Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[psykok]

Damn - you stole that!  Great score!  The HP 3562A was my 'first hit' on the TEA addiction spiral - read about it in the audio forums and decided to snag one - probably paid about $500-ish for it in 2013.



Next came the HP-A (at the time; now HPAK) mailing list which lead to the 'rescue' of a 5245L from the clockmaking nixie ghouls.  (shown here along with the now retired Leader audio generator that was creating the distorted sine wave in the spectrum above - note the flattened negative peaks.)



...and it's been an ever accelerating downhill ride from there, to the dismay of my floor joists and credit card.       

-Pat

I hear you.  Audio work was one of the main reasons why I decided to build my own bench at home and was also behind jumping on that 3562A when I saw it on eBay for just over $100 and I was able to pick it up locally.  It's been a snowball that's kept rolling since then.

The crazy thing is that since I started with the TE collecting, I've done barely anything with the audio stuff.  Have been collecting parts, but that's it.  Some day...

There's now a 547 in my queue, too - got it along with a 561A and a bunch of plug ins in a nice Tek haul from a silent key over the past few weeks.  My concern is the HV transformer as it spent an unknown time period in a not-very-hospitable storage container that seems to have been on the damp side based on the mildew smell of many of the items that came out of there.

-Pat

I have the same concern with the HV transformer as it's a known fail point with the 547. But luckily this one has been in a dry environment. No mildew smell and it wasn't all that dirty/dusty either.

The three scopes I picked up are still in queue here too, including the 547.  They rode around in the car for a few days before getting unloaded in a hurry after the Doug Ford announcement 10 days ago and they've been sitting in the living room where I dropped them just inside the door.  There hasn't been any smell out of them which is promising.

On the 547, are the DCR and L parameters for the transformer windings known?  Also, is it known if the windings short together or if it's winding-to-core that goes short.  I'm just trying to think up some tests I can run on the transformer with an LRC meter, a multimeter, and an insulation tester before putting line voltage on them after I open them up and inspect the insides.  I was going to do that on the weekend but the weekend got away from me...again...

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there are three good power transformers between the three 547s that are in queue here.  Hopefully nobody ended up with a dud.

I think the main power transformers are pretty much bullet proof - the Achilles heel of the 547 is the epoxy potted HV transformer.  The explanation is that it absorbs moisture and gets lossy & heats up, to the point of changing the permeability of the ferrite core, loading the oscillator down and killing the HV.  One method I've seen for keeping it operating is to replace the tube rectifiers with solid state (reduces the stress on the transformer as the filament load is thus removed), and directing a small fan on it to help cool the core.  Apparently keeping it just a few degrees cooler does the trick.  I've also found info on rewinding them, but of course with a quick search cannot find it again now - ugh! - but it is out there.  There was also a guy on the Tek list that would occasionally rewind them for people, but I'm not sure if he's still doing it.

My fingers are crossed that yours are in good nick.

-Pat

Audio is just a way to justify everything   


I'm following the same path, started with a HP 8903a and now I have 4 audio analzer and more 

[mansaxel]

But not a Professional Engineer (PE)

A PE in North America is roughly equal to a Chartered Engineer in the UK / Europe. Dependng on industry etc able to make formal determination of correctness of a design or work.

It is actually a bit worse than that in the GWN.
You can only call yourself an "Engineer" if you are in fact a PE.

In Sweden, "Engineer" (Ingenjör) is not protected. I do not possess any degree whatsoever, but I've been titled "Production Engineer" by the Communication Information System Command of the armed forces. 
When I worked at the Royal Institute of Technology, the largest technical Uni in Sweden, as sysadmin and network wrangler, they obviously wanted to distinguish me from the "real" Engineers they produce, so I was called "Systems Specialist". In spite of that, I ended up in a part teaching position, lecturing and grading 4th year engineering students. 
At present position, I introduce myself with "I'm The Network Engineer" to foreigners (because I do a lot of work where I end up being the network competence among a lot who aren't), and "I'm part of the networking team" to Swedes.

"Civil Engineer" (and perhaps some specialisation on that, like "Electrical", "Machine", "Biotech", "Vehicular", "Survey", "Physics", "Computer", "Media", "Architect", (not the powerpoint IT fool, but one that designs houses) "Road and Water" or the very special (old, and the first one so designated) "Mining" kind), that is, a M. Sc. in Engineering, that's a closely guarded title, though. No stamps or seals, but a ring.

[Specmaster]

Seriously stop spouting 'maybes' as 'reasons. Life has risks so on this application get over the 

Q1: is it a risk to yourself (->I don't care) or a risk to others (->I do care)?

Q2: is the benefit worth the possible penalty?

Q3: is there another way of avoiding the penalty?

The answer to the first question is the most important, since it trumps Q2 and Q3.

And spouting more  when it is NORMAL industry practice to use this method? Irrational spouting of ambit non specified risks without 'evidence' is just crap.

Hopefully people in industry have been trained what to do and possible hazards. I most countries there is a legal requirement to wear eye protection when carring out this kind of "normal industry practice". This risks may not be obvious to eveyone who might read this forum.

Safety is all about maybes. It's part of of my day job to think of the maybes and ensure they are mitigated against as far as reasonably practical.

Given some of the things written on this forum, I'm certain that risks wouldn't be obvious.

One of the things about professional engineers is that they consider not only how something works, but also how something fails.

So as a 'Professional Engineer' you will be giving out Safety advice about Bridge Building and Construction next too 

don't know the rules where you all are.  but 'round here a "professional engineer" is required to have a stamp and seal.

but you don't want to use that puppy unless your malpractice coverage is up to date, because when things go pear shaped even "lionel hutz" could  figure out pretty quick who gets sued.

(my ink pad dried up a long time ago)

If you get paid for any form of engineering then you're a professional engineer 

someone (can not recall who) once told me that you could only give engineering testimony in court if you were a licensed PE. 

no idea if that is true or not.  do you have to be a licensed doctor to give expert medical testimony in court?  (no idea there either.)

I don't know for sure, but I think the answer to both those questions is "If you're qualified with certificates to prove it" then you can be called upon to give testimony in court.

[beanflying]

Found some bench and a proper spot for the new JBC Limited edition (seriously  marketing) Chips and a Longneck of Stout as a reward 

Tomorrow there will be sodering.....

[psykok]

Nobody  willing more tek scopes
https://www.ebay.fr/itm/303745369138

[VK5RC]

Snip........
[/quote]
someone (can not recall who) once told me that you could only give engineering testimony in court if you were a licensed PE. 

no idea if that is true or not.  do you have to be a licensed doctor to give expert medical testimony in court?  (no idea there either.)
[/quote]

[/quote]
I don't know for sure, but I think the answer to both those questions is "If you're qualified with certificates to prove it" then you can be called upon to give testimony in court.
[/quote]

I can only speak for South Australia as the laws re medical registration do vary a little between the states of Australia (but very little). To be a 'legally qualified medical practitioner'  you need to have completed a certified medical degree/s, and have a certificate of Current Registration. This certificate alone costs about $800/year and it requires notification of all legal proceedings (except minor traffic infringement) and a certificate of completion of a continuous professional development (CPD) program in the prior year - typically in the order of 100hrs of education etc. Membership of organisations that orchestrate the CPD 'accreditation' cost typically about $1200AUD/yr and this does not include the courses/conference costs. Typically written proof of CPD activities is required.

Specialist/consultant physician registration is in addition to general registration and requires initial additional qualifications (the Universities typically consider them the equivalent of a Masters)  and these are typically administered by a 'College of....'  These organisations often administer their own CPD course but one cpd program is typically all that is required to cover both specialist and general registration.

Most 'experts' are specialists or consultant physicians (note in the AUS and UK a consultant physician is quite different from the USA system).
 I cannot see that someone who is not registered with the medical board (now called the Australian Health Practitioner Registration Agency or AHPRA) would be ever considered to be used as an expert medical witness.
 
Typically your cv and general standing is of major importance as a lot of pre-court bravado and opinion waving goes on.

[Peter_O]

I've just made good on my basic addict's duty and ordered the 34401 missing on the desk.
There was no excuse, wasn't it? 
Will report to the group after drug arrival.

Did you have bought the Agilent one from Wetzlar in the ebay Kleinanzeigen?

 

Yes. That one for 50 Euros less. It's a 2001 Agilent and like new. The Display is a little degenerated but quite readable.

I was a little disappointed about that advertisement of another 2001 Agilent yesterday evening vor 150 Euro from another seller who obviously did not know the market, but that one was sold within 20 min. When I first saw it, it was already "reserved" and I had already bought this one.

But anyhow. Now I'm joyning the crowd having a 34401 and hoping that the display will last some years more.  :-)

A quick DC voltage check shows, that it is in perfect harmony with it's grand-grand-...-father, the Siglent somewhere near. But that one talks LAN etc.

3 benchtop DVMs might qualify for TAE, even with the 3455A beeing only kind of "benchtop", but more a bench in itself. 

[beanflying]

snip

But anyhow. Now I'm joyning the crowd having a 34401 and hoping that the display will last some years more.  :-)

snip

Trawl this thread for a near free RS232 option for your 34401A and some data logging too  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/help-need-keysight-34461a-dmm-data-logging-to-xl/

[Specmaster]

I see in the top right of the page news that email notifications are back working again which is great news, except mine aren't. I have checked in my spam folder which where it instructs you look, but I don't have any anything in there either. Is anyone else in the UK especially, still not getting email notifications of PM's or updates to their chosen threads / topics etc?

[tonyalbus]

I see in the top right of the page news that email notifications are back working again which is great news, except mine aren't. I have checked in my spam folder which where it instructs you look, but I don't have any anything in there either. Is anyone else in the UK especially, still not getting email notifications of PM's or updates to their chosen threads / topics etc?

do you have an EU domainname? .. there was something about that.. with the whole bX thing..
maybe linking a gmail adsress will solve that

[Specmaster]

I see in the top right of the page news that email notifications are back working again which is great news, except mine aren't. I have checked in my spam folder which where it instructs you look, but I don't have any anything in there either. Is anyone else in the UK especially, still not getting email notifications of PM's or updates to their chosen threads / topics etc?

do you have an EU domainname? .. there was something about that.. with the whole bX thing..
maybe linking a gmail adsress will solve that

I do have a gmail address for things that I don't want to give away my personal address for, but the forum has always been associated with my personal address which is a @outlook.com one.

[Peter_O]

Trawl this thread for a near free RS232 option for your 34401A and some data logging too  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/help-need-keysight-34461a-dmm-data-logging-to-xl/

thx for that!
Don't know, if forum rules allow me to ask here:

Revision is 11-05-02.

I wonder If I need to search for an older manual version or if the Edition 10 User's Guide from 2014 is OK.

[tonyalbus]

I see in the top right of the page news that email notifications are back working again which is great news, except mine aren't. I have checked in my spam folder which where it instructs you look, but I don't have any anything in there either. Is anyone else in the UK especially, still not getting email notifications of PM's or updates to their chosen threads / topics etc?

do you have an EU domainname? .. there was something about that.. with the whole bX thing..
maybe linking a gmail adsress will solve that

I do have a gmail address for things that I don't want to give away my personal address for, but the forum has always been associated with my personal address which is a @outlook.com one.

could be worth a try...

[Specmaster]

I see in the top right of the page news that email notifications are back working again which is great news, except mine aren't. I have checked in my spam folder which where it instructs you look, but I don't have any anything in there either. Is anyone else in the UK especially, still not getting email notifications of PM's or updates to their chosen threads / topics etc?

do you have an EU domainname? .. there was something about that.. with the whole bX thing..
maybe linking a gmail adsress will solve that

I do have a gmail address for things that I don't want to give away my personal address for, but the forum has always been associated with my personal address which is a @outlook.com one.

could be worth a try...

OK, done that, could you try it out for me please?

[tonyalbus]

I see in the top right of the page news that email notifications are back working again which is great news, except mine aren't. I have checked in my spam folder which where it instructs you look, but I don't have any anything in there either. Is anyone else in the UK especially, still not getting email notifications of PM's or updates to their chosen threads / topics etc?

do you have an EU domainname? .. there was something about that.. with the whole bX thing..
maybe linking a gmail adsress will solve that

I do have a gmail address for things that I don't want to give away my personal address for, but the forum has always been associated with my personal address which is a @outlook.com one.

could be worth a try...

OK, done that, could you try it out for me please?

i think i have send you a PM... but that message system... well... 

[nixiefreqq]

Snip........

someone (can not recall who) once told me that you could only give engineering testimony in court if you were a licensed PE. 

no idea if that is true or not.  do you have to be a licensed doctor to give expert medical testimony in court?  (no idea there either.)
[/quote]

[/quote]
I don't know for sure, but I think the answer to both those questions is "If you're qualified with certificates to prove it" then you can be called upon to give testimony in court.
[/quote]

I can only speak for South Australia as the laws re medical registration do vary a little between the states of Australia (but very little). To be a 'legally qualified medical practitioner'  you need to have completed a certified medical degree/s, and have a certificate of Current Registration. This certificate alone costs about $800/year and it requires notification of all legal proceedings (except minor traffic infringement) and a certificate of completion of a continuous professional development (CPD) program in the prior year - typically in the order of 100hrs of education etc. Membership of organisations that orchestrate the CPD 'accreditation' cost typically about $1200AUD/yr and this does not include the courses/conference costs. Typically written proof of CPD activities is required.

Specialist/consultant physician registration is in addition to general registration and requires initial additional qualifications (the Universities typically consider them the equivalent of a Masters)  and these are typically administered by a 'College of....'  These organisations often administer their own CPD course but one cpd program is typically all that is required to cover both specialist and general registration.

Most 'experts' are specialists or consultant physicians (note in the AUS and UK a consultant physician is quite different from the USA system).
 I cannot see that someone who is not registered with the medical board (now called the Australian Health Practitioner Registration Agency or AHPRA) would be ever considered to be used as an expert medical witness.
 
Typically your cv and general standing is of major importance as a lot of pre-court bravado and opinion waving goes on.
[/quote]






interesting.  here in pennsyltucky in order to renew a PE every two years you have to be prepared to prove you have completed 24 professional development hours (pdh) of training in the previous period.  BUT it is just a matter of checking a box on the application form that says you did so.

so i guess we pipe smoking elbow patch wearing gentlemen trust one another?   am guessing that if you get in any kind of trouble they will ask for the certificates and if you can't provide them it is another reason to sanction you.

when i sat for my PE exam up in harrisburg in 1982 the room was full to overflowing.  all the other guys seemed to know one another.  over lunch i asked what was up.  turned out one of the findings resulting from that little kerfuffle over at three mile island was a lack of professional staffing in the various of firms responsible for operations and maintenance.  the guy beside me said it was his 2nd attempt and if he flunked the test 3 times he had to go look for employment elsewhere.   

 

[med6753]

I've just made good on my basic addict's duty and ordered the 34401 missing on the desk.
There was no excuse, wasn't it? 
Will report to the group after drug arrival.

Did you have bought the Agilent one from Wetzlar in the ebay Kleinanzeigen?

 

Yes. That one for 50 Euros less. It's a 2001 Agilent and like new. The Display is a little degenerated but quite readable.

I was a little disappointed about that advertisement of another 2001 Agilent yesterday evening vor 150 Euro from another seller who obviously did not know the market, but that one was sold within 20 min. When I first saw it, it was already "reserved" and I had already bought this one.

But anyhow. Now I'm joyning the crowd having a 34401 and hoping that the display will last some years more.  :-)

A quick DC voltage check shows, that it is in perfect harmony with it's grand-grand-...-father, the Siglent somewhere near. But that one talks LAN etc.

3 benchtop DVMs might qualify for TAE, even with the 3455A beeing only kind of "benchtop", but more a bench in itself. 

Well that figures. My SDM 3055 reads low too. Ain't that interesting. 

[cyclin_al]

But not a Professional Engineer (PE)

A PE in North America is roughly equal to a Chartered Engineer in the UK / Europe. Dependng on industry etc able to make formal determination of correctness of a design or work.

It is actually a bit worse than that in the GWN.
You can only call yourself an "Engineer" if you are in fact a PE.

In Sweden, "Engineer" (Ingenjör) is not protected. I do not possess any degree whatsoever, but I've been titled "Production Engineer" by the Communication Information System Command of the armed forces. 
When I worked at the Royal Institute of Technology, the largest technical Uni in Sweden, as sysadmin and network wrangler, they obviously wanted to distinguish me from the "real" Engineers they produce, so I was called "Systems Specialist". In spite of that, I ended up in a part teaching position, lecturing and grading 4th year engineering students. 
At present position, I introduce myself with "I'm The Network Engineer" to foreigners (because I do a lot of work where I end up being the network competence among a lot who aren't), and "I'm part of the networking team" to Swedes.

"Civil Engineer" (and perhaps some specialisation on that, like "Electrical", "Machine", "Biotech", "Vehicular", "Survey", "Physics", "Computer", "Media", "Architect", (not the powerpoint IT fool, but one that designs houses) "Road and Water" or the very special (old, and the first one so designated) "Mining" kind), that is, a M. Sc. in Engineering, that's a closely guarded title, though. No stamps or seals, but a ring.

Ah, the ring.  We have the ring here in the GWN, but it is given upon graduation and receiving at least either a B.Eng. or a B.A.Sc. (applied science==engineering).  Yes, it is a closely guarded ceremony to receive the ring.  However, the ring is not linked with professional registration.  Professional registration is similar to what VK5RC describes for the medical profession in his jurisdiction.

My rings are safely stored where I want to be ... one on a rock climbing cliff, and the replacement is in a beautiful forest.  Safe=safe from me finding it 

[tggzzz]

There are several good-looking Agilent 34410A at Ramco's auction on the 4th. Plus some 34401 and Solartron 7150.  If you can get a 34410 for £400, you wouldn't be doing badly.

Hunt4Auctions has some unused 34410As, but he has the irritating habit of setting the initial bid below his reserve price.

[med6753]

Into the belly of the beast. The Type 547 on it's side with the bottom plate removed. Just a few particles of dirt on the bottom plate and only one small spider web observed. I can't get over how clean this scope is. 2nd photo top right with the 2 ceramic caps is the power transformer and just below on that terminal strip is a common point for all the PSU voltages. That's what I'm interested in to check for possible shorts. More later.


 

[med6753]

From the manual.

[Ice-Tea]

Nobody  willing more tek scopes
https://www.ebay.fr/itm/303745369138

Sweet Jeebus. Luckily I just snatched up a 3 year freelance gig or I might be tempted.

Now, I'm not tempted. At all. Not in the least. Not even close.

[Cubdriver]

If anyone in the states is looking to join the panaplex group, there's a clean looking Data Precision 3500 listed as used for $90/OBO in Maryland.  NAWTS, but I like mine.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/154424909399?_trksid=p11021.c100851.m5053&_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20170803121420%26meid%3Df19399afb7af478db2e4286e29966404%26pid%3D100851%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D4%26mehot%3Dnone%26b%3D1%26sd%3D303975631728%26itm%3D154424909399%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D11021%26algv%3DDefaultOrganic&mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m5053.l9430&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=8c78ec0dca8e4627973f79d25508c928&bu=43212832903&ut=RU&exe=98458&ext=232176&logid=nqt%3DAAAAAQAAAAIAAgAAAAAAAACAAAEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAwAABAAAAAAAAAAAACAAAAgAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQA**%26nqc%3DAAAAAQAAAAIAAgAAAAAAAACAAAEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAwAABAAAAAAAAAAAACAAAAgAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQA**%26es%3D0%26ec%3D1&osub=-1%7E1&crd=20210427074812&segname=11021&sojTags=ch%3Dch%2Cbu%3Dbu%2Cut%3Dut%2Cnqt%3Dnqt%2Cnqc%3Dnqc%2Ces%3Des%2Cec%3Dec%2Cexe%3Dexe%2Cext%3Dext%2Cexe%3Dexe%2Cext%3Dext%2Cosub%3Dosub%2Ccrd%3Dcrd%2Csegname%3Dsegname%2Cchnl%3Dmkcid

Mine drifts negatively like that on the lowest voltage range when turned on with no input, too, so that's not abnormal for open inputs on the 0.1V range - I suspect that the lowest range is a really hi-z input.  It drops to single digit microvolts when shorted with a clip lead.  My only concern is the lack of the leading decimal point in the auction photo.

These pics are of mine, open input:


Shorted input:


-Pat

[Peter_O]

Well that figures. My SDM 3055 reads low too. Ain't that interesting. 

Yes.  Maybe even more interesting: The 10V are out of a Siglent X3303X(-E) and as you can see above, it's less than 1mv off, which meets the spec  of 0,01% + 3mV.

[DC1MC]

I've just made good on my basic addict's duty and ordered the 34401 missing on the desk.
There was no excuse, wasn't it? 
Will report to the group after drug arrival.

Did you have bought the Agilent one from Wetzlar in the ebay Kleinanzeigen?

 

Yes. That one for 50 Euros less. It's a 2001 Agilent and like new. The Display is a little degenerated but quite readable.

I was a little disappointed about that advertisement of another 2001 Agilent yesterday evening vor 150 Euro from another seller who obviously did not know the market, but that one was sold within 20 min. When I first saw it, it was already "reserved" and I had already bought this one.

But anyhow. Now I'm joyning the crowd having a 34401 and hoping that the display will last some years more.  :-)

A quick DC voltage check shows, that it is in perfect harmony with it's grand-grand-...-father, the Siglent somewhere near. But that one talks LAN etc.

3 benchtop DVMs might qualify for TAE, even with the 3455A beeing only kind of "benchtop", but more a bench in itself. 

What about this one:
https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/hp-34401a-multimeter/1738253689-226-9218

Is it worth 300, I was thinking to offer 250, but 200 should be OK  ?

 Cheers,
 DC1MC