Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tautech]

Get the latest firmware into that SDG805 as soon as is convenient.
https://int.siglent.com/download/firmwares/?ProId=21

Because it stinks otherwise? (yes, pun most certainly intended)

They have been known to. 

[factory]

Now it's official, Dave is a big fan of Deep Purple ! 

Others are (not me of course!) fans of Mireille Mathieu. 

Purple PCBs are usually coming from OSHPark.

Already gone with JCBPCB, could have tried OSH, but might have had a problem with the copper to board edge limit, as it's higher than JLC (routing option). 
OSH seem to have very good prices for small quantity orders & free shipping, but I've no idea it they allow prepayment of import tax, as RM clearance fees would make it very pricey.

Gone with purple as before & yes I do like Deep Purple. Not so keen on Blue*, they are just as crap as the PCB color (IMO)  .

*to be clear the boyband and not the Eiffel 65 tune...

Factory:
My comliments for your very nice work! 

Thanks, also converted the "decade divider with reset to 0 or 9 IC" replacement to 4 layer PCB, the others that are simpler (display decoder with blanking IC and latch IC) have remained as 2 layer, samples of all have been ordered, then I can verify they work properly.



David

[factory]

BALLANTINE 320A TRMS Voltmeter

Well nobody seems to want it in France.

I put it up for sale on Leboncoin.fr as usual... 75 Euros, no takers... lowered to 60 Euros no takers... now been at 55 for 2 or 3 weeks still nobody interested.

Here is the introductory post on TEA back then :

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg4575433/#msg4575433

Here is my ad on Leboncoin so you can see pics of it today :

https://www.leboncoin.fr/bricolage/2288869323.htm

To refresh your memory, it's made in the US, hollow state technology. A TRUE RMS voltmeter. tested with my sign gen on sine, triangle and square wave, the meter reads  100% the same no matter what the signal shape. So, it does what it says on the tin.

B/W is 4MHz which is orders of magnitude more than your fancy digital modern DMM no matter what fancy brand it might be.

Crest factor up to 15.

Excellent shape inside out. I cleaned it and fixed it so it actually works and reads fine now : a tad low, but within spec none the less.
I have not even tried to calibrate it so maybe you can do that and get it perfect.

Service manual available (attached) but.. well only for the model 320 not my 320A. It looks similar enough to be helpful, but in the small details it's not 100% the same.
Still, much better than nothing.

I have already deoxited everything of course

Super nice inside, no corrosion no nothing. It's not a turd.

WARNING : it's old and it's American... so you will need a US power cord to make use of it, or retrofit an IEC socket, whatever floats your board.


So well, if someone here wants to give him a good home ? I mean, not to steal all the tubes from it to sell them on Ebay then dump the carcass on the kerb... because I can sure do that myself...

It's not that big and not that heavy, so shipping is possible in Europe.
Manual states a weight of 21 pounds, which must be a bit under 10kg I guess, though that's for the "desktop" form factor, so I suspect mine being a rack-mount type, it might a little heavier, maybe. Shipping rates are given for up to 15kg. So assuming I can satisfy that target weight once packaged, then shipping would cost :

- To Germany only 21.60 Euros because I can use "Mondial Relay" to ship it, and their rates to Germany are basically the same as local shipping.
28.60 Euros in case it exceeds 15kg.

- To the UK it's way more than that because Mondial Relay does not ship there, so I have to use the French post service, " Colissimo ", it's called.
They are a rip off (hence why everybody stopped using them in Favour of Mondial Relay...), and charge a whooping 61.30 Euros and  78.50 above 15kg.
Then add VAT and import duties. I would declare of course a very low value, I don"t know... 10 Euros, stating it's "an ancient broken electronic instrument" or something. So 20% VAT on that, that's 2 Euros. Then duties I don't know... 5% maybe ? So not much.

So total, maybe 65 Euros, which means 58 quid at todays exchange rate.

Of course the meter is free... well I would need 10 Euros to cover the packing : a couple card board boxes + a board of styrofoam, so that it arrives intact.
Well OK, if you are one of my generous donators.. of course I would pay for the packing and lose money... but if the meter get a new life thanks to you, it's all I care about.

My goal is just to find it a good home that will not take it apart, and has space for it somewhere, somehow... because I don't personally 

More old TE to be offered soon.

If no takers the poor thing will have a sad ending :-(

If no-one has saved it, put me down for it, would go well with the non-TRMS HP vacuum bulb meters here.
Happy to pay packing costs.

Still need to sort out shipping the Quad buttons, BTW they seem a bit more cracked than the listing described, hopefully glue will sort that though.

David

[Vince]

Thanks Dave for saving its life... no, nobody else volunteered... you are its angel 

Will pack it in the coming days.... looking forward to seeing a picture of it in action in your lab...

Will keep you informed via MP.

[BU508A]

Seems like you got a damn good deal, it's sold out now!

I've bought mine at Instrumex in 2016. It did come with a new calibration certificate.
Price including VAT: 2975,- EUR
It was used but in mint condition.

[AVGresponding]

Eh ?! 

I refuse to apologise for making puns, even especially bad ones.

[TERRA Operative]

Well, I've beat Vince to it, I'm starting to calibrate my TDS scopes.    

Nearly got one done last night, a TDS714L, but ran out of RAM on the interleaving step.
Apparently it needs a good amount of RAM for that (520K), and due to the DOS memory stuff, my 1Gb installed RAM didn't help...
So now that I've run the MEMMAKER to move everything I can to the upper memory area to free up enough conventional memory for the Tek Field Adjustment Software.

I'll have to test if the FAS can operate in the upper memory area next, but one variable at a time..... I'll get it working and make changes after I have a scope sucessfully calibrated.

[Ice-Tea]

Eh ?! 

I refuse to apologise for making puns, even especially bad ones.

No need to :-)

[DC1MC]

DHL strike, all packages are frozen in place  :'(

[BU508A]

DHL strike, all packages are frozen in place  :'(

It is a pita. 

How about this in the meantime?

[DC1MC]

DHL strike, all packages are frozen in place  :'(

It is a pita. 

How about this in the meantime?

At -5C in MA of all places  , thanks, but no thanks,

[tautech]

DHL strike, all packages are frozen in place  :'(

No FedEx in DHL land ? <---- stirs pot 

[Ice-Tea]

Heh. Couldn't figure out how to switch between the inputs on the Kikusui.

The meter actually has two needles 

[dl6lr]

DHL strike, all packages are frozen in place  :'(

I've got parcels from DHL every day. Seems to be no strike on my route.

[dl6lr]

So, what's everyones favourite trick for getting rid of the smell?

I can offer them to be sent to my address and you will get rid of the smell

[AVGresponding]

Heh. Couldn't figure out how to switch between the inputs on the Kikusui.

The meter actually has two needles 

On a common axis? Pics please!

[McBryce]

DHL strike, all packages are frozen in place  :'(

I've got parcels from DHL every day. Seems to be no strike on my route.

I've just sent a PC back for repair. I've built my own PC's since PC's exist, but this time I decided to go for a pre-built that I would then expand myself. Bad move, it failed after a few months and now I've got to send the entire PC back to have the PSU swapped. DHL within Germany, sent on Monday. It'll be interesting to see when it actually gets there and gets back to me.

From now on I'll be going back to building them myself.

McBryce.

[NaxFM]

My new DMM7510 just arrived! It's a beauty, I don't have any regrets!
Only tiny little small downside is that it's a unit from December 2020: the initial calibration has already expired.
Meh, it doesn't matter very much. A calibration can't cost the 2200 euro I saved, plus we have an advanced cal lab at work, so I might be able to get a traceable calibration for free, even if not official.

[factory]

DHL strike, all packages are frozen in place  :'(

It is a pita. 

How about this in the meantime?

[Gertjan]

DHL strike, all packages are frozen in place  :'(

Not all of them, I will receive DHL parcel from DC1MC tomorow. 

[tggzzz]

Heh. Couldn't figure out how to switch between the inputs on the Kikusui.

The meter actually has two needles 

On a common axis? Pics please!

Best I can do, from the user manual. Internal pics (that managed to show the mechanism) would be interesting.

[timeandfrequency]

Heh. Couldn't figure out how to switch between the inputs on the Kikusui.

The meter actually has two needles 

Hi Ice-Tea,

I might not have the background story but IMO, it's not required to switch between the inputs.
The 23R and 25R are dual channel meters : you may use both inputs simultaneously. Each input drives one needle.

[Ice-Tea]

So, what's everyones favourite trick for getting rid of the smell?

I can offer them to be sent to my address and you will get rid of the smell

**points to signature**

Or if you want to play around with stuff, feel free my "I'll fix this stuff for free for you because I'm addicted to TE" club. 

Heh. Couldn't figure out how to switch between the inputs on the Kikusui.

The meter actually has two needles 

On a common axis? Pics please!

Probably in the office on Friday. Will take some.

Internal pics (that managed to show the mechanism) would be interesting.

**Points to signature**

Available on Friday 

[DC1MC]

DHL strike, all packages are frozen in place  :'(

Not all of them, I will receive DHL parcel from DC1MC tomorow. 

Actually that was a nice, polite German strike, that seem to be already done. You know here is the place were revolutionary will start occupying train station will buy first a ticket  .
Because after a couple of days of "we can't show you the status of your parcel due to some disturbance...", not one, but two of them showed, one being the JLCPCB one. So crisis averted  .

Cheers,
DC1MC

[duckduck]

Not a bad day at the office!

Only downside? Heavy cigar smoker

So, what's everyones favourite trick for getting rid of the smell?

Wow. That's awesome.

I had a power supply that reeked of cigarette smoke. I sprayed it with IPA and scrubbed it. I then put it in a big box with a powerful ozonator. I would only run the ozonator for a few minutes, then would turn it off and let everything sit in the box for a few hours. The smoke smell is 95% gone now, but it's still too smoky to use in the house. I plan on selling it.