Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[factory]

Meets quite a few criteria,
Test equipment tick
Nixie tube tick
Ham related tick
It works tick
Happy camper here

Does need sl weird power supply (220v, we have 240v and with all the solar feed in, it often hits 250v)

Nice.
For power make up a buck transformer. A 240V to 24 or 30 V (2x12 or 2x13 V) transformer. Primary across mains supply, secondary in series ANTI-PHASE between input live and output live. Neutral common to input and output. A 30 VA (1 A) transformer is good for 220 VA load.  A 500 VA 30 Volt Toroid is good for a a whole 16 Amp circuit.

No need to do that, the transformer has multiple taps for different voltages, apparently can be run on low voltage DC too, mine has been bodged in a rather unsafe way by a previous owner/user.   
Pics are a bit crap, I would take some better ones but it's in storage.



David

[TERRA Operative]

Meets quite a few criteria,
Test equipment tick
Nixie tube tick
Ham related tick
It works tick
Happy camper here

Does need sl weird power supply (220v, we have 240v and with all the solar feed in, it often hits 250v)

These pop up in Japan every so often.
I have the similar looking Takeda Riken one (now known as Advantest) which I restored a while back. It's on the pile of stuff-to-be-sold when I get around to it, I have a few Nixie counters and I don't need this one as I have two HP 5340A 18 GHz counters (with nixie displays) on the healing bench.

[factory]

And those were sold as Philips over here, also runs on low voltage DC.


David

[TERRA Operative]

I got schematics and stuff if anyone needs them.

[Neper]

We had a lot of stuff round the various stations with large, fancy chrome "Fernseh" badges.

One of those is still decorating a shelf in my office.

The company was called Fernseh GmbH ("Television Ltd.") from 1939 to 1972, later Bosch Fernsehanlagen GmbH, then Broadcast Television Systems (BTS) in a joint venture with Philips and later went through various hands including Thomson and Belden. The remains are now known as Grass Valley Germany.

[mnementh]

         

Tektronix  P/N 067-0589-00 7000 Series Plugin Extender & Cal Fixture


Oooooh... that is def gonna generate some interest if it is seen in the right circles. Plus those pics are good enuf that I feel a need to post them here for posterity as a future technical resource.

mnem
 

eBay auction: #275035088122

10 more hours...     

It's too early for Christmas presents 

The joy of vintage Tek never comes too early or too late; it always comes at exactly the time it is meant to. 

mnem
The universe can be funny that way... 

[mnementh]

Was chatting to our Larry Major in Perth today and asked him what he's currently getting for tool money as a Marine Cabby with 10+ yrs experience which much to my shock was $5/hr which for his current 50hr weeks is a forking $250/wk ! That's more than I used to earn as a tradesman in the 80's ! 

...When a dad says you're best to go and see the world and how the other half live you don't just expect them to become that other half ! 

Every parent hopes to be the springboard off which their children leap further than they ever could. Congratulations! 

mnem
 

[mnementh]

My experience is at both ends of the pendulum.  Some of the best thinkers and productive workers have been Millennials.  The worst ones that I have seen are also Millennials, absolutely full of entitlement and laziness.
I suspect none of them are going to last long though, either being let go or burning out...

After most of a lifetime, my experience is simply summed up as "There are good X people, there are bad X people", for X= {old, young, black, white, piebald, tall, short, fat, thin, US, UK, etc etc etc}.

Don't lazily pigeon-hole a person, unless you want to be like most (but not all) human resources droids.

Yeah, that is of course the truth; so many times I've had to face similar assumptions because of my country boy appearance or later because I'm overweight. The assumption I face most often is that my back problems are a result of being a fat slob, rather than the other way around. It isn't until I get bizzay and get shit done even though it hurts that goes away. Though, it does get tiring to have to prove it every. fucking. time... 

Ehhh... yeah, I think the gravity of my current situation may be weighing a bit heavily right now. All y'alls would probably do best to ignore the snark and hopefully just understand I'm feeling a bit clobbered by IRL ATM.

Cheers,

mnem

[mnementh]

...Does need sl weird power supply (220v, we have 240v and with all the solar feed in, it often hits 250v)

Nice.
For power make up a buck transformer. A 240V to 24 or 30 V (2x12 or 2x13 V) transformer. Primary across mains supply, secondary in series ANTI-PHASE between input live and output live. Neutral common to input and output. A 30 VA (1 A) transformer is good for 220 VA load.  A 500 VA 30 Volt Toroid is good for a a whole 16 Amp circuit.

   eBay auction: #294582845688

I was thinking one of these, only the correct voltage. I can't count the number of these I pulled during a rack & stack back in the day; had a whole pallet of them from one site I blew out on fleaBay at $50/pop just to get them out of the garage.

mnem
*tzzzzt* 

[mnementh]

...EDIT: Yes, the EICO 667 also tests transistors, but I don't have much use for that. I already have one of those inexpensive clone "transistor testers".

EDIT EDIT:Old phone numbers in the USA were 5 digits, prepended by a couple of letters. That's before my time.

That EICO is a conductance tester which makes it a good score.  The cheaper "emissions" tube testers only basically test filament and look for gross shorts. I've considered getting one but I generally adhere to the Tektronix method that states substitute if you suspect bad. Other than that leave it alone. 

I remember phone numbers with numbers/letters. My old home number was AX7-3356. "AX" stood for "Axminister". I don't remember prior to that where it would have been 2 letters and 4 numbers. But I do remember when there were no area codes and no zip codes.     

It snowed last night. Just a dusting but it's Mother Nature's warning. 

Yeah, old man Basche usedta say the latter type "is a people-tester, not a choob-tester".   

The furthest back in prehistoric telecom I can remember is that when we first came to the Finger Lakes region, we had a party line. Grand-dad was always yelling at us kids to shut the fuck up so he could count the rings.

mnem
"Hello... this is the United States calling; are we reaching...?"

[factory]

...Does need sl weird power supply (220v, we have 240v and with all the solar feed in, it often hits 250v)

Nice.
For power make up a buck transformer. A 240V to 24 or 30 V (2x12 or 2x13 V) transformer. Primary across mains supply, secondary in series ANTI-PHASE between input live and output live. Neutral common to input and output. A 30 VA (1 A) transformer is good for 220 VA load.  A 500 VA 30 Volt Toroid is good for a a whole 16 Amp circuit.

   eBay auction: #294582845688

I was thinking one of these, only the correct voltage. I can't count the number of these I pulled during a rack & stack back in the day; had a whole pallet of them from one site I blew out on fleaBay at $50/pop just to get them out of the garage.

mnem
*tzzzzt* 

That's a bit excessive for the frequency counter being discussed, it must be at least four times the size of the counter and it already has voltage taps for 100Vac to 234Vac (18VA). Probably easier the counter to run off 12Vdc, as mentioned in the manual pdf on the web.

David

[mnementh]

When I became a system test technician back in the early 1970's I was issued a damn nice attache case full of tools. In the following years they were hiring so many techs and the fancy case became a somewhat cheap little red toolbox with minimal tools. Then over the years somehow some select techs were issued full roll about tool cases. Then about 7 years ago they confiscated every one of them.   

Similar here over the course of numerous different gigs. There was a scuffle with security when one gig employer tried to "confiscate" my personal toolkit as company property. I called the local constabulary and was escorted from the property, but with my toolkit firmly in my own hands.

That was a staffing agency gig... every damned one are nothing but gawddamn abattoirs in shiny glass & chrome feeding the worst meat-grinders of industry, even the best of them...

mnem
and I'll probably be working for one of them again before long...

[mnementh]

...Does need sl weird power supply (220v, we have 240v and with all the solar feed in, it often hits 250v)

Nice.
For power make up a buck transformer. A 240V to 24 or 30 V (2x12 or 2x13 V) transformer. Primary across mains supply, secondary in series ANTI-PHASE between input live and output live. Neutral common to input and output. A 30 VA (1 A) transformer is good for 220 VA load.  A 500 VA 30 Volt Toroid is good for a a whole 16 Amp circuit.

   eBay auction: #294582845688

I was thinking one of these, only the correct voltage. I can't count the number of these I pulled during a rack & stack back in the day; had a whole pallet of them from one site I blew out on fleaBay at $50/pop just to get them out of the garage.

mnem
*tzzzzt* 

That's a bit excessive for the frequency counter being discussed, it must be at least four times the size of the counter and it already has voltage taps for 100Vac to 234Vac (18VA). Probably easier the counter to run off 12Vdc, as mentioned in the manual pdf on the web.

David

Yeah, probably overkill for a single device, but OTOH, they're usually also pretty cheap and can power a whole branch circuit for future-proofing. At least the 120V ones can usually be bought for ~$100 almost any day of the week.

I've always been a believer in proper power conditioning anyways; if you can't have a nice chonky rack-mount UPS, I'd still prefer one of these, and most 240V gear will run quite happily off 220V.

mnem
 

[Neper]

I was thinking one of these, only the correct voltage.

There's a magnetic voltage stabilizer, model Konstanze VI, made in East Germany, in my basement lab. Used it to stabilise the voltage for the lamp of my colour enlarger. 

[TERRA Operative]

Hmm, gotta make a circuit up to test my HP 10811 OCXO, figured I'll make a nice-ish one to make things easy and reusable.

Anyone know of a relatively simple way to make an adjustable -5 to +5VDC voltage from a supply voltage of around +20-30VDC (For the EFC control)?

[mnementh]

We had a lot of stuff round the various stations with large, fancy chrome "Fernseh" badges.

   One of those is still decorating a shelf in my office.

The company was called Fernseh GmbH ("Television Ltd.") from 1939 to 1972, later Bosch Fernsehanlagen GmbH, then Broadcast Television Systems (BTS) in a joint venture with Philips and later went through various hands including Thomson and Belden. The remains are now known as Grass Valley Germany.

   Heh... that logo looks so nefarious, like something out of The Prisoner... 

Huh... AMC did a remake in 2009, with Ian McKellen & Jim Caviezel: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1043714/

mnem
 

[TERRA Operative]

A variac controlled automatic voltage regulator could work, I have this one that I never get around to actually using.. I'm thinking of using it for my 5065A Rubidium standard when I finally get it fixed (Hence the OCXO post above).

[Neper]

Heh... that logo looks so nefarious, like something out of The Prisoner... 

An eye with wings. Isn't that what tele-vision is all about? ;-)

[factory]

This has to be the oldest Solartron I've seen so far: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334232124623

Hmmmmm... I do believe I see 3DP spacers made to refit that with modern output terminals and color coding. While I personally couldn't care less, it does set off the ol' anachronism detector something fierce... 

Another thought... do we really know if that was even made by the same Solartron we know & love for their "special" connectors...?

mnem
no    for me...

Yes. https://www.radiomuseum.org/dsp_hersteller_detail.cfm?company_id=8231

Looks to be a newer version of the SRS153 here;
https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=160377

The terminals might be replacements but I doubt the spacers are 3DP, but they are fairly old too, probably the sort RS components used to sell.
Note: these are unregulated PSU's.

David

When you've made a bunch of little bits & bobs like these spacers, you get a pretty good feel for what the finished surface looks like and how light bounces off it, or doesn't. I'll admit the pics are just too rubbish to be sure; but my gut reaction, especially looking at these two pics, is 3DP spacers made to use up some old terminals somebody had in the parts drawer.

mnem

Those spacers are more likely to have been machined from nylon rod, wouldn't have taken that long to do.
The reason they had to do that was due to the larger holes left from the Belling & Lee terminals that were originally fitted, whoever did this wanted to use 4mm plugs and only had those smaller replacements.



Seems the "no power supply for it" as they call it is due to the old Bulgin mains connector, I'm guessing the power lead was either missing, or the seller decided it looked unsafe. 
Even the RS catalog from 1984 states certain types of both sizes of Bulgin connector, with the cover that can be removed without tools, are only rated for 50V unless inaccessible. 
If only those sellers on ePay knew this, selling those connectors at silly prices for old amps and other equipment. 


David

[mnementh]

Heh... that logo looks so nefarious, like something out of The Prisoner... 

An eye with wings. Isn't that what tele-vision is all about? ;-)

LOL... grand-dad usedta call such logos and signage "eyeball thieves", as they were designed to steal your attention away involuntarily from what you needed to be doing.

mnem
 

[Neper]

Even the RS catalog from 1984 states certain types of both sizes of Bulgin connector, with the cover that can be removed without tools, are only rated for 50V unless inaccessible. 
If only those sellers on ePay knew this, selling those connectors at silly prices for old amps and other equipment.

RS still carry them. I've just recently bought half a dozen for my 1970s vintage Korn & Macway audio gear.

[factory]

Even the RS catalog from 1984 states certain types of both sizes of Bulgin connector, with the cover that can be removed without tools, are only rated for 50V unless inaccessible. 
If only those sellers on ePay knew this, selling those connectors at silly prices for old amps and other equipment.

RS still carry them. I've just recently bought half a dozen for my 1970s vintage Korn & Macway audio gear.

I've only noticed the smaller ones are still made, as I mentioned here;
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/wtb-(nz)-3-pin-bulgin-conector/

David

[tggzzz]

... old Bulgin mains connector ...

...  words and pictures. That's sick.

I was having a reasonable afternoon until then, just having been offered some boat anchor Macaroni sig gens - which I probably haven't got room for!

[Robert763]

Hmm, gotta make a circuit up to test my HP 10811 OCXO, figured I'll make a nice-ish one to make things easy and reusable.

Anyone know of a relatively simple way to make an adjustable -5 to +5VDC voltage from a supply voltage of around +20-30VDC (For the EFC control)?

I used a small (1W) 12V output isolated DC-DC converter with lots of fitering and two 5V references in series. Common is junction of 5V refs and output was a 10T pot across the 10V giving +- 5V

[vk6zgo]

Meets quite a few criteria,
Test equipment tick
Nixie tube tick
Ham related tick
It works tick
Happy camper here

Does need sl weird power supply (220v, we have 240v and with all the solar feed in, it often hits 250v)

West Oz used to be 250v, & plenty of devices with supposedly lower voltage ratings operated merrily for decades.

As factory has pointed out, the thing has adjustable transformer primary taps.
A "234" volt setting will operate ok on 250v "till the cows come home".