Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Kosmic]

Here you go hp fan boys. Don't know if that's a reasonable price or he's crazy. Appears to be in good shape. I have no interest.


https://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/ele/d/poughkeepsie-hp-4195a-network-spectrum/7454375022.html

He's crazy. I could get one of those locally for 500$.

[mansaxel]

Space, the final frontier.
<SNIP>

Build! I'm getting quotes on a 2-story garage/workshop/storage/home-office building, ~25' x ~45'. Dirty and heavy things on the ground floor. Clean and light-ish things upstairs. TE will be a first-class citizen.

I've partitioned the garage off already, with the partition having raised flooring (because I could!) and that's the electronics workshop, TE and computer room. Can't build outside current house/garage envelope. Our house is part of a project that built ~30 similar bungalows on a loop up on a hill, so no through traffic. Cleverly embedded in the existing forest and boulder terrain. Something like this is what the nature was around us, and it's largely been kept that way:



The houses are the nicest in the village, since they're actually designed by an architect as an ensemble instead of being a home-owning contractor (lots of contractors living out here) building his McMansion larger than the neighbours.  County has noticed this, and won't issue building permit for destroying the coherence. You're not even allowed to repaint outside a fairly narrow spectrum.  This is all the more flabbergasting because the rumour is that our county building board is insanely easy to bribe into allowing pretty much anything, including beachfront lots (the entire county is made up of 140 islands in Swedens 3rd largest lake, Mälaren) and other things that are extremely complicated to get a permit for in Sweden.

I like this. Makes for better standard of living, at the small cost of tasteless and stupid rich people not getting their whims fulfilled.

Edit: If I ever get rich, I won't fall into any nouveau riche traps, but instead just increase the quality and longevity of clever and gifted peoples contributions to society. Like buying and restoring TE.

[mnementh]

Space, the final frontier.
<SNIP>

Build! I'm getting quotes on a 2-story garage/workshop/storage/home-office building, ~25' x ~45'. Dirty and heavy things on the ground floor. Clean and light-ish things upstairs. TE will be a first-class citizen.

Guess if I come visit, you'd best keep me on the ground floor. 

mnem
it's okay... dwagons belong in a cave.

[med6753]

Space, the final frontier.
<SNIP>

Build! I'm getting quotes on a 2-story garage/workshop/storage/home-office building, ~25' x ~45'. Dirty and heavy things on the ground floor. Clean and light-ish things upstairs. TE will be a first-class citizen.

I've partitioned the garage off already, with the partition having raised flooring (because I could!) and that's the electronics workshop, TE and computer room. Can't build outside current house/garage envelope. Our house is part of a project that built ~30 similar bungalows on a loop up on a hill, so no through traffic. Cleverly embedded in the existing forest and boulder terrain. Something like this is what the nature was around us, and it's largely been kept that way:



The houses are the nicest in the village, since they're actually designed by an architect as an ensemble instead of being a home-owning contractor (lots of contractors living out here) building his McMansion larger than the neighbours.  County has noticed this, and won't issue building permit for destroying the coherence. You're not even allowed to repaint outside a fairly narrow spectrum.  This is all the more flabbergasting because the rumour is that our county building board is insanely easy to bribe into allowing pretty much anything, including beachfront lots (the entire county is made up of 140 islands in Swedens 3rd largest lake, Mälaren) and other things that are extremely complicated to get a permit for in Sweden.

I like this. Makes for better standard of living, at the small cost of tasteless and stupid rich people not getting their whims fulfilled.

Edit: If I ever get rich, I won't fall into any nouveau riche traps, but instead just increase the quality and longevity of clever and gifted peoples contributions to society. Like buying and restoring TE.

Those rocks almost look like they were purposely arranged in a circle. You sure that's not the remains of some ancient settlement? 

[med6753]

Batten down the hatches and lower the sails.  High wind warning for tonight and they aren't kidding. It is blowing like hell out there. Already scanner is going nuts with trees/wires down. Hopefully I won't lose power. 

[Cerebus]

Those rocks almost look like they were purposely arranged in a circle. You sure that's not the remains of some ancient settlement?

Shhhsssh. It's a sleeping forest troll, come to get away from all those noisy Norwegians.

[med6753]

Shhhsssh. It's a sleeping forest troll, come to get away from all those noisy Norwegians.

I can't wait to see what kind of hell you're going to catch for calling a Swede a Norwegian. 

[Kosmic]

...service...

I heard of this. 

Also: 400MHz LPF. Now I need to decide if I want to invest the time to get the screen brighter...

If it's a LCD (not clear on the picture), converting the backlight to led is normally super easy and cheap.

[srb1954]

Actually, rail road operators DO rely on oil analysis for their diesel engine fleet. The engine oil is never changed unless the analysis indicates an issue. But if it does indicate a problem chances are the engine must be torn down and rebuilt. But under normal circumstances they only add oil to make up for what is consumed.       

Heavy truck and construction machinery operators also rely on oil analysis for their fleets.

[wolfy007]

Checked out the 539A today.

A quick wipe down of the case was all it needed.  Inside wasn't too bad, just dust - a healthy layer, but not greasy.  I gave a small patch of the PCB a rub with a dry cotton bud and the dust it removed was dry - so that gave me confidence I wouldn't have to deal with decontamination.  I gave the PCB a spritz with IPA and a little working with a small brush, then rinse off.







I let that dry and powered it up.  All magic smoke stayed in place.   



Fed it a 1MHz signal and was able to get a trace up pretty easily.  There is a nice sharp trace which gets a bit fuzzy towards the sides.  There is limited range of brightness.  My comfortable operating level (only bright enough to be clearly visible) requires the control at 90-95%.  There is also an increase in trace size when the brightness is varied from barely visible to maximum.  While this isn't ideal, it isn't too bad.  The timebase, however, seems to be running about 33% fast.  That will require some attention - but it will be a ways down on the priority list.

Nice thing about the BWD scopes is no exotic parts, makes repairs easier. 

I have a TDS7254 thats still waiting on a trigger chip before repair is complete, been on the IN shelf for a couple years now. Contemplating buying a TDS694C now to steal a chip from it and get it out of the IN shelf.

[wolfy007]

Have been looking for a Tek AWG for a reasonable price for a while now. Finally found one, in good condition too.

[cyclin_al]

Does it really matter.

I read that Ford there has 36k miles or 24 months.

Here first one was 24 months or 20k or 30k km, can't remember.
But I'm not sure of the mileage of the second either, can be +30k or +50k.

Doesn't really change the feeling that it's pretty much for a van.

Edit,
this for ecological adblue thingy.

OK, I looked up Ford Transit Van which I believe is sold in Europe but I don't know if it has a gas or diesel engine. In order to get specific info I need a VIN which obviously I don't have. But in general specs it stated that the oil should be changed every 7.5K - 10K miles. And I don't know what viscosity is required.

Also somewhat vague, a Chrysler/Dodge 5.7L v8 HEMI gasoline engine in the GWN should have an oil change every 10k km (10 Mm).
The dealer takes care of it for the first 10 years.  My truck gets used only when needed, so it is on a twice per year program which works out to closer to every 5k for now.

The car is a different case altogether.  The 2.0L 4 cylinder Subaru boxer should have a synthetic 0w20 oil change every 12k km according to the manual.  All the dealers say to do it at 5k for harsh conditions in the GWN.  I drive it until I can audibly hear the valves getting a bit noisier, usually closer to 7.5k.  Then I think about getting around to doing it myself... except in winter.

EDIT: The first truck I ever had got the same treatment as the current Subaru.  That truck reached 475k before I sold it.  A friend of mine would spot it on the road, and it was still going a couple of years later.  I can only assume it reached 500k on that level of service.

[cyclin_al]

So how do international brands like Honda meet traditionally stricter EU requirements with thicker oils, but have to specify lower viscosity oils to hit US targets? Either the US targets have got tighter than EU targets (which possibility I admit but instinctively doubt, and am currently feeling too lazy to research) or there's something else going on.

That something else is climatic differences where heavier oils are harder and slower to lift in cold climates for initial start up lubrication where greatest engine wear takes place while the engine is cold.

Which would surely swing things the other way, all of Europe is north of half the US and all of the US (excluding Alaska) is south of half of Europe (Paris is about the same latitude as the straight bit of the US/Canada border). Taken overall the European climate averages out cooler than the US.

This map is both quite revealing, and quite interesting it its own right, and of course includes all climate information, not just latitude:

Interesting perspective on it!  I would agree the map is accurate based on my ski racing experiences...

[Kosmic]

Have been looking for a Tek AWG for a reasonable price for a while now. Finally found one, in good condition too.

The AWG2021 is not on the list of supported device but still working fine with ArbExpress. You should try it out.

https://www.tek.com/en/products/software/arbexpress-signal-generator

[cyclin_al]

mnem
*impairing productivity since nineteen-mumblety-mumble*

Hmmm, never trusted that breed but have successfully modified their behavior with small high velocity offerings.

Two of my best dogs were dobies, including my first dog as a toddler; grandmomma called us littermates.  If not inbred to death and trained to be psycho assholes, they are absolutely brilliant animals; also fiercely loyal and protective.

mnem
but not cute & fluffy. 

In general, I have never trusted most humans who choose such a dog... 

However, there are examples of humans I do trust that have those dogs, and those beasts were just fine and well behaved so long as I petted them as much as they demandedwanted. 

[Cerebus]

Shhhsssh. It's a sleeping forest troll, come to get away from all those noisy Norwegians.

I can't wait to see what kind of hell you're going to catch for calling a Swede a Norwegian. 

Well, it would hardly have managed to get away from noisy Norwegians by staying in Norway would it, stands to reason that's why it came to Sweden to get away from them. Do try and keep up old chap.

[Ice-Tea]

...
mnem
and when you get tired of stubbing your toe on it, I'll gladly come lift it off your foot for you... free of charge, of course...   

You're like Jesus.

I'm not sure whether you should keep this one or go for one with 4 ports. But one thing is for sure: as part of you interest in such things is commercial, having a VNA and a bit of routine in it's use is the fastest way to check out many RF components, including high quality cables, attenuators, filters, directional couplers etc etc.

Yep. But requires the beforementioned boatload of RF conversion/connection/other stuff bits and bops.

If it's a LCD (not clear on the picture), converting the backlight to led is normally super easy and cheap.

Even have some kits floating around. But... time. My nemesis.

[mansaxel]

Cleverly embedded in the existing forest and boulder terrain. Something like this is what the nature was around us, and it's largely been kept that way:

Those rocks almost look like they were purposely arranged in a circle. You sure that's not the remains of some ancient settlement?

It was common to build low boulder walls with rocks fished out of the small fields cleared by farmers in wooded areas, so that is a possible reason. A 50-70cm boulder wall will be enough to contain cattle and that was a common usage too.  So, that's a possible reason. There is one such wall straight across the hill I'm living on, for instance.  But, at places, there are natural formations that look very much like human-made ones. This is an example from Pålamalm natural reserve just south of Stockholm:



It is a shingle beach (with quite large shingles!) from the ice age, which has been moved upwards due to tectonic uplift; the most elevated ones have risen as much as almost 200m.

Edit: Oh, and we're granted Freedom to Roam so we can enjoy the nature as we wish. It feels very strange to not being able to just walk into a forest when abroad.

[McBryce]

So how do international brands like Honda meet traditionally stricter EU requirements with thicker oils, but have to specify lower viscosity oils to hit US targets? Either the US targets have got tighter than EU targets (which possibility I admit but instinctively doubt, and am currently feeling too lazy to research) or there's something else going on.

That something else is climatic differences where heavier oils are harder and slower to lift in cold climates for initial start up lubrication where greatest engine wear takes place while the engine is cold.

Which would surely swing things the other way, all of Europe is north of half the US and all of the US (excluding Alaska) is south of half of Europe (Paris is about the same latitude as the straight bit of the US/Canada border). Taken overall the European climate averages out cooler than the US.

This map is both quite revealing, and quite interesting it its own right, and of course includes all climate information, not just latitude:

Interesting but completely wrong in some cases. Germany is colder than Ireland in the winter, but much warmer in the summer. So the chart only works for a particular season.

McBryce.

[tggzzz]

If one of your children's ears is lower than the other, do you trim some off the lobe to make them symmetrical? Love them as they are!

Actually, yes.

I knew someone who had one shin bone growing more than the other, which is problematic in the long term. The solution was to put staples across the growth region of the bone that was growing more.

[tggzzz]

Two of my best dogs were dobies, including my first dog as a toddler; grandmomma called us littermates.  If not inbred to death and trained to be psycho assholes, they are absolutely brilliant animals; also fiercely loyal and protective.

Doesn't that mean they were psycho assholes to everybody outside their family?

[tggzzz]

Something like this is what the nature was around us, and it's largely been kept that way:

Isn't everywhere in Sweden like that?

You're not even allowed to repaint outside a fairly narrow spectrum.

Isn't the only colour (other than concrete) in Sweden/Norway that rather attractive dark red colour? (Was that originally red lead?)

I certainly prefer that colour to the riot of colours in my local city, which seems to be inspired by the colours in the children's program "Balamory", e.g.

[tggzzz]

I can't wait to see what kind of hell you're going to catch for calling a Swede a Norwegian. 

He's living in the 19th century (or occasionally earlier).

[tggzzz]

Guess if I come visit, you'd best keep me on the ground floor. 

In mountainous areas it was (and still is in some places) traditional to overwinter the cattle on the ground floor, with the heat they create rising to the living quarters on the upper floors.

[Vince]

Worse case I guess I could trim the edge of the PCB where it sits in the card edge connector, so that it sinks a bit lower...

Very nice Vince.
Looks like an easy fix for aligning the nixies: Just take a small round file to the PCB and turn the mounting holes for the nixie sockets into slots.

Nooooooooo!!!

If one of your children's ears is lower than the other, do you trim some off the lobe to make them symmetrical? Love them as they are!

Rob's idea ('thanks Rob), sounds great to me !    100% reversible, 100% invisible (the black plastic bit is covering the screw holes anyway. Better yet : you can modify the alignment at will, nothing is set in stone, so if you like crooked displays, you could on purpose adjust the Nixie alignment to "draw" patterns on the display... a sine wave, a triangle, Morse code, what ever find your fancy... that would DEFINITELY give it a unique "character" eh ?! 

As for ears, I can talk about that, because a kid mine got "reworked" so to speak... originally they were like satellite dishes pointing forward, à la " Serge Gainsbourg "... I would be mocked at primary school, and kids are cruel, they know no limit nor finesse. Fixing my ears was a true saviour. My life would be 10 times shittier than it already is, had that not been done.

However, because I am not Putin and I am willing to compromise... I will not do anything right now, I declare a cease fire... no rush. I will first fix the counter from an electrical point of view, then clean it and do the cosmetic restoration... which will probably take many months or two years, given how many things need doing in the lab and elsewhere in or around he house. Chances are that by that time I will have completely forgotten about the alignment problem altogether, or I would have grown to like it like you do, or I just would not be arsed to fix it....
Does that sound like a reasonable compromise to your ears ? 

Thanks for the internals pics Vince, it's interesting to see how two manufacturers approach the same task and end up with two very similar and yet different answers. I'd guess that once you re-seat the boards they'll stay in place as long as you don't move the instruments around too much.[/color][/size][/b]

Unfortunately I spoke too soon I am afraid ! 
The wobble in the boards disappeared as soon as I put the cross beam back in place, as it pushed onto the boards right behind the Nixie sockets !
With the beam in place, boards don't move yet are still misaligned..   
Only the  MSB/leftmost board somehow still has a (little) bit of movement to it.


To finish, took some piccies of the FRB power socket at the back, and the power cord, just for you, because I thought the professional and conscientious Sparky in you would approve the quality of the work