Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mansaxel]

The Signal Path has a new video on the HP 3400b

<SNIP>

I'm not that impressed. Using all ready built modules even for a unity gain op-amp buffer.  And why display dBm for three impedances at the same time? The input can only be across one impedance at a time so two redings are meaningless  Having the ability to set or select the impedance would make more sense.
Just because its easy to do in code does not make it a good idea.
And finally when did anyone see a 3400B for sale at a sensible price?

You can rest assured that if you did in the past, you damned well won't won't ever again now that Shahriar has spoken about it.

-Pat

Good that I've got the 400H then, so I won't have to be so tempted by the 3400B anyway ;-)

What somewhat baffles me is that the 410b, which is AC, DC and Ω, is an older, smaller and lighter instrument than the 400H, which of course is AC only. The addition of an amplified output of course explains a lot of it.

 

[McBryce]

INDUCTORS !!! 


I don't know, every body says inductors, so why not me ?! 


Thanks for your feedback on the tape label printer thingies. So looks like the most important advice is to run away from "direct thermal" that like shitty thermal printed receipts at the super market, and favour "thermal transfer", as in "laser printer toner transfer". More durable.

Looks like according to the Dwagon, there are indeed some printer with a USB port to let you download your own custom graphics/icons... will try to find one that does that, but will only consider sub 50 Euros printers...
I looked at a few for sale online here, and it seems they ALL use NON rechargeable batteries ?!   
So since it gets used infrequently usually... batteries are self discharged by the time you dig out the printer... so you need to buy new batteries every time you want to use it, pretty much... how economical and eco-friendly    In this day and age they can't just use a Li-on battery charged via USB port like everybody else ?! 

Someone on the UKVRR radio forum bought a Brother P-Touch H101GB recently, it was sold as battery only, but on opening it they found a DC barrel socket was already fitted, but the casing design had been modified to blank off the connector. They said the barrel socket was centre negative, but check just in case.
Unfortunately the thread is in the modern tech section and hidden for non-members with less than 10 posts, so a web link would be pointless.


David

Ah yes, the Brother P-touch (there are hundreds of "P-touch" variations it seems... ) do indeed have a jack.

I am looking a this website of a French office supplies store chain. They have a store in my town so am thinking of getting there Monday to get a printer.

They have a P-touch similar to that of your buddy on the forum :

https://www.bureau-vallee.fr/titreuse-brother-pth110-3-5-a-30mm-178005.html





The description of the product openly, explicitly states that indeed it can be powered with a plug pack (though it is not supplied with the device).

It's better than wasting money and polluting with many batteries... I admit, but it still is a far cry from having a modern Li-on battery with a USB port to recharge it conveniently... so I still wonder why it is so !

My only assumption, though I have no clue really... is that maybe the printing process, thermal thingy, must be power hungry, and since this is low voltage... it means it requires a fair bit of current, in a steady supply while printing ? So maybe a small Li-ion battery is not capable of providing, or sustaining, the required current .. but AAA batteries can ?

I don't know... but I don't see why they would torture people, their wallet, and the environment, with AAA... if they could do other wise  ?! 

So that one I just linked above looks good to me ?! Says "Thermal TRANSFER "not thermal "direct" so... looks like the good kind of printer, if I understood all of you well.

It can also take several different sizes/width of tapes. 6/9/12.

Has the DC in jack as we just discussed, which is a plus.

Has a nice full AZERTY keyboard as well.

Is fast, 20mm/sec , the cheapest Dymo is 3 times slower or so.

Cost 30 Euros.


I am also tempted by the competing / comparable model by Dymo (also Thermal Transfer + AZERTY K/B ):

https://www.bureau-vallee.fr/titreuse-dymo-lm160-6-a-12mm-62509.html


.. mainly because it uses different tape formats : can do 6 / 10  and 13mm wide.  Yes... 10mm, exactly the size I need to get the most out of the real estate available on the drawer fronts....

So I am torn ! 

However it does not say about speed of DC input jack... I guess I could go the Dymo's website to go check out the details...

I have one of these. It takes its entire power from a USB 2.0 Port so the current requirements can't be very high. I prefer this to the one's that have tiny keyboards, with this you do everything from the PC. The sofware to use it is also on the device itself, so you can use it on any random PC without having to install anything (The device appears as a USB drive when plugged in).

McBryce.

[med6753]

Bad Sellers.

PayPal has ruled in my favor concerning the December 21st order from hvstuff.com. I will be refunded full price of $22.52 USD. As I've stated before stay away from this site.

The Ebay seller of the 7B92 plug-in has stated he processed the $98 USD refund but so far I haven't seen it and it's been over 5 business days. I'll give it until Tuesday and if still no refund I'll start posting negative feedback and get Ebay involved. If this turns into a cluster I'll post this seller's name so he can be avoided.

[tggzzz]

I have one of these. It takes its entire power from a USB 2.0 Port so the current requirements can't be very high. I prefer this to the one's that have tiny keyboards, with this you do everything from the PC. The sofware to use it is also on the device itself, so you can use it on any random PC without having to install anything (The device appears as a USB drive when plugged in).

Interesting. How does "This label maker’s built-in software pops up on your computer screen so you can instantly print clear, ..." function if it doesn't install anything?

[Specmaster]

I knew at least SOMEONE here would understand me !!   

Oh hell yes, we understand you OK, and perhaps your best pal in that regard would be good old bd139 when he decides to come back to the forum, he loved to obliterate old caps by shoving inappropriate voltages and polarities up their clackers 

[PA0PBZ]

Interesting. How does "This label maker’s built-in software pops up on your computer screen so you can instantly print clear, ..." function if it doesn't install anything?

Autorun on the USB drive? (Which is a bad idea anyway)

[Vince]

That presumes it needs windows, but I run Linux, so that means it does not run on just "any random PC ".. only a Windows PC.

[Robert763]

The Signal Path has a new video on the HP 3400b

<SNIP>

I'm not that impressed. Using all ready built modules even for a unity gain op-amp buffer.  And why display dBm for three impedances at the same time? The input can only be across one impedance at a time so two redings are meaningless  Having the ability to set or select the impedance would make more sense.
Just because its easy to do in code does not make it a good idea.
And finally when did anyone see a 3400B for sale at a sensible price?

You can rest assured that if you did in the past, you damned well won't won't ever again now that Shahriar has spoken about it.

-Pat

Good that I've got the 400H then, so I won't have to be so tempted by the 3400B anyway ;-)

What somewhat baffles me is that the 410b, which is AC, DC and Ω, is an older, smaller and lighter instrument than the 400H, which of course is AC only. The addition of an amplified output of course explains a lot of it.

 

The 3400x  (and digital 3403x) are completly different beasts from a standard VTVM. They use thermal converters so are proper RMS by design. No calculations or conversions. They are correct whatever the wavefom including high frequency components up to 20MHz.  The Fluke 892x series are similar.

[McBryce]

I have one of these. It takes its entire power from a USB 2.0 Port so the current requirements can't be very high. I prefer this to the one's that have tiny keyboards, with this you do everything from the PC. The sofware to use it is also on the device itself, so you can use it on any random PC without having to install anything (The device appears as a USB drive when plugged in).

Interesting. How does "This label maker’s built-in software pops up on your computer screen so you can instantly print clear, ..." function if it doesn't install anything?

A window pops up as if you had just connected a USB stick. Double-click the EXE and you're good to go. It runs directly from the "virtual stick".

@Vince: There a windows and MAC version on the "virtual stick", so technically only Windows or Mac, but I've tried the EXE in Wine in the past and it worked too.

McBryce.

[Vince]

I have one of these. It takes its entire power from a USB 2.0 Port so the current requirements can't be very high. I prefer this to the one's that have tiny keyboards, with this you do everything from the PC. The sofware to use it is also on the device itself, so you can use it on any random PC without having to install anything (The device appears as a USB drive when plugged in).

McBryce.

I precisely do not want a printer attached the computer... I need the printer to portable and autonomous, so that I can take it where I need it...where ever that might be. Lab, car, garage, or giving the printer to a friend so he can use it where ever he needs to.

I certainly don't want to go back and forth between the lab and the computer 200 times when printing the labels

Also the software on your printer probably only runs on Windows or Apple presume, not Linux.... could be wrong of course, but 99.999% of consumer stuff is made for Windows.

Of course you have a point with being able to use the more comfortable computer K/B... but labels are only a few characters long so it's not the end of the world. Also that's why I am looking at this DT210 precisely for it's better K/B, with space around all the keys. It's a compromise...

Of course computer driven / attached label printer is cool as well, but as a complement to a portable tape printer, not a replacement.. in my view ! Two different machines for two different use cases...

[McBryce]

A slight subject change now... as this was discussed earlier here in the thread and we have some Asian users here too:

I've been sent a set of files from a guy in China. They are firmware files for an ARM9 device. He has tested them and confirmed they work perfectly on the identical device he owns. However, when I flash them to the device they don't work. I've notice that some of the filenames have strange characters (such as: "13¦Ñ+Ï+õÍ++-+¦.bin") and I'm guessing that these file names use Chinese characters. I've installed the Chinese Characterset in Win10, but they still show up as garbage. Could this be the reason they don't work? And can anyone give me a few tips on how I can get around this? Unfortunately, the sender can't change the filenames as they are part of a library that are used on multiple devices and it would break his development tree. I've also noticed that Winzip can't unzip them, but if I use WinRAR the do get unzipped.

McBryce.

[TERRA Operative]

Probably something to do with UTF-8/GB2312/ANSI character encoding being incorrectly set.

[mansaxel]

The 3400x  (and digital 3403x) are completely different beasts from a standard VTVM. They use thermal converters so are proper RMS by design. No calculations or conversions. They are correct whatever the waveform including high frequency components up to 20MHz.  The Fluke 892x series are similar.

Yeah, that's completely understood. The difference between the 410b and 400H was what baffled me ;-)

[nixiefreqq]

HEY AVG

thanks!  will be tracking your envelope. 

hope you did not go overboard....... or you will be visited by "hired goons". (am assuming that you can hire goons in the UK too)




interruption over......the thread may now return to normal "label maker" content.

[Robert763]

The 3400x  (and digital 3403x) are completely different beasts from a standard VTVM. They use thermal converters so are proper RMS by design. No calculations or conversions. They are correct whatever the waveform including high frequency components up to 20MHz.  The Fluke 892x series are similar.

Yeah, that's completely understood. The difference between the 410b and 400H was what baffled me ;-)

Bigger meter on the H. L has different RMS "law"

[TERRA Operative]

Anyone got a datasheet for a 1384g? I need it specifically for the 'g' variant....

[tggzzz]

I have one of these. It takes its entire power from a USB 2.0 Port so the current requirements can't be very high. I prefer this to the one's that have tiny keyboards, with this you do everything from the PC. The sofware to use it is also on the device itself, so you can use it on any random PC without having to install anything (The device appears as a USB drive when plugged in).

Interesting. How does "This label maker’s built-in software pops up on your computer screen so you can instantly print clear, ..." function if it doesn't install anything?

A window pops up as if you had just connected a USB stick. Double-click the EXE and you're good to go. It runs directly from the "virtual stick".

... and installs a rootkit/malware/adware/etc (think Sony's audio "CDs") No thanks.

[McBryce]

I have one of these. It takes its entire power from a USB 2.0 Port so the current requirements can't be very high. I prefer this to the one's that have tiny keyboards, with this you do everything from the PC. The sofware to use it is also on the device itself, so you can use it on any random PC without having to install anything (The device appears as a USB drive when plugged in).

Interesting. How does "This label maker’s built-in software pops up on your computer screen so you can instantly print clear, ..." function if it doesn't install anything?

A window pops up as if you had just connected a USB stick. Double-click the EXE and you're good to go. It runs directly from the "virtual stick".

... and installs a rootkit/malware/adware/etc (think Sony's audio "CDs") No thanks.

You're paranoid . No, it doesn't install anything else.

Solved the Chinese Characterset problem: WinRAR: Open the zip file. Press CTRL+E and choose Chinese (Big5) encoding from the list.

McBryce.

[m k]

You don't know what it installs.
We've lost control when MFM controller was left behind.

BTW,
Palmtronic and RAD results 1, DEG is a bit under, w/o tan() it's a bit over and w/o cos() it's 1.

BTW2,
my poor P-touch 500 doesn't even have a display.

[SilverSolder]

I have one of these. It takes its entire power from a USB 2.0 Port so the current requirements can't be very high. I prefer this to the one's that have tiny keyboards, with this you do everything from the PC. The sofware to use it is also on the device itself, so you can use it on any random PC without having to install anything (The device appears as a USB drive when plugged in).

Interesting. How does "This label maker’s built-in software pops up on your computer screen so you can instantly print clear, ..." function if it doesn't install anything?

A window pops up as if you had just connected a USB stick. Double-click the EXE and you're good to go. It runs directly from the "virtual stick".

... and installs a rootkit/malware/adware/etc (think Sony's audio "CDs") No thanks.

If this is the Dymo you are talking about, you can either download the label software and install it on your PC, or run a "lite" version off the USB drive that appears when you plug it in.   The "lite" version doesn't install anything, it just executes.   It passes all virus tests and I have used it for years, so I hope it is OK!       

It is actually convenient that you don't have to install software on every PC that you use the label printer with,  while still retaining the advantage of using a larger screen and keyboard....

[factory]

I have a Brother H110, has been working pretty well. Even sticked some labels outside and they are still doing great after 2 years.



I never used it with battery though. I bought a 5$ 9V 1A power supply. You just need to switch polarity since Brother put the + on the outside conductor.

Sounds like a plan, will probably do that ! 

I assume Brother reversed the polarity as a planned obsolescence thing, hoping people would fry their printer and buy a new one ?! 
.. this means that I don't need to ask if they added some diode to protect the electronics against reversed polarity.. of course there is no protection, that would defeat their intent ! 

Maybe I am a bad mouth... will take mine apart once I buy it on Monday, and look on the circuit board to see what they have done.. or not done.

I could also power it from my lab supply to see for myself just how much current it draws when printing, to confirm or deny that it's too much of a current for a Li-on battery to handle, hence they chose to use non-rechargeable batteries instead...

The low cost machines probably don't use Li-Boom™ technology due to the extra cost of including the Li-Boom™ battery, charging circuitry & power pack/wall-wart.
Myself I prefer things to use standard batteries, rather than custom Li-Boom™ packs, that tend to go  flat if not used for a long time and then go all puffy once you try charging it.

I really have no idea why Brother went to the trouble of hiding the barrel jack in the printer I mentioned yesterday, but most users wouldn't even know they could cut the hole in the casing, to fit the external power pack/wall-wart to the socket that was already provided. 

David

[Cerebus]

in other News the Megger PAT 2/2 arrived. came with an HV probe which suffered from grip detachment. need to find a way to fix the broken screw posts so that I can bring it back to life. 75€ seems like a very decent price for a clean unit.

Stripped threads or actual broken posts? If the former, filling the holes with hot melt glue will often give self-tapping screws enough 'meat' to bite into, pick as hard a grade as you've got or can get easily.

[Cerebus]

I'm bleaching out the yellow from the buttons on the HP5335A at the moment. They were rather yellowed, more than the rest of my gear.
Seems 6% H2O2 is a bit difficult to come across in Japan, probably due to typical 'save everyone from themselves' regulations, but I found some in the end.

Just got the button caps in the good stuff on my hotplate at 50 degrees, apparently heat works well and UV isn't strictly needed. My results are so far looking good after a few hours, the yellowing is definitely fading.

Next, I'll try the front panel from the 5 1/4" floppy drive I just picked up.

H₂O₂ restrictions are about saving people from terrorists

They ought to be about saving people from hairdressers. For every one terrorist incident there are millions of incidents of hairdressing. It goes on all the time right under the government's nose, and do they do anything about it? No.

[McBryce]

You don't know what it installs.
We've lost control when MFM controller was left behind.

BTW,
Palmtronic and RAD results 1, DEG is a bit under, w/o tan() it's a bit over and w/o cos() it's 1.

BTW2,
my poor P-touch 500 doesn't even have a display.

I do because I've dumped and inspected the entire contents of the virtual drive and also connected it to a Linux machine where I can fully monitor what the USB connection is doing. It doesn't install anything.

McBryce.

[Neper]

You're paranoid .

Even if he's paranoid that doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't after him.