Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

They're not far off shovelling coal into the back of them to be honest. 1950's tech really.

NOTHING good came out of the 1950's technology-wise...

[med6753]

F**k the electricity bill as well 

Was looking at a Tek 547 the other day. Then I found it pulled 500W out of the wall. Hot enough in here already!

They certainly don't make them like they used eh! 

Thank go for that, could hardly claim they were environmentally friendly 

F**k the neighbors 
F**k the heat 
F**k "eco friendly"   

I want one! 

[med6753]

They're not far off shovelling coal into the back of them to be honest. 1950's tech really.

NOTHING good came out of the 1950's technology-wise...

Wut?

[Specmaster]

F**k the electricity bill as well 

Was looking at a Tek 547 the other day. Then I found it pulled 500W out of the wall. Hot enough in here already!

They certainly don't make them like they used eh! 

Thank go for that, could hardly claim they were environmentally friendly 

F**k the neighbors 
F**k the heat 
F**k "eco friendly"   

I want one! 

Boy you are f**king popular 

[med6753]

As popular as sunshine.......

[Specmaster]

As popular as sunshine.......

Theres only 1 reply to that 

[med6753]

I got an ex that I'm sure feels that way. 

[VK5RC]

I got bad news, I think my 545 draws a bit more than 500W - definitely a piece of 'winter' test equipment - also keeps moisture out of the HV. 

[PA0PBZ]

I got bad news, I think my 545 draws a bit more than 500W - definitely a piece of 'winter' test equipment - also keeps moisture out of the HV. 

Well, don't think but measure, why else do you have all this equipment for? 

[VK5RC]

Challenge accepted, can you pay for my physio bills, I had to carry the 545 out to the "shack" and back! HiHi

For this sort of measurement - I used my Keysight AC power supply, AC 6802A
588W
Results below

[PA0PBZ]

Nice, so your guess was correct 
I also did my 'homework' and noticed that there is a 6A fuse in the primary…

[bd139]

That thing has its own ozone hole

Multimeter problem solved. Ordered a Brymen BM867S from Telonic for a respectable amount less than I would have paid for an 87V. Lets hope it doesn't suck

[Specmaster]

That thing has its own ozone hole

Multimeter problem solved. Ordered a Brymen BM867S from Telonic for a respectable amount less than I would have paid for an 87V. Lets hope it doesn't suck

That's a good meter, Dave likes Brymen. [emoji106]

[bd139]

Fingers crossed!

[VK5RC]

I recall thinking the power consumption wasn't that bad for the number of tubes . some lovely glowing pics
In reality it's not very useful - a new/good DSO any day for real work, but it is a beauty in some ways.

My 545 was a bit of a 'barnyard' special - but fortunately a dry one. My post showing the restoration is

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/restoration-repair-of-tektronix-545/ 

[bd139]

Most of what I restore isn't very useful but it's almost always a rewarding experience. Nice job with that restoration - always worth it

[Specmaster]

I recently purchased something, restored and this weekend sold it for a handsome profit which was destined for reinvestment in more TEA goodness until SWMBO said, iron not working, bastard boiler element is FUBAR and now all of my profit and a lot more has swallowed up by the purchase of another effing iron, bastard limescale 

[bd139]

We have a no ironing rule in our house. The last time the iron got used was toner transfer for PCBs. The ironing board is mouldy and lives in the shed. If you want something ironed, put it on your body early and lie on it for a bit. Therefore this is not a problem. I also own no shirts or suits. Last time I did a business meeting it was wearing a deadpool t shirt from Tesco, shorts and some walking boots.

This is the path of no iron related expenses.

[mnementh]

That thing has its own ozone hole

Multimeter problem solved. Ordered a Brymen BM867S from Telonic for a respectable amount less than I would have paid for an 87V. Lets hope it doesn't suck

That's a good meter, Dave likes Brymen. [emoji106]

Hmmm... I'm not sure Brymen is what I consider to be a name brand... but Greenlee does rebrand them for sale over here. Looks like the main difference between it and the BM869S is the latter has 20A peak vs 15A  for the *67, and the *69 can monitor two temps at once. That's for ~US$70 more.

But of all the colors in the world to make their case from, they had to pick the same shade as the Horror Fraught Little Red Box of Damifino? SERIOUSLY? It makes me cringe just looking at it, and I have the same reaction to my AN8008... no matter how good a meter everybody says it is, my hand wavers every time I reach for it...   

I suppose I could pay the extra dosh for Greenlee green... 

Here's an article with lots of pics of the insides, and here's the calibration manual.


mnem
*Back to the JENGA*

[bd139]

It’s not a premium brand for sure but it has traceable CAT ratings, good basic accuracy, reasonable design (I actually looked at that set of pictures) and is made with intent of being a good meter rather than to reach a price point. I’ve got a mid range Keysight U1241C which is the “first grab” meter. I expect it to be worse than that.

Red I agree. But what have you got left? Fluke took yellow, Keysight took orange and all the other colours suck

Thanks for the cal manual.

Edit: I did actually buy an AN8008 but some enterprising individual in China nicked it before it even got on the aeroplane.

BTW my last non second hand refurb/fix fluke DMM was a 77 which I owned from 1990 to 2002 I think it was.  It was a going to university present from my father. Genuinely wish I hadn’t sold that. But I had to eat

[Specmaster]

We have a no ironing rule in our house. The last time the iron got used was toner transfer for PCBs. The ironing board is mouldy and lives in the shed. If you want something ironed, put it on your body early and lie on it for a bit. Therefore this is not a problem. I also own no shirts or suits. Last time I did a business meeting it was wearing a deadpool t shirt from Tesco, shorts and some walking boots.

This is the path of no iron related expenses.

That method would certainly suit me for the best part, I firmly believe that SWMBO irons way too much stuff, even things that are going to screwed up as soon you touch them anyway. But that said, she has to look really smart for her job in the courtroom so I had to move pretty sharply and arrange a replacement iron for her for that aspect at least. 

[mnementh]

It’s not a premium brand for sure but it has traceable CAT ratings, good basic accuracy, reasonable design (I actually looked at that set of pictures) and is made with intent of being a good meter rather than to reach a price point. I’ve got a mid range Keysight U1241C which is the “first grab” meter. I expect it to be worse than that.

Red I agree. But what have you got left? Fluke took yellow, Keysight took orange and all the other colours suck

Thanks for the cal manual.

Edit: I did actually buy an AN8008 but some enterprising individual in China nicked it before it even got on the aeroplane.

BTW my last non second hand refurb/fix fluke DMM was a 77 which I owned from 1990 to 2002 I think it was.  It was a going to university present from my father. Genuinely wish I hadn’t sold that. But I had to eat

I had a 0th generation 87 as my go-to meter from my stint with Philips Lighting; they had them in the factory before you could buy them. It had a hand-written serial number and cal certification from Fluke inside on the mainboard. I kept it as part of my "severance" package along with some power supplies, a "Annie" cap analyzer, numerous bits of lab gear and several drawer units full of ECG components when they closed down 3 buildings and moved my entire division overseas like days after NAFTA was signed. Somebody else (probably management) beat me to the scopes and waveform generators.

It was stolen during a move in 2015, so right around 30 years I had that 87; it was definitely "an old friend". I still have a couple spare connector blocks and zebra strips for it in one of my bins (3 units were cheaper than two; you know how it is sometimes), just in case I do get a meter they'll fit.

If you ever see an 87 with no serial number branded into the case and a royal blue backlight, you probably found mine.


mnem
*Currently nuking an iPod Nano*

[Specmaster]

It’s not a premium brand for sure but it has traceable CAT ratings, good basic accuracy, reasonable design (I actually looked at that set of pictures) and is made with intent of being a good meter rather than to reach a price point. I’ve got a mid range Keysight U1241C which is the “first grab” meter. I expect it to be worse than that.

Red I agree. But what have you got left? Fluke took yellow, Keysight took orange and all the other colours suck

Thanks for the cal manual.

Edit: I did actually buy an AN8008 but some enterprising individual in China nicked it before it even got on the aeroplane.

BTW my last non second hand refurb/fix fluke DMM was a 77 which I owned from 1990 to 2002 I think it was.  It was a going to university present from my father. Genuinely wish I hadn’t sold that. But I had to eat

I had a 0th generation 87 as my go-to meter from my stint with Philips Lighting; they had them in the factory before you could buy them. It had a hand-written serial number and cal certification from Fluke inside on the mainboard. I kept it as part of my "severance" package along with some power supplies, a "Annie" cap analyzer, numerous bits of lab gear and several drawer units full of ECG components when they closed down 3 buildings and moved my entire division overseas like days after NAFTA was signed. Somebody else (probably management) beat me to the scopes and waveform generators.

It was stolen during a move in 2015, so right around 30 years I had that 87; it was definitely "an old friend". I still have a couple spare connector blocks and zebra strips for it in one of my bins (3 units were cheaper than two; you know how it is sometimes), just in case I do get a meter they'll fit.

If you ever see an 87 with a royal blue backlight, you might have found mine.


mnem
*Currently nuking an iPod Nano*

Nice, I once had a VW Passat with lovely blue instrument lights while most other cars had white lighting. I found the blue lighting very restful when compared to white.

[mnementh]

Yeah; I modded it when I fixed the ghosty LCD issue they all eventually developed. Paid like $8 for two square "ultra-bright" blue LEDs ordered via catalog at Radidio Shack.


mnem
Not my circus, not my monkeys.

[khs]

F**k the electricity bill as well 

Was looking at a Tek 547 the other day. Then I found it pulled 500W out of the wall. Hot enough in here already!

But excellent for Winter heat. 

No, 500W are not enough to heat a room. 

Long time ago I used a Tek 555. An excellent scope with a W plug in (something like the 7A13).
With this 1KW electrical heater in my basement lab it was never too cold and never too warm...