Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Martin.M]

about the picture from the killed Fet Probe,
I have that in the collection, complete is like this.

[0culus]

about the picture from the killed Fet Probe,
I have that in the collection, complete is like this.

That brings up a great question...so I have two of these probes. One of them is just the probe, accessories missing. The other one is the complete set, brand new. However, the included ground lead is comically long for high frequencies. Do you know where I could find a shorter one that screws into the probe handle properly?

[Martin.M]

you are right, that is not useful for 500MHz and up.
I have some other probes where is a double pin Head, center Pin is hot and side Pin is ground.
May be that works with the long cable bec. p6201 is high impedance input. The dual pin probes are 10X (=500 ohm) and 100x (=5k)

[mnementh]

      Thanks for the comments, I have just got into 3D printing (Flashforge) , I have found it a bit easier than I thought it would be.
Very helpful for TEA repair of 'old classics' minus some critical part - what do people do with battery doors FFS! Or there is a discontinuity in space-time full of equipment battery compartment lids.

Yes, well... FlashForge is like Ultimaker... it's the "easy button" for 3DP. We poor Philistines will continue to be excited over the results from our inferior "homebrew" setups, and there's not a damn thing anybody can do to stop us!   

But yeah... battery doors and custom equipment feet were some of of the first things that came to mind when I first started walking the edge of this slippery slope... I still have my deathgrip on that jutting root, and I am fighting with all my might to claw my way back to reality.

Of course, I have no doubt that my current computer case modding project will ensure my safe passage back into the good graces of the occupationally-normative hegemony. 

mnem
 *coughYMMVcough*

[mnementh]

about the picture from the killed Fet Probe,
I have that in the collection, complete is like this.

That brings up a great question...so I have two of these probes. One of them is just the probe, accessories missing. The other one is the complete set, brand new. However, the included ground lead is comically long for high frequencies. Do you know where I could find a shorter one that screws into the probe handle properly?

   

I know I'm showing my ignorance here, as I've never actually had occasion to use one of these probes...

If you pop off that probe prophylactic, is there a shield barrel that these can fit on? I found a vendor on AliEx that carries clones of the original Tek clips for both 3.5mm and 4.5mm barrel.

mnem
*Probulator-ey*

[bd139]

Oh cool. Going to order some of them as my recent new set of tek probes missed those. Everything else was present. . Thanks for the heads up.

[Mr. Scram]

I know I'm showing my ignorance here, as I've never actually had occasion to use one of these probes...

If you pop off that probe prophylactic, is there a shield barrel that these can fit on? I found a vendor on AliEx that carries clones of the original Tek clips for both 3.5mm and 4.5mm barrel.

mnem
*Probulator-ey*

Dave had them in a video on bypass capacitors not too long ago. It's actually longer ago than I remembered.

[bd139]

Indeed. Also time to repost Linear AN47: https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/application-notes/an47fa.pdf

RIP Mr Williams

[mnementh]

Well, no... I'm not ignorant of such fundamental principles as test-induced signal degradation due to capacitive coupling, ringing and common-mode noise; I understand why we use these clips. 

I've just never used one of this older Tek family of FET probes in person so I didn't know if they had the shield barrel on them; I figured it was possible Tek took a different approach with these particular probes.   

[EDIT]

I also figured it was possible they used the less-common 4.5mm barrel, and wanted to pass on that I'd found an aftermarket source for those clips that wasn't this kind of crazy expensive: https://www.amazon.com/Cal-Test-Electronics-CT3672-Oscilloscope/dp/B009QBSSKS

30 bucks a set adds up QUICK!!!   

[/EDIT]

mnem
D'oh!

[Mr. Scram]

My graph insists on being linear, while it really should be a curve. I'm so fed up with this I'm inclined to do some paperwork instead.

Okay, despite all my efforts to ensure it wasn't a scaling issue it was a scaling issue. Why is it always the simple things?

[grbk]

I also figured it was possible they used the less-common 4.5mm barrel, and wanted to pass on that I'd found an aftermarket source for those clips that wasn't this kind of crazy expensive: https://www.amazon.com/Cal-Test-Electronics-CT3672-Oscilloscope/dp/B009QBSSKS

30 bucks a set adds up QUICK!!!   

For what it's worth, MSRP on these is $14 and you can get them for that price from Digikey. Not sure why Amazon thinks list price is $70.

Cal Test has a whole range of Tek 3.5mm probe accesories that are more-or-less reasonably priced: http://www.caltestelectronics.com/ctitem/#!/35-35mm-probe-accessories/

They're designed for their P6139A equivalent but I've tried a lot of them on my set of P6137 probes and they work well.

edit: fix broken url parsing

[Specmaster]

@mnen, thanks for posting the details about those probe connectors, I'll be ordering some of those myself shortly, 

[0culus]

about the picture from the killed Fet Probe,
I have that in the collection, complete is like this.

That brings up a great question...so I have two of these probes. One of them is just the probe, accessories missing. The other one is the complete set, brand new. However, the included ground lead is comically long for high frequencies. Do you know where I could find a shorter one that screws into the probe handle properly?

   

I know I'm showing my ignorance here, as I've never actually had occasion to use one of these probes...

If you pop off that probe prophylactic, is there a shield barrel that these can fit on? I found a vendor on AliEx that carries clones of the original Tek clips for both 3.5mm and 4.5mm barrel.

mnem
*Probulator-ey*

Hmmm, so THAT's what that thing is for...it came with one. Of course, it's predicated on there being a close ground available.

[Neomys Sapiens]

about the picture from the killed Fet Probe,
I have that in the collection, complete is like this.

That brings up a great question...so I have two of these probes. One of them is just the probe, accessories missing. The other one is the complete set, brand new. However, the included ground lead is comically long for high frequencies. Do you know where I could find a shorter one that screws into the probe handle properly?

If you have a few days for me to look for, I might have a spare. Could you verify the thread?
I have some Tek ground leads with threaded end, but I am not sure if there was only one type.

[tggzzz]

about the picture from the killed Fet Probe,
I have that in the collection, complete is like this.

That brings up a great question...so I have two of these probes. One of them is just the probe, accessories missing. The other one is the complete set, brand new. However, the included ground lead is comically long for high frequencies. Do you know where I could find a shorter one that screws into the probe handle properly?

   

I know I'm showing my ignorance here, as I've never actually had occasion to use one of these probes...

If you pop off that probe prophylactic, is there a shield barrel that these can fit on? I found a vendor on AliEx that carries clones of the original Tek clips for both 3.5mm and 4.5mm barrel.

mnem
*Probulator-ey*

Hmmm, so THAT's what that thing is for...it came with one. Of course, it's predicated on there being a close ground available.

If you haven't got a nearby ground, you have bigger problems than not having such a probe tip!

[Neomys Sapiens]

@inverted18650:
If he doesn't want it, I would!

@the others:
wait until I get a better digicam and I will toolp0rn you!

Want what my friend?

The self-build TM500 plugin with the multiple oscillators.

[0culus]

about the picture from the killed Fet Probe,
I have that in the collection, complete is like this.

That brings up a great question...so I have two of these probes. One of them is just the probe, accessories missing. The other one is the complete set, brand new. However, the included ground lead is comically long for high frequencies. Do you know where I could find a shorter one that screws into the probe handle properly?

If you have a few days for me to look for, I might have a spare. Could you verify the thread?
I have some Tek ground leads with threaded end, but I am not sure if there was only one type.

I'll have to dig the box out, but I'll let you know by tomorrow.

[Inverted18650]

The self-build TM500 plugin with the multiple oscillators.

Martin.M accepted and I am sending it his way.

"white noise" on the Tek5111

[beanflying]

about the picture from the killed Fet Probe,
I have that in the collection, complete is like this.

That brings up a great question...so I have two of these probes. One of them is just the probe, accessories missing. The other one is the complete set, brand new. However, the included ground lead is comically long for high frequencies. Do you know where I could find a shorter one that screws into the probe handle properly?

   

I know I'm showing my ignorance here, as I've never actually had occasion to use one of these probes...

If you pop off that probe prophylactic, is there a shield barrel that these can fit on? I found a vendor on AliEx that carries clones of the original Tek clips for both 3.5mm and 4.5mm barrel.

mnem
*Probulator-ey*

For those who haven't you need to 

https://youtu.be/2vzvWUqUtb8

[Neomys Sapiens]

The self-build TM500 plugin with the multiple oscillators.

Martin.M accepted and I am sending it his way.

"white noise" on the Tek5111

That noise is green
and I did not want to see it now.
 

[Wolfgang]

... from an old RF guy: ONLY A DEAD PROBE IS A GOOD PROBE.
If you want to measure some Gigahertzy stuff accurrately, provide a defined impedance path and not some antenna/inductor/capacitor mess hack.
If you still do (I confess having made FET probes myself) dont just believe what you see. Scepticism is king !

[tggzzz]

If you still do (I confess having made FET probes myself) dont just believe what you see. Scepticism is king !

That applies to far more than FET probes!

[mnementh]

So far I have contracted with someone else to print or have things printed in PLA, brass, nylon and SLA. I don't know what I will use next; paper?

Hence there's no point in my getting a printer.

There; fixed that for ya.     A really big difference; I'm sorry.
Just like leasing a car is not the same as building one from the hubs up, which I've also done. 

   
I found a vendor on AliEx that carries clones of the original Tek clips for both 3.5mm and 4.5mm barrel.

mnem
*Probulator-ey*

Oh cool. Going to order some of them as my recent new set of tek probes missed those. Everything else was present. . Thanks for the heads up.

@mnem, thanks for posting the details about those probe connectors, I'll be ordering some of those myself shortly, 

You're both very welcome!  Glad I could help out!

In Other News...



Various packages from Amazon were delivered today by no less than 3 different couriers... things are about to get very crunk, or very real. 

mnem
Trust no electron!!!

[tggzzz]

So far I have contracted with someone else to print or have things printed in PLA, brass, nylon and SLA. I don't know what I will use next; paper?

Hence there's no point in my getting a printer.

There; fixed that for ya.     A really big difference; I'm sorry.
Just like leasing a car is not the same as building one from the hubs up, which I've also done. 

Leasing isn't the right analogy. Owning a car vs taking a taxi is more apt.

[Specmaster]

@mnem, what is that PCI card for?