Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

Ugghhh...

Shitty luck, man. Of course you won't know for sure until you get the shield off it... But I can see you not wanting to bother with all that assache when you're 92% certain what it is already...

mnem
 

[Zucca]

Tektronix is officialy invited by me to show off some scopes at my company...
Soon they will come and try to sell us everything.....

I also signed a NDA which is soooo hard to keep secret..... probably they will show also future stuff. 

Next inline Picoscope, Keysight they lost me with the hobbies ban bullshit.
Keysight can go to scope themself.

[nixiefreqq]

I was looking for info on my Lambda LQD-421. I think that's what it is. It's on the other side of the room and I can't be bothered. I found some info on this nice little site:

https://djerickson.com/

He mentioned the HP 3466A and it seemed interesting: auto-ranging, 7-segment LED display, measures 1200V DC. I hopped on ebay and bought a used one for cheap. Unfortunately, it displays OL no matter what is measured. Seller promises to issue a refund, and says I can keep the unit. I cracked it open and don't see any obvious problems. I had to cut through a cal sticker to split the clamshell, that's a good sign that nobody's been in there, "fixing". This model does indeed have a sealed lead acid battery and associated charging circuit mounted to the inside of the case lid. Neat. I'm afraid that this unit is going to go on to The Shelf Across The Room™ until free time and motivation join forces. I'm meeting with an architect next week who is going to help me design my Garage Mahal, DV. Looking forward to that.

Operating and service manual here:

https://www.keysight.com/us/en/product/3466A/4-12-digit-dmm.html#resources

EDIT: The HP 3466A was sold as "Used".

EDIT EDIT: I removed the SLA battery for storage. I don't imagine that sulfuric acid dripping on the main PCB would make repair any easier.

EDIT^3: Date codes mark this unit as having been born in late 1984. I measured the 6V battery and it's a little flat, outputting only 1.8mV.

my hp 3466a had the same symptoms when snagged at a hamfest for 20 bucks (more than 15 years ago).

all it took to fix it was a reseat of the post pins that connect the mother board to the logic board.  it has worked fine ever since.

put a new battery in it shortly after it was acquired, and then replaced it again about 5 years ago. 

it is the daily driver beside my bench.

[Saskia]

just got it from a distributor; creality ender 2 pro  barely 3 digity msi 3070 ti gaming trio below msrp 3d resin - 10 pesos

Ender 2 Pro Cantilever 3DP...   

This Ender is for flipping, that's just what I'll do, one of these days ...

[Saskia]

Received a letter from Sweden with a Nakamichi Service Manual in it
Thank you very much.

[mansaxel]

queue is growing. just talked to old buddy who's gotten by on a 500MHz [hp] DSO, but it's developed crapacitors, and he got himself a Siglent instead. So, old scope is free to pick up. oy wel.

I'm probably developing crapacitors m'self. It's not a [hp] but a Tek. TDS 520.  Some horror repair threads on here, but also a tip on enabling FFT. That'd be yum.

[mansaxel]

Who was it that wanted a 5245L counter?

Was MEEEEEE !!!!

And me. I'm brewing a bit on the decision, but it might end up jumping over the border north..

[mansaxel]

   And sorry; I take for granted that anybody can lay hands on these, as they're a standard hardware store item over here from the Hillman drawers in a variety of sizes and depths. Also SOP for car audio installers; certain kits of speakers even come with them standard. 

As a matter of fact, those abominations apparently  are so common in the US that you lot feel a need to replace something nice:



...with them. "ACK! THPPTT!" as Bill the Cat would say.

[mansaxel]

Received a letter from Sweden with a Nakamichi Service Manual in it
Thank you very much.

My pleasure! The world will be a cleaner place if all analog tape machines are confined to places where one is committed to digitizing their content and put it on harddrives or SSD. 

When my previous employer decided to do that, it took a full-time service engineer to keep the PR99 and similar playback machines in spec; granted they had something like 6-8 transfer suites, working in two-shifts,  16h per day, so a lot of running hours were amassed, but still.

And, I'm prepared to make an exception for the Nagra IV.  Très precis, and all.

"The two things that really drew me to vinyl were the expense and the inconvenience."

[ch_scr]

Enthusiasm for TE, you ask?
Have a look at this:

[Robert763]

What do you have that's a more capable scope, and why do you think it is?

mnem
*toddles off to make some too-long bolts shorter*

Nothing as of yet, hence why I did contemplate buying it, that plus the Megazoom thing that I was curious to experience as you were raving about it. But, as I have said, using this scope is not the way I plan on acquiring the logic decoding capabilities. I would not mind having serial decoding and stuff on a scope, but not on this particular scope. I would be interested in having them in a fancy expensive modern scope like the R&S our German friend just acquired, for example, but even then, it still would not be in, replacement of a proper standalone logic analyzer. It would only be as a complement.

Any more questions ? 

Mmmmokayyy... here's the thing. These were the scopes that in their day, were some of the best you could get at doing one very important thing: observing a analog signal and the digital datastream associated with it at the same time, and triggering on either. This is a very common troubleshooting scenario you'll find yourself in when working with anything digital.

This single functionality is not something a standalone LA does as well, and as you've said, you don't have any more capable scope ATM. So for 50 bux, even if you have to skip lunches for a day or three, you could have had one of these groundbreaking scopes, and not an early one, but one of the mature, evolved designs... at a time when it would literally be one of the most, if not the most capable all-around scope on your bench. There's no way you could lose money on this thing.

I'll admit I've overlooked a great deal that was right next to something I had a raging nerd-boner for and didn't realize it until it was too late. More than once.  Every last one of us has done it, and nobody in here would think less of you for it; we'd all offer you our condolences and wish you better luck next time. 

From here, it looks like that's exactly what happened, and all the grumbling about appearances and such is just "sour grapes" type excuses to yourself for overlooking it; I remember you vehemently swearing on several occasions that you care about functionality first and appearance second. Well I can tell you this is a very functional scope, a real all-around workhorse, and you really did miss out.

If it'd been me (and honestly, I can see me possibly not even realizing what that scope was until I saw it in the pictures afterwards), I'd be calling myself aout loud repeatedly, in here, for at least a week. 


mnem
Just Like I did when I passed on that OWON from Arrow...

I have an earlier version of the Megazoom MSO and it is the last 'scope I would get rid of. Not the fastest, not a full function logic analyser but so capable and Sooo easy to drive. The UI is second to none if you are used to analog 'scopes. I Had the later model at my last work and  also access to a later LeCroy with touch screen and all the bells and whistles. Yes, sometimes I NEEDED to use the LeCroy because of it's bandwidth etc but as a "daily driver" no way. The HP's "mixed" signal" bit is very important to me. If you work with ADCs DACs, PWM etc it is so useful to trigger the analog off the digital (or vice-versa), zoom in see exactly what is going on.
To do that with a LA you need to couple the LA to the scope trigger. Assuming of course the LA has a trigger output. And you have to set up two instrumants and correlate the timing
Yes the rubber button styling is a bit naff, but this really was the sweetsopt of general purpose CRT based 'scopes.
Unless you are doing high speed digital work why would you need a higher speed than 60/100MHz? for RF you would be starting to look at spectruma and network analysers.

[Saskia]

Vince is cordially invited to place an offer on my Keysight MSO 2002A which has been slightly enhanced *cough* and comes with the original Keysight probulators.

I would still have my other Keysight plus the R+S so I should be set anyway.

[med6753]

Enthusiasm for TE, you ask?
Have a look at this:

To be assaulted with that annoying delivery first thing in the morning makes me want to punch him unconscious. 

[Vince]

Ugghhh...

Shitty luck, man. Of course you won't know for sure until you get the shield off it... But I can see you not wanting to bother with all that assache when you're 92% certain what it is already...

mnem
 

Well removing the CRT should take a minute no more... if it were a Tek.
So I tried to remove it. Removed the CRT Bezel at the front, loosened the hose clamp holding the neck in place... and that should be it. But it's not, the CRT won't move.
So I tried to remove the 3 little screws I saw on the shield, toward the front, 120° apart. They came loose but won't come off, and CRT still won't budge. Tried to tighten them back, they won't, they spin round and round now 
For the life of me I don't see what's keeping it from moving... I will try to find instructions in the manual or some YT video, with some luck 

I guess the only hope for this scope / CRT, is to be on the lookout for a cheap donor I could salvage the CRT from 
A scope so beat up and corroded and messed with that I could get it for a few Euros...

But for now sadly I don't see what more I can do to this scope, so not much choice but button it back up and put it back on the shelf, sitting. 
I so wanted to revive it and see its little CRT trace smiling at me 

[Vince]

EDIT : just looked in the manual, it DOES tell you how to remove/replace the CRT, yeah !

Instructions : exactly what I did, no more no less : " Remove bezel and loosen hose clamp at the neck, and then it just slides out... ".

So I guess it's just stuck in the shield from old age... I just need to keep at it, maybe some WD40 ?! 

[BU508A]

My guess: sticky foam between the CRT and the shieding.

I'd try IPA instead of WD40 first.

[med6753]

EDIT : just looked in the manual, it DOES tell you how to remove/replace the CRT, yeah !

Instructions : exactly what I did, no more no less : " Remove bezel and loosen hose clamp at the neck, and then it just slides out... ".

So I guess it's just stuck in the shield from old age... I just need to keep at it, maybe some WD40 ?! 

 

[THDplusN_bad]

Ugghhh...

Shitty luck, man. Of course you won't know for sure until you get the shield off it... But I can see you not wanting to bother with all that assache when you're 92% certain what it is already...

mnem
 

Well removing the CRT should take a minute no more... if it were a Tek.

So I tried to remove it. Removed the CRT Bezel at the front, loosened the hose clamp holding the neck in place... and that should be it. But it's not, the CRT won't move.
So I tried to remove the 3 little screws I saw on the shield, toward the front, 120° apart. They came loose but won't come off, and CRT still won't budge. Tried to tighten them back, they won't, they spin round and round now 
For the life of me I don't see what's keeping it from moving... I will try to find instructions in the manual or some YT video, with some luck 

I guess the only hope for this scope / CRT, is to be on the lookout for a cheap donor I could salvage the CRT from 
A scope so beat up and corroded and messed with that I could get it for a few Euros...

But for now sadly I don't see what more I can do to this scope, so not much choice but button it back up and put it back on the shelf, sitting. 
I so wanted to revive it and see its little CRT trace smiling at me 

Oh, I am sorry to hear & see that the CRT in your recent acquisition is toast.

My tip: You may want to send a kind email to Walter at Sphere in Canada https://www.sphere.bc.ca/index.html and ask him to notify you when he gets a replacement. Walter is a kind gentleman and I found him always willing to help.

Cheers,

THDplusN_bad

[med6753]

Vince, all kidding aside. What is the HV on that CRT? I'm assuming about 2kV, right? And it's a 5 inch round tube?

If yes to both questions you may be able to adapt a CRT out of an old Heath or EICO scope. The Heath's used a type 5PU1. Not sure about the EICO's. That 5PU1 has the deflection plate access at the base just like that hp and the HV requirements are 2kV.

[Robert763]

The postman knocked. I could not answer because I'm stuck behind a floor with freshly laid screed 
So the flooring contractor passed me a big box.
It's from Ramco.
And inside:
Yes it's my CMS33. That is quick service. The auction was Tuesday  Thwy even packed it properly. This one was missing the front cover / antenna stand but the paker at Ramco fashioned a nice cardboard faxsimile which seems to have done the job.
I got this one for a lot less than most of them went for because it did not have the cover, battery pack (not bothered about those two really) remote control or the power / VSWR throughline sensor head. BUT, when I opened it up the sensor  head, remote and leads were there
And it all works From a quick check at least.
Downsides are N type is loose, should be easy fix, and there is one line of black pixels across the screen 
The blak line does not hide anything and might be fixable.
Next thing is to clone the HDD.

All in all very pleased for £618  including fees, VAT and shipping

[mnementh]

   And sorry; I take for granted that anybody can lay hands on these, as they're a standard hardware store item over here from the Hillman drawers in a variety of sizes and depths. Also SOP for car audio installers; certain kits of speakers even come with them standard. 

As a matter of fact, those abominations apparently  are so common in the US that you lot feel a need to replace something nice:



...with them. "ACK! THPPTT!" as Bill the Cat would say.

Simply inappropriate for use with speakers in a sheetmetal door. The door metal is too thin; they'll distort it as you tighten up the screws, disrupting the seal of the speaker against the panel. They're great for what they're meant for: Holding gear in a equipment rack. Not so much for speakers.

Honestly, clipnuts are a bodge for this reason too... but the thin flat metal they're made of means they are the least likely to affect proper seating of the speaker, especially if you have a foam gasket from the original speaker, as most do nowadays.

Sometimes you just don't have any better choice. They're what you can do to get the job done in a reasonable timeframe at reasonable cost to the customer. 

mnem
 

[mansaxel]

Simply inappropriate for use with speakers in a sheetmetal door. The door metal is too thin; they'll distort it as you tighten up the screws, disrupting the seal of the speaker against the panel. They're great for what they're meant for: Holding gear in a equipment rack. Not so much for speakers.

Honestly, clipnuts are a bodge for this reason too... but the thin flat metal they're made of means they are the least likely to affect proper seating of the speaker, especially if you have a foam gasket from the original speaker, as most do nowadays.

Sometimes you just don't have any better choice. They're what you can do to get the job done in a reasonable timeframe at reasonable cost to the customer. 

mnem
 

For the door, yes. For the rack, no. Only slightly better than threaded rack strips.

[Saskia]

received 2 R+S 300 MHz probulators today.

Also received note that I am due for MRT tomorrow due to spine issues ...
It never ends ...
also having adverse effects to a pain killer injection to treat bursitis in my hip ...
FFS.

[Vince]

CRT UPDATE !

Thanks for your comments. Yes Sphere might be a source... when I am rich. At least it's a ray (pun !  ) of hope !

I have just managed to pull this frreaking CRT out !

Lots of "WD40" (well, something similar from FACOM, what I had laying around) did nothing.

No amount of wiggling would break it loose. I was totally baffled.

Then I thought hmmm... lemme think : there is obvious signs that this CRT has been messed with in the past --> when I removed the bezel, there are 4 screws. behind the front panel, there are captive nuts welded to the panel. Well, as it happens two of these nuts broken off the panel and somone had replaced them with a loose nut. Which means it was a pain to remove and will be a pain to put back on, because limited access.

So, what if that guy was stupid enough to somehow GLUE the CRT to the shield, for some reason ? So I shoved a thin flat screw driver between the CRT (well, the plastic ring / trim around the edge of the CRT) and the shield, at the front. I had to shove the blade very deep, an inch or so, and work it all around the CRT... but it eventually freed the CRT, victory !!! 

Now I can look at the neck to see the guts of it inside. I am not competent so don't know what to look for, but from a newbie perspective, at the least I can say that the mechanicals inside so to speak, don't look anywhere near as thin / fragile / delicate as I imagined, and there are even like white rod that act as spacers and support for the various pieces. I honestly don't see how that could get bent during shipping, or at all 

I think there might be hope : I can hear something rattling in the CRT... but I can't see it INside the glass... it sounds more like it's inside the black plastic connector on the neck, that holds all the pins/terminals.
I see that the glue that holds it to the glass of the neck, is hard, dried and broke free. It's not holding to the glass anymore. So the connector can wiggle a bit, though it doesnt fell like it's going to come oiff anytime soon. The wires inside must be quite thick and holding it well in place.

So, I guess the rattling noise inside must be pieces of the glue that are wondering about. So maybe the arcing sound are happening not inside the CRT, but inside the socket ??

So I could try removing the socket to inspect it, and maybe get rid of it and solder wires to the CRT and connect it to the scope this way. I mean, just to diagnose it, see if that fixes the problem. If it does not then the damage is inside the CRT and it's hopeless, but if does come from the socket then... scope is back to life 

The problem is that I don't have fine cutting tools like a Dremel or the like, to cut the cnnector open. So... the repair might have to wait until I can afford a Dremel.

[GreyWoolfe]

received 2 R+S 300 MHz probulators today.

Also received note that I am due for MRT tomorrow due to spine issues ...
It never ends ...
also having adverse effects to a pain killer injection to treat bursitis in my hip ...
FFS.

Ah, the joys of getting older.