Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

They're amazing. I had a 77 up until around 2002 I think it was that my father bought in the  1980s. That probably would have been in cal as well now. however that thing was totally worn out. He used it for about 5 years all day every day and then handed it over to me when he dumped the electronics and went into computers.

Edit: found TME have some jacks in stock: https://www.tme.eu/gb/details/flk-pn826214/accessories-others/fluke/fluke-pn826214/

[bitseeker]

A little closer to (your) home, tell us which country this field/road is in. Then zoom out. Then zoom out several more times.

That's crazy. I haven't seen a national border in the middle of a road, and it doesn't even extend the full length of the road, either.

If that's all you've noticed, you haven't seen crazy

Which country is that bit of that road inside?
Zoom out.
Which country is that bit of that road inside?
Zoom out a few times.
Which country is that bit of that road inside?

Thanks for the additional prodding to observe further. How in the world did that happen? It's like a part of Belgium exploded and splattered onto the Netherlands (with random holes in the pattern for additional fun). So, what's the real story behind that?

[Specmaster]

Yes, Flukes, especially the older models all seem to have that "built like a tank" quality feel to them, I purchased a job lot of 25's, a few individual 25's and a couple of 27's a few months back and apart from spending some considerable time stripping them down to enable cleaning to be done easier, nothing else had to be done to them apart sort of the best displays etc.

When reassembled and run through their paces on my test / calibration equipment I discovered that they all agreed, almost all of them were ex RAF meters but one thing they had in common was that their last calibration was at least 10 years out of date

A few months later I then purchased 3 more Flukes, bench meters this time, 2 8840A's and a 8842A, one 8840A came was brought of Shpock for cash on collection in London and another came from a seller on ebay from the USA. The 8842A came from a seller in the UK on Gumtree, the last 2 meters had the AC option fitted. The London one also proved to spot on despite being many years out of calibration but had a rather weak VFD display but the other 2 not only had the AC option fitted but also had very VFD displays so I flipped the first one with the weak display again on ebay for a good profit. The 2 I kept were also spot on and none of them had any indication on them about their calibration dates, both were a bit dirty and needed some TLC on the cases but once done, proved to be spot on in their calibration as well. So of all the fluke meters that I have purchased they all proved to be in calibration apart from a 8505A (purchased off ebay in the USA) which was spot on voltage and current but on the higher resistance ranges was at times was upto 1M off, space was a factor and so I did not spend time on it, instead I flipped and just about broke even on that one but the amazing thing I have discovered that from over a dozen Flukes I have owned, it was only the 8505A that needed a bit of work being done.

The only Flukes I now currently own are a 8840A, 8842A and 2 off 27's that all fully functional and within calibration. I have about 4 of the 25's in various states (parts missing) that are good parts mules for the 27's as they are in fact identical under the skin.

Conclusion is like bd says, Fluke FTW. 

[bitseeker]

The right two jack shafts are broken. The contacts are in there but the usual black shaft is missing. Need to find a new unit. There's some in the US. Will get one shipped.

Yeah, I see that the usual black shaft is missing, but the inside of the common jack is red. It's only colored black on the upper region, which is usually what you'd see. Interesting.

[worsthorse]

TL;DR

My very very weird month of test gear acquisition continues apace. i've had this ad up on CL for about two months, looking for vintage semiconductors, mixers and such from SSDRA era to support my building habit. i've had a couple of good hits; a month ago, i traded two boat anchor hammarlunds for a crate full of semiconductors that included about $1500 worth of NOS moto power mosfets.  So when a guy called and said he parted out printers and computers and had found some radio parts, I was skeptical but set up a time to meet him.

When he opened his garage door the first thing I saw were three HP 8640s, a stack of Astron linear power supplies and two complete repeater racks, including heavy duty VHF duplexers. I spent four hours there, helping him sort through WWII radios and test gear, at least a dozen Heathkit rigs and meters, a stack of Spectracom 8173 WWVB radios, and three high power antenna matching boxes. There were packet modems, strip chart recorders, a box full of lambda linear PSUs, and crates of vacuum tubes. We barely made a dent, getting the boat anchors and test gear into three piles of hard to easy, selling wise.

I set aside two of the 8640s (one A, which is immaculate, and a B, which is a little beat up), along a couple of odd pieces of gear that I thought I might like. When he asked me how much he could sell it for on ebay, I gave him an honest answer. He paused and said, it is yours for two hundred bucks. thanks for helping me.  I am going to go back with some test gear and see what's working in the post-1960 piles. I will probably sell some of the stuff on the local ham circuit and help him find homes for the rest.

The hard part next trip will not loading up my truck with a bunch of hollow state Tektronix magic that I can't possibly use or restore anytime in the next decade.  And yes, I now own four 8640s. Watching me unload the truck, my wife said, I think you can generate enough signals now. 

[mnementh]

Okay... still a bit confused, but kept my mouth shut so far. When you say "new inserts" do you mean the contact brushes/wipers themselves as attached to the leaf springs, or something with the cam/drum that operates them? Or something else altogether?

I suppose I could answer this myself if I dredged up the service manual... but I'm busy futzing around with my old Oculus DK2. 

mnem
Priorities, man!!!

No. In this pix. The rotary switch assembly. That white square plastic piece 2nd in from the right with the black mark.  See the 2 little holes? Inserts or what basically are nuts snap into the backside of the holes. The attenuator assembly mounts on top and screws go through the attenuator assembly into those holes with the inserts. That's what was stripped out.

You mean here, right? Little zinc-plated half-nuts behind these holes, like #6-32 or #8-24 size?



Ahhh... so without those nuts to screw into, the whole PCB with attenuator deck & switch fingers just flops around on one end, because no support against the pressure from the cam drum. Right?

*makes mental note to keep an eye out for this failure mode*

mnem
*So close to VR on Steam*

[bitseeker]

TL;DR

Does that mean you've gotten the requisite dozens of pages behind on our little thread?

...

When he opened his garage door the first thing I saw were three HP 8640s, a stack of Astron linear power supplies and two complete repeater racks, including heavy duty VHF duplexers. I spent four hours there, helping him sort through WWII radios and test gear, at least a dozen Heathkit rigs and meters, a stack of Spectracom 8173 WWVB radios, and three high power antenna matching boxes. There were packet modems, strip chart recorders, a box full of lambda linear PSUs, and crates of vacuum tubes. We barely made a dent, getting the boat anchors and test gear into three piles of hard to easy, selling wise.

...

Sounds like you hit the mother lode. Post some photos of your overflow and folks here may be able to help you out of them.

Watching me unload the truck, my wife said, I think you can generate enough signals now. 

 

[med6753]

Okay... still a bit confused, but kept my mouth shut so far. When you say "new inserts" do you mean the contact brushes/wipers themselves as attached to the leaf springs, or something with the cam/drum that operates them? Or something else altogether?

I suppose I could answer this myself if I dredged up the service manual... but I'm busy futzing around with my old Oculus DK2. 

mnem
Priorities, man!!!

No. In this pix. The rotary switch assembly. That white square plastic piece 2nd in from the right with the black mark.  See the 2 little holes? Inserts or what basically are nuts snap into the backside of the holes. The attenuator assembly mounts on top and screws go through the attenuator assembly into those holes with the inserts. That's what was stripped out.

You mean here, right? Little zinc-plated half-nuts behind these holes, like #6-32 or #8-24 size?



Ahhh... so without those nuts to screw into, the whole PCB with attenuator deck & switch fingers just flops around on one end, because no support against the pressure from the cam drum. Right?

*makes mental note to keep an eye out for this failure mode*

mnem
*So close to VR on Steam*

You are a fast learner.    You would be correct.

[worsthorse]

TL;DR

Does that mean you've gotten the requisite dozens of pages behind on our little thread?

Sounds like you hit the mother lode. Post some photos of your overflow and folks here may be able to help you out of them.

Not dozens, but I've been away for twelve hours so at least a couple.     And yeah, I will be posting here as I sort through stuff. See below.

By weight, much of it is WWII boat anchor gear that the current owner just wants out of the garage. I will try to place that locally. Then there's the stuff that is shippable, like this list of Tektronix hollow state goodness. If someone wants any of this, let me know and we will work out a deal:

3A72 (2), 3A74 (2), and  a 3A1 for the 56x series scopes,
7834 frame with 7A26, 7A18, &B85, and 7B80,
Type 106 square wave generator
Type 109 pulse generator
Type 191 sine wave generator
Type R transistor rise time test set
067-0542-99 sine wave generator

There's at least one TDS series scope, two 56x series scopes, a couple of service monitors, and a mil spec 8640. I will test as much of it as I can next trip out. I am pretty sure the current owner wants to avoid ebay if he can, so I may be able to offer it here first. More to follow on that.

[mnementh]

The right two jack shafts are broken. The contacts are in there but the usual black shaft is missing. Need to find a new unit. There's some in the US. Will get one shipped.

Display was boring. Just dirt!     Meter is undamaged inside and appears to work perfectly!

  Yeah, I see that the usual black shaft is missing, but the inside of the common jack is red. It's only colored black on the upper region, which is usually what you'd see. Interesting.

The jack panel is a known failure mode on all this family except the 87-IV (because it's actually the 189, a different family); use 'em long enough and they WILL break out. Then the dual-contacts spread and stop working, and it doesn't register the placement of leads properly.

Cost about $33 (and has been for like 15 years); I went through 3 of 'em (the original and two replacement sets) on my ol' 87. Def a bargain considering the value of making a 87 whole again.   

I've fixed at least a dozen of 'em in the last 3 decades. 

mnem
*87-friendly*

[mnementh]

TL;DR
(SNIP OODLES of envy-inspiring anecdotes) ...Watching me unload the truck, my wife said, I think you can generate enough signals now.

Now you need to explain to her about the principles of heterodyning and signal acquisition; I recommend you search yoobToob for any of oodles of slide show presentations on the subjects. You can make a VERY convincing argument that there is no such thing as too many signals. 

mnem
"Thank you, thank you... I'll be here all week..."

[tautech]

no such thing as too many signals. 

mnem
"Thank you, thank you... I'll be here all week..."

There is when they're all coming from the wife ! 

[Neomys Sapiens]

Yep indeed it is. I rather like it. It's a bit bashed up and has some wear on it but it's a nice bit of kit. The 87V feels a bit lower quality now

I bought mine new in 1997. Other than battery changes done nothing. Never been calibrated and still dead nuts. 

Mine is from '89, first hand. Ordered on the same day as my (first) HP28S. Together with a 80T-150U temperature probe and a grey replacement holster (never liked those parrot colours).
Still going strong and quite on-spot. But I had display problems two times. The first time I took the opportunity to have it calibrated too, so it was sent in. The second time I dismantled it myself and voila: just a very tiny readjustment of the LCD position did the job.

[med6753]

After reading you guys fuss and whine I am sooo glad there is no Estrogen unit in residence here to give me grief.  As shown before both benches are occupied with 465B guts all over. And since the benches are in the living room it looks like someone tossed a hand grenade. I can just imagine the tongue lashing I'd be getting right now as to when it's going to be cleaned up. 

When I'm good and ready. 

[grizewald]

I've been having a fun day completing repairs to a Solartron 7151. The main thing has been clearing up after the rechargeable battery had leaked taking out the two main smoothing caps, an RS232 line driver and a bunch of vias. I had to scrape off a lot of solder mask as the alkali from the battery seeps underneath it and spreads. Any vias that were not filled with solder get eaten away from the inside.

The mess was pretty bad.



I decided that the new battery wasn't going to get a chance to leak over the PCB and fashioned a little plastic bathtub for it. I also used some turned IC pins to receive the battery and make it easier to change in the future. I've sealed around the base of the pins with solder mask, so that should prevent any leaks from getting outside the bathtub. (Hopefully).



Now it's time to fit the new Schaffner filter and voltage selector and put the meter back together. I don't actually know if it works yet as the first thing I did when I bought it was take it apart and discover the battery damage. I didn't even dare turn it on until I'd dealt with that.

[Neomys Sapiens]

I've been having a fun day completing repairs to a Solartron 7151. The main thing has been clearing up after the rechargeable battery had leaked taking out the two main smoothing caps, an RS232 line driver and a bunch of vias. I had to scrape off a lot of solder mask as the alkali from the battery seeps underneath it and spreads. Any vias that were not filled with solder get eaten away from the inside.

The mess was pretty bad.

After seeing that, I think I will have to check mine. BTW, nice to see another 7151 owner! The 7150s and 7150+ are all over the place, but this one seems to be a rare bird (and that means something on this forum - there are just three or four beside ours)!

[bitseeker]

Nice idea with the battery tub. I hate batteries.

[bitseeker]

TL;DR
(SNIP OODLES of envy-inspiring anecdotes) ...Watching me unload the truck, my wife said, I think you can generate enough signals now.

Now you need to explain to her about the principles of heterodyning and signal acquisition; I recommend you search yoobToob for any of oodles of slide show presentations on the subjects. You can make a VERY convincing argument that there is no such thing as too many signals. 

Ah, yes. Just say you're trying to improve the quality of your square waves.

[beanflying]

Not one I have seen before but USA/Canada TEA I think it needs a loving home  $120USD for freight to Oz  eBay auction: #173849639115

[grizewald]

After seeing that, I think I will have to check mine. BTW, nice to see another 7151 owner! The 7150s and 7150+ are all over the place, but this one seems to be a rare bird (and that means something on this forum - there are just three or four beside ours)!

I'm glad to know I'm a member of such an exclusive club!

I have a 7150+ as well. That's what got me started on Solartron meters. Then I got this one, but it's been sitting waiting to be repaired for some time. I also have a 7075, which is just lovely with those Panaflex displays and lots of digits.

So I got the 7151 put back together...turned it on....

"Fail 01"



I hope I just forgot to push a cable home properly. Otherwise, it's off to Mouser for some opto-isolators.

[mnementh]

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/256673467/movie_max.webm?t=1511358118

Finally got my Rift DK2 talking with Steam. Spent almost an hour poking around, and playing their VRMmark Demo. Much more evolved content than when I last fired the old facebox up. 

Next comes hacking the Kinect I scavenged for use as a full-body sensor. 

mnem
*Goes to lie down before I fall down* 

[Specmaster]

After reading you guys fuss and whine I am sooo glad there is no Estrogen unit in residence here to give me grief.  As shown before both benches are occupied with 465B guts all over. And since the benches are in the living room it looks like someone tossed a hand grenade. I can just imagine the tongue lashing I'd be getting right now as to when it's going to be cleaned up. 

When I'm good and ready. 

Maybe not at the minute, but when your good policewoman retires soon if I understand it correctly, who knows what might happen, could be installed, if not permanently, but for extended periods at a time, certainly long enough for you to experience what us other poor blokes have to put up with 

[mnementh]

After reading you guys fuss and whine I am sooo glad there is no Estrogen unit in residence here to give me grief.  As shown before both benches are occupied with 465B guts all over. And since the benches are in the living room it looks like someone tossed a hand grenade. I can just imagine the tongue lashing I'd be getting right now as to when it's going to be cleaned up. 

When I'm good and ready. 

Maybe not at the minute, but when your good policewoman retires soon if I understand it correctly, who knows what might happen, could be installed, if not permanently, but for extended periods at a time, certainly long enough for you to experience what us other poor blokes have to put up with 

Yeah, and the worst part is... being a LEO, she ALWAYS has "The moral high ground" in ANY discussion. 

mnem
Speaking of which...  is she doing consorting with a recidivist old reprobate like you?

[mnementh]

TL;DR
(SNIP OODLES of envy-inspiring anecdotes) ...Watching me unload the truck, my wife said, I think you can generate enough signals now.

Now you need to explain to her about the principles of heterodyning and signal acquisition; I recommend you search yoobToob for any of oodles of slide show presentations on the subjects. You can make a VERY convincing argument that there is no such thing as too many signals. 

Ah, yes. Just say you're trying to improve the quality of your square waves.

Another TEA Commandment?

12) There is no such thing as "Too many signals."

Lets put it to a vote... Is this statement compelling enough that is should be so enshrined?

Please quote the latest iteration and add your vote below.

mnem
 

[worsthorse]

TL;DR
(SNIP OODLES of envy-inspiring anecdotes) ...Watching me unload the truck, my wife said, I think you can generate enough signals now.

Now you need to explain to her about the principles of heterodyning and signal acquisition; I recommend you search yoobToob for any of oodles of slide show presentations on the subjects. You can make a VERY convincing argument that there is no such thing as too many signals. 

Ah, yes. Just say you're trying to improve the quality of your square waves.

Another TEA Commandment?

12) There is no such thing as "Too many signals."

Lets put it to a vote... Is this statement compelling enough that is should be so enshrined?

Please quote the latest iteration and add your vote below.

mnem
 

my actions disclose my position on this matter quite clearly i imagine. but if vote i must... 

as for the slings and arrows of matrimony or any of its synonyms:  whatever teasing, raised eyebrows, or knowing smirks i endure for filling the garage and basement with shattered, battered, and abused junk that will someday-be-glittering-examples-of-my-electronics-prowess has more than sufficient compensation in other areas.