Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bitseeker]

Geeze.  I just realized what I wrote.  Test Instrument Torture. 

Lordy. 

That's too much to handle.   

Handle?

[Housedad]

A really easy to use and free photo resizer is faststone photo resizer. It's what I use on my laptop.  It is shareware.

http://www.faststone.org/FSResizerDetail.htm

[Vgkid]

A really easy to use and free photo resizer is faststone photo resizer. It's what I use on my laptop.  It is shareware.

That is what I use for doing bulk resizes of scans.

[Brumby]

For one-offs, I use an old photo editor I've had for years.  For bulk, I use Irfanview in batch mode.

[tggzzz]

Ps- I think it's pretty good for something I got at goodwill for five dollars!

The real cost is measured in minutes-of-remaining-life.

[tggzzz]

Well, that is as far as the electronics stuff.  Between upgrades to my ford excursion, a couple of machining projects still to do, keeping the garden going, caring for three dogs, cooking dinner every night for the family, housecleaning, laundry and several welding projects,  time is at a premium.  I really am a housedad.

Don't forget too much time spent reading EEVBlog and this thread in particular

[smurph]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys! 

I think I have settled on a Racal Dana 1992 with button issues for my frequency counter.  That way, I'll have three frequency counters that need work!    It has the OCXO option.  A local guy has a newer Fluke PM6666, but it won't output a 10MHz standard.  It only accepts one as input.  Plus I don't care much for the LCD display.  And the Racal Dana just has a lot more features that I will probably never need or use.  But I like buttons!  I guess I just like the looks of it. 

And I'm bound and determined to fix that DC508A too.  A guy on the Tek Yahoo group actually did a replacement display board for it that used modern LEDs.  So I know it can be done.  But he has since fallen off the map.  The biggest issue for me is those old LEDs used a left hand decimal.  And I have to figure out a way of moving the decimal one digit up.  But that thing will be fixed no matter the time or the cost! 

This older stuff has a lot of charm, you know.  When I got the PD power supply, I took it apart and cleaned it inside and out.  And while it didn't look bad as received, it looks like it did when it was new now.  Amazing how the old stuff can clean up. 

And I know that the Tek SAs don't have the following that the HPs do.  But it runs like a champ now and I can "see" radio now.  I've been wondering what it looked like nearly all of my life!  I cleaned it inside and out too.  The inside was covered in Tantalum soot.  One thing I can say is that the 80's definition of "portable" is different than today's definition.  I will call it "semi-portable" and ONLY if you have hand trucks.

You guys keep posting and I'll keep reading.  This thread really is a joy to read.  I feel better now that I have faced my addiction and come to terms with it.  I'll chime in if I feel I can give someone some needed "support". 

Steve

[xrunner]

A really easy to use and free photo resizer is faststone photo resizer. It's what I use on my laptop.  It is shareware.

http://www.faststone.org/FSResizerDetail.htm

Well I thought I'd try this instead of Irfanview for resizing my camera photos. Downloaded/installed it. It doesn't show my camera drive in the drive listing. I've refreshed FastStone and re-started it - the Canon camera drive does not show up, but it does using Irfanview. 

If I insert a USB thumb drive into the PC, Fastdrive updates it's listing automatically. I wanted to just go to the camera drive with Fastdrive and resize from the camera and send to a PC folder, but I can't get to the camera drive from Fastdrive.

OK it looks like the DCF file system on the camera isn't recognized by FastStone. Wow that's weird. Wonder why since it's supposed to work with image files? Is that a bug, since Irfanview will open directly from the camera.

[Housedad]

Odd. It works on my Nikon compact.

[smurph]

I use Gimp.  It has a batch resizing plugin.  If your camera drive shows up in the PCs filesystem, then it will work.  Or is that the problem?  Does the camera drive not show up on the PC at all?  Or just FastDrive?

[xrunner]

I use Gimp.  It has a batch resizing plugin.  If your camera drive shows up in the PCs filesystem, then it will work.  Or is that the problem?  Does the camera drive not show up on the PC at all?  Or just FastDrive?

Yea I have Gimp and use it every so often. I was using Irfanview which works, but FastStone would be simpler for resizing.

The Canon camera memory card shows up just fine on my Win 10 PC, always has even before Win10. It shows up using Irfanview file open. The camera card shows up in Open Office's applications too.

It does NOT show up in Gimp's file open, nor FastStone file open. I've played with it all morning, I've even tried the camera on another USB port. The FastStone program does not see it (nor does Gimp).

The file system on the camera card is DCF - not FAT32 or NTFS. That might be the reason.

I dunno ... 

[Housedad]

That may be it.  Mine is formatted in fat32.

[bitseeker]

DCF is just a specification of which specifications to use for camera file systems. For memory cards larger than 2GB, DCF requires use of FAT32. This failure that you're encountering is rather peculiar.

[buck converter]

As a highschool student hobbyist on a budget , I never thought I would need TEA support, but today, when browsing oscilloscopes on eBay, I decided to look at the "for parts/repair" and "as is". What i found was 45$ shipped scope that "

The trace does flash momentarily when powered up...selling for parts as-is.

. In the picture the trigger mode knob is set to single shot.HELP ME

also, the brand is "American Reliance" could not find much info on google. Anyone know about them?

[rdl]

...
also, the brand is "American Reliance" could not find much info on google. Anyone know about them?

I think this is them:

http://amrel.com/corporate/

I almost bought a programmable power supply of that brand several years ago. Apparently they are no longer involved in test equipment.

[bitseeker]

You can often find old AmRel power supplies and electronic loads on eBay. I don't know much about them beyond that.

Welcome to the TEA party, buck converter. So, did you buy the scope? Sounds like a good "repair".

[t_ryner]

Can you open this?
 https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4JdK_G7fKF3NEFjTUtXeGk5eVk

[xrunner]

Can you open this?
 https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4JdK_G7fKF3NEFjTUtXeGk5eVk

I cannot no.

[t_ryner]

Ok, just testing if sharing it would work. Do most of you have a google docs account? If so, I can post the share links. The other email was for myy personal email (.nuthatch.com). I can try with a gmail account I own though.

attempt 2
- https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0T3gelonW2VYjlXckRJT29tcTg
- https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0T3gelonW2VZHZoYWJJeE03ZkU

[xrunner]

attempt 2
- https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0T3gelonW2VYjlXckRJT29tcTg
- https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0T3gelonW2VZHZoYWJJeE03ZkU

 Can see

[rdl]

I can see those last two if I allow JavaScript from google.com which is blocked by default. I actually had a google account at one time, but haven't used it for years. I don't know if it's still valid.

[t_ryner]

Good! I'll try to get some pictures with the whole board. The solder joints are old, so some of the capacitors and other stuff are loose. Also looks like someone attempted a repair job or something . Probably won't post till later tomorrow.

[saposoft]

Hi my name is Alessandro and I'm a TEA with GAS, I have expanded on GAS with serious variation of METH where the T stand for Tech.
After filling all the available space at home AND office with test gear, as is common for with GAS, I expanded to Reel To Reel tape Deck, so I can use my test gear to repair and test/calibrate the reel to reel tape decks.
But aren't they beautiful ?

[Brumby]

Oh no.  As if my "To do" list wasn't under pressure enough as it is...

You just reminded me of my tape deck wrapped up in the garage.  Only a consumer model - but it can take 10" reels.  Last time I checked it, it was all functional bar one channel in playback.

Now I want to drag it out and fix it up......   Oh, the pain, the pain.

[bitseeker]

Welcome, saposoft. Those look like fun projects! Yes, audio gear is yet another area to get caught up in. AEA: Audio Equipment Addiction.