Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Cerebus]

No, I just need to steal all his money. I don't think becoming a sociopath with no regard for my actions on the rest of the planet is necessary to my fantasy, just lots of money.

[dl6lr]

There are a lot of "scary" stories of explosions of Acetylene bottles (hardly ever in conjunction with their oxygen counterparts), but such things happen so rarely, that you have more chance of winning Lotto every week for a year.

Acetylene (or better ethyne) has the nasty habit of self-decomposition, it is not very stable. So you can not store a lot Acetylene under high pressure or it may go bang with the slighest energy input. So wait, you insist, how comes you can buy this stuff in pressure bottles? The trick is it is solved in Acetone which is stored in the bottle in a porous filling. And the pressure is not very high. But it gets dangerous if it is heated, i.e. in a fire. Then it can explode without any oxygen as the decomposition of the triple binding is exotherm.

[tautech]

There are a lot of "scary" stories of explosions of Acetylene bottles (hardly ever in conjunction with their oxygen counterparts), but such things happen so rarely, that you have more chance of winning Lotto every week for a year.

Acetylene (or better ethyne) has the nasty habit of self-decomposition, it is not very stable. So you can not store a lot Acetylene under high pressure or it may go bang with the slighest energy input. So wait, you insist, how comes you can buy this stuff in pressure bottles? The trick is it is solved in Acetone which is stored in the bottle in a porous filling. And the pressure is not very high. But it gets dangerous if it is heated, i.e. in a fire. Then it can explode without any oxygen as the decomposition of the triple binding is exotherm.

Typical oxyacetylene welding plants are safer than you think (excluding flashbacks) as I lost a set to a workshop fire and the safety mechanisms in the bottles did their thing just as they were designed.
Now I can't remember how full the oxy bottle was but it didn't explode but the brass tap melted letting the oxy vent however that may've been a result of the thermal plug in the acetylene bottle melting and it becoming a blowtorch.

Still, both bottles survived in good shape although well annealed. 

[mansaxel]

Thinking about it, my ideal job would probably be reading catalogues all day and ordering anything I thought was interesting, useful, or fun, without a budgetary limit.

Yes. This is a worthy ambition.

[factory]

Does anyone recognise what HP TE this transformer is from? part is HP 9100-0445, it was fitted to my parts mule 3400A*, as you can see it's not the original transformer and was rather bodged in.





*that donated the chopper, chopper neons & panel meter parts to the other 3400As here.

David

[factory]

Hmm I'm getting a "divide by Discord" error message...

@factory, was it you that was interested in that TDR that keeps getting relisted? The current price is giving my trigger finger twitches...



EDIT: Yes Specmaster, it's Saturday, now stop painting yer bleedin' banister!

It was, I think it's quite near me too, so would pick up to avoid snapped off handle syndrome.

David

[factory]

The semiconductor data books will be useful too, kind of miss not being able to use the library at work, much prefer paper for this; than crappy unreadable scanned pdfs on the phone, or data archive websites that promise but fail to deliver. 

There are still some data collections available in the dead-tree form. Disadvantage: they are a bit outdated (2010/2011):
ECA books

ECA homepage

Newer Versions are available as DVDs or online access only (valid for one year):
DVD versions

Online databases

The DVD version is longer usable than one year. I have here a version from 2014 and I still can use it offline.

And, as always: NAWTS

Outdated in fine for me, as most of my TE is. Actually have a few old ECA books here.
Often web pdfs keep getting downgraded with removal of obsolete parts, happened with the ELMA catalog, lucky had an older one to help someone on one of the forums a while back.
The other big problem is finding data for older/ancient semiconductor parts, often web search will give lots of hits, which all turn out to be false links, to get you to look at the various crappy supposed datasheet archive websites, think Dave had this problem in one of his videos. Wasted lot too much time this way. 

David

That is one of the nice things with those ECA books: they keep the old and outdated data.
They also have some parts with kyrillic letters, probably russian types.
Here are some examples from my vrt books from 2000:

The ECA books I have I picked up at ham sales, much older & no Russian parts listed, there's a TVT transistor book on the computer desk, bit out of date (75-76) 
There is a webpage listing Russian parts but very slow to go through looking for something suitable, having said that it may become difficult to buy Russian parts if the Ukraine situation gets worse. 
http://transistor-spravochnik.ru/

David

[Robert763]

The classic British version of ECA was Tits
Towers international transistor selector
Never did find out if the name was a deliberate joke.

[Specmaster]

Just been watching this:



He is one hilariously grumpy old man![/color][/size][/b]

Yeah, I used to have him in my subscription list, he does loads of valve radios and old TV's, even finds them dumped, rusty and open to the elements and often manages to get them working to a degree.

[Specmaster]

Hmm I'm getting a "divide by Discord" error message...

@factory, was it you that was interested in that TDR that keeps getting relisted? The current price is giving my trigger finger twitches...



EDIT: Yes Specmaster, it's Saturday, now stop painting yer bleedin' banister!

Bleeding hell, so it is, sorry, got side tracked watching a video for over an hour about B52 bombers, then sold a new pair of trainers that were too big for me, packed them up and dispatched those off tonight. Not started on the stairs/landing and hallway yet.

[tggzzz]

There are a lot of "scary" stories of explosions of Acetylene bottles (hardly ever in conjunction with their oxygen counterparts), but such things happen so rarely, that you have more chance of winning Lotto every week for a year.

Acetylene (or better ethyne) has the nasty habit of self-decomposition, it is not very stable. So you can not store a lot Acetylene under high pressure or it may go bang with the slighest energy input. So wait, you insist, how comes you can buy this stuff in pressure bottles? The trick is it is solved in Acetone which is stored in the bottle in a porous filling. And the pressure is not very high. But it gets dangerous if it is heated, i.e. in a fire. Then it can explode without any oxygen as the decomposition of the triple binding is exotherm.

As a schoolkid, I watched - or rather heard - a 1pint (500ml) glass bottle of a stoichiometric mixture of acetylene and oxygen detonate. It was in the Royal Institution's famous lecture theatre.

The glass bottle was reduced to glass dust.

[tggzzz]

The classic British version of ECA was Tits
Towers international transistor selector
Never did find out if the name was a deliberate joke.

I still have a couple.

[Specmaster]

There are a lot of "scary" stories of explosions of Acetylene bottles (hardly ever in conjunction with their oxygen counterparts), but such things happen so rarely, that you have more chance of winning Lotto every week for a year.

Acetylene (or better ethyne) has the nasty habit of self-decomposition, it is not very stable. So you can not store a lot Acetylene under high pressure or it may go bang with the slighest energy input. So wait, you insist, how comes you can buy this stuff in pressure bottles? The trick is it is solved in Acetone which is stored in the bottle in a porous filling. And the pressure is not very high. But it gets dangerous if it is heated, i.e. in a fire. Then it can explode without any oxygen as the decomposition of the triple binding is exotherm.

As a schoolkid, I watched - or rather heard - a 1pint (500ml) glass bottle of a stoichiometric mixture of acetylene and oxygen detonate. It was in the Royal Institution's famous lecture theatre.

The glass bottle was reduced to glass dust.

I used to love watching those lectures when they had a series of them on TV years ago, wish that they would bring them back again.

[tggzzz]

There are a lot of "scary" stories of explosions of Acetylene bottles (hardly ever in conjunction with their oxygen counterparts), but such things happen so rarely, that you have more chance of winning Lotto every week for a year.

Acetylene (or better ethyne) has the nasty habit of self-decomposition, it is not very stable. So you can not store a lot Acetylene under high pressure or it may go bang with the slighest energy input. So wait, you insist, how comes you can buy this stuff in pressure bottles? The trick is it is solved in Acetone which is stored in the bottle in a porous filling. And the pressure is not very high. But it gets dangerous if it is heated, i.e. in a fire. Then it can explode without any oxygen as the decomposition of the triple binding is exotherm.

As a schoolkid, I watched - or rather heard - a 1pint (500ml) glass bottle of a stoichiometric mixture of acetylene and oxygen detonate. It was in the Royal Institution's famous lecture theatre.

The glass bottle was reduced to glass dust.

I used to love watching those lectures when they had a series of them on TV years ago, wish that they would bring them back again.

The Christmas lectures are still broadcast every year. That was not one of the Christmas lectures, and I never saw any of them broadcast.

[salvagedcircuitry]

First used EXR I've seen in the wild. $25k is still too rich for my taste, maybe a 50% discount isn't too much to ask for
Let the lowballs begin 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/194852312581

[Cerebus]

The classic British version of ECA was Tits
Towers international transistor selector
Never did find out if the name was a deliberate joke.

I suspect it of having been an accidental double entendre, given there were a whole series of "Towers xxx Selector"s at one time, or at best a mischievous editor.. It doesn't mean that it wasn't exploited at every opportunity - "Have you seen my T.I.T.S.?". Rather like me the other week "Have you seen the Swiss Bastard?*" (while looking for the Vallorbe file I'd just put down and then couldn't find).

* This joke brought to you by the BD139 memorial association.

[Cerebus]

There are a lot of "scary" stories of explosions of Acetylene bottles (hardly ever in conjunction with their oxygen counterparts), but such things happen so rarely, that you have more chance of winning Lotto every week for a year.

Acetylene (or better ethyne) has the nasty habit of self-decomposition, it is not very stable. So you can not store a lot Acetylene under high pressure or it may go bang with the slighest energy input. So wait, you insist, how comes you can buy this stuff in pressure bottles? The trick is it is solved in Acetone which is stored in the bottle in a porous filling. And the pressure is not very high. But it gets dangerous if it is heated, i.e. in a fire. Then it can explode without any oxygen as the decomposition of the triple binding is exotherm.

As a schoolkid, I watched - or rather heard - a 1pint (500ml) glass bottle of a stoichiometric mixture of acetylene and oxygen detonate. It was in the Royal Institution's famous lecture theatre.

The glass bottle was reduced to glass dust.

I used to love watching those lectures when they had a series of them on TV years ago, wish that they would bring them back again.

The Christmas lectures are still broadcast every year. That was not one of the Christmas lectures, and I never saw any of them broadcast.

There are lots of videos online at the RI including, but not limited to, the Christmas Lectures.

https://www.rigb.org/explore-science/browse?type=35

And the RI has a you tube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheRoyalInstitution

Let's start you off with something explosive:

[srb1954]

Kind of looks like a piece of equipment you might see in a hospital operating theatre.

Maybe it is used in some facial resurfacing procedures.

[mnementh]

  Hmmmm... am I sure I want to be doing this right now...?   

mnem
On the road again...

A'aight... After a hour or two infesting the Discord from the passenger seat, it was my turn to drive. We have finally touched down safely at our hotel in Ohio, tho it were touch & go for a bit there; almost an hour of intermittent snow squalls at near zero visibility with the train of blinkers and edging along at 5-10 MPH. Such is winter travel through the Adirondacks.   

I tried to take a pic, but visibility was so effed up I couldn't get the camera to focus; literally a white haze was all it recorded. 

K... I'm gonna go heed Hypnos' siren call... Gnight all you maniacs.

mnem
 

[BU508A]

First used EXR I've seen in the wild. $25k is still too rich for my taste, maybe a 50% discount isn't too much to ask for
Let the lowballs begin 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/313883089013

Wrong ebay listing. FTFY:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/194852312581

 

[AVGresponding]

Hmm I'm getting a "divide by Discord" error message...

@factory, was it you that was interested in that TDR that keeps getting relisted? The current price is giving my trigger finger twitches...



EDIT: Yes Specmaster, it's Saturday, now stop painting yer bleedin' banister!

It was, I think it's quite near me too, so would pick up to avoid snapped off handle syndrome.

David

Someone's stuck a bid on it, hope it's you, 'cos it ain't me.

[Saskia]

Hmm I'm getting a "divide by Discord" error message...

@factory, was it you that was interested in that TDR that keeps getting relisted? The current price is giving my trigger finger twitches...



EDIT: Yes Specmaster, it's Saturday, now stop painting yer bleedin' banister!

it ain't me.


Why do I have to think of Credence Clearwater Revival and fortunate son ...

[Robert763]

There are a lot of "scary" stories of explosions of Acetylene bottles (hardly ever in conjunction with their oxygen counterparts), but such things happen so rarely, that you have more chance of winning Lotto every week for a year.

Acetylene (or better ethyne) has the nasty habit of self-decomposition, it is not very stable. So you can not store a lot Acetylene under high pressure or it may go bang with the slighest energy input. So wait, you insist, how comes you can buy this stuff in pressure bottles? The trick is it is solved in Acetone which is stored in the bottle in a porous filling. And the pressure is not very high. But it gets dangerous if it is heated, i.e. in a fire. Then it can explode without any oxygen as the decomposition of the triple binding is exotherm.

As a schoolkid, I watched - or rather heard - a 1pint (500ml) glass bottle of a stoichiometric mixture of acetylene and oxygen detonate. It was in the Royal Institution's famous lecture theatre.

The glass bottle was reduced to glass dust.

a small amount of H₂O₂ and Calcium carbide in a closed container is not a good idea.

[Robert763]

The classic British version of ECA was Tits
Towers international transistor selector
Never did find out if the name was a deliberate joke.

I suspect it of having been an accidental double entendre, given there were a whole series of "Towers xxx Selector"s at one time, or at best a mischievous editor.. It doesn't mean that it wasn't exploited at every opportunity - "Have you seen my T.I.T.S.?". Rather like me the other week "Have you seen the Swiss Bastard?*" (while looking for the Vallorbe file I'd just put down and then couldn't find).

* This joke brought to you by the BD139 memorial association.

That brought back a memory from over 40 years ago when I was in my early teens. I was in the local tool shop which for some reason also sold glassware and china. I was behind a guy at the tool counter who asked for an 18" bastard file.  A little old lady stepped up from behind me and started berating him about using foul languge in front of a "young man" Then she had a o at the shop assitant for laughing so much....

[Brumby]

Picked up a free scope today.  A humble BWD 539A.  Needs a bit of a wipe down on the outside, but looks decent.  As  bonus, it has an asset tag from the University of NSW, which means it could easily have been on campus when I was.

Not turned it on yet ... will be opening it up first.  That's a job for the next day or three.

The story of how it made its way out of the Uni is lost to time - but the person I collected it from told me of the hand he had in its provenance.  There was an estate being cleared with various bits of equipment being - quite literally - tossed out.  He was helping in this endeavour, with some reservations about some of the things being dumped.  While he was not into electronics, he had enough appreciation of these things that when he came upon this scope, he just could not toss it.  He rescued it and has been with him for the last year.

He recently began a clean-up and wanted to find this scope a home where it would be appreciated, so he took the make and model and plugged it into a Google search.  He found a discussion about the model on the EEVblog where it seemed hopeful someone could have an interest.  He then joined for the purpose of posting this under the Buy/Sell/Wanted section ... and now it sits beside me.

Of interest is the heavy stranded wire poking out the back that has been cut.  This is really heavy duty steel with a woven fibre core.  My guess is it was a security thing.