Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

   ...Also got my Wiha screwdriver set from Contorion.

mnem

what's wrong with Wiha ?   Should I have gone for Wera ? or just an el cheapo thingie ?   

LOL... no... oh hell no. Sad Batman is about me, the tool-dwagon, reduced to the Dollarama specials seen above. 

Well, I can't really complain about the orange one; it only cost me $4, is made of half-decent steel and comes with an assortment of shanks similar to your delicious Wiha set there...

But Ohhhh.... the difference in quality between the two is palpable.

mnem
*jelly-dwagon*

[med6753]

Why can't I just do some lady thingies ? like paint my nails, go to Zumba classes, etc ...

By all indications you are a lady....and a tech junkie too. A perfect combination. 

[mansaxel]

what's wrong with Wiha ?
Should I have gone for Wera ? or just an el cheapo thingie ?

I think you're watching envy.

Here's more to watch: Importing a fine German tradition, we have Adventskalender here. Mine is from Wera. Wife's is from L'Occitane. Boys got theirs from Lindt...

[med6753]

UPS didn't show up until 1500 today. Usually here at 1130 or so. The balance of the capacitors for the Type 1A4 plug-in. This is the last, and most valuable, of the 5 plug-in's from the haul 2 weeks ago. Getting this one done takes priority over dusty dawg and dirty dawg. I should be able to finish it tomorrow and then conduct first test.

[Saskia]

what's wrong with Wiha ?
Should I have gone for Wera ? or just an el cheapo thingie ?

I think you're watching envy.

Here's more to watch: Importing a fine German tradition, we have Adventskalender here. Mine is from Wera. Wife's is from L'Occitane. Boys got theirs from Lindt...

I was considering the Wera Adventskalender, but ...
https://lp.hazet.de/hazet-adventskalender.html

*drool*
however I want to save my last moolah bits for a centrotec set.
And an MFT/3. Pricing is nuts for those ...

[AVGresponding]

I'm with you on this one, although the description does also say working as intended, but the power inlet has the nibbled appearance of someone trying to gain entery with a a pair of pliars or something.

The description says "Keithley 2000 Multimeter 6.5 Digit Test Meter spares and repairs.". That's a copy-paste, not sure where you saw the "working as intended" unless you were looking at ebay's definition of "Used".

That IEC socket has been literally hacked in; you can still see the remains of the original socket on the right end of the voltage selector/fuseholder module. Here's what it should look like:




It went for £147 + shipping so someone either got a rough diamond or a couple of weeks of back-and-forth until ebay rules in their favour and they get to mail it back to the seller.



Just been listening to a segment about vulture bees (yes, they do eat carrion) on BBC Inside Science. You learn something new every day, hopefully.

[factory]

Some of the other lots I collected today, spent a bit of time removing the auction labels this afternoon.

Tek 109 pulse gen, originally used by Tek in the UK site according to the back.


Cropico RBB5 decade resistor box, this has 1ohm to 10k ranges, my other one has 10ohm to 100k ranges, I quite like these. This was also in a previous auction and noticeably dusty.


Datapulse (Systron Donner) 101 pulse generator, not in the usual vomit color that my other Systron TE is.



hp 5340A counter with no options, but has all the older front end bits that have been replaced with newer parts in my other one.


hp 8640A signal gen with option 001 (audio oscillator), ex-RAF and in quite poor condition, needs the RIFA madness disarming. 




David

[mnementh]

Thanks Rob, I see. He has my sympathies and my thumbs pressed for his successful relocation to CT.

Honestly, been feeling pretty much useless as tits on a boar hog all day, aside from getting things my wife asks for because she can't get up from the Zoom, etc... and keeping the kids out of her perfectly tidied and shellacked hair while she was on 5, no 6 interviews... 

Such is life when you marry that majestic unicorn... 

But thanks for the good wishes... we'll need 'em.

mnem

[factory]

Need to take some pictures for this page, only have the sellers pictures. 


David

[Cerebus]

I've been out to collect my auction lots today, left at 7.30am & got back around 1.15pm, traffic was OK once I had escaped Stoke,

I didn't realise you were a Stokie. Ost thar reet Duck?

Whereabouts? Somewhere half-civilised like Burslem (home to the best Oatcake shop in the world - or used to be, I gather they're disappearing now), or somewhere less salubrious like Neck End?

[mansaxel]

Sad Batman is about me, the tool-dwagon, reduced to the Dollarama specials seen above. 

I feel for you. I never go on roadtrips without my toolcase, if I can avoid it. I felt a bit naked as I went to install gear on the other side of the country a couple weeks ago. I had only my small Wera set (an Adventskalender gift from 2018ish) and a Facom bit driver. That was actually enough to pop cage-nuts and drive M6 Philips (that would be No. 3 driver, nothing else!) screws in racks, because I've augmented the Wera kit with a Cage Nut Fitting Tool.

Side rant: There is absolutely no quarter given to fucking idiots who import inferior shit-racks from the US into Europe. Round holes or even worse, UNC threaded holes in metal rails, have no place in a proper metric European Union. Holes in rack strips are three per HE, and square. Bloody fucking period. Full stop.

My thumbs are firmly held for you being able to settle at least enough to get the Trailer Of Doom unloaded soon-ish. That, IIRC, would put you in a better position, tool-wise, than me. Which is cool.

[factory]

Last of the items from the auction for tonight, hp 745A & home-made amplifier that uses bits from the 746A tomorrow.

hp 181A 181T oscilloscope (actually spectrum analyzer frame) with 1801A four channel input & 1825A delaying timebase plug-ins (no tunnel diodes in these), all rear feet present for a change.



This was sold as a 181A, the 181T is probably more useful if I end up with some SA plug-ins (didn't win the spares lot with some in).


David

[mansaxel]

hp 8640A signal gen with option 001 (audio oscillator), ex-RAF and in quite poor condition, needs the RIFA madness disarming. 

Now there's envy from over here. I want a 8640. Then I'm going to want a SA. And a power meter.

[Specmaster]

...This picture in particular has my TEA-senses tingling:      I'm guessing almost all the magic smoke has escaped from this one...

I'm with you on this one, although the description does also say working as intended, but the power inlet has the nibbled appearance of someone trying to gain entery with a a pair of pliars or something.

Look closer, Spec... this IEC socket does not belong here; there are no screw holes for it. Somebody cobbled a salvaged one on there to get it on the 'bay.

Prolly the original Shaffner IEC went up in a cloud of smoke, prompting its demise to the e-cyclers. If you're really lucky, that's all that went wrong. But the g'rilla abuse sustained otherwise would suggest not likely the case...

mnem
 

Correct, I was so intent on looking scorch or smoke marks after reading Anders comments that I missed that important detail, instead I picked up what looked to me as broken bits of the plastic body of the socket. I'll step outside the door and stick the dunces hat on, shall I 

[Saskia]

hp 8640A signal gen with option 001 (audio oscillator), ex-RAF and in quite poor condition, needs the RIFA madness disarming. 

Now there's envy from over here. I want a 8640. Then I'm going to want a SA. And a power meter.

I want a Trident 2. But I don't always get what I want ...

Just kidding.
Good luck.

[factory]

I've been out to collect my auction lots today, left at 7.30am & got back around 1.15pm, traffic was OK once I had escaped Stoke,

I didn't realise you were a Stokie. Ost thar reet Duck?

Whereabouts? Somewhere half-civilised like Burslem (home to the best Oatcake shop in the world - or used to be, I gather they're disappearing now), or somewhere less salubrious like Neck End?

I kind of worded that badly, I passed through Stoke, I don't live there (near Crewe actually), I hate driving through Stoke though. 

David

[Specmaster]

I'm with you on this one, although the description does also say working as intended, but the power inlet has the nibbled appearance of someone trying to gain entery with a a pair of pliars or something.

The description says "Keithley 2000 Multimeter 6.5 Digit Test Meter spares and repairs.". That's a copy-paste, not sure where you saw the "working as intended" unless you were looking at ebay's definition of "Used".

That IEC socket has been literally hacked in; you can still see the remains of the original socket on the right end of the voltage selector/fuseholder module. Here's what it should look like:




It went for £147 + shipping so someone either got a rough diamond or a couple of weeks of back-and-forth until ebay rules in their favour and they get to mail it back to the seller.



Just been listening to a segment about vulture bees (yes, they do eat carrion) on BBC Inside Science. You learn something new every day, hopefully.

Yes, I did see it in the eBays definition of used. TBH honest I always look at that as it is selected by the seller and in the past when I have had to invoke a claim, I have used statement successfully and eBay have found in my favour.

[mnementh]

...Here is the Sullivan T2900 I got:



These were made after HW Sullivan had been taken over by the AVO/Megger group at Dover.
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/H._W._Sullivan

David

Uhhh, David... Looks like the random wandering singularity ate your pic of the T2900. You'll need to fix your other post or folks will think you don't know the diff between a wiggle-meter and a wiggle-scope.

Cheers,

mnem
 

[factory]

Yes just noticed that and added another picture to correct it, no doubt some older posts will be screwed because of it. 

It's currently a no-wiggle meter. 

David

[mnementh]

Sad Batman is about me, the tool-dwagon, reduced to the Dollarama specials seen above. 

...My thumbs are firmly held for you being able to settle at least enough to get the Trailer Of Doom unloaded soon-ish. That, IIRC, would put you in a better position, tool-wise, than me. Which is cool.

Those tools you linked to are some nice tools in their own right... *sigh* 

I did toy with the idea of putting together a small "worse-case scenario" bag of tools, but we were at the storage unit for 6 hours already; the kids and wifey were freezing their patience off, and my hands were numb even with gloves on from wiping away the snow that started falling just as we pulled up to unload. I decided the best tool for the job would be a credit-card and a tab open on Amazon; in theory still true pretty much anywhere except NYC, apparently.

Yes, it would be nice to put hands on those old friends again sometime soon... I especially miss the marble bench-top.

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Yes just noticed that and added another picture to correct it, no doubt some older posts will be screwed because of it. 

It's currently a no-wiggle meter. 

David

Yeah, I found from my own adventures here that it helps if you leave the borked pic attached and just add a corrected replacement, then point the inline link towards that. Not 100% sure, but it seemed after I started doing that, the serial post-borkage like falling Dominoes did stop.

I'm not worried about the T2900 in the least bit; quite confident you'll have it up and wiggling its waggle in no time. 

mnem
Ω

[Vince]

Some of the other lots I collected today, spent a bit of time removing the auction labels this afternoon.

Tek 109 pulse gen, originally used by Tek in the UK site according to the back.

Wow it looks so cute, would love to have one !! Would love to have all sorts of cool little things of that vintage like that to go with my glowing Tek scopes.

When you get bored with it you can sell it to me 

250ps rise time not bad for such an ancient device !

[0culus]

hp 8640A signal gen with option 001 (audio oscillator), ex-RAF and in quite poor condition, needs the RIFA madness disarming. 

Now there's envy from over here. I want a 8640. Then I'm going to want a SA. And a power meter.

You really want the 8640B though. The A is less desirable due to the lack of phase lock. It's not as stable as a synthesized signal generator, but it was innovative at the time and it's hard to beat the phase noise spec of these cavity oscillators. Both will likely suffer from front panel issues due to the plastic gearing.

[tautech]

hp 8640A signal gen with option 001 (audio oscillator), ex-RAF and in quite poor condition, needs the RIFA madness disarming. 

Now there's envy from over here. I want a 8640. Then I'm going to want a SA. And a power meter.

You really want the 8640B though. The A is less desirable due to the lack of phase lock. It's not as stable as a synthesized signal generator, but it was innovative at the time and it's hard to beat the phase noise spec of these cavity oscillators. Both will likely suffer from front panel issues due to the plastic gearing.

Yeah the frequency adjustment mechanism in my 520 MHz HP8654B can be a right PITA and too scared to get in there to find out why. 
So got a new RF gen that don't give such issues.........

[0culus]

hp 8640A signal gen with option 001 (audio oscillator), ex-RAF and in quite poor condition, needs the RIFA madness disarming. 

Now there's envy from over here. I want a 8640. Then I'm going to want a SA. And a power meter.

You really want the 8640B though. The A is less desirable due to the lack of phase lock. It's not as stable as a synthesized signal generator, but it was innovative at the time and it's hard to beat the phase noise spec of these cavity oscillators. Both will likely suffer from front panel issues due to the plastic gearing.

Yeah the frequency adjustment mechanism in my 520 MHz HP8654B can be a right PITA and too scared to get in there to find out why. 
So got a new RF gen that don't give such issues.........

I got a "newer" one that manages to be heavier than my already heavy 8640B....the 8664A synthesized sig gen with the low phase noise option. And the low leakage case. RIP if you need to either (1) move it, (2) get inside the case (>=50 screws), or worse...both.  Luckily I got a *nice* 8640B that has a good front panel and is well optioned. It has 50W reverse power protection too, which is nice. Between the two I have very nice clean signals up to 3 GHz though. I have an 8672A for 2-18 GHz.