Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[AVGresponding]

3457A, a useful instrument with a rotten LCD display

Sure, I like the good old LED ones better, but it stands for a generation ...

But where are the nixies? Where's the Panaplex..?   

[tautech]

3457A, a useful instrument with a rotten LCD display

Sure, I like the good old LED ones better, but it stands for a generation ...

FYI, there is now a user Cal process to trim/adjust SDM measurements closer to any accurate standards you might have.

[Peter_O]

FYI, there is now a user Cal process to trim/adjust SDM measurements closer to any accurate standards you might have.
...

Thx for the link.

The non-Siglent ones are working as they've come over the last years. They are definitely not calibrated recently.

The Siglent was 1,5 years old when I took that picture. Given, the old ones are right, the 3055 seems to be in spec nevertheless (0.015+ 0.004 % of reading).

Yes, I could setup some "in lab HP/Agilent" standard.
For that, the beloved HP6114a power supply might not be stable enough. Maybe I would need to throw in some additional caps.

[tggzzz]

3457A, a useful instrument with a rotten LCD display

Sure, I like the good old LED ones better, but it stands for a generation ...

But where are the nixies? Where's the Panaplex..?   

Never ever forget the dekatrons. If nothing else they are the principal component in the world's oldest operating computer

This is my example, counting merrily.


Still looking for keeping my eye out for minitron based TE, and more exotic displays from the 50s/60s

[TERRA Operative]

I have an idea to use dekatrons as indicators for volume, balance and tone control etc in an amplifier.

Imagine an aluminium tube on the front of an amplifier as though it were a volume control, with a reasonably thick wall and with a slightly bevelled outer edge for a 'premium' feel with the dekatron inside and just slightly protruding from the front. You rotate the tube around the dekatron and the dots illuminate to follow the angle of rotation.

[tggzzz]

I have an idea to use dekatrons as indicators for volume, balance and tone control etc in an amplifier.

Imagine an aluminium tube on the front of an amplifier as though it were a volume control, with a reasonably thick wall and with a slightly bevelled outer edge for a 'premium' feel with the dekatron inside and just slightly protruding from the front. You rotate the tube around the dekatron and the dots illuminate to follow the angle of rotation.

There are other alternatives, e.g. Philips ZM1050, a display that includes its own switching thyratrons for easy control from a 5 volt TTL signal.


I have three, which is too few for a DMM!

FFI, https://www.industrialalchemy.org/articleview.php?item=1116 https://www.radiomuseum.org/tubes/tube_zm1050.html

You could also go full retro and use one of the many "magic eye" displays typically used for indicating the tuning of an FM radio station. I remember one of those on a Heathkit, where two bars came together from the sides of the display.

[Vince]

You mean like in my old HP 416B ratio meter ??

[tggzzz]

You mean like in my old HP 416B ratio meter ??

Looks right

[Vince]

Let's not forgot also about the "column" displays that HP used in his counters, before switching to Nikc tubes :






... and let's not forget about edge lit displays either ! 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/OIATKbSkYxw

[TERRA Operative]

The main consideration in using dekatrons, is that they are at least somewhat obtainable!

[AVGresponding]

Indeed, and technically you can make your own out of discrete neons, if you want... I have probably been watching too much Usagi Electric recently   

[Vince]

Wow I just love plotters.... it's just so therapeutic to see them do their magic one bit at a time.
I got the scope, just need the plotter ! 
One of these days...

Only drawback is how freaking long it takes to plot.. makes you think twice before hitting that "Hard Copy" button on the scope ! 

I have an HP-7580B here. Was not aware that it could be interfaced to scope. Bought it used a long time ago, drew some house plans with it. Considering how seldom it's powered on, trying to decide if it needs a new home. This is an upright floor model that does up to D-size, and the pen carousel holds 8-pens, otherwise similar to what is in the video.

I would be very much tempted, if you didn't leave at the other end of the world from me !
Plus, I have zero space to house such a beast right now sadly... I am already trying to downsize my TE collection to free some very precious space, tough decisions are about to be made in the next few months.... 

This plotter looks really cool, found pics of it, the control panel kicks ass : features a joystick and 3 little dot matrix red LED displays ! 

[factory]

And don't forget the electroluminescent display, driven by high voltages & SCRs for each segment.





David

[factory]

And incandescent 7 segment.



Not forgetting the projection display.



Might be while before I can think about playing with boat anchors like this one, don't want to end up back in hospital, spent 5 days in one last week after suffering a heart attack at work, pushing pallets about was the last thing I remember doing. Strangely not one piece of Agilent gear at the hospital, but lots of Philips.

David

[Vince]

And incandescent 7 segment.

Like the "Numitron" displays ?
Oh yes ! How could I forget about those, I have two of those !

A little frequency meter and an aircraft radio head unit I got from Robert 

Not forgetting the projection display.

Oh, that one is new to me, never heard of them...

Might be while before I can think about playing with boat anchors like this one, don't want to end up back in hospital, spent 5 days in one last week after suffering a heart attack at work, pushing pallets about was the last thing I remember doing.

David

 

Glad you recovered OK 
Yes boat anchors are not your firends any more it seems 
... or maybe fit your workshop with mechanical "aids"... carts, a little fork lift to pick up the TE from the shelves, then lower them onto a cart... maybe a motorized one running on batteries  .
A little engine crane could be handy as well...

Where there is a will there is a way ! 

[factory]

I've failed to find the picture, of some projection displays operating in the railway signal box at the Crewe heritage centre, but the displays are something like this one Bigclive looked at, his seems to be missing the screen at the front, I need to repaint the screens on mine.

Like the "Numitron" displays ?
Oh yes ! How could I forget about those, I have two of those !

Yes those exactly, there are some very tried ones here from fuel pumps too, including a special ½ digit one, a few are still in use at a small petrol station in Nantwich.

 

Glad you recovered OK 
Yes boat anchors are not your firends any more it seems 
... or maybe fit your workshop with mechanical "aids"... carts, a little fork lift to pick up the TE from the shelves, then lower them onto a cart... maybe a motorized one running on batteries  .
A little engine crane could be handy as well...

Where there is a will there is a way ! 

Thanks Vince, currently home for at least a month, can't drive anywhere. Not sure it was fair to blame the pallets at work, they had to unblock an artery with something that looks like braided wire sleeving.

I've made good use of the time at home the last few days, got a replacement board designed for the shattered one in a 5264A plug-in, the board is a presetable divider, a variant of the decade divider board I had made for the 5245L.



David

[duckduck]

Might be while before I can think about playing with boat anchors like this one, don't want to end up back in hospital, spent 5 days in one last week after suffering a heart attack at work, pushing pallets about was the last thing I remember doing. Strangely not one piece of Agilent gear at the hospital, but lots of Philips.

David

Jeez, man. Glad you made it back to the land of the living. Hopefully you have someone around to tut tut you if you don't follow the doctor's orders.

I have family members with heart problems. Philips is well-represented at the hospitals in the Seattle area. I know how to disable the nuisance alarms on a couple models of their pulse / blood pressure meters from watching the nurses.

EDIT:

Please stop posting pictures of unusual displays. You are making my G.A.S. flare up. 

Also, go to the source for the GW Instek info:

https://www.gwinstek.com/en-GB/products/detail/GDM-8255A

I have a GDM-8251A that I bought used in good nick. It was my #1 bench DMM until I found a broken 34401A for 80 USD. The GDM has nice connectivity options and some neat math tricks for not too much dosh.

[tggzzz]

The main consideration in using dekatrons, is that they are at least somewhat obtainable!

The HP vertical displays would be easy to synthesise: all you need is the digits formed by toner on OHP film, with some grain of wheat bulbs behind that OHP film.

Lest we forget: don't use inkjet OHP film - the fuser will melt it Yes, I have a nice supply of OHP laser film, which will last me more than a lifetime!

[cosmicray]

This plotter looks really cool, found pics of it, the control panel kicks ass : features a joystick and 3 little dot matrix red LED displays ! 

There it is, in full color 

[m k]

I've made good use of the time at home the last few days, got a replacement board designed for the shattered one in a 5264A plug-in, the board is a presetable divider, a variant of the decade divider board I had made for the 5245L.

I'm pretty sure I've recently seen a scrap pile with around a dozen of siblings of those.
Though no idea what was the subject line and it's practically impossible to see again an ad you actually want to see.
History search for the link was germanium, not very helpful for wider use.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/134619614975

Anybody with an idea behind decapping chips?
All I can think is a weight loss, but it's still work, and gear.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/115895320465

[Robert763]

That ebay seller is probably doing it to recover Au. Clearly does not have much idea of distribution in the product. I'm not going to say anything more about them to save my blood pressure.

[m k]

My irritation level has recently fluctuated with these eWaste pictures.
It seems also that seller's item lists are excluding them.

[cosmicray]

That ebay seller is probably doing it to recover Au. Clearly does not have much idea of distribution in the product. I'm not going to say anything more about them to save my blood pressure.

Most of the older TTL chips here in tubes, have the conventional tinned lead appearance of that era. One or two of them, even with a PDIP package, look like Au plating (which back then would have been atypical). The white ceramic chips were more common with Au plated leads.

[factory]

The main consideration in using dekatrons, is that they are at least somewhat obtainable!

The HP vertical displays would be easy to synthesise: all you need is the digits formed by toner on OHP film, with some grain of wheat bulbs behind that OHP film.

Lest we forget: don't use inkjet OHP film - the fuser will melt it Yes, I have a nice supply of OHP laser film, which will last me more than a lifetime!

One of the HP display assemblies has been on the bench for a few weeks, I was checking the part numbers of the neon lamps, prior to ordering various neons from Mouser, they are NE-2E (aka A9A) which would have been aged before fitting. I'm currently experimenting with some new A9A lamps, to create the frosted version for the 5245L decimal point lamps.

The mask for the numbers could probably be made with 3DP, the numbers are raised on the back, the back is painted black & the raised numbers then cleaned or sanded? to give defined digits.

David

[factory]

I've made good use of the time at home the last few days, got a replacement board designed for the shattered one in a 5264A plug-in, the board is a presetable divider, a variant of the decade divider board I had made for the 5245L.

I'm pretty sure I've recently seen a scrap pile with around a dozen of siblings of those.
Though no idea what was the subject line and it's practically impossible to see again an ad you actually want to see.
History search for the link was germanium, not very helpful for wider use.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/134619614975

Nearly the right board, that is actually the standard decade divider board 5212A-65C, I made the revised B version of that for 5245L with all the boards missing, blame "dead tree shreddings" on the forum for this, also obsessed with destroying test gear for Au waste & shiny glass bits.



The seller has of course incorrectly listed the boards, with the part number from this one, 5243A-65C. 



The new board is this variant (05214-6018), used in the 5264A preset plug-in and a few preset counters, not a common board, I did of course buy another 5264A, two 5214L, but they are were too good condition to use for spares.

Anybody with an idea behind decapping chips?
All I can think is a weight loss, but it's still work, and gear.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/115895320465

That seller is pissing me off too, once I had worked out they are buying up all the part mules and even some working gear on ebay. I wouldn't be surprized if they are also clearing out the low priced stuff from PP auctions.
They have got very greedy with asking prices, for the murdered TE boards/parts, which are guaranteed to have all the components you wanted removed & listed separately at silly prices. I would be interested to know how they are removing the ICs from boards, it must be a quick method, otherwise they would spend a lot of time desoldering.

Might be while before I can think about playing with boat anchors like this one, don't want to end up back in hospital, spent 5 days in one last week after suffering a heart attack at work, pushing pallets about was the last thing I remember doing. Strangely not one piece of Agilent gear at the hospital, but lots of Philips.

David

Jeez, man. Glad you made it back to the land of the living. Hopefully you have someone around to tut tut you if you don't follow the doctor's orders.

I have family members with heart problems. Philips is well-represented at the hospitals in the Seattle area. I know how to disable the nuisance alarms on a couple models of their pulse / blood pressure meters from watching the nurses.

EDIT:

Please stop posting pictures of unusual displays. You are making my G.A.S. flare up. 

Also, go to the source for the GW Instek info:

https://www.gwinstek.com/en-GB/products/detail/GDM-8255A

I have a GDM-8251A that I bought used in good nick. It was my #1 bench DMM until I found a broken 34401A for 80 USD. The GDM has nice connectivity options and some neat math tricks for not too much dosh.

Yes I've been tutted a few times already, the Philips humanoid TE was interesting, the model installed in the hospital had a removable secondary green trace monitor part, that I could wander around with, there were many others in the same room going off all night.
There are two somewhat vintage monitors in my collection, a Sanborn from the 1960s and a HP from the 1970s, they are just the display part though, no input measuring units to go with them.

David