Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[xrunner]

GPSDO Display Progress

This is the mounting solution for the processor board I came up with.

Considerations entertained -

Space flight requirements: Negative
Military battlefield requirements: Negative
Child proof requirements: Negative

Using an existing design, I added a support structure to enable it to slide into the existing channels in the case. A ~1 hour 3D print.

It will be held in by the two end cover plates (yet to be designed) so no need for any more holes in the case. It's shifted to one side in consideration of the RS-232 connector to be mounted on the rear cover plate.

[beanflying]

Cheapish 34401A in Oz BIN $450AUD posted if you have evilbay plus eBay auction: #324806397691

[cyclin_al]

GPSDO Display Progress

This is the mounting solution for the processor board I came up with.

Considerations entertained -

Space flight requirements: Negative
Military battlefield requirements: Negative
Child proof requirements: Negative

Using an existing design, I added a support structure to enable it to slide into the existing channels in the case. A ~1 hour 3D print.

It will be held in by the two end cover plates (yet to be designed) so no need for any more holes in the case. It's shifted to one side in consideration of the RS-232 connector to be mounted on the rear cover plate.

That looks quite elegant!
More motivation to look at getting a 3DP.  Not yet; got something else to pay for shortly...

[25 CPS]

Cheapish 34401A in Oz BIN $450AUD posted if you have evilbay plus eBay auction: #324806397691

I looked at the auction and it said "Pickup and inspection welcome" despite being listed in Sydney.  I thought Sydney was in the middle of draconian lockdown hell right now based on what one of my best friends who lives there was telling me a few weeks ago.  Is that no longer the case?

[beanflying]

Cheapish 34401A in Oz BIN $450AUD posted if you have evilbay plus eBay auction: #324806397691

I looked at the auction and it said "Pickup and inspection welcome" despite being listed in Sydney.  I thought Sydney was in the middle of draconian lockdown hell right now based on what one of my best friends who lives there was telling me a few weeks ago.  Is that no longer the case?

Given we have around 6% of the deaths per capita of Canada give me Draconian please and it is an 'annoyance and inconvenience' when compared to DEAD! We were 4 months behind the bulk of the Western World with vaccinations with Delta circulating as the dominant strain due to our Federal Farce having ballsed up Vaccines .

You will find that standard format across all of that sellers items for sale.

[25 CPS]

Cheapish 34401A in Oz BIN $450AUD posted if you have evilbay plus eBay auction: #324806397691

I looked at the auction and it said "Pickup and inspection welcome" despite being listed in Sydney.  I thought Sydney was in the middle of draconian lockdown hell right now based on what one of my best friends who lives there was telling me a few weeks ago.  Is that no longer the case?

Given we have around 6% of the deaths per capita of Canada give me Draconian please and it is an 'annoyance and inconvenience' when compared to DEAD! We were 4 months behind the bulk of the Western World with vaccinations with Delta circulating as the dominant strain due to our Federal Farce having ballsed up Vaccines .

You will find that standard format across all of that sellers items for sale.

The more extreme, the better?

[beanflying]

No you muppet the less DEAD the better. The works out to 25,000 less Canadians in the ground over the last year and a bit just to make it clear. And in the case of the USA that would be 650,000 less DEAD.

No one on the North American continent is in any place to lecture or give advice on lockdowns effectiveness. Yep we are over them but 'draconian' is complete frogshit!

[mansaxel]

Most hex head screws respond pretty well to Reason, which is my name for this arbiter of persuasion..

Gewaltig ist des Schlossers Kraft wenn er mit einem Hebel schafft!
(didn't see Neper's earlier post.)

Aber natürlich! I did turn a high strength M12 screw to plastic with it once; the shear surface looked like the tip of a soft icecream pour when it's come off the machine. The wheel bearing kit came with a new screw, so no pain in that, but I took a break and let the rust dissolver work a bit longer. The remaining 3 screws came off nicely.

[Robert763]

Other areas of France, other tradgedies....
OT of course but isn't that what this thread is all about? I thought I'd throw this in for BD139 and, well... general safety while troubleshooting.
Just been working on an old (French-made Ribet-Desjardins) turntable.
Of course being old, French, and small series hand crafted equipment made building in a fuse optional.
We all know dim bulb testing is for wimps, right?
I had it plugged in spinning some AC/DC, trying to estimate what needed doing to it, no sound but maybe the transformer was humming a little too loud. (Still it was quiet compared to the blast that followed.)
The PS filter went off with the loudest bang I've heard since playing with series charged microwave oven capacitors.
The panel containing the ampifiers jumped at me while the PS filter cap nuked the closest PCB.
Now I have a whole lot more work than expected just cleaning the fluff n foil out, then there's the PCB to rebuild...
Fit fuses, use a dim bulb tester, wear goggles, ear protection, condoms, work with the other hand in your pocket...

Thanks for making me smile, it hurts a little less 

And people ride my arse about replacing all old electrolytics. I rest my case. 

Hopefully the damage can be fixed. Those boards took quite the hit.   

Actually in my experience that type of filter capacitor explosive failure is secondary to a rectifier failing. Re-capping won't stop that. A dried out capacitor won't explode because A. there is no liquid left to boil and B. there is no seal to allow the pressure to build up.

[med6753]

Other areas of France, other tradgedies....
OT of course but isn't that what this thread is all about? I thought I'd throw this in for BD139 and, well... general safety while troubleshooting.
Just been working on an old (French-made Ribet-Desjardins) turntable.
Of course being old, French, and small series hand crafted equipment made building in a fuse optional.
We all know dim bulb testing is for wimps, right?
I had it plugged in spinning some AC/DC, trying to estimate what needed doing to it, no sound but maybe the transformer was humming a little too loud. (Still it was quiet compared to the blast that followed.)
The PS filter went off with the loudest bang I've heard since playing with series charged microwave oven capacitors.
The panel containing the ampifiers jumped at me while the PS filter cap nuked the closest PCB.
Now I have a whole lot more work than expected just cleaning the fluff n foil out, then there's the PCB to rebuild...
Fit fuses, use a dim bulb tester, wear goggles, ear protection, condoms, work with the other hand in your pocket...

Thanks for making me smile, it hurts a little less 

And people ride my arse about replacing all old electrolytics. I rest my case. 

Hopefully the damage can be fixed. Those boards took quite the hit.   

Actually in my experience that type of filter capacitor explosive failure is secondary to a rectifier failing. Re-capping won't stop that. A dried out capacitor won't explode because A. there is no liquid left to boil and B. there is no seal to allow the pressure to build up.

Well yes, it was revealed that the root cause in this case was 240V applied to a 120V primary. That's bound to have negative consequences. And I have also encountered electrolytics that were so dried out that you could shake them and hear it rattling on the inside. But you never know that even with proper applied voltage that one of the supposed "good" 50 to 60 year old cans won't suddenly decide one day to celebrate the 4th of July. I'd rather not take that chance.     

[med6753]

Could it be? The 547 coffee mug arrived at my local Newburgh, NY distribution center last night. Now if they don't screw up and move it to my local PO this morning I should have it delivered today.

We will see. 

[Specmaster]

Other areas of France, other tradgedies....
OT of course but isn't that what this thread is all about? I thought I'd throw this in for BD139 and, well... general safety while troubleshooting.
Just been working on an old (French-made Ribet-Desjardins) turntable.
Of course being old, French, and small series hand crafted equipment made building in a fuse optional.
We all know dim bulb testing is for wimps, right?
I had it plugged in spinning some AC/DC, trying to estimate what needed doing to it, no sound but maybe the transformer was humming a little too loud. (Still it was quiet compared to the blast that followed.)
The PS filter went off with the loudest bang I've heard since playing with series charged microwave oven capacitors.
The panel containing the ampifiers jumped at me while the PS filter cap nuked the closest PCB.
Now I have a whole lot more work than expected just cleaning the fluff n foil out, then there's the PCB to rebuild...
Fit fuses, use a dim bulb tester, wear goggles, ear protection, condoms, work with the other hand in your pocket...

Thanks for making me smile, it hurts a little less 

And people ride my arse about replacing all old electrolytics. I rest my case. 

Hopefully the damage can be fixed. Those boards took quite the hit.   

Actually in my experience that type of filter capacitor explosive failure is secondary to a rectifier failing. Re-capping won't stop that. A dried out capacitor won't explode because A. there is no liquid left to boil and B. there is no seal to allow the pressure to build up.

Well yes, it was revealed that the root cause in this case was 240V applied to a 120V primary. That's bound to have negative consequences. And I have also encountered electrolytics that were so dried out that you could shake them and hear it rattling on the inside. But you never know that even with proper applied voltage that one of the supposed "good" 50 to 60 year old cans won't suddenly decide one day to celebrate the 4th of July. I'd rather not take that chance.     

In my experience, the biggest cause of electrolytics exploding like that tend to be either massively over voltages as in this case or reversed polarity.

[AVGresponding]

In my experience, the biggest cause of electrolytics exploding like that tend to be either massively over voltages as in this case or reversed polarity.

An encounter with bd139, in other words...

[BU508A]

Could it be? The 547 coffee mug arrived at my local Newburgh, NY distribution center last night. Now if they don't screw up and move it to my local PO this morning I should have it delivered today.

We will see.

keep my fingers crossed.

[Vince]

Hunt for plastic P clips.

Yea P clamps, cable clamps - all over Ebay. I have a whole box full of different sizes like those but white.

Vince - I know how picky you are  They ain't going to be exactly the same design, they ain't going to be exactly the same color. You have to decide how important that will be.

Thanks people. P clip it's called then... indeed lots of relevant matches on the web !

However nothing suitable cosmetically.  Yes Xrunner you are right, it needs to look "factory" so as to look credible... otherwise the resulting appearance will do much more harm than good ! 
I mean the only reason I would like to replace the broken clip here and there is purely for aesthetic reasons nothing more. From a mechanical/functional perspective these broken clips have zero consequence, as by now the wiring harnesses are so stiff that they hardly need any support, it's not the clip holding the harnesses in place it's more like the other way around !

So I think the best course of action is to replace the broken one with identical ones from a donor scope, and if I can't find the correct size(s) that I need, might just super the two pieces of the broken ones back together again, for aesthetics.  And BTW I don't understand the difference between aesthetics and cosmetics.... so just using the words interchangeably sorry !    I am sure you will get the message anyway, you are a clever bunch.

[AVGresponding]

Cosmetics refers to the things that alter the appearance of something without necessarily affecting the function, aesthetics refers to the way the cosmetics fit in (or otherwise) with the general style and/or appearance of the object in question.

[Specmaster]

In my experience, the biggest cause of electrolytics exploding like that tend to be either massively over voltages as in this case or reversed polarity.

An encounter with bd139, in other words...

I have been known in the past to reverse the polarity and redecorate my parent's ceiling 

[med6753]

Hunt for plastic P clips.

Yea P clamps, cable clamps - all over Ebay. I have a whole box full of different sizes like those but white.

Vince - I know how picky you are  They ain't going to be exactly the same design, they ain't going to be exactly the same color. You have to decide how important that will be.

Thanks people. P clip it's called then... indeed lots of relevant matches on the web !

However nothing suitable cosmetically.  Yes Xrunner you are right, it needs to look "factory" so as to look credible... otherwise the resulting appearance will do much more harm than good ! 
I mean the only reason I would like to replace the broken clip here and there is purely for aesthetic reasons nothing more. From a mechanical/functional perspective these broken clips have zero consequence, as by now the wiring harnesses are so stiff that they hardly need any support, it's not the clip holding the harnesses in place it's more like the other way around !

So I think the best course of action is to replace the broken one with identical ones from a donor scope, and if I can't find the correct size(s) that I need, might just super the two pieces of the broken ones back together again, for aesthetics.  And BTW I don't understand the difference between aesthetics and cosmetics.... so just using the words interchangeably sorry !    I am sure you will get the message anyway, you are a clever bunch.

The original P clips will break just by looking at them and I doubt you'll be able to harvest very many good ones. I break them all the time and if necessary I'll use a cable tie in it's place or if the wiring harness is secure without any replacement I'll just leave it. 

[Vince]

Cosmetics refers to the things that alter the appearance of something without necessarily affecting the function, aesthetics refers to the way the cosmetics fit in (or otherwise) with the general style and/or appearance of the object in question.

OK thanks. So cosmetics is just a down to the earth way of describing what state/condition something is in, hence is objective, whereas the aesthetics refers to the "artistic" aspect of an object, the beauty of it, which is irrational, subjective.

So to sum it up I guess I could say that my 575 has beautiful aesthetics but very poor cosmetics inside out ?! 

[beanflying]

Hunt for plastic P clips.

Yea P clamps, cable clamps - all over Ebay. I have a whole box full of different sizes like those but white.

Vince - I know how picky you are  They ain't going to be exactly the same design, they ain't going to be exactly the same color. You have to decide how important that will be.

Thanks people. P clip it's called then... indeed lots of relevant matches on the web !

However nothing suitable cosmetically.  Yes Xrunner you are right, it needs to look "factory" so as to look credible... otherwise the resulting appearance will do much more harm than good ! 
I mean the only reason I would like to replace the broken clip here and there is purely for aesthetic reasons nothing more. From a mechanical/functional perspective these broken clips have zero consequence, as by now the wiring harnesses are so stiff that they hardly need any support, it's not the clip holding the harnesses in place it's more like the other way around !

So I think the best course of action is to replace the broken one with identical ones from a donor scope, and if I can't find the correct size(s) that I need, might just super the two pieces of the broken ones back together again, for aesthetics.  And BTW I don't understand the difference between aesthetics and cosmetics.... so just using the words interchangeably sorry !    I am sure you will get the message anyway, you are a clever bunch.

The original P clips will break just by looking at them and I doubt you'll be able to harvest very many good ones. I break them all the time and if necessary I'll use a cable tie in it's place or if the wiring harness is secure without any replacement I'll just leave it. 

This is also why some of us have 3D printers and 3-4 minutes of CAD time 

[Vince]

This is also why some of us have 3D printers and 3-4 minutes of CAD time 

Yes that's because you are already proficient using a 3D printer and  CAD modelling. I am not...

But yes here and there I can see how a 3D printer could make sense for me. Will probably buy one "one day"...

However I don't know if these cheap consumer grade melted filament printers would be up to the job ?

Clip obviously has to use clear plastic, does that exit for this style of printer ?
Plastic would have to be flexible once the part is printed, of course...
Also the surface/finish should be perfectly smooth to look good.. not sure this can be guaranteed. Might need to sand down the little ridges these printers make as they stack layer upon layer. Sanding would most likely render the clear plastic...opaque. Might come back to being clear fine polishing, like modern cars plastic head lights though ? Still, a lot of work....   Could still be worth a shot at least to see if it's a dead end of if it can indeed yield a satisfactory result.  If it's not, then might still b worth at least creating the 3D model for these clips, for you can e-mail to professional 3D printing companies that have million dollar printers suing a different technology and a broader choice of material. Maybe they can manage to do something that works. Would be expensive for just one part of course but  if you order a bag of them, since there are many in a scope, might bring the cost per unit down...

So yeah, I guess where there is a will (and a wallet), there is a way !

[Cerebus]

Cosmetics refers to the things that alter the appearance of something without necessarily affecting the function, aesthetics refers to the way the cosmetics fit in (or otherwise) with the general style and/or appearance of the object in question.

Just so, but I'd add that aesthetics is generally used more to do with the individual perceptual response to the style or appearance, aesthetic coming from a greek root for perceive/feel. Contrast with anaesthetic - numbed, without feeling. Whether something is "aesthetically pleasing" is a matter of individual taste and/or style; using aesthetic is more than just saying "looks good", it implies a question of (personal) philosophy about what "looks good".

[beanflying]

This is also why some of us have 3D printers and 3-4 minutes of CAD time 

Yes that's because you are already proficient using a 3D printer and  CAD modelling. I am not...

But yes here and there I can see how a 3D printer could make sense for me. Will probably buy one "one day"...

However I don't know if these cheap consumer grade melted filament printers would be up to the job ?

Clip obviously has to use clear plastic, does that exit for this style of printer ?
Plastic would have to be flexible once the part is printed, of course...
Also the surface/finish should be perfectly smooth to look good.. not sure this can be guaranteed. Might need to sand down the little ridges these printers make as they stack layer upon layer. Sanding would most likely render the clear plastic...opaque. Might come back to being clear fine polishing, like modern cars plastic head lights though ? Still, a lot of work....   Could still be worth a shot at least to see if it's a dead end of if it can indeed yield a satisfactory result.  If it's not, then might still b worth at least creating the 3D model for these clips, for you can e-mail to professional 3D printing companies that have million dollar printers suing a different technology and a broader choice of material. Maybe they can manage to do something that works. Would be expensive for just one part of course but  if you order a bag of them, since there are many in a scope, might bring the cost per unit down...

So yeah, I guess where there is a will (and a wallet), there is a way !

Ender 3 at about $200USD and a roll of PETG in clear would do you nicely  The CAD modelling is a time thing and like most things in life the more you do the faster and better you get at it.

That roughy model btw would print as you see it so the layers would run around the loop and give you flex without breakage and for the toughest result on the screw hole a washer to spread the load across those layers. I wouldn't sand it either it will never be an injection molded part and while Resin printers give better resolution the prints tend toward more brittle over FDM.

Really early print of mine on my CR10S using PETG clear roll ends below. Few blobs on the fine edges caused by a lack of supports on the print and maybe the retraction needed tweaking.

[AaronLee]

I would start simple. A great simple starting point would be a VTVM. They generally have a dual diode tube and a dual triode tube. And best of all it's useful in the lab. That 564 would probably overwhelm you, especially with the plug-in's. And as I mentioned you should have a plug-in extender. They do show up on Ebay once in a while and a quick check shows one for 560 series for the stupid price of $50.00 USD. IMHO that's robbery.

You're trying to say that $50 for a 560 series is way too much? Or way too cheap? What would you consider to be a good price for a 560 series, meaning a balance between being too cheap and too expensive?

[Vince]

OK so it can do clear plastic, that's good to know.... the ridges are a no-no so, too ugly, defeats the purpose...

Maybe make a little mold instead, and and poor that same clear plastic the printer is using, by hand into the mold.

I could make a mold (metallic/ reusable) of the "unfolded" clip, the exterior part of it, which is what you get to see. That would make for a flat surface for the inner part of the clip, but it's probably what it is anyway and if not... well who cares as you don't get to see it anyway, and it would still be plenty functional.
Then I could to fold it back onto itself, to "close" it, give its final shape, I could just apply some gentle, controlled heat using my hot air station to soften it in the middle, just enough for it to want to bend into position.

Metallic mold don't know how to make... I guess once I have made the CAD model for it, I can get it done easily by a DIY/consumer grade CNC machine, or just get it done by a professional shop somewhere.

Yeah sounds like a lot of fun, a nice winter project...