Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bitseeker]

I'm super stoked today, because I received not one, not two, but three TEA items in one fell swoop. 

From top: Lucent RFTG-m-XO RFTG-m-RB frequency standards, in a dual rackmount chassis. I need to do the 10 MHz output modifications and get an appropriate power source. Next is a basically new condition HP 8405A vector voltmeter. Not only does it look nearly new, both probes are not burned out and it came with an almost complete and hard to find 8405A accessory kit. And the printed manual. Last, is an oscillator I've been hankering for for a long time, the classic 8640B. Also in great shape, front panel not broken, and comes with the extended frequency range option and the printed manual.

Triple score! All of a sudden there's been a lot of TEActivity. What fun!

So, what are you going to use the vector voltmeter for? I've never had one.

The 8640B is so cool, especially with the dot display. Your speciment looks pristine. I always worry about its notorious gears, though.

[tautech]

Who's got a nixie fetish ?
NIXIE TUBES NL-841 six NOS USA   NZ$ 100
https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/radio-equipment/vintage/listing-2061289518.htm?rsqid=844bcdecb9d0498d8fc9390952b23b0f-002

Heaps of old radios from the same seller too.

Wellington NZ

Some more here too:
https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/radio-equipment/vintage/listing-2148214012.htm?rsqid=844bcdecb9d0498d8fc9390952b23b0f-002

Looks suspiciously like the same seller but 2 different locations. 

[0culus]

I'm super stoked today, because I received not one, not two, but three TEA items in one fell swoop. 

From top: Lucent RFTG-m-XO RFTG-m-RB frequency standards, in a dual rackmount chassis. I need to do the 10 MHz output modifications and get an appropriate power source. Next is a basically new condition HP 8405A vector voltmeter. Not only does it look nearly new, both probes are not burned out and it came with an almost complete and hard to find 8405A accessory kit. And the printed manual. Last, is an oscillator I've been hankering for for a long time, the classic 8640B. Also in great shape, front panel not broken, and comes with the extended frequency range option and the printed manual.

Triple score! All of a sudden there's been a lot of TEActivity. What fun!

So, what are you going to use the vector voltmeter for? I've never had one.

The 8640B is so cool, especially with the dot display. Your speciment looks pristine. I always worry about its notorious gears, though.

The HP vector voltmeter is a direct predecessor to HP''s first network analyzers. It can be used as a poor man's VNA, up to 1 GHz. That's sort of what I plan to use it for until I can put together the cash to get a proper VNA system.

I know right? All the 8640B controls feel tight and not abused. I plan to baby them. 

[mnementh]

   The case is really nice. It’s just flat sheets which are painted and connected together with the metal blocks.

Engineering is excellent. When you screw it together it fits ridiculously well. Am very impressed with quality. I genuinely wish they made test gear like it.

LOL... I was looking at that "Manhattan-Style Enclosure Construction" and thinking how much stronger and better heat-dissipation it could be if made from some of the crazy cheap heavy-wall industrial anodized aluminum extrusion coming from Tiawan and China nowadays.

Should be easy to make it a 100% drop-in substitution, and probably also less expensive than small-order runs of that painted aluminum plate, especially if it is, as it appears, epoxy-coated. 

Yeah, I assume the first one. Some sellers imply that there are 2018 and 2019 versions of it. Is that true? All the photos I've seen are dated 2012 (electrolytic caps) or 2016.

Yes I think the 2016 is latest version.

I also saw this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/5M-1-5GHz-RF-Noise-Source-Signal-Generator-Spectrometer-Tracking-Source/132179263729

Interesting, I wonder if it really do +-0.5dBm flatness.

Yeah, all the ones I saw were marked 2016 Noise (or Nose  ) Source.

That second one does make some pretty impressive claims... but I dunno that I feel it is 8x better. Maybe 4x better, which would reflect the typical cost of the first one with a cheap extrusion enclosure. MAYBE.

There's also this one that supposedly is 1 – 3500 MHz instead of a couple hundred K to ~1.5 GHz. https://www.ebay.com/itm/SMA-noise-source-Simple-spectrum-external-tracking-source-Analyzer-dc-12v/282102993483

   Judging by the SMA location, it's probably the one inside the  enclosure on this model. eBay auction: #173532270063

...they have this Pokemon Starter Box Set... a whole row of them mispriced for $13, and it's the latest release.

I go up to the cashier and she says they're supposed to be $41.99. I show her a pic of the shelf, and she goes and gets a floor manager, who says he can't authorize it for that price, but he can do it for $20....

Sooo...Wally World floor managers can give you 50% off.

Yeah... I think that upper management could've actually authorized the sale at the mismarked price; but my gut reaction was that if I tried to press the issue, they could claim that I (or some other customer) put them in the wrong spot and say no to the whole deal. Which, if I were that much of a PITA as to make somebody go drag one of them down there, they would be much more inclined to do. So I took the $22 off and bolted out the door before they changed their minds.

I felt a little remorse after I'd stalked the aisles churlishly snorting annoyance like fire because the one thing I was looking for... girls' skivvies... was hidden away in a little section as far as possible from the main clothing, and bisected by the Shoe Dept. And being a guy, I wasn't sure just looking at her... so I needed to measure her waist against the sizing chart once I found them... and so I went halfway across the store back to the dressing rooms to ask for a measure... and the daft girl there goes "Oh, we don't have any of those. They took them and never brought them back..."  How is that an excuse for not having the one basic tool of your job? Just grab a new one and "Store Use" it for eff's sake...   

And then there Men's skivvies... if I ever meet the marketing fuckbubble that dreamed up Boxer-Briefs, I'm gonna roshambo him so hard he sneezes pubes for a week. The worst aspects of BOTH, and of course they take the shelf space out of BOXERS stock, so I can NEVER find them in my size. 

So okay... maybe a little remorse... maybe. But the more I think about how little Wally World cares about wasting my time every fucking day, the more I feel like that discount is just a well-deserved "asshole tax".

mnem
*churlish for hire*

[mnementh]

   About halfway through my liver cheese & onion sandwich, I noticed a funny texture...

mnem
It's the "Circle of Life", but with magic smoke and wrinkled-up-nose-face. 

Where's the onion gone???

It was under the top half of the lettuce, which is turned upside-down there cuz I'm a senseless goon. The awful part is... this seems to be one of those lessons I simply do not learn; it's like I have some mental block that makes me forget the dozens of times I've done the same exact thing before in the course of my life.

mnem
*D'OH!-Dwagon*

[med6753]

Top ten excuses from my playbook to avoid marmalization:

1. It was free and too good to let go in the skip.
2. I found it on the side of the road. You’d save a puppy if you saw it on the side of the road right?
3. It’s not as big or as expensive as your shoe collection.
4. I swapped it for something else that never existed because you pay no attention to what I have.
5. Look it has festive LEDs/neons/nixies.
6. It will look nice as a centre piece in the living room especially with a scope on top of it.
7. I’ve signed up for ebilling on my credit card so you can’t see the bill because it’s your birthday soon.
8. It also filters the air in the room.
9. It’s cheaper than the gas central heating.
10. I want a divorce.

I think we need to take a look at the master John Belushi from Blues Brothers - and use his excellent techniques to avoid the wrath of SWMBO after indiscretion
Esp from 1:40 onwards

As I mentioned before the best way to avoid marmalization is to stay single. So says someone who for some reason woke up at 0030 and is currently slithering around the living room and kitchen being quiet while the lady copper sleeps peacefully in my bed that I'm not used to sharing with someone.    I'll catch up here plus a few other sites then go back to bed. By that time she'll probably be diagonal in the bed and I'll have to carefully move her so I can crawl back in. 

It's only until Sunday. 

[mnementh]

Who's got a nixie fetish ?
NIXIE TUBES NL-841 six NOS USA   NZ$ 100
https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/radio-equipment/vintage/listing-2061289518.htm?rsqid=844bcdecb9d0498d8fc9390952b23b0f-002

Heaps of old radios from the same seller too.

Wellington NZ

Some more here too:
https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/radio-equipment/vintage/listing-2148214012.htm?rsqid=844bcdecb9d0498d8fc9390952b23b0f-002

Looks suspiciously like the same seller but 2 different locations. 

   The NL-841 is a little small for my taste at approx 5/8" digit size.

Both seem pretty expensive to me; the IN-12A/B have a 3/4" digit size (this is what I consider a minimum usable/worth my time building size) and are commonly sold as a set of 6 NOS for $18-22 shipped from Russia to pretty much anywhere. Of course, they almost ALWAYS use the inverted #2 cathode die for #5 as a cost-cutting measure. 

Here were a few of my favorites from a recent trawl:

      

eBay auction: #111972906934  eBay auction: #251090367632  eBay auction: #192764920216

mnem
*knocks self unconscious with a clock mallet*

[bitseeker]

Yeah, I assume the first one. Some sellers imply that there are 2018 and 2019 versions of it. Is that true? All the photos I've seen are dated 2012 (electrolytic caps) or 2016.

Yes I think the 2016 is latest version.

I also saw this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/5M-1-5GHz-RF-Noise-Source-Signal-Generator-Spectrometer-Tracking-Source/132179263729

Interesting, I wonder if it really do +-0.5dBm flatness.

Yeah, all the ones I saw were marked 2016 Noise (or Nose  ) Source.

That second one does make some pretty impressive claims... but I dunno that I feel it is 8x better. Maybe 4x better, which would reflect the typical cost of the first one with a cheap extrusion enclosure. MAYBE.

I just went with the bg7tbl one. The listing had a Best Offer button. It's not like there's much of a discount to be gained by doing so, but if the button's there, you just have to use it. It'd wouldn't make sense not to.

One bad thing about these boards with connectors on opposite ends of the PCB is the hassle of fitting it in an arbitrary enclosure. Oh, well. I suppose I could use a larger enclosure and put the power supply inside. Yeah, that's the ticket.

There's also this one that supposedly is 1 – 3500 MHz instead of a couple hundred K to ~1.5 GHz. https://www.ebay.com/itm/SMA-noise-source-Simple-spectrum-external-tracking-source-Analyzer-dc-12v/282102993483

   Judging by the SMA location, it's probably the one inside the  enclosure on this model. eBay auction: #173532270063

Yeah, most likely the same thing. I went with the bg7tbl since its frequency range starts 10x lower (supposedly).

Who's got a nixie fetish ?
NIXIE TUBES NL-841 six NOS USA   NZ$ 100
https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/radio-equipment/vintage/listing-2061289518.htm?rsqid=844bcdecb9d0498d8fc9390952b23b0f-002

   The NL-841 is a little small for my taste at approx 5/8" digit size.

Both seem pretty expensive to me; the NL-12A/B have a 3/4" digit size (this is what I consider a minimum usable/worth my time building size) and are commonly sold as a set of 6 NOS for $18-22 shipped from Russia to pretty much anywhere. Of course, they almost ALWAYS use the inverted #2 cathode die for #5 as a cost-cutting measure. 

Oof! I hate those inverted '2' cathodes. It would take some mighty special gear to get me to buy anything with those tubes in it. Just looking at it while previewing this post is offending me.

[beanflying]

Not much TEA today apart from the newly returned ReCaled pair I have had sitting tracking my 735A for the day locked at 6-7PPM apart and have drifted about 3PPM with temperature across the day.

Around the very back corner of the shack in my now properly sorted Laserarium thought it was about time I stopped guesstimating my settings for speed/power for engraving and cutting. This afternoons effort medium weight card including some 'special' buttons that sum up my thoughts on Federal Politicians on today's election day. So pleased I postal voted early and avoided the circus just need to avoid the TV for a day or two or 10

Got some 2,3,4.5mm Acrylic sheet to run tomorrow then graph it up with a few more materials. I have a few front plates to do with dial engraving so I need better than guesses. Also the same treatment for Balsa, Ply and MDF.

[Specmaster]

Top ten excuses from my playbook to avoid marmalization:

1. It was free and too good to let go in the skip.
2. I found it on the side of the road. You’d save a puppy if you saw it on the side of the road right?
3. It’s not as big or as expensive as your shoe collection.
4. I swapped it for something else that never existed because you pay no attention to what I have.
5. Look it has festive LEDs/neons/nixies.
6. It will look nice as a centre piece in the living room especially with a scope on top of it.
7. I’ve signed up for ebilling on my credit card so you can’t see the bill because it’s your birthday soon.
8. It also filters the air in the room.
9. It’s cheaper than the gas central heating.
10. I want a divorce.

I think we need to take a look at the master John Belushi from Blues Brothers - and use his excellent techniques to avoid the wrath of SWMBO after indiscretion
Esp from 1:40 onwards

As I mentioned before the best way to avoid marmalization is to stay single. So says someone who for some reason woke up at 0030 and is currently slithering around the living room and kitchen being quiet while the lady copper sleeps peacefully in my bed that I'm not used to sharing with someone.    I'll catch up here plus a few other sites then go back to bed. By that time she'll probably be diagonal in the bed and I'll have to carefully move her so I can crawl back in. 

It's only until Sunday. 

Sounds to me like she already has command of the bed, what's next......YOU of course, be careful, the cross hairs are being slowly but surely zeroed in and you're being drawn over tighter into the web that's being spun around you......

[beanflying]

Question on the 'missing' late 60's early 70's HP Logo. It may not have been an official HP Logo but it way used a bunch on front panels and bits of HP gear from that era. There is some minor variation of the stroke length of the h and p back toward the earlier logo but none as tall as it was.

Anyone got a clean large format one? Or feel free to scrawl or critique this hack of mine, the P doesn't look quite right. As best as I was able to use several of them I own they share the 13 degree HP Rake on the text but due to their smaller scale some of the other bits are guess.

[Mr. Scram]

It's close. Looks like the circle needs to be a bit fatter and the protrusion on top of the P may be a bit too pronounced and sharp.

[Brumby]

I don't know...  It looks pretty close to the 1946 version here:

[Cerebus]

... and the daft girl there goes "Oh, we don't have any of those. They took them and never brought them back..."  How is that an excuse for not having the one basic tool of your job? Just grab a new one and "Store Use" it for eff's sake...   

Every organization, once it gets beyond some magic size, implements policies that make purchasing anything for the business, even if the purchase is notional, a right royal pain in the arse. The 50 billion market cap telco I'm contracting for at the moment is a case in point. We needed two software licenses, each costing about what I'm charging them for an hour of my time. They took three months to get ordered, which included about six hours of my time negotiating the purchasing process and chasing the glacial progress of the same. Add the cost of the time all the other people involved in the process and I reckon that we spent about ten times what it would have cost if I'd just paid for them on a credit card and expensed it or billed for a couple of hours extra. That sane course of action would, of course, have been procedurally impossible...

And then there Men's skivvies... if I ever meet the marketing fuckbubble that dreamed up Boxer-Briefs, I'm gonna roshambo him so hard he sneezes pubes for a week. The worst aspects of BOTH, and of course they take the shelf space out of BOXERS stock, so I can NEVER find them in my size. 

There's your problem, you were looking in the wrong place. For your size you needed the chandlery section. [Fx: starts running away ]

[Mr. Scram]

I can't remember the last time I've seen a measure in a shop, other than at home improvement places.

[Cubdriver]

Question on the 'missing' late 60's early 70's HP Logo. It may not have been an official HP Logo but it way used a bunch on front panels and bits of HP gear from that era. There is some minor variation of the stroke length of the h and p back toward the earlier logo but none as tall as it was.

Anyone got a clean large format one? Or feel free to scrawl or critique this hack of mine, the P doesn't look quite right. As best as I was able to use several of them I own they share the 13 degree HP Rake on the text but due to their smaller scale some of the other bits are guess.

Bean - can you extract anything useful from this closeup of the 405CR panel?



-Pat

[beanflying]

Thanks I am sort of amalgamating what I can to make it as close as possible.

Actually found a very crisp image on an Evilbay TEA trawl eBay auction: #273852366568 Cool old Generator I haven't seen before.

[Cubdriver]

If you'd like, I can take a good, close up, straight on shot of one or more later today when I get home.

-Pat

[mnementh]

Mmmmmm.... Smell those yummy carbblle-hygrapes...

mnem
No diets were harmed in the production of this meal.

[Housedad]

Dang, that looks good.
I take it you inspected the packaging well?   

[mnementh]

... and the daft girl there goes "Oh, we don't have any of those. They took them and never brought them back..."  How is that an excuse for not having the one basic tool of your job? Just grab a new one and "Store Use" it for eff's sake...   

Every organization, once it gets beyond some magic size, implements policies that make purchasing anything for the business, even if the purchase is notional, a right royal pain in the arse. The 50 billion market cap telco I'm contracting for at the moment is a case in point. We needed two software licenses, each costing about what I'm charging them for an hour of my time. They took three months to get ordered, which included about six hours of my time negotiating the purchasing process and chasing the glacial progress of the same. Add the cost of the time all the other people involved in the process and I reckon that we spent about ten times what it would have cost if I'd just paid for them on a credit card and expensed it or billed for a couple of hours extra. That sane course of action would, of course, have been procedurally impossible...

And then there Men's skivvies... if I ever meet the marketing fuckbubble that dreamed up Boxer-Briefs, I'm gonna roshambo him so hard he sneezes pubes for a week. The worst aspects of BOTH, and of course they take the shelf space out of BOXERS stock, so I can NEVER find them in my size. 

There's your problem, you were looking in the wrong place. For your size you needed the chandlery section. [Fx: starts running away]

Well, this is Wally World. The problem isn't procedural; it's ignorance. I know for a fact that any floor manager can "Store Use" pretty much any small tool or general sundry & consumable item just by entering their passcode at the register. The problem is they don't train anybody & they don't pay anybody enough to bring their "give a shit" to work with them. And they get exactly the kind of employee they pay for.

And this is exactly why I'm shamelessly Bezos' Bitch nowadays... The amount of time wasted shopping at mega-marts that have 20 different brands of stupid shit nobody needs and 1 or none of the dozen things everybody needs, i could liesurely shop what I need, and several things I want on slAmazon. And usually, get both in a day or two for what I'd spend at Squalid-Mart for just the one thing I need.


Alas, the Chandlery section was merged with the Sporting & Outdoors section long ago; while Omar the Tentmaker still sells there, he appears to have squeezed out all sailcloth products. 

mnem
Squalid-Mart: Help spread the squalor around.

[mnementh]

Dang, that looks good.
I take it you inspected the packaging well?   

Oh, you know I'm all about QC when it comes to breakfast for me and my family. Why, I had to sample those biscuits and Cinnamon-Raisin muffins two or three times before I could declare them edible. 

It was a great sacrifice, but I took one for the team. 

mnem
I never imagined that there would come a day when I'd look forward to coffee with milk instead of heavy cream...

[mnementh]

I can't remember the last time I've seen a measure in a shop, other than at home improvement places.

Well, yes, they have carpenter's tape measures in Tools/Home Improvement (where I eventually trotted my fat arse with two kids in tow to measure my daughter). But I was talking about a tailor's tape measure made of fabric for measuring a person. Those Squalid-Mart also carries, in the Crafts section. Simply no excuse for the folks at the fitting rooms not having at least one between the two or three of them; it is STILL part of their job.

mnem
When did a dumb blank stare become a valid defense for fundamental incompetence at one's job?

[Housedad]

Yes, but the big question is:  "When will they add a test equipment isle in Walmart?"

Some day they may be the Costco from Idiocracy. 

[mnementh]

As I mentioned before the best way to avoid marmalization is to stay single. So says someone who for some reason woke up at 0030 and is currently slithering around the living room and kitchen being quiet while the lady copper sleeps peacefully in my bed that I'm not used to sharing with someone.    I'll catch up here plus a few other sites then go back to bed. By that time she'll probably be diagonal in the bed and I'll have to carefully move her so I can crawl back in. 

It's only until Sunday. 

https://youtu.be/nky4me4NP70

 

mnem
You fell asleep in my car; I drove the whole time...
...But that’s okay, I’ll just avoid the holes so you sleep fine.
I’m driving, here I sit; cursing my government...
...For not using my taxes to fill holes with more cement!
Sometimes you gotta bleed to know, oh, oh...
...That you’re alive and have a soul, oh, oh..!