Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Cerebus]

I'm going to spare everyone the gory details and sob story but after this morning's fiasco the Type 547 for the long term is going to be swapped with the Type 535A in the TEA closet. The Type 535A will go back into the far corner of bench 2. What I essentially have is a vertical amplifier circuit that does NOT match any schematic that I can find. I replaced the known components this morning and upon application of power the vertical circuit with nary a whimper destroyed itself. I've reached the end of my patience with this scope plus I can't continue to blow up hard to find and costly vertical amplifier bits. I have other equipment that needs maintenance/attention and I'm just wasting my time with this POS.

So what will happen to it? I may eventually fix it or scrap it. Undecided at this point. 

Oh thank god for that! I got as far as reading "I'm going to spare everyone the gory details and sob story but..." and I though we were in for another episode of Med's Medical Mishaps. I'm glad we're not. (Whether that's concern for the audience or the subject, I'll leave readers to decide for themselves.  )

[mnementh]

I'll tell you what's BS aboot EV. It's that the leading EV manufacturer right now is led by a vapour-ware salesman who is pushing the closed-shop, replace rather than repair agenda, which does NOT help the environment, but rather rapes the shit out of it just as badly as ICE.

Elon Musk and his business practices can fuck off. Then keep fucking off until he's fucked right off. Then he can fuck off some more.

Got to say I know a couple of Tesla drivers and they have to have a lot of repairs so that's not strictly true. Hell they mostly seem to not be assembled and painted correctly in some cases  . That doesn't stop the rabid cult Musk fanbase which is the thing that annoys me. It's taking internet startups and applying that bullshit to infrastructure that's the real problem. That is utterly dangerous. Look at the influence and damage this is going to do just from the marketing.

The environmental issue is more as stated before which is something I've glad to hear people agree with me on which is we built society around cars which was very short sighted. But that's not strictly true either when you look at it and think about it either. Neatly merging this with Specmaster's points about Harlow and Stevenage, both of which have very well structured cycle routes end to end and were designed with this in mind. But they are stinking shit holes - I worked in both  . Despite the places being fitted for public transport the local authority never looked after the cycling infrastructure, privatised the public transport which now charges extortionate amounts to keep afloat and punishes drivers with parking fees. The only viable and affordable transport in some of these areas are independent taxi firms which are low ball outfits running whatever piece of shit that still has wheels that hasn't fallen off.

The only thing is the common denominator race to the bottom on inefficiency and revenue generation only. Solving real fucking problems is dead. And the grave is being pissed on by new problems and marketing solutions for them.

I think the point that Anders is making, is not that Tesla won't carry out repairs, so much as they won't make spares available for the DIY person or equally none Tesla approved engineers / service agents, regardless of what it is. Not all repairs need the expert knowledge that these people are supposed to have. Then there are of course other areas where they won't even allow their own agents to repair certain parts, even though the actual part requiring replacement is not a mission critical part, but is only available as a part fitted to a larger subassembly, which they will supply at great cost and only via their closed shop network. This very much the same business model that Apple employ, seems to be an American approach to business which is very anti competition.

One of the things Rich Rebuilds has documented pretty well with his adventures is A) the usurious costs charged for even the simplest repairs which in many cases would have been done at a "normal" car dealership under warranty, and 2) the fact that even under warranty with a new Tesla, very often you cannot even get your car looked at by a "network shop" for literally months.

AVG has it right; it's a dot-com snake-oil salesman business model: Separate fools from their money with extreme prejudice.

mnem
And it is sad that this douchepuppet is the foremost proponent of this necessary technology.

[mnementh]

You might have a very good shape ... 

Would you be saying the same thing if you'd seen a photo of him? 

I might ...     Quick and dirty snapshot.

Say between these two - no question I prefer the chisel on the right (T12 tips: IL vs D16).

Yeah, the one on the left is very similar profile to the crusty bastard that came with my Metcal handle in my pic from soldering 13ga silicone patch cables way back when. There are very few cases where it will not get the heat to the work; I've used it to desolder D-packs & T0-220s from massive GND fills.

mnem
As always; YMMV, DQMOT, IANAL, DILLIGAF?

[med6753]

I'm going to spare everyone the gory details and sob story but after this morning's fiasco the Type 547 for the long term is going to be swapped with the Type 535A in the TEA closet. The Type 535A will go back into the far corner of bench 2. What I essentially have is a vertical amplifier circuit that does NOT match any schematic that I can find. I replaced the known components this morning and upon application of power the vertical circuit with nary a whimper destroyed itself. I've reached the end of my patience with this scope plus I can't continue to blow up hard to find and costly vertical amplifier bits. I have other equipment that needs maintenance/attention and I'm just wasting my time with this POS.

So what will happen to it? I may eventually fix it or scrap it. Undecided at this point. 

Oh thank god for that! I got as far as reading "I'm going to spare everyone the gory details and sob story but..." and I though we were in for another episode of Med's Medical Mishaps. I'm glad we're not. (Whether that's concern for the audience or the subject, I'll leave readers to decide for themselves.  )

Oh hell no. I'm a healthy (but careful) boy now. I even (carefully and slowly) jackassed the Type 547 onto the cart while swapping it with the Type 535A which is now on bench 2. No pain nor discomfort. And if you need further proof that I'm all healed and healthy just ask the Lady Cop and she'll give you three rousing thumbs up.       

[mnementh]

Chisel tip = 

Conical tip = 

I like conical tips for most things.  The only thing I use a chisel tip for is doing silver soldering in Tek ceramic strips. You need as much thermal mass as you can get for that. And that tip only sees silver solder.

I've had ZERO issues mixing 60/40 solder with the silver solder on the ceramic strips. Just use care and don't go overboard.

I got a deal on a pound of Kester 2% Ag. I'm set for life. 

Relatively recent experience with solder with circa 2% Ag in it has really sold me on it. I rarely encounter anything where the silver content is a technical necessity, but it goes on so buttery smooth that I just want to use it. However, as I don't even seem to have made a dent in the reel of Multicore 60/40 that I've had for at least 10 years, perhaps 20, I don't even have a good excuse at the moment. A decent reel of decent solder always seems expensive when you shell out for it, and seems really cheap when you discover how long it lasts you at home consumption levels.

Yup; silver-bearing solder is magical. I've kept a small amount of the stuff in reserve for "problem soldering jobs" ever since I discovered it at Radidio Shack as a teen. Would use it almost exclusively if it were A) readily available at sane prices and B) readily available in other than 0.8-1mm diameter.

mnem
 

[mnementh]

I'd love to know the secret sauce in the standby stands. I mean obviously it's a magnet or two but what's the orientation, what's the necessary field strength. Reason being that I haven't got a magic stand and I haven't seen one at a good price and I'm sure that it's just a case of sticking a couple of neo-diddlyum magnets in the right place.

The photos show the orientation with the strongest changes. The first and last are relatively "free floating", the middle three are solid.

Thanks for that. I always meant to take some pics with some magnetic viewing film once I found a decent deal on a real SmartStand; however that never happened due to A) 2 years away from my MetCal and 2) my fabricobbled stand worked so well.

mnem
 

[mnementh]

And now, fun with TEA time:

The newly arrived TA520 time interval analyzer, a dual channel arb, a scope, a lab psu (somewhere in the background), a GPSDO (not visible) and the TXCO radio clock (not visible):

   (SNIP)
The mixer circuits themselves achive about 50ns peak-to-peak jitter when driven from the dual channal arb at 10MHz and 10.0001MHz (100Hz difference). In the actual configuration, the outputs are set to the same frequency (100Hz above 10MHz) and drive one mixer each. The other mixer inputs are the 10MHz ref out of the GPSDO and the 10MHz output of my (poorest) TCXO radio clock.

Say buddy... do you have the correct time...?

mnem
 

[mnementh]

*shudders from PTSD flashback aboot a time the high beam fuse fell out of the dash from going over a bump and resultant drive into a ditch*

"Son, I say son, yoaw've been neglectin' to eat yoaw carrots son ain'tcha?"

Only the ones I lay down in the bottom under the pot roast.

mnem
I understand that eatin' too many carrots doesn't necessarily turn you orange ... but I'm not takin' any chances.

[mnementh]

I'm going to spare everyone the gory details and sob story but after this morning's fiasco the Type 547 for the long term is going to be swapped with the Type 535A in the TEA closet. The Type 535A will go back into the far corner of bench 2. What I essentially have is a vertical amplifier circuit that does NOT match any schematic that I can find. I replaced the known components this morning and upon application of power the vertical circuit with nary a whimper destroyed itself. I've reached the end of my patience with this scope plus I can't continue to blow up hard to find and costly vertical amplifier bits. I have other equipment that needs maintenance/attention and I'm just wasting my time with this POS.

So what will happen to it? I may eventually fix it or scrap it. Undecided at this point. 

Oh thank god for that! I got as far as reading "I'm going to spare everyone the gory details and sob story but..." and I though we were in for another episode of Med's Medical Mishaps. I'm glad we're not. (Whether that's concern for the audience or the subject, I'll leave readers to decide for themselves.  )

*raises a paw*

Nope, it's my turn for that. Last time we went to the storage unit, I had a bit of a incident... lost track of where I was by the edge of the dock and took a unexpected "step off the edge" aboot 2 feet down. I managed to stay upright and not dump the loaded cart all over the ground, but definitely took a hard shock to lower back and bum knee.

"Taking it easy" yesterday is why I was here all afternoon bugging the pluck out of all y'alls... and honestly, today is even worse; I ache in places I didn't know I had to ache with, so y'all kin prolly expect more of the same.

mnem
Just a friendly warning.

[Neper]

*shudders from PTSD flashback aboot a time the high beam fuse fell out of the dash from going over a bump and resultant drive into a ditch*

Reminds me of the day I put my foot on the clutch of a Renault 4 and the pedal fell off. Cars are no longer the fun they used to be.

Ralf

[AVGresponding]

I'm going to spare everyone the gory details and sob story but after this morning's fiasco the Type 547 for the long term is going to be swapped with the Type 535A in the TEA closet. The Type 535A will go back into the far corner of bench 2. What I essentially have is a vertical amplifier circuit that does NOT match any schematic that I can find. I replaced the known components this morning and upon application of power the vertical circuit with nary a whimper destroyed itself. I've reached the end of my patience with this scope plus I can't continue to blow up hard to find and costly vertical amplifier bits. I have other equipment that needs maintenance/attention and I'm just wasting my time with this POS.

So what will happen to it? I may eventually fix it or scrap it. Undecided at this point. 

Oh thank god for that! I got as far as reading "I'm going to spare everyone the gory details and sob story but..." and I though we were in for another episode of Med's Medical Mishaps. I'm glad we're not. (Whether that's concern for the audience or the subject, I'll leave readers to decide for themselves.  )

Oh hell no. I'm a healthy (but careful) boy now. I even (carefully and slowly) jackassed the Type 547 onto the cart while swapping it with the Type 535A which is now on bench 2. No pain nor discomfort. And if you need further proof that I'm all healed and healthy just ask the Lady Cop and she'll give you three rousing thumbs up.       

This is the image med's post brought to my mind...

[bd139]

That’s me the day I retire 

[tggzzz]

*shudders from PTSD flashback aboot a time the high beam fuse fell out of the dash from going over a bump and resultant drive into a ditch*

Reminds me of the day I put my foot on the clutch of a Renault 4 and the pedal fell off. Cars are no longer the fun they used to be.

Agreed.

One of mine had several things fall off:

• fuel tank. No problem, I continued my work car park and bolted it back on
• wheel, while overtaking. No problem since the wheel ended in a country hedge. I simply replaced it with a nut from the other wheels, and continued
• engine. No problem, I simply replaced the engine mounting in the campsite
• windscreen wiper. No problem, I simply removed the motor as well, and it passed its annual MoT test

OTOH the rear differential disintegrating was a problem. I got it towed to the repair shop, where the tinkling sound turned heads

[med6753]

Peace and harmony have returned to bench 2. Doing a basic checkout of a Type 114 Pulse Generator. No fuss, no pressure. Calm. 


 

[med6753]

I'm going to spare everyone the gory details and sob story but after this morning's fiasco the Type 547 for the long term is going to be swapped with the Type 535A in the TEA closet. The Type 535A will go back into the far corner of bench 2. What I essentially have is a vertical amplifier circuit that does NOT match any schematic that I can find. I replaced the known components this morning and upon application of power the vertical circuit with nary a whimper destroyed itself. I've reached the end of my patience with this scope plus I can't continue to blow up hard to find and costly vertical amplifier bits. I have other equipment that needs maintenance/attention and I'm just wasting my time with this POS.

So what will happen to it? I may eventually fix it or scrap it. Undecided at this point. 

Oh thank god for that! I got as far as reading "I'm going to spare everyone the gory details and sob story but..." and I though we were in for another episode of Med's Medical Mishaps. I'm glad we're not. (Whether that's concern for the audience or the subject, I'll leave readers to decide for themselves.  )

Oh hell no. I'm a healthy (but careful) boy now. I even (carefully and slowly) jackassed the Type 547 onto the cart while swapping it with the Type 535A which is now on bench 2. No pain nor discomfort. And if you need further proof that I'm all healed and healthy just ask the Lady Cop and she'll give you three rousing thumbs up.       

This is the image med's post brought to my mind...

Trust me, I had the same thought and the Type 547 would make a hell of a crash. 

[Cerebus]

That’s me the day I retire 

I'm hoping that by the time I truly give up on computers I have one with a "Halt and Detonate" instruction.

[AVGresponding]

That’s me the day I retire 

I'm hoping that by the time I truly give up on computers I have one with a "Halt and Detonate" instruction.

They definitely need to include that in win12

[Cerebus]

*shudders from PTSD flashback aboot a time the high beam fuse fell out of the dash from going over a bump and resultant drive into a ditch*

Reminds me of the day I put my foot on the clutch of a Renault 4 and the pedal fell off. Cars are no longer the fun they used to be.

Agreed.

One of mine had several things fall off:

• fuel tank. No problem, I continued my work car park and bolted it back on
• wheel, while overtaking. No problem since the wheel ended in a country hedge. I simply replaced it with a nut from the other wheels, and continued
• engine. No problem, I simply replaced the engine mounting in the campsite
• windscreen wiper. No problem, I simply removed the motor as well, and it passed its annual MoT test

OTOH the rear differential disintegrating was a problem. I got it towed to the repair shop, where the tinkling sound turned heads

The last sentence made me chuckle. Even if I didn't know some of the history, I'd guess that was the Lament of the Landie Owner - A Landlubber's Sea Shanty*.

* To be sung with a hand to one ear, while quaffing cider between verses.

[bd139]

The land rover version is a cross between vogon poetry about Lucas electrics set to the screeching sound from the set of wheel bearings which had disintegrated for the fourth time in a year interspersed with gargling from the driver receiving a waterboarding from the roof.

[Cerebus]

interspersed with gargling from the driver receiving a waterboarding from the roof.

You use the cider for that in the third verse.

[tonyalbus]

Playing with the Siglent SDM3045X, 3045, 3065
Borrow of Siglent EU, shipped by Eleshop.eu
I like them, firmware has improved over the years, seems good to me.
Now i want one. 

[bd139]

That’s me the day I retire 

I'm hoping that by the time I truly give up on computers I have one with a "Halt and Detonate" instruction.

Think I’m actually done now. Technically I’m mismanagement now which is not where I want to be. Going to scam some cash out of this shit show for a couple of years, switch to full “end user” mode and do something utterly different with my life. Currently working this out now.

If you just want detonate I would ask Saska. Don’t think we need the halt micro instruction first

[tggzzz]

That’s me the day I retire 

I'm hoping that by the time I truly give up on computers I have one with a "Halt and Detonate" instruction.

They definitely need to include that in win12

They do, but it is a virtual software detonation. IIRC the result is no longer a blue screen.

[AVGresponding]

Another parcel day here at the edge of sanity; two Mitutoyo calipers (one dial - imperial, one digital - both), a charging cable for a cheap DSi I got a week or so ago, a Tek DMM912, and a battery powered micro-Uzi airsoft.

The airsoft arrived in a parcel that is a serious candidate for the "Shit Packing Award", the Tek DMM912 in a parcel that would be a candidate for the "Good Packing Award", with the rest somewhere in between.
Pics of the parcels and a brief teardown and performance check of the 912 will be posted when I have had time to transfer and process them.

[bd139]

Ah you got the DMM912. I was considering that. Glad to hear it went to a good home.