Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Saskia]

hmm ... I am currently out of bubblewrap.
And yes, I did buy some.

[bitseeker]

A couple for the Yankees to have a tilt at, HP seems to be a rebadged Yokogawa:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/C173258-HP-4262A-LCR-Meter-w-Option-010/333856862827

Not a rebadge, but a co-design in the era where at least part of Yokogawa was part of HP (I'm not exactly sure of the history of the relationship, but HP seemed to be pulling the strings at the time).

Designed by these two (from the HP Journal Dec 1977):

Spot on, Cerebus. I've seen a variety of gear from that partnership. I wonder how much of it was sold in Japan. Tektronix and Sony had a thing going at one time because, as I understood it, Tek (and other foreign companies) couldn't sell directly to the Japanese market at the time and had to partner with a Japanese company to do so. I wonder if HP was a similar situation or just a regular cooperative arrangement and/or acquisition.

[bitseeker]

Well, it seems that bitching and moaning work. After decrying yesterday that I hadn't picked up anything in ages I scored this



HP 66312A Dynamic Measurement Power Supply for £160 (£145 + £15 carriage) this morning. More than I like to pay, I don't think I've ever gone over £100 for an HP supply, but a decent price nevertheless.

I've had my eyes on one of these for quite a while. The principle advantage is high bandwidth/high accuracy current measurement with a 4k sample measurement buffer, so it can save you from using a scope to measure load transients with 600nA or 74\$\mu\$A resolution depending on range (20mA or 2A) although the accuracy (2.5\$\mu\$A and 250\$\mu\$A respectively) is poor compared to the resolution.

Nice catch! 

Disadvantage, very deep chassis. Awkward on a shelf and perhaps on the bench, basically it was designed to be racked.



Now I just have to sit and bitch and moan about how long it's taking to get to me.

Edited to add: Missed out one nice feature, it can sink up to 30% of its source capability, so it's a 2 quadrant (\$1 \frac{1}{3}\$ ?) supply.

Yeah, lots of HP rack gear have very deep cases. I'm on the verge of putting some bookshelves behind my desk to extend the surface area. TEA-world problem.

[mnementh]

Ouch, how hard is it to pack something with decent padding around it, I expect they thought it would withstand a direct hit from a nuke. I mean as if the packing is going to cost them if they use their brains, (oh yeh, they don't have any  ). I have been buying and selling on eBay for years now, and I have never had to buy any packing beads or foam etc. as there is always someone who  has loads they want to get of for free, like local shops even and also boxes can got for free from the same sources.

My shed/garage always has a garbage bag full of Amazon bubble-baggies, bagged air and whatever random bubble-wrap comes my way. It all sits on top of a box full of little boxes, and a short stack of flattened Amazon boxes.

I dip into that stack as needed for random sales of items; Come Christmas-time or a move, that resource is almost completely exhausted, and I start all over again. 

mnem
 

[bitseeker]

Damage to Test Equipment:
The packaging-failing morons strike once again. 

I bought a electromechanical Wattmeter the other day. Only bidder, got it for 16,-€ plus shipping.
On paying I wrote a note to the seller that he please should care for good and thick padding to ensure it doesn't get damaged through shipping, e.g. the parcel being thrown into the van..

The seller didn't answer to this note. Most of the sellers do, saying something like: Don't worry, you don't have to encourage me to do so, I always care for secure packaging/padding.
Well this was like a bad omen...
...

Ugh! Sorry to see the carnage, URI. Yep, there are still too many seller who can't pack.

For analog meters, it's also beneficial to short the terminals with a wire to minimize needle movement. Of course, this works best when the terminals are directly connected to the meter. But it's worth requesting.

One old analog panel meter that I bought and requested the addition of a shorting wire, the seller was intrigued and excited to learn about the practice. There are still some good sellers out there.

[capt bullshot]

Yeah, lots of HP rack gear have very deep cases. I'm on the verge of putting some bookshelves behind my desk to extend the surface area. TEA-world problem.

Solved by purpose made and matched to available space shelves:

[Cerebus]

Spot on, Cerebus. I've seen a variety of gear from that partnership. I wonder how much of it was sold in Japan. Tektronix and Sony had a thing going at one time because, as I understood it, Tek (and other foreign companies) couldn't sell directly to the Japanese market at the time and had to partner with a Japanese company to do so. I wonder if HP was a similar situation or just a regular cooperative arrangement and/or acquisition.

From what I've seen of the history officially it was a partnership, but it looked more like an acquisition. I don't know what Japanese rules on foreign ownership were at the time, and that complicates things. It may have been an acquisition in practice, but a partnership in name with a legal structure that was nominally Japanese owned. They were responsible for all HP sales in Japan (HP's previous sales partner in Japan was rolled into Yokagawa-HP), as well as manufacturing both for the Japanese market and export, and obviously from the example in front of us, also did design for HP products that were sold worldwide. I'd be interested in reading a properly detailed history of this.

[mnementh]

I assumed it was a similar initiative to the Tek-Sony partnership; a means to incorporate some of the up & coming Japanese engineering DNA into their own product line, lest they be swept away in the red tide of electronic everything pouring out of that little island. 

mnem
 

[bitseeker]

Yeah, lots of HP rack gear have very deep cases. I'm on the verge of putting some bookshelves behind my desk to extend the surface area. TEA-world problem.

Solved by purpose made and matched to available space shelves:

Show off!

That looks great, capt. There's certainly no substitute for a custom solution.

[mnementh]

I both love and hate you viscerally right now, Cap'n. 

mnem
*back whimpers just at the thought of all that sawyery*

[capt bullshot]

Yeah, lots of HP rack gear have very deep cases. I'm on the verge of putting some bookshelves behind my desk to extend the surface area. TEA-world problem.

Solved by purpose made and matched to available space shelves:

Show off!

That looks great, capt. There's certainly no substitute for a custom solution.

There's a shortcoming with that solution: Some of my TEA has short cases, that would leave a lot of space behind. Somehow that feels inefficient to leave a hole behind an instrument.

[bitseeker]

Is that where you hide small valuables?

Of course, you could put remotely controlled gear (GPIB, USB, Ethernet, etc.) in those spaces.

[mnementh]

Accessory & parts unit storage. 

mnem
whaaaaaat...?   

[Zucca]

Today problem, two pipes A and B.

Solution:

Let`s assume the COG A is at x=0 mm (pipes center)
The COG B is at 76.7/2-32= 6.35 mm, since the two center are aligned.

COG = 370 * 6.35 / (370+48) = 5.621 mm from the center of the pipes.

[capt bullshot]

Is that where you hide small valuables?

Mostly cables. I like the ease of access to the back panels.
There's a few instruments hidden behind another one, e.g. the scope in the top row

Of course, you could put remotely controlled gear (GPIB, USB, Ethernet, etc.) in those spaces.

I stuff that everywhere, especially ethernet / networking infrastructure and other smallish devices

[bitseeker]

Sounds like it's all in good hands and good order to me.

[AVGresponding]

Well, it seems that bitching and moaning work. After decrying yesterday that I hadn't picked up anything in ages I scored this



HP 66312A Dynamic Measurement Power Supply for £160 (£145 + £15 carriage) this morning. More than I like to pay, I don't think I've ever gone over £100 for an HP supply, but a decent price nevertheless.

I've had my eyes on one of these for quite a while. The principle advantage is high bandwidth/high accuracy current measurement with a 4k sample measurement buffer, so it can save you from using a scope to measure load transients with 600nA or 74\$\mu\$A resolution depending on range (20mA or 2A) although the accuracy (2.5\$\mu\$A and 250\$\mu\$A respectively) is poor compared to the resolution.

Disadvantage, very deep chassis. Awkward on a shelf and perhaps on the bench, basically it was designed to be racked.



Now I just have to sit and bitch and moan about how long it's taking to get to me.

Edited to add: Missed out one nice feature, it can sink up to 30% of its source capability, so it's a 2 quadrant (\$1 \frac{1}{3}\$ ?) supply.

That was you I was fighting? Goddammit!

They are very good, much depends on the quality of the leads you use though, as ever.


EDIT: In discord bitching about Cerebus outbidding me

[Cerebus]

I assumed it was a similar initiative to the Tek-Sony partnership; a means to incorporate some of the up & coming Japanese engineering DNA into their own product line, lest they be swept away in the red tide of electronic everything pouring out of that little island. 

mnem
 

The HP/Yokagawa partnership was formed in 1963, well before the West started to think of Japan as competition, let alone somewhere we might learn something from. The consensus at the time was "All the Japanese can do is copy the West. They're not originators." - a sentiment I heard being repeated well into the 70s, rather like all the shortsighted people have been saying about the Chinese recently, a nation with an even longer history of civilisation and which invented lots of significant things while us Westerner's ancestors were still banging rocks together.

[Cerebus]

Is that where you hide small valuables?

Of course, you could put remotely controlled gear (GPIB, USB, Ethernet, etc.) in those spaces.

No, natural heated kitten napping spots.

[mnementh]

mnem's 3DP Corner: Bench Stand for FLUKE 189 & 87/IV DMM

      

This is what I've been doodling around with the last couple days... a properly rigid bench-use stand for my Fluke 189 that incorporates a lead holder. This unit snaps in place of the molded rubber test-lead keeper usually found on the back of these meters; it does not interfere with the original flip-out stand in any way. The idea was to have all my most-used accessories and the leads all tidy and right there when I need them.

         

The oversized back disc serves a purpose; it makes it easy to loop the wires over the groove one-handed and the optional wire across the middle allows similar one-handed clipping of favorite alligator leads up to 24" long as well as IC grabbit flyleads. Reliefs in the stand serve to keep loose alligator wires from causing trouble, and magnets in the pockets keep the screw-on alligators in place.

Complete details & STLs over in the Got 3DP thread.

mnem
 

For those who care: I've finally completed this article and uploaded the STLs as a zip file; available both in the Got 3DP thread and the Knobs, Feet & Fittings thread.

mnem

[Cerebus]

That was you I was fighting? Goddammit!

They are very good, much depends on the quality of the leads you use though, as ever.


EDIT: In discord bitching about Cerebus outbidding me

Sorry old chap. That said: All's fair in love, war and TEA. 

These have one of the HP features I really like. The output and sense terminals are on a plug-in Phoenix Contact terminal strip at the back. You can order up a bunch of the mating connectors and make remote sensed leads for different use cases. A grand improvement over the generation that used those screw down terminal strips at the back that you had to fit individual spade connectors to (which I have done for one of my supplies).

[mnementh]

I assumed it was a similar initiative to the Tek-Sony partnership; a means to incorporate some of the up & coming Japanese engineering DNA into their own product line, lest they be swept away in the red tide of electronic everything pouring out of that little island. 

mnem
 

The HP/Yokagawa partnership was formed in 1963, well before the West started to think of Japan as competition, let alone somewhere we might learn something from. The consensus at the time was "All the Japanese can do is copy the West. They're not originators." - a sentiment I heard being repeated well into the 70s, rather like all the shortsighted people have been saying about the Chinese recently, a nation with an even longer history of civilisation and which invented lots of significant things while us Westerner's ancestors were still banging racks together.

LOL.... I know you meant "banging rocks together", but in this context it actually is a working sentence... more than one, if you're as dirty-minded as we both are.

I just figured that if anyone could see the value of what was coming out of Japan's universities at that time, and be open-minded enough to consider it of value, it would be the Bill & Dave camp.


“If your plan is for one year plant rice. If your plan is for ten years plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years educate children. ” ~attributed to Confucius

mnem
"Patience was born in China."

[Robert763]

For lightly dinged BNCs (and TNCs) a 11/32" steel ball bearing placed in the opening and lightly tapped with a hammer does a really good job of sorting them out. No, a 9mm metric one won't do, the 0.27mm larger diameter is too much. If you have access to a lathe and the right skills you could turn up a custom tool for the job but it's hardly worth it.
Obviously this should not be done to sockets mounted directly to PCBs or thin panels without additional support. You can get small quantities of imperial balls from bike shops (in UK) or the usual online sources.

[Cerebus]

That's quite remarkable that bike shops can afford to stock them. With only two each per emperor, harvesting imperial balls must be a very expensive operation. 

I'll get my coat....

[factory]

I don't know if bike shops are open, but if you look on ePay, be careful not to buy the pre-rusted steel balls. 


David