Test Equipment Anonymous

From your account and looking at the website, I take the view that you went, so we won't have to.

I really enjoy reading accounts of enthusiasm and dedication, and this shows both in abundance.

I often wonder how well some TE worked when it left the factory, and whether when you check it out with modern TE you are putting it to a very harsh test, or you do indeed see faults that are the result of 40 years plus of ageing. I somehow doubt that this would have shown the severe sinewave distor...

HP function generators are mentioned here. https://www.hpmemoryproject.org/wb_pages/wall_b_page_10c.htm The 3312A is featured in the March 1975 Hewlett-Packard Journal. http://hparchive.com/Journals/HPJ-1975-03.pdf 50 years ago, when it was released, it would have been a top end and very expensive b...

A good bag. That seems like a very low price. HP kit of that era was beautifully made.

Function generators with any degree of sophistication, (at least sweep) and respectable waveforms, I've found are incredibly useful. I've got a Siglent SDG2000X I use a lot.

BTW if anyone finds an HP 8904A at a sensible price, please let me know... Try Stewart of Reading. They list them with no price. They have a special offers list with prices, but it isn't on that. Their lists may not be that accurate, because stuff comes and goes. You have to phone them and ask. htt...

They are getting on a bit though. I've had one since 2009. It's failed twice. The first time was a reservoir cap, I think the same one as failed in this. The second time was a transistor in the trigger circuit which is under no particular stress but decided to depart this life. I had a couple of spa...

I've always found stainless steel watches cause slight skin irritation after a time. I haven't noticed the stainless steel has been even slightly corroded, although there must have been some chemical action. Surgical grade stainless steel is hardly expensive when you consider the amount used in a wa...

Timex watches, advertised on TV in the 60s. Shockproof, waterproof and gold-plated. One of the ads had one being case out with a fishing rod and drawn back in the manner of a lure, and it was still going. Fifty years ago watches were sold as water-resistant to a depth, even purpose made diver's watc...

.... some very nice Chemtronics desolder braid (bought at the rally, have you seen how much this stuff costs new now?!) to wick up the solder....... The thing with rallies is one goes with the hope of picking up a sought after major item, for not too much, but very often the haul of odds and ends; ...

Simples, just get yourself a nice desoldering gun, I've never regretting mine. Desoldering guns are very good for some things, but not great for others. Solder suckers have their place, as does braid. All part of the arsenal of desoldering methods, each with its advantages. I have a dental pick wit...

Well done. It sounds like a tale with a happy ending. Tants in Racal equipment have caused me grief in the past. They have been very difficult to desolder. Also the manual common on the WWW may not match the equipment you have, at all. I have two 9917A frequency counters. The manual for the 9917 is ...

Recently, I was asked by my father-in-law, who is an electronic engineer who worked in broadcast TV and video why I keep buying test equipment and what is it that I want to measure? I told him it was sort of like those people who build or restore steam locomotives. That evening I did a bit of Googl...

I'm sure that's generally true, but in this case I made it clear I was happy to abandon the claim, and there was no question of whiplash, or the passenger being a high-powered barrister so traumatised that his earning potential of millions had been destroyed, or any nonsense along those lines. I had...

https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/car-tech-features-you-could-live-without-axlAN5K2Q5K7 The common theme is too bloody true: distract the driver. Touchscreens, lane sensors, zoned climate control, automatic headlights. The thing I hate on my car is the parking sensor. It's by default on. If I tu...

Years ago I was rear-ended at a roundabout. I had a witness in the car. If you go into the back of someone, there's not usually much excuse. The bloke clearly wasn't paying full attention. About all it did was slightly widen the gap around the rear door, but it wasn't that obvious and there wasn't a...

Circumstances can be devised where a ring main supplying 90m² could be operating at or beyond its limits. Obviously, it's advisable to stay within the rules, and that's usually easy. Just so. It was the "any number" that surprised me. Fortunately freezers don't take much power, except for...

All valid, but there are some countering forces. Ceiling light cable is usually rated for half-enclosed operation, i.e. resting on something but with the other side open to ventilation. That's the reason you are supposed to ensure loft insulation is under the cable. But nowadays they often just res...

I'm surprised that nowadays you can connect any number of sockets to a single ringmain, provided the area is <100m 2 . I presume the justification is that nowadays most appliances are <100W. I see these rules as being sensible guidance rather than something set in concrete. Extra sockets are usuall...

where basically you're supposed to have a sparky in to do any electrical work more demanding than changing a light bulb. You might be OK with a degree in electronic engineering, because I recall there's an exception for 'naturally competent people". ISTR there being such an outcry. It was cond...

?C1? Not entirely sure but I think it refers to the Part P Building Regulations, where basically you're supposed to have a sparky in to do any electrical work more demanding than changing a light bulb. You might be OK with a degree in electronic engineering, because I recall there's an exception fo...

They were wire fuses. I think in the 1970s they switched to Consumer Units with miniature circuit breakers rather than fuse boxes with wire fuses. My house still has wire fuses. UK domestic plugs and distribution bars have 13A (or 5A or 3A) cartridge fuses. I don't believe fuse wire is anything spec...

Naah! Tants were a miracle component around 1970. Small, low leakage and better at RF. They were overused, especially across supply lines, and the technology was immature. I've never noticed any particularly bad smell when I've seen them fail. The for real, never forget it smell, comes from a dying ...

I made an executive decision to not replace the capacitor shown, plus one under it, on the TM503 supply at this time. In order to get the old ones out it will take major disassembly and lots of cursing to get the tabs unsoldered from the board. I have replacements in stock just in case. Probably a ...

Thanks both of you for that. Scopes will pick a lot more hum and noise with the cover off, but I've not seen it this bad before. With the cover back on things improved a lot. it also helped to use a Tek probe rather than the Chinese one I usually reach for. I think the Chinese probe doesn't make a p...