Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Addicted2AnalogTek]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2mm-Gold-Plated-Sockets-for-Test-Probe-Tips-with-Heat-Shrink-Tubing-Pair/171084548642

Not sure for the part num.

Now out of stock.   

That is Franky's shop on ebay. He is a EEV-Blog forum member, too and this is his thread:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/franky_s-sales-thread/

Maybe it helps if you write him a PM or so.

Maybe ... but it was me that took the last 5     

I just commented that they were out of stock for the benefit of others.   

I took the second to last order of 5 and was a nice guy and left 5 for someone else. You're welcome! 

Those look like fantastic sockets for the price, so I'm monitoring the item via saved search. When Franky restocks I'll drop a note here as I'm sure there's others that want some!

@BU508A - Thanks for the heads up!!  I didn't know about Franky was a member here or that his shop was stocking quality products for cheap! I'll rummage through the store and see what else I want to buy.

[Brumby]

Much obliged   

[bd139]

Just bought some more test gear. I need a proper RF signal generator for stuff I'm working on. The output of the DG1022Z doesn't quite cut it if I'm honest as I need more megs. Therefore it's going. But I need another function generator anyway so I nabbed a Thandar TG210 for bugger all. Nice and easy to work on and reliable. Pictures when it arrives!

[jjoonathan]

Speaking of nice sockets, does anyone here have a favorite nice .025" socket? I'd like to make a nice ground-to-.100"-header for my scope probes, but the only .025" sockets I know of are the cheapies that come on .100" jumpers, and those are garbage. They lose most of their grip in only a few plug/unplug cycles.

I know these exist because my ProbeMaster probe kit came with one, but it mates to a multimeter tip, not an oscilloscope probe ground. I just don't know the right terms to plug into octopart.

[Addicted2AnalogTek]

Speaking of nice sockets, does anyone here have a favorite nice .025" socket? I'd like to make a nice ground-to-.100"-header for my scope probes, but the only .025" sockets I know of are the cheapies that come on .100" jumpers, and those are garbage. They lose most of their grip in only a few plug/unplug cycles.

I know these exist because my ProbeMaster probe kit came with one, but it mates to a multimeter tip, not an oscilloscope probe ground. I just don't know the right terms to plug into octopart.

Do you mean you'd like to make something like this?



This is a Tek ground lead and I'm unsure of the part number or which kits it comes in, but here's an outrageously priced one from Cal Test:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cal-Test-CT3669-15-8-Oscilloscope-Probe-Ground-Lead/362754269646?hash=item5475d6e1ce:g:njoAAOSwuspdfD6s

It'd be nice to be able to make some of my own as well, since I only have one of these.

The search term seems to be "0.6mm pin jack"

[Mr. Scram]

The amount of people saying that Ikea manuals are hard to follow or their products are hard to put together is worrying. These manuals and products were designed to cater to the lowest common denominator. Compared to most other products they're a walk in the park and those other products aren't exactly rocket science either.

[Mr. Scram]

Just bought some more test gear. I need a proper RF signal generator for stuff I'm working on. The output of the DG1022Z doesn't quite cut it if I'm honest as I need more megs. Therefore it's going. But I need another function generator anyway so I nabbed a Thandar TG210 for bugger all. Nice and easy to work on and reliable. Pictures when it arrives!

Why sell the DG1022Z when you've been happy with it? You'll only buy another in a few month's time. You actually can own multiple devices you know.

[bd139]

Yeah I know. As mentioned before it’s TCO minimisation. Owning this one cost me £5/month aggregate when I needed it. Don’t need it now so it’s going until I do. Which looking at my schedule is 9-12 months away. I do need a decentish RF signal generator though so trade makes sense. You’d be surprised how little I’ve spent on test gear over the years as a net value (it’s actually negative)

[Mr. Scram]

Yeah I know. As mentioned before it’s TCO minimisation. Owning this one cost me £5/month aggregate when I needed it. Don’t need it now so it’s going until I do. Which looking at my schedule is 9-12 months away. I do need a decentish RF signal generator though so trade makes sense.

You've mentioned TCO before in regards to the DS1054Z but I couldn't help but notice that not selling it twice would have yielded an even better TCO as the inevitable losses wouldn't have occurred at all.

[bd139]

£80 TCO over two years  . I spend more than that on strawberry jam.

It has to last 9.25 years to get the same return and I’d be surprised if it lasts 5. I certainly don’t want the liability of owning one for more than 3 years.

Working on zero account cash flow as well. Everything is stoozed on 0% credit card.

Edit: stuff I buy that I can fix is because I like to fix things. I don’t think I’m going to like fixing Rigol stuff.

Edit 2: I also bounced the “free” brymen DMMs that come with Rigol stuff on eBay for £22 a go. So that’s +£18 inc fees and postage. 

[Neomys Sapiens]

@WCH: I already looked, as I have still to bring the ground leads under way. But only 27R 5W 10% in stock.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Speaking of nice sockets, does anyone here have a favorite nice .025" socket? I'd like to make a nice ground-to-.100"-header for my scope probes, but the only .025" sockets I know of are the cheapies that come on .100" jumpers, and those are garbage. They lose most of their grip in only a few plug/unplug cycles.

I know these exist because my ProbeMaster probe kit came with one, but it mates to a multimeter tip, not an oscilloscope probe ground. I just don't know the right terms to plug into octopart.

I got various good ones, but sourcing them is a problem. I have obtained some from Hirschmann/SKS, which are the same they use on their 0.64mm test leads. But they don't sell them officially, got them by asking nicely. Also some gold-plated ones originally intended for a crimp contact version of VG-Leiste. But that article is not available anymore, I've checked already.

[bd139]

Ok first test gear related 3DP done. 1740A feet.

Took four attempts to get what I wanted.

1. Printed beanflying's version. I printed the wrong one to start with though  . Fail  .
2. This time I decided to make my own because I've learned enough FreeCAD now. This is not a reflection on beanflying's design which is excellent but the fact that I need to do things the hard way. This time I fucked up by making the mounting hole too small  . I did however put an orientation nubbin on the top which works nicely.
3. This attempt I got the hole right but didn't fillet enough. I also removed the adhesion base as I didn't need it. Printed perfectly with no finishing required first time though.
4. Fixed those issues and printed 100% fill and it's sorted.

Attempts:



Win:



I'll upload the STL and FreeCAD files to Thingiverse when I get some time.

I will say at no point have I had to futz with the printer or argue with it. It just works. What you see is how it came out like unfinished other than on the left two, breaking the adhesion off.

Will print another three feet over tomorrow

[Martin.M]

the band selection knob turn 26 stages by the geartrain 
here you see Telefunken temperatur stabilized engineering.

[worsthorse]

@WCH: I already looked, as I have still to bring the ground leads under way. But only 27R 5W 10% in stock.

Thanks for looking. I was just about to post... I pulled out the set of boards extracted from a very damaged 468 (was left in the rain, among other indignities) and found a 25 ohm 3W resistor I think I can use. And then because I had set out the solder wick and turned on the soldering station to pull the part, I decided to pull the pots and other high value parts from the board which meant getting out the FR301 and firing it up, too.

So a thirty-five cent resistor cost about three hours of my time.   

But I do have a nice pile of hard-to-find tek potentiometers and trimmers, along with a big handful of transistors now.  And I love the tek person who decided to socket almost all of the transistors and ICs in their gear. 

The 25 ohm resistor isn't perfect but I think I can adjust around the difference in the calibration. But even with that, I probably won't have the replacement 2N4240 for at least another week. I  am working on the 0542 today and trying not to blow it up in the process.  

[worsthorse]

Ok first test gear related 3DP done. 1740A feet.
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I'll upload the STL and FreeCAD files to Thingiverse when I get some time.

I will say at no point have I had to futz with the printer or argue with it. It just works.

I will look for the file. I could use some of those.  Yeah... I think that having a certain level of general purpose mechanical/electrical/electronic experience makes the learning curve for stuff like 3DP a lot less steep.  That, along with doing a reasonable amount of diligence before hitting the power button. 

After the Rickreall hamfest, I will set up mine and give it a go...

[xrunner]

I will say at no point have I had to futz with the printer or argue with it. It just works. What you see is how it came out like unfinished other than on the left two, breaking the adhesion off.

Will print another three feet over tomorrow

Lookin' good. Apparently the bed is staying level enough and the first layer is sticking well. That cuts down the aggravation level.

[Martin.M]

description of radio worx 

The 3-rooms-box is the preselection , preamplification, it use 4 tuned coils in each band.
The one-room-box is the tuned oscillator.
The box right side up, begins in right side with the diode ring mixer, mixing to the first IF what is related to the selected band 80 or 325kHz, so there are 2 filter coils.
The left up box is the first IF, 80 or 325kHz including the mixer to second IF (so there are 2 crystal)
- end of the story: cable with mixed second IF = 525kHz going to upstair, IF-2-Chassis.

[McBryce]

To the other 3D printer noobs here. Things I've learnt in the last 72 hours:

1 - Ender 3 owners: Self-sticking surface is a lie. Coat the surface with hair spray or "3D printer sticky whatever", unless the model has a sufficient lower surface, the model will start wandering.
3 - Again for Ender 3 owners (and possibly others): Just because the bed was level 2 hours ago, before the last print, doesn't mean that it's still level. Check it between every print.
3 - Model creation: The learning curve for Blender is slightly higher than FreeCAD, but you'll soon approach the limits of what FreeCAD can do, whereas Blender can create whatever you want. If everything you are making is a variation of a cube then FreeCAD is fine, but if your model requires curves, spheres or complex surfaces, then Blender is your friend. Take the time to learn it.

McBryce.

[mansaxel]

here you see Telefunken temperatur stabilized engineering.

Looks a bit like the pre-ww2 flugfunkgeräte, like FuG10 or so, with the cast chassis. But I suppose it is built like so not to be light-weight.

[DaJMasta]

3d printing stuff:

I'm a fan of Elmer's All Purpose glue stick for bed adhesion, sticks great to PEI and spring steel, I think it's good on glass as well.  The brand/type does matter - other brands work too, but different formulations can be almost totally ineffective - in my experience, avoid the purple school glue stick types.

CAD style design is sketch based and works really well for the kind of parts you can document in a mechanical drawing easily, since that's basically where you're starting from.  I find that's best for making parts for things and generally for dimensional accuracy, but for more freeform parts, a sketch based + extrusion design just gets hard to manage and manipulate, so you really want a sculpting based workspace - which blender is a great example of.  A bunch of programs will do both, but something starting with a primitive and manipulating is great for more complicated geometries, whereas stuff starting from a sketch and extrusion is often better for copying parts or fitting into specific space constraints.

[bd139]

I'm using the out of the box surface with my Ender 3 and no funny chemicals and shit gunking everything up. Are you sure you problem folk have your bed leveled correctly and the temperature set correctly and leave it to warm up for a bit? Literally had zero problems with mine. Not a thing.

Also learning Blender here. So far I haven't got tired of setting monkey heads on fire though 

[Mr. Scram]

To the other 3D printer noobs here. Things I've learnt in the last 72 hours:

1 - Ender 3 owners: Self-sticking surface is a lie. Coat the surface with hair spray or "3D printer sticky whatever", unless the model has a sufficient lower surface, the model will start wandering.
3 - Again for Ender 3 owners (and possibly others): Just because the bed was level 2 hours ago, before the last print, doesn't mean that it's still level. Check it between every print.
3 - Model creation: The learning curve for Blender is slightly higher than FreeCAD, but you'll soon approach the limits of what FreeCAD can do, whereas Blender can create whatever you want. If everything you are making is a variation of a cube then FreeCAD is fine, but if your model requires curves, spheres or complex surfaces, then Blender is your friend. Take the time to learn it.

McBryce.

Blender isn't really designed to work with solids or accurate dimensions. That's what CAD applications like Solidworks and Inventor are for. Though both program groups have their strengths and weaknesses.

[Mr. Scram]

Looks like Prusa just released a more affordable printer. Still more expensive than the Chinese options but definitely something to keep an eye on.

[bd139]

More expensive and considerably less rigid looking than something half the price.