Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Henrik_V]

Single beam, 4 channel scope with the ability to put time base A and B in ALT mode resulting in 8 traces. Not a new concept. When you can display upwards of 16 traces on the mighty dual beam Type 555 then we'll talk. But other than bragging rights why would you want to? 

Needs some more of them... ( I only have one...)

[Andrew_Debbie]

really?  this is a puzzlement to me.  still have multiple 5248's and 5245M's cluttering up the basement (according to swmbo).

and i have already given some away. 


edit.  oh crap.  just thought about it and realized.......they are hard to find because you are not looking in my basement.

Post like this make me want to move back to America.    Life in rural Wales has many advantages, but I miss out on many opportunities.

[Brumby]

Try Australia.  You'll be feeling positively disadvantaged.

(Although we do have Dave - and some of us are "just up the road" from him.)

[BU508A]

Electronics Plush:

https://www.getdigital.co.uk/electronics-plush.html

[Robert763]

Single beam, 4 channel scope with the ability to put time base A and B in ALT mode resulting in 8 traces. Not a new concept. When you can display upwards of 16 traces on the mighty dual beam Type 555 then we'll talk. But other than bragging rights why would you want to? 

Needs some more of them... ( I only have one...)
(Attachment Link)

That one is a true poor mans logic analyser. It has word trigger. Saw one at a rally a couple of years ago. I was tempted but it wasn't "bargain" price and I'd probably never use it as I have a MSO and two LAs

[ch_scr]

Electronics Plush:

https://www.getdigital.co.uk/electronics-plush.html

Somehow, in its cuteness, it reminds me of this:

[tggzzz]

Post like this make me want to move back to America.    Life in rural Wales has many advantages, but I miss out on many opportunities.

Isn't the grass redder on the other side of the pond, due to fires and drought?

[tggzzz]

Electronics Plush:

https://www.getdigital.co.uk/electronics-plush.html

Those of us of a certain age will remember this


and its modern recreation

[med6753]

really?  this is a puzzlement to me.  still have multiple 5248's and 5245M's cluttering up the basement (according to swmbo).

and i have already given some away. 


edit.  oh crap.  just thought about it and realized.......they are hard to find because you are not looking in my basement.

Post like this make me want to move back to America.    Life in rural Wales has many advantages, but I miss out on many opportunities.

And he does literally have a stack of them. I saw them with me own eyes. Mine came from that stack.

[mansaxel]

really?  this is a puzzlement to me.  still have multiple 5248's and 5245M's cluttering up the basement (according to swmbo).

and i have already given some away. 


edit.  oh crap.  just thought about it and realized.......they are hard to find because you are not looking in my basement.

Does this mean that if we can agree on reimbursement (I can pay your SWMBO if that makes you more eager by proxy) you could be arsed to ship one here?

[mansaxel]

I just hopped onto the bay of evil to look for some microwave bits, and I just realized: I am now within driving distance/cheap 2 day shipping range of AllTest.

Fuck me.   

mnem
Oooohhh... They have a rack-mount 2465B with busted VAR knob for $275 OBO...

The fact that it's rack mount is very tempting, but were I you I'd hold out for the ToD. For anything not directly life-supporting.  The reflex to solve anything with a purchase is perhaps a more general variant of TEA but it leads nowhere, except to debt.

Also, it makes one a capitalist tool.

You don't understand... This has nothing to do with "missing my 2465s"; the ToD is literally on its way to me even as we speak, and will be here any day now.

No, no, no... It is much more insidious than that: I now have Amazon-Prime-easy access to a major source of bust-ass TE, and a effing huge house with a empty basement.  I would want that 2465B to keep my 2465s company, not as a substitute...

As long as I keep it all down there in the dwagon cave, the only thing stopping me from turning into Cubdriver is finances and my wife beating me to death if I don't come upstairs often enough to make sure the kids are fed and clothed. 

mnem
*wibble*

I do understand completely.

I still think that the 2465b is a valuable addition to your collection -- more so if rack mounted, just because, but think it prudent to wait for ToD as much as possible just because I want you to be able to enhance your life quality with a 2465b.

[mnementh]

Electronics Plush:      https://www.getdigital.co.uk/electronics-plush.html

Well, that's a RULE 34 meme just waiting to happen... 

mnem
too late...

[mnementh]

...You don't understand... This has nothing to do with "missing my 2465s"; the ToD is literally on its way to me even as we speak, and will be here any day now.

No, no, no... It is much more insidious than that: I now have Amazon-Prime-easy access to a major source of bust-ass TE, and a effing huge house with a empty basement.  I would want that 2465B to keep my 2465s company, not as a substitute...

As long as I keep it all down there in the dwagon cave, the only thing stopping me from turning into Cubdriver is finances and my wife beating me to death if I don't come upstairs often enough to make sure the kids are fed and clothed. 

mnem
*wibble*

I do understand completely. I still think that the 2465b is a valuable addition to your collection -- more so if rack mounted, just because, but think it prudent to wait for ToD as much as possible just because I want you to be able to enhance your life quality with a 2465b.

Now I just want it that much more. 

mnem
Bitch.

[mnementh]

Well, at least something in my life has returned to some semblance of normal...

mnem
Oy... the carbs. They're all over me.

[xrunner]

Signal Generator RF Coupler for Transistor Radio Alignment (FY6900 & Others)

eBay auction: #224203700605

Gee, what could be in the plastic box? A small coil of wire and a capacitor? All for only $24.95 

I think if you are aligning receivers you just might be able to make that. 

[mnementh]

really?  this is a puzzlement to me.  still have multiple 5248's and 5245M's cluttering up the basement (according to swmbo).   and i have already given some away.  edit.  oh crap.  just thought about it and realized.......they are hard to find because you are not looking in my basement.

Post like this make me want to move back to America.    Life in rural Wales has many advantages, but I miss out on many opportunities.

You could always try Canada, ehh?!?

Your luck might be better than mine. 

mnem

[mnementh]

mnem

[mnementh]

Well, fuck. It actually showed up. Huh. 

So... just after I found a 52 inch Sony Bravia at the thrift, then returned it as it had processor issues (research indicated this is a terminal, BER condition in this model), Wally World slams me with a popup ad for this: 4K, 58in, RokuTV built-in. It ticked all the boxes I had in mind for my next TV purchase, for $300 delivered.

I was already bummed over the Bravia, as it had a gorgeous pic until it warmed up, so I gave in as even my big Vizio in the ToD is only 1080P, and I've been wanting a 2nd big set for the Dwagon Cave. Honestly, I expected the order to be canceled at the last minute without notification, as Wally World has done this with numerous such "awesome deal" orders over the years; I feel like Charlie Brown if he actually landed a kick on that football...

mnem
For a change it wasn't Bezos' e-Crack Market that caught me...   

[Zucca]

...and this caused a thermal runaway in my 3D printer.
The mail power was turned off automatically (PS_ON pin was configured in Marlin). It started to beeping like crazy but there was no fire risk.

it just jammed the printer.... wife saw it.... turned off main power but not the uC power and we got a thermal way error.

I am pissed (x2)

[nixiefreqq]

No need to add the 10MHz mod from that video, the "M" versions already have a input for 5MHz or 10MHz external reference.

Oh, cool. The "M" model is definitely the one to get, then. But, OTOH, is the accuracy of the counter, disregarding the quality of the internal reference (because today we'd run it from a GPSDO anyway), different from "L"  to  "M"?

it's a good idea to add an extra fuse for this.

Indeed. Good tip!

Yes the L/M are the same apart from the oven timebase fitted and the ref input/output.

If you want a higher frequency (135MHz) model go for the 5248, but note they use some tunnel diodes.

David

That and the M and 5248 are much less common than the 5245L.  It took me years to find each of those.

-Pat

really?  this is a puzzlement to me.  still have multiple 5248's and 5245M's cluttering up the basement (according to swmbo).

and i have already given some away. 


edit.  oh crap.  just thought about it and realized.......they are hard to find because you are not looking in my basement.

LOL - smartarse!      Obviously I need to look in your basement at some point. 

The 5248M I finally got has an issue with the oscillator circuit - the the part that oscillates is doing its thing, but the signal goes away somewhere along the way.  I sidelined it while waiting for a manual, then never got back to it.  Now I need to find the manual I ordered 3+ years ago and dig into it again.



That's from my second round of troubleshooting back in August of 2018.  Think it's time for a third.

-Pat

my buddy who used to repair the 5245/8 family at an aaarrrrrmy depot told me once that the most common problem is A26 Q1, a pnp germanium.  but it is the oven control transistor.....so not your problem.  in any case..... found this bag of 2n1183's in a box of ancient transistors my old man left for me.  let me know if you need some.  no idea where they came from but they have been checked on the curve tracer and all are ok.  (actually i think i know where he stole acquired them, but am not going to rat him out)

[nixiefreqq]

really?  this is a puzzlement to me.  still have multiple 5248's and 5245M's cluttering up the basement (according to swmbo).

and i have already given some away. 


edit.  oh crap.  just thought about it and realized.......they are hard to find because you are not looking in my basement.

Does this mean that if we can agree on reimbursement (I can pay your SWMBO if that makes you more eager by proxy) you could be arsed to ship one here?

if you ring the doorbell swmbo will direct you downstairs to the fortress of solitude.

anything i have more than one of you could probably take with you.  (last count the 5245/48 pile had 9 units)

but shipping?   do i have to quote med?

[mnementh]

   ...and this caused a thermal runaway in my 3D printer. The mail power was turned off automatically (PS_ON pin was configured in Marlin). It started to beeping like crazy but there was no fire risk.

it just jammed the printer.... wife saw it.... turned off main power but not the uC power and we got a thermal way error. I am pissed (x2)

Well, it does make sense; thermal runaway protection just says if the temp doesn't change with power applied to the hotend or stays outside of a given range for x seconds, trip the alarm and turn off the hotend.

Whether this is caused by a thermistor fault or turning off power to the hotend externally, I dunno that it knows or cares which end of that range the actual temp is outside of; it just knows temp shown isn't where it should be, indicating a fault in the thermistor circuit, either open or short.

Looks like it was doing exactly as it should to me; good thing she turned it off too, as you might be saved the misery of a clogged nozzle/heat-brake tube from the dregs burning up inside the hotend when the filament stopped feeding/flowing.   

mnem
 

[dl6lr]

That's from my second round of troubleshooting back in August of 2018.  Think it's time for a third.

I think you cannot switch to prescaler to test the oscillator, as prescaler mode divides the input frequency, not the osc. Switching the knob to INT STD should give you frequencies divided by the decade counters as indicated by the black labels (prescaler mode uses the red indicated ratios). As the EXT STD works, the failure should be very easy in the switching on the back, as both use the same path: FREQ IN -> MULTIPLIER -> DECADE COUNTERS. Maybe just the internal connection from the oscillator to the switch is failing.

[Andrew_Debbie]

Post like this make me want to move back to America.    Life in rural Wales has many advantages, but I miss out on many opportunities.

Isn't the grass redder on the other side of the pond, due to fires and drought?

Flying over California into Los Angeles in September was remarkable.   We've heard about the drought on the news but seeing things first hand.   The air was unusually clean and everything in the back country was dead.  I've never seen Catalina from the airport before.

Montana wasn't too bad in late September but we mostly got lucky with the smoke blowing over.  There was one day when it got dark an hour early....

[Andrew_Debbie]

really?  this is a puzzlement to me.  still have multiple 5248's and 5245M's cluttering up the basement (according to swmbo).

and i have already given some away. 


edit.  oh crap.  just thought about it and realized.......they are hard to find because you are not looking in my basement.

Does this mean that if we can agree on reimbursement (I can pay your SWMBO if that makes you more eager by proxy) you could be arsed to ship one here?

if you ring the doorbell swmbo will direct you downstairs to the fortress of solitude.

anything i have more than one of you could probably take with you.  (last count the 5245/48 pile had 9 units)

but shipping?   do i have to quote med?

Do you happen to live in SoCal or North West Montana?       Pre Covid we were there once or twice a year.     I've got a Pelican water proof rolling case left over from my consultant days.   It is full of removable foam.   We just went to the US though, with no plans to go back anytime soon.

Shipping to the UK would likely be insane.   Tempting but way too much work for you.


-- BTW flying with that Pelican case is a 100% guarantee that you and your luggage will be hand searched.