Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[0culus]

One of the Type 575s has been burning in last two evenings, as I have been using it while I work on learning all the things you can do with a curve tracer (there's a LOT more than just diodes and transistor measurements!) It is working great, very stable. The other one is gonna be a bit of a project. It's got some obvious issues (fan struggling, trace is jacked up, and the 100V rail is low), so I have put it aside for a while.

[cyclin_al]

Windows 10, don't you just love it...   Bring back XP, I say.   Got a usb HDD cradle (used ofc) and after jury rigging a power supply and shoving an old HDD in, nothing. Well, not nothing, I can hear it spinning up and down when I connected the usb lead, but nothing on My PC to show it's there.

Had to go to disk management and allocate the drive. Now it's fine, but why does it have to be so bloody obscure? Just autodetect I plugged something in ffs   

In TE news I got a nice little Philips DMM for just under £30 shipped, then missed a TTi awg and a HP MegaZoom, only to end up the biggest sucker winning bidder on a Tek 222.

Added to that, sirbigclive has got me lusting after a BV9900 Pro.   

Windows XP wouldn't detect an unformatted/no MBR (unallocated) HDD either, no matter what teh interface. 

True that, Windows XP will not even detect a formatted drive with MBR if it is a SSD, at least not without messing around with WinXP.
In my case, I was able to switch to Xubuntu several months ago; problem solved.

Win7 will not recognize an unformatted drive either, but will recognize a formatted SSD .... 

Just remember... like bd says: "My house is built out of other people's shitshows."  

mnem
*says a prayer for Saskia's already worn-thin sanity*

Then again, my house is built on providing the toilet paper.  You can use a little bit now ..... Or, you can use a whole lot later! 
No comment necessary on how much gets consumed...

People not involved are at home and the home statistically isn't that safe at all.

So very true.  Yesterday morning, I had the main breaker panel at home open to add a branch circuit.  There is no chance they would ever let me do that at work.
At least, I finally no longer need an extension cord for the Pi-hole, and AX-1500 router used to out-smart the ISP equipment.
It had to wait until now for an opportunity when the kid and SWMBO were both out of the house and I had no meetings for work; patience is a virtue.

Just looks like another day in US paradise:
http://metvuw.co.nz/forecast/forecast.php?type=rain&region=usa&noofdays=10

No so for those of us further in the GWN.  -18 C with no snow on the ground.  If there was snow with it, then it would be paradise and time to get out the skis.
Instead, the only thing to do is lock myself in the basement and look at TEA that is too far away to be practical to ship, or is far to expensive.

[mnementh]

One of the Type 575s has been burning in last two evenings, as I have been using it while I work on learning all the things you can do with a curve tracer (there's a LOT more than just diodes and transistor measurements!) It is working great, very stable. The other one is gonna be a bit of a project. It's got some obvious issues (fan struggling, trace is jacked up, and the 100V rail is low), so I have put it aside for a while.

Yeah, I keep telling myself I need to buy & build m'self one of these kits: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/transistor-curve-tracer-kit-on-ebay/  ... or maybe just wind me a couple ferrites and use my new signal generator to drive them as a simple Octopus-type junction tester. Would probably be more than I really need, especially if I can vary the test frequency a bit. 

mnem
*knocks self unconscious with a cephalopod mallet*

[0culus]

One of the Type 575s has been burning in last two evenings, as I have been using it while I work on learning all the things you can do with a curve tracer (there's a LOT more than just diodes and transistor measurements!) It is working great, very stable. The other one is gonna be a bit of a project. It's got some obvious issues (fan struggling, trace is jacked up, and the 100V rail is low), so I have put it aside for a while.

Yeah, I keep telling myself I need to buy & build m'self one of these kits: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/transistor-curve-tracer-kit-on-ebay/  ... or maybe just wind me a couple ferrites and use my new signal generator to drive them as a simple Octopus-type junction tester. Would probably be more than I really need, especially if I can vary the test frequency a bit. 

mnem
*knocks self unconscious with a cephalopod mallet*

If it doesn't have a step generator, you could add one. Then it would be a lot more useful than a simple octopus circuit. Certainly would work fine for small signal, and a lot less risky. One thing to note about the 575 is that there is no interlock mechanism for higher collector voltage ranges! It will happily kill you if you're not paying attention. On the newer ones you have to consciously push the interlock switch (or have the special cover which is always missing) in order to access higher voltage ranges.

[AVGresponding]

Dunno what to tell you man... the Disk Management Snap-in Storage Management MMC has been around since before XP, and aside from supporting more advanced filesystems it hasn't changed a whole lot. It's not exactly hidden; it's right where its always been, doing pretty much the same job since the Bush administration. The job you just had to do with it.

Okay... that's a relief. I was a-feared you'd suffered a momentary lapse of reason.   

I simply cannot take the suggestion of a FLIR phone seriously. I expect to get a helluva lot more than 2-3 years out of a tool like a IR camera. I do NOT expect this from ANY phone; even ruggedized just means your average car mechanic or oilfield gorilla should be able to expect that 2-3 years for their money. 

Phones vs tools... just entirely a different kind of design paradigm.

Please, promise you'll share pics of your 222 when you get it going... myself, I'd try running it off a protected 18650 cell and see if or how long it will run; I have chargers for them on my bench as I use them in flashlights and other stuffs so is a very convenient power source for me. 2S would be a bit more problematic, but possible.

C- you've had one. What's the drop-out voltage? Are these an all-CMOS design or do they hug the 5V minimum like a baby on a teat?

mnem
 

Well, as I said, the disk was already formatted, and in any case, the usb cradle wasn't auto-detected as I would expect.


As far as service life for phones is concerned, I expect it to be for as long as I care to use the phone; I still have my Nokia 2140, and it still works, though I'd have to get a new battery for it.


And stop trying to get me to put fireworks in my battery powered devices!   

The 222 will get a sensible NiMH or possibly NiCd battery, let's hear no more of this Li-BOOM stuff!

[Robert763]

Yeah,
Lithiums won't work. one cell is too low and two won't charge.
I used 5 nicads (twas a while ago). Charging was a series resistor with a diode across it to let current flow when running on battery. IIRC there was not enough voltage overhead to use  LM317T or similar for constant current charging.

[med6753]

[BU508A]

What a beauty:



Source:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what-did-you-buy-today-post-your-latest-purchase!/msg3372534/#msg3372534

Available at Amazon.

[Calambres]

 

Awaiting, awaiting...


Here in Europe it is cheaper to buy it from the manufacturer than from Amazon...

[Henrik_V]

For cookies and mnementh
https://www.tumblr.com/video/titanic-ente/637399674867810304/700/
Couldn't make that a YT like link 

[med6753]

For some reason the cooling fan in the Type 535A is acting up again. From a cold start taking at least 30 - 45 seconds to get up to speed along with a slight bit of rattling. I had just serviced this fan earlier this year which included a complete tear down, cleaning, lube.

Rather than completely strip it down again I pulled those perimeter screws so the entire assembly would drop out the back. This gave me access to the rear bearing sleeve. Some light machine oil into that sleeve. I was also able to get to the front shaft at the fan attachment and added oil there too. Result? Now it's OK again. Starts up to speed immediately with no rattling. I guess it's slightly worn and possibly every once in a while will need additional lubrication.

 

[tautech]

If that an optical illusion or are the fan to shroud clearances all over the wack ?
One section seems to have a witness swipe of previous fan blade contact.

[mnementh]

One of the Type 575s has been burning in last two evenings, as I have been using it while I work on learning all the things you can do with a curve tracer (there's a LOT more than just diodes and transistor measurements!) It is working great, very stable. The other one is gonna be a bit of a project. It's got some obvious issues (fan struggling, trace is jacked up, and the 100V rail is low), so I have put it aside for a while.

Yeah, I keep telling myself I need to buy & build m'self one of these kits: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/transistor-curve-tracer-kit-on-ebay/  ... or maybe just wind me a couple ferrites and use my new signal generator to drive them as a simple Octopus-type junction tester. Would probably be more than I really need, especially if I can vary the test frequency a bit. 

mnem
*knocks self unconscious with a cephalopod mallet*

If it doesn't have a step generator, you could add one. Then it would be a lot more useful than a simple octopus circuit. Certainly would work fine for small signal, and a lot less risky. One thing to note about the 575 is that there is no interlock mechanism for higher collector voltage ranges! It will happily kill you if you're not paying attention. On the newer ones you have to consciously push the interlock switch (or have the special cover which is always missing) in order to access higher voltage ranges.

I literally have not even turned the UTG962E on since I posted my SQUEEEE! pix a few days ago.  I'd really be amazed if it didn't have a step generator built-in; if it doesn't, that's what the Arb genenerator software is for. For the longest time, I used a very crude Octopus on my old V-212 that I built into a old 50Ω BNC Tee which had one socket a bit smashed. Worked a treat for small signal transistors, diodes, etc and short-finding in power supply circuits.   

That 575 was made when men were men and sheep were afraid. While I don't care much for nanny-state in general, I do feel a little interlock over dangerous voltages... at least enough to make you stop & think before you go there... is definitely on the sanity-minded side of that line. 

OTOH... one of my first gigs after moving to Texas was at a ding & dent appliance store; there I worked with an old-timer who habitually tested for live 120VAC in microwaves, toasters, and gas ranges with his fingertips.

"Oh, as long as one finger is on the neutral, it's just a little tingle..." he'd say, with a impish grin. 

I tried to explain to him just how dangerous the rectified-mains DC voltages in modern power supplies were... and that there's a reason those caps are rated for 400 VDC... he'd just grin again. I never did figure out if he really was that daft, or if he just liked the tingle. 

I'm certain it's just lucky all the appliances he ever worked with were North American production.

mnem
tzzt.

[mnementh]

Well, as I said, the disk was already formatted, and in any case, the usb cradle wasn't auto-detected as I would expect.

As far as service life for phones is concerned, I expect it to be for as long as I care to use the phone; I still have my Nokia 2140, and it still works, though I'd have to get a new battery for it.

And stop trying to get me to put fireworks in my battery powered devices! 

The 222 will get a sensible NiMH or possibly NiCd battery, let's hear no more of this Li-BOOM stuff!

What in the world would you connect that 2140 to...? Your own 800MHz AMPS femtocell?   

Oh, come on. Cylindrical Li-Ion cells are by now a proven "reasonably-safe" technology; no more dangerous if abused than an overcharged NiCd. Particularly now that we have "protected cells" with a BMS PCB integrated into the end of the cell. Talking about them that way makes you sound like a bit like a Luddite, and I know for a fact you are smarter and better educated than that.
   
      

I carry each of these in my pocket all the time; Well, the big ones only occasionally - the small stainless AloneFire S106 220-lumen model is my current EDC. That big SkyRay one is 24 Watts of Cree XML-T6 goodness; I caught it on crazy mis-marked sale price of US$16 4 or 5 years ago. I power that with a 8800mAH pack made from a reclaimed laptop battery, and it's built 100% bareback commando-style because the particular controller used in this flashlight has LVC. 

That charger is NiMh easy to use; I have a couple, and it will automatically detect and charge Ni-xx or Li-xx technology cells, plus it gives you useful information like iR in mΩ, as well as charge mAH and even a complete charge-discharge capacity cycle. Cost now is no more than a decent Ni-xx charger; $15-25 on Amazon (you can pay a lot more, of course) depending on exact feature-set.

While I agree that Li-Po is still not ready for PrimeTime, arguably even in embedded systems like smartphones (it is the main reason for my characterization of mobile phones as a 2-3 year device), Li-xx cylindrical cells are a mature technology, and inherently safe enough to exchange for Ni-xx wherever operating voltages and convenience of charging will allow. All it requires is an amount of enginerding thought roughly equivalent to subbing Ni-MH for Ni-Cd, or trial & error resistor substitution. 

Robert sez the operating/cutoff voltage of the 222 is not within the correct operating window for convenient Li-xx substitution; that really is the only reason not to try it, provided battery access isn't a total dicksore; even integrated charging is easy as all you have to provide is regulated 4.2V @100-500mA capacity and the protection/BMS PCB handles the rest.

Alternately, There are a number of cheap PowerBank control boards that automatically step up the ~3.7V nominal of a Li-xx cell to 5V @ 1-3A; they have an automatic sleep mode with quiescent draw in the picoamp range. These are completely automatic in terms of load-detection, but they vary greatly in terms of just how well-filtered the output is from the DC-DC converter stage is. I might try such a mod with a couple 18650s in 1S2P config; but I would not recommend that mod on something like embedding it into a tiny scope as a good first Li-xx modding project.

mnem
 

[med6753]

If that an optical illusion or are the fan to shroud clearances all over the wack ?
One section seems to have a witness swipe of previous fan blade contact.

Nope, it's an illusion. It's basically a dirt ring. That photo was originally taken the first time I pulled the fan earlier this year. I just posted it again for illustration purposes. That ring cleaned up when I did the initial tear down.

[tautech]

If that an optical illusion or are the fan to shroud clearances all over the wack ?
One section seems to have a witness swipe of previous fan blade contact.

Nope, it's an illusion. It's basically a dirt ring. That photo was originally taken the first time I pulled the fan earlier this year. I just posted it again for illustration purposes. That ring cleaned up when I did the initial tear down.

Ah OK. 

How deep is the white stuff today Med ?

[McBryce]

What a beauty:



Source:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what-did-you-buy-today-post-your-latest-purchase!/msg3372534/#msg3372534

Available at Amazon.

Yup, it had me reaching for my PayPal account too, but then I decided that I'd rather spend the money on something else. It oozes HP retro though.

McBryce.

[mnementh]

The whole family is pretty interesting:   https://www.swissmicros.com/products

But at ~US$245 a bit out of my price range for the novelty, especially since I already have the Free42 app on my smartPwn.    

https://www.amazon.com/DM42-The-Most-Precise-Calculator/dp/B07B4W13GW/

mnem
*still procrastinating against trying to wake up enough to start painting Deadpool-icorn*

[tggzzz]

What a beauty:



Source:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what-did-you-buy-today-post-your-latest-purchase!/msg3372534/#msg3372534

Available at Amazon.

At that price I'm glad my pair of these still work (as does my HP35)!

[med6753]

If that an optical illusion or are the fan to shroud clearances all over the wack ?
One section seems to have a witness swipe of previous fan blade contact.

Nope, it's an illusion. It's basically a dirt ring. That photo was originally taken the first time I pulled the fan earlier this year. I just posted it again for illustration purposes. That ring cleaned up when I did the initial tear down.

Ah OK. 

How deep is the white stuff today Med ?

No white stuff yet. Not until after 15:00 hours today and it's currently 13:30 hours. Forecast is still holding firm to 16+ inches of snow. We'll see.

[Robert763]

Well, as I said, the disk was already formatted, and in any case, the usb cradle wasn't auto-detected as I would expect.

As far as service life for phones is concerned, I expect it to be for as long as I care to use the phone; I still have my Nokia 2140, and it still works, though I'd have to get a new battery for it.

And stop trying to get me to put fireworks in my battery powered devices! 

The 222 will get a sensible NiMH or possibly NiCd battery, let's hear no more of this Li-BOOM stuff!

What in the world would you connect that 2140 to...? Your own 800MHz AMPS femtocell?   

Oh, come on. Cylindrical Li-Ion cells are by now a proven "reasonably-safe" technology; no more dangerous if abused than an overcharged NiCd. Particularly now that we have "protected cells" with a BMS PCB integrated into the end of the cell. Talking about them that way makes you sound like a bit like a Luddite, and I know for a fact you are smarter and better educated than that.
   
      

I carry each of these in my pocket all the time; Well, the big ones only occasionally - the small stainless AloneFire S106 220-lumen model is my current EDC. That big SkyRay one is 24 Watts of Cree XML-T6 goodness; I caught it on crazy mis-marked sale price of US$16 4 or 5 years ago. I power that with a 8800mAH pack made from a reclaimed laptop battery, and it's built 100% bareback commando-style because the particular controller used in this flashlight has LVC. 

That charger is NiMh easy to use; I have a couple, and it will automatically detect and charge Ni-xx or Li-xx technology cells, plus it gives you useful information like iR in mΩ, as well as charge mAH and even a complete charge-discharge capacity cycle. Cost now is no more than a decent Ni-xx charger; $15-25 on Amazon (you can pay a lot more, of course) depending on exact feature-set.

While I agree that Li-Po is still not ready for PrimeTime, arguably even in embedded systems like smartphones (it is the main reason for my characterization of mobile phones as a 2-3 year device), Li-xx cylindrical cells are a mature technology, and inherently safe enough to exchange for Ni-xx wherever operating voltages and convenience of charging will allow. All it requires is an amount of enginerding thought roughly equivalent to subbing Ni-MH for Ni-Cd, or trial & error resistor substitution. 

Robert sez the operating/cutoff voltage of the 222 is not within the correct operating window for convenient Li-xx substitution; that really is the only reason not to try it, provided battery access isn't a total dicksore; even integrated charging is easy as all you have to provide is regulated 4.2V @100-500mA capacity and the protection/BMS PCB handles the rest.

Alternately, There are a number of cheap PowerBank control boards that automatically step up the ~3.7V nominal of a Li-xx cell to 5V @ 1-3A; they have an automatic sleep mode with quiescent draw in the picoamp range. These are completely automatic in terms of load-detection, but they vary greatly in terms of just how well-filtered the output is from the DC-DC converter stage is. I might try such a mod with a couple 18650s in 1S2P config; but I would not recommend that mod on something like embedding it into a tiny scope as a good first Li-xx modding project.

mnem
 

Do you REALLY think that 4 ex laptop, non-protected cells SOLDERED together without insulation is SAFE? 
There is a reason why there are shipping and aircraft luggage restrictions on lithiums.

[Robert763]

What a beauty:



Source:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what-did-you-buy-today-post-your-latest-purchase!/msg3372534/#msg3372534

Available at Amazon.

At that price I'm glad my pair of these still work (as does my HP35)!

They are youngsters, my calculator on the desk at work is a 41CV, backup is a 48S and that is 23 years old.

[mnementh]

...Oh, come on. Cylindrical Li-Ion cells are by now a proven "reasonably-safe" technology; no more dangerous if abused than an overcharged NiCd. Particularly now that we have "protected cells" with a BMS PCB integrated into the end of the cell. Talking about them that way makes you sound like a bit like a Luddite, and I know for a fact you are smarter and better educated than that.
   
   ...That big SkyRay one is 24 Watts of Cree XML-T6 goodness; I caught it on crazy mis-marked sale price of US$16 4 or 5 years ago. I power that with a 8800mAH pack made from a reclaimed laptop battery, and it's built 100% bareback commando-style because the particular controller used in this flashlight has LVC. 

Do you REALLY think that 4 ex laptop, non-protected cells SOLDERED together without insulation is SAFE? 
There is a reason why there are shipping and aircraft luggage restrictions on lithiums.

Nope. I said no more dangerous than a overcharged (or shorted) Ni-Cd. But safe enough inside its billet aluminum pris0n that I'm not afraid to use it on a daily basis. Nothing with this level of energy density is safe-safe (which BTW, is ~1/3 the airline limit, and not in a flammable plastic package); and that includes modern NiCd cells which can discharge at a much higher current level than used to be the norm. 

As for the insulation... look again. The entire body of the pack is at the same potential as the body of the flashlight. There is double insulation (layers of Kapton tape on top of the plastic liner) at the live end.

I'd definitely consider it safer than say... a loaded pistol. Or computerized voting machines.

mnem
 

[0culus]

@bd, I found another delicious use for the cholula chipotle hot sauce...mix with hummus. 

[Neomys Sapiens]

For some reason the cooling fan in the Type 535A is acting up again. From a cold start taking at least 30 - 45 seconds to get up to speed along with a slight bit of rattling. I had just serviced this fan earlier this year which included a complete tear down, cleaning, lube.

Med does fanservice. We should be afraid.