Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

Likewise. We’re all enablers here. If this was Alcoholics Anonymous then we’d be giving out beers at the door 

[Specmaster]

Likewise. We’re all enablers here. If this was Alcoholics Anonymous then we’d be giving out beers at the door 

Mines a pint[emoji23]

From mobile device so predictive text might have struck again [emoji83]

[Specmaster]

Just a chat with the calibration dept of RS and it seems that the definitive answer to the "traceable calibration" and the "UKAS" calibration apart from the price, is the traceable one is applicable only to the UK which I would suggest is the most suitable for British members whereas the UKAS is an international calibration certificate that is world wide approval. The actual level of calibration is identical, just the documentation it seems is what changes.

I have my quotation now and its £50.40 with collection and delivery included and the normal turn round is a working week. This is slightly cheaper then their published calibration price list which shows a bench multimeter as being £54 or £83 for a UKAS certificate.

I'm guessing that this is because the 3478A only goes up to 300V whereas most go up to 1,000v?

[bd139]

Ahh interesting. That clears that up then. That's a pretty good price. Can't complain really.

[Specmaster]

Ahh interesting. That clears that up then. That's a pretty good price. Can't complain really.

No thats what I thought, I have a couple of other feelers out there at the minute and awaiting a response, including one that advertises multimeters as being just £23???

[Specmaster]

My main test equipment is going to be HP, TTi, Fluke and Advance backed up with CRO's from HP, Hitachi and Iwatsu with a few small selection of Chinese bits.

Just had another quote for the 3478A, from PASS for £101.40 so the RS quote is looking like a real bargain.

[bd139]

Similar here.

Really I'd like to build all my own test gear but I don't have the time (yet). I've managed a few bits so far.

I bought a cheap shitty DMM from PASS years ago and they send me a bloody letter every year reminding me to calibrate it  ... my 5 year old uses it as a toy now (minus probes of course!)

[Specmaster]

Haha, that's what I'm going to get from RS now then, an annual reminder that the bench meter needs re-calibrating...NO they don't HP meters retain their calibrations for bloody years 

[Mr. Scram]

Just a chat with the calibration dept of RS and it seems that the definitive answer to the "traceable calibration" and the "UKAS" calibration apart from the price, is the traceable one is applicable only to the UK which I would suggest is the most suitable for British members whereas the UKAS is an international calibration certificate that is world wide approval. The actual level of calibration is identical, just the documentation it seems is what changes.

I have my quotation now and its £50.40 with collection and delivery included and the normal turn round is a working week. This is slightly cheaper then their published calibration price list which shows a bench multimeter as being £54 or £83 for a UKAS certificate.

I'm guessing that this is because the 3478A only goes up to 300V whereas most go up to 1,000v?

That's actually suprisingly doable. Maybe it pays to check what it costs to calibrate my meter. Even though the DMMCheck gives a lot of certainty, an actual calibration would be nice. It could serve as the standard for the rest.

[Specmaster]

That's right. I have to have mine done cos I fucked up with the solder while changing the battery, but now I'll be able use that as a transfer standard to all my other meters, not so much on the DC side as my voltage reference does that pretty well, but I was thinking for the current, ACV and the resistance ranges and as all my other meters have manual adjusts via pots and trimmers, I can then easily adjust those to read the same for any given test.

[med6753]

On this side of the pond when we say 'RS' among the technical community it's short hand for (now defunct) Radio Shack. I assume 'RS' in the UK is some other company? 

[Specmaster]

Yes, over here RS refers to RS Components Ltd, years ago they used to be called Radio Spares and hence where the RS comes from.

Interestingly, over this side of the pond, Radio Shack used to be called Tandy.

[bd139]

Indeed. Our RS is a huge company, unlike American RS 

This sort of shows the scale: http://www.electrocomponents.com/media/videolibrary/from-order-to-despatch

More like mouser etc

[Specmaster]

Oh dear, thats done it now, you know how they like to have the biggest of everything, they'll be beating the war drum now for sure 

I know that RS is huge, I used to call on their HQ in Corby quite regularly for meetings with their engineering staff looking at various lighting scheme and controls thereof for them. Just HQ is massive in its own right and they had excellent subsidized dining facilities there I remember. Always had a soft spot for RS and always used them for parts be they electronic, electrical, mechanical or tools where ever I've worked over the years.

[Specmaster]

Order is with RS now for the calibration of my 3478A, just waiting for more information from them now about what documentation I need to raise for this to happen or will they be handling it at their end and issuing the driver with all the documentation for it.

[mnementh]

Yes, over here RS refers to RS Components Ltd, years ago they used to be called Radio Spares and hence where the RS comes from.

Interestingly, over this side of the pond, Radio Shack used to be called Tandy.

Oh, they were known the same over here as well; Tandy was a leather goods manufacturer (Those horrible leather wallet kits you laced together in summer camp? That was them) that for some reason decided to bail out Radio Shack when they bought out Red Ten and bit off more than they could chew. It was either sheer brilliance or amazing dumb luck; they brought their inventorying system to Tandy-Radio Shack and at the same time hooked up with Sinclair and a few other computer visionaries and started producing toy PCs of the Vic20/Commodore64 ilk; this was the source of the TRS in the TRS-80 and its descendants.

For a while they were effin' 'uge; even became an industrial supplier which I bought from a few times. But the China-direct invasion hit them hard; their management kept removing more and more hobbyist product, and giving more and more real estate to other brands inside the store until it turned into a slightly different version of Brand Central. Once the core "Hobby Electronics" stuff vaporised, nobody cared for an overpriced electronics retailer with a tiny inventory when they could go to Best Butt or Fry's and shop oodles more makes & models even still get SOME hobbyist stuff. When Amazon started selling household electronics with 2-day delivery, that was the death knell for them (and I suspect Fry's & Best Buy may not be far behind).

Radidio Shack is like Toys 'R Us in that respect; they've been going out of business for over a decade. It's like death by millimeters with both of them.


mnem
"Even the great dragon can be bled dry by mere paper cuts, if there are enough of them."

[tggzzz]

Always had a soft spot for RS and always used them for parts be they electronic, electrical, mechanical or tools where ever I've worked over the years.

In my formative years RS used to buy up the almost-bad components from major manufacturers, and rebadge them. Hence their opamps' Vos was bimodal, with peaks near +- the components Vosmax.

[Specmaster]

Oh, they were known the same over here as well; Tandy was a leather goods manufacturer (Those horrible leather wallet kits you laced together in summer camp? That was them) that for some reason decided to bail out Radio Shack when they bought out Red Ten and bit off more than they could chew. It was either sheer brilliance or amazing dumb luck; they brought their inventorying system to Tandy-Radio Shack and at the same time hooked up with Sinclair and a few other computer visionaries and started producing toy PCs of the Vic20/Commodore64 ilk; this was the source of the TRS in the TRS-80 and its descendants.

For a while they were effin' 'uge; even became an industrial supplier which I bought from a few times. But the China-direct invasion hit them hard; their management kept removing more and more hobbyist product, and giving more and more real estate to other brands inside the store until it turned into a slightly different version of Brand Central. Once the core "Hobby Electronics" stuff vaporised, nobody cared for an overpriced electronics retailer with a tiny inventory when they could go to Best Butt or Fry's and shop oodles more makes & models even still get SOME hobbyist stuff. When Amazon started selling household electronics with 2-day delivery, that was the death knell for them (and I suspect Fry's & Best Buy may not be far behind).

Radidio Shack is like Toys 'R Us in that respect; they've been going out of business for over a decade. It's like death by millimeters with both of them.


mnem
"Even the great dragon can be bled dry by mere paper cuts, if there are enough of them."

I can't help but think that they made the fatal decision to dump the hobbyist stuff instead of being different to the Frys and the Best Buys and over here, Dixons and Currys. Had they ditched the other stuff, then at least they would removed 2 other large competitors and may have survived or at least delayed their demise for a few more years by practically becoming almost the defacto standard hobbyiest supplier in the high street of electronic parts and diy kits.

[bd139]

Always had a soft spot for RS and always used them for parts be they electronic, electrical, mechanical or tools where ever I've worked over the years.

In my formative years RS used to buy up the almost-bad components from major manufacturers, and rebadge them. Hence their opamps' Vos was bimodal, with peaks near +- the components Vosmax.

Ah yes. That was when they sold databooks and you had to play “guess which OEM part this is” 

Edit: anyone remember bi-pak bargain UMUT parts? That was the worst.

[Specmaster]

I remember that there was a electronics shop in Ware called Bi-Pak

[bd139]

That’s the one. When my parents visited my grandfather in ware I buggered off into the town and browsed the god awful selection of crap they sold.

Unmarked untested transistors and TTL logic it was.

[Specmaster]

I think they were one of the first to enter the pre-pak market, Tandy followed suit as well.

[tggzzz]

Always had a soft spot for RS and always used them for parts be they electronic, electrical, mechanical or tools where ever I've worked over the years.

In my formative years RS used to buy up the almost-bad components from major manufacturers, and rebadge them. Hence their opamps' Vos was bimodal, with peaks near +- the components Vosmax.

Ah yes. That was when they sold databooks and you had to play “guess which OEM part this is” 

Edit: anyone remember bi-pak bargain UMUT parts? That was the worst.

I remember their adverts, but never bought anything from them. Probably a wise decision.

[bd139]

Indeed.

Found an ad example:



Annoyingly some of these worked their way back onto the market in the 1980s and ruined some of my earlier attempts at electronics.

[Specmaster]

Yep, in those days it was not easy either to identify an unmarked IC, never had the IC tester and identifying equipment that you can get very easily these days.