Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[McBryce]

Alright boys, who's offering on this Agilent N1914A dual channel power meter? 
I'll put down $5.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303953989765

I would totally offer $1 as a joke, except I'm afraid the seller would accept my offer, and then I'd be stuck paying the shipping cost, plus needing to dispose of the thing when it got here. 

Dispose of it? That's a keeper! Splash of Isopropanol and a blast of canned air and she'll be like a bought one!

McBryce.

[mnementh]

It's dead Jim.     

mnem
 

[med6753]

OK, who's the smart arse?  It had to come from someone here. Fess up!  It arrived today from across the pond in Dublin. And I needed a good laugh today because my appointment with the urologist did not go well.

Not guilty! Don't read too much into the origin, these days it's trivially easy to pick a vendor anywhere in the world to disguise the true origin of the sender. Back in the 80s someone, still unknown, went to a lot of trouble to send me a valentines card from Cardiff when I didn't know anyone from South Wales at all, let alone Cardiff.

Long story short. Cat removed. Send home.

As I was reading that a mental image formed, something like this ...

And that's exactly how it feels both coming out and going in. 

[factory]

Actual TEA post for a change, first time I've had something arrive in a box with handles screwed to the sides. 


Thankfully the item inside wasn't a big as the box, it's a Solartron LM1619 DVM that had been on my watch list for a long time, it dropped from £85 to £65 sometime last week and a couple of offers later it was mine for £40 + shipping.


From what I've read the LM1619 is another hybrid (hollow & sand state) based DVM and has a battery powered AC converter.



Think a new power cord is needed, as with the other old Solartron DVM's it takes the tiny Belling Lee 00 fuses.



Teardown & testing will have to wait, but there is a teardown from someone else on youtube.


David

[factory]

Alright boys, who's offering on this Agilent N1914A dual channel power meter? 
I'll put down $5.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303953989765

I would totally offer $1 as a joke, except I'm afraid the seller would accept my offer, and then I'd be stuck paying the shipping cost, plus needing to dispose of the thing when it got here. 

Dispose of it? That's a keeper! Splash of Isopropanol and a blast of canned air and she'll be like a bought one!

McBryce.

Needs a resurrection video, maybe the seller can donate it to Shango066. 


David

[mindcrime]

Dispose of it? That's a keeper!

Yes, I suppose it is. If your occupation happens to be "scrap metal dealer" or "junkyard owner". 

[mnementh]

ON THE BENCH TONIGHT: $32 FREE 4" VISE!

   

https://www.princessauto.com/en/4-in-fixed-base-bench-vise/product/PA0008655490

4" solid base vise; aboot 15 lbs or so. Proper swaged-end handle & acme thread, floating steel acme nut and surprising 110mm jaw opening (at 1 1/2 threads engaged) with decent replaceable jaws, small anvil area, and surprisingly little slop in any direction. A winner at $32; even better for free... Well, free plus a little assache.

So how was it free?

Yesterday while I was shopping Kijiji for a cheap vise, it popped up an ad from Princess Auto showing this little guy on sale for CAD$28/$32 with taxes. I generally prefer at least a 5-6" mechanic's vise; something with enough mass in and of itself that you aren't going to worry aboot beating on it with a hammer to straighten stuff out. But it looked halfway decent, and for that price, was certainly enough for the job at hand, so decided to go get one this morning.

Arrived and found they're still only doing curbside pickup from the website; so I order the thing from my tablet, go do some grocery-getting and eat lunch with my son, then return a few hours later figuring they'd certainly have it filled by then. Turns out no; there's a hold on the payment for fraud prevention, as their system doesn't allow a Canadian shipping address (even pickup at the store, evidently) with US billing address. 

So all my other cards are going to have the same problem; and we even try my local bank card... I go back & forth with them aboot 4 times (every time, the associate has to go inside, talk with someone or get on the pooter, then come back out and update me), but they can't get the order released to the store, and they can't even take cash so I can buy the thing outright and cancel the order.  finally I'm like "Come on.... not even cash...? I mean... I just want someone to take my freaking money!"

The associate (a sweet young lady wearing a Texas Hawgs T-Shirt) says "Just hang on a minute..." then goes back inside; she returns shortly with this unit in a box and says "My manager has decided to just give you your purchase right here. You might get an email regarding the transaction; don't worry aboot it; you have the vise."

I thank her, ask her to pass my thanks on to her manager, and return to the car with my prize.

So here we have it... a cute little vise at the best price. 

mnem

[mindcrime]

So here we have it... a cute little vise at the best price. 
mnem

I mean... anything free is a good deal!

... except maybe that N1914A posted above. 

[BU508A]

OK, who's the smart arse?  It had to come from someone here. Fess up!  It arrived today from across the pond in Dublin. And I needed a good laugh today because my appointment with the urologist did not go well.

  
Have to confess: that was me.
I'm a big qwertee fan and when this T-Shirt showed up, I knew immediately I have to send it to you. 
Glad, that you are enjoying it, I hope, it fits. Guessing the size involved some very sophisticated TE,
such as a Crystal ball, some Tarot cards and a postcard from Delphi.   

Long story short. Cat removed. Send home. Come back in afternoon and report how well you are pissing. Problem is I wasn't. I couldn't and it hurt when I tried. Diagnosis: Spastic bladder. A potential side effect of the surgery. Damn bladder is locked up tighter than a drum. So....the cat is back in. There's medication for this and I'm on it. I go back Friday to have the cat removed again and try this whole shit show all over again. FML.     

Oh, and damn straight I'm gonna wear that t-shirt. 

*sigh*
Oh dear. Get well soon and for this time without any side effects or additional trouble.
Best wishes for you from here.

[mnementh]

Alright boys, who's offering on this Agilent N1914A dual channel power meter? 
I'll put down $5.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303953989765

Do the mechanics of eBay allow negative offers? That's all that would be appropriate. 

Does it come with calibration certs? 

McBryce.

Is the seller from Puerto Rico, and picked this up "from a working environment", right about 2 minutes after the environment was decommissioned by a failed cable.

No, no, no... this unit is from much closer to home: WebNX' DC in Ogden, Utah. It was removed from a working environment alright; a service cart which was in use right next to eevBlog's primary server. 

mnem
 

[BU508A]

Alright boys, who's offering on this Agilent N1914A dual channel power meter? 
I'll put down $5.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303953989765

 

They were two units and he already sold one? Really?   

[med6753]

OK, who's the smart arse?  It had to come from someone here. Fess up!  It arrived today from across the pond in Dublin. And I needed a good laugh today because my appointment with the urologist did not go well.

  
Have to confess: that was me.
I'm a big qwertee fan and when this T-Shirt showed up, I knew immediately I have to send it to you. 
Glad, that you are enjoying it, I hope, it fits. Guessing the size involved some very sophisticated TE,
such as a Crystal ball, some Tarot cards and a postcard from Delphi.   

  I figured it had to be someone who knew my snail mail although if I think about it that's over a dozen members. 

The shirt is a large and it's a slightly big but it will shrink first time I wash it.

Really, thanks...it made my day and yes, I hate people. 

[mnementh]

   

They were two units and he already sold one? Really?       

Lookit the username. My guess would be that he sold the same unit to his own penis for $1 to make it look like there was interest. 

mnem
 

[mnementh]

OK, who's the smart arse?  It had to come from someone here. Fess up!  It arrived today from across the pond in Dublin. And I needed a good laugh today because my appointment with the urologist did not go well.

  
Have to confess: that was me.
I'm a big qwertee fan and when this T-Shirt showed up, I knew immediately I have to send it to you. 
Glad, that you are enjoying it, I hope, it fits. Guessing the size involved some very sophisticated TE,
such as a Crystal ball, some Tarot cards and a postcard from Delphi.   

  I figured it had to be someone who knew my snail mail although if I think about it that's over a dozen members. 

The shirt is a large and it's a slightly big but it will shrink first time I wash it.

Really, thanks...it made my day and yes, I hate people. 

Heh... you know 'tweren't me. I'd be too busy wearing it to gift it, m'self. 

mnem
The more people I meet, the more I like my dog. BTW, my dog's a complete asshole. also, he's dead.

[Cerebus]

 
Have to confess: that was me.
I'm a big qwertee fan and when...

Oh god I think you've just cost me a fortune...



OK, I'm not gonna buy ALL of those, but I did get a Meditating Cookie Monster, a Pinky and the Brain for myself, and a Pinky and the Brain for a friend.

[BU508A]

 
Have to confess: that was me.
I'm a big qwertee fan and when...

Oh god I think you've just cost me a fortune...

[...]

*looking into my purchase history*
I'm a customer from them since years.
Believe me, I know that feeling very well. 

OK, I'm not gonna buy ALL of those, but I did get a Meditating Cookie Monster, a Pinky and the Brain for myself, and a Pinky and the Brain for a friend.

And so the story begins ...
  

[mindcrime]

Finally made some room for the 53310A.







Just in time for the 35660A to show up.





Impressive! The question is, where in the hell am I going to put this monstrosity?!??



Not sure I have any "dynamic signals" to analyze, but whatever...



Is that... ... ... what I think it is?!??



Looks important.



It has lots of buttons. Buttons are cool!



Always remember... #SAFETYFIRST

[25 CPS]

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/mastercraft-5-shelf-metal-wood-rack-24-x-48-x-72-in-0686371p.html#srp

For the Canadians here who have test equipment storage problems:  25% off 24x48x72 shelving units at Canadian Tire.  I just checked with a measuring tape and that's deep enough to hold Tektronix 7000 and 500 series mainframe scopes and weight rated appropriate as well.  I just added one to my cart since I suddenly developed a Tek scope storage problem several weeks ago.

[vk6zgo]

Welcome to the real world  There is no limits our Government will go to get it's 10% even below $1 no problem it is just someone else's cost to collect it and pass it on  Below is a recent low value invoice from Ali Express.

The Height of Stupid with our system was some of the outs allowed. 'Coffee' is exempt as is 'Milk' as is 'Bread' and some other staples but put the Coffee and Milk together then it is taxable and a piece of buttered bread would be too. So if I sell Coffee Beans or Ground Coffee it is exempt but the packaging is not and if I make a coffee at a market then it is taxed even if it is only water added for a black coffee 

It's a "Goods & Services Tax".
When you butter the bread, or make the black coffee, you are performing a service, hence it becomes taxable.
I'm not sure why the packaging is taxable, unless you are packaging bulk ingredients, where you are again performing a service.

[xrunner]

Finally made some room for the 53310A.

How about some GREEN lines to look at from that ^^^? 

[vk6zgo]

Back on topic, well sort of, this seller has some pretty high expectations https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393332165433? All the valves are missing, and I'd love to learn where he got that valuation from 

There is almost nothing on eBay lately that seems to me to be a reasonable bet, prices for none working gear is sky-high.

Edit: Just looked at the other photos, these have clearly been homemade and uses co-ax sockets for inputs 

Back in the day, the use of "Belling Lee" connectors for audio inputs was quite common, in both the UK & Oz.

[mnementh]

   

I used circular pattern in frustion360 today.

mnem
toddles off to buy bolts... and a vise...

Welp... Now that I have a real (if on the small side) vise again, I was able to tweak the mounting bracket so the motor is square with the axle and... there's no way in hell I can get the motor sprocket to align with the gear.

Fortunately, a vendor here in Canada has an offset hub & sprocket that should be much more appropriate, and for only... $32. The same amount I was planning to spend on that vise...

And it comes with all the bolts I wasn't able to buy today.

Is it serendipity? Or is it just the edge of the rabbit-hole...?

mnem
Now izz zee time on Schprokketts venn vee dahnce!!!

[mindcrime]

Finally made some room for the 53310A.

How about some GREEN lines to look at from that ^^^? 

Oh man, I would totally do that, but I haven't made it to step 12 (or is it 13  now?) of the TEA plan: "Build your first circuit". 

Give me about 3 more years to collect test equipment, and then I'll throw something together with a 555 (or an XR2206) to display some lines on all this gear. 

[VK5RC]

@mnem, That chain appears pretty close to the brake disc - a bit of grease screws the disc and pads for decent braking. Don't ask how......

[beanflying]

Welcome to the real world  There is no limits our Government will go to get it's 10% even below $1 no problem it is just someone else's cost to collect it and pass it on  Below is a recent low value invoice from Ali Express.

The Height of Stupid with our system was some of the outs allowed. 'Coffee' is exempt as is 'Milk' as is 'Bread' and some other staples but put the Coffee and Milk together then it is taxable and a piece of buttered bread would be too. So if I sell Coffee Beans or Ground Coffee it is exempt but the packaging is not and if I make a coffee at a market then it is taxed even if it is only water added for a black coffee 

It's a "Goods & Services Tax".
When you butter the bread, or make the black coffee, you are performing a service, hence it becomes taxable.
I'm not sure why the packaging is taxable, unless you are packaging bulk ingredients, where you are again performing a service.

So me taking Green Beans in a and Turning them Brown isn't a service  The GST on the packaging (all packaging has GST on it) I do claim back btw as the end product of Brown ones in a bag has no GST. The point was that the list of so called staples and exclusions provide an inconsistency. In the case of the coffee example you the customer pay GST on raw materials that don't have GST as well as the service bit of combining them that do.