Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[med6753]

Yeah I hope that's it.  I have just ordered x3 NOS 6AQ5 from Ebay France, so hopefully I shall receive them late next week all going well.

30 Euros shipped. 10 Euros per tube. Not cheap by my wallet standards, but not crazy expensive either, for NOS tubes I mean.

Best deal was 4 NOS ones for 18 Euros shipped, but they come from Ukraine so delivery time, or delivery at all really, is unknown. I don't want to waste 18 Euros down the drain nor wait 3 months to get them 

So hoping to get my tubes late next week then. In the meantime I will resume work on the Rochar Nixie DMM  I think

How fast are your peek hold meters, can't you expect some results from them?

I am really sorry but I don't understand what you mean ?! 
My English is not up to sniff it looks like 

Could you rephrase that please ?

I think this was mentioned before but a 6AG5 black on the inside is normal.

[Vince]

Yes vk6zgo just said it a minute ago ! 

However I am curious to know what this black coating is, and why some 6AQ5 have it and not others. The one in the HP scope was clear glass, for example.
The ones I see for sale on Ebay are also sometime black sometimes clear 

[med6753]

Yes vk6zgo just said it a minute ago ! 

However I am curious to know what this black coating is, and why some 6AQ5 have it and not others. The one in the HP scope was clear glass, for example.
The ones I see for sale on Ebay are also sometime black sometimes clear 

Actually I'm not sure why. 

[Robert763]

Bit of a cheeky flip on ebay UK

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275295607882
Was
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TTI-TG1010-Programmable-10MHz-DDS-Function-Generator-BA4-/394042254993
They even stole the image from the original listing. They cannot even have received the generator yet.
The buyer and seller feedback scores match.

[med6753]

Bit of a cheeky flip on ebay UK

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275295607882
Was
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TTI-TG1010-Programmable-10MHz-DDS-Function-Generator-BA4-/394042254993
They even stole the image from the original listing. They cannot even have received the generator yet.
The buyer and seller feedback scores match.

Selling it at quite a profit, isn't he? Cheeky? No, fucking shady. But I don't suppose he's violating any rules. If he gets that price I guess more power to him.

[factory]

Seems a bit pricey to me, work bought three of the TG1010A about 10ish years ago, I'm sure they were that expensive new (they probably got a discount), or they wouldn't have bought them.
One of them failed when it went for cal a few years ago and is now abandoned in the storeroom of redundant/borked stuff no one is allowed to buy.

As for flipping stuff, don't a few on here do just that? cough cough Metrix DMM cough cough.  OK copying pictures & listing is a bit lazy, but this does happen with the seized GSP items, it was all in the T&Cs for the GSP.

David

[Robert763]

I've nothing against people flipping kit for a profit. I fund 99% of my hobby by selling stuff. In most cases I have to repair it or otherwise "add value" to it. I at least wait until I have in my hands so I can make sure it works and what the condition really is. I certainly don't use other peoples listing photos.

[Cubdriver]

Yes vk6zgo just said it a minute ago ! 

However I am curious to know what this black coating is, and why some 6AQ5 have it and not others. The one in the HP scope was clear glass, for example.
The ones I see for sale on Ebay are also sometime black sometimes clear 

Sometimes vacuum tubes have a graphite-like coating inside the envelope.  I’ve seen it most often on output tubes like 6L6s, 6A & BQ5s, and sometimes on 6SN7s.  I read somewhere long ago what it’s purported purpose was, but can’t recall at the moment and I’ll be damned if I can find anything explaining it at the moment. 

-Pat

[Vince]

Had a quick google. Someone on some forum says it's just the gettering process.
Colour can be grey or silver but sometimes black.  So I guess it all depends what material, and how much of it, a given manufacturer, for a given lot of tubes, decided to use...

OK so I will keep these black 6AQ5 then, precious rare little things that I have only 3 of...

[Cubdriver]

Had a quick google. Someone on some forum says it's just the gettering process.
Colour can be grey or silver but sometimes black.  So I guess it all depends what material, and how much of it, a given manufacturer, for a given lot of tubes, decided to use...

OK so I will keep these black 6AQ5 then, precious rare little things that I have only 3 of...

If it covers the ENTIRE inside of the tube, it’s likely not gettering.  Look closely at the coating, especially near the top mica insulator.  Look where the points of the insulator that bear against the envelope are, and see if you see drag marks in the coating below them towards the base of the tube.  If so, this will clearly indicate that the coating was there when the tue was assembled and the 'guts' of it slid into the envelope, with the mica points scraping the coating away.

-Pat

[dl6lr]

I got a Tek1240 with RAMPAC, pods and several accessories (like a GPIB pod adapter) with manuals for free.
Someone smashed it onto its back as it had sevarl bends and dents in one corner. And someone mounted the back frame with the feets 180° rotated, so the com port was hidden

Put the Tek 1420 on the table today. It threw the 10mA RCD twice in one hour, so have to swap the Y-caps for sure. Neon indicating high voltage in the PSU caps is dark, have to replace it too.
Image is missing horizontal sync, so I trimmed the potentiometer a bit and got an upright image But image is a bit jumpy and the control is very touchy, so it doesn't really catch the sync. Have to dig into it later.
Pulled all cards and cleaned the whole cage, the fan and all body parts. Buttons are cheasy to press, so have to soak and clean them, encoder is working. Touch screen is working fine  Battery in RAM-Pack is dead. Have to check the battery on the control processor board, too.

All self tests passed after the RAMPAC was initialized.

[factory]

I've nothing against people flipping kit for a profit. I fund 99% of my hobby by selling stuff. In most cases I have to repair it or otherwise "add value" to it. I at least wait until I have in my hands so I can make sure it works and what the condition really is. I certainly don't use other peoples listing photos.

I've haven't got a problem with it either, in fact one of my hp 3400A voltmeters was bought from bd139's ePay alias, think he got it at a HAM sale & gave up on it (to much work required).

David

[mnementh]

Bit of a cheeky flip on ebay UK

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275295607882 Was www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TTI-TG1010-Programmable-10MHz-DDS-Function-Generator-BA4-/394042254993

They even stole the image from the original listing. They cannot even have received the generator yet. The buyer and seller feedback scores match.

I dunno... depending on what he paid for shipping, about 100 quid markup. Is it really that cheeky?

I just assumed he knows something about the feature-set and fair market value of the thing I don't. 

mnem
 

[AVGresponding]

Bit of a cheeky flip on ebay UK

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275295607882
Was
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TTI-TG1010-Programmable-10MHz-DDS-Function-Generator-BA4-/394042254993
They even stole the image from the original listing. They cannot even have received the generator yet.
The buyer and seller feedback scores match.

Have a punt at this one instead:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255515545471





Speaking of cheek, how about this:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265670059865





No bids on this yet:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354037452917





Cheap LCD scope with screenrot:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165462144699





Cheap Metcal, needs a handset though:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403631356323





This looks like the sort of thing Robert enjoys:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165461833375

[med6753]

Marco Reps got a black 3458B 3458A last year from Keysight:

OK, riddle me this. How come Keysight is willing to hand over a 3458A to Marco but even if one of us slobs had the cash to buy one Keysight would tell us to take a flying leap? 

No doubt it is an impressive instrument.

[BU508A]

Marco Reps got a black 3458B 3458A last year from Keysight:

OK, riddle me this. How come Keysight is willing to hand over a 3458A to Marco but even if one of us slobs had the cash to buy one Keysight would tell us to take a flying leap? 

No doubt it is an impressive instrument.

My assumption is:
"This video has been supported by Keysight Technologies."

 

[mnementh]

Far too many zeroes for a voltmutt like myself. Gives me vertigo. 

mnem
"What am I gonna do with a rig like that; flounce around the dwagon-cave? Be like a sheep walkin' on its hind legs..."

[med6753]

Far too many zeroes for a voltmutt like myself. Gives me vertigo. 

mnem
"What am I gonna do with a rig like that; flounce around the dwagon-cave? Be like a sheep walkin' on its hind legs..."

I hear you. My 3456A gives me more than I ever wanted, or needed, to know. 

[mnementh]

    Returning the favor... For the Sony/Tek collab fans: A working/tested 305 DMM just $126 shipped: eBay auction: #354020316682

Calibration mere decades out of date!   

mnem
 

I’ve never understood why the 'tested, working' people on the bay so rarely show a photo with it working.  Yes, we see the DMM part lit up and basically showing zeroes, but why no trace?  Add a pic with a 9 V battery connected to the meter, and one with the scope at least showing a trace, better with it showing the cal signal.

Why is this such a difficult concept?  I can understand a dealer (who *might* also have some better credibility regarding such an assessment) that wants to crank through photographing things for sale quickly not taking the time, but a private seller making the claim has a bit more onus on them IMO and should also have the time to take a pic.

-Pat

Yeah... the name "techbros warehouse" doesn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence, I guess. I looked at 3 other 'scope listings of theirs and not one with a trace up on them either. 

OTOH, if the scope doesn't at least do basic functionality, could be leveraged into a fair-sized refund on a "not as advertised" dispute. They'd have to eat return shipping otherwise. 

mnem
 

[Kosmic]

Marco Reps got a black 3458B 3458A last year from Keysight:

OK, riddle me this. How come Keysight is willing to hand over a 3458A to Marco but even if one of us slobs had the cash to buy one Keysight would tell us to take a flying leap? 

No doubt it is an impressive instrument.

He received it last year. Potentially before the whole "We only do business with professional" thing started ?

Would be interesting if Keysight is doing a Raffle again giving away TE. Wonder if only "professional" will be allowed to participate 

[vk6zgo]

And now for something completely discord

I was completely absent, due to commitments in 30th of April being bonfire night in Sweden.

I must confess it took me a moment to figure that one out. Then I remembered that you're all heathens up there so it's what the Celts call Beltane.

We used to do "Guy Fawkes Day", till someone figured out that building huge bonfires & chucking fireworks around in a bushfire prone country was, maybe, not the cleverest idea.
Of course, there were outcries of "Nanny State"---after all, what could possibly go wrong?

As a kid, I thought we were celebrating that Fawkes had tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament, not the fact that he failed.

[TERRA Operative]

Marco Reps got a black 3458B 3458A last year from Keysight:

Well I'm sold on the 3458A, who's up for contributing to my GoFundMe? 

[syau]

CNG is extensively used in urban bus systems in Oz, but, yes, they fill up at the depot, where there are trained personnel. LPG, on the other hand is commonly available at fuel stations, along with the diesel & petrol pumps, & is used safely by thousands of "average motorists" ------- go figure!

LOL... yeah, we've kindof beat this horse    to a fine puree already... we decided the primary difference of opinion lies in just how dumb the average American^* motorist is.

Please, lets just allow the poor thing to be absorbed by topsoil so nature can take its course...

mnem
*home of the "Here, hold muh beer and watch this!" school of driving

Over here in UK, LPG is not readily available at refilling stations, 5 have there are just 5 stations selling it across the entire county of Essex and none are in the city, nearest one is 7 miles away and is infact a fuel storage dept, so may not even sell it to motorists, maybe it is still largely the preserve of large fleet operators on local journeys?

Edit: CNG seems to not be available anywhere to buy in the UK.

In Hong Kong, only LPG car is Taxi and is mandatory by law. Few station around the city area.

[Cerebus]

As a kid, I thought we were celebrating that Fawkes had tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament, not the fact that he failed.

The official line, that we celebrate his failure, and the popular view are at variance. I have been known to mutter on recent Nov 5ths "Guido, where are you when your country needs you?".

[Cerebus]

In Hong Kong, only LPG car is Taxi and is mandatory by law. Few station around the city area.

A lot of London Black Cabs are LPG powered, and in recent years a lot of have gone 100% electric.