Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tautech]

Geez glad you checked the tubes before trying it in a scope, could have done any kind of damage to the plugin or scope 

Glad it ended well overall.

And why is it the forum fails to display any and al images starting a few hours ago ?

Avatar pictures don't show up, attached images don't show up.... or is it just me ? 

See here:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/website-error-reports/msg4740560/#msg4740560

[Vince]

Ah thanks, that  fixed it....

[factory]

BBC Archives Phase 3 auction is less then 2 days away.   Not much pure TE this time.  There are a 3 or 4 analog Tektonix 'scopes.  The prices are already beyond what I'd pay for them.

I'm watching this Nagra T1 --> https://www.ppauctions.com/lot/177840/lot-339, some of  the other reel-to-reels --> https://www.ppauctions.com/lot/177833/lot-332 as well as the 'scopes.   

Did anyone buy from the March collective sale? I completely ignored all mails they sent, been busy doing other things.
Seems electrontsl bought everything this time. 

David

[tggzzz]

BBC Archives Phase 3 auction is less then 2 days away.   Not much pure TE this time.  There are a 3 or 4 analog Tektonix 'scopes.  The prices are already beyond what I'd pay for them.

I'm watching this Nagra T1 --> https://www.ppauctions.com/lot/177840/lot-339, some of  the other reel-to-reels --> https://www.ppauctions.com/lot/177833/lot-332 as well as the 'scopes.   

A couple of 2445s, lots of recording devices, lots of UPSs. 

I'll stay out of your way

[Neomys Sapiens]

Related to Neomys Sapiens hint:

So, I would be very interested in the Telefunken lab books.

 

You're not the only one. This will not end cheap. Or should I forfeit them?

I was afraid of something like this. Actually, I don't want a wild bidding war, but this book set is extremely tempting. There is already a first bid.

[Andrew_Debbie]

A couple of 2445s, lots of recording devices, lots of UPSs. 

I'll stay out of your way

I won't be bidding this round.

We didn't win Euromillions last night, so the Nagra and Studers are well out of reach.  The Studers likely need a through rebuild.  Some of them fail to power on.

A cheap CDP-D500 might be fun.  I'm space limited at home and haven't played a CD in over a decade.  I have a large box of CDs in a storage unit along with many boxes of LPs.
https://www.ppauctions.com/lot/177536/lot-35.  This one looks like it has been dropped a few times (ouch).

Rogers LS3/5A speakers  are already at £250 for one and £210 for the other.   It would be annoying to win one but not the other. The price is already insane for a small 50 year old speaker.  Whoever buys them will likely flip what isn't a matched pair on eBay for an even more insane price.

Many lots of Sennheiser HD600s at very good prices (at the moment).    Parts are available from Sennheiser and they are still sold new.   I've had a pair since about 2000.  I replaced the drivers 3 years ago.   In my opinion these are the best headphones under £400. With long term support from Sennheiser these can last forever.   Even if you have to buy drivers and cable they are a good deal at £30 or £40. Be sure to to check Sennheiser spare prices before bidding.  I suggest assuming they need drivers since there is no telling what life at BBC did to them.


Textronix prices  keep going up. Astonline is high bidder as usual.  I assume they buy them and flip on eBay.

Current bid is £172 + 15.5% + VAT  or about £220. 25 hours before bidding closes   I wonder if Gary is still at the BBC

[m k]

Seems electrontsl bought everything this time.

Is bidding history somewhere?

#369 3 bids, sanduns
#370 1 bid, sanduns
#371 1 bid, sanduns
#372 3 bids, electrontsl
#373 10 bids, petrovpsp

Some other cases electrontsl is only bidder.
Some other cases £600+ is still electrontsl.

Some small items are electrontsl only.
Some bigger items are not bidded at all.
It's clearly a bot, maybe their system can't understand reserves.
But who is really real is still uncertain.

#381 3 bids, electrontsl, Dial type telephone

Is this rational?
Internal affairs?

#415 no bids
#416 no bids
#417 1 bid, electrontsl
#418 1 bid, electrontsl

[Ero-Shan]

Related to Neomys Sapiens hint:

So, I would be very interested in the Telefunken lab books.

 

You're not the only one. This will not end cheap. Or should I forfeit them?

I was afraid of something like this. Actually, I don't want a wild bidding war, but this book set is extremely tempting. There is already a first bid.

Looks like you notified us just so you had a reason to open your popcorn box.

But the last thing I want is a bidding war with someone on this forum. Since I already have volumes 2, 3, and 4, I will pass this opportunity on.

[Black Phoenix]

BBC Archives Phase 3 auction is less then 2 days away.   Not much pure TE this time.  There are a 3 or 4 analog Tektonix 'scopes.  The prices are already beyond what I'd pay for them.

I'm watching this Nagra T1 --> https://www.ppauctions.com/lot/177840/lot-339, some of  the other reel-to-reels --> https://www.ppauctions.com/lot/177833/lot-332 as well as the 'scopes.   

Those reel to reel just hope no audiophiles see them, or the price is going to go into the stratosphere...

Currently in the audio discord I am there is a bunch of old folks who salivate for everything that is reel to reel and have enough money for it.

I've been trying for some years to get one deck but prices of the good ones as Technics, Sony and Revox are all over the place. Or they cost an arm and a leg not working or the price of a small car working in good condition.

Vintage, they say...

[factory]

A couple of 2445s, lots of recording devices, lots of UPSs. 

I'll stay out of your way

I won't be bidding this round.

...snip...

Textronix prices  keep going up. Astonline is high bidder as usual.  I assume they buy them and flip on eBay.

Current bid is £172 + 15.5% + VAT  or about £220. 25 hours before bidding closes   I wonder if Gary is still at the BBC

You do get the TV option with both Tek 2445s, which means the options motherboard is fitted, might be possible to add other boards, but the control labelling changes depending on the options.

Seems electrontsl bought everything this time.

Is bidding history somewhere?

#369 3 bids, sanduns
#370 1 bid, sanduns
#371 1 bid, sanduns
#372 3 bids, electrontsl
#373 10 bids, petrovpsp

Some other cases electrontsl is only bidder.
Some other cases £600+ is still electrontsl.

Some small items are electrontsl only.
Some bigger items are not bidded at all.
It's clearly a bot, maybe their system can't understand reserves.
But who is really real is still uncertain.

#381 3 bids, electrontsl, Dial type telephone

Is this rational?
Internal affairs?

#415 no bids
#416 no bids
#417 1 bid, electrontsl
#418 1 bid, electrontsl

The March sale (which started in Feb  , thats why I forgot about it) lots start here, use arrows to view next lot, or use the catalogue numbers & some maths to work out the URL.
https://www2.ppauctions.com/lot/176652/lot-1
https://www2.ppauctions.com/assets/auctions/attachments/Catalogue_1761428083.pdf
The above URLs get deleted before the next sale, which looks to be in April.

Unless they've changed their T&Cs, they state "bid on behalf of the client", I've yet to see the "reserve" feature being used, see point 12 in the T&Cs. https://www2.ppauctions.com/terms-and-conditions
Some random reserve names I can remember, lightstream, contrastled, electrondsl, skycontrols.....

Surprisingly the calibrator I was outbid on last time, made much less this time, I was bidding against the reserve, will probably definitely see it again in April. 
I'm fairly certain petrovpsp is on this forum.

And no I'm not bidding on the current ex-BBC lots.

David

[Specmaster]

Textronix prices  keep going up. Astonline is high bidder as usual.  I assume they buy them and flip on eBay.

Current bid is £172 + 15.5% + VAT  or about £220. 25 hours before bidding closes   I wonder if Gary is still at the BBC

Has your calculator ran out of power?  Current bid is £172 + 15.5% + VAT = £238.39, just saying.

[med6753]

I thought US prices for Tek equipment were stupid. If it were a 2465B rather than a 2445B....maybe. But it's still a little high.

And keep in mind that if the SMD tant caps on the A5 board haven't been replaced it will fail, guaranteed.


Edit.....almost forgot. The unobtainium Dallas chip too. Good luck with that one.

The 2445/2465, no suffix, is a much better buy. No Dallas chip and no tants on the A5 board.

[tggzzz]

The 2445/2465, no suffix, is a much better buy. No Dallas chip and no tants on the A5 board.

That's my opinion too, but you do lose a few tens of MHz, autosetup and automatic cursor positioning for measurements.

[factory]

Must have got lucky with my 2465B, as the A5 board is the through-hole version, OK it's got a back-up battery and two tants. Not related to the current auction, but it's also ex-Brainwashing Broadcasting Corrup-orration.

David

[Andrew_Debbie]

My £25 Thurlby 1905a arrived today and it works.  Cosmetics.are good too.

Might be very slightly out of spec.  I need to read the manual.  My 2.5V reference is reading  a few mV low.  It is only 15C on my work bench, so the meter might be in spec  or not specified to work in my freezer home.

I suppose the next question is do I send it out for adjusting???

[Andrew_Debbie]

The ex BBC Nagra sold for £15,900 + 15.% + VAT . . .

[tautech]

I suppose the next question is do I send it out for adjusting???

No, but the Brymen maybe. 

[med6753]

Must have got lucky with my 2465B, as the A5 board is the through-hole version, OK it's got a back-up battery and two tants. Not related to the current auction, but it's also ex-Brainwashing Broadcasting Corrup-orration.

David

Yours is an early S/N that uses the same board as the 2465A. Thru hole and external battery which can be "hot" swapped without losing the calibration data. 

This is what most 2445B/2465B A5 boards look like. SMT and Dallas chip. And 4 wet tants which will destroy the traces on the board if they (and will) leak.

[TERRA Operative]

Anyone got any experience with those 8-channel 10MHz distribution amplifiers from ebay? The ones with the green PCB front panel?

I need a distribution amp and I'm not sure I can be arsed to build one myself....

[AFTORF]

I don't know anything about those 8 channel but for my 10 MHz distribution, I bought on 2nd hand market some professionnal video active splitters. Theu do the job.

[AVGresponding]

My £25 Thurlby 1905a arrived today and it works.  Cosmetics.are good too.

Might be very slightly out of spec.  I need to read the manual.  My 2.5V reference is reading  a few mV low.  It is only 15C on my work bench, so the meter might be in spec  or not specified to work in my freezer home.

I suppose the next question is do I send it out for adjusting???

The manuals are easily available, or were, I can provide both user and service if necessary.

I'd be surprised if any cal lab would be willing to touch it; it's an open case calibration/adjustment, with twiddling of pots. You should be able to do it yourself anyway, I'd guess, since the specs are pretty average, the absolute best it manages is +/-0.015% of reading + 0.002% of range +1 digit (1 year, 2100.00mV range).

[Andrew_Debbie]

My £25 Thurlby 1905a arrived today and it works.  Cosmetics.are good too.

Might be very slightly out of spec.  I need to read the manual.  My 2.5V reference is reading  a few mV low.  It is only 15C on my work bench, so the meter might be in spec  or not specified to work in my freezer home.

I suppose the next question is do I send it out for adjusting???

The manuals are easily available, or were, I can provide both user and service if necessary.

I'd be surprised if any cal lab would be willing to touch it; it's an open case calibration/adjustment, with twiddling of pots. You should be able to do it yourself anyway, I'd guess, since the specs are pretty average, the absolute best it manages is +/-0.015% of reading + 0.002% of range +1 digit (1 year, 2100.00mV range).

I downloaded the manuals from a post on eevblog.

I might open it up and see if a previous keeper replaced the power supply caps.  There are also two tantalums bypassing the supply to an LF351 in the integrator.   




Specified accuracy for 2.5V on the 20VDC 51/2 digit scale is +/- 0.00099486V @18-26C

I need to add 4*.1 of rated accuracy for worst case temperature drift.   That is +/-  .001393V @14C.

That is still about 5mV out of spec.   < shrug >   
 


 

TBH I need better references. At a minimum I should have a 10.000V

At 14C, my reference would barely be inside the .01% rating, accounting for the 5ppm/C worst case temperature drift. 
It is also due for calibration.  I've been waiting for my next trip to the US.

[AVGresponding]

I get +/-0.0010V...

(2.5x0.02%) + (21x0.002%) + 1 LSD



EDIT: With everything warmed up, mine is within 7 or 8 counts of my 8840A (2.5VDC in 20V range)

[URI]

Hi fellow addicts!

Like I wrote on 05-10-2021 my wife and I bought a house in 2021. We moved from the inner city to a rural village with nearly 1000 inhabitants and lots of Gegend* around it. (*- fields and grassland, sheep, cows, horses..)

Before moving in we wanted the electrical installation to be completely rebuilt.
So we removed all wallpaper, interior insulation, carpets, baseboards to the bare walls and floors. We prepared the complete new built-up of the electricity system by ripping out the old fuse box (built into a wall) and bricked up the hole -the location of the new on-wall fuse box.
We also changed some things: ripped out a steel door frame and bricked it up, closed a opening of former roof window, ripped out all wall and ceiling panelling in the first floor rooms, insulated and redid a 18m² ceiling there.
All on weekends and Friday evenings.

We were happy to find a group of craftsmen knowing each other well (electrician, glazier, painter and decorator) and they teamed so well we mostly didn't have to organize work or target dates between them.
Front door, basement door, patio door and nearly all windows were replaced with modern ones that don't accidentally vent any more.
All rooms now have Ethernet and satellite outlets and the mount of the TV-satellite antenna will be the mount for my GPS-antenna for my GPSDOs, too. 

In August 2022 we moved house on two days -guess why. 
The man of the moving company that inspected our flat for making us an offer stated that we are a household with nearly twice the volume to transport than most other households in his experience. Guess why.. 

We moved in without the kitchen being built up. Ikea kit.. I choose it because I wanted a specific solution that fits the actual room situation. Other kitchen companies that do the planning for you weren't able to plan and offer us what we wanted -at least not at a reasonable price. So we ended up buying an Ikea kitchen and used it as a kit bashing base. 

We still have piles of moving boxes in two rooms and my TEA bench is not set up again. In fact it's still completely stored in the basement. 

We have ordered an individually built bookcase from a local carpenter and it will be delivered in May -I hope. That will give the space to setup my bench again. Shifting boxes and spaces..

So I'm back -almost.

In fact I just bought my second HP 5370B Time interval counter because it has a serial# starting with 2732. 
I correct: I'm back to TEA obviously. 

Today I hit page 5040, still have to catch up more than 290 pages. 

Still much to do in the new "old" house, so expect me to be lurking most of the time the next months still. 

[Andrew_Debbie]

I get +/-0.0010V...

(2.5x0.02%) + (21x0.002%) + 1 LSD



EDIT: With everything warmed up, mine is within 7 or 8 counts of my 8840A (2.5VDC in 20V range)

That's because I'm an idiot and used  the actual reading instead of 2.5.    Either way it is a few mV  out spec after allowing for worst case temperature drift.

If I'm going to adjust it properly I need a few reference voltages and resistors and to spend money to warm up the house.

Just had a huge vet bill.  The .001% 10 V reference is out of stock at VoltageStandard as is the dmmcheck.    So the adjust will have to wait.

I suppose I could set it against the BM789.   It is closer.