Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tautech]

He is the one constantly bashing old stuff for no reason, I am just tired of it, if he doesn't like people buying old stuff then can't he just not reply to such posts ?
I despise modern chinese stuff, but do I feel the need to tell him regularly what I think of his Siglent stuff ? No, because my opinion on his stuff is just that, my opinion, it's totally useless and irrelevant to him. I just wish he realized his opinion on old vintage stuff is just the same, irrelevant and personal, and should be treated as such.

LOL....I've been where you are fixing scopes for a hobby and would have given a left nut to have had just a tiny portion of the gear I have today to make all the fixed ones more precise/accurate.
For the topic you feel offended about is old FG's and from my experience just how inaccurate they are mostly due to the frequency control systems used and still for those that used a more precise vernier system the forking things often drifted like crazy until they settled down yet you had to put a counter on them to be sure they where properly on tune.....such was my ongoing frustration in using my Philips 5131.

Vince, get where the the action is as you sound like you're stuck in the 70's where if it wasn't Tek or HPAK it wasn't worth considering.  Things are very different today and lots of Chinese gear is rebranded by long standing and respected western brands that surely wouldn't go down that road without doing their homework first.
Just like with the Japs a few decades before, western corporate greed has also accelerated Chinese progress to have them now nipping at the heels of the large western brands as they continue to embrace the advances in technology that has lifted so many of their people from poverty.

There was a time every old scope that crossed my bench was for what it was and the era it was from was well respected but time and experience has moved on for me to only see them now as historical artifacts although there certainly are gems amongst them.

But hey I do get how you and Med get off on fixing these old classics but know that you could make it easier for yourself with a sprinkling of modern gear to help you do it better.

[Cerebus]

Has anyone else noticed how eBay insists on opening a new window each time you click on an item and when you click return to search results, it leaves the window open  does anyone know how this can be altered or is this now a permanent feature of eBay??? If you are looking for something, and you click "Watch this item", it leaves the window open so you end up with loads of open windows 

Doesn't do that here. Yes, I get a new tab/window if I click on a searched item (it's done that for ages) but if I use the 'return to search' link it closes the new tab/window.

[tggzzz]

Not heard of this manufacturer before, no doubt Robert, Cerebus, or tggzzz can elucidate: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224708780108

Not me.

Someone's going to have fun with that mains cable.

[Andrew_Debbie]

You guys need to tell me your user names in the future. I don't really want to bid against you if I can avoid it. 

I'm  sv511 on pp auctions.   pp would not allow me to register with   andrew_debbie  or andrew*debbie.   

[Ice-Tea]

You guys need to tell me your user names in the future. I don't really want to bid against you if I can avoid it. 

Mine, yours and David's aren't difficult to work out Glad you got lots of 7151s

Lol, yeah, it's not like I'm hiding. I think I need to start making a list or something. I said so before, I'll say it again: if you guys have somehting earmarked, let me know. I won't bid on it as long as your leading.

[Cerebus]

Oh I had not yet gathered that there was a 34401A / 34410A duo ! Only the last two digits are swapped, would be easy to think it's a typo ! 
What's the main difference between the too ? Well, other than the 10A being less stable I mean     Any kiiler feature one might find worthwhile ?

Totally different under the skin. The 01A uses the Multislope III ADC, the 10A uses the Multislope IV ADC, which has gone on to form the heart of all the subsequent TrueVolt range (3446x and 34470). The 10A is an LXi instrument, so has ethernet as standard; GPIB is (from memory) an option, not fitted as standard.

[TERRA Operative]

Just like with the Japs...

I don't know if you realise, but that there's a racial slur... 


On the bench at the moment is the PSU module from the scrapped TDS644B I mentioned before that I pulled the CRT from. Blowing mains fuses as soon as the power button was pressed.
I channelled my days of repairing inverter welders and narrowed it down to some main switching mosfets, one that had decided to identify as a resistor.

Off to Mouser to add some IRFP450 mosfets to the cart. I'll change the two relevant parts as a set, they are only a couple bucks and who knows what kind of stress the 'good' one has taken.

In the pic, the two bad ones are the bottom two of the three to the lower left of the big black capacitor.

[med6753]

Initial assessment of the two Type 547's sitting in the garage from last Saturday's haul. Fair warning up front. If you have a weak stomach skip this post. You have been warned.  I pulled all 4 covers and brought them inside for scrubbing in the bathtub. I think they will clean up well and no painting will be required.

I kept smelling something last Saturday on the drive home and now I know why. Scope 1 first. The vertical/plug-in side. Dusty but not too bad.



The PSU side. What a mess. Sawdust and dirt. This will be shop vacuumed out before I'll consider bringing it inside for additional cleaning. And for safety consider it hazmat and wear mask and gloves.




Scope 2. The vertical/plug-in side. Typical dust and dirt.



The PSU side. 



I don't even want to touch that.  The fate of this Type 547 is sealed. Parts unit only and will never be brought inside. I'll vacuum it out as best I can. I don't even want to speculate how all that crap got in there but you can bet rodent pee and crap is mixed in with it. Yuck. 

[AVGresponding]

Insulating material to improve thermal stability?   

[TERRA Operative]

My vote is with a blast with Simple Green and the garden hose on the back lawn after a blow out with compressed air, at a distance, with mask, gloves and Tyvek suit.

[Andrew_Debbie]

Someone's going to have fun with that mains cable.

:yikes:  I would never have plugged that in.        

[Cerebus]

Thanks, OK so  the 53132A is basically a better performing counter than the 53131A, no downsides !  So worth getting if can be found for a similar price as the 53131A.

If you find one without any of the OCXO options, just with the internal XO, you will want to upgrade the timebase. The basic XO is about as nasty as they get, I think basically they include it so it worked out of the box (but cost HP little in BOM terms) for people who were only ever going to feed it from an external reference clock. If you bought one without an option card and didn't have an external reference source you'd be back to buy an option card ten minutes after you'd first turned it on. There are several designs kicking about for DIY OCXO upgrades for the range, including GPSDO ones. With one of the OCXO options it's a fine counter, the top end option (Ultra Stable) is very, very stable, mine drifts considerably less than the specification when compared long term (a week or more) with GPS.

[Andrew_Debbie]

Initial assessment of the two Type 547's sitting in the garage from last Saturday's haul.

I don't even want to touch that.  The fate of this Type 547 is sealed. Parts unit only and will never be brought inside. I'll vacuum it out as best I can. I don't even want to speculate how all that crap got in there but you can bet rodent pee and crap is mixed in with it. Yuck. 

Why not switch it on and let the fan suck out the sawdust.     

[Cerebus]

Not heard of this manufacturer before, no doubt Robert, Cerebus, or tggzzz can elucidate: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224708780108

Not me.

Someone's going to have fun with that mains cable.

Nor me. The S+E logo vaguely rings a bell, but only a tiny handbell; that means I've seen it before but I can't add any useful information beyond that.

[Saskia]

RedHat 8 nouveau driver crashing my graphics card in the company workstation. FFS.
does anybody know how to disable gnome from the console and enable x11 ?

[AVGresponding]

Not heard of this manufacturer before, no doubt Robert, Cerebus, or tggzzz can elucidate: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224708780108

Not me.

Someone's going to have fun with that mains cable.

Nor me. The S+E logo vaguely rings a bell, but only a tiny handbell; that means I've seen it before but I can't add any useful information beyond that.

Found this: https://www.radiomuseum.org/dsp_hersteller_detail.cfm?company_id=12221

[Cerebus]

Just like with the Japs...

I don't know if you realise, but that there's a racial slur... 

Na, just further evidence that Antipodeans feel the need to come up with a two or less syllable shorthand for any word of three or more syllables - I mean, who else would shorten 'afternoon' (and make it easy to confuse with a pear, also shortened because of its terrifying four syllables). 

[mnementh]

Happy Turkey Day, fellow Yank-TEAs!

  Got home yesterday evening and promptly slipped into an over indulgent coma and slept for a straight 4 hours which is unusual for me. Just woke up to take a massive piss and quickly read the blog before going back to bed.

Back on diet today.   

Ditto here. Came back to our hotel last night aboot 10pm, filled to the gills with turkey leg, stuffing, yams and soup from The Mansion Diner (a restaurant in the upper east side; one of my dad's favorite hangouts) and promptly passed out til about a hour ago.   

Went down to the hotel breakfast; came back with nothing but coffee and various omelette-type things.

I am so ready to be back on the low-carb, even if I really can't go back to the hard keto until I have my own kitchen again...

mnem

[tautech]

Just like with the Japs...

I don't know if you realise, but that there's a racial slur... 

Sorry, none intended. 

Yet when I was a kiddy and your country started spreading its wings most of what you produced was genuinely called Jap crap however we can't say the same today and in time we won't be saying such about the Chinese too.
Most of the cars on Kiwi roads are Jap and you guys certainly know how to build them without designed in oil leaks unlike the Poms. 

[med6753]

Just like with the Japs...

I don't know if you realise, but that there's a racial slur... 

Na, just further evidence that Antipodeans feel the need to come up with a two or less syllable shorthand for any word of three or more syllables - I mean, who else would shorten 'afternoon' (and make it easy to confuse with a pear, also shortened because of its terrifying four syllables). 

Will you please stop using words that I have to keep looking up? 

OK......I'll go back in my pram. (I had to look that up too  )

[med6753]

Just like with the Japs...

I don't know if you realise, but that there's a racial slur... 

Sorry, none intended. 

.....snip

Most of the cars on Kiwi roads are Jap and you guys certainly know how to build them without designed in oil leaks unlike the Poms. 

Nice shot across the bow. 

[tautech]

Hey Med, is that mess in the scope not just sawdust ?

[med6753]

Hey Med, is that mess in the scope not just sawdust ?

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Who the freak knows until I start cleaning. But it DOES stink so I suspect more than "just" sawdust.

[AVGresponding]

Hey Med, is that mess in the scope not just sawdust ?

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Who the freak knows until I start cleaning. But it DOES stink so I suspect more than "just" sawdust.

Sawdust infused with magic smoke..?   

[tautech]

Hey Med, is that mess in the scope not just sawdust ?

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Who the freak knows until I start cleaning. But it DOES stink so I suspect more than "just" sawdust.

Some woods do stink as you know but the smell is normally lost after a while as sawdust. Maybe a rat pee'd on the scope and it soaked some in to retain the stink.
Anyways it's probably been stored in a small workshop to get such a coating of dust.....I'm sure it will be just fine Med.