Author Topic: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread  (Read 14557807 times)

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Offline xrunner

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47775 on: January 24, 2020, 06:22:46 pm »
Quote
That centrifugal blower looks a lot like the one in my CPAP machine... can you trace the wires back to the mainboard & see if it is actually a BL motor or just a sensored brushed motor?

Reviews state it is brushless.

There is no such thing as "Innocent NetGear"... they're pretty much single-handedly responsible for the plague of cheap Chinese import network gear running firmware ranging from incompetent to outright spyware that has flooded even our core infrastructure. :palm: Nuke with extreme prejudice.  >:D

It has been neutered - no worries any longer. Will say it seems to be working well ... will provide pics as proof shortly.  :popcorn:

I told my friends I could teach them to be funny, but they all just laughed at me.
 
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Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47776 on: January 24, 2020, 06:34:02 pm »
Here is my latest acquisition for the bench, it looked good in the photos on eBay but it looked even better in the flesh. I need to try to calibrate the meters though, at least the voltage as it out at the top end by as much as 200mV and 1mV at the bottom end. It is nice and clean inside and was made in Feb 1995 and the LCD's are clear although it does not look likely that they could be modified to be backlit but I will closer at this when calibrate it later.

Here are some pics for now, the only thing I might do externally is to replace the binding posts in due course because one is slightly damaged, and they are faded.


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Offline mnementh

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47777 on: January 24, 2020, 08:08:07 pm »
Founded:      https://eleshop.eu/quick-nk-850-adapter-nozzle.html

I am wondering if it will work for real, or the temperature will be less accurate...  :-//   TEA dilemma today: getting a Quick 861DW but what about my Hakko FR-802 nozzles?

Wow... would you lookit the micro-welding on that thing. Sure it's automated, but still amazing to see it selling for less than US$8.  :o

Just a random thought off the top of my head...  :wtf: is the deal with people being so anal about the absolute temperature accuracy of their soldering stuff...?

Even if the tip/air temp is dead-on, you STILL have to pay attention to how the work is going and be prepared to adjust as much as +/- 10° or more... there are just too many variables in how any individual part heats up to be able to set a fixed temp for all work. Yes, you should still be starting out at ~600°F for leaded and ~700°F for unleaded, but seriously... once you get past the "absolute noob" skill level you should be knowledgeable enough and confident enough in that knowledge to fine-tine for any situation on the fly.

There is a lot to learn in the science of soldering... but in the end you you have to learn the art too.  :-+

mnem
*in best Capt. Barbosa voice* "The (soldering) Code... is more what you'd call guidelines than actual rules..."
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Offline mnementh

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47778 on: January 24, 2020, 08:37:28 pm »
Today on the bench:



It's been a day for SMPS power packs. First the little one; 12V/2A with an oddball 2.5mm plug for an OttLite desk lamp. Worth the hassle of at least cracking it open; found common-mode inductor and mains DC filter cap glue broken loose. Repaired broken wire on inductor, glued everything down with silicone RTV spooge like it should've been when it was made.  :-+

The second one is a bit more involved; after spending two afternoons working on the Klipsch +/-18V Power Pack of Doom and getting to the point of it "randomly working when it would be most effing aggravating", I decided to cut my losses and make one from a couple of brand-new 19V laptop power packs found on Amazon for CAD$9.99 each. Testing indicates they'll work just fine once the -19V side is isolated out; now comes the "fiddly-bits and fettling" work of fitting them into a single enclosure. Cost with Hammond enclosure: US$22. Bonus: lots of leftover cords and sockets and power pack shells.

So basically I wasted 1.5 afternoons troubleshooting what I can replace for $22 and 0.5 afternoon worth of productive work. |O

mnem
The baggie full of HDD platters was just because: "Oooooh.... shiny...." ;)
alt-codes work here:  alt-0128 = €  alt-156 = £  alt-0216 = Ø  alt-225 = ß  alt-230 = µ  alt-234 = Ω  alt-236 = ∞  alt-248 = °
 

Offline WastelandTek

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47779 on: January 24, 2020, 08:53:39 pm »

So basically I wasted 1.5 afternoons troubleshooting what I can replace for $22 and 0.5 afternoon worth of productive work. |O


you got off cheap

I routinely waste days at a time on projects that pan out to bugger all
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Offline mnementh

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47780 on: January 24, 2020, 08:59:06 pm »
In Other News... I am a sick, sick widdle dwagon.



Since mommy is busy doing all the teaching and dishes, I took one for the team and kept the sick widdle boi company so he doesn't feel like a pariah in his own home. And now I've got his flu all down in my chest, while he's getting better and now out shopping for a guitar with mommy. *koff-koff-glarrrggle-koff*

mnem
"Sick old dwagons don't die; they just smell that way."
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Offline mnementh

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47781 on: January 24, 2020, 09:06:49 pm »
...So basically I wasted 1.5 afternoons troubleshooting what I can replace for $22 and 0.5 afternoon worth of productive work. |O
you got off cheap...   I routinely waste days at a time on projects that pan out to bugger all

LOL... true dat. More times than I can count; but as I get older, I've begun to value my time more like what it actually is: The single most valuable asset a man has; the one you can't buy, beg or steal more of. That's why I decided to cut my losses. Work smarter, not harder. ;)

mnem
"Time gets more precious, when there's less of it to waste..." ~Bonnie Raitt
« Last Edit: January 24, 2020, 09:09:31 pm by mnementh »
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Online tautech

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47782 on: January 24, 2020, 09:27:37 pm »
In Other News... I am a sick, sick widdle dwagon.

(Attachment Link)

Since mommy is busy doing all the teaching and dishes, I took one for the team and kept the sick widdle boi company so he doesn't feel like a pariah in his own home. And now I've got his flu all down in my chest, while he's getting better and now out shopping for a guitar with mommy. *koff-koff-glarrrggle-koff*

mnem
"Sick old dwagons don't die; they just smell that way."
Oh poor mnem.
A couple of shots of Av gas will get you huff and puff back.  :)
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Offline Cerebus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47783 on: January 24, 2020, 09:46:41 pm »
One Av Gas, white phosphorus, and cordite on LO2 coming right up!

Oh, sorry! Dash of fuming nitric acid? Right there on the shelf next to the Angostura Bitters.
« Last Edit: January 24, 2020, 09:51:52 pm by Cerebus »
Anybody got a syringe I can use to squeeze the magic smoke back into this?
 
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Offline Neomys Sapiens

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47784 on: January 24, 2020, 09:53:06 pm »
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?  :-DD 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.
Nooo. YOU are slated this year to get the matching VNA to your last aquisition!
 

Offline WastelandTek

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47785 on: January 24, 2020, 09:55:36 pm »
Uh...mnem

flu like symptoms?? 

what continent you on??

« Last Edit: January 24, 2020, 09:59:52 pm by WastelandTek »
I'm new here, but I tend to be pretty gregarious, so if I'm out of my lane please call me out.
 
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Offline fredman12

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47786 on: January 24, 2020, 10:03:03 pm »
I have a Tektronix 2235 that has a distoration in the right lower quadrant. Any ideas how to repair?
 

Offline Neomys Sapiens

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47787 on: January 24, 2020, 10:05:40 pm »
@BU508A:
Talked to my technician today about the 'desoldering blades'.
He said that he used them occasionally and they work. You can use them with hot air or a normal iron. Do not heat the blade. Get the solder joint liquid and then do one decisive shove. Use section of blade only once. He also said that he uses them less since I bought the JCB hot tweezers. Figures.
That is all I can say. As I said, I have them at home too, but not yet used. Maybe he can show me a practical application - then I could provide more info or maybe some pics.
It is advisable to have a crown scissors (jewelllers scissors for thin metal sheet and foil) around, so that you can customize the shape of the leading edge. And the holder is nice, but sometimes awkward and you can do without it.
None of us has tried the 'desoldering wire'. I do not exactly like the description.
 
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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47788 on: January 24, 2020, 10:12:51 pm »
Uh...mnem

flu like symptoms?? 

what continent you on??



Racoon City again  :-DD
 

Offline Grandchuck

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47789 on: January 24, 2020, 10:17:55 pm »
Magnetic field distortion of the CRT beam?
 

Offline worsthorse

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47790 on: January 24, 2020, 10:30:56 pm »
...So basically I wasted 1.5 afternoons troubleshooting what I can replace for $22 and 0.5 afternoon worth of productive work. |O
you got off cheap...   I routinely waste days at a time on projects that pan out to bugger all

LOL... true dat. More times than I can count; but as I get older, I've begun to value my time more like what it actually is: The single most valuable asset a man has; the one you can't buy, beg or steal more of. That's why I decided to cut my losses. Work smarter, not harder. ;)

mnem
"Time gets more precious, when there's less of it to waste..." ~Bonnie Raitt

Two immediate reactions.

On time: yup. and my criteria for what constitutes a reasonable use of my time are in a continual state of becoming ever more strict.
On dwagon state:  dude, you may be sick but you sure ain't widdle.    :-DD
specialization is for insects.
 
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Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47791 on: January 24, 2020, 10:50:55 pm »
I have a Tektronix 2235 that has a distoration in the right lower quadrant. Any ideas how to repair?

Possible stray magnetic field or internal CRT damage. Hard to tell.
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Offline worsthorse

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47792 on: January 24, 2020, 10:54:00 pm »
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?  :-DD 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.
Nooo. YOU are slated this year to get the matching VNA to your last aquisition!

I am surprised there weren't more responses given the general level of teklust around here...  My current wish list looks like this:

7834 or 7844 (storage or dual beam, hard to choose),
7A19 or 7A24
7A26
7A42
7B80 or 7B85

specialty stuff: 7A11, 7A22, 7CT1N, 7L5 w/ opt 30, 7L12

I dunno, maybe I should want something more exotic but for my use case, this would be a pretty sweet setup.



specialization is for insects.
 

Offline 0culus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47793 on: January 24, 2020, 11:20:52 pm »
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?  :-DD 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.
Nooo. YOU are slated this year to get the matching VNA to your last aquisition!

I am looking over 8510C systems (and sweep generators!).  >:D >:D >:D
 
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Offline 0culus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47794 on: January 24, 2020, 11:24:42 pm »
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?  :-DD 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.
Nooo. YOU are slated this year to get the matching VNA to your last aquisition!

I am surprised there weren't more responses given the general level of teklust around here...  My current wish list looks like this:

7834 or 7844 (storage or dual beam, hard to choose),
7A19 or 7A24
7A26
7A42
7B80 or 7B85

specialty stuff: 7A11, 7A22, 7CT1N, 7L5 w/ opt 30, 7L12

I dunno, maybe I should want something more exotic but for my use case, this would be a pretty sweet setup.

If I were to get into another 7k mainframe, I'd have to go with the dual beam one honestly. The ability to have two o-scopes in one is super handy in certain situations. Only downside is the crts are guaranteed to be impossible to find if you need one, so I'd want to make sure the crt is happy and healthy before buying.

Storage tubes are a pain in the ass and don't work that well, plus have much more limited lifetime (at least if you want the storage to work). I have one storage 'scope (-hp- 1727A) and it's really pretty much a gimmick compared to a modern scope with proper single shot capability. I'd go dual beam.
 
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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47795 on: January 24, 2020, 11:28:22 pm »
You could just buy two individual 7000's (any excuse  :-DD)

Edit: actually when I bought that 7603 about 18 months ago the dude was trying desperately to sell me the storage one he had too. I waltzed straight past that
 

Offline 0culus

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47796 on: January 24, 2020, 11:34:12 pm »
Well, seeing as I have a 7904A and a 7104 already...the next logical step is a 7844 dual beam!  :-DD
 

Online edavid

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47797 on: January 24, 2020, 11:45:20 pm »
I am surprised there weren't more responses given the general level of teklust around here...  My current wish list looks like this:

7834 or 7844 (storage or dual beam, hard to choose),
7A19 or 7A24
7A26
7A42
7B80 or 7B85

specialty stuff: 7A11, 7A22, 7CT1N, 7L5 w/ opt 30, 7L12

I'm not a big fan of the 7834, especially the older ones with the 154-0745-00 CRT, which I find murky and ugly.  If you must have storage, the 7934 is much better.  Any storage mainframe will be greatly inferior to non-storage in trace brightness.

(Note: Plugins that really benefit from storage are the 7CT1N and the 7L12/7L13, but it makes more sense to get a 7613 to use with them.)

The 7844 is OK, but don't expect to get much out of the dual beamness.  (I usually just put the readout on one of the beams, so it doesn't make the trace flicker.)  Do not buy a 7844 with the P11 (eyehurt blue) CRT.

Try to get 7A29s instead of 7A19s or 7A24s... instead of unobtainium fuses, they have resettable input protection.

7B80 and 7B85 form a set.  Also consider the amazing 7B92A.

Instead of a 7A11, look for a P6201 or P6202.

The 7L spectrum analyzers are really, really hard to repair and maintain.
 
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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47798 on: January 24, 2020, 11:47:53 pm »
The 7L spectrum analyzers are really, really hard to repair and maintain.

Yep!  :-DD



(one damn tant!)
 
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Offline xrunner

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #47799 on: January 25, 2020, 12:11:20 am »
Just a random thought off the top of my head...  :wtf: is the deal with people being so anal about the absolute temperature accuracy of their soldering stuff...?

Even if the tip/air temp is dead-on, you STILL have to pay attention to how the work is going and be prepared to adjust as much as +/- 10° or more... there are just too many variables in how any individual part heats up to be able to set a fixed temp for all work. Yes, you should still be starting out at ~600°F for leaded and ~700°F for unleaded, but seriously... once you get past the "absolute noob" skill level you should be knowledgeable enough and confident enough in that knowledge to fine-tine for any situation on the fly.

I'm getting SMD parts off OK with the hot air system. I looked at a lot of tutorials on YT but I never got a definitive answer as to air temp and air flow to use for desoldering (wide array of "expert" answers). I've been using 380 C and "medium" air flow. Does anyone disagree with those settings?  :-//
I told my friends I could teach them to be funny, but they all just laughed at me.
 


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