Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[SilverSolder]

mnem
my work here is done.    

I love how the gentleman recovers his composure in about a second, after that incident! 

[Specmaster]

Next project. Build of a custom storage cart for the several 500 series plug-in's.

Removed the plug-in storage rack assemblies from the scope carts to use in a cart that will be on casters and be stored under bench 2. At this point just have the front built up so I could test fit the storage racks. That's complete so will build up the back half of the cart then proceed with sanding, stain, and poly.

Looking good 

[mansaxel]

Well I got mildly(!) irritated at trying to hook up the termination resistors while performing the adjustments, so I whipped up this test adapter design. (Not all 3D models are populated, imagine banana jacks out the back and toggle switches on the front).
If you are interested, I can send you a kit for the cost of parts and shipping once it's all in my hands.

Shiny! Want! Please!  (send me a PM once you're stocked up)

I did solve my termination problem for the time being with a Pomona banana-BNC combo plug and a Chinesium solder BNC with a 600Ω resistor in. Not very elegant, and far from the idea I had of a generic banana/BNC terminator solution, but my last project box was used up, so I went the BNC route instead.

[Specmaster]

mnem
my work here is done.    

I love how the gentleman recovers his composure in about a second, after that incident! 

I wonder what was in that box as well because it ends up sitting nice and stable on its corner edge?

[mnementh]

mnem
my work here is done.    

At the risk of ruffling scales ... something feels rather apropos by having that posted by the Dwagon.

Are you kidding...? I take that as a compliment.

Funny I can hear the bang sound even if my PC has no speakers.

I know... it's like the ultimate TEA thread    (short of crossing the line over to nuclear option). So hard to resist posting it all the time so as not to wear it out.

Must have been a rare flying boat 

  What other kind would you expect a dwagon to use for such a prank...? 

I love how the gentleman recovers his composure in about a second, after that incident! 

I wonder what was in that box as well because it ends up sitting nice and stable on its corner edge?

my guess would be the bricks he just shit... 

mnem
*impairing productivity since nineteen mumblety-mumble*

[McBryce]

mnem
my work here is done.    

I love how the gentleman recovers his composure in about a second, after that incident! 

I'm more interested in what's in the box that makes it stay balanced on its edge after it falls? Was he transporting a Gyroscope?

McBryce.

[mnementh]

The power of chinesium strikes again!      Peekaboo   

Uggghhh... Any idea what hoppened...? OCP not quite aggressive enuf on a lockup condition, or did we try to charge it with the wrong wall-wart?



If you can't find the original (Looks like 82D5S marking...?) U2, my guess is it's a application-specific Dual FET. You might be able to MacGyver-fy it with two discrete FETs, looking at the schema from the BMS IC datasheet.

Good hunting!

mnem
 

[mnementh]

I'm more interested in what's in the box that makes it stay balanced on its edge after it falls? Was he transporting a Gyroscope?

McBryce.

Most likely a brick or two, and it smashed the box flat in an area we can't see. I've had this happen with other heavy, square stuffs inside a much-too-oversized cardboard box; it is surreal for a moment.

mnem
I imagine it happens all the time with Amazon deliveries... 

[TERRA Operative]

Well I got mildly(!) irritated at trying to hook up the termination resistors while performing the adjustments, so I whipped up this test adapter design. (Not all 3D models are populated, imagine banana jacks out the back and toggle switches on the front).
If you are interested, I can send you a kit for the cost of parts and shipping once it's all in my hands.

Shiny! Want! Please!  (send me a PM once you're stocked up)

I did solve my termination problem for the time being with a Pomona banana-BNC combo plug and a Chinesium solder BNC with a 600Ω resistor in. Not very elegant, and far from the idea I had of a generic banana/BNC terminator solution, but my last project box was used up, so I went the BNC route instead.

Will do once I have it all ready to go. Just filling up a Mouser shopping cart now (and found some really good prices on stuff in Akihabara too..)

[McBryce]

I'm more interested in what's in the box that makes it stay balanced on its edge after it falls? Was he transporting a Gyroscope?

McBryce.

Most likely a brick or two, and it smashed the box flat in an area we can't see. I've had this happen with other heavy, square stuffs inside a much-too-oversized cardboard box; it is surreal for a moment.

mnem
I imagine it happens all the time with Amazon deliveries... 

Let me guess, the heavy square stuff in your case was TEA?

McBryce.

[Zucca]

did we try to charge it with the wrong wall-wart?

and the dwagon wins again!!!!!!

My wife confessed me yesterday she took the first 2,5mm DC jack power supply ding she found in my lab.
Input specs. 5VDC 800mA CC. The tossed in 12VAC.

Who is more responsible for this failure? The moron designer who used a 2,5mm Jack for 5VDC (USB, hello mcFly?) or my wife who did not read the manual?
To me is 80% a design fault, but I am still angry with my wife.

[capt bullshot]

My wife confessed me yesterday she took the first 2,5mm DC jack power supply ding she found in my lab.
Input specs. 5VDC 800mA CC. The tossed in 12VAC.

Who is more responsible for this failure? The moron designer who used a 2,5mm Jack for 5VDC (USB, hello mcFly?) or my wife who did not read the manual?
To me is 80% a design fault, but I am still angry with my wife.

That's pretty typical.
Barrel jacks get used for almost any voltage / polarity / AC or DC in nearly any size, so there's nothing that hinders you to use the wrong adapter.
For technical people like the most of us here, it's not a big deal to find the correct wall wart for a gadget, since we do understand and know what could go wrong. Many non-technical people (and some technical, too) that I know religiously keep each wall wart adapter (physically or mentally) tied to the gadget it came with, some people practice this with standard IEC power cords, too.
Now if a person of the latter type mixes up with the first type (e.g. I'm sorting the wall adapters by output voltage, and not by gadget they belong to), confusion and damage is pre-programmed.
Anyway, though USB is pretty common with 5V, I prefer barrel jacks over USB connectors, as they are more robust.

[AVGresponding]

It's been 7 days since the seller said they'd contact their supplier and reply to me within 24 hours. They haven't, so I've started an ebay return for the ADF4351 sig gen.

[Vince]

It's been 7 days since the seller said they'd contact their supplier and reply to me within 24 hours. They haven't, so I've started an ebay return for the ADF4351 sig gen.

No no no; you simply misunderstood them, they are not late at all ! See :

1) We will contact our supplier ....(implied) THEN 2) we will reply to you within 24H.

So if their supplier takes 6 months to reply to them, you will have to wait 6 months + 24H ! 


I am already so far away you can't even shoot me...

[McBryce]

did we try to charge it with the wrong wall-wart?

and the dwagon wins again!!!!!!

My wife confessed me yesterday she took the first 2,5mm DC jack power supply ding she found in my lab.
Input specs. 5VDC 800mA CC. The tossed in 12VAC.

Who is more responsible for this failure? The moron designer who used a 2,5mm Jack for 5VDC (USB, hello mcFly?) or my wife who did not read the manual?
To me is 80% a design fault, but I am still angry with my wife.

Actually, 5.5 / 2.5mm Barrel was pretty much the standard for commercial 5V PSU's before USB arrived. Or was it a standard headphone type Jack?

McBryce.

[Peter_O]

A nice little HP10430A miniature passive 500MHz probe just arrived to match my HP 54504A.
Found it for 20 Euros. 

[mnementh]

I'm more interested in what's in the box that makes it stay balanced on its edge after it falls? Was he transporting a Gyroscope?

McBryce.

Most likely a brick or two, and it smashed the box flat in an area we can't see. I've had this happen with other heavy, square stuffs inside a much-too-oversized cardboard box; it is surreal for a moment.

mnem
I imagine it happens all the time with Amazon deliveries... 

Let me guess, the heavy square stuff in your case was TEA?

McBryce.

moi...? Drop TE on the ground...? Imagine that...

No, nothing so interesting; just mundane everyday life for a "doer" who actually pays attention to things that happen around him while he's "doing", and maybe philosophizes a wee bit to keep from going starkers.

One time it was a vise in a box that was shipped inside a larger box that I found like that on the porch; another time I can remember it was a brick... of salt. Well, actually a salt-lick, which had been thrown in the handiest box they had at the Agway store. Threw it off the back of the truck in the box and it landed that way.

mnem
moo.

[tggzzz]

A nice little HP10430A miniature passive 500MHz probe just arrived to match my HP 54504A.

They are nice little probes, but not many scopes are within the 6-9pF compensation range 

[tautech]

A nice little HP10430A miniature passive 500MHz probe just arrived to match my HP 54504A.
Found it for 20 Euros. 

Can you measure the probe barrel diameter with the hook grabber removed ?
Why ?
I have some tiny 2 leg grabber probe hats I think will fit these probes.
Yours if they match and you want them for the postage costs.

[Peter_O]

A nice little HP10430A miniature passive 500MHz probe just arrived to match my HP 54504A.

They are nice little probes, but not many scopes are within the 6-9pF compensation range 

And with the HP54504 it's vice versa. 7pF input capacity. That's the main reason I bought this little guy.

[Peter_O]

A nice little HP10430A miniature passive 500MHz probe just arrived to match my HP 54504A.
Found it for 20 Euros. 

Can you measure the probe barrel diameter with the hook grabber removed ?
Why ?
I have some tiny 2 leg grabber probe hats I think will fit these probes.
Yours if they match and you want them for the postage costs.

It's 2.4mm

[VK5RC]

What is this stuff you call ice and snow? Today's minimum 25C max 38C!
Best investment was 8kW of solar panels - takes out the big 'electrickery' bills.

[tautech]

A nice little HP10430A miniature passive 500MHz probe just arrived to match my HP 54504A.
Found it for 20 Euros. 

Can you measure the probe barrel diameter with the hook grabber removed ?
Why ?
I have some tiny 2 leg grabber probe hats I think will fit these probes.
Yours if they match and you want them for the postage costs.

It's 2.4mm

~3.3mm is the probe hole opening where they would press together.
The 2 leg grabber end is 20mm long metal tube and 2.4mm diameter.....pretty sure these with fit your probe.
No markings except for a tiny HP logo.

[Saskia]

fun and games and Murphy hitting me in the crotch  ...
coolant warning light came back on yesterday on that Volvo again. Coolant missing.
all that while I still had to return the trailer ...

my former neighbor gave me his car and I was able to get rid of the trailer. scrawled back to the Mechanik who said that he was refusing further work on the car. he said that he suspected a ruptured head or head gasket. that would coincide with the white fog coming Out of the exhaust.
FML

How much white, how it smells, sweet?
Missing coolant went somewhere, can you find any traces?

T-64

mechanic said: into the burning chamber, i.e. the cylinder. I returned the car to the dealer and asked him to fix it.
He is required to give 12 months warranty, so we'll see.

[Vince]

My preferred storage solution for such things - which includes all kinds of cables and plug-packs - is to put each set into a zip-lock bag.  You can then dump all these into any storage container you like and they will never get tangled.  Also far easier and quicker to sort through them - and FAR less likely to get damaged.

Here's a random sample from my unsorted  container.

Hmmm..... Brumby for the win 

Bought a couple packs of ziplock bags... small size and medium size. Small size (18x20cm) is the perfect size for the test leads, and not as expensive as I feared it might be. pack of 25 cost only 1.16 Euro.
Happy with the result ! 
They a re kept flat iside the bags so the 10 sets once piled up, take actually I am sure less space than tehy would have if they were not bagged. And indeed so easy to handle and search for what you want.

I am sold, thanks Brumby  !

Now I have a big container of a million and one IEC power cords, 2 or 3 pronged. I am sure there close to a hundred cables in there, not even kidding.
Tried bagging one thick 3 pronged one, it fits into a small bag, don't need medium. However I am not sure it takes less space than if I had say held it together with a removable tie, or a beefy elastic band. Need to experiment see what works best, before I spend money on either solution....

Need to sort them into 5 categories I think :

- 2 pronged with a plug
- 2 pronged with a PCB mount connector
- 3 pronged with a plug
- 3 pronged without a plug
- 3 pronged with a 90° / right angle plug, because I have very few of them and when you need one well you NEED one, so don't want anymore to empty and search this big box of entangled cords to search for the elusive right-angle plug....