Author Topic: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread  (Read 14550090 times)

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Offline grizewald

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48050 on: January 27, 2020, 10:15:39 pm »
Some of you may remember the somewhat crushed Solartron 7075 which I repaired a while back.

After being taken care of in a nice equipment friendly apartment instead of being neglected in a pile of scrap in an outdoor shipping container, the meter is now showing the kind of stability you'd expect. If I warm it up and then connect it to my Weston cell, the reading is rock solid. In 6x9 mode with 10s integration time, it varies no more than +/- 1μV as long as the room temperature is stable.

So it was opportune that I saw another tip here on the forum, this time about a small Swedish calibration lab. Consequently, the 7075 and I will be taking the ferry over to Gotland at the end of February for a few days.

Not calibrating such a stable and well aged meter was such a waste, but until now, the only calibration places I could find here in Sweden didn't even want to know if you were a private person. The place I found on Gotland is called Nanocal and the guy who runs it (Kjell) is really helpful and quoted me a price which was actually no more than I paid for the meter.  :-+ Seeing as he's also nice enough to let me be there with him while he works on the meter also gives me the golden opportunity to stuff my bag with as many precision resistors and voltage standards as I can manage and get them on his Fluke 8508A and HP 3458A.

It's not every day you get the chance to put your references on a cal lab's 8.5 digit meters!

Shipping the meter over with a courier crossed my mind for about a tenth of a second. Subjecting a stable and sensitive meter to the mechanical violence from a courier, and particularly the extremes of temperature, would have made calibrating it a pointless exercise. And anyway, it will be nice to have some time to look around Visby a bit before it fills with tourists.
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Online tggzzz

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48051 on: January 27, 2020, 10:32:32 pm »
Nice :)

Do you have some decent resistors you could take over for calibration at the same time?

I didn't take my 7081 for calibration, but I did take a bit ltage source to the Hannover Maker Faire and the PTB stand :)
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Offline bd139

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48052 on: January 27, 2020, 10:39:31 pm »
And on this note I'm going to bed early before I eat something  :-DD. I'll post the STLs tomorrow in the 3d printed test gear bits thread once I've printed them in grey PLA (which is not arriving until then!)



 
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Offline WastelandTek

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48053 on: January 27, 2020, 10:41:01 pm »
I think I'm going to put a sign up on my hamfest table begging access to some good standards.

Seems to me that guys that have them would generally be eager to share them.
I'm new here, but I tend to be pretty gregarious, so if I'm out of my lane please call me out.
 

Offline mnementh

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48054 on: January 27, 2020, 10:42:11 pm »
...Seeing as he's also nice enough to let me be there with him while he works on the meter also gives me the golden opportunity to stuff my bag with as many precision resistors and voltage standards as I can manage and get them on his Fluke 8508A and HP 3458A.

It's not every day you get the chance to put your references on a cal lab's 8.5 digit meters!

Don't forget to take your favorite digital thermometer as well... to note ambient temp when you evaluate your transfer standards. ;)

mnem
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Offline grizewald

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48055 on: January 27, 2020, 10:49:50 pm »
Nice :)

Do you have some decent resistors you could take over for calibration at the same time?

I didn't take my 7081 for calibration, but I did take a bit ltage source to the Hannover Maker Faire and the PTB stand :)

Yeah, I'm hoping that this little bunch of Vishay and Caddock goodness will suffice.



I just have to get the 0.005% ones mounted in a nice metal box before I make my trip. I might even manage to get the Caddock resistors boxed. I have some nice PTFE mounting posts, but doubt if I have anything in the way of jacks or sockets that have a high enough resistance.
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Offline grizewald

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48056 on: January 27, 2020, 10:53:23 pm »

Don't forget to take your favorite digital thermometer as well... to note ambient temp when you evaluate your transfer standards. ;)

I'm really hoping that his lab thermometer exceeds the accuracy of any thermometer I have by at least two orders of magnitude!
  Lord of Sealand
 

Offline mnementh

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48057 on: January 27, 2020, 10:56:12 pm »
Aaaand speaking of "Don't Forget" type things...    It's on its way thanks to my "enabler wife"; as a combined Valentine's Day / Anniversary present. I still can't believe it myself. :wtf:

But now I realize... in all the shit I packed away in my gamer PC bag with my Ryzen7 beast, I forgot to stash away a single one of these cables:      I have a bundle that big still, even after building two PCs with these PSUs.

But I didn't remember to pack a single extra PCIe power cable, even though I knew I was planning to upgrade my GPU when I left.  |O

mnem
*desperately seeking power cables on amazon.ca*
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Offline WastelandTek

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48058 on: January 27, 2020, 10:59:05 pm »
what exact cable you need mnem?
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 mnementh

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48059 on: January 27, 2020, 10:59:31 pm »

Don't forget to take your favorite digital thermometer as well... to note ambient temp when you evaluate your transfer standards. ;)

I'm really hoping that his lab thermometer exceeds the accuracy of any thermometer I have by at least two orders of magnitude!

And don't you think you should make note of THAT variance as well...?  :-DD

mnem
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Offline grizewald

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48060 on: January 27, 2020, 11:05:48 pm »

Don't forget to take your favorite digital thermometer as well... to note ambient temp when you evaluate your transfer standards. ;)

I'm really hoping that his lab thermometer exceeds the accuracy of any thermometer I have by at least two orders of magnitude!

And don't you think you should make note of THAT variance as well...?  :-DD

mnem
 :bullshit:

You're really not helping my growing set of *nutteries here!
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Offline mnementh

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48061 on: January 27, 2020, 11:29:45 pm »
That all depends on how you define "helping", now doesn't it...?  >:D

what exact cable you need mnem?
   I need a modular 8-pin PCIe power cable about 30-40cm long; 8-pin PCIe/EPS pattern MOLEX on both ends. I've found several; they're just so bloody expensive from anyplace you can get them in a reasonable amount of time up here. I feel like a total dumbass for not packing a couple when I knew I'd need them.  |O

mnem
« Last Edit: January 28, 2020, 12:37:40 am by mnementh »
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Offline Brumby

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48062 on: January 27, 2020, 11:30:16 pm »
Re flight sims - as about 14yo lad I recall playing moon lander on my father's department pdp-11 (I think)
... with the light pen?

I remember having a go on one at the University of NSW (a lot of years ago).  Really impressive in its day!  I think the machine was a PDP-11/40, from memory.
 

Offline worsthorse

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48063 on: January 28, 2020, 12:38:22 am »
I think I'm going to put a sign up on my hamfest table begging access to some good standards.

Seems to me that guys that have them would generally be eager to share them.

Are you going to be at the Salem or Mike and Key hamfests?
specialization is for insects.
 

Offline WastelandTek

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48064 on: January 28, 2020, 01:18:54 am »
Mic&Key

I'm the guy with the anemometers
« Last Edit: January 28, 2020, 01:29:11 am by WastelandTek »
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Offline WastelandTek

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48065 on: January 28, 2020, 01:22:17 am »
   I need a modular 8-pin PCIe power cable about 30-40cm long; 8-pin PCIe/EPS pattern MOLEX on both ends. I've found several; they're just so bloody expensive from anyplace you can get them in a reasonable amount of time up here. I feel like a total dumbass for not packing a couple when I knew I'd need them.  |O

mnem

so the problem there, the "molex" pinout on the PSU end varies by manufacturer and, in the case of Corsair, sometimes even by model.  I will leave possible consequences of getting this wrong as an exercise for the class...


short pin16 to ground and probe your pinout and we'll have a rummage in the bin
« Last Edit: January 28, 2020, 01:27:05 am by WastelandTek »
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Offline Specmaster

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48066 on: January 28, 2020, 01:48:42 am »
Been playing around with the C3U a bit today, not as much as I hoped I'd be able to do, still got give the outside a bit of spruce up but I was able on and off to compare the results I got from with my other means of testing capacitors (excluding DMMs) and all 4 of them agreed pretty closely for the values and also gave remarkably similar reading for the ESR (C3U cannot do this).

What I have learnt from it all is that there is some mileage with the C3U and its ability to be able to test the leakage of a electrolytic capacitor. I have been through a reasonable amount of my stock capacitors and for use in mission critical areas such as power supplies, need to select ones with a low leakage result otherwise you will revisiting the same problem sooner rather later. Many had high leakage, even from the same batch while others did not, so I think the C3U will be staying.

Something else I noticed while working on it was the shortcomings of my HP bench meters (3468A and 3478A) both of these shut down to O/L readout with voltage of 303V which had me thinking that had both developed faults. Checking the manuals confirms this  :wtf: I suppose you just get a bit lazy with an auto ranger, especially with 5.5 digit meter that it would be good for up to 700V at least, so I might bounce these 2, both fine meters in exceptional condition otherwise.  :popcorn:

Who let Murphy in?

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Offline VK5RC

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48067 on: January 28, 2020, 01:57:07 am »
Re flight sims - as about 14yo lad I recall playing moon lander on my father's department pdp-11 (I think)
... with the light pen?

I remember having a go on one at the University of NSW (a lot of years ago).  Really impressive in its day!  I think the machine was a PDP-11/40, from memory.
YES, I had forgotten about that until I read your post, but I recall it didn't work terribly well, the keyboard was better. 14yo are not renowned for their tolerance though!
Whoah! Watch where that landed we might need it later.
 

Offline Brumby

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48068 on: January 28, 2020, 02:14:35 am »
I didn't notice how well it worked - just that it DID!

In those days, having such a piece of tech one's own hand was akin to discovering you were a wizard!
 

Offline VK5RC

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48069 on: January 28, 2020, 02:18:05 am »
That is so true, our electronic reality now exceeds my imagination of 20yrs ago, I hope I live long enough to see some more of the changes!
Whoah! Watch where that landed we might need it later.
 

Offline WastelandTek

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48070 on: January 28, 2020, 02:26:47 am »
I fear the tech changes of the next 20 years aren't going to be all warm and fuzzy.
I'm new here, but I tend to be pretty gregarious, so if I'm out of my lane please call me out.
 

Offline mnementh

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48071 on: January 28, 2020, 02:49:35 am »
   I need a modular 8-pin PCIe power cable about 30-40cm long; 8-pin PCIe/EPS pattern MOLEX on both ends. I've found several; they're just so bloody expensive from anyplace you can get them in a reasonable amount of time up here. I feel like a total dumbass for not packing a couple when I knew I'd need them.  |O

mnem

so the problem there, the "molex" pinout on the PSU end varies by manufacturer and, in the case of Corsair, sometimes even by model.  I will leave possible consequences of getting this wrong as an exercise for the class...


short pin16 to ground and probe your pinout and we'll have a rummage in the bin

         

The Sleevening...          Part Deux: Ryzen7

I um... kindof make my own. I'm a bit anal about it actually, and I have the tools to dismantle pretty much any cable I come across, so reprogramming the headers is no problem. ;) I didn't realize (or maybe I forgot) that you were anywhere near the Great White North...?

Under any circumstances, I've ordered a reasonably-priced kit of the now-ubiquitous individually braided cable extensions; they should be here tomorrow. I'll integrate them into my own custom cables via staggered splice & solder as above. We'll see; I may even retrofit some of the other cables if I'm not already aggravated as hell at other aspects of the upgrade process. >:D

mnem
 :-/O
« Last Edit: January 28, 2020, 02:55:40 am by mnementh »
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Online beanflying

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48072 on: January 28, 2020, 03:53:46 am »
One year later on the cheap and cheerful AD-584 VRef. I would be calling them go to 4 1/2 digits but a stretch to 5 1/2 with good certainty. Retesting over a Beer later when we get back down to 25C. Hows your Winter going Northerners  :-DD

Differential between what I got it initially at and the end of its first birthday was only a few PPM up across the board. 34401A has since been Calibrated but I saw more or less zero difference between when it went and when it came back so any adjustment would have been minor to nil.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2020, 03:55:20 am by beanflying »
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Offline worsthorse

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48073 on: January 28, 2020, 06:30:15 am »
Mic&Key

I'm the guy with the anemometers

I will have a table there this year. I'll be the guy with the random collection of RTTY gear, piles of test equipment, and hunks of old coax. Yes, I will look exactly like thirty or forty other old white guys there.  ;D
« Last Edit: January 28, 2020, 06:31:50 am by worsthorse »
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Offline med6753

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #48074 on: January 28, 2020, 07:08:07 am »
Mic&Key

I'm the guy with the anemometers

I will have a table there this year. I'll be the guy with the random collection of RTTY gear, piles of test equipment, and hunks of old coax. Yes, I will look exactly like thirty or forty other old white guys there.  ;D

The last Ham Fest I attended I swear was actually a Hobo Convention. The thirty or forty older white guys looked like this.  :o :-DD
An old gray beard with an attitude.
 


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