Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

[Zucca]

https://www.amazon.com/Comidox-Computer ... 07J9LRC6T/
mnem

Stop spending my money!

Anyway the DELL PSU is a strange unicorn with strange spec.
I already swapped the PSU with a brand new one EV3A 700W Bronze.
Same shit. Turns on, passes self PC diag with LED white. but nothing out the Video card.
After 20 sec or so it turns off by itself, always.

FLIR Thermal Camera shows nothing cooking on the MOBO.

I'll do a last jump on the service manual and then I'll return it to the dump.

PS: tool the CPU heat sink off, it has Core i7 6700 3.4 GHz
PSS: Has the i7 6700 an integrated Graphic Card in it? Maybe that's why they left the CPU in it

[Cubdriver]

The THD+N at 1000 hz at 1 volt (top) and 5 volts (bottom) isn't catastrophically bad but not as good as it could be, I think, so I'm going to let it run overnight and see if or how it changes by lunchtime tomorrow per the suggestions in one of Simon Spier's videos while I work on the other stuff I have going.

My HP 8903B readings after not quite 12 hours on have changed slightly. No filter readings are the same, or slightly worse, and filtered readings have improved a bit.

Initial Current Delta Configuration
0.0068 0.0071 +0.0003 1 kHz @ 1 V, no filter
0.0028 0.0024 -0.0004 1 kHz @ 1 V, 80 kHz low pass
0.0038 0.0038 0 1 kHz @ 5 V, no filter
0.0023 0.0019 -0.0004 1 kHz @ 5 V, 80 kHz low pass

-Pat

I got curious, and decided to use the 8903B to measure the 339A's oscillator at 1 kHz. To my surprise, it's a bit better at 1 V than the 8903B's, giving 0.0036% sans low pass filter and 0.016% with the filter. It was a tiny bit better at 5 V as well, but less so - 0.0033 without the filter, and 0.0019 with the filter.

1 V, no filter:


1 V with 80 kHz LP filter:


5 V, no filter:


5 V with 80 kHz LP filter:


-Pat

[Specmaster]

Ok, I'll bite on it then, why, is the Intel i7 6700 a particularly bad CPU then?

[Zenith]

PS: tool the CPU heat sink off, it has Core i7 6700 3.4 GHz
PSS: Has the i7 6700 an integrated Graphic Card in it? Maybe that's why they left the CPU in it

Yes it has integrated graphics. I'm sure that was sold as an office PC and integrated graphics is an advantage, since they don't need sophisticated graphics with lots of 3D acceleration, and it saves the cost of a graphics card.

If you have an old graphics card It might be worth a try.

[Specmaster]

PS: tool the CPU heat sink off, it has Core i7 6700 3.4 GHz
PSS: Has the i7 6700 an integrated Graphic Card in it? Maybe that's why they left the CPU in it

Yes it has integrated graphics. I'm sure that was sold as an office PC and integrated graphics is an advantage, since they don't need sophisticated graphics with lots of 3D acceleration, and it saves the cost of a graphics card.

If you have an old graphics card It might be worth a try.

Yes, I was aware of that, but always thought you could disable the internal graphics and enable an external card if you wished to?

[Zenith]

You can. Mainly you just fit a graphics card and the PC uses it in preference to the integrated graphics. No messing with BIOS settings or any intervention from you.

In this case, it's not at all clear what's going on. It doesn't seem to be a PSU problem. The M/B could be faulty or the CPU could be faulty, or both. There's only so much time, and particularly money, it's worth putting into a dump find. It's handy to have second system you can swap parts with.

The CPUs seem to fetch £20 plus on ebay (even "Parts only") although I'd guess most people want the unlocked ones, and they are easy to pack and send. It could be a way to recover some of the costs.

[mnementh]

I've run into some OEM boxes that have "whitelist only" restrictions in the BIOS for external GPU; HP was notorious for this, but I know Dell did it too. The official reason was UEFI compliance, but I suspect they just didn't want you buying the loss leader box and upgrading it with your old "good stuff"; they wanted you to buy new high-profit-margin "good stuff" in the configurator.

Try plugging a monitor into the video port on the MB. They may have manually set BIOS to use a no-longer-present external card on bootup, and/or disabled onboard graphics to free up "shared RAM". After which there is no functioning GPU.

Also, of course, you should always try clearing the CMOS by removing the battery and/or moving the clear CMOS jumper on the mainboard to force it to load default config.

And again... try booting with just one or two DIMMs.

mnem
Good hunting!

[mnementh]

Huh. It appears our Chinesium cousins have released a comparable clone of Boston Dynamics' Spot that is actually in the "consumer product" price range, with a $3700 (incl shipping) starting price. This is ~1/20th the alleged price of a barebones Spot at around $74K.

https://shop.unitree.com/

Of course, if you want any kind of usable carrying capacity or runtime you'll need to look into one of their more expensive offerings, but hey... at least the entry-level model mecha-toy costs less than a new car. And unlike most of the similar vaporware KickStarter crap we've seen over the last few years, this actually has real-live vendors in the US with stock on hand.

Trossen Robotics Quadruped Shop

Honestly, much more impressive than Musk's attempt at a humanoid bot a couple months ago:

mnem

[Peter_O]

First thing that little doggy-thing thinks: ' I've no soul. I'm not a dog. I do not love him. Why should I follow that guy? I better go and walk my way.'

(Just to burn some popcorn.)

[mansaxel]

Cropico Ohms meter arrived. Agrees to last decimal with my DDR / GDR 1Ω standard. Happy.

I also now own 3 off 8060A. Won the 3d one 30 min ago. It comes with new Fluke leads, allegedly. Seller linked to the manual, so somewhat knowledgeable. I already have the paper edition of the manual, plus, of course all the scanned docs from one of the best threads on EEVblog forum, the "Old Fluke Meters" one.

[Specmaster]

BD, a while ago you thought about junking your car and relying on public transport or even hiring a car on the occasions when public transport didn't fit the bill. Perhaps this new dispatches report might just make you re-evaluate that idea again?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXkRg55PoOo

[mnementh]

Tonight's project. I didn't even know that run had been pulled out there until I went looking around the front of the house for a place to possibly plug in Christmas lights. Painters had shoved it all back so just the wirenuts laid flat against the board, then painted it all.

Yeah, I know the 3rd lampholder doesn't match; they were out of white ones, and for some reason that kit in grey was almost $9 more.

I considered ordering one off Amazon or actually paying the extra for the grey kit; then I realized how often I'd looked up there in the last year: not enough to notice that wire stubbed out.

And I damn sure didn't notice it while I was cooking on my grill and actually had enough light to see what I was doing, I tell you whutt.

mnem
fukkitt.

.

[Robert]

Yesterday I made an offer on ebay for a Picoscope (BIN with Best Offer). 'scope was listed as a 2204A (10 MHz BW 100 Ms/s) but the image was of a 2207A (100MHz 1Gs/s). Got a message today saying they had just noticed the different number and was I OK to have the 2207A instead? I replied saying that the 2207A was OK with me
Lets see what turns up, the total was £50 including postage....

I'm on leave this week but feeling crappy so took a Covid test - Positive

[Zucca]

One day I will have my PIcoscope too.... damm Rob you are a professional sniper on evil bay.

[Zucca]

And again... try booting with just one or two DIMMs.
Good hunting!

The more I dig into it, the more I am realizing those DELL PSU/MOBO are just POS even in working condition....
No worth my valuable time. I will try to rescue the mini tower case and the i7. Wish me luck.

I would like a Supermicro MOBO

[mnementh]

The more I dig into it, the more I am realizing those DELL PSU/MOBO are just POS even in working condition....

That's not always the case.

For their mid and higher end fleet boxes, both Dell and HP's MBs are often made by major manufacturers and are very comparable to their retail boards. The cheap-cheap ones typically only have a few PCIe slots and 2 DIMM slots; if your MB has 4 DIMM slots and/or a full complement of PCIe, then chances are it is one of these boards.

I've built more than a few very serviceable gaming rigs by taking the same exact path you were trying to do: pick up a cheap stripped-out workstation and build it the way I like, then spend actual money on the GPU & PSU.

What is key is to start with one of the models that uses a standard footprint MB/PSU (preferably a mid-tower, tho I have done slimline case units before, just cuz specs vs cost were right), then shop carefully and patiently.

But yeah, you can't look at the process as if it were just another work order... you'll never come out ahead. You have to treat it as "something to tinker on in your spare time".

You always pay for your toys; in some combination of time, cash, blood and aggravation.

mnem
*toddles off to find a credit union for my eBay*

[bitseeker]

Huh. It appears our Chinesium cousins have released a comparable clone of Boston Dynamics' Spot that is actually in the "consumer product" price range, with a $3700 (incl shipping) starting price. This is ~1/20th the alleged price of a barebones Spot at around $74K.

https://shop.unitree.com/

That's not bad, all things considered. Not like I'm going to run out and get one, but it's certainly interesting progress in the copy-and-reduce-cost department.

[Robert]

Testing Testing...
Been quiet here. So I put an offer on some TE on ebay. It was more than the auction start price but was declined. Nice note from seller saying he had a number of watchers. So I won it with a maiden bid
Do you know what it is.....

Wein-1.jpg

[Cerebus]

Do you know what it is.....

One presumes a "dial indicator". Which is, if you think about it, a pretty poor name/description as that phrase could refer to any of a thousand things that use a dial to indicate something, for instance a watch, but that is nevertheless the customary and generally understood name for one. Looks like the variety you'd clamp onto the ways of your lathe to establish a reference point.

With that rather chunky looking tip I'd have been tempted to say "hardness testing gauge" but for the fact the scale runs both ways.

But imperial? Really? Then again you're not going to be cutting metric threads on your recent acquisition so I suppose there might be some method to your madness.

[mnementh]

You're right; scale is in thousandths. Not as nice as the Starrett I lost for grand-dad as a youth, but Robert paid for his with a credit card, while I paid for that one in farm chores and sore hide.

mnem
twitch... twitch... twitcha-twitch...

[Zenith]

My guess is a runout gauge to show how far something deviates from perfectly circular, or how far off centre it's been mounted on a lathe with four jaw chuck.

[Zucca]

Every post from Rob is always a surprise, I have no idea what you got...

[Cubdriver]

Did some more playing around the other night with the MPE-65 1x~5x macro lens, taking some pics of the display in a Tektronix DC 503 counter. It can be a bear getting steady images at that sort of magnification, especially with the lens on a macro rail on a tall tripod, but I eventually remembered that the camera could shoot with the mirror locked up to eliminate that source of vibration and got a few decent shots. The segments of the display used are made up of individual LED chips, and as the magnification increases the bond wires running along the top of the individual dies are plainly visible. Cool old displays.

This first one is taken with the 100 mm macro, a bit less than 1:1


The following are with the MPE-65; unfortunately I didn't think to record the magnification but can say the final ones are at 5:1 as it was maxed out. With this lens, you set the magnification, then focus by moving the whole camera/lens assembly back and forth on a rail.






Interesting how there is a visible intensity gradient across the LED chips, with the brightness fading slightly with increased distance from the bonding wires.

And finally, the setup (fuzzy iPad pictures):






-Pat

[Robert]

Do you know what it is.....

One presumes a "dial indicator". Which is, if you think about it, a pretty poor name/description as that phrase could refer to any of a thousand things that use a dial to indicate something, for instance a watch, but that is nevertheless the customary and generally understood name for one. Looks like the variety you'd clamp onto the ways of your lathe to establish a reference point.

With that rather chunky looking tip I'd have been tempted to say "hardness testing gauge" but for the fact the scale runs both ways.

But imperial? Really? Then again you're not going to be cutting metric threads on your recent acquisition so I suppose there might be some method to your madness.

No not hardness tester and nothing to do with the lathe or mill. It's for the electroinics workshop. Unusual being double ended, HP ones come as a pair of single ended.

[Cubdriver]

Do you know what it is.....

One presumes a "dial indicator". Which is, if you think about it, a pretty poor name/description as that phrase could refer to any of a thousand things that use a dial to indicate something, for instance a watch, but that is nevertheless the customary and generally understood name for one. Looks like the variety you'd clamp onto the ways of your lathe to establish a reference point.

With that rather chunky looking tip I'd have been tempted to say "hardness testing gauge" but for the fact the scale runs both ways.

But imperial? Really? Then again you're not going to be cutting metric threads on your recent acquisition so I suppose there might be some method to your madness.

No not hardness tester and nothing to do with the lathe or mill. It's for the electroinics workshop. Unusual being double ended, HP ones come as a pair of single ended.

A gauge for measuring precision RF connector pin depth?

-Pat