Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tautech]

..........
Thanks for stepping up, TT. I wasn't going to volunteer you for that headache, as I was pretty sure you didn't sell the unit to a US customer.

No worries, Management, Manufacturing and QC need a kick in the balls at times if they think they'll ever challenge the big boys and if anyone can get away with doing that I think I can. 

Glad you feel that way. I just didn't wanna be another of those "Oh, I never hear aboot anything but the bad shit..." incidents for ya. 

mnem
 

TBH I have a good run with Siglent stuff (touches wood) and here in little ol' NZ problems are rare but I check/update/add a TT sticker to every unit before it goes out the door so I would notice that goofed print on the button while doing so and hold it back until a new button arrived. The big boy box shifters can't offer such attention to PD checks as they're too busy to do so.

Well, no... I figured that your exposure here as a Siglent Rep would have to result in a fair number of "OMGWTFBBQ! TT pleeeeze save me!!!" PMs from people on eevBlog who bought the brand elsewhere. I have no idea how much of that there might be, but didn't want to add to it.

mnem
 

I get plenty of that and much of it is due to owners not updating firmware. 

Still I don't mind interacting with owners and sharing knowledge providing of course it don't get outta hand. 

[mnementh]

On the Bench today: KKMoon Calculator Kit From Amazon

      

We'll see how close to the demo pic these old hands can manage; the key labels are just laser-printed paper that I have to cut apart myself, and the destructions amount to a 1/4 page telling you where to see a video of the build.  Bloody brilliant; this will end well.

But it will keep me busy for a little while as it is currently -10° outside and I really don't want any excuse to go out there, since my back is still screaming at me from my last venture outside.

mnem

[Robert763]

<SNIP>

I'm still lusting after a rack mount DMM/DVM with blue dot matrix VFD...

I've a Solartron 7071 I could be persuaded to part with....  EDIT 7071 71/2 (or 81/2 with the flick of a switch only dfference from 7081 is selection of reference diode and calibration)
Like this one but mine has the correct input lead.

[mnementh]

On the Bench today: KKMoon Calculator Kit From Amazon

We'll see how close to the demo pic these old hands can manage...

   

Hmmm.... actually, not too bad. Lots of fiddly-bit work; but I have a very sharp pair of scissors, and as long as I take the time to trim out each one individually and assemble with tweezers, results are quite decent.  Just exactly the kind of tinkery-puttery I was in the market for when I bought the kit.

bd, you can keep your ferrite-coil winding; that schizz always makes my hands ache in just a few minutes. 

EDIT: Aaaaand done. Quite pleased with the result, honestly. Took just aboot a hour to get all the keys made; grand-dad taught me to always conquer the PITA parts of a job first, it ensures the rest goes smoothly. That practice has served me well all my life.

Thanks, Baa-Baa. 

mnem
 

[factory]

Today arrival, no known affiliations with a well-know TEA fellow ...



 

Seen enough of them to give me nightmares this week. Hide them please 

I can't see those gloves without thinking of a certain youtube channel, hopefully the 427A won't give you nightmares.


David

[bd139]

Hahaha. 

There’s a couple of 3310A’s on eBay from a reasonable seller and at a reasonable price if anyone is interested. I’m not.

[Brumby]

See previous quotes for the full detail.

I get plenty of that and much of it is due to owners not updating firmware. 

Still I don't mind interacting with owners and sharing knowledge providing of course it don't get outta hand. 

Besides, it's only good business practice.  Hear about a problem that can negatively affect the image of products you offer and you're going to taken action to safeguard your business.  It's a no-brainer - especially when it surfaces on a place like the EEVblog.

[factory]

Hahaha. 

There’s a couple of 3310A’s on eBay from a reasonable seller and at a reasonable price if anyone is interested. I’m not.

That's a very reasonable price, if I didn't already have one I would have bought one of those.

I'm a bit tried tonight, but here is a quick update on the GEC R&C bridge, first test after repair and all seems to be working fine (150nF Vishay X2 cap being tested). 


And the HP scope from Computer Disposals Ltd should be here tomorrow.

David

[Brumby]

It's upside down .... all the electrons will fall out!   

[Specmaster]

<SNIP>

I'm still lusting after a rack mount DMM/DVM with blue dot matrix VFD...

I've a Solartron 7071 I could be persuaded to part with....  EDIT 7071 71/2 (or 81/2 with the flick of a switch only dfference from 7081 is selection of reference diode and calibration)
Like this one but mine has the correct input lead.

I've always fancied one of those myself, but I just cannot have any boat anchors, and that most certainly is. If space was not a problem than those are my meters of choice.

[Specmaster]

@mnementh I also looked at one of these calculator kits last year and decided against it, however I may just review that decision to break the boredom up.

With regard to leaving the AT in sport mode, I have to oppose your view in that it makes no difference in mpg, it actually drags the mpg down to a lower figure, causes more pollution, and that is something that we should all be looking to reduce for the sake of the planet, plus it also makes far more noise pollution as well. My car has Driving and Sports mode on the transmission, and driving in sports mode, the car is still in 2nd gear at 30mph and around 2,500rpm and the noise level is much higher than leaving it in D mode and the transmission is in 4th at 30mph with just 1600rpm and the mpg figure is greatly reduced as is engine wear and CO2 emissions.   

Traction and stability control are always ON by default and I have only ever switched it off a couple of times and there is so much torque available that it is very easy to pull wheel spin when pulling away and also acceleration is noticeably quicker with it off once wheel spin has stopped.

Even in snow, I leave it in the on setting and provided you have a gentle right foot, no problems pulling away on snow. Besides over here our insurers are always looking for ways to avoid paying on a claim, that I'm sure, that should you have an accident with the traction off, that they would refuse to honour the policy, claiming that was a major contributing factor to the accident. As to cracking the CPU, that would unless you declared it prior to insuring the car and accepting a punishing premium as a result, render your policy null and void when their inspectors discovered it after an accident.

[tautech]

See previous quotes for the full detail.

I get plenty of that and much of it is due to owners not updating firmware. 

Still I don't mind interacting with owners and sharing knowledge providing of course it don't get outta hand. 

Besides, it's only good business practice.  Hear about a problem that can negatively affect the image of products you offer and you're going to taken action to safeguard your business.  It's a no-brainer - especially when it surfaces on a place like the EEVblog.

Had one this morning from a chap I sold a SDS2104X Plus DSO to a week of two back and he wanted to access the scope remotely which is piss simple with these as they have a web server so sent him a little instructional on how to set that functionality up.
I got back a 
 

[AVGresponding]

Hopefully it will deter the 1 or 2 item overseas buyer who have been bidding stuff up to silly levels.

Not making any promises 

I'm still lusting after a rack mount DMM/DVM with blue dot matrix VFD...

Don't think there's one on the next auction... But if it's blue VFD you want:



Even from the company you're lusting after, unless I'm mistaken 

Right kind of display, wrong kind of instrument... I've no use for such, I'm afraid.

The Solartron 70*1 meters have nice starburst VFDs, but for a dot matrix VFD on a DMM I think I am looking at an Advantest 6581, Fluke 8845, or Keithley 2001, all of which would be well outside my budget.

I suppose a 7061 is a more realistic target.

[mnementh]

@mnementh I also looked at one of these calculator kits last year and decided against it, however I may just review that decision to break the boredom up.

With regard to leaving the AT in sport mode, I have to oppose your view in that it makes no difference in mpg, it actually drags the mpg down to a lower figure, causes more pollution, and that is something that we should all be looking to reduce for the sake of the planet, plus it also makes far more noise pollution as well. My car has Driving and Sports mode on the transmission, and driving in sports mode, the car is still in 2nd gear at 30mph and around 2,500rpm and the noise level is much higher than leaving it in D mode and the transmission is in 4th at 30mph with just 1600rpm and the mpg figure is greatly reduced as is engine wear and CO2 emissions.   

Traction and stability control are always ON by default and I have only ever switched it off a couple of times and there is so much torque available that it is very easy to pull wheel spin when pulling away and also acceleration is noticeably quicker with it off once wheel spin has stopped.

Even in snow, I leave it in the on setting and provided you have a gentle right foot, no problems pulling away on snow. Besides over here our insurers are always looking for ways to avoid paying on a claim, that I'm sure, that should you have an accident with the traction off, that they would refuse to honour the policy, claiming that was a major contributing factor to the accident. As to cracking the CPU, that would unless you declared it prior to insuring the car and accepting a punishing premium as a result, render your policy null and void when their inspectors discovered it after an accident.

Maybe on your vehicle... not this one. I've literally logged weeks at a time in both modes... as I said, unless I deliberately mat it all the time, the overall fuel economy doesn't change to any statistically significant amount. Modern vehicles all run in closed-loop mode all the time... even cold-start, nowadays. They do not switch out for any reason without posting a MIL and setting a code. That means it is burning clean, no matter which mode it is in.

This is not a Cayenne or somesuch that has an Economy mode just to satisfy emissions legislation and insurance companies... it's a pregnant Camry, FFS.  "Sport" mode increases the shift points aboot 200 rpm at the most, and it makes the shift firmer. Period. That little bit makes a lot of difference in how "tight" the car feels, and I'll make that decision for myself, thank you.

As for reprogramming the CPU... I've been doing that for decades, I still have my certifications from when I worked at the dealership, and I WILL turn off the seat-belt bitch-a-majig, and I will make traction control normally off if I feel like it. These are things you can turn on or off at a dealership level already; I just don't feel like paying them to do it on a car that isn't mine.

You are welcome to make these choices in your vehicle... as I do in my own.

Cheers,

mnem
 

[mnementh]

@mnementh I also looked at one of these calculator kits last year and decided against it, however I may just review that decision to break the boredom up.

Well... that was satisfying, but not nearly long enuf. All the actual "make"-ery is done... now it's just assembly. I might mod it with a an old camera Li-Ion cell tho; it appears to have a backlit LCD & I don't imagine CR2032s will last long.

Still... def worth the pittance they charge to occupy a afternoon. 

mnem

[Specmaster]

@mnementh I also looked at one of these calculator kits last year and decided against it, however I may just review that decision to break the boredom up.

Well... that was satisfying, but not nearly long enuf. All the actual "make"-ery is done... now it's just assembly. I might mod it with a an old camera Li-Ion cell tho; it appears to have a backlit LCD & I don't imagine CR2032s will last long.

Still... def worth the pittance they charge to occupy a afternoon. 

mnem

Yeh, it does make you wonder as to why they didn't include a power socket and make the batteries rechargeable, shouldn't add all that much to the kits cost?

Seeing it all sitting there now, kinda makes me wish I had one to build to... I may have to pull the trigger on one myself soon 

 

[mnementh]

Detailed destructions are here in case you need help to make up your mind push you off the fence: http://www.diyleyuan.com/jc/L8Q.html

I'm already looking through my old quadcopter hardware bins for socket-head screws to upgrade it with. 

mnem
 

[med6753]

....snip

 Modern vehicles all run in closed-loop mode all the time... even cold-start, nowadays. They do not switch out for any reason without posting a MIL and setting a code. That means it is burning clean, no matter which mode it is in.

.....and snip

You sure about that? In order for closed loop to be valid the O2 sensors need to be at a certain temperature in order to provide valid data. That's why they have heaters to bring them up as fast as possible. But until that happens the ECU is in open loop running on default values.

[mnementh]

That time is less and less with every generation, and more and more of the warm-up time is closed-loop. Modern vehicles this time is measured in seconds as the cat reaches ignition threshold almost immediately.

mnem
 

[med6753]

That time is less and less with every generation, and more and more of the warm-up time is closed-loop. Modern vehicles this time is measured in seconds as the cat reaches ignition threshold almost immediately.

mnem
 

But let's be accurate. You implied that right from the get go on cold start the ECU is in closed loop. It isn't. 

[vk6zgo]

Bring it. I'm ready. 

Worried about Dwagons in your threads. Granny in Oz has a Snake in her PJ's 

Jeezus... one little weekend of hot, slithy serpent sex with the Quetzalcoatl and they never let you live it down... 

mnem

Do you have any idea how long I paid child support on those little psycho-wyrms...? Medusa still has some of them on her head...

The Wagyl (Noongar version of the Rainbow Serpent) is insanely jealous!

[mnementh]

...I'm already looking through my old quadcopter hardware bins for socket-head screws to upgrade it with.

Dammitt... I have button-head and cap screws in black and silver... But not the same of either in all the right sizes or color.

mnem
grr.

[Specmaster]

Maybe on your vehicle... not this one. I've literally logged weeks at a time in both modes... as I said, unless I deliberately mat it all the time, the overall fuel economy doesn't change to any statistically significant amount. Modern vehicles all run in closed-loop mode all the time... even cold-start, nowadays. They do not switch out for any reason without posting a MIL and setting a code. That means it is burning clean, no matter which mode it is in.

This is not a Cayenne or somesuch that has an Economy mode just to satisfy emissions legislation and insurance companies... it's a pregnant Camry, FFS.  "Sport" mode increases the shift points aboot 200 rpm at the most, and it makes the shift firmer. Period. That little bit makes a lot of difference in how "tight" the car feels, and I'll make that decision for myself, thank you.

As for reprogramming the CPU... I've been doing that for decades, I still have my certifications from when I worked at the dealership, and I WILL turn off the seat-belt bitch-a-majig, and I will make traction control normally off if I feel like it. These are things you can turn on or off at a dealership level already; I just don't feel like paying them to do it on a car that isn't mine.

You are welcome to make these choices in your vehicle... as I do in my own.

Cheers,

mnem
 

Surely, higher RPM translates to more power strokes and thus more exhaust strokes and therefore more CO2 

When you mentioned cracking the CPU, I didn't realise that you meant tweaking the vehicle default settings using an OBD2 scanning tool, hell I have one of those and have made some dealer / user settings tweaks myself, such as auto-locking the doors when the car reaches 10mph, deciding if the daytime running lights auto switch on or not etc. I thought you was referring to remapping the ECU to increase the HP output etc, that is a big no no over here without first informing the insurance company of your intended mod and by how much so that they calculate the level of increased risk they will be exposed to.

As to the traction being OFF when driving on snow and its likely impact on you being covered by insurance in the event of an accident or not is something that I'm reasonably sure is true for the EU, seeing as the inclusion of such safety devices is an EU (I believe), instruction that every new car must have them, just the same as they must have daytime running lights fitted and although the use of an OBD2 device will allow you to turn these off by default (in fact you and even do that via a built-in option on the car itself in many cases), reading sections 6.19.7.1 to 6.19.9 on the attached extracted page from the EU directive, seems to imply that these must be left in default ON setting, at least in an EU country.

The same might well be true about the traction control (even though there is an internal switch to turn it off temporary) but I think the switch is only there to allow you turn it off for track events etc. Next time you start the car up, the traction control is automatically engaged. EU laws are different to US and Canadian laws, hence why I said that it might be possible to discover that the driver finds themselves devoid of any insurance cover in an accident if they can prove the safety device was overridden. We all know that if the can wriggle out of paying out a claim, they will. 

[Neomys Sapiens]

Phew. dropped the monstrous Hardware Installation and Maintenance Manual onto the DMS yesterday. Still dazed from the last days. Some shoddily done 55 pages grew into 157. Did include a few battles with Word and Micrografx. Right before the end, I cobbled together a few pages about RF propagation and antenna near/far field, as our placement rules could not go without at least a bit of an explanation.

whoever wants any changes: I will not look again at this monster for at least a month.
Looking forward to doing some sensible and interesting work again.

[mnementh]

That time is less and less with every generation, and more and more of the warm-up time is closed-loop. Modern vehicles this time is measured in seconds as the cat reaches ignition threshold almost immediately.

mnem
 

But let's be accurate. You implied that right from the get go on cold start the ECU is in closed loop. It isn't. 

Kay. Thanks fer keepin' me honest, ya blue🔵-assed bitch. 

Back to my original point... The difference between the two modes, at least on my wife's car, amounts to a piss-hole in the snow compared to even a weekend driving one of our Sports-car toys. And I don't believe any of us here would begrudge anyone the right to drive our toys from time to time.

mnem
*gas-ass dragon*