Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

LMAO that Digimess bench PSU sold within minutes of me posting it here.

OK, confess, which of you was it?   

Not me. Rebranded mastech trash. 

Well found out MacBook Air is new. They’re getting it delivered from Amazon directly to me. Super happy.

[beanflying]

Already got a 2500EP in the queue for repair so not me for the Valhalla 2500E  I seem to remember there is an issue with no manual being available for the E variant either if anyone is considering it.

edit yep manual fail without some luck https://www.eevblog.com/forum/metrology/manual-for-valhalla-2500e-ac-dc-current-calibrator/msg2277684/#msg2277684

[1Ghz]

Just got 3x Agilent branded 2007 vintage 34401a (+ 2x Agilent branded 10833B 2 meter GPIB cables) for 1274 USD include shipping.
The cal menu displays 2012 or 2013 as calibration message.
Now I need a precision DC source. 
I don't know how to stop TEAS. 

[beanflying]

Just got 3x Agilent branded 2007 vintage 34401a (+ 2x Agilent branded 10833B 2 meter GPIB cables) for 1274 USD include shipping.
The cal menu displays 2012 or 2013 as calibration message.
Now I need a precision DC source. 
I don't know how to stop TEAS. 

Let me 'assist' with a local option eBay auction: #153238350130

[Robert763]

Nah that’s bollocks. They can. It’s their platform. Your choice is to not take part. They’re just trying to boil the frogs (curmudgeons) slowly.

Managed payments is fine so far. Just partition it with another bank account. Job done. No PayPal fees is a bonus.

Edit: I suspect the issue is the £1 final value fees often doesn’t cover their processing fees with Adyen which is why there’s now a min 30p fee plus percentage. The seller was paying that processing fee with PayPal before so eBay are footing it now.

I don’t have a problem. I don’t do auctions so the buyer pays my fee every time.

I've not specifcally looked, but I'm pretty sure it would fall foul of UK monopoly or consumer law. They are forcing you to use their payment system. I never like all my eggs in one basket and am happy to pay PayPal for what they do. We will see what happens on 31st May.

[Cubdriver]

Some fleabay picks.

If you like your scopes basic:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303978903239

Heath IO-4540. Brings back memories. Built exact model in the 1970's. Not a bad scope. Single trace, 5MHz B/W, triggered sweep. But it did have an annoying flaw. All plastic case. And only a partial shield on the gun of the CRT. No trace rotation. Every time you moved the scope the trace would be tilted either due to the Earth's magnetic field or other nearby equipment with a power transformer. To straighten the trace you would have to physically rotate the CRT until it was moved and then rinse and repeat.   

If you look in Heath Catalogs from that time and the scope is powered up you can see the baseline trace tilted. 

I built what was probably its successor (the IO-4541) as my first big project in the summer of 1979, just before starting high school.  It's still lurking about somewhere here.  Big beast - lots of empty space in that cabinet!

-Pat

[tautech]

Some fleabay picks.


Not yet horrifically expensive:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254953140813

BD ^^^^ D75 EHT transformer donor ^^^^

[bd139]

Can’t be arsed at the moment. Plus it’s probably buggered as well 

[tautech]

Can’t be arsed at the moment. Plus it’s probably buggered as well 

Still, you'd be hard pressed to find a tidier one. Neat as a new pin IMO.

Anyways I'm off to Ded. 

[1Ghz]

Let me 'assist' with a local option eBay auction: #153238350130

I must resist... I must resist... There is not enough space...

[beanflying]

Let me 'assist' with a local option eBay auction: #153238350130

I must resist... I must resist... There is not enough space...

I think @med and @Cerebus can now 'assist' with your perceived lack of space issue with some inspiration

[Brumby]

Let me 'assist' with a local option eBay auction: #153238350130

I must resist... I must resist... There is not enough space...

That's one argument I have never been able to sell.  I'm too good at finding a way to make space for things when there appears to be none.

I think @med and @Cerebus can now 'assist' with your perceived lack of space issue with some inspiration

Enablers in the room!  You can be scared now.   

[bd139]

This whole thread is about enabling. If it was Alcoholics Anonymous our livers would have given out already

[Specmaster]

LMAO that Digimess bench PSU sold within minutes of me posting it here.

OK, confess, which of you was it?   

Not me, I'm all TTi supplies.

[1Ghz]

I try to stop TEAS but I already know resistance is futile.

[Cubdriver]

This whole thread is about enabling. If it was Alcoholics Anonymous our livers would have given out already

<raises glass>  Sláinte

-Pat

[beanflying]

The Liver is evil and must be punished. The tastebuds however are getting a treat

Good Gin, Soldering and Apocalypse Now on the screen. Not a bad Friday Night locally....

[med6753]

The Liver is evil and must be punished. The tastebuds however are getting a treat

Good Gin, Soldering and Apocalypse Now on the screen. Not a bad Friday Night locally....

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning"

[Robert763]

My Efratom FRL rubdium frequency standard build is progressing. The Schroff COMPAC Pro case I'm re-using had a pretty full front panel so needs a new one. The rear panel was OK for reuse. You can get the panel from Schroff but being an odd size (3U x 28HP) the usual distributors don't stock it. I found a supplier of anodised shhet on ebay.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273818141558?
The will cut the next largest standard size down to a custom size FOC. They even include the off-cuts.
Without the tape the panel was £7.32 perfectly cut and with protective film on one side. It's 2m thick, plenty for this case and easiet to cut thn the Schroff panel which is 3mm.
They sell other metal stock too. No affiation but if you need a replacement panel they are worth a look.

[tonyalbus]

Just Scored a C1-93     is needs a little clean 

to Compliment my almost new C1-118


i am a bit late for those pages 

[McBryce]

This might be of use to you: https://montazhtv.ru/de/skachat-instrukciyu-po-ekspluatacii-oscillografa-s1-93/

McBryce.

[tonyalbus]

This might be of use to you: https://montazhtv.ru/de/skachat-instrukciyu-po-ekspluatacii-oscillografa-s1-93/

McBryce.

Thanks!!..
also i found a djvu file manual.
that little one i have... was still good.. lets see this one after a good clean...
i just picket it up without checking it... is was 20 european pesos, so can't go very wrong on this one

[Cerebus]

I don’t actually use little snitch myself on a Mac. I mostly use them in stock config with very little added software so it’s just another thing eating ram.

I wouldn't run one without it. Interestingly I think the very existence of Little Snitch, even if many people don't use, it has killed off the temptation of putting phone homes in Mac software - the vendors know that they will be observed doing it and that people will ask questions. When I first used it loads of stuff triggered it, nowadays very little.

It's very informative comparing how a particular vendor's software behaves on a Mac versus Windows or Android. I've done it by running a Windows VM on a Mac with Little Snitch, and using firewall traces for Android. Adobe, unsurprisingly, are one of the prime offenders. The level of traffic on Windows or Android versus Mac is telling. Let's just say that I suspect that Adobe have a large catalogue of people's reading habits from anyone using Acrobat Reader on the former platforms.

[bd139]

I don’t actually use little snitch myself on a Mac. I mostly use them in stock config with very little added software so it’s just another thing eating ram.

I wouldn't run one without it. Interestingly I think the very existence of Little Snitch, even if many people don't use, it has killed off the temptation of putting phone homes in Mac software - the vendors know that they will be observed doing it and that people will ask questions. When I first used it loads of stuff triggered it, nowadays very little.

It's very informative comparing how a particular vendor's software behaves on a Mac versus Windows or Android. I've done it by running a Windows VM on a Mac with Little Snitch, and using firewall traces for Android. Adobe, unsurprisingly, are one of the prime offenders. The level of traffic on Windows or Android versus Mac is telling. Let's just say that I suspect that Adobe have a large catalogue of people's reading habits from anyone using Acrobat Reader on the former platforms.

Adobe are horrible at everything indeed. I only use preview on the Mac. That’s all I need . I use pixelmator for raster stuff which is good enough. Anything else can sod off

[xrunner]

And now that we're on a new page...

hp 8481A sensor below 10 MHz

The specs say the lowest frequency to be measured is 10 MHz, but for hobby use, how low will it go and still be reasonably accurate? For the test I calibrated the 8481A with the 437B power meter. I used an Agilent 8648A signal generator for the stimulation. The reference power is 0.0 dBm (1.00 mW).

It works reasonably well below 10 MHz (for hobby use) I'd say down to 4 MHz (say for calibrating a ham radio with PL-259s   ). Make your own determination if you have one of these.

With the data you could extend the cal factor correction data in the meter table I suppose, (for hobby use). I don't know how many entries it can hold though.

MHz	dBm	mW	uW error
10	0.05	1.012	+12
9	0.05	1.011	+11
8	+0.02	1.006	+6
7	0.01	1.002	+2
6	-.01	0.997	-3
5	-0.08	0.983	-17
4	-0.15	0.967	-33
3	-0.36	0.920	-80
2	-0.7	0.851	-149
1	-1.21	0.757	-243