Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bitseeker]

Yeah had a couple of them myself. Perfectly good scopes. Also plentiful here but due to tiny-island-itis the prices are from ok to insane but never good.

The bench about 3 years ago 

Ahhhh! The good old days.

[bd139]

No comment 

[BU508A]

Yeah had a couple of them myself. Perfectly good scopes. Also plentiful here but due to tiny-island-itis the prices are from ok to insane but never good.

The bench about 3 years ago 

Looks so nice and tidy ! My bench is probably 6 times that size yet it's a cluster fuck.

I see HAM Stuff.... probably why the grandma annoyed you with her TV... YOU started it all by jamming her signal when you were transmitting to talk BS on the air ! Now she is taking her revenge !!! 

The old Hameg are also way over-priced here....and prices vary very wildly. Usually the lower the bandwidth, the shittier / older the model... the more money they want for it ! 
Always untested of course...

Had a quick look. The palm today goes to this one :

https://www.leboncoin.fr/equipements_industriels/1493854803.htm

450 money for a 30MHz version not even powered up, one single pic, laying on the floor ! 

You can regularly find a mint, and working, Tek 2200 series, sometimes even with storage features, for 50 Euros.... so buying these old Hameg makes absolutely zero sense whatsoever... hence they just keep rotting on that website, rotting, rotting....

But the Hameg scopes are superior in at least one aspect to the Tek 22xx ones:
they have a build-in component tester. Tek ones: nope nada niente. 

[Vince]

Yeah I already said that in my first message, as a pro for these scopes ! Because yes, I AM fair ! 

[TERRA Operative]

I wonder who that contact in Japan you have could be, I wonder if I know them?....

I can't even remember his name, you know this Japanese alphabet is a pain to learn, I have never been good at drawing or painting ! 
You wouldn't know him anyway, he isn't even Japanese !

His name is 蛇烈怒 (First character is an alternate pronunciation of 'hebi' or snake, if you plug it into google translate)

it's just a pity that RAM was still expensive at the time so the memory depth is a bit short when capturing at the full capabilities.

I guess given it's an RF scope, it kinda makes sense. It's not like you are interested in capturing a 3GHz serial bus mile long frame and then inspect it...
I guess you would be more interested in having a look at the shape of a rising edge or something. A screen-worth of data is enough for that. You don't need to " log data "... just look at a brief event.
Well that's my take on it anywho...

To be fair, that would be mainly my use case too, checking high speed signals for integrity and shape rather than decoding wi-fi on the fly.

It would be interesting to try to hack in RAM chips with greater capacity.......

You could add more RAM chips to the 694C ?! 
And they didn't offer it as an option ?! Strange... 
Or is it just you dreaming ? Then don't also forget to rewrite the firmware to make that extra RAM actually do anything !   
Don't think the F/W was open-source back then ! 
and even it were good luck finding a programmer capable enough to modify the F/W.... that would not come cheap, nor be delivered quickly... I guess.

I was thinking to replace all the RAM chips with higher capacity parts for greater total memory, then altering the firmware so the scope is able to see and use it all.
Could be an interesting deep dive into these scopes... I wouldn't know where to start with the firmware side of things though......... I program with solder. 

My main scopes are my TDS220, a Tek 2235 for when I want to go analogue, the TDS784D for 1GHz stuff, and finally the TDS794D which goes up to 2GHz (I need to track down some P6339A probes for it, and a top pouch and front cover too).

TDS220 or 224 still on my list, but although prices have come down quite a bit since COVID, they are still too expensive for what they are.
For me it's mostly a souvenir piece, as I remember unpacking them at school when we got a batch in the '90s when they had just hit the market. They looked so " expensive" and state of the art compared to our old basic crappy Metrix analog scopes. Plus, I love their design, find them so cute. Plus, they marked a milestone in the history of scopes, so it's a bit of a history piece as well.
So, want one, but not enough to buy into the speculation BS that surrounds them.

Yeah, I only grab these things cheap. I got two TDS210, and a TDS220, two of which need new polarizers in the LCD panel (hence why I got them cheap). Once I find the correct replacement polarizer type, I'll have a video up on youtube showing how to repair them.
AFAIK, I need a polarizer to suit FSTN LCD screens. I found a single seller on Aliexpress, but It's a bit pricey for a 'maybe it'll work, maybe not' so I'll do a little more research before hitting the buy button.

[mansaxel]

Yup. Thanks med, for being what TEA is supposed to be all about today! 

I'd like to extend the being all what TEA is thanks to Neomys, whose package just was opened here. Very happy. Thanks! 

Now I need to find out if I can get the wrench blades for my torque tools in the right size to be able to fit SMA properly...

Finds Wiha 36414:

• The wrench size is 8 mm. 
• The torque for brass hardware is just below 0,6Nm.

...wanders out in the garage / workshop trying to think of something proper in terms of reply...

[Specmaster]

Was it someone here that won that TTi 1906 DMM on eBay today? It went for just £36 in the finish, I was thinking of making a bid for it myself in the end, but missed it as I was playing around formatting the 1TB drives from those CCTV units. They will make nice backup drives for my desktop, so the short excursion from TE was worth it in the end 

[bd139]

Wasn’t me. I was too busy noshing curry.

That 8594E went for £255 which wasn’t bad.

[Saskia]

3rd Tapedeck ferengied. only 1 Yamaha kx260 left ...

[bitseeker]

LOL! I didn't know Ferengi had been verbed. I like it.

[bd139]

Indeed. It’s like a more commercially oriented macgyvering 

[Saskia]

oh sweet torrential rains of Ferenginar

@Zucca I could ferengi a couple of nice RF L lenses 

*throwing out bait*

RF 50 1.2 L
RF 15-35 L 2.8
RF 24-240

EFs also available

I got too much stuff, gotta downsize ...
Will trade my photo stuff for an Omega Seamaster 300 Titanium Tantalum of 2019 (must come with papers and box)  (hey, that's a chronograph, so it's more or less on topic

[med6753]

Parcel from med with forwarded items arrived. Customs was zero, VAT €26.27 for the declared value of $100.00 plus the shipping costs of $41.30. Plus the €6.00 that DHL collects... Not too bad.

Pevious owner or seller seems to be a nicotine stinker, so just after unpacking all contents got a wash and had to stay outside for the remaining day. Plus someone previously had taper the cables and the glue got sticky on the cables...

After opening the Tek P6460 pods, I found one with a resistor, R106, burnt severely. This is a common problem as the 10R connects users device ground with systems ground. If both units are grounded through mains and one clips the ground lead to a supply voltage...
The second pod was unaffected.
Unsoldered the remains, cleaned the PCB and surrounding parts and soldered a new 10R into it. Hopefully the hybrid isn't toast, but as it can handle +/-40V with +/-60V between any two inputs, it should have survived if it wasn't "kaputt" before. Forgot to make a photo before reassembling... 

I'm glad it finally got to you and the VAT charges didn't rake you across the coals. Too bad the prior Gorilla (owner) toasted it and of course didn't mention it in the Ebay listing that it was FUBAR.  I hope you can get it going with minimal hassle.

The seller on ebay is a surplus seller. I assume he has no knowledge of anything he sells. The prices in his listing are all along the scale from cheap to silly expensive. The pair of pods were listed as untested, so I could only complain if it doesn't match the photos.
With regards to the VAT: It was a bargain when compared to local delivery from him. $80 for each, will add up to $160 shipping alone and VAT will be collected on the total cost including shipping. As it wasn't listed for the ebay global destruction center, VAT will be collected on it anyway.
Thank you again Mike for your help. If I can assist you in anything, drop me a note.

You're quite welcome.  And if anyone else needs something from Yankee Doodle Land and the seller won't play I'll be glad to help if I can.

[Cerebus]

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

Maybe it's just me, but I have never had the urge to name inanimate objects.  Mrs GreyWoolfe on the other hand, loves naming things.  Her personal protection items, her car (thankfully, not mine) and the new tree we just planted in the front yard.  Back before Mrs GreyWoolfe came along, I had a female friend who used to name my cars.  I had a white Chevy she named ghost and an old tan convertible she named Costello.  I asked why and she just said the name fits.

Only ever named one car and that was almost inevitable, the registration mark began OSR, which to all us used to rattling off that sort of thing in the NATO phonetic alphabet becomes "Oscar Sierra Romeo", and Oscar sounds vaguely like someone with a Midlands accent  saying "our car" ("Uz car") so "Oscar" just stuck.

[med6753]

Only ever named one car and that was almost inevitable, the registration mark began OSR, which to all us used to rattling off that sort of thing in the NATO phonetic alphabet becomes "Oscar Sierra Romeo", and Oscar sounds vaguely like someone with a Midlands accent  saying "our car" ("Uz car") so "Oscar" just stuck.

I typically don't name objects either but the Civic earned the name "Black Bitch" by someone who shall remain nameless. The shoulder strap had a habit of unexpectedly locking up and flattening her boobs.     

[Saskia]

meet Woody, my emotional support plush wolf.

Woody is about the only named "object" I have.

[Robert763]

Shed load of old 'scopes anyone?
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204058466649
£300

[bd139]

I’m hoping that declines to a level I’m willing to pay at some point after I’ve moved 

[Neper]

Before we got our first real espresso machine, we had a Bialetti coffee maker (the kind you put on the hob) known as Theresa. As in "Could you please ask Theresa to make us some coffee?"

[Saskia]

If I ever got a robot I'd name it "Marvin" and try to program a depressive mentality ...

[bitseeker]

As long as he doesn't try to blow up the Earth.

[mnementh]

Indeed. It’s like a more commercially oriented macgyvering 

Adventure Capitalism! 

mnem
 

[Specmaster]

LOL! I didn't know Ferengi had been verbed. I like it.

This might help explain another use of Ferengi, I have to admit I had been endeavouring to work it myself and then suddenly I stumbled this site https://medium.com/@bluecrescent/the-ferengi-rules-of-aquisition-bd8b926d96cc

[mnementh]

LOL! I didn't know Ferengi had been verbed. I like it.

This might help explain another use of Ferengi, I have to admit I had been endeavouring to work it myself and then suddenly I stumbled this site https://medium.com/@bluecrescent/the-ferengi-rules-of-aquisition-bd8b926d96cc

Yeah, they stole that list from Memory Alpha, and then polluted it with politics. Ugggh. 

mnem
there's also a CCG for the real Trekkies...   

[Specmaster]

LOL! I didn't know Ferengi had been verbed. I like it.

This might help explain another use of Ferengi, I have to admit I had been endeavouring to work it myself and then suddenly I stumbled this site https://medium.com/@bluecrescent/the-ferengi-rules-of-aquisition-bd8b926d96cc

Yeah, they stole that list from Memory Alpha, and then polluted it with politics. Ugggh. 

mnem
there's also a CCG for the real Trekkies...   

My bad, never really got into Star Trek, seen a bit here and there and thats it... I know, I'll get my coat and see myself out......