Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Cerebus]

Calculator?  You had calculators?  We had slide rules in my day.  and my Pa had rocks and chisels and he helped put men on the Moon.

Your father was Ralph Kramden?  "All the way to the moon, Alice, all the way to the moon."

[bd139]

Having some asshattery on my 87iv. Won 24th. Paid immediately. Nothing heard at all. Opened case. Heard back last Thursday and was told it was sent on Wednesday last week. No tracking info or anything. Hasn’t even marked it as dispatched. Got to wait until 8th for claim. 

[GregDunn]

I didn't inherit these - I'm ancient enough to have actually used them both in college.   

One of the small benefits to being a fossil, though, is that the local voting board sends you an absentee ballot so that you don't have to actually fight the crowd on election day.  The downside is that you don't get a free sticker to impress your friends with.   

[mnementh]

Here's the only one I have left... I inherited this with a bunch of mics and calipers from my grandfather. Rebranded Relay 150; Celluloid over bamboo, '50s collegiate grade.

   And I inherited this, my favourite tool. It was old when I first used it, and now it is half a century older.

Are you sure it's a billhook and not a gutting/flensing knife? Billhooks tend to be pretty thick and heavy to gather momentum, as they are meant to cut on the pull stroke. Interesting though.

Having some asshattery on my 87iv. Won 24th. Paid immediately. Nothing heard at all. Opened case. Heard back last Thursday and was told it was sent on Wednesday last week. No tracking info or anything. Hasn’t even marked it as dispatched. Got to wait until 8th for claim.   

Probably not. you CAN call eBay customer support any time in the process and ask them to reach out to the other party. That will usually provoke a response. In this case, since the seller has been so poor to respond and no tracking after all this time, they'll probably start the process, maybe even close in your favor immediately.

Odds are seller's remorse and your seller discovered after the sale how valuable an 87-IV is, but is too much of an asshat to cancel the auction because he wants to turn around and relist it again with a higher minimum.

Watch the bastard. Report him if you see it come up again.

mnem
*The Dwagon Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest*

[Mr. Scram]

Well that was painful but it's done and it works. About 6 months ago my ISP started charging $10/month for rental of their cable modem. Well, screw that. I bought my own modem and they can shove theirs. But they certainly don't make it easy to register the MAC address even on line but you bastards I figured it out.    It works fine and my speed is same as before. 

Now I can finally go get some sleep. 

I don't think they even like people having their own modems, they just want the extra cash.

[tggzzz]

Here's the only one I have left... I inherited this with a bunch of mics and calipers from my grandfather. Rebranded Relay 150; Celluloid over bamboo, '50s collegiate grade.

   And I inherited this, my favourite tool. It was old when I first used it, and now it is half a century older.

Are you sure it's a billhook and not a gutting/flensing knife? Billhooks tend to be pretty thick and heavy to gather momentum, as they are meant to cut on the pull stroke. Interesting though.

Definitely nothing to do with flesh, but I've haven't found a billhook with such a pronounced hook.
https://www.billhooks.co.uk/

[bd139]

Having some asshattery on my 87iv. Won 24th. Paid immediately. Nothing heard at all. Opened case. Heard back last Thursday and was told it was sent on Wednesday last week. No tracking info or anything. Hasn’t even marked it as dispatched. Got to wait until 8th for claim.   

Probably not. you CAN call eBay customer support any time in the process and ask them to reach out to the other party. That will usually provoke a response. In this case, since the seller has been so poor to respond and no tracking after all this time, they'll probably start the process, maybe even close in your favor immediately.

Odds are seller's remorse and your seller discovered after the sale how valuable an 87-IV is, but is too much of an asshat to cancel the auction because he wants to turn around and relist it again with a higher minimum.

Watch the bastard. Report him if you see it come up again.

This was an intentionally risky one on my part. The seller was known hooky. I figured if it played out there was at least a 50% chance of getting a meter worth 4x what I paid out of it or cash back anyway.

I’ll let it run until the 8th. It was done on 0% card anyway so no financial loss either way as I’ll just charge back it if PayPal aren’t helpful.

[bitseeker]

Does TEA have Twelve Steps?
I am powerless over spec sheets for low end oscilloscopes of today, as they have capabilities that were simply UNOBTANIUM when I was a kid and Tectronix was King.

My Sad Story is here

Welcome, Bill! That's quite a harrowing experience. Just goes to show how dangerous unpolarized plugs are. Next thing you know, you're married!

[0culus]

I found an HP 3455A voltmeter that appears to be working for a very reasonable price. TEA is real!! 

[bitseeker]

Well that was painful but it's done and it works. About 6 months ago my ISP started charging $10/month for rental of their cable modem. Well, screw that. I bought my own modem and they can shove theirs. But they certainly don't make it easy to register the MAC address even on line but you bastards I figured it out.    It works fine and my speed is same as before. 

Now I can finally go get some sleep. 

And buy more goodies with the money you'd otherwise waste on modem rental. (I did the same.) 

[bitseeker]

I found an HP 3455A voltmeter that appears to be working for a very reasonable price. TEA is real!! 

Ah, I see. You mistook us for a social club. Looking forward to seeing your new meter.

[0culus]

I found an HP 3455A voltmeter that appears to be working for a very reasonable price. TEA is real!! 

Ah, I see. You mistook us for a social club. Looking forward to seeing your new meter.

Nah, it's positive reinforcement!!!  I'll definitely post pics once it arrives. 

[Specmaster]

Ebay is alive again, I have buyers, listed a meter yesterday, today its sold and many more watchers on other items 

In other news.

One of my purchases to repair and relist again, looks like it might need a power amp IC module, its a Sanyo SVI 3102 C according to the service manual but the one fitted is a SVI 3102 D but the only datasheet I can find is for the SVI 3102 C, which is more of a example schematic to make a complete amp from it 

Does anyone know what the actual difference is between the suffix  of B, C and D versions? I also have discovered that a RSN 3502 is supposed to be an equivalent but searching for that item and data sheet drew a complete blank.

I have found  supplier if I need it in the USA  https://uk.utsource.net/Order/Cart?type=101 or AliEx but those are either the B or D versions. Has anyone any knowledge of this module at all or any useful information that might help me to restore the amplifier which is a Technics SU-VZ220

[GreyWoolfe]

Here's the only one I have left... I inherited this with a bunch of mics and calipers from my grandfather. Rebranded Relay 150; Celluloid over bamboo, '50s collegiate grade.

And I inherited this, my favourite tool. It was old when I first used it, and now it is half a century older.

I still have my father's tack hammer.  At least 60+ years in age.  I use it regularly.

[bitseeker]

Ebay is alive again, I have buyers, listed a meter yesterday, today its sold and many more watchers on other items 

Wow, that's fast. Are the other items the Teacs you were fixing earlier?

[Specmaster]

Ebay is alive again, I have buyers, listed a meter yesterday, today its sold and many more watchers on other items 

Wow, that's fast. Are the other items the Teacs you were fixing earlier?

No, I thought I'd sit on them for a while so I can watch others on there and pitch them at the right level. There was one for £55 that didn't sell, been relist Ed at same price. There's another for £89 that has loads of watchers on it so I'll see how that goes.

That Technics, I broke the power connector between tranny and main board so I'm waiting on a mcgyver fix to be delivered so I can test it before ordering that power IC, otherwise I'll be like Defpom, having bits delivered incase and any profit would be wiped out. [emoji53]

[bitseeker]

Cool. Happy hunting (or pitching).

[Specmaster]

I just realised that since I got myself a Tek TDS210 a couple of months ago, I've now brought and resold 2 more since then and a third for sale now. These are pretty tough bits of kit that really impress with their performance and speed of booting, sometimes I can complete the measurements I need before the CombiScope has finished booting up[emoji106]

[tautech]

............... otherwise I'll be like Defpom, having bits delivered incase and any profit would be wiped out. [emoji53]

So you keep an eye on what Scott's up to too. 
Smart cookie he is and lives the other side of AK from me but we get to see each other a bit.

Yeah he sure buys a heap of bits. 

[Specmaster]

Yeah, I watch quite a few channels, all very entertaining and educational as well and its always nice to see how other folk go about their repairs as well getting to see other bits of kit that I'd never see otherwise 

[xrunner]

He says the input was converted - should I trust his work? 

Input converted

[Berni]

Looks like he not only upgraded it to 50Ohm but also upgraded it from being a input to being an imput.

[bd139]

It probably has a minimal loss pad underneath it. What that’s good to frequency-wise depends on the construction. So no

[PA0PBZ]

He says the input was converted - should I trust his work? 

Also:

- No DC blocking cap (can be solved externally)

- Range in dBmV, not dBm!

[Berni]

As he describes it it seams that a resistive impedance converter was used by HP to make it 75 Ohm and he just removed it. For 1.5 GHz you could probably DIY one even out of SMD resistor and have it be nice and flat.

I find it quite neat how every setting is a knob. Just dial in your span and RBW and reference level like a big ol timebase knob on a scope. Even old spectrum analyzers quickly stopped having big clunking knobs.