Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[BU508A]

More black magic RF voodoo from Shahriar:

Today, the Keysight FieldFox 50GHz N9952B "everything you want to do RF likewise"



Edit:
Checked the price tag for those things. They are around 53kUSD. No idea, if and which options are included at this price.

[med6753]

Either a neagative supply is missing or one half of a bipolar / push-pull stage is broken. Likely causes a open transistor or shorted capacitor in the CRT drive stage.

I went back and re-read spec's description and I initially missed an important piece. He stated that the waveform was disappearing and he was getting a horizontal line. Your thoughts on what might be wrong make perfect sense and he should pursue that.     

[med6753]

More black magic RF voodoo from Shahriar:

Today, the Keysight FieldFox 50GHz N9952B "everything you want to do RF likewise"



Edit:
Checked the price tag for those things. They are around 53kUSD. No idea, if and which options are included at this price.

I really like his videos but sometimes he goes way over my head. If I had half his skill and knowledge I'd be freaking dangerous. 

[BU508A]

I really like his videos but sometimes he goes way over my head. If I had half his skill and knowledge I'd be freaking dangerous. 

Well, pissing up three ropes at the same time is quite dangerous. Imho.

 

[med6753]

I really like his videos but sometimes he goes way over my head. If I had half his skill and knowledge I'd be freaking dangerous. 

Well, pissing up three ropes at the same time is quite dangerous. Imho.

 

I guess I took the wrong career path. 

[Specmaster]

Thanks guys, I think Robert is on the right track. I did the DC balance last night and that is the best I can get it. Just checked the location of that section, and it is on the main board, right beneath the daughter boards, so will need to them out again.

[Cerebus]

I really like his videos but sometimes he goes way over my head. If I had half his skill and knowledge I'd be freaking dangerous. 

Well, pissing up three ropes at the same time is quite dangerous. Imho.

 

Three-phase rope pissing, in a lot of countries only a licensed professional is allowed to do that! 

[med6753]

Thanks guys, I think Robert is on the right track. I did the DC balance last night and that is the best I can get it. Just checked the location of that section, and it is on the main board, right beneath the daughter boards, so will need to them out again.

Yep. At some point in the vertical pre-amp/amp the waveform will be split into two distinct paths to the vertical deflection plates. With the trace centered on the CRT the waveforms should be equal amplitude and should have equal DC voltage at the deflection plates. It appears at some point one of them is dropping out.   

[Cerebus]

Yesterday morning this is not what I'd have told you was going to be my first job today after making coffee:



Bejezzus this thing is complicated. I spend most of yesterday evening reading the handbook, trying to learn the 1001 settings and controls on the car. What happened to "Stick the key in, turn it, go"?

[med6753]

Yesterday morning this is not what I'd have told you was going to be my first job today after making coffee:



Bejezzus this thing is complicated. I spend most of yesterday evening reading the handbook, trying to learn the 1001 settings and controls on the car. What happened to "Stick the key in, turn it, go"?

And it looks like it's right on the street where some cretin could mess with it. Not an ideal situation IMHO.

Edit.....or some dumb ass could come walking by and trip/fall over the cord and sue you.   

[Cerebus]

Edit.....or some dumb ass could come walking by and trip/fall over the cord and sue you.

Yeerse, that's a North American pastime for civilians. An Eastender might swear at you, but at the same time admit that they should be looking where they're going.

Truthfully, I probably won't be charging it at home very often, this is more for the shear novelty of it, but if I plan to I'll get one of those 'speed bump' cable covers in nice bright hi-vis yellow.

The worst someone could do to it is unplug the mains plug end, the car side is locked. I've run a mains extension into the street outside this house countless times for all sorts of purposes, some attended and some unattended. Nobody has ever tampered with it, nobody to my knowledge has tripped over it (if they had I'd have probably heard the swearing through the open living room window).

[mnementh]

More black magic RF voodoo from Shahriar:

Today, the Keysight FieldFox 50GHz N9952B "everything you want to do RF likewise"



Edit:
Checked the price tag for those things. They are around 53kUSD. No idea, if and which options are included at this price.

That's base price for the standard model with none of the kewl extras Shahriar is playing with.

Here's what they spammed me with when I Googled the thing.   

EDIT: But... since it appears they're marketing the thing heavily to the military, maybe our kids will be able to get them cheap as surplus 10-20 years down the road...? You know... if they are actually in any way still relevant and functional by then.

mnem

[med6753]

Edit.....or some dumb ass could come walking by and trip/fall over the cord and sue you.

Yeerse, that's a North American pastime for civilians. An Eastender might swear at you, but at the same time admit that they should be looking where they're going.

Truthfully, I probably won't be charging it at home very often, this is more for the shear novelty of it, but if I plan to I'll get one of those 'speed bump' cable covers in nice bright hi-vis yellow.

The worst someone could do to it is unplug the mains plug end, the car side is locked. I've run a mains extension into the street outside this house countless times for all sorts of purposes, some attended and some unattended. Nobody has ever tampered with it, nobody to my knowledge has tripped over it (if they had I'd have probably heard the swearing through the open living room window).

Agreed, over here we are "sue happy" and don't take responsibility for our own actions.

[mnementh]

...This is part of the instrument front panel:




Not the most representative image, but it is included to prove (try clicking it!) that there is quality community content on Wikipedia.

Even if you have to MAKE IT YOURSELF, right?   

No... seriously... thanks for spending the time. That kind of stuff is what WP is supposed to be all about; passing to the next generation all that knowledge which needs to be preserved but isn't obviously immediately profitable to someone. 


mnem
BTW, next time you're thinking about donating to WP; also think about tossing archive.org (the same people are behind The Wayback Machine) a few bux.

[mnementh]

I really like his videos but sometimes he goes way over my head. If I had half his skill and knowledge I'd be freaking dangerous. 

Well, pissing up three ropes at the same time is quite dangerous. Imho.

 

I guess I took the wrong career path. 

The path he took is definitely very informative; but yours is far more entertaining.   

mnem
 

[Neper]

The worst someone could do to it is unplug the mains plug end, the car side is locked.

I'd be more afraid of dogs pissing on the cable reel.

[mnementh]

It seems that BMW's PHEV (Performance Hybrid EV) drivetrain is more about making a 4-cyl vehicle perform more like a 6-cyl vehicle than any real strides towards being more carbon-neutral? Am I missing something here? I read that the rated battery-only range is 14 miles with 7 hours charging via regular extension cord...

C, you just read the manual... that is a misprint, right?

Don't get me wrong... I'm generally for the shift towards EV; it has to happen if we are to survive past the next generation. It just seems the way they're doing it is such tiny steps so slowly... it is physically painful to watch the progress sometimes...

mnem
 

[TERRA Operative]

Well, that was fun.... Just replaced all the IC sockets in the Tek DC503 (So many inside!). Not all needed to be swapped out (Only a few were the crappy TI ones), but I got carried away and replace the lot with the good turret type. 

I also replaced all the old drifty carbon composite resistors with 100ppm 1% metal film, replaced the scratchy open-type +15V adjust trimpot with a Bourns multiturn, polished up the front panel and BNC's, dismantled and rebuilt the push switches with some added deoxit, cleaned out the PCB wafer switches for the rotary dials (some were a bit gummed up and sticking to the PCB), put connectors on the cables between the two PCB's inside (to aid future servicing) and adjusted the adjustments including the OCXO against my Leo Bodnar GPS standard.

All seems to be working well now, except for the one little shaft coupling that has broken as they always do (you can see it in the image).... Anyone got one of these spare?

[med6753]

I think I have some of the all metal ones but I think they are a different size.

[Cerebus]

The worst someone could do to it is unplug the mains plug end, the car side is locked.

I'd be more afraid of dogs pissing on the cable reel.

I have a guard cat; anything gets near her car, it's for it. It'll probably take a while for her to adopt this one as well as the old MG (where she sits sunning herself on the roof), but while the MG's parked nearby the new car will still be in territory that madam regards as hers.

[med6753]

The worst someone could do to it is unplug the mains plug end, the car side is locked.

I'd be more afraid of dogs pissing on the cable reel.

I have a guard cat; anything gets near her car, it's for it. It'll probably take a while for her to adopt this one as well as the old MG (where she sits sunning herself on the roof), but while the MG's parked nearby the new car will still be in territory that madam regards as hers.

I like cats but one thing I hate is having a clean car and they walk all over it with dirty paws. 

Edit...

[Ice-Tea]

Hybrids are just a dumb idea that is bound to dissapear. Worst of both worlds.

[mnementh]

..All seems to be working well now, except for the one little shaft coupling that has broken as they always do (you can see it in the image).... Anyone got one of these spare?

Since I've never had the pleasure... it's a crack in this aluminum collar that I'm supposed to be seeing?

Can something 3DP possibly work, or is this unit for resale so not a acceptable solution...? I was thinking if one made a part that replicated the collar and the tube, might have enough meat to hold up to a set-screw. Unless this coupler is about HV isolation, in which case not good to substitute a different plastic, as most of the popular 3DP filaments are hygroscopic.

mnem
 

[Cerebus]

It seems that BMW's PHEV (Performance Hybrid EV) drivetrain is more about making a 4-cyl vehicle perform more like a 6-cyl vehicle than any real strides towards being more carbon-neutral? Am I missing something here? I read that the rated battery-only range is 14 miles with 7 hours charging via regular extension cord...

C, you just read the manual... that is a misprint, right?

Don't get me wrong... I'm generally for the shift towards EV; it has to happen if we are to survive past the next generation. It just seems the way they're doing it is such tiny steps so slowly... it is physically painful to watch the progress sometimes...

mnem
 

No you're not wrong, except the all electric range is more like 21 miles judging from the vehicle's recorded stats. All these PHEVs are greenwashing; "green" London initiatives are what have forced me to a new car, I would have kept the old one, spent the money on maintenance and have avoided trashing the embodied carbon emissions in the physical fabric of the old car if I'd have had my way. That would have been the greenest thing to do, but poorly thought out "green" initiatives and legislation give me little choice unless I want to pay £12.50 emissions charge every day I take my old car out on the road (I'm inside the London ULEZ zone), extra for parking it (£100 a year currently, but bound to go up), and an ever-increasing road tax bill.

[mnementh]

   It seems that BMW's PHEV (Performance Hybrid EV) drivetrain is more about making a 4-cyl vehicle perform more like a 6-cyl vehicle than any real strides towards being more carbon-neutral? Am I missing something here? I read that the rated battery-only range is 14 miles with 7 hours charging via regular extension cord...

C, you just read the manual... that is a misprint, right?

Don't get me wrong... I'm generally for the shift towards EV; it has to happen if we are to survive past the next generation. It just seems the way they're doing it is such tiny steps so slowly... it is physically painful to watch the progress sometimes...

No you're not wrong, except the all electric range is more like 21 miles judging from the vehicle's recorded stats. All these PHEVs are greenwashing; "green" London initiatives are what have forced me to a new car, I would have kept the old one, spent the money on maintenance and have avoided trashing the embodied carbon emissions in the physical fabric of the old car if I'd have had my way. That would have been the greenest thing to do, but poorly thought out "green" initiatives and legislation give me little choice unless I want to pay £12.50 emissions charge every day I take my old car out on the road (I'm inside the London ULEZ zone), extra for parking it (£100 a year currently, but bound to go up), and an ever-increasing road tax bill.

Yeah, that's part of why we bought a new Saturn 20 years ago, and why we still have it, and a large part of why, even after extensive EV shopping, our next new car was the base model Toyota Rav4. History has proven both of these to be a 15-year vehicle, more if you do the most basic maintenance. Much more carbon-neutral than the usual 2.6 year lease/turnover that is most car manufacturers' preferred business model ATM. 

Well, it is at least progress towards actual EV core components. IIRC, Hyundai is still selling "bolt-on" hybrids, where the only real change to the drivetrain is a oversized alternator/motor driven/driving off the serp belt...

mnem
we are fucking doomed. *sigh*