Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

Not to mention the huge forces that would come into play should there be a short circuit, that cable, big as it is, would become a wild anaconda thrashing about and ripping that termination of the din rail in flash.

This came up in my feed after watching that; not nearly as explosive... but still pretty interesting.



There.... that's more like it. Ohhh, Saskia...

mnem

[mnementh]

Also, there is a one even bigger concern here : the horizontal amplifier clearly needs some attention ! For, the trace does not span the entire width of the graticule !

So need to calibrate the H amplifier gain and also check it for linearity at the same time.

Have fun and report ! 

Wrong Sherlock. The trace on a Type 535A does not span the entire width of the CRT in the X1 position. It is correct as shown. Don't believe me? Go look it up.

   That does not seem very practical, why would Tek torture their users so much, why.... so yes I obeyed and went to look it up ! 

Don't have a 535A so I just downloaded the manual from Tekwiki. I went all over it, and everywhere it showed, said, or implied, that it should span the entire graticule !  See below the page pertaining to the calibration of the time base. I highlighted two things :

1) Top right, it says clearly one should adjust the sweep to get 10.5cm span ! As any other glowing scope.

2) Bottom left : that might be where the confusion lies. They say that when checking / adjusting the sweep for linearity, you should ignore the first and last cm/DIV of the trace because that's where most of the non-linearity always is. That's all. They never said to reduce the span of the trace, only to ignore the first/last bits for calibration purposes... 

Do I get a cookie ? With lots of chocolate chips please ! 

mnem
*toddles off to the cupboard for more*

[Vince]

Oh, just found some more interesting stuff in that old box... some solder paste ! 5 NOS 35grams syringes, Mfg date on the stickers on them range from mid '89 to late 1990, 32 years old ! 

Never used solder paste, but sure enough not good anymore, so had some fun and tried it on a small scrap board ! 

It does not look pretty 

It also smells so bad that in comparison acetone smells like rose !

I hope I did not lose too much life expectancy there... a fume extraction system is most definitely on the list of things to get in the lab !
I just can't stand breathing flux fumes anymore, I am getting old I guess... but even for 10 seconds, still too much for me.. this stuff is just horrible.

[Vince]

No Dwagon, I asked for cookies not pop-corn ! 

[Specmaster]

ok, clobber me for unsafe jimmy-rigging ...

.....snip

I don't think anyone you dare yell at you because you are well versed in explosives. If they did they be a dumb ass. 

Yep, the next parcel from Germany would most certainly be treated as hostile under those conditions and this might well be applicable 

[Robert763]

No Dwagon, I asked for cookies not pop-corn ! 

The Popcorn is for the Dwagon while he watches the show with you an Med

[Saskia]

why send by postal service if direct GPS based air delivery can be attained ?

[Specmaster]

Oh, just found some more interesting stuff in that old box... some solder paste ! 5 NOS 35grams syringes, Mfg date on the stickers on them range from mid '89 to late 1990, 32 years old ! 

Never used solder paste, but sure enough not good anymore, so had some fun and tried it on a small scrap board ! 

It does not look pretty 

It also smells so bad that in comparison acetone smells like rose !

I hope I did not lose too much life expectancy there... a fume extraction system is most definitely on the list of things to get in the lab !
I just can't stand breathing flux fumes anymore, I am getting old I guess... but even for 10 seconds, still too much for me.. this stuff is just horrible.

Well, you did use rather a lot of it on that test 

[mnementh]

No Dwagon, I asked for cookies not pop-corn ! 

mnem
I had friends on that Death Star... 

[med6753]

Also, there is a one even bigger concern here : the horizontal amplifier clearly needs some attention ! For, the trace does not span the entire width of the graticule !

So need to calibrate the H amplifier gain and also check it for linearity at the same time.

Have fun and report ! 

Wrong Sherlock. The trace on a Type 535A does not span the entire width of the CRT in the X1 position. It is correct as shown. Don't believe me? Go look it up.

That does not seem very practical, why would Tek torture their users so much, why.... so yes I obeyed and went to look it up ! 

Don't have a 535A so I just downloaded the manual from Tekwiki.

I went all over it, and everywhere it showed, said, or implied, that it should span the entire graticule ! 

See below the page pertaining to the calibration of the time base. I highlighted two things :

1) Top right, it says clearly one should adjust the sweep to get 10.5cm span ! As any other glowing scope.

2) Bottom left : that might be where the confusion lies. They say that when checking / adjusting the sweep for linearity, you should ignore the first and last cm/DIV of the trace because that's where most of the non-linearity always is. That's all. They never said to reduce the span of the trace, only to ignore the first/last bits for calibration purposes... 

Do I get a cookie ?

With lots of chocolate chips please ! 

Try again. Direct from a Tektronix booklet. Is that full screen trace? Nope. And I've never seen a properly adjusted Type 535 or 545 that DID have full screen trace on X1. And guess what? My Type 547 isn't full screen either on X1 but is longer than typical older 500 series. Left leading edge.

Edit.....that's the reason for the note to check measurements between 1 and 9. And why the sweep is adjusted to only occupy between 1 and 9.

And....my Type 535A is properly time base calibrated with the trace length shown and I can prove it.





   

[mnementh]

No Dwagon, I asked for cookies not pop-corn ! 

The Popcorn is for the Dwagon while he watches the show with you an Med

I can do BOTH!!!



mnem
*toddles off to look for more popcorn .GIFs*

[Robert763]

...Anyone know what the mystery item (it's a set of bit that go together) is? I was 99% sure I knew and was right.

Damn you Robert... I know we've seen that in here before; it uses a Sony Watchman with the 90° CRT as a display.

Does it work...?

mnem
digs around the office for his brain cudgel*

Oops missed this one.
Yes, there is a composite video monitor in there that uses the Sony "Watchman" flat CRT.  Tht is a big clue to the rest of it. There is a 12 V 2.5 Ah Cyclon SLA battery (knackered), Mascot SLA charger a junction box and a black rectangular block on an telescopic stick.
It's a old covert video camera system. Supposedly ex SAS and used for looking through windows and the like at sieges, hostage takings etc.
The black block has a small tv camera with IR filter and a LED IR illuminator. Apart from the knackered battery it all works.
A bit of a collectors item really

[Vince]

Also, there is a one even bigger concern here : the horizontal amplifier clearly needs some attention ! For, the trace does not span the entire width of the graticule !

So need to calibrate the H amplifier gain and also check it for linearity at the same time.

Have fun and report ! 

Wrong Sherlock. The trace on a Type 535A does not span the entire width of the CRT in the X1 position. It is correct as shown. Don't believe me? Go look it up.

That does not seem very practical, why would Tek torture their users so much, why.... so yes I obeyed and went to look it up ! 

Don't have a 535A so I just downloaded the manual from Tekwiki.

I went all over it, and everywhere it showed, said, or implied, that it should span the entire graticule ! 

See below the page pertaining to the calibration of the time base. I highlighted two things :

1) Top right, it says clearly one should adjust the sweep to get 10.5cm span ! As any other glowing scope.

2) Bottom left : that might be where the confusion lies. They say that when checking / adjusting the sweep for linearity, you should ignore the first and last cm/DIV of the trace because that's where most of the non-linearity always is. That's all. They never said to reduce the span of the trace, only to ignore the first/last bits for calibration purposes... 

Do I get a cookie ?

With lots of chocolate chips please ! 

Try again. Direct from a Tektronix booklet. Is that full screen trace? Nope. And I've never seen a properly adjusted Type 535 or 545 that DID have full screen trace on X1. And guess what? My Type 547 isn't full screen either on X1 but is longer than typical older 500 series. Left leading edge.

And....my Type 535A is properly time base calibrated with the trace length shown and I can prove it.
 

A booklet is a more authoritative source of a calibration procedure than the calibration procedure in the service manual ?!

I don't understand but that's OK, you can have your 535A which ever way you want it 

... but that does mean I won't have any cookies though.... 

[Vince]

Oh, just found some more interesting stuff in that old box... some solder paste ! 5 NOS 35grams syringes, Mfg date on the stickers on them range from mid '89 to late 1990, 32 years old ! 

Never used solder paste, but sure enough not good anymore, so had some fun and tried it on a small scrap board ! 

It does not look pretty 

It also smells so bad that in comparison acetone smells like rose !

I hope I did not lose too much life expectancy there... a fume extraction system is most definitely on the list of things to get in the lab !
I just can't stand breathing flux fumes anymore, I am getting old I guess... but even for 10 seconds, still too much for me.. this stuff is just horrible.

Well, you did use rather a lot of it on that test 

The more the betterer !!! 

I guess I watched Louis Rossmann too much..  "there is no such thing as too much flux... " .. as he pours half of his 35cc syringe of flux onto a poor SMD resistor 

[mnementh]

   ...Never used solder paste, but sure enough not good anymore, so had some fun and tried it on a small scrap board ! 

It does not look pretty  It also smells so bad that in comparison acetone smells like rose ! I hope I did not lose too much life expectancy there... a fume extraction system is most definitely on the list of things to get in the lab !  I just can't stand breathing flux fumes anymore, I am getting old I guess... but even for 10 seconds, still too much for me.. this stuff is just horrible.

Well, you did use rather a lot of it on that test 

Yes, and evidently zero prep on that crusty-ass old PCB!

mnem

[Robert763]

But But. Vince said "For, the trace does not span the entire width of the graticule !" NOT the full width of the tube.
In the 535 photo the trace does not fill the graticule never mind the 2.5mm either side required by rhe manual

 

Edit my colour for clarity.

[Vince]

No Dwagon, I asked for cookies not pop-corn ! 

The Popcorn is for the Dwagon while he watches the show with you an Med

I didn't mean for it to be any show...he asked me to look in the manual, I did, and the manual is clear as water so I don't see where any argument / battle could stem from ?! It's just facts written black on white by the manufacturer, what is there to discuss ?! 

[mnementh]

Runs out to see his popcorn "connection" for an emergency top-off*



mnem
 

[med6753]

A booklet is a more authoritative source of a calibration procedure than the calibration procedure in the service manual ?!

I don't understand but that's OK, you can have your 535A which ever way you want it 

... but that does mean I won't have any cookies though.... 

The booklet that pix came from is an official Tektronix booklet as shown. Ask yourself the question. Would Tek publish photos of scopes that were improperly adjusted for training purposes?

[Vince]

But But. Vince said "For, the trace does not span the entire width of the graticule !" NOT the full width of the tube.
In the 535 photo the trace does not fill the graticule never mind the 2.5mm either side required by rhe manual

 

Edit my colour for clarity.

Oh no your are stirring it like Mnem, don't do that ! You naughty Rob ! 

I did NOT want to start an argument !  I simply read the manual as asked by Med. The result seemed limpid to me, but Med disagrees... that's all, I am not here to convince him of anything, I simply looke dit up in the SM and never intended to use that as leverage to enter a fight ! I am sick and itred enough of everybody arguing for silly stuff here all the time, not to want to ignite an argument myself !

Med sorry, please don't take it any further, I love you, just ignore me  and let's move on to whatever subject will pop up next ! 

[Vince]

A booklet is a more authoritative source of a calibration procedure than the calibration procedure in the service manual ?!

I don't understand but that's OK, you can have your 535A which ever way you want it 

... but that does mean I won't have any cookies though.... 

The booklet that pix came from is an official Tektronix booklet as shown. Ask yourself the question. Would Tek publish photos of scopes that were improperly adjusted for training purposes?

Honestly yes, I would believe that. Users manual I bet are not made by the same people that design the thing...
And regardless, what do techs and engineers use and trust to get calibration procedures and technical info.. a user manual or a service manual ?! 
A user manual normally does not contain calibration procedures... let's see what the procedure in that user manual says one should do to calibrate sweep, and let's compare to the SM ? 

[med6753]

No "argument" here. I'm cool. 

[mnementh]

Well, you did use rather a lot of it on that test 

The more the betterer !!! 

I guess I watched Louis Rossmann too much..  "there is no such thing as too much flux... " .. as he pours half of his 35cc syringe of flux onto a poor SMD resistor 

For those playing along at home... Precise application of exactly the correct amount of solder paste is critical to successful reflow soldering.

mnem

[Vince]

No "argument" here. I'm cool. 

[Vince]

Well, you did use rather a lot of it on that test 

The more the betterer !!! 

I guess I watched Louis Rossmann too much..  "there is no such thing as too much flux... " .. as he pours half of his 35cc syringe of flux onto a poor SMD resistor 

For those playing along at home... Precise application of exactly the correct amount is critical to successful reflow soldering.

mnem

You joy killer !!! 

I was having a bit of fun with expired paste on a scrap board and you are talking serious now !