Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[veedub565]

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

I was watching it, tempted on a few items but didn't bid. Items are condition unknown, potentially totally fvucked, yet prices don't seem much less (if at all) than a decent working unit on fleabay. I know for a fact a couple of the items were faulty, one of the HP signal generators has a knackered output attenuator.

I was half interested in the HP 8530A Microwave Receiver gear, but.. You've got to be prepared for (and it's highly likely) to be a total loss, yet Skyscanner/Asteonline/Electrontsl etc will still be bidding it up to top dollar reserve price.

SO I was watching it, keeping an eye on things I was interested in... thinking, am I prepared to take that money out my wallet... and throw it in the bin. Stopped me buying anything.

[m k]

Wow, good luck today, another rack mount Tek 7000 scope just popped up on leboncoin.fr !

https://www.leboncoin.fr/equipements_industriels/2321227498.htm

And boy that's value for money !

A type 7844, only 60 Euros, in good nick, shown working, has readout, a BLUE phosphor, a DUAL BEAM CRT, 4 plugins/bays, and goes to 400MHz !

All that for only 60 Euros ?!

OF COURSE... it's local pickup only and the seller is too far away 
I will have lo learn to be content with my humble 7603.... at least it's got an extra large CRT, that's going for it...

Have you checked flights?
Cheapest from Helsinki to Bordeaux was 40€.

E,
seems to be sort of a no return thing.

[Vince]

Wow you are extreme ! 

No I have not checked flights. Domestic flightys are 100 times more expensive than international ones.
It would cost me a fortune to fly there, plus add an extra charge to put the scope in the cargo area because it would be too big to be accepted in the cabin.
And even in the cargo it probably would not be accepted because it's not pacakged properly.
Then I wold have to drive 40 miles and back to get to the nearest Airport in Nantes, costs money.
Then I would have to pay  god knows how much to leave my car in the car par, and hope that it's still there and in good shape when I get back.
Then I would need to pay transportation to get to and from the seller's place, because you can't assume he would be nice enough to meet you at the airport.
Then....

Makes no sense... and I am not even talking about the environmental part of it...

[tggzzz]

Got some bad news for those who buy TE, TE parts or TE manuals from the US, with "ebay global shipping program", it's being slowly replaced with an even worse service called "ebay international shipping program", this is bad for both buyers & sellers.

For buyers, you no longer get a automatic discount applied for multiple items  , just found this buying two manuals, as before with GSP sellers have no influence on this, you can't "request total" and they can't combine shipping to reduce the international part.
Also the tracking seems to be next to useless, I've got a HP counter which went with this dis-service, tracking ended at Chicago on the 13th, I'm getting worried it's been classified as a restricted item, the third party company being used is Asendia.  Apparently tracking is limited once it leaves the US.

From Asendia; This shipment was sent via a postal carrier offering limited tracking. For any delays, please contact your local post office and provide the tracking number

For sellers, I've read that they only cover up to $100, if a buyer then claims they could be out of pocket for any extra, I can't confirm this as the T&Cs are crap, but it is mentioned by people in the ebay dot com community forum, along with no refunds for shipping.
The manual seller told me, many items no longer have international as an option & some have less choice of countries they can go to, since being transferred from GSP.
I was wondering why quite a lot of items on my watch list no longer have international shipping available, this confirms it. 
Because the tracking is bullshit  , sellers will almost certainly get an increase in claims and will probably get fed up & quit international shipping altogether.

Well done ebay at screwing up international shipping. 

David

This deserves its own thread, not being "buried" as post #133449

[m k]

Makes no sense... and I am not even talking about the environmental part of it...

Yes, these days nuances are important.

Our domestics used to be billed by expected direct flight miles.
So if lateral was not available hopping through Helsinki was still the same cost.

Our planes used to be also pretty big, charter stuff.
Even so that I've flied in practically empty jetliner, with normal capacity flight grew.
It was also an intermediate landing if needed, where obviously one person was a need.

On the other hand, I remember that Brits have had canal hoppers since the dawn of ages.
Must have been interesting in heavy, still flying, storm in small Fokker.

[tggzzz]

Makes no sense... and I am not even talking about the environmental part of it...

Yes, these days nuances are important.

Our domestics used to be billed by expected direct flight miles.
So if lateral was not available hopping through Helsinki was still the same cost.

Our planes used to be also pretty big, charter stuff.
Even so that I've flied in practically empty jetliner, with normal capacity flight grew.
It was also an intermediate landing if needed, where obviously one person was a need.

On the other hand, I remember that Brits have had canal hoppers since the dawn of ages.
Must have been interesting in heavy, still flying, storm in small Fokker.

You mean https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westray_to_Papa_Westray_flight ?
"Flights on the route are scheduled for one and a half minutes, and actual flying time is closer to one minute. The record for the fastest flight is 53 seconds"

[m k]

Didn't remember that.

It brought up an airfield in Nepal that may include a rude awakening.

[factory]

Got some bad news for those who buy TE, TE parts or TE manuals from the US, with "ebay global shipping program", it's being slowly replaced with an even worse service called "ebay international shipping program", this is bad for both buyers & sellers.
....snip...

This deserves its own thread, not being "buried" as post #133449

Your right, I've started a thread in the general technical chat section here. https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/ebay-global-shipping-program-eol-being-replaced-by-ebay-international-shipping/

David

[AVGresponding]

Didn't remember that.

It brought up an airfield in Nepal that may include a rude awakening.

Any landing, at night, in a field in the middle of nowhere, is a rude awakening

[wkb]

Didn't remember that.

It brought up an airfield in Nepal that may include a rude awakening.

Any landing, at night, in a field in the middle of nowhere, is a rude awakening

Try a carrier in the midst of the Pacific

[m k]

Didn't remember that.

It brought up an airfield in Nepal that may include a rude awakening.

Any landing, at night, in a field in the middle of nowhere, is a rude awakening

Tenzing-Hillary, paved since 2001.

[tggzzz]

Didn't remember that.

It brought up an airfield in Nepal that may include a rude awakening.

Any landing, at night, in a field in the middle of nowhere, is a rude awakening

Tenzing-Hillary, paved since 2001.

Courcheval is entertaining; see many yootoob vids.

[Vince]

Switch Question :

I took apart that old TE below, a strange kind of RF gen., from the (60's looks like, though it's solid state inside somehow.

I salvaged all the switches from output step attenuator.

They look like beefy things, that would normally switch big mains loads but... since they are used to switch delicate RF signal, I fear they must be specialized in conveying RF signals, and are not capable, despite they big size, of safely switching mains with a high current ? 

There is no part number on them so I can't pull a datasheet for them. Only marking on them is at the back, it reads " KAY " , which appears to be the name of the manufacturer of that TE, if I believe the front panel of the instrument, located in Pine Brook New Jersey, US of A.

[AVGresponding]

Didn't remember that.

It brought up an airfield in Nepal that may include a rude awakening.

Any landing, at night, in a field in the middle of nowhere, is a rude awakening

Try a carrier in the midst of the Pacific

An aircraft carrier has lights and a smooth deck, and an ATC tower. "An random field" doesn't.

[tggzzz]

Didn't remember that.

It brought up an airfield in Nepal that may include a rude awakening.

Any landing, at night, in a field in the middle of nowhere, is a rude awakening

Try a carrier in the midst of the Pacific

An aircraft carrier has lights and a smooth deck, and an ATC tower. "An random field" doesn't.

The random field's threshold height isn't varying second by second.

As the old old joke puts it "The three best things in life are a good landing, a good orgasm, and, a good bowel movement. The night carrier landing is one of the few opportunities in life where you get to experience all three at the same time"

[URI]

After I was announced this:


I got an email today announcing the delivery of my hp 5370B time interval counter to me today! 
Shortly after that:


Ok, much to my surprise there it is:

I won't complain, of course, but what a surprise! Most of the time it's vice versa.   

But when I inspected the package from outside, my lucky feelings got immediately damped:
The package had obviously taken some hits..   :shock:
Outcome:


!!#*?$! 

After calming down and a first inspection removing the screw of the disintegrated foot it was clear, that

• the foot had self-sacrificingly taken all the hit and the housing/rest of the device was mechanically intact.
• I could repair both damaged parts with a hot-air gun and some glue, hopefully. If not successful, it doesn't really matter it's just cosmetics at the rear of the device.

Full story here.

[TERRA Operative]

If you have a 3D printer, I made a 3D printable version that might help you out..

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3606417

[wkb]

If you have a 3D printer, I made a 3D printable version that might help you out..

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3606417

And very nice they are..

[Flare]

Has anyone got a suggestion for a replacement for the attached Iwatsu SS-6122 horizontal timing pot please? The board is cracked between the carbon trace and the legs. I think it's the same as the one in SS-5711 and SS-5710 as I think it's the same scope with an added OSD.
I believe the Iwatsu name for this part is: DRV147401. The case of the part states that it is an: Alps 749Y-50KB.
It's a 50k linear potentiometer with SPDT switch, the switch operates on the clockwise side, which is pretty unusual outside of scopes because practically all available ones seem to operate on the counterclockwise side, like a radio volume control. I think it only uses the CW open, CCW closed terminal, in order to light the uncalibrated LED. I don't expect to find anything with the same tiny slotted shaft, so whatever I get I'll have to grind down to size anyway. The leg size also shouldn't matter as it could just be wired to the board while hanging in its bracket.
Is there any good source for clockwise detent/switched pots in general outside of other scopes? Searching for them on electronics distributors is awful as many don't even have a parameter for switched pots and then if they do I need to go into the datasheet on each pot and look for the switch angle (which always seems to be 30° or 50° and I assume I would be looking for 270° or so). On a side note, I've found a parametric search worse than RS' one, Bourns own one feels like it's running on 56k.

I'll probably have to settle for a CCW switched volume knob in the end (the only difference should be the variable knob working in reverse direction) but I think it must be a fairly common type of part to replace in old gear, eg. I think Teks have a similar arrangement for their uncal LED.

[Flare]

Has anyone got a suggestion for a replacement for the attached Iwatsu SS-6122 horizontal timing pot please? The board is cracked between the carbon trace and the legs. I think it's the same as the one in SS-5711 and SS-5710 as I think it's the same scope with an added OSD.
I believe the Iwatsu name for this part is: DRV147401. The case of the part states that it is an: Alps 749Y-50KB.
It's a 50k linear potentiometer with SPDT switch, the switch operates on the clockwise side, which is pretty unusual outside of scopes because practically all available ones seem to operate on the counterclockwise side, like a radio volume control. I think it only uses the CW open, CCW closed terminal, in order to light the uncalibrated LED. I don't expect to find anything with the same tiny slotted shaft, so whatever I get I'll have to grind down to size anyway. The leg size also shouldn't matter as it could just be wired to the board while hanging in its bracket.
Is there any good source for clockwise detent/switched pots in general outside of other scopes? Searching for them on electronics distributors is awful as many don't even have a parameter for switched pots and then if they do I need to go into the datasheet on each pot and look for the switch angle (which always seems to be 30° or 50° and I assume I would be looking for 270° or so). On a side note, I've found a parametric search worse than RS' one, Bourns own one feels like it's running on 56k.

I'll probably have to settle for a CCW switched volume knob in the end (the only difference should be the variable knob working in reverse direction) but I think it must be a fairly common type of part to replace in old gear, eg. I think Teks have a similar arrangement for their uncal LED.

Apologies, I forgot to offer up a glamour pic of the TE as payment for this request. I don't think the graticule illumination is working and the delay trace slower timebase seems to need the intensity turned up way too high to see anything other than the highlight, I didn't fully investigate before tearing it down to replace the pot. I don't know why the image is so horribly artifacted, the original picture from my phone before resizing looks that poor.
It's pretty cool looking 80s tech though imo, I mostly got it because I thought the clock and counter were cool 

[m k]

So you opened it.

Was it a regular pot on top of not so regular something?

[DC1MC]

I've bought an ANGENG SZ20 as a comfort purchase  , the level of TE drought is terrible, anyways someone around Mannheim with a reasonable calibrator who wants to do a quick check/characterization ?

Cheers,
DC1MC

For risk takers:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005201649970.html

[TERRA Operative]

I figured out how to use standard C-size cells in the THS700 series scopes, and keep full backwards compatibility with a completely stock appearance.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/tek-ths720a-portable-scope-teardowndiscussion/msg4775885/#msg4775885

I have also ordered a new screen from China (still trying to source some polarisers that won't turn it blue and yellow instead of black and white. Got a bunch of TDS210 and TDS220 scopes to repair too. Damn STN/FSTN LCD screens and their extra filter requirements!) so this scope isn't far of actually being useable.

And now a THS720P has popped up on Yahoo Auctions, so I'll have a punt at that one too, see if I can nab it for a not stupid price.

[Flare]

So you opened it.

Was it a regular pot on top of not so regular something?

I originally opened the back in situ in the hope I could repair it in place, as I'm pretty sure that the technically correct way to remove it is to remove that PCB, desolder the entire Horizontal timing assembly and then remove it from that. In the end there was just enough tolerance to get it out leaving the rest in place.
I've attached a picture of the insides, as you can see the crack fully separated. The wiper assembly actuates the switch on the rear which is inside the same casing. Also attached is a picture showing that due to it being switched, it doesn't have a regular track, the latched area of the switch is solid metal instead of carbon, for negligible resistance (I assume this is normal for switched pots).
If anyone has the service manual it would be great, I've just gotten the operating manual from Iwatsu Europe which I think I'll upload to Electrotanya as it's too large to host here.

[DC1MC]

I figured out how to use standard C-size cells in the THS700 series scopes, and keep full backwards compatibility with a completely stock appearance.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/tek-ths720a-portable-scope-teardowndiscussion/msg4775885/#msg4775885

I have also ordered a new screen from China (still trying to source some polarisers that won't turn it blue and yellow instead of black and white. Got a bunch of TDS210 and TDS220 scopes to repair too. Damn STN/FSTN LCD screens and their extra filter requirements!) so this scope isn't far of actually being useable.

And now a THS720P has popped up on Yahoo Auctions, so I'll have a punt at that one too, see if I can nab it for a not stupid price.

THS710 can become a THS720 (I did this to mine), but not a THS720P, on the other side a THS710A/THS720A may be easily modified to become a THS720P. Nice trick with the C cells, I splurged 17EUR and got one "original" for mine.

 Cheers,
 DC1MC