Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tggzzz]

That’s why I have the FritzBox my ISP gave me. Life’s too short to spend it configuring routers.

Just so.

But when in a belt-and-braces mood, I'll put another router between the modem and my machines.

[AVGresponding]

Using the brillo-type stuff as a pre-filter in the Duratool desolderer is working very well. It's not so much about filtering, but preventing molten solder from impacting the filter; solid solder doesn't stick to it at all.



Here's what the handpiece looks like in thermal imaging, just because:

[mnementh]

To be fair the early “light weight” digital units (TDS200) were fairly groundbreaking when they came out. They had no fan, decent display, weighed bugger all, we’re pretty cheap and had enough functionality to tick most basic boxes. When your other option was to drag a 546xx around it was a good proposition.

The key take home though is it ain’t a megazoom.

Anyway I’ve got this TBS1000 turning up this week sometime. Should be interesting to play with. We have another thread going reverse engineering the firmware at the moment. It runs Linux on ARM  . Wait for the cease and desist from Fortive 

Edit: also for those who never experienced this hell, the first 546xx’s were somewhat unreliable and fragile bits of kit. It took HP a good year to get on top of that and they never solved the fragility issues.

And then all the surface mount tants let loose and turned them into trash. 

Naaahhh... by then, the lessons learnt from Tek running tants too close to limits were common knowledge and for the most part they designed with more than enough headroom.

As for fragile... take bd's words with a huge grain of salt; my late-production 54645A survived a dragon-butt assault. 

Yes it suffered some cosmetic damage to the plastic; but think what any hollow-state Tek would look like after getting tipped upside-down onto its face from bench height. 

Also... I take exception to the "decent LCD" comment re: the TDS2x0... they were only "decent" compared to a ScopeMeter and its Gameboy-reject creamed-spinach LCD.

By any objective standards they were horrible, both resolution and contrast-wise, and most of the time I would rather carry my 54645A rather than put up with that shit LCD on almost any day. Those TDS2x0s are a heavy little bitch for their size, and the 54645A is a very light CRO, as the tube is really just a 1000-line mono monitor.

Honestly, I'd bet the difference in weight is a pound or so... just the 54645A comes in a bigger box, which is fine by me given the much better screen.

mnem
 

[med6753]

Scope cart progress.


Basic interior framework is done. Casters are installed. Electrical installed. Next on the immediate agenda is trim work and plywood. Then sanding. The door is currently in joinery with the glue drying. It will be a full size door rather than the shelves and half door as the other scope cart.

Once sanding is complete and door test fitted then will be stain and poly.

[AVGresponding]

The 54645 looks about the same size as my 54621, which I can assure you, is much bigger and heavier than my TDS210.

[AVGresponding]

Once sanding is complete and door test fitted then will be stain and poly.

No need for us to ask what colour wood-stain you'll be using...   

[bd139]

To be fair the early “light weight” digital units (TDS200) were fairly groundbreaking when they came out. They had no fan, decent display, weighed bugger all, we’re pretty cheap and had enough functionality to tick most basic boxes. When your other option was to drag a 546xx around it was a good proposition.

The key take home though is it ain’t a megazoom.

Anyway I’ve got this TBS1000 turning up this week sometime. Should be interesting to play with. We have another thread going reverse engineering the firmware at the moment. It runs Linux on ARM  . Wait for the cease and desist from Fortive 

Edit: also for those who never experienced this hell, the first 546xx’s were somewhat unreliable and fragile bits of kit. It took HP a good year to get on top of that and they never solved the fragility issues.

And then all the surface mount tants let loose and turned them into trash. 

Naaahhh... by then, the lessons learnt from Tek running tants too close to limits were common knowledge and for the most part they designed with more than enough headroom.

As for fragile... take bd's words with a huge grain of salt; my late-production 54645A survived a dragon-butt assault. 

Yes it suffered some cosmetic damage to the plastic; but think what any hollow-state Tek would look like after getting tipped upside-down onto its face from bench height. 

Also... I take exception to the "decent LCD" comment re: the TDS2x0... they were only "decent" compared to a ScopeMeter and its Gameboy-reject creamed-spinach LCD.

By any objective standards they were horrible, both resolution and contrast-wise, and most of the time I would rather carry my 54645A rather than put up with that shit LCD on almost any day. Those TDS2x0s are a heavy little bitch for their size, and the 54645A is a very light CRO, as the tube is really just a 1000-line mono monitor.

Honestly, I'd bet the difference in weight is a pound or so... just the 54645A comes in a bigger box, which is fine by me given the much better screen.

mnem
 

Killer for the 546xx is the board mounted BNCs. Instant multilayer board fatality if knocked on the front. I’ve seen this multiple times. Also seriously FR2 for the front panel board. What the heck were they thinking  . And the plastics. Ugh. Never seen one that doesn’t have some plastic missing off it.

Anyway you forgot the most important feature of the TDS LCD modules: free intensity grading 

[bd139]

Using the brillo-type stuff as a pre-filter in the Duratool desolderer is working very well. It's not so much about filtering, but preventing molten solder from impacting the filter; solid solder doesn't stick to it at all.



Here's what the handpiece looks like in thermal imaging, just because:

Oh now that’s a neat idea. Will definitely do that 

[med6753]

Once sanding is complete and door test fitted then will be stain and poly.

No need for us to ask what colour wood-stain you'll be using...   

But I'll show you anyway. 

[AVGresponding]

Once sanding is complete and door test fitted then will be stain and poly.

No need for us to ask what colour wood-stain you'll be using...   

But I'll show you anyway. 

But, but, but, but... it's not blue!   

[Martin.M]

... and the question goes to my friend Cubdriver:  The fan is more loud then the final of the super boal,
repair or swap to another one ? 

[mansaxel]

That’s why I have the FritzBox my ISP gave me. Life’s too short to spend it configuring routers.

...unless your job is to configure routers.

[mnementh]

As for fragile... take bd's words with a huge grain of salt; my late-production 54645A survived a dragon-butt assault. 

Yes it suffered some cosmetic damage to the plastic; but think what any hollow-state Tek would look like after getting tipped upside-down onto its face from bench height. 

Also... I take exception to the "decent LCD" comment re: the TDS2x0... they were only "decent" compared to a ScopeMeter and its Gameboy-reject creamed-spinach LCD.

By any objective standards they were horrible, both resolution and contrast-wise, and most of the time I would rather carry my 54645A rather than put up with that shit LCD on almost any day. Those TDS2x0s are a heavy little bitch for their size, and the 54645A is a very light CRO, as the tube is really just a 1000-line mono monitor.

Honestly, I'd bet the difference in weight is a pound or so... just the 54645A comes in a bigger box, which is fine by me given the much better screen.

Killer for the 546xx is the board mounted BNCs. Instant multilayer board fatality if knocked on the front. I’ve seen this multiple times. Also seriously FR2 for the front panel board. What the heck were they thinking  .  And the plastics. Ugh. Never seen one that doesn’t have some plastic missing off it.

Anyway you forgot the most important feature of the TDS LCD modules: free intensity grading 

Yeah, they DO have one tube that wears out in them; a CCFL... and when it dies, it does effectively kill the scope so...

   
Umm, no... that is exactly how Uncle BumbleButt killed his 54645A... faceplant from bench height.   

Discrete BNCs on my 54645A mounted on steel chassis. Well, the EXT Trigger is PCB-mount, but even if that corner of the PCB got broken off, still very fixable. Agree on the FR2 front panel tho... but hey, it DID respond well to traditional repair methods, so  .

If you drop the TDS on its face, it can break the integrated encoders apart from the PCB, and there is no proper fix for that... or worse, they get broken apart during daily use in some cases. Is that any less a scope-killer than the FR2 front panel?

And then of course there's the big deal-breaker on the TDS2x0 family... pitiful memory depth. Truly a "fitness for purpose" issue there.

mnem
 

[bd139]

You can swap the CCFL out or replace with LEDs.

But yeah encoders and it’s end game hence why skank TDS210 is a no go that was posted the other day 

Let’s see how the TBS looks. As for memory depth not a massive issue for 90% or use cases but I guarantee that no one is going to agree with me there 

[med6753]

... and the question goes to my friend Cubdriver:  The fan is more loud then the final of the super boal,
repair or swap to another one ? 

Martin, I also have a 5248L and the fan is LOUD. It's normal and there really isn't anything that can be done about it. 

[Cubdriver]

... and the question goes to my friend Cubdriver:  The fan is more loud then the final of the super boal,
repair or swap to another one ? 

Does it sound like the one in my 5248M?


LOL - my first inclination with everything is to try to fix it, but I've had less than stellar success doing so with muffin fans in the past as they're not always disassembly-friendly.

Nice looking counter, Martin!

-Pat

[Specmaster]

Using the brillo-type stuff as a pre-filter in the Duratool desolderer is working very well. It's not so much about filtering, but preventing molten solder from impacting the filter; solid solder doesn't stick to it at all.



Here's what the handpiece looks like in thermal imaging, just because:

Your filter is to big, it is supposed to be inside the see through tube and then the tube will rest correctly on the rubber seal, which like the front one has a step  so the smaller part sits inside the tube to hold the tube in place.

[mnementh]

The 54645 looks about the same size as my 54621, which I can assure you, is much bigger and heavier than my TDS210.

Yeah, you're right; I just weighed mine: 6.1 Kg.

I had a TDS210 (at my local hackspace) before I got my 1054Zed. Almost identical weight, and the 1054Zed specs out at 3.2 Kg. Heavy bitches (for something with a little LCD screen), both of 'em. But def more than a pound less.    I guess the 54645A just feels crazy light compared to my vintage Tek iron. And my gaming PCs.

mnem

[Khaveer]

I just picked up a Keithley 236 on ebay for 200$. What I did not notice when making an offer was that shipping it to Poland will cost another 220$... I really hope I can get it working...

The seller still has a few of them left and seems to accept low offers, so if anyone wants to make the same mistake I did here's the link:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/154403517485

Yeah that kind of thing bites, but I doubt you will repeat the mistake!

You might consider contacting the vendor and asking them to cancel the order or find a cheaper way of shipping it.

There's no chance of getting another SMU at this price point in Poland, so I'll just have to live with it. I guess I won't be buying more equipment this month 

Edit: Well, maybe except for some triax cables/adapters

[mnementh]

You can swap the CCFL out or replace with LEDs.

But yeah encoders and it’s end game hence why skank TDS210 is a no go that was posted the other day 

Let’s see how the TBS looks. As for memory depth not a massive issue for 90% or use cases but I guarantee that no one is going to agree with me there 

Yeah, I generally tend to avoid that particular service task; I replaced so many CCFLs in monitors, portable gaming and early LCD TVs  back in the day, thinking aboot it gives me PTSD. It is SO hard to get the fecking screen apart and back together without some speck of crap coming loose from the device and winding up between the layers; no matter how careful you are. And then it's right there, mocking you for all eternity.

mnem
 

[Martin.M]

thank you,

yes that sounds very compatible to the 5245L 

[AVGresponding]

The 54645 looks about the same size as my 54621, which I can assure you, is much bigger and heavier than my TDS210.

Yeah, you're right; I just weighed mine: 6.1 Kg.

I had a TDS210 (at my local hackspace) before I got my 1054Zed. Almost identical weight, and the 1054Zed specs out at 3.2 Kg. Heavy bitches (for something with a little LCD screen), both of 'em. But def more than a pound less.    I guess the 54645A just feels crazy light compared to my vintage Tek iron. And my gaming PCs.

mnem

It's for damn sure lighter than my TDS420. That thing is 11 or 12 kg iirc. I still like it though.

[Martin.M]

Pat you can connect the cat by a EPA/ESD cable to ground, it`s better.

[mansaxel]

Reading/learning about the 2960 Cisco:

- the console management is scary for a newbie like me (here is were the pros are swimming I believe, no 192.168 ip to configure stuff)

Code: [Select]

conf t
service password-encryption
hostname ingranaggio
ip domain-name zucca.net
crypto key generate general-keys rsa mod 2048
no ip http server
no ip http secure-server

int vl 100
 no shut
 ip add 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0
 exit

ip access-list  10 allow 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0
ip access-list  10 deny any

inte range gi 0/1 - 24
switchport
switchport mode access
switchport noneg
switchport access vlan 100
exit

user zucca secret very45geheim
enable secret ausausserbeigegenueber

line vt 0 5
 login
 tran inp ssh
 access-class 10 in
exit
That's about what you need. It's from memory, so caveat emptor.

- DHCP stuff in a layer 2 switch? uh? I thought DHCP is Layer 3

It looks scary complicated.
The more I read the more I tend to bend my knees to Unify....

You don't have to bother with DHCP in the switch, but DHCP snooping might be interesting if you have problems.  The config is L2-only, and disregards VLANs (it's one flat VLAN on all ports with the switch having a management interface on that VLAN, so is reachable from the local LAN, but not beyond, since it's got no routing.

I've also disabled all web configuration interfaces. It is useless. The command line is king.

[Cubdriver]

Pat you can connect the cat by a EPA/ESD cable to ground, it`s better.

I could perhaps try to get her to wear a wrist strap as a collar.  But she's a cat who's never worn a collar and is seven years old, so we can all probably guess how well that will go...   

-Pat