Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bitseeker]

Woah, I've never seen so many guests in the TEA house before.

* hi, guests! *

[xrunner]

Woah, I've never seen so many guests in the TEA house before.

* hi, guests! *

You haven't been too active until recently bitseeker. Have you been seeking bits, and did you find many?

 

[tautech]

Woah, I've never seen so many guests in the TEA house before.

* hi, guests! *

Seen more, it's 140+ right now.

[vk6zgo]

To be fair Tesla was a con man as well. Half his stuff was lies and overpromise or based on speculation.

Actually sounds like the modern namesake 

Although Americans grant Tesla godlike status, he didn't invent polyphase electricity or Radio.
He did perfect the former, but just fiddled around with the latter.

His whinges about Marconi "using his patents" were bollocks.
 
Marconi delivered an operating communications system, just as Tesla himself delivered an operating polyphase electrical system, building on previous work by others.

If we accept his argument for other recognised inventors & their creations, the Wright brothers would have to give way to Hargraves who made model planes fly with rubber band power, or Cayley, Lillienthal, or even Da Vinci!

[Cubdriver]

Saw a Fluke 8300A this weekend. While I was negotiating a price, someone paid full price for it. Ah, well.

Anyone from here grab it? It's got nice options.

Sorry, man.  It popped up in my search this morning, I looked and saw it was well optioned and jumped on it as they’re relatively rare and usually being being sold by people who want a couple of hundred bucks for one in unknown condition.  Have the manual that I bought a few years back when I’d bought one from the bay that the seller later cancelled because it "failed test" (it had been listed as 'for parts or repair'), and when I pointed that out and said I didn’t expect it to work was then told it had already been discarded.  I was pretty pissed about that.

-Pat

[0culus]

Saw a Fluke 8300A this weekend. While I was negotiating a price, someone paid full price for it. Ah, well.

Anyone from here grab it? It's got nice options.

Sorry, man.  It popped up in my search this morning, I looked and saw it was well optioned and jumped on it as they’re relatively rare and usually being being sold by people who want a couple of hundred bucks for one in unknown condition.  Have the manual that I bought a few years back when I’d bought one from the bay that the seller later cancelled because it "failed test" (it had been listed as 'for parts or repair'), and when I pointed that out and said I didn’t expect it to work was then told it had already been discarded.  I was pretty pissed about that.

-Pat

People are weird. Why the hell would you make a sale and then scrap it?

[beanflying]

Oh this has pissed me off this has.

About 10 years ago I bought a nice Blundell Harling acrylic ruler here for general use. It eventually wore out i.e. all the markings started coming off. So I ordered a replacement a few weeks back. I stuffed it next to my new one and the markings are slightly out. Finally found my metal ruler to compare. Looks like I've been using a quite frankly incorrect ruler for the last 10 years. This might explain a few problems! 



Order top to bottom: New BH, Old BH, cheap chinese metal ruler.

Another "quality British product". Needs to be a turd emoji on this forum.

Clearly you need a Granite surface plate and some gauge blocks and ...... Dip a toe in the water it wont hurt unless you drop the Granite on it 

[Cubdriver]

Saw a Fluke 8300A this weekend. While I was negotiating a price, someone paid full price for it. Ah, well.

Anyone from here grab it? It's got nice options.

Sorry, man.  It popped up in my search this morning, I looked and saw it was well optioned and jumped on it as they’re relatively rare and usually being being sold by people who want a couple of hundred bucks for one in unknown condition.  Have the manual that I bought a few years back when I’d bought one from the bay that the seller later cancelled because it "failed test" (it had been listed as 'for parts or repair'), and when I pointed that out and said I didn’t expect it to work was then told it had already been discarded.  I was pretty pissed about that.

-Pat

People are weird. Why the hell would you make a sale and then scrap it?

IIRC, I was the only bidder and got it relatively cheap.  I suspect either they didn’t want to let it go for that little, or figured they could get more for the tubes alone and later parted it out.  The whole mess stunk as far as I was concerned.

-Pat

[vk6zgo]

Woah, I've never seen so many guests in the TEA house before.

* hi, guests! *

I was several of those "guests!"

Lately, I go on the site, only to be told I am a "guest", so I log in, & browse the threads, & suddenly I am a "guest" again!
I blamed the iPad, but I'm coming round to thinking it is a website problem.

I wrote this answer earlier, but was made a " guest" before I could post it, so lost it when I had to log back in!

[cyclin_al]

This is America, everything is bigger over there. Houses too. 

I could be living in a Tesla Gigafactory and still only get permission for the smallest of rooms

McBryce.

After seeing a few more postings, I just had to backtrack and respond to this one.
Clearly, the only solution is to make the smallest of rooms only marginally smaller than the largest her room...

Maybe that is why everything is bigger?    Start with the lab size you need, then make all the other rooms bigger .... 

EDIT:  I should have read a few more postings pages of postings....  it took longer than I thought, but you all still beat me to it 

[cyclin_al]

*currently somehow home alone without wife or chiddlers*

Same thing here today.  Ooops, I was at the home of wife's mother    Not my own house (which has its own problems) 

At least I got to play with my 8060A  ... fixed a bunch (but not all) of wiring issues.
Had been worked on previously by a gorilla (wife's brother).
Some of the problems pre-date the gorilla work... 

Did not fix what I was asked to fix.
Need to go back again with simple switches and light fixtures.
The plan will be to rip out all the fancy crap, and start over following the KISS principle.

Zucca, one thing to never ever assume in North America that only one breaker feeds power to a device box.... 
Electrical code clearly says this is NOT allowed.
Almost every house where I have looked closely at the electrical violates this.
Including today.
Including my own house (SWMBO will not allow ripping apart the whole house to fix it...  warning notes will have to suffice for now)

[bitseeker]

Woah, I've never seen so many guests in the TEA house before.

* hi, guests! *

Seen more, it's 140+ right now.

I see that. 180 now. Well, I guess I haven't looked at it since the days it was "only" in the two-digit range. Don't mind me. Just re-acclimating to the nuttiness.

[cyclin_al]

So to support me in this I will pick up a windsurf board on the week end, along with a rather large sail (9.6 sqm) to get back on the water.

Very Nice !!! 

That is a rather large sail! 

The sail that I use most frequently is a 6.0 sqm from Pryde.  Good for most boards in most conditions.

Next commonly used one is 5.0 sqm from Pryde that I picked up used and came with the number "KC 2" ... the previous owner was obviously a much better sailor than I ever will be.  Good on the really windy days.

Very rarely do I use a 8.1 sqm from North Sails that I picked up used cheaply.  Only good on the long course board when there is almost no wind. I would never have bought such a large high-performance sail at a normal price.

[cyclin_al]

This is America, everything is bigger over there. Houses too. 

I could be living in a Tesla Gigafactory and still only get permission for the smallest of rooms

McBryce.

This is America, everything is bigger over there. Houses too. 

Yep, judging by the YT videos of house fires over there, so are their fires, by the time the fire dept arrive at the scene, the fire is already massive because most houses are timber, and then once they arrive and manage to get the water going, they fluff about so much that the house is normally a goner anyway 

but but but .... timber burns slow compared to the vinyl siding, vinyl window frames, polystyrene insulation, plastic fibre carpets and laminate flooring ....

Either way, it is burn baby burn, there is no going back....

[bitseeker]

Woah, I've never seen so many guests in the TEA house before.

* hi, guests! *

You haven't been too active until recently bitseeker. Have you been seeking bits, and did you find many?

 

Haha, yeah I've been seeking bits for "da man". Not many bits for myself. However, I did snag

1. a used Siglent SSA3021X (not Plus)

2. a used Fluke 23 Series II

both in like-new condition. The DMM included all the original docs, holster, and leads as well as its screen protector. Apparently, it wasn't used much, which also meant no battery schmoo inside.

[beanflying]

So to support me in this I will pick up a windsurf board on the week end, along with a rather large sail (9.6 sqm) to get back on the water.

Very Nice !!! 

That is a rather large sail! 

The sail that I use most frequently is a 6.0 sqm from Pryde.  Good for most boards in most conditions.

Next commonly used one is 5.0 sqm from Pryde that I picked up used and came with the number "KC 2" ... the previous owner was obviously a much better sailor than I ever will be.  Good on the really windy days.

Very rarely do I use a 8.1 sqm from North Sails that I picked up used cheaply.  Only good on the long course board when there is almost no wind. I would never have bought such a large high-performance sail at a normal price.

Boring get into Kitesurfing  No need to wait for it to really blow for the fun to begin just go up in kite size. I still have a 21sqm Kite kicking around but these days with the more modern designs 15 and down is all that's needed.

Locally most of the diehard old school windsurfers have seen the light enabled in part by me in an earlier mid life crisis

[bitseeker]

Saw a Fluke 8300A this weekend. While I was negotiating a price, someone paid full price for it. Ah, well.

Anyone from here grab it? It's got nice options.

Sorry, man.  It popped up in my search this morning, I looked and saw it was well optioned and jumped on it as they’re relatively rare and usually being being sold by people who want a couple of hundred bucks for one in unknown condition.  Have the manual that I bought a few years back when I’d bought one from the bay that the seller later cancelled because it "failed test" (it had been listed as 'for parts or repair'), and when I pointed that out and said I didn’t expect it to work was then told it had already been discarded.  I was pretty pissed about that.

-Pat

Hey, no problem. I'm happy you got it and not some dismantler, especially since it had all the requisite options. Of course, I look forward to learning more about it when you receive it. I'm especially curious if the round feet are original. It doesn't have a tilting bail, like many I've seen, but I'm not sure if that's original either. Since it has an IEC power socket, it seems to be a later version.

At least I can enjoy it vicariously here.

[Cymaphore]

Has anybody got any experience of Molex "Nano-Fit" connectors? They're the baby 2.5 mm pitch version of the classic Molex "Mini-Fit" that we all know as a PC motherboard power connector. (The ranges go: Mini, Mini Jr, Micro and Nano.)

I'm thinking of using them as the power and ancillary connectors for the GPSDO PCB - a step up from crappy 0.1" DuPont style (and more compact) and tougher than JST-whatevers. Anybody got anything good, or bad, to say about them?

I have. We used it on an extension board for one of our small control devices, see attachment.

It's shitty. Crimp is delicate, locking mechanism weakish and unlocking the pins tends to damage the holding spring.

If you have a choice, go for something else.

[cyclin_al]

Two words and a two word phrase come to mind: "Teenagers", "Stomach" and "Bottomless pit".

I'll pass ...

I've got three of them. Do you want a couple? Free of charge!

Fried or boiled?

Judging by the smell in here, mostly pickled.

You can take care of the smell with a swimming pool and keeping the chlorine level a bit on the high side.
I guess that would make them ...... marinated 

[Cubdriver]

Saw a Fluke 8300A this weekend. While I was negotiating a price, someone paid full price for it. Ah, well.

Anyone from here grab it? It's got nice options.

Sorry, man.  It popped up in my search this morning, I looked and saw it was well optioned and jumped on it as they’re relatively rare and usually being being sold by people who want a couple of hundred bucks for one in unknown condition.  Have the manual that I bought a few years back when I’d bought one from the bay that the seller later cancelled because it "failed test" (it had been listed as 'for parts or repair'), and when I pointed that out and said I didn’t expect it to work was then told it had already been discarded.  I was pretty pissed about that.

-Pat

Hey, no problem. I'm happy you got it and not some dismantler, especially since it had all the requisite options. Of course, I look forward to learning more about it when you receive it. I'm especially curious if the round feet are original. It doesn't have a tilting bail, like many I've seen, but I'm not sure if that's original either. Since it has an IEC power socket, it seems to be a later version.

At least I can enjoy it vicariously here.

I’ll be sure to post pics of it.  The guy’s a quick shipper - FedEx has it in Kennesaw, GA already.  I’m not up on Fluke feet, but I guess will learn in a few days.

-Pat

[mansaxel]

Until you check them all agin' yer cheap Chinese digital calipers, you'll never know which is right... 

I had to dig out -- while on vacation, so selection is limited -- my rulers / measuring tape / not-cheap not-chinese calipers and compare them.

A Bundeswehr surplus steel ruler, a "Co-Tech" China steel ruler, the 6" ruler from a iFixit "Professional Toolkit", a vintage "Mako by Stålex" steel caliper, analog, a Hultafors measuring tape (EU Class II, so cheap) and a Hultafors EU Class III folding wooden meterstick were extracted from the toolcase.

The steel rulers and the caliper agree that the iFixit one is crap. I estimate it to be off by 0,4-0,6mm over 150mm. The others are impossible to gauge any diff by eye, so are deemed to be in agreement.  The measuring tape and the folding stick are off a bit less than the iFixit one, with the tape holding a slight edge to the stick. The stick, across one joint, is off by a guesstimated 0,3mm over 300mm against one of the good steel rulers. It being EU class III this is within the specifications. Not bad for a piecetwo pieces of wood. The tape is a advertising one, so not the full professional quality, only quite good. Tape is made in the UK! 

Conclusions?

No surprises. Steel rulers often are the best alternative if you can't measure with a caliper. I do not carry any plastic ones in my kit so can't compare with them. Tapes come in various qualities -- I've got a "Talmeter" at home, which is not a marketing product, so will try to remember checking it too. Somewhere I've got a Pentair / Schroff HE/TE steel tape, and also a Knürr one.

The iFixit one being crap is not surprising either.

Tape and stick are for carpenters. Their desired precision "decade" is "one floor, one foot, one inch" so a basic error of 0,1% is not a problem for them. 

Measurement -- it's a rabbit hole lined with broken hopes, products and assumptions in so many ways.

[beanflying]

These recent few additions to the marking out kit are surprisingly accurate. I ran the calipers over them and tested against some blocks  The bit where they fail slightly in in the 90 degree guide bit but check it against a known square if you need to. I am considering taking the long one off the edge guide and just using it as a ruler and using a square against it if needed.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000338734447.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.19574c4dWOUKXs

[tautech]

Woah, I've never seen so many guests in the TEA house before.

* hi, guests! *

You haven't been too active until recently bitseeker. Have you been seeking bits, and did you find many?

 

Haha, yeah I've been seeking bits for "da man". Not many bits for myself. However, I did snag

1. a used Siglent SSA3021X (not Plus)


2. ............

Nice....I can see it becoming a SSA3032X with all options enabled. 

Sold mine a few months back after waiting for the right buyer to come along and he seems over the moon with it and already it's appeared on his YT channel.

[mansaxel]

If they are of Molex heritage they are probably flame emitting at some point in the future.

I’m going full on and just wiring everything with D-subs or SMA or BNC externally and anything else internally is soldered into cup pins and laced. I managed to score a bag of 500 pins a few years back for a fiver on eBay so I should probably use them . D-subs are keyed, reliable and good for half an amp per pin.

I have a large scary project on the go which will utilise this throughout.

When I did my balancing amp, I put all connections on a D-sub 25-pin, for exactly that reason. I kept the quasi-standard "Tascam" 8 balanced channels config, but put the power supply (+/- 15V) on the two last channels, shorting hot and cold on the module and on the receptacle.



The only problems with D-sub is  that they tend to work less well on perfboard ;-)

[tautech]

Woah, I've never seen so many guests in the TEA house before.

* hi, guests! *

Seen more, it's 140+ right now.

I see that. 180 now. Well, I guess I haven't looked at it since the days it was "only" in the two-digit range. Don't mind me. Just re-acclimating to the nuttiness.

Look again....236 a minute ago.