Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

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
...
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....

Once you've seen Panaplex displays, you'll want to have some. Ditto the HP "dotted" seven segment LEDs.

You have plenty of tools for measuring voltage vs time, but how about voltage vs frequency, or frequency vs time? Plus, of course, tools that demonstrate your other tools are working within spec.

BTW, welcome

The real problem with Panaplex displays is that they are as rare almost as rocking horse poo and when you stumble across one, it's attached to a bleeding great boat anchor  and my anchorage has no place for them to drop anchor 

[Specmaster]

I’m a cheap ass and you know it. What do you think? 

Sticking with the SDS1202X-E ?

Yes. That was disposed of due to the pending move as it was going to be 12-18 months of short finances and hell. I’ve corrected this now I’ve got the deposit back so there’s a shiny new one arriving on Saturday 

Clearly not as much of a cheap ass as you thought then 

[Specmaster]

Yes mine arrived in only 6 days end to end. I think it's the seller as my JLCPCB order has entered the 4px void for the last 5 days now 

They seem to use Orange Connex as their courier or possibly for full logistics and in the past I'd sort of half noticed that stuff coming via Orange Connex seems to get here very quickly with no fuss.

Perhaps Orange Connex will put in a takeover bid for Royal Mail - please, pretty please. 

Maybe over there, but here they're an utter shitshow.

mnem
Never again.

I'd never heard of them, so just searched for them and discovered that their reviewers rate just 3.7 out of 10, not very encouraging bd.

[bd139]

I’m a cheap ass and you know it. What do you think? 

Sticking with the SDS1202X-E ?

Yes. That was disposed of due to the pending move as it was going to be 12-18 months of short finances and hell. I’ve corrected this now I’ve got the deposit back so there’s a shiny new one arriving on Saturday 

Clearly not as much of a cheap ass as you thought then 

They are 1/3rd the price of the Keysight I was eyeing up 

[Specmaster]

I’m a cheap ass and you know it. What do you think? 

Sticking with the SDS1202X-E ?

Yes. That was disposed of due to the pending move as it was going to be 12-18 months of short finances and hell. I’ve corrected this now I’ve got the deposit back so there’s a shiny new one arriving on Saturday 

Clearly not as much of a cheap ass as you thought then 

They are 1/3rd the price of the Keysight I was eyeing up 

And 1/10th the price of the LeCroy as well 

[tggzzz]

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
...
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....

Once you've seen Panaplex displays, you'll want to have some. Ditto the HP "dotted" seven segment LEDs.

You have plenty of tools for measuring voltage vs time, but how about voltage vs frequency, or frequency vs time? Plus, of course, tools that demonstrate your other tools are working within spec.

BTW, welcome

The real problem with Panaplex displays is that they are as rare almost as rocking horse poo and when you stumble across one, it's attached to a bleeding great boat anchor  and my anchorage has no place for them to drop anchor 

Even more so for dekatrons, and you get fixated watching them rotate

Maybe I ought to flog the display panel from my Solatron 7075. Last time I checked it was working fine, all that it needs is +5V +180V and BCD data.

[JohnnyMalaria]

I've been wondering what my 1000th post would be. Apparently, this is it.

And with the magic of editing a post:



Love this forum...

[tggzzz]

I've been wondering what my 1000th post would be. Apparently, this is it.

And with the magic of editing a post:

(Attachment Link)

Love this forum...

Almost as good as this sign...

[Kosmic]

Apparently you can buy your medical equipment on banggood now. What could possibly go wrong ? 

[25 CPS]

Apparently you can buy your medical equipment on banggood now. What could possibly go wrong ? 

We find out Doug Ford's placing orders?

[capt bullshot]

In the meantime, I had some progress with the PM330 power meter:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/voltech-pm3300-power-meter/msg3538408/#msg3538408

Apparently the temperature drift that I found fault with is caused by some resistors. I've replaced them and found the instrument still drifting, discovering the new resistors weren't that much matched in TC as I had expected.

[BU508A]

Not sure, if this is an April-fools-day joke:

https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/mangder-av-fordon-star-stilla-efter-omfattande-alkolashaveri

@Mansaxel: can you tell us something about this?

[mnementh]

I'd hope that it was in fact just a April Fool's Day prank; not something more sinister:

  CEO after the alco-lock crash: "Suspected cyber attack behind" 

Lots of vehicles in the Nordics stand still after alco-locks (device used by many municipalities to prevent drunk driving of their vehicles) from the company Dignita crashed last night.

    Anders Eriksson, CEO of Dignita, says that it could be a cyber attack - the company's alco-locks are found in buses, municipal company cars and taxis.
    Hundreds of cars at Taxi Göteborg have not been able to start, and in Kungsbacka, among other places, the home care service has not been able to start their cars.

- What we know now is that it is some form of cyber attack, or at least it is a date manipulation, which has taken place in our alco-locks, says the CEO of Dignita, Anders Eriksson.

mnem

[SilverSolder]

Not sure, if this is an April-fools-day joke:

https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/mangder-av-fordon-star-stilla-efter-omfattande-alkolashaveri

@Mansaxel: can you tell us something about this?

LOL

[mnementh]

I've been wondering what my 1000th post would be. Apparently, this is it.   And with the magic of editing a post:



Love this forum...

If you want to put an image inline, you need to wrap it with img tags like so:

[ img height=120]https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/?action=dlattach;attach=1206980;image[/img]

You can also help control eye pollution by using the width or height modifier as shown above (the space after the first bracket is the only reason SMF doesn't process that line as a inline image).

Cheers,

mnem
 

[mnementh]

I've been wondering what my 1000th post would be. Apparently, this is it.

And with the magic of editing a post:

[

Love this forum...

Almost as good as this sign...

mnem

[cyclin_al]

Apparently you can buy your medical equipment on banggood now. What could possibly go wrong ? 

We find out Doug Ford's placing orders?

But it is advertised as a teaching tool.

Ok class, The teacher is teaching you a lesson today on a real live patient; the patient is none other than D. Ford.... 

[mnementh]

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
...
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....

Once you've seen Panaplex displays, you'll want to have some. Ditto the HP "dotted" seven segment LEDs.

You have plenty of tools for measuring voltage vs time, but how about voltage vs frequency, or frequency vs time? Plus, of course, tools that demonstrate your other tools are working within spec.

BTW, welcome

The real problem with Panaplex displays is that they are as rare almost as rocking horse poo and when you stumble across one, it's attached to a bleeding great boat anchor  and my anchorage has no place for them to drop anchor 

Even more so for dekatrons, and you get fixated watching them rotate    Maybe I ought to flog the display panel from my Solatron 7075. Last time I checked it was working fine, all that it needs is +5V +180V and BCD data.

Sadly, probably get more for the test leads and that panel to some nixie clock weenie than the whole working meter. If you were that kind of a perv, which we know you aren't.

mnem
 

[tggzzz]

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
...
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....

Once you've seen Panaplex displays, you'll want to have some. Ditto the HP "dotted" seven segment LEDs.

You have plenty of tools for measuring voltage vs time, but how about voltage vs frequency, or frequency vs time? Plus, of course, tools that demonstrate your other tools are working within spec.

BTW, welcome

The real problem with Panaplex displays is that they are as rare almost as rocking horse poo and when you stumble across one, it's attached to a bleeding great boat anchor  and my anchorage has no place for them to drop anchor 

Even more so for dekatrons, and you get fixated watching them rotate    Maybe I ought to flog the display panel from my Solatron 7075. Last time I checked it was working fine, all that it needs is +5V +180V and BCD data.

Sadly, probably get more for the test leads and that panel to some nixie clock weenie than the whole working meter. If you were that kind of a perv, which we know you aren't.

mnem
 

In this case, you'd be wrong

I condensed 3 7075s into 2 working 7075s, and flogged one - including that cable. The display panel is left over. The spacing of the digits makes it less than wonderful for clocks.

[Robert763]

The observant among you will have noticed the the HP 3476B DMM I posted a picture of on page 3476 wasn't on.
Tht's because it would not come on 
It worked last time I had it out. It always had one fault, all the decimal places were on. This indicates a low battery but it lasted OK so I assumed (don't do that) it was the battery monitor circuit.
Anyway I investigated it yesterday. It quickly became apparent thet the rechargable battery was flat. Pack seems to be 4 2/3A cells. No leakage visible so I pulled it out and stuck it on the Pro-Peak charger.
Charger said NO!
A quick check on a bench upply in constant current showed about 2.2V at 1/2A. The penny dropped, it had two shorted cells. As we know this is caused by Cadmium crystals growing across the insulator. It's likely that one had been shorted since I had the meter, resulting in permanant low battery indication.
So I stuck it on a capacitor discharge rig and two pulses got it up to 3.4V. Several more got it above 4V. I put it on the Pro-Peak and it charged OK. Capacity check came out at about 600mA/h so not too shabby.
All fixed 

[bd139]

Random day today. Had the day off to sort out my mothers house ie all my crap still there. It’s Lego time! Listing some stuff at the weekend. Have about 70 lots of Lego sorted out. Starting with annoying stuff first. Missing a few parts in the valuable sets I’m selling.

[mnementh]

...Maybe I ought to flog the display panel from my Solatron 7075. Last time I checked it was working fine, all that it needs is +5V +180V and BCD data.

   Sadly, probably get more for the test leads and that panel to some nixie clock weenie than the whole working meter. If you were that kind of a perv, which we know you aren't.

mnem
 

In this case, you'd be wrong    I condensed 3 7075s into 2 working 7075s, and flogged one - including that cable. The display panel is left over. The spacing of the digits makes it less than wonderful for clocks.

Mmmmhmmm... a tough call, whether to keep as spares for your 7075 or turn into TEA money. 

Okay number spacing for a doomsday clock, tho. 

Or could do date/day of week, hours, 2 segments blinking as a colon, followed by minutes and leave the last Panaplex module unused as a spare.

mnem
12 Days, colon, 12hours, colon, 12 minutes 12.1 seconds to midnight...

[factory]

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
...
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....

Once you've seen Panaplex displays, you'll want to have some. Ditto the HP "dotted" seven segment LEDs.

You have plenty of tools for measuring voltage vs time, but how about voltage vs frequency, or frequency vs time? Plus, of course, tools that demonstrate your other tools are working within spec.

BTW, welcome

The real problem with Panaplex displays is that they are as rare almost as rocking horse poo and when you stumble across one, it's attached to a bleeding great boat anchor  and my anchorage has no place for them to drop anchor 

There are not always attached to boat anchor size TEA, small digital panel meters also used them, sadly I didn't manage to rescue the DPM attached to a massive tensile testing machine at work.
Or there are plenty of calculators that used them, I sold one a few years ago for very little money.

David

[factory]

Yes mine arrived in only 6 days end to end. I think it's the seller as my JLCPCB order has entered the 4px void for the last 5 days now 

They seem to use Orange Connex as their courier or possibly for full logistics and in the past I'd sort of half noticed that stuff coming via Orange Connex seems to get here very quickly with no fuss.

Perhaps Orange Connex will put in a takeover bid for Royal Mail - please, pretty please. 

Maybe over there, but here they're an utter shitshow.

mnem
Never again.

I'd never heard of them, so just searched for them and discovered that their reviewers rate just 3.7 out of 10, not very encouraging bd.

I suspect their sorting machine might be a second hand ball mill, followed by a jaw crusher. 



Never again....

David

[Cubdriver]

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
...
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....

Once you've seen Panaplex displays, you'll want to have some. Ditto the HP "dotted" seven segment LEDs.

You have plenty of tools for measuring voltage vs time, but how about voltage vs frequency, or frequency vs time? Plus, of course, tools that demonstrate your other tools are working within spec.

BTW, welcome

The real problem with Panaplex displays is that they are as rare almost as rocking horse poo and when you stumble across one, it's attached to a bleeding great boat anchor  and my anchorage has no place for them to drop anchor 

There are not always attached to boat anchor size TEA, small digital panel meters also used them, sadly I didn't manage to rescue the DPM attached to a massive tensile testing machine at work.
Or there are plenty of calculators that used them, I sold one a few years ago for very little money.

David

There are some smaller pieces of test gear that use them, too - Data Precision put them in some at best rowboat anchor meters - the 3500, for instance.


I have a calculator floating around here somewhere that has them, too.  They're a cool stepping stone between the stacked digits of the nixie and the planar seven segment LED, but as far as spares go they do make nixie tubes look plentiful.

-Pat