Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[capt bullshot]

And now for something completely different

Fun with TEA!

This is the setup: The TA520 Time Interval Analyzer, the dual channel Tek AWG, a scope, a thermometer, a roll of RG174, a splitter and a dual mixer time difference contraption



The DMTD contraption:



A simple power splitter, good enough for 10MHz



A convenient roll of RG174 cable:



For better results, some thermal shield was added to the setup:



So, fire it all up and wait for the measurement to settle. The TA520 shows a nice horizontal line (time difference between the mixer outputs at 100Hz offset frequency). So 100ns equals 1ps in real.
Doing the numbers from the readout, the DMTD contraption has 1.1ps peak-to-peak / 0.16ps rms noise floor.



Now, I've taken the heat gun and partially warmed the RG174 by maybe 5°C ... 10°C. Result is here:



There's a change in delay of the warmed up RG174 line of about 2.5ps within 12sec.

[Specmaster]

Well its been a whole week since I purchased that 2nd Fluke 85 on eBay, and it was marked down as being dispatched the same day. Estimated date of delivery was shown as being 16th Sept and nothing has been received. I emailed the seller yesterday asking if they got proof of posting and no reply back from them. So today I have filed a claim with eBay, let's wait and see what happens. 

Something is going wrong, the first item I sold after a long break of selling hasn't arrived yet, I'm hoping it will turn up before the buyer files a claim. They mentioned problems with other items recently too.

David

If it should happen to turn up before the 24th, I'll cancel the claim, I don't wish to piss on someone for the hell of it, same I wouldn't like it if they did the same to me. That said, though, I did get a sense that things may not be quite right with the sale. It is a newcomer to eBay, zero feedback, incorrect description, listing it as new condition, which it so clearly is not, had poor photos, and they had clearly been edited poorly. I asked the seller if they had any better photos, they kindly sent some almost immediately, the edited part was the removal of a person's hand holding the meter, which did strike me as odd removing the hand.

But as I say, if it turns up before the 24th and it is OK, I'll gladly cancel the claim, but I'm kind of getting some bad vibes here, but thought I'd take a chance on it as I have the pay for after its delivered scheme with PayPal, that means I pay 2 weeks after the order date, which will be the 25th, so I've not actually paid a penny, yet.

As ebay is now holding on to new sellers funds for 30 days they probably got fed up and forgot about it.

What... are they holding onto it for that long? I paid using PayPal as I always do....just checked my PP account and the bank, and it seems that PP have already paid eBay, and that PP took the money from my bank already, probably because they have to pay it to eBay now then?

What I did find interesting is that on the transaction details, PP say that if there is a problem with the deal, to let them know about by the 22nd March 2022 as it should be covered by money-back warranty?

[Specmaster]

I’d have a pet weasel.

Dogs, cats hell no.

Admit it, your only thinking that because a weasel is a killing machine, you only want one to take down your big fat bastard squirrel who eats all your fruit. 

That thought did pass my mind

Actually I found the culprit and I owe an apology to the squirrels. It’s was a sodding giant jay. Caught the fucker pecking holes in the apples. Next year I shoot it.

Don't get seen doing that, it is very much illegal, regardless of whether you have a licence for the weapon itself.

More importantly it might be counterproductive. Jays, as with all/most corvids, are territorial. That jay and a small number of its cohort may be all that's between BD and a whole parliament of rooks taking up residence in his trees.

I was at a hotel bar in Tintagel having a drink and looking out at the grounds when the sky went black as the local rooks that nested in the trees at the bottom of the hotel grounds all took off at once. They tend to nest together in impressively big numbers.

I never knew that, if Rooks did move in they might totally destroy his apples and then promptly dump huge piles of shit everywhere and when do that it is a huge mess to clear up 

[bd139]

I’d have a pet weasel.

Dogs, cats hell no.

Admit it, your only thinking that because a weasel is a killing machine, you only want one to take down your big fat bastard squirrel who eats all your fruit. 

That thought did pass my mind

Actually I found the culprit and I owe an apology to the squirrels. It’s was a sodding giant jay. Caught the fucker pecking holes in the apples. Next year I shoot it.

Don't get seen doing that, it is very much illegal, regardless of whether you have a licence for the weapon itself.

Yes aware of that.

I don’t think you need a license for a rail gun nor any evidence will be left 

[cyclin_al]

Only TE I got was a HP 8903A audio analyser, "working last time I used it"  ...

LOL heard that one before. I've been asked to look at several radios that other hams got where the seller said exactly the same thing.  Of course they didn't work.

Last time they used it is not the same as the last time they attempted to power it on...
-- just sayin'

[bd139]

I still remember that guy selling the HP attenuator driver box a couple of years back for 2 quid. He was honest.

“No guarantees. This actually blew up in my face when I plugged it in. You have been warned.”

“I only want it for the feet”

“Call it £2?”

Sold!  .  RIFA of course.

[mnementh]

 

Success. I can fully extend/retract the lens assembly with battery power, and the lens cover opens/closes as it should. 

I think I'm going to take my little victory here and toddle off to bed. Tomorrow's plenty soon enough to find out if that FPC I bodged with CA is okay or trash, and I'm tired enough now that I'm liable to break shit putting it back together.

mnem
                                      

Looks promising so far. Would be nice to have your patience.   Crossed fingers.   Looking forward to full success. 

Today I'm going to double down on the misery and tackle the other optical assembly while the assembly roadmap is still fresh in my mind. And since I now have freshly-charged batteries for my DSC-H2, I'll try and get some pics of the process. I think it will be an interesting look into the design/engineering of these amazing little devices.

You know, actual engineering as opposed to a 1.5-Ω stable (allegedly) amplifier *coughZ.12cough*  that probably operates at 10% THD at rated spec with that load. 

mnem
Why again am I looking for a replacement for this camera...?

[Robert763]

Well its been a whole week since I purchased that 2nd Fluke 85 on eBay, and it was marked down as being dispatched the same day. Estimated date of delivery was shown as being 16th Sept and nothing has been received. I emailed the seller yesterday asking if they got proof of posting and no reply back from them. So today I have filed a claim with eBay, let's wait and see what happens. 

Something is going wrong, the first item I sold after a long break of selling hasn't arrived yet, I'm hoping it will turn up before the buyer files a claim. They mentioned problems with other items recently too.

David

If it should happen to turn up before the 24th, I'll cancel the claim, I don't wish to piss on someone for the hell of it, same I wouldn't like it if they did the same to me. That said, though, I did get a sense that things may not be quite right with the sale. It is a newcomer to eBay, zero feedback, incorrect description, listing it as new condition, which it so clearly is not, had poor photos, and they had clearly been edited poorly. I asked the seller if they had any better photos, they kindly sent some almost immediately, the edited part was the removal of a person's hand holding the meter, which did strike me as odd removing the hand.

But as I say, if it turns up before the 24th and it is OK, I'll gladly cancel the claim, but I'm kind of getting some bad vibes here, but thought I'd take a chance on it as I have the pay for after its delivered scheme with PayPal, that means I pay 2 weeks after the order date, which will be the 25th, so I've not actually paid a penny, yet.

As ebay is now holding on to new sellers funds for 30 days they probably got fed up and forgot about it.

What... are they holding onto it for that long? I paid using PayPal as I always do....just checked my PP account and the bank, and it seems that PP have already paid eBay, and that PP took the money from my bank already, probably because they have to pay it to eBay now then?

What I did find interesting is that on the transaction details, PP say that if there is a problem with the deal, to let them know about by the 22nd March 2022 as it should be covered by money-back warranty?

Oops New are "only" 21 days, ex suspended are 30 days. See https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/getting-paid/getting-paid-items-youve-sold/pending-payments?

[Robert763]

I just dropped £150 on 10 bits of TE and one general coverage receiver. Includes 2 VNAs and 2 S parameter test sets. All sight unseen. Some have known issues. Collection tomorrow afternoon. Now I need to find somewhere to put it 

[mansaxel]

I just dropped £150 on 10 bits of TE and one general coverage receiver. Includes 2 VNAs and 2 S parameter test sets. All sight unseen. Some have known issues. Collection tomorrow afternoon. Now I need to find somewhere to put it 

This is the TE spirit, in its most pure form. Splendid work!

[TERRA Operative]

Just pulled this old pile of crap from the back of the shelves to have a poke at.
A Yokogawa 2853 DC voltage/current 'standard', as good a standard as 3 dials can get you.....

After rewiring the supply side to the transformer so it won't kill me, the output quality doesn't quite match up with my Fluke 731B, not by a long shot.... I wonder if it has something to do with every single resistor that isn't a wirewound type being nasty old carbon composites...
I might replace them all with 50 or 100ppm metal films for a laugh, just to see how shiny I can polish this turd. 

I have a battery powered version, a Yokogawa 2554 that works up to 100V, which is waaayy better than this 2853 on the healing bench now.

Screenshots from my DMM below, it's obvious which are Fluke and which are the old Yokogawa. 

[bd139]

I just dropped £150 on 10 bits of TE and one general coverage receiver. Includes 2 VNAs and 2 S parameter test sets. All sight unseen. Some have known issues. Collection tomorrow afternoon. Now I need to find somewhere to put it 

Your last point is the only reason I don’t own that much kit 

Congratulations though.

[Saskia]

congratulations, Robert

[AVGresponding]

@bd139  I'm considering bidding on a calibrator from your favourite vendor. I am slightly concerned about the described failure mode, I wonder if you've looked, and have any thoughts? I wonder if the KVD has been removed?

[bd139]

@bd139  I'm considering bidding on a calibrator from your favourite vendor. I am slightly concerned about the described failure mode, I wonder if you've looked, and have any thoughts? I wonder if the KVD has been removed?

I think he’s honest enough about stuff to be fair.

Although quick glance at the service manual suggests the issue might be on the digital side of things. No guarantees and you don’t know how fuckerized it is. The display versus what comes out is completely drive by wire ie it’s not directly metered.

[AVGresponding]

@bd139  I'm considering bidding on a calibrator from your favourite vendor. I am slightly concerned about the described failure mode, I wonder if you've looked, and have any thoughts? I wonder if the KVD has been removed?

I think he’s honest enough about stuff to be fair.

Although quick glance at the service manual suggests the issue might be on the digital side of things. No guarantees and you don’t know how fuckerized it is.

If that were the case it's not too bad. A missing set of KV dividers would be a major ball-ache. tbh it may well go past my limit anyway!   

[cyclin_al]

Has anybody ever dealt with any of these companies/websites?
(it should be the same part on each website)
https://www.ereplacementparts.com/driver-cap-p-606310.html
https://www.partswarehouse.com/Bosch-Driver-Cap-BSH-2610916116-p/bsh-2610916116.htm
https://www.jensentools.com/2610916116-dremel-driver-cap/p/302ie6116
https://widgetsupply.com/product/beh95.html
https://www.mmtoolparts.com/store/dremel-driver-cap-2610916116

As you can guess, I need a driver cap to attach a flex shaft to my rotary tool (think Dremel).
It appears the rotary tool from Canadian Tire indicates the driver cap comes with the accessory kit.
The Canadian Tire accessory kit containing the flex shaft indicates to use the driver cap that came with the rotary tool.
Unfortunately, these were purchased some time ago.

You wonder why we call it Crappy Tire? 

Time to find something else productive to do ...

[AVGresponding]

Yep, someone wanted it more than me... oh well, there'll be another along at some point!

[bd139]

Yep, someone wanted it more than me... oh well, there'll be another along at some point!

Yeah. You might have dodged a bullet there though.

I have several other calibrators on the watch list 

[AVGresponding]

Yep, someone wanted it more than me... oh well, there'll be another along at some point!

Yeah. You might have dodged a bullet there though.

I have several other calibrators on the watch list 

Probably best to keep the details to yourself!   

[AVGresponding]

Ideally I want something like a Fluke 5100, that does AC V/I as well as DC V/I. I'm patient, it's all good.

I suppose if I sold off my surplus TE it would improve my budget for said calibrator. Just have to decide what's really surplus...

[Vince]

So you will be stopping by Saint-Nazaire where I live then, interesting ! 

I thought that you'd said that you lived a bit outside Paris, not out in carrot-muncher territory (or whatever the local slang for inhabitants of Nantes and environs is).

Nope, don't know where you got that idea ?! Never lived anywhere near Paris and always made a strong point that I would never ever take a job in Paris, as I value quality of life way too much.

I lived in Nantes for a year or so, then moved  near Saint-Nazaire in 2014 and built a house here recently so definitely not moving anywhere any time soon...
My little village is the middle of the local natural park, consisting of a huge marsh. The local  friends are Coypu. I found one last winter i my back yard eating grass through the snow. Every year the village organizes a hunt and people get one or two Euro for each dead Coypu... one needs to show the tail of them to prove he did kill them.
You regularly find them on the road main road as it is surrounded by the marsh, usually... flat as a pan cake, ahem...

So nothing to do with Paris. Maybe you got confused with the Tek scope I got recently, the big 11301 boat anchor that I bought from a seller near Paris. I knew a few people also near Paris, from the Renault Safrane forum I frequent. One of them went to pick the scope up, then passed it to another loca forum member who then drove 450kms all the way to me to give ti to me last month. He was driving over here for a vacation so cost him nothing to bring the scope with him.

[bd139]

Yep, someone wanted it more than me... oh well, there'll be another along at some point!

Yeah. You might have dodged a bullet there though.

I have several other calibrators on the watch list 

Probably best to keep the details to yourself!   

Yeah indeed 


Managed to do some TE stuff. Have recapped the TM501. Didn’t take any pictures as it wasn’t very exciting and I was cooking dinner at the same time. Voltages all make sense now.

[bd139]

Ideally I want something like a Fluke 5100, that does AC V/I as well as DC V/I. I'm patient, it's all good.

I suppose if I sold off my surplus TE it would improve my budget for said calibrator. Just have to decide what's really surplus...

That’s difficult to do that is. Stuff just sort of stays here at the moment 

I’m going to bounce the Solartron and the Farnell TOPS1 here.

Genuinely I wanted the 6237B that went over the weekend but at £157 that was a nope. Max 100.

[Neomys Sapiens]

https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/digital-phosphor-oszilloskop-dpo-tektronix-tds3052/1871457069-168-4712

any good ?
he would trade for a Voltcraft 160 MHz AFG, I have a Peaktech 160 MHz AFG.
Would that be a good trade ?

Seriously dodgy. The title says TDS3052, some of the pictures are of a 3032, but others are a 3034?? And the language on the devices change between German and Russian?? So what is he actually selling? There are no pictures of a 3052.

McBryce.

It seems to be a case of the often claimed bandwith extension by SW hack. Would not risk it.