Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

Sinophobic dumbasses are buying them for £250. Only want it for arbitrage.

[Specmaster]

Sinophobic dumbasses are buying them for £250. Only want it for arbitrage.

Oh, I see, well these have just appeared on FaceBook marketplace within the last hour from the same seller.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/169459618579840
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/237326218213745

[Specmaster]

More finds on FaceBook marketplace in Watford, plenty of items that may be useful to someone, I think the large Tek scope has been taken though.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/832315367660507

[McBryce]

Want to be part of the "Boat Anchor Club", but you're a Keithley fan? No problem....

https://www.ebay.de/itm/144113280365

McBryce.

[DH7DN]

Let's hope the chain or the brake doesn't fail 


https://youtu.be/lLLBhIJbVFs?t=52

[GreyWoolfe]

see  https://www.ebay.de/itm/150757096224

I ned that 

Not the cheapest set:
https://www.distrelec.de/de/bristol-multiple-spline-schraubendrehersatz-ratschengriff-11stueck-weller-xcelite-99ps60n/p/30164386

Regardless of what anyone thinks about them, Xcelite is one of my favorites.  I have 3 regular handles, 1 stubby, 1 T handle and 2 old style ratcheting handles.  Plus several dozen drivers including a couple of bristol spline which I have never had a need for.  I use the hell out of the ratcheting handles and an assortment of drivers for work and they never let me down.  Only wore out 1 .050" hex driver and lost 1 slotted tip in 20 years of using them on the job.  I still have some custom extended length drivers that Xcelite made for the company that made some equipment that we sold and supported that I use occasionally.  Some of what I own is my own investment and some I inherited from the passing of a co-worker and dear friend.  They may not be the top of the line but I certainly sing their praises.

[bd139]

They're ok until they start stinking 

[Robert763]

Here is something I haven't seen in a long long time.   My first real job was working for a company that made a competing product.   We had one of the Racal ones too. I think it was there just so the Engineers could say theirs was better.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274854825212?hash=item3ffe9fccfc:g:xSUAAOSwGOpg4Egp

That Racal has a Efratom FRK-L (or optonal H) Rb in it. Very similar to what I am building. The problem with the ex MOD ones is they are likely to have sat switched on 24/7 for years. The lamps are near EOL in most of them.
The FRK's I have came out of aircraft equipment so the running hours are much lower.

Edit, just saw I missed a post. Yes lamps are an issue. The other unobtainium is the step recovery diode.
The FRK also uses an odd mixed gas cell rather than seperate filter and resonance cells.

[Brumby]

.... and we get caught up in the last minute rush to secure the item, often bidding more than we wanted to just to be the winner

That's not how I roll.  I take my time and pick a number that is my limit - a number I would be happy to not win with - because other bidders went higher.  I then wait until the last seconds to place this bid in the hope that I win and at a much lower figure.  I deliberately wait until I DO NOT HAVE TIME to rethink and submit another bid ... to avoid that very temptation.

An old eBay saying: "Bid for a win and hope for a bargain.  Don't bid for a bargain and hope for a win".  It's those who follow the latter philosophy that often become unhappy.

Ummm... aren't fleaBay's OZzie auctions still hosted on US servers where Gixen.com can take the misery out of it for ya...?

Placing the bid is the most exciting part of the deal (until you actually win something for a bargain price).
 Why give that up to a bot?

It's also a test of how much I really want an item.  If I can't be arsed being there at the end, then I don't want it bad enough.

[mnementh]

..... it will not go for that low figure because it already has 19 people watching it who I suspect are a bit more savvy than most buyers and are awaiting the closing stages of the auction before bidding in the hope of getting a real steal.

That is the exact scenario that played out in my last 4 attempts on eBay.  Looking like a bargain until the last 10 minutes, then less than a bargain until the last 10 seconds when the snipers (yes, including me) chime in.  In two cases I wasn't able to put in my bid as the price had jumped past that.  In one I was outstripped by a fair margin and the last one I bid higher than I could really justify only to become the second highest bidder.

Last week I sniped something for £100 - or rather I didn't because it went for £300

To many people these days are snipping, that is where the problem is I think. You get the newbies and uneducated bidding from an early stage on the items that appear to be good, then you get people such as us, looking for a bargain with something where we can add value by using our skill set to either repair and / or clean up the cosmetically challenged pieces, and we get caught up in the last minute rush to secure the item, often bidding more than we wanted to just to be the winner

Aaaaaaand this is another misery that Gixen will save you from... if you're strong enuf to put in your maximum amount and wait for it to do it's bid-ness widdout choo watching over its shoulder.

Gixen is a tool, just like any other. It helps you level the playing field, nothing more. Save your sanity, use it. 

mnem
12. To get the best deals, you have to be prepared to walk away.

[Andrew_Debbie]

Edit, just saw I missed a post. Yes lamps are an issue. The other unobtainium is the step recovery diode.
The FRK also uses an odd mixed gas cell rather than seperate filter and resonance cells.

If it was £25 instead of £250, I'd bid for the nostalgia value.     A working frequency standard is of little use to me.   Better to let it go to someone who needs the parts.


Somewhat off topic, Efratom were working on a more compact FRK when I was there.  -- The design size was the same as a pack of cigarettes. Says something about the engineers upstairs.      I think they had a working prototype on test.  I dont' remember details, it was a long time ago.   No idea if it became a product.   There was also an M-100, which was a Milspec FRK. 

[mnementh]

Sinophobic dumbasses are buying them for £250. Only want it for arbitrage.

Oh, I see, well these have just appeared on FaceBook marketplace within the last hour from the same seller.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/169459618579840
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/237326218213745

Now those are sanely priced. I'd totes have bought them before I got my UTG962E. Actually, I'd still go for that pulse-gen. The rabbit-warren dude was trying to get $100+ for similar WaveTek in untested condition with the infamous "5 on 5 Warranty" (5 minutes or 5 feet; if you get it to the parking lot and it breaks in half, you own 2 pieces  ); I already have better under the bench waiting for me to get off my arse and take another shot at fixing it.

mnem
 

[Cerebus]

The step drills are typical China-direct quality; much better than some of the case-hardened cheese drills I've bought at Horror Fraught for sure.

A tip for everybody with regards to buying tooling from our friends in the Middle Kingdom: Buy carbide tooling.

I've never had a single piece of tungsten carbide tooling from China that hasn't been of proper quality, most have been first rate. The reasons are probably obvious. You can make something out of case hardened cheese with pretty much any other tooling but if you're working carbide you have no option but to have proper tooling to do the work with. Carbide is so very hard that you're pretty much obligated to use diamond tooling to cut it, and while quite tough, isn't so tough that you can just "have at it" with the first machine that comes to hand, it requires a certain degree of finesse to work and not have it shatter into tiny pieces.

The recommendation to buy carbide comes however with a caveat. You have to understand how to use carbide tooling. Cutting speeds are generally higher and it is less tolerant of poor technique than HSS tooling. When drilling a soft, seemly harmless bit of aluminium with a carbide bit it's quite easy to snap the bit off if you go in with too few RPMs, too slow a feed rate, and skip the cutting fluid.

[Cerebus]

They're ok until they start stinking 

Yeah, they make their handles out of Cellulose Acetate Butyrate. Horrible stuff. As you say, not the world's most long-term stable plastic. Also very easily attacked by oils and solvents, and, for people like me who have the habit of holding tools in their teeth when they don't have enough hands free, tastes horrible. If you even momentarily let it touch your tongue or the inside of your lips it leaves a persistent bitter taste and an odd tingling sensation.

I shall now prepare myself for the mocking on my simian "holding tools in my mouth behaviour", I would be very surprised if I'm disappointed.

[mnementh]

see  https://www.ebay.de/itm/150757096224

I ned that 

Not the cheapest set:
https://www.distrelec.de/de/bristol-multiple-spline-schraubendrehersatz-ratschengriff-11stueck-weller-xcelite-99ps60n/p/30164386

Regardless of what anyone thinks about them, Xcelite is one of my favorites.  I have 3 regular handles, 1 stubby, 1 T handle and 2 old style ratcheting handles.  Plus several dozen drivers including a couple of bristol spline which I have never had a need for.  I use the hell out of the ratcheting handles and an assortment of drivers for work and they never let me down.  Only wore out 1 .050" hex driver and lost 1 slotted tip in 20 years of using them on the job.  I still have some custom extended length drivers that Xcelite made for the company that made some equipment that we sold and supported that I use occasionally.  Some of what I own is my own investment and some I inherited from the passing of a co-worker and dear friend.  They may not be the top of the line but I certainly sing their praises.

Xcelite stinks. Literally. The only tools I've ever owned that stink as bad as cheap Chinese rubber and synthetic rubber products. Also, they worry me a bit as far as my personal safety from chemical exposure... anything that smells that bad and makes your lip/tongue numb if you absentmindedly gnaw on it while ruminating over a problem... 

Aside from that, great quality steel and very well machined; I've owned dozens of sets over the last 40 years, and every one has provided yeoman service.

It's the plastic bits that creep me out.

EDIT:

Hehhhh... looks like I'm preaching to the choir. And it also appears that I share another of C's bad habits...

mnem
 

[khs]

I am an idiot. The 9M 1% resistor found to be out of spec is actually a 9.9M 1%. I ordered and got a 9.09M 1%.  But regardless it's out of spec at 10.36M. What to do?



Parts stash to the rescue. 9.09M 1% plus 330K 0.1% plus 442K 0.1% equals 9.84M. Perfect. 



I also replaced those dodgy DC and AC cal pots.

Hmmm...

Maybe I'm wrong but:

 9.9M   / 9.0M   = 1.10 -> 10%
10.36M  / 9,09M  = 1.14 -> 14%

1,14 / 1,10 = 1.04 -> 4%

So the difference between the resistors is about 4%.
The difference to the Fluke is 10%.

So I would verify the Fluke 87 10 Mohm range with the HP3456.

Maybe there is some contamination in the Fluke..

[mnementh]

They're ok until they start stinking 

Yeah, they make their handles out of Cellulose Acetate Butyrate. Horrible stuff. As you say, not the world's most long-term stable plastic. Also very easily attacked by oils and solvents, and, for people like me who have the habit of holding tools in their teeth when they don't have enough hands free, tastes horrible. If you even momentarily let it touch your tongue or the inside of your lips it leaves a persistent bitter taste and an odd tingling sensation.

I shall now prepare myself for the mocking on my simian "holding tools in my mouth behaviour", I would be very surprised if I'm disappointed.

ook...oook... oook-oook... simian behavior isn't all bad. Louie's still a hoot; and can carry a tune a lot better'n me.

mnem
Fortunately, even tho I'm free of the pipeweed's grip, I still haven't given up my command of fire.

[Robert763]

The post today bought a small package from the GWN across the pond.
A gift from a TEA addict  .

Edit:: Thanks Kosmic 

The content is a spare binding post to fix my SR1010 resistance trnsfer standard 
Needs some careful work with a 3/8" spanner and deep socket. There is not much space between resistors. Fortunatly as I work on aircraft I have imperial deep sockets etc. Interestingly the nuts have one conical face. These go against the equipotential plate so there is a high pressure line contactrather than a flat surface the may only have a point contact if it is not flat.
I'm happy.

[GreyWoolfe]

see  https://www.ebay.de/itm/150757096224

I ned that 

Not the cheapest set:
https://www.distrelec.de/de/bristol-multiple-spline-schraubendrehersatz-ratschengriff-11stueck-weller-xcelite-99ps60n/p/30164386

Regardless of what anyone thinks about them, Xcelite is one of my favorites.  I have 3 regular handles, 1 stubby, 1 T handle and 2 old style ratcheting handles.  Plus several dozen drivers including a couple of bristol spline which I have never had a need for.  I use the hell out of the ratcheting handles and an assortment of drivers for work and they never let me down.  Only wore out 1 .050" hex driver and lost 1 slotted tip in 20 years of using them on the job.  I still have some custom extended length drivers that Xcelite made for the company that made some equipment that we sold and supported that I use occasionally.  Some of what I own is my own investment and some I inherited from the passing of a co-worker and dear friend.  They may not be the top of the line but I certainly sing their praises.

Xcelite stinks. Literally. The only tools I've ever owned that stink as bad as cheap Chinese rubber and synthetic rubber products. Also, they worry me a bit as far as my personal safety from chemical exposure... anything that smells that bad and makes your lip/tongue numb if you absentmindedly gnaw on it while ruminating over a problem... 

Aside from that, great quality steel and very well machined; I've owned dozens of sets over the last 40 years, and every one has provided yeoman service.

It's the plastic bits that creep me out.

EDIT:

Hehhhh... looks like I'm preaching to the choir. And it also appears that I share another of C's bad habits...

mnem
 

Interestingly, the 2 regular handles and the 2 ratcheting handles that I acquired myself don't smell.  What I inherited do, so not all handles stink.  Don't know why some will and some won't.  C, I too, seem to have certain simian traits but I do keep tools out of my mouth as I once cut my tongue which, by the way, bleeds like a ba***rd.  I still do a lot of other stoopit crap like soldering in shorts but no chewing on my tools.

[med6753]

I am an idiot. The 9M 1% resistor found to be out of spec is actually a 9.9M 1%. I ordered and got a 9.09M 1%.  But regardless it's out of spec at 10.36M. What to do?



Parts stash to the rescue. 9.09M 1% plus 330K 0.1% plus 442K 0.1% equals 9.84M. Perfect. 



I also replaced those dodgy DC and AC cal pots.

Hmmm...

Maybe I'm wrong but:

 9.9M   / 9.0M   = 1.10 -> 10%
10.36M  / 9,09M  = 1.14 -> 14%

1,14 / 1,10 = 1.04 -> 4%

So the difference between the resistors is about 4%.
The difference to the Fluke is 10%.

So I would verify the Fluke 87 10 Mohm range with the HP3456.

Maybe there is some contamination in the Fluke..

OK, here's the cobbled together resistor measured on the 3456A.



9.8484M vs the 87 9.84M. I have never doubted the accuracy of the 87 and this proves it.

[Specmaster]

Sinophobic dumbasses are buying them for £250. Only want it for arbitrage.

Oh, I see, well these have just appeared on FaceBook marketplace within the last hour from the same seller.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/169459618579840
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/237326218213745

Now those are sanely priced. I'd totes have bought them before I got my UTG962E. Actually, I'd still go for that pulse-gen. The rabbit-warren dude was trying to get $100+ for similar WaveTek in untested condition with the infamous "5 on 5 Warranty" (5 minutes or 5 feet; if you get it to the parking lot and it breaks in half, you own 2 pieces  ); I already have better under the bench waiting for me to get off my arse and take another shot at fixing it.

mnem
 

I would have done as well apart from I already them in my collection, I did think about buying to flip them, but I'd be the bigger man and let someone else have them.

[mnementh]

Boring Mundane Everyday Print #199: Bicycle Wheel Spoke Protector Disc   

   https://a360.co/3ejgIr8      

This is for my spare bike; an older 700C-sized "unisex step-through frame" Road/MTB made by CCM. The cheap freewheel on it crunched up the ratchet, so I'm swapping over a Shimano freewheel from the parts mule bike.
(SNIP)

   

3DP Fail...?

So... Rev2 was an abject fail; decreasing the chamfer of the dish made things worse, not better... Frustionated, and feeling that 14 hours of print time was enough to spend on the project, I took advantage of the fact I was working with a thermoplastic and worked on Rev1 with my cheap hot air gun, then reformed it around the hub/spoke area with my hands while spinning it on the hub; job done.

As usual, for those who care full details are here on the 3DP thread.

mnem
 

[factory]

Currently eyeing this up. Currently placed well above the value as a BIN and the seller isn't fond of low offers but I'm hoping it goes down significantly when relisted...



Appears to be a duff 7474 display driver looking at the schematics, a common problem on devices of that era. However contains unobtanium ADC and  the front end is a hybrid  . But the bandwidth on it is pretty amazingly high. Possibly an opportunity to get creative.

That's been on my watch list for a while too, and my BIN price is probably lower than yours, for once!   

Now, if it came with the test lead...   

How many of the seven watchers are on here I wonder? it's been on my watch list for a while too, not interested myself unless the price goes down a lot.

David

Not me, got one already. That seller seems to b clearing his junk store.

It isn't all junk: there's a DekaStat and an HP10020A - for much more than I paid for mine

Yes the 10020A they have listed still has a stupid asking price (£300)  , I guess they are not worth $150 either as this one has been on ePay US for about six months; https://www.ebay.com/itm/284161769298

David

[AVGresponding]

Hmmm...

Maybe I'm wrong but:

 9.9M   / 9.0M   = 1.10 -> 10%
10.36M  / 9,09M  = 1.14 -> 14%

1,14 / 1,10 = 1.04 -> 4%

So the difference between the resistors is about 4%.
The difference to the Fluke is 10%.

So I would verify the Fluke 87 10 Mohm range with the HP3456.

Maybe there is some contamination in the Fluke..

The one that was measuring as 10.36MΩ was the old 9.9MΩ. The 9.09MΩ was ordered in error and should have been a 9.9MΩ...


EDIT: It's a shame you didn't have an 820kΩ in your parts bin Med    

[tggzzz]

Currently eyeing this up. Currently placed well above the value as a BIN and the seller isn't fond of low offers but I'm hoping it goes down significantly when relisted...



Appears to be a duff 7474 display driver looking at the schematics, a common problem on devices of that era. However contains unobtanium ADC and  the front end is a hybrid  . But the bandwidth on it is pretty amazingly high. Possibly an opportunity to get creative.

That's been on my watch list for a while too, and my BIN price is probably lower than yours, for once!   

Now, if it came with the test lead...   

How many of the seven watchers are on here I wonder? it's been on my watch list for a while too, not interested myself unless the price goes down a lot.

David

Not me, got one already. That seller seems to b clearing his junk store.

It isn't all junk: there's a DekaStat and an HP10020A - for much more than I paid for mine

Yes the 10020A they have listed still has a stupid asking price (£300)  , I guess they are not worth $150 either as this one has been on ePay US for about six months; https://www.ebay.com/itm/284161769298

David

They are very nice probes: 1.5GHz, light, easy to use. I have three; if I didn't have one then $150 would be worth considering.