Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tggzzz]

You know before mobile phones were invented and if anyone wanted to get hold of you they'd have to come and see you or argue with the woman on the switchboard who was under strict instructions to pretend I no longer existed

My phone has an "off" switch. Doesn't yours?

I use the off switch frequently, since the phone is for my convenience, not other peoples' convenience.

I’m paid a quite frankly silly amount of money to be inconvenienced so it’s a trade off I’m willing to make in the short term. Once that mortgage is gone in three years, middle finger to everyone and I’m going to be a hermit surrounded by oscilloscopes and radios

I’m really lamenting the past where it was white difficult to be inconvenienced due to the technology of the era.

So your phone is for other peoples' convenience; fair enough.

In the rose-tinted past you were inconvenienced by the lack of technology. E.g. everybody I knew would have killed for a (point-to-point) walkie talkie Pick your poison

[bd139]

I got on absolutely fine in the past. We had a pretty extensive CB network in my town

[tggzzz]

I got on absolutely fine in the past. We had a pretty extensive CB network in my town

We didn't in the 60s

[bd139]

This was 80's here when it was cheap and ubiquitous

[bd139]

Bugger it! Just got outbid on a "flux multimeter"

Someone got a bargain due to someone else's incompetence!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122717474925

[japasetelagoas]

This brings tears to my eyes. What a beautiful piece of equipment.

[bitseeker]

Oh, man. That's the first time I've seen a flux multimeter. I wouldn't have known if it hadn't been for the listing title. It's pretty well obfuscated with that Fluke 87V-looking skin on it. I wonder what other disguises have been used to surreptitiously sell flux multimeters.

[neo]

Fellow tea addicts rejoice! REJOICE!! I got my fluke 8200A today and carefully inspected the burn only to discover there is no burn, one melty key and a bad picture got me a hell of a deal.
Now if that wasn't enough to inspire a fit of joy then let me add that besides being nice condition it is also reasonably well within calibration, when i tried it with 5 volts it was only .1 volts low and ohms was dead on.
 

[Specmaster]

Fellow tea addicts rejoice! REJOICE!! I got my fluke 8200A today and carefully inspected the burn only to discover there is no burn, one melty key and a bad picture got me a hell of a deal.
Now if that wasn't enough to inspire a fit of joy then let me add that besides being nice condition it is also reasonably well within calibration, when i tried it with 5 volts it was only .1 volts low and ohms was dead on.
 

I'm so happy for you, the button can be replaced if you can find one. What was the cause of the bad staining above the button?

[bd139]

Congratulations

[Specmaster]

Bugger it! Just got outbid on a "flux multimeter"

Someone got a bargain due to someone else's incompetence!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122717474925

Thats a shame, it would have been so much more accurate than the heathkit on the Ohms readings as well.

[bd139]

Haha

I actually managed to fix that earlier today and it’s bang on now. One of the divider resistors was a little low. Managed to frig a replacement with a couple of selected 1% parts.

If you zero it and set scale, the needle is actually spot on mid scale with one of my cal resistors. Impressive for a 55 year old instrument.

[neo]

Fellow tea addicts rejoice! REJOICE!! I got my fluke 8200A today and carefully inspected the burn only to discover there is no burn, one melty key and a bad picture got me a hell of a deal.
Now if that wasn't enough to inspire a fit of joy then let me add that besides being nice condition it is also reasonably well within calibration, when i tried it with 5 volts it was only .1 volts low and ohms was dead on.
 

I'm so happy for you, the button can be replaced if you can find one. What was the cause of the bad staining above the button?

Thats the laugh, it was just a bad picture, it is dented in slightly so it caused a weird light effect.
Also as a interesting post note, the multimeter was property of the university of Washingston and on its way to me it had a couple interesting stops. Pasco, WA; Troutdale, OR; Snowville, UT; Gothenburg, NE, those being places where it went before it reached the distribution center in Kansas city.

[Specmaster]

Fellow tea addicts rejoice! REJOICE!! I got my fluke 8200A today and carefully inspected the burn only to discover there is no burn, one melty key and a bad picture got me a hell of a deal.
Now if that wasn't enough to inspire a fit of joy then let me add that besides being nice condition it is also reasonably well within calibration, when i tried it with 5 volts it was only .1 volts low and ohms was dead on.
 

I'm so happy for you, the button can be replaced if you can find one. What was the cause of the bad staining above the button?

Thats the laugh, it was just a bad picture, it is dented in slightly by design so it caused a weird light effect.
Also as a interesting post note, the multimeter was property of the university of Washingston and on its way to me it had a couple interesting stops. Pasco, WA; Troutdale, OR; Snowville, UT; Gothenburg, NE, those being places where it went before it reached the distribution center in Kansas city.

In that case you really did get a bargain, its great when you score a good one, makes up for the times the gamble doesn't quite pay off.

[djos]

Fellow tea addicts rejoice! REJOICE!! I got my fluke 8200A today and carefully inspected the burn only to discover there is no burn, one melty key and a bad picture got me a hell of a deal.
Now if that wasn't enough to inspire a fit of joy then let me add that besides being nice condition it is also reasonably well within calibration, when i tried it with 5 volts it was only .1 volts low and ohms was dead on.
 

Brilliant, I did say it looked like someone accidentally pointed their hot air rework tool at it. 

[Cubdriver]

The soldering stations in the maintenance shop at National Semi all had melt marks on the switches.  I never understood what would possess someone to turn the soldering station off by pushing the switch with the hot iron tip, but someone apparently thought it was an acceptable idea.   

With that in mind, not much surprises me anymore as far as burns on test gear go.

-Pat

[Cubdriver]

And BTW, congrats on scoring an apparently working meter for a good price.  It's nice to know that it's "in the family".  I too lucked out on mine a few months ago as it seems to be in good nick.

-Pat

[bitseeker]

Fellow tea addicts rejoice! REJOICE!! I got my fluke 8200A today and carefully inspected the burn only to discover there is no burn, one melty key and a bad picture got me a hell of a deal.

That is fantastic news, neo. I took another look at the photo and it really is weird how the photo looks like there's significant discoloration above those two ohms range buttons. I wonder if someone used that meter for lots of resistance measurements and just pushed the buttons too vigorously, thereby causing the odd contour.

Now if that wasn't enough to inspire a fit of joy then let me add that besides being nice condition it is also reasonably well within calibration, when i tried it with 5 volts it was only .1 volts low and ohms was dead on.

My 8100A was also very accurate. I have yet to see an undamaged vintage Fluke that's significantly out of spec.

A related happy note is that your 8200A has its Fluke badge still affixed to the face. Those things tend to disappear as often as the HP ones.

[bd139]

Agreed. My 8600A was knackered when I got it. Power supply shot and reeds gone. Repaired them and it came back with perfect cal!

[bitseeker]

neo, does your 8200A have any options? There was only a single photo of its face.

[neo]

neo, does your 8200A have any options? There was only a single photo of its face.

AC converter
OHMS converter
MV pre-amplifier
Remote control.
That's it unfortunately, although those are the important options.

[bitseeker]

Yeah, that's very good. Congrats!

[neo]

Yeah, that's very good. Congrats!

Well there appear to be problems in paradise. Earlier the DC volts range worked but now it doesn't.
Dodgy relay maybe? 

EDIT: in the time it took me to type that it jumped to life and read before going back to its apathetic state. When it read, for the brief minute it did, it said 4.823 which is exactly to the least significant digit what my in cal 8050 says.

[bitseeker]

Welp, guess it's time to start at the power supply and work forward.

[neo]

Welp, guess it's time to start at the power supply and work forward.

I guess i will have to see about a manual.