Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[AVGresponding]

Ahha thanks for the clarification! 

Nice to know, but how do you un-push them? 

You can usually lever them off with a thin flat bladed screwdriver, if you're careful. Try to do it evenly.

It does depend a bit, some are spring steel and will probably survive, some are merely mild steel and will probably not.

[med6753]

The calibration/compensation on the Type 321A is complete. Everything fell into spec with no issues.

Some response check wave forms. First, 100kHz. The trace is a lot sharper than the pix indicates. The scope B/W is 6MHz so threw a 1MHz square at it just for giggles. Sweep cranked out to max with mag off. Not too shabby. 

This project is done. 

[bd139]

Ahha thanks for the clarification! 

Nice to know, but how do you un-push them? 

Ah you need a push nut puller!

[mansaxel]

Is that a salter one? Same trouble if it is. I had to do some board level repair on it last time to bypass the corrosion 

No, it is a rebranded generic, by Swedish once-very-good mail-order house Clas Ohlson, who now are slightly above the Dollar Store, generic crap.

[Specmaster]

Is that a salter one? Same trouble if it is. I had to do some board level repair on it last time to bypass the corrosion 

Good brand name but crap product designs.

[Specmaster]

Ahha thanks for the clarification! 

Nice to know, but how do you un-push them? 

Ah you need a push nut puller!

The answer as far as my experience at least is with great difficulty. If the post that they pushed onto is plastic, it will snap before they release their grip and yes they really are bastards. I expect there is a special tool for them if you can find one, it needs to slip under the outer ring and at same time push down on the 3 grippers to reverse their bite and then pull them off. Something similar to watch hand remover tool.

[Robert763]

If a push-nut is on a plastic pillar about the only way to get them off is to cut them. Don't use your good side cutters though.
On metal or tough plastis you can sometimes get a small screw driver between the fingers and lift them up beyond the elastic limit.

[xrunner]

If a push-nut is on a plastic pillar about the only way to get them off is to cut them. Don't use your good side cutters though.
On metal or tough plastis you can sometimes get a small screw driver between the fingers and lift them up beyond the elastic limit.

Yep that's the case in the 5385A. I went as far as I dared to try and remove one and I had to abort. I found a work-around for cleaning a few of the buttons, but it was lucky that they were within reach of where I could pry. Otherwise, it's start breaking pins and figure out how to re-attach the back another way, or buy a parts mule (which likely would have the same issue). 

[AVGresponding]

I was just removing some from an old DB a couple of weeks back. They were spring steel and plastic posts, approximately 2.5mm (1/10") diameter. All the nuts, and all the plastic posts survived. The board was a good 40 years old.

I wasn't even being careful, as they were just holding the busbar shields in place, and I was stripping out the busbars for the sandwich bag.


EDIT: Try lubing the posts first. Experience will teach you the best lubricant for the particular materials you're dealing with.

[Robert763]

I was just removing some from an old DB a couple of weeks back. They were spring steel and plastic posts, approximately 2.5mm (1/10") diameter. All the nuts, and all the plastic posts survived. The board was a good 40 years old.

I wasn't even being careful, as they were just holding the busbar shields in place, and I was stripping out the busbars for the sandwich bag.


EDIT: Try lubing the posts first. Experience will teach you the best lubricant for the particular materials you're dealing with.

Ahh that's murphy for you, If you don't care if the break they don't, if it's critical they do 

[cyclin_al]

One for Bean.... Going after some of his nocturnal marsupial cousins this year:   

About a compact lithium battery for this....sick of lugging around 7AH SLA's.   Any tips on what not to get Bean or memn ?   Thinking ~20AH rated  from here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20210329233434&origin=y&SearchText=12v+li+battery

That is entirely too small a mass of aluminum for 30W worth of LED. You'll regret it.

     https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32804419844.html

In all honesty, I recommend one of the 12 LED SpaceRay/SkyRay/MantaRay/FukkaChikkenRay flashlights like this one that use 4 18650s.

Search string 12T6 cree xml flashlight should return lots of hits for you to choose from; output will be listed as anything from 8000 Lumen to 30000. What is important is that it is listed as 12 T6 XML LEDs like this one, and that you get the stubby one which uses 4 18650s in parallel. If you get the kit with batteries & charger, just chuck the batteries and replace them with recycled laptop cells; the ones that come with are literally 50-70% empty cells with shit capacity.

But still, overall a great value as long as you get the light delivered for US$25-35. Shop carefully and you'll find a vendor with lots of sales and lots of positive feedback; these things seem to come available and sell out in waves, but the good ones quickly get identified and spread by word of mouth in the CandlePower forums.

Cheers,

mnem
*lit AF*

I was about to suggest bicycle lights ... mass manufactured so prices are normally quite good and rugged, since those mountain bikers are not gentle.
However, never mind!  My favorite sites are showing out of stock or ridiculous prices.
Case in point:
https://www.action-led-lights.com/collections/bike

[Vince]

Hello people,

Sorry to interrupt, didn't want to, but Tautech just told me I may have a problem with TE and suggested I come here to say hi. So, hi...

Better grab a cup of coffee and packet of biscuits, just saying...

At first I thought I was not worthy of TEA, that I would not qualify, but then I read the "About TEA" at the start of this thread, and to my surprise, it seems that I objectively DO qualify ?!  I guess that means I have a problem then   

I think I suffer from GAS, but mostly TGAS.

Born in 77, started tinkering with electronics  since 10 year old or before, can't even remember. Failed my engineering B.Eng degree so couldn't find a job in R&D, which was all I was interested in. So changed career, switched to aeronautics. I quickly got bored and disillusioned. Electronics was started to haunt me more and more every year, I was missing it, my heart was broken deep down...
So a few years back, in early 2014 or something, discovered this Youtube thing and came across a funny guy called Dave on EEVBlog. His passion and enthusiasm revived mine. A year later moved into a house, a spare room... decided it was time to get into the hobby "seriously", no limit other than finances, guilt free, as I had so many years of catching up to do.  So bought some wood, some tools and built a lab into that spare room. No money to buy fancy modern test gear of course, so I started searching for old stuff that were still good enough to be used, and preferably broken so I could get them real cheap. So I was repairing TE, or anything really, for the first time... was so fun an exciting, became addicted, started buying broken test gear I didn't even need, that I already had an example of, just to challenge myself, see if I could fix it. Became a drug indeed. Then, I started to find beauty in these old devices, and I started to buy gear simply because I liked their industrial design, look and feel, or performance, or features, engineering specialties, ... something in them that I liked particularly.

I soon became addicted to old Tek scopes i particular. Loved all the CRT based ones, be them analog or digital or both. Got one from the '90's, then another one. Then one from the '80's, then I thought I need one from each decade so as to have a little Tektronix museum. So I bought one from the '70s. Then I thought hey, I need one from the '60's or it won't be complete, especially since that era was the first generation of Tek scopes, the ones that established them as best in class... how could I possibly not have one ?  Problem was, these scopes were so big and heavy, I thought it was not reasonable. Also, they used these strange things they called "tubes", which I knew nothing about. It was all black magic to me. Not knowing anything whatsoever about how they worked, how to work on them, how to troubleshoot stuff made with them... I felt it was not reasonable to buy one, since I would not be able to fix it, and could even kill myself given that they are filled with lethal voltages !

But then I came across another youtube channel, from Paul Carlson.  Guy sure loves tube stuff and knows a thing or two about them... he mostly fixes old radios, but still, it gave me the basics, and after a while binge drinking all of his videos, I eventually felt I knew enough to not kill myself, and maybe even stand a reasonable chance at fixing an old Tek scope.
Still... the weight and size of these things put me off... until I came across an ad for a Type 317 !  Didn't even know about them. It was love at first sight : it had the same industrial design/beauty as the big heavy mainframe 500 series, but it was half the weight and much smaller !
So I got it, and proceeded to restore it, 3 and half years ago, with success :

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/vintage-tektronix-317-repair-and-restoration/

As I worked on it, I quickly fell in love with these things. The industrial design is so beautiful, they are so pleasing to look at, both outside AND inside, the big clicking noise and feel of the rotary switches is a joy. It's so nice to see them progressively come back to life, electrically and cosmetically.  The finished product is like a jewel, I just can't get enough.

But I thought, one is enough, I only needed one to complete my Tektronix museum.
But I was already hooked.... so when I saw another 317 for sale, just could not resist, then another one... have five of them now ! 
But I thought I would NEVER buy a big mainframe 500 series, as way too big and heavy, and if nothing else, too big and heavy to fit the limits of transporters, so people could not ship it anyhow, even if they wanted to... which they never wanted to anyway.
But I could not resist... after a while I thought I needed at least ONE example of these big 500 series in my collection... just one, just one...
That would then be limited to those that popped up close enough to me that I could contemplate taking my car to go pick them up. In France petrol is 10 times the price it is in the USA, so any trip costs a lot of money. So I really could not afford to go very far to pick one up, or it would bankrupt me. 99% of the ads were hundreds of kms frome,  "of course" !   

After a while... an ad popped up for an old crusty 500 series, no type mentioned, no info just a crappy pic. Was 120kms away... an hour and half drive. Was barely reasonable financially, but not completely ridiculous, so went for it, as I was so excited to go see and get my first "big one"..

Then got another one, and another one and....

Then I had to build a very strong custom piece of furniture to hold them all and be able to wheel them around as needed.
Picture below. Have now 18 of them if I know how to count. I don't intend to stop there... I just can't get enough.
They go in average for 50 to 75 Euros. It's cheap for a piece of Tek history, hours of fun to fix it and restore it, and the joy of seeing them looking like new again, and working just fine. Also, I just can't stand the idea of such master pieces of engineering and industrial design, and history, being dumped ! Or some audiophool stealing the tubes from it then dumping it, like it was a piece of junk or something ! Makes me sick ! 
So if nothing else, I try to save all those that I can save...
At this point I have so many of them that I already know I won't restore all of them, impossible. I have several types in several examples, so the aim is to restore only one of each type, and keep the duplicates as parts donors, or as guinea pigs to let me test restoration processes...

Here is what I have so far:

- 310A in its original Tektronix leather carry bag.
- x5  317
- x2 Type 515A
- 502
- 502A
- 531A
- x2 545A
- 585A
- x2 547
- x2 549

Also have others scopes. Developed an addiction for the Philips/Fluke "combiscope". Have 3 of them : 4x100 and 4x200 versions. They have their quirks but I love them.

Have some DMM's too. Didn't quite know just how many until I pulled them all out a minute ago to take a picture for you. Apparently I have 20 of them, brrr, didn't think I had nearly as many...
Well I have 23 in fact, but my 3 analog old meters are not in the shot, they are buried too deep in god knows what box... lab still not operational just yet, new house, still very much working on it for now.. lab is not the priority. It's all stuffed in the living room for now...
Have my dad's Metrix 460 which he bought brand new in 1960 as he started working at age 16, fixing pinball machines all around Paris cafés.
Still works fine 60 years later.
For the more recent stuff pictured, as you can see I have developed an addiction for the Metrix MX 53/54/55/56 series. I just can't get enough of them.
I also like old Flukes, on the  far right on the picture. 4 of them. Fluke 11 was my very first meter, I bought it in 1997 I think, from my electronics teacher as he could have me a good price via the school, got 30% off IIRC.  Excellent DMM's, still my primary DMM, the one I throw in the tool box, and also on the bench as it's good enough 99,99% of the time, let's be honest....

Got an addiction for fluorescent displays too ! Be them old Nixie tubes, or  more modern VFD's from the '90s.
Scored a rare cool 8 Nixie digits 160MHz Metrix Frequency counter ! A DX446A

Very recently redeveloped an addiction for old CD players... fixed my first one last X-mas, old man gave me his 1990 Philips CDC486, my childhood player, to fix. Did not know a thing about CD players, never thought I could understand these things, never mind fix them ! But the good souls on this forum took my hand and eventually I managed to fix it. Then old man gave me another one to fix a month later.... too late, got the bug now ! Love fixing these things ! LOL   So 3 weeks ago I started buying all the cheap broken old CD players ! In the past 3 weeks I got 16 of them ! Spent 300 Euros on them... broke now. Will try to fix and resell some of them to recoup some of the cost... but some of them I really like so will keep them... so that's the start of yet another collection ! 

I think I have gone past a milestone in my TE addiction : I have accepted the fact that I need to sell some of them to keep it under control and limit the cost... and have done so a few times already. So I now establish a hierarchy... the stuff that I will NEVER sell, and the stuff that I could potentially live without, and the cheap broken stuff I do'nt even care for but buy only to fix and resell, hoping to make a buck in the process, as times are tough with COVID.... especially if it brings some space and cash to let me buy some new gear I like better and need more !

For example, I have over 30 scopes now... but not even a cheap ESR meter  or LCR meter, or decent soldering station with adjustable temperature, or electronic DC load, or decent sig gen, or a HV diff probe...never mind a microscope or spectrum analyzer...

So the move into my new house is the opportunity to take my lab to version 2.0 : try to control my GAS for the better : reduce my collection of gear, a bit, in order to better equip my lab with useful stuff. What good is it to have 35 scopes if I don't even have an ESR meter to check caps on all the old stuff I keep finding myself trying to repair ? I ask....

Anyway, enough of me, just meant to say hi, won't bother you anymore...

[xrunner]

Hello people,

Sorry to interrupt, didn't want to, but Tautech just told me I may have a problem with TE and suggested I come here to say hi. So, hi...

Hi Vince. Wow, you have a serious issue with collecting test equipment - uh - like the rest of us!  And Tautech pointed you here huh. Well, I hope you realize we'll talk you out of getting rid of any of that - unless it goes to one of us. 

Hope you enjoy the group! 

[bd139]

Well you’re definitely in the right place  . Welcome and epic first post 

[Wolfgang]

Finally someone with a full-fledged TEA syndrome, not just a minor uninteresting case ... 

[med6753]

Hello people,

Sorry to interrupt, didn't want to, but Tautech just told me I may have a problem with TE and suggested I come here to say hi. So, hi...

Better grab a cup of coffee and packet of biscuits, just saying...

At first I thought I was not worthy of TEA, that I would not qualify, but then I read the "About TEA" at the start of this thread, and to my surprise, it seems that I objectively DO qualify ?!  I guess that means I have a problem then   

....snip

And I thought I had a bad Tek addiction.  Vince, you are a perfect fit here. Welcome.   

[mnementh]

This is the page to muster all our 3478As...

I'm waiting for page 34401 ...

A long wait, but not as long as for my HP 66311B...   

and my 54645A...

mnem
 

[artag]

I think it was Jim Williams who suggested that in another universe, oscilloscopes (k$ new, need specialist equipment and use) would be as important to collectors and as valuable in their old age as classic cars

[mnementh]

Ahha thanks for the clarification! 

Nice to know, but how do you un-push them? 

If you're lucky, you can get a bite onto the edge of the push nut with a needle-nose plier. You need to do trial & error; pressing down while squeezing. If you get a bit of a release, then you move like 1/8 of the way around and try some more; eventually the nut lets go enough to move up the shank. Then it's pretty easy to work it up the rest of the way.

    The problem with this tack is it tends to scrape & scar the f*** out of whatever's under the push nut; this is why, especially with PCB & plastic post, my preferred means of removing the nut is to sacrifice it by cutting it off with a Dremel and diamond burr like this one.

You grind right on one of the slices in the nut right at the edge where the metal is unbroken and it takes just a second; it will usually pop apart before you get all the way through and damage the material underneath.

If it fights you, be mindful to limit your grinding duty cycle; allow time for the metal to cool lest you melt the plastic post.

Cheers,

mnem
*veteran of a thousand psychic wars repairs of shit made not to be repaired*

[bd139]

Yeah don't fancy that  . Think I'll find some surgical forcep scissor things at a hamfest if I need to do any surgery on that sort of part and try and snip it.

D755 update. The fuckity display is due to a dodgy 2M2 trimpot as previously mentioned. I stuffed a DMM across it and found that the potential was only 105 volts. That means the worst case dissipation is about 5mW which is bugger all so ordered some 2M2 Piher 15mm ones rated to 0.25W and 200V. Will see if that does the job. If not it's further HT debugging fun 

Picture of the wee bastard:



Part source:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321384101191

[artag]

Nice little cold-cathode tube

[THDplusN_bad]

Good Day Vince,

that surely is a nice collection you are having there! And thanks for making me feel not that bad - your case of TEA is a lot worse than mine... 

Anyway, here is a Tektronix 5112/D12 with a 5CT1N curve tracer, 5A22N diff. amplifier and 5B12N time base for you.
For those who never came across this product line from Tek: The Tektronix 5000 low-bandwidth series (2 MHz max.) was very popular among scientist back in the 70s and 80s. Many of the units I have collected over the years had an inventory sticker from a university or science lab on it.

Christian Weagle http://www.i9t.net/5000_scopes.htmland also user "WastelandTek" in this forum have some nice write-ups.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/tektronix-5000-series-(1970-1990-era)-shenanigans/50/

And, of course, there is TekWiki, which is just a great resource. https://w140.com/tekwiki/wiki/Introduction_to_the_5000-Series_Oscilloscopes

Cheers,

THDplusN_bad

[THDplusN_bad]

Yeah don't fancy that  . Think I'll find some surgical forcep scissor things at a hamfest if I need to do any surgery on that sort of part and try and snip it.

D755 update. The fuckity display is due to a dodgy 2M2 trimpot as previously mentioned. I stuffed a DMM across it and found that the potential was only 105 volts. That means the worst case dissipation is about 5mW which is bugger all so ordered some 2M2 Piher 15mm ones rated to 0.25W and 200V. Will see if that does the job. If not it's further HT debugging fun 

Picture of the wee bastard:



Part source:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321384101191

Yes, just keep going! I never came across the Telequipment/Tek D755 model, so I had to look it up https://w140.com/tekwiki/wiki/Telequipment_D755

It is interesting to see that such fairly sophisticated oscilloscopes were produced after Tektronix had taken over Telequipment. I always thought that the Telequipment models were simpler than the Tektronix-branded ones;  primarily targeting the radio/TV repair shops and general service markets.

Cheers,

THDplusN_bad

[artag]

And a hot-cathode tube (1" CRT)

[med6753]

Baby Tek compared with a typical 500 series. All three were available from Tek at the same time.



And, the Type 321A on the torture rack. Will need to survive several burn-in cycles.