Author Topic: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread  (Read 14562883 times)

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Offline Mr. Scram

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34775 on: July 15, 2019, 12:33:49 am »
Awwwwww yeah....some quality RPN goodness incoming.  :-+


That's an odd misspelling of "boobs".
 

Offline mindcrime

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34776 on: July 15, 2019, 12:41:49 am »
I'm feeling a burn for a 16 channel logic analyzer.  But at least I don't have the shakes yet.

Only 16?? nope, you need 136 just in case,  and not one of those thin usb logic analyzers. You NEED something professional like this, and its cheap too:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Agilent-H-P-1660A-Logic-Analyzer-/250511425354

My first "found something on EBay and couldn't resist ordering it" was just a couple of days ago (yeah, I'm new here)... and guess what it was?  An HP 1660A! I figure you can never have too many channels for logic analysis...  ;D
 

Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34777 on: July 15, 2019, 12:45:17 am »
Back on the projects. A few weeks ago I cleaned and painted the exterior of the Heath S-3 Electronic Switch. Have now started on the interior. Cleaned up the chassis and reinstalled the tubes. Deoxit'ed the switch and pots. All the capacitors on the top side have been replaced. Tomorrow will start on the underside. Several more capacitors plus a few carbon resistors that high gone high. The B+ filter can will remain in place but electrically disconnected and isolated. New filter capacitors installed on a terminal strip. Then will be the smoke test.     



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Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34778 on: July 15, 2019, 01:02:13 am »
I'm feeling a burn for a 16 channel logic analyzer.  But at least I don't have the shakes yet.

Only 16?? nope, you need 136 just in case,  and not one of those thin usb logic analyzers. You NEED something professional like this, and its cheap too:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Agilent-H-P-1660A-Logic-Analyzer-/250511425354

My first "found something on EBay and couldn't resist ordering it" was just a couple of days ago (yeah, I'm new here)... and guess what it was?  An HP 1660A! I figure you can never have too many channels for logic analysis...  ;D

Welcome to our crazed group of test equipment fanatics.  :-+ What is your test equipment obsession? Sounds like it's got "HP" in it.  :-DD You'll fit right in.  Mine is "Tektronix". Have so many here that I'm starting to lose track. And I swear they are multiplying by themselves.  :scared: Secondary is volt-nut. I have more DMM's than any reasonable person needs but compared to some others my stash is rather small.
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Offline 0culus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34779 on: July 15, 2019, 01:08:30 am »
Awwwwww yeah....some quality RPN goodness incoming.  :-+


That's an odd misspelling of "boobs".

 :-DD

And it's arguably easier to do on a hexadecimal calculator...missed opportunities...
 

Offline mindcrime

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34780 on: July 15, 2019, 01:59:51 am »
I'm feeling a burn for a 16 channel logic analyzer.  But at least I don't have the shakes yet.

Only 16?? nope, you need 136 just in case,  and not one of those thin usb logic analyzers. You NEED something professional like this, and its cheap too:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Agilent-H-P-1660A-Logic-Analyzer-/250511425354

My first "found something on EBay and couldn't resist ordering it" was just a couple of days ago (yeah, I'm new here)... and guess what it was?  An HP 1660A! I figure you can never have too many channels for logic analysis...  ;D

Welcome to our crazed group of test equipment fanatics.  :-+ What is your test equipment obsession? Sounds like it's got "HP" in it.  :-DD You'll fit right in.  Mine is "Tektronix". Have so many here that I'm starting to lose track. And I swear they are multiplying by themselves.  :scared: Secondary is volt-nut. I have more DMM's than any reasonable person needs but compared to some others my stash is rather small.

Well... in terms of "purchased new" stuff, I'm all in on Rigol. I have a DP832A power supply, a  DS1104Z Plus oscilloscope, a DG4162 waveform generator, a DM3068 bench multimeter, and a DS1102E scope (my first scope, bought a couple of years ago).  And I think I'll buy a DL3021A programmable load before the end of the year. 

In terms of used stuff? I dunno... I don't have a particular brand or anything that I'm locked in on. I bought the HP logic analyzer because it was fairly cheap and HP is, as far as I know, generally considered a good brand name in test equipment of that vintage.  Any future purchases of used equipment could be anything I guess....  I do still want a spectrum analyzer at some point, and still undecided if I'll go used or buy a new one (probably Rigol again). 

Other than the Rigol bench multimeter, my only multimeter is a cheapo Radio Shack one that I've had for, like, forever. So I could see starting to grow the DMM collection at some point.   ;D  At the very least, I figure I need one of the official EEVBlog DMM's to really be accepted here!  ;)

« Last Edit: July 15, 2019, 02:21:42 am by mindcrime »
 

Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34781 on: July 15, 2019, 02:28:34 am »


Other than the Rigol bench multimeter, my only multimeter is a cheapo Radio Shack one that I've had for, like, forever. So I could see starting to grow the DMM collection at some point.   ;D  At the very least, I figure I need one of the official EEVBlog DMM's to really be accepted here!  ;)

An official EEVBlog DMM is not required. I don't have one. 7 Flukes, 1 Siglent, and 1 Mastech. Not a Brymen in sight.  ;D
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Offline 0culus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34782 on: July 15, 2019, 02:29:39 am »
mindcrime, first let me welcome you to the hôpital psych...oops I mean TEA thread!  :-DD

I would say you ought to own an 8566B. This SA was some of HP's finest work. I have an A, but it's still a joy to use. It's heavy as hell, but everything about it oozes quality. If you don't want to work that high, the 8568B is fantastic as well.
 

Offline worsthorse

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34783 on: July 15, 2019, 02:39:13 am »
mindcrime, first let me welcome you to the hôpital psych...oops I mean TEA thread!  :-DD

I would say you ought to own an 8566B. This SA was some of HP's finest work. I have an A, but it's still a joy to use. It's heavy as hell, but everything about it oozes quality. If you don't want to work that high, the 8568B is fantastic as well.

Am I missing something? I've been looking at these SAs on ebay... Why would you buy an 8566B that has been stripped of the interconnect cables? I mean, finding a set "just sittin' around" must be just about impossible, right?   
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Offline 0culus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34784 on: July 15, 2019, 02:40:33 am »
Obviously, try to find one that has them...
 

Offline 0culus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34785 on: July 15, 2019, 02:41:53 am »
In all seriousness, I was able to find two that have the interconnects (granted the coax bundle on my 68B is a homemade cable and not OEM). Just have to be patient, otherwise be ready to fork over some bucks for the cables.
 

Offline mindcrime

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34786 on: July 15, 2019, 02:54:34 am »
mindcrime, first let me welcome you to the hôpital psych...oops I mean TEA thread!  :-DD

I would say you ought to own an 8566B. This SA was some of HP's finest work. I have an A, but it's still a joy to use. It's heavy as hell, but everything about it oozes quality. If you don't want to work that high, the 8568B is fantastic as well.

22 Ghz... At first blush, that sounds beyond anything I'm likely to need.  Still, these look like an incredible bit of kit, so maybe, just maybe....   :-+
 

Offline 0culus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34787 on: July 15, 2019, 02:58:31 am »
mindcrime, first let me welcome you to the hôpital psych...oops I mean TEA thread!  :-DD

I would say you ought to own an 8566B. This SA was some of HP's finest work. I have an A, but it's still a joy to use. It's heavy as hell, but everything about it oozes quality. If you don't want to work that high, the 8568B is fantastic as well.

22 Ghz... At first blush, that sounds beyond anything I'm likely to need.  Still, these look like an incredible bit of kit, so maybe, just maybe....   :-+

The 8568B is excellent if you don't have a need to work up in the microwave bands. I couldn't decide so I got both.  :-DD  Need I also say the satisfaction of owning an instrument that cost someone 50 kilobucks when was new is palpable.  :-+
 

Offline mindcrime

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34788 on: July 15, 2019, 03:02:57 am »
mindcrime, first let me welcome you to the hôpital psych...oops I mean TEA thread!  :-DD

I would say you ought to own an 8566B. This SA was some of HP's finest work. I have an A, but it's still a joy to use. It's heavy as hell, but everything about it oozes quality. If you don't want to work that high, the 8568B is fantastic as well.

22 Ghz... At first blush, that sounds beyond anything I'm likely to need.  Still, these look like an incredible bit of kit, so maybe, just maybe....   :-+

The 8568B is excellent if you don't have a need to work up in the microwave bands. I couldn't decide so I got both.  :-DD  Need I also say the satisfaction of owning an instrument that cost someone 50 kilobucks when was new is palpable.  :-+

Nice!

I wonder how much the 1660A logic analyzer cost back in the day. Anybody have any idea?
 

Offline 0culus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34789 on: July 15, 2019, 03:08:16 am »
mindcrime, first let me welcome you to the hôpital psych...oops I mean TEA thread!  :-DD

I would say you ought to own an 8566B. This SA was some of HP's finest work. I have an A, but it's still a joy to use. It's heavy as hell, but everything about it oozes quality. If you don't want to work that high, the 8568B is fantastic as well.

22 Ghz... At first blush, that sounds beyond anything I'm likely to need.  Still, these look like an incredible bit of kit, so maybe, just maybe....   :-+

The 8568B is excellent if you don't have a need to work up in the microwave bands. I couldn't decide so I got both.  :-DD  Need I also say the satisfaction of owning an instrument that cost someone 50 kilobucks when was new is palpable.  :-+

Nice!

I wonder how much the 1660A logic analyzer cost back in the day. Anybody have any idea?

You can find list prices by grabbing the HP catalog closest to the year of the serial number (the first two digits represent the number of years past 1960 on more modern HP instruments and calculators; so a serial starting with `26' means it was manufactured in 1986): http://hparchive.com/hp_catalogs
 

Offline bitseekerTopic starter

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34790 on: July 15, 2019, 03:33:47 am »
Just a small tweak to that explanation. Rather than the year of manufacture, it's the year of the design. It could have been manufactured that year or sometime thereafter. Some models had multiple design iterations, while others were manufactured for many years using the same design.
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Offline bitseekerTopic starter

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34791 on: July 15, 2019, 03:35:40 am »
I only managed to relieve three guys of their unwanted adaptors.

One can never have too many adapters. No matter how large the stash, the right one seems to find a way of eluding capture when you really need it. Must be another of Murphy's relatives at work.
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Offline 0culus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34792 on: July 15, 2019, 03:36:12 am »
Just a small tweak to that explanation. Rather than the year of manufacture, it's the year of the design. It could have been manufactured that year or sometime thereafter. Some models had multiple design iterations, while others were manufactured for many years using the same design.
Are you sure? I've always heard that the first two digits are the year it was made, in years since 1960. Never heard of it denoting design iterations.  :-//
 

Offline bitseekerTopic starter

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34793 on: July 15, 2019, 03:37:20 am »
In all seriousness, I was able to find two that have the interconnects (granted the coax bundle on my 68B is a homemade cable and not OEM). Just have to be patient, otherwise be ready to fork over some bucks for the cables.

Yeah, definitely buy one that has the cables. Buying those things separately can be quite wallet draining.
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Offline bitseekerTopic starter

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34794 on: July 15, 2019, 03:38:36 am »
I would say you ought to own an 8566B. This SA was some of HP's finest work. I have an A, but it's still a joy to use. It's heavy as hell, but everything about it oozes quality. If you don't want to work that high, the 8568B is fantastic as well.

22 Ghz... At first blush, that sounds beyond anything I'm likely to need.  Still, these look like an incredible bit of kit, so maybe, just maybe....   :-+

Welcome aboard, mindcrime. If you find one at a good price with the cables and have room for it, just ignore the 22 GHz part and buy it. It still works at lower frequencies. :-DD
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Offline Cubdriver

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34795 on: July 15, 2019, 04:28:57 am »
Just a small tweak to that explanation. Rather than the year of manufacture, it's the year of the design. It could have been manufactured that year or sometime thereafter. Some models had multiple design iterations, while others were manufactured for many years using the same design.
Are you sure? I've always heard that the first two digits are the year it was made, in years since 1960. Never heard of it denoting design iterations.  :-//

That was my initial understanding too, but further digging into them a while back clarified things a bit. Beginning in 1960, they started using a three digit prefix (which became four digits in 1970), followed by a letter indicating country of origin (A for the US, J for Japan, G for Germany, etc.), then a sequential serial number.

The prefix identifies the release date of the major engineering revision that the instrument is built to - the first one (or two, for the four digit prefixes after 1970) digits added to 1960 will give the year, and the last two are the week. Eg. 710 would be the tenth week of 1967; 2245 would be the 45th week of 1982. To more accurately date the 'birthday' of the unit, you'd need to go inside and find parts with date codes. While they wouldn't tell you with 100% accuracy how new it was, you could be sure it was not older than its newest part (this of course is based on the part in question being original to the instrument).

Some instruments were revised fairly quickly and the engineering rev dates track their production closely; others stayed the same for a long time. For instance, I have an Agilent labeled 8644B signal generator that has a 3546 prefix - late 1995 engineering revision. The component dates indicate that it was made in late 2000 at the earliest.

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Offline kj7e

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34796 on: July 15, 2019, 04:56:34 am »
Just a small tweak to that explanation. Rather than the year of manufacture, it's the year of the design. It could have been manufactured that year or sometime thereafter. Some models had multiple design iterations, while others were manufactured for many years using the same design.
Are you sure? I've always heard that the first two digits are the year it was made, in years since 1960. Never heard of it denoting design iterations.  :-//

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Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34797 on: July 15, 2019, 08:29:07 am »
Just a small tweak to that explanation. Rather than the year of manufacture, it's the year of the design. It could have been manufactured that year or sometime thereafter. Some models had multiple design iterations, while others were manufactured for many years using the same design.
Are you sure? I've always heard that the first two digits are the year it was made, in years since 1960. Never heard of it denoting design iterations.  :-//

That was my initial understanding too, but further digging into them a while back clarified things a bit. Beginning in 1960, they started using a three digit prefix (which became four digits in 1970), followed by a letter indicating country of origin (A for the US, J for Japan, G for Germany, etc.), then a sequential serial number.

The prefix identifies the release date of the major engineering revision that the instrument is built to - the first one (or two, for the four digit prefixes after 1970) digits added to 1960 will give the year, and the last two are the week. Eg. 710 would be the tenth week of 1967; 2245 would be the 45th week of 1982. To more accurately date the 'birthday' of the unit, you'd need to go inside and find parts with date codes. While they wouldn't tell you with 100% accuracy how new it was, you could be sure it was not older than its newest part (this of course is based on the part in question being original to the instrument).

Some instruments were revised fairly quickly and the engineering rev dates track their production closely; others stayed the same for a long time. For instance, I have an Agilent labeled 8644B signal generator that has a 3546 prefix - late 1995 engineering revision. The component dates indicate that it was made in late 2000 at the earliest.

-Pat
Hmm that's very interesting but surely cannot be correct, because how do you work out the following numbers which I own and very proud of them too, 3466A, 3468A and 3478A :-//
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Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34798 on: July 15, 2019, 08:31:28 am »
Awwwwww yeah....some quality RPN goodness incoming.  :-+


That's an odd misspelling of "boobs".

 :-DD

And it's arguably easier to do on a hexadecimal calculator...missed opportunities...
Quick run, its the Antichrist again  :scared:
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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #34799 on: July 15, 2019, 08:35:50 am »
Hisss spit at the equals button cowards!  :-DD
 


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