Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[vk6zgo]

The Taiko Denki Connectors are also a pain in the butt.
Kinda the same type of cheap connector

Thanks for that, Wallace.
I was trying to remember what they were called!

[TERRA Operative]

Hmmm, so. I want to start messing with doing some semi-auto calibrations with the TDS scopes, but I need two GPIB cards.

Now, I have two National Instruments GPIB-PCII/IIA cards, but one is faulty... 
there's like only 5 chips on the thing, and I just pulled one out and tested it in my retro chip tester, but it tests good.

Maybe I'll swap chips between my good one and cross my fingers the busted chip isn't unobtanium.......

[Vince]

Oh, your TDS addiction is getting fancier by the day, I like that !

Good luck with fixing that second board, may the force be with you !

Interesting....keep us posted....

[m k]

Other try with protoboards.

Target is 1mm or less thick single side or 1.6mm thick double side board.
Edge must have 0.15" spaced contacts.

If I search just FR1 protoboards I'll get plenty of good looking results.
Edges are not defined but some 12x18cm boards are very close.

Then looking closer, what is prototype paper PCB fr4 or single side copper pcb.
How on earth it is so difficult to do things even closely as they should.

I bought few with unknown properties but quite small edge contacts are clearly 0.15" spaced, or so is stating the picture.

[extremgear]

Hello,
Some news of my 3457A acquired last week.
i found U403 ( analog switch intersil HI-390) nearly dead on the input signal conditioning side hence the hardware 64 error, only the 1 AMP range work the other range doesn't work ( Ma,Ua ) : when other range than Amps range are selected U403 send 5V straight to U101 (hybrid module) i came to the conclusion that this circuit is dead, furthermore when testing on breadboard IC was behaving weirdly on one of the 2 switch only.
i will order the circuit and give some news .
My big concern with this meter is the lack of screws to close the upper cover , i'm not able to find a reference of this screw, my plan is to machine screws from existing screw , but i'm not able to find the size ( thread pitch and length ) maybe somebody have i idea ?
Huge thanks !

[factory]

I'm sure someone on here will have one to measure, I couldn't tell you if they were imperial UNC as used on older HP, or Metric that were used for later HP. 

I've bought UNC screws from both ACCU in the UK and Amazon in the US.

David

[duckduck]

Speaking of HP multimeters...

One of you TEA nerds will know this I've got an HP 34401A with Revision code of 05-01-01. The most recent date code I found in this unit was 1995. It looks like VFDs are widely available for the 34401A again now. Were there different revisions for the VFDs that I need to be aware of, or just order one and replace it?

Also, are the new ones replacement VFDs pretty bright? My VFD is not really dim, but it certainly doesn't pop the way that I want it to. I only paid ~USD66 (plus a cheap repair) for it, so a new VFD for ~USD50 is not a crazy investment.

EDIT:

Ended up buying this one off of AliExpress for USD37 (delivered). I'll let everyone know how it works out.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803185081674.html

[extremgear]

I'm sure someone on here will have one to measure, I couldn't tell you if they were imperial UNC as used on older HP, or Metric that were used for later HP. 

I've bought UNC screws from both ACCU in the UK and Amazon in the US.

David

i just figured out that the screws turned out to be usual M4 ( metric) thread !

Speaking of HP multimeters...

One of you TEA nerds will know this I've got an HP 34401A with Revision code of 05-01-01. The most recent date code I found in this unit was 1995. It looks like VFDs are widely available for the 34401A again now. Were there different revisions for the VFDs that I need to be aware of, or just order one and replace it?

Also, are the new ones replacement VFDs pretty bright? My VFD is not really dim, but it certainly doesn't pop the way that I want it to. I only paid ~USD66 (plus a cheap repair) for it, so a new VFD for ~USD50 is not a crazy investment.

very good deal !

[timeandfrequency]

[...]
my plan is to machine screws from existing screw

Hi extremgear,
it's not the best solution to machine a new thread on an existing screw.
You'll find some Imperial screws here.

[med6753]

Sharing this useful tip for dealing with cleaning of sealed or inaccessible pots.

https://teanonymous.com/f1/viewtopic.php?t=109

[AVGresponding]

Speaking of HP multimeters...

One of you TEA nerds will know this I've got an HP 34401A with Revision code of 05-01-01. The most recent date code I found in this unit was 1995. It looks like VFDs are widely available for the 34401A again now. Were there different revisions for the VFDs that I need to be aware of, or just order one and replace it?

Also, are the new ones replacement VFDs pretty bright? My VFD is not really dim, but it certainly doesn't pop the way that I want it to. I only paid ~USD66 (plus a cheap repair) for it, so a new VFD for ~USD50 is not a crazy investment.

As long as it's just a faded VFD those are easy enough to replace, and they are all the same; the unobtainium driver ICs for the early units are a different matter. Not sure where the exact changeover happened, but generally people speak of the banana sockets being all red indicates an early version. The symptoms for those failing are (afaik) segment bleed-over/ghosting.

Regardless, $66 is a fantastic price, congrats!

[wolfy007]

Went to see a guy advertising an old Compaq LCD monitor that I wanted to grab, upon entering his garage to grab it I saw a couple pieces of test equipment. Look interesting offered him AU$120 (what was left in my pocket) and he agreed.

Now I just need a service manual if any one knows of one. I was only able to find a user manual for a COM-120B.

[Ice-Tea]

I made a mistake. I updated Altium. Swore to never do that again. And yet, here we are.

[TERRA Operative]

Well, boooo.

Seems the main chip on my second National Instruments GPIB-PCII/IIA card is the bad one, the one I was hoping for it not to be. 
So, unless I can source a NAT4882D chip, this card is dead.

Also, it seems my fancy Dual CPU Dell Precision workstation only has one ISA slot, but my Dell Dimension V400c has two, so I might have to do a switcharoo to get two GPIB cards running.
BUT, the Dimension has no AGP port, so no Quadro GPU for other fun... booo again.

I might get on the hunt for a different motherboard and case, see if I can find a decent motherboard with AGP and two ISA slots.

And another NI ISA GPIB card..

[duckduck]

Went to see a guy advertising an old Compaq LCD monitor that I wanted to grab, upon entering his garage to grab it I saw a couple pieces of test equipment. Look interesting offered him AU$120 (what was left in my pocket) and he agreed.

Now I just need a service manual if any one knows of one. I was only able to find a user manual for a COM-120B.

I would contact IFR: https://rfimagingandcommunications.com/support/

EDIT:

Looks like a nice little SA for RF work?

[Ice-Tea]

Huh. Didn't see that coming.

Working on a HP 334A. Needed a sig gen and since that recently acquired Sigilent was around I grabbed that. Seems to work fine and yes its updated. Actually, the rotary is shit and some of the buttons have problems but I won't hold that against them as it has been with a smoker for quite some time.

What I DO hold against it is what happens next. Starting out with the simplest measurement, just use it as voltmeter. So, the 334A reads well over a volt when I feed it a 1V signal. So, I figure, well, old gear. Unfortunate, but it's somewhat expected it would drift over time.

Just for fun and giggles I figured to double check.


Well, screw you.

EDIT: well, don't send a boy to do a mans job, eh?

[DC1MC]

Is this thing worth 300€ ?



https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/6BAAAOSwIVpj6piN/s-l1600.jpg

eBay auction: #185775926003

[AVGresponding]

Is this thing worth 300€ ?



https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/6BAAAOSwIVpj6piN/s-l1600.jpg

eBay auction: #185775926003

Yeah, I'd say it's about the right price. It's 200MHz, 4-channel, and 2Gsa/s so meets the 2.5x Nyquist limit with all 4 running, it has all the bits with it, and is probably hackable to a higher bandwidth.

You could always try a cheeky message to the seller offering a bit less...

[factory]

One Two for this page....



First power up on arrival.



This fault was very easy to fix.



David

[Vince]

Well, boooo.

Seems the main chip on my second National Instruments GPIB-PCII/IIA card is the bad one, the one I was hoping for it not to be. 
So, unless I can source a NAT4882D chip, this card is dead.

Also, it seems my fancy Dual CPU Dell Precision workstation only has one ISA slot, but my Dell Dimension V400c has two, so I might have to do a switcharoo to get two GPIB cards running.
BUT, the Dimension has no AGP port, so no Quadro GPU for other fun... booo again.

I might get on the hunt for a different motherboard and case, see if I can find a decent motherboard with AGP and two ISA slots.

And another NI ISA GPIB card..

I apologize in advance for my dumb question but... I don't understand you need TWO of these cards ?

The Tek calibration S/W requires it, because it's a PITA, OK... but why can't use just any other GPIB adapter for the second link ?

Non genuine ISA, or genuine PCI? or non-genuine PCI, or USB adapter, or just... well, any GPIB adapter you might fancy ?

[tautech]

Is this thing worth 300€ ?



https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/6BAAAOSwIVpj6piN/s-l1600.jpg

eBay auction: #185775926003

It's an old Rigol is it not ?

[tautech]

Huh. Didn't see that coming.

Working on a HP 334A. Needed a sig gen and since that recently acquired Sigilent was around I grabbed that. Seems to work fine and yes its updated. Actually, the rotary is shit and some of the buttons have problems but I won't hold that against them as it has been with a smoker for quite some time.

What I DO hold against it is what happens next. Starting out with the simplest measurement, just use it as voltmeter. So, the 334A reads well over a volt when I feed it a 1V signal. So, I figure, well, old gear. Unfortunate, but it's somewhat expected it would drift over time.

Just for fun and giggles I figured to double check.


Well, screw you.

EDIT: well, don't send a boy to do a mans job, eh?

To which version ?
Apparently with old HW versions the self adjust feature disappears with the latest FW. 
Install nothing later than V1.08.01.15 for now until we get on top of this.

[TERRA Operative]

Well, boooo.

Seems the main chip on my second National Instruments GPIB-PCII/IIA card is the bad one, the one I was hoping for it not to be. 
So, unless I can source a NAT4882D chip, this card is dead.

Also, it seems my fancy Dual CPU Dell Precision workstation only has one ISA slot, but my Dell Dimension V400c has two, so I might have to do a switcharoo to get two GPIB cards running.
BUT, the Dimension has no AGP port, so no Quadro GPU for other fun... booo again.

I might get on the hunt for a different motherboard and case, see if I can find a decent motherboard with AGP and two ISA slots.

And another NI ISA GPIB card..

I apologize in advance for my dumb question but... I don't understand you need TWO of these cards ?

The Tek calibration S/W requires it, because it's a PITA, OK... but why can't use just any other GPIB adapter for the second link ?

Non genuine ISA, or genuine PCI? or non-genuine PCI, or USB adapter, or just... well, any GPIB adapter you might fancy ?

Because old DOS software is inflexible and hard coded to use one type of card... also, USB wasn't a thing back then, and I doubt there are even USB drivers for DOS, let alone something the Tek software will recognise....

The software lacks any form of GPIB card config settings as it just assumes you will use the Tek supplied or recommended GPIB card.

An NI TNT GPIB card might be close enough to work, but for the cost of getting one of those.... if it doesn't work I'll have to buy the PCII/PCIIA card anyway, so I may as well just stick to buying the PCII/PCIIA card.

I just wish ebay shipping costs didn't suck so much from overseas....

[hvontres]

Well, boooo.

Seems the main chip on my second National Instruments GPIB-PCII/IIA card is the bad one, the one I was hoping for it not to be. 
So, unless I can source a NAT4882D chip, this card is dead.

Also, it seems my fancy Dual CPU Dell Precision workstation only has one ISA slot, but my Dell Dimension V400c has two, so I might have to do a switcharoo to get two GPIB cards running.
BUT, the Dimension has no AGP port, so no Quadro GPU for other fun... booo again.

I might get on the hunt for a different motherboard and case, see if I can find a decent motherboard with AGP and two ISA slots.

And another NI ISA GPIB card..

I use an old HP KYAK XW, with dual PIII's. It has 1x AGP, 3x PCI, 1x ISA and 1 ISA/PCI slot. I also have a TNT GPIB, but I am pretty sure that the TEK software can't see that card. I'll toss it in and see what happens.

[Ice-Tea]

Huh. Didn't see that coming.

Working on a HP 334A. Needed a sig gen and since that recently acquired Sigilent was around I grabbed that. Seems to work fine and yes its updated. Actually, the rotary is shit and some of the buttons have problems but I won't hold that against them as it has been with a smoker for quite some time.

What I DO hold against it is what happens next. Starting out with the simplest measurement, just use it as voltmeter. So, the 334A reads well over a volt when I feed it a 1V signal. So, I figure, well, old gear. Unfortunate, but it's somewhat expected it would drift over time.

Just for fun and giggles I figured to double check.


Well, screw you.

EDIT: well, don't send a boy to do a mans job, eh?

To which version ?
Apparently with old HW versions the self adjust feature disappears with the latest FW. 
Install nothing later than V1.08.01.15 for now until we get on top of this.

I thought the latest... But apparently, according to my download historySDG800_1.08.01.13R6_EN? Not the latest then. Not sure why not. I'll have to figure that out when back in the lab.