Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bitseeker]

I just realized... now that I have some coffee in me... that I don't have a workbench for the next 2 days.   

Hmm, maybe a 3D printer cart in the future?

I think anything that could move - like a cart - would not be my first choice.  I have come to observe that stiffness, rigidity and lack of undesired movement are preferred characteristics surrounding 3D printing.

Yeah, "cart" wasn't the right word. Definitely don't want wheels on it. In any case, a more true-to-TEA solution would be to put the printer on top of a stack of  

[Brumby]

That would work ... maybe verging on overkill?

[med6753]

...



I haven't had a chance to do more than unbox it at this point; I had a nice little t-storm go through at about 5 PM.  A little wind, a bit of rain....  ...and one close strike that resulted in a 'Zzzt!' from under my desk...  Cable modem fried, wireless router went 'poof', and I think the ethernet port on my work computer has gone bye-bye, too.  Got a new modem and have gotten back online, but still have some resetting and reconfiguring to do.  Feh.  Stoopid lightning!

Wow, did you see joeqsmith's posts about lighting that hit the tree by his house? Blew out lots of TE. Lighting is not TEA-friendly. Glad you were able to get back online quickly.

I have a protocol that I follow when thunder storms threaten or if they're predicted while I'm at work. It involves remote RF shutdown of certain devices plus I have ready access to the breaker panel to shut off some circuits. Now it doesn't guarantee no damage from a near or direct strike but it does give some measure of protection. 

[Brumby]

I have my test gear on an isolation switch and my computer gear on another.  When bad storms head my way, things get shut down and the switches flicked.

I agree that this won't protect from a direct strike - but it does reduce the risk.

[tggzzz]

Sitting here listening to it pop loose from the bed as it cools; thinking about all the fun tinkering I could've been doing at my workbench for the last two afternoons. 

I usually make a prediction (and probably did in this thread) about people spending more time fettling than making useful things.

[tggzzz]

@mnem: you have throughly put me off 3d printing now 

IMHO it is more effective to get 3d printing done by professionals in the best material for your requirements. For different reasons, I quite like nylon, SLA, and brass

[bd139]

I have my test gear on an isolation switch and my computer gear on another.  When bad storms head my way, things get shut down and the switches flicked.

I agree that this won't protect from a direct strike - but it does reduce the risk.

Same here. Also physically unplug everything valuable.

Us hams have nice lighting rods plugged into our benches as well which is a bad idea. Mine gets physically unplugged and moved away from the building if the weather gets iffy. I've seen a picture of a direct strike on an antenna and it incinerated the station, all the test gear and most of the room it was in.

I usually make a prediction (and probably did in this thread) about people spending more time fettling than making useful things.

Some of us for sure. Some of us not so much. Just got a delivery from JLCPCB of my first prototype run of "the product". Aaaand I've found a mistake already, bloody Kicad footprint fuckery. Grr. Considering paying for Eagle.

@mnem: you have throughly put me off 3d printing now 

IMHO it is more effective to get 3d printing done by professionals in the best material for your requirements. For different reasons, I quite like nylon, SLA, and brass

Agreed on all counts. SLA is really nice. I know someone who got something done using that and clear resin and it was amazing compared to FDM. Looked better than injection moulded and polished stuff.

[tggzzz]

Just got a delivery from JLCPCB of my first prototype run of "the product". Aaaand I've found a mistake already, bloody Kicad footprint fuckery. Grr.

What's the source of the problem? How could it have been seen before manufacture?

I always use several different gerber viewers on my boards before sending them off. Tends to trap out my infelicities.

[bd139]

Just got a delivery from JLCPCB of my first prototype run of "the product". Aaaand I've found a mistake already, bloody Kicad footprint fuckery. Grr.

What's the source of the problem? How could it have been seen before manufacture?

I always use several different gerber viewers on my boards before sending them off. Tends to trap out my infelicities.

Pin assignment error in kicad library on a BJT. Before manufacture I actually reviewed all the footprints but I appeared to have missed the one that was wrong. It has been added to the checklist and will be reported back to Kicad team. Board run was only £11 and I can proceed with populating it and looking for other errors. I expect 3-4 board runs before I'm happy with it so I will see what else I can fix first. There are 105 parts on this board so I'm sure I've got some more trouble to go. That's what Kynar was invented for

[tggzzz]

Just got a delivery from JLCPCB of my first prototype run of "the product". Aaaand I've found a mistake already, bloody Kicad footprint fuckery. Grr.

What's the source of the problem? How could it have been seen before manufacture?

I always use several different gerber viewers on my boards before sending them off. Tends to trap out my infelicities.

Pin assignment error in kicad library on a BJT. Before manufacture I actually reviewed all the footprints but I appeared to have missed the one that was wrong. It has been added to the checklist and will be reported back to Kicad team. Board run was only £11 and I can proceed with populating it and looking for other errors. I expect 3-4 board runs before I'm happy with it so I will see what else I can fix first. There are 105 parts on this board so I'm sure I've got some more trouble to go. That's what Kynar was invented for

Bummer. The respin latency may be more annoying than anything else, but as you say you can often do a lot of debugging[1] before that is necessary.

I trust the wirewrap wire is the traditional blue colour

Nitpicking: it wasn't KiCAD but the library.

[1] most entertaining case I saw was that a preprod ic set's data sheet showed the fabricators's pinout, i.e. from the pin side. First board got rather hot, followed by head scratching - and finally the realisation that the ics could simply be mounted on the other side of the board.  Try that with SMC components!

[neo]

Off to the mountains in search of enlightenment... and by enlightenment i mean

[bd139]

Just got a delivery from JLCPCB of my first prototype run of "the product". Aaaand I've found a mistake already, bloody Kicad footprint fuckery. Grr.

What's the source of the problem? How could it have been seen before manufacture?

I always use several different gerber viewers on my boards before sending them off. Tends to trap out my infelicities.

Pin assignment error in kicad library on a BJT. Before manufacture I actually reviewed all the footprints but I appeared to have missed the one that was wrong. It has been added to the checklist and will be reported back to Kicad team. Board run was only £11 and I can proceed with populating it and looking for other errors. I expect 3-4 board runs before I'm happy with it so I will see what else I can fix first. There are 105 parts on this board so I'm sure I've got some more trouble to go. That's what Kynar was invented for

Bummer. The respin latency may be more annoying than anything else, but as you say you can often do a lot of debugging[1] before that is necessary.

I trust the wirewrap wire is the traditional blue colour

Nitpicking: it wasn't KiCAD but the library.

[1] most entertaining case I saw was that a preprod ic set's data sheet showed the fabricators's pinout, i.e. from the pin side. First board got rather hot, followed by head scratching - and finally the realisation that the ics could simply be mounted on the other side of the board.  Try that with SMC components!

It's not too bad. 12 days per turnaround for 10 boards at £11 which is pretty quick and cheap. I've seen the same service with 5 day turnaround here in the UK for over £500 for that.

The Kynar is not blue in my case. I did have a roll of blue stuff but used it all up. When it came to buy another roll I decided to get yellow as the contrast is better against average stuff on PCBs (RS 209-4798 )

Not sure that Kicad wasn't partially responsible here. The parts are inherited / derived from template parts so the derivation isn't as obvious as it looks due to pin numbering, which also isn't consistent between manufacturers, particularly the Chinese second source outfits. Typical example of the base BJT symbols, and then there's about 8-9 TO92 footprints on top of that, some inverted, some triangle layout, some inline, some with basically useless alignment semantics.



Good point with SMD vs TH there. Although at least you don't have the problem of working out whether or not the pinout is viewed from below or above which is sometimes all over the shop on datasheets. Can't remember which one it was, but I think it was TI who listed on their datasheets a TO92 package with both "top view" and "bottom view" next to the same pinout image 

[med6753]

Tant patrol. All the tantalums are replaced on the 465B Vertical board. 9 - 6.8uf and 2 -15uf. It appears to have taken care of the intermittent ripple on the traces. Got it cooking on the bench and so far looks good. Had a minor issue...the tip on the desoldering iron decided to crack and fall apart halfway through the project. So I had to get a little creative in replacing the balance. I thought I had a replacement tip but no go. Have 2 on order.

     

[bd139]

Stripey bastards are always the failure points. Make sure you pummel them with a hammer just to make a point to the ones that remain

[med6753]

Stripey bastards are always the failure points. Make sure you pummel them with a hammer just to make a point to the ones that remain

The rest of them are living on borrowed time too. I should go after that big boy in the HV circuit before it decides to shelf destruct.

[bd139]

I would do. Usually the first or second one to go. It's right on the corner so it's easy to get at it as well. Easy pickings

[Cubdriver]

...



I haven't had a chance to do more than unbox it at this point; I had a nice little t-storm go through at about 5 PM.  A little wind, a bit of rain....  ...and one close strike that resulted in a 'Zzzt!' from under my desk...  Cable modem fried, wireless router went 'poof', and I think the ethernet port on my work computer has gone bye-bye, too.  Got a new modem and have gotten back online, but still have some resetting and reconfiguring to do.  Feh.  Stoopid lightning!

Wow, did you see joeqsmith's posts about lighting that hit the tree by his house? Blew out lots of TE. Lighting is not TEA-friendly. Glad you were able to get back online quickly.

I have a protocol that I follow when thunder storms threaten or if they're predicted while I'm at work. It involves remote RF shutdown of certain devices plus I have ready access to the breaker panel to shut off some circuits. Now it doesn't guarantee no damage from a near or direct strike but it does give some measure of protection.

After having to replace a motherboard a few years ago after a nearby lightning strike took out its Ethernet port, I've gotten rather paranoid about unplugging/disconnecting things in bad weather.  In this instance, it came nearly out of the blue - the wind had freshened a bit, and it got a bit grey, but it had not begun raining when *flash*  *boom*  *zzzzzt* and off to Staples I went in search of a new modem.  And, t'would appear I'll be talking to the IT department today about an alternative means to make an Ethernet connection to my computer...

-Pat

[iainwhite]

Re: JLCPCB:
I tried them and was pretty happy with the service.
I ordered 10 Tek power supply capacitor adapter boards for $2.00 (plus $12.62 Shipping Charge) and they were delivered in 11 days.

[bd139]

I think it’s funny the boards are only every $2 and the bloody postage is so much.

[mnementh]

In Other News...


Today, I made a liverwurst and swiss cheese sandwich with dijon mustard for lunch... AND I ENJOYED IT.

I am turning into my grandmother. 


I'll be back when I have time to catch up... busy with a minor paradigm shift that revolves around whether I can resurrect a medium-size UPS.

Cheers,

mnem
Getting old is the wurst.

[bd139]

That sounds bloody amazing. I want one 

[mnementh]

What, the sandwich or the UPS? 

mnem
*p00t!*

[mnementh]

    Dude... my groin aches just from LOOKING at that effing .   

But wow, man... what a score. You have truly earned the title of jammy git !

mnem
Objects in rear view mirror may appear heavier than they are.

[Specmaster]

    Dude... my groin aches just from LOOKING at that effing .   

But wow, man... what a score. You have truly earned the title of jammy git !

mnem
Objects in rear view mirror may appear heavier than they are.

Oh good I can pass the crown on then, it was getting bit heavy wearing it all the time [emoji1787]

[med6753]

In Other News...


Today, I made a liverwurst and swiss cheese sandwich with dijon mustard for lunch... AND I ENJOYED IT.

I am turning into my grandmother. 


I'll be back when I have time to catch up... busy with a minor paradigm shift that revolves around whether I can resurrect a medium-size UPS.

Cheers,

mnem
Getting old is the wurst.

I love liverwurst and swiss! Make me one.