Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

Oooh I so want one of those testers after Curious Marc showed it 

Any chance to build one on your own?

It's a kit although you have to ask for it on a mail form which I can't be bothered with. Also the firmware is entirely closed source and it may have issues with some device types.

I was slightly tempted to do an open source version of it if I'm honest but it'd be ripped off by China in 30 seconds and I can't be arsed anyway. Would rather be playing with analogue things

[tggzzz]

Parting with north of £20 for a jigsaw puzzle is not something that would occur to me.

But we do; that's a characteristic of delving into old equipment. OK, some of the empuzzlement is conceptual, but a lot is physical. If you doubt the latter, try and get to the fan in a Tek492 SA.

[bd139]

I will save my recycled curry from last night when it emerges and send it to him receiver pays 

I hate curry and can't stand the smell of it. Is there any difference between when it goes in vs when it comes out? 

You're thinking Koftas there 

[med6753]

Finally got some time today to visit my local home center to buy the lumber required to construct the additional shelf for the TE equipment rack. One low quality #2 pine 1 inch X 10 inch X 8 foot was $23 USD. Geez....I only wanted one board, not buy the entire tree.  At least the selection was decent and I was able to pick out one that wasn't cupped, warped, or has excessive knots. The last time I picked out lumber was during the pandemic and selection was pathetic. 

First cuts made and glue currently drying on some joinery. Set overnight and continue tomorrow.

[med6753]

I will save my recycled curry from last night when it emerges and send it to him receiver pays 

I hate curry and can't stand the smell of it. Is there any difference between when it goes in vs when it comes out? 

You're thinking Koftas there 

Yea, I had koftas once and they fucking suck. 

[Cubdriver]

Oooh I so want one of those testers after Curious Marc showed it 

If that's the one I'm thinking of, I sent the guy an e-mail a month or two ago after seeing it, and never get any reply.

-Pat

[Cerebus]

Maybe we should just get rid of the fucking bean-counters; a Win-Win scenario for Karma and Mother Earth.

See my paper "Shark pools. An eco-friendly aid to effective management and a low cost carbon-capture system rolled into one." in Evil Genius Monthly.

[Robert763]

Some quick lunchtime fun:

I didn't have a specific need for a Fluke 8060A but it was available for reasonable money so I got it to complement the IBM branded version of the 8060A I've had for a few years.  I did a couple of quick tests on it and so far it loooks good
<SNIP>



Here are the two takes of the same meter side by side.  I'm not sure why the contrast on the two displays is so different; both meters are original and have not been recapped so I don't know if it's attributable to that, the zebra stripes, different specs from IBM, different ageing or luck of the draw.

There were at least two standards of LCD on the Fluke badged 8060A. The earlier one had a separate front polariser, the later had it stuck to the glass.  The interconnects were different too but they don't normally affect the overall contrast.

[25 CPS]

One thing I forgot to mention about the Fluke branded 8060A, I did pick up a Fluke i1010 clamp at a pawn shop last night on the way to football practice and used that meter to test the clamp out before buying it.

My portable test kit's out of the truck right now for that battery and inventory project so I used the Fluke since I had it on hand.  Whether or not Fluke equipment appears in more of my field use as time goes on depends on how Keysight decides to deal with individual and small business customers.  Right now, I'm seriously invested in Agilent/Keysight handheld equipment because of the connectivity and remote capability.  I haven't had a bad Keysight experience yet but I'm starting to get concerned that it might be coming based on what I've read here, and if that day does come, I'll be strongly researching alternates for new purchases where possible.

[Robert763]

Blooming surplustest on ebay uk

Solartron 7150 plus with pre-blown RIFA (discharge visible aroud mains inlet)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403800084939?

NOT a spectrum analyser that apparently didn't sell at a rally for £10, now £50 
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403800169971?

[AVGresponding]

Well here is what seems to be a useful gadget, perhaps there might be a solution appearing soon to help convert / recycle some greenhouses gasses into something else that we could use in other ways?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62265992

Proof, if it was needed, that most journalists can be hoodwinked with a completely bogus 'green' science story. It's embarrassing that the BBC published this. A machine representing 100s of megajoules, probably gigajoules of embodied energy, using 100s of joules to 'recycle' a piece of paper representing single figure joules of embodied energy. I wouldn't be surprised if the specially prepared paper didn't itself represent several times the embodied energy of a piece of ordinary printer paper.

Shelve any BBC articles. The shit to hit ratio is terrible these days. I wonder more and more every day if it was ever any good...

I haven't read it but it's probably another investment backed pseudo-science bullshit.

Having not watched TV for a number of years, I can't really pass judgment on modern BBC TV content, but it is a far cry from the standards of old, I am led to believe.

BBC Radio 4 still has a few worthwhile programs, More Or Less and Inside Science are pretty good, probably because they are researched and presented by actual scientists with actual PhD's in actual science and mathematics subjects.

[Specmaster]

If I did that Jim Williams one before bed I would just wake up at 5AM with jigsaw pieces stuck up my arse 

Novel 

[Specmaster]

Blooming surplustest on ebay uk

Solartron 7150 plus with pre-blown RIFA (discharge visible aroud mains inlet)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403800084939?

NOT a spectrum analyser that apparently didn't sell at a rally for £10, now £50 
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403800169971?

That Solartron 7150 is actually 2 meters, seller lists both serial numbers.

[Specmaster]

Tonight's project is testing all the RAM chips I just salvaged from a damaged Tek TDS784D scope acquisition board.
I got the SOJ-32 adapter yesterday, so now I sits and tests all the chips...

They are a known failure point. I recently fixed a 2GHz TDS794D that I got cheap as it had RAM issues, so I'll test all these chips and keep the good ones for future fun and entertainment.

I may be able to be convinced to relinquish a few if anyone here ends up needing some to fix their TDS scope and keep it running. 

There used to be a few of those testers on eBay a few years ago and a few variants as well.

[Specmaster]

I will save my recycled curry from last night when it emerges and send it to him receiver pays 

I hate curry and can't stand the smell of it. Is there any difference between when it goes in vs when it comes out? 

Curry is lovely, it really is.

[Zenith]

Blooming surplustest on ebay uk

Solartron 7150 plus with pre-blown RIFA (discharge visible aroud mains inlet)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403800084939?

NOT a spectrum analyser that apparently didn't sell at a rally for £10, now £50 
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403800169971?

There suddenly seem to be lots of HP435 power meters about. Maybe they've always been there and I haven't noticed them.

Aren't they useless without the sensors? They never mention them so I assume they aren't there. I believe you can still get them but they are pricey and they are also easily damaged. I've got a 432A which I bought a few years back for a tenner, and I'm sure that was the story with that.

[mnementh]

Oooh I so want one of those testers after Curious Marc showed it 

Any chance to build one on your own?

It's a kit although you have to ask for it on a mail form which I can't be bothered with. Also the firmware is entirely closed source and it may have issues with some device types.

I was slightly tempted to do an open source version of it if I'm honest but it'd be ripped off by China in 30 seconds and I can't be arsed anyway. Would rather be playing with analogue things

Yeeah... I linked to it in here a few years back. Was promptly dogpiled and shitstormed as the kit was supposedly too fucking expensive, even though there literally isn't anything you can buy nowadays that actually is intended for these old families of chips. Anything that "used to be" is prehistoric enterprise-class shit, which will be full of Murphy's Footsoldiers and questionable old chips in its own right, if not just full of angry pixies and fire pissing all over the place.

 

mnem
no mas.

[mnementh]

Maybe we should just get rid of the fucking bean-counters; a Win-Win scenario for Karma and Mother Earth.

See my paper "Shark pools. An eco-friendly aid to effective management and a low cost carbon-capture system rolled into one." in Evil Genius Monthly.

I'm sorry... I just can't make myself do that to perfectly innocent sharks. 

mnem
The toxic backlash... akkk.

[Cubdriver]

Blooming surplustest on ebay uk

Solartron 7150 plus with pre-blown RIFA (discharge visible aroud mains inlet)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403800084939?

NOT a spectrum analyser that apparently didn't sell at a rally for £10, now £50 
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403800169971?

There suddenly seem to be lots of HP435 power meters about. Maybe they've always been there and I haven't noticed them.

Aren't they useless without the sensors? They never mention them so I assume they aren't there. I believe you can still get them but they are pricey and they are also easily damaged. I've got a 432A which I bought a few years back for a tenner, and I'm sure that was the story with that.

Yup.  The meter is useless without the sensor, and ham handed techs frequently fry the sensors, which are pretty much unrepairable when they get smoked.  The sensors often go for at least 2-3x the price that people offer the meters for, though once in a great while a bargain comes along.

-Pat

[mnementh]

I will save my recycled curry from last night when it emerges and send it to him receiver pays 

I hate curry and can't stand the smell of it. Is there any difference between when it goes in vs when it comes out? 

Curry is lovely, it really is.

Urrrk. When we were in Toronto, we passed on a gorgeous apartment with great location because it reeked of curry from one end to the other. The carpets were even tainted/stained with the stuff.

I'll have a little tandoori chicken and samosas with cucumber sauce; but I'll go out to get it, not gonna have that in my home.

mnem
Like lawyers.

[factory]

Blooming surplustest on ebay uk

Solartron 7150 plus with pre-blown RIFA (discharge visible aroud mains inlet)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403800084939?

NOT a spectrum analyser that apparently didn't sell at a rally for £10, now £50 
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403800169971?

There suddenly seem to be lots of HP435 power meters about. Maybe they've always been there and I haven't noticed them.

Aren't they useless without the sensors? They never mention them so I assume they aren't there. I believe you can still get them but they are pricey and they are also easily damaged. I've got a 432A which I bought a few years back for a tenner, and I'm sure that was the story with that.

They aren't completely useless, I've bought a couple over the years to provide the HP logo, feet and the plastic meter case parts for repairing other HP TE, eg 3400A. I'm sure I've used other bits but can't remember.

The sensors are usually missing because the last user fooked them, they are very easy to ruin.

Trouble is most of the the 435A/Bs listed at the moment, are too expensive to consider as part donors.

David

[med6753]

I will save my recycled curry from last night when it emerges and send it to him receiver pays 

I hate curry and can't stand the smell of it. Is there any difference between when it goes in vs when it comes out? 

Curry is lovely, it really is.

Fine, then you eat it. 

[mnementh]

Blooming surplustest on ebay uk

Solartron 7150 plus with pre-blown RIFA (discharge visible aroud mains inlet)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403800084939?

NOT a spectrum analyser that apparently didn't sell at a rally for £10, now £50 
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403800169971?

There suddenly seem to be lots of HP435 power meters about. Maybe they've always been there and I haven't noticed them.

Aren't they useless without the sensors? They never mention them so I assume they aren't there. I believe you can still get them but they are pricey and they are also easily damaged. I've got a 432A which I bought a few years back for a tenner, and I'm sure that was the story with that.

435A uses same cable/sensor as 436A, 437B and 438A. Even those are cheap anymore... Last 3 times I shopped them I was able to find one of the 3 models listed as tested using known good sensor guaranteed working for $30-50, sans cable & sensor of course.

mnem
 

[Cubdriver]

If I did that Jim Williams one before bed I would just wake up at 5AM with jigsaw pieces stuck up my arse 

It's been years since I've done a jigsaw puzzle, but I kept all the pieces on the table and they were nowhere near my arse.  I'm not sure I want to know how you put together puzzles, bd...   

-Pat

[mnementh]

It's simple: bd knows that if he wasted money on such a damned fool thing, Jim Williams' ghost would come back just to shove it up his arse... 

mnem
And don't let him get hold of your Metcal...