Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[m k]

I've checked few average Joe surplus places and all but slow or mini boards seem to be gold nuggets.

About the earlier days,
back then I had a feeling that Sony was a big company.
Then came Playstation and everything earlier was if not peanuts but at least secondary.
I guess Nintendo was the same.

One other size anecdote,
once I thought Disney is big.
Then a merger of two central European drug factories was announced and Disney shrank.

[wkb]

Reminds me of an anecdote while I was working for HP. US colleague asked me "What is Unilever?". Me: "Oh, European company with about twice the number of employees that HP has."  Satisfying response "oh..."

Wilko

[Andrew_Debbie]

Thought I'd come from the cold briefly to share these beauties with the group.    Not exactly TE, but they are electronic and just back from calibration at Fluke.

The set is mostly non-magnetic.

[tonyalbus]

ups i did it again,
but this time it was a "new" spectrum analyzer for my collection
so i suppose it dont count ?

Anritsu MS610B spectrum Analyzer 2GHz 1986
https://youtu.be/rC-sEiz9XMY

Congrats! nice catch!  .. i had one too, it was my first... have you opened it?
here a view inside.

[PA0PBZ]

ups i did it again,
but this time it was a "new" spectrum analyzer for my collection
so i suppose it dont count ?

Anritsu MS610B spectrum Analyzer 2GHz 1986
https://youtu.be/rC-sEiz9XMY

have you opened it?

Did you watch the video?

[EggertEnjoyer123]

Here's a Keithley 610C I found in the garbage a while back. Just needs some calibration.

[tverbeure]

Reminds me of an anecdote while I was working for HP. US colleague asked me "What is Unilever?". Me: "Oh, European company with about twice the number of employees that HP has."  Satisfying response "oh..."

Back in the nineties, I was working for Alcatel, and I needed a PCI bus analyzer. I contacted a few companies to ask for an evaluation board. One of those companies asked for a letter of good credit before they were willing to send me one. Back then, Alcatel had something like 150k employees. Once I pointed that out, they didn't need the letter after all.

[wkb]

These two arrived on Monday. The one labeled Defekt had a stuck power switch, after some TLC it was un-stuck.

[wkb]

On Tuesday I trucked home this HP 6642A power supply. 

A bit dirty but that was quickly solved. Now need to find a replacement rotary encoder for the current setting. Snapped-off shaft, seems to be common.
Anyone in the EU who has one surplus and is willing to part from it for a reasonable price?

Binding posts on the frontpanel is another planned action.

Wilko

[TERRA Operative]

I made a few 3D printable things for those PSU's.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4633661 - Fan Brace/mount
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4299873 - Front panel binding post adapter



In the last few days I've been playing with the LCD replacement and calibration of some TDS200 scopes, a TDS210 and TDS220. Got them both working, firmware upgraded and the TDS210 hacked up to a TDS220.
I have a third, but I'll need to order an LCD later, I spent the funds on a new motherboard for my Thinkpad (mentioned below)....
Just gotta get an NI USB-GPIB adapter so I can use Hakan's TDS calibration utility to help me to adjust the contrast adjustment to suit the new LCD and to semi-automate the calibration process using my SG5030 levelled sinewave generator.

Also got an i7 CPU motherboard coming for my Thinkpad X270, so that will be fun and just bought a Tektronix J17 Lumacolor light level meter for 1000yen, so will be on the hunt for sensors for that soon too.

And finally, I have my eye on some more faulty TDS scopes (of course...), we'll see if any of them can be had for cheap. Oh, plus a HP 3560A Dynamic Signal Analyzer has caught my eye, could be fun to play with as an audio spectrum analyzer if I can get it cheap.

[wkb]

Yeah.. the  design for the binding post panel I already downloaded yesterday 

Haven't decided yet what to do when it comes to the sense lines.

I am located a bit distant from Akihabara so sourcing that switch you used.. hm.

cheers, Wilko

[TERRA Operative]

Yeah.. the  design for the binding post panel I already downloaded yesterday 

Haven't decided yet what to do when it comes to the sense lines.

I am located a bit distant from Akihabara so sourcing that switch you used.. hm.

cheers, Wilko

I'll be heading to Akihabara soon...... Want one stuck in an envelope and thrown your way? I don't remember how much the switch cost, wouldn't be more than 1000yen though.

[wkb]

 :-+That would be nice!

[TERRA Operative]

Will be heading psat there next week, will keep you posted.

[duckduck]

Will be heading psat there next week, will keep you posted.

TE addicts helping TE addicts. That's what it's all about 

[wkb]

Will be heading psat there next week, will keep you posted.

TE addicts helping TE addicts. That's what it's all about 

Very much so! And very much appreciated here!

[wkb]

But eh... my shopping spree last Tuesday got me some more TE. I am afraid it is too late for a vaccination against TE-GAS 

This one: HP 8595E spectrum analyser, complete with some nice options, like a TG.

 

[factory]

Not a bargain, but I picked up a nice Solartron 7081 DVM on Monday, thanks to the enabler on here for finding this one  , it's in nicer condition than some I've seen on ePay and still had the test lead & cal key attached, last cal was about 15 years ago.

When I got it home I failed to get it working, it was stuck displaying "Initialized" (or "resumed" after a power cycle).



After reading the ops manual when bored at work yesterday, I found it was a case of operator error, having never had the chance to use one of these DVMs before*, I didn't know it started up then waited for the user to select "track" or "sample" to start measurement(s).



It's now in the repair queue waiting for a replacement Schaffner madness  mains line filter block, checking the state of the two batteries, the PSU capacitors and baking for 24 hours before a more thorough test.

*We did have one of these 7081 DVMs at work years ago, I've seen a grainy picture (from 1996) of it above a Rotek calibrator, next to an ancient computer. I never got the chance to use it, another guy had it on his bench briefly before dumping it back in a pallet of junk, this then disappeared to the derelict part of the site, the pallet contents presumably ended covered in seagull/pigeon shit before getting chucked in a skip, prior to the buildings being levelled for another cheap 'n' nasty housing estate. 

David

[tggzzz]

Not a bargain, but I picked up a nice Solartron 7081 DVM on Monday, thanks to the enabler on here for finding this one  , it's in nicer condition than some I've seen on ePay and still had the test lead & cal key attached, last cal was about 15 years ago.

The test lead would cost ~£100 to replace (£50+ for connector, minimum order £250; I bought two:) ). I bought a couple of cal keys from Spain; easily duplicated.

When I got it home I failed to get it working, it was stuck displaying "Initialized" (or "resumed" after a power cycle).



After reading the ops manual when bored at work yesterday, I found it was a case of operator error, having never had the chance to use one of these DVMs before*, I didn't know it started up then waited for the user to select "track" or "sample" to start measurement(s).

Sorry I forgot to mention that. "If all else fails, read the manual" was a family motto when I was a kid.



It's now in the repair queue waiting for a replacement Schaffner madness  mains line filter block, checking the state of the two batteries, the PSU capacitors and baking for 24 hours before a more thorough test.
[/quote]

I'm amazed that they are still easily available.

We look forward to seeing the readings with known voltages and resistances

One interesting "trick" is to use the front and rear connectors to give a voltage ratio reading. Makes it easy to see the quality of my KVD. From memory I did see 0.6666666 shown as 0.6666668, but the others were bang on -> lovely linearity of KVD and 7081.

[EggertEnjoyer123]

Here's some more test equipment I took out of the garbage a while back. It's a 100kHz to 1 GHz signal generator. (The spectrum analyzer was not from the garbage and it cost me $300).

I didn't have to fix anything. It booted with a "Error 310" sometimes but I wasn't able to figure out what it was and all the hardware seems to be working fine. Rebooting usually fixed that error.

Anyways as you can see from the spectrum analyzer everything seems to be working great. The only problem is that it does not have Option 099, which seems to be a hardware option. As a result I am unable to use any of the modulation features.

[wkb]

I like your "garbage" 

[Peter_O]

Not a bargain, but I picked up a nice Solartron 7081 DVM on Monday, thanks to the enabler on here for finding this one  , it's in nicer condition than some I've seen on ePay and still had the test lead & cal key attached, last cal was about 15 years ago.

...



...

We had one of these in the lab when working on the beam current monitor for the HERA hadron electron collider in the late 80s. I've been a programmer at that time with near to no electronics know-how, just responsible for the gpib programming.  Nice device. 

[ch_scr]

But eh... my shopping spree last Tuesday got me some more TE. I am afraid it is too late for a vaccination against TE-GAS 

This one: HP 8595E spectrum analyser, complete with some nice options, like a TG.

 

Make sure to save those cal constants!!! Major PITA to get it back working after the battery runs flat. Don't delay, back up today.

[wkb]

First thing I did Thanks for the hint though!

[Ice-Tea]

Anyone from the Dresden area?