Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tggzzz]

I have these two meters on route to me, been after one of these for years, last time I used one of these was back in 1966 while at college, an alternative quality meter to the very common Avo, which was the Fluke of its time. Both listed as not working, plan is to try and make at least one good meter from them, and if I can get them both working, that would be grand.

I have a Selectest Super 50. It is my only later that can measure 3kV.

I'm discounting my 40kV Brandenburg meter, since it can only just register the difference between 2kV and 3kV. I'm ignoring my Testec HV probe, because I can't justify it to myself.

I have these two meters on route to me, been after one of these for years, last time I used one of these was back in 1966 while at college, an alternative quality meter to the very common Avo, which was the Fluke of its time. Both listed as not working, plan is to try and make at least one good meter from them, and if I can get them both working, that would be grand.

I have a Selectest Super 50. It is my only later that can measure 3kV.

I'm discounting my 40kV Brandenburg meter, since it can only just register the difference between 2kV and 3kV. I'm ignoring my Testec HV probe, because I can't justify it to myself.

Which model is your meter, these 2 Selectests will only read 2.5KV. I have 4 Avo 8 Model V which will read 3KV and these 2 that will read 5KV.

Cough. You're right; 2.5kV.

Embarrassing.

[mnementh]

OK, I'm doing it, just ordered a Dupont crimping kit
Kit arrives tomorrow from Amazon, so I will leave it alone until the leads have been made.

Looks nice, thanks for the picciy.. I didn't even know one could crimp his own Dupont thingies... do let us know what you thingk of the quality od the kit, if it's worth it or a waste of money...

Already done in here, with oodles of pictures: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg3518566/#msg3518566



mnem
 

[mnementh]

I was saving up for a used BMW i3... But I can take a bike for the time being.   

28 GHZ broken! I've never seen such a high bandwidth broken scope sold by Keysight's After-Hours ebay store
https://www.ebay.com/itm/194930153313

28 freggin gigahertz. Warning: must be professionally broke to inquire 

Its broken and they want HOW much for it 

I usually lowball pretty hard on broken gear, but even so, 1/4 of a car is still 1/4 of a car. I am doing my best to not place an offer. I am hoping someone else here will make this disappear before I make a really stupid decision 

Maybe this will help:

On top of that you'll still need to buy probes... 

mnem
OTOH, why should Shahriar have all the fun...?

[med6753]

I was saving up for a used BMW i3...
But I can take a bike for the time being.



28 GHZ broken! I've never seen such a high bandwidth broken scope sold by Keysight's After-Hours ebay store
https://www.ebay.com/itm/194930153313

28 freggin gigahertz.

Warning: must be professionally broke to inquire 

Its broken and they want HOW much for it 

I usually lowball pretty hard on broken gear, but even so, 1/4 of a car is still 1/4 of a car. I am doing my best to not place an offer. I am hoping someone else here will make this disappear before I make a really stupid decision 

Why would you want to buy anything from Keysight when they have told hobbyists to go fuck themselves? 

[Specmaster]

I was saving up for a used BMW i3...
But I can take a bike for the time being.



28 GHZ broken! I've never seen such a high bandwidth broken scope sold by Keysight's After-Hours ebay store
https://www.ebay.com/itm/194930153313

28 freggin gigahertz.

Warning: must be professionally broke to inquire 

Its broken and they want HOW much for it 

I usually lowball pretty hard on broken gear, but even so, 1/4 of a car is still 1/4 of a car. I am doing my best to not place an offer. I am hoping someone else here will make this disappear before I make a really stupid decision 

Why would you want to buy anything from Keysight when they have told hobbyists to go fuck themselves? 

You are correct, and they say almost the same thing on their listing.

“For professional and industrial use only. Unit does not function as intended and is not fully operational. Unit is clearly sold 'as is'. No warranty. No return. Please see description and pictures for more details. The product may be End-of-Support. (see https://support.keysight.com/KeysightdCX/s/product-lifecycle)”

[Brumby]

I find that rather bemusing, actually.

My general perception of "Professional" or "Industrial" customers is that they would want a functional unit.  Something busted just doesn't seem to fit.

Or are they looking for some service outfit to pick it up, repair it and flog it off?

[TERRA Operative]

Got PCB's delivered today, and got Rev1 of my TDS500/600/700 PSU tester working.
I've made a few changes (Like including the lower 4 power resistors into the design instead of bodged on top etc) so if I do another PCB run it'll be just about perfect.

Wow I didn't remember you talked about doing this littel thing ! How cute ! 

You are really taking this TDS repair to industrial levels ! 

So that means that when your " TDS Mk1 repair cook book " will be finally out, it will also contain a QR code linking to a website where one can download Gerber files for it ! 

Keep going, I am loving it ! 

Nah, I don't think I mentioned it, Just whipped it up in the background.
Gerbers for V1.1 are attached, it's just some resistors, LED's and test points really.

I might design one to take much bigger resistors for a full rated load test in the near future. This one just loads up the power rails enough to see if they'll deliver current at all.

Started lay out for cooling fan install on 7904. Template installed for drilling of the mounting holes. The fan will mount in that open space in the back above the PSU down in the lower right. The fan will draw the air in from the bottom vents and exhaust it out the side. The individual who initially did this also installed a fan on the opposite side by the vertical output board. He must have used a very slim fan. The fans I have won't clear the board and the cover. So I'll just run for now with one fan. It will probably be sufficient anyway especially since this scope never had a cooling fan.

More as I complete the install.


[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/pm1SYMPxj

This reminds me, I got a 7704A with a couple plugins that I need to spit-polish and sell off. I don't really need it now I have the 1GHz TDS784C, and plugins aren't so common here in Japan for some reason (and it's another rabbithole I don't want to go down, I already have to sell of some of my 40+ TM500 modules as it is... ). Might get onto that scope soon. I could do with the space.

[Cerebus]

I was saving up for a used BMW i3...
But I can take a bike for the time being.



28 GHZ broken! I've never seen such a high bandwidth broken scope sold by Keysight's After-Hours ebay store
https://www.ebay.com/itm/194930153313

28 freggin gigahertz.

Warning: must be professionally broke to inquire 

Its broken and they want HOW much for it 

I usually lowball pretty hard on broken gear, but even so, 1/4 of a car is still 1/4 of a car. I am doing my best to not place an offer. I am hoping someone else here will make this disappear before I make a really stupid decision 

Which would put your idea of "a car" at around $140,000. You're spending too much on your cars! 

[Cerebus]

I find that rather bemusing, actually.

My general perception of "Professional" or "Industrial" customers is that they would want a functional unit.  Something busted just doesn't seem to fit.

Or are they looking for some service outfit to pick it up, repair it and flog it off?

I fail to find any reason for them listing it that would come under the heading of "reasonable, logical explanation" if they think that there's any possibility of an actual sale taking place. The only thing that would make any sense of any sort is if they aren't expecting a sale but are trying to create the appearance of there being a particular "market value" for that particular model in that particular condition. That explanation would also probably imply that something of, at best, marginally ethical standards was going on, at worst something fraudulent.

[salvagedcircuitry]

I was saving up for a used BMW i3...
But I can take a bike for the time being.



28 GHZ broken! I've never seen such a high bandwidth broken scope sold by Keysight's After-Hours ebay store
https://www.ebay.com/itm/194930153313

28 freggin gigahertz.

Warning: must be professionally broke to inquire 

Its broken and they want HOW much for it 

I usually lowball pretty hard on broken gear, but even so, 1/4 of a car is still 1/4 of a car. I am doing my best to not place an offer. I am hoping someone else here will make this disappear before I make a really stupid decision 

Which would put your idea of "a car" at around $140,000. You're spending too much on your cars! 

Hahaha. I was thinking my absolute max offer would be 8500 (34k/4), but that's still too steep to risk on broken gear.
But then again, 28 ghz!
But dang there goes any budget for probes lol 

[Saskia]

would not offer a penny for that. They would eff you on spares (you cannot buy those directly from them anymore if you don't have a VAT ID)

[med6753]

I have no issue purchasing used Keysight equipment from private sellers. It would have no warranty anyway. But to attempt to purchase directly from Keysight knowing their attitude towards the individual hobbyist? No way. And as Lady Saskia mentions you need spare parts? Good luck with that.     

[Andrew_Debbie]

I was saving up for a used BMW i3...
But I can take a bike for the time being 

My 2018 i3S goes back to the leasing company on Friday.   We are going down to one car, which puts me on a bicycle or bus several times a week.


The i3S is one of the best cars I've ever had.   Only car I've had with zero faults. Everything worked on delivery and everything still works.



If you get a used i3, be sure to get a 2017 or newer.     2017 was the first year with the 94Ah (~34kWh) traction battery.  2018 was the first year with LCI (facelift) which looks about the same but has many improvements.     Stay far away from 2013's and 14's. 

In my opinion the S is the one to get but the stiffer ride is not for everyone.  Also the rear tyre size is unique to the i3s.   

The i3 is one of the very few production cars with a carbon fibre body.  All of the others are exotic sports cars.

[Saskia]

best car I ever had was a Lexus GS 300 Edition (the first series), followed by an LS 400 (the old one with a 284 hp engine) and a Jaguar XKR (the first X150 series version).

Worst cars were Mercedes Benz, followed by VW.

Would not buy any German car.

[med6753]

I was saving up for a used BMW i3...
But I can take a bike for the time being 

My 2018 i3S goes back to the leasing company on Friday.   We are going down to one car, which puts me on a bicycle or bus several times a week.


The i3S is one of the best cars I've ever had.   Only car I've had with zero faults. Everything worked on delivery and everything still works.



If you get a used i3, be sure to get a 2017 or newer.     2017 was the first year with the 94Ah (~34kWh) traction battery.  2018 was the first year with LCI (facelift) which looks about the same but has many improvements.     Stay far away from 2013's and 14's. 

In my opinion the S is the one to get but the stiffer ride is not for everyone.  Also the rear tyre size is unique to the i3s.   

The i3 is one of the very few production cars with a carbon fibre body.  All of the others are exotic sports cars.

That i3 must be unique to the EU. Have never seen one here.

My Son was a collision manager for a local BMW dealership. His opinion of them was nice riding/handling but very unreliable and stupid expensive to repair. He has since moved on to better employment. 

[med6753]

best car I ever had was a Lexus GS 300 Edition (the first series), followed by an LS 400 (the old one with a 284 hp engine) and a Jaguar XKR (the first X150 series version).

Worst cars were Mercedes Benz, followed by VW.

Would not buy any German car.

The best and most reliable car I ever owned is currently peacefully sleeping in the garage.

And so far the CR-V is running a very close 2nd and may one day surpass it.

[McBryce]

Started lay out for cooling fan install on 7904. Template installed for drilling of the mounting holes. The fan will mount in that open space in the back above the PSU down in the lower right. The fan will draw the air in from the bottom vents and exhaust it out the side. The individual who initially did this also installed a fan on the opposite side by the vertical output board. He must have used a very slim fan. The fans I have won't clear the board and the cover. So I'll just run for now with one fan. It will probably be sufficient anyway especially since this scope never had a cooling fan.

More as I complete the install.

You can get 80mm fans down to 10mm thickness: https://www.ebay.com/itm/182320184620
Grab these and you can fit a fan on either side (and they are probably quieter too).

McBryce.

[med6753]

You can get 80mm fans down to 10mm thickness: https://www.ebay.com/itm/182320184620
Grab these and you can fit a fan on either side (and they are probably quieter too).

McBryce.

Thanks for the info. For now I'm going to run with one fan. I think it will be fine and in fact 2 fans just might be overkill. 

[McBryce]

Sure, but with two you can run them slower to reduce the noise further without lowering the volume of air thru-put.

McBryce.

[THDplusN_bad]

[..]

As the battery is old, I recharged it. Trying to do so with my power supply (bloody HAMEG, now Rohde&Schwarz, manual explicitly states battery charging is possible) the PSU went *POOF* Had to use the old style charger from the garage.
[..]
The PSU has blown the pass transistor and vaporized the shunt resistors. Have to order...

Oh, sorry to hear that! What's the exact type/model number, please - just so I can avoid these in the future?

Good luck for your repair.

THDplusN_notsobad

[Neper]

2017 was the first year with the 94Ah (~34kWh) traction battery.

So what's your experience of how far it will go with one charge?

BMW have announced that production will end in June this year:

https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/bmw-aus-fuer-den-stromer-i3-a-2aa22cf4-17a5-4573-ac58-51ff3c2657fe

[Specmaster]

Sure, but with two you can run them slower to reduce the noise further without lowering the volume of air thru-put.

McBryce.

You can tell BD isn't active on here at the moment, he'd be moaning about noisy fans 

[Andrew_Debbie]

That i3 must be unique to the EU. Have never seen one here.

Perhaps.  North America gets different option bundles, trim levels and sometimes colors.    Even in the UK this exact version of the i3S is rare. How many left say 707 on the road.  That is out of 4.2K i3S and ~17K i3 in the UK.   

My Son was a collision manager for a local BMW dealership. His opinion of them was nice riding/handling but very unreliable and stupid expensive to repair. He has since moved on to better employment.

The early i3 was unreliable. All of them are stupid expensive to repair out of warranty.  BMW brought an entirely new car with a radical design to market after only a few months of testing the initial build.  I would not go anywhere near a 2013 or '14.  By 2016 the problems were gone.  Lots of small changes fixing the things that only show up after the cars had been on the road for a few years.   


The i3 is a concept car. A bizarre, impossible thing that made the rounds at the car shows but never went into production.   Except BMW put it  into production.

The rear hatch is all glass.  It will break if you look at it the wrong way.   I've been very careful.  I've read that the glass on the 2013's and '14s would sometimes shatter spontaneously. 

It is very quirky and was ahead of its time.

[Andrew_Debbie]

2017 was the first year with the 94Ah (~34kWh) traction battery.

So what's your experience of how far it will go with one charge?

Mine will go anywhere between 100 and 130 miles on the battery and another 50-70 with the range extender*.    It still has the same range as when the car was new.

Yesterday I drove 61 miles and arrived home at 56% State of Charge.

The S has less range than the standard i3, mostly because of the wider tyres.



*The Range Extender is a 2 cylinder motor from a BMW scooter coupled to a generator.   It has just enough power to maintain state of charge at 70mph.     I've used it twice in three years. 

BMW have announced that production will end in June this year:

https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/bmw-aus-fuer-den-stromer-i3-a-2aa22cf4-17a5-4573-ac58-51ff3c2657fe

 I missed my chance to order another one by two weeks.   Schade. 

[nixiefreqq]

took some pictures earlier in the week at a stand of trees about 1/2 mile from the house.

the majestic bald eagle. 

subsist mostly on dead fish washed up on shore, roadkill, and garbage dumps.


"For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen as the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him."

Benjamin Franklin