Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tggzzz]

LMAO. It’s laugh at our political elite week this week. Interesting times.

Yesterday I found a book highlighted in the local Oxfam bookshop, so I got it for my daughter as a (hopefully unecessary) Christmas present. It will also serve to tweak the tail of her mother, my ex.

Laugh? I could cry.

[bd139]

LMAO. It’s laugh at our political elite week this week. Interesting times.

Yesterday I found a book highlighted in the local Oxfam bookshop, so I got it for my daughter as a (hopefully unecessary) Christmas present. It will also serve to tweak the tail of her mother, my ex.

Laugh? I could cry.

I like your style

You have to laugh though to avoid the tears. There is some good material coming out of it. It has probably put newsthump out of business 

[tggzzz]

You have to laugh though to avoid the tears. There is some good material coming out of it. It has probably put newsthump out of business 

NewsThump has become one of the better sources of news over the past few months.

I have it in my RSS feeds, and frequently use their headlines to prompt me to find out what occasioned the headline

[bd139]

Ok so 34401A arrived.

Works absolutely fine. Passes all self tests. All ranges work. Display is bright and in good condition. However it's not the meter pictured - it's got all red terminals!

Now technically speaking this has, as specified, 05-07-02 firmware which is definitely the last segment incremented as per the helpfully linked document [1] provided by bitseeker so this should have a new VFD driver and red terminals. Have I got a weird one or an exception? Can I visually identify one?

[1] http://literature.cdn.keysight.com/litweb/pdf/34401A-06.pdf

Edit: it's also possible this had the display assembly replaced already I suppose.



Right digit is (unsurprisingly as it fires up in 5 digit mode) fractionally brighter. My camera makes this look worse than it is.

[Specmaster]

That looks really good to my eye, if anything, the camera normally makes it brighter then it really is, so if yours has the opposite effect then I'd call that a win. Have you got a voltage standard like a AD584-M or H to test it with? Personally if it agrees with your other meters I'd not even bother to send it off for calibration, as it will only serve you OCD and has no other real benefit for you. 

[bd139]

It bang on agrees with the flukes. Obviously it has more digits though! 

No voltage standard (yet). I've got a frequency standard though. MUST NOT VOLTNUT. Too late 

I will still take it to Calmet next month I think. Need to used to it first and learn about it.

[Specmaster]

LMAO. It’s laugh at our political elite week this week. Interesting times.

Yesterday I found a book highlighted in the local Oxfam bookshop, so I got it for my daughter as a (hopefully unecessary) Christmas present. It will also serve to tweak the tail of her mother, my ex.

Laugh? I could cry.

I like your style

You have to laugh though to avoid the tears. There is some good material coming out of it. It has probably put newsthump out of business 

I think that JRM really disgraced himself doing that yesterday, it would be bad enough as a back bencher but for the leader of the house it is surely a disciplinary matter? I know, lets do what the Brexiters cry out all the time someone sounds in their way, he should be deselected 

[Specmaster]

It bang on agrees with the flukes. Obviously it has more digits though! 

No voltage standard (yet). I've got a frequency standard though. MUST NOT VOLTNUT. Too late 

I will still take it to Calmet next month I think. Need to used to it first and learn about it.

I reckon, they might just give it a quick test on a couple of voltage ranges and call good enough, wasting your money IMO. Now frequency calibration for you RF guys, yes I can understand that especially when dealing with very high frequencies.

Edit:
Interestingly, my Solartron 7150+ meters fire up in 6 digit mode from the off, even if they were last used in 4 digit mode.

Just noticed the comma after the 3rd digit, what's that for, not a great fan of that, could be misleading when glancing at the display.

[Ero-Shan]

b]He's talking specifically about the "unobtanium" VFD driver that often fails when the VFD fails. IIRC, they are a pretty visible separate part as opposed to later models in which it is integrated into the VFD assembly.[/b]

Yes, what I meant is the lack of the "unobtanium" VFD driver and its accompanying VFD display. I did, however, forget to ask:  is there a specific indicator for units that do or don't have the old VFD driver/display arrangement? Is the old driver specific to only the HP units with all red jacks and the older button style?   I searched but haven't yet found this information specifically.

They may be unobtanium and have leakage issues. But all 4 of my 34401As are quite old (red-red). Only one had a display problem - an unlit segment - which was fixed by a little resoldering. At work we have several more 34401As of the same age, and all of them still have a good display, too.

It is not that bad a problem.

I'm more concerned by the VFDs getting dimmer. 

[capt bullshot]

But all 4 of my 34401As ...

Got only three of them. Must     resist     the     urge    to       buy      another      one  .  .   .   .

(Yes, I know, it's hopeless here)

[BU508A]

It bang on agrees with the flukes. Obviously it has more digits though! 

No voltage standard (yet). I've got a frequency standard though. MUST NOT VOLTNUT. Too late 

I will still take it to Calmet next month I think. Need to used to it first and learn about it.

Congrats to your new 34401A, you'll enjoy it. 
I like the bright display, looks good to me.

Some recommendations:
AD587
https://www.analog.com/en/products/ad587.html
I have some AD587LN - if you want 2 to play with them, let me know

https://www.welectron.com/Probe-Master-Silicone-Test-Leads-Series-8000

[BU508A]

But all 4 of my 34401As ...

Got only three of them. Must     resist     the     urge    to       buy      another      one  .  .   .   .

(Yes, I know, it's hopeless here)

You need a forth one to compare it with the other three ... 

[med6753]

LMAO. It’s laugh at our political elite week this week. Interesting times.

Yesterday I found a book highlighted in the local Oxfam bookshop, so I got it for my daughter as a (hopefully unecessary) Christmas present. It will also serve to tweak the tail of her mother, my ex.

Laugh? I could cry.

I like your style

You have to laugh though to avoid the tears. There is some good material coming out of it. It has probably put newsthump out of business 

I think that JRM really disgraced himself doing that yesterday, it would be bad enough as a back bencher but for the leader of the house it is surely a disciplinary matter? I know, lets do what the Brexiters cry out all the time someone sounds in their way, he should be deselected 

Outside the UK we have no idea what you guys are talking about. And I'm reluctant to ask because the last time I asked about Boris I got my head handed to me and told not to go there.   

[med6753]

Another sad TEA casualty report. I finally got a Tek 191 and it got rear-ended.

Those feet are extremely fragile.. If it wasn't for some experimental 3D printed ones, only one of my three units in those cases would have any at all.

I actually have a bag of the bits of smashed ones around somewhere for some reason.

I was fortunate to buy this 284 from someone who really knows how to package this stuff... The box could have been thrown down 10 flights of stairs and would have definitely survived.

Apparently it is a common issue. One of the foot assemblies on my type 191 is busted up too. And I don't have the broken piece.
 

[BU508A]

Outside the UK we have no idea what you guys are talking about. And I'm reluctant to ask because the last time I asked about Boris I got my head handed to me and told not to go there.   

I can recommend to watch Monty Pythons Flying Circus, Mr. Bean and some episodes of Top Gear in no particular order. This will help you understanding. Maybe. Drinking some alcohol may support this as well.

[bd139]

Ok some findings for prospective 34401A owners. tl;dr: this is a keeper.

@spec: I've turned the comma off and agree. There's a menu option for that  . 50/50 on the cal now. I'm mostly concerned with relative measurements (leakage, drift) and the absolute is close enough.

Took it to bits and it's definitely the later display model. I didn't take the front panel off but you can tell the difference without removing it looking at the rear of the board. The later and good 34401-66512 panel revision only has front mounted SMD components. The older 34401-66502 has a TH microcontroller which the footprint is visible from the rear of the board. Also this puts to bed the red/black jack thing. It's not conclusive. The conclusive is the last section in the revision sys parameter which should be 02 and not 01 

Anyway inside shots. It's absolutely pristine! (shield assembly removed here for inspection). No sign of any work, repairs or entry into the device so far I could identify.

[bd139]

It bang on agrees with the flukes. Obviously it has more digits though! 

No voltage standard (yet). I've got a frequency standard though. MUST NOT VOLTNUT. Too late 

I will still take it to Calmet next month I think. Need to used to it first and learn about it.

Congrats to your new 34401A, you'll enjoy it. 
I like the bright display, looks good to me.

Some recommendations:
AD587
https://www.analog.com/en/products/ad587.html
I have some AD587LN - if you want 2 to play with them, let me know

https://www.welectron.com/Probe-Master-Silicone-Test-Leads-Series-8000

Thanks for the offer. I actually have a couple of them, I think the same grade, actually extracted from HP scopes over the years floating around already. They use them for the master AD ref voltage. Very handy stealing them out  .

Have skipped probemaster this time and gone with Pomona 6366 leads (retractable banana plug) which are arriving today too, mainly because I needed to push my Farnell basket over the free delivery limit  . https://uk.farnell.com/pomona/6366/test-lead-set-blk-red-1-219m-1kv/dp/4135969

[med6753]

No TEA related activity here today. Vehicle maintenance day. The CR-V is due for an oil change so I'll do that (Yes, I do my own oil changes) plus check it over in preparation for the upcoming cold weather. Although since I'm now retired if it's snowing I don't have to go out. I can stand in my window drinking coffee and watch all the other folks who still have to work struggle in the snow.  And they need to do that to make sure my SSI payment shows up in my bank account every 27th of the month. 

I love living on the dole.   

[Addicted2AnalogTek]

@bd139
Nice score!!  In this case not getting the one pictured might have been a blessing since it’s above the revision threshold and in pristine condition.  I wonder though, aside from opening it up or looking at the revision, if there’s any way to know which VFD arrangement it is... Is the only guaranteed way to know for sure I’m not getting an old VFD (based on appearance only) to buy an Agilent or keysight branded one?

No TEA for me today either. I’ll be at work for 11 hours installing a shower steam unit and prepping the shower for kerdi and tile.

[Specmaster]

Ok some findings for prospective 34401A owners. tl;dr: this is a keeper.

@spec: I've turned the comma off and agree. There's a menu option for that  . 50/50 on the cal now. I'm mostly concerned with relative measurements (leakage, drift) and the absolute is close enough.

Took it to bits and it's definitely the later display model. I didn't take the front panel off but you can tell the difference without removing it looking at the rear of the board. The later and good 34401-66512 panel revision only has front mounted SMD components. The older 34401-66502 has a TH microcontroller which the footprint is visible from the rear of the board. Also this puts to bed the red/black jack thing. It's not conclusive. The conclusive is the last section in the revision sys parameter which should be 02 and not 01 

Anyway inside shots. It's absolutely pristine! (shield assembly removed here for inspection). No sign of any work, repairs or entry into the device so far I could identify.

Nice photo, typical HP build quality, a thing of beauty, thanks for sharing it.

[xrunner]

Yes, what I meant is the lack of the "unobtanium" VFD driver and its accompanying VFD display. I did, however, forget to ask:  is there a specific indicator for units that do or don't have the old VFD driver/display arrangement? Is the old driver specific to only the HP units with all red jacks and the older button style?   I searched but haven't yet found this information specifically.

They may be unobtanium and have leakage issues. But all 4 of my 34401As are quite old (red-red). Only one had a display problem - an unlit segment - which was fixed by a little resoldering. At work we have several more 34401As of the same age, and all of them still have a good display, too. It is not that bad a problem.

Yea I'm not worried about that either. If I was worried about unobtanium I'd have 50% less test equipment than I do now. 

Take a look at this one I'm getting. It's sold by a dealer that deals in these all the time. In fact, it has a one year warranty just return and he sends you another one.

But, I've got a lot of used test equipment and some of it in very good condition, and this 34401A, if I didn't know better, you could fool me for it being new. He took a series of very clear photos of this, and I zoomed in on several (see below). I can't see the slightest sign of and dings, scratches, scrapes, old smudges, or any sign it's been touched by a person. Even the bottom rubber where it would have touched a table looks brand new. The exposed metal on screws and connectors looks new. This is going to be very interesting when it arrives.

[xrunner]

Ok some findings for prospective 34401A owners. tl;dr: this is a keeper.

@spec: I've turned the comma off and agree. There's a menu option for that  . 50/50 on the cal now. I'm mostly concerned with relative measurements (leakage, drift) and the absolute is close enough.

Took it to bits and it's definitely the later display model. I didn't take the front panel off but you can tell the difference without removing it looking at the rear of the board. The later and good 34401-66512 panel revision only has front mounted SMD components. The older 34401-66502 has a TH microcontroller which the footprint is visible from the rear of the board. Also this puts to bed the red/black jack thing. It's not conclusive. The conclusive is the last section in the revision sys parameter which should be 02 and not 01 

Anyway inside shots. It's absolutely pristine! (shield assembly removed here for inspection). No sign of any work, repairs or entry into the device so far I could identify.

Yea looks really nice there, congrats!  Also good info for us on the revisions.

[med6753]

Yes, what I meant is the lack of the "unobtanium" VFD driver and its accompanying VFD display. I did, however, forget to ask:  is there a specific indicator for units that do or don't have the old VFD driver/display arrangement? Is the old driver specific to only the HP units with all red jacks and the older button style?   I searched but haven't yet found this information specifically.

They may be unobtanium and have leakage issues. But all 4 of my 34401As are quite old (red-red). Only one had a display problem - an unlit segment - which was fixed by a little resoldering. At work we have several more 34401As of the same age, and all of them still have a good display, too. It is not that bad a problem.

Yea I'm not worried about that either. If I was worried about unobtanium I'd have 50% less test equipment than I do now. 

Take a look at this one I'm getting. It's sold by a dealer that deals in these all the time. In fact, it has a one year warranty just return and he sends you another one.

But, I've got a lot of used test equipment and some of it in very good condition, and this 34401A, if I didn't know better, you could fool me for it being new. He took a series of very clear photos of this, and I zoomed in on several (see below). I can't see the slightest sign of and dings, scratches, scrapes, old smudges, or any sign it's been touched by a person. Even the bottom rubber where it would have touched a table looks brand new. The exposed metal on screws and connectors looks new. This is going to be very interesting when it arrives.

The nice thing about the Ebay seller I've dealt with several times other than their excellent packaging is that they note the S/N of the unit listed. That way there is no "bait and switch". 

[SilverSolder]

I love living on the dole. 

Think of all the dole recipients you were supporting while working!   
Payback time...

[Specmaster]

The nice thing about the Ebay seller I've dealt with several times other than their excellent packaging is that they note the S/N of the unit listed. That way there is no "bait and switch". 

Yes, I think I also brought 2 meters from the seller and shipped via the GSP and as you say, the serial number is displayed on their eBay page and that is the one that you get and they pack brilliantly, the ones I received would have withstood a nuclear blast.