Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

Electrophoresis, you say...?

   ...the only fun I was able to have was torturing a lead in my pencil and a little tingle across a fingertip.

   

mnem
 

   It's 200W max.  It also has a timer so remembering is not so essential.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/hoefer-scientific-instruments-ps500xt-500v-variable-dc-power-supply-_serviced_/

Here last minute offers to London started from 26€. (possibly with self pedaled propels) Since transport seems to be always an issue maybe I'll start traveling with empty and hard core luggage.

BTW,
I'll take back that earlier voltage reference drift. It doesn't drift, it's just ambient temperature dependent, maybe 0,05mV/3C around 20C.

Oh, that looks like a civilized linear design; not some suicide box looking for a place to happen, like the T-217:



mnem
 

[mnementh]

Tek 180A update :
....SO ! Tough luck for me cap wise !!!

The famous "never fails" Mica... that reads spot on with a DMM but is leaky as hell to the point of keeping the stage from operating.... and now a modern(ish, salvaged) film cap that also read fine with the DMM but short out in service !!! And that old Sprague that beats them all and DOES work ! 

Murphy is out there and kicking for sure !! 

So, now the next defective stage as I said last night, is the 1s stage, which exhibits the same symptoms.
so of course I checked my film cap but here it seems to work fine : I do get my charging exponential, with good amplitude, on its relevant pin.
So the source of the problem must be something else. Stay tuned.

I'll direct your attention to number 9 above... 

mnem

"Whenever you guys say "TANTS!!!" in thread that way... with loathing visibly dripping from every keystroke... I imagine gear infested with Domo-Kun. It makes me smile. " 

[mnementh]

...Winter has come back these days over here. Couldn't care less. Weekend is save. Nerd-save.   

Jeebus dude... that thing looks like it was popped off a dealer's shelf through a time-warp and straight to your bench. Good score.

mnem
 

[Cerebus]

Now snowing, and I have to go out. Bah!

(Only "Bah!" because it's enough snow to be a nuisance, and not enough to be fun.)

Don't drive your BMW in snow, unless you are prepared to laugh or cry a lot.
(press on DSC button and DTC (Dynamic Traction Control) active helps to not get stuck, long press on DSC button it is not suggested... on public roads)

In our internal trainings they tough us "Remember, there is no restore button after a crash".

We've had a used 4WD V70 for about a year now, and apart from it needing the annual suspension overhaul ( They EAT suspension parts, especially those with rubber in) badly, it's been very good.  Recently we were out for a walk in the forest. The parking space in the nature reservation where we went, is on the north side of a hill, surrounded by high spruces and pines and so very seldom sees sun. The snow had been compacted by cars and then solidified to ice. No snow left at all in the forest, just this ice square for cars. And it is sloping. I tried to park sideways, but found that the rear of the car slid downhill as soon as I stopped. Reevaluated and parked front downhill, on a small patch of gravel, for one of the wheels. People fell over as they got out of their cars.  The 4WD got us out without wheelspin when we were done.

I suspect that Zucca's being a little unkind to his employer's products. I've had the 330e for a week and 70 miles of driving now and I'm still getting the measure of the thing, but in terms of handling it's very reminiscent of the Saab 9000 I had donkey's years ago. That was a lovely car to drive in winter, and even in snow, so if the initial seat of the pants feeling is right then I think the 3 series would handle snow underfoot perfectly happily, not that what snow we had yesterday was enough even to tax a pedal car.

[mnementh]

Time to join the club. Had this one for a while now but never got around to even turning it on.
I think I'll fix it up to sell it off, seeing as I have the TDS784C now.

First step, figure out why the intensity is stuck at full blast...

Yea, have fun. It's not a simple HV circuit like a 500 series. All that stuff like the intensity and grid bias are on the Z Axis board with lots of transistors and other assorted stuff that could go wrong.

You are supposed to ENCOURAGE / SUPPORT your fellow TEA friends, NOT make them depressed and want to dump their TE for parts cheap on Ebay !

Terra, don't listen to the old Smurf, just grab the schematics and start probing around !!! 

Vince, sometimes it seems you just don't understand whom you're talking to. in here, that is encouragement.

We look forward to the fixing; when it's a easy repair like a few bloaty caps or a fuxxored-up switch... we'll feel a bit cheated.

That " Have fun." was med genuinely wishing the guy a good time... and if not, as often as not, it will be taken that way. 

BTW... your long, drawn-out, highly verbose adventures in troubleshooting ancient and outré hollow-state are, while sometimes comical, mildly pornographic to many of us. 

Do carry on... carrying on.

mnem
*hears bacon & eggs calling his name*

[Vince]

Tek 180A update :

So, now the next defective stage as I said last night, is the 1s stage, which exhibits the same symptoms.
so of course I checked my film cap but here it seems to work fine : I do get my charging exponential, with good amplitude, on its relevant pin.
So the source of the problem must be something else.

OK I have fixed that 1s stage, was quick.

As I said a few minutes ago, my home made film cap was fine this time.
So I checked the output of the cathode follower taht feeds the front panel.
Signal was THERE, and 100% good.

So it was a switch or wiring problem for sure.
Some LED torch lighting later, found the wire broken off at the solder joints at the back of the relevant switch. Not easy to see because wire is so stiff that even  with its joint broken, it was still "hovering" half a mm above the joint just fine, giving illusion that it was still connected....

Access to the switches / back of the front panel, is not great because the hinged deck as I said earlier, does not open fully. I had to get it do just that though, or else no way I was going to be able to fix that broken joint. So I unhinged the panel, and also had to desolder a lone wire attached to ut, that was coming from the main deck.

Then, I had decent access and could fix that joint.

I now have my 1s markers available on the front panel just fine 

So, there is only ONE stage left now !! Getting there !!
The 5s stage. It does..... kinda... work, but not fully.
It does produce nice markers, but the time interval is not correct. Trim pot has no effect it seems. All I get is an interval of 2s instead of 5.

Two seconds is not 1s, so know right there that the monostable IS doing something, as it's skipping one in two markers from the preceding stage.
So there is monostable action going on here, just not enough of it.

So prime candidate as always is a RC network that's too low a time constant to block 4 pulses like it should. Can only block one.

So again check the value of C and R.... stay tuned !!! 

[Cerebus]

OK ladies and gentlemen, something we're all going to go out and buy from Engineer, again: https://www.engineertools-jp.com/pad111213




Edit: I've just gone and ordered the complete set with 3 jaws in a fancy case - £111 off ebay UK.

[Vince]

Time to join the club. Had this one for a while now but never got around to even turning it on.
I think I'll fix it up to sell it off, seeing as I have the TDS784C now.

First step, figure out why the intensity is stuck at full blast...

Yea, have fun. It's not a simple HV circuit like a 500 series. All that stuff like the intensity and grid bias are on the Z Axis board with lots of transistors and other assorted stuff that could go wrong.

You are supposed to ENCOURAGE / SUPPORT your fellow TEA friends, NOT make them depressed and want to dump their TE for parts cheap on Ebay !

Terra, don't listen to the old Smurf, just grab the schematics and start probing around !!! 

Vince, sometimes it seems you just don't understand whom you're talking to. in here, that is encouragement.

We look forward to the fixing; when it's a easy repair like a few bloaty caps or a fuxxored-up switch... we'll feel a bit cheated.

That " Have fun." was med genuinely wishing the guy a good time... and if not, as often as not, it will be taken that way. 

Yes I know Dwaqon, of course.. I was simply being sarcastic ?! 
I can't blame you for thinking that maybe I didn't get it... after all I am French, and we all know French brains are wired very weirdly. I mean compared to that of most other countries at least, it appears.

BTW... your long, drawn-out, highly verbose adventures in troubleshooting ancient and outré hollow-state are, while sometimes comical, mildly pornographic to many of us. 

Do carry on... carrying on.

mnem

Wow, incredible. I was hoping I would find understanding and tolerance for my "live " Tek adventures... not DEMAND for it ! I am over the moon now !  !!! 

[TERRA Operative]

Don't worry guys, I'll have fun with the 7704A, and nothing you can do will stop me! 

OK ladies and gentlemen, something we're all going to go out and buy from Engineer, again: https://www.engineertools-jp.com/pad111213

Edit: I've just gone and ordered the complete set with 3 jaws in a fancy case - £111 off ebay UK.

Ooh, I already got one of those. It's fantastic and I love it. Everyone should buy one!

BUT.....

Y'all want to get the nice set with a carry case like Cerebus did!  
https://www.engineertools-jp.com/pad02

[mnementh]

Now snowing, and I have to go out. Bah!

(Only "Bah!" because it's enough snow to be a nuisance, and not enough to be fun.)

Don't drive your BMW in snow, unless you are prepared to laugh or cry a lot.
(press on DSC button and DTC (Dynamic Traction Control) active helps to not get stuck, long press on DSC button it is not suggested... on public roads)

In our internal trainings they tough us "Remember, there is no restore button after a crash".

We've had a used 4WD V70 for about a year now, and apart from it needing the annual suspension overhaul ( They EAT suspension parts, especially those with rubber in) badly, it's been very good.  Recently we were out for a walk in the forest. The parking space in the nature reservation where we went, is on the north side of a hill, surrounded by high spruces and pines and so very seldom sees sun. The snow had been compacted by cars and then solidified to ice. No snow left at all in the forest, just this ice square for cars. And it is sloping. I tried to park sideways, but found that the rear of the car slid downhill as soon as I stopped. Reevaluated and parked front downhill, on a small patch of gravel, for one of the wheels. People fell over as they got out of their cars.  The 4WD got us out without wheelspin when we were done.

I dunno... your suspension problems may very well be due to the compromises made to get both extended suspension travel typical of 4WD and trying to keep the ride cushy soft.

I had similar problems with a 4WD Lariat edition Ford pickup; it used the exact same suspension design as my Bronco, but the damned thing just ate swingarm and sway-bar bushings vs the Bronco which kept alignment for decades with zero upkeep cost. Main differences were progressive-rate springs, soft rubber bushings everywhere vs urethane, and the Lariat weighed about 800lbs more than the Bronco while coming stock with lower-profile tires.

These are the kind of things that the online "car groups" are good for... you don't have to subscribe or post, but man... just lurking for a little while the "common pitfalls" you find out about some vehicles will make you wonder  was the manufacturer thinking...

mnem
 

[Cerebus]

Y'all want to get the nice set with a carry case like Cerebus did!  
https://www.engineertools-jp.com/pad02

Once I've got mine, if they're as good to use as they look, I've got existing two crimp tools that are going in the bin, after a long conversation with Mr. Angle Grinder to protect anyone who might be tempted to recycle them from hours of pain and grief.

[Ice-Tea]

The erratic VNA. Opened up at last. That is not a clean instrument. 

[Cerebus]

I dunno... it may very well be due to the compromises made to get both extended suspension travel typical of 4WD and trying to keep the ride cushy soft.

Except the BMW 330e that I was accusing Zucca of being unkind about, and the Saab 9000 I compared it to, are both 2 wheel drive vehicles.

[mnementh]

Don't worry guys, I'll have fun with the 7704A, and nothing you can do will stop me! 

OK ladies and gentlemen, something we're all going to go out and buy from Engineer, again: https://www.engineertools-jp.com/pad111213

Edit: I've just gone and ordered the complete set with 3 jaws in a fancy case - £111 off ebay UK.

Ooh, I already got one of those. It's fantastic and I love it. Everyone should buy one!

BUT.....

Y'all want to get the nice set with a carry case like Cerebus did!  
https://www.engineertools-jp.com/pad02

Duly noted for future nerdling. These are a single-stage crimper, so you have to do conductor and jacket as two steps, correct?

mnem
 

[mnementh]

pfffft. 

Stumbled across this while looking for the PAD-02 kit on Amazon; "Ouchies!" at US$150-160 but still a bargain if they're half as good as they look.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Engineer+PAD-02&crid=3MOHR4GV22EJC&sprefix=engineer+pad-02%2Caps%2C126&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

mnem
 

[TERRA Operative]

Don't worry guys, I'll have fun with the 7704A, and nothing you can do will stop me! 

OK ladies and gentlemen, something we're all going to go out and buy from Engineer, again: https://www.engineertools-jp.com/pad111213

Edit: I've just gone and ordered the complete set with 3 jaws in a fancy case - £111 off ebay UK.

Ooh, I already got one of those. It's fantastic and I love it. Everyone should buy one!

BUT.....

Y'all want to get the nice set with a carry case like Cerebus did!  
https://www.engineertools-jp.com/pad02

Duly noted for future nerdling. These are a single-stage crimper, so you have to do conductor and jacket as two steps, correct?

mnem
 

Yep, gotta do two crimp operations as you say, but they are very nice to use. I was just using mine the other day to crimp connectors for Omron beam-break sensors on my friends plastic die-cutter machines.

[mnementh]

I dunno... it may very well be due to the compromises made to get both extended suspension travel typical of 4WD and trying to keep the ride cushy soft.

Except the BMW 330e that I was accusing Zucca of being unkind about, and the Saab 9000 I compared it to, are both 2 wheel drive vehicles.

Except that I was referring to mansaxel's complaints about suspension problems which did seem somewhat relevant in a more general manner. Edited to clarify.

Cheers!

mnem
needs more cowbell.

[mnementh]

...Y'all want to get the nice set with a carry case like Cerebus did!  
https://www.engineertools-jp.com/pad02

Duly noted for future nerdling. These are a single-stage crimper, so you have to do conductor and jacket as two steps, correct?

mnem
 

Yep, gotta do two crimp operations as you say, but they are very nice to use. I was just using mine the other day to crimp connectors for Omron beam-break sensors on my friends plastic die-cutter machines.

      The dual-stage crimpers like my $40 SN-02B Amazon Kit are great for what they're intended for... reducing repetitive work when making long connectors and ribbon cables with lots of conductors, as long as you have the right crimps for the dies.

But... there's learning curve and wasted crimps while you figure out the right way to strip and place wires, etc to get a good crimp, and the range of applicable wire gauge is relatively small for each crimper.

Single-stage crimpers are of course much more flexible, and you can use a larger die as needed for the conductor or jacket at your discretion if you need to crimp a slightly oversize wire, or two wires in one crimp, a scenario which you run into a lot when building/modding PCs.

mnem
*time to do something... constructive*

[mansaxel]

I dunno... your suspension problems may very well be due to the compromises made to get both extended suspension travel typical of 4WD and trying to keep the ride cushy soft.

Mostly it's about building the suspension too soft, regardless of FWD or 4WD. I've driven 2 FWD ones (same chassis otherwise) and they're exhibiting the same issues. Those have been given PU aftermarket bushings which did wonders for handling. I'm not 100% certain there are PU control arms for this year; they swapped control arm designs halfway through around 2005 or so.  I'm going to get reinforced rear springs, new shocks around, new control arms forward, and we'll see where that ends. With me dirty and swearing, probably, but that sorta comes with the territory.

[mnementh]

I dunno... your suspension problems may very well be due to the compromises made to get both extended suspension travel typical of 4WD and trying to keep the ride cushy soft.

Mostly it's about building the suspension too soft, regardless of FWD or 4WD. I've driven 2 FWD ones (same chassis otherwise) and they're exhibiting the same issues. Those have been given PU aftermarket bushings which did wonders for handling. I'm not 100% certain there are PU control arms for this year; they swapped control arm designs halfway through around 2005 or so.  I'm going to get reinforced rear springs, new shocks around, new control arms forward, and we'll see where that ends. With me dirty and swearing, probably, but that sorta comes with the territory.

Yeah, did the same thing with grand-dad's F-150 (one of the first of Ford's "pickups with passenger car ride") when I put the welding bed on it. Also added air-shocks and onboard compressor, and some spring perches so that when I needed to carry welder and tanks and/or steel to site, I'd just pump the air shocks to max, pop in a pair of helper coils, drop it all back down.

It all made the truck a completely different beast... but my kidneys certainly did take a beating if I had to drive it any long ways, especially unladen. 

mnem
 

[med6753]

Hey Vince.....have fun. 

[med6753]

I suspect that Zucca's being a little unkind to his employer's products. I've had the 330e for a week and 70 miles of driving now and I'm still getting the measure of the thing, but in terms of handling it's very reminiscent of the Saab 9000 I had donkey's years ago. That was a lovely car to drive in winter, and even in snow, so if the initial seat of the pants feeling is right then I think the 3 series would handle snow underfoot perfectly happily, not that what snow we had yesterday was enough even to tax a pedal car.

I think comparing a Saab 9000 with FWD and known performance in snow with a RWD 3 series BMW is a bit of a stretch. Agreed? 

[Cerebus]

I suspect that Zucca's being a little unkind to his employer's products. I've had the 330e for a week and 70 miles of driving now and I'm still getting the measure of the thing, but in terms of handling it's very reminiscent of the Saab 9000 I had donkey's years ago. That was a lovely car to drive in winter, and even in snow, so if the initial seat of the pants feeling is right then I think the 3 series would handle snow underfoot perfectly happily, not that what snow we had yesterday was enough even to tax a pedal car.

I think comparing a Saab 9000 with FWD and known performance in snow with a RWD 3 series BMW is a bit of a stretch. Agreed?

Nevertheless, to the driver they feel very similar. I'll have to wait for some proper snow to actually know, but the seat of my pants says the BMW will behave well. They both have a similar 'planted' feeling to them. Of course, if one wanted to get the RWD deliberately out of shape in the snow it would be much more fun then the FWD which would have probably been terrifying if deliberately pushed to slippijg point.

[mnementh]

FWD in the snow is fun. You point the wheels in the direction you wanna go and step on the gas. Avoid brakes like the plague; that's when the ass-end tries to swap places with the front.

I grew up driving Rabbits and Hondas in the lake-effect regions of New York and PA; more trips from Pittsburgh to Central New York, including times with several inches of snow on the roads, than I can possibly count. Made that trip every other weekend for years.

Also proved you can finish a race on dirt oval without any back tires at all in 4-cyl modified class. Yup... FWD and a heavy right foot. 

mnem
"If you're in control... you're outta control. You gotta steer with the right foot."

[Cubdriver]

In my experience, for winter driving the TIRES are the biggest factor in whether a car is good or bad in the snow.  From 1997 until late 2013, I drove a Miata year round through all kinds of weather (and we get plenty of snow here in Connecticut), the first ten years of it with a 60 mile round trip commute and the latter part with about a 30 mile round trip.  With all season or (even worse) performance summer tires on it, any snow meant it was like driving on a skating rink.  Throw good snow tires (Yokohama Guardex) on all four corners and it was practically unstoppable, and I drove that little bugger through all sorts of nasty crap and never got stuck anywhere other than my driveway a time or three when I tried to blast in without properly shoveling and got hung up.

-Pat