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

[Zenith]

I have an HP 427A I mean to do something about. It's supposed to be battery operated. The batteries are available but cost more than I paid for it. Considering its performance, I can't see why I'm inclined to mess with it but it is from HP's golden age.

As for welders, I have four:

An 80 Amp buzz box. It soon overheats even when fitted with a 30 W fan, which came out of an IBM minicomputer. A nasty little thing, but it has done useful work.

Two DECA inverter 130 Amp MMA welders, both of which I came by broken and I fixed. They are about the size of a shoe box. A beautiful smooth DC arc and you need less current on DC. I've never managed to over heat them. They won't burn cellulosic rods, but I've not found that much of a limitation. 3.2mm (1/8th inch) rods are no problem.

An R-Tech Chinese 180 Amp inverter MIG/MMA welder. It came with a five year collect and return warranty. I haven't used it for a time, but it paid for itself welding patches on my Ford Mondeo, now gone to that great car park in the sky. It goes down very low so it's fine for welding patches on cars. I used 5/95 CO2/Argon mix for that. I've never tried pure CO2 or gasless wire. I've used it with the MMA function and it's fine, but the DECAs are handier and I've found they'll weld down to 1.5 mm steel with the right rod.

[25 CPS]

I have an HP 427A I mean to do something about. It's supposed to be battery operated. The batteries are available but cost more than I paid for it. Considering its performance, I can't see why I'm inclined to mess with it but it is from HP's golden age.

Is yours strictly battery operation only? There was an option available for the 427A for a built in line power supply which my two luckily have:



The unlucky part is they both have the PH-163 power connector. Fortunately, I took advantage of an opportunity to buy a bunch of PH-163 power cords locally a number of years ago from a guy who pulled them from an equipment rack that had been stripped out. All the equipment was gone but the power cords had been left behind and they were being sold off on Kijiji. I forget how I found the listing but I bought a handful. Not being stuck whenever I run into a PH-163 situation is fantastic.

[Zenith]

I have an HP 427A I mean to do something about. It's supposed to be battery operated. The batteries are available but cost more than I paid for it. Considering its performance, I can't see why I'm inclined to mess with it but it is from HP's golden age.

Is yours strictly battery operation only? There was an option available for the 427A for a built in line power supply which my two luckily have:

Definitely. Someone's codged a pair of banana sockets on the back to power it externally. Putting together a home brew mains power supply has problems because of induced hum. It would need to be well shielded.

Furthermore, the coating on the scale is flaking, not too badly, but flaking, so that would need to be dealt with.

[tggzzz]

I recently picked up a battery only Marconi universal bridge. Big expensive PP9 battery. Zinc-carbon, 17yo, hadn't leaked.

I converted it to "mains" operation by poking the battery terminals wires out of a hole in the rear of the case. With the addition of banana-to-croc clip leads and a bench PSU, the job was completed in 5 mins.

Would take just as long to reconvert it to battery operation.

[Zenith]

By that token, my HP 427A has already been converted to mains operation by the two banana sockets.

My TF2700 has a normal modern low voltage socket fitted. I'm sure I powered it from a bench PSU.

PP9s are about £7.50. They appear to have just been discontinued by EverReady. Homebase are flogging them off for £4. They are better value than PP3s, having a 5Ah capacity rather than 0.5Ah. OK for equipment in regular use, but not an attractive option for items which are more or less a curiosity.

[vk6zgo]

[quote=Zenith post_id=9321 time=1728342008 user_id=66]
By that token, my HP 427A has already been converted to mains operation by the two banana sockets.

My TF2700 has a normal modern low voltage socket fitted. I'm sure I powered it from a bench PSU.

PP9s are about £7.50. They appear to have just been discontinued by EverReady. Homebase are flogging them off for £4. They are better value than PP3s, having a 5Ah capacity rather than 0.5Ah. OK for equipment in regular use, but not an attractive option for items which are more or less a curiosity.
[/quote]

PP9s are a similar size to a six AA cell battery holder.

I bought a Levell audio/function generator in a nice leather case,for $4.00 (just for the case) at a Hamfest.

Curiosity hit when I got home, & I pulled the generator out, only to discover no fewer than four dead PP9 batteries, supplying the plus & minus 18v rails for the device.
They were Ever Ready 276 batteries with the press studs on top, which were never sold in Oz, as we had the similar sized Eveready 276P with a bakelite 2 pin socket on top.
The latter was long gone from the market, so I ended up with four battery holders.

[bd139]

I have a weird undocumented HP427A which is the mains and battery option one. It has been converted to mains only with a battery eliminator.

[tautech]

As for welders, I have four:..........

An R-Tech Chinese 180 Amp inverter MIG/MMA welder. It came with a five year collect and return warranty. I haven't used it for a time, but it paid for itself welding patches on my Ford Mondeo, now gone to that great car park in the sky. It goes down very low so it's fine for welding patches on cars. I used 5/95 CO2/Argon mix for that. I've never tried pure CO2 or gasless wire. I've used it with the MMA function and it's fine, but the DECAs are handier and I've found they'll weld down to 1.5 mm steel with the right rod.

Some of the best MIG work I've seen was done by an old boilermaker with a fairly large 3ph MIG with gasless wire and CO2.
Sure slag removal was required but man where those nice welds.

[tggzzz]

By that token, my HP 427A has already been converted to mains operation by the two banana sockets.

Yup.

I took some pleasure in my modification requiring minimal time, and being completely reversible with minimal time and effort.

No, that's not lazy, it is efficient.

[Specmaster]

Ha!

See post by me at top of previous page involving PS Waverley

I think that was what prompted me to post.

That reminds me of a test equipment enthusiast who vanished some years ago, possibly now deceased. He was known as Archivist on IRC and he had a self-hosted website cataloguing his collection. He was a volunteer at a steam pumping station for a canal somewhere north of here and I don't know what happened to him but there's that steam connection again.

This paddle steamer was operating from Clacton last weekend and was taking part in the birthday celebrations of the ex pirate Radio Caroline.

https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/246 ... 077427d969

https://radiocaroline.co.uk/#home.html

[tggzzz]

Ha!

See post by me at top of previous page involving PS Waverley

I think that was what prompted me to post.

That reminds me of a test equipment enthusiast who vanished some years ago, possibly now deceased. He was known as Archivist on IRC and he had a self-hosted website cataloguing his collection. He was a volunteer at a steam pumping station for a canal somewhere north of here and I don't know what happened to him but there's that steam connection again.

This paddle steamer was operating from Clacton last weekend and was taking part in the birthday celebrations of the ex pirate Radio Caroline.

https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/246 ... 077427d969

https://radiocaroline.co.uk/#home.html

That's the PS Waverley

The nearest other ship I'm aware of is the Balmoral, which has been marooned in Bristol Harbour for >5 years. Enthusiasts are trying to make it seaworthy again.

[25 CPS]

I'm still around even though I haven't been posting much. Rotating shifts are horrible.

I was really hoping to put away the Amber and have the Hameg frame back on the bench to take the cover off and take a look at the insides and begin looking for the cause of the dead right bay with the idea of getting the parts to fix it soon, then put something else on the bench that I've been meaning to get to.

None of this has happened because I've been so exhausted. One day off between 8 overnights in a row and starting 7 afternoons in a row is not enough recovery time and I haven't been up early enough to do too much in the mornings before heading to work.

I did spend an enjoyable chunk of the late morning outside cooking some food to make enough meals to carry me through to the end of this shift cycle though:







The North American B-25 Mitchell based out of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum flew by a couple of times while I was in the back yard and watching that loop around while I was cooking added a nice touch. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to even try to quickly rearrange what's on the bench before I had to head out though.

[mansaxel]

I managed to not buy a 410c today, and also, which was a bit more annoying TBH, failed to bid on an ESAB inverter MMA welder. I've decided I need one, as there are things that turn up and need welding.

What made you decided pass up on the 410C?

I just was busy as the auction end neared. And there's no decent auto-sniping solution for that site. In hindsight, it went for way too much -- about 150$US. With a probe, that would have been OK. Without, not so much.

[mansaxel]

I have an HP 427A I mean to do something about. It's supposed to be battery operated. The batteries are available but cost more than I paid for it. Considering its performance, I can't see why I'm inclined to mess with it but it is from HP's golden age.

Is yours strictly battery operation only? There was an option available for the 427A for a built in line power supply which my two luckily have:



The unlucky part is they both have the PH-163 power connector. Fortunately, I took advantage of an opportunity to buy a bunch of PH-163 power cords locally a number of years ago from a guy who pulled them from an equipment rack that had been stripped out. All the equipment was gone but the power cords had been left behind and they were being sold off on Kijiji. I forget how I found the listing but I bought a handful. Not being stuck whenever I run into a PH-163 situation is fantastic.

My 427 has got a IEC inlet, so on there I'm sorted, but my 5221A, my 211B and my 200CDR all have PH-163. Fortunately, Schurter make a C6 (mickey mouse style) inlet that fits the hole with just a few file drags. The 211B has been treated, and the rest will follow some day.
The PH-163 is a vile, dangerous connector that should be terminated. Not in the technical but in the Arnold sense.

[mansaxel]

I have a weird undocumented HP427A which is the mains and battery option one. It has been converted to mains only with a battery eliminator.

Mine is that too. The battery has been removed.

[bd139]

New addition to the collection. Untested as yet but looks fine...

IMG_2084.jpeg

IMG_2083.jpeg

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[MED6753]

Look at all those crapacitors. Let me "fix" it for you.

[25 CPS]

New addition to the collection. Untested as yet but looks fine...

IMG_2084.jpeg

IMG_2083.jpeg

IMG_2085.jpeg

Cool! I'm glad to see the 400EL arrived without any shipping damage. Was it well packed by the seller?

I have a weird undocumented HP427A which is the mains and battery option one. It has been converted to mains only with a battery eliminator.

Mine is that too. The battery has been removed.

This is how both of mine came. I'm not sure if either of them ever had a battery installed.

[bd139]

New addition to the collection. Untested as yet but looks fine...


IMG_2084.jpeg


IMG_2083.jpeg


IMG_2085.jpeg

Cool! I'm glad to see the 400EL arrived without any shipping damage. Was it well packed by the seller?

Actually very well packaged. Double walled cardboard box. Inside a robust plastic bag. Surrounded by at least 4 inches of bubble wrap on each side. Was impressed!

I have a weird undocumented HP427A which is the mains and battery option one. It has been converted to mains only with a battery eliminator.

Mine is that too. The battery has been removed.

This is how both of mine came. I'm not sure if either of them ever had a battery installed.

Lucky there!

Mine had a crusty NiCd stack in it https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/ ... msg4189759

Got replaced with a "battery eliminator" pictured here:

ZYQqm5X.jpg

[25 CPS]

Happy Thanksgiving to the Canadians here!

[systemCorruPti0n]

Hi!

So I rarely post here but I've been getting some nice stuff lately and posting some of it in the discord, but I felt I should get it on the thread so everyone can see. Im going to go through the camera reel so the pics might have questionable quality. If anyone wants extra detail on anything feel free to ask for it, I'll take more&better pictures and can measure whatever too

Dekavider RV622A
6 decades divider, 1k-200-40-40-40-40. It was unconsistent at the beginning but after a carefull cleaning of the switches it seems to work well. I have yet to check deviation and better testing, current setup is unsuitable. Notice the handwritten date in the 3rd image, 5/87. I imagine production date must be +-1~2 years around that date, so reference to check drift.

rv622a.jpg

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3t43g3.jpg

swefwqef.jpg

Fluke A90
Current shunt with 6 ranges. Came with a paper attached to its back with 6.5d measurements of each resistor in 5/97, I'm onto getting one of the meters calibrated, will measure resitors again after, will be interesting to see how much the resistors have drifted since.
Other detail that called my attention was the back plate with the banana shaped drills; looked around but couldnt find any options and after asking around conclusion is that it was just a reused panel, prob same as frontal one.

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weg33.jpg

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[systemCorruPti0n]

Continuation as I can't post more than 10 images per post.


Yokogawa 2554
Voltage and current reference. Input was 100VAC but prev owner plugged it to 230VAC, transformer's primary is dead. Repair is ongoing, device runs on a 18V line, quickly tested it and it seemed to work. I dug onto the transformer, but when realizing the layout with the primary wound first I desisted on a rewind.

Back opens nicely on a hinge. The board has a simple NiCad battery charging circuit and a custom (? unsure if custom or general prebuilt part when designed) vreg, its internal schematic is posted in the manual tho iirc I must have a different version than in the manual as I don't recall the board and schematic be identical. I plan on upgrading the batteries to LiFePo and redo the power and charging board around that.

y2554.jpg

y2554_guts1.jpg

y2554_guts2.jpg

y2554_guts3.jpg

y2554_trafo.jpg

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[systemCorruPti0n]

Datron 1072
This one came with the users handbook and the cal key.Came with some bent pins on the eeprom and had a burnt tant in the ohms pcb and another one smoked on me on (iirc) the analogue pcb. Changed for new ones and got it working.
I am unsure if it'd make sense to recap tantalums and electrolytics if I ever get it calibrated, would be sad if shortly after calibrating it it breaks. That being said its been working fine for a few months now.

d1072_front.jpg

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d1072_bentPins.jpg

d1072_burntTantAnalogue.jpg

d1072_top.jpg

d1072_bottom.jpg

d1072_options.jpg

[ch_scr]

Those blue Philips 'lytics have to go. Always a problem. Some more in the suppy section on the back. Recent "defpom" video seems to suggest the back PS section might have a looming problem with brittle plastic leading to overheating regulators, at least check the TO-220's on the metal sheet heatsinks.

[MED6753]

Those blue Philips 'lytics have to go. Always a problem. Some more in the suppy section on the back. Recent "defpom" video seems to suggest the back PS section might have a looming problem with brittle plastic leading to overheating regulators, at least check the TO-220's on the metal sheet heatsinks.

Agreed, replace all the tants and the Philips crapacitors.