Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

ON THE BENCH TONIGHT: Making the World's Tiniest PCB!   

That's it right there... two whole holes worth of 0.100" pitch perfboard.

Have a look at hearing aids. Some fit down inside the ear canal and have to be pulled out with a bit of string. The battery is down there as well as the microphone and speaker.

Also worth looking at https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/AirPods+Teardown/75578

Here, just let me whittle one of those out with my big ol' hamhands and Dremel... I'll be right widja... 

Doesn't anybody even notice the wink-wink smiley anymore...? That statement was definitely tongue-in-cheek. 

mnem
 

[BU508A]

I doubt the passengers would leave their seats as there are grab rails in front of them and standing on the top deck was strictly forbidden except for boarding and exiting the bus at all times. Standing was on allowed on the lower deck. As you saw in the video, it was still possible to stand and walk along the top deck even at that angle. Buses never travel fast enough for them to lean anywhere near that angle on bends or turns, whatever the conditions.

You obviously haven't been on a London bus recently, some of the yahoos driving them exhibit skills more appropriate to a dogem car at the fair than a "London transport, diesel engine, ninety-seven horsepower omnibus".

http://youtube.com/4UgBZfInBlU?t=34

Not available here. 

[med6753]

I get the same monkey, but in English.

[Cerebus]

I doubt the passengers would leave their seats as there are grab rails in front of them and standing on the top deck was strictly forbidden except for boarding and exiting the bus at all times. Standing was on allowed on the lower deck. As you saw in the video, it was still possible to stand and walk along the top deck even at that angle. Buses never travel fast enough for them to lean anywhere near that angle on bends or turns, whatever the conditions.

You obviously haven't been on a London bus recently, some of the yahoos driving them exhibit skills more appropriate to a dogem car at the fair than a "London transport, diesel engine, ninety-seven horsepower omnibus".

http://youtube.com/4UgBZfInBlU?t=34

Not available here. 

Search for "Flanders and Swann Transport of Delight" and see if you can find a version that's not geoblocked.

May be a rights issue, or it may be because Flanders and Swann probably insult Germans somewhere in their other efforts. In fact I know they do:

The rottenest bits of these islands of ours
We've left in the hands of three unfriendly powers
Examine the Irishman, Welshman or Scot
You'll find he's a stinker as likely as not

     The English the English the English are best
     I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest

The Scotsman is mean as we're all well aware
He's boney and blotchy and covered with hair
He eats salty porridge, he works all the day
And hasn't got bishops to show him the way

     The English the English the English are best
     I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest

The Irishman now our contempt is beneath
He sleeps in his boots and he lies through his teeth
He blows up policemen or so I have heard
And blames it on Cromwell and William the Third

     The English are moral the English are good
     And clever and modest and misunderstood

The Welshman's dishonest, he cheats when he can
He's little and dark more like monkey than man
He works underground with a lamp on his hat
And sings far too loud, far too often and flat

     The English the English the English are best
     I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest

And crossing the channel one cannot say much
For the French or the Spanish, the Danish or Dutch
The Germans are German, the Russians are red
And the Greeks and Italians eat garlic in bed

     The English are noble, the English are nice
     And worth any other at double the price

And all the world over each nation's the same
They've simply no notion of playing the game
They argue with umpires, they cheer when they've won
And they practice before hand which spoils all the fun

     The English the English the English are best
     I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest

It's not that they're wicked or naturally bad
It's just that they're foreign that makes them so mad
The English are all that a nation should be
And the pride of the English are Chipper and me

     The English the English the English are best
     I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest

[bd139]

Use https://youtube-dl.org to get around any of those problems. All you do is save the exe somewhere, then run it from a terminal with the URL on the end of it:

c:\> youtube-dl.exe https://qwdqwdqwdqwdqwd

And out pops an mp4 you can open in VLC or whatever

[BU508A]

Just saw in the German ebay ads ("Kleinanzeigen") this Keysight 34401A.
What puzzles me are the input jacks: they are all red, front- and backside. I did a quick image search via Google and I found only photos with red and black input jacks.

Any thoughts?



https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/keysight-agilent-34401a-6-1-2-digit-multimeter/1659963436-168-9566

[bd139]

Keysight logo and rounded buttons = later model so should be fine.

BUT the serial number label has been removed so you can't validate it's not stolen and also can't check on keysight.com to see when it was last calibrated etc.

I'd skip it.

[Kosmic]

Just saw in the German ebay ads ("Kleinanzeigen") this Keysight 34401A.
What puzzles me are the input jacks: they are all red, front- and backside. I did a quick image search via Google and I found only photos with red and black input jacks.

Any thoughts?



https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/keysight-agilent-34401a-6-1-2-digit-multimeter/1659963436-168-9566

The front panel (old meter with new face) or the input jack (new meter with old parts) were changed ? 

The HP logo at the back and input jack (front and back) mean this is an old meter that was fixed with new parts.

[BU508A]

Use https://youtube-dl.org to get around any of those problems. All you do is save the exe somewhere, then run it from a terminal with the URL on the end of it:

c:\> youtube-dl.exe https://qwdqwdqwdqwdqwd

And out pops an mp4 you can open in VLC or whatever

 

Linux here ...
Plan B would be to use a VPN to bypass this geoblocking bullshit.

[bd139]

Even easier on linux (and macOS). Just download it and chmod +x it. It's a packed python script with no dependencies 

Good spot with the HP logo on the back. Frankenmeter. RUN!

[mnementh]

Keysight logo and rounded buttons = later model so should be fine.

BUT the serial number label has been removed so you can't validate it's not stolen and also can't check on keysight.com to see when it was last calibrated etc.

I'd skip it.

Should be able to pull the serial easily enough from the menu; if it is stolen then eBay will cover the purchase amount, I believe. Hmmm... not sure nowadays, actually... it's been over a decade since I last made a stolen goods claim. 

Yeah... probably best to skip it.

mnem
"There's enough misery to go around without grabbing for more." ~grand-momma

[mnementh]

Good spot with the HP logo on the back. Frankenmeter. RUN!

I thought they sometimes did that at Keysight as part of certain factory services? Or is that only devices where a firmware upgrade changes the splash screen from HP to Agilent/Keysight etc...?

mnem
 

[BU508A]

I'll skip it, but just to annoy a bit the seller, I've sent him some questions.   

[mnementh]

   
    BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

mnem
And I hope he reads our thread, too.

[bd139]

Making sellers uncomfortable is fun 

[bd139]

Good spot with the HP logo on the back. Frankenmeter. RUN!

I thought they sometimes did that at Keysight as part of certain factory services? Or is that only devices where a firmware upgrade changes the splash screen from HP to Agilent/Keysight etc...?

mnem
 

It’s possible but it’s likely it was bashed in and someone refurbed it. Either way it shouldn’t be missing the serial sticker off the back. That’s only ever intentionally removed.

[Kosmic]

Good spot with the HP logo on the back. Frankenmeter. RUN!

I thought they sometimes did that at Keysight as part of certain factory services? Or is that only devices where a firmware upgrade changes the splash screen from HP to Agilent/Keysight etc...?

mnem
 

It’s possible but it’s likely it was bashed in and someone refurbed it. Either way it shouldn’t be missing the serial sticker off the back. That’s only ever intentionally removed.

Changing the whole front panel seem like an extensive refurbish for a simple bench multimeter. For a company it's probably simpler just to sell it and buy a new one. Even for Keysight if they offer some kind of long term plan to their client.

[bd139]

Front panel wasn’t particularly expensive to buy from keysight. To the tune of 50GBP for the plastic panel, membrane keyboard and display plastic. If you had a beater unit then it could be profitable to fix it up. What really worries me is about what lurks inside.

[Kosmic]

Front panel wasn’t particularly expensive to buy from keysight. To the tune of 50GBP for the plastic panel, membrane keyboard and display plastic. If you had a beater unit then it could be profitable to fix it up. What really worries me is about what lurks inside.

Sorry I was responding to mnem. Parts are available and not too expensive. I see a third party doing this. Repair shop or someone in his basement. Keysight themselves or the company owning the meter, probably not since paying someone to do it would probably be more expensive than a new meter.

[dl6lr]

I just checked. The 3456A I'm getting has the transistor in back therefore no fan. 

No fan? Then   seems to be more appropriate with you... 

[mnementh]

Good spot with the HP logo on the back. Frankenmeter. RUN!

I thought they sometimes did that at Keysight as part of certain factory services? Or is that only devices where a firmware upgrade changes the splash screen from HP to Agilent/Keysight etc...?

mnem
 

It’s possible but it’s likely it was bashed in and someone refurbed it. Either way it shouldn’t be missing the serial sticker off the back. That’s only ever intentionally removed.

The one on my 3478A was a lacquered paper label literally hanging on by good intentions. I removed it and reglued it, but the lacquered coating cracked very visibly wherever it was bent more than a few mm. If I were to see that on a fleaBay listing, it would scare the eff outta me, even tho I am more than reasonably certain mine was the original serial # tag. 

mnem
 

[mnementh]

I get the same monkey, but in English.

Uh Ohhhh... med has a monkey. We're all fooked now.

mnem

[Hydron]

https://youtu.be/4UgBZfInBlU?t=34 seems to work (assuming the forum software doesn't break the URL somehow)

[med6753]

It's here, right on time. Gotta love UPS. 

I'd take pictures of a teardown but not sure how to get the cover off. I need to download a manual. True to hp form there's no feet nor a bottom bail. No handles either. Sure bet it was rack mounted. The no feet can be fixed easily but they won't be genuine hp.

And I have to agree with the group. Not liking all input terminals red. But I'm going to leave it. But all those stickers are going bye-bye. 

It's going to be stacked above the Fluke 8505A which in turn is stacked on the Tek Type 535A. That's pushing it as far as total weight is concerned even though the 535A chassis is built like a brick shit house. I'm going to build up supporting frame to take the weight off the 535A.

The 8505A and 3456A are going to have a 12 - 24 hour face off connected to the same source and see whether they agree or differ. I'll post the results.

[bd139]

Don’t forget to RIFA check it