Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tautech]

Random weird night out...........

And on that note, while I’m still slightly intoxicated, spendy spendy time 

So you didn't get laid and need a cheer me up. 

I was with two married women so yep 

So predictable ! 

[Robert763]

Got some TE last week but no time to play.
First was the Fluke 8060A. As expected dim segments but otherwise OK. I'll do the zebra strip later. It appears that I have SIX 8060As Four working (inc. new one) one for repair and one parts unit.
The one for repair has a round green sticker on it. It was my first 8060A I've had it well over 25 years. Like a lot of the early ones it suffered from display "bleed". I bought a new LCD with upgrade kit from Fluke years ago. It was one of the last, if not the last, one they had in the UK. This was of course long before the 8060A became popular. The spares unit was missing the LCD when I got it.
I've stuck a few sets of electrolytics for 8060A in my Farnell basket and will order them tomorrow.

Another package arrived today. A set of Hirschmann "micro" DMM leads. Kit part No. PMS0,94. Clearly unused and originally supplied by Farnell these cost £40 a set. No other bids on ebay at 99P start and £2.99 postage. CGot to be a winner 

[mnementh]

...No nothing. They initially said they would not sell to an individual outside the USA. So now I have a registered company  but it's not enough apparently. I still have no idea what are their requirements.

Now I need to find a way to recuperate the 37$ I spent to create a company. I'm thinking of passing all the TEA purchases on the company for tax purpose

I'd say that you should request those specific end use criteria documents; their process should require that they provide that reference. Unless you can't be arsed to pursue any further, of course.     mnem   Bureaucracy is just another word for "Fuck you."

Nahhh i'm done with them already. I don't have the time for that crap.

I hear that. I've updated my post in the What Did You Buy Today? thread with a brief recounting of this development:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what-did-you-buy-today-post-your-latest-purchase!/

If that's too much detail, lemme know and I'll edit.

Thanks again for hookin' a dwagon up, tho!


mnem
 

[mnementh]

On the subject of floppy drives......

There's 80 seconds of my life I'll never get back.

mnem
  no.

[mnementh]

FML... No, I was joking that the manuals are so effing big, even the PDFs go WHUMMMMMP! on my desk...     mnem   

Ah, OK. 
Anyways, ditch the manuals for now until you need dive into some of the more advanced stuff and start swatting up on most of its functionality here:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/what-an-oscilloscope-recommended-for-a-woman-passionate-about-electronics/
This is about a SDS1202X-E, same as bd139 has, and the UI is very similar to your new Siglent LeCroy albeit yours has some more advanced features.....AWG, PA sorta stuff.

Thanks for the resources... yeah, it's a bit daunting. Tho I do wanna get into the AWG features, since my little cheapie UTG962E appears to have developed a fuckeroo on channel 2 since I packed it up in the GWN. Up until now I've been utterly amazed at the bang/buck of the thing; but a 2 year life cycle is not a good review point. 

Like I said before when someone asked for a recommendation... if I were looking for a new scope, I'd probably let you sell me one. I weren't looking with this one, but you still managed to sell me on it. 

Thanks! 

mnem
*toddles off to forage in the kitchen*

[Vince]

Got some TE last week but no time to play.
First was the Fluke 8060A. As expected dim segments but otherwise OK. I'll do the zebra strip later. It appears that I have SIX 8060As Four working (inc. new one) one for repair and one parts unit.
The one for repair has a round green sticker on it. It was my first 8060A I've had it well over 25 years. Like a lot of the early ones it suffered from display "bleed". I bought a new LCD with upgrade kit from Fluke years ago. It was one of the last, if not the last, one they had in the UK. This was of course long before the 8060A became popular. The spares unit was missing the LCD when I got it.
I've stuck a few sets of electrolytics for 8060A in my Farnell basket and will order them tomorrow.

Looks like your passion for this 8060A is only equaled by your passion for current clamps....

I have only one 8060A, luckily in tip top shape including the LCD, so it doesn't need anything but.... should it in the future, it's nice to know where I can get spare parts for it ! 

I ought to replace the caps though, I guess...

[tautech]

Thanks for the resources... yeah, it's a bit daunting.
mnem
*toddles off to forage in the kitchen*

Might be wise to grab as much as you can while it's still available to download:
https://siglentna.com/digital-oscilloscopes/sds2000x/
Hit the Resources tab and go fill ya boots ! 

[Specmaster]

Random weird night out, in Brentford of all places! One for the London locals…

Firstly down at the dock



This was followed by a nice pizza with some local friends.  Oh and way too much to drink.



And the money shot. There’s a motor museum down there and they had the yellow Range Rover from Layer Cake and Kickass.



And on that note, while I’m still slightly intoxicated, spendy spendy time 

Had some good evenings out at restaurants in Brentford, have you ever eaten in the Fire Station in the High Street, on the corner of Ferry Lane? There is also very nice Indian restaurant in Ferry Quays, right at the riverside, spent many an evening in there.

[Specmaster]

Got some TE last week but no time to play.
First was the Fluke 8060A. As expected dim segments but otherwise OK. I'll do the zebra strip later. It appears that I have SIX 8060As Four working (inc. new one) one for repair and one parts unit.
The one for repair has a round green sticker on it. It was my first 8060A I've had it well over 25 years. Like a lot of the early ones it suffered from display "bleed". I bought a new LCD with upgrade kit from Fluke years ago. It was one of the last, if not the last, one they had in the UK. This was of course long before the 8060A became popular. The spares unit was missing the LCD when I got it.
I've stuck a few sets of electrolytics for 8060A in my Farnell basket and will order them tomorrow.

Looks like your passion for this 8060A is only equaled by your passion for current clamps....

I have only one 8060A, luckily in tip top shape including the LCD, so it doesn't need anything but.... should it in the future, it's nice to know where I can get spare parts for it ! 

I ought to replace the caps though, I guess...

Still got to go some to catch up with your Metrix collection though 

[mansaxel]

Repair #1 today:



The tumble dryer saga continues. This time, it was the condensate pump, that would not pump if it was too much in the tank. Which is strange; it's a centrifugal pump and if they're normally picky about something, it's being not enough primed...  Took the combined debugging force of me and Wife to find and jury-rig it.

And, we're due to go on vacation tomorrow evening, so every garment is needed. Thus, we're running it in a cabbed-down mode to be able to bodge it quickly. Permanent fix likely is new pump. 

Repair # 2:

The jury-rigging and debugging of The Little Pump That Sometimes Could requires the use of one of my favourite Ultra-Bodgers^tm, the Safe-Bloc. (Or in this case, the RS-branded "Quicktest".) Lid on mine has unfortunately developed a crack from the unfused link contact fingers; they were badly adjusted so did not go cleanly down in the receptacles, creating undue strain on the almost-Bakelite. Cyanoacrylate fortunately works very well on these plastics, so a few droplets of CA later it's functionally as good as new, and I was able to adjust the contacts to give a much smoother action, while also preventing a repeat accident.

[Cerebus]

Random weird night out, in Brentford of all places! One for the London locals…

Did you drop into the Flying Swan for a pint of Large?

[Zucca]

I am shopping for big amps connectors for my solar/battery system.

Can you guys tell me the best way to waste my money to use/connect/terminate those angry copper toys?



Knipex again?

EDIT, on my way....

[tautech]

https://www.amazon.com/IWISS-Terminal-Crimping-6-50mm%C2%B2-Electrician/dp/B017S9EINA

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V6V7XZC/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07V6V7XZC&pd_rd_w=8wxzT&content-id=amzn1.sym.3481f441-61ac-4028-9c1a-7f9ce8ec50c5&pf_rd_p=3481f441-61ac-4028-9c1a-7f9ce8ec50c5&pf_rd_r=3TJZM20YGH979S30RY4Q&pd_rd_wg=POuN1&pd_rd_r=d1fbb762-ce47-403d-9f18-03bf2921d4d3&s=hi&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyRzVPT0Q3RktFT1ozJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwODgzMzIwMkJWR0FNTkk3MDEwUiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwOTU2ODAxMVpHSlZNVENEU1NJOSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbF90aGVtYXRpYyZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=


FYI, we know those terminations as lugs..... search cable lug crimper.

[mnementh]

yuckyputz.


A few dollars more gets you these hydraulic crimpers:   

https://www.amazon.com/ABN-Hydraulic-Crimper-Crimping-Terminal/dp/B08DP43M5B

This variant is on sale; you might also want to look at the heavier-duty model on the same page:

https://www.amazon.com/UTZIKO-Electrical-Tool-12awg-00awg-Crimping/dp/B09Y8MKPG3/

I've used similar for wire rope; they're just nipply.

mnem
 

[Zucca]

Interesting the first comment....

I like to solder all my lugs on for an even better connection.  And in the example at the end where you cut through the 4 - 0 lug, you chose a location where it had not been crimped thereby showing an uncrimped gap inside.  Not a nice demonstration.  Solder has always been superior to crimp, throughout the history of cable lug use.  Not sure where you went to school but we actually tested crimped vs soldered connections for resistance and noticed failures in current draw tests.  The solder, when done correctly always produced better results than crimps when done correctly.  In most applications, either will suffice.  However, for pure results solder wins.  Silver based solder is 5% more conductive than copper (copper 100%, silver 105% using copper as the standard conductor).  Heating wire tends to distort the insulator so care must be used.  I like to use a wet rag to cover the insulation near the end or an cooling paste which is available from most HVAC wholesalers.  Silver requires a bit more heat than propane, though so most opt for the crimp.  We're talking about the purest method here...in real life and in most situations the crimp will suffice.  Its important to know the composition of the lug being used as well.  Some are made of aluminum while some are copper and other's copper with a tinned coating.  Best to choose one with copper, either bare or tinned, since aluminum tends to oxidize over time which creates friction within the lug.  I've seen 'em glowing red like a toaster element from bad connection.  I got about 50 years experience in this subject.

[cyclin_al]

I thought you won one of the 180 series SA mainframes, in the last PP auction, it should work in the SA mainframe, just some of the later ones haven't got the scope cal outputs, as they were made long after the scope modules became obsolete.
I'm I the only one on here with some 180 scopes in my collection?

David

I have a 181 here.


Lab Cat looking none too pleased with the poor probe compensation:


-Pat

A quick warning note for anyone with a HP 181T, 181A oscilloscope mainframe or spectrum analyzer display section (or older 141T,141S,141A), beware there is no protection for the storage CRT with excessive intensity, particularly in normal mode, where you can't see the trace bloom with high intensity setting, the storage mesh is often damaged on these from previous owners not RTFM, or clueless sellers that just turn every control to max until a trace appears. 

Warning from 141T manual, need to add the 181 warning (aka, use Write & avoid Norm for setting intensity).


Another warning, when buying unknown condition 180/181 series mainframes, check the PSU is working correctly, before trying with known good plug-ins, as there was a mention of damage to the plug-ins from a faulty PSU.

Some of mine.....

David

I noted the same warning in the Tektronix RM564 manual ... which I still have not got round to powering it up.  Eventually.... some day

[Neomys Sapiens]

I am shopping for big amps connectors for my solar/battery system.

Can you guys tell me the best way to waste my money to use/connect/terminate those angry copper toys?



Knipex again?

EDIT, on my way....

Take a look at Textron Klauke

[Cubdriver]

Interesting the first comment....

I like to solder all my lugs on for an even better connection.  And in the example at the end where you cut through the 4 - 0 lug, you chose a location where it had not been crimped thereby showing an uncrimped gap inside.  Not a nice demonstration.  Solder has always been superior to crimp, throughout the history of cable lug use.  Not sure where you went to school but we actually tested crimped vs soldered connections for resistance and noticed failures in current draw tests.  The solder, when done correctly always produced better results than crimps when done correctly.  In most applications, either will suffice.  However, for pure results solder wins.  Silver based solder is 5% more conductive than copper (copper 100%, silver 105% using copper as the standard conductor).  Heating wire tends to distort the insulator so care must be used.  I like to use a wet rag to cover the insulation near the end or an cooling paste which is available from most HVAC wholesalers.  Silver requires a bit more heat than propane, though so most opt for the crimp.  We're talking about the purest method here...in real life and in most situations the crimp will suffice.  Its important to know the composition of the lug being used as well.  Some are made of aluminum while some are copper and other's copper with a tinned coating.  Best to choose one with copper, either bare or tinned, since aluminum tends to oxidize over time which creates friction within the lug.  I've seen 'em glowing red like a toaster element from bad connection.  I got about 50 years experience in this subject.

Purely from a resistive point of view that may be true, but overall I don’t think it is - solder will wick into the wire, and turn at least some of it, right where it emerges from the terminal, effectively into a solid conductor - right where it’s anchored and going to be subjected to the most stress.  What breaks first when subjected to vibration - solid wire, or stranded wire?

Properly made crimps are mechanically sound, more resistant to vibration than soldered ones, and gas tight.

https://workmanship.nasa.gov/lib/insp/2%20books/links/sections/201%20General%20Requirements.html#:~:text=Crimping%20is%20an%20efficient%20and,design%20application%20and%20connectivity%20requirements.

I’ll stick with crimping, thankyouveryplease…

-Pat

Edit to add:  copied from the first paragraph of the link above:
Crimped Terminations
Crimping is an efficient and highly reliable method to assemble and terminate conductors, and typically provides a stronger, more reliable termination method than that achieved by soldering.

[Cubdriver]

I thought you won one of the 180 series SA mainframes, in the last PP auction, it should work in the SA mainframe, just some of the later ones haven't got the scope cal outputs, as they were made long after the scope modules became obsolete.
I'm I the only one on here with some 180 scopes in my collection?

David

I have a 181 here.


Lab Cat looking none too pleased with the poor probe compensation:


-Pat

A quick warning note for anyone with a HP 181T, 181A oscilloscope mainframe or spectrum analyzer display section (or older 141T,141S,141A), beware there is no protection for the storage CRT with excessive intensity, particularly in normal mode, where you can't see the trace bloom with high intensity setting, the storage mesh is often damaged on these from previous owners not RTFM, or clueless sellers that just turn every control to max until a trace appears. 

Warning from 141T manual, need to add the 181 warning (aka, use Write & avoid Norm for setting intensity).


Another warning, when buying unknown condition 180/181 series mainframes, check the PSU is working correctly, before trying with known good plug-ins, as there was a mention of damage to the plug-ins from a faulty PSU.

Some of mine.....

David

I noted the same warning in the Tektronix RM564 manual ... which I still have not got round to powering it up.  Eventually.... some day

I just want to note for the record that that photo was taken in rather dim lighting, so the phone camera horribly overexposed the appearance of the trace on the scope - it wasn’t set to eye-searing, screen-melting intensity despite the fact that it may seem to be.  Also note how bright the pilot light looks, and how dimly lit everything else is in comparison.  No CRTs were harmed in the production of that photograph. 

-Pat

[Cerebus]

Talking of ginger and white cats. About 30 minutes ago the living room curtains twitched and about five feet off the ground a furry ginger and white face poked through them. We're not on the ground floor, and we don't have a ginger and white cat. Window now shut to keep the furry burglar out.

[Cubdriver]

Talking of ginger and white cats. About 30 minutes ago the living room curtains twitched and about five feet off the ground a furry ginger and white face poked through them. We're not on the ground floor, and we don't have a ginger and white cat. Window now shut to keep the furry burglar out.

See, now that was a missed opportunity - you could have had a ginger and white cat, but you blew it! 

They make excellent lab assistants.
 

-Pat

[tautech]

A few dollars more gets you these hydraulic crimpers: 
mnem
 

Ya don't need hydraulic tools for piss ant copper lugs ! 

Narva make some good HD ones but they might be outta budget for many:
https://www.narva.com.au/products/56516/heavy-duty-cable-lug-crimping-tool

These I'd rather ^ than Hex crimpers but some of the smaller ratcheting ones with an anvil type punch are fine too.
https://www.narva.com.au/products/56541/heavy-duty-connector-ratchet-crimping-tool

Or you could just go old school:

[bd139]

Random weird night out, in Brentford of all places! One for the London locals…

Firstly down at the dock



This was followed by a nice pizza with some local friends.  Oh and way too much to drink.



And the money shot. There’s a motor museum down there and they had the yellow Range Rover from Layer Cake and Kickass.



And on that note, while I’m still slightly intoxicated, spendy spendy time 

Had some good evenings out at restaurants in Brentford, have you ever eaten in the Fire Station in the High Street, on the corner of Ferry Lane? There is also very nice Indian restaurant in Ferry Quays, right at the riverside, spent many an evening in there.

I think the fire station is a Thai place now. Might have a go at that one in a couple of weeks. I know the Indian - been in there before. Nice place 

[bd139]

Talking of ginger and white cats. About 30 minutes ago the living room curtains twitched and about five feet off the ground a furry ginger and white face poked through them. We're not on the ground floor, and we don't have a ginger and white cat. Window now shut to keep the furry burglar out.

Had that with a tabby cat here a few months back. Was just sitting at the desk and it came and brushed my leg. I crapped myself as we don’t have a cat  . I shovelled it back out of the window it came from. 

As much as I hate cats, the poor bugger was hit by a car a couple of weeks back and didn’t make it 

[vk6zgo]

Cat is clearly the star of the show, for it's him being in focus, the scope's screen is completely out of focus !  I would like a lab cat like your, he looks cool and smart, being interested in TE and electronics. Unfortunately you can't recruit cats on their engineering skills, you just get what you get. I don't want to try then fire 25 cats until I find the right one, so I just don't have one. But lucky you for having this one, you scored big time ! 

Gilmore is quite the character.  He’s one of seven that currently reside here.      (Shame he wasn’t doing this when things were turned on…)   -Pat

One of y'alls needs to get and name a cat 5.

mnem
 

But that means we have to have four earlier iterations of "CAT".
Another possibility is Cat "D9"