Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

You should listen to the local 2 meter simplex frequency for a couple of hours. You'd slit your wrists.

Recently, it's gone that way here too. There are in what used to be my car commute (I'm back to public transport) two older hams who hold 2-hour ragchews on 2m every afternoon, and they're strirring a cesspool of misogynic  and otherwise false statements.

I think that was the reason why bd139 gave up his ham gear for sale.

[mnementh]

No pics yet, but the reality is not as fun as I might have alluded to..

In the business end, it's a old swedish style 10-pair tag block. Not very complicated, but it's in a metal box up under the ceiling, so soldering iron needs to be carried and held up there. In the other end there are tag blocks of UK broadcast model, but they're inside a rack cabinet, that also is enclosed in drywall with a rather small rear door. Bad lighting, and one can't get to it easily. The soldering I did ab initio was with the cabinet unclad, and that was bearable. I'll try to take some pics when I do the job.

You seem to be missing the point here... what's fun is watching you try to do it, especially one-handed so as to hold a camera. 

If we're lucky we might get to see some toes desoldered... 

mnem
[ANTI-PC Moment] As grand-dad usedta say: "Hire the handicapped; it's fun to watch 'em work."

[mnementh]

If you're still going to flip them, it might actually pay off to go the extra mile and paint them, polish the chrome etc, and then you'll command a better price for them?

The time and effort to do that compared to the potential ROI is not worth it to me.

Yeah, if I wanted one, (which I do) & was Megatimes closer, I wouldn't let a few "life scars" bother me---I have plenty of scuff marks personally, so why would I begrudge a CRO trolley from having a few.

My bro was in the Oz Airforce (RAAF) in WW2, & their term for something a bit scruffy was that it looked "Operational".

Guess I qualify as " Operational³ " then... 

mnem
possibly also somewhat "nerf-herder" as well; the kids can be somewhat beastly...

[Vince]

I find it ironic that the first amateur radio licenses were issued with a view to enabling amateurs to improve the state of the art. The original amateur licenses in the UK were titled "Authority to Establish a Wireless Station for the Purpose of Receiving Signals for Experimental Purposes" and  "Authority to Establish a Wireless Station for the Purpose of Transmitting Signals for Experimental Purposes". It was fundamental to the nature of amateur "Wireless Telegraphy" that amateurs were not merely operators but inventors and originators of radio equipment and techniques.

Maybe you misread "experimental" as "research", when all the laywer who wrote that back then, meant, was more "experimental " as in... "we will let you poor joe public, experiment/play/have fun with the stuff.... "  because we are so kind ?

Don't know, just an idea...

[med6753]

Working through more of last Saturday's haul. I thought today I would finally have a plug-in ready for testing but not happening. This is one of the two Type 1A1's. It cleaned up well. But before plugging it into my Type 547 I did an output pin one to one resistance comparison with my Type 1A1. I didn't want any surprises if there was a short and blow up the mainframe. And it's a good thing I did.

Several of the pins read high. Found V464 (7586 nuvistor) and Q244 (2N2475) missing. I have the nuvistor in stock. Don't have the transistor. An none on Ebay at least domestically. NTE229 is equivalent. On order in will be here Friday.

Pin 9 of the interconnect is shorted to ground. That's the -150VDC. That would have trashed the Type 547.  That needs additional troubleshooting. 

There's another Type 1A1 still to bring in and check out.

[Specmaster]

Wow, that was a bloody good job that you did that pin to pin check, well done.

[BU508A]

[...]
There's another Type 1A1 still to bring in and check out.

Bring in and check out? ¹

1A1, the new Tek fragrance from the Papa Smurf perfumery.



/me, looking into my coffee mug: "What the hell did they put into my coffee?"     

¹The Germans will know the reference for sure. 

[mnementh]

The guy (a ham) said now he doesn't want to sell the Boonton power meter to me. I had mentioned I wanted to test the meter to make sure the sensor was OK, because if it wasn't I didn't want the meter at all - I don't need it, I already have two fine hp power meters with sensors. I didn't want to buy a Boonton sensor for lots of money if it's defective. Now I think he realizes if the sensor is OK the meter and sensor is worth more than $15. I was talking with another ham friend who knows us both very well, and he said the other guy probably also was put off because I just didn't buy the meter without testing it first. But he knows me and agrees with what I wanted to do.

I talked with the seller on the phone when he called me to say he didn't want to sell it to me now. I explained that all I want to do is test it because if the sensor is bad I don't want to buy one. However he doesn't know how to test it himself. I asked him if he tested it and he said "yes". Because I know him and have been to his garage I asked how he tested it. He said "I connected my signal generator to it and applied a signal and the meter needle moved." I asked him how much power he applied. He said he didn't know how to figure that. So for all I know if the sensor wasn't bad before it might well be now. I just told him do what you want I don't need it have fun! 

This ham was just talking on the radio last night about a power supply kit that he assembled from Ebay - it's this one -

   eBay auction: #373577880823

He was telling everyone how it was working but he was "probing it" and he shorted something. It let out smoke from several parts and now doesn't work so he's ordering another one. That's what I'm dealing with.

Remember hams are a weird bunch. Except for me, I'm a ham and I'm not weird. No not me. OK, I'm the least weird of all the local hams. 

EDIT: Don't feel bad, x. You aren't the first TEA-er who's talked himself out of what should have been a "buy now, ask questions later" deal. I mean, for $15, it's a good shelf ornament.


That's actually not a bad little kit; LM317-based with a big-arse MOSFET series-pass. I built one into an old ATX power supply box because A) it fit nicely with a transformer from a murdered AIWA bookshelf stereo and 2) small, very portable & reasonably clean linear power with CV/CC. Fast/inductive load shorts can still take out the MOSFET, tho. However, as the entire kit is so cheap, you can afford to buy in bulk to keep "spares" in the closet; I got 5 kits for $25 when I built mine.

mnem
*juicy*   

[med6753]

Wow, that was a bloody good job that you did that pin to pin check, well done.

I also have the Type CA plug-in cleaned up and installed the missing vacuum tubes. Going to do the same resistance check with my Type CA first and then plug it into the Type 535A. Stay tuned. 

[med6753]

[...]
There's another Type 1A1 still to bring in and check out.

Bring in and check out? ¹

1A1, the new Tek fragrance from the Papa Smurf perfumery.



/me, looking into my coffee mug: "What the hell did they put into my coffee?"     

¹The Germans will know the reference for sure.

The 2nd Type 1A1 is still out in the garage. I guess I didn't make that clear. And that's the last plug-in then I'll rip into the 2 Type 547's.

[AVGresponding]

I opened YouTube last night and saw a piece of test gear I wasn’t expecting to see:



Apparently Mr. Carlson has a Stark VT-9 as well.  He isn’t exaggerating about the size of the dial face.  I can take more pictures of mine later if anyone is interested.

shit I need one now... Stark VT-9 

Yes, just think of the size of lamp you could mount on the top of that!

[med6753]

Aw crap, just got an e-mail that the 8416 tube I ordered for $18 USD for the Type W plug-in is out of stock. Gotta do more searching. I am NOT paying those asinine Ebay prices. 

[mnementh]

I opened YouTube last night and saw a piece of test gear I wasn’t expecting to see:      Apparently Mr. Carlson has a Stark VT-9 as well. He isn’t exaggerating about the size of the dial face.  I can take more pictures of mine later if anyone is interested.

And my vacation is over.  Back to work.  I’ve had to bring in a couple of multimeters and a portable scope, the Agilent got the nod, and some hand tools to rip into some piece of junk that died a couple of days ago.  I guess that does it, the next time the employee survey comes out, as soon as I see the “Do you have the tools and equipment to do your job?” question, they’re getting a zero because I’ve had to bring my own stuff in again.  So much for the “I firmly believe all you need to do your job is your laptop” routine.

Natural Stupidity will beat Artificial Intelligence into submission almost every time.

When you combine the two, especially in a management scenario, it's nearly always catastrophic.

mnem
"When the only tool you have is a club, every problem looks like a head that needs to be bashed."

[Cerebus]

I find it ironic that the first amateur radio licenses were issued with a view to enabling amateurs to improve the state of the art. The original amateur licenses in the UK were titled "Authority to Establish a Wireless Station for the Purpose of Receiving Signals for Experimental Purposes" and  "Authority to Establish a Wireless Station for the Purpose of Transmitting Signals for Experimental Purposes". It was fundamental to the nature of amateur "Wireless Telegraphy" that amateurs were not merely operators but inventors and originators of radio equipment and techniques.

Maybe you misread "experimental" as "research", when all the laywer who wrote that back then, meant, was more "experimental " as in... "we will let you poor joe public, experiment/play/have fun with the stuff.... "  because we are so kind ?

Don't know, just an idea...

I typed it from a photograph of the official Post Office application form so it is verbatim. Back in 1904, when this was produced, the official usage of English was still both good and precise, so the writer meant what they said. To underline this it even says "bona fide experiment".

[xrunner]

I find it ironic that the first amateur radio licenses were issued with a view to enabling amateurs to improve the state of the art. The original amateur licenses in the UK were titled "Authority to Establish a Wireless Station for the Purpose of Receiving Signals for Experimental Purposes" and  "Authority to Establish a Wireless Station for the Purpose of Transmitting Signals for Experimental Purposes". It was fundamental to the nature of amateur "Wireless Telegraphy" that amateurs were not merely operators but inventors and originators of radio equipment and techniques.

Inventors and experimenters? They used to be, but not the hams I know now. I don't know any that would  experiment with rf or electronics (except antennas) or attempt to repair a transceiver. I've been given radios that I've been told were not working at all, only to find it was a corroded power wire or other type of broken wire. Very simple problems. Anything more complex than that - you can forget it. They won't even open them to just look inside. Yes what I'm saying is very sad but I swear it's true. I don't want to make any sweeping generalizations either, I'm only talking about the hams I know.

Now, some will experiment with antennas, and even make a dipole, but when it get to the inside they are scared of all that. Don't mention surface mount components, you might as well be asking them to operate on a living human brain. That's why I get calls from time to time for repair work. I really don't want to do it any more (for others) but sometimes I will because a certain friend will ask me for another guy. Like I replaced the finals in a Yaesu FT-991 as a favor. Didn't ask for any compensation but I did get paid anyway.

The last favor I did was try to troubleshoot another FT-991 that wouldn't transmit on 2 meters. I managed to find a PIN diode that was fried (SMD) along with some of the copper trace on the bottom of a board. I replaced it and thought we might get lucky but there were more issues beyond that. Problem is the board had components on both sides and couldn't be probed underneath because the board had to be mounted to operate. Anyway I told him better just send it to send it to Yaesu. They just replaced the entire board, they don't try to fix all the individual issues on the board.

Now with software defined radios what do you have? Yea an input stage with maybe a pre-amp and some filtering, and on the output a final amp stage, but what's all the rest of it? A computer running software that mathematically does all the things "real" radio would do. Hams won't be repairing that part so the old days are fading fast.

[Saskia]

loaded my stereo into the trunk and I am on my way to the new house. 300 miles with a quarter metric ton.I like m stereo a lot ..  you may call me batshit crazy.

[Neper]

Well, us hams are the only people still allowed to build and operate our own transmitting and receiving equiment that doesn't require any FCC, CE or whatever markings. Theoretically, I could blast out 750 W PEP. If only I'd be able to hear the responses with all the electrical noise around me in a city of slightly over a million...

[BU508A]

Aw crap, just got an e-mail that the 8416 tube I ordered for $18 USD for the Type W plug-in is out of stock. Gotta do more searching. I am NOT paying those asinine Ebay prices. 

Cheapest one I was able to find is this one for 35 Euro (incl. VAT, excl. shipping):
https://btb-elektronik.de/en/product/2017/8416-6922-but-uf12-6v-doubletriode/

I could order and send it to you. Makes it probably a little bit cheaper.

[BU508A]

loaded my stereo into the trunk and I am on my way to the new house. 300 miles with a quarter metric ton.I like m stereo a lot ..  you may call me batshit crazy.

Since when do you have red hair? 

[mnementh]

You guys need a Rohde & Schwarz URU BN 1080:   

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg2588193/#msg2588193



https://www.historische-messtechnik.de/aktive-messgeraete/hf-voltmeter/00368.php

Doesn't everyone...?   

mnem

[med6753]

Aw crap, just got an e-mail that the 8416 tube I ordered for $18 USD for the Type W plug-in is out of stock. Gotta do more searching. I am NOT paying those asinine Ebay prices. 

Cheapest one I was able to find is this one for 35 Euro (incl. VAT, excl. shipping):
https://btb-elektronik.de/en/product/2017/8416-6922-but-uf12-6v-doubletriode/

I could order and send it to you. Makes it probably a little bit cheaper.

All domestic vacuum tubes sites are out of stock. I just bit the bullet and ordered one on Ebay for $50. After your shipping from Germany would probably be about the same price. Appreciate you looking. 

[mnementh]

Don't get me wrong - there are hams that really know electronics and rf. But it seems more and more just don't have a clue. You don't have to understand electronics to be a ham, nor much of anything other than being able to memorize test answers. You could pass the Amateur Extra Class exam and know NOTHING about how to operate a real radio. But buy a radio and an antenna ... presto you are an Extra Class ham!

I find it ironic that the first amateur radio licenses were issued with a view to enabling amateurs to improve the state of the art. The original amateur licenses in the UK were titled "Authority to Establish a Wireless Station for the Purpose of Receiving Signals for Experimental Purposes" and  "Authority to Establish a Wireless Station for the Purpose of Transmitting Signals for Experimental Purposes". It was fundamental to the nature of amateur "Wireless Telegraphy" that amateurs were not merely operators but inventors and originators of radio equipment and techniques.

Same was true over here. Even children's band was licensed at one time. 

mnem
*may or may not have pulled down a "very offending" skipland tower with his truck as a youth*

[mnementh]

Wow, that was a bloody good job that you did that pin to pin check, well done.

I also have the Type CA plug-in cleaned up and installed the missing vacuum tubes. Going to do the same resistance check with my Type CA first and then plug it into the Type 535A. Stay tuned.

Yes, we don't want any of this with the new acquisitions. 

Hope your luck changes on the "search for spares" side of things...

mnem
Good hunting, brother!

[mnementh]

loaded my stereo into the trunk and I am on my way to the new house. 300 miles with a quarter metric ton.I like m stereo a lot ..  you may call me batshit crazy.

*Remembering all his receivers and speakers and MEBBs left behind in the house in Toronto*

mnem
*snif*   

[Zucca]

Work is killing me today.

Why I do not start my company and do what I want how I want?
Who has his own company here?