Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Martin Miranda]

it's rare in the islands to get equipment. a small collection for now.
... for now. 

[Cerebus]

That did not only hit Siemens. I did a project at ABB Henschel Schienenfahrzeuge (later AdTrans, now part of Bombardier) while another branch of them sold light rail vehicles to the local operator. One day I (and several other colleagues) showed up rather late for work. Asked what had happened, we were able to report that we were held up by the doors not opening on our own bloody trains.

    

Regarded here as funny enough to be read out to SWMBO.

That company came with an abundance of such moments. At one time several colleagues were seen giggling and peering into an office not known to me and belonging to an older guy who was absent at that moment. When I took a look too, I could see why. Every wall as well as the front of the cabinets were covered with several hundreds of sticky notes, which was the incumbent's idea of modelling a climate control system for rail coaches.
When I asked where to obtain some document, the adressed co-worker vaguely pointed along the main axis of the building and mumbled 'Q-Stelle'. Now especially when mumbled, this sounds like 'Kuhställe', which would mean 'cow stables'. Errr....whaaat?

Elsa ist todt.

[DC1MC]

Can you imagine they make wine in east germany?

Sure, "Der verdiente Wein des Volkes" (Top Secret!)
Yes, I know a little german!

Ich auch 

[Robert763]

it's rare in the islands to get equipment. a small collection for now.
... for now. 

That's a very nice collection and not that small. Welcome to the nuthouse teahouse 

[mansaxel]

I read that at first as a climate control system for cockroaches. Second time too. 

We have that. Youngest has a pet leopard gecko. They eat only living food; like silkworm larvæ, Dubia roaches and mealworms. To get the roaches (which are a tropic subspecies) to reproduce, we need to get them warm and cozy. Heater mat under the plastic tub where they live.

[Cerebus]

it's rare in the islands to get equipment. a small collection for now.
... for now. 

I asked SWMBO what she thought of your lab technician. She said "Ahhhhh".

[BU508A]

Elsa ist tot.

FTFY

 

[Kosmic]

Which model is your sensor ?

They are normally compatible with the more advanced Boonton 4200 meter if you want something more modern at some point.

It's a Model 41-4B.

Hey I'm glad you asked, because I want to ask you (or anyone of course) if you know the damage level of this sensor. For example, the hp sensors I have state the range is +20 to -30 dBm. But it is written on the case the absolute Max input is 300 mW (+24.8 dBm).

Reason I ask is that I may give this unit to a ham who has proven to me he understands how to use these types of power meters with attenuators and understands the way they can be damaged. I want him to know the absolute Max power input. It is not written on the label and I'm not sure I've seen it on any documentation I have found.

Work up to 20dBm, damage level at 30dBm PULSE  CW is 300mW 24.77 dBm

FTFY the 1W rating is only pulse.

yes, the details were on the screenshot I attached.

[med6753]

it's rare in the islands to get equipment. a small collection for now.
... for now. 

You need a bigger bench. 

Welcome. 

[0culus]

snip

You need a bigger bench. 

snip

Don't we all! 


Got the 8510C connected to HP-IB this afternoon. After a little bit of futzing around, everything works now. I can use John Miles' software to plot and save s2p files. 

[mnementh]

I read that at first as a climate control system for cockroaches. Second time too. 

We have that. Youngest has a pet leopard gecko. They eat only living food; like silkworm larvæ, Dubia roaches and mealworms. To get the roaches (which are a tropic subspecies) to reproduce, we need to get them warm and cozy. Heater mat under the plastic tub where they live.

Deliberately breeding roaches... this will end well. 

mnem
You're gonna need a bigger can of RAID!

[mansaxel]

Deliberately breeding roaches... this will end well. 

It's kinda cumbersome to buy them new all the time. Key is to know where they are (we do; this is a species of roach that can't climb, verified) and to only breed a variant that will not thrive in our climate (they don't).  Dubia roaches are self-extinguishing unless cared for, and will perish quickly in most northern climates if escaped. Reproduction will only happen in tropical climate.

They're illegal in those US states (FL, HI, LA) where they just might survive, but here, when a nice summer average (over 24h) temp is below 20° Science Degrees (July the last 6 years has averaged 19,7°, and that's with 2018 and 2021 pulling the average way up.), they don't stand a chance.

[mnementh]

Yeah... I'm thinking more about what happens when they find a nice cozy spot in the walls of your nice, climate-controlled home. Like over a light fixture that's left on, or in a toasty server, or in the insulation pocket of a water heater... and those are just the obvious places off the top of my scaly dwagon head.   

Roaches are a life-form which has gone essentially unchanged for millions of years... they are effing survivors, man.

mnem
And they will find a way to survive outside your cage...

[BU508A]

Some roaches are the ruler of England as it can be seen here:



 

[factory]

Finished making the base for the ex-MOD variac, that piece of wood is now on it's third life (having started out as part of a mug tree), had to go out to get some M5 screws as I couldn't find anything to fit here.
In the future I will probably add a box to the output lead with a fuse and fit something lower in value than the 15A fuse I found in the last variac I acquired (which was burnt open circuit by a previous owner/ab-user ).



The other 5340A & an isolation transformer was retrieved from the storage unit.
Some voltage & power consumption checks were done on the working 5340A, power was around 97W, voltage of the red winding of the transformer was around 163V RMS, much closer to the value shown in the book.


I also checked the ripple on the original Sangamo caps and found it was slightly lower than those new Nichicons I fitted to the borked 5340A, that will please Sir re-Cap-A-Lot. 

And then I setup the variac & iso-transformer, in place of the suspected faulty 155V winding on the borked 5340A.
Power consumption was much higher at around 140W, the transformer gets quite warm as I noted yesterday, the transformer in the other 5340A stays cool. I think the faulty transformer must have shorted turns. 


Output of the +175V regulator is now similar to that shown on the circuit diagram and the RMS voltage near the 135V quoted in the manual (that most voltmeters will show due to the ripple).


We now have a bright display, which stays showing 7s & 9s at the same time, in self check & direct count with no decimal point showing. The high frequency ranges show 0s, I've not tried the inputs yet.


The shorted caps, shorted rectifier and bad 155V transformer winding, make me wonder if someone accidentality, or deliberately run it on 240V mains, with it set for 115V and caused this all this damage. 

David

[Zucca]

Ooh, I've been meaning to get tips for my Hakko tweezers. Can anyone recommend a good all-round general purpose size?

The DIP-8 size, which is what I believe Z just posted, are your best first set. They are small enough to maneuver and do most resistors/caps, big enough to do DIP-16 by wiping side-to-side while heating, or even larger with a second iron to spread some extra solder. After that, I'd do a set of straight or angled cap-resistor size, then something extra wide for DIP-20 and larger.

mnem
 

I got the

Blade Bent 22°,
thickness 0.7mm (.28")
6.35mm x 12.7mm (.25" x .50")

[Zucca]

Sure, "Der verdiente Wein des Volkes" (Top Secret!)
Yes, I know a little german!

Top Secret is a milestone in the movie history.

[med6753]

Currently waiting on parts for the Type 1A4 plug-in and the two Type 547's so this would be a perfect time to re-visit an old project. Install of the upgraded rectifier board in the 212 mini scope. I know I promised TERRA Operative that I would get this done by Christmas but I never expected to have a windfall of 5 plug-in's and 2 scopes to take up all my time.

Anyway, here's the built up board with the components installed. Those 2 additional parts are fuses for the battery packs. My packs already have fuses so these are spares.



Once I get the balance of the scope apart that square black part is the original bridge rectifier which will be removed.



  Didn't realize it until I went to upload the photos but for some reason the phone “ate” 4 pictures and I can't find them. It showed the new board installed. I had to re-take this picture of the scope reassembled and working.....both on battery and mains. You'll have to trust me. I hate taking this scope apart and now that it's back together and working it's gonna stay that way. Sorry.



Going to let it run for a while. The batteries need to be charged up anyway.

[Neomys Sapiens]

A serious digging and decluttering session in my storage ante-room turned up one additional, until now unregistered isolation transformer of Bunderswehr surplus origin. I hope to repeat that finding more stuff.

[Zucca]

So cool, after 8 month my relocation from Germany to USA I still find stuff that was lost from my radars while ago.

Problem is I do not stop to lose other things.... so it is a never ending story....

[mansaxel]

A serious digging and decluttering session in my storage ante-room turned up one additional, until now unregistered isolation transformer of Bunderswehr surplus origin. I hope to repeat that finding more stuff.

I did some reorganisation of my component storage yesterday evening. In duplicate regards, I only found 3 stashes of 0,1µF decoupling caps, and 4 rolls of 1KΩ resistors, and 2 drawers with 2N3904 transistors. I have, despite the diversity shown by a relatively small duplicate set, large holes in my component supply, but there's a rather large order to Mouser to rectify that soon.

On the isolation transformer side, there's a small (5A) 230/230 isolation transformer fitted that needs wiring to outlets at the bench,  and regarding variacs, I have a project to turn a 6HE DIN Eurorack frame into a holder for a completely uncased Philips variac I've held on to for years. The variac has been fitted, and I need to buy 2 42TE/6HE front panels to integrate outlets, metering and other indicators, and of course switches.   I think it prudent to make the variac fed from the isolation transformer.  That ought to deal with a few bothersome risks.

Between the variac project and my "new" 200CDR it's plainly obvious that I need more 19" frame space in the lab. I've got a 42HE computer cabinet, but that is full of noisy computers and heavy batteries, and stands in the wrong end of the room. Also, it has water cooling.  The bench as it is now has some 8HE of 19" space taken by mains distribution and RJ45 panel today but that's nothing, obviously, compared to what's needed.

[tonyalbus]

Great seller.. even sends a spare glow-fet
now lets not try to kill myself. 

[edit] i see now the meter is replaced.

[Robert763]

I was hoping to get some more sorting in the garage over the break. However it has been consitently wet either raining, fog or drizzle  Even the dog does not want to go out. No way I was going to open the garage door to let that amount of damp in. It's looking a bit better today. I hope to get some old shelving down.
If any one needs a large variac I have a couple of extras. Collection only.
I also found a large UPS and 4 100AH 6V VRSLA batteries at the back of the garage that I'd been unable to get to. After 14 years untouched I suspect the batteries will be only fit for scrap.

[mansaxel]

A working instrument is a good instrument.

This is not a truism as much as one might think; there instead are several meanings, additively so, attached to it; namely:

• That the instrument is fully functional is of course a fundamental requirement.
• That the instrument performs productive work is also very important, or its purpose is defeated.

I therefore present to you, a resurrected workhorse; the [(hp)] 3552A, out on a verification trip to my kitchen / dining room.

I've been suspecting a level difference between left and right in my kitchen setup. And since "Warum einfach, wenn's auch kompliziert geht?" is a major principle in my home sound system, there are a lot of places where a 600Ω line signal can be measured and looked at, and consequently also go awry.  The 3552A gives confidence. And is a hand to hold in wandering about in the forest of level readings. Am very happy to have it.

[Peter_O]

Anyone in or near Germany in need of serious power? (No connection to seller)

https://www.ebay.de/itm/333616616974

Warning! This device weighs as much as TWO fully grown pigs!

Don't underestimate the pigs. It's the other way round actually.  :-)
This device is 120kg. A grown femal pig is 200 to 230, a male 220 to 250kg.

But in any case 120kg isn't exactly what I'd like to carry up the 3rd floor into my flat.