Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Vince]

@Vince
You are in luck. A matched pair, no less, of 3/8"x3/16"x1/8" precision bearings.
Vintage, 1977 and still double sealed. I had to open the outer packet to check thm.

Robert.

Wow talk about luck... and from 1977 as well, my birth year... these bearings are no luck, no, they are destiny !!!   

PM me with the details... I still live in the same shoe box of a house.

[duckduck]

Hi All

Fairly new member here and I see this is a group therapy thread. I've got a bit of a 'problem' with PAT testers and I'm after your opinion if I need professional help 

So far I have the following :-

2 x Kewtech KT77
4 x Seaward Supernovas (basic, plus & elite)
Kewtech KT74
Robin 5000
Robin 5500
Metrel Omegapat
3 x Metrel Sigmapat
Transmille 6080
Metrotest MPAT 60
Metropat 600
Seaward PAT1000
Fluke 6500-2
Megger PAT 4DV/3

And, I don't even like PAT testing (sorry, ISITEE)

Do you think I should seek some sort of counceling?
Also, if any of you have any testers I don't have I'm quite willing to accept them - mainly digital & downloadable ones 

I also seems to be starting a fetish for IR testers. So far only 3 x RS-5500, Alphatek 1601 & 2 x Megger MIT230

Right, I've got that off my chest. Time to trawl ebay for some more 

Welcome to the club, we can definitely help you with your test equipment addiction. 

Happy St. David's Day!

[Robert763]

@Vince
You are in luck. A matched pair, no less, of 3/8"x3/16"x1/8" precision bearings.
Vintage, 1977 and still double sealed. I had to open the outer packet to check thm.

Robert.

Wow talk about luck... and from 1977 as well, my birth year... these bearings are no luck, no, they are destiny !!!   

PM me with the details... I still live in the same shoe box of a house.

They will go in the post tomorrow.

Anyone need any 1/2" OD 3/16" ID 5/32" wide instrument bearings? I've got lots of those .

Robert

[Vince]

Tank yoo vary moosh ! 

[timeandfrequency]

Wow, thanks everyone for your suggestions on drill bits ! 

I will write it all down for future reference... looks like this problem is solved now. 

Hi Vince,

As usual, having the right tool is just halfway of the achivement. For happy drilling, there are some good practices to follow.

For every matter (or at least families of matters), dedicated drill bits are available.
The harder a drill bit, the more the cutting lips are brittle and won't survive any serious jolt.
Don't let any Tungsten-carbide drill bit fall down on a hard surface (concrete) : il will multiply immediately.
Heat is a deadly enemy for drill bits. As normal steel starts to temper at 200°C, HSS (High Speed ​​Steel) withstands up to 650°C, best case. An overheated drill bit is to be considered as dead and can be thrown in the bin.
Using tooling machine lubricant (cutting fluid) significantely increases the lifespan of your drill bits.
Best is to setup a lubricant pump (*) and some Locline flex pipes.
Set the speed of your drill press according to the drill bit manufacturer recommendations and the matter you're machining.
Using a vanilla drill bit on sheet metal is a bad idea : prefer the hole saw or a staged drill bit.
Below 3 mm, drill bits are to be considered as expendable and cannot be sharpened.


For uncoated drill bits, using a dedicated sharpener (here another one) is a worthwhile investment, although results are often average. But it's better than nothing.

(*) Same gear can be cobbled together for less that 100 bucks by using a paint bucket and a suitable pump.

Cutting fluid / lubricant (mix 3-8% with plain water) :
https://befr.rs-online.com/web/p/cutting-fluids/1316306
https://www.amazon.fr/DLLUB-SOLUBLE-DUSINAGE-2000-5-litres/dp/B00QFJK16S
https://www.amazon.fr/DLLUB-SOLUBLE-DUSINAGE-1000-5-litres/dp/B00QFJK8E8
https://xometry.eu/en/cutting-fluids-for-cnc-machining-processes/

[timeandfrequency]

[...]
Happy St. David's Day!

Very nice yellow microwave horn antenna, with a sophisticated ground plane.
Which frequency band ? Ku ? K ? Ka ?

[Mad Axeman]

Heck that is a big collection... Well, welcome to the family.

Thanks to all that replied. I'm glad assistance will be swift - I've bought yet another tester since I posted the list. I've added an Ethos 9500 (yes, a badge engineered Seaward) to the list. I really don't think there's any hope for me 

[Mad Axeman]

Happy St. David's Day!

Thanks 

[tautech]

Mad as a sack of cats

Where does the Axe bit come from ? 

Wood chopping ?

[Vince]

Wow, thanks everyone for your suggestions on drill bits !  :-

I will write it all down for future reference... looks like this problem is solved now. 

Hi Vince,

As usual, having the right tool is just halfway of the achivement. For happy drilling, there are some good practices to follow.

For every matter (or at least families of matters), dedicated drill bits are available.
The harder a drill bit, the more the cutting lips are brittle and won't survive any serious jolt.
Don't let any Tungsten-carbide drill bit fall down on a hard surface (concrete) : il will multiply immediately.
Heat is a deadly enemy for drill bits. As normal steel starts to temper at 200°C, HSS (High Speed ​​Steel) withstands up to 650°C, best case. An overheated drill bit is to be considered as dead and can be thrown in the bin.
Using tooling machine lubricant (cutting fluid) significantely increases the lifespan of your drill bits.
Best is to setup a lubricant pump (*) and some Locline flex pipes.
Set the speed of your drill press according to the drill bit manufacturer recommendations and the matter you're machining.
Using a vanilla drill bit on sheet metal is a bad idea : prefer the hole saw or a staged drill bit.
Below 3 mm, drill bits are to be considered as expendable and cannot be sharpened.


For uncoated drill bits, using a dedicated sharpener (here another one) is a worthwhile investment, although results are often average. But it's better than nothing.

(*) Same gear can be cobbled together for less that 100 bucks by using a paint bucket and a suitable pump.

Cutting fluid / lubricant (mix 3-8% with plain water) :
https://befr.rs-online.com/web/p/cutting-fluids/1316306
https://www.amazon.fr/DLLUB-SOLUBLE-DUSINAGE-2000-5-litres/dp/B00QFJK16S
https://www.amazon.fr/DLLUB-SOLUBLE-DUSINAGE-1000-5-litres/dp/B00QFJK8E8
https://xometry.eu/en/cutting-fluids-for-cnc-machining-processes/

Thanks for the info and links  :-

No drill press here, but once the garage / is built (at least 2 years from now), a drill press will be high on my list of tools/machines to get.

When I use a drill press at work, or friends places, the lubrication system is usually this highly sophisticated and extremely expensive bit of kit :

It's good enough when you only have a few holes to make and can afford to take your time when drilling the holes, so as not to overheat the bit in the first place. Slow RPM, slow vertical speed with only a light pressure, just let the drill bit guide itself, don't force it. It also helps make clean and straight holes...

[temperance]

I do have a hard time finding good sets of metric drills though. 

NAWTS

I have bought two sets of metric drills here: Baer GmbH
This shop has also imperial drill sets and other imperial sized tools.

I've bought these two sets, they are going from 1mm to 10mm in 0.1mm steps and the drills are certified for stainless steel, which means high quality.

Set 1


Set 2


Not cheap, but I hate cheap drills which causes more damage than something else.

Are you sure those bear drills are fine? They look a blunt to me and one can see burs on the cutting edge. Some of them aren't even ground properly. The 4mm seems to be ground off center. From the burs you can also see that they must be low grade steel instead of real HSS.

A top quality precision ground HSSG drill set from for example Ruco, Dormer...doesn't cost much more. HBM in Holland also has some good drills. (But also pretty bad ones.)

The image below was taken from this webpage:
https://baer.tools/en/taps-dies/thread-standards/drill-bitssets/drill-bit-kits/hsse-1-6mm-x0-1mm/8919/hsse-extreme-drill-bit-kit-0-1mm-steps-1-6-mm?number=BE1060

[BU508A]

I do have a hard time finding good sets of metric drills though. 

NAWTS

I have bought two sets of metric drills here: Baer GmbH
This shop has also imperial drill sets and other imperial sized tools.

I've bought these two sets, they are going from 1mm to 10mm in 0.1mm steps and the drills are certified for stainless steel, which means high quality.

Set 1


Set 2


Not cheap, but I hate cheap drills which causes more damage than something else.

Are you sure those bear drills are fine? They look a blunt to me and one can see burs on the cutting edge. Some of them aren't even ground properly. The 4mm seems to be ground off center. From the burs you can also see that they must be low grade steel instead of real HSS.

I've worked with them several times and I don't have any complaints.
They are sharp, have a precise handling and they can be easily centered. The edges of the borehole have no outliers.

However, these drills do not have the normal ground joint (type W) but a so-called cross ground joint (type C).


Source (in german): https://fdpw.de/wiki/Bohrer#Anschlifftypen

A top quality precision ground HSSG drill set from for example Ruco, Dormer...doesn't cost much more. HBM in Holland also has some good drills. (But also pretty bad ones.)

The image below was taken from this webpage:
https://baer.tools/en/taps-dies/thread-standards/drill-bitssets/drill-bit-kits/hsse-1-6mm-x0-1mm/8919/hsse-extreme-drill-bit-kit-0-1mm-steps-1-6-mm?number=BE1060

I can see what you mean. Will have a look this evening and if possible will take some pictures.
I think, those burs could be artefacts of the picture compression (jpeg perhaps).

[jxjbsd]

Recently received a sony/TEK 336A. This is an analog and digital oscilloscope, analog mode working bandwidth 50MHz, digital mode 10m (real-time) or 50m (equivalent sampling), normal function.
This is a relatively rare one in the TEK300 series. Right now, only TEK323,TEK324 is missing from my collection.

[m k]

That's because you are an old nerd, you have everything, collecting for decades 

Old fart please !

Across the channel from you similar old farts would be as well equipped. 

If farts were visible would old fart's fart be still equally bright.
Just wondering.

[Runco990]

Recently received a sony/TEK 336A. This is an analog and digital oscilloscope, analog mode working bandwidth 50MHz, digital mode 10m (real-time) or 50m (equivalent sampling), normal function.
This is a relatively rare one in the TEK300 series. Right now, only TEK323,TEK324 is missing from my collection.

I have been eyeing one of these for a while, even though I need another scope like a hole in the head.  But what's one more if you already have 12......   

What do you think of the little fella? 

[Robert763]

@Vince,
Sorry, bad news. Bearings were packed and ready to go but.. I had a little niggle last night. I opened a packet this morning and measured one directly rather than estimating through the plastic.
The ID is 1/8" not 3/16" 

Robert.

[SeanB]

They will go in the post tomorrow.

Anyone need any 1/2" OD 3/16" ID 5/32" wide instrument bearings? I've got lots of those .

Robert

Thanks no, I have enough bad memories of C47 gyro compass units, and that autopilot, as it is.

Did do a lot of smaller bearings, seeing as we did have this big pile of Mirage III autopilot and navigation units, that we were pillaging through to repair other units that used those synchro units, and gears, though I was going through grabbing the dead synchro units, as I was using those bearings to repair fans more than not, so a burnt winding or dead slipring assembly was fine, so long as it spun. Still got a small box of TO100 741 opamps and LH0033 buffer amps as well I found.

[Vince]

@Vince,
Sorry, bad news. Bearings were packed and ready to go but.. I had a little niggle last night. I opened a packet this morning and measured one directly rather than estimating through the plastic.
The ID is 1/8" not 3/16" 

Robert.

Oh well, you can't always win...
Glad we found out before you sent them, saves shipping and waiting only to be disappointed when they arrive.

Hopefully you will be able to use them for something one day 

OK so I just pulled the trigger on those French bearings, 12 Euros for the pair shipped, it's about reasonable for a 50 Euro scope I guess.

Should arrive early next week.

[factory]

Well I had no problems with the 0603 resistors, got a couple of the latch and display decoder adaptor boards completed, waiting for some ICs for the others, then I'll get the flux cleaned up too.


I had time to test two of the boards in the HP 5327B, the latch replacement works fine in both storage & none storage modes, I've not checked printer output yet, this is the inverted outputs, which I've since found out an extra gated function was available in the original IC, this will be added with rev B. I've yet to find anything that uses this function, but will add it anyway, in case I do in the future.

The display decoder driver replacement also works fine, zero blanking works as it's supposed too, just need to try it in another position, that has the zero blanking switched.

Need to make something to check the vertical boards, as the square pins won't go into the sockets, without damage. The horizontal boards are a tight fit in the 5326/7 (I removed the display shield for the test), they are intended for use in the 5216 & 5221/5321, which have limited vertical clearance, but more space in between ICs.


David

For the headers/legs/etc, how about something like these from your locally available supplier?

https://akizukidenshi.com/catalog/g/gC-07064/

https://www.sengoku.co.jp/mod/sgk_cart/detail.php?code=EEHD-4NTG#

Those are not quite what I had in mind, only the one type of leadframe connector seems to be available from Mouse/Key, forget RS/Farnell they have even less choice. I've been misusing them.


Might have gone for these if they were available when I was designing the boards.
and these

Plus these straight ones I didn't know about, in place of the right angle headers I'm using at the moment.


I will be experimenting with the 8 pin divider board, as it might do for replacing the can IC variant too, using a bit of tinned copper wire & some careful bending, note the pinout is different.
 
 

Spot the problem caused by tiredness, one of the reasons I avoid working on stuff on workday evenings. 

David

[factory]

With lots of effort I was able to get my Workbench in a very rare state of reduced entropy:



which, of course, lasted just as long as it takes to make a photograph to document it. Sure enough, that thing jumped right to the front of my repair queue and subsequently up onto my bench.
It is not classified as TE, but the service instructions tell me to use a VTVM for certain measurements. Does that count as relevant?



And it is very close to my age.

Sorry for the low image quality. Didn't notice it on the small camera screen, and after transferring it to the computer, it was already too late.

Yes very relevant, soon we will need TE to get anything through the RF part (due to stations being removed from the LW/MW bands), or TE to work on a small audio transmitter (to keep it's output low enough not to attract attention/cause interference).

Some of my RF signal generators...







David

[duckduck]

A couple of new acquisitions. Not very fancy, but I think they count as test equipment.

Thing 1:

A no-name manometer. These are available from AliExpress, etc. for around USD25. I bought it so that I can monitor the life of my furnace filters. We get smoke from forest fires during the summers here and I need to buy relatively expensive MERV 13 air filters for the summer. I want to know when they are actually used up, instead of just replacing them after "3 months". I noticed that it has a USB port on the bottom, but the header is not soldered in. It came with a cheap cloth case and some silicone tubing. This model seems to work well on NiMH batteries.


Thing 2:

A UM34 USB 3.0 Volt/Amp/power meter from RIDEN/Ruideng (the cheap power-supply people that brought us the RD6006). I got it from their AliExpress store for USD19 delivered. I got the non-Bluetooth version. It has a graph mode that is nice. Now I can see how many Watts my electric toothbrush uses while charging. Exciting times.

The UM34 comes with a QR code that points here for documentation:

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/5c877rc21tp1p/UM34

EDIT:

AliExpress link (generic, non referral URL):

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803902435171.html

[Mad Axeman]

Where does the Axe bit come from ? 

Wood chopping ?

It's what I want to be when I retire 
Seriously, I don't know. I was registering on another forum and it just came to me. Perhaps deep down I DO want to be a mad axeman 

[tautech]

Where does the Axe bit come from ? 

Wood chopping ?

It's what I want to be when I retire 
Seriously, I don't know. I was registering on another forum and it just came to me. Perhaps deep down I DO want to be a mad axeman 

Only asked as I know a few and the world champ lives just 10km away, Jason Wynyard, a mountain of a man !
Trained a wee bit when another still lived close by and supplied him and his son Radiata pine training blocks for some years from our woodlots.
Just a few years back this friend in his early 80's did a demonstration standing chop blindfolded !
Great test of fitness and especially one's wind ! All the great ones seem to have chests like barrels. 

[TERRA Operative]

Well I had no problems with the 0603 resistors, got a couple of the latch and display decoder adaptor boards completed, waiting for some ICs for the others, then I'll get the flux cleaned up too.


I had time to test two of the boards in the HP 5327B, the latch replacement works fine in both storage & none storage modes, I've not checked printer output yet, this is the inverted outputs, which I've since found out an extra gated function was available in the original IC, this will be added with rev B. I've yet to find anything that uses this function, but will add it anyway, in case I do in the future.

The display decoder driver replacement also works fine, zero blanking works as it's supposed too, just need to try it in another position, that has the zero blanking switched.

Need to make something to check the vertical boards, as the square pins won't go into the sockets, without damage. The horizontal boards are a tight fit in the 5326/7 (I removed the display shield for the test), they are intended for use in the 5216 & 5221/5321, which have limited vertical clearance, but more space in between ICs.


David

For the headers/legs/etc, how about something like these from your locally available supplier?

https://akizukidenshi.com/catalog/g/gC-07064/

https://www.sengoku.co.jp/mod/sgk_cart/detail.php?code=EEHD-4NTG#

Those are not quite what I had in mind, only the one type of leadframe connector seems to be available from Mouse/Key, forget RS/Farnell they have even less choice. I've been misusing them.


Might have gone for these if they were available when I was designing the boards.
and these

Plus these straight ones I didn't know about, in place of the right angle headers I'm using at the moment.


I will be experimenting with the 8 pin divider board, as it might do for replacing the can IC variant too, using a bit of tinned copper wire & some careful bending, note the pinout is different.
 
 

Spot the problem caused by tiredness, one of the reasons I avoid working on stuff on workday evenings. 

David

PM me if you want some, I'll be heading to Akihabara next week.

Here's the leadframe type they have in stock: (Google translate works well on this website)
https://akizukidenshi.com/catalog/c/csocket6/

[timeandfrequency]

Hi duckduck,

A couple of new acquisitions. Not very fancy, but I think they count as test equipment.

Thing 1:

A no-name manometer. These are available from AliExpress, etc. for around USD25. I bought it so that I can monitor the life of my furnace filters. We get smoke from forest fires during the summers here and I need to buy relatively expensive MERV 13 air filters for the summer. I want to know when they are actually used up, instead of just replacing them after "3 months". I noticed that it has a USB port on the bottom, but the header is not soldered in. It came with a cheap cloth case and some silicone tubing. This model seems to work well on NiMH batteries.
[...]

For sure, this counts as a TE.

Differential manometers are really useful for measuring filter clogging. Last digit has to go down to 1 Pa as the one you bought. Sometimes the filter manufacturer might give a diff pressure ballpark value to indicate when the filter has to be replaced.

Physics-Based Degradation Modelling for Filter Clogging

For a particular purpose, I need a diff pressure manometer with sub-Pa sensitivity. And the ones I found are pretty expensive.
I may have to cobble together something on my own to keep my credit card from catching fire.