Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

Stop trying to sell me a 3d printer. I've got enough projects on the go already   

(it is happening some time this or next year. I cant put it off any longer)

Edit: BTW USPS = shit.

My VTVM probe kit has been bouncing around from 1st of April to 6th in Miami going bloody nowhere.

[Specmaster]

If in doubt, just make something. I built the ESR meter mentioned earlier with crap I had lying around. Only on breadboard now - will do a manhattan board for it later when I'm totally happy. Would benefit from a 50uA meter but I only had a 100uA on hand. Will get a few at Kempton as they are useful and there's usually a metric ton of the things. Calibrated it roughly with 1 and 10 ohm 1% MF resistors and it appears to do the trick. Running frequency is 87KHz.

Shonky 50 year old Dubilier cap which was getting hot in circuit:



Brand new 47uF panasonic electrolytic:



Total cost £0 

Original link: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/5-transistor-esr-meter-design/

Edit: I am currently creatively knackering some old electrolytic capacitors so I have something to test. I just woke the kids up with one which I pushed a bit too far

Also I am really super happy with that HP power supply. Could be my favourite bit of gear now 

Thats looking really good, a cheap and cheerful ESR from scrap parts, problem being its a one trick pony, with something my XJW01, or the DE-5000 you can measure capacitance, inductance and resistance/impedance at various frequencies. That said if you only want to measure the ESR of a suspect cap, then that should be fine because a cap can measure within its tolerance for cap value but ESR can still be miles out and cause all kinds of problems.

It's fine to replace all caps carte blanche if its an item that you intend to keep, but if it's going to be flipped soon on Ebay then it can be very useful to pinpoint the faulty cap and just replace it otherwise you may well find it hard to recoup your expenses.

Been working on the pioneer A109 amp tonight and after cleaning the PCB it blew the replacement fuse. Stripped it down and found a nuked MOSFET on the output, just ordered a couple up, mega expensive @ £2.62 for 4  

[Specmaster]

Stop trying to sell me a 3d printer. I've got enough projects on the go already   

(it is happening some time this or next year. I cant put it off any longer)

Edit: BTW USPS = shit.

My VTVM probe kit has been bouncing around from 1st of April to 6th in Miami going bloody nowhere.

Might just be a case that they have failed to update the tracking. I get that a lot with items from China, the next thing is its dropped through your letter flap.

[xrunner]

A 3D print for the group -

[mnementh]

Stop trying to sell me a 3d printer. I've got enough projects on the go already   

(it is happening some time this or next year. I cant put it off any longer)

Edit: BTW USPS = shit.

My VTVM probe kit has been bouncing around from 1st of April to 6th in Miami going bloody nowhere.

Well... you know... "When the only tool you have is a 3D Printer... EVERY problem looks like something you can fix with a 3D printed hammer. Or pliers. Or wrench. Or bracket. Or bushing. Or spacer. Or box. Or knob. Or corner piece. Or..."


Yeah; something most people don't know is that until it's actually scanned into the carrier's "line of mail", a parcel is primarily tracked by "projected progress through the system". 

If you've ever seen your parcel sitting at one location for a long time, then suddenly it's gone and several new "scans" from preceding hubs magically appear in the timeline... what happened is that the one time it was scanned during its entire journey was as it passed through a conveyor being loaded onto a truck, and the system "adjusted" its history "as projected".   

It's all about them meeting their "metrics"; like most goals in today's business world, these are figures some dingle half the country away pulled out of his arse, based more on his own wish list than ANYTHING in prior history or even any phase of reality we mere mortals dwell in.

If in doubt, just make something. I built the ESR meter mentioned earlier with crap I had lying around. Only on breadboard now - will do a manhattan board for it later when I'm totally happy. Would benefit from a 50uA meter but I only had a 100uA on hand. Will get a few at Kempton as they are useful and there's usually a metric ton of the things. Calibrated it roughly with 1 and 10 ohm 1% MF resistors and it appears to do the trick. Running frequency is 87KHz.

Shonky 50 year old Dubilier cap which was getting hot in circuit:      Brand new 47uF panasonic electrolytic:      Total cost £0     Original link: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/5-transistor-esr-meter-design/

Edit: I am currently creatively knackering some old electrolytic capacitors so I have something to test. I just woke the kids up with one which I pushed a bit too far    Also I am really super happy with that HP power supply. Could be my favourite bit of gear now 

Thats looking really good, a cheap and cheerful ESR from scrap parts, problem being its a one trick pony, with something my XJW01, or the DE-5000 you can measure capacitance, inductance and resistance/impedance at various frequencies. That said if you only want to measure the ESR of a suspect cap, then that should be fine because a cap can measure within its tolerance for cap value but ESR can still be miles out and cause all kinds of problems.

It's fine to replace all caps carte blanche if its an item that you intend to keep, but if it's going to be flipped soon on Ebay then it can be very useful to pinpoint the faulty cap and just replace it otherwise you may well find it hard to recoup your expenses.

Been working on the pioneer A109 amp tonight and after cleaning the PCB it blew the replacement fuse. Stripped it down and found a nuked MOSFET on the output, just ordered a couple up, mega expensive @ £2.62 for 4  

Don't get me wrong... I think it's awresome that you threw that together out of what have you. I did a similar project from Dick Smith's notes on Anatek.com back when I was reality-checking the "Blue" ESR Meter. When I was done I had something similar on a bit of perfboard with a 9V battery holder. In the end I decided it was worth the $70 they were asking for the kit for in-circuit testing.

A 3D print for the group -

 

mnem
*Couch-tuber time widda kiddles*

[med6753]

A 3D print for the group -

OK wise guy....do this one.   

[xrunner]

OK wise guy....do this one.   

I'll get right on that ...

 

[beanflying]

A 3D print for the group -

OK wise guy....do this one.   

Would look better as a Raster image from a Laser than 3DP 

[beanflying]

Stop trying to sell me a 3d printer. I've got enough projects on the go already   

(it is happening some time this or next year. I cant put it off any longer)

Edit: BTW USPS = shit.

My VTVM probe kit has been bouncing around from 1st of April to 6th in Miami going bloody nowhere.

Start your Fusion 360 learning now produce a few virtual items in advance decide you actually need them in the real world 

[0culus]

So I'm finding this ADF board very hard to get locked. I think the issue is in my homebrew logic level converter so I think I am going to buy one of those logic converter boards because even though I redid mine on FR4 protoboard rather than the breadboard, it's still highly unreliable.

[kj7e]

Need some opinions, I would like to pick up an Analog scope, no real need, just would like to have.  Prefer 4 channel and would like measurements, 100MHz min, no need for anything over 200.  Looking at the Tek 2247's and 2252's.  Yea or Nay or should I look at another model?

[Cubdriver]

The 2246 is another option - I've had mine for about fifteen years now and it has served me well.



-Pat

[0culus]

Need some opinions, I would like to pick up an Analog scope, no real need, just would like to have.  Prefer 4 channel and would like measurements, 100MHz min, no need for anything over 200.  Looking at the Tek 2247's and 2252's.  Yea or Nay or should I look at another model?

Been very happy with my 2465B...if you want I can point you at the guy I bought mine from on ebay. He refurbs and calibrates them, so you aren't buying a project.

[beanflying]

The illusion of organised, clean and tidy  This once in a decade photo of horizontal surfaces with no contents 

The dead spaces in the corners are getting filled with Milk crates I have 'borrowed' over time  for easy access of the contents. Bulk hardware, cables, plumbing etc.

Not shown for obvious reasons is the 'stuff' that used to inhabit that area of the shack that will be getting a sort over the next week

[med6753]

Corrugated walls? Is your shack/bench in a storage shed with no insulation? If yes, I would assume in your climate humidity is not an issue. But what about high winds from storms? Or is that a rare event too?

[beanflying]

Weather http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_090082.shtml is overall fairly mild. Winds are 'constant' rather than high or extreme and we have a large % of the states Wind Generators nearby. It does get below freezing on maybe a dozen nights a year and I have seen snow once in 15 years. We also get maybe 10 days a year of around 40C.

I am going to try and find a few clear days in the next month or so to drop the roof off and add some foil, draught strips and replace the nails with screws to keep everything a little nicer at the extremes. Without getting into the saga it is my Mum's shed but I am using it to escape while I help look after her so I am keeping money spent on the building sensible.

[bitseeker]

Got my HP 6060B load. The extra beefy binding posts survived, front and rear!



Unfortunately, the rear strap cap didn't survive. However, the hit missed everything else nearby it.



Here's what's left of the cap.



I've only given it a light test with 30W. The 1000W HP 6032A is a bit hard to get to at the moment, but it'll give the load a full workout.

[mnementh]

Need some opinions, I would like to pick up an Analog scope, no real need, just would like to have.  Prefer 4 channel and would like measurements, 100MHz min, no need for anything over 200.  Looking at the Tek 2247's and 2252's.  Yea or Nay or should I look at another model?

Been very happy with my 2465B...if you want I can point you at the guy I bought mine from on ebay. He refurbs and calibrates them, so you aren't buying a project.

If you're looking for Tek, I've communicated several times with user 2465b on eBay... He's a Tek nut and retired Tek tech; he helped me greatly when I was rebuilding my first 2465. I bought a few parts from him at reasonable prices, he didn't mind helping a guy DIY, and he was actually proactive with warnings about pitfalls and proper handling of those parts.


Guy who "makes" 2465s out of 2445s. Never mind.


Cheers,

mnem
moo.

[0culus]

Yep, thats the guy. He's fantastic. Wanting to get a 2467B from him at some point. Yes, it has a microchannel plate CRT, but if it's a good one, it performs a lot better than the standard one in some situations.

[beanflying]

The Dangers of cleaning up in Oz due to heart stoppage. Hi Hairy Legs 

This little guy now running free in the Garden where it belongs.

[med6753]

Nope. 

[VK5RC]

Nice to let the spider free, even nicer looking after a parent!
-Rob

[bitseeker]

Oh my arachnophobia!

[tggzzz]

Need some opinions, I would like to pick up an Analog scope, no real need, just would like to have.  Prefer 4 channel and would like measurements, 100MHz min, no need for anything over 200.  Looking at the Tek 2247's and 2252's.  Yea or Nay or should I look at another model?

Been very happy with my 2465B...if you want I can point you at the guy I bought mine from on ebay. He refurbs and calibrates them, so you aren't buying a project.

If you're looking for Tek, I've communicated several times with user 2465b on eBay... He's a Tek nut and retired Tek tech; he helped me greatly when I was rebuilding my first 2465. I bought a few parts from him at reasonable prices, he didn't mind helping a guy DIY, and he was actually proactive with warnings about pitfalls and proper handling of those parts.

There is a seller on fleabay who reportedly rebadges 2445s as 2465s and, IIRC, puts cal stickers over everything to prevent them being opened and checked and refunds claimed.

I have no direct experience, do not know which vendor it is, but it may be worth doing some googling, particularly on the TekScopes group.

[Brumby]

Nope. 

Oh my arachnophobia!

Sorry, I'm with Bean and VK5RC

They might look imposing, but I like them.  They eat bugs.