Sunday afternoon test gear hack. Been making some again.
Wasn't too happy with the power meter I made the other day so I made another one. It's Sunday and I'm impatient so screw waiting for OSHpark or anyone to make a board for me. And I don't want to sit in front of the computer so I did it old style. In the interest of not drilling any fucking holes (I hate that side of the work), I did the whole thing SMD with an etch resist pen by hand . Turned out pretty good.
Most of the parts are actually recycled from the HP 54602B (RIP!) motherboard I have in the cupboard, leaving only a couple of resistors, capacitors and another AD8307 out of the new parts stock. The soul of the machine shall live on.
This is whacked into an arduino pro mini. I'm not using it as an Arduino, just a canned AVR target I don't have to solder up - directly via AVR-GCC + USPasp programmer taped to the board as you can see plugged into and a shitty chinese LCD. A far nicer one is arriving on Tuesday. You can get the arudino, USPasp and LCD for under a tenner delivered to the door in the UK from bitsbox.co.uk
You power it up, apply 0dBm, press the button, then apply -20dBm (or stick an attenuator in line) and it auto calibrates itself. To recal, you hold down the button for 10 seconds. Calibration constants are stored in EEPROM (or will be once I've wired up that code ).
https://youtu.be/UKkjknFwPacI've done worse; I made a few digital amp PCBs with a Dremel and a burr. The electrons don't care what the PCB looks like; only that they have a path to follow.
Did you ever get to play Tetris on the 54602B before you scrapped her out?
mnem
Happy Birthday to my little grrl!!!
Did you ever get to play Tetris on the 54602B before you scrapped her out?
Hell yes. That was actually the entire motivation for repairing the buttons under the screen. The kids all played on it for about 10 minutes before melting back into iPads again.
Did you ever get to play Tetris on the 54602B before you scrapped her out?
Hell yes. That was actually the entire motivation for repairing the buttons under the screen. The kids all played on it for about 10 minutes before melting back into iPads again.
Argh retro gaming eh. Some of the old games are more playable then the new ones, just don't look as good.
TEA refills
here.
608C repair, my bad wrist is going to kill me if i have to move this much.
Did you ever get to play Tetris on the 54602B before you scrapped her out?
Hell yes. That was actually the entire motivation for repairing the buttons under the screen. The kids all played on it for about 10 minutes before melting back into iPads again.
Totally worth it then.
Maybe one of them will remember the experience, when they see Asteroids or Tempest on a retro games show.
TEA refills here.
608C repair, my bad wrist is going to kill me if i have to move this much.
How's the spark gap?
mnem
I'll be spending the next month dead for tax purposes.
gotcha.
TEA refills here.
608C repair, my bad wrist is going to kill me if i have to move this much.
How's the spark gap?
mnem
I'll be spending the next month dead for tax purposes.
Which spark gap?
Also i love that quote, Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy is among my favorite books.
Speaking as someone who has moderated over 3 decades on USEnet, IRC, Groups, FB, and dozens of private forums devoted to various tech, hobbyist and entertainment subjects, one thing I've found is that a broad tolerance for OT, Stream of Consciousness, and Following Tangents type content are absolutely critical to keeping a forum alive, and serve to make that forum interesting long after the titular subject matter has been well used up and core content has been repeated so many times that the regulars know it by rote.
Allowing a long leash while still maintaining a zero-tolerance for hatefulness, personal attack and trolling is what makes folks feel at home, so they feel like they can be themselves, and that is what makes them willing to share knowledge, insights, humor and expertise gained over a lifetime. This is what makes for a rich experience that rewards the reader and makes them want to join in, and that is how you feed the living, breathing entity that is any good forum.
Agreed. This thread has done well in this regard (thank goodness), sometimes going here and there, but coming back on track before going off the deep end.
Much as I love this thread and those who hang out here some of the content is deserving of it's own thread as here bounces RANDOMLY all over the place. Threads like this lose valuable content like the link to the HP cross reference I posted yesterday because I didn't know of the thread Tautech reposted it in.
Then it's a good thing some are keeping an eye on precedings here !
That's precisely why I started that thread and in short time it got sticky'ed due to its value.
The various 'net search engines can mostly find what you seek if you're inventive enough with keywords but some of the archives never show up in searches and you have to go and check through then each.
Curating and moderating a thread is the other half of keeping it alive; this needs people like you who are genuinely interested in the subject matter, and who have a lot of patience.
Thank you, and all those like you, who take on this daunting task. I know from personal experience just how huge the personal expenditure involved can be. I also know how rewarding it can be, but this kind of reward requires a certain breed of err... eccentricity to fully appreciate.
Very true. I second the thanks to everyone who help to keep the thread in good health.
In approximately 20 pages, this will be the second-longest thread on the forum.
It's practically a sub-forum of the Test Equipment forum.
Speaking as someone who has moderated over 3 decades on USEnet, IRC, Groups, FB, and dozens of private forums devoted to various tech, hobbyist and entertainment subjects, one thing I've found is that a broad tolerance for OT, Stream of Consciousness, and Following Tangents type content are absolutely critical to keeping a forum alive, and serve to make that forum interesting long after the titular subject matter has been well used up and core content has been repeated so many times that the regulars know it by rote.
Allowing a long leash while still maintaining a zero-tolerance for hatefulness, personal attack and trolling is what makes folks feel at home, so they feel like they can be themselves, and that is what makes them willing to share knowledge, insights, humor and expertise gained over a lifetime. This is what makes for a rich experience that rewards the reader and makes them want to join in, and that is how you feed the living, breathing entity that is any good forum.
Agreed. This thread has done well in this regard (thank goodness), sometimes going here and there, but coming back on track before going off the deep end.
Much as I love this thread and those who hang out here some of the content is deserving of it's own thread as here bounces RANDOMLY all over the place. Threads like this lose valuable content like the link to the HP cross reference I posted yesterday because I didn't know of the thread Tautech reposted it in.
Then it's a good thing some are keeping an eye on precedings here !
That's precisely why I started that thread and in short time it got sticky'ed due to its value.
The various 'net search engines can mostly find what you seek if you're inventive enough with keywords but some of the archives never show up in searches and you have to go and check through then each.
Curating and moderating a thread is the other half of keeping it alive; this needs people like you who are genuinely interested in the subject matter, and who have a lot of patience.
Thank you, and all those like you, who take on this daunting task. I know from personal experience just how huge the personal expenditure involved can be. I also know how rewarding it can be, but this kind of reward requires a certain breed of err... eccentricity to fully appreciate.
Very true. I second the thanks to everyone who help to keep the thread in good health.
In approximately 20 pages, this will be the second-longest thread on the forum. It's practically a sub-forum of the Test Equipment forum.
Looking at your creation in horror, realizing it has surpassed you?
Looking at your creation in horror, realizing it has surpassed you?
"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
Looking at your creation in horror, realizing it has surpassed you?
"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
Now, now lets not take TEA
THAT far... yet
Looking at your creation in horror, realizing it has surpassed you?
"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
LOL! Well, destroyer of free space, at least.
with using the search facility for example, it should surely pull up every instance of Quicko, or T12?
The major problem with inserting on going discussions about a common item in a larger thread is the every instance thing.
SMF's internal search function isn't great either, if you are in the Thread where the soldering irons discussions normally take place it won't search outside either the thread of forum category it is in so this thread and content won't appear. If you are on the root of the forum or the root of the test gear category mentions will be found however. The SMF forums I have set up and run always had a GOOGLE site search option built in to be selected.
TEA refills here.
608C repair, my bad wrist is going to kill me if i have to move this much.
How's the spark gap?
mnem
I'll be spending the next month dead for tax purposes.
gotcha.
Which spark gap?
Also i love that quote, Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy is among my favorite books.
I figured as old as that beast is, it has to use a spark-gap oscillator...
I mourned the premature death of Douglas Adams for several months; he was one of the most naturally funny people who ever lived. All the great insight and humor that didn't happen... of course, he would probably respond wryly with something like "Not again..."
Much as I love this thread and those who hang out here some of the content is deserving of it's own thread as here bounces RANDOMLY all over the place. Threads like this lose valuable content like the link to the HP cross reference I posted yesterday because I didn't know of the thread Tautech reposted it in.
I concur and had posted earlier about the idea of having a table of contents or index of Points of Interest in the OP for this thread so that useful, interesting, and TEA-inducing parts could be found more easily.
If folks could nominate PoI with links to the post that begin the section of interest, I can update the OP as I already do for the Glossary.
There is pages on the Quicko soldering station that to filter through this thread would be
That one would take some work to find without Google-fu, but if at least the beginning of the discussion was linked from the OP, it wouldn't get completely buried.
I believe I started that whole mess with
this post about the Hakk0 Clone T12 Controller. After that it eventually evolved into a discussion of the various features vs firmware, and other brands like the Quicko emerged in the discussion as they were discovered.
On a related note, I
finally received
my KSGER gear Friday after over a month; initial impressions are very good, possibly even "Worth the wait" good. I'll update when I either figure out what's wrong with my 2230 or decide to back-burner it for the sake of my sanity.
Looking at your creation in horror, realizing it has surpassed you?
"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
LOL! Well, destroyer of free space, at least.
Practice
nishkam karma with a true heart and you shall find peace, my friend.
mnem
Space is never free.
So I bought a micronta meter from eBay on 8th feb. This was a nostalgic purchase as it was my first meter that wasn’t a piece of crap when I was a teenager. It was also required to peak an RF amp because that makes my Keysight go all dicky (and the flames and instek as well).
Well what a journey. Seller dispatched it after nearly a week. Then it didn’t turn up. So I contacted the seller and waited and was told that it was sent to someone else in error and that they had secured its return and would redispatch. Yesterday the claim reminder popped up so I escalated it. Turns out whoever received it kept it. Refund issued.
eBay: sometimes you lose after you won
So I bought a micronta meter from eBay on 8th feb. This was a nostalgic purchase as it was my first meter that wasn’t a piece of crap when I was a teenager. It was also required to peak an RF amp because that makes my Keysight go all dicky (and the flames and instek as well).
Well what a journey. Seller dispatched it after nearly a week. Then it didn’t turn up. So I contacted the seller and waited and was told that it was sent to someone else in error and that they had secured its return and would redispatch. Yesterday the claim reminder popped up so I escalated it. Turns out whoever received it kept it. Refund issued.
eBay: sometimes you lose after you won
That sucks, had that happen before though not on electronics.
I got the Communications satellite corp of Washington DC, The air force and i think the Rochester institute for technology, next stop Nasa! Navy!fixed
In further TEA related news my collection now also include the USN (United States Navy)
So now it is "Next stop NASA!"
No i didn't buy anything i just discovered my 608C has a navy badge on it.
I somehow ended up with a power supply and a decade resistance box, from different sources, from the world fame-less Plymouth College of Further Education. It even looks like they scraped the paint off to ID them as property of PCFE with the same dodgy engraver.
Not quite NASA, tho.
I somehow ended up with a power supply and a decade resistance box, from different sources, from the world fame-less Plymouth College of Further Education. It even looks like they scraped the paint off to ID them as property of PCFE with the same dodgy engraver.
Not quite NASA, tho.
Just a note: i don't yet own anything from NASA. Just a running joke of mine is all.
Feeling a little spacey.
Beer BigClive and Electroboom and 'several' high voltage devices nearby. What could go wrong
For the first time in weeks my work bench is totally cleared
Here my 1GHz story.
1) Got a good deal on four 1152a probes from
Neganur. It was about 1 year ago.
2) Started to look for a >1GHz scope
3) Prepared to bank out max. 10K$ for a DSOx 6000A, or a DSOX 4000 something. Hack them of course.
4) Sunday I was at the restaurant with my familiy. BING! Mobile Email Notification about a Keysight DSO6104L 1GHz Scope from, funny enough,
Neganur. Panic attak, cold sweat. 1600€ could not resit. SOLD to ME some minutes later.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/fs-(eu)-keysight-dso6104l-1ghz-lxi-scope-(used)/5) Now I am thinking, do I really need a 1GHz scope?