Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[vk6zgo]

To some of the stuff I used & worked on in my young days, 1948 was "yesterday".
Electronics had a huge expansion in the previous 40 years.

Yeah well, like the SI you have existed for longer than many people think.  You probably remember when you first got them fancy new Leyden jars.

I do have a couple of "Admiralty Handbooks", referring to capacitance in "jars".
These were passed on to me by my brother, who got them from another bloke in the Airforce, F.A. Moore, who later went on to be the immediately previous Boss to mine, at the first two PMG Dept sites where I worked.

In my first Tech job, it was not unusual to use equipment older than me, & early pioneers of radio were still active in the industry.

[rodcastler]

This just came in: A Hitachi V-1085. A thing of beauty.

I love how compact it is, look how it compares in size to the Rigol DSO.

[Specmaster]

Geez, I can't believe how this TTi LCR meter went for on eBay, sold as is, no power lead or anything else with it but it still fetched £192 

I had in my crosshairs but at that price it wouldn't be coming home with me that's for damn sure. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Thurlby-Thandar-Instruments-LCR400-Precision-LCR-Bridge-/373911926965

Yeah I was watching that one too, and wasn't surprised at all; it's the third to go for similar money recently. There's a Wayne Kerr for you to pitch a lowball at: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284602778594

The only reason I was watching it was because it was a TTi and I'm a bit of a fan boy of their gear now. So I'll let that Wayne Kerr slide on by me, I already have multiple means of testing caps and inductors and about 30 ways of testing resistors so I'll manage, I think. 

[Specmaster]

Volvo have released a report comparing ICE v EV cars and it is not all that cut and dried that EV cars are greener. I'll let you see the video, download the report and arrive at your own conclusions.

[mnementh]

Every step you get away from the original solar energy (that powers everything which lives or moves on planet earth) adds an order of magnitude of inefficiency. Add to that the fact of how much larger the production carbon footprint is on a EV as they're produced right now, and now you know why big energy has finally stopped murdering them in the cradle.

Somebody finally found a way to explain it to those morons that they can make more money, and more of it up front, if they let people have their electric toys.

Sure, a few outliers can get almost energy independent if they spend a lot of money on personal solar and drive infrequently; but that's just more money up front to those same big energy bastards.

mnem
Big energy "subsidies" on LED lighting is another similar scam. Amazing how our electric bills never shrink, even tho we're using less and less per Capita all the time...

[Cerebus]

Volvo have released a report comparing ICE v EV cars and it is not all that cut and dried that EV cars are greener. I'll let you see the video, download the report and arrive at your own conclusions.

Doesn't sound so impressive if you say "Volvo, a subsidiary of the Chinese Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd., have released a report comparing ICE v EV cars..."

Qui bono, qui bono?

Nowadays I tend to treat all reporting about the environmental effects of EVs and ICE vehicle as propaganda until proved otherwise.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Only YOU (me? me!) can prevent socialist ranting by posting actual TE content!

The next installment of WHAT A DMMCheck CAN DO FOR ME!

The worst photos first: the Unigor 6e doing  DC Volts, DC mA, and ACV at both frequencies.
(R and C went not so well. I suspect a flaky pot or switch contact - will tell when I find time for that)

[Neomys Sapiens]

When I'm at the topic of switch contacts....don't ask me how often I had to push through those selector switches.
Here's a little Tek that needs it's switches done! Otherwise it does pass for the moment.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Now this is what I call extended readyness period! Semper Fi or whatever...we'll test and measure those bastards into oblivion, Sir! A military Fluke showing it's mettle NEARLY 20 YEARS AFTER ITS LAST CALIBRATION!

Btw, I had to extract another Durak-Cell (from Russian) from this one first.

I'll trust that thing to hold me over water, slay a rampaging Brontops, measure what it is made for and provide a seat, if necessary.

[Neomys Sapiens]

The strange little Tek DMM353 'component multimeter' doing what it is supposed to in R and C.

And finally, the DESK BITCH. A much abused and not much cared for Beckman DM25XL. I'm surprised. Maybe she's even surprised more.

Next week: STRANGE BEASTS COME OUT OF HIDING...and measure!

[Runco990]

This just came in: A Hitachi V-1085. A thing of beauty.

I love how compact it is, look how it compares in size to the Rigol DSO.

Those Hitachi scopes are very good!  I used one for many years.  The built in frequency counter is a plus, as is the auto set for sweep.  Really good scopes.   

[ch_scr]

CONTACT CLEANER

(...)
I am going to bed and will be reading all your lovely helpful replies with the greatest of interest tomorrow ! 

The subject is almost as "hot" as which is the "right" way to calculate... That aside, I came from the same place (deoxit beeing too expensive). And Deoxit have a "cleaning" and a "protecting" product, which means you'll technically need both? 
I looked and found "Teslanol Oszillin".(Who could resist a product with such a lovely name? Their cold spray is called "Polarin Forte"  ) Cleans, protects, can also be used on gold contacts and tuner capacitors. Light petroleum solvent, so it will soften old grease on potentiometer shafts. Have not found anything wrong with it so far. Half the price of the Deoxit

[Neomys Sapiens]

CONTACT CLEANER

(...)
I am going to bed and will be reading all your lovely helpful replies with the greatest of interest tomorrow ! 

The subject is almost as "hot" as which is the "right" way to calculate... That aside, I came from the same place (deoxit beeing too expensive). And Deoxit have a "cleaning" and a "protecting" product, which means you'll technically need both? 
I looked and found "Tesanol Oszillin". Cleans, protects, can also be used on gold contacts and tuner capacitors. Light petroleum solvent, so it will soften old grease on potentiometer shafts. Have not found anything wrong with it so far. Half the price of the Deoxit

Should be about the same as Kontakt-Chemie Tuner600. I have also positive experiences with the slightly more expensive Kontakt Gold 2000, which is claimed not to cause any detrimental effects on the most sensitive coatings and surfaces.

[mansaxel]

CONTACT CLEANER

<snip>

I am going to bed and will be reading all your lovely helpful replies with the greatest of interest tomorrow ! 

I have good experience with "PRF 7-78" -- a contact cleaner with compromise levels of lubrication. It's made in Finland, and I can buy it OTC in our "radio shack" equivalent -- of course at a premium. Distrelec stocks it (180-81-580), and I've checked that it's available in the French site, and a can costs about 8€, ex VAT, I assume.

Don't think Farnell stocks it.

[mansaxel]

Does this make you feel better?   Kidding aside, I don't have the room or the TE budget that most of you have.

It's the Aneng that is like red cloth to bulls. 

Seriously, though. My reasoning is this: Precision-wise, there are few things around the house and around old TE that need more than 0,5% precision.  That the Aneng is completely unsuitable to mains work must be regarded as some kind of established truth; and that goes for a lot of the Chinesium Aliexpresso meters, but not, of course, for all China-built gear.

Within those limitations it will suffice, and more importantly so, once you find your own hammerFluke 27, a secondary multimeter is really useful. Some planning in test setup of course places it where it's not security critical and its accuracy is adequate, and it will serve well there.

In the long run, you can swap it forcomplement it with something else. If you feel the need.

I'm entirely convinced we can help in that department. And we have patience. It's all about leaving the largest estate for the poor family to dispose of, not having the most gear now... 

[Andrew_Debbie]

Bluetooth speaker and thermometer is a new one, never seen that in a multimeter before....

Speaker sound quality is terrible.   The thermometer is reasonably accurate.  Basic DCV accuracy is very good. DC resistance agrees with my other meters. Display is easy to read. Decent battery life (uses 2x 18650 cells)

It has trouble measuring ACV with a DC offset.    No CAT rating.  Power switch is in the back.  Effectively a battery operated bench meter.  It does work on charge. There is an internal DC-DC converter.  Anang advice against using it with anything line powered while charging.   Charging interferes with mV scale measurments.  So do the speakers.

$60 for a 9999 count bench DMM was a good value.  I think it is more expensive now.

[Ice-Tea]

CONTACT CLEANER

(...)
I am going to bed and will be reading all your lovely helpful replies with the greatest of interest tomorrow ! 

The subject is almost as "hot" as which is the "right" way to calculate... That aside, I came from the same place (deoxit beeing too expensive). And Deoxit have a "cleaning" and a "protecting" product, which means you'll technically need both? 
I looked and found "Tesanol Oszillin". Cleans, protects, can also be used on gold contacts and tuner capacitors. Light petroleum solvent, so it will soften old grease on potentiometer shafts. Have not found anything wrong with it so far. Half the price of the Deoxit

Should be about the same as Kontakt-Chemie Tuner600. I have also positive experiences with the slightly more expensive Kontakt Gold 2000, which is claimed not to cause any detrimental effects on the most sensitive coatings and surfaces.

That's good for grease etc. If it's actually de-oxidizing you want Kontakt 60 is what you're looking for. They also have Kontakt 61 for 'after'.

[Andrew_Debbie]

Let me help you then ! keep your most capable meter (the Racal-Dana I presume ? ) and sell the two Chinese ones : you gain both space AND money.



I know, I know... the Chinese ones have their merits as well so you want to keep them... they do have a very large LCD and with huge easy to read digits. That's quite valuable for a bench meter, I admit.
Aneng can talk too I guess, so will be helpful once you can't see squat due to age, though I guess that's probably not the main reason that led you to buy it....

If you like I can send you a nice Metrix MX53/C handheld DMM, have too many of them...

The Dana 5100 will far outperform my other meters once it is repaired.  I'm still working on programming a replacement  PROM for it.

The offer of the MX53/C is kind.   If I can't get the Dana 5100 DMM working, I may come back to you.  I'd want to pay you something for it. I'm not destitute, just on a budget.


The HP power supply is the last bit of TE I need to test the programmer I built.    (Idiot me, I tried using my RD-6006 and blew the internal fuse)   I replaced the fuse, but I'm done with it. Anyone want to buy a working RD-6006?    The little HP is linear with bullet proof current limiting.

[ch_scr]

CONTACT CLEANER

(...)
I am going to bed and will be reading all your lovely helpful replies with the greatest of interest tomorrow ! 

The subject is almost as "hot" as which is the "right" way to calculate... That aside, I came from the same place (deoxit beeing too expensive). And Deoxit have a "cleaning" and a "protecting" product, which means you'll technically need both? 
I looked and found "Tesanol Oszillin". Cleans, protects, can also be used on gold contacts and tuner capacitors. Light petroleum solvent, so it will soften old grease on potentiometer shafts. Have not found anything wrong with it so far. Half the price of the Deoxit

Should be about the same as Kontakt-Chemie Tuner600. I have also positive experiences with the slightly more expensive Kontakt Gold 2000, which is claimed not to cause any detrimental effects on the most sensitive coatings and surfaces.

That's good for grease etc. If it's actually de-oxidizing you want Kontakt 60 is what you're looking for. They also have Kontakt 61 for 'after'.

The "Teslanol" will take off oxidation as well, but it's not so ferocious that you'll need to wash it away afterwards. It makes sense that a "two part solution" can be more agressive on the cleaning...

[McBryce]

CONTACT CLEANER


Sorry for yelling, just in case your hearing device batteries were flat 

I have run out of Deoxit D5, can I bough 4 years ago is empty, with 60% of the stuff being wasted as the nozzle was leaking massively and most of the stuff was dripping on the floor and my pants, rather than going out the nozzle. Not impressed.

Anyway. Cheap in the US where it's made, but very expensive in France.
The official importer retails it at 45 Euros, 55/60 buck or so, would you believe it ?

https://www.cotelec.fr/boutique/produits-d-entretien-caig/595-deoxit-d-series.html

Googling a bit, I found it for 40% cheaper, on this guitar / audio web site called "Reverb" ;

https://reverb.com/p/caig-deoxit-d-series-contact-cleaner-5oz

At 27 Euros. Much better, but then add 5.5 Euro for shipping 32.5 Euros for a can.. still quite a bit eh ?! 

" Reverb ", that name rings a bell, I think that's where I must have bought my can back then.

Anyway, trying to save money, and seeing as I will be placing an order fairly soon on Farnell or TME for some caps to recap my Tek 2467B scope, I thought I might try a different, cheaper cleaner.

So do you have any experience / recommendation for some cleaner from a well know brand, that I could get from Farnell ?

I don't know, what brands are there... Servisol, KF, CIrcuitWorks etc etc...


I am not a Chemist so I don't know what's equivalent to the Deoxit D5.

I do understand that not all cleaners are the same, though. At the very least I gather that :

- Some have solvents, some don't.
- Some actively dissolve oxidization.
- Some provide lubrication once evaporated, some don't and let things dry afterward.
- Some, like WD40, over time, damage/ degrade phenolic parts like found in all the vintage wafer switches, or cheap/most pots.
- Some make larger flames than others when used under power.
- Some taste better than others when sprayed on lettuce as a condiment.

I am going to bed and will be reading all your lovely helpful replies with the greatest of interest tomorrow ! 

You need to look outside France but not as far as the US: https://www.micro-tools.de/Kontaktreiniger-oxid/CAIG-DeoxIT-D5-Spray-142-g.html

On Amazon it's also available for €22

McBryce.

[Robert763]

More TEA. Despite trying to downsize and organise, I’m still buying.
I have a very good collection of current clamps and transformers, more than 20. They range from Tek CT2 & P6019 (mA to A HF) through multiple 100 A & 1000 A (AC and AC/DC) to a MA431 rated at  40,000A pulse. However there has been a bit of a “hole” in the tens of mA to tens of A AC/DC range. I felt this recently when investigating a EMC mains filer with high leakage.
So I fixed that last night by a BIN of an albino Fluke i30s AKA LEM HEME PR30.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165326925916
Even better it only cost £1 per amp compared to £20 per amp for a new Fluke. Even used i30s go for £150 in the UK so my £30 was a bargain.
There is not much choice in this sector. The “cheap” option is the OWON CP-05+ but it is still around £150 and does not get great reviews. In particular, like most multi-range lower current clamps the noise is high on the low range. Even the Fluke i310s suffers from this. Due no doubt to extra amplification to improve the sensitivity that also amplifies the nose from the hall effect device.
Looking forward to getting the PR30.

[david77]

I've been told by a Kontakt Chemie rep to use their stuff in this order: First clean/deox using K60, then wash away with KWL and for delicate contacts use K61 for protecting/lubricating the contacts. I've always got a big can of KWL handy, it's a good alround cleaner for electronics. Do not use on optics!

I have to say I prefer the Caig stuff, especially the D5 in the needle dripper bottle. So much less mess. I've had that small bottle for >5 years now and it is maybe 1/5 empty. Not cheap and not readily available but lasts a long time. The FaderLube is also nice for all kinds of pots.

[tggzzz]

I've been told by a Kontakt Chemie rep to use their stuff in this order: First clean/deox using K60, then wash away with KWL and for delicate contacts use K61 for protecting/lubricating the contacts. I've always got a big can of KWL handy, it's a good alround cleaner for electronics. Do not use on optics!

I have to say I prefer the Caig stuff, especially the D5 in the needle dripper bottle. So much less mess. I've had that small bottle for >5 years now and it is maybe 1/5 empty. Not cheap and not readily available but lasts a long time. The FaderLube is also nice for all kinds of pots.

I tend to use Caig D100. I spray a tiny amount in the cap, and then use a jewellers screwdriver to put a tiny drop exactly where I want it.

I've also got some Caig Faderlube, but don't like the way the spray goes everywhere.

[BU508A]

Meanwhile in Seattle: local radiostation bricks Mazda's car radios:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/thanks-to-a-glitch-some-seattle-mazda-drivers-cant-tune-their-radios-away-from-kuow/

  

[Neper]

I've always got a big can of KWL handy, it's a good alround cleaner for electronics.

Just don't keep it too long or this might happen...