Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[nixiefreqq]

hey cub

any ideas about cross compatibility between the different versions of hp nixie display boards?

for sure someone at a depot somewhere had a table for which boards would work in which chassis

(for a short time back in the mid 80's i worked with the depot in san diego responsible for all navy R1051/T827 an/wrc-1 radios.  they bought those radios over a 30 year period and each radio was full of "6 pack" cans that worked in some chassis but not others.  everyone involved had a copy of the compatibility table) 



i have always had enough spares that it was never an issue with hp nixie gear.

I've never really explored that, but you have piqued my curiosity.  I may ask about boards for one of the counters as I snagged a relatively rarely seen one off the bay a few months ago.  They guy had three, and of course showed a pic of the best equipped one.  I ordered, and got one without the extra two digit option, and of course by then all had sold.  I was annoyed and buried it for later consideration, and forget exactly which one it was, but perhaps it may turn out that you have some boards for it.  Of course I was away when it arrived, and then didn't open it for a few weeks after I got home, so the time frame to bitch on the bay had expired.   

-Pat

well....... that would be a disappointment.

am always willing to dive into my box-o-junk for anyone proven to NOT be a nixie rapist.

[factory]

hey cub

any ideas about cross compatibility between the different versions of hp nixie display boards?

for sure someone at a depot somewhere had a table for which boards would work in which chassis

(for a short time back in the mid 80's i worked with the depot in san diego responsible for all navy R1051/T827 an/wrc-1 radios.  they bought those radios over a 30 year period and each radio was full of "6 pack" cans that worked in some chassis but not others.  everyone involved had a copy of the compatibility table) 



i have always had enough spares that it was never an issue with hp nixie gear.

I've never really explored that, but you have piqued my curiosity.  I may ask about boards for one of the counters as I snagged a relatively rarely seen one off the bay a few months ago.  They guy had three, and of course showed a pic of the best equipped one.  I ordered, and got one without the extra two digit option, and of course by then all had sold.  I was annoyed and buried it for later consideration, and forget exactly which one it was, but perhaps it may turn out that you have some boards for it.  Of course I was away when it arrived, and then didn't open it for a few weeks after I got home, so the time frame to bitch on the bay had expired.   

-Pat

Would that be a 5246L? if yes you will need two more low speed display assemblies, I can't remember if a couple of extra counter boards are also needed.

David

[nixiefreqq]

Sadly, I think the 3444A plug-in is blown up somehow, likely the amplifier based on the service manual troubleshooting procedures. It only works as a voltmeter in the 10,100,1000V ranges. All other ranges and functions appear to be blown.

ouch! 

my plug in had an exploded (literally) precision shunt resistor which had killed one amps range.  made up a bodge with a bunch of series/parallel resistors that sort of matched the original (am not proud of it, but sometimes you do what you have to). 

[mnementh]

Yep you're quite right.

What happened to you last night on discord, you were there one minute and then disappeared?

I was MTing while on Discord; shopping magnetic sync cables is a massive time-sinkhole.  VPN hiccup booted me, then I forgot to log back on. 

mnem
*currently suffering MAME-overload*

[bd139]

...nixie rapist.

Close cousin of the ubiquitous "tube nonce"? 

[mnementh]

*back slowly away...*

mnem
You do not want none o' dat gittin' on ya...

[nixiefreqq]

...nixie rapist.

Close cousin of the ubiquitous "tube nonce"? 

am unfamiliar with the term.

BUT anything that scares the dragon would surely terrify me.

is it something to be googled?  or best left alone?

[bd139]

UK slang for pedophile and in London anyone who violates something beyond any reasonable boundary.

Edit: btw above is a section from a TV series called "Life on Mars" which was rather good.

[0culus]

Sadly, I think the 3444A plug-in is blown up somehow, likely the amplifier based on the service manual troubleshooting procedures. It only works as a voltmeter in the 10,100,1000V ranges. All other ranges and functions appear to be blown.

ouch! 

my plug in had an exploded (literally) precision shunt resistor which had killed one amps range.  made up a bodge with a bunch of series/parallel resistors that sort of matched the original (am not proud of it, but sometimes you do what you have to).

I can't see any visible signs of a catastrophic failure like that. However, neither mV range responds to input (but it can be zeroed with R31), no ohms range responds to input, and no amps range responds to input. This may point to a failure in the amplifier circuit according to the service manual, but I don't have any card extenders and so getting to some of the test points described will be impossible.

[med6753]

I'm all in favor of raping parts for vintage test equipment but NOT for audio purposes.

My rationale.....the audiophools take the parts, usually just vacuum tubes, and scrap the rest. Which is BS because almost all the tubes they take are available today from other sources. Regardless of their claims that the old stuff sounds better.   

[bd139]

Yep. You get things like this here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143543090958

Check the guy's other sales.

Typical example of the cunt's victims:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143529937627

And yes there has been Tek stuff sold by him.

[med6753]

Yep. You get things like this here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143543090958

Check the guy's other sales.

Typical example of the cunt's victims:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143529937627

And yes there has been Tek stuff sold by him.

May he burn in hell...twice. 

[bd139]

I was thinking "may he insert three 12AU7's into his bottom and sit down too hard"

[med6753]

That will work too. 

[Specmaster]

Off-topic, but interesting to some at least. I mentioned last night on Discord that I was going to North Weald Airfield to take some photos of the Gnats Display team doing some test flights after winter maintenance, turns out only 1 out of the 3 gnats was ready and here just a handful of shots taken today from the taxiway. I was unable to get any closer to the main runway so any shots of it in the air would not be worthwhile given the plane is so small to start with. Anyway enjoy them, note it is getting difficult to get anywhere there at the moment to grab photos with a relatively clear back ground owing the erection of a pretty large Police Helicopter compound and hanger and next door the construction of a similar setup for the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance.

[factory]

for anyone who cares.

a 5212L-4A display board will work in an HP3440a otherwise filled with 5212-6016 boards.

closed my eyes and flipped the switch.  it did not blow up, and displayed normally.

(that is my sum total contribution to the compatibility table)

edit  factory added the table from the manual while the freqq was typing.........cool beans!  (rtfm?)

There are a couple more for the later 002/003 options, will update my table later.

David

Updated the table of 5245L display boards;
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=81471.msg2943690#msg2943690

David

[0culus]

Good news on the 3440A/3444 combo. I tracked the issue down to A2Q2 in the plugin, which is part of the amplifier circuit used in all ranges and functions except 10,100,1000 volts. . It was dead. By happenstance, A2Q2 is a 2N2369, of which I have many on hand due to all my experiments building Jim Williams pulsers, so I replaced it and now she works! 

[Cubdriver]

hey cub

any ideas about cross compatibility between the different versions of hp nixie display boards?

for sure someone at a depot somewhere had a table for which boards would work in which chassis

(for a short time back in the mid 80's i worked with the depot in san diego responsible for all navy R1051/T827 an/wrc-1 radios.  they bought those radios over a 30 year period and each radio was full of "6 pack" cans that worked in some chassis but not others.  everyone involved had a copy of the compatibility table) 



i have always had enough spares that it was never an issue with hp nixie gear.

I've never really explored that, but you have piqued my curiosity.  I may ask about boards for one of the counters as I snagged a relatively rarely seen one off the bay a few months ago.  They guy had three, and of course showed a pic of the best equipped one.  I ordered, and got one without the extra two digit option, and of course by then all had sold.  I was annoyed and buried it for later consideration, and forget exactly which one it was, but perhaps it may turn out that you have some boards for it.  Of course I was away when it arrived, and then didn't open it for a few weeks after I got home, so the time frame to bitch on the bay had expired.   

-Pat

Would that be a 5246L? if yes you will need two more low speed display assemblies, I can't remember if a couple of extra counter boards are also needed.

David

i think it might be, but need to go search.  And now that you mention it, I think there were some additional smaller boards that looked to be needed.  Think it might need the edge connectors, too.  Grrr...

-Pat

[0culus]

Good news on the 3440A/3444 combo. I tracked the issue down to A2Q2 in the plugin, which is part of the amplifier circuit used in all ranges and functions except 10,100,1000 volts. . It was dead. By happenstance, A2Q2 is a 2N2369, of which I have many on hand due to all my experiments building Jim Williams pulsers, so I replaced it and now she works! 

Checked it out to the best of my abilities and it mostly agrees with my other voltage, resistance, and current measuring equipment, so I'd call it a win. Hard to beat for $30. 

[nixiefreqq]

cub

see attached pictures for some of the 5245 stuff that came from the retired depot guy.

have never attempted to go thru it all.  usually just dug until the item in need was found.......then stuffed it all back in the boxes.

if you think something you need might be in there just give me a board number or a picture and the treasure hunt will begin.

[Kosmic]

My new prototype of the Jim Williams pulse generator. This time in a proper enclosure.

Well, I tried adding an attenuator and the whole thing got pretty wild 



Was kind of working but the assembly was really fragile. I decided to rebuild everything on a perf board to improve support and layout. I should really do a proper PCB 







The final result is not that bad. I got a 755mv pulse with 330ps rise time and 2ns width.





Now I need to build the power supply and see if I can fit a battery in there.

[mnementh]

@nixiefreqq:

Oh fuck me... I have a 28-foot trailer still in storage, and a good 1/8 of it is STILL 57 liter bins who look like that.

mnem
AFTER I spent 6 months sorting it all down...

[worsthorse]

@nixiefreqq:

Oh fuck me... I have a 28-foot trailer still in storage, and a good 1/8 of it is STILL 57 liter bins who look like that.

mnem
AFTER I spent 6 months sorting it all down...

Whenever you mention that trailer, my wall of crates in the storage room suddenly looks compact.   

[0culus]

@Kosmic, really nice results! There are a number of PCB designs floating around for such a pulser...perhaps you could modify one of those.

[Kosmic]

@Kosmic, really nice results! There are a number of PCB designs floating around for such a pulser...perhaps you could modify one of those.

I think I'm done with the 2N2369. I Will probably do a pcb to experiment with some other fast rise smd chip. Like the MC100EPT20 (120ps rise time).