Author Topic: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread  (Read 14563195 times)

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Offline Kilo Tango

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4850 on: December 13, 2017, 01:47:33 pm »
Counter offer of £50 received, Hmm ?

Ken
 

Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4851 on: December 13, 2017, 02:12:50 pm »
Counter offer 36  :-DD

TBH I paid 50 for mine. Didn't use make an offer. Am happy with that price personally. What I wish they would do is ship the fucking thing though.

Edit: they probably Googled and found this thread.
 

Offline Cerebus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4852 on: December 13, 2017, 02:40:01 pm »
That's still a bargain when you consider that it's still a current product and RS are selling it @ £277 plus VAT so it can't be very old either. Mine is in mint condition as well.

The creation date inside the PDF for the Instruction Manual (issue 2) is 6 May 2009 and for the Service Guide (issue 1) is 27 Feb 2013. For the data sheet it's 14 Aug 2012. That's the best I can come up with for clues as to design/launch dates. Once mine arrives I'll have a hunt for part date codes and see what the oldest I can find is.
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Offline Kilo Tango

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4853 on: December 13, 2017, 02:45:31 pm »
That's still a bargain when you consider that it's still a current product and RS are selling it @ £277 plus VAT so it can't be very old either. Mine is in mint condition as well.

The creation date inside the PDF for the Instruction Manual (issue 2) is 6 May 2009 and for the Service Guide (issue 1) is 27 Feb 2013. For the data sheet it's 14 Aug 2012. That's the best I can come up with for clues as to design/launch dates. Once mine arrives I'll have a hunt for part date codes and see what the oldest I can find is.


So its been going for at least 8 years. That's quite long in terms of product lifespan, at least with Chinese manufacturers.


I offered £38. We'll see.

Perhaps if they were to offer a good deal to EEV blog members they would shift the lot quickly.

Its all about cash flow. No use having £100,000 in parts stock if no one is buying them.

Ken
 

Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4854 on: December 13, 2017, 02:50:53 pm »
Thurlby tend to run their products quite a long time. 5-10 years is about right. They used to be made in the UK. Not sure about now.

Not quite as long as HPAK... My E3630A is dated 1994 and they're still shipping new ones and all replacement parts (!)
 

Offline Cerebus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4855 on: December 13, 2017, 03:09:52 pm »
So its been going for at least 8 years. That's quite long in terms of product lifespan, at least with Chinese manufacturers.

That's Thurlby Thandar Instruments Ltd of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. That's a very old British firm - they were around back in the 70s as far as I can recall. Still do all their manufacturing and design in the UK.

Yup, had a quick look, started back in the 70s. From their website:
Quote
Company History (TTi)

The origins of Thurlby Thandar instruments Ltd date from the late 1970s when two separate companies, Thurlby Electronics Ltd. and Thandar Electronics Ltd. were both designing and manufacturing electronic test equipment within close proximity at St. Ives in Cambridgeshire, England. Through the 1980s, Thurlby specialized in bench power supplies, high resolution multimeters and digital storage units; whilst Thandar specialized in function generators, frequency counters and logic analysers. In 1989 the two companies were merged into a new organization - Thurlby Thandar Instruments Ltd. and located to larger premises in nearby Huntingdon. Since that date the product ranges have been expanded and new product areas developed including arbitrary waveform generators, RF test equipment, Current measurement probes, Power Analysers and component bridges. All models are now sold under the Aim-TTi brand. Today Thurlby Thandar Instruments Ltd is one of the foremost producers of general purpose electronic test instruments and laboratory power supplies in Europe, selling products in over fifty countries.

I've a vague recollection that Thandar had some relationship to Sinclair Radionics, either started by people who used to work for Clive Sinclair or had some of their products badged by Sinclair. I used to know a couple of people who worked for Sinclair and probably heard it from them.
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Offline mnementh

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4856 on: December 13, 2017, 03:40:37 pm »
*Snerk*

I know it's silly, but whenever I hear that name I immediately imagine some short, swarthy character dressed in brown homespun and animal hide footwear; perhaps a forgotten player character from a D&D campaign of my youth, or one of the lesser-read Tolkein novels. Oh, and he's grinning and holding a huge mug with something dark and alcoholic in it, like Guinness only thicker. :P


mnem
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« Last Edit: December 13, 2017, 03:42:29 pm by mnementh »
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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4857 on: December 13, 2017, 03:43:49 pm »
I see calculators that catch fire and amplifiers which explode  :-DD

My counter is dispatched finally!
 

Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4858 on: December 13, 2017, 04:00:05 pm »
I see calculators that catch fire and amplifiers which explode  :-DD

My counter is dispatched finally!
There you go and you'll soon be playing with it [emoji16]
Who let Murphy in?

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Offline Cerebus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4859 on: December 13, 2017, 04:06:45 pm »
I know it's silly, but whenever I hear that name I immediately imagine some short, swarthy character dressed in brown homespun and animal hide footwear; perhaps a forgotten player character from a D&D campaign of my youth, or one of the lesser-read Tolkein novels. Oh, and he's grinning and holding a huge mug with something dark and alcoholic in it, like Guinness only thicker. :P

Probably related to Duran Duran from Bararella, or Dwane Dibbley from Red Dwarf.
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Offline mnementh

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4860 on: December 13, 2017, 05:14:56 pm »
I know it's silly, but whenever I hear that name I immediately imagine some short, swarthy character dressed in brown homespun and animal hide footwear; perhaps a forgotten player character from a D&D campaign of my youth, or one of the lesser-read Tolkein novels. Oh, and he's grinning and holding a huge mug with something dark and alcoholic in it, like Guinness only thicker. :P

Probably related to Duran Duran from Bararella, or Dwane Dibbley from Red Dwarf.

Oooh, I'm certain 'e's related to 'alf of the Shire, and to 'alf of Cornwall... either by marriage or blood. ;)


mnem
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Offline Kilo Tango

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4861 on: December 13, 2017, 05:41:12 pm »
Offer accepted at £38, now to find a 5V PSU.  :-+

Ken
 

Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4862 on: December 13, 2017, 06:26:07 pm »
I see calculators that catch fire and amplifiers which explode  :-DD

My counter is dispatched finally!
There you go and you'll soon be playing with it [emoji16]
I've still got a scientific one I built somewhere around and it still works, so about to go bang anytime soon then is it?  :-DD
Who let Murphy in?

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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4863 on: December 13, 2017, 07:38:34 pm »
Only if you run it more than 50% of the rated power.

I remember my father swearing his head off after blowing the arse out of a Z30 amp. Also he bought a ZX80 kit that had missing bits. Then we had the pocket calculator or crashulator as it turned out to be. Nightmare.

He built his own stuff after that experience. I’ve got the PA he built still. It’s 800W per channel and weighs about 40Kg.
 

Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4864 on: December 13, 2017, 08:13:21 pm »
Quote from: bd139 link=topic=81471.msg1373809#msg13738 :rant:
Only if you run it more than 50% of the rated power.
[/quote
What 50% of the cap or the calculator is that, assuming its the latter, I must only have been using for the simplest of sums that never taxed it then because when I put a set of batteries in it last time it worked beautifully. Perhaps if I had fully mastered the art of RPN I'd have blown the arse out of it as well then, dead nasty that I would imagine, a calculator spewing its contents out all over you.  :-DD
Who let Murphy in?

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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4865 on: December 13, 2017, 08:40:02 pm »
Sorry amplifier :)
 

Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4866 on: December 13, 2017, 09:02:44 pm »
Sorry amplifier :)
:phew: Thats a relief, I was not looking forward to those logs piling up to be honest  :-DD
Who let Murphy in?

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Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4867 on: December 13, 2017, 09:19:23 pm »
Aliex website has crashed, at least the login page has (I know its a waste of time but) I wanted to check on the status of my orders, they've been lounging around in the departure area for the last 5 days. This is their priority express direct airmail service wah wah wah.

I want to play with my new toys before Christmas  not after it.  :rant:

EDIT:
The sites up again now and it seems that my orders must really be enjoying it because they are lounging there, bastards, I want them here....
« Last Edit: December 13, 2017, 09:47:23 pm by Specmaster »
Who let Murphy in?

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Offline mnementh

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4868 on: December 13, 2017, 09:36:46 pm »
Only if you run it more than 50% of the rated power.

I remember my father swearing his head off after blowing the arse out of a Z30 amp. Also he bought a ZX80 kit that had missing bits. Then we had the pocket calculator or crashulator as it turned out to be. Nightmare.

He built his own stuff after that experience. I’ve got the PA he built still. It’s 800W per channel and weighs about 40Kg.

And uses a Marantz 2600 as a preamp, I'll bet.  :-DD


mnem
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Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4869 on: December 13, 2017, 10:09:55 pm »
Only if you run it more than 50% of the rated power.

I remember my father swearing his head off after blowing the arse out of a Z30 amp. Also he bought a ZX80 kit that had missing bits. Then we had the pocket calculator or crashulator as it turned out to be. Nightmare.

He built his own stuff after that experience. I’ve got the PA he built still. It’s 800W per channel and weighs about 40Kg.

And uses a Marantz 2600 as a preamp, I'll bet.  :-DD


mnem
*tzzzzt*
That was almost half of the rated 800W output on its own, that was a real beast the most powerful receiver they made.

Apparently they sold the scope side of the business to Phillips and that how Phillips got into making oscilloscopes.

« Last Edit: December 13, 2017, 10:21:39 pm by Specmaster »
Who let Murphy in?

Brymen-Fluke-HP-Thurlby-Thander-Tek-Extech-Black Star-GW-Avo-Kyoritsu-Amprobe-ITT-Robin-TTi
 

Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4870 on: December 13, 2017, 10:26:01 pm »
Some info for the audio types. It’s got its own preamp in it. Think it was a mutilated JLH design. Also has guitar inputs and FX loops.

The thing has 12x massive heat sinks on the back and is driven by 24x big ass TO-3’s. Has 12 huge 9 inch long RS branded electrolytic cans in it and two massive transformers.

Correction it’s 500W per channel. Just looked at the schematic.

Looks ugly as sin and unfinished and will most likely kill whoever dares plug it in (inlet side scares me) but at some point circa 1988 it did actually work for a couple of years. Had some hum problems as we if I remember. He was going to use it as a home hifi, gig amp and PA all in one.

My mother complained that he’d spent about 300 quid building it. That was a lot of cash back then.

Interestingly he used an old Heathkit VTVM to build it and that was it. No scope (he never got around to building that Heathkit). He sold the scope - dammit that would have been fun to build.
 

Offline mnementh

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4871 on: December 13, 2017, 10:49:23 pm »
Only if you run it more than 50% of the rated power.

I remember my father swearing his head off after blowing the arse out of a Z30 amp. Also he bought a ZX80 kit that had missing bits. Then we had the pocket calculator or crashulator as it turned out to be. Nightmare.

He built his own stuff after that experience. I’ve got the PA he built still. It’s 800W per channel and weighs about 40Kg.

And uses a Marantz 2600 as a preamp, I'll bet.  :-DD


mnem
*tzzzzt*
That was almost half of the rated 800W output on its own, that was a real beast the most powerful receiver they made.

Apparently they sold the scope side of the business to Phillips and that how Phillips got into making oscilloscopes.





I know... I had several 2200 series back in the day; topped off my receiver list with restoring a Sansui G22000 back in the late 90s. Started messing around with monoblock/tube amps then for a while cuz I couldn't afford Mac; wound up spending more on kits and BOMs in the long run. Then I got my first iPod and started tinkering with home theater, and my desire for low-distortion space heaters kindof died; not enough room in front of the couch for both. By then my poor old eardrums had been utterly shredded by concert and high-current-amped boom-box car abuse so it really didn't matter. ;)





mnem
Whaaaaa....? Speak up!
« Last Edit: December 14, 2017, 03:46:26 am by mnementh »
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Offline Vgkid

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4872 on: December 13, 2017, 11:56:11 pm »
@ Cubdriver , ohh a kepco pvs100-1.  I have a schematic for one (a scan) and some info on it.
I always liked how they looked.
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Offline Cubdriver

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4873 on: December 14, 2017, 01:15:33 am »
@ Cubdriver , ohh a kepco pvs100-1.  I have a schematic for one (a scan) and some info on it.
I always liked how they looked.

You do?  Sweet.  Any possibility of sending at least the schematic scan?  I tried to get a manual (Tucker had one listed), but unfortunately when I ordered it he had to cancel as he was unable to find it.   |O

I haven't seen anything on it anywhere else, so I'm flying blind on this one so far.

-Pat
If it jams, force it.  If it breaks, you needed a new one anyway...
 

Offline Neomys Sapiens

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #4874 on: December 14, 2017, 01:44:31 am »
That Kepco is really a nice piece of gear! Didn't know it before.

I have avoided stringently to look at this thread until now. The title sounded like people trying to discourage each other from aquiring T&M gear. But suddenly I feel relieved. My Heinzinger and Oltronix power supplies and my 30something multimeters feel right at home.
 


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