Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Brumby]

.... and some swimming.

... for anyone in the Americas or Oceania.

[McBryce]

The best car in terms of reliability that I ever had was a Lexus GS300 S1, 2nd place a Jag XKR (X150 model), 3rd place a Lexus LS400. Then: Subaru Forester, Subaru Forester ...

Anything from VW is meh.

1st - 2018 BMW i3s  zero faults in 3 years.   Only completely trouble free car I've ever owned.

Lowest total cost of ownership  -- 2005 Vauxhall (Opel) Combo van.    It needed occasional repairs but parts were  cheap.

Most durable *not the same as reliable* -  2010 Landrover Defender 110  and 1990 BMW 535i.   I sold the BMW when we moved to the UK in 2007.  At 230,000 miles it still had the original engine, transmission, drive shafts (even the half shafts at the back), starter, alternator -- nearly all of the original interior was present and working.    The 110 needed minor work all the time but it never broke down and showed no signs of wearing out.

The old BMWs were built to last. The new ones are set to die at 180k km or after 13 years whichever comes first.


German cars ? Not if I can help it.

I've read the e34 BMW 5 series had a 300,000 mile (not km) design life.   From the way mine was wearing, I suspect it was true.

We've owned several newer petrol engine BMWs.  With each generation I could see them heading towards lower cost and shorter life.    The i3 might be an exception.

Where did you read that?? BMW give all there suppliers a 100,000Mile / 10 year requirement for all components.

McBryce.

[Saskia]

from a BMW engineer.

[mnementh]

The best car in terms of reliability that I ever had was a Lexus GS300 S1, 2nd place a Jag XKR (X150 model), 3rd place a Lexus LS400. Then: Subaru Forester, Subaru Forester ...

Anything from VW is meh.

1st - 2018 BMW i3s  zero faults in 3 years.   Only completely trouble free car I've ever owned.

Lowest total cost of ownership  -- 2005 Vauxhall (Opel) Combo van.    It needed occasional repairs but parts were  cheap.

Most durable *not the same as reliable* -  2010 Landrover Defender 110  and 1990 BMW 535i.   I sold the BMW when we moved to the UK in 2007.  At 230,000 miles it still had the original engine, transmission, drive shafts (even the half shafts at the back), starter, alternator -- nearly all of the original interior was present and working.    The 110 needed minor work all the time but it never broke down and showed no signs of wearing out.

Hmmmm...

Longest vehicle ownership would have to be Grand-dad's '79 F-150, which I've driven since it was new and still own, stored in a barn on the old homestead. Has not been on the road in the last decade however.

Lowest TCO (not counting gift/free/salvaged cars)... probably my 1980 Volvo 242DL, which I bought for $300 at an estate sale as nobody even looked at it because it was old, had faded primer-red colored paint and a hickey on the PS fender right in the middle of the wheel-well.

I paid $90 for a battery and Lambda sensor, put them on it at the farm where I bought it, and drove it first as primary then as secondary vehicle for 10 years without dropping a penny into it aside from tires. Then I gave it away to a friend of my mum's who was desperate for wheels to get to & from a new job.

After that would have to be wifey's 2000 Saturn SL1, which we've owned since it was new. Aside from consumables like brakes, tires, battery and fluid changes, the only actual repair I've done on it in nearly 290K miles has been an alternator and a rad damaged in a accident.

I've owned no less than 6 Saturns... and aside from a 99 SC1 (my hoopty which never got finished, as it always got scavenged for parts to fix others) every one was given away and/or died as a result of another driver's incompetence. One was a victim of Saturn on Saturn violence; it got T-boned by a driver in another Saturn who ran a red light, hitting hard enough that his front plate was left embedded in the car and they tracked him down by that.

These were a great, economy market car which was good for 200K miles; more if you did regular maintenance. No wonder ZombieCorp (GM) had to kill off the marque.

mnem

[McBryce]

??

All I can tell is the Japanese "Green Tea" KitKat is darn delicious...

That might be, but that KitKat says Wasabi on the package.

McBryce.

[mnementh]

Somebody here really ought to buy it. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324916057293

They won't ship abroad. Phew.

Ditto. 

mnem
*wibble...*

[McBryce]

from a BMW engineer.

He was waffling. I can assure you that that's not the case. Zucca can probably confirm this too. The documents say 100K Miles / 10 years.

McBryce.

[mnementh]

Somebody here really ought to buy it. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324916057293

They won't ship abroad. Phew.

I can send one to you 

NOOOOOOOOOooooooo....! 

mnem
look away, fat dwagon... just... look... AWAY...!

[m k]

Was somebody missing some HP 437B stuff, govplanet has few in Texas.
It's constantly creating localized links so use the search.

From PP I could use #13.
Assuming it's a normal DOS based thing.

[Saskia]

from a BMW engineer.

He was waffling. I can assure you that that's not the case. Zucca can probably confirm this too. The documents say 100K Miles / 10 years.

McBryce.

meaning it is designed to break after 160000 km or 10y ?

[mnementh]

Today arrival: a parcel from med6753 

@med6753: will forward it tomorrow. Will also take some pictures of the module to be sure, it is okay.   

So... what was the upshot of this fellow's "a process" to restore these things...? Did I miss that, or are we saving that part of the story for a big reveal later on...?

And thanks for again being the best of that which is TEAnonymous... TE nerds helping TE nerds. 

mnem

[McBryce]

from a BMW engineer.

He was waffling. I can assure you that that's not the case. Zucca can probably confirm this too. The documents say 100K Miles / 10 years.

McBryce.

meaning it is designed to break after 160000 km or 10y ?

No, that's the minimum it should achieve. If it breaks before that the supplier is responsible. I didn't design anything in the e34 (I'm not THAT old!), but I have for other BMW's and they certainly weren't designed for much more than the minimum.

McBryce.

[mnementh]

Just ordered some RAL5018 PLA Filament for my 3D printer 

McBryce.

Gonna start early on those Tek Scope Christmas ornaments for friends & family, are we...? 

mnem

[mnementh]

.... and some swimming.

... for anyone in the Americas or Oceania.

Sssssshhh... If we can talk him into the road trip, maybe we can mug him to to lump those loads to the freight carrier for us... 

mnem

[McBryce]

Just ordered some RAL5018 PLA Filament for my 3D printer 

McBryce.

Gonna start early on those Tek Scope Christmas ornaments for friends & family, are we...? 

mnem

Close. Just a crazy side-project: I want to print a "working" mini TEK 2465 ornament. I have a tiny CRT (viewfinder of an old VHS Camcorder) so that it can display real waves.

McBryce.

[Brumby]

.... and some swimming.

... for anyone in the Americas or Oceania.

Sssssshhh... If we can talk him into the road trip, maybe we can mug him to to lump those loads to the freight carrier for us... 

mnem

To borrow a phrase of yours.... Sweet cheese and crackers!

My wallet was grimacing at the sight of some of those lots.  (Please ignore the drool.)  Distance was the safety barrier.  Now you open a potential channel of distribution that has some sphincter puckering working in concert with tachycardia.   

You....  You....  TEA enabler!!!

[exor]

The best car in terms of reliability that I ever had was a Lexus GS300 S1, 2nd place a Jag XKR (X150 model), 3rd place a Lexus LS400. Then: Subaru Forester, Subaru Forester ...

Anything from VW is meh.

And is your Skoda Octavia meh 

The Octavia sucks.
The only reason I still have it is that it runs on 4 kg of CNG/100 km. That is 4€.
Seating: uncomfortable.
suspension: not up to the task
gearbox: making noises

I would like to teslarize it the Finnish way. But then again I am still getting some use out of it and currently cannot afford a new car.

Generally I find German cars to be good, I've had 3 Passats, and now on my 4th Skoda Superb, which has been the best car of them all, current one is 8 years old, had it from new and no major issues with it really, only let me down once when an alternator belt shredded itself.

Same here, I can’t blame VAG cars, I have driven them from 1984. I have now driven with two Audi A8L almost 500k in last 12 years with no major or constant faults. And one year with A2 3L in between them just for fun

The one I drive now had 87k when I bought it, now there is 428k in dial.

This has happen in addition normal service (oil, filters, two set of brake pads and one set of discs, etc):

Boot didn't lock, bought a second hand spare lock from eBay.

Air suspension alarm, couldn't lower the car. Bleed valve cable was broken, snapped on bad road or cut against sharp edge, one couldn’t tell.

Picture in foldable center display disappears now and then. But no worries, I have a phone app for it. I hit it with the phone and display comes back to life.

Air-con stopped due to rotten cooling fan fuse holder behind front bumper. New fuse holder.

Water pump started to leak, not from the shaft but from core plug. Pump replaced.

Particle filter alarm due to faulty pressure difference sensor. Sensor replaced.

Glove box opening damper failed at -20C. Didn't bother to fix it.

Some oil underneath the engine but so little that one can’t tell where it comes.

Car didn't start in the morning at -10C. Intercooler hose full of ice, engine couldn't breath. Melting ice, draining water and nowadays I cover lower part of the grille at winter time.

Noise from front suspension. One ball joint and two arms replaced. But there is still some extra noise that needs attention in the future.

This might sound a lot, but nothing very expensive and this 340k ride has been very safe and smooth, also on frozen and snowy roads.

[Zucca]

The old BMWs were built to last.

Most old cars were build to last, and, EVEN MORE IMPORTANT, they were providing all the technical documentation for customers.
That's why I will never buy a new car and I will keep fixing my old '79 C10 truck for the rest of my life.

Yes I am a BMW eng since 2006. I will look at the video later.

PS: Without a service manual I do not own any product, I paid for something it is not 100% mine! 
PPS: sometime I would like to start a company that reverse eng boards. Schematics are there, they are only hard to read... 

[med6753]

Mini (sort of) boatanchor alert. Every time I go out on Ebay I buy something. Must stop.    This time a Type 105 Square Wave Generator. It has a crap load of tubes in it and it weighs in at a hefty 35 pounds. It's design dates back to 1950.

According to ad it doesn't power up. Probably got bum caps in the PSU. Should be a fun project.

[THDplusN_bad]

A small package arrived this morning. It’s the LEM PR30 AKA Fluke i30s. Looks in very good condition. Just time for a quick DC check at lunch time. All working well Fluke sez BAM 

So thats 22 clamps and 3 transformers 

A show-off you are, Robert!

Just keep 'em coming...

Cheers,

THDplusN_bad

[TERRA Operative]

The TDS620B scope is still being recalcitrant, it's failing SPC on channel 1 with an error:

Error: Internal adjustment range exceeded (0@ 6010): -9.7450 => A/D Gain dac #1 (ID #1326)

It's not the relay driver chip I was hoping for, and the hybrid modules are ok too.
I think the error means it either can't read or can't adjust the offset on input 1 so is pegging out to the adjustment limit... maybe?

I gotta figure out what 'ID #1326' is.

Time to dive deeper.....

[Cubdriver]

Mini (sort of) boatanchor alert. Every time I go out on Ebay I buy something. Must stop.    This time a Type 105 Square Wave Generator. It has a crap load of tubes in it and it weighs in at a hefty 35 pounds. It's design dates back to 1950.

According to ad it doesn't power up. Probably got bum caps in the PSU. Should be a fun project.

Wow, Mike - that's an old one!  Square corners and everything.  Sweet find!

I have a 107 downstairs in the queue, but it's smaller and less capable than the 105 - just two knobs to control the 'approximate' frequency and amplitude.


Look forward to seeing your surgery on the 105.

-Pat

[Robert763]

Ok then, I think its time to give you the answer to which car the BBC audiences voted for as the best car in the world, drum roll.... it is the very one that so many you slate all the time here, it is the Land Rover, surprised??

Perhaps the video might explain the logic a bit more. One thing I can say about your various comments is that yes, they are cars from different leagues and market sectors, but that does not detract from people's feelings about them, as many demonstrated when they threw in their dedications for possible contenders.

I claim the prize! Oh, no prize 
The Land Rover may no be perfect but look how long it was produced, the uses it is put to and the markets it spanned. No niche for it. It's also notable how many are still on the road. In the UK of 12,600 109's registered in 1995 1,700 are still on the road. A good proportion of those not on the raod may have been exported. Of 23,000 90's in 1995 8,000 are on the road and 7,000 SORN.
Only the Rolls Royce comes close to that level of retention and few of those will have seen the usage and storage conditions of a typical Landy. There is no data for the Mclaren F1.
I've seen Land Rovers of all ages in use in every country I've ever visited.

Although Jeeps have probably been produced longer and in far greater numbers.

"Jeeps" is a bit wide.

No more than Landrover. 
S1, S2, S3, 88, 108, 90, 110, Defender, Disco, Rangerover etc......

I would not count the Discovery or Range Rover as a "Land Rover" in this context. Basically it's Series (leaf spring) and Defender (coil spring). These are all instantly identifiable ase the same vehicle. For a single manufacturer "jeep" is really limited to the CJ and early YJ and TJ Wranglers. The J20, J30  and J40 Land Cruser are probably more widely distributed thn the CJ.

[AVGresponding]

Bugger, sort of. Made a silly offer on a bit of Time Nut TE earlier this evening. Now it’s TEA. 
A Yokogawa TA520 Time Interval Analyser. £90 inc. Shipping.   
At least it’s not a boat anchor. I really don’t need more timenuttery stuff and was not expecting the offer to be accepted. It’s coming from a TE business and is supposedly refurbished.

Jammy git!

You'll have fun with it. I've just been playing with my Agilent/HP 53310A, my newly acquired Quartzlock off-air frequency standard, and an HP10811 OCXO.

Ought to look at my ublox GPS receiver as well.

The seller has another one......

You really are being cruel today, aren't you!

Somebody here really ought to buy it. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324916057293

Well, not me, I have no time intervals I need to analyse   

[Neper]

...just two knobs to control the 'approximate' frequency and amplitude.

What we Germans call a Schaetzeisen (literally an "estimating iron").