Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Vince]

I sent the seller of the 556 a message... he just replied, saying he already has a buyer, too late !

So yeah, poor "little" boy will most likely be torn apart and land in a junk yard somewhere locally... 

[factory]

That is an interesting one, I would also struggle for space if something like that was available over here, I do hope it's going to a collector and not a tube nonce.

According to the 300+ page manual it's using a lot of transistors, over 100 of those, those vastly outnumber the hollow state parts. Also interesting they had to persuade Amperex to modify parts for them.

David

[Vince]

100 trannies in the thing ?! 

Wow that's more trannies than there are tubes in any one of my other Tek scopes !
That's cheating... it's not really a tub scope then, pfff....
I am OK with a handful of trannies here and there, say 5 or 6 tops, like in my 502 or 547 but.. 100 oif them ?! That's taking the piss ! 

I had a quick look at the manual, looking for general specs to arrange for its shipping, and was stunned that TEk failed to indicate the most basic of informations : weight and power consumption !
I found only the dimensions. I can't quite believe such basic info aren't present. 

[factory]

Seems to be some errors in the manual, power consumption is listed under the 'Front panel output signals' specs, 840W or 1kVA max. 

Can't find the weight, but there is a mention complaint about the weight of the prototype on the Tekwiki page.

From Tekwiki Attempting to moderate the situation, we instituted a “cuss box” requiring a five-cent donation per cussword. The proceeds were intended to buy gifts for the prototype support people who had to wrestle with an 80 pound prototype.

Edit: The cabinet model is 83lbs or 37.7kg according to the 1974 catalog (see page 136).

David

[wkb]

Pah, not even close to what a 16A branch circuit @230V can handle. So
nothing to worry about.

[factory]

And something Tek that isn't on the wiki, the TX3 DMM, also couldn't find the TX1 on Tekwiki, quite a lot of money for an old (demo) DMM  , was on my ePay watch list.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176641839097



David

[AVGresponding]

And something Tek that isn't on the wiki, the TX3 DMM, also couldn't find the TX1 on Tekwiki, quite a lot of money for an old (demo) DMM  , was on my ePay watch list.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176641839097



David

Yeah that was on my watchlist. People are fucking mental, it's just a rebranded Fluke 183 ffs   

[factory]

Yeah that was on my watchlist. People are fucking mental, it's just a rebranded Fluke 183 ffs   

Actually it's probably the other way round, according to many threads on here, the Tek TX1/3 became rebranded as the Fluke Puke 183/5.

David

[AVGresponding]

Either way, it's not worth £500, except to nutters

[factory]

I agree, I didn't think it would go for more than £100.

David

[Robert763]

There is a rare blue IBM fluke 8060A for sale on ebay UK. Comes with a non-working standard model for £125
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/387547183205

[factory]

The word salad is good with those, how can it decide "perfect for anyone in need of reliable test equipment" is appropriate for items listed as "for parts or not working"?  To be honest there is nothing to show that the one that powers up is actually working either, not that I would be interested either way.

David

[unseenninja]

When I see random, unremarkable test gear selling for silly prices on eBay, my suspicion is that I'm seeing some kind of money laundering scheme in operation.

[Ice-Tea]

Q: how does this Leboncoin thing work? Is it pickup only? Can you negotiate shipping? Do they ship outside of France?

Seriously, some nice gear there but I don't really get it 

[m k]

For registration you need an accepted phone number.
Bordering countries will do.

After that it's like any other place.
You probably need that phone number also later.

[factory]

A few years ago I bought a Harrison (HP) 6209A from the USA, it had a rough journey with GSP and got the current controls bashed in, the left side of the frame is a bit bent in places too.



Luckily I managed to rejoin the two sections of the dual section current pot, forgot to take a before picture. 



Next was 230V conversion without any manuals, not to difficult, just trace where the mains cable goes into through the transformer and separate the two primary windings on the PCB with Mr Dremel, then fit a link to reconnect them in series. And swap the 2A fuse for a 1A one.



All good now, lamp limiter produces interesting results with this SCR based PSU, will add a video & do more testing tomorrow.

Some pictures of the insides, some Germanium parts in here.









David

[Vince]

Pardon my ignorance, but am I dreaming or is this big T03 trannystor marked " BENDIX " , like the brake parts manufacturer ?!

I am puzzled to say the least...

[AVGresponding]

Pardon my ignorance, but am I dreaming or is this big T03 trannystor marked " BENDIX " , like the brake parts manufacturer ?!

I am puzzled to say the least...

Why? Bendix were a major electronics manufacturer, back in the day. Some of their stuff probably flew on the Apollo missions.

Have a watch of some of these: https://odysee.com/@UsagiElectric:d/the-bendix-g15-boots!:a

[factory]

Pardon my ignorance, but am I dreaming or is this big T03 trannystor marked " BENDIX " , like the brake parts manufacturer ?!

I am puzzled to say the least...

Your not dreaming, they are branded Bendix, they are commonly found in HP TE of a certain age.



David

[Vince]

Oh OK.. thanks for the info chaps, I guess you live and learn, can't know them all !

I wonder if there is any connection between the two Bendix companies...

But for now.... 

[wkb]

More Bendix, fascinating piece of kit 


http://www.righto.com/2023/02/bendix-central-air-data-computer-cadc.html

[TERRA Operative]

I like seeing AMF on relays and switchgear.

Yep, the bowling AMF. They went into bowling during its mechanisation post WWII, so AMF bowling and AMF switchgear are the same (or were originally the same) company.

[timeandfrequency]

Q: how does this Leboncoin thing work? Is it pickup only? Can you negotiate shipping? Do they ship outside of France?

You create an account and then you can chat with the seller inside a kind of message board.
LBC has also an internal secured money account (the seller's account is actually credited when the buyer confirms he received the item) from which you can pay the stuff you buy. The site takes a 4 % fee, as far as I can remember.
Some TE sellers will certainly aggree to ship to Germany. It's all about negociation.
I guess kleinanzeigen.de works similarly

[factory]

Here is how the Harrison 6209A power supply behaves with a 40W lamp limiter, oddly if you turn the voltage control up to maximum it stops oscillating. 



Shortly after that video things went a bit wrong, I turned the voltage control back down and it locked up.
Thankfully I had something suitable in my spares to replace the 100k multi-turn pot, which I suspect has been replaced previously as it's 4 years younger than most parts & was badly soldered.



I've also given the capacitors a quick check, only one is in really poor condition (ESR above 20 ohms), it's C34, I've noticed the later B model doesn't have this many capacitors, they stopped at C24.

A few extra pictures, as I had to remove the panel meter again to get to the pots.



Wonder how many of these were made, before the B model was created?



And I've been over to the storage unit, to see if any of the Cinch terminal bars used #5 UNC screws, of course I only have those with M3 or #6 UNC. Not too much of a problem, the 15A ones are still made, along with the jumpers & solder links. Note: the terminal bars on these old Harrison/HP PSUs are not actually made by Cinch, but the jumpers were according to the manuals.

David

[Robert763]

The word salad is good with those, how can it decide "perfect for anyone in need of reliable test equipment" is appropriate for items listed as "for parts or not working"?  To be honest there is nothing to show that the one that powers up is actually working either, not that I would be interested either way.

David

That is generative AI at work. Not sure who would be liable, ebay or seller, if a dispute ever came to court.
Athe price is OK'sh for a pair of 8060As. I know the IBM ones seem to carry a premium in the USA. Never seen one in the UK before.