Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Robert763]

TE incoming 
Made an offer on a bit of TE on ebay and it was accepted. Item was completly mis-described as seller (of lots of surplus TE) obviouslt didn't know what it is.
Been looking for one of these for years but they normally sell for 10 - 20 times what I paid for this one. That is too much for an item I don't actually need (yes, yes this is the TEA thread but funds and space are not unlimited).
So who knows what it is? The electricity goes in the bit sticking out the side.

[shakalnokturn]

TE incoming 
So who knows what it is? The electricity goes in the bit sticking out the side.

A bit of a wild guess... It looks like a precision position sensor or more likely precision actuator, possibly fits on a larger optical or microwave device ?

[Robert763]

TE incoming 
So who knows what it is? The electricity goes in the bit sticking out the side.

A bit of a wild guess... It looks like a precision position sensor or more likely precision actuator, possibly fits on a larger optical or microwave device ?

Nope

[PA0PBZ]

So who knows what it is? The electricity goes in the bit sticking out the side.

Must be a warp drive considering they are hot on this forum right now.

[wkb]

Measurement gauge of some sorts. Adjustment wheel to the left?

[m k]

Name includes AC and something seems to go through.

So a plasma nozzle then.

[m k]

You might be waiting a while for a response, he hasn't posted on this forum since August 2022.

David

I See, thanks
Anybody else with LF-3200 perhaps?

I'd probably use practically what ever with decent ergonomics, if parts are available longer than tail lights are visible.

Back in the day there were two, Weller and Pace, both are still present.
(former iron and latter sucker was my setup)
Strong brands.

SMD probably changed things, but strong brand it must be if it's going to grab some space.
Xytronic seems to be regular stuff here, iron like [inventor] and sucker like Pace.

Xytronic is also reasonably priced.
Maybe next generation of pro-buyers is needed for new brands.

BTW,
late '80s when new MIL-STD came out and pulled back, Magnastat was also ordered not acceptable.
Technical or political, who knows.
But quite a bit of new stuff was rolling out, so technical side has a probability.

[AVGresponding]

TE incoming 
Made an offer on a bit of TE on ebay and it was accepted. Item was completly mis-described as seller (of lots of surplus TE) obviouslt didn't know what it is.
Been looking for one of these for years but they normally sell for 10 - 20 times what I paid for this one. That is too much for an item I don't actually need (yes, yes this is the TEA thread but funds and space are not unlimited).
So who knows what it is? The electricity goes in the bit sticking out the side.

Optical pyrometer sensor head?

[Robert763]

Measurement gauge of some sorts. Adjustment wheel to the left?

getting close but most TE measures somthing. The wheel/knob is connected to a scale marked in seconds...

Robert.

[m k]

A parallax meter.

Hmm, its method of use is a bit hazy.

[wkb]

Seconds.. hmm.

Viscosity?

[tggzzz]

The wheel/knob is connected to a scale marked in seconds...

Oh, how pleasingly ambiguous

[ddrl46]

Autocollimator?

[Robert763]

Autocollimator?

Ding, ding, ding we have a winner! Shame there is no prize. 
It is indeed a autocollimator. A Hilger & Watts, probably a TA50 but I've not received it yet to be sure. It can measure angles with a resolution of 0.1 second of arc (2.778^10-5 degrees) using a mirror as a target.
It doesn't have the stand normally used but it was probably used directly in a custom fixture. I paid £70 including shipping. Further reports when it arrives...

[m k]

Engine boring, how accurate a crankshaft direction must be?

[Robert763]

Engine boring, how accurate a crankshaft direction must be?

More used to check other measuring devices, straightness of machine tools etc.

[m k]

Just tried to find a perspective, arc second is not very usual for outsiders.

One rule for long exposure of star photography is 0.1 arcsec of movement in at a time of one round/sidereal day.
(nice fellas those Babylonians)

E,
that first version, was it a bit slow.
So actually 12.96M steps/round and one round/23h56min04.0905s.
And a step being 1mm when radius is a bit over 2km.

[factory]

Engine boring, how accurate a crankshaft direction must be?

More used to check other measuring devices, straightness of machine tools etc.

They had one of those in the cal lab at work, used with the largest of the granite blocks, for exactly what you mention. I remember fixing the cable between the power unit & the lamp, can't remember which version they had, but the power unit was this one. https://rochesteravionicarchives.co.uk/organisations/hilger-watts
No idea if it's survived the stupidity & wasting of measuring equipment at work.

David

[Robert763]

Funnily enough I saved some metrology kit from work a while ago. Did a swap for a bit of kit the needed. The was a stack of kit but I only took a few pieces that they had two off AND a H&W polygon mirror. Should have taken more, two weeks later I was picking slip gauges out of the bottom of a scrap bin. Anything bigger they had smashed up before putting it in the scrap 

[factory]

Good to hear you managed to save something at least, no chance for me to do the same, unless I want a P45 & police record, requests to buy waste are auto-denied. 
Thankfully I wasn't there when they trashed everything, they cleared it sometime when I was off work following the heart malfunction. Last time they put the skips outside, to make sure the weather destroys everything over several months.

As I went through an electrical apprenticeship, I never got to use any of the equipment in the mechanical calibration area, they might still have something for checking pressure gauges & torque wrenches, no idea if the shadowgraph & precision length measuring machine are still there, & all the other bits I can't remember anymore. Most calibration is now outsourced to some crappy external company, where things sometimes don't return.

David

[Robert763]

It's very rare to rescue anything here as well. This was a separate part of the organisation and a bit more flexible. Only came about becuase they bought a bit of specialist TE from me on ebay without either realising we both worked for the same organisation until they collected it...

[unseenninja]

When it comes to soldering equipment, I'm still very happy with my Xytronic LF-3200 which I picked up from Reichelt a few years ago for half the price that Elfa-Distrelec wanted for it. It's a high frequency eddy current heater type.



It gets up to temperature in about ten seconds and with a nice fat tip fitted, has plenty of heat capacity supported by what I'd say is a quite realistic 120W rating. For me, it'll do everything from SMD stuff to 10 AWG copper cable depending on the tip I have fitted. The tips themselves are compatible with the Hakko and BAKON irons so you can get a huge selection of shapes from Aliexpress for a song.
It's very well put together inside with a high quality toroid transformer and the nice thin iron is perfect for my small hands.

I’m glad you are happy with the LF-3200, I have a Quick 3202 which is similar but with different design (probably a switched power supply) which has an annoying fan and introduces a considerable amount of EMI.
I wanted to ask if it has a fan? Any noise from the transformer? (Really a toroid?)
Thanks

I have an alter-ego.

There is no fan in the LF-3200 and it is perfectly silent in operation. It's still working perfectly. I have a whole army of different tips for it and with one of the higher thermal mass tips in it, I can solder 10 AWG copper wires without issue.

I'll have to qualify the "perfectly silent in operation" with the condition that I can't hear anything at all over 4KHz.

[factory]

I have an alter-ego.

Very naughty but welcome back, I suspected a second account after reading the 7081 thread yesterday, they kind of discourage having more than one in the rules, but your other seems abandoned. 

David

[factory]

On a more positive note, I went out two weekends ago, to collect an early Solartron LM1010.2 DVM.



A few other bits followed me home too including; an early hollow state SA20 Racal counter, a Keithley 177 DMM with intermittent switches, a dead Fluke 8050A (can't say I own no Flukes anymore), a faulty Italian Bremi BRI8004 capacitance meter, a HP 207A sweep oscillator with option M7 (internal motor fitted & adjustable limit switches), an Advance DMM2 badged as a Marconi TF2670, a Sangamo Weston wattmeter and a Tektronix 130 L-C meter.

I've posted some pictures of the HP 207A here; https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=212523

This is the Bremi capacitance meter, if I can get it working it will measure 1pF to 10mF, I was told the input might have been damaged by a charge capacitor. Inside it's mostly CMOS based, with a couple of 74C & a 741 op-amp. My google searches for service data have all failed.







Inside the Fluke 8050A, I've removed the NiCd's before they can do any further damage, the display might be knackered in this one, but I've not yet tried powering it up with a DC PSU to find out, but I'm sure I've seen people replace dead ones with something more modern on here.



The Tek 130 has a slight problem with the movement of the meter, it gets rather stuck & doesn't zero, I found a piece of the panel meter rattling about inside the case, I may have to find another panel meter for this one. Other than that it's in really nice condition.









David

[Vince]

Wow good score on the old Tek LC meter ! Looks super cute and in excellent nick !