Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[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.

What you meant and how you wrote it left it open to interpretation. Please forgive me for even thinking that you didn't know the difference between Nordic cultures/nationalities. I know you are too worldly and intelligent to even make such a silly gaffe. So why did such a ridiculous thought even enter my uncivilized pea brain? Simple. I am surrounded here by ignorance and stupidity. Example. Many Americans are shocked to learn that Canadians are not Americans. Sad, but true. Ask the average American to identify Ukraine on a map and you'll quickly discover that someplace like Indonesia is the new Ukraine. I could go on but it's just too depressing. 

Mike, that chip on your shoulder is showing again. I just gently pointed out that I hadn't said what you'd inferred. Now I know that you and subtlety aren't in the same room, heck I'm not sure that you've both ever been in the same building, so if I wanted to insult you I wouldn't try and be subtle about it, OK. Don't blame me for the conclusions you jump to when you're too damn touchy to read a simple sentence without reading into it insults to you, your forebears, and all your other countrymen which weren't there.

Is that response getting through, or do I have to call you a dumbass little snowflake before you'll get the message?

[Cerebus]

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?

No, not the nice parts. These are the nice parts:

That's too like the Fens for my taste. I need trees and contours

Oh lordy, yes. To me, the former is what I'd like to see outside my door. The latter is dull as dishwater and I think I'd rather be in a city with occasional patches of green than look out over unending, flat, cultivated land to the horizon. That's the sort of vista where I expect the rural equivalent of the Stepford Wives to walk into the picture any second, probably in twee national costume.

[med6753]

Is that response getting through, or do I have to call you a dumbass little snowflake before you'll get the message?

You can call me a dumbass as many times as you feel the need. To my face. Don't care. But a snowflake? Now THAT I take exception to. 

[Cerebus]

I've just picked up an Agilent 33210A ARB for £23.33 that had quite obviously been robbed for parts:





(Photos from original ebay listing)

And it's now in pieces:



The intention all along was to buy it just for the case, with a plan to make whatever modifications necessary to use it as a case for one of my own projects (not sure quite which one yet).

Came with the PSU, display and front panel control board still in. The PSU had a blown fuse, but there's more wrong with it than that (not obvious yet what) so that may be a write off.

The display module and front panel control board are no use to me (except perhaps to take dimensions off of) and there's no way of telling easily if they are sill alive or not. If anyone can make good use of either then they're yours for the cost of postage (or nothing if you're close enough that the postage is nominal).

[med6753]

Type 105 capacitor work continued.

The last 3 capacitors are installed. It was a tight fit but it's done.




I thought for sure the Hakko was going to struggle getting those brass strips out. Copious amounts of liquid flux was the key. I was even able to solder capacitor leads to the remaining strips without difficulty. This is somewhat surprising because the Hakko tends have difficulty with the Tek ceramic strips.



Proceeding with final checkout then going to apply power. 

[THDplusN_bad]

I just realized I have no idea how to use a VNA.

Unrelated: anyone have good source on Instapak or equivalent packaging material?

A tad late, but hopefully not too late. I have found the venerable Application Note 1287 from HP/Agilent/keysight/dunnowhatnamecurrently quite useful. This is split into four parts.
https://na.support.keysight.com/8753/applicat/app1.pdf
It's at least a good refresher or introduction to the basics; magnitude and phase measurements, terminology, Smith charts, fundamental definitions such as for insertion loss etc.
https://na.support.keysight.com/8753/applicat/app2.pdf
https://na.support.keysight.com/8753/applicat/app3.pdf
https://na.support.keysight.com/8753/applicat/app4.pdf

And now the VNA-experts here can start to beat me up for this...   

Cheers,

THDplusN_bad

[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?

No, not the nice parts. These are the nice parts:

That's too like the Fens for my taste. I need trees and contours

Oh lordy, yes. To me, the former is what I'd like to see outside my door. The latter is dull as dishwater and I think I'd rather be in a city with occasional patches of green than look out over unending, flat, cultivated land to the horizon. That's the sort of vista where I expect the rural equivalent of the Stepford Wives to walk into the picture any second, probably in twee national costume.

... and be out of their comfort zone in a conversation about something other than the expected price of wheat/corn/cabbage/chickens/pigs or whatever is grown locally. And prefer offspring that are physically big and strong.

[THDplusN_bad]

Not for me heavy,
Tektronix 7104 Oscilloscope
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165365385517

"Doesn't post to Germany" - phew, I am safe... 

[Cerebus]

... and be out of their comfort zone in a conversation about something other than the expected price of wheat/corn/cabbage/chickens/pigs or whatever is grown locally. And prefer offspring that are physically big and strong.

... and aren't fussy about things like the number of fingers and toes, or webbing between them either.

[tggzzz]

... and be out of their comfort zone in a conversation about something other than the expected price of wheat/corn/cabbage/chickens/pigs or whatever is grown locally. And prefer offspring that are physically big and strong.

... and aren't fussy about things like the number of fingers and toes, or webbing between them either.

... and don't see anything unusual about conversations with long pauses for thought between people that talk s l o w l y.
... and the shops have adverts from the 60s/70s on the wall.

Welcome to Fenland, or the Forest of Dean.

[mansaxel]

That's too like the Fens for my taste. I need trees and contours

Oh lordy, yes. To me, the former is what I'd like to see outside my door. The latter is dull as dishwater and I think I'd rather be in a city with occasional patches of green than look out over unending, flat, cultivated land to the horizon. That's the sort of vista where I expect the rural equivalent of the Stepford Wives to walk into the picture any second, probably in twee national costume.

Heh, the flats between Malmö and Lund, and around Hasslarp in the northwest of Scania are extreme. Some of the best farmland in the country, almost competing with the Black Earth in Ukraine in fertility.  The rest of the region is mostly rolling hills and more than one person from northern Sweden have been completely surprised by the rough terrain at some places.  Probably the most famous example is the Brösarp hills, on the east coast of Scania:



This is also Scania; Skäralid grift valley in the Söderåsen national park, about 40 km from the "flat pic"



This is from where I come, about 70km north of the flats, the road that crosses the Hallandsås horst that divides Scania from Halland to the north:



I live outside Stockholm now, but I breathe easier as I come south of the border..

[AVGresponding]

I've just picked up an Agilent 33210A ARB for £23.33 that had quite obviously been robbed for parts:





(Photos from original ebay listing)

And it's now in pieces:



The intention all along was to buy it just for the case, with a plan to make whatever modifications necessary to use it as a case for one of my own projects (not sure quite which one yet).

Came with the PSU, display and front panel control board still in. The PSU had a blown fuse, but there's more wrong with it than that (not obvious yet what) so that may be a write off.

The display module and front panel control board are no use to me (except perhaps to take dimensions off of) and there's no way of telling easily if they are sill alive or not. If anyone can make good use of either then they're yours for the cost of postage (or nothing if you're close enough that the postage is nominal).

Ah, so it was you...

[Neper]

Probably the most famous example is the Brösarp hills, on the east coast of Scania:

Now, that looks a lot better. The first pic that I compared to Flanders looked more like what we call the sugar beet pampa around Dueren, West of Cologne.

[med6753]

It's all checked out and ready to plug in and turn on. All I need is the courage to do it.





Maybe later. 

[tautech]

It's all checked out and ready to plug in and turn on. All I need is the courage to do it.

Maybe later. 

Bring out the DBT ! 

[Cerebus]

Ah, so it was you...

You make me sound as if I was guilty of something... 

[tggzzz]

Probably the most famous example is the Brösarp hills, on the east coast of Scania:

Now, that looks a lot better. The first pic that I compared to Flanders looked more like what we call the sugar beet pampa around Dueren, West of Cologne.

It should be part of Denmark, but clearly some god had fun playing with a big stick to join the Kattegat to the Baltic.

But talking of sugar beet on the North European Plain, the UK equivalent is in Lincolnshire. It too grows beet, and is the most boring square kilometre on the 1:50000 OS maps. https://pocketbookuk.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/most-featureless-place-in-britain/

[Wolfgang]

No trust in your own abilities ? TURN IT ON, CHICKEN !! 

[mansaxel]

Now, that looks a lot better. The first pic that I compared to Flanders looked more like what we call the sugar beet pampa around Dueren, West of Cologne.

Quite unsurprisingly, one of the core crops of Scania is sugar beet.

[BU508A]

Ah, so it was you...

You make me sound as if I was guilty of something... 

Everybody is guilty of something. No exceptions.

[Robert763]

Type 105 capacitor work continued.

The last 3 capacitors are installed. It was a tight fit but it's done.




I thought for sure the Hakko was going to struggle getting those brass strips out. Copious amounts of liquid flux was the key. I was even able to solder capacitor leads to the remaining strips without difficulty. This is somewhat surprising because the Hakko tends have difficulty with the Tek ceramic strips.



Proceeding with final checkout then going to apply power. 

Those strips and multiple capacitor sections in parallel make me worry about supply impedance affecting performance.  Even thgh the new capactors ar (presumably) low ESR they have very thin leads that have ended up a lot longer than they would be when PCB mounted. I would have been tempted to use more small capacitors in parallel. It will be interesing to see what the rise times look like.

[tautech]

Those strips and multiple capacitor sections in parallel make me worry about supply impedance affecting performance.  Even thgh the new capactors ar (presumably) low ESR they have very thin leads that have ended up a lot longer than they would be when PCB mounted. I would have been tempted to use more small capacitors in parallel. It will be interesing to see what the rise times look like.

I think we should give Med credit not to use low ESR caps in a linear supply.

[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 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.

What is visually missing on that map is elevation.  Ireland is shown in the Vancouver area which is quite temperate and does not see much snow in winter, due to not being cold enough by moderating effect of the ocean.  If you venture towards Cypress Mountain, where Germany is overlaid, then you get elevation and less moderating from the Pacific; this is where all the Vancouverites go for cross country skiing with typical -10C winter day temperatures.  My experience skiing in Oberamergau certainly agrees with this.
My perspective is that the map agrees with your statement that

Germany is colder than Ireland in the winter

.

Although on second thought, I am not so certain about

but much warmer in the summer

.  I can only surmise that with the moderating effect of the ocean around Vancouver, that this may hold true as well.  Certainly, it gets much hotter the more one travels into the interior of British Columbia.

EDIT:  Thanks Cerebus for filling in the summer bit: 
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg4050037/#msg4050037

[Vince]

<SNIP>

I looked in the parts list but they don't list these connectors sadly ! 
.. so short of getting some from work, if you could if just find some old databook or something to identify them, that would be a big help, I could try and Google for them and maybe with some luck find some for sale. I guess I could salvage a male/female pair from the donour counter, but I would rather try to keep it complete as much/ as long as possible, in case I get the silly idea one day of restoring it.

<SNIP>

Those Hypertac connectors are VERY expensive. Very unlikey to find a cheap set.  They should have part numbers on the connector body though.

Alas no part number on them, only " FRB " stamped on them.. which does not tell me anything I didn't already know...

The health of the donour is declining fast, it worsened considerably since last night. It's now all over the shop and hopeless. It's time to call his parents and ask them if their religion if any, prevents me from using his organs to help other Ferisol counters in need. They can't all be winners....it's the great circle of life, counters die so that new counters can be born... 

So, if anyone can figure out the P/N for these connectors, in some old catalogue, please share. You will be rewarded with my immense gratitude, though I understand that it's not a valid currency to pay your rent and fill your tank at the gas station 

[med6753]

Those strips and multiple capacitor sections in parallel make me worry about supply impedance affecting performance.  Even thgh the new capactors ar (presumably) low ESR they have very thin leads that have ended up a lot longer than they would be when PCB mounted. I would have been tempted to use more small capacitors in parallel. It will be interesing to see what the rise times look like.

Since this box was developed back in 1950 it's spec'ed rise time is an unimpressive 20ns. But we'll see if it at least meets that spec.