Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[factory]

Internal overview pictures of the Racal 836 (mil version) and 9037 counters.





David

[capt bullshot]

Ooopsie!   Looks like these went through some transmutation:   

Good lord Cap'n... how many of those fukkin' things did you scrap?

About 350 ...
From which 324 cells went into a battery charging from solar power and discharging into some "IT" equipment (DSL router, server, ...). Works for about 1 1/2 years now.

The BMS on that looks like one of the common dual-chip designs; I see what should be one of the SOT363 chips managing charging, the other OVP/ODP, and the third is the buck/boost regulator. I see this arrangement used in all manner of cheap Lixx-powered consumer electronics nowadays, so you should have a good store of those chips for repair parts. 

What you need to look out for in these is they will often leverage the OVP to control charging with just the one chip, then apply 5V dropped through a diode to that. The OVP is supposed to be secondary protection, not primary charge control.

Yes, it's the crap version: one OV/UV protection chip, one dual-MOSFET (companion to the protection chip) and one boost converter. Charging through a diode and a resistor, charging ends when the protection chip triggers OVP.

[mnementh]

If you stack them they remind me of a pile of armadillos fucking.

Something like these then, even comes with a bog roll dispenser at the top. 
Also some odd third party video noise filter unit in there too.



https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204066808798   - David

mnem
*toddles off to do something less self-destructive... like inhaling some polyurethane fumes*

[factory]

I can't remember who was after the Texas Instruments calculator charger (was it Specmaster ?), turns out we haven't got any TI calculators here, I've now checked it works today, PM me if you want it.


David

[Cerebus]

If you stack them they remind me of a pile of armadillos fucking.

I might say "They make me think of what a pile of armadillos fucking must look like", but you say "remind". Something you need to tell us?

Edit: I see tggzzz beat me to it, but it's the thought that counts, and rather concerning that at least two of us independently had the same thought about what you were likely to have been up to. 

[mnementh]

If you stack them they remind me of a pile of armadillos fucking.

I'm a little concerned that it "reminds" you of that. To me it is a completely new concept, I'm relieved to say.

Actually it was originally the large pile of rather horny homosexual tortoises at Colchester Zoo that reminded me of it. They are quite beautiful animals unlike the armadillo so I thought I'd not insult them with comparing them to that ugly thing.

Something like these then, even comes with a bog roll dispenser at the top. 
Also some odd third party video noise filter unit in there too.

   https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204066808798   -  David

I say it's Huey, Dewey and Louie having a 3-some in the loo. 

mnem

[Robert763]

If you stack them they remind me of a pile of armadillos fucking.

I'm a little concerned that it "reminds" you of that. To me it is a completely new concept, I'm relieved to say.

Actually it was originally the large pile of rather horny homosexual tortoises at Colchester Zoo that reminded me of it. They are quite beautiful animals unlike the armadillo so I thought I'd not insult them with comparing them to that ugly thing.

I agree that those TE cases do remind me of fugly tortoises inspired by Essex inhabitants. Armadillos are cute in comparison. Neither animal can be stacked as reliably as all/all sane test equipment.

Some modern TE doesn't look very stackable except presumably with inbred equipment from the same manufacturer. I don't remember the specific manufacturers, but theor TE reminds me of American Football players crossed with sports trainers, with a little bit of 1980s toys thrown into the mix.

Having just extracted the 8754A VNA from the analyser stack and rebuilt it I can report that a HP 5335A counter stacks nicely on top of a R&S CRTU / CMU-200 and the HP feet lock into the guide on the top of the R&S.

[Vince]

Oh boy looks like it's chore time.... looks like I got meself into a Dragon Table-like project ! 

Before you get too aggro with sanding that - you're sure it's solid wood and not veneered composite/MDF, right? They've gotten really good at hiding it... 

Yep, real wood... I made it with my dad 
Regardless, I can't fathom how any brain equipped person could confuse a fake piece of furn,iture with a a real wood one. Just blows my mind. Or maybe like wood too much and it feels obvious to me...

Highest grit I could get any bite with was 80; the finish sanding took/is taking forever.

Oh, so similar experience as me here then... 

Vince, if you'd like to chew the fat on this subject I'll suggest we take further discussion to PM so as not to clutter this thread. I'm trying to keep my own updates on this topic only sporadic to comply with current OT guidelines.

Yep, didn't mean to bore the forum with stuff, just a quick contribution no more ! 
I won't bother you off-list either.... not just now at least ! Will do if required.... for now the first step is to find decent affordable machines and lots of matching Velcro sanding pads...

I have already (didn't take long did it...) much worse problems to deal with at the moment... just took a shower before going to bed, and the drain is blocked, shower is flooded... my luck. Told you I am cursed....
Drain has alwyas been slow form day one, I bet the house builder installed the drain under the house with a slope not steep enough, so the drain is sluggish. So I have always had to pour half a bottle of drain leaner every couple month to keep it acceptable. Trouble is that I did that just 2 or 3 weeks ago, so it's strange that it reoccurs so soon. What's strange is the total blockage rather than gradual slowing down.... Was working fine yesterday, and tonight completely blocked. Makes no sense....
" of course " I have no drain cleaner left in stock... I meant to buy some this week, but alas it's too late ! 

So... gonna be fun taking my shower tomorrow morning before work.
When I leave work I will head straight to the H/W store to buy a rubber plunger, then to the super market to get some drain cleaner... and hope I can't fix it this way.

TE INVOLVED :  Well I am so fed up and  baffled that the drain is so slow and blocks so easily, I am actually thinking of buying a cheap Chinese endoscope so I can shove it inside the sink and have a peak inside the drain pipe that runs from there, under the slab (me at ground level).

[Zenith]

CT type number and a Copenacre sticker on it. It has to be a special variant for the military. This could be a good or bad thing. It looks to be in as nice a cosmetic condition as could be hoped for.

For £500, he's having a larf.

This seller usually has "speculative" pricing. I've not tried to pm them direct offers, haven't seen anything I really want yet.

I suppose that's an approach to securing the maximum value, when dealing in things you don't know anything about, and which might be worth a lot of money. I haven't looked into selling on ebay, but I don't suppose they let you offer things for sale for nothing. Another approach I've seen is to offer at some ludicrous (2 grand plus) buy it now price, and accept offers. That makes slightly more sense but I suspect people interested are put off by talk of 2 grand plus.

It's been my experience that people who ask outrageous prices for things, are too silly to waste any time on.

[mansaxel]

I have the DCA55. Very confident little bugger that. I like it a lot. Does one thing, does it well, and gives clear, exploitable results.

(And for L/C/R I've got the DE-5000, so don't see the need for a Peak device at the moment. )

Last time I looked, a DCA55 was a Peak device and competes with the DE-5000

Ehm, the DCA55 is a transistor checker (and other semiconductors too), while the DE-5000 concerns itself with L/C/R as noted. They complement each other. Competition to the DE-5000 from Atlas would for instance be the aptly named "LCR40".

[mansaxel]

Last time I looked, a DCA55 was a Peak device and competes with the DE-5000

No - the DE-5000 is an LCR / ESR meter.

Peak sell different devices. Off the top of my head:

DCA55 -> simple component analyser
DCA75 -> much nicer component analyser and curve tracer
LCR45 -> LCR meter
ESR70 -> ESR meter

Plus some other miscellaneous crap.

I'd rather have the Peak stuff. They have reliable distributors, a good reputation, always exceed the specifications and importantly support their hardware through calibration and repair.

I got the DE-5000 first, but I just as well mighta gotten the Peak ones. And the DCA55 is splendid.

[factory]

CT type number and a Copenacre sticker on it. It has to be a special variant for the military. This could be a good or bad thing. It looks to be in as nice a cosmetic condition as could be hoped for.

For £500, he's having a larf.

This seller usually has "speculative" pricing. I've not tried to pm them direct offers, haven't seen anything I really want yet.

I suppose that's an approach to securing the maximum value, when dealing in things you don't know anything about, and which might be worth a lot of money. I haven't looked into selling on ebay, but I don't suppose they let you offer things for sale for nothing. Another approach I've seen is to offer at some ludicrous (2 grand plus) buy it now price, and accept offers. That makes slightly more sense but I suspect people interested are put off by talk of 2 grand plus.

It's been my experience that people who ask outrageous prices for things, are too silly to waste any time on.

That overpriced Solartron DVM has been on ePay for a long time, I'm sure it has been mentioned on here before, when the price was £800ish. 

I'm still looking for the correct test leads or connectors, to fit the 2 & 3 way PET200 ? (Precision Electronic Terminations) input connectors used on these DVMs. Pictures of the front panel connectors here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg4035829/?topicseen#msg4035829

David

[tggzzz]

CT type number and a Copenacre sticker on it. It has to be a special variant for the military. This could be a good or bad thing. It looks to be in as nice a cosmetic condition as could be hoped for.

For £500, he's having a larf.

This seller usually has "speculative" pricing. I've not tried to pm them direct offers, haven't seen anything I really want yet.

I suppose that's an approach to securing the maximum value, when dealing in things you don't know anything about, and which might be worth a lot of money. I haven't looked into selling on ebay, but I don't suppose they let you offer things for sale for nothing. Another approach I've seen is to offer at some ludicrous (2 grand plus) buy it now price, and accept offers. That makes slightly more sense but I suspect people interested are put off by talk of 2 grand plus.

It's been my experience that people who ask outrageous prices for things, are too silly to waste any time on.

Many legitimate things (as well as scam TE auctions) start at £0.99, which is a close approximation to zero.

Anything offered at a reasonable-but-high price and open to bids will attract chancers that bid 10% of the price. If I allow offers, I add a note "reasonable offers only" and use fleabay's "automatically reject offers below X" facility. Overall I usually just state the buy-it-now price; that seems sufficient albeit sometimes slow.

[bd139]

If you stack them they remind me of a pile of armadillos fucking.

I might say "They make me think of what a pile of armadillos fucking must look like", but you say "remind". Something you need to tell us?

Edit: I see tggzzz beat me to it, but it's the thought that counts, and rather concerning that at least two of us independently had the same thought about what you were likely to have been up to. 

I would be disappointed if you both did not call me out on that one 

[tggzzz]

CT type number and a Copenacre sticker on it. It has to be a special variant for the military. This could be a good or bad thing. It looks to be in as nice a cosmetic condition as could be hoped for.

For £500, he's having a larf.

This seller usually has "speculative" pricing. I've not tried to pm them direct offers, haven't seen anything I really want yet.

I suppose that's an approach to securing the maximum value, when dealing in things you don't know anything about, and which might be worth a lot of money. I haven't looked into selling on ebay, but I don't suppose they let you offer things for sale for nothing. Another approach I've seen is to offer at some ludicrous (2 grand plus) buy it now price, and accept offers. That makes slightly more sense but I suspect people interested are put off by talk of 2 grand plus.

It's been my experience that people who ask outrageous prices for things, are too silly to waste any time on.

That overpriced Solartron DVM has been on ePay for a long time, I'm sure it has been mentioned on here before, when the price was £800ish. 

I'm still looking for the correct test leads or connectors, to fit the 2 & 3 way PET200 ? (Precision Electronic Terminations) input connectors used on these DVMs. Pictures of the front panel connectors here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg4035829/?topicseen#msg4035829

Mine has the three way connector and lead. The lead ain't pretty, but it works and could be tarted up.

[factory]

If you found HP 427As for £15 then that would be a bargain, I suspect you meant 432A or 435A/B, I'd still pick them up for spares myself at that price, assuming they were complete with feet etc, I think I have an early 432A here that needs a decent meter (has peeling scale disease), the 435 meter is not quite the same (scale labelling is slightly different).

The 1703A looks interesting, OK only 35MHz with analog storage CRT, but can run from low voltage DC, or an optional internal battery.
https://hpmemoryproject.org/an/pdf/sf_1700.pdf

David

I didn't look that closely but they weren't 432A (which I have) and they were HP power meters. To me they are basically useless, because of the probes. Anything HP is of interest, if the price is right, but for me that would have been a fiver apiece.

I know you are a connoisseur of these things, and had you been there and seen them, you might have snapped them up.

The seller said that the HP1703 had an EHT fault, so it might be a difficult fix. Analogue storage scopes tended to have expensive and short lived tubes. It's one to investigate in the long winter months. I expect I shall be able to extract £10 of value/entertainment from it.

I did consider the 1703 for the knobs and parts if I'm honest. The EHT on them is actually fairly simple though so it might be fixable.

I bought another member of that series a couple of years back for £2 that was rancid just for the parts.

The HP storage CRTs are also easily damaged by excessive intensity in normal (non-storage) mode, quite often you see pictures from clueless sellers on ePay, showing the intensity control turned up to 11 in normal mode. 

I've got a couple of HP 141Ts, one is OK & the other untested, a HP 141S with bad CRT storage mesh, a HP 181T that is OK and a very tired/faulty HP 181TR that is stuck in "write only mode". Only Tek storage scope I have is a 466, currently untested & in storage.

David

[mnementh]

If you stack them they remind me of a pile of armadillos fucking.

I might say "They make me think of what a pile of armadillos fucking must look like", but you say "remind". Something you need to tell us?

Edit: I see tggzzz beat me to it, but it's the thought that counts, and rather concerning that at least two of us independently had the same thought about what you were likely to have been up to. 

I would be disappointed if you both did not call me out on that one 

Amusingly, if you Gurrgle "armadillos fucking", this is one of the first hits:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10156758776509497

Closest I've ever seen was somebody in a armadillo suit getting dry-humped by a Stormtrooper...   


mnem
After 2 decades in Tejas, honestly it's not the weirdest thing I've ever seen... not even the top 10. 

[mnementh]

Ooopsie!   Looks like these went through some transmutation:   

Good lord Cap'n... how many of those fukkin' things did you scrap?

About 350... From which 324 cells went into a battery charging from solar power and discharging into some "IT" equipment (DSL router, server, ...) Works for about 1 1/2 years now.

Jeebus... you must've gotten them nearly free to be worth that kinds of assache. Care to regale us with the tale, or point us to where you already told and I missed it...?   

mnem
 

[mnementh]

I wouldn't be without my ESR70. The 1mm thick needle sharp probes get straight through dirt and grime (and your fingers if you don't cap them after use!). The best thing is the different sounds that it makes after each test. You quickly get to know what the various sounds mean and that lets you probe a PCB very quickly without needing to look up and read the meter's display after each test.

Great test equipment and very obviously designed by people who actually use what they make.

Yeah... I know I should send mine back and have it updated with the latest FW and handy probulators... but fuck, by the time I'm done with all the upgrade & shitping costs, I'll be halfway to the price of one of the new GOLD units... 

Is yours one of the single-AAA powered models? Supposedly those can be updated to full ESR70 Gold conglomeration... 



mnem
 

[Saskia]

Oh boy looks like it's chore time.... looks like I got meself into a Dragon Table-like project ! 

Before you get too aggro with sanding that - you're sure it's solid wood and not veneered composite/MDF, right? They've gotten really good at hiding it... 

Yep, real wood... I made it with my dad 
Regardless, I can't fathom how any brain equipped person could confuse a fake piece of furn,iture with a a real wood one. Just blows my mind. Or maybe like wood too much and it feels obvious to me...

Highest grit I could get any bite with was 80; the finish sanding took/is taking forever.

Oh, so similar experience as me here then... 

Vince, if you'd like to chew the fat on this subject I'll suggest we take further discussion to PM so as not to clutter this thread. I'm trying to keep my own updates on this topic only sporadic to comply with current OT guidelines.

Yep, didn't mean to bore the forum with stuff, just a quick contribution no more ! 
I won't bother you off-list either.... not just now at least ! Will do if required.... for now the first step is to find decent affordable machines and lots of matching Velcro sanding pads...

I have already (didn't take long did it...) much worse problems to deal with at the moment... just took a shower before going to bed, and the drain is blocked, shower is flooded... my luck. Told you I am cursed....
Drain has alwyas been slow form day one, I bet the house builder installed the drain under the house with a slope not steep enough, so the drain is sluggish. So I have always had to pour half a bottle of drain leaner every couple month to keep it acceptable. Trouble is that I did that just 2 or 3 weeks ago, so it's strange that it reoccurs so soon. What's strange is the total blockage rather than gradual slowing down.... Was working fine yesterday, and tonight completely blocked. Makes no sense....
" of course " I have no drain cleaner left in stock... I meant to buy some this week, but alas it's too late ! 

So... gonna be fun taking my shower tomorrow morning before work.
When I leave work I will head straight to the H/W store to buy a rubber plunger, then to the super market to get some drain cleaner... and hope I can't fix it this way.

TE INVOLVED :  Well I am so fed up and  baffled that the drain is so slow and blocks so easily, I am actually thinking of buying a cheap Chinese endoscope so I can shove it inside the sink and have a peak inside the drain pipe that runs from there, under the slab (me at ground level).

you should be able to free any blocked tube with multitudes of 50 grams ...

[Saskia]

pinball parts on their way. This time some protectors. Still need to order some LEDs to make the STTNG look nice.
Project for week end: finish STTNG (except for the gorillaed backbox, this will take some additional time and material)
then polishtumblelyman2500 the corroded stuff from the Dracula, refit it and bring that back to life too. Then fix the Judge Dredd.
After that: Fish Tales. Find problem in Twilight Zone (my all time favorite). Fix up flintstones. Start digging for T2 stuff and prepare cabinet.
Dig out missing parts for playfield and try to do a quick fit.

Build small PV gizmo in the mean time.
Will try to post stuff with photos later.
Current top priority: finalize tax declaration.

[mansaxel]

you should be able to free any blocked tube with multitudes of 50 grams ...

If I have blocked drains, I talk to the wife, or get the plunger. Wife is really good at drain unblocking, but I'm the king of plungers.

If it usually works, but requires frequent maintenance, the analysis "not steep enough" usually is correct (there are lots of other installation related issues too, like ignoring the installation instructions regarding direction and application of bends and branch couplings), but of course inspection would not hurt. Mechanical cleaning probably is required, and if the plunger can get a good seal, it's a good first step.

Having noted there's a Youtube video for everything (even if it would be better explained in a README file than a scatterbrain screencap by someone using nano or gedit and not understanding the problem) I would like to point out the frankly immersive plumber experience offered by a gentleman working for Berlin plumber firm Kempinger, like in this one: https://youtu.be/r3cNZFGUul0 -- his videos are not very censored, and the full experience is indeed offered...

On TE, I spent an hour or so at the bench yesterday evening, burning my fingers and practicing mutilating SMD caps on a PCI riser card from an old Dell 1850 sewer. I did not yet try the Carlson Cutter technique, but wiggling about and lifting one side at a time is good enough for removing caps in a pinch, as long as the PCB is not damaged by a leaking cap (so why am I removing them then?  ). Also, I started off using my Balver Zinn as heat conductor, which did not help much. Obviously, realised once I'd read the markings on the card, it was produced with leaded solder, and switching to 60/40 made an enormous difference. 

Also practiced with flux pen and solder wick. Probably should start applying flux with syringe instead, feels like it could be easier.

[tautech]

mansaxel
Get a K style tip for your soldering iron, why, well they can span both pads of SMD passives…and some tweezers FFS !

[Saskia]

you should be able to free any blocked tube with multitudes of 50 grams ...

If I have blocked drains, I talk to the wife, or get the plunger. Wife is really good at drain unblocking, but I'm the king of plungers.

If it usually works, but requires frequent maintenance, the analysis "not steep enough" usually is correct (there are lots of other installation related issues too, like ignoring the installation instructions regarding direction and application of bends and branch couplings), but of course inspection would not hurt. Mechanical cleaning probably is required, and if the plunger can get a good seal, it's a good first step.

Having noted there's a Youtube video for everything (even if it would be better explained in a README file than a scatterbrain screencap by someone using nano or gedit and not understanding the problem) I would like to point out the frankly immersive plumber experience offered by a gentleman working for Berlin plumber firm Kempinger, like in this one: https://youtu.be/r3cNZFGUul0 -- his videos are not very censored, and the full experience is indeed offered...

On TE, I spent an hour or so at the bench yesterday evening, burning my fingers and practicing mutilating SMD caps on a PCI riser card from an old Dell 1850 sewer. I did not yet try the Carlson Cutter technique, but wiggling about and lifting one side at a time is good enough for removing caps in a pinch, as long as the PCB is not damaged by a leaking cap (so why am I removing them then?  ). Also, I started off using my Balver Zinn as heat conductor, which did not help much. Obviously, realised once I'd read the markings on the card, it was produced with leaded solder, and switching to 60/40 made an enormous difference. 

Also practiced with flux pen and solder wick. Probably should start applying flux with syringe instead, feels like it could be easier.

a knife style soldering tip is great for some tasks. Also a preheater makes a huge difference. Apply lots of flux. I am using amtech nc 559 tacky flux. Make sure you have good ventilation. You do not want that stuff in your lungs.
Unfortunately my tweezer tips for the WMRT are borked and I need to get replacements. For specific SMD soldering I prefer the Hakko FM-2032 micro pencil (the WMRP would also work) with a knife tip. For the hakko there is a 0.1 mm tip around.
Lotsa flux may make the difference in not hurting the pad. Also for this kind of repair, use fresh leaded solder.
But you knew that already.

[bd139]

Well eBay prices have gone bananas 

The cheaper one wasn’t even shown working to any reasonable degree.