Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[med6753]

Warning - While you were reading 96 new replies have been posted. You may wish to review your post.  

It's orificial: The dwagon has landed... In Brampton. 

The truck's been returned intact and 7 hours early at 2am; the WiFi is online and tomorrow's iced tea is brewing on the counter.

Time for me to drag my sorry carcass off to bed; myassiss dragon.

mnem
 yes dear, I'll bring some bath tissue up with me...

Hold on, you drove a truck through Brampton and it's still intact?

Did you squeak by without being subjected to insurance fraud as well?

Sounds like a fun area. Canuck form of "the hood"? 

[mansaxel]

Mmmm paper cuts on your arse. Fun!

Random question: does anyone know which company I can head to for a hammer drill that isn't a piece of shit? Needs to have a chuck that isn't garbage and needs to be mains powered. Need to use it to blow some light holes in brick work and drill Hammond boxes as well with a step drill.

Edit: currently considering Makita HP1640 at the moment. Proper chuck. Not too many horrible reviews. Available same day on amazon for 70 quid.

Usable brands are Makita, as observed, Old AEG (I have a reasonably new drill by them, and have a long time ago used hammer drills by them, with pleasure), Blue Bosch, and Hilti. Hilti is probably least risk, with associated cost. But, a pleasure.

It is important that the drill has SDS-plus drill bit holder. Stone/concrete/brick/masonry drills that are held in normal 3-jaw chucks are jokes. All decent SDS-plus drills come with a 3-jaw chuck fitted to slot in to the SDS-plus holder.

OTOH, if you only have perforated brick walls, you can, with some luck, get holes holed using a toy drill. But it is like using that school oscilloscope.

I once had the task of hanging speakers in an air raid shelter class basement. We rented a 2 numbers too large Hilti, we thought, which was lucky. High-strength concrete, with copious rebar, hardened for 35-40 years, is about as tough it gets bar bedrock.

[Zucca]

I have a Makita HR2611FT, service manual is available and it is very powerful.



In case something goes wrong you can buy replacement parts. This is why I love it soo much.

Why I also find important is the quality of the drill bits, I have the best experience with "4 edges" SDS plus one in concrete:



bottom line is, do not go cheap for drill bits. It's like throwing money in the toilet.

 

[mansaxel]

I have a Makita HR2611FT, service manual is available and it is very powerful.

Add a Makita P-33788 or similar and you're set. I now live in a wood house, where there's no concrete to speak of, so have not reinvested after my noname SDS-plus hammer drill fell apart some years ago. It was cheap. And I still have the chuck somewhere, as well as the drill bits.

If I had reason to buy again, I'd get a better one.

[bd139]

Yea I don’t need a fancy one here. I just need to hang two curtain rails and make up some Hammond boxes. Plus some room for insurance 

Have ordered a drill vice as well so I don’t lose my fingers as the Hammond boxes I need to work on aren’t particularly large. Will bolt it to my B&D workbench for proper bodgetastic job

[FransW]

Amazon = not available

Originator:
Github https://github.com/anotherlin/tek_tm_ext

This is a small Kicad project for a Tektronix TM500/TM5000 extender. For calibration or repair, it is convenient to be able to work on the plug-ins outside of a mainframe. In addition, the designed PCB can be fitted with extra connectors and circuitry to allow standalone operation. That is, to allow plug-ins to be powered by lab supplies, hence providing a kind of controlled environment handy for debugging/repair. Some photos can give you a better idea of what this project is about.

[Kosmic]

Mmmm paper cuts on your arse. Fun!

Random question: does anyone know which company I can head to for a hammer drill that isn't a piece of shit? Needs to have a chuck that isn't garbage and needs to be mains powered. Need to use it to blow some light holes in brick work and drill Hammond boxes as well with a step drill.

Edit: currently considering Makita HP1640 at the moment. Proper chuck. Not too many horrible reviews. Available same day on amazon for 70 quid.

Looks like you found it already but yea, Makita has a bunch of corded hammer drills.

I had a cheap no name hammer drills. It died on the Job and I had to rush to the hardware store to buy a new one. I got a Makita (corded since I hate recharging batteries) and it's still alive today.

You should also check Dewalt, they have nice models too.

[Zucca]

Add a Makita P-33788 or similar and you're set.

Oh yes I have it.... that's one of the reason I got that drill it can fit a classis chuck as well (in this case only rotatory no hammer! RTFM).



BTW: on the side, I still dream to convert a GMC Vandura into an EV.

[Specmaster]

Here is my drill, standard keyless chuck, never had any problems with drills slipping in the chuck etc, good hammer action when needed, drilled hundreds of holes with it, so have my sons, even in concrete. All it needs is some muscles to tighten the chuck and away you go. Modern keyless chucks are a million miles away from those early ones that were to be found on Black and Decker drills and the like. 

[Andrew_Debbie]

This near new Metrix  MX2B didn't get any bids.  Seller re-listed.   


New ones are a lot more money than the starting bid  (  I know nothing about the seller and make no guarantees this isn't a scam)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/203596320854


We are low funds after buying a stack of  tickets.    I won't be bidding on anything this month.

  Instead we will be enjoying air travel during a pandemic.      (LHR -> LAX -> PHX -> LAX -> SLC -> FCA -> SLC -> LAX -> LHR)  Can't wait.     Where is the sarcasm font?  I can't find it.

[Cerebus]

Here is my drill, standard keyless chuck, never had any problems with drills slipping in the chuck etc, good hammer action when needed, drilled hundreds of holes with it, so have my sons, even in concrete. All it needs is some muscles to tighten the chuck and away you go. Modern keyless chucks are a million miles away from those early ones that were to be found on Black and Decker drills and the like. 

Chuck quality is more about balance, concentricity and runout. Any old chuck ought to manage to hold a drill, ones that don't are called paperweights.

[mnementh]

This is the reason I rotate my scopes to the test rack on a regular basis. I was going to put the Type 321A on test but when I powered it up I was greeted with this mess. No sweep. So today on the bench for troubleshooting.



I figured another one of the germanium 2N2207 transistors had gone tin whisker short so armed with nothing more than the 87 set to ohms went to work. And in 5 minutes found the problem. Q183 in the pix. That 2N2207 had a tin whisker short back when I first got the scope and was replaced by me. Well, I should have checked my solder work a little more closely. The top lead (emitter) cold solder joint and had pulled away from the terminal strip.  Do I kick myself in arse now or later?  Oh well.

   Works great with good solder joints.     

A man made it, a man fucked it up, a man can fix it. 

Good sleuthing Sherlock!

mnem
good lord... 5, no 8 pages of catchup. Just imagining how bad it'd be if I were here stirring the shit...

[Specmaster]

Here is my drill, standard keyless chuck, never had any problems with drills slipping in the chuck etc, good hammer action when needed, drilled hundreds of holes with it, so have my sons, even in concrete. All it needs is some muscles to tighten the chuck and away you go. Modern keyless chucks are a million miles away from those early ones that were to be found on Black and Decker drills and the like. 

Chuck quality is more about balance, concentricity and runout. Any old chuck ought to manage to hold a drill, ones that don't are called paperweights.

Well this one runs good and true, as I said I have had no problems, if I drill 4mm hole, I get a 4mm hole, not 4.5 or 5mm one so I assume it runs true. As far as I'm concerned its perfectly upto the job of drilling holes especially the type of holes most people ever need to make. If you were talking about absolute precision then you world would certainly not be looking for a handheld drill.

[tggzzz]

If anybody wants a nixie-based RACAL 836 frequecy counter, Mendip Auctions[1] would probably accept £20+23%+VAT+shipping. It didn't sell in the live auction at that price, I've offered lower but they won't nibble.
https://www.i-bidder.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/mendip-auction-rooms/catalogue-id-srmen10153/lot-cca928bc-415e-49e6-9d0d-ad8f0096467c

[1] a good example of why you need to get a well-known auctioneer, preferably avoiding those where you can't grow vegetables in your garden because of the high Pb and Cd in the soil. (The Romans' health and safety practices weren't good enough )

[mnementh]

Gentlemen! Gentlemen!

Remember - it's not the destination it's the journey. We're all here together post 100k!

 

To certain definitions of here, yes. Having barely survived the carnage of filling and emptying  a 26 foot truck in two days, I have aches in place I didn't know I had places.

But I have a plate of reheated bacon & fried eggs, my favorite mug is full of fresh coffee, my laptop is on the WiFi, and I'm sitting at my desk perusing the TEA. We shall assiduously ignore the fact said desk has no drawers in it and is just plopped in the middle of the living room which looks like an estate sale right now. 

All is right with the world.

mnem

[Specmaster]

Went to North Weald on Sunday hoping to catch the Russian Spitfire on its way to the Shuttleworth airshow, but just missed it, as we arrived at the gates, it was departing in the distance. Anyway, we did catch it upon its return and once again got help put it back in the hangar.

[mnementh]

   Also found in my cheap-ass curb-score Samsuck TV... and on Amazon for $12 delivered: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07LCBLB8N

mnem
*clicky-clicky...clickety-clickety...*

There are half a dozen cute little relays in the thing. Keyboard : tactile switches, however not the cheap kind : Look at them, 100% metallic construction ?!     Never seen luxurious ones like that... probably because all the ones I salvaged came form cheap consumer devices, not pro stuff made for field use !

Thank you for burning 10 dollars from my bank account.

  did I do now?!?

mnem
*looks all over his keyboard for the "burn $10 from your bank account" macro...*

It's those darn tactile switches you found on Amazon!  His currency is not the Canadian peso, so it is only $10 instead of $12.99 CAD.

-- you can tell a Canadian price by the .99 cause it appears a whole dollar cheaper that way 

EDIT:  still holding on to my wallet ... Must resist ...

Oh... now I see. I thought Z was blaming me for something Vince  said. Looks like the "nested quotes mismatch bug" in SMF bit us both.

Huh... I always thought the xxx99.99 pricing thing was mostly a 'merkin flimflam marketeering thing. Guess I shouldn't be surprised the infection crossed the border ahead of me. 

As for the switches... why resist...? I bought them cuz I needed 6 of the metal ones to fix that curb-score Samsuck TV; and we both know there's no way in hell the rest of the kit will go unused in any of our labs. For 10 bux, a total no-brainer.

mnem
 

In the end, could not resist.

However, these cost me much more than the $12.99 CAD.

The dog got very excited on the arrival of the delivery person.  Yeah, we do not get many visitors out here.

A friend who lives slightly further out into the boonies told me that Amazon does not deliver to them, and instead uses Purolator for delivery service.

Anyways, in the excitement, the dog got accidentally tangled up in a table cloth. 
Said table cloth covered a work table of 42" by 96" .... in turn completely covered by completed LEGO sets (some completed per LEGO instructions, some completed with custom designed add-ons by the kid).
Everything ended up on the floor in bits scattered everywhere (and some bits in places other than the floor) 

It took almost an hour to pick up all the LEGO, inspect the room, find more LEGO pieces, inspect again, find more pieces ... and so on. 
I have no idea how much time it is going to take to rebuild all those LEGOs, with the kid asking for help to find the pieces he wants from the parts boxes.

SWMBO saying that she could finally put the tablecloth in the laundry is not sufficient consolation by any means .... 

... all of this for just a tiny box of switches 

I'll take the grief for that collateral assache as long as I also get the credit for remotely, and without any direct interaction, keeping said kids out of the skate park and/or blowing hundreds of dollars at the arcade for the last 2 days. 

mnem

[Zucca]

I would like to start a new project, number 134 on my list.

I need an old portable DMM, requirements:

1) Must have a large needle display!
2) As cheap as it can be
3) possibly still easily available on the used market
4) banana 4mm input jacks
5) easy to disassemble/hack.
6) nice to have: good old feeling
7) nice to have: not a company big writing on the front

Simpson 260, Triplett 630? any other suggestions?

EDIT: DMM and needle does not compute. thanks mansa.

[mnementh]

And it had the cables/grabbers!   

-Pat

Oh, wow Pat... what a score on the LA plugin. I've never seen one of those before. 

mnem
 

[bd139]

I would like to start a new project, number 134 on my list.

I need an old portable DMM, requirements:

1) Must have a large needle display!
2) As cheap as it can be
3) possibly still easily available on the used market
4) banana 4mm input jacks
5) easy to disassemble/hack.
6) nice to have: good old feeling
7) nice to have: not a company big writing on the front

Simpson 260, Triplett 630? any other suggestions?

8 ) enough room on top for a light bulb?

[Kosmic]

I would like to start a new project, number 134 on my list.

I need an old portable DMM, requirements:

1) Must have a large needle display!
2) As cheap as it can be
3) possibly still easily available on the used market
4) banana 4mm input jacks
5) easy to disassemble/hack.
6) nice to have: good old feeling
7) nice to have: not a company big writing on the front

Simpson 260, Triplett 630? any other suggestions?

Triplett 800

[BU508A]

I would like to start a new project, number 134 on my list.

I need an old portable DMM, requirements:

1) Must have a large needle display!
2) As cheap as it can be
3) possibly still easily available on the used market
4) banana 4mm input jacks
5) easy to disassemble/hack.
6) nice to have: good old feeling
7) nice to have: not a company big writing on the front
8 ) enough space to add an E27 socket

Simpson 260, Triplett 630? any other suggestions?

Fixed that for you. 

Edit:
Dang! bd139 beat me to it! 

[cyclin_al]

I don't know about GSP, but even domestic shipping in the US is sporadic these days. Sometimes stuff shows up days ahead of schedule. Other times, days or weeks late.

My experience is not with GSP, but with the regular mail system.

A small package of microcontroller SOCs from California just crossed into Canada destined to me.
The date on the packing slip is July 2020 ... 14 months and still not arrived...

[Kosmic]

Dang, I never realized MrCarlson had so many Tek scopes!

[xrunner]

Dude your meter was on LSD? 

Triplett 800