Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Cerebus]

Yeah bugger that pricing.

Slightly considering this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224383702393

Unfortunately it’s huge and has a fan.

I have its junior cousin, the 3325A. Yes, big, heavy, noisy.

[Robert763]

Just scored a Pro-Peak SuperNova battery charger / discharger on ebay. Used but in the box for £6 
This is an older model and only does Nicad, Ni-MH and lead-acid batteries. It's big advantage for me is that it will charge up to 25 Nicad or Ni-MH cells at up to 5A when powered from 12V. this means I can charge 24V or 28V miltary type batteries in the car. You can also charge a lead acid fully from another lead acid. I had one for years but was persuaded to sell it to a friend and have missed it since.

[ch_scr]

If any of you fine folk in the US has the need for a "small" (compared to HP old iron) japanese 6 1/2 digit bench meter for a reasonable price:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/Yokogawa-7562-6-1-2-digit-Digital-Multimeters-7562-01/362965313397
NAWTS
It's the "good" model with AC. Not sure if it's gpib or rs232. Datasheet given accuracy and stability is the same ballpark but consistently tiny bit lower then 34401A.

[factory]

David - GREAT find!  Thank you!!  I just rolled the dice and ordered a pair of them.  Fingers crossed!

-Pat

(Though you just made me break my two week streak of staying on the wagon evilbay-wise )   

These are the two connectors I got for my 2402A, the smaller five pin one was a bit of gamble but fitted fine.




I also have the proper adaptor for the front input, just can't seem to find it at the moment.

David

Wow, you got the fully loaded model!!  Mine is just DCV and resistance.


If/when you get a chance, would you get the number from the side of the four pin resistance cable in the photo, too?  It'd be nice to scare one of those up, too.

-Pat

The four pin connector/cable I found for the resistance function was a 03490-61612, the manual for the 3490 gives the connector on it's own as 1251-1233. Took me a long time to find one of those on ePay.


It may be fully loaded but a lot of it doesn't work, the 100mV doesn't work on either AC/DC range, nor does the frequency function and the two least significant digits stay at zero or occasionally 01.
Special extender cards with added Teflon? insulated connections are needed to service some of the boards which I don't have, still need to identify those.
The original owners label should give a clue as to why all the options are present.

David

[Cubdriver]

David - GREAT find!  Thank you!!  I just rolled the dice and ordered a pair of them.  Fingers crossed!

-Pat

(Though you just made me break my two week streak of staying on the wagon evilbay-wise )   

These are the two connectors I got for my 2402A, the smaller five pin one was a bit of gamble but fitted fine.




I also have the proper adaptor for the front input, just can't seem to find it at the moment.

David

Wow, you got the fully loaded model!!  Mine is just DCV and resistance.


If/when you get a chance, would you get the number from the side of the four pin resistance cable in the photo, too?  It'd be nice to scare one of those up, too.

-Pat

The four pin connector/cable I found for the resistance function was a 03490-61612, the manual for the 3490 gives the connector on it's own as 1251-1233. Took me a long time to find one of those on ePay.


It may be fully loaded but a lot of it doesn't work, the 100mV doesn't work on either AC/DC range, nor does the frequency function and the two least significant digits stay at zero or occasionally 01.
Special extender cards with added Teflon? insulated connections are needed to service some of the boards which I don't have, still need to identify those.
The original owners label should give a clue as to why all the options are present.

David

Thanks for the additional info - new evilbay searches added...

And yeah, given its provenance I understand why yours is the pimped out version.  Mine doesn't work either, it was making some snapping sounds when last turned on so I need to open it and go through everything.  Someday...

-Pat

[bd139]

Blimey these sale prices are getting silly. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143964685362

3312A went for £150.

You can bag a brand spanking new DG811 for £70 more, crack it and it’s instantly a 2x 100Mhz arb. I am past understanding this now.

But even the single channel DG811 is arguably better!

[AVGresponding]

Just scored a Pro-Peak SuperNova battery charger / discharger on ebay. Used but in the box for £6 
This is an older model and only does Nicad, Ni-MH and lead-acid batteries. It's big advantage for me is that it will charge up to 25 Nicad or Ni-MH cells at up to 5A when powered from 12V. this means I can charge 24V or 28V miltary type batteries in the car. You can also charge a lead acid fully from another lead acid. I had one for years but was persuaded to sell it to a friend and have missed it since.

Better hide that Tamiya connector before mnem starts roasting you!

[beanflying]

Just scored a Pro-Peak SuperNova battery charger / discharger on ebay. Used but in the box for £6 
This is an older model and only does Nicad, Ni-MH and lead-acid batteries. It's big advantage for me is that it will charge up to 25 Nicad or Ni-MH cells at up to 5A when powered from 12V. this means I can charge 24V or 28V miltary type batteries in the car. You can also charge a lead acid fully from another lead acid. I had one for years but was persuaded to sell it to a friend and have missed it since.

Bargain from likely the late 90's to early 00's Going way back in the day we were using circa 4000 mAh cells and apart from the faster charging the 5A (later much higher  ) was used to get the packs toasty internally as it dropped their internal impedance prior to use for more poke. If the packs came out of the airframes and you could hold them you weren't trying 

[beanflying]

David - GREAT find!  Thank you!!  I just rolled the dice and ordered a pair of them.  Fingers crossed!

-Pat

(Though you just made me break my two week streak of staying on the wagon evilbay-wise )   

These are the two connectors I got for my 2402A, the smaller five pin one was a bit of gamble but fitted fine.


I also have the proper adaptor for the front input, just can't seem to find it at the moment.

David

Wow, you got the fully loaded model!!  Mine is just DCV and resistance.


If/when you get a chance, would you get the number from the side of the four pin resistance cable in the photo, too?  It'd be nice to scare one of those up, too.

-Pat

The four pin connector/cable I found for the resistance function was a 03490-61612, the manual for the 3490 gives the connector on it's own as 1251-1233. Took me a long time to find one of those on ePay.

It may be fully loaded but a lot of it doesn't work, the 100mV doesn't work on either AC/DC range, nor does the frequency function and the two least significant digits stay at zero or occasionally 01.
Special extender cards with added Teflon? insulated connections are needed to service some of the boards which I don't have, still need to identify those.
The original owners label should give a clue as to why all the options are present.

David

Thanks for the additional info - new evilbay searches added...

And yeah, given its provenance I understand why yours is the pimped out version.  Mine doesn't work either, it was making some snapping sounds when last turned on so I need to open it and go through everything.  Someday...

-Pat

Side issue @Pat speaking of old connectors any luck or decision on the 740B replacements? I haven't really found a 1kV rated plug and socket I like as an alternate yet 

[Cubdriver]

Side issue @Pat speaking of old connectors any luck or decision on the 740B replacements? I haven't really found a 1kV rated plug and socket I like as an alternate yet 

Hi Bean -

After several years of search, I eventually was able to find one of each on our favorite wallet-sucking site.  It was probably a year or more till the first appeared, and another two till the second showed up.  They certainly are like hen's teeth as far as availability goes.

Now I need to dig it out and cobble together a replacement for the deceased mercury cell reference.  Think I bought some voltage references to use there, but have since lost them.



I had originally been thinking of looking at Amp CPC connectors as a possibility, but as I found the needed leads never pursued it further.  I'm thinking that or some kind of mil-type circular connector would be the best if you decide to go that route.

-Pat

[beanflying]

Must have measured it properly and off to the onsite bag now it is a 'proper' tool

And Yes Blue LED displays SUCK in bright situations

[mnementh]

Nicely fabbed.

But... since you were the one making the front bezel... Why not smoked acrylic so you can read the bloomin' thing...?

mnem
*toddles off to see*

[beanflying]

Nicely fabbed.

But... since you were the one making the front bezel... Why not smoked acrylic so you can read the bloomin' thing...?

mnem
*toddles off to see*

Tried it and fail in bright lights still. Tried Smoke, Red and Yellow. I blame the original evilbay seller for false advertising photos 

[Brumby]

Tried it and fail in bright lights still. Tried Smoke, Red and Yellow.

Not surprised at all.  You need a colour that matches the colour of the LEDs.

Try a blue.  This will allow the blue light of the LEDs to pass through and only allow the blue light component of the ambient light to pass through, attenuating other colours.

[beanflying]

I did buy a couple of evilbay clock kits with acrylic cases and LED's a while back that came with Cellophane type substrates for the fronts in matching colours which helped with the red so I might have a bit of a trawl and drop a bit inside in blue if I can find some. Not a major issue for an occasional tool anyway.

[beanflying]

So this happened and I am already more than broke  Original listing was $200 and I sent in an offer at $140 and the seller responded with a counter of $175. eBay auction: #154358978444

Having a casual trawl for later I see the price is now revised to $150 and with a small evilbay discount it would be $144  All yours Aussie TEA 

[Robert763]

Re display filters
Lee and Rosco make filter "gels" for stage lighting etc. You can get a sample booklet like this:
https://sparkssupermarket.co.uk/products/lee-filters-swatchbook
to find the best one and then order a sheet (unless the display is small)

Another problem with blue is the human eye does not work well with it. Some wavelengths cause fluorescence in the eyy so you can't get good focus.

[AVGresponding]

This seems a tad expensive for something the seller says is junk. Frankly, this would be expensive if it was fully working...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tektronix-222-Digital-Storage-Oscilloscope-Treat-It-As-Junk/393163634617


Which it appears to be. Maybe they just don't like Tektronix...   

[Robert763]

Another skanky overpriced 'scope.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/tektronix-oscilloscope-7904/233928588682
For £750 you would think they would give it a wipe and take a decent photo 

[Robert763]

Just scored a Pro-Peak SuperNova battery charger / discharger on ebay. Used but in the box for £6 
This is an older model and only does Nicad, Ni-MH and lead-acid batteries. It's big advantage for me is that it will charge up to 25 Nicad or Ni-MH cells at up to 5A when powered from 12V. this means I can charge 24V or 28V miltary type batteries in the car. You can also charge a lead acid fully from another lead acid. I had one for years but was persuaded to sell it to a friend and have missed it since.


Better hide that Tamiya connector before mnem starts roasting you!

It will have Anderson Power Poles on it before it gets any  serious use.
Brumby Beanflyer is correct, it's a late 90's design.  (Edit, wrong name)

[mansaxel]

So this happened and I am already more than broke  Original listing was $200 and I sent in an offer at $140 and the seller responded with a counter of $175. eBay auction: #154358978444

Having a casual trawl for later I see the price is now revised to $150 and with a small evilbay discount it would be $144  All yours Aussie TEA 

In the end, it is a fundamental TEA truth that one ideally would need a counter to count one's counters.

[beanflying]

Re display filters
Lee and Rosco make filter "gels" for stage lighting etc. You can get a sample booklet like this:
https://sparkssupermarket.co.uk/products/lee-filters-swatchbook
to find the best one and then order a sheet (unless the display is small)

Another problem with blue is the human eye does not work well with it. Some wavelengths cause fluorescence in the eyy so you can't get good focus.

Before the Plague and a Kidney Transplant in the last year my younger ratbag Brother worked in industrial lighting before the Business went into mothballs so Gel bits would have been easy. Paid a few Aussie Pesos for a small assortment for the stash eBay auction: #324435450677 as it will be cheaper and quicker than trying to get an alternate in the Bush.

[bd139]

So this happened and I am already more than broke  Original listing was $200 and I sent in an offer at $140 and the seller responded with a counter of $175. eBay auction: #154358978444

Having a casual trawl for later I see the price is now revised to $150 and with a small evilbay discount it would be $144  All yours Aussie TEA 

In the end, it is a fundamental TEA truth that one ideally would need a counter to count one's counters.

Don’t get me started on owning counters. I own one counter at the moment. And it has an OCXO in it. And after owning one previously I know that the OCXO can drift out of serviceable range. Thus the question appears: how do I know it’s accurate? Then I’m starting to lurk on Leo Bodnar’s site again. Then I start wondering if it’s worth doing that sort of stuff. Then the digits taunt me. Perhaps 8 isn’t enough to justify buying a GPSDO. Now I’m looking for counters. Then I’m going to end up with another counter instead of a GPSDO and that won’t agree with the first one. And then I have three problems instead of zero problems 

[AVGresponding]

So this happened and I am already more than broke  Original listing was $200 and I sent in an offer at $140 and the seller responded with a counter of $175. eBay auction: #154358978444

Having a casual trawl for later I see the price is now revised to $150 and with a small evilbay discount it would be $144  All yours Aussie TEA 

In the end, it is a fundamental TEA truth that one ideally would need a counter to count one's counters.

Don’t get me started on owning counters. I own one counter at the moment. And it has an OCXO in it. And after owning one previously I know that the OCXO can drift out of serviceable range. Thus the question appears: how do I know it’s accurate? Then I’m starting to lurk on Leo Bodnar’s site again. Then I start wondering if it’s worth doing that sort of stuff. Then the digits taunt me. Perhaps 8 isn’t enough to justify buying a GPSDO. Now I’m looking for counters. Then I’m going to end up with another counter instead of a GPSDO and that won’t agree with the first one. And then I have three problems instead of zero problems 

Just get one of those 5 digit nixie counters, and stop worrying about the things you can't see, since out of sight = out of mind!

[bd139]

Not a bad idea. 10MHz? Ah that’ll do 

I actually miss that counter.