Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mansaxel]

This will attract quite a few more bids I expect:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325066569257

Awwwwfuckfuckfuck I want that! Oh, my. My wallet prays it will take off insanely , my heart wants it to stay silly cheap.

Of note is that AP are Systems, so a PC with a special (sometimes ISA only) card is required. There's a cottage industry building interfacing tech  that will make old mainframes like this one work on newer computers where the interface boards are long gone. No mention of either interface or cable in this sale, which means this little text is all too fitting:

The System is meant to connect to a PC with the APIB bus. The APIB bus is basically a bi-directional 8 bit bus with a multiplexed address and data on a 25 pin DSUB cable. The controlling PC was meant to have an Audio precision interface card (provided with the unit).  The reason a proprietary interface was developed is that the unit can be made cheaper without providing a built in processor (like with the S and G units) and the original IBM PC parallel ports were not bidirectional (pre ECP and EPP). Unfortunately, usually the AP box is found alone….the APIB card tossed out in the old computer used to run the system (especially since the 25 pin DSUB looks like a regular PC serial or parallel port).

(from https://powermadindustries.wordpress.com/ )

Edit: Neper basically wrote all there is on this (literally!).

[tggzzz]

Have to admit, for some moment I couldn't believe you were asking for help with that.

Only for a moment? Eh, think I need to make some more intelligent remarks in the future then. Need to crank that up to "I knew there was no way in hell you're that dumb". 

Old saying: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me".

[Cerebus]

Have to admit, for some moment I couldn't believe you were asking for help with that.

Only for a moment? Eh, think I need to make some more intelligent remarks in the future then. Need to crank that up to "I knew there was no way in hell you're that dumb". 

Old saying: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me".

Has everybody been sitting in a puddle of shame, thinking back to the time they allowed themselves to be fooled three times, and thus have been too emotionally burdened to post anything?

I ask because nobody has posted anything for three and a half hours, and I normally take that as an indication that something is broken, but the forum seems to be working fine. 

[Zucca]

Sent a offer for a MPLAB ICD4 160 US pesos.

I am wasted.

[med6753]

Have to admit, for some moment I couldn't believe you were asking for help with that.

Only for a moment? Eh, think I need to make some more intelligent remarks in the future then. Need to crank that up to "I knew there was no way in hell you're that dumb". 

Old saying: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me".

Has everybody been sitting in a puddle of shame, thinking back to the time they allowed themselves to be fooled three times, and thus have been too emotionally burdened to post anything?

I ask because nobody has posted anything for three and a half hours, and I normally take that as an indication that something is broken, but the forum seems to be working fine. 

[25 CPS]

Have to admit, for some moment I couldn't believe you were asking for help with that.

Only for a moment? Eh, think I need to make some more intelligent remarks in the future then. Need to crank that up to "I knew there was no way in hell you're that dumb". 

Old saying: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me".

Has everybody been sitting in a puddle of shame, thinking back to the time they allowed themselves to be fooled three times, and thus have been too emotionally burdened to post anything?

I ask because nobody has posted anything for three and a half hours, and I normally take that as an indication that something is broken, but the forum seems to be working fine. 

They're doing as instructed and saving it for Discord.

[Saskia]

spent yesterday afternoon with a trip to the dump offloading paper, cartons, the remains of a computer desk. then Reichelt ( did not buy anything, a rare occurrence), then went on to do the first walk of the year around Banter See.



had some chow, then watched a bit Drachinifel, then went to bed.
Have received a call for help. my buddy who bought my boat has serious issues with the outboard. the ECU is toast, the motor idles under load. one of the engine experts set that a thyristor in the ECU is dying, however replacements are no longer available and the entire thing is covered with epoxy or some other goo.
anyone got an idea how to get to the board without toasting it ? ClF3 is not an option ...

[jh15]

Just another "device" made to throw away.

[Cerebus]

Conformal coatings are not made equal. Some can be quite easily removed mechanically, some are even gel-like and you can get through them with little more than a lolly stick. Others need solvents. Others resist any reasonable solvent and then you are into the realm of etchants and little prospect of successful repair. I have heard of people trying nitric acid in extremis, but I've not encountered anyone desperate enough to start thinking about Fluorine chemistry.

Bottom line, one would need to try progressively aggressive methods out on "an inconspicuous corner" as they say on household cleaning products. Something targeting the marine environment probably uses one of the tougher encapsulants and I fear that you may be plumb out of luck.

[Cubdriver]

So... could use some help on this one. Datatron 1061. Opening her up on the bottom. Looks like a bird pooped on the bottom cover maybe?

Turning around. The mystery continues. What could possibly be wrong? Any thoughts? Seriously guys, completely lost, could use some help here...

Oh, crap - some idiot put a Duracell in there?  That sucks.

-Pat

[Ice-Tea]

As far as I can tell the original Lithium Thionyl battery.

[Robert763]

As far as I can tell the original Lithium Thionyl battery.

Replace the series blocking diode. Very rare for Li primary cells to leak.

[vk6zgo]

Oh, forgot to post a piccie showing the funny looking transistor symbols in that counter... here it is. We do apologize for the delay and any inconvenience this might have lead to.

"Electronics Australia" magazine decided that symbol was the future, so changed over to its use, quoting how many organisations were making it standard.

After about a year, they realised they picked the wrong horse, & reverted to the normal symbols.

[Vgkid]

My first Catalog : 1968 L&N Test Instruments. Been waiting about a year to try to get this one.
Unfortunately L&N existed prior to the internet age , so any info is rare.

[Robert763]

when can we expect a scan then ?
 

[Saskia]

received SPARC Solaris per download link, thanks to everyone who responded.

[Vgkid]

when can we expect a scan then ?
 

Taking pictures of individual pages ... a while

[mansaxel]

when can we expect a scan then ?
 

Taking pictures of individual pages ... a while

I really should scan the relevant pages from my 8060 manual, and make an updated KiCAD drawing with BOM. Best way to preserve it, I think.

[Andrew_Debbie]

when can we expect a scan then ?
 

Taking pictures of individual pages ... a while

Anyone nearby with a book scanner you could use? We have one here but I'm not allowed to use it.   I can request scanning but it has to be work related.


I do have access to a good flatbed scanner, but  that is still slow and I'm in Wales....

[BU508A]

when can we expect a scan then ?
 

Taking pictures of individual pages ... a while

Anyone nearby with a book scanner you could use? We have one here but I'm not allowed to use it.   I can request scanning but is has to be work related.


I do have access to a good flatbed scanner, but  that is still slow and I'm in Wales....

Could be a fun project:

https://m.heise.de/make/artikel/Buchscanner-zum-Zusammenklappen-2860162.html?seite=all

[AVGresponding]

This will attract quite a few more bids I expect:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325066569257

That's not a System Two, as the seller claims, but a System One. Very many moons ago, when RTW were AP's distributor over here, I've translated its manual into German for them. In Word Perfect on a DEC Rainbow 100 under MS-DOS. Should give you a rough idea how old that thing is.

If memory serves, this one still has the old APIB computer interface and needs a special ISA board that has to be plugged into the computer. I don't see the board there and as the seller says the unit is sold 'as pictured' I'd be weary.

Thankfully, the seller doesn't post to Germany. Then again, I'd probably think twice before buying something from a company named Priority Waste Limited...

I've had stuff from this seller, and descriptions are pretty accurate as far as it goes. I expect the mistake here is down to them having no clue what the item actually is, and they probably got it in a lot with actual system 2 units, and/or are going off the description of the item from wherever they got the lot.

In terms of testing and functionality, they'll have powered it up, and that's it. Probably came from a working installation, but no way do they have the facilities to properly test it.

[psykok]

You are right that is a S1 and they have APIB.
Fortunately there is a USB -> APIB adapter :
https://www.s1usb.com/

The best is that this new adapter is also working under Win10

Even if S1 are quite old they are still very good and are going for some ridiculous money  this days.

[Neper]

You are right that is a S1 and they have APIB.

Moot point. It has diappeared without a trace.

Still, good to know that this adapter is available.

[Kosmic]

A strong contender in the competition of the ugliest multimeter.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/284667952633

[Saskia]

"found" a Kodak document scanner in one of the last auctions for 20 Pesos or so ...