Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mansaxel]

Mastercard frequency completely shits a brick here as well which is annoying because VISA were so abhorrent that everyone switched to it so both my debit and credit cards and ApplePay surrogates are tied to MasterCard. Grr.

I have debit card in Visa system, and credit cards are Amex and Mastercard. For this exact reason.

[mnementh]

Very reminiscent of the failure on my NASA 2465...   

Which I'm hoping is caused by the SPMS needing to be recapped, but fear may be a corrupted EEPROM caused by running with a fuxxored SMPS. Probably why I've put it off, even though I've had it back for a few months now.

mnem
*currently engaged in a project very similar to Vince's last Odyssey*

I thought you said it was recapped, I would check it outputs & ripple first, before thinking about anything else.

   Edit: Here is what my 2445A looked like after replacing the original caps (same morse code readout as before  ), still haven't got round to diagnosing the processor/readout boards, due to lack of time & space.

David

Yeah, it was one I did like 10 years ago, maybe more... with "new from my stores" stock I had on hand, as I'd done quite a few by then and just wanted to get it done with. Wouldn't surprise me if one or more of those I used are now well past their best by date;  I purged all that stock a couple-three years ago, as it was all at least 20 years old.

And of course, my own "personal" 2465 which I've owned since it was like 3 years old... that is exhibiting similar "mental degradation" when I fired it up after getting the new bench built... so yeah, I'm gonna be getting to do that one a 2nd time as well.

mnem

"The repair queue never ends; it just loops back on itself..."

[AVGresponding]

That's entirely possible. It's not uncommon for one of the intermediary payment service providers (or Merchant Services in the lingo of that particular trade) to be T.I.T.S.U.P. while all the others are working perfectly.

Yep has happened to me numerous times and it's very embarrassing because even if it's obviously a merchant failure, the vendor says it's your fault for not having any money. Mastercard frequency completely shits a brick here as well which is annoying because VISA were so abhorrent that everyone switched to it so both my debit and credit cards and ApplePay surrogates are tied to MasterCard. Grr.

I had enough cash to cover it once which was good because I made sure I paid only the amount down to the penny without a tip for embarrassing me loudly and they had to go and borrow some change from some staff to do it. That'll teach them 


Just had some Saturday afternoon fun. Moved my middle one's Lenovo T495 to Windows 11. Two observations, resulting in increasing love for this MacBook Pro:

1. Holy hell the screen on the T495 is awful. It actually hurts my eyes to look at one now. And that's not really that bad for a PC.
2. Windows 11 is absolutely dire, but slightly less dire than windows 10. It's a step in the right direction. I think Windows 13 might actually be usable.


Dunstable trip planned, cash withdrawn, hamfest bingo card at the ready:



I laugh now but that is probably me down the line 

Fair chance you'll run into this gentleman there:

[AVGresponding]

[Cerebus]

Eee, Juliet. Thee look like thee 'ad a rough night.

[AVGresponding]

That's Quasimodo...

[Vince]

I thought he looked a bit like McGyver ?! 

[factory]

Very reminiscent of the failure on my NASA 2465...   

Which I'm hoping is caused by the SPMS needing to be recapped, but fear may be a corrupted EEPROM caused by running with a fuxxored SMPS. Probably why I've put it off, even though I've had it back for a few months now.

mnem
*currently engaged in a project very similar to Vince's last Odyssey*

I thought you said it was recapped, I would check it outputs & ripple first, before thinking about anything else.

   Edit: Here is what my 2445A looked like after replacing the original caps (same morse code readout as before  ), still haven't got round to diagnosing the processor/readout boards, due to lack of time & space.

David

Yeah, it was one I did like 10 years ago, maybe more... with "new from my stores" stock I had on hand, as I'd done quite a few by then and just wanted to get it done with. Wouldn't surprise me if one or more of those I used are now well past their best by date;  I purged all that stock a couple-three years ago, as it was all at least 20 years old.

And of course, my own "personal" 2465 which I've owned since it was like 3 years old... that is exhibiting similar "mental degradation" when I fired it up after getting the new bench built... so yeah, I'm gonna be getting to do that one a 2nd time as well.

mnem

"The repair queue never ends; it just loops back on itself..."

OK carry on and hope they haven't pee'd themselves & eaten the traces. 

David

[Vince]

OH ! I see Cerebus just hit the 10,000 posts milestone, spot on !

Does he get a special kind of cookie or something ?! 

[factory]

Postman has been and left me a parcel that was only posted yesterday, so that's a result. In it was another calculator (no not an RPN one either) but a rather complicated one nonetheless, this HP 10bii+ has a steep learning curve, no manual came with it, but have downloaded one, all 187 pages of it 

In other news, the parts for the monitor power supply repair have all now arrived as well, so will be cracking on with that soon. In the meantime, I have been working on a Texas TI58 programmable old school calculator that had suffered the rechargeable battery clusterfuck that these early calculators suffered when they built the batteries into the plastic compartment door in the back. That meant you had to buy new packs from Texas  . This is a project that I started sometime ago and then shelved awaiting a suitable solution, which I now have, some battery packs for old BT cordless phones.

I show photos of this now working, but still some refinements to do yet, one of which is sourcing some of the power sockets that plug in the side of the Calc to recharge the battery, can anyone identify the cable mounted socket that I need?

Would this TI thingy work? It's hard to make out some numbers, but looks to read 6.2V AC output.




David

[AVGresponding]

OH ! I see Cerebus just hit the 10,000 posts milestone, spot on !

Does he get a special kind of cookie or something ?! 

No, he gets a slap for spamming

[Cerebus]

OH ! I see Cerebus just hit the 10,000 posts milestone, spot on !

Does he get a special kind of cookie or something ?! 

No, he gets a slap for spamming

This from a green inker!

[tggzzz]

OH ! I see Cerebus just hit the 10,000 posts milestone, spot on !

Does he get a special kind of cookie or something ?! 

No, he gets a slap for spamming

This from a green inker!

Tee hee.

But I believe it is teal, one of the 16 true colours from the Win3.1 palette.

[mansaxel]

Annual suspension refurbish of the tractor going on. So far, have managed to find two ABS rings in Sad++ state, one ABS sensor scarred by above, and have been set back by lack of tooling.

Shopping list now includes:

15mm swivel joint wrench -- I have dimensions for the old models, but every screw head seems to have shrunk.

Puller of suitable size.

Penetrating oil.

Puller worked. Have one control arm fully off now, but need to heat the remaining screw for the other one.  The actual shop manual instruction is to loosen the engine a bit, jack it out of the way, and then use normal tooling. Not going to do that.

The knuckle joint broke loose nicely on the second one too, though.

Penetrating oil applied, liberally. Next attempt tomorrow.

[bd139]

OH ! I see Cerebus just hit the 10,000 posts milestone, spot on !

Does he get a special kind of cookie or something ?! 

No, he gets a slap for spamming

Gonna just hide here in the corner and whistle innocently. No not a spammer at all 

[mnementh]

*cough20K+cough*

mnem

[Brumby]

Yeah, I noticed that too.   


I wonder what the number would be if he hadn't taken that sabbatical.

[Specmaster]

Postman has been and left me a parcel that was only posted yesterday, so that's a result. In it was another calculator (no not an RPN one either) but a rather complicated one nonetheless, this HP 10bii+ has a steep learning curve, no manual came with it, but have downloaded one, all 187 pages of it 

In other news, the parts for the monitor power supply repair have all now arrived as well, so will be cracking on with that soon. In the meantime, I have been working on a Texas TI58 programmable old school calculator that had suffered the rechargeable battery clusterfuck that these early calculators suffered when they built the batteries into the plastic compartment door in the back. That meant you had to buy new packs from Texas  . This is a project that I started sometime ago and then shelved awaiting a suitable solution, which I now have, some battery packs for old BT cordless phones.

I show photos of this now working, but still some refinements to do yet, one of which is sourcing some of the power sockets that plug in the side of the Calc to recharge the battery, can anyone identify the cable mounted socket that I need?

Would this TI thingy work? It's hard to make out some numbers, but looks to read 6.2V AC output.




David

I do believe that is the right power brick for it as it runs on 3 rechargeable AA cells connected in series so 6.2V would be about the right voltage for charging.

[tautech]

Yeah, I noticed that too.   


I wonder what the number would be if he hadn't taken that sabbatical.

#2 behind Dave by now for sure.

[mnementh]

Boring Mundane Everyday Print #312: Meanwell PSU Endcaps   

         AutoDesk Online 3D Viewer

I've had this ugly-ass Meanwell 24V PSU on my desk ever since the original power brick from my 32" Cinema display kakked. I finally got tired enough of looking at it to do something; I decided to whip this out so I could put it away.

Endcaps are a press-fit, and allow for use of a salvaged C14 socket and DC power cord from an old AiO PC. And I finally found a use for Deans' connectors that doesn't make me wanna cringe.     This is actually part 1 of a bigger project; if part 2 is successful, I'll update with more pics.

As always; full details and 3DP nerd stats are over on the 3DP thread:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/3d-printing/3d-printer-yet/msg4188976/#msg4188976

mnem

[BU508A]

Shahriar from TSP has bought a Sencore LC103:



He is also looking for the software.

[capt bullshot]

This is one of my favourites



First time miniature cars racing on the destination track. Pretty much interesting technology, the cars have small magnets and are driven by coils embedded in the PCBs. Some kind of linear motors.

[BU508A]

This is one of my favourites

https://youtu.be/SQwLv74-ZY4

First time miniature cars racing on the destination track. Pretty much interesting technology, the cars have small magnets and are driven by coils embedded in the PCBs. Some kind of linear motors.

Yes, I'm following this project since years and I'm really glad, that a successful end is in sight.   
I was always wondering, which PCB manufacturer it is, producing those crazy PCBs.
Today, Gerrit revealed it: it is B&B Sachsenelektronik GmbH (never heard of them).

Looking forward for the first F1 race in Monaco Miniatur Wonderland. 

[Peter_O]

Postman has been and left me a parcel that was only posted yesterday, so that's a result. In it was another calculator (no not an RPN one either) but a rather complicated one nonetheless, this HP 10bii+ has a steep learning curve, no manual came with it, but have downloaded one, all 187 pages of it 

In other news, the parts for the monitor power supply repair have all now arrived as well, so will be cracking on with that soon. In the meantime, I have been working on a Texas TI58 programmable old school calculator that had suffered the rechargeable battery clusterfuck that these early calculators suffered when they built the batteries into the plastic compartment door in the back. That meant you had to buy new packs from Texas  . This is a project that I started sometime ago and then shelved awaiting a suitable solution, which I now have, some battery packs for old BT cordless phones.

I show photos of this now working, but still some refinements to do yet, one of which is sourcing some of the power sockets that plug in the side of the Calc to recharge the battery, can anyone identify the cable mounted socket that I need?

Would this TI thingy work? It's hard to make out some numbers, but looks to read 6.2V AC output.




David

I do believe that is the right power brick for it as it runs on 3 rechargeable AA cells connected in series so 6.2V would be about the right voltage for charging.

Confirmed.
It's 6.2V AC, 200mA
50Hz over here.

Pulled the stuff from my sentimental catacombs and here are some more pictures.



   

   

[bd139]

Hamfest haul. Mostly ARRL books for eBay. Trying to keep purchases reasonable for house move. Bumped into Robert and tggzz.

1x HP 427A (thanks Robert)
1x HP 3456A £15
1x Tek 2465 SMM £5
2x QRP classics £1
1x Solid state design 50p
1x QRP power 50p
1x ARRL handbook 80p
1x Design notebook 80p

Books bounce for £15-35 each. Fuel covered