Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

Yep. The good old days sucked much more than we care to remember.

Today I wrote a simple web API for something in go and it compiled and produced a static binary before I had changed the tmux window to run it. I remember waiting 15 minutes for hello world to compile on a SPARCstation 2. 

[tggzzz]

Yep. The good old days sucked much more than we care to remember.

Today I wrote a simple web API for something in go and it compiled and produced a static binary before I had changed the tmux window to run it. I remember waiting 15 minutes for hello world to compile on a SPARCstation 2. 

Bet you never used Smalltalk 1 (i.e. without JIT) on a 1MB Mac Plus. Glacial doesn't begin to describe it; responding to a mouse click took tens of seconds. Memo to self: reboot mine and measure the interval

Mind you, back in 86 it was sufficient to enable me to see the future, and in  88 to realise that C++ sucked rocks.

[Specmaster]

Just won myself another TTi power supply, damn these things are so bloody addictive, because I havent had much luck on the bay of late, I've submitted offers/bids on a of these now, I could end up with a few of these 

[nfmax]

Yep. The good old days sucked much more than we care to remember.

Today I wrote a simple web API for something in go and it compiled and produced a static binary before I had changed the tmux window to run it. I remember waiting 15 minutes for hello world to compile on a SPARCstation 2. 

OTOH I remember when the fastest way to move to the next compilation error in Delphi 5 was to click the 'compile' button...

[worsthorse]

TL;DR

I was sitting down to calibrate the one working 502 DMM when the doorbell rang. The nice man from Fedex found the package he had misplaced and delivered it to my door. Amy was soon aware of the fact that I had all the dryer parts in hand, my to do list went from this:

1. calibrate DM502
2. have a cup of tea and do some calculus homework
3. take a nap

Became this:

1. re-assemble the dryer.

I am happy to report that there was only one mishap, which I was able to address, which is good failure probably meant taking the dryer the rest of the way apart and putting it in the dumpster (I dunno, do HAAA have parts mules?) and buying a new one before my wife found out. 

It turns out that the LG dryers, and most others I guess, are put together completely with sheet metal screws and rivets.  Why? Because you can do it quickly with robotics and the stuff goes together pretty well in spite of the rather less-than-precise tolerances. The bad news: this stuff is not made be taken apart and put back together again.  I found this out the hard way when the special combination sheet metal screw/washer/axle on the idler arm assembly stripped the hole in soft metal bracket it screws into. Apparently it was installed just a tiny bit cockeyed, which really didn't matter as long as you don't try to remove it again.

Luckily I was able to workaround the damage with a 1/4 nut, lock washer, and locktite.  The dryer is running smoothly, my wife is delighted, and my test bench awaits.

[bsudbrink]

Luckily I was able to workaround the damage with a 1/4 nut, lock washer, and locktite.  The dryer is running smoothly, my wife is delighted, and my test bench awaits.

Nothing is better than a delighted wife.

[bd139]

Departed > delighted 

Just won myself another TTi power supply, damn these things are so bloody addictive, because I havent had much luck on the bay of late, I've submitted offers/bids on a of these now, I could end up with a few of these 

Didn't get a chance to reply earlier. At last you got one. Hopefully it won't get munted in the post like all of mine were 

BTW reasonably priced HM 307 scope here (£37 inc delivery). 10MHz single channel but smaller than the usual units. I did consider it but then decided not to. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174164777823

[worsthorse]

Somewhere in the storage area there are a few 7000 series plugins and at least one mainframe, all in unknown condition. I haven't worked on them because (a) for everyday work, my 475A is plenty good enough, (b) I have the 485 if I need the extra bandwidth, (c) I would need to have a bigger scope on a cart and roll it in and out of the way because my bench is small, (d) I am pretty sure that working on 7000 series plugins requires gear and expertise that I don't have.

But a guy can dream, right?  Someday I'd like to have a configurable bench scope like the 7854. I have a list of stuff I'd buy for it but my tastes are pretty pedestrian, so my dreams could use enhancing. Which leads to my question:

If you could build the 7000 scope of your dreams what frame and plug-ins would you choose? Why?

The only caveat is it has to be stuff that you'd really use, no picking the weird and exotic just because it is weird and exotic. If you need some reminders, here's the Dennis Tillman 7000 series gear list:  http://w140.com/tillman_tek7000.html

[xrunner]

As recommended in this thread - the Quick 957DW+  .

More to follow ...

[beanflying]

[...]
But a "sufficiently" large iron isn't available (except for soldering to tags, which is easy). Spot welding should be far more predictably adequate.

I have an old school Weller 100/140W soldering gun for those occasions.  It can literally make the tip glow if you're not careful about modulating the juice.  Perfect for those really stubborn soldering jobs!

There's a very small chance I might be able to find my original soldering iron when I finally get around to cleaning out my father's workroom. Its tip glowed if you held it in the gas too long

Yup, this part of the past was straw coloured, which is halfway to being golden.

What was done in the R/C high performance packs was end soldering. Generally the different classes were pack weight limited and weight generally just made gravity suck harder so less was more. First with NiCad's then with NiMh.

Pre Tin the ends of the cells with the Fat Iron shown then drop them in a simple jig slide the re tinned iron in between two cells to melt the existing solder (2-3 seconds max because of the tip mass) remove the iron and slap the cells together to solder. Good for a few hundred Amps.

Packs shown are the last NiMh Round cell packs I have and are off an old buggy but the same assembly job was used on the sticks of three with a silver bar between them.

[bd139]

If you could build the 7000 scope of your dreams what frame and plug-ins would you choose? Why?

Oooooh good question. i like that question. That would have to be the 7504.

Why? because it was one of the very early units and had the same industrial design inside as some of the older Tek scopes. So you got a linear supply and a shit ton of gold and neat wiring looms. My attempts to describe it don't do it justice so I'll leave this link: http://golddredgervideo.com/kc0wox/tek/7504/detailedpictures.htm

So plugins ....

couple of 7A26's. They're just something you have to have.
7B53. Another essential.
7L13 ... 2.5GHz SA
7L5 ... 5mhz spectrum analyser with digital storage (really cool plugin
7CT1N .... curve tracer

Possibly a combi sampling unit as well.

[Specmaster]

Departed > delighted 

Just won myself another TTi power supply, damn these things are so bloody addictive, because I havent had much luck on the bay of late, I've submitted offers/bids on a of these now, I could end up with a few of these 

Didn't get a chance to reply earlier. At last you got one. Hopefully it won't get munted in the post like all of mine were 

BTW reasonably priced HM 307 scope here (£37 inc delivery). 10MHz single channel but smaller than the usual units. I did consider it but then decided not to. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174164777823

Thanks for the heads up, but I'll let it go, running out of space here and I've got enough scopes I think  with the TD210, PM3390B and that DSO138 kit one for now. May have to have a cull of meters soon, especially if I get those other TTi PSU's that I have offers on  come through.

[med6753]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/VintageElectronicTestEquipment/permalink/2672790472838128/


Hole Lee Chit. 

[alextwin007]

I was impressed when I saw that show up in the group.  Not surprised that there are a few of us there
An amazing collection

https://www.facebook.com/groups/VintageElectronicTestEquipment/permalink/2672790472838128/


Hole Lee Chit. 

[shakalnokturn]

My attempts to describe it don't do it justice so I'll leave this link: http://golddredgervideo.com/kc0wox/tek/7504/detailedpictures.htm

We like's those output amplifiers! 
Mounting the power transistors any closer meant in the CRT.

[worsthorse]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/VintageElectronicTestEquipment/permalink/2672790472838128/


Hole Lee Chit. 

What you said. That takes TEAS to a whole 'nother level.   

[beanflying]

It also confirms to me I am a long long way from having a 'problem' 

[mnementh]

What was done in the R/C high performance packs was end soldering. Generally the different classes were pack weight limited and weight generally just made gravity suck harder so less was more. First with NiCad's then with NiMh.

   Pre-Tin the ends of the cells with the Fat Iron shown then drop them in a simple jig slide the re tinned iron in between two cells to melt the existing solder (2-3 seconds max because of the tip mass) remove the iron and slap the cells together to solder. Good for a few hundred Amps. Packs shown are the last NiMh Round cell packs I have and are off an old buggy but the same assembly job was used on the sticks of three with a silver bar between them.

Yeah, I used to do that until I broke the cathode caps off some very expensive SANYO cells due to pack flex and crashes. That's when I moved to saddle-packs and brick-packs instead of the dirt-donker dynamite sticks; they allowed you to put the weight where you wanted it. Copper 1mmx13mm shunts FTW, Baybee!!!     

mnem
*shunted growth*

[Brumby]

It also confirms to me I am a long long way from having a 'problem' 

I wonder if those around you share that sentiment.

I know I'm smart enough to not even hint at asking such a question around my environs.

[Brumby]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/VintageElectronicTestEquipment/permalink/2672790472838128/


Hole Lee Chit. 

Agreed.

Didn't make me look any better here, though.  I think the expression I observed around here was more along the lines of "Don't you dare..."

[med6753]

If you could build the 7000 scope of your dreams what frame and plug-ins would you choose? Why?

Oooooh good question. i like that question. That would have to be the 7504.

Why? because it was one of the very early units and had the same industrial design inside as some of the older Tek scopes. So you got a linear supply and a shit ton of gold and neat wiring looms. My attempts to describe it don't do it justice so I'll leave this link: http://golddredgervideo.com/kc0wox/tek/7504/detailedpictures.htm

So plugins ....

couple of 7A26's. They're just something you have to have.
7B53. Another essential.
7L13 ... 2.5GHz SA
7L5 ... 5mhz spectrum analyser with digital storage (really cool plugin
7CT1N .... curve tracer

Possibly a combi sampling unit as well.

I'm quite satisfied with the collection of plug-ins for the 7904. I'm not into rf so don't need an SA plug-in. Currently have:

1- 7A26 (have a 2nd one but channel 1 attenuator switch deck is totally hosed. It's a parts unit)
1- 7A24
1- 7A18A
2- 7A16A
1- 7B70
2- 7B80

[beanflying]

What was done in the R/C high performance packs was end soldering. Generally the different classes were pack weight limited and weight generally just made gravity suck harder so less was more. First with NiCad's then with NiMh.

   Pre-Tin the ends of the cells with the Fat Iron shown then drop them in a simple jig slide the re tinned iron in between two cells to melt the existing solder (2-3 seconds max because of the tip mass) remove the iron and slap the cells together to solder. Good for a few hundred Amps. Packs shown are the last NiMh Round cell packs I have and are off an old buggy but the same assembly job was used on the sticks of three with a silver bar between them.

Yeah, I used to do that until I broke the cathode caps off some very expensive SANYO cells due to pack flex and crashes. That's when I moved to saddle-packs and brick-packs instead of the dirt-donker dynamite sticks; they allowed you to put the weight where you wanted it. Copper 1mmx13mm shunts FTW, Baybee!!!     

mnem
*shunted growth*

When you crashed 200+km/hr plane weighing in at 2.5kg with a 1.1kg 27 cell pack inside, breaking the pack was generally the least of your issues 

[med6753]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/VintageElectronicTestEquipment/permalink/2672790472838128/


Hole Lee Chit. 

Agreed.

Didn't make me look any better here, though.  I think the expression I observed around here was more along the lines of "Don't you dare..."

The "Don't you dare..." is no issue here. The real issue is resources and room. Got neither for a collection like that. And while I may only have a dozen or so pieces of Tek equipment they are functional, discounting assorted parts units. You can bet that well over 90% of that collection don't work. 

[WastelandTek]

Why? because it was one of the very early units and had the same industrial design inside as some of the older Tek scopes. So you got a linear supply and a shit ton of gold and neat wiring looms. My attempts to describe it don't do it justice so I'll leave this link: http://golddredgervideo.com/kc0wox/tek/7504/detailedpictures.htm

soooo beautiful

[0culus]

If you could build the 7000 scope of your dreams what frame and plug-ins would you choose? Why?

Oooooh good question. i like that question. That would have to be the 7504.

Why? because it was one of the very early units and had the same industrial design inside as some of the older Tek scopes. So you got a linear supply and a shit ton of gold and neat wiring looms. My attempts to describe it don't do it justice so I'll leave this link: http://golddredgervideo.com/kc0wox/tek/7504/detailedpictures.htm

So plugins ....

couple of 7A26's. They're just something you have to have.
7B53. Another essential.
7L13 ... 2.5GHz SA
7L5 ... 5mhz spectrum analyser with digital storage (really cool plugin
7CT1N .... curve tracer

Possibly a combi sampling unit as well.

Damn, why you gotta do that to me man?  One of those would look great along with my 7904A and 7104. BTW the 7104 managed to be quite nice looking inside too, because of all the exotic hybrids and stuff that went into it.