Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

Those reed relays are dicks. I had an open circuit one in my 8600A. Same type. Replaced it with a bog standard part bodged in with thick wire and glued upside down to the board. Filter caps and tants were shot in that one too. Also one to look out for is the pass transistors. Not sure if they use a fully discrete power supply in that (looks like it) but they lose beta after being cooked for a couple of decades so it causes the rails to sag significantly. Those Philips electrolytics are known problematic as well. Nothing but trouble.

Hopefully not the ASIC gone. If that's done, keep it for parts and see if you can find another one

Edit: at least it hasn't got that stupid bendy pcb that the 8000A has in it!

[med6753]

Those reed relays are dicks. I had an open circuit one in my 8600A. Same type. Replaced it with a bog standard part bodged in with thick wire and glued upside down to the board. Filter caps and tants were shot in that one too. Also one to look out for is the pass transistors. Not sure if they use a fully discrete power supply in that (looks like it) but they lose beta after being cooked for a couple of decades so it causes the rails to sag significantly. Those Philips electrolytics are known problematic as well. Nothing but trouble.

Hopefully not the ASIC gone. If that's done, keep it for parts and see if you can find another one

Edit: at least it hasn't got that stupid bendy pcb that the 8000A has in it!

Yep, I also have an 8600A and so far no issues with the reed relays. And it has the original tants and filter caps too. I know I should replace them but it's working fine and it's calibration is spot on. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it mentality" I guess.

Edit: Re: the 8000A bendy PCB. It sure does. And believe it or not the 8010A and 8050A have the same flimsy construction. And of all my Fluke bench DMM's the 8000A is the most finicky and drifty. It needs a good 1 to 1.5 hours to stabilize. I think it's due to the lame power supply. The +5V has absolutely no regulation. I did replace all the filter caps but it didn't really help all that much. 

[bd139]

I certainly wouldn’t fix it if it wasn’t broken. Boards are quite fragile in early fluke stuff.

[med6753]

Sometimes you win. I sent a message to seller concerning this non-functional Fluke 8800A. I paid $69.95 USD plus shipping. He's giving me a $60 USD refund. Much more than I expected. 

[bd139]

That’s pretty awesome 

Now you’ll find it’s a ten cent tantalum and you’ll be sorted

[Specmaster]

Agreed. The amount of decent scrap that came out of that era was amazing. I could get stuff I needed out of charity shops, car boot sales and jumble sales. Buying it new now from China is most economical. I have actually considered joining BVWS because of their auctions ( https://www.bvws.org.uk/ ) just to get a look in on all that again. Check the ending prices of some of the stuff on their web site. Auctions are at Harpenden as well which isn't a big trek. Lots of test gear appears in there.

Talking of shitty transistor radios, I saw this on ebay and couldn't resist: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181871312895 - going to build it, then add a BFO and see if I can bend it to top band so I can tune into the comedy bitching on 1933KHz from the "gentlemen of 1933".

Car I always wanted was the Rover SD1. This desire has only recently been replaced by Gene Hunt's Audi Quattro 

Yep, I've been thinking about joining the BVWS as well for the auctions and swap meets buts as far as I got so far thinking about it.

[beanflying]

2.45am post purchase endorphin rush kicking in ........ Sleep unlikely maybe I should look at a sniper program after all 

Wonder if counting DMM's will help 

[mnementh]

If counting doesn't work, you could just drop that anvil on your head... 


mnem
"... and four... count 'em, FOUR! Convenient carry handles for your pleasure..."

[mnementh]

Agreed. The amount of decent scrap that came out of that era was amazing. I could get stuff I needed out of charity shops, car boot sales and jumble sales. Buying it new now from China is most economical. I have actually considered joining BVWS because of their auctions ( https://www.bvws.org.uk/ ) just to get a look in on all that again. Check the ending prices of some of the stuff on their web site. Auctions are at Harpenden as well which isn't a big trek. Lots of test gear appears in there.

Talking of shitty transistor radios, I saw this on ebay and couldn't resist: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181871312895 - going to build it, then add a BFO and see if I can bend it to top band so I can tune into the comedy bitching on 1933KHz from the "gentlemen of 1933".

Car I always wanted was the Rover SD1. This desire has only recently been replaced by Gene Hunt's Audi Quattro 

Yep, I've been thinking about joining the BVWS as well for the auctions and swap meets buts as far as I got so far thinking about it.

hmmm... just checked 'em out.

Looks like they're having a big auction on the 11th; over 400 lots. If you can't find the love of your life... err, the perfect boat anchor THERE, you aren't trying. 


mnem
Woops... kids are calling. Time for Captain Underpants to the rescue...

[beanflying]

I am suspecting the 'carry handles' are cosmetic rather than working devices 

Deciding between a second 11RU server case or a 47RU for expansion 

3rd coffee is helping......

[bitseeker]

So in a moment of weakness I bought this EDC 501j off of ebay. It was listed as for parts so I took a gamble. Seems to have paid off  .

That looks familiar. Nice catch! The binary front panel enables you to go beyond the "legal" values of the regular version.

[bitseeker]

2.45am post purchase endorphin rush kicking in ........ Sleep unlikely maybe I should look at a sniper program after all 

That's a beauty!

Wonder if counting DMM's will help 

If not, surely you can count all the other equipment, too.

[xrunner]

Vintage arcade game for TEA 

I like the small yellow area between the red "Replace" ad the green "Good". Would you really go home with your tube if it landed in the yellow LOL. 

[Specmaster]

Vintage arcade game for TEA 

I like the small yellow area between the red "Replace" ad the green "Good". Would you really go home with your tube if it landed in the yellow LOL. 

Come to that would go home with your tube if was anywhere near the red?

[Specmaster]

At last all the bits have arrived on that slow boat from China and now my Heathkit V-7AU is totally battery free and can now also use the same jacks and leads for both AC and DC volts, in other words, use it as a normal analogue multimeter but with the advantage of an input impedance similar to that of a DMM but can also be used as centre zero meter for radio alignment.

The DC jack has been replaced with a dedicated 6v LED so now the case and chassis is completely floating and isolated, thus allowing the use without having to keep swapping jacks and leads. 

[beanflying]

I have a very vague memory of riding my single speed bike to the local electrical wholesalers almost 40 years ago to pick up a roll of multicore (branded) .8mm. The Dr Pat tin under it contains the spares for the uber crusty soldering iron of a few weeks back.

For a dare should I fix the HP counter LED's with them 

[bitseeker]

Crusty iron, crusty tips, and crusty solder with crusty flux core. Hmm, maybe save it for a really crusty repair.

[PartialDischarge]

Vintage arcade game for TEA 
Instadivorce version Tube tester for TEA members 

Mr Carlson would drool with that one, can even picture him 

[tggzzz]

I have a very vague memory of riding my single speed bike to the local electrical wholesalers almost 40 years ago to pick up a roll of multicore (branded) .8mm. The Dr Pat tin under it contains the spares for the uber crusty soldering iron of a few weeks back.

I still use my wirewrap wire from ~1978, albeit not for wirewrap. (Actually, I did recently create a wirewrap scope timebase calibrator from similar vintage 74LS TTL, and use it to demonstrate the necessity of a good groundplane).

I also have my working homebrew digital clock (the first most people had seen) from 1973, but that used "other" techniques.

[neo]

I have a very vague memory of riding my single speed bike to the local electrical wholesalers almost 40 years ago to pick up a roll of multicore (branded) .8mm. The Dr Pat tin under it contains the spares for the uber crusty soldering iron of a few weeks back.

I still use my wirewrap wire from ~1978, albeit not for wirewrap. (Actually, I did recently create a wirewrap scope timebase calibrator from similar vintage 74LS TTL, and use it to demonstrate the necessity of a good groundplane).

I also have my working homebrew digital clock (the first most people had seen) from 1973, but that used "other" techniques.

Building clocks is my favorite thing to do, perhaps because its what i did first.

[bd139]

I think it’s a right of passage. I too built a clock about 1989.  Was a 4000 logic based device. Probably still in my parents’ loft. Was on SRBP matrix board from Tandy and wired using wire nicked off a BT engineer while he was packing up his stripey tent.

Edit: remember I was quite poor so I learned how to use diodes to reset the counters instead of combo logic. Then I discovered that this was actually a proper way of doing things.

[neo]

Clocks to me is what pushes me ever deeper, my first was a 4000 series clock and i made it do a trick that Dave (ALL HAIL OUR OVERLORD!) even said couldn't be done.

My current one is a hundred chip version using a muxed display, it comes complete (maybe, still working) with an alarm and a radio. 

Edit: Post 1111, make a wish! (old joke/superstition)

[tautech]

I think it’s a right of passage. I too built a clock about 1989.  Was a 4000 logic based device. Probably still in my parents’ loft. Was on SRBP matrix board from Tandy and wired using wire nicked off a BT engineer while he was packing up his stripey tent.

Our line used to be soooo bad we got to know the NZ Post Office Telecom Chorus techs by their first names they were here so often. 
Never knicked anything off them, instead got chatting about their work and my interest in electronics. Crimp connectors, rolls of hookup cable, spare phones, free house phone wiring upgrades, offcuts of 15/25/50 pair underground cable all came our way for the cost of the occasional cuppa. 
The kids high-school electronics teacher though we were great guys sending in lengths of dry-core cable (not modern grease filled muck) for classroom breadboard jumpers. The old stuff was best as it was a heavier gauge. 

Those days are over.......gone VOIP with our new 5 GHz microwave link.

[tggzzz]

I think it’s a right of passage. I too built a clock about 1989.  Was a 4000 logic based device. Probably still in my parents’ loft. Was on SRBP matrix board from Tandy and wired using wire nicked off a BT engineer while he was packing up his stripey tent.

I still use hookup wire that my brother got from the installation of the new London Air Traffic Control Center in West Drayton (not Swanwick). I also had a trip to the control tower in Heathrow, including into the main control room with tinted glass; I had to be careful not to knock any switches. (Back then I also sauntered along Downing St as a shortcut).

I have some of the "last mile" underground wires recently replaced by BT. They are twisted pair enamelled wires, insulated with wrapped on wax paper, and the whole lot enclosed in lead sheath.

I've also seen mains wiring where the earth connection was a lead sheath! I've also seen some which was singly insulated, with the individual wires laid in the channels of a wooden E-section.

Edit: remember I was quite poor so I learned how to use diodes to reset the counters instead of combo logic. Then I discovered that this was actually a proper way of doing things.

I built an 8-bit counter to turn my battery powered radio off after a variable delay, because batteries were expensive. It used scavenged discrete components for the flip-flops. Since I couldn't get enough of the same value capacitors (some waxed, ugh), I had to tweak the resistors until each bit worked.

[bd139]

Still better than the cables we have here. They replaced the entire trunk to our local box recently. Was about 60 years or so old and was rotten through apparently. Got me 12mbits instead of 10mbits

Similar problems with sourcing things. Found to my detriment that the Japanese transistor radios that boasted having a certain wildly large number of transistors in them turned out to be flawed. Some of them were being used as diodes! And those were the ones that didn’t work properly as transistors! But it was too late when I worked this out because I’d desoldered about 100 of them and chucked them in a box    Cue hours of head scratching when circuits didn’t work.