Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Robert763]

Well, two 3478A's went for ~£120 each today, had a cheeky £45 opening bid on one of them, but it wasn't to be... never mind, I have more than enough bench DMMs anyway...
 



Been trawling ebay for some decent verniers, and my conclusions are (a) there's a lot of garbage out there, (b) there's quite a few fake Mitutoyos out there, and (c) most of the good stuff is overpriced.

I'm reduced to making speculative purchases of (probably) fake Mitutoyos and hopeful bids on quality used ones.   

Having been stung by cheap digital calipers (you don't really want vernier calipers do you ) I bough some from ARC Eurotrade
https://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Measurement
and have been very pleased with them.

[Zucca]

Sometime is funny to look up the most expensive scope on evilbay

This network analyzer is even better...

This listing is probably for the most loaded PNA-X ever in the history of eBay:

 

half of millllllllllion dolllarssss kabooom. 

[Specmaster]

Well, two 3478A's went for ~£120 each today, had a cheeky £45 opening bid on one of them, but it wasn't to be... never mind, I have more than enough bench DMMs anyway...
 



Been trawling ebay for some decent verniers, and my conclusions are (a) there's a lot of garbage out there, (b) there's quite a few fake Mitutoyos out there, and (c) most of the good stuff is overpriced.

I'm reduced to making speculative purchases of (probably) fake Mitutoyos and hopeful bids on quality used ones.   

How desperate are you? If you can wait awhile, keep an eye open either Aldi or Lidl stores to publish their weekly special buy list, a couple of times a year they both get in stock some verniers that while not top drawer ones, they are considering the price pretty dammed good. They are same units as both Med and Mnem have but with a different brand name on them, and they are certainly upto the job for the hobbiest.

[med6753]

Sanding is done. Door cut to size, test fitted, and sanded. Ready for stain. Tomorrow's activity, too freaking uncomfortable. Inside now in the A/C.

Once the stain is done the door will be mounted.

[AVGresponding]

Some more picks:



Cheap Metcal anyone?:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294342773857




This oooops is quite cheap, given the free shipping (F60 is battery overvolts, probably something simple like old knackered batteries):

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255071208525




Or this one, probably another dead battery issue:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255078340894




Price is salty af, but when was the last time you saw one of these? Never, for me...:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265247910389




Need some tzzzztt in your life? How about this LeCroy 7kV psu:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255082703182




7kV just not enough tzzzztt for you? Try this Fluke 10kV one then:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255078358781

[nixiefreqq]

YOU tektronix enablers are all evil bastards.  a pox on all of you!

my 2336 just arrived.  (fast fast fast shipping from NJ)

the only real problem is that there seems to be nothing to fix. 

all the knobs are intact.  the cover hinge is good.  even the LED display is ok.  will need to go over it in detail but it appears to work 100%.

(one of the cover latches is borked but the other will keep it in place).

it does need a wipe down. but no major issues. just a little warehouse grit.



"My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy."

some guy said that.......maybe he was a brit?

[AVGresponding]

Well, two 3478A's went for ~£120 each today, had a cheeky £45 opening bid on one of them, but it wasn't to be... never mind, I have more than enough bench DMMs anyway...
 



Been trawling ebay for some decent verniers, and my conclusions are (a) there's a lot of garbage out there, (b) there's quite a few fake Mitutoyos out there, and (c) most of the good stuff is overpriced.

I'm reduced to making speculative purchases of (probably) fake Mitutoyos and hopeful bids on quality used ones.   

Having been stung by cheap digital calipers (you don't really want vernier calipers do you ) I bough some from ARC Eurotrade
https://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Measurement
and have been very pleased with them.

Why would I not want vernier calipers? They are very useful.

I already ordered some. If the Mitutoyos are fake, I'll just demand my money back. Have some bids in on some quality used ones as well, not going to go crazy with bidding though.
My main gripe with the shitefest of listings is that it takes bloody ages to trawl through them for the gems.

[AVGresponding]

"My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy."

some guy said that.......maybe he was a brit?

Yeah, but he was a southerner, which barely counts, practically a foreigner.

[tggzzz]

While I was googling to see what "mirum uacuatur" meant...

In firefox I highlight the text, right click to get the popup, move down to "translate". Translation appears in the popup and can be copied.

[mansaxel]

I am reading about indoor air quality lately:

• Temperature comfort
• Humidity comfort
• Filtration
• Fresh air circulation

Once you have addressed those 4 points you are good to go.
I also personally think that the humidity comfort is one of the most neglected one in homes nowadays.

All the others (modulo O₂ levels...) are second to humidity. Both the house and the inhabitants (TE and humans alike) are governed by it.

Swedish military have introduced dry air as their prime protection model for long term storage in unheated facilities. It works, keeps things working, including TE.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Finally! I was able to get a device from Norma's 900 Series (last series of NORMA-branded DMMs):

NORMA NORMAMETER 940

Almost fully working, only temperature reads nonsense. Looks as if a mechanic used it to rub an exhaust pipe clean by the amount of black dirt. Voltage and resistance measurement almost completely identical to BM789, once again an old device with flawless calibration after decades.

Should I do a separate Thread for Presentation, Images and Teardown after getting all that black surface patina off?

What did you try for temperature measurement? The Pt100?

[Specmaster]

"My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy."

some guy said that.......maybe he was a brit?

Yeah, but he was a southerner, which barely counts, practically a foreigner.

Oi, I'm a southerner, you northern monkey 

[Cerebus]

Well, two 3478A's went for ~£120 each today, had a cheeky £45 opening bid on one of them, but it wasn't to be... never mind, I have more than enough bench DMMs anyway...
 



Been trawling ebay for some decent verniers, and my conclusions are (a) there's a lot of garbage out there, (b) there's quite a few fake Mitutoyos out there, and (c) most of the good stuff is overpriced.

I'm reduced to making speculative purchases of (probably) fake Mitutoyos and hopeful bids on quality used ones.   

How desperate are you? If you can wait awhile, keep an eye open either Aldi or Lidl stores to publish their weekly special buy list, a couple of times a year they both get in stock some verniers that while not top drawer ones, they are considering the price pretty dammed good. They are same units as both Med and Mnem have but with a different brand name on them, and they are certainly upto the job for the hobbiest.

The question here is can we trust a man who spells hobbyist "hobbiest" to be actually talking about "verniers" at Lidl and Aldi and not about "veneers". 

I am now going to go on and make the most  massive. most embarrassing spelling mistakes in every other message I post this week. 

[AVGresponding]

The question here is can we trust a man who spells hobbyist "hobbiest" to be actually talking about "verniers" at Lidl and Aldi and not about "veneers". 

I am now going to go on and make the most  massive. most embarrassing spelling mistakes in every other message I post this week. 

It triggered my inner spelling/grammar nazi as well, but as I'm already notorious well known for it "irl" I choose not to rise to it "online".

Besides, if I did, I wouldn't have time for anything else. Though on this one occasion... "I am now going to go on and make the most (double space) massive.(period/full stop instead of a comma) most embarrassing spelling mistakes in every other message I post this week."


EDITED for formatting.

[bd139]

"My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy."

some guy said that.......maybe he was a brit?

Yeah, but he was a southerner, which barely counts, practically a foreigner.

Oi, I'm a southerner, you northern monkey 

Now be nice to monkeys. They’re Morlocks up there 

[Cerebus]

"My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy."

some guy said that.......maybe he was a brit?

Yeah, but he was a southerner, which barely counts, practically a foreigner.

Oi, I'm a southerner, you northern monkey 

Closer to being a Monkey Strangler than a monkey.

[Cerebus]

The question here is can we trust a man who spells hobbyist "hobbiest" to be actually talking about "verniers" at Lidl and Aldi and not about "veneers". 

I am now going to go on and make the most  massive. most embarrassing spelling mistakes in every other message I post this week. 

It triggered my inner spelling/grammar nazi as well, but as I'm already notorious well known for it "irl" I choose not to rise to it "online".

Besides, if I did, I wouldn't have time for anything else. Though on this one occasion... "I am now going to go on and make the most (double space) massive.(period/full stop instead of a comma) most embarrassing spelling mistakes in every other message I post this week."


EDITED for formatting.

Told you so. There's an implicit law that you can't make fun of someone else's spelling, grammar or formatting without making a mis-stake in one of those classes oneself.

[AVGresponding]

"My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy."

some guy said that.......maybe he was a brit?

Yeah, but he was a southerner, which barely counts, practically a foreigner.

Oi, I'm a southerner, you northern monkey 

Closer to being a Monkey Strangler than a monkey.

I live nowhere near Hartlepool, thankfully. Though I do have strangler's hands.

[Cubdriver]

No reason in the world he can't make a little L-tab from a scrap of brass or steel and solder it to the back of the contact leaf. As for the silver contacts themselves, if they really are that crusty, while he has the switch out to fix that tab a few passes with some 1500-grit emery film will bring them back.

mnem

No need to make the L tab, I kept the one that broke off !  It's just that I have no experience and gear to do "micro" soldering, or any soldering really ! Well I mean other than electronic stuff o course...
The strip broke just one mm from the contacting element, so not much room for mistakes or I would melt the contact...

Hey... I am thinking, to get around this... maybe I could just add a supporting strip beneath the broken strip ? Then maybe just glue it all together, simple as that ?! The forces it would endure are so light, and that switch would be operated so few times in his retirement now, might just do the trick...
Now what "glue" would be best for metal to metal, I don't know... super glue would probably do it I guess, parts are so small and light, but if there is something better, tailor made for metal, would rather prefer that...

Or yeah, spot weld the broken tab to the supporting strip, then spot weld the latter to what's left of the strip. This way I can spot weld away from the contacting element and therefore no risk of damaging it with heat.
Would have to be a precision spot welder then, with a fine tip... if anybody knows about these things as has a few links they could provide, I am all ears ! 

That's along the lines of what I was going to suggest - lap a piece on the 'outside' to bridge the break, but stop it short of the bend that latches in the actuator face, and soft solder it (or spot weld; figure soft solder would be easier) to hold the pieces together and strengthen the joint.

-Pat

[Specmaster]

"My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy."

some guy said that.......maybe he was a brit?

Yeah, but he was a southerner, which barely counts, practically a foreigner.

Oi, I'm a southerner, you northern monkey 

Closer to being a Monkey Strangler than a monkey.

I live nowhere near Hartlepool, thankfully. Though I do have strangler's hands.

I can join you in that dept.  Not that I've ever tried to strangle anyone or thing, yet....

[Specmaster]

I think that this little scope is a nice little unit, but I agree the valuation is a bit salty https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265247910389.

[bd139]

"My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy."

some guy said that.......maybe he was a brit?

Yeah, but he was a southerner, which barely counts, practically a foreigner.

Oi, I'm a southerner, you northern monkey 

Closer to being a Monkey Strangler than a monkey.

I live nowhere near Hartlepool, thankfully. Though I do have strangler's hands.

I can join you in that dept.  Not that I've ever tried to strangle anyone or thing, yet....

Clearly you were never a teenager then!

[Specmaster]

"My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy."

some guy said that.......maybe he was a brit?

Yeah, but he was a southerner, which barely counts, practically a foreigner.

Oi, I'm a southerner, you northern monkey 

Closer to being a Monkey Strangler than a monkey.

I live nowhere near Hartlepool, thankfully. Though I do have strangler's hands.

I can join you in that dept.  Not that I've ever tried to strangle anyone or thing, yet....

Clearly you were never a teenager then!

Its just that as I have a foul temper if really provoked, just like my Dad had, that I'm pretty certain if I did ever try, I'd succeed, so I always try and keep it under control, thing is though that I can never actually remember where I left the control....

[Vince]

For that flat panel, to get a nice finish I would get it laser cut. No as expensive as you would think. In UK there are online sellers were you just enter a sketch and they quote and send you a finished panel. Some have pre-anodised stock to cut.

Wow sounds promising, maybe prices have dropped a lot then... since I checked 15 years ago ! If it followed the same trend as PCB manufacturing then it's well possible ! 

Mind given me a few UK websites I can check ? That would give me a starting point, see what kind of service and price is available out there.
Then will try to find similar services in France but we usually lag behind the world so I am not holding my breath for French services... either poor and / or overpriced...
Too bad it's become such an expensive pain to order from the UK now ! Germany might be a good compromise. Cheap and easy to import from there, and more up to date with industrial stuff. They probably have services similar to what you have in the UK.

For the printing I'd use the toner transfer paper intended for PCB resist applications. Print on to it with a laser printer (colour printer for red of course). Then just iron it on like a PCB resist. You might want to put clear spray varnish over the top. If you do make sure the first couple of coats are light or the toner will dissolve.

Sounds good too ! That will give me somethinig else to try out !

Thanks everyone for all your suggestion for this panel ! Started like the biggest let down of this 575, and now it's like pretty much already sorted ! 
Motivates me to work on all the other issues...


MIght be time to start a dedicated restoration thread on EEVBlog ! Lots has been figured out already, what needs to be done, how to go about it, lots of pics... might be many months until the restoration is done, at best, but at least I could start the thread and then feed it as I go, every now and then. If I wait too long it will be too much info to write at once, will be a pain and I will forget stuff along the way... I prefer to do it blog style as I always do. It's also more lively and interactive this way.

Plus I just told my good friend Marcus in Germany who loves old Tek boat anchors and tube amps, about my newly acquired 575. He said I better restore the thing to its former glory, and to keep him informed of progress... well if I open a thread on here, he can just subscribe to it and get notified when there is something happening....

BTW I just noticed something strange on this panel ! It reads " GERMANIUM " rectifiers inside... but they are not Germanium, they are either Selenium or Silicon ! 

[Robert763]

An evening Hermes delivery. What can it be?