Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tautech]

Yes Tautech, I understand, you are not susceptible to nostalgia, you are a robot, cold heart and all that... I get that ! 

But I am not like that !    Am I allowed to have sentiments where you don't ? 

It's not that I live in the past, but at least for me, the present factually sucks and the future promises nothing but being 10 times worse, so if I can find a little comfort with my old souvenirs, how is that bad and reprehensible ?! 

Plus it's also that I DO like these little TDS200 ! Just like I love my old glowing Tek scopes ! Not because of their performance, but just because of industrial design.
We did have other scopes at school, like lots of Metrix scopes, these were junk, and I have no desire to get them !

So you see, it's not like I was holding to ANYTHING of my old days just for the sake of it... I also have to actually like the items in some way ! 

Actually I don't understand you recurrent hate for old scopes/stuff. I understand you sell new Siglent stuff so are biased, but I like my old stuff, it's good enough for me, why should I force myself to spend money and use some newer device I don't like and don't really need to begin with ?!
It's TEA here, people like to gather old stuff.. do you want them to scrap all their instrument because it's all old " junk " ?! 
I don't get it... 

Should I scrap all my glowing Tek scopes because they don't stand the comparison with your Siglent scopes ?!

It's like 100% missing the point ! I am not a company looking to invest money in a scope for a specific need to complete a particular design project... I am just a hobbyist, I buy stuff that appeals to me that's all ! My scopes do everything I want and need them to do, why should I waste money on a newer scope that I don't even like nor need ?! I am under no obligation to buy anything, I just buy what I like and can afford !

I am sorry my 575 curve tracer does not stand the comparison with a more modern 10.000  or 30.000 dollars Sony/Tek tracer, but I couldn't give a toss about it, I like my 575 and it's going nowhere !

Why do you feel the need to always look down on my old stuff ? It's depressing and mean I find, sorry I am telling it as I see it ! 
You brought me on TEA yet it looks like you don't  understand why people here buy the old stuff that they buy ?! 

I am confused about your recurrent violent negative reactions about older stuff. This thread is about old stuff, what's the point of complaining about old stuff then ?!

You really confuse me, I am sorry

I have zero hate for the old stuff as after all what we have today evolved from it.
But what amuses me is the coin some will splash on these early DSO's just because they were made by a legacy brand when they are so underspec'ed vs modern day stuff for not a lot more cost and with warranty and all.

We have been with Siglent for 8 years and back then many of their DSO's had little more to offer than 1000B or 2000B Teks other than they were much cheaper and time has proven them to be sturdy and reliable units yet over those years we have been courted by all other Asian brands except GW Instek whom already have a long standing NZ distributor which I nearly brought one of their models before the Tek TDS2012B popped up on our local online marketplace but shit that was nearly 2 decades ago when Siglent was still a glint in their principle's eyes.

But Vince I do get how everyone here in TEA gets a kick of restoring the old classics as especially in our lifetimes few of us could ever afford such equipment new ....that's if we had plans to own our own house. House or scope. Well if the woman in your life has an input on that then zero scope !

I have a bit of what you accuse me of calling old crap but with no use for it 2 little Aaron CRO's are going to one of our customers which he worked on years back when the NZ Navy had a pile of them.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/aaron-bs-310s-cro-mini-teardowm/

So just a couple of Phillips scopes, an HP 1640 and a 2 MHz Phillips sig gen to quit now when the right people come along then if I ever get this TDS2012B to work again it can go too then all nice shiny demos to play with and at costs that most would be envious of. 

[bd139]

This thread diversion is quite funny.

I buy stuff to play with it. Play is an essential part of life and the generation of culture.

Tautech has mastered the art of getting to play with stuff and make a living out of it. I salute him 

[syau]

Enjoy! No rabbit hole is deeper than the HP 3458A one. I will never buy one! 

The worst is it will multiply 

[med6753]

This thread diversion is quite funny.

I buy stuff to play with it. Play is an essential part of life and the generation of culture.

Tautech has mastered the art of getting to play with stuff and make a living out of it. I salute him 

I buy old stuff because...well.....because I'm a grouchy old bastard. 

[med6753]

In other news...

The control board in my window A/C unit took a giant shit.  It keeps cycling between modes all by itself and beeping. And won't respond to any inputs. It's 10 years old and been driven hard so I guess I can't be surprised. And luckily this happen at the end of the cooling season. I'm tempted to try to figure out how to pull the control board but it probably won't be worth the effort. I guess it's headed for re-cycle and I'll purchase a new one come next Spring.   

[tggzzz]

And never forget "Royal Mail" -> "Consignia" -> "Royal Mail".

Wow! That one must have demanded a severe brainstorming strain stroke.

Top-dog MBA arrives and needs to piss over everything to mark it as their territory and to do something to justify their "incentives". "Something must be done, this is something therefore this must be done".

Another prime example of that was princess Carly Fiorina in HP.

Usually rebranding is red flag that an organisation has lost its way and the canopy management doesn't know how to fix that.

[AVGresponding]

That always annoyed me. I named my limited company the most insidious sounding dystopian company name I could possibly come up with just to troll recruiters. And no I'm not posting it here as you can link it right back to me via companies house 

"Big Soylent Replicant Brother"?

[AVGresponding]

I also brought some spares in case my own 210 ever needs them replaced and also should I see another going cheaply, they might be needed for that as well. This one is for flipping once its all back together again, they are a good source of income if you get the mix right and the profit will help to offset the recent extra car expenses 

OK.... so that means you will buy all the decently priced TDS2XX for the coming year until you have finally paid for your cam belt and clutch, is that it ?! 

So I have to wait a year before it's even worth bothering searching for one  ! 

Would love a TDS 220 or 224 rather than a basic 210. Want the optional " Communications Interface "module at the back of it, too.

That makes the search much more difficult than a simple 210 without the module.

Am in no hurry and plenty other priorities though, so it will have to wait... a few years probalby. Maybe by then prices will have become reasonable...or not ! 

I have a surplus TDS 210 with the comms module... it's in nice condition apart from having a replacement 3DP power button and comes in a hard carry case. PM me if you are interested.

[AVGresponding]

In other news...

The control board in my window A/C unit took a giant shit.  It keeps cycling between modes all by itself and beeping. And won't respond to any inputs. It's 10 years old and been driven hard so I guess I can't be surprised. And luckily this happen at the end of the cooling season. I'm tempted to try to figure out how to pull the control board but it probably won't be worth the effort. I guess it's headed for re-cycle and I'll purchase a new one come next Spring.   

99% some dogshit no-brand smd cap or transistor has shit the bed.

Mmmmm, smd recapping... you know you want to!

[capt bullshot]

In other news...

The control board in my window A/C unit took a giant shit.  It keeps cycling between modes all by itself and beeping. And won't respond to any inputs. It's 10 years old and been driven hard so I guess I can't be surprised. And luckily this happen at the end of the cooling season. I'm tempted to try to figure out how to pull the control board but it probably won't be worth the effort. I guess it's headed for re-cycle and I'll purchase a new one come next Spring.   

Might be just one stuck button - IMO worth a quick check.

[AVGresponding]

In other news...

The control board in my window A/C unit took a giant shit.  It keeps cycling between modes all by itself and beeping. And won't respond to any inputs. It's 10 years old and been driven hard so I guess I can't be surprised. And luckily this happen at the end of the cooling season. I'm tempted to try to figure out how to pull the control board but it probably won't be worth the effort. I guess it's headed for re-cycle and I'll purchase a new one come next Spring.   

Might be just one stuck button - IMO worth a quick check.

Come to think of it, didn't Dave do a video on a similar problem he had? Let me go find the vid...



EDIT: Here

[nfmax]

This thread diversion is quite funny.

I buy stuff to play with it. Play is an essential part of life and the generation of culture.

Tautech has mastered the art of getting to play with stuff and make a living out of it. I salute him 

I buy old stuff because...well.....because I'm a grouchy old bastard. 

To mis-quote Elton John:

What's it to you? It's my money, and I like oscilloscopes!

 

[beanflying]

In other news...

The control board in my window A/C unit took a giant shit.  It keeps cycling between modes all by itself and beeping. And won't respond to any inputs. It's 10 years old and been driven hard so I guess I can't be surprised. And luckily this happen at the end of the cooling season. I'm tempted to try to figure out how to pull the control board but it probably won't be worth the effort. I guess it's headed for re-cycle and I'll purchase a new one come next Spring.   

Turn it off and back on again - Microsnot Technical Support 

[beanflying]

Slowly getting my head around the '3DSpace Mouse' and using it productively in the workflow. Learning 3D R/C Heli Aerobatics was easier albeit it more expensive when the ground/post/tree got in the way......

[tautech]

This thread diversion is quite funny.

I buy stuff to play with it. Play is an essential part of life and the generation of culture.

Tautech has mastered the art of getting to play with stuff and make a living out of it. I salute him 

If only I did.....not yet anyway as we haven't been greedy accepting and taking on the advances of other brands.

Other skills were needed today when Larry Minor came out with; pop can you look at the tire on that borrowed silage wagon full of flood damaged green peppers scored free for stock food ?
Looks like it picked up a screw on the way home pop and could you stick one of those tire dog turds (rubber plug) in it.

Well some can't tell a tubed tire for tubeless and of course the bitch was tubed which should have been straightforward enough if the 1/2" rattle gun would spin the nuts off but no way ! So 3/4" drive gear for a 24mm nut  and it still needed a length of pipe on the ratchet.
Bead broke easily enough with my trusty beast of a homemade slide hammer so had the tube out in just a minute of two where the hole was simple to find and a 2" patch we always have on hand applied and all ready for reassembly.......then things turned to poo !

Well it's not like this was my first rodeo as my first job was in a sawmill mechanics shop and given the title of tire boy. 
Car tires I quickly mastered as they had an old school tire machine with which you bore a long lever and walked around the tire to work the bead off. Truck tires were another world as the weakling I was I could barely flip the things over until a year or so later when I started a couple years of weight lifting.

Back to today....tubed tires when initially inflated run the risk of the tube sucking the stem back inside the rim....something that may catch the unwary and has me just once before which sticks in your mind never to let it happen again !
Well it did  and there's only ONE recovery....puncture the tube so to be able to get the tire apart again and set the tube up more carefully. 2nd patch applied  and all back together 2nd time without drama.
Each day is very different here at Tautechsville. 

Sorry about the big pic as MS Pic Manager has not yet made it to this PC. 
Pic updated with smaller size.

[Specmaster]

I also brought some spares in case my own 210 ever needs them replaced and also should I see another going cheaply, they might be needed for that as well. This one is for flipping once its all back together again, they are a good source of income if you get the mix right and the profit will help to offset the recent extra car expenses 

OK.... so that means you will buy all the decently priced TDS2XX for the coming year until you have finally paid for your cam belt and clutch, is that it ?! 

So I have to wait a year before it's even worth bothering searching for one  ! 

Would love a TDS 220 or 224 rather than a basic 210. Want the optional " Communications Interface "module at the back of it, too.

That makes the search much more difficult than a simple 210 without the module.

Am in no hurry and plenty other priorities though, so it will have to wait... a few years probalby. Maybe by then prices will have become reasonable...or not ! 

Nah, your OK there Vince, I'm no threat to you bagging one for yourself, I'm not looking for anything outside of the UK because of the now, stupid cost of getting it into the UK, even from France, so you would have the same issue there.

A clutch!, not me mate, I'm a DSG guy  .

Now a TDS224, is what I'd also like, but they seem to be as rare as hens teeth here 

I know a lot of folks sort of sneer at these low level scopes with their very basic capabilities, but the truth is that they complement our very fine Fluke/Philips PM33xx scopes very nicely, we're not going to fire one of those up just to grab a check for a signal, but a TDS 2xx is fine for that kind of function as is my TTi SM630 (20Mhz).

Loving your work on the 575, I just don't have the room for anything that big in my shoebox sized lab 

[Neper]

Result, all companies have nonsensical names that all look and sound similar so when you hear a name you have no idea what the company is/does, and you can easily mistake one for another.

There are still positive examples. How about the Société Momentanée pour le Démantèlement des outils de la phase à chaud d'ArcelorMittal à Liège.

Ralf

[Specmaster]

In other news...

The control board in my window A/C unit took a giant shit.  It keeps cycling between modes all by itself and beeping. And won't respond to any inputs. It's 10 years old and been driven hard so I guess I can't be surprised. And luckily this happen at the end of the cooling season. I'm tempted to try to figure out how to pull the control board but it probably won't be worth the effort. I guess it's headed for re-cycle and I'll purchase a new one come next Spring.   

Might be just one stuck button - IMO worth a quick check.

Come to think of it, didn't Dave do a video on a similar problem he had? Let me go find the vid...



EDIT: Here

I had the same issues with some TEAC audio units so I have plenty of those micro tactile switches in my parts rack now.

[Specmaster]

What I'm really looking for is a supply of adaptors for 4 mm male to 4 mm female bananas and forks to 4 mm female bananas so that I can use standard safety shrouded test leads on other meters that cannot be retrofitted with safety sockets.

Any ideas, eBay has given me a supplier of 4 mm male to female adaptors, so its the fork to female that seems to rather hard to locate.

Homebrew:



The rings or forks are standard stranded wire terminations that match by chance the outer diameter of these nice tubes that have 4mm inner diameter. Don't ask me where to buy these, I found them lingering around in a long time forgotten box at work. Might be extra long crimp ferrules for 10mm² wires?

I've bought brass tubing from Albion Alloys for a non-TE project, available in Metric & Imperial sizes.
https://www.chronos.ltd.uk/product-category/round-square-tube-sheet-metal-ptfe-nylon/albion-alloys-precision-metals/albion-alloys-standard-brass-round-tube-metric/
https://www.chronos.ltd.uk/product-category/round-square-tube-sheet-metal-ptfe-nylon/albion-alloys-precision-metals/albion-alloys-standard-brass-tube-round-imperial/

They have copper tubing in Metric too, is 4.1mm I.D. any good, or too small?
https://www.chronos.ltd.uk/product-category/round-square-tube-sheet-metal-ptfe-nylon/albion-alloys-precision-metals/albion-alloys-standard-round-copper-tube/


I guess they won't be the only supplier of thin brass & copper tubing.

David

Yep, it turns out that Aliexpress have all kinds of adaptors including the ones I need, so have already ordered them, I did post about them in post  #100899 on: September 08, 2021, 08:51:35 pm, or at least there were on that post number, until some smart arse starts deleting posts for the next keystone post 

[mnementh]

This thread diversion is quite funny. I buy stuff to play with it. Play is an essential part of life and the generation of culture.

Tautech has mastered the art of getting to play with stuff and make a living out of it. I salute him 

I buy grouchy old stuff because... well.... because I'm a grouchy old bastard. 

There... FTFY. 

mnem
"I don't need you peeing in my cornflakes every morning... I have a Cupboard of Doom full of TE to do that for me!!!" ~imagined conversation that probably isn't too far off the mark

[mnementh]

That always annoyed me. I named my limited company the most insidious sounding dystopian company name I could possibly come up with just to troll recruiters. And no I'm not posting it here as you can link it right back to me via companies house 

Well, I've tracked down a <your initials and name> Funeral Service Ltd in Hemel.  So many ex clients it was worth starting up a sideline business eh?

That's a coincidence; it's actually his accountant's second business. They decided it was better to consolidate the two for tax purposes, as his accountant also manages THE LIST.

mnem

[capt bullshot]

Now a TDS224, is what I'd also like, but they seem to be as rare as hens teeth here 

I know a lot of folks sort of sneer at these low level scopes with their very basic capabilities, but the truth is that they complement our very fine Fluke/Philips PM33xx scopes very nicely, we're not going to fire one of those up just to grab a check for a signal, but a TDS 2xx is fine for that kind of function as is my TTi SM630 (20Mhz).

I like the old TDS2xx / TDS20xx scopes, too.
There's a TDS220, a TDS2024 and a TPS2024 in my stash.
Basically, I like their "one button per function / channel" UI, and (except for the TPS2024) the absence of fan noise. I use them as daily drivers.
Back in the days, the TDS220 was "everything that the big fucking 7603 does plus storage" in a small and lightweight form factor, and it's controls were super easy to use if you were used to analog scopes.

Of course I know, a modern Siglent (or Tek, HPAK, R&S) runs circles around these, but most probably I won't buy a NIB one.

At work, I have access to a SDM3055 DMM - no, I don't like it at all - I'd never switch from the 34401A to such one.
The same goes for the Rigol MSO1104Z @work - I really dislike it's UI and I'd always prefer an old TDS over this.
Had no opportunity yet to play with a Siglent scope, but I like that Siglent SA more than the R&S CMU200 ...

[capt bullshot]

Homebrew:



The rings or forks are standard stranded wire terminations that match by chance the outer diameter of these nice tubes that have 4mm inner diameter. Don't ask me where to buy these, I found them lingering around in a long time forgotten box at work. Might be extra long crimp ferrules for 10mm² wires?

Turns out these brass tubes are ferrules indeed. Found a label in said box that says "Kabelendhülsen" ("Aderendhülsen" would be the correct German word, IMO) from a swiss company called "Vogt AG, CH-4654 Lostorf", but no other information.

[mnementh]

In other news...

The control board in my window A/C unit took a giant shit.  It keeps cycling between modes all by itself and beeping. And won't respond to any inputs. It's 10 years old and been driven hard so I guess I can't be surprised. And luckily this happen at the end of the cooling season. I'm tempted to try to figure out how to pull the control board but it probably won't be worth the effort. I guess it's headed for re-cycle and I'll purchase a new one come next Spring.   

99% some dogshit no-brand smd cap or transistor has shit the bed.

Mmmmm, smd recapping... you know you want to!

And you can practice the Carlson technique of crapacitor removal... it's just a jump to the left push and a twist...!   

mnem

[Specmaster]

This thread diversion is quite funny.

I buy stuff to play with it. Play is an essential part of life and the generation of culture.

Tautech has mastered the art of getting to play with stuff and make a living out of it. I salute him 

I buy old stuff simply because I cannot afford anything else. I seriously doubt there is anyone here who, if money was not a problem, would not prefer to have a beautiful array of nice shiny new gear as their goto equipment when repairing / building / forward engineering something. But even then, that new equipment would still contain far more sophisticated capabilities than most of us would ever need or even know how to use. Someone like Shahriar from The Signal Path would be more likely to make far better use of those capabilities, but he is in the minority.