Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

One of the welding shops I worked at was equipped with a huge ESAB MIG welder bought at auction from a factory closure; they powered it with a war-production motor-generator phase converter that was as big as the welder itself. There are ways... but jeez, the losses... 

mnem
 

[med6753]

TEA

Anyone in UK @BD139 want a thermal TRMS meter?
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403774543294

Already seen it. At that price, no 

I am after a decent 3400A but the other seller who had one didn’t want to shift it at the price I wanted to pay. I can afford to wait

Much prefer this one, but the seller didn't respond last year, when I enquired about shipping a counter, so no point asking again. https://www.ebay.de/itm/225070026339

 I do have a 3403A bought from the USA, condition is not quite as nice, not helped by crap packing.

Not having much luck ATM, trying to persuade US sellers to add international shipping either. 
One such example, seller name "globalmachinesales" they are not interested in "global" as only US shipping is advertised and definitely not interested in "sales" as they can't be bothered answering either of the two messages I sent. 

David

If you keep running into these asshole sellers who won't deal internationally and it's something you really want I'd be willing to help out on a one by one basis. I've pretty much figured out the customs quagmire and dealing with USPS and their requirements. But just note that it can get expensive.     

[ch_scr]

One of the welding shops I worked at was equipped with a huge ESAB MIG welder bought at auction from a factory closure; they powered it with a war-production motor-generator phase converter that was as big as the welder itself. There are ways... but jeez, the losses... 

mnem
 

At least it doubles as an line filter and keeps the current spikes out of the supply 

[factory]

There is 3 phase in the street but not in the house. If I could get an extension lead from two neigbours I'd be set though 
EV's and non-gas heating is driving  three phase supplies for some new build housing though.

You might need quite long extensions, from what I can make out (from observing single phase power failures) the phases down my street change about every six houses.

We have 3 phase, the workshop here was previously used by a small printing company, before we moved here in 1997, the electrics are very dated though, think porcelain fuse holders (wire type), with asbestos for arc damping, in both the dis-board & switch box.
Some cloth wiring was found in the separate single phase fuse board, a nice wooden box with similar ceramic fuse holders, this was updated for one of those modern plastic fire hazard boxes from MK.

P.S. I've got no interest in the PSU offered in the sale thread.

David

[xrunner]

I just about got the "massaged" graphic I need for the hp 3476A side panel door using the picture Cubdriver took, and utilizing the tools available in Gimp. I scaled it exactly right and printed it on paper for a check (it does now have a transparent background). I want to do one more round of touch-up for a few areas.

I cleaned off all the terrible drawing I did with permanent markers on the side door. I also removed what was left of the original printing, which came of easily using my fingernail - time had taken it's toll on that.

Now all I have to do is make the adhesive label, but I'm not worried - nothing can go wrong. 

[Cubdriver]

Brilliant!!  That gives me a great idea!   

Behold!!!



  <runs for cover>

-Pat

Hey Pat, you should check if you still have the handwritten receipt for that lampholder and lamp and check the signature on on. If the signature reads Thomas Alva Edison you'd make a mint from it at auction. 

LOL - it's not quite THAT old.  Original to the house from when it was built in about 1962, and was one of only about a dozen electrical parts that are still original to the place since I did my rewire around ten years ago.  And the lamp is one of those new 'filament' style LED ones - saw it at Home Depot a few years ago and bought it on a whim; stumbled on it a week or so ago so it was fresh in my mind when mnem's steampunk comment gave be the idea to play with the concept pioneered by one of our favorite ebayers.   

(I was later tempted to put a voltage of like 12.37 into it to make it look like a clock, but couldn't think of a way to make the colon and was too lazy to do it in Photoshop.)

-Pat

[factory]

You wouldn't be able to display 12.37, it ranges up at 10.98 according to the book, below 10.00 it blanks the leading zero, so the large decimal point could make a time colon for between 10.00 & 10.59.


P.S. What's with all that Caution/Warning crap, printed on that LED lightbulb.

David

[ch_scr]

An HP438A just popped up locally for 85€: decent condition, but broken power reference and he won't sell the sensor. I think I'll pass...

[Specmaster]

There is 3 phase in the street but not in the house. If I could get an extension lead from two neigbours I'd be set though 
EV's and non-gas heating is driving  three phase supplies for some new build housing though.

You might need quite long extensions, from what I can make out (from observing single phase power failures) the phases down my street change about every six houses.

Yes, I think that is correct, or at least it was 55 years ago when I rewired my parent's house to accommodate the latest craze, storage heaters. When the time came for them to switch on, the neighbours complained that old CRT based TV's picture used shrink in size a bit. So we had to reduce the loading by deciding which heaters were not critical until the supply authority could get 3 phase supply into the house. In those days the supply was underground to the first house on each phase and then was clipped to the rear facade of the houses and jumped between the semi-detached houses as suspended cables. This meant that they had to bring the other 2 phases from a reasonable distance up the road, clipping it along with the other cables.

To the best of my knowledge, their house remained the only one to have 3 phase supply and that supply remained in place until they passed away, and the house was sold a few years ago.

[Specmaster]

TEA

Anyone in UK @BD139 want a thermal TRMS meter?
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403774543294

Already seen it. At that price, no 

I am after a decent 3400A but the other seller who had one didn’t want to shift it at the price I wanted to pay. I can afford to wait

Much prefer this one, but the seller didn't respond last year, when I enquired about shipping a counter, so no point asking again. https://www.ebay.de/itm/225070026339

 I do have a 3403A bought from the USA, condition is not quite as nice, not helped by crap packing.

Not having much luck ATM, trying to persuade US sellers to add international shipping either. 
One such example, seller name "globalmachinesales" they are not interested in "global" as only US shipping is advertised and definitely not interested in "sales" as they can't be bothered answering either of the two messages I sent. 

David

If you keep running into these asshole sellers who won't deal internationally and it's something you really want I'd be willing to help out on a one by one basis. I've pretty much figured out the customs quagmire and dealing with USPS and their requirements. But just note that it can get expensive.     

Can't quite figure out their reluctance on international. If they use the GSP programme, all the customs declarations etc they handle for you, from a sellers point of view, it's a no-brainer as it opens up a huge potential customer base to them at zero cost. 

[mnementh]

Except when the carrier fucks you, as you well know. I'd guess that regular sellers already have their own similar horror stories...

mnem

[factory]

HP 54600 series.

Since picture data goes through 74LS194 with four lines,
I'd check how those values really are.
(page 21/125 of xDevs schematics)

The 54615B seems to differ here, can't find any 74LS194 on my mainboard (unless there are parts hidden on the other side), nor the UPD42102G-3 shown for the 54654N (next to the COMBO custom IC).

David

[Specmaster]

Except when the carrier fucks you, as you well know. I'd guess that regular sellers already have their own similar horror stories...

mnem

True, but that can happen and does happen on pure domestic sales as well. Overall I'm still well up on sales and strangely enough, I do sell loads on the GSP and so does my eldest son now, in fact he reckons, since I convinced him, that he sells more via the GSP programme than he does domestically.

[med6753]

TEA

Anyone in UK @BD139 want a thermal TRMS meter?
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403774543294

Already seen it. At that price, no 

I am after a decent 3400A but the other seller who had one didn’t want to shift it at the price I wanted to pay. I can afford to wait

Much prefer this one, but the seller didn't respond last year, when I enquired about shipping a counter, so no point asking again. https://www.ebay.de/itm/225070026339

 I do have a 3403A bought from the USA, condition is not quite as nice, not helped by crap packing.

Not having much luck ATM, trying to persuade US sellers to add international shipping either. 
One such example, seller name "globalmachinesales" they are not interested in "global" as only US shipping is advertised and definitely not interested in "sales" as they can't be bothered answering either of the two messages I sent. 

David

If you keep running into these asshole sellers who won't deal internationally and it's something you really want I'd be willing to help out on a one by one basis. I've pretty much figured out the customs quagmire and dealing with USPS and their requirements. But just note that it can get expensive.     

Can't quite figure out their reluctance on international. If they use the GSP programme, all the customs declarations etc they handle for you, from a sellers point of view, it's a no-brainer as it opens up a huge potential customer base to them at zero cost. 

I wouldn't bet on it. While USPS may be the slowest, and possibly most expensive, at least if the paperwork is correct it goes without any additional hassle. But keep in mind that if the receiver's customs decides to add import duty or VAT that is totally out of my control.

[Cubdriver]

You wouldn't be able to display 12.37, it ranges up at 10.98 according to the book, below 10.00 it blanks the leading zero, so the large decimal point could make a time colon for between 10.00 & 10.59.


P.S. What's with all that Caution/Warning crap, printed on that LED lightbulb.

David

Lawsuit inoculation.

-Pat

[tautech]

TEA

Anyone in UK @BD139 want a thermal TRMS meter?
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403774543294

Already seen it. At that price, no 

I am after a decent 3400A but the other seller who had one didn’t want to shift it at the price I wanted to pay. I can afford to wait

Much prefer this one, but the seller didn't respond last year, when I enquired about shipping a counter, so no point asking again. https://www.ebay.de/itm/225070026339

 I do have a 3403A bought from the USA, condition is not quite as nice, not helped by crap packing.

Not having much luck ATM, trying to persuade US sellers to add international shipping either. 
One such example, seller name "globalmachinesales" they are not interested in "global" as only US shipping is advertised and definitely not interested in "sales" as they can't be bothered answering either of the two messages I sent. 

David

If you keep running into these asshole sellers who won't deal internationally and it's something you really want I'd be willing to help out on a one by one basis. I've pretty much figured out the customs quagmire and dealing with USPS and their requirements. But just note that it can get expensive.   

Hey I resemble that !
TBH I can't be bothered with the paperwork or the risk of stepping on another distributors toes and with contact with the neighboring Siglent dealers we'd hope they respect our position on this and not try to piss one another off.

I've been asked a few times by Aussie members but always point them back to their local dealer.

[factory]

I was referring to ebay sales only, but for used or broken vintage TE though.

Bit of a partial result, I contact another ebay seller for a second time and got a reply, fingers-crossed they can add international shipping as they not a big seller and aren't too sure how to allow me to bid, I'm currently geoblocked as that seems to be the default setting for sellers these days (that have never sold internationally).

As for "globalmachinesales", not sure about them, they claim to add an $80 fee for delivery to residential addresses, this would make it very expensive on top of US shipping & international.
It was this counter. https://www.ebay.com/itm/165516217906, shipping is listed as Freight, might be one to avoid.

David

[Robert763]

Except when the carrier fucks you, as you well know. I'd guess that regular sellers already have their own similar horror stories...

mnem

True, but that can happen and does happen on pure domestic sales as well. Overall I'm still well up on sales and strangely enough, I do sell loads on the GSP and so does my eldest son now, in fact he reckons, since I convinced him, that he sells more via the GSP programme than he does domestically.

I've done a fair bit on GSP recently and it's fairly painless as a seller. Once it gets to the GSP depot that is the end of your shipping responsibility.
I've no idea how much they stiff the buyers for in shipping, taxes and fees though....

[bd139]

Except when the carrier fucks you, as you well know. I'd guess that regular sellers already have their own similar horror stories...

mnem

True, but that can happen and does happen on pure domestic sales as well. Overall I'm still well up on sales and strangely enough, I do sell loads on the GSP and so does my eldest son now, in fact he reckons, since I convinced him, that he sells more via the GSP programme than he does domestically.

I've done a fair bit on GSP recently and it's fairly painless as a seller. Once it gets to the GSP depot that is the end of your shipping responsibility.
I've no idea how much they stiff the buyers for in shipping, taxes and fees though....

Not that much really in the scale of things. I've had to import a few things from the US over the last few years and the pricing is comparable compared to UPS or Fedex handling. And under GSP if it disappears they are easier to deal with than UPS and Fedex are.

I still dislike buying stuff from the US though. But then again sometimes it gets here quicker than a bloody IC sent a few miles. Grr!

[Kosmic]

Except when the carrier fucks you, as you well know. I'd guess that regular sellers already have their own similar horror stories...

mnem

True, but that can happen and does happen on pure domestic sales as well. Overall I'm still well up on sales and strangely enough, I do sell loads on the GSP and so does my eldest son now, in fact he reckons, since I convinced him, that he sells more via the GSP programme than he does domestically.

I've done a fair bit on GSP recently and it's fairly painless as a seller. Once it gets to the GSP depot that is the end of your shipping responsibility.
I've no idea how much they stiff the buyers for in shipping, taxes and fees though....

Shipping end up a bit more expensive but taxes are normally cheaper with GSP. Not sure how they manage that.

[Robert763]

TEA

Anyone in UK @BD139 want a thermal TRMS meter?
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403774543294

Already seen it. At that price, no 

I am after a decent 3400A but the other seller who had one didn’t want to shift it at the price I wanted to pay. I can afford to wait

Much prefer this one, but the seller didn't respond last year, when I enquired about shipping a counter, so no point asking again. https://www.ebay.de/itm/225070026339

 I do have a 3403A bought from the USA, condition is not quite as nice, not helped by crap packing.

Not having much luck ATM, trying to persuade US sellers to add international shipping either. 
One such example, seller name "globalmachinesales" they are not interested in "global" as only US shipping is advertised and definitely not interested in "sales" as they can't be bothered answering either of the two messages I sent. 

David

If you keep running into these asshole sellers who won't deal internationally and it's something you really want I'd be willing to help out on a one by one basis. I've pretty much figured out the customs quagmire and dealing with USPS and their requirements. But just note that it can get expensive.     

Can't quite figure out their reluctance on international. If they use the GSP programme, all the customs declarations etc they handle for you, from a sellers point of view, it's a no-brainer as it opens up a huge potential customer base to them at zero cost. 

I wouldn't bet on it. While USPS may be the slowest, and possibly most expensive, at least if the paperwork is correct it goes without any additional hassle. But keep in mind that if the receiver's customs decides to add import duty or VAT that is totally out of my control.

The trouble with not using GSP is you have no control over the destination country mail handler but you are responsible. I've used Royal Mail for Europe and the in-county hander was some local hermes like company not the national postal service. They lost the package and whil I got the money back it took months and I had an unhappy customer.
I'd stopped shipping to Italy because of the loss rate. With GSP I don't care if it is lost abroad.

[factory]

I'm not sure where this thing lived, but it had white fuzz on the display connector insulator, and the pins had a uniform coating of non-conductive nastiness on them.  Traces on the display look rather discolored, too, like it was in some sort of unpleasant atmosphere.  The rest doesn't look too bad, though, so who knows?


I removed the white fuzz with a gentle brushing using an old toothbrush, then cleaned the exposed pins with a DeOxit-soaked piece of green Scotchbrite:


-Pat

I've seen that same white fuzz growing on plastic connectors from Termate, on train parts at work.

David

[Robert763]

Except when the carrier fucks you, as you well know. I'd guess that regular sellers already have their own similar horror stories...

mnem

True, but that can happen and does happen on pure domestic sales as well. Overall I'm still well up on sales and strangely enough, I do sell loads on the GSP and so does my eldest son now, in fact he reckons, since I convinced him, that he sells more via the GSP programme than he does domestically.

I've done a fair bit on GSP recently and it's fairly painless as a seller. Once it gets to the GSP depot that is the end of your shipping responsibility.
I've no idea how much they stiff the buyers for in shipping, taxes and fees though....

Shipping end up a bit more expensive but taxes are normally cheaper with GSP. Not sure how they manage that.

Using correct tariff numbers and as a regular shipper having them accepted without question is one possibility.
I always try to put the correct tariff code on items. A lot of TE is actually low or zero duty. Ir you just put "electronic equipment it will likely attract consumer luxury goods duty. It's easy now you can look them up on-line. Years ago I had to go to the reference libary and look them up in a book.
The problem with GSP from the USA on TE is they seem to put unrealistic sizes or weights in the listing which results in excessively high shipping costs. It just being lazy. Some sellers ill go back and put proper vales in if you ask, but most can't be bothered.

[duckduck]

New acquisition:

Wilson WFC-500-E frequency counter

Something else for my new interest in radio. I snagged it for USD35 off of Craigslist. It came with the manual which includes a block diagram, description of operating principles, schematic, and parts list. I see ICs inside the unit with date codes from '76. It says "Made in Japan" on the back. The unit has a TOYOCOM-branded TCXO in it. This model is supposed to be good for 7-8 digits, but the last three digits (see picture from the manual) are either nonsense or my AWG is off from the frequency counter.

The BNC on the back of the unit outputs 1 MHz (even when the unit is switched "off"). The standby light turns on to show that the TCXO is still powered.

The power plug is not one that I have seen before. The seller said that there were different power cords available for Europe or Japan that used a different set of pins on the back of the unit that run to different taps on the power transformer. The power cord and power entry module show that there is an alternate universe where it's OK to plug any device you have into 100V, 120V or 240V and it will just work (if it supports that voltage) and no worries about blowing stuff up and little switches and jumpers to fuss with. I realize that's impractical for various reasons, but it could have been cool.

I also ordered a bunch of adapters from and to SMA, N connector, BNC, and UHF. Also a dummy load, a cheap SWR meter, and an attenuator. Next I've got to get me some nice coax with N connectors to wire everything together and test my knowledge of Watts, dB, Ohm's law, and equipment input maximum levels... 

Wilson Electronics is still around, but they are now making cell boosters and 5G repeaters. I think they moved their HQ from Las Vegas, Nevada to somewhere in Utah.

EDIT:

https://www.wilsonelectronics.com/about-us

EDIT EDIT:

N.B.: bd139's comments a few posts down: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg4300207/#msg4300207

[Robert763]

I'm not sure where this thing lived, but it had white fuzz on the display connector insulator, and the pins had a uniform coating of non-conductive nastiness on them.  Traces on the display look rather discolored, too, like it was in some sort of unpleasant atmosphere.  The rest doesn't look too bad, though, so who knows?


I removed the white fuzz with a gentle brushing using an old toothbrush, then cleaned the exposed pins with a DeOxit-soaked piece of green Scotchbrite:


-Pat

I've seen that same white fuzz growing on plastic connectors from Termate, on train parts at work.

David

I've seen fine white wisker like crystals growing on the surface of some plastic mouldings. Particuarly mains rated items. Often on new old stock parts. I've always assumed it was plasticiser or flame retardant additives leaching out and crystalizing.