Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

Now what was the original problem?

Windows. You've got to be clever to use Windows.

Nah just good at Googling

[Cerebus]

Now what was the original problem?

Windows. You've got to be clever to use Windows.

Weird, I just can't see how you make that mistake. The word "masochist" is nowhere near the word "clever" in the dictionary, whatever lexical distance algorithm your spelling checker uses.

[25 CPS]

Some Keysight parts arrived during the week.  I bought a refurbished Agilent U1213A clamp meter from
the Keysight eBay store and the listings for all the clamp meters they had for sale had no pictures of the back sides so it was quite a surprise when it arrived and I discovered I couldn’t mount the optical to Bluetooth adapter on it.



I checked inside battery bay and the meter side of the optical connection is present but covered up by the battery door on at least some of the Agilent branded meters.



I finally ordered the correct battery door to solve that problem and finally got it installed on the clamp meter tonight and tested it out with a U1115A remote logging display.   The U1115A was a pawn shop find back in the early days of the pandemic at the start of March and I picked it up on my way to work one afternoon and it turns out it was never used.  The protective film on the display was still in place as was the insulating strip in the battery compartment that was holding off the AA batteries from making contact with the terminals on one side so I got a great deal on a totally NOS Agilent U1115A.  I stopped for a coffee after I collected it and stood there jaw on the Tim Hortons parking lot watching someone go through the drive thru wearing a full blown military gas mask.  Like a US M40 or M43 type deal.



The Extech power analyzer is another pawn shop find.  I think I posted pictures of that when I picked it up a about a week ago.  I’ve been having a lot of fun with that.  My only quibble is there’s no phase angle readout or other kind of lead/lag indication so it’s up to you to deduce if the load you’re looking at is capacitive or inductive.  It’s been interesting looking at the standby power consumptions of various things around the house and the wattages have been small like I expected but they’ve had atrocious power factors that jack the VA up almost double in some cases.  Anyways, unity power factor for that 15W incandescent like we’d all expect.  The Agilent was struggling to get a usable reading on the X1 slot on that crappy Sperry line spreader so I put it on the X10 slot to clean that up but that’s why the remote display and the clamp are showing ten times the current the power analyzer is.  That Sperry line spreader is a total turd.  No ground prong which is fine, even desirable in two prong environments, but the line and neutral prongs are not polarized, but the socket on it is polarized.  Go figure.  And look how tight it is to get the jaws of the Agilent through it too.  It isn't a problem with the junk Canadian Tire clamp meter I have but...

I also pulled apart the Simpson 270 I picked up from a local seller one beautiful summer evening a couple of months ago and installed batteries for the Ohms ranges.  All but the low range zero out nicely.  I’m going to have to download the manual for that and see if there’s an internal adjustment to bring the low Ohms range into adjustment.   I have a Simpson 260 that does the same thing, won’t zero on the low ohms range even with a new D cell in place.





Dinner’s in the oven right now.  There’s one other thing I’d like to get on the bench and power up for a cursory inspection tonight before I call it a night.

[mnementh]

Uggghhh. Had to fall back on Plan B: 3DP reinforcement angles and epoxy in place, then grind down as needed with Dremel.

Bondene did not do the job either.   

It did the "deconstruction" part well, but the joined pieces did not recompose as they should; rather turning chalky and crumbly the same way as the parts I tried to fix with CA earlier.

Makes me wonder howinnaHell did they get the ABS and polycarbonate to blend in the first place...

I'm going out to do some grocery shopping; take my mind off it before I do sumt'in stoopit.

mnem

Here is a suggestion, possibly a stupid one, who knows, but why not hot glue it together, looks like you have the space to possibly fill the cavity in the corner with hot snot?

Nope. That corner is structural; the hooks attach to the metal chassis of the scope. I had to grind down the parts I epoxied in for clearance to get it all back together; but I expected that.

      

The small chink turned out okay... barely noticeable. But the larger piece shrunk away from the joint as the repair cured. The epoxied reinforcement is pretty much all that's holding these parts together.

   

Fortunately, when you're using it you don't look at the corners that much. 

mnem
*something positive*

[Cerebus]

Oh well, at least you didn't knock any teeth loose, metaphorically speaking. My fear for anything with a CRT in that takes a big knock is that something gets mechanically displaced inside the tube, or the heater element snaps.

I'd suggest adding some padding to your butt so you don't clobber anything else with it, except I suspect that padding might have been the problem in the first place. [Ducks.] 

[25 CPS]

The small chink turned out okay... barely noticeable. But the larger piece shrunk away from the joint as the repair cured. The epoxied reinforcement is pretty much all that's holding these parts together.

   

Fortunately, when you're using it you don't look at the corners that much. 

mnem
*something positive*

It's unfortunate that the corner got damaged but it looks like you got it to come back together really nicely though.

[mnementh]

Yeah, as long as you ONLY look at it from that angle, it's fine as frog hair.   

Oh well, at least you didn't knock any teeth loose, metaphorically speaking. My fear for anything with a CRT in that takes a big knock is that something gets mechanically displaced inside the tube, or the heater element snaps.

I'd suggest adding some padding to your butt so you don't clobber anything else with it, except I suspect that padding might have been the problem in the first place. [Ducks.] 

mnem
*halfheartedly lobs soggy ol' boot in the general direction of lest*

[Cerebus]

*halfheartedly lobs soggy ol' boot in the general direction of lest*[/i]

Weishaupt: "Ah, we eat tonight. Get the cauldron on and find the hot sauce!"

[0culus]

And this time, invest in some tie downs for your scope! 

[25 CPS]

And this time, invest in some tie downs for your scope! 

Lab cart!  Lab cart!  Lab cart!

[0culus]

Agreed....getting a scope-mobile was life changing. Only problem is I need like 5 more of them now. 

[xrunner]

Yeah, as long as you ONLY look at it from that angle, it's fine as frog hair.   

I'm looking at the upper left corner where it says "hp"

It's all good. 

[mnementh]

 

mnem
 

[mnementh]

And this time, invest in some tie downs for your scope! 

Lab cart!  Lab cart!  Lab cart!

Naahhh... I'm just gonna pile shit on top of it til it can't move, like Spec sed to do. Think I'll start with that 4070A.

mnem
Where's muh hot-gloo gun...

[med6753]

You guys have said it all. I've got nothing to add.


Bumblebutt

[25 CPS]

And this time, invest in some tie downs for your scope! 

Lab cart!  Lab cart!  Lab cart!

Naahhh... I'm just gonna pile shit on top of it til it can't move, like Spec sed to do. Think I'll start with that 4070A.

mnem
Where's muh hot-gloo gun...

Yes!  Yes!  Yes!



Lab cart!  Lab cart!  Lab cart!

[25 CPS]

The Fluke got on the bench for a quick test and there’s nothing like the warm glow of Nixie tubes to take the chill off a cold evening.



DC volts checked out ok.  However, there are two screws missing out of the lid so someone’s been in there and it’s non responsive to AC volts or Ohms despite the tag on the back panel saying it has those options converters fitted so I’m wondering if it got raided at some point during its life.  That’s going to be an investigation for later though.

[0culus]

And this time, invest in some tie downs for your scope! 

Lab cart!  Lab cart!  Lab cart!

Naahhh... I'm just gonna pile shit on top of it til it can't move, like Spec sed to do. Think I'll start with that 4070A.

mnem
Where's muh hot-gloo gun...

Yes!  Yes!  Yes!



Lab cart!  Lab cart!  Lab cart!

As a side note...really like those benches. Where'd you get them?

[med6753]

Almost all of our highway toll booths have cash lanes and cashless lanes. The cashless lanes read a transducer attached to your windshield and debt your account. Now if you happen to go through a cashless lane and you don't have a transducer or it can't read it then it will take a pix of your license plate and send you a bill in the mail.

Getting on the NJ Turnpike today. Going through the cashless toll booth. In front of me is a dickhead in a Jeep Gran Cherokee that has one of these. I see it come down and cover his plate just before entering the booth. Then opens once through it. I never knew these existed but here it is available for sale with the ruse that it's for car meets , etc. Bullshit. 

   

[mnementh]

You guys have said it all. I've got nothing to add.


Bumblebutt

Ohh... just trample off, ehhh...?!?

mnem
*rummages around under the bench for another soggy ol' boot to lob South of the border*

[Cerebus]

Milligoon: "Hey look everybody - FREE BOOTS. Roll up, roll up, get yours here! Only one snarky remark, or one weak joke and you win a FREE BOOT!"
(Conditions apply. May have "fallen in the water". May contain pieces of paper with the time on and cold batter puddings.)

[cyclin_al]

Y'all may have noticed that the ol' TinkerDwagon hasn't been in here rousing the rabble all day...^*

That's because he done wents on a road trip.

I met with fellow TEA member  cyclin_al to trade off some of those Dell server PSUs I've been buggin' y'all with for some TE (which I'll post pics of tomorrow, I think) but mostly to chew the fat and have a burger and scope out some of the local color, what with the fall foliage and such.

That was quite the day!  However, the story started earlier.

Our friendly dragon contacted me and asked if I was reasonably close to pick up the BK 4070A through a local buy & sell website.  I was quite reasonably close if I had a hovercraft!  Having to find a place to cross the Ottawa River by car made it appear to be a lengthy trip.  Luck was on our side, as I was going that way to see about an Astrom PSU for sale.  Plus, I could stop by the Princess Auto store and afterwards go for a hike with friends.

Anyways, I came back home after a completely unsuccessful trip, complaining about sellers.  In fact, it was successful shopping for SWMBO, the kid, the dragon, but not for me.  The Astrom seller backed out when I asked if it could be demonstrated in operation.   I happened to whine about that PSU seller when I let mnem know that I have the 4070A for him.  That spawned his project and subjected us to all those postings about the project along with the trials & tribulations of 3DP.

Karma seemed again in my favour as I found a kayak for sale located in Trenton, ON.  Plans were put in place to go get the kayak, meet a dragon and exchange some gear.  At the last minute, the kayak seller cancelled.  I already had a pile of cash and the car ready, roof-racks installed and borrowed kayak saddles attached to the roof-rack.  The good decision was made to make the trip anyways, just changing the location to Madoc, ON.
[Edit:  You are all spared all the pithy lines I had thought up related to boats and boat-anchors.]

Things got better.  I managed to score a Fluke 8060A on the way out of town at the start of the trip.  Yay!, the TE drought is ended; been many months since acquiring anything.  The 8060A was advertised as fully working, but in person the seller indicated there was a Ohms offset on the microAmps setting.  Yes, that does not make sense; further investigation necessary.  Also, the probes are not original.  After getting it home, it looks like the case is not quite fitting properly and there is some case damage at the corners.



Meeting up in Madoc was excellent.  I agree that the food was excellent.  The conversation was 3 hours  , but even then only touched on the highlights.  That powered bicycle motorcycle that I touched dates from 1914.
Equipment was exchanged before we had to part ways and return home.

Now, I've got the powwa


The fun did not end there.  Armed with knowledge of where the road construction was on the drive there, I went North on secondary roads instead of going east on the highway for the return home.  I took a chance on a short-cut and was rewarded with a paved road of 22.6km that took 17 minutes and had difficultly reaching the speed limit.  I guess I was shifting on average every 20 seconds and braking on average every 40 seconds.  SWMBO would have been terribly car-sick.  The autumn scenery was also nicer this way than dealing with the big trucks on the highway:

[0culus]

Almost all of our highway toll booths have cash lanes and cashless lanes. The cashless lanes read a transducer attached to your windshield and debt your account. Now if you happen to go through a cashless lane and you don't have a transducer or it can't read it then it will take a pix of your license plate and send you a bill in the mail.

Getting on the NJ Turnpike today. Going through the cashless toll booth. In front of me is a dickhead in a Jeep Gran Cherokee that has one of these. I see it come down and cover his plate just before entering the booth. Then opens once through it. I never knew these existed but here it is available for sale with the ruse that it's for car meets , etc. Bullshit. 

   

Well, seeing as New Jersey is legendary for shitty roads, can’t totally blame the guy for not wanting to spend money on the toll road. 

[med6753]

Well, seeing as New Jersey is legendary for shitty roads, can’t totally blame the guy for not wanting to spend money on the toll road. 

It's not just the roads. Everything is shitty in Jersey. Literally. Driving that section of the Jersey Turnpike is a smellothon. There are stinky chemical plants plus the "Meadowlands" which is inland salt water mudflats which at low tide absolutely smell like someone in the car ripped a greasy fart. I mean bad. Almost makes you want to puke. 

[mansaxel]

Well, seeing as New Jersey is legendary for shitty roads, can’t totally blame the guy for not wanting to spend money on the toll road. 

About the last thing I did the first time visiting USA was to drive from staying at friends of friends of friends somewhere in NJ, to a train station to get into Manhattan by train, and then find our way back to EWR car rental.  We got completely lost, but managed. (this was in '93, so satnav was something for B52's. We were driving by the free highway administration maps they hand out in the visitor centre as you enter a new state)

Those potholes. Damn.  Damn.