Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Wolfgang]

I disassembled one, and the crystal is a nonstandard copper-cased part fixed by a screw (see my thesis). If you have a Bliley BGSCH-61 or other replacement it would fit into the cavern (with some heat compound paste).

The crystal must be an SC-cut on 3rd OT in series mode, and the HP10811A has a b-mode suppression network that wont work with normal crystals.

I wonder what cut this one is?
Very old 1MHz crystal from 522x series counter OCXO

No SC, definitively. op temperature is way too low. Could be AT ? Or an even older cut, then hard o tell.

[BU508A]

You're pulling my leg, aren't you?

This time? Not intentionally. 
Sorry, my bad, I was distracted and trying to be helpful and was just looking at this picture with those nice Phoenix terminals.
I should have checked more closely.

I want something that is reasonably compact that doesn't take up too much board area, is good for roughly an amp of power @ 6-12V or LVCMOS digital signals.

Okay, let's see, if I got it this time right:
- compact
- interlock
- 12V / 1A
- plugable
- around 6 poles

How about those JST connectors?
https://www.mouser.de/ProductDetail/JST-Automotive/HCMPB-C06A-S?qs=sGAEpiMZZMvlX3nhDDO4ABpws6ftQn%252B4u7iyjc3GOQE%3D

Datasheet:
https://www.mouser.de/datasheet/2/564/eHCM-334558.pdf

There is another series from JST, the PH series which should also fit your bill.
But it seems, they are hard to get. Reichelt in Germany states June 2022.

https://www.jst-mfg.com/product/detail_e.php?series=199

Reichelt, select for JST and PH

The ten way version of the PC5 is almost half as big as my entire board. That is a compact connector, if you're doing railway engineering! 

Yes, I have a slight tendency to overengineer things ...   

 

[Cerebus]

      https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07GTD2JXP/

I'm likely to use either depending on what I have; tho I try to keep a sheet or two of these on hand at all times.

The emphasis on "try" there being because sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night, mistakes it for chocolate and then all bets are off.

[capt bullshot]

Here is the matching ebay offer:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/363334238576?_trkparms=aid%3D1110002%26algo%3DSPLICE.SOI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D233198%26meid%3D3e57d79c0e804180a69b3371e0149838%26pid%3D101196%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D2%26sd%3D363334121714%26itm%3D363334238576%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DPromotedSellersOtherItemsV2WithMLRv3&_trksid=p2047675.c101196.m2219&amdata=cksum%3A3633342385763e57d79c0e804180a69b3371e0149838%7Cenc%3AAQAGAAABACtrZQ7uyU6NyRWMuc0OogoSa%252FUIDys%252F02w7jR10vOAtl7xEBAvYL521UWqVn0%252FUgbgthT4%252BUmn52otoF%252FDXX3o9lXHlgoytPkYYo958OLgHMeo5eQINz%252F4pREEW1G1ItMkTmbo8ewqr31boNjhU0HERRgZoEXzfKNTZ3i45vWWAXGX94JD5V2QhZLTUvk3iYiM1tGSgR3SzEwnb6UWkv8F%252FBuSZcfOMch9H%252FkueRLcd0aa0o%252FVyv4lasZv0vRJboZT%252FShTO%252FgjzJ3ucNac1vSKJY9YB9OJYbJlKX1E7BO9G2O%252FIB88VMZkGgca7bBA9JAPyT01FM149SeOKS1pEVXk%253D%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2047675

They will ship it to Germany for €53,08. I wonder how they will manage that.

And they don't add a power cord

[McBryce]

Here is the matching ebay offer:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/363334238576?_trkparms=aid%3D1110002%26algo%3DSPLICE.SOI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D233198%26meid%3D3e57d79c0e804180a69b3371e0149838%26pid%3D101196%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D2%26sd%3D363334121714%26itm%3D363334238576%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DPromotedSellersOtherItemsV2WithMLRv3&_trksid=p2047675.c101196.m2219&amdata=cksum%3A3633342385763e57d79c0e804180a69b3371e0149838%7Cenc%3AAQAGAAABACtrZQ7uyU6NyRWMuc0OogoSa%252FUIDys%252F02w7jR10vOAtl7xEBAvYL521UWqVn0%252FUgbgthT4%252BUmn52otoF%252FDXX3o9lXHlgoytPkYYo958OLgHMeo5eQINz%252F4pREEW1G1ItMkTmbo8ewqr31boNjhU0HERRgZoEXzfKNTZ3i45vWWAXGX94JD5V2QhZLTUvk3iYiM1tGSgR3SzEwnb6UWkv8F%252FBuSZcfOMch9H%252FkueRLcd0aa0o%252FVyv4lasZv0vRJboZT%252FShTO%252FgjzJ3ucNac1vSKJY9YB9OJYbJlKX1E7BO9G2O%252FIB88VMZkGgca7bBA9JAPyT01FM149SeOKS1pEVXk%253D%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2047675

They will ship it to Germany for €53,08. I wonder how they will manage that.

Buy it and find out. You can easily flip that for a lot more when it arrives.

McBryce.

[DC1MC]

What is the general consensus about this boot anchor, how low should I go  ?

https://www.ebay.de/itm/124844098849

[factory]

https://www.radioshackcatalogs.com

Huh... just stumbled across this during a random trawl. I wonder if anyone has done the same with Maplin and/or Dick Smith...?

mnem
*nibbling on a celery*

Don't know if anyone has mentioned it already, but the "worldradiohistory" archive has some Maplin stuff, but I can't see any catalogues.
https://worldradiohistory.com/Maplin-Electronics.htm

David

[bd139]

What is the general consensus about this boot anchor, how low should I go  ?

https://www.ebay.de/itm/124844098849

Offset your medical bill when your back goes and work back 

[Cubdriver]

What is the general consensus about this boot anchor, how low should I go  ?

https://www.ebay.de/itm/124844098849

It's definitely a boat anchor - bloody thing weighs about 76 lbs (~34 kg).  IIRC I paid about $400 US (+ shipping) for mine a few years back.  It's not super intuitive to use (and it's been a few years, so my memory is a bit fuzzy), but IIRC you set the voltage then through twiddling with the output adjust controls to get the DUT to read correctly it will then show you the error on the calibrator's meter.  It's nice because it can do AC, DC, voltage, current and resistance all on one (heavy) box, but the accuracy is not as tight as the fancier, more single purpose units.  TANSTAAFL.

-Pat

[AVGresponding]

All these people being really anal about tidy wiring...

I've seen some truly messy wiring in my time, and these buildings hardly ever burn down!

Here are a few pics from my Hall of Shame:

[McBryce]

What is the general consensus about this boot anchor, how low should I go  ?

https://www.ebay.de/itm/124844098849

In cases like that I usually wait until the last day, when the seller thinks it's not going to sell at all. Then put in a really low ball offer (€100 or so) and let him deal you back up. It's a risk, but it has paid off for me several times.

McBryce.

[mnementh]

Has anybody got any experience of Molex "Nano-Fit" connectors? They're the baby 2.5 mm pitch version of the classic Molex "Mini-Fit" that we all know as a PC motherboard power connector. (The ranges go: Mini, Mini Jr, Micro and Nano.)

I'm thinking of using them as the power and ancillary connectors for the GPSDO PCB - a step up from crappy 0.1" DuPont style (and more compact) and tougher than JST-whatevers.

Anybody got anything good, or bad, to say about them?   

I have. We used it on an extension board for one of our small control devices, see attachment. It's shitty. Crimp is delicate, locking mechanism weakish and unlocking the pins tends to damage the holding spring. If you have a choice, go for something else.

Well, that's depressing. Sounds like it might be back to the drawing board.

The problem with wire to board connectors is that starting from a blank page the choice is huge, and it's very difficult to judge these things from photos, drawings and datasheets. I want something that is reasonably compact that doesn't take up too much board area, is good for roughly an amp of power @ 6-12V or LVCMOS digital signals. Needs to be something that can be bought in small quantities at a reasonable price, which constrains the search space somewhat. Anyone got suggestions?

If no-one has any bright ideas I might just either chance my arm with the Nano-Fits or stick to the tried and tested but, around here anyway, unloved JST-XH.

      

Not unloved here. Been doing all my 18650-powered project battery pack balance pigtails with JST-XH and my cheap-cheap Chinese Crimper kit. These are a mission-critical connection where even 10-20mV at .5-1.5A balance current can throw a pack completely out of balance. JST-XH is the industry standard as it is robust, easy to work with using hand tools and a forgiving design, unlike many others that fuck up if you look at them crossly.

https://www.amazon.ca/22GA-Hook-Wire-Kit-Electrical/dp/B07T4SYVYG

https://www.amazon.ca/Electrical-Gauge-Silicone-Cable-Black/dp/B0746HG158

I especially love them with 22ga silly-cone wire, now readily available for cheap-cheap at Amazon. The key thing to look for is strand count; should say something to the effect of "super flexible, 60 strands of 0.08 mm Tinned copper (20ga will be 100 strands)" in the listing. If it doesn't, it's usually the coarse-stranded stuff; look for a different listing.



The fine-stranded silicone wire is a joy to work with, and you can even get 20ga in there, but it does require a bit of talent as you have to assemble the connector onto the wire first, then get it all into the crimper without it shifting out of alignment.



Here's a set of 22ga and 20ga I just did for this post. Quick, painless, good crimp, conductors and jacket intact, and this is with the cheapest possible crimps and crimpers off Amazon.

https://www.amazon.ca/Crimping-Zhushan-Ratcheting-Connectors-0-08-0-5mm²/dp/B082234HSS/

If you use decent quality crimps/crimpers (which I'm sure you do as a matter of pride) the results can only be better.

You may need to flatten the crimp around the jacket a wee bit with the 20ga to get it to slide in, but usually it does assemble without loose strands, and even if there are, the silicone wire means you can touch it up with a spot of soldering. Crimped and soldered is how I make the battery connectors for many of my Tiny-Whoops (1S-powered, 25-35 gram acrobatic quadcopters) on the little LiPo batteries they use.

Don't fear the XH, man. Embrace it.

mnem

[ch_scr]

All these people being really anal about tidy wiring...

I've seen some truly messy wiring in my time, and these buildings hardly ever burn down!

Hah that is some proper shoddy workmanship! Thanks for the smile that put on my face with memories 

[bd139]

All these people being really anal about tidy wiring...

I've seen some truly messy wiring in my time, and these buildings hardly ever burn down!

Here are a few pics from my Hall of Shame:

If you think that’s bad you want to spend ten minutes looking at some of the numb skulled criminality I see in software. The whole world is built on shit and straw lobbed unceremoniously at a problem until it crushes or stinks it away. 

[mnementh]

The Type 547 back on the external 100V supply. Just the 100V and it came up with no issues. Only drawing 184mA. PSU +100V is rated to 400mA. I have the vertical amplifier disconnected for the time being. Going to let it sit for a while. Then I will reconnect the vertical amplifier and attempt to bring up the rest of the PSU with the external 100V supply.

Whatever the issue is it is being damn elusive. 

*slaps the 547 with a fish*   

Come on damn you!!! Let out some magic smoke so med can figure out what yer major malfunction is!!!

mnem
 

[xrunner]

If you think that’s bad you want to spend ten minutes looking at some of the numb skulled criminality I see in software. The whole world is built on shit and straw lobbed unceremoniously at a problem until it crushes or stinks it away. 

LOL I was trying to fix somebody else's C code they wrote for a project in our lab when I was working. I said, well it's pretty fucked up when there aren't any comments. He said there didn't have to be. If you know C you can just read and understand what it's doing, so no comments are needed ... 

[Neomys Sapiens]

Has anybody got any experience of Molex "Nano-Fit" connectors? They're the baby 2.5 mm pitch version of the classic Molex "Mini-Fit" that we all know as a PC motherboard power connector. (The ranges go: Mini, Mini Jr, Micro and Nano.)

I'm thinking of using them as the power and ancillary connectors for the GPSDO PCB - a step up from crappy 0.1" DuPont style (and more compact) and tougher than JST-whatevers. Anybody got anything good, or bad, to say about them?

I used Molex Micro-Lock plus in 2mm pitch recently, as they were a easily available solution which is more compact than 0.1" and they can take AWG22. The lock is ok and I heard no complaints about the crimping.
I think I will stick with them for such applications. Wayyy better than the JST crap.

Personally I like to use the smaller HE801-variants for board-to-wire, but they are not more compact than DuPont or other 0.1".

[mnementh]

Yep, judging by the YT videos of house fires over there, so are their fires, by the time the fire dept arrive at the scene, the fire is already massive because most houses are timber, and then once they arrive and manage to get the water going, they fluff about so much that the house is normally a goner anyway 

but but but .... timber burns slow compared to the vinyl siding, vinyl window frames, polystyrene insulation, plastic fibre carpets and laminate flooring ....

Either way, it is burn baby burn, there is no going back....

mnem
*do-er, not a teach-er*

   Here is the matching ebay offer: https://www.ebay.de/itm/363334238576/

Awwww, damn... it looks just like E28, our brush truck when I was on the Dept.

*wistful sigh, missing the days when I was 10 feet tall and bulletproof*

mnem
nothing else in the world like the smell of turnout gear and a rack full of 2" line...

[Cerebus]

I thought the whole point, the existential reason, of the adaptable box was to allow you to hide a horrible mess and make the job look tidy (and keep it vaguely safe if you use a metal one and can be arsed to earth bond it). 

[mnementh]

Have a look at the stuff S53MV has done for tips. Dirt cheap and reliable option:

http://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/vnr/assembly.html

http://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/zifssb/lscband.html

Basically use turned pin header sockets on the board and then turned pin double ended headers as plugs. Then wire them up with ribbon cable.

This is one of my favorite techniques for any prototyping project. Makes changing between different items (like when I'm trying multiple different fans) quick & easy. Here you can see where I'm using a bit of long 0.100" DuPont breakaway header (the stuff used to plug a female Dupont connector into another one) as an adapter from the fan's 0.100" spaced locking MOLEX connector. The heater wires are soldered as a pair of 2x2 ganged connections to feed a 24V/2A load. Yeah, i like a little overkill, plus it makes sure that mission-critical plug stays in place.

mnem
 

[tonyalbus]

Posting this modern clock because it has IPS displays that can display NIXIE, HP dotted and Scope tube clock digits.. or any other you like.  (dragons, smurfs)
Fonts you create by 240x135 bitmaps
Nixie is harder and harder to get, so this could be it.
Some nice quality too

[nixiefreqq]

ok......which one of you knuckleheads bought  sniped my hp2590a for 10 bucks?


(just kiddin'......i did not bid.)

[Specmaster]

What is the general consensus about this boot anchor, how low should I go  ?

https://www.ebay.de/itm/124844098849

I really don't a clue, how badly do you want it? What I can tell you though is that it currently has 3 people watching it.

[mnementh]

These recent few additions to the marking out kit are surprisingly accurate. I ran the calipers over them and tested against some blocks  The bit where they fail slightly in in the 90 degree guide bit but check it against a known square if you need to. I am considering taking the long one off the edge guide and just using it as a ruler and using a square against it if needed.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000338734447.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.19574c4dWOUKXs

Once again, bean is a successful enabler.  Ordered....

This reminds me that I need stair gauges for my framing square, the one thing this ali store does not seem to have.  One of my house repairs is to replace the stairs for the main entry door.  It is at the point where it can no longer wait till next year ... sigh 

Sonuvacrap... didjoo see the precision corner scale...?

I'm totes putting that store in my list for once I actually have a address to ship it to...

mnem
... I expect they will likely bankrupt me.

[Cubdriver]

ok......which one of you knuckleheads bought  sniped my hp2590a for 10 bucks?


(just kiddin'......i did not bid.)

I stood back, too.

-Pat