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

[Zenith]

There's something sad about that.

Bush is another one. They were for a long time a major maker of domestic radios and TVs in the UK. Eventually they fizzled out. The brand with the Bush logo was bought and started to appear on washing machines, electric kettles and all sorts of appliances Bush never had anything to do with.

[TonyAlbus]

This time we put 3 popular MicroScopes side by side and focus on the 10" LinkMicro LM249S-M with USB HDMI, UHD and 24M,
the others are the 7" Andonstar AD206 and the older DM9 12M and FHD Video.

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

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[Specmaster]

There's something sad about that.

Bush is another one. They were for a long time a major maker of domestic radios and TVs in the UK. Eventually they fizzled out. The brand with the Bush logo was bought and started to appear on washing machines, electric kettles and all sorts of appliances Bush never had anything to do with.

There are others that suffered the same fate, Goodmans, Alba, HMV, Ferguson, Murphy, and Marconiphone although the only one of those that I see quite often popping up is Goodmans.

[mnementh]

This time we put 3 popular MicroScopes side by side and focus on the 10" LinkMicro LM249S-M with USB HDMI, UHD and 24M,
the others are the 7" Andonstar AD206 and the older DM9 12M and FHD Video.

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

A good side by side comparison that runs the gamut from ultra-cheapie (The DM9, which I still have) all the way up to almost pro-class.

At the price of that C-micro, you're getting pretty close to the bottom end standard format of the repair/fab/assembly industry; C-mount. Looking at your vid, the base of it should be easily adapted to a C-mount camera; there is a huge variety of quality in this space, from barely usable stuff for $15 off AliEx to actually decent AF stuff in the multiple hundreds to application specific and very expensive stuff costing thousands.

You could have a lot of onscreen fun comparing a handful of those cameras & lenses for not too much dosh.

Cheers, and well-played!

mnem
This is real life; of course there will be a test.

[Robert]

Must stop looking at ebay when I'm bored. Just blew £25 on a AVO 8. It's in a NATO case but looks like a mark 5.
And £16 on a 19mm 13in-lb torque wrench (for precision N types to go with my HP 20mm one).
The wrench was the better buy I think.

Robert.

[25 CPS]

I picked a nice sized rheostat on the way home from work on Thursday.

I've got some plans for it and an LCR meter and some other test equipment later this afternoon. I'll post pictures when I have a chance.

[25 CPS]

It looks like the do-everything box in this situation would be a handheld DMM or a 34401A.

My plan was to use the rheostat to load up the 5V output on that power supply but I wanted to verify it first and then use the same test leads in the load testing circuit so the 3457A works for that because it has a null function which is needed given the low resistance of the rheostat but the 3457A is limited to 1A for current measurement. The power supply claims 3A which is at the limit of the rectifier diodes in it so I'm not going to run it up all the way so this means 3478A which has a 3A current range, but no null function. Or move to a different DMM or go 4 wire for the resistance measurements.





End to end is 7.5 ohms as advertised.

Edited to add:



Approximate centre.

[25 CPS]

I finally racked the Tektronix TAS 485 I picked up a while ago with the Siglent arbitrary waveform generator and started using it to look at waveform while working on the 10 MHz project since I've got time for it right now and for checking voltage and ripple on the repaired power supply. It's a nice scope but Tektronix really tried to make the operating controls similar to a digital one of the same era like the TDS 640A below it. This is taking a bit of getting used to because it is an analog scope but doesn't quite drive like it; cranking the knobs through parts of their ranges and having immediate response while searching for waveforms or parts of waveforms doesn't work the same way and it's assumed you want to push the autoset button as you would on a digital scope. It really tries to have one foot on either side of the dividing line but doesn't necessarily do a good job of it in places. I'm going to see how it goes but might swap it for one of the other analog scopes I have.

[25 CPS]

Just for fun, since I had the LCR meter out, I stuck it on the rheostat but it's not very inductive at 1 KHz. I should've turned the test frequency up to 10 kHz or 100 kHz but I didn't think of it at the time. It's interesting looking at wire wound resistors with an LCR meter because they can have meaningful reactances in alternating current situations that wouldn't be hinted at with a simple multimeter DC resistance check or by going by a purely ohms nameplate rating.

[25 CPS]

Today saw me head down into the Niagara Peninsula for a pickup:



The 260 and 372 are both Bach-Simpson products. I’m not sure about the DC ammeter adapter on the bottom of the 260. The AC voltmeter is a Conway but the way it’s built looks very much like a Simpson. It’ll be interesting to open it up and see if it was OEM’ed by Simpson or it’s a competing product that was designed to look similar.

There’s a couple of other Simpson meters I picked up over the fall that I don’t think I posted yet so I’ll pull them out and take pictures and dig into these a bit more once I’m home and dinner’s cooking.

[25 CPS]

Dinner's in the oven now. I've got some leftover potatoes in the fridge to go with that steak and carrots so that'll be dinner for the next few days. I need to put the garbage out and then bring the test equipment in still and I'm not sure how much time I'm going to have to dig into that tonight since a good chunk of the evening just got taken up with an eye popping, epic phone call. Actually, I think I'm going to shelve the test equipment for the time being and go for a walk while dinner braises and try to get my blood pressure down. I'm really not in the frame of mind to do anything that requires delicate care and attention right now.

Anyways, I forgot to mention that little test speaker in the post about the pickup. I got that at the same time. It's tiny - there was nothing to indicate scale in the picture of the speaker. I don't know if it was from an intercom or PA system but my plan is to use it as a bench test speaker instead of the unenclosed drivers I have been using. It'll be interesting to see what's inside the cabinet and if it's set up for 70 ohm operation with a transformer inside. Tonight or tomorrow, and I'm thinking tomorrow at this point.

[nixiefreqq]

now that is the way to prepare carrots. they will be wonderful.

could never stand carrots glazed in sugar. even as a kid they grossed me out. (not sure why because most other sweets are irresistible)

ps oh. could never eat sweet potatoes either. at thanksgiving my rotten family likes to put a big bowl of the horrid things in front of me. have to move them or leave the table. even the smell drives me off.

[mnementh]

I generally agree... but sweet potato fries are indeed glorious. Especially with a horseradish sauce dip. (10-25% minced horseradish/90-75% mayonnaise)

mnem
or just drowned in sour cream...

[25 CPS]

now that is the way to prepare carrots. they will be wonderful.

could never stand carrots glazed in sugar. even as a kid they grossed me out. (not sure why because most other sweets are irresistible)

ps oh. could never eat sweet potatoes either. at thanksgiving my rotten family likes to put a big bowl of the horrid things in front of me. have to move them or leave the table. even the smell drives me off.

I don't really like sugar coated carrots either. The texture is slimey and the carrots don't need it. Carrots are already quite sweet on their own so they don't need any more sweetness from sugar which doesn't add any flavour, just sweetness. On the other hand, carrots with a little bit of maple syrup on them, real maple syrup and not the Aunt Jemima type pancake syrups, can be quite nice because it's not over the top sweet, has a nice flavour to it. Somehow it doesn't turn into the nasty slimey mess that surgar coated carrots do.

I love sweet potatoes so those aren't a problem for me. My family tries to force cheese on me at every family gathering either as an appetizer (they'll have nothing else) or with apple pie at dessert (there will be a big argument about not having any added to mine). They do this knowing full well I have dairy allergies.

Dinner last night was nice. I had half of the braised steak and carrots, leftover roast potatoes, and some bread to mop up the broth with. Then I went to bed. By the time I finished eating, I was wiped. It had already been a long day and that phone call from my parents completely finished me off.

[25 CPS]

It doesn't look like things are off to a good start with the Simpson 372 ohmmeter that was in the lot I picked up yesterday.

This was not disclosed by the seller and it was a porch pickup so I had no face to face interaction and look everything over in detail with the person. I think the next step is to take the back off and see why someone long ago came to the determination that this meter is bad.

[25 CPS]

Digging into the test speaker first before doing the batch of Simpson meters:



It measured open from the terminals on the rear of this using the 3457A so this is also not off to a good start either but it's only two small Philips screws to take the back off to check further.



I threw the switch on an HP 3310A function generator and played test tone through a four inch Radio Shack speaker as a sanity check. I have a pair of these and a pair of Marsland speakers that are still in the original packaging and I get one of them out whenever I need a test speaker and this speaker was intended to take the place of that. Moving the 3457A right on to the speaker driver in the cabinet still gave an open. I clipped the 3310A on and cranked it. Nothing. So I think we can conclude this sticker is no longer current:



FAILED

I could change the speaker out right now with the Radio Shack driver but I don't really want to break up the pair of NOS so I'll see if I can pick up a four inch speaker tomorrow and knock this out.

I'm not too pleased and I'm seriously starting to question if "Unable to test" was a cover for knowing it doesn't work and trying to unload it anyways.

I'll do the Conway AC voltmeter next and then line up the Simpson stuff and start a separate thread for Simpson meters.

[25 CPS]

Moving on to the Conway Electronics AC voltmeter in the lot, it looks like I finally have something in that lot that works:





I used the 6.3 and 12.6 filament outputs on the Elenco XP-720 power supply that smoked to provide test voltages for the 10 and 25 volt ranges and so far so good with this meter. I haven't tested the other ranges yet but the important thing is the meter movement is good. Onto the Simpson equipment...

[Cubdriver]

I'm not too pleased and I'm seriously starting to question if "Unable to test" was a cover for knowing it doesn't work and trying to unload it anyways.

When I see those words or similar on the Bay of Malcontent, that is my normal interpretation of them. It's a nice win when it turns out not to be true on occasion, but I feel that going in with low expectations tends to be more realistic.

"An optimist is frequently disappointed, whereas a pessimist is often pleasantly surprised."

-Pat

[mnementh]

Since I've given up all hope for humanity, I'm much better now. I used to be constantly disgusted; now I'm merely amused." ~me

mnem
"Weeth thlee joo get egg loll."

[mansaxel]

This is one of my favorite "secret weapon" tools:

Fiskars 109500 Vorpal sewing scissors.

Ooohhh. On the wish list it went, in a flash. On scissors, I've found the "electricians scissors" by Klein Tools et al to be one of the very few tools that are worth buying US made; they are indeed better than most other ones for electrician work. This is not something I've found to be true for other US tools; they usually are 1960s designs perpetrated through conservatism. For all more common tool types, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Japan or France (Facom!) is better; simply because there's been some product development the last 50 years.

[Cubdriver]

It never ceases to amaze me what some people consider packed for shipping. I recently bought a basket case GR 1191-B Counter from our favorite wallet depletion site, and it arrived bouncing around in a rather pathetic looking box with next to no cushioning.







Fortunately it doesn't seem to have been further damaged by its journey (it was rough looking to begin with), and at least powers up. Among other things, it will need a new filter - it's all crazed. I doubt it will polish out as it's rather deep, but will see...



More fodder for the repair queue.

-Pat

[Cubdriver]

And some detail of the crazing. I suspect it must have been exposed to some kind of solvent that the material did not like.





-Pat

[tggzzz]

Among other things, it will need a new filter - it's all crazed. I doubt it will polish out as it's rather deep, but will see...

If you can't (be bothered to) polish it yourself, some car repair shops will polish car head lights.

[Cubdriver]

Looking at it more closely, it looks like the filter might be two pieces sandwiched together, with the crazing on the inside. It feels perfectly smooth on both front and back sides. The challenge will be getting the front panel assembly apart with minimum fuss to gain access to the filter, as it itself is sandwiched between the front trim overlay and the structural part of the panel, which of course has switches and pots that are back loaded, and the BNCs are front loaded and will need to be desoldered to get it apart.

Fun, fun fun!!

-Pat

[tggzzz]

And they say software engineers build things in an idiotic quixotic way.

Well, they do - but they aren't the only perpetrators.