Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bitseeker]

My latest evilBay acquisition - an HP 3455A digital voltmeter for $51 plus shipping.  Seems to work (the voltmeter part, at least) based on a quick checkout without letting everything warm up too much:

That's a sweet deal, Pat. And the photos look fine. How much better imagery do you need to torture us with?

[bitseeker]

I managed to score 3 of them from eBay last month for combined $130 shipped. Luckiest I've been in awhile. All were listed as-is/untested. 2 of them are working fine, but the 3rd has at minimum display issues. Still not sure if I'll attempt a repair or end up saving it as a parts unit. My fear is that a repair will likely require finding a 4th 

Haha, yes, that sounds like a classic case of TEA time.

Kind of odd when a repair thread makes you want to buy the broken thing 

Actually, that's one of the risk assessment factors that I consider before purchasing a broken thing that I haven't worked on before.

[bitseeker]

A Lambda PSU 6V, 100A
And since I had one of these already, now I have two!

Interesting. Looks like a Sorensen/Xantrex/etc./etc./etc. Is Lambda part of that chain of brands, too? I have one of the half-rack width ones.

I works really well, I got a 5 mm steel bolt to glow !

I was expecting the last photo to contain the glowing bolt between the lugs. Imagine my sadness when I clicked on the thumbnail.

[bitseeker]

  We are definitely an odd bunch here in this thread.  Only one of us would buy several units that are advertised as 'broken, for parts or repair', and then be disappointed because two out of three WORK!  Normal people would be bitching because one of them DIDN'T.

True, that. However, it is nice to just start using something you bought without it sitting in the repair queue for ages.

[bitseeker]

Sometimes I think a nervous, fingernail-chewing smiley might be more appropriate for waiting on an offer.  I always have mixed emotions between 'oh crap, they're gonna reject it' and oh crap, they're gonna take it and I'll then have another (whatever it is that I probably need like a hole in my head)'. 

And then there's the, "Oh crap, they accepted right away; I overpaid."

[BravoV]

BUSTED on DEEP, EMI, TEST ... guilty on all counts 

Life is not complete and meaningless without the 2nd B version ... 

BUSTED - Bought Unnecessary Shitload of Test Equipment Devices
DEEP - Duplicated Electronics Equipment Possession
EMI - Equipment Matching Impulse
TEST - Test Equipment Symmetry Transfixation

[bitseeker]

Oh, and good luck, xrunner.  Fingers crossed for you.  (And win or lose, you have to tell us what it is once it's over.)

-Pat

Yes, please.  We in Australia don't get tortured nearly enough.

Sorry, Brumby. 

(I had a mental image of xrunner leaning over the keyboard, shielding it with one arm and looking over his shoulder as he entered this offer......)

Yeah, you never know who might be watching you these days. Beware of the snipers!

[bitseeker]

@alm: Welcome to the TEA house. Nice to see you have an account nowadays. I remember reading many of your threads when I first discovered EEVBlog and you always posted as a "guest".

[bitseeker]

BUSTED on DEEP, EMI, TEST ... guilty on all counts 

Life is not complete and meaningless without the 2nd B version ... 

BUSTED - Bought Unnecessary Shitload of Test Equipment Devices
DEEP - Duplicated Electronics Equipment Possession
EMI - Equipment Matching Impulse
TEST - Test Equipment Symmetry Transfixation

Bravo, BravoV, on being well and truly TEA-timed.

[Cubdriver]

Sometimes I think a nervous, fingernail-chewing smiley might be more appropriate for waiting on an offer.  I always have mixed emotions between 'oh crap, they're gonna reject it' and oh crap, they're gonna take it and I'll then have another (whatever it is that I probably need like a hole in my head)'. 

And then there's the, "Oh crap, they accepted right away; I overpaid."

   Yep, there's definitely that, too!!   . I know that feeling as well.

-Pat

[Cubdriver]

True, that. However, it is nice to just start using something you bought without it sitting in the repair queue for ages.

That is a very valid observation.  I think my repair queue wraps around the house at least 1-1/2 times.   

I need to stop adding to it.

(Though I think we all know that ain't a gonna happen.)   

-Pat

[Cubdriver]

That's a sweet deal, Pat. And the photos look fine. How much better imagery do you need to torture us with?

Well, among other things, I need to clean the styrofoam residue off of it and polish it up a bit, pull the covers and then go to town with the 5DII and the macro lens.  I'll bet there are a lot of interesting bits inside to get pictures of.  For that matter, I never documented the display fix on the Fluke calibrator, either, nor taken pictures of its innards.  I've been slacking something awful!
 

-Pat

[JPortici]

It needs assistance (doesn't boot)
but for 150 britbucks inc. shipping.. how could i leave it there, with no bids?



to say that it is big it is an understatement.
it is HUGE. way huge-r than tek mainframes.
and heavier, too

but at least with big size comes a big CRT, unlike with tek

[xrunner]

It needs assistance (doesn't boot)
but for 150 britbucks inc. shipping.. how could i leave it there, with no bids?

to say that it is big it is an understatement.
it is HUGE. way huge-r than tek mainframes.
and heavier, too but at least with big size comes a big CRT, unlike with tek

Wow I just bought a scope off Ebay too, yours is way hugerer than mine. 

Start a repair thread if you can!

[JPortici]

already did, asking for the SM for the mainframe, apparently only copy left is in unobtown's tech library.

i found the plugin's SM

lecroy referred me to the plugin's SM when i asked
lecroy user group referred me to the plugin's SM
other users here referred me to the plugin's SM

i think it's because the mainframe is a computer with MSDOS and a custom driver for the acquisition boards and maybe there were several verisons? i recall reading on the usual websites that there were AT LEAST three motherboards

[bitseeker]

Nice scope! Looks like a Trinitron CRT (at least from that angle).

[xrunner]

The Agilent 54622D arrived today. Very pleased with it so far. Very clean outside. Typical dust bunnies inside but not a big deal. Floppy works, although it has a little more than the typical brownish tinge that comes with certain plastic aging from UV light. I can fix that with peroxide and a little sunlight. Quite a clean and clear display, I really like it. Very nice addition to the lab. 

[bitseeker]

Very nice, indeed. Congrats! <we still need a scope with a happy smiley>

[Brumby]

Seriously .....  If I ever get the chance, I'm coming over the the States with a budget and a container!


The objective would be to sell the stuff back here in Australia - but I just realised how I would feel about doing that.............   

[bitseeker]

In case you didn't see it, someone's got a boatload of HP, Tektronix, Fluke, etc. parts over at https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/fs-new-test-equipment-repair-parts-hp-agilent-tektronix-fluke-etc/

Photos further down the thread. I saw some vintage HP buttons, those Tek pull tabs, and various knobs.

[Brumby]

Oh .... wow .......

[smurph]

Score! Fluke 6080A in perfect shape.  Got it on the bay.  I did a best offer on an untested unit that would power on and they accepted.  I figured I would give fixing it up a shot and if it didn't pan out, well...  I didn't spend too much.  Some of the units they have look like they were fished out of a dumpster.  And some of them are missing parts and such.  So I searched through all of them to find one that was decent physically, complete, powered on, but untested otherwise.  But when it came time to ship the unit, they found that they didn't have it anymore.  So they sent this one instead.  I was shocked!  Fully functional!  Bright nixies.  Really nice unit.  The company was Alltest and they treated me right.  They went way beyond anything I was expecting. 

I didn't know it until now, but I have bought several pieces of TE from them.  They have three accounts.  One for good stuff with warranties, one for tested stuff, and one for the bargain basement (where I hang out).  Evidently, they are my TE pusher.     I usually find something I need to fix on them. 

I also picked up a Wavetek model 75 for use as an audio signal generator.  Kind of a complicated little beasty to use for that purpose though.  I don't know...  maybe I find other uses for it in the future.  And I hauled in a Racal Dana 9303 RF level meter as well.  So I'm close to an overdose and I think I need to pull back a bit. 

Steve

[mtdoc]

Excellent score smurph!

[Cubdriver]

Sweet score, Steve - that certainly looks like it's in beautiful shape!

If you feel yourself ODing on test gear, fire up the soldering iron, melt some Kester 44 and sniff the resulting smoke.  Think of it as Narcan for test gear geeks.  A little whiff and you'll be fine, and can get right back to the 'bay. 

 

-Pat

[xrunner]

Score! Fluke 6080A in perfect shape.  Got it on the bay.  I did a best offer on an untested unit that would power on and they accepted.  I figured I would give fixing it up a shot and if it didn't pan out, well...  I didn't spend too much.  Some of the units they have look like they were fished out of a dumpster.  And some of them are missing parts and such.  So I searched through all of them to find one that was decent physically, complete, powered on, but untested otherwise.  But when it came time to ship the unit, they found that they didn't have it anymore.  So they sent this one instead.  I was shocked!  Fully functional!  Bright nixies.  Really nice unit.  The company was Alltest and they treated me right.  They went way beyond anything I was expecting. 

That's really awesome! Gotta take a chance sometimes right? You gotta pay to play. 

OK I gotta a little story but I need to type it all out maybe in another thread. But for a teaser look again at the 54622D, specifically the knobs. See the knob at the left? It's the only original knob (for this model). I didn't realize it until I took off the front cover. Then I did some research and discovered that all the knobs but that one are the next gen knobs that Keysight uses on models like DSOX2002A. I don't have a clue who or why somebody would change the knobs out, and where they would have gotten them. The old knobs I think had a coating that went gooey from how that one knob looks.

BUT ... I found the little matching knob on Keysight's parts site for $1.99. I thought (stupidly) should be easy enough to order that. The story is though - the HELL I had to go through to order it. Deserves a separate post ...