Author Topic: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread (Read 14910137 times)

Specmaster · « **Reply #35025 on:** July 17, 2019, 08:10:37 pm »

Quote from: mnementh on July 17, 2019, 07:59:54 pm

Quote from: bitseeker on July 17, 2019, 07:04:43 pm
I'm about to add some TEA, but eBay's PayPal integration is broken...again. It silently returns to the checkout page after I enter my credentials, but doesn't register as being logged in. Buggy eBay...nothing new here.

Did you try rebooting the user?

No, seriously. Try logging out of fleaBay & in again. Seems to cure a lot of their stupidity. Alternately, your problem might be that the vendor is "on vacation" or some other BS.

mnem

Yep, also you can try deleting your browser cache and history, that often helps as it forces a new page to be loaded rather fetching one from cache that be corrupted.

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

med6753 · « **Reply #35026 on:** July 17, 2019, 08:24:37 pm »

Replaced those leaky caps. Used two 220uf in series for the 100uf. And two 100uf in series for the 50uf. I have to stock up on capacitors. Anyway, it works. Adjusted the -11VDC...or...tried to. Pot was dirty. Deoxit to the rescue. Now OK.

Generator came right up but refused to vary with the amplitude switch. And the variable pot was acting funky. Deoxit to the rescue again. Now all is acting as it should. The frequency vernier is pretty damn accurate, almost dead nuts. I'm not going to screw with it. If it ain't REALLY broken....you know the rest. Gonna let it cook for a while and see what happens. I think other than a good clean up this guy is 100%.

bitseeker · « **Reply #35027 on:** July 17, 2019, 08:45:38 pm »

It finally succeeded after several hours of retrying. The problem is the PayPal popup login. I've had it happen before and nothing I do will fix it. Eventually, they get it working again.

So, this time I got an HP 432A. But, unlike the 431B and 431C I got previously, this comes with the cable and 478A mount. Yay!

Of course, now I need more adapters since the mount is N male, but my signal and noise generators are SMA female.

Mr. Scram · « **Reply #35028 on:** July 17, 2019, 08:46:10 pm »

If it ain't really broken fix it 'til it is!

mindcrime · « **Reply #35029 on:** July 17, 2019, 08:50:08 pm »

Quote from: Mr. Scram on July 17, 2019, 08:46:10 pm

If it ain't really broken fix it 'til it is!

That's the spirit!

Cubdriver · « **Reply #35030 on:** July 17, 2019, 09:07:36 pm »

Quote from: med6753 on July 17, 2019, 08:24:37 pm

Replaced those leaky caps. Used two 220uf in series for the 100uf. And two 100uf in series for the 50uf. I have to stock up on capacitors. Anyway, it works. Adjusted the -11VDC...or...tried to. Pot was dirty. Deoxit to the rescue. Now OK.

Generator came right up but refused to vary with the amplitude switch. And the variable pot was acting funky. Deoxit to the rescue again. Now all is acting as it should. The frequency vernier is pretty damn accurate, almost dead nuts. I'm not going to screw with it. If it ain't REALLY broken....you know the rest. Gonna let it cook for a while and see what happens. I think other than a good clean up this guy is 100%.

Sweet!! You make me want to excavate mine and play with it (It stayed out in CA for some time before I shipped it home, and though it since has made the journey I still have yet to muck about with it), but my bench is currently well and truly a disaster area, so I need to excavate it before doing anything more... (It should be painfully obvious that I've been too busy to do much of anything but add to the precarious piles there recently!)

-Pat

Mr. Scram · « **Reply #35031 on:** July 17, 2019, 09:17:53 pm »

That's proper hoarder territory right there.

bitseeker · « **Reply #35032 on:** July 17, 2019, 09:23:37 pm »

Quote from: Cubdriver on July 17, 2019, 09:07:36 pm

Sweet!! You make me want to excavate mine and play with it (It stayed out in CA for some time before I shipped it home, and though it since has made the journey I still have yet to muck about with it), but my bench is currently well and truly a disaster area, so I need to excavate it before doing anything more... (It should be painfully obvious that I've been too busy to do much of anything but add to the precarious piles there recently!)

I like the integrated shelf on your bench. Yeah, a little excavating is in order, then you'll be back in business.

mnementh · « **Reply #35033 on:** July 17, 2019, 09:28:21 pm »

WhaddaYouzzAllOnnAboutt?!?

I can see white countertop right next to that little grey drill index; easily enough for a hand or even a stack of medium-small project boxes! and ANOTHER similar space on the OTHER side of it!

Why, if you "shove it all back", you could EASILY get enough room for a stack of medium-depth meters and/or generators!

mnem
amateur.

nixiefreqq · « **Reply #35034 on:** July 17, 2019, 09:33:00 pm »

Quote from: med6753 on July 17, 2019, 05:21:01 pm

A big shout out and thank you to Nixiefreqq. Here it is. Fluke 7260A. I got so many goodies today I don't know what to do next.

But anyway, at some point I'll do a tear down.

you are certainly welcome. hope you enjoy it. if memory serves the time base was a little better than .5ppm after a 1 hour warm up (don't remember if it was a tcxo or not).

so you can trust it to be within 50 hz at 100MHZ and 250 Hz at 500 Mhz. of course if you want to dive into time nuttery you can consider externally referencing with a rubidium or gpsdo and do much much better. or a even a good ocxo would get you into the 1 x 10^-8 range.

hmmmmm. bought a pair of lpro 101's for 75 bucks about 8 years ago when there was price war between a guy in china and a guy in atlanta. only used one of them.....wonder where the other went? also have a really nice bulova 10 Mhz ocxo pull somewhere in a box. or maybe time nuttery is something you want to avoid since you already have a serious tek addiction?

some 4 pF silver micas came in the mail today to replace the gimmick cap installed temporarily in the hp 3403c (it worked ok to 20 Mhz but is out of spec above that). back to the basement for now to install it.

freqq

worsthorse · « **Reply #35035 on:** July 17, 2019, 09:39:27 pm »

Yesterday I got a text from the guy I helped sort through a garage full of mostly RTTY radio and test gear, asking me to stop by because he had some components he wanted me to have. To rehash the story, he answered a CL ad I put up, and asked me to look at some gear he had acquired. After we finished sorting that stuff, I offered to help him find someone to go through the larger stash, a houseful of Tek gear left to his stepson.

Today he gave me two crates filled with mostly Tektronix-part-numbered caps, pots, and odd parts, along with a several hundred foot long spool of RG6, a bunch of Tek SMA jumper cables, and another piece of RTTY military-grade test gear. Most of it is still bagged, so it isn't as much of a sorting chore as the stuff that has consumed my life over the last three months. I also found out what happened to the test equipment stash...

His stepson decided dealing with the gear was too much stress. A week ago he fired the auction house and sold everything in a 225 square foot garage to a junk dealer for two or three hundred bucks. My friend described them tossing test equipment into the back of a dump truck.

Just makes me sad.

tggzzz · « **Reply #35036 on:** July 17, 2019, 09:48:37 pm »

Quote from: bd139 on July 17, 2019, 06:31:48 pm

There's a guy at hamfests here that has a bag of GR-874 connectors and attenuators regularly for £5. I might grab that for the sake of distribution if it turns up again and anyone wants any of the bits.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/General-Radio-GR874-GR874-20dB-attenuator-Tektronix-GR874-to-bnc-50-ohm-2W/153562730316

Good vendor; I've bought two items from him, one a GR874/BNC adaptor - for my Tek 191

worsthorse · « **Reply #35037 on:** July 17, 2019, 09:51:19 pm »

Quote from: bd139 on July 17, 2019, 06:31:48 pm

There's a guy at hamfests here that has a bag of GR-874 connectors and attenuators regularly for £5. I might grab that for the sake of distribution if it turns up again and anyone wants any of the bits.

BD, put me down for some, though I wonder if the shipping will be a killer. I have a 191, 106 and other gear that uses them...

tggzzz · « **Reply #35038 on:** July 17, 2019, 10:04:08 pm »

Quote from: med6753 on July 17, 2019, 03:29:50 pm

Tek 485 in kinda rough shape. Does not power up. Completely dead. I believe it uses an SMS supply so it's probably going to be an interesting fix.]

It does have an SMPS.

Mine took a couple of minutes to start the first time, then started properly. Problem was one of the electrolytics in the starter part of the SMPS, C1841. Personally I'd replace all the electrolytics on the PSU board except C1822/C1823.

There are several 15V tants on a 13V rail; guess what happens

C911 isn't on the PSU diagram, nor are the other two in the middle of the same A10 PCB and different schematics.

Rr you might have lost the EHT inverter transistor.

But if you get it working, it is lovely to use: delightful screen and a 50ohm input attenuators (none of this 1Mohm//50ohm//20pF rubbish on the 24x5 series)

Specmaster · « **Reply #35039 on:** July 17, 2019, 10:21:02 pm »

Quote from: Cubdriver on July 17, 2019, 09:07:36 pm

Quote from: med6753 on July 17, 2019, 08:24:37 pm
Replaced those leaky caps. Used two 220uf in series for the 100uf. And two 100uf in series for the 50uf. I have to stock up on capacitors. Anyway, it works. Adjusted the -11VDC...or...tried to. Pot was dirty. Deoxit to the rescue. Now OK.

Generator came right up but refused to vary with the amplitude switch. And the variable pot was acting funky. Deoxit to the rescue again. Now all is acting as it should. The frequency vernier is pretty damn accurate, almost dead nuts. I'm not going to screw with it. If it ain't REALLY broken....you know the rest. Gonna let it cook for a while and see what happens. I think other than a good clean up this guy is 100%.

Sweet!! You make me want to excavate mine and play with it (It stayed out in CA for some time before I shipped it home, and though it since has made the journey I still have yet to muck about with it), but my bench is currently well and truly a disaster area, so I need to excavate it before doing anything more... (It should be painfully obvious that I've been too busy to do much of anything but add to the precarious piles there recently!)

-Pat

My bench is currently almost as bad. I really need to stop everything and have a clear-up and clear-out, spending far too much time moving stuff from A to B every time I do anything.

bd139 · « **Reply #35040 on:** July 17, 2019, 10:33:22 pm »

Quick pikey repair job. I had two OCXOs floating around. Once went in a box and now drives the 5334B. The other into the bin as it didn't work. This and the power supply death in the spare Racal 9915 resulted in two dead 9915 counters. Ugh. Decided to rectify this.

So swapped the transformers out then built a quick 10MHz oscillator. Simple colpitts. Nothing fancy. Added fixed caps until frequency was close then added a small trimmer. Zero science or calculation. Had some issues with two shitty chinese trimmer cap so I threw the two whole 200pc bags I got of them in the bin. Fuck 'em they're shit.

So new timebase. Note the drilling centres and clearance circles I added before I couldn't be bothered with it any more and just cable tied it to the back of the unit:

Bingo. 1Hz out on 10MHz from the OCXO reference is a win in my book. And it has sat there for an hour now and not budged. Not bad for a hack job.

Crystal is a British made AEL unit. They are extremely good crystals.

So that's 3 working counters and 1 dead one now

... perhaps these are the new scopes

VK5RC · « **Reply #35041 on:** July 17, 2019, 10:33:53 pm »

@Pat, remember with all that mass on the desk it will distort the space-time continuum - so effect the accuracy of the counters!

PS Actually feeling sl smug as I actually have a little bit of spare space on my desk!

The disaster of the 5216 continues - when complete and I have finished psychotherapy after and recovered I will post. Arrrrggggghhhh

I suppose at least it isn't a Tek! (ducks for cover)
Rob

bitseeker · « **Reply #35042 on:** July 17, 2019, 10:54:12 pm »

Any recommendations on RF connector adapters? I keep hearing "avoid the cheap ones from you know where." I've also heard that the universal adapter kits aren't a good idea (plus they're pricey). I'm not doing mad RF science, so I don't need expensive precision adapters. However, I also don't want to damage gear by using badly machined ones.

To test the power meter that's enroute, I'm looking for either

N adapter (female-to-female)
N female to SMA male adapter

Any recommended sources are much appreciated. If you have extras, I'm happy to convert them into cash for you.

0culus · « **Reply #35043 on:** July 17, 2019, 10:55:42 pm »

@bitseeker look on ebay for Amphenol adapters. I got some in a box of goodies from a guy, and they are super super nice.

bitseeker · « **Reply #35044 on:** July 17, 2019, 11:02:20 pm »

Adding to my watch list!

bd139 · « **Reply #35045 on:** July 17, 2019, 11:03:16 pm »

I’ll second the Amphenol ones. I’ve been slowly replacing my crappy stuff with theirs. I scored a large bag of clamp on RG58/BNCs by them as well. Lovely connectors.

GreyWoolfe · « **Reply #35046 on:** July 18, 2019, 02:13:22 am »

Quote from: med6753 on July 17, 2019, 03:38:45 pm

Quote from: Specmaster on July 17, 2019, 03:16:16 pm
Quote from: med6753 on July 17, 2019, 11:56:30 am
Don't forget the other elephant in the room. You folks in the UK pay an average of $6.00 USD per US gallon for gasoline. The last time I got gas it was $2.76 USD/US gallon and NYS is one of the higher priced states for gas.
Wow med, that is so cheap compared to over here, I just filled my car up and it took 48.87litres and cost me £66.67, to fill it up where you go it would cost me just £25.06

But us Yanks still bitch and moan over the price of gas. Mainly because so many of us HAVE TO HAVE big fucking pickup trucks and giant SUV's. With MPG figures under 20 MPG. Yes, I have an SUV (Honda CR-V) but it is economical compared to the big boys. I can get over 30 MPG on the highway. Coming cross country 2 years ago on the Great Plains I got 33 -34 MPG even at 75+ MPH.

Ever once in a while the price spikes over $3.00USD/gallon. First time that happen was 2005 after Hurricane Katrina flooded refineries down south. That was a real shocker.

No bitchin' and moanin' here. My V6 Ram cargo van will easily do over 30 on the highway but I lose out in the city. Down here in Flori-DUH insurance is no fun either. Florid-DUH ranks near the top for high premiums. 2 safe drivers, 1 van and 1 4 door sedan and full coverage is $1,820 a year with Allstate and we have those stupid little DriveWise monitors. At least the price hasn't gone up in 2 years but it hasn't dropped either. The van is basically a part time vehicle, only about 6,000 miles a year average for the 2 years that I have it and that includes a trip to Kentucky and Texas. More often than not, I am only gassing it up once a month. Homeowner's insurance is with another company I am happy with. Don't know if I interested if I can save on that bundle. Progressive was cheaper until we bought my old company van. The VIN is commercial and Progressive wanted to take away multi car and charge commercial rates. We switched to State Farm because Mrs GreyWoolfe likes them but they raised our rates twice in a 2 week period, first the actual cost didn't match the quote but they were close enough not to bother too much. The rate increase notice after 2 week annoyed us both. Allstate has been good but on the flip side, we haven't had any claims.

beanflying · « **Reply #35047 on:** July 18, 2019, 02:27:09 am »

My legs are good for about 40-50 MPC and as Coffee roasted and made by me is under $1AU pesos I win for economy - More TEA budget

Kosmic · « **Reply #35048 on:** July 18, 2019, 03:03:25 am »

It's alive!

I ended up locating the problem to R58. The pot responsible for -12V adjustment. It was probably full of electrolytic. Even though the board was immerged in IPA for 15min the potentiometer was somehow still dirty. It was making the -12V rail higher than usual and the overvoltage protection was kicking in.

I just cleaned r58 with Deoxit and then readjusted all the power rails correctly.

med6753 · « **Reply #35049 on:** July 18, 2019, 03:07:30 am »

Looks great! I assume it passes all self tests and successfully boots?

BTW...did you ever work on the 485 that you got from the silent key in Vermont?


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Author Topic: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread (Read 14910137 times)

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