Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

Fear not - in what seems like the blink of an eye, you’ll be old and broke, like the rest of us are.   

-Pat

Call me old again and I'll beat you with my cane and run over you with my walker. 

You’ll have to catch me first!!       

-Pat

Not a problem my boy. "Old age and treachery always beats youth and speed" 

I have a eBike to get away on.

mnem
and a spare battery. that you don't know where it is.

[mnementh]

...Not a problem my boy. "Old age and treachery always beats youth and speed" 

LOL - one of the guys on Miata Net back in the day went by Age & Treachery Racing.  Twenty plus years down the road, I probably qualify for the team.  I’m not sure where time goes, but as life moves on wherever it is it’s going there at a rate not to my liking!   -Pat

LOL... my racing "team" (mostly me and a few drinking buddies) was BTTW Racing. Yes, we had T-Shirts.

mnem
And on the back they said "Checkered Flag or CRASH!" because those were the only acceptable ways to finish...

[tggzzz]

I think it is a "C" connector---very much like an "N", but a "bayonet" type.
They used to be relatively common, not so much, anymore.

 
Beat me to it, it is indeed a C type. 50R version (75R exist but are rare. Specfic feature of C type is high voltage / peak power handling. Both male and femaile pins are fully insulated when mated unlike N type which has a bout a 3mm air gap. Most common useage of C types are aircaft "L Band" pulse radar systems (IFF / Transponder, DME/TACAN) and nuclear instrumentation like scintillation and proportional probes

I should have mentioned those two adaptors don't mate, except by via the GRE-874 on the other side.

The description 'very much like an "N", but a "bayonet" type' matches my impression.

I have no use for them; anybody want them?

[Robert763]

Not much TE this weekend, still painting for SWMBO 
I did manage to sort out a few very old PC that were in the garage. One had trashed HDD and blown capacitors on the AMD motherboard so that has been separated for scrap and the CPU added to my collection. Another is working and has a decent case so kept for now. Final one was the 19" rack mount that the NI GPIB card for Vince came out of. The single board ISA/PCI CPU card is dead but the hard drive booted in the other machine and it seems that one of the virtually unmarked cards is a 'scope digitiser. a Ptrotek (HUng Chung) 220. It's ISA and Protek have gone but thanks to the Wayback Machine I have the software package (as well as the working HDD with it installed).
Anyone want a 20 year 20Ms/s PC 'scope card? 

On other TE I checked one of the Ramco R&S CMS33s communications test sets and the LCD is poor with several horizontal lines out 
So I put a lowball offer on a CMD 80 and it was accepted. It will donate an LCD an a knob for starters.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284838229315

I've no need of a GSM cell phone tester but this one might have the analog option so will probably put the dodgy LCD in it and have a play if it does.

[BU508A]

Yesterday arrival: The IdealTek pliers which I've ordered at TME.

Here are some pictures. The grid has minimal distance of 1mm and the resistor is for size comparisons.

The ES6023B:


The ES6025:


Working with the ES6025 is a real joy. Good handling, precise pliers, I like it! Will be a good successor to my P-500. 

Not a tool but my first cherry cake in 2022:


The Gooseberries on the left are part for my fruits in rum, which I've started yesterday as well.

[tggzzz]

Well, that coupler/sniffer is a strange beast indeed. I assumed it was resistively coupled, but it isn't. (Once you read the manual and schematic, all is revealed)

The top two scope photos show its response in a correctly terminated system (50ohm). The top trace is the "through" signal, the bottom trace the "sniffed" signal. Not the difference depending on which way round it is connected.

For amusement, the last two photos show it when terminated in 1Mohm//15pF.

I think I'll keep it, even thought they sell for £30-£40 on fleabay

[Specmaster]

More nails in the coffin for EV cars as they currently stand.

And his conclusion at the end? "I still, on the whole, really like it." And he's thinking of dumping one of his household's fossil fuel cars and getting an additional electric car. So "nail in the coffin" is a serious misrepresentation of what this video actually says.

Did I suggest otherwise then? People can form bonds with things are way less than perfect, but then I didn't have to tell you that because you already know that. You also knew from where I was coming from with the way I worded the statement, "as they currently stand" There were plenty of negative things in Rory's presentation that should have been ringing alarm bells in peoples brains. Switching over from ICE to EV is not as easy as some people would have it. Range anxiety, weather impacts not only on the batteries' performance but the added drain because of the need for heating, effect of motorway driving on the range, the need for charging at home, the effect of adding another EV car is double the time for charging, rising cost of electricity etc. All of which are factors needing to be taken into account before switching over. If you are the type of person who only does around 20 to 30 miles or so a week and can easily accommodate the charging, and the limitations imposed by having to wait before continuing with your journey, then yes it may be the thing for you, but it is not for everyone, there are problems "as they currently stand"

[Cerebus]

More nails in the coffin for EV cars as they currently stand.

And his conclusion at the end? "I still, on the whole, really like it." And he's thinking of dumping one of his household's fossil fuel cars and getting an additional electric car. So "nail in the coffin" is a serious misrepresentation of what this video actually says.

Did I suggest otherwise then? People can form bonds with things are way less than perfect, but then I didn't have to tell you that because you already know that. You also knew from where I was coming from with the way I worded the statement, "as they currently stand" There were plenty of negative things in Rory's presentation that should have been ringing alarm bells in peoples brains. Switching over from ICE to EV is not as easy as some people would have it. Range anxiety, weather impacts not only on the batteries' performance but the added drain because of the need for heating, effect of motorway driving on the range, the need for charging at home, the effect of adding another EV car is double the time for charging, rising cost of electricity etc. All of which are factors needing to be taken into account before switching over. If you are the type of person who only does around 20 to 30 miles or so a week and can easily accommodate the charging, and the limitations imposed by having to wait before continuing with your journey, then yes it may be the thing for you, but it is not for everyone, there are problems "as they currently stand"

That's a ten year old 2012 Nissan so the currency is suspect to say the least. We know you'll only adopt an EV when they crush the last ICE only vehicle in the country, but you do yourself no favours by representing a video that concludes with "I still like it" as "More nails in the coffin for EV cars as they currently stand.".

In other news, just topped up the petrol tank in the PHEV and charged it, 97 mpg and 2.67 mi/kWh over the last 3 weeks.

[Vince]

Oh no, not an EV argument again, pleaaaaase... I still have not healed from the last one, it's too soon.
Bottom line is : does not matter if one likes them or not, because this week I heard that European parliament or whatever it's called, has voted their law for good now, it's set in stone. By 2035 car manufacturers (motorbikes too ?? Didn't say...), will be allowed to sell only EV, and not even hybrids no, 100% electric.

Let's do something more useful than fighting over something we have no control over, and that's sadly inevitable, by law (an driven by insane petrol prices as well). Well for European citizens at least...

Instead, let's do something nice, helpful, right here right now.... let's help Vince identify this diode.

I have like 3 dozens of them, brand new, that I got in this lot of random junk I got for 10 Euros earlier this year, remember, in the lot was that chinese Vref box.

Zero markings on them, just a clear glass body with two black bands on one side. Yes the cathode is there, but  could it be that these two bands are some kind of ancient code that could identify the diode part number, somehow ?  Not holding my breath, they will probably all end up in the trash then... but thought hey it's free to ask.
Voltage drop varies quite a bit.. lower than a silicon diode, but a bit high for Germanium. It's like 300 to 450mV, varies quite a bit from one to the next. Schottky ?! 

[McBryce]

More nails in the coffin for EV cars as they currently stand.

So how do we get to the perfect EV if we never start the development process?

When cars first hit the market there were all sorts. Steam, petrol, diesel, electric. All of them were shit compared to today, but this was the beginning of a long road. Constantly changing and improving to reflect the needs of the consumers and improving their efficiency. Some survived, some didn't. Now one random guy comes along and says he's not 100% convinced of one particular model and for you that's a "nail in the coffin" You need to view things on a longer timescale. Would you have written of computers as a dead end technology if you had seen a review of a computer in the late 60's?

McBryce.

McBryce.

[Cubdriver]

Oh no, not an EV argument again, pleaaaaase... I still have not healed from the last one, it's too soon.
Bottom line is : does not matter if one likes them or not, because this week I heard that European parliament or whatever it's called, has voted their law for good now, it's set in stone. By 2035 car manufacturers (motorbikes too ?? Didn't say...), will be allowed to sell only EV, and not even hybrids no, 100% electric.

Gotta love politicians mandating a timeline for scientific discovery and technological advances.   

-Pat

[factory]

Please take the EV shite to the correct part of the forum. 

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/renewable-energy/

David

[factory]

Instead, let's do something nice, helpful, right here right now.... let's help Vince identify this diode.

I have like 3 dozens of them, brand new, that I got in this lot of random junk I got for 10 Euros earlier this year, remember, in the lot was that chinese Vref box.

Zero markings on them, just a clear glass body with two black bands on one side. Yes the cathode is there, but  could it be that these two bands are some kind of ancient code that could identify the diode part number, somehow ?  Not holding my breath, they will probably all end up in the trash then... but thought hey it's free to ask.
Voltage drop varies quite a bit.. lower than a silicon diode, but a bit high for Germanium. It's like 300 to 450mV, varies quite a bit from one to the next. Schottky ?! 

Looks a lot like a point contact Germanium to me, Amason have a 1N34A diode with a picture that looks identical to yours.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/JSJJAWA-diode-GERMANIUM-DIODE-1N34A/dp/B0976ZQZHW
https://www.tme.eu/Document/0a9524ad7e11ca40773ed52e579d7546/1N34A.pdf

David

[Neper]

Or an OA xxx or later AA xxx in the German nomenclature.

[Robert763]

Instead, let's do something nice, helpful, right here right now.... let's help Vince identify this diode.

I have like 3 dozens of them, brand new, that I got in this lot of random junk I got for 10 Euros earlier this year, remember, in the lot was that chinese Vref box.

Zero markings on them, just a clear glass body with two black bands on one side. Yes the cathode is there, but  could it be that these two bands are some kind of ancient code that could identify the diode part number, somehow ?  Not holding my breath, they will probably all end up in the trash then... but thought hey it's free to ask.
Voltage drop varies quite a bit.. lower than a silicon diode, but a bit high for Germanium. It's like 300 to 450mV, varies quite a bit from one to the next. Schottky ?! 

Looks a lot like a point contact Germanium to me, Amason have a 1N34A diode with a picture that looks identical to yours.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/JSJJAWA-diode-GERMANIUM-DIODE-1N34A/dp/B0976ZQZHW
https://www.tme.eu/Document/0a9524ad7e11ca40773ed52e579d7546/1N34A.pdf

David

Looks like a 1N60 to me.  Black band is last digit zero (second band is cathode marker) Certainly point contact Germanium. Thin semiconductor and point contact. The ones on Amazon are junction diodes i.e. fakes. Probably schottkys. You can see the much thicker die.

[bd139]

That bloody Avo lamp has been relisted again. 

I hope it stays on there as long as the heathkit microphone lamp as a warning to others.

Just got back from 30km hike with a buggered achilles. Not recommended. Think I’m going to take a few weeks off.

Bid on the PL330 but it went too high for my liking.

[Specmaster]

More nails in the coffin for EV cars as they currently stand.

So how do we get to the perfect EV if we never start the development process?

When cars first hit the market there were all sorts. Steam, petrol, diesel, electric. All of them were shit compared to today, but this was the beginning of a long road. Constantly changing and improving to reflect the needs of the consumers and improving their efficiency. Some survived, some didn't. Now one random guy comes along and says he's not 100% convinced of one particular model and for you that's a "nail in the coffin" You need to view things on a longer timescale. Would you have written of computers as a dead end technology if you had seen a review of a computer in the late 60's?

McBryce.

McBryce.

Folks, you are totally misunderstanding what I'm saying, "C" seems convinced that I'll wait till they crush the last remaining ICE car before making the switch...where the hell did that come from  How many times do I have to utter the caveat "as they currently stand." 

Yes, the presenter did conclude that he still liked it, but he also clearly stated that he is not going to replace his daily driver ICE because he needs a longer range than current EV can offer. And when that range is not enough, 5 minutes at a pump and he is good to go many hundreds of miles more, that is not the case with current EV cars.

I have no doubt that EV cars or something else will come along in due course to replace ICE cars, I'm not that stupid to rule it out as many people years ago did about space travel and man setting foot on the moon. I just don't see it happening within the timeframe that UK (2030) and France (2035) have passed into law. Laws can be revised or even revoked at the drop of a hat when it suits them.

If it suited my purpose to go EV tomorrow, I would, but the truth is that it doesn't because the infrastructure is not in place for that to even remotely become a possibility, and I seriously doubt that even 50% of it will be in place by the dates allegedly set in stone. Think about it, we are struggling to produce enough electricity to currently meet current demands, which will ramp up even more as people switch over to EV powered cars. I admire your optimism if you truly believe those dates will be met and that there will not be major issues.

This was not posted to provoke a lengthy discussion on nor does it warrant one, just a thought-provoking post that you either agree with or not. Kerbside recharging your own car is also a no no, as the presenter said, you need your own off-road space such as a drive or garage to do that and then, more than 1 EV charging at home provides even more problems with elongated charging times.

[bd139]

I’m going no car. Problem solved.

Ham spotted today with silly antenna 

[factory]

And I got outbid too. 
They are in trash condition, described as displays & covers missing, can't even use as a foot donor.

David

[mnementh]

In OTHER News...

I just survived grocery shopping at COSTCO on a Sunday afternoon.    *twitch... twitch... twitcha-twitch...*


mnem
"I've seen produce altercations you people wouldn't believe; attack moms on fire off the shelves of Dairy... I watched coffee-beans glitter in the dark near the milling station. All those foodstuffs will be lost in time, like tears in rain... Time to grind."

[mnementh]

That reminds me of the time I had to go stick some ram in a box in a data centre. As it was fully managed we found out when we got there all they had was telecoms racks and there was a huge pile of DL380’s stacked on top of each other. Mine was at the bottom. We jacked 9 machines up carefully with 4 people and a pile of Oreilly books and slid the node out carefully while everything was live.

It can be done 

*raises a paw*

Similar story, only it was the UPS I was supposed to replace that they were all stacked on top of.  We jacked up the entire stack brute-force, and held the old UPS up with screwdrivers through the rack. Installed the new UPS under the old one live, then swapped each power cord over one by one per instruction by the bridge as they confirmed which PSU went down. Zero downtime, and only two smooshed fingers. 

mnem
 

[Vince]

Instead, let's do something nice, helpful, right here right now.... let's help Vince identify this diode.

I have like 3 dozens of them, brand new, that I got in this lot of random junk I got for 10 Euros earlier this year, remember, in the lot was that chinese Vref box.

Zero markings on them, just a clear glass body with two black bands on one side. Yes the cathode is there, but  could it be that these two bands are some kind of ancient code that could identify the diode part number, somehow ?  Not holding my breath, they will probably all end up in the trash then... but thought hey it's free to ask.
Voltage drop varies quite a bit.. lower than a silicon diode, but a bit high for Germanium. It's like 300 to 450mV, varies quite a bit from one to the next. Schottky ?! 

Looks a lot like a point contact Germanium to me, Amason have a 1N34A diode with a picture that looks identical to yours.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/JSJJAWA-diode-GERMANIUM-DIODE-1N34A/dp/B0976ZQZHW
https://www.tme.eu/Document/0a9524ad7e11ca40773ed52e579d7546/1N34A.pdf

David

Looks like a 1N60 to me.  Black band is last digit zero (second band is cathode marker) Certainly point contact Germanium.

Interesting... I looked at Google Images and I found both the 1N60 and the 1N34 with two black bands. The datasheet Factory showed for the 1N34A has package information and the diagram clearly shows two black bands as well..... so it's confusing... or not : I downloaded the datasheet for both the 1N34A and 1N60P and... all parameters are the same... they are the same diode it appears ! 

In that lot of components I got, I also happen to have a bag of clearly identified 1N34A and another bag marked 1N60P. Both have "1N4148 looking" modern packages... so you say they can't be Germanium then, just a Schottky "equivalent" hmmm..... how is that even legal ?! 

However it looks like some vendors still sell the real old one, for a hefty price... maybe I should sell mine, have several dozens ! 

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B093BFR8TG?tag=picclick06-21&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1][url]https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B093BFR8TG?tag=picclick06-21&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1[/url]



So I will label them 1N34A but also make a note in my spreadsheet that it's equivalent to the 1N60P.

Will also make a note that my two bags of fake 1N34A and 1N60P are just Schottky not Germanium....
I guess they can get away with that because Schottky has similar features, low drop and very low reverse voltage capability.
It could be fun to compare / measure / test a few parameters of my real Germanium 1N34/1N60 versus the fakes I have.
I have many of them so I can afford to conduct some destructive tests to measure reverse voltage handling, and try to make some test set up to measure junction capacitance and whatnot.

Hmmmm yeah.... I will add that to my list of fun and educational little experiments I wanna do !

[Vince]

EDIT : Looking more closely at the datasheets (attached) to compare the 1N34A and 1N60, there IS a difference.... kinda.

The reverse leake current.

1N34A is 100uA, same as the 1N60S.

The 1N60P has better/lower leakage : 50uA

So I would say the 1N60P/S is simply a 1N34A but they test / sort them by leakage current.

The 100uA figure for the 1N34A, I found in an old/ vintage looking datasheet that inspire more confidence (being a vintage diode...).
However the datasheet Factory found is more modern and states a leakage current of only 30uA. Maybe because it refers to a fake/Schoktty diode rather than the old Germanium point contact one, don't know.

[mnementh]

Since I was on 3rd shift and a contractor I was not aware of field fail data but it is my understanding that a node fail in a Z is an extremely rare event. But there was one instance where a customer engineer fucked up a node install in a pre-announce machine in a Walmart data center that caused an enormous stink. The smell was so bad that all of us techs were given additional training on the proper node removal/install. 

Squalid-Mart? Fuck... calling what they run a "datacenter" is being generous. I still see tickets come through for them to replace CISCO 2900 series... with "recertified" CISCO 2900 Series. The stores around here are still running the very same XP-Embedded IBM registers I installed in San Antonio in like 2003...

mnem
Not without my thumbs.

[med6753]

Since I was on 3rd shift and a contractor I was not aware of field fail data but it is my understanding that a node fail in a Z is an extremely rare event. But there was one instance where a customer engineer fucked up a node install in a pre-announce machine in a Walmart data center that caused an enormous stink. The smell was so bad that all of us techs were given additional training on the proper node removal/install. 

Squalid-Mart? Fuck... calling what they run a "datacenter" is being generous. I still see tickets come through for them to replace CISCO 2900 series... with "recertified" CISCO 2900 Series. The stores around here are still running the very same XP-Embedded IBM registers I installed in San Antonio in like 2003...

mnem
Not without my thumbs.

Well maybe Wally World is finally upgrading. They were on the early ship (pre-announce) program for the Z14 and I believe they bought several of them. Or perhaps they are used exclusively for on line order/delivery. Who knows. All I know is that the fuck up by that IBM CE was a big deal and we all heard about it at the factory.