Test Equipment Anonymous

"Here's one we prepared earlier" is a common dodge, when demonstrating things where something takes too long to do in the time allotted for the programme, or where something can go wrong. It might be a fiddly set up procedure or having to wait for glue to set. Fifty years ago I was talking...

It was 2016 when we solved the problems of dismantling it, moving it and re-assembling it. It took most of a day. I only scratched the surface of how it worked. It's a fascinating thing and I can see why people value them, but I'm glad I don't. I'm happy to admire them from a distance.

Thinking back, I was told this one cost $4,000 around 2012. I can't recall whether that included shipping and import duties or not. There is something of the robot from "The Forbidden Planet" about it. I took a lot of pictures because we had to dismantle it to get it upstairs. Digital pict...

I actually considered several times aboot asking how much on the jukebox... then I decided I'd better not; "I might just have enough..." :? Probably at least $3,000. Also they are quite big. The big Wurlitzer ones with bubbles go for a lot more. Pinball machines are another thing like that.

It looks like an excellent swapmeet. Possibly a bit heavy on domestic electronics and light on TE and military gear. I have a friend who has a jukebox like that. It was downstairs in the kitchen and he wanted it moved upstairs into the living room. We had to remove the autochanger mechanism to save ...

Basically yes, but try capacitors; the accuracy on mine is much worse than 1% (?5% from memory). Maybe a faulty neuron, but is there a trimpot/cap inside? Checking electrolytics is my main use, but I occasionally use it for diodes and transistors. Not much use for HV diodes, though :) I've been fid...

I checked using 0.1% resistors and a PEAK LCR45. The PEAK shows the value of the resistors as their stated values. The BSIDE depends on the resistor value. At 1K it's pretty much spot on. The error peaks at about 50K and diminishes as the value increases. With capacitors I tried a few modern decent ...

As for accuracy, I regard it as sufficient for a quick pass/fail test or sanity check - a bit like an old 2% analogue multimeter. A bit better than that. I've just checked it with a couple of 1.2k 0.01% resistors and it says both are 1198R. I make that < 0.2%. My Brymen 867s says both of those resi...

This was bought at a swapmeet last weekend for £10. tggzzz helpfully pointed out. It was new (at least unused) in its box. It came with a PP3 battery, but no test leads. I believe test tweezers are included with the deluxe version. I have leads with grabbers at one end and banana sockets at the othe...

No, I haven't looked at the PSU, but the vendor thought it would be OK in a way that I trusted him and the limitations of what he was saying. VNAs aren't really my thing. I was struck by the way he appeared knowledgeable and passionate about the subject, and was shocked by the good enough approach ...

It seems a common whinge here is that there are unwashed/unkempt and poorly dressed individuals at radio rallies, but radio hams are Beau Brummel compared to the types you get at model engineering events. Many years ago, there was a chap at Thornbury MEX (Model Engineering eXhibition) where you had...

I've cut the shrouds off old shrouded meter probes with a craft knife to use with unshrouded inputs, such as on my Micronta FET multimeter. I have three modern handheld DMMs and three sets of nice silicone rubber meter leads, which I have no intention of messing with, and certainly not fitting new p...

It's crossed my mind to fit shrouded inputs to the two 7150+ I have. Mainly I find the unshrouded inputs are a nuisance, because you can't use modern meter probes without cutting the shrouds off, which I don't want to do. Unshrouded meter probes are a rarity, and the ones I have are ancient, crude b...

There was a fair bit of TE, though not always complete or guaranteed functional. At a few hamfests there's an indoor section and you can see equipment powered up, and so check whether it works, a bit. It might be enough to tell whether the unobtainium O/P parts are still working, which is something...

Oh yea.....lots of unwashed grubby looking hobos sitting at a table with coffee and donuts. Is it a requirement that hams must look like they come out of the cellar once a year? :roll: Amateur radio is an ageing hobby in the UK, so there aren't that many young people at these events. There's a type...

I thought FRARS was a little disappointing this year. It clashed with Rugby, which was irritating. tggzzz and synx508 were also there. There's a thread in the Events section. The rally scene isn't what it was a few years back. It also depends what you are interested in. There was stuff at Telford I ...

I've been to The National Hamfest a couple of times. I have friends who live nearby and it combines with a visit. I didn't make it this year because they'd booked a holiday, which clashed. I wasn't that disappointed. The first time I went on Friday and Saturday. I thought Friday was best. There was ...

MED6753 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 13, 2025 3:07 pm If I tried to hold Harley upside down by his feet I'd be bloodied on both arms.

Use cowhide arc (MMA) welding gauntlets. It's the only way to approach a dangerous creature of that sort.

These came from a swapmeet a week back. They were on a big silent key stall. I asked about one, which was prominently on display on top of other units, and was told it was tested and it worked, so they wanted £5 for it. I bought it. I'll call that one New, although they appear to be around the same ...

With Summer winding down I finally got the opportunity to work on this 485. First item is to free up the jammed vertical input switch. Yes indeed. In places I see the trees already turning colour. I have several proper jobs to do before the cold weather sets in. Then, although it hasn't been an out...

I always thought EICO was a lesser manufacturer of TE, not a kit company. We don't see EICO much this side of the pond. Heathkit/Daystrom was well established here and they had a factory in Gloucester. Heathkit turns up regularly at swapmeets here. I have a few units; a VTVM, a distortion meter and ...

I've got two AWGs (three including the one built in to the scope). One is an el-cheapo FeelTech FY6900, which I used for a few years. These had a number of problems, gone into in a very lengthy thread at the other place. Feelech weren't quick to pick up on these. The software they supplied with them...

Having said that, I've never found a USP for generic pulse generators. Back in my first job one of the early things I did was to make a weird specialised pulse generator for a specific piece of equipment I was building. I've repeated that concept many times since. Back in the day I had to investiga...

Some modern scopes, including a few Siglent models, have a built-in AWG as an option. They are not the last word in AWGs, but they are good enough for most things and save bench room.

tautech wrote: ↑Tue Aug 26, 2025 9:39 pm These days most of the SDG models can do as much and lots more.

You wicked salesman you. These things have a savage grandeur entire unto itself. Well sort of. But for £15, it's a bit of fun.