Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

Going back to the last 465B I did in 2017, the fuzzy traces were down to loose screws and poor grounding and tants in the end.

Before:



After:



The trace on the bottom image was pin sharp. Crappy phone camera here

Here's the two I had in at the same time - you can see the difference from the blurring on the 475 being worse:

[mnementh]

How fuzzy is it? Some fuzzy is normal on the 465B when switched into 100MHz at least.

Is it THIS fuzzy?   

mnem
Oh jeez... I think I sneezed out some grey matter just looking at that thing!

[worsthorse]

The garage treasure house saga continues... the gentleman who sold me the pickup bed sized load of HP, Tek and RTTY ham gear called and asked if I wanted to see what was left. I took a box of mostly NIB audio gear that I acquired over the year, you know, just in case.

First he shows me an AmScope trinocular microscope with the boom stand, camera, light. Too big for my tiny bench, though tempting. Next to that is a National Instruments digital scope and a plastic bag filled with metal. What's that?  Oh, just a bunch of metal bits I am going to scrap. I dug around a bit and found this:



In the pile were thirty NEC microwave transistors (with an fT of 4.5GHz), along with an assortment of fifteen or so moto RF power transistors. ummm, do you mind if I sort these parts out of the scrap metal? Ten minutes of chatting and going through mostly empty parts cabinets resulted in a baggie filled with heat sinks, 10.7MHz IF transformers, and an assortment of hole plugs.  Since I devote hours to taking them out of gear, I resisted the urge to add a pile of NOS Tektronix tantalums. 

I traded a sound mixing board and digital recorder for the lot. I am fairly certain that I have exhausted this particular stash.  Tomorrow I am driving down to Corvallis to visit that 485 that I can't seem to resist.

PS - I found the video software that goes with the NI microscope and convinced the tech support rep to give me a copy. I imagine I will spend the evening looking at bugs and stuff. 

[med6753]

Cool stuff! 

[bitseeker]

Minor 30 second TEA repair here. Proper neon obtained for the HP power supply:

Nice 'n' glowy!

[bitseeker]

The garage treasure house saga continues... the gentleman who sold me the pickup bed sized load of HP, Tek and RTTY ham gear called and asked if I wanted to see what was left. I took a box of mostly NIB audio gear that I acquired over the year, you know, just in case.

First he shows me an AmScope trinocular microscope with the boom stand, camera, light. Too big for my tiny bench, though tempting. Next to that is a National Instruments digital scope and a plastic bag filled with metal. What's that?  Oh, just a bunch of metal bits I am going to scrap. I dug around a bit and found this:



In the pile were thirty NEC microwave transistors (with an fT of 4.5GHz), along with an assortment of fifteen or so moto RF power transistors. ummm, do you mind if I sort these parts out of the scrap metal? Ten minutes of chatting and going through mostly empty parts cabinets resulted in a baggie filled with heat sinks, 10.7MHz IF transformers, and an assortment of hole plugs.  Since I devote hours to taking them out of gear, I resisted the urge to add a pile of NOS Tektronix tantalums. 

I traded a sound mixing board and digital recorder for the lot. I am fairly certain that I have exhausted this particular stash.  Tomorrow I am driving down to Corvallis to visit that 485 that I can't seem to resist.

PS - I found the video software that goes with the NI microscope and convinced the tech support rep to give me a copy. I imagine I will spend the evening looking at bugs and stuff. 

Nice scores! Wish I could've been there for the AmScope. I'd make room for that. 

[Neomys Sapiens]

I've been looking at the Yaesu VX-6R for a mobile backpack type rig. It's ruggedized and submersible.

Aw come on, there are far nicer radios in green to be had. And they have extended frequency coverage not by a hack, but by design. Treat yourself to a PRC-152.

[0culus]

I've been looking at the Yaesu VX-6R for a mobile backpack type rig. It's ruggedized and submersible.

Aw come on, there are far nicer radios in green to be had. And they have extended frequency coverage not by a hack, but by design. Treat yourself to a PRC-152.

This? https://www.harris.com/solution/harris-falcon-iii-an-prc-152a-wideband-networking-handheld-radio

I’m not sure Harris even sells stuff to people who aren’t law enforcement or military.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Minor 30 second TEA repair here. Proper neon obtained for the HP power supply:

Beautiful!

[xrunner]

Minor 30 second TEA repair here. Proper neon obtained for the HP power supply:

Nice 'n' glowy!

Nice, makes me feel all warm like looking at a fireplace.

[mnementh]

That's not a "fireplace" glow; that's a nuclear nukular glow. How many millirads is that prehistoric "emitter" rated at, anyways? 

mnem

[mnementh]

I've been looking at the Yaesu VX-6R for a mobile backpack type rig. It's ruggedized and submersible.

Aw come on, there are far nicer radios in green to be had. And they have extended frequency coverage not by a hack, but by design. Treat yourself to a PRC-152.

This? https://www.harris.com/solution/harris-falcon-iii-an-prc-152a-wideband-networking-handheld-radio

I’m not sure Harris even sells stuff to people who aren’t law enforcement or military.

I think he may be talking about the Triumph Instruments family of "replica" products...

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2386202.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.TRS0&_nkw=PRC-152&_sacat=0

mnem
Sarcasm: Just another free service I offer.

[0culus]

I gather that after poking around the internet that there are some hams who have managed to acquire military surplus gear...seems a tad sketchy to me, especially when talking about radios that are equipped with COMSEC equipment (which theoretically should have been removed before surplusing, but you never know. Certain types of COMSEC gear require a Top Secret clearance to be in possession of).

Personally, I'd rather have the Yaesu than a fake Harris radio. Much smaller for one thing...

[worsthorse]

blah blah blah...

PS - I found the video software that goes with the NI microscope and convinced the tech support rep to give me a copy. I imagine I will spend the evening looking at bugs and stuff. 

Nice scores! Wish I could've been there for the AmScope. I'd make room for that. 

If you want it, I can probably get it for $325ish and ship it to you.

[kj7e]

I picked up a second HP 53310A MDA with Option 10 (OCXO), it was listed AS IS, no display on the CRT but it was cheap.  I wanted it just for the Option 10 back plane which includes a separate linear power supply for the 10811-6011 OCXO.  Turns out it was not as dead as the seller thought, so I may have a 53310A for sale soon, just without option 10.

Option 10 back plane;


Only had a short time to play with it, still quite a bit to lean but the UI is simple;




100MHz FM 1KHz modulation at 5K deviation;




Spent a few hours cleaning it up, pounded out a dent or two in the cover, but it came out quite nice.

Next, waiting for some Cypress CY7C194-25PC 64K*4 SRAM, going to expand the internal memory (or known as Option 01).  When I'm done it will be fully loaded with Options 01, 10, and 32.  In 1992, the base unit was listed at $9,500, option 01 was $500, option 10 was $1500 and option 32 $1600.  I'm in it for about $350 for the total for the pair of them and it looks like I can sell the second one as a working unit.

[med6753]

I picked up a second HP 53310A MDA with Option 10 (OCXO), it was listed AS IS, no display on the CRT but it was cheap.  I wanted it just for the Option 10 back plane which includes a separate linear power supply for the 10811-6011 OCXO.  Turns out it was not as dead as the seller thought, so I may have a 53310A for sale soon, just without option 10.



Only had a short time to play with it, still quite a bit to lean but the UI is simple;

What is that 8 outlet power panel in the background?

[med6753]

Stumbled across this. Thought you Brits might appreciate it....

Edit, and what is "a bloody Queen's dodger"  

[Specmaster]

Minor 30 second TEA repair here. Proper neon obtained for the HP power supply:

Nice 'n' glowy!

Unusually bright and glowy for a neon, sure its not filled with a differanr gas?

[Specmaster]

The garage treasure house saga continues... the gentleman who sold me the pickup bed sized load of HP, Tek and RTTY ham gear called and asked if I wanted to see what was left. I took a box of mostly NIB audio gear that I acquired over the year, you know, just in case.

First he shows me an AmScope trinocular microscope with the boom stand, camera, light. Too big for my tiny bench, though tempting. Next to that is a National Instruments digital scope and a plastic bag filled with metal. What's that?  Oh, just a bunch of metal bits I am going to scrap. I dug around a bit and found this:



In the pile were thirty NEC microwave transistors (with an fT of 4.5GHz), along with an assortment of fifteen or so moto RF power transistors. ummm, do you mind if I sort these parts out of the scrap metal? Ten minutes of chatting and going through mostly empty parts cabinets resulted in a baggie filled with heat sinks, 10.7MHz IF transformers, and an assortment of hole plugs.  Since I devote hours to taking them out of gear, I resisted the urge to add a pile of NOS Tektronix tantalums. 

I traded a sound mixing board and digital recorder for the lot. I am fairly certain that I have exhausted this particular stash.  Tomorrow I am driving down to Corvallis to visit that 485 that I can't seem to resist.

PS - I found the video software that goes with the NI microscope and convinced the tech support rep to give me a copy. I imagine I will spend the evening looking at bugs and stuff. 

Nice scores! Wish I could've been there for the AmScope. I'd make room for that. 

I'd love one of those but it would use all of my space up [emoji53]

[bd139]

Stumbled across this. Thought you Brits might appreciate it....

Edit, and what is "a bloody Queen's dodger"  

Its not far from the truth. I have no idea what the queen's dodger is though.

Missing three important things: (1) The "po po" never turn up at the door even if you call them (2) most of the time people don't answer the door unless they know it's a delivery or someone is coming in case it's the JW's or a pikey trying to sell you a new driveway or a dag. Usually you hang out of the window and say "who the fuck are you?" and "get off my property you cunt" (3) no mention of tea.

Minor 30 second TEA repair here. Proper neon obtained for the HP power supply:

Nice 'n' glowy!

Usually bright and glowy for a neon, sure its not filled with a differanr gas?

I think this is more an artifact of my phone's camera. It's very red but the eyeball has a lot more dynamic range on red.

[Specmaster]

@bd139 what the hell is dag? The rest of it your spot on with [emoji23]

[med6753]

Stumbled across this. Thought you Brits might appreciate it....

Edit, and what is "a bloody Queen's dodger"  

Its not far from the truth. I have no idea what the queen's dodger is though.

Missing three important things: (1) The "po po" never turn up at the door even if you call them (2) most of the time people don't answer the door unless they know it's a delivery or someone is coming in case it's the JW's or a pikey trying to sell you a new driveway or a dag. Usually you hang out of the window and say "who the fuck are you?" and "get off my property you cunt" (3) no mention of tea.

Again...we Yanks tend to be a little direct when it comes to insisting someone get off the property. 

[tggzzz]

Missing three important things: (1) The "po po" never turn up at the door even if you call them (2) most of the time people don't answer the door unless they know it's a delivery or someone is coming in case it's the JW's or a pikey trying to sell you a new driveway or a dag. Usually you hang out of the window and say "who the fuck are you?" and "get off my property you cunt" (3) no mention of tea.

Oh, the JWs can be entertaining, and I once enabled Brethren to realise that they should vacate their Saturday afternoon street-corner pitch before their kids lost their immortal soul. But that's not a subject for this forum.

Apart from that, I haven't had to do (1) in decades, and people are more pleasant here Time for you to move to a pleasant part of S'rry or 'ampshire.

[bd139]

@bd139 what the hell is dag? The rest of it your spot on with [emoji23]

Pikey: "wanna buy a dag?"  (dog)

Missing three important things: (1) The "po po" never turn up at the door even if you call them (2) most of the time people don't answer the door unless they know it's a delivery or someone is coming in case it's the JW's or a pikey trying to sell you a new driveway or a dag. Usually you hang out of the window and say "who the fuck are you?" and "get off my property you cunt" (3) no mention of tea.

Oh, the JWs can be entertaining, and I once enabled Brethren to realise that they should vacate their Saturday afternoon street-corner pitch before their kids lost their immortal soul. But that's not a subject for this forum.

Apart from that, I haven't had to do (1) in decades, and people are more pleasant here Time for you to move to a pleasant part of S'rry or 'ampshire.

I live near Twickenham stadium which is where the annual JW convention is. I'm on the blacklist now. No one knocks

As for the second point, on it. Heading out to look at a place today.

[beanflying]

Curse this thread I spent some time looking at buying a better Hand Held than the cheap pair I got ages ago. 

Random BaoFang thoughts so much BS and bogus older models abound. Seems the current pick are the UV-5X3 1,4,5W (tri band) if you are in the USA as Amazon won't ship to Oz  or the UV-5R Gen 2 or Plus replacement the BF-F8HP 1,5,8W (dual band) think I have it sorted and for Oz we don't use the 1.25M band generally so the dual band seems like the best current option. Seems they have replaced most of the output chips too over the UV-5R.

I like this test method - Brought BEER with the change over the name brands 

https://youtu.be/6XaG-bkRcMw