Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[beanflying]

$50 AUD freight for 2500km on this lump - Bargain 

T&M Tear it apart thread starter item 

[Berni]

Since when is shipping to Australia cheap. And come on spill the beans, whats in there.

[orin]

Don't think I'd like to go either when guns are so easy to get hold of, why the hell would you want to have gun about you anyway in a so called civilised country, beats the hell out of me.

I grew up in the UK and have been in the US (Washington State) for over 30 years and to be honest, guns do not concern me here.

What does concern me is the quality of driving... I'm much more likely to be killed by a drunk or otherwise impaired driver.  And I'm sure the road death statistics aren't pretty in the UK either.

I wouldn't be concerned about coming over here for a few days for a conference or whatever.

[beanflying]

Since when is shipping to Australia cheap. And come on spill the beans, whats in there.

BTW 2500km is only part way across this country not importing much as Queenslanders are sometimes on a different planet 

The contents were only $53 to start with  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-and-measurement-obsolete-gear-teardown-and-salvage/#new

[bd139]

Random photo from the pre-EEVblog membership archives. Thandar TF200 frequency counter insides. Nice little boxes these, assuming the batteries haven't leaked!

[Mr. Scram]

Random photo from the pre-EEVblog membership archives. Thandar TF200 frequency counter insides. Nice little boxes these, assuming the batteries haven't leaked!

It took me four takes to figure out the scale of that thing. The battery section is messing with my brain.

[Specmaster]

Random photo from the pre-EEVblog membership archives. Thandar TF200 frequency counter insides. Nice little boxes these, assuming the batteries haven't leaked!

It took me four takes to figure out the scale of that thing. The battery section is messing with my brain.

I think the battery sizes are likely to be D cells x 6 if that helps?

[bd139]

Those are C sized batteries (x6). It's pretty small.

[Specmaster]

Those are C sized batteries (x6). It's pretty small.

Gosh, they are smaller than I expected, 6v then.

[Mr. Scram]

Don't worry, I figured it out in the end At a glance it can be mistaken for AA or even AAA bettery holders, but the rest makes little sense if they are. The DIP packages and restistors aren't as useful to gauge scale as you'd think they are, considering those come in various sizes. The BNC connectors are what finally gave it away.

[Specmaster]

Those are C sized batteries (x6). It's pretty small.

Gosh, they are smaller than I expected, 6v then.

Er brain not functioning yet, 9v then 🤣

[GerryBags]

I opened up a recently acquired TT TG210, just to see if there was anything other than oxidised BNC's causing the noisy output. There wasn't and I was pleasantly surprised how clean and new looking it was in there. I like the way they put their stuff together. After cleaning off the plugs it's a great function gen. I'll more interested in the Thandar stuff I see come up from now on. Their outer looks, with the exception of the most recent stuff, don't really do it for me but I'm pretty sure that may change by association.

[bd139]

Yep I am expecting a TG215 to arrive today. This replaces the TG210 I sold a while ago. This goes with the TTi PL310, PL154 and TF930 already on the bench

BTW welcome to TEA new victim

New stuff is ok too. Don't expect any service info that is any good. A few of us here got TF930 counters for a steal recently from one seller who was chucking them out at £50 a pop. Really nice bit of kit.

[GerryBags]

Thanks! The addiction is real. Especially as tech-smack does (usually - hopefully) serve a purpose besides fuelling that addiction. I couldn't possible be asked to so much as rewire a plug without a function generator and scope, but a close examination of a toaster with a DSA will have to wait. Those things are pricey 

[Specmaster]

Yep, toasters are super pricey 

[bd139]

TG215 arrived. Miracle: not only was it extremely well packaged but it is in perfect condition and works. Needs some calibration as the frequency dial is a little out but that's it. I will take it to bits later and post pictures of its naughty bits. Thought it just read frequency off on the display, but no it displays frequency, DC offset voltage and peak to peak voltage. Nice one TTi!



Also, and this is loosely related to TEA for a reason I will explain in a minute; I found out I had 30 smackers in paypal still from selling bits of that dead HP 54602B scope. This got turned into a QRP Labs QCX transceiver preorder. This is a very clever little device as it's not just a QRP transceiver but a small collection of test equipment for self-alignment. It has a built in DMM, frequency counter, RF signal generator and RF power meter which can be reused on other projects.

[Specmaster]

That's a really nice looking piece of kit and the multi purpose display is a boon, glad it arrived without any damage, you're well on your way to all British bench now then 

[bd139]

Yes. I have abandoned my mega project entirely at the moment as someone just came on the market with a similar device which is (a) done and (b) better and (c) better funded. So I need something to work towards. Might be an interesting project.

So next on the purchase list: TTi 1705

The Tek 465 is staying though; that thing is just a joy to use.

[bd139]

Insides. Nice clean design as always with post-1990 Thandar stuff. Appears to be date coded around 1996. No problems noted - no bulging caps or burned output resistors suggesting it has been looked after well.

And unlike HP, very little opportunity to kill yourself! Look at all the nice booted inlets, nearly tied, protection around the transformer and it is entirely devoid of AC anywhere near the board.

[Specmaster]

I keep looking at the TTi 1604 but they are still expensive, and like you with the Tek 465, I like my HP A which is nice to use and also of course I have the Keithley 160 (nixie) and the only problem with that is it's only DC and 3.5 digits but so so accurate.

Right now I'm looking at an Iwatsu 100Mhz 4 channel scope, (they are really 2+2 channels with the extra channels only mv and 1v per division) as a suitable replacement for my Goldstar OS-9100D scope andA and all the spares my trusty 25Mhz Rapid Electronics one. The Iwatsu 100Mhz has cursors and other shit on it to compliment my Hitachi. May even sell my HP 1740A and all the spares I have for it as well if I win that 100Mhz one.

[Specmaster]

Insides. Nice clean design as always with post-1990 Thandar stuff. Appears to be date coded around 1996. No problems noted - no bulging caps or burned output resistors suggesting it has been looked after well.

And unlike HP, very little opportunity to kill yourself! Look at all the nice booted inlets, nearly tied, protection around the transformer and it is entirely devoid of AC anywhere near the board.

Well not quite devoid of AC on the board, there is some low voltage stuff in the bottom right for the power supply, but in general, yeh you're right there is no mains AC on the board.

They certainly do know how to make some nicely presented kit internally you have to say, that shrouding is more than they are required to do by UK law, thats attention to details. 

[Mr. Scram]

I'm always surprised by those transformers stuck right in the case next to quite sensitive electronics. Apparently it's not an issue, but I wouldn't have thought so.

[Specmaster]

All the electronics in that corner are related to the power supply, the more sensitive gear is over to the left more I think?

[bd139]

I'm always surprised by those transformers stuck right in the case next to quite sensitive electronics. Apparently it's not an issue, but I wouldn't have thought so.

It's miles away from anything high impedance which is all right a the front of the unit. Tis fine.

I keep looking at the TTi 1604 but they are still expensive, and like you with the Tek 465, I like my HP A which is nice to use and also of course I have the Keithley 160 (nixie) and the only problem with that is it's only DC and 3.5 digits but so so accurate.

Right now I'm looking at an Iwatsu 100Mhz 4 channel scope, (they are really 2+2 channels with the extra channels only mv and 1v per division) as a suitable replacement for my Goldstar OS-9100D scope andA and all the spares my trusty 25Mhz Rapid Electronics one. The Iwatsu 100Mhz has cursors and other shit on it to compliment my Hitachi. May even sell my HP 1740A and all the spares I have for it as well if I win that 100Mhz one.

I found a SMM for the 1604 the other day. Has a PIC as the brains in it so not totally repairable if it goes pear shape. 1906 is a better deal. They are programmable and have standard parts, CPU, RAM, EPROM, SEEPROM in them. Also the earlier 1905 also, 6502 powered!

Iwatsu made some nice kit. I'm not sure why it wasn't as popular as some of the other stuff on the market. It was slightly cheaper and did the job just as well.

[Specmaster]

I'm always surprised by those transformers stuck right in the case next to quite sensitive electronics. Apparently it's not an issue, but I wouldn't have thought so.

It's miles away from anything high impedance which is all right a the front of the unit. Tis fine.

I keep looking at the TTi 1604 but they are still expensive, and like you with the Tek 465, I like my HP A which is nice to use and also of course I have the Keithley 160 (nixie) and the only problem with that is it's only DC and 3.5 digits but so so accurate.


Right now I'm looking at an Iwatsu 100Mhz 4 channel scope, (they are really 2+2 channels with the extra channels only mv and 1v per division) as a suitable replacement for my Goldstar OS-9100D scope andA and all the spares my trusty 25Mhz Rapid Electronics one. The Iwatsu 100Mhz has cursors and other shit on it to compliment my Hitachi. May even sell my HP 1740A and all the spares I have for it as well if I win that 100Mhz one.

I found a SMM for the 1604 the other day. Has a PIC as the brains in it so not totally repairable if it goes pear shape. 1906 is a better deal. They are programmable and have standard parts, CPU, RAM, EPROM, SEEPROM in them. Also the earlier 1905 also, 6502 powered!

Iwatsu made some nice kit. I'm not sure why it wasn't as popular as some of the other stuff on the market. It was slightly cheaper and did the job just as well.

Oh, ok, thanks for that info, as it happens there is a 1906 also going at the moment but again it is more then I really wanted to pay. I love using my other Iwatsu scope, its only a 60Mhz one with those 2+2 channels but no cursors and its lovely to look at too. The only issue with it is that bent shaft on the delay timebase and the variable control for the main timebase which is only a problem if using the delay which is not often. To me it has like your 465, the look of completeness about it and functionality, its full of switches and has a nice colour to it.