Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

What's it not doing anyway? No audio or throwing errors?

[Specmaster]

What's it not doing anyway? No audio or throwing errors?

Not detecting / finding any stations whatsoever.

[Specmaster]

A heads up, Fluke have an urgent product recall on T110, T120 and T130, details here. https://www.fluke.com/en-gb/support/safety-notices/tpt-recall

[bd139]

What's it not doing anyway? No audio or throwing errors?

Not detecting / finding any stations whatsoever.

Might be RF front end related. If so, RIP

[Specmaster]

And the RF front end is located on the front of DAB module under the screening can, which was the area that was rusty as feck on the other module 

[bitseeker]

Going to put it here just in case: I have an HP8664A I scored at an auction that I can't realistically ship to the EU. Shipping to CA (boat anchor or not) would not be too terrible. I should be able to offer it pretty cheap. If anyone's up for it: shoot me a PM.

That deserves a

[bitseeker]

So for the scope collectors, it's a little boring when the scope isn't doing anything and we can't all afford one signal generator per scope.

Ergo scope bouncy ball thing:

Well, now that's a nifty thing: scope screen saver. For those with many scopes in their collection or wanting to keep all the channels busy, might need a multi-output version.

[bitseeker]

I'm back from Colorado and when I got home my pre-retirement gift to myself had been delivered! It wasn't supposed to arrive until next week.

Here it is. Rigol DM3058E 5.5 Digit Bench DMM. I'm definitely going down that rabbit hole of volt-nut.  But I've been traveling all day cross country then a 2 hour drive from the airport to home and I'm just too tired right now to even plug it in. So tomorrow. And I'll show how it stacks up against my two AD584-M references.

Congrats on your pre-retirement gift, med. Nothing like some TEA to welcome you home.

[bitseeker]

In other TEA news, I, on the spur of the moment, rescued an HP 5321A. It's missing feet and one of the four Nixies doesn't light up, but it's still got its HP badge (can't win 'em all, eh?). I'll let you know how dead it is when I get it.

[Mr. Scram]

Crap, some part of my television suddenly started making noise. When I change the backlight intensity the noise changes, so there's a fair chance something is crapping out in that part.

[xrunner]

In other TEA news, I, on the spur of the moment, rescued an HP 5321A. It's missing feet and one of the four Nixies doesn't light up, but it's still got its HP badge (can't win 'em all, eh?). I'll let you know how dead it is when I get it.

Oh boy this will be fun! 

[Brumby]

"THOOOOM!!!"  is the sound I want on my doorbell.

I've always imagined a nice healthy "BZZZZAATTTT!!!" supported by a ground rumbling subwoofer.  You know - the sort of music you get when an 11KV feeder out in the street finds a current path that was not intended.  For bonus points, I would have half a dozen scream clips that would get cycled for each button press.

Creative. I like it, especially the cycling sound library part. Maybe the better deployment would be to have a normal doorbell inside (so that you still recognize it as a doorbell) and the surround-sound-effects OUTSIDE on the porch. Especially if you use a high-current subsonic transducer bolted to the floorboards right by the door. 

While I didn't go into too many details, that is pretty much the type of solution I had envisaged.  However, after having slept on it, I came up with an extra feature for bonus points.....

I would fit a small mass driver to the panel upon which the button was mounted.  It would be tuned to 50Hz and synchronised with the main sound track.

Nothing like a bit of tactile feedback...!   

[Kosmic]

[/URL]

Congrats! And its brand new on top of it. Got a dual display I think.

[xrunner]

Here it is. Rigol DM3058E 5.5 Digit Bench DMM.

Congrats I have one too and like it. 

[mnementh]

Measured supplies to the module, spot on at 5V on pins 1 & 2 and 3.3 V on pins 17, 18 and 19. Supply to the SOT-23-5 is 3.3Vin and 1.3Vout.

Is there a quick and dirty way to test the crystal in circuit with a DMM?

That's way low on the LP2992-1.8V. Shouldn't be lower than 1.66V even under max load; normal is right around 1.82V even at "typical" loading. You got a short there? You need to isolate the output from the rest of the circuit to be sure. On of my tricks on these is to heat the output leg, then slip a scrap of Kapton tape under the leg using a razor/Xacto knife. These tiny packages are very easy to break a leg, so I try to avoid lifting it more than the thickness of a razor blade.

Creative. I like it, especially the cycling sound library part. Maybe the better deployment would be to have a normal doorbell inside (so that you still recognize it as a doorbell) and the surround-sound-effects OUTSIDE on the porch. Especially if you use a high-current subsonic transducer bolted to the floorboards right by the door. 

While I didn't go into too many details, that is pretty much the type of solution I had envisaged.  However, after having slept on it, I came up with an extra feature for bonus points.....

I would fit a small mass driver to the panel upon which the button was mounted.  It would be tuned to 50Hz and synchronised with the main sound track.

Nothing like a bit of tactile feedback...!   

Yeah... be careful. Had a neighbor got sued and ticketed for "Endangering the public safety" for a similar gag because some yo-yo bint knocking on doors for the HOA SWORE he tried to electrocute her.    He had to hire experts and defend himself and explain to a courtroom and a less-than-brilliant judge that it was a harmless vibrator, that there was ZERO electrocution potential involved.

mnem
Verticalness is highly overrated.

[Cubdriver]

In other TEA news, I, on the spur of the moment, rescued an HP 5321A. It's missing feet and one of the four Nixies doesn't light up, but it's still got its HP badge (can't win 'em all, eh?). I'll let you know how dead it is when I get it.

Sweet.  Those seem to be rather rare.  Good luck with it, and I hope the issue is driver and not Nixie tube related - those use the (also pretty rare) upside-down nixies.  Fingers crossed for you.

-Pat

[0culus]

I scored a Tek P6201 FET probe very cheap on ebay. It has it's case with only one compensating tip, a slip on spring tip, and an IC tip. I opened it up and examined the PCBs and there's no outward sign of any magic smoke escaping despite having an equipment deviation sticker, so I'm optimistic it might work (or can be made to work) once I have a power supply for these probes. I have another one on the way that is the complete kit.  and hopefully not 

[bitseeker]

In other TEA news, I, on the spur of the moment, rescued an HP 5321A. It's missing feet and one of the four Nixies doesn't light up, but it's still got its HP badge (can't win 'em all, eh?). I'll let you know how dead it is when I get it.

Sweet.  Those seem to be rather rare.  Good luck with it, and I hope the issue is driver and not Nixie tube related - those use the (also pretty rare) upside-down nixies.  Fingers crossed for you.

Yeah, I'm not quite sure why they're as rare as they are. They're not that good, technically. Perhaps not many were sold. The B model has more functionality and 5 or 6 digits (vs only 4), but originally cost twice as much as the A model. There was a 5321B that recently sold for $200. That's a bit too much moolah for a little old counter.

[Cubdriver]

Yeah, I'm not quite sure why they're as rare as they are. They're not that good, technically. Perhaps not many were sold. The B model has more functionality and 5 or 6 digits (vs only 4), but originally cost twice as much as the A model. There was a 5321B that recently sold for $200. That's a bit too much moolah for a little old counter.

Yeah, that's rather rich for one of those.     They're rare and kind of cool, but neither the rarity nor the coolness comes close to two bills worth.

-Pat

[Brumby]

Yeah... be careful. Had a neighbor got sued and ticketed for "Endangering the public safety" for a similar gag because some yo-yo bint knocking on doors for the HOA SWORE he tried to electrocute her.    He had to hire experts and defend himself and explain to a courtroom and a less-than-brilliant judge that it was a harmless vibrator, that there was ZERO electrocution potential involved.

I could say "party pooper" - but your point is well taken.

The truth of the matter is that I would likely get vetoed by SWMBO - if I were to dare suggest it.  It is much safer to share such ideas within the confines of a group who can appreciate the potential.

[med6753]

Well, this Rigol DM3058E DMM is defective right out of the box. The LCD display flashed once and then went dark. Both backlight and display. Looks like something blew in the power supply. I bought from Amazon and 3rd party seller Tequipment. Sent them an e-mail that it's defective and I want a replacement. We'll see what happens.

And then my coffemaker overflowed this morning.  Not a good day so far. 

[bd139]

Doh!

That's part of the failure bell curve unfortunately. A surprising amount of kit gives up when you first turn it on.

I remember my father bought a nice new Range Rover in the early 00's. Drove out of the garage and a turbo blew up 100 yards down the road and destroyed the engine. Total write off. 

[Wolfgang]

Well, this Rigol DM3058E DMM is defective right out of the box. The LCD display flashed once and then went dark. Both backlight and display. Looks like something blew in the power supply. I bought from Amazon and 3rd party seller Tequipment. Sent them an e-mail that it's defective and I want a replacement. We'll see what happens.

And then my coffemaker overflowed this morning.  Not a good day so far. 

... not meaning to frustrate you but I also had sobering experiences with the RIGOL DMMs in the past. First I got your DM3058E, and this one had the habit of "freezing" and not accepting any user inputs whatsoever. They then gave me a DM3068, it worked solo but kept breaking USBTMC SCPI connections at random.
After unsuccessfully trying to fix this with Rigol support I decided to pay the price for a Keysight 34465A. No issues at all so far. Its a good feeling i you can think about the integrity of your measurements, not mainly about the reliability of your measurement instruments, so I think its worth it on the long run.

[bd139]

On the subject of DMMs a £20 8010A just landed in my lap this morning. Will test it later. Too busy now

Display looks good though for once.

[med6753]

On the subject of DMMs a £20 8010A just landed in my lap this morning. Will test it later. Too busy now

Display looks good though for once.

Mine also has a good display. Maybe I can transfer it to the Rigol?