Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[beanflying]

Question for Ender 3 owners, which upgrade do you consider mandatory ? Other than the glass bed.

I might have a 3d printer incoming 

The aluminium extruder upgrade is the only other upgrade I would consider manditory. The original extruder is made of something softer than PLA and will wear away pretty quickly. All the other filament guides etc seem to be useless and make changing the filament much more difficult. Tried them all, binned them all. I have the Pro version that has the fan on the bottom. If you have ordered the standard version (with fan on top) the fan shroud might be useful to stop bits of plastic falling in.

McBryce.

Thanks for the recommendation. just ordered the aluminium extruder. I got the Ender 3X so the glass bed is coming with the printer.

Print yourself a better two sided part cooler too. Generally called a Fang https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=fang+cooler&dwh=855de993bd144e1

I did do a short list of other printed upgrades for @bd139 a while ago but the TEA thread has lost it  I will try Google and see if I can get it.

Found by the power of Google and not SMF's crappy search  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg2292147/#msg2292147

[bd139]

Yeah, I hear ya; it's a PITA of multiple flavors. Either the PITA of figuring out mounting hardware (already done with the T9 blub) or the PITA of disassembly so you can can mod it. The PITA of building a civilized power supply for it is of course just the chocolatey coating on top of that PITA... 

In ALL HONESTY... to me it's not worth the hassle unless you're retrofitting a swingarm magnifier; for "just a light" I'd scour eBay for a decent old swingarm lamp and put a nice, quiet 70w Halogen blub in it. 

mnem

Unfortunately, this little experiment demonstrates why trying to use an amateur band radio in my dense urban neighborhood is increasingly frustrating.  My neighbors, wishing to save money and do their bit to fight climate change are installing lights like the one I just tested in bulb and ring and strip form by the hundreds. The street lights are LEDs. The stop lights are LEDs. And every single one of them has a noisy, unfiltered and unshielded SMPS built into them, adding to the background noise level. It is a losing battle. I imagine that, in another four or five years, the bands under 30MHz will be unusable.

It is a lot like what's happened to the night sky in so many of my favorite haunts over the last twenty years and it makes me sad.

This is possibly controversial I know but I suspect this is a function of a poorly designed receivers and antenna choice more than the band conditions and noise as such.

I can get a tidy copy on a below S1 CW signal like its in the next room after spending two years arguing with noise in the middle of London which is rammed with the worst kind of RFI all in one place. The only things I changed were my antenna, RX and power source.

[worsthorse]

Yeah, I hear ya; it's a PITA of multiple flavors. Either the PITA of figuring out mounting hardware (already done with the T9 blub) or the PITA of disassembly so you can can mod it. The PITA of building a civilized power supply for it is of course just the chocolatey coating on top of that PITA... 

In ALL HONESTY... to me it's not worth the hassle unless you're retrofitting a swingarm magnifier; for "just a light" I'd scour eBay for a decent old swingarm lamp and put a nice, quiet 70w Halogen blub in it. 

mnem

Unfortunately, this little experiment demonstrates why trying to use an amateur band radio in my dense urban neighborhood is increasingly frustrating.  My neighbors, wishing to save money and do their bit to fight climate change are installing lights like the one I just tested in bulb and ring and strip form by the hundreds. The street lights are LEDs. The stop lights are LEDs. And every single one of them has a noisy, unfiltered and unshielded SMPS built into them, adding to the background noise level. It is a losing battle. I imagine that, in another four or five years, the bands under 30MHz will be unusable.

It is a lot like what's happened to the night sky in so many of my favorite haunts over the last twenty years and it makes me sad.

This is possibly controversial I know but I suspect this is a function of a poorly designed receivers and antenna choice more than the band conditions and noise as such.

I can get a tidy copy on a below S1 CW signal like its in the next room after spending two years arguing with noise in the middle of London which is rammed with the worst kind of RFI all in one place. The only things I changed were my antenna, RX and power source.

If it were only my own incompetence or cheap gear, rather than conditions, BD, if only.  But given the radios I am using, and the several years invested in tracking down, examining, and removing internal and external noise sources, building and installing chokes and filters, and hardening my operating position, it probably isn't. 

edit: I realized that the above sounds defensive or snarkish or both. I actually do mean what I said... When something doesn't work the way I expect it to work, I assume some combination of (a) I am using the wrong method, (b) I am using the wrong equipment, (c) I don't understand what is actually happening, (d) I have introduced the problem into an otherwise working system.

[mnementh]

It is obvious that humanity's tech addiction has resulted in a real increase of the noise floor across the spectrum; and due to their overweaning hunger to connect EVERYTHING, the US may very well have a much more exaggerated rise than almost anyplace else on earth. This was, after all, the market for which WiFi-connected picture frames, light bulbs, toasters and sneakers were invented.    And of course, along with the 2.4/5GHz noisemakers, each of these devices comes with one or more noisy SMPS as well operating at Ifni-knows-what frequencies. 

mnem

[Neomys Sapiens]

True spoken, MNEM. When someone asks me for network access in my home, he/she gets handed a Cat5 cable.

[Brumby]

I'd call it a good price - but I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a bargain.  Maybe I'm just too cheap - a criticism which I am prepared to admit.

Anyway, it would have been a far higher spec'd unit than my needs demand at this time - and the foreseeable future.

Nothing wrong in being a cheapskate if you can afford to wait awhile you'll get what you want. Was there a specific function on that 34401A that you wanted that don't appear on other 6.5 digit meters? There are often 6.5 digit meters on evil bay for far less than that.

This is one thing that doesn't appear...

You can blame Bean, the Enabler, for that (and, perhaps, coupled with my life long soft spot for the name.)

Need had little to do with it  Casual mention of a 6.5 digit meter by @Brumby so I helped out with evilbay foo 

Indeed.  No "need" as such, but Bean is such a helpful person...

[Kosmic]

Fucks sake. They sent my package to the second wrong depot 

Found a video of what happened.

[mnementh]

When someone asks me for network access in my home, he/she gets handed a Cat5 cable.

Fuck that noize; I'm not letting them anywhere near any connection that conducts electricity to my router or that might possibly give access to my router's management. They get credentials on the  single-connection 2.4GHz sandboxed Guest WiFi built into the ISP's router, which is ON THE OTHER SIDE OF MY NETWORK with the rest of the internet scum.

mnem
*toddles off to ded*

[bd139]

Fucks sake. They sent my package to the second wrong depot 

Found a video of what happened.

He had one job 

[bd139]

Yeah, I hear ya; it's a PITA of multiple flavors. Either the PITA of figuring out mounting hardware (already done with the T9 blub) or the PITA of disassembly so you can can mod it. The PITA of building a civilized power supply for it is of course just the chocolatey coating on top of that PITA... 

In ALL HONESTY... to me it's not worth the hassle unless you're retrofitting a swingarm magnifier; for "just a light" I'd scour eBay for a decent old swingarm lamp and put a nice, quiet 70w Halogen blub in it. 

mnem

Unfortunately, this little experiment demonstrates why trying to use an amateur band radio in my dense urban neighborhood is increasingly frustrating.  My neighbors, wishing to save money and do their bit to fight climate change are installing lights like the one I just tested in bulb and ring and strip form by the hundreds. The street lights are LEDs. The stop lights are LEDs. And every single one of them has a noisy, unfiltered and unshielded SMPS built into them, adding to the background noise level. It is a losing battle. I imagine that, in another four or five years, the bands under 30MHz will be unusable.

It is a lot like what's happened to the night sky in so many of my favorite haunts over the last twenty years and it makes me sad.

This is possibly controversial I know but I suspect this is a function of a poorly designed receivers and antenna choice more than the band conditions and noise as such.

I can get a tidy copy on a below S1 CW signal like its in the next room after spending two years arguing with noise in the middle of London which is rammed with the worst kind of RFI all in one place. The only things I changed were my antenna, RX and power source.

If it were only my own incompetence or cheap gear, rather than conditions, BD, if only.  But given the radios I am using, and the several years invested in tracking down, examining, and removing internal and external noise sources, building and installing chokes and filters, and hardening my operating position, it probably isn't. 

edit: I realized that the above sounds defensive or snarkish or both. I actually do mean what I said... When something doesn't work the way I expect it to work, I assume some combination of (a) I am using the wrong method, (b) I am using the wrong equipment, (c) I don't understand what is actually happening, (d) I have introduced the problem into an otherwise working system.

Yes I had the same problem but I took a different approach. Rather than curing the noise I tried to work out how I was going to live with it. I resigned myself to portable operating only for a bit with that and the neighbour issues. I built two receivers from scratch to play with ideas and nailed it in the end.

This ended up like this:

1. Get rid of general coverage RX and get a ham bands only RX with narrow band pass filters. This stopped the default position of the receiver being overloaded all the time.
2. Get RX with higher dynamic range and better gain distribution. This improved in band noise performance.
3. Stop using a poorly matched compromise antenna with an AMU and build something which is near 1:1 VSWR without an AMU. Choke it properly at the end of the feed so it’s an unbalanced feed only.
4. Run on battery power only.
5. Get some decent in band IF filtering (fortunately that came with the radio)
6. Align the radio myself carefully and optimise filter bandwidth for the bits of the bands of interest to me (ie I stay at the bottom end of 40m so I have the filter set low to get rid of a chunk of China radio international on 7205).
7. Buy some coax which actually had some braid around it 

My antenna is 30 feet away from LED street lights which literally hammered me before. Now I can copy an S1 CW without any issues like its in the next room. SSB is marginally worse as always but usable now.

I did a couple of YT videos (now deleted) a while back which can be a before and after comparison. I will re-up them later. The difference is startling.

[bd139]

It is obvious that humanity's tech addiction has resulted in a real increase of the noise floor across the spectrum; and due to their overweaning hunger to connect EVERYTHING, the US may very well have a much more exaggerated rise than almost anyplace else on earth. This was, after all, the market for which WiFi-connected picture frames, light bulbs, toasters and sneakers were invented.    And of course, along with the 2.4/5GHz noisemakers, each of these devices comes with one or more noisy SMPS as well operating at Ifni-knows-what frequencies. 

mnem

It has but that’s life and part of EMC is making sure shit still works. Applying to my above comment, someone down the local radio club worked out his old 1960s homebrew rig worked better in a noisy environment than his FTDX-1200 because it has a 5 pole tracking filter on it. I ask is the FTDX or the Homebrew RX “correct” when it comes to EMC?

[med6753]

All the EMC here is the very reason I can't put the Heath SW-7800 in use, combined with the fact that it's a shit receiver. And putting up a decent antenna is a problem too.

When I was a teen someone gave me the guts of one of those 1940's console radios with multiple SW bands and huge electro-magnetic speaker. Just the bare chassis and the speaker. I connected it to our roof top VHF-TV antenna and stations like the BBC would come booming in with no background noise. 

[McBryce]

I assume someone here is bidding on this?

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Fluke-803D-Differential-DC-AC-Voltmeter-DEFEKT/113997021602

I considered making it my Christmas project, but I don't like when Flukes are missing their yellow bumper. 

McBryce.

[bd139]

That's a beauty. Frequently referenced in older Tektronix service manuals as well 

[Brumby]

What hell have I unleashed......

I secured the space for my 12U rack case.  It now occupies that space and I am still alive to tell the tale.  I have fitted the 8656 in the top spot, then started looking at the placement of other bits of kit - and there is not going to be enough room for what I would like to set out.     (My aspirations outgrew my planning ...    )

My casual reference to modification of the hob on my desk is now an official necessity and my ideas on setting out a storage solution for tools that will allow easy access has now become a critical design and construction project.


I've stepped in a puddle and sunk down to my eyeballs.  Someone toss me a snorkel.

[med6753]

What hell have I unleashed......

I secured the space for my 12U rack case.  It now occupies that space and I am still alive to tell the tale.  I have fitted the 8656 in the top spot, then started looking at the placement of other bits of kit - and there is not going to be enough room for what I would like to set out.     (My aspirations outgrew my planning ...    )

My casual reference to modification of the hob on my desk is now an official necessity and my ideas on setting out a storage solution for tools that will allow easy access has now become a critical design and construction project.


I've stepped in a puddle and sunk down to my eyeballs.  Someone toss me a snorkel.

Well the first hurtle you need to clear is approval from the estrogen unit. If you have that you're home free. 

[bd139]

It’s not over until you have a 42U next to it 

[med6753]

It’s not over until you have a 42U next to it 

You're trying to get him killed, aren't you?

[mansaxel]

It’s not over until you have a 42U next to it 

Achievement unlocked. Although I had to put it on slightly elevated feet directly on the floor and have it protrude up through sawn-to-measure cutouts in the raised flooring, because it would not fit height-wise if sat on the raised flooring. (Yes, the TE cave^H^H^Helectronics workshop/computer machine room has raised flooring. Because.)

The living room only needs a 32HE cabinet, and has it, which got me the comment "It looks much nicer than I thought it would."

Upper floor has a 3HE wall box with a CAT5 panel and a small PoE switch. That's hidden inside a linen cabinet, so uncontroversial.

Finally, workbench has 6HE custom-build. That's not controversial, in the bigger picture.

[med6753]

It’s not over until you have a 42U next to it 

Achievement unlocked. Although I had to put it on slightly elevated feet directly on the floor and have it protrude up through sawn-to-measure cutouts in the raised flooring, because it would not fit height-wise if sat on the raised flooring. (Yes, the TE cave^H^H^Helectronics workshop/computer machine room has raised flooring. Because.)

The living room only needs a 32HE cabinet, and has it, which got me the comment "It looks much nicer than I thought it would."

Upper floor has a 3HE wall box with a CAT5 panel and a small PoE switch. That's hidden inside a linen cabinet, so uncontroversial.

Finally, workbench has 6HE custom-build. That's not controversial, in the bigger picture.

Another bullet dodged. 

[BU508A]

For carrying around and easy access to my tools and some often used materials (e.g. tape, solder, solder wick, gloves etc)
I am using the Tstak system from DeWALT.
It is a very flexible system, sturdy and easy to use. It is stackable and with the trolley it can be easy putted away, out of sight.

This is an example picture:


It is available in Down Under, too, at Bunnings (for example).
https://www.bunnings.com.au/search/products?page=1&q=Tstak&sort=BoostOrder&pageSize=60

Currently, I'm using the trolley (DWST17888, two of them), the TSTAK III and IV drawers, the TSTAK VI deep box and the TSTAK I  long handle.
Very nice things and imho very useful.
Link to the manufacturer:
https://www.dewalt.com/products/storage-and-gear/tool-storage/tstak

[beanflying]

Slightly obscure Nixie Counter. Seller is a good one if anyone is desperate but it won't be me bidding as I want more digits eBay auction: #323999182252

[med6753]

The RCA 54-45 scope failed burn-in again...for the 4th time. This time the trace went out of focus. Little or no focus control. 5 minute find and fix. See schematic. R20 (4.7M) went open. I've seen that before in CRT focus circuits. Seems those high value carbon comp resistors don't like HV placed across them. I replaced it with two 2.2M resistors in series to spread out the voltage drop. All fixed. 

Number 5 burn-in. 

[Cubdriver]

What hell have I unleashed......

I secured the space for my 12U rack case.  It now occupies that space and I am still alive to tell the tale.  I have fitted the 8656 in the top spot, then started looking at the placement of other bits of kit - and there is not going to be enough room for what I would like to set out.     (My aspirations outgrew my planning ...    )

My casual reference to modification of the hob on my desk is now an official necessity and my ideas on setting out a storage solution for tools that will allow easy access has now become a critical design and construction project.


I've stepped in a puddle and sunk down to my eyeballs.  Someone toss me a snorkel.

A snorkel...   

Snort...  Someone toss him an 8566B!   

-Pat

[0culus]

What hell have I unleashed......

I secured the space for my 12U rack case.  It now occupies that space and I am still alive to tell the tale.  I have fitted the 8656 in the top spot, then started looking at the placement of other bits of kit - and there is not going to be enough room for what I would like to set out.     (My aspirations outgrew my planning ...    )

My casual reference to modification of the hob on my desk is now an official necessity and my ideas on setting out a storage solution for tools that will allow easy access has now become a critical design and construction project.


I've stepped in a puddle and sunk down to my eyeballs.  Someone toss me a snorkel.

A snorkel...   

Snort...  Someone toss him an 8566B!   

-Pat

Damn, that's cold.