Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

Oh it’s a whole world of soldering goodness.

I’ve used Pace and Weller stuff professionally and all that T12 and 837 faff from amateur side and the Metcals are somewhere else entirely. It’s the only iron I’ve seen that can go from soldering nuts into bolts to 0805’s in five seconds without changing the tip 

Just may be one day I'll get around to testing that for myself, but seriously, from my perspective, my experience of T12's is fantastic. Yes, I did have that duff controller that made my tip glow cherry red, but after that was replaced FOC, I have not had any problems. Perhaps if I was to leave the iron switched on all day, like it would be in a production mode, then I might, but as with all my gear, it just gets switched on when I need it and then if I'm not going to be using it again for a while, switch it off. With something like a 10-second wait until it's ready for use, that seems like a sensible way to use it and help to reduce my carbon footprint. 

Then you are a good candidate for my method of MetCal acquisition... put it on your eBay search and wait for a MX500/MX500xx power brick to come along in the $50-100 range. The handsets can be a bit trickier... but if you buy the brick right, $90-ish for a new one will not be too painful.

Seriously... it's like the difference between tighty-whitey Froot-of-the-Looms and a good pair of silk boxers... *licks lips and sighs*

mnem
 

I prefer the analogy of

Metcal = Christina Hendricks

T12 = 80 year old stripper.

I might have known that she would be a red head with a nice pillow for you to rest your head on, all very nice until she talks and then the illusion she creates is all gone for me at least, its hardly what I'd call a seductive voice 

[med6753]

Oh it’s a whole world of soldering goodness.

I’ve used Pace and Weller stuff professionally and all that T12 and 837 faff from amateur side and the Metcals are somewhere else entirely. It’s the only iron I’ve seen that can go from soldering nuts into bolts to 0805’s in five seconds without changing the tip 

Just may be one day I'll get around to testing that for myself, but seriously, from my perspective, my experience of T12's is fantastic. Yes, I did have that duff controller that made my tip glow cherry red, but after that was replaced FOC, I have not had any problems. Perhaps if I was to leave the iron switched on all day, like it would be in a production mode, then I might, but as with all my gear, it just gets switched on when I need it and then if I'm not going to be using it again for a while, switch it off. With something like a 10-second wait until it's ready for use, that seems like a sensible way to use it and help to reduce my carbon footprint. 

Then you are a good candidate for my method of MetCal acquisition... put it on your eBay search and wait for a MX500/MX500xx power brick to come along in the $50-100 range. The handsets can be a bit trickier... but if you buy the brick right, $90-ish for a new one will not be too painful.

Seriously... it's like the difference between tighty-whitey Froot-of-the-Looms and a good pair of silk boxers... *licks lips and sighs*

mnem
 

Precisely how I intend to do it, I'm in no hurry as all my current soldering and desoldering needs are being met very well by my pair of T12 (so I don't have to change cartridges too often as the contact rings are their weak point with the knock off ones at least) and my trusty Duratool desoldering tool. So I can afford to wait until something pops up that fits my price point.

My Hakko does the job and I'm quite happy with it. Besides, who would turn down a nearly $500 USD soldering station that was free? 

My carbon footprint is down the toilet today. I got the A/C on because it's 85 F (29 C) outside with lousy humidity. And at the same time got the Type 547 cooking trying to heat the place up.   

[med6753]

I might have known that she would be a red head with a nice pillow for you to rest your head on, all very nice until she talks and then the illusion she creates is all gone for me at least, its hardly what I'd call a seductive voice 

I have a agree with Bd and his choice of red head. And I don't care what she sounds like as long as she uses the right words. 

[Saskia]

still looking for the right hair dye.
Driving down to Austria later this night. Just got our Covid tests ( ) , need to clean out a couple of lockers and get an export permit *cough*

[bd139]

Oh it’s a whole world of soldering goodness.

I’ve used Pace and Weller stuff professionally and all that T12 and 837 faff from amateur side and the Metcals are somewhere else entirely. It’s the only iron I’ve seen that can go from soldering nuts into bolts to 0805’s in five seconds without changing the tip 

Just may be one day I'll get around to testing that for myself, but seriously, from my perspective, my experience of T12's is fantastic. Yes, I did have that duff controller that made my tip glow cherry red, but after that was replaced FOC, I have not had any problems. Perhaps if I was to leave the iron switched on all day, like it would be in a production mode, then I might, but as with all my gear, it just gets switched on when I need it and then if I'm not going to be using it again for a while, switch it off. With something like a 10-second wait until it's ready for use, that seems like a sensible way to use it and help to reduce my carbon footprint. 

Then you are a good candidate for my method of MetCal acquisition... put it on your eBay search and wait for a MX500/MX500xx power brick to come along in the $50-100 range. The handsets can be a bit trickier... but if you buy the brick right, $90-ish for a new one will not be too painful.

Seriously... it's like the difference between tighty-whitey Froot-of-the-Looms and a good pair of silk boxers... *licks lips and sighs*

mnem
 

I prefer the analogy of

Metcal = Christina Hendricks

T12 = 80 year old stripper.

I might have known that she would be a red head with a nice pillow for you to rest your head on, all very nice until she talks and then the illusion she creates is all gone for me at least, its hardly what I'd call a seductive voice 

AirPods in   

[Cerebus]

We wish you all the best of luck if you need to detune your woman as they have never had a customer who has succeeded in this process as they have usually ended up with a twin supercharged version of their woman who sits on the rev limiter for extended periods of time.

 

[Specmaster]

I might have known that she would be a red head with a nice pillow for you to rest your head on, all very nice until she talks and then the illusion she creates is all gone for me at least, its hardly what I'd call a seductive voice 

I have a agree with Bd and his choice of red head. And I don't care what she sounds like as long as she uses the right words. 

Oh don't get me wrong, I approve, she would be very good fun I'm sure while it lasted until she goes batshit crazy 

[AVGresponding]

Ok... so I just went looking for a user manual for that RS Pro clamp. They didn't have one, which is annoying, but the meter is a current stock item, and the price is a bit more than the £15.48 (shipped) that I paid...

Your not kidding its loads more expensive, you jammy git 

No point chasing RS for a manual, go direct to the makers, here is the link you require. https://www.prova.com.tw/product_detail.asp?seq=6

Thanks but unfortunately that site just has the datasheet, like RS, which just covers specs. I have made some progress; the RS listing mentions a "calibration plate" that comes with it, which turns out to be actually a calibration loop with known impedance for the self-cal when you power it on. Using a resistor and a croc lead to complete the loop works reasonably well, and the value doesn't seem to matter too much, you just let it do a cal cycle and it beeps, then you open circuit it and it detects infinite resistance and completes the self-cal.

The accuracy is astonishing, and goes some way to explaining the huge price tag: resistance of croc lead and resistor as measured by 4-wire on Keithley 2015 after 20 minute warm up: 1.507Ω (noisy last digit not included here), and with the clamp from a cold start using the lead and resistor for the self cal: 1.519Ω !!!

Taken together with the microamp resolution, this is one sharp-eyed wee beastie!

Just like scopes and probes 

And power dividers, and RF cables & adapters, and terminators, and standards, and crimpers, and soldering/desoldering equipment, and, and...     These rabbit holes have express elevators!

Yeah

Just bought a metcal iron.

Welcome to club metcal. You will never leave 

For £45 from a buyer that is shutting down their RF amp production, it was worth a punt. I imagine I'll have to buy different tips.

Same seller has HP RF power meters including sensors and other RF goodies, but you'll have to be fast... https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/acturus01/m.html

I had that one on my watch list; it was a relist after the seller originally had it up for a £30 start price (yes I did lol) then withdrew it and relisted at £45 BIN (if it's the same one anyway). It's only slightly less than they are going for atm, 60-70 seems to be the average. Here's the link for those tips, he still has some: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/133587611132

[Specmaster]

Ok... so I just went looking for a user manual for that RS Pro clamp. They didn't have one, which is annoying, but the meter is a current stock item, and the price is a bit more than the £15.48 (shipped) that I paid...

Your not kidding its loads more expensive, you jammy git 

No point chasing RS for a manual, go direct to the makers, here is the link you require. https://www.prova.com.tw/product_detail.asp?seq=6

Thanks but unfortunately that site just has the datasheet, like RS, which just covers specs. I have made some progress; the RS listing mentions a "calibration plate" that comes with it, which turns out to be actually a calibration loop with known impedance for the self-cal when you power it on. Using a resistor and a croc lead to complete the loop works reasonably well, and the value doesn't seem to matter too much, you just let it do a cal cycle and it beeps, then you open circuit it and it detects infinite resistance and completes the self-cal.

The accuracy is astonishing, and goes some way to explaining the huge price tag: resistance of croc lead and resistor as measured by 4-wire on Keithley 2015 after 20 minute warm up: 1.507Ω (noisy last digit not included here), and with the clamp from a cold start using the lead and resistor for the self cal: 1.519Ω !!!

Taken together with the microamp resolution, this is one sharp-eyed wee beastie!

Yep, I knew that, I looked, but I thought that you'd have emailed them and asked for a PDF copy of the manual (don't mention yours is the RS one though) and then I'm pretty sure that they would oblige you. I did the same thing with a Rapid Electronic 30Mhz scope, discovered it was made by Pinder Electronics in Taiwan, emailed them and bingo, a copy of the service manual and calibration data by return.

[bd139]

Unrelated to TE but funny nevertheless. “Electronic failure”

[AVGresponding]

Unrelated to TE but funny nevertheless. “Electronic failure”

Hot off the press..?

[Specmaster]

@AVGresponding, don't forget that the Fluke 8200A finishes soon.

[mnementh]

We wish you all the best of luck if you need to detune your woman as they have never had a customer who has succeeded in this process as they have usually ended up with a twin supercharged version of their woman who sits on the rev limiter for extended periods of time.

 

Ditto here. 

mnem
 

[AVGresponding]

@AVGresponding, don't forget that the Fluke 8200A finishes soon.

Yep, twenty past eight or so.

Or if you're from Canadiania, at 8:20.0, eh

[mnementh]

One would hope that in a mechanism where this kind of impact is highly likely to happen, inevitable even, that someone has built in a sacrificial component, like a shear pin, that is designed to break under these circumstances and be easy to replace.

I believe that is called a connecting rod.  Our last petrol lawnmower would swing the blades in.   They were attached by  a single bolt and would pivot if you whacked them hard enough.

While many connecting rods have become a sacrificial component, it is usually instantly fatal. Aside from my '72 Duster w/slant 6, which I drove for a whole summer with a shop-rag stuffed in the hole where it threw a rod through the side of the block. 

Operating cost was a quart of gas to a gallon of oil, etc... but hey... that's how it always is with your hoopty. 

mnem
for those playing along at home: a connecting rod is inside the engine and connects the piston to the crankshaft.

[tautech]

While many connecting rods have become a sacrificial component, it is usually fatal. Aside from my '72 Duster w/slant 6, which I drove for a whole summer with a shop-rag stuffed in the hole where it threw a rod through the side of the block.

Operating cost was a quart of gas to a gallon of oil, etc... but hey... that's how it always is with your hoopty. 

mnem
for those playing along at home: a connecting rod is inside the engine and connects the piston to the crankshaft.

Correct technical term = throwing a leg out of bed ! 

[AVGresponding]

One would hope that in a mechanism where this kind of impact is highly likely to happen, inevitable even, that someone has built in a sacrificial component, like a shear pin, that is designed to break under these circumstances and be easy to replace.

I believe that is called a connecting rod.  Our last petrol lawnmower would swing the blades in.   They were attached by  a single bolt and would pivot if you whacked them hard enough.

While many connecting rods have become a sacrificial component, it is usually instantly fatal. Aside from my '72 Duster w/slant 6, which I drove for a whole summer with a shop-rag stuffed in the hole where it threw a rod through the side of the block. 

Operating cost was a quart of gas to a gallon of oil, etc... but hey... that's how it always is with your hoopty. 

mnem
for those playing along at home: a connecting rod is supposed to be inside the engine and connects the piston to the crankshaft.

FTFY

[mnementh]

There is a shear key in the blade holder on these, but at least with this (possibly cheap aftermarket) blade, it was stronger. This machine is, as I mentioned earlier, mid-1900s engineering. They rely on over-engineered moving parts to keep shit from just exploding.

mnem
 

Don't forget the flywheel key is an integral part of the damage protection mechanism in that it's made of alloy to permit them to shear when the whole lot is brought to an abrupt stop....fair bit of inertia in a flywheel doing 3600rpm.  Yet the blade holder is steel keyed otherwise you'd be replacing it all the time. 

Flywheel nut = 65ft/lbs which for a sideways start motor is also the rewind starter clutch and unless you have the proper tool to fit it just wing it with a set of Stilsons or polygrips  but don't ring it up too tight otherwise the taper won't slip and shear the key next time you use it a Ree-bar cutter. 

Sounds complex but it's a simple and well proven protection system.

Yup. Aware of all of this. I own a pin-spanner socket that would work for torque-wrench on the starter clutch, but that is locked away in the Trailer of Doom in BuffaloNY.

I'm hoping I don't need to be arsed with all that.

mnem
 

A'aight, tautech... all your gentle admonishments paid off; I actually arsed myself to hammer it mostly flat to throw back on there just long enuf to see if the beast would start. It did, easy as pie on the first pull and just sat there putting at idle. 

Vibration wasn't too bad either, even at WOT, but I decided to stop by Princess Auto on my way back from today's load to the storage and spend the CAD$12 on a new blade, just on GP.

mnem
*moving dwagons*

[mnementh]

One would hope that in a mechanism where this kind of impact is highly likely to happen, inevitable even, that someone has built in a sacrificial component, like a shear pin, that is designed to break under these circumstances and be easy to replace.

I believe that is called a connecting rod.  Our last petrol lawnmower would swing the blades in.   They were attached by  a single bolt and would pivot if you whacked them hard enough.

While many connecting rods have become a sacrificial component, it is usually instantly fatal. Aside from my '72 Duster w/slant 6, which I drove for a whole summer with a shop-rag stuffed in the hole where it threw a rod through the side of the block. 

Operating cost was a quart of gas to a gallon of oil, etc... but hey... that's how it always is with your hoopty. 

mnem
for those playing along at home: a connecting rod is supposed to be inside the engine and connects the piston to the crankshaft.

FTFY

 

Well, even in my Duster, most of it was still inside the engine. 

mnem
and still connected, at least on one end...

[Vince]

Wow..... my German friend just loves my little JLC board, asked me to build 8 cables, great... so I go to Farnell to dig out my previous order from a couple months ago, so I can order some more parts and .... what?   The SOT23 2N2222A trannies I bought last time, are now out of stock ?! And it says that it will be back in stock in.... wait for it... February ?!  ... and February... 2024 !!!!   

So I searched in their site for another such part from another supplier... WHAT again ! Search engine spits out only FOUR results of parts actually in stock.
And that's really more like only TWO, but with different packaging options (cut tapes or reel). One from " Nexperia " and the other from " Diodes Inc ".
The Nexperia one they have only TWO parts in stock !   
The Diodes Inc one, they have plenty, 13K +.  So basically just ONE single choice ?!    So I bought that...

OK now I am starting to believe this semiconductor shortage I keep hearing about  ! 

[Neomys Sapiens]

I upped my curve tracer game. Now to find triax and a test fixture. Have a lead on the latter...triax may be harder. Hence the ghetto zener diode test I set up. 

I just bought a Keithley 236 SMU and I'm also looking for triax cables of the 3-lug variety. I was planning on buying some Belden triax cable at ~USD2 per ~33cm off of ebay and then some of these triax connectors:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10000132950232.html

...which are expensive, but not nearly as insanely expensive as the OEM Keithley triax cables that are apparently still in use by somebody that is spending my tax money.

Are there only two flavors of triax connectors (2-lug and 3-lug), or are there others?

That red Soviet voltmeter is the most brutally gorgeous piece of test equipment that I have ever seen.

EDIT:

Was planning on building my own test fixture (how hard could that be?  ) and then start plotting some curves (maybe getting a GPIB adapter eventually).

There are lots of "triax" connectors. Even in the BNC style you have 2 or 3 lug, 3 lug that are not 120 degrees apart and internal connections for either "triax" (1 conducotor 2 isolated screens) or "twinax" (2 conductors 1 screen). Then ther are minature versions, Lemo/Fischer, Ampphenols own (1553), and a whole host based on at least two sizes of military contacts in a range of shells. Dealing with MIL-STD-1553 data buses which use twinax (PL75 is common) I've seen as many as 5 different connector types in a single system 

Aand there is TNC triax. They are intermateable with standard TNC, but the inner screen ferrule is isolated from the body. Although it is possible that they are merely TNC feedthroughs with a special feature - I have only some f-f bulkhead hermetic couplers to which this applies.

[GreyWoolfe]

ote author=bd139 link=topic=81471.msg3643780#msg3643780 date=1629814000]

Oh it’s a whole world of soldering goodness.

I’ve used Pace and Weller stuff professionally and all that T12 and 837 faff from amateur side and the Metcals are somewhere else entirely. It’s the only iron I’ve seen that can go from soldering nuts into bolts to 0805’s in five seconds without changing the tip 

Just may be one day I'll get around to testing that for myself, but seriously, from my perspective, my experience of T12's is fantastic. Yes, I did have that duff controller that made my tip glow cherry red, but after that was replaced FOC, I have not had any problems. Perhaps if I was to leave the iron switched on all day, like it would be in a production mode, then I might, but as with all my gear, it just gets switched on when I need it and then if I'm not going to be using it again for a while, switch it off. With something like a 10-second wait until it's ready for use, that seems like a sensible way to use it and help to reduce my carbon footprint. 

Then you are a good candidate for my method of MetCal acquisition... put it on your eBay search and wait for a MX500/MX500xx power brick to come along in the $50-100 range. The handsets can be a bit trickier... but if you buy the brick right, $90-ish for a new one will not be too painful.

Seriously... it's like the difference between tighty-whitey Froot-of-the-Looms and a good pair of silk boxers... *licks lips and sighs*

mnem
 

I prefer the analogy of

Metcal = Christina Hendricks

T12 = 80 year old stripper.
[/quote]

Scored my Metcal MX500 and talon tweezers in a trade when the local surplus store was open to the public.  Traded 600 brand new 10A toggle switches that someone gave me.  Scored cheap prices on NIB RM-3E and stand.  However, it was after I treated myself to a Hakko FX-951 and a 1/2 dozen tips.  If the Metcal came along first, I wouldn't have bought the Hakko.  Now, I switch between the 2.  If I could score another MX500 wand and stand for stupid cheep, I would sell the Hakko.

I had an old early 90s Sears Craftsman (back when Sears still made good tools and power equipment) high-wheel push mower.  There are some rather rocky areas in my yard, and I got really good at finding them in the grass using the mower like a divining rod.  I regularly sheared the flywheel key, and would be down for a day or three until I got to the local power equipment place and bought another one.  After about the fourth or fifth trip I got smart and bought four of them so there'd be spares at hand to fix it right away.  Never sheared another after that.  They're probably still buried in the miscellaneous drawer in my tool box.

That poor mower owed me nothing - welded the deck several times when it broke at the thin section under the rear discharge port, pounded the blade shroud back into shape (and occasionally welded it back into place), patched up the cover that held the recoil starter after it eventually started cracking...  Good old machine, though I don't miss pushing it and mowing the better part of an acre of grass despite the good exercise it gave me.  The 50" zero-turn is much more efficient time-wise.

-Pat

I recently scored a 1975 vintage belt driven Craftsman table saw that needs a little TLC but cuts fine, and a barely used 1978 vintage belt driven 6" jointer/planer for not a lot of money.  Both built like brick sh!thouses.  The guy I bought the saw from, helped me get it off the stand to get it into my van and I had to get help to get it back on the stand as it was too damn heavy for me to lift on my own.   Got the 2 side extensions leveled and most of the rust cleaned off.  Now it is time to figure out how to lube it as space is tight underneath to get to everything.  The interesting thing about both of them is the way the power switches work.  They both have the safety plugs you can remove to render unusable which is not an issue as we are empty nesters but they aren't hard wired.  Both switches have outlets to plug the power cords from the motors.  First time I have seen that.  I love the old stuff, nothing built like it now.  Even my 1940's Montgomery Ward floor standing drill press still works a treat.

[bd139]

Wow..... my German friend just loves my little JLC board, asked me to build 8 cables, great... so I go to Farnell to dig out my previous order from a couple months ago, so I can order some more parts and .... what?   The SOT23 2N2222A trannies I bought last time, are now out of stock ?! And it says that it will be back in stock in.... wait for it... February ?!  ... and February... 2024 !!!!   

So I searched in their site for another such part from another supplier... WHAT again ! Search engine spits out only FOUR results of parts actually in stock.
And that's really more like only TWO, but with different packaging options (cut tapes or reel). One from " Nexperia " and the other from " Diodes Inc ".
The Nexperia one they have only TWO parts in stock !   
The Diodes Inc one, they have plenty, 13K +.  So basically just ONE single choice ?!    So I bought that...

OK now I am starting to believe this semiconductor shortage I keep hearing about  ! 

We get weekly "intelligence reports" which are sent out by a dedicated team of internal analysts at work. I received one today stating that there is another major incoming shortage, apparently because Covid is somewhat starting to hit Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore. The only integrator who is stacked up with stock is Toyota apparently and they don't have the lead to cover this for more than 6 months. This is causing other people to buy up reserve stock and further shortages.

Ergo shit is about to be further fucked. But at least it's not toilet paper this time. 

For basic parts, Tayda Electronics still have lots of stock however: https://www.taydaelectronics.com/ ... so MMBT2222 $0.03 a go. https://www.taydaelectronics.com/mmbt2222alt1g-npn-general-purpose-transistor-40v-0-6-a.html

[Saskia]

anybody here in need of a Ryzen 5 3600, Gigabyte GA450M-DSwhatever, 16 GB mem, 512 GB NVME SSD plus a 2060 ?
I would have a PSU and a case to go with it ...
Drop me a note.
Surplus inventory which is cluttering.

[med6753]

Sad....

https://apnews.com/article/rolling-stones-charlie-watts-died-c9551b21e2806b679bd0eeec0bb4ef2b