Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

Here's my keyboard again with the lights off and the leds at the middle level setting, still the phone camera see the keycaps legends as almost white when if fact they are bright red. 

The human eye is much more adept at dealing with brightness variations than most cameras.  Any camera with automatic exposure settings in use will do the same as you have shown.

The camera will see the red lettering - but the relative brightness is way greater than the rest of the scene and the automatic exposure will try to "average out" the exposure to get as much detail as possible.  This means the lettering just blows the RGB values through the roof.  You would need a manual exposure setting to get the lettering to show up as red - but, then, the back illumination would be much less bright.

Here it is again this time with a few settings changed and also a few caps removed to show this has an LED per key cap and it is currently shown on its lowest setting. It is not an RGB, pure red LEDs are used everywhere.
 

Yeah, yours is a is a little higher on the food chain than mine, probably made with genuine or high-quality clone Cherry switches. I bet the component BOM before adding the manufacturing of the shell on that keyboard is more than I paid for mine retail. 

Most digital cameras in "Point & Click" mode will try to focus on the point source of light, which in this case is well below the surface of the keys; this is probably due to it wigging out over the excessive single RGB value colored LEDs represent. They also make it very hard to get accurate representation of colors like this as well; you have to go to manual mode and eff around with the white balance and turn the exposure down about 10 clicks, then everything else looks wrong.

15% off "everything" on eBay for a few more hours. See page for details & restrictions.

https://pages.ebay.com/promo/2018/0808/67811.html

Damn you, I just bought another friggin' counter!!   

-Pat

LOL!

DammitDammitDammitDammity-Damn-DAMMIT! Got back from "EPIC FAIL" family time at the bowling alley just in time to miss this by SEVEN EFFING MINUTES!!!

I'm going to go to bed and get molested by my wife. 


mnem
Signs point to YES.

[Berni]

15% off "everything" on eBay for a few more hours. See page for details & restrictions.

https://pages.ebay.com/promo/2018/0808/67811.html

Dang it!

And i just won the bidding on yet another PSU yesterday! Tho the PSU was so cheep that the shipping costs twice as much as the PSU itself.

You're very welcome, Pat. Cheers! (And post pics )

I bit the bullet and snagged a Keithley 2-slot male to 3-lug female triax adapter. Octopart lists them at $92 dollars and up. This one was $50 (plus shipping) BIN or $25 starting bid. With tonight's deadline for the 15% off, I went for the BIN, which covered the shipping. Now, I'll finally be able to use my K220 and K614, though not at the same time, yet.

Also, I ordered four of those el cheapo (but fine for general use) 1x/10x 100 MHz probes for use with my old HP 54601A.

Yeah i know the pain of these damn 2 lug Triax connectors on old Keythley gear. I instead got me a 2 lug cable since my Keithley electrometer is the only thing with the 2 lug one.

[mnementh]

   

Well truck a duck... Looks like it's all done with edge-lighting and diffusion panels. 

Damn, they've gotten a LOT better with this tech; it only has 9 RGB (Not WS2812 as I earlier thought would be easiest) LEDs on one edge in a 3 x 3 matrix to make 3 RGB channels for the rainbow effects. I'm amazed they're able to get that much usable light out of this arrangement! 

That's neat. I haven't seen inside these things before. The lighting certainly is more even than back in the "old days."

Yeah, I thought it was pretty damn cool... that's why I shared my little teardown. When I got it, based on close up external inspection,  I really thought there were individual LEDs spaced about 30mm apart under the KB, not this edge-lit backlighting panel. Glad to see others found it interesting!


mnem
*Toddles off to meet his fate in the bedroom*

[bitseeker]

DammitDammitDammitDammity-Damn-DAMMIT! Got back from "EPIC FAIL" family time at the bowling alley just in time to miss this by SEVEN EFFING MINUTES!!!

Dang it!

And i just won the bidding on yet another PSU yesterday! Tho the PSU was so cheep that the shipping costs twice as much as the PSU itself.

Yeah, I rarely get to take advantage of these coupons. Usually, I either find out too late, don't have anything that I can BIN, or already got something before the promo started. This time everything finally aligned.

Yeah i know the pain of these damn 2 lug Triax connectors on old Keythley gear. I instead got me a 2 lug cable since my Keithley electrometer is the only thing with the 2 lug one.

I've been on the lookout for any workable solution for about a year: 2-slot-to-3-lug triax-to-triax adapter, 2-slot-triax-to-regular-BNC adapter, various cables with 2-slot triax, etc. Last week, I got a good deal on a 3-slot-to-3-alligator-clip cable and so today's adapter completed the workable solution. The combination still totals about $90, but now I can use any modern triax cable. So, it's all good.

[Cubdriver]

You're very welcome, Pat. Cheers! (And post pics )

I bit the bullet and snagged a Keithley 2-slot male to 3-lug female triax adapter. Octopart lists them at $92 dollars and up. This one was $50 (plus shipping) BIN or $25 starting bid. With tonight's deadline for the 15% off, I went for the BIN, which covered the shipping. Now, I'll finally be able to use my K220 and K614, though not at the same time, yet.

Also, I ordered four of those el cheapo (but fine for general use) 1x/10x 100 MHz probes for use with my old HP 54601A.

I will.  It's an HP 5248M; I've had that in my search list for quite a while now as I don't have one.  This non working one came up as a long listing BIN/OBO a few days ago, so I'd watched it and figured I'd let it 'season' for a bit then make an offer.  Since I usually shoot for 10-15% off on offers (I should probably aim higher, but whatever..), I elected to pull the trigger as this model seems to appear so rarely and it looked to be in good nick physically.  I guess I'll see when it gets here...

I'm glad to hear you scored your triax adapter - those things seem to be like hen's teeth.

-Pat

[bitseeker]

Thanks, Pat. It's been a long time coming with this Triax stuff, that's for sure. I just couldn't bear to risk losing the auction and I happened to see the coupon tonight. Bada-bing, bada-boom.

Yep, sometimes with the rare stuff, you just have to bite the bullet. Glad the coupon worked out similarly for you.

[Cubdriver]

DammitDammitDammitDammity-Damn-DAMMIT! Got back from "EPIC FAIL" family time at the bowling alley just in time to miss this by SEVEN EFFING MINUTES!!!

Dang it!

And i just won the bidding on yet another PSU yesterday! Tho the PSU was so cheep that the shipping costs twice as much as the PSU itself.

Yeah, I rarely get to take advantage of these coupons. Usually, I either find out too late, don't have anything that I can BIN, or already got something before the promo started. This time everything finally aligned.

Yeah i know the pain of these damn 2 lug Triax connectors on old Keythley gear. I instead got me a 2 lug cable since my Keithley electrometer is the only thing with the 2 lug one.

I've been on the lookout for any workable solution for about a year: 2-slot-to-3-lug triax-to-triax adapter, 2-slot-triax-to-regular-BNC adapter, various cables with 2-slot triax, etc. Last week, I got a good deal on a 3-slot-to-3-alligator-clip cable and so today's adapter completed the workable solution. The combination still totals about $90, but now I can use any modern triax cable. So, it's all good.

   I've been buying stuff on the bay of evil for 17 years now, and this is the FIRST time I've seen and used one of those coupons.   I suppose I should pay attention to that splash screen, rather than going straight to the 'summary' screen from a saved link...  (Or maybe not, lest I buy MORE stuff, as seen tonight.)

-Pat

[Cubdriver]

Thanks, Pat. It's been a long time coming with this Triax stuff, that's for sure. I just couldn't bear to risk losing the auction and I happened to see the coupon tonight. Bada-bing, bada-boom.

Yep, sometimes with the rare stuff, you just have to bite the bullet. Glad the coupon worked out similarly for you.

Definitely.  With really rare things, if the price isn't too prohibitive, I jump on it right away.  He who hesitates is lost.  (But has a fatter wallet.)

-Pat

[Cubdriver]

And thanks for mentioning the coupon.  It was pure luck that I happened to log on and see it in time.   

-Pat

[nixiefreqq]

You're very welcome, Pat. Cheers! (And post pics )

I bit the bullet and snagged a Keithley 2-slot male to 3-lug female triax adapter. Octopart lists them at $92 dollars and up. This one was $50 (plus shipping) BIN or $25 starting bid. With tonight's deadline for the 15% off, I went for the BIN, which covered the shipping. Now, I'll finally be able to use my K220 and K614, though not at the same time, yet.

Also, I ordered four of those el cheapo (but fine for general use) 1x/10x 100 MHz probes for use with my old HP 54601A.

I will.  It's an HP 5248M; I've had that in my search list for quite a while now as I don't have one.  This non working one came up as a long listing BIN/OBO a few days ago, so I'd watched it and figured I'd let it 'season' for a bit then make an offer.  Since I usually shoot for 10-15% off on offers (I should probably aim higher, but whatever..), I elected to pull the trigger as this model seems to appear so rarely and it looked to be in good nick physically.  I guess I'll see when it gets here...

I'm glad to hear you scored your triax adapter - those things seem to be like hen's teeth.

-Pat

NICE CATCH!

my 45M's came as a set of twins from nnsy (norfolk naval slipshod).

they are the H37 variant which I think means they have the big ugly mil connector on the back and the extra emi screens over the nixies.

mine also have the special boxy ocxo and the 5Mhz output from the standard.

not sure why they are in that weird fiberglass shell with the little handles.  (maybe that made them porta counters?)


have some 48L's in the stack......but no 48M.


ps  am jealous because my 45 mil version has the old style oval power jack.  am assuming that your 48 takes a modern power plug?


pics please of your 48M.

[VK5RC]

Thanks, Pat. It's been a long time coming with this Triax stuff, that's for sure. I just couldn't bear to risk losing the auction and I happened to see the coupon tonight. Bada-bing, bada-boom.

Yep, sometimes with the rare stuff, you just have to bite the bullet. Glad the coupon worked out similarly for you.

Definitely.  With really rare things, if the price isn't too prohibitive, I jump on it right away.  He who hesitates is lost.  (But has a fatter wallet.)
-Pat

Some EEV blogger mentioned, very helpfully for me, that triax connectors can often get called TRX or 'Trompeter' after the company that makes quite a few of them. I have an old Fluke Electrometer that has 2 lug Triax and an HP test set that has 3 lug (FFS  ) , I was surprised how cheap the cable actually is, I made a adaptor cable but was paranoid as even the tiniest bit of finger oils would bugger the impedance ~1T , but it tested and worked OK - beginners luck
Rob

[Cerebus]

... that triax connectors can often get called TRX or 'Trompeter' after the company that makes quite a few of them.

I think you'll find that was probably intended to be TRx, where x= B | T for bayonet and threaded respectively. What must of us think of as a Triax (bayonet fitting) is a TRB to Trompeter. By the way, Trompeter have 2, 3 and 4 lug variants.

[Cerebus]

Gosh, you've all gone very quiet.

Did I miss the memo? Somebody forget to invite me to the barbecue you're all at? Did we run out of bacon and you're all down the shops trying to hunt some up? AvE doing a 24 hour live feed of cussin' and fabricobbling?

[bitseeker]

And thanks for mentioning the coupon.  It was pure luck that I happened to log on and see it in time.   

Sure thing. Posting coupons here is a good form of "support" for therapy. I'll continue to do that when I see them. More eyes will certainly help, too.

[bitseeker]

Some EEV blogger mentioned, very helpfully for me, that triax connectors can often get called TRX or 'Trompeter' after the company that makes quite a few of them. I have an old Fluke Electrometer that has 2 lug Triax and an HP test set that has 3 lug (FFS  ) , I was surprised how cheap the cable actually is, I made a adaptor cable but was paranoid as even the tiniest bit of finger oils would bugger the impedance ~1T , but it tested and worked OK - beginners luck
Rob

I think you'll find that was probably intended to be TRx, where x= B | T for bayonet and threaded respectively. What must of us think of as a Triax (bayonet fitting) is a TRB to Trompeter. By the way, Trompeter have 2, 3 and 4 lug variants.

Yep, I've got all those terms in my searches and a variety of model numbers, too. Keithley likes to use TRX- in their part designators. But, yeah, I've seen TRB a lot. Also, there are some slip on connectors (or are they threaded deep inside?). They look like they just push on.

I've never seen a 4-lug bayonet connector. That's interesting. I wonder who uses those.

[bitseeker]

Gosh, you've all gone very quiet.

Did I miss the memo? Somebody forget to invite me to the barbecue you're all at? Did we run out of bacon and you're all down the shops trying to hunt some up? AvE doing a 24 hour live feed of cussin' and fabricobbling?

Must've run out of bacon.

[mnementh]

(SNIP)
I've never seen a 4-lug bayonet connector. That's interesting. I wonder who uses those.

Masochists, mostly. 


mnem
Out. Standing in my field.

[bitseeker]

(SNIP)
I've never seen a 4-lug bayonet connector. That's interesting. I wonder who uses those.

Masochists, mostly. 

 

Out. Standing in my field.

Is that what happens when the bacon runs out?

[Berni]

Some EEV blogger mentioned, very helpfully for me, that triax connectors can often get called TRX or 'Trompeter' after the company that makes quite a few of them. I have an old Fluke Electrometer that has 2 lug Triax and an HP test set that has 3 lug (FFS  ) , I was surprised how cheap the cable actually is, I made a adaptor cable but was paranoid as even the tiniest bit of finger oils would bugger the impedance ~1T , but it tested and worked OK - beginners luck
Rob

I think you'll find that was probably intended to be TRx, where x= B | T for bayonet and threaded respectively. What must of us think of as a Triax (bayonet fitting) is a TRB to Trompeter. By the way, Trompeter have 2, 3 and 4 lug variants.

Yep, I've got all those terms in my searches and a variety of model numbers, too. Keithley likes to use TRX- in their part designators. But, yeah, I've seen TRB a lot. Also, there are some slip on connectors (or are they threaded deep inside?). They look like they just push on.

I've never seen a 4-lug bayonet connector. That's interesting. I wonder who uses those.

I have just came across a 4 lug triax on ebay. Guess I'm lucky i didn't end up with a piece of equipment that uses one of those monstrosities.

And instead proceeded to buy some cheap chinese crap like adhesive heatsinks, dremmel dics, crocodile clips etc. Whats a few dollars for the stuff here or there, while eventually it comes very useful to have laying around.

[Brumby]

Out. Standing in my field.

Is that what happens when the bacon runs out?

Without the bacon, there's just beans ....  https://www.youtube.com/embed/aWSs3dNuRPc

[bitseeker]

Classic...

[VK5RC]

Sorry about telling how to suck eggs re triax!

Did anyone say bacon?

Sorry it's off topic but I have been practicing my creme brulee - they are getting quite good! Nothing like 30% fat, sugar and egg! Topped with more sugar.
Mmmmmmmmmmm

[bitseeker]

No worries, Rob. Sharing info is good. Acknowledging coverage of said info is also good. I probably should try making a Triax cable next time, but having at least one that you know works (like with test equipment) isn't a bad thing.

I love crème brûlée (and other things that aren't good for me). Maybe we can have it with the wine you mentioned last time.

[Specmaster]

Gosh, you've all gone very quiet.

Did I miss the memo? Somebody forget to invite me to the barbecue you're all at? Did we run out of bacon and you're all down the shops trying to hunt some up? AvE doing a 24 hour live feed of cussin' and fabricobbling?

I was thinking the same thing [emoji38], strange how it can suddenly go so quiet  without any obvious reason.

[bd139]

Had a day off TEA yesterday to relax my foot. Sat there listening to the radio instead. Everyone complaining about the weather

Today, finished off the return loss bridge. Found my previously missing bag of nuts, made a lid and some labels. All done. Return loss bridge for £4.82 in total