Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[AVGresponding]

Wire stripping machine arrived, also a package with some Verbatim PLA and a parts only phase rotation meter (no back panel, but easily made), rather annoyingly this seller still charges postage on both items.

The stripper is cheap, and undoubtedly Chinese, but it makes short work of the smaller cables I'd strip anyway (6-16mm²), but the real party trick is it'll strip all the way down to 1.5mm² (allegedly) though given how tricky it is to run 2.5mm² stranded through it, I think that would be tough to achieve. Still, all the way down to 2.5mm² is pretty good and means I'll net more from the "sandwich bag" than usual.

[m k]

V20 was faster 8088.

Yeah wasn't a V20.

V850 is a bit new I guess.
My head was blinking uPD70 something and a Hitachi logo, no very rational.

[AVGresponding]

Spotted today on eBay, why the F**K wouldn't you clean a sale item up before listing it 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304587729413

And yet, I've still been overbid.   

[mnementh]

Yebbut... a 10-day auction and a 1 quid bid... wasn't it really inevitable...? 

mnem
*finger hovering over the bid button*   

[bd139]

Well someone bid more than my £2.53 

[mnementh]

*suggests https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325287200312 as a consolation prize*

mnem
 

[tggzzz]

I implore people to visit this link.

Booklet about interesting stuff:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/a-booklet-about-old-tektronix-scopes/msg4342330/

I added the point: "Should it interest someone, the paint code is Sikkens Rubbol BL Nagura Q4.20.38 5051"

[Saskia]

*want*
https://www.omegawatches.com/en-us/watch-omega-seamaster-diver-300m-co-axial-master-chronometer-42-mm-21060422099001

[vk6zgo]

Spotted today on eBay, why the F**K wouldn't you clean a sale item up before listing it 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304587729413

I rather like it when people don't clean stuff. It affects the price.

This raised a whopping £10:



Bit of a clean later:



Winner!

6 years ago now that...

I had the PM3219 for many years, i.e. the same with an analog storage tube. Replaced it by a DSO, a year ago. Still wondering if that was a good idea. Then again,  the Philips was going flakey and would have needed a complete replacement of its electrolytics.

"Going flakey"?
I always thought that Philips & flakey were synonomous!

[Squarewave]

I implore people to visit this link.

Booklet about interesting stuff:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/a-booklet-about-old-tektronix-scopes/msg4342330/

I added the point: "Should it interest someone, the paint code is Sikkens Rubbol BL Nagura Q4.20.38 5051"

I love Sikkens, did all the gates in Sikkens many many years ago, they still don't need any attention.

[vk6zgo]

Didn't you have to bug bomb a transceiver as well? 

Oh yea that's a classic by now. A local ham brought over a transceiver for me to check out. It was full of live cockroaches which I found after it was on my bench for several hours and I took off the covers. So I bug-bombed it before allowing inside again. It was filthy with nicotine - basically trash as far as I was concerned.

But it was being actively used for ham radio in a house. Don't even think about the living conditions. 

So the point is he didn't think it was dirty why would anyone else? 

I've never had any cockroaches in a ham radio, but the bloody things invaded an old clock radio we had---the kind with a mechanical "digital readout" for the clock.
It ran quite warm, & they apparently loved that.

I didn't have a "roach bomb", so used a whole spraycan of roach killer.
Due to the compact size of the radio, I then had to spend hours picking piteous corpses out of it, particularly from the clock mechanical bits.

The weird thing was that apart from the radio, there were no cockroaches in the house!

[mnementh]

I DL'd that weighty tome last night, but just now got around to leafing through it. It is full of lovely hi-res pr0n of mostly old Military Surplus radio comms gear, but it does also have a very nice section on the author's 7603 adventure. 

Definitely worth downloading for your own personal archives (and to make viewing sanely manageable), even if it is the size of a Windows iso. 

bd, you should drop that in the middle of some boatload of hams somewhere... remind them what ARRL, etc used to be.

mnem
*toddles off to build a gym*

[tggzzz]

Good day, good day, bad day, bad day...

Good day *2 was TE related..

Good day... In my Solarton LM1620 I finally managed to get around to finish tweaking it and replacing the sloshy silvery standard cell with an LM285+CR2032. The sloshy silvery thing in the red glass "bomb" would have worked for a decade or so without intervention. With a 15µA constant current draw, the 1.239V replacement on the board at the top should work for >1 year before intervention.





Good day... With my Fluke 515A, the only remaining task is to fabricate a dial for the rotary control.



Bad day... One of my daughter's friends died unexpectedly of natural causes, aged 40.

Bad day... Daughter's car (mine really) was smashed while legally parked. Police say there was insurance for the other car, but it was SORNed. If someone has experience of whether that means I can recover some money without losing NCD, please don't invoke the forum's immune response. Similarly, if I lose my NCD, can I sue the bastard for the extra cost of my future insurance?

[mnementh]

In order: Good, fun & good, condolences, and What. The. Actual. Fuck?!?

Just to understand what you're asking, as I don't know what exactly the terms mean... SORN means the vehicle was driven illegally, while it was supposedly off the road/in storage for insurance purposes?

NCD... No Cost Deductible or summat? Means you have exemplary driving record, so in the lowest cost/no deductible bracket?

mnem
 

[tggzzz]

I implore people to visit this link.

Booklet about interesting stuff:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/a-booklet-about-old-tektronix-scopes/msg4342330/

I added the point: "Should it interest someone, the paint code is Sikkens Rubbol BL Nagura Q4.20.38 5051"

I love Sikkens, did all the gates in Sikkens many many years ago, they still don't need any attention.

I didn't know Sikkens would make custom paint suitable for metal TE. The only time I've used Sikkens was for my back doors, one of the Sikkens Rubbol paints that you can only buy at specialist retailers. So far so good.

Better was the International Ranch microporous paint that I put on top of a soft-wood window frame that I had doused with anti-rot fluid. It never looks as good/shiny as the Rubbol, but hasn't needed attention in 30 years. OK, it looks tatty now, but the whole wall and external "ceiling" needs replacing. Besides, my asbestos-cement sheet "garage" has to be replaced first.

[tggzzz]

In order: Good, fun & good, condolences, and What. The. Actual. Fuck?!?

Just to understand what you're asking, as I don't know what exactly the terms mean... SORN means the vehicle was driven illegally, while it was supposedly off the road/in storage for insurance purposes?

NCD... No Cost Deductible or summat? Means you have exemplary driving record, so in the lowest cost/no deductible bracket?

mnem
 

Basically yes; the details will be apparent to those with knowledge of the UK system. It is all OT, of course.

[Zoli]

A few days ago I've received a small bubble envelope from fellow member, Robert763. It contained the missing piece for my 8060A, the bail stand. I'd like thank him again for his generosity, and show the results:

[mnementh]

I've only got the one Woketronix scope, which is my main one, but I've always loved those Philips ones up there ^ too. Would probably buy one if I saw one.

I've got enough scopes anyway, so it's not as if I need one.

mnem
"enough scopes"... does not compute...   

[mnementh]

Basically yes; the details will be apparent to those with knowledge of the UK system. It is all OT, of course.

Understood. All I know is over here we have "Uninsured Motorist" as part of our insurance packages. One has to specifically decline the coverage, which is foolish in the extreme.

I have no other knowledge and will not comment further.

mnem
*returns to my gym project*

[pcprogrammer]

Basically yes; the details will be apparent to those with knowledge of the UK system. It is all OT, of course.

Be it as it may, it is therapy.

Isn't there some national fund for these kind of claims?

Sew the bastards I would say, but when they drove around without insurance the question is if there is much to gain

[m k]

am gonna name mine ethel.

It will obviously need a genus in Latin.

Nobilis quartuor centum aka Ethel.

Pacem quartuor centum aka Fred.

[Specmaster]

Spotted today on eBay, why the F**K wouldn't you clean a sale item up before listing it 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304587729413

I know exactly why because I've seen it time and time again working on local ham's gear.

Because they don't consider it dirty, and wouldn't expect anyone else to either. 

Maybe they only consider dirty when of 2 things happen, 1/ They have dig though shit to use it or, 2/ they can't see it 

[nixiefreqq]

am gonna name mine ethel.

It will obviously need a genus in Latin.

although i appreciate the suggestions.......was actually going for a different ethel.

as in "fred and ethel".   (maybe my ass is just too old?)

[Cubdriver]

am gonna name mine ethel.

It will obviously need a genus in Latin.

although i appreciate the suggestions.......was actually going for a different ethel.

as in "fred and ethel".   (maybe my ass is just too old?)

I picked up on it, and immediately thought of finding two pieces of gear to name Ricky and Lucy, but was too lazy to do so.

-Pat

[mnementh]

Ditto... but thought it was either too obvious or too "grand-dad joke"... so of course I went with Ethel Merman. 

mnem
In my defense, I did marry a music scholar/teacher/opera singer...