Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

Good lord... I've given away more than that; first when I went down the "Tiny Whoop" rabbit hole, then again when I crawled out and found everything I had saved was 3 generations out of date. Pretty much all I kept last go around was some unbuilt "antiques" and some custom frames made by friends in the biz. And I STILL have more than that left...         

Thankfully, I never got into the worst of the miniature quad addiction. When the largest room in your apartment is no larger than 20 m², even the smallest craft spend more time on the floor than they do in the air. As Stockholm is coastal and has permanent winds, flying anything without any weight outside is merely a good way to dispose of it!

I love the design ethic of that thing... "Fuck making a custom box for our dual supply; we'll just glue two single supplies together. We'd have to pay somebody to design something we already designed, then pay somebody to make it, then horror of horrors, we'd have to keep paying people to warehouse and track a part the size of two whole PSUs in inventory. Awww, HELL no!"   

Yeah, I love the way that the "Quad Mode" switch unit in the middle doesn't align with the rest of the unit. It sticks out a bit, for no good reason, the black bar doesn't line up with the black bar on the supplies and it contains almost nothing which hardly justifies the width it takes up. Using the decimals on the current meters to indicate set, measure and limit is equally off the wall.

The entire supply has "idiosyncratic" stamped all over it, but to my eye, that's good reason to like it!

Yeah... I have a few "Doc Brown" looking bits of gear... particularly power supplies... that just keep working.

But that "decimals" thing... I'd HAVE to customize that bitch and pronto; I have the attention span of a ferret on crack and would for sure not notice I have the wrong mode set... "TZZZZZZT!"

As for the quadcopter addiction... I have more in bins than would fit in that space.     That said... good luck with keeping it that small. 

mnem

[0culus]

Man I TEAd so hard this morning...found a really nice packaged deal on an HP 5335A universal counter (with ALL options, including the high precision oven timebase!) and a 5350B microwave counter for $500 or so for the both. Both clean and calibrated too. I've decided that I want to focus on microwave for my ham activities, so this is a great find for me.

[URI]

Hey, 0culus,

nice catch!

Will you do a teardown with pictures here?      

[Kosmic]

Man I TEAd so hard this morning...found a really nice packaged deal on an HP 5335A universal counter (with ALL options, including the high precision oven timebase!) and a 5350B microwave counter for $500 or so for the both. Both clean and calibrated too. I've decided that I want to focus on microwave for my ham activities, so this is a great find for me.

Also got a HP 5350B. It's really a nice instrument.

[Mr. Scram]

I found it on ebay.com and bought it right away eight ours after being listed. 
Yes the keys are standard rubber keys. But since everyone uses them since the '90s even for Test Equipment costing 10s of k$ they can't be too bad, can they?
In fact, even the classic HP keys do get defective/inoperable..     
Personally I like cherry keys but I haven't found those in Test Equipment yet.   


Mentioning the high prices of HP 53132A's the PM6690's are even worse in that field. Yes, in fact they are a class up the HP 53132A, but I would only go for a Jammy Git awarding price. 

What's with the universal counters being so stupidly expensive? What are people doing that makes them so desirable?

[bd139]

It's a good question. I suppose it's much like the 6.5 digit DMM really. It's a primary reference of some kind in this case time or frequency.

Or in the case of the Rigol, jitter 

[Mr. Scram]

It's a good question. I suppose it's much like the 6.5 digit DMM really. It's a primary reference of some kind in this case time or frequency.

Or in the case of the Rigol, jitter 

A good 6,5 digit DMM is actually a whole lot cheaper than these frequency counters. If you push it you may even buy two or a 7,5 digit one for that kind of money.

[bd139]

That's a good point. Counters have a lot more digits. Wonder if there's a correlation.

cost = ndigits!

[0culus]

Hey, 0culus,

nice catch!

Will you do a teardown with pictures here?      

Maybe! It will have to be in December though due to other obligations.

Man I TEAd so hard this morning...found a really nice packaged deal on an HP 5335A universal counter (with ALL options, including the high precision oven timebase!) and a 5350B microwave counter for $500 or so for the both. Both clean and calibrated too. I've decided that I want to focus on microwave for my ham activities, so this is a great find for me.

Also got a HP 5350B. It's really a nice instrument.

Very good! Looking forward to getting mine!

[bitseeker]

TEA again.
Just bought my second Fluke PM6681 universal timer (read here). I don't really have the space for it. 
But for the overall price I really couldn't stand it.

Ah, so you got that one. I saw that there was one other watcher and I had asked the seller what he did to "refurbish" it as well as photos of the rest of the unit. After he replied, you bought it.

I'm very curious about its true condition, when you get it.

[mnementh]

In other news...



Committed a little retail therapy at HobbyKing last week; it arrived today. I had a Revolt build half-finished from before I went down the rabbit-hole, and they have the V2 on sale for $27. Added the rest to fill some holes in my wiring cabinet and get just over $50 for free shipping from the US warehouse. That's 2 oz CA accelerant & Gel CA, enough epoxy to build a real boat, and 50m of 3mm copper foil for random repair work among other stuff.

*Sigh* Now to start on the Helio build... or should I just jump straight to the Strix "F10"... 

mnem
Too... much... junk... *CRAAAASSHH!!!* *~help me...~_*

[bitseeker]

Still expensive. I will quite happily pay £350 for one with bumpers that is working and shipped from UK via respectable courier. None have appeared with that characteristic yet.

Even the beat up 34401As seem to be pricy, indeed. Though I tend to gravitate towards good cosmetic condition gear. I'd rather ruin it myself!

Makes me wish I had bought a bunch of them a few years ago when nice ones could be had for $200 with some patience. Ah, well.

[mnementh]

I have not words to express my pleasure right now...   



mnem
*Stack... bin... stack... bin... stack... bin...*

[0culus]

mnem you have a lot of toys there...what's the project (sorry if I missed it above..  )? 

[tautech]

mnem you have a lot of toys there...what's the project (sorry if I missed it above..  )? 

The Dwagon wants to fly !

[bitseeker]

Man I TEAd so hard this morning...found a really nice packaged deal on an HP 5335A universal counter (with ALL options, including the high precision oven timebase!) and a 5350B microwave counter for $500 or so for the both. Both clean and calibrated too. I've decided that I want to focus on microwave for my ham activities, so this is a great find for me.

Wow, nice catch, indeed! Congrats, 0culus.

[med6753]

Delivery tomorrow. It's at my local UPS Office.

[bitseeker]

Mentioning the high prices of HP 53132A's the PM6690's are even worse in that field. Yes, in fact they are a class up the HP 53132A, but I would only go for a Jammy Git awarding price. 

What's with the universal counters being so stupidly expensive? What are people doing that makes them so desirable?

I don't know. A couple years ago, they weren't so expensive and especially the 53181A were going for pretty cheap. The market...she's finicky.

[mnementh]

mnem you have a lot of toys there...what's the project (sorry if I missed it above..  )? 

The Dwagon wants to fly !

LOLOL...  Yeah, sortof. Getting back into my previous addiction.

Not sure I'm ready yet... but at least getting started at pulling the puzzle pieces together. I have a couple nanos that never got built... and I started a Bulldawg (Custom frame by a friend of mine) RaceFlight build I need to finish just for the sake of my own OCD nature. I may go straight to ButterFlight on that one tho...

mnem
No, the irony is not lost on me. };=)~~~~<

[0culus]

Oh fun! Now you need to make one big enough to ride and you'll have a hoverbike! 

[mnementh]

Oh fun! Now you need to make one big enough to ride and you'll have a hoverbike! 

Thanks, no... my name is not Colin Furze.  I'll gladly let that nutcase take it one toke over the line in the name of bombast and testosterone so I don't have to.

mnem
"When Liverpool filled up, all the nuts rolled downhill to Stamford." ~ Random FB conversation

[URI]

TEA again.
Just bought my second Fluke PM6681 universal timer (read here). I don't really have the space for it. 
But for the overall price I really couldn't stand it.

Ah, so you got that one. I saw that there was one other watcher and I had asked the seller what he did to "refurbish" it as well as photos of the rest of the unit. After he replied, you bought it.

I'm very curious about its true condition, when you get it.

Errm. Yes. 

Didn't take that route asking questions -because I've also been there: Asked a seller details about the item and before he answered it was sold.
In this case (I was looking for one since almost two years) -meaning: at that price*- I knew I had to act real quick. 

Just checked the feedback profile, saw that the seller had good feedback also for Test gear >$1k and only one marginal bad feedback and jumped right in.

It's a bit of a risk I admit. I'm also curious.   
I'll let you know if it's  or  -be sure.   

*-Shipping was also reasonable low for shipping over the pond.

[Specmaster]

TEA again.
Just bought my second Fluke PM6681 universal timer (read here). I don't really have the space for it. 
But for the overall price I really couldn't stand it.

Ah, so you got that one. I saw that there was one other watcher and I had asked the seller what he did to "refurbish" it as well as photos of the rest of the unit. After he replied, you bought it.

I'm very curious about its true condition, when you get it.

Errm. Yes. 

Didn't take that route asking questions -because I've also been there: Asked a seller details about the item and before he answered it was sold.
In this case (I was looking for one since almost two years) -meaning: at that price*- I knew I had to act real quick. 

Just checked the feedback profile, saw that the seller had good feedback also for Test gear >$1k and only one marginal bad feedback and jumped right in.

It's a bit of a risk I admit. I'm also curious.   
I'll let you know if it's  or  -be sure.   

*-Shipping was also reasonable low for shipping over the pond.

Yes but if it was sold before they answered, you might just have dodged a bullet there.

[CJay]

Talking of Chinese stuff, look what Mr Postman brought today from Banggood. Much woot:

Damn you, I've been trying to resist the lure of the drone but winter beckons and a project for the dark evenings will be needed.

Any particular frame or is it obvious on BG?

[bd139]

Hahaha sorry

https://www.banggood.com/HSKRC-TWE210-210mm-Wheelbase-4mm-Arm-3K-Carbon-Fiber-X-Type-FPV-Racing-Frame-Kit-for-RC-Drone-p-1283150.html?rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=UK

Shipping from UK at moment as well for £15.

Excellent bit of kit actually.

Edit: blame mnementh for this one

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