Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Neomys Sapiens]

So... The small undamaged parcel contained Shrek's head...? Or was it that laundry list of lies printed out and delivered to make your head explode...?

mnem
🤔

Just two small parts boxes of a particular format. I got two with a tool convolute, one with a Belzer Polyhook (for the tips) and then two more - but I started to use them for Adaptors in a flightcase, so I needed some more. They are surplus from the Bundeswehr and they stack with nothing else.

So as I said - not showworthy, not very valuable but needed parts.

[mnementh]

From the "A little local colour" Dept...



Having dinner with a family friend at Kelsey's Roadhouse... 

mnem
Well, it comes in one of them, so I guess it makes sense for it to leave in one too... 

[Kosmic]

Speaking of a frequency standard:
How good are those Rubidium 10MHz ovenized oscillators?
They show up in the bay from time to time and I'm tempted to get one.
Just for, you know, to have one.

Not following this rabbit hole. No, Sir!      

I have two EFRATOM LPRO-101s and they work fine. You have to check that lamp voltage is still OK when you buy.

Same experience here. The one I got was calibrated before shipping. I'm not using the gpsdo now.

[Kosmic]

Hahaha. This is standard stuff if you go with the lowest bidder.

Remember the T12. Same thing. Got replaced with Metcal which is perfect still.

Yep I remember that, thing is my T12 is still perfect too, only problems I have is with the cheap tips, breaking the contact rings.

I use original Hakko tips on mine. Work perfectly.

[med6753]

From the "A little local colour" Dept...



Having dinner with a family friend at Kelsey's Roadhouse... 

mnem
Well, it comes in one of them, so I guess it makes sense for it to leave in one too... 

Not a new idea. Have seen that before at local bars.

[mnementh]

Hahaha. This is standard stuff if you go with the lowest bidder.

Remember the T12. Same thing. Got replaced with Metcal which is perfect still.

Yep I remember that, thing is my T12 is still perfect too, only problems I have is with the cheap tips, breaking the contact rings.

I use original Hakko tips on mine. Work perfectly.

Yup... When I infected the thread with the T12 disease, I recommended that you get one or three of your favorite go-to tips as genuine Hakko, since the QC on the clones is pretty poor and you'll run into problems with them not making good connection.

For the move, I had to pare all my tools down to 2 Kobalt bags and one technician case. As you might imagine, my beloved MetCal didn't make the cut on account of being the size of Smaug's left testicle, so it was my T12 that got packed.

Something I HAVE been forced to change since going the cartridge iron route however... All my life I've been a die-hard wet-sponge tip-cleaner guy... But after I ruined a 3-month-old Thermaltronics tip during a week-long stint of production assembly work,  I took MetCal's advice about thermal shock to heart and started using the Brillo pad.

Fast-forward to now, using the T12 everyday again... I've found the clone T12 tips are even MORE susceptible to this damage; with the core coming loose from the SS tube on two of them after just a few hours of bench work, just like the Thermaltronics tip on my MetCal.

So... Point being... Spend the 4 bucks on a Brillo can tip cleaner. Your T12 tips will thank you.

Cheers,

mnem
*contented widdle dwagon widda belly full of steak & loaded baked potato*

[VK5RC]

Re couriers, I have to take my hat off to DHL, albeit for the sum of 70 Aussie pesos, they got a box (about 1/2 shoe box size - of some volt-nuttery vishay resistors) from Singapore to Adelaide in less than 14hrs - door to door. I was impressed.

[mansaxel]

32A @ 230V is 7.32 kVA

Times 3?
400V three phase

Exactly. Those welders essentialy  have one big three-phase transformer and some impressive diodes on the secondary side, together with the 300lb gorilla DIP switches to select current. The manual lists the power as 14,4KVA and wanting 25A fuses at 380-405V. It can be strapped for a number of primary voltages (all Delta-coupled so no neutral required), ranging from 220V up to 500V.  500V is (or was, when Sweden had such an industry; now we mostly do repair and build submarines) pretty common in shipbuilding here, the CEE plugs are black, which is not a fashion statement...

[mnementh]

From the "A little local colour" Dept...



Having dinner with a family friend at Kelsey's Roadhouse... 

mnem
Well, it comes in one of them, so I guess it makes sense for it to leave in one too... 

Not a new idea. Have seen that before at local bars.

How bucolic. 

I've seen them used to make BBQs & Smokers, but till now I've been blissfully ignorant of this particular preversion of the welding/metal fabber's art.

mnem
*toddling off to bed*

[AVGresponding]

32A @ 230V is 7.32 kVA

Times 3?
400V three phase

Exactly. Those welders essentialy  have one big three-phase transformer and some impressive diodes on the secondary side, together with the 300lb gorilla DIP switches to select current. The manual lists the power as 14,4KVA and wanting 25A fuses at 380-405V. It can be strapped for a number of primary voltages (all Delta-coupled so no neutral required), ranging from 220V up to 500V.  500V is (or was, when Sweden had such an industry; now we mostly do repair and build submarines) pretty common in shipbuilding here, the CEE plugs are black, which is not a fashion statement...

Ehh, my bad, I was thinking in single phase   

I've never seen a welder that big outside an industrial environment, I can't imagine too many people indulge in ship/submarine building in their garden shed or garage...

[beanflying]

Out here on the farm some mid sized welders are available in two phase just to be different  It also used to be reasonable common to run larger motors on two phase for Dairy plants in particular. These days like most of the old SWER (single wire earth return) lines have gone from most of the grid and three phase is fairly easy to get if needed.

Given the level of power I run in the shack I have to manual switch gear on or off to keep the load sensible on the single phase run. I did inquire about bulking up the supply to the property but over $2k for a heavier single phase from the pole and three phase was  so I load switch 

[med6753]

When I found out that EICO painted many of their cabinets blue that made the decision real easy. The RCA scope is getting re-sprayed. There was some rust on the cabinet anyway. So I put my little Smurfs to work and as usual they completed the job on time, under budget, and with impeccable results. For some reason Smurfette wanted to print on the cabinet “nixiefreqq rules and bd139 drools” but I told her no. I thought she was trying to stir up the calculator wars again but that's not the reason.  Bd139, you've been sending her suggestive texts on how you want to “light her fire”. You naughty, naughty boy. 



So the exterior is done. Still waiting on the capacitors. It turns out that I accidentally submitted the order with “economy shipping”. What that does is give UPS upwards of 10 days to deliver. Shit!  So I won't get them until next week which puts this project on hold.     

[Ero-Shan]

One day I will have it on my bench.

You and I, you and I...

Me as well ... one day ...      

In all honesty: What for? A die-hard voltnut may appreciate it, but for everything else it is rather impractical. The last 2 digits just won't sit still in a normal environment, so they're utterly useless. If you really need the accuracy and precision, you have to get it calibrated regularly (which is not cheap). And it is big.
Mine is switched on very rarely.

But I confess that it is nice just to have one and relish the engineering. 

[bd139]

Hahaha. This is standard stuff if you go with the lowest bidder.

Remember the T12. Same thing. Got replaced with Metcal which is perfect still.

Yep I remember that, thing is my T12 is still perfect too, only problems I have is with the cheap tips, breaking the contact rings.

I use original Hakko tips on mine. Work perfectly.

Yup... When I infected the thread with the T12 disease, I recommended that you get one or three of your favorite go-to tips as genuine Hakko, since the QC on the clones is pretty poor and you'll run into problems with them not making good connection.

For the move, I had to pare all my tools down to 2 Kobalt bags and one technician case. As you might imagine, my beloved MetCal didn't make the cut on account of being the size of Smaug's left testicle, so it was my T12 that got packed.

Something I HAVE been forced to change since going the cartridge iron route however... All my life I've been a die-hard wet-sponge tip-cleaner guy... But after I ruined a 3-month-old Thermaltronics tip during a week-long stint of production assembly work,  I took MetCal's advice about thermal shock to heart and started using the Brillo pad.

Fast-forward to now, using the T12 everyday again... I've found the clone T12 tips are even MORE susceptible to this damage; with the core coming loose from the SS tube on two of them after just a few hours of bench work, just like the Thermaltronics tip on my MetCal.

So... Point being... Spend the 4 bucks on a Brillo can tip cleaner. Your T12 tips will thank you.

Cheers,

mnem
*contented widdle dwagon widda belly full of steak & loaded baked potato*

Best thing you can do to prolong the life of T12 tips is leave them in China and buy a Metcal 

Edit: was going to Tesco’s. Decided I can’t be arsed and am going back to bed.

Edit 2: managed to fuck up editing this post and lost half of it. Definitely going back to bed 

[AVGresponding]

So while I had the case off my 203-6, I repaired those pushrod issues:

Those are the innards of a 3A connector block, with a dab of blue threadlock. It may be a bodge, but it works perfectly!

I also found this:

wth is that, a dipole antenna?      


Visited one of my least favourite fire alarm panels on Friday. It's controlled via an old and very unreliable touch screen:

It's a lottery whether you get any touch detected, a single touch, or a double touch. Makes inputting access codes frustrating to say the least...   

[Cerebus]

Not a new idea. Have seen that before at local bars.

Presumably only ones near the pipeline to St Louis that takes it to be repackaged.

[Cerebus]

I also found this:

wth is that, a dipole antenna?      

10 fF - 5 pF variable capacitor in the 10 fF position?

[AVGresponding]

I was referring to the two yellow sleeved wires sticking up out of the pcb, circled them here to clarify:

[bd139]

Yes that’s it. Look up a gimmick capacitor. Usually the wires are twisted together for a couple of pF of capacitance.

To be clear it’s a 10fF to 1pF impact variable capacitor

Usually around 1pF/inch.

Also know as a rust antenna if it’s done with Chinese wire.

[AVGresponding]

Well... you live and learn.

Can't imagine how low the capacitance must be with them so far apart... they don't look like they have ever been twisted together.

[bd139]

Probably didn't need to be. they tend to be used to offset some distributed capacitance in timing circuits and filters.

[tggzzz]

Well... you live and learn.

Can't imagine how low the capacitance must be with them so far apart... they don't look like they have ever been twisted together.

Around 0.5pF, ish. https://www.emisoftware.com/calculator/wire-pair-capacitance/

[mnementh]

@mansaxel: Sounds like the idiots who wired a DC up I saw. All redundant circuits were on the same two phases 

Clearly cowboys, a good installation is one that has all 3 phases balanced so quite possibly a bunch of house bashers who have never come across 3 phases before, or under the impression that only machinery needs 3 phases to give the motors more grunt?

That is certainly so.

Then, I read an article in a swedish electrics online publication the other day about the unbalanced loads resulting from sparkies wiring kitchen range and washer on same phase (L1, of course ) in every flat of an entire apartment block, out of sheer ignorance. There are too few ampère meters around.

Speaking as an ex-firefighter with some small amount of fire-ground forensics experience, it sounds like "too few commercial inspectors around" from here. That shit should have never gone live in the first place.

            

And you're right of course; Tesla was just too hip for the room. Look where that crazy bastard set up shop. Imagine being there; the brute force of The Falls reverberating through those immense ducts and the caverns where the generators were housed. Sheer madness... pure genius.  

Pics are from my trip to the US side on our way North; if you look to the left of center in the last pic above, you can see what is arguably the most dangerous rock in the world.     

mnem
Pay no attention to that thumb in the corner...

[mnementh]

So while I had the case off my 203-6, I repaired those pushrod issues:      Those are the innards of a 3A connector block, with a dab of blue threadlock. It may be a bodge, but it works perfectly!

I have used that exact bodge to repair pushrods in numerous radios & test equipment; though I'll usually install appropriately flush-looking grub-screws to assuage my engineer's guilt. More advanced mode: If you make two shorter pushrods and thread them through the thing so they overlap somewhere in the middle of the span, it makes an adjuster to get things aligned perfectly. I've used this tactic many times in my RC modeling hobby. 

mnem
*bodging Empirical Engineering 101*

[bitseeker]

Lunchtime 'bacon substitution'  Some alternatives to Bacon  are appropriate and can be even superior to Bacon, Turkey, Tofu and other non Pork is not and will never be those alternatives 

Smoked Chorizo (Spanish Pork, Paprika and other assorted spices) Sausage, Free Range Eggs (because I like animals  ) and a touch of cracked papper and HP Sauce.

Get in my Belly 

Haha! Reminds me of: