Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[VK5RC]

But in Perth and here in Adelaide, if it is 30 C at 0600, the humidity is 15-20%, not 76%, I can't stand humidity.

[bd139]

Well I just got outbid on an analogue 

edit: back to digital land now. Experimenting with using AVR PWM to generate and mix multiple low frequency sine waves. Verging on giving up and cheating using an R2R DAC instead.

[Fungus]

First, WS2812s aren't the greatest choice. They're typically a 5050 package, and have a pretty narrow dispersal angle.

You can buy the controller chip (WS2811) as a separate chip and use it to light up any RGB LED.

They even come in DIPs if you look hard enough (I've got a tube of them somewhere).

[med6753]

Well I just got outbid on an analogue 

edit: back to digital land now. Experimenting with using AVR PWM to generate and mix multiple low frequency sine waves. Verging on giving up and cheating using an R2R DAC instead.

It's the Tek gods. And something about "Karma" and "Bitch" 

[tggzzz]

Well I just got outbid on an analogue 

Just think what you could do with a working recapped 2445B or 2465.

[bd139]

I'm almost tempted.

[tggzzz]

I'm almost tempted.

Take a trip down the M4 to J17 to see https://wiltshirespc.org/wp/g3vre/club-rally/ on the 28th, and see Bring cash, lots of cash.

It is only small, but I'm going to be there early to see if there are any more DekStats

[bd139]

Unfortunately I am stuffed on 28th

Next thing I shall be at is MKARS rally. That was a good one last year. Also got free Bletchley entry with my RSGB membership so going to do that as well.

[Specmaster]

Blasphemy in the church of TEA! 

Whatever.  Ask me if I give a shit. 

Much the same as my attitude  the 2 bible bashers I just had at front my door. I wonder what they'd do if we went round to theirs and talked to them about TEA [emoji6]

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

[tggzzz]

Blasphemy in the church of TEA! 

Whatever.  Ask me if I give a shit. 

Much the same as my attitude  the 2 bible bashers I just had at front my door. I wonder what they'd do if we went round to theirs and talked to them about TEA [emoji6]

They can be quite amusing to play with, particularly if they are foolish enough to bring children with them. Certainly the TEA mob would be more boring if we turned up on their doorstep.

I'd post some choice starting points here, but that would provoke a religious discussion.

[bd139]

Oh I love it when they turn up. It's fun applying their logic to your disabled child's welfare. I made one cry a while back.

[med6753]

They keep turning up here too but can't get upstairs because the front door is locked. So they leave their literature on the front porch and it gets tossed without even so much as a look see.

[med6753]

BTW...I tweaked the 1912A and it now tracks perfectly with the 7260A. Now is that a good thing or bad thing? To me it's a done thing. 

[nixiefreqq]

LOL here we go. The answer is actually “none of them”. This is why I have a GPSDO and that’s not even the truth but a well formed opinion.

The actual truth is too complicated for our primitive instrumentation.

Notice I said that the 7260A was "most likely" the most accurate.  For my purpose it will be my "standard" 

As of right now I have no intention of going any further with this time nut stuff. It makes my head hurt. 

geeeeeze med......yer killin' me!

have you been pickin' your feet in Poughkeepsie?

if you own more than 2 counters are you ARE a time nut.  but the .5ppm xtal in that 7260a is not gonna cut it.  (250 Hz off at 500 Mhz is crap)

not that i am an enabler.....but if you had a decent ocxo like this one you would be confident of only being 5 Hz off at 500 Mhz.  (sure...ya' gotta' let it warm up for an hour to get to 1 part in 10^8).

in the pic the 5335a is referenced from a rubidium that measured  -1.5 x 10^-11 when compared to the gps standard.

the ocxo occasionally bounced to 10,000,000.01   

go ahead....dare me to put that ocxo in a usps box.

[Specmaster]

BTW...I tweaked the 1912A and it now tracks perfectly with the 7260A. Now is that a good thing or bad thing? To me it's a done thing. 

Well as far your concerned, you now have 2 reference points and at the risk of poking the time nuts here, when it comes to measuring frequency does it really matter if you're measuring say 10MHz and you're a few Hz out, are really going to notice it. If your tuning a radio to 102.6MHz and you're within 2 to 300 Hz, of it, is it or you going notice anything different, think not.

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

[nixiefreqq]

ooooops.  am off by an order of magnitude.   .01 Hz error at 10 Mhz is 1 part in 10 to the 9th.  so med could now be accurate to .5 Hz at 500 Mhz.

hey spec.......its called "time nuttery" for a reason.  its not about doing anything practical or reasonable down in the basement.  but the need to get that extra digit makes me itch all over.

BUT volt nuttery......that is just a waste of time.

[bd139]

Going back to X-Y mode on digital scopes quickly. Ugh this is just the worst:

[nixiefreqq]

there are some old samplers that do a pretty good job with x-y mode.

[bd139]

Ah yes the HP 54600 series are damn good scopes in all respects. Especially the megazoom ones. I've had a couple and used them at university back when they were new.

[nixiefreqq]

yep.  am very happy with this 54601a. 

went and changed out the dallas chip for an sram backed up with a coin battery and controller chip.  (not hard to do after practicing on my 54502 and 54504)

details are in the repair section.

[tggzzz]

I'm almost tempted.

Take a trip down the M4 to J17 to see https://wiltshirespc.org/wp/g3vre/club-rally/ on the 28th, and see Bring cash, lots of cash.

It is only small, but I'm going to be there early to see if there are any more DekStats

If a 2445B or 2465 aren't juicy enough, could I tempt you with a nice 465, with intact feet and a cover with two nibs

I've finally got around to looking at it - and removed the major intermittent. All I had to do was jiggle and reseat the ch1 attenuators. The only remaining niggle is that if you rotate the ch1 position knob rapidly, the trace bounces; rotate slowly and it is perfectly usable. Unfortunately that pot can't be cracked to insert some DeOxit Fader. Oh well.

All the PSU rails are within limits and my Fluke 25 shows Vac of <0.4mV, so I don't even have to recap it

(I expect, but haven't tested, that the XY option works nicely )

[bd139]

Hahaha I'm done with them now. Let me know if you want a couple of position pots. I have some of the blue Bourns units in the 475 and they are in very good shape. I think they are ganged the same as the 465. I've got some 465 ones as well but they are scratchy.

[mnementh]

You know what, I'd rather have a Jag XK8 and show you how a real car performs [emoji1787][emoji1787]

   You'd rather be seen driving the car known to motorheads as the Screaming Catfish?!? SERIOUSLY...? 

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Who's trying to hurt you?  Not I. Simply suggesting if you want to get something done then log off. 

But after reading your rant about the current generation Corvette I now understand what you desire it to be.....

This....I once had the pleasure of having in my possession for a few days a 1969 Corvette with the lesser HP 427 big block and a 4 speed stick. Beautiful car. Fast. But at the same time a sloppy POS. First thing you notice upon sitting in the driver's seat is the HUGE steering wheel. One you'd find in a city bus. And I'll tell you...it steered like one. Absolutely limp and unresponsive handling.But it went like stink in straight line and the hurst shifter was slick and precise. And the sound of that 427 V-8 was music to my ears. But don't try to stop. Unboosted 4 wheel disc brakes that needed 100 pounds foot pressure to get them to grab. But granted, I had been spoiled by power brakes. So all in all a beautiful car with shitty handling. I'll bet on a road course my 1.7 liter/115HP Honda Civic could eat it's lunch. 

YESSS!!! You DO get it! That IS what 'vette is! The Corvette was ALWAYS about the primal stuff: Gorgeous predatory & feminine body lines combined with phenomenal raw power, and NOTHING ELSE!

You didn't need ANYTHING but 1000 miles of empty interstate and a full tank of gas. Okay, several tanks of gas. Stereo? The radio was OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT. Trunk...? FUCK YOU! Be glad we gave you enough room to put your girl in the seat beside you. BACK SEAT? If you can't get it on with a shifter jammed in her bum, you don't DESERVE a Corvette!!! When you find the girl who likes it that way, MARRY HER!!!

The Corvette now is about screaming-RPM small-displacement HP, every moronic electronic gadget known to man with your personal ass-istant in the dash, and they haven't had a new, original design since 1968. The generation after that was just a bloated mish-mash of the previous generation and the Trans-Am, the generation after that was a watered-down imitation of the Viper, and this latest generation is just a mish-mash of a Testarossa and and CTS, with some Camaro bits sprinkled in for seasoning. There is no original thought anywhere in the styling; they just get uglier with every iteration. 

What they USED TO BE... what made Corvette a legend... was all about the basics. What they're trying to be is a refined, European-style sports car. Which, let's face it, the shitheads at GM who killed off Saturn but kept the Escalade Hybrid, who filed for bankruptcy just to get out of paying back the pension their CEOs robbed like it was their personal piggy bank over the years and who created the entire SUV phenomenon out of hype as a tax dodge, DON'T HAVE THE FIRST CLUE HOW TO BE.   

And quite honestly... there's already a fucking glut on the market for European-syle sports cars. 

THAT is why I don't like ANY of the new Corvettes. They're trying to be SOMETHING THEY'RE NOT.

I LOVE "Corvette". I HATE What these fuckheads have made of it.

mnem
*primal*

[tggzzz]

Hahaha I'm done with them now. Let me know if you want a couple of position pots. I have some of the blue Bourns units in the 475 and they are in very good shape. I think they are ganged the same as the 465. I've got some 465 ones as well but they are scratchy.

That reminds me: I have a 465 parts mule somewhere, and a spare functional 465 tube, and a few clarostats.

But realistically I can't be bothered to swap pots - it works well enough.

So thanks, but no thanks.