Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

China fun. These were only dispatched on Monday which was quite impressive. So £7.62 including delivery from https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254721451632

Much like the previous Bliley ones I ordered, the band saw is cheaper than desoldering them. I love how they blasted straight through the unfortunate ICs at the bottom.



Will desolder and test later. Fingers crossed!

Edit: minor rant. Stuff from China is taking 4-6 days at the moment. Stuff from EU, 2-3 weeks and 50% of it doesn't turn up 

Those are so cheap I did an "Aw fuck it, why not?" and ordered a couple to add to my collection of OCXOs. I've spent typically about £15 a piece on similar spec'ed used OCXOs purchased from the middle kingdom before.

Damn you guys - you just made me break my two week streak of not ordering anything from evilbay.   

-Pat

Yeah they are worth breaking that for 

I've attached datasheet and engineering drawings for them. I have kicad footprint if needed as well

[AVGresponding]

This is a place where manually selecting your infill may be necessary. If I were doing this, I'd manually select GRID infill at 1-2mm spacing, then instead of skirt adhesion, I'd choose BRIM, 2-3mm wide, outside only, with MIN DISTANCE set at approx 1 or 2 line width, so 0.4mm or 0.8mm. This still helps adhesion with large prints like this, which are prone to curling/lifting due to walls at the perimeter, while being easy to remove.

Cheers,

mnem

We have different machines, I don't have those infill options, only infill overlap and fill density % settings.

If you're using Cura, Settings visibility is something you configure; many of their "pre-fab" printer profiles do not have nearly all the proper settings enabled.

If not, feel free to ignore that advice, or maybe experiment with Cura.

mnem
 

I've upped the infill % for the AAA battery store, we'll see how it goes.

Didn't I see some of you guys saying you use hairspray to improve adhesion?

[xrunner]

Well good news so far. Apart from being an absolute bastard to get off the provided boards, both of them appear to work.

HP and Fluke pile doing the business on this one:

Both sit at 370mA approx until hot then settle at 250mA. Both adjustable to 10.00000000 easily but that's only a crystal ref.

3478A showing control voltage, 8060A showing device voltage, Fluke 25 showing device current, 5384A showing output frequency, supplied with wonky 6205B as I needed separate supply and control voltages.

Good deal. I'm working on some pics of the 5385A. I discovered a couple of minor repairs just due to age and handling - one has to do with a button and the other some cracked solder joints at a physical support. No big deal ... 

[tautech]

Of course, curiosity ultimately won out... as it always does with the ol' tinkerdwagon. Appropriate flux for the task has been ordered; and I'll have a chance to put my recent Panavise gift to work. 

Exactly what are we looking at here ?
Just a graphic card failure ?

[mnementh]

Failed Nvidia GPU from the dark ages flashed with Apple-specific FW + bored tinkerdwagon with new toys. 

Because this  :  http://www.macvidcards.com/store/c8/Recommended%3A_Mac_Pro_3%2C1.html is not  happening.

mnem
You'd better run.

[factory]

Nice box
I have a HP16058A fixture that was modified by it's previous owner, with some of the inserts. Back from when I did not know that the K2636 had Keithley-specific toleranced triaxial jacks, so that only the plugs you buy on their cables fit and dreamed of making my own triax connection cables.
When I bought the fixture on "offer a price" it was good, at least taking into account the additional triaxial jacks mounted to the modification. Little did I know...
Edit: looking at epay, the prices for these seem to have gone up. Feel a little better now having bought mine ~4 years ago
Just to rub it in, I could not even begin to think of using this until now...

Good day,

yes, these Triaxial leads and connectors are surely nice and they have their advantages in low-current-sensing and RF-sensitive applications.
But they are just a pain for those who do not need these benefits... Even the adapters are truly expensive.

Cheers,

THDplusN_bad

Is this one of the Triaxial BNC's that the matching leads are really expensive, or something easier to obtain?
It's on the back of the only item of Keithley TEA I have a 455 picoammeter, it went into storage yesterday along with the pair of Solartron voltmeters I haven't got leads for yet.




David

I may have such a connector in stock

I'm in no rush for one*, but would be interested in a connector to fit it. 
And I did find the connector I had, which was no use as it's another different looking version of what is fitted.


*my available TEA time will be severely restricted once I'm back at work on the 1st of April, when shielding ends.

David

[bd139]

Didn't I see some of you guys saying you use hairspray to improve adhesion?[/color][/size][/b]

Makes it smell horrid. I put a glass bed on mine. Solved all the problems. Then I got rid of the whole thing, which solved the remaining problems 

[chekhov]

Just realized it's good page number to praise primary volt-nut therapy device HPAK 3458A  .

[tautech]

Failed Nvidia GPU from the dark ages flashed with Apple-specific FW + bored tinkerdwagon with new toys. 

Because this  :  http://www.macvidcards.com/store/c8/Recommended%3A_Mac_Pro_3%2C1.html is not  happening.

mnem
You'd better run.

Oh just $ then.
What's it worth in running condition ?

[Saskia]

you may extract the firmware from the dead card, try to find an equivalent and flash the previously extracted firmware and then check if it works.

Before you toast it completely ...

[mnementh]

Didn't I see some of you guys saying you use hairspray to improve adhesion?

Makes it smell horrid. I put a glass bed on mine. Solved all the problems. Then I got rid of the whole thing, which solved the remaining problems 

He has a glass bed. With adhesion-promoting coating.

For those playing along at home... Edges curling up is a common problem with large flat objects that have high walls right on the perimeter; the print pulls up as it cools. Brim and skirt do help, but at the cost of adding "flash" that must be removed.

Yes, hairspray does help; IMO, it's only a crutch if you don't have anything better to do with your time than print the same fucking thing 6 times to get exactly the right settings so it doesn't peel up. 

If you're going to try hairspray, you want the extra-hold variant like AquaNet, and make a couple light mist coatings so the surface looks matte while the bed is hot.

Cleanup is simple; isopropyl alcohol on a paper towel.

I also recommend you cover the printer around the bed with an old towel... it doesn't take long for overspray to make a right bloody mess of your 3DP.

mnem
 

[VK5RC]

Anyone with access to a N8974A, N8975A or compatible noise figure analyzer? Would like to test something, quite willing to pay...

I have the old 8970 which maxes out at 1500MHz but have the noise sources 346a and b which go to 18GHz.
Originally used to build /test ultra low noise pre amp for earth-moon-earth amateur radio stuff. Got 37dB gain NF ~ 0.3 @1296MHz. Used kit from G4DDK, does need quite a bit of tweeking once built but bang buck amazing. I have put the noise sources in my Will as an asset!

[mansaxel]

eBay auction: #193997883829 looks very suspicious, right?

[Cerebus]

China fun. These were only dispatched on Monday which was quite impressive. So £7.62 including delivery from https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254721451632

Much like the previous Bliley ones I ordered, the band saw is cheaper than desoldering them. I love how they blasted straight through the unfortunate ICs at the bottom.



Will desolder and test later. Fingers crossed!

Edit: minor rant. Stuff from China is taking 4-6 days at the moment. Stuff from EU, 2-3 weeks and 50% of it doesn't turn up 

Those are so cheap I did an "Aw fuck it, why not?" and ordered a couple to add to my collection of OCXOs. I've spent typically about £15 a piece on similar spec'ed used OCXOs purchased from the middle kingdom before.

Damn you guys - you just made me break my two week streak of not ordering anything from evilbay.   

-Pat

[Fx: sing song voice] "Glad to be of service! And you have a lovely day!"

[mnementh]

Fuck all of you guys. Me three...! 

mnem
or four... or six...  -ever...

[Cerebus]

And if we're doing the "post the HP kit that matches the page number" (shut up tggzzz!) thing:

[mnementh]

you may extract the firmware from the dead card, try to find an equivalent and flash the previously extracted firmware and then check if it works. Before you toast it completely ...

Firmware files are available from the Mac addict user groups, but I'm not going to buy any GPU for this DDR2-powered dinosaur in this market. This is entirely for shits & grins; as far as I'm concerned, this GPU gave its all long ago.

mnem
 

[mnementh]

eBay auction: #193997883829 looks very suspicious, right?

Payment via bank transfer with a zero feedback...?



mnem
bwahahahahaha!

[mnementh]

Failed Nvidia GPU from the dark ages flashed with Apple-specific FW + bored tinkerdwagon with new toys. 

Because this  :  http://www.macvidcards.com/store/c8/Recommended%3A_Mac_Pro_3%2C1.html is not  happening.

mnem
You'd better run.

Oh just $ then. What's it worth in running condition ?

No fukkin' idea. I'll entertain advice on that from folks who actually know this dinosaur better than I.

C...? bd...? Is it worth the powder to blow it to hell, or is it really just the pretty space heater I described it earlier as...?

mnem

[beanflying]

For the guys who sent me PM's asking if I was OK I tried to respond over my phone but I forgot my blog password and it locked me out. But I can't tell you how much I appreciate the inquiries concerning my well being. We have a great caring group here. 
....

BTW...my son took the duff tire (tyre) and new one and is getting it mounted for me.   

Nice to see you are alive so WE can take the Piss out of you instead

[bd139]

Failed Nvidia GPU from the dark ages flashed with Apple-specific FW + bored tinkerdwagon with new toys. 

Because this  :  http://www.macvidcards.com/store/c8/Recommended%3A_Mac_Pro_3%2C1.html is not  happening.

mnem
You'd better run.

Oh just $ then. What's it worth in running condition ?

No fukkin' idea. I'll entertain advice on that from folks who actually know this dinosaur better than I.

C...? bd...? Is it worth the powder to blow it to hell, or is it really just the pretty space heater I described it earlier as...?

mnem

[AVGresponding]

And if we're doing the "post the HP kit that matches the page number" (shut up tggzzz!) thing:

You're supposed to use your own TE   

EDIT: ie in this case you have to make it display the page number and your post count   

[beanflying]

This is a place where manually selecting your infill may be necessary. If I were doing this, I'd manually select GRID infill at 1-2mm spacing, then instead of skirt adhesion, I'd choose BRIM, 2-3mm wide, outside only, with MIN DISTANCE set at approx 1 or 2 line width, so 0.4mm or 0.8mm. This still helps adhesion with large prints like this, which are prone to curling/lifting due to walls at the perimeter, while being easy to remove.

Cheers,

mnem

We have different machines, I don't have those infill options, only infill overlap and fill density % settings.

If you're using Cura, Settings visibility is something you configure; many of their "pre-fab" printer profiles do not have nearly all the proper settings enabled.

If not, feel free to ignore that advice, or maybe experiment with Cura.

mnem
 

I've upped the infill % for the AAA battery store, we'll see how it goes.

Didn't I see some of you guys saying you use hairspray to improve adhesion?

Tried Hairspray and a few Gluestick options. When needed Bostick Gluestick for PETG and where possible just very very clean Glass for PLA works really well without adhesive for a lot of prints.

Random thoughts about how you said you couldn't break the brim away. What you might actually have there is a RAFT. Printing with a Raft was the default setting for the Demo print from memory and if that was the case likely your slicer still has it enabled as a default until check off?

I blew up a bit of your picture from a few pages ago and the very bottom section looks a bit odd. Rafts are designed to be peeled away from the print when finished and are typically only used on really oddball use cases now but were fairly common in the past.

[AVGresponding]

Tried Hairspray and a few Gluestick options. When needed Bostick Gluestick for PETG and where possible just very very clean Glass for PLA works really well without adhesive for a lot of prints.

Random thoughts about how you said you couldn't break the brim away. What you might actually have there is a RAFT. Printing with a Raft was the default setting for the Demo print from memory and if that was the case likely your slicer still has it enabled as a default until check off?

I blew up a bit of your picture from a few pages ago and the very bottom section looks a bit odd. Rafts are designed to be peeled away from the print when finished and are typically only used on really oddball use cases now but were fairly common in the past.

Yes, it was set on raft, and no, it won't peel off (I haven't trimmed the top section yet, the raft is as firmly attached as any part of it!). The apparent deep raft you saw was just some meltage from when I trimmed it with the fretsaw.

[Cerebus]

A tad unkind.

My 4 core MacPro1,1s  - quite a step down the ladder from the MacPro3,1 that Mnem has - have done sterling service. I used one as my primary desktop machine until I splashed some of the company's money on a new Mac laptop a year and a bit ago.

The other was a useful ESXi box for back when I was running it to mock up stuff before moving it to production on a client's ESXi cluster. The only thing that keeps the one I've used for ESXi out of regular use is the relatively high power consumption in the small box room that I've filled with kit - I still spin it up occasionally if I want to do stuff that can only be tried out on a multiple machine ESXi cluster. It's a solid, reliable, reasonably fast machine but it uses 130W minimum to do what I can get done with 50W or less on more modern kit. Mine are loaded out with a full compliment of memory, which makes a significant impact performance wise, power consumption wise and heat wise on what is, after all, 2006 vintage kit.