Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

Apparently the VTVM looks like it works so that is indeed the plan. I had a selenium rectifier go off in some old kit once and I don't wish to reproduce that smell so I've already ordered a bag of slightly higher spec 1n4007's and a new filter cap rated at 200v. I'll keep fingers crossed for everything else and diagnose on the fly. quite surprised to find that RS here in the UK still sell 12AU7's if the worst comes to the worst.

[SeanB]

I quite like the fuzzy look of Nixies - at my age most things are like that !

(The latter was doubly irritating since they also had a 1.00000000kg weight in a nice display case)

Did you make an offer for that nice, almost a 1 kg, hunk of silicon?

No, my backpack was too full as it was

I think they were wise not to leave it on the stand overnight

At the movies there would have been in the morning only a waterballoon filled with a liter of water. 

I have a set of masspieces, up to 100g in a set, that I know the mass of to 4 decimals, and the 1g one is exactly 1.0000g as well, even got ( by accident with a miscommunication) the mass of the 5mg masspieces as well, though those are only to 3 digits and with a higher uncertainty on them.

Nice to go into the actual metrology lab itself, with all the Mettler Toledo comparasion massmeters that they use to check the masspieces, and the calibrated weighbridge they have, which goes up to 20 tons, complete with crane, used for the larger portable masspieces. Biggest ones they have sit on a railway siding nearby, as there is no rail line to them, otherwise the 200 ton railcar would be there as well. When the lab was in the old premises I also got to see the primary reference, in it's nice wooden and glass display case, sitting on the felt pad, but the cal part was split from the reference and I do not get to see the basement lab any more with the walk in safe built into a hillside.

[SeanB]

Apparently the VTVM looks like it works so that is indeed the plan. I had a selenium rectifier go off in some old kit once and I don't wish to reproduce that smell so I've already ordered a bag of slightly higher spec 1n4007's and a new filter cap rated at 200v. I'll keep fingers crossed for everything else and diagnose on the fly. quite surprised to find that RS here in the UK still sell 12AU7's if the worst comes to the worst.

Please also put a 33R 2W resistor ( pretty much any value between 22R and 100R, depending on actual current draw of the unit) in series with the diode, to limit the current peaks to something the transformer and capacitors can handle without failure. Otherwise the peak currents will stress the old transformer.

[bd139]

It will be charging up a relatively small (new sprague atom) 20uF cap to 150v and usual current draw is a couple of mA.  Not sure if it's worth it for that. The filament winding is drawing an order of magnitude more watts.  I used to play with old valve radios when I was a kid and never bothered.

[bitseeker]

Nice to go into the actual metrology lab itself, with all the Mettler Toledo comparasion massmeters that they use to check the masspieces, and the calibrated weighbridge they have, which goes up to 20 tons, complete with crane, used for the larger portable masspieces. Biggest ones they have sit on a railway siding nearby, as there is no rail line to them, otherwise the 200 ton railcar would be there as well.

up to 20 tons <--  --> portable masspieces

[Specmaster]

Its so nice to see that I'm not the only one that has trouble in ignoring the bargains to be had on Ebay etc when it comes to old test equipment.

It all started for me when I was an apprentice electrical engineer way back in 1964 when I would go along to ogle the test meters in the local radio spares shop window, frustrated because I could not afford to buy them in those days. Then one of the local Marconi factories had a clear out and the shop brought up some of the test gear and they had in their window a Cossor 1035 dual beam oscilloscope that I saved up and purchased a few weeks later. The rest was history from there, followed by a new test meter TMK500 which I still have today. I then got married and along came children which meant that once again I could not afford anything so I thought I was cured and settled down to the humdrum world of sofa sitting watching TV for years. This was injected with the odd purchase later on as the kids got older of the occasional meters etc. until I lost my job last year at the age of 67 and I had time to reflect on what I was going to do with my time as I thought it would be the end of my working life so I decided that I could buy up old radios etc that needed repairs and then sell them on, to provide something to keep me occupied and maybe bring in the occasional odd bit of money to aid my pension, well that was the idea.This of course meant the purchase of more test gear etc in order to do that.

I now am the proud owner of the following items of test gear in my kit.

Working items.
TMK 500 multimeter,
TMK 700 multimeter,
Robin 1503 multimeter,
Robin OM 840 digital multimeter,
Proster VC97 digital multimeter,
2 x Beside ADM08A digital multimeters,
Iotech UA6243L LCR meter,
Avo Model 8 multimeter,
HP 3466A digital bench multimeter,
Philips PM 2521 digital bench multimeter,
Heathkit V7A valve voltmeter,
Isotech IDM 203 digital bench multimeter,
Tech TE20D AM RF signal generator
Marconi TF 995a/5 AM/FM RF signal generator,
Rapid 7025A 20Mhz analogue oscilloscope,
Iwatzu SS5710 60Mhz analogue oscilloscope,
LG Goldstar OS 9100D 100Mhz analogue oscilloscope,
Hitachi V525 50Mhz analogue oscilloscope,
XJW01 LCR and ESR meter,
Minghe MHS-5200A function generator and counter,
Kikusui 1502 digital bench multimeter,
Velleman DVM13MFC multi function counter,
2 digital display bench power supplies (1 linear and 1 SMPS),
Digital Hakko 966D clone solder station,
Digital 858D hot air gun for smd work,
Digital Duratool desoldering station.
Heathkit IG 4505 oscilloscope Calibrator

Items under going repairs
Hameg HM408-1A 40Mhz analog storage oscilloscope,
HP 1740A 100Mhz analog oscilloscope,
Peachtree Type 450 AM/FM RF signal generator.

Along the way I have manged to buy / obtain a few bits and bobs, repair them and sell on again, although nowhere near what I was planning to do, there was always a nice piece of test gear to tweak etc ... and so it goes on and on .... 

So do you think that I fit into the TEA category or not, I certainly need help 

Wait there's help just around the corner, I think there's a prospect of a job again so I'll have less time to buy more test gear thats for sure if it comes off.

[bitseeker]

Looks like you'd fit right in. However, your fixed list looks to be out of proportion to your repair list.

Lemme tell you, all the goodies in today's Equipnet auction was mighty tempting. Some stuff I was checking out didn't even get bid on. Alas, my lab and queue is just too full right now. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it (at least for as long as it holds out).

[xrunner]

Its so nice to see that I'm not the only one that has trouble in ignoring the bargains to be had on Ebay etc when it comes to old test equipment.

Hey looks like you followed my link here from the other thread! 

Yea you belong here - oh yea. I personally would love to see some pics of the gear you have especially the lesser known makes.

[bitseeker]

Yeah, xrunner, you beat me to it. Good recruiting job!

[Specmaster]

Its so nice to see that I'm not the only one that has trouble in ignoring the bargains to be had on Ebay etc when it comes to old test equipment.

Hey looks like you followed my link here from the other thread! 

Yea you belong here - oh yea. I personally would love to see some pics of the gear you have especially the lesser known makes.

Ok, let me know what you'd like to pics of and I'll see what I can do.

[Cubdriver]

Its so nice to see that I'm not the only one that has trouble in ignoring the bargains to be had on Ebay etc when it comes to old test equipment.

Hey looks like you followed my link here from the other thread! 

Yea you belong here - oh yea. I personally would love to see some pics of the gear you have especially the lesser known makes.

Ok, let me know what you'd like to pics of and I'll see what I can do.

We'll make it easy.  All of it.   

And welcome to the TEA party.

-Pat

[Berni]

Looks like you'd fit right in. However, your fixed list looks to be out of proportion to your repair list.

Lemme tell you, all the goodies in today's Equipnet auction was mighty tempting. Some stuff I was checking out didn't even get bid on. Alas, my lab and queue is just too full right now. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it (at least for as long as it holds out).

I was on the auction but the main piece i was drooling over (6GHz network analyzer) i kept getting outbid on by some asshole, battled him well in to the night but eventually i gave up and went to bed. It didn't go the way i planed, all i got is one boatanchor and some fancy digital calipers, both under the reserve price so fingers crossed that they take my offer.

[bitseeker]

Yeah, the cool stuff went for way too much money. The risk was higher than I'd have liked, too, especially at those prices. Hardly anything had useful condition information. A few items were clearly identified as broken in the description. However, others had obscured red reject tags, yet weren't identified as such in the description. One has to wonder about the items that had stickers from used test equipment retailers/refurbishers (BER?).

I almost went for some power supplies, but closed the browser before it was too late.

[Berni]

Yeah, the cool stuff went for way too much money. The risk was higher than I'd have liked, too, especially at those prices. Hardly anything had useful condition information. A few items were clearly identified as broken in the description. However, others had obscured red reject tags, yet weren't identified as such in the description. One has to wonder about the items that had stickers from used test equipment retailers/refurbishers (BER?).

I almost went for some power supplies, but closed the browser before it was too late.

Yeah the vague and maybe even wrong descriptions of the working state are my biggest problem with this auction. Because of that i only went for what i could get for cheap. If it has a not working tag on it then at least take a photo of the tag. I still don't mind buying something broken as long as i get some info on the fault, so that i can take a guess if its easily fixable. I had 'broken' equipment before that just needed a new fuse and that's it.

[bitseeker]

I concur on all counts.

[bd139]

There are a few private auctions here in the UK I've scored on. I was in money making mode at the time so I didn't keep any of it. This was before TEA

The one thing I regret selling is the Tek 7613 and 7L12 spectrum analyser which still had a calibration certificate. I kept the Tek 475 I had in that lot for a bit but had a stupid moment of "100MHz is enough" and got rid of it.

My wife keeps asking me when I'm selling the HP 1740A I just restored. She doesn't get the idea of never!

[bitseeker]

My wife keeps asking me when I'm selling the HP 1740A I just restored.

 

[Fungus]

My wife keeps asking me when I'm selling the HP 1740A I just restored. She doesn't get the idea of never!

Wouldn't you rather have a modern one?

[bd139]

Actually no not really, well not a DS1054Z anyway. I had a 1054Z for about a month and ended up using the analogue scopes because of the amount of noise coming out of the damn thing. I like to sit in complete silence and think with a circuit in front of me.

[Fungus]

There's fanless DSOs out there. 

The little Hamegs leap to mind. They're quite "analog" in function, too.

[bd139]

Indeed you are right. That might be the next step

However, I *need* an SA first. That's next on the shopping list.

Another purchase I forget: another counter. Black Star Meteor 600 and only because it has a 10MHz reference input (time nuts here I come). The Rigol DG1022Z counter is totally shit. No sensitivity at all (100mV P-P if you are lucky). Very much regretting selling my 5315A now as it had the option C and OCXO in it.

Future reference: if you have something nice and HP, don't sell it to buy some Chinese crap

[tggzzz]

So do you think that I fit into the TEA category or not, I certainly need help 

No, you're not there yet: while the hp1740a is a good start, you are missing Tek scopes, analogue storage scopes, signal generators, spectrum analysers, network analysers, PSUs, voltage and resistance references.

PM me if you want me to help rectify those discrepancies 

[Specmaster]

There are a few private auctions here in the UK I've scored on. I was in money making mode at the time so I didn't keep any of it. This was before TEA

The one thing I regret selling is the Tek 7613 and 7L12 spectrum analyser which still had a calibration certificate. I kept the Tek 475 I had in that lot for a bit but had a stupid moment of "100MHz is enough" and got rid of it.

My wife keeps asking me when I'm selling the HP 1740A I just restored. She doesn't get the idea of never!

I cannot remove the knob for the timebase on my 1740A, 1 grub screw is undone but the other.. it does not seem to fit properly with any of my allen keys, they just slip round inside of the head  So it justs sits here on the floor by my desk waiting for me resolve the issue. I looked useing stud / screw extractors none of the ones I've ever come across are small enough to pass through the opening on the knob let alone fit the grub screw 

[tggzzz]

I cannot remove the knob for the timebase on my 1740A, 1 grub screw is undone but the other.. it does not seem to fit properly with any of my allen keys, they just slip round inside of the head  So it justs sits here on the floor by my desk waiting for me resolve the issue. I looked useing stud / screw extractors none of the ones I've ever come across are small enough to pass through the opening on the knob let alone fit the grub screw 

I had that problem. Fortunately I was able to do my repairs (to the PCB and replacing the timebase legend with something more visible) by only removing one of the timebase knobs.

You might need 0.05" allen keys, as per: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/allen-key-size-for-older-hp-knobs/

[bd139]

Well there's two options:

1. Buy an 0.05" hex key (I got a few of them from RS when I was repairing Tek stuff - same size!)
2. Buy another HP 1740A: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122697662787