time I needed to rewrite the EPROM 

I once found gear where they did it (including address lines) because the layout was easier. If I had to program that stuff, i would have made an adaptor socket with swapped lines. Makes stuff easier when using an EPROM simulator.

[Saskia]

actually Midway (Bally/WIlliams) did something similar using an ASIC and a PIC to verify serial numbers of pinball machines and prevent swapping them (or the CPU board). Although the ASIC also has other functions (like attaching the switch matrix to the bus and processing coil actuation.

[factory]

Looks like Systron Donner also made an all-in-one test box (well minus an oscilloscope), DMM, counter, PSU & either a pulse or function generator in one box, in Italy on ePay;

https://www.ebay.it/itm/363207129278

David

[mnementh]

   Step Number 0-0-0h-fuck me-0-0h....

Urrrk. Glad I took it apart first; looks like wrong information in my initial research. This model does have the TriStar chip on the mainboard. That's it hiding, in that fully armor-plated little corner, right there. Oi.

mnem
fuck Apple. Fuck the intardNet. Fuck... fuck... what-the-fuck-ever... fuck...

Urrrk and a half. A start on the repair... just getting to the point of being able to work on the thing was a fucking white-knuckle ride. Migraine is back. *tha-thump...tha-thummp...tha-thummmp* goes that vein in my forehead...

Gonna go do something less stressful for a while; like maybe some schoolwork with my daughter.

mnem
moo...?

[cyclin_al]

      

This is the promise of home 3DP fulfilled; a few minutes (45 including slicing) designing, set the machine to work and go on aboot your business. Come back in a few hours and you have a complete, ready to use part waiting to be popped off the bed and put to use.

And now a digital picture frame that was destined to be eWaste becomes an extra Xmas prezzie for mom-in-law; one we know she'll love as it comes loaded with pics of us she hasn't seen.

mnem
*toddles off to ded*

Nice work!  Plus, I am surprised at no comments about Fusion 360.

LOL    For sure you mom-in-law has never seen pics of "us".  Do you pass off TEA members as your family?
Just ... could ... not ... resist ... that  Your text did not match the safe for here (TEA) sample picture 

[BU508A]

Have you ever considered to combine Bluetooth speakers and a DMM?

No?

Well, ANENG did and this is the result (source):



One can buy this innovative unit here.

    

And to quote our TEA-Dwagon:   "Mooooh....?"

[BU508A]

No, the pics will always be of the actual item with AllTest, and the listing always has the serial number of the item you're bidding on.

That's a big part of why I always prefer to do business with them; WYSIWIG fer reallzz.

Somebody just fucked up; probably recycled text from a listing that WAS for a 2465DMS. 


mnem
 

Dude, you calling me a liar? WTF.  I follow what All-Test posts quite often and I've seen "stock" or wrong pictures used before. I would NOT have said it if I didn't see it for myself.

Your perfect and I'm always right attitude to me and others is really beginning to piss me off.

Easy med, come down. 

This ones for you: