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

[bd139]

Sometimes I think bd is single-handedly keeping the used TE market ticking over

Just flogged another TDR, for a pleasingly high price.

Possibly. I'm just resurrecting enough bodies to pass through the grinder.

[AVGresponding]

How many times have you said "no more Teks".

If he had a dollar (or maybe more precisely, £) for each time he said it, he could afford at least three or four more of them!

Sometimes I think bd is single-handedly keeping the used TE market ticking over

Just flogged another TDR, for a pleasingly high price.

Well in fairness he did buy it with the express intention of flipping it

[Specmaster]

So I bought another Tek 465B

Looking like a Tek is a substitute for a BD140,

[bd139]

So I bought another Tek 465B

Looking like a Tek is a substitute for a BD140,

There will be another bd140. There always is!

[Specmaster]

So I bought another Tek 465B

Looking like a Tek is a substitute for a BD140,

There will be another bd140. There always is!

Yep, as my old Mum used to say, you're a glutton for punishment,

[tggzzz]

So I bought another Tek 465B

Looking like a Tek is a substitute for a BD140,

There will be another bd140. There always is!

Spoken like a true software engineer, as per the old joke...
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7037183

[mnementh]

There will be another bd140. There always is!

mnem

"You're still the one..."

[bd139]

Looking like a Tek is a substitute for a BD140,

There will be another bd140. There always is!

Spoken like a true software engineer, as per the old joke...
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7037183

Hahaha classic that one

[AVGresponding]

Am I likely to run into customs difficulties shipping GDTs to the US?

[Robert]

As long as the are display devices and not ultra high speed trigger tubes, no.

[AVGresponding]

Beckman Sperry Sp-352s. I should maybe affix a picture of them to the outside of the parcel?

[tggzzz]

Beckman Sperry Sp-352s. I should maybe affix a picture of them to the outside of the parcel?

Oh, fun.

I presume you have gone through
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/classifying ... -equipment
https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/a-z-index/a
but haven't resorted to
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ask-hmrc-fo ... your-goods

[Zenith]

Am I likely to run into customs difficulties shipping GDTs to the US?

I can't see why. These are run-of-the-mill electronic components, like Nixie tubes or 7 segment LED displays. They don't present any particular hazards such as being toxic or radioactive. I can't see them being on any proscribed items list, such as the one that UK used to issue, listing horror comics, shrunken heads, flick knives and Indian Hemp as definite contraband.

I've found customs to be hit and miss. Sometimes they pick on something innocuous, and other times they wave it through.

I know someone who sent four 150W incandescent light bulbs to his son in Australia, where they were they were not only no longer for sale, but the ban went further. The lad got a snottygram from Oz customs saying that these illegal items had been seized and destroyed. They had decided to overlook it on this one occasion, but if there was any repetition there would be serious consequences.

[AVGresponding]

I think I'll just describe them as "obsolete electronic display devices". I can't see how VAT applies, since they don't pay it in the US. Discharge lamps appear to have no duty owing either.

I'll try to get the Postmaster to serve me when I go to the PO, he's a former lead-melter, and might have a better idea.

[tggzzz]

I think I'll just describe them as "obsolete electronic display devices". I can't see how VAT applies, since they don't pay it in the US. Discharge lamps appear to have no duty owing either.

I'll try to get the Postmaster to serve me when I go to the PO, he's a former lead-melter, and might have a better idea.

The customs codes can be used for many purposes, including weapons control, import duty and sales taxes - or whatever they are called in the destination country.

I suspect you will be required to fill out this: https://www.postoffice.co.uk/mail/custo ... form-guide where bullet point 7 might have to be entered.

"Vintage" or "replacement" might be better than "obsolete". That comment is worth what you paid for it.

See what section they are listed in on fleabay; I suspect that is used when fleabay does the paperwork for you under the GSP.

[tggzzz]

To close the loop...

Factory notes https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/ ... msg5082460

Which refers to https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/headings/8540 containing copious notes

[25 CPS]

I'm doing a bit of catch-up reading right now since I was away on vacation for about a week. I went to San Francisco with friends and left behind all the test equipment etc. I didn't even bring a film camera with me since I just wanted to enjoy the time with the friends and relax, seeing the sights without feeling any pressure to do much or get too wrapped up in photography.

The reality that my vacation was over came crashing down like a load of bricks yesterday morning while I was driving to work riding the brake pedal through a massive traffic jam on the highway behind an accident, listening to the latest Trudeau scandal (I've been unhappy for a long time with how our federal government has been superlative at screwing up but the latest is an epic fuckup of unbelievable proportions. Just who exactly did these clowns think opened up the Eastern Front and started fighting against the Soviet Union in WWII when the USSR was considered an ally?) on the radio between traffic reports on the way to work.

Anyways, I had been trying to arrange pickup for a small vintage power supply and a pair of clamp meters before leaving but it fell through when the seller cancelled the meet at the last minute. I was going to message to try to reschedule the pickup again but the listing is gone. Damn.

[mansaxel]

Two, one on-topic, one off-topic, acquisitions;

38 industrial relays, some gold-plated for low level signals, most with 24VDC coils. Also 18 matching sockets. Most BNIB.



A Ridgid pipe vise. Because I like being able to thread steel pipe, mostly for things like compressed air distribution in the workshop and also for the cooling system in the computer room. I have a Chinesium one already, which proved to be every bit as bad as expected, and took significant Dwagon-level tinkering to start working reasonably. I have better hope for this.

[Cubdriver]

A Ridgid pipe vise. Because I like being able to thread steel pipe, mostly for things like compressed air distribution in the workshop and also for the cooling system in the computer room. I have a Chinesium one already, which proved to be every bit as bad as expected, and took significant Dwagon-level tinkering to start working reasonably. I have better hope for this.

I have one of those Ridgid pipe vises - unfortunately the lead screw is rusted solid to the yoke. I’ve tried (though admittedly not insanely hard) to use heat and penetrating oil to no avail. Don’t want to beat on it too hard for fear of breaking the cast iron. Need to get a tray and give it a good soaking in some kind of penetrating oil and/or hit it with the preheaters on my cutting torch. Had previously only used the air/acetylene rig as it was what was handy. It’s getting cool enough to work in the garage again finally, so it’s time to revisit it.

-Pat

[Zenith]

I bought an old 5" Record vice from a car boot sale for £20. Much better than the new rubbish and far cheaper. There are high quality modern vices, but they are silly money.

If you don't want to fork out for penetrating oil, ATF and acetone mixture is reckoned to be good. Diesel works pretty well, either sprayed on or brushed on and left to soak in and it's relatively cheap. I'd be reluctant to use heat on a thing like that, but if it won't free up any other way, what's to be lost?

[tautech]

Pat, take the bottom left bolt out and drop the threaded upper portion into a bucket of diesel, throw a lid on it and forget about it for a few weeks. Should shift easy after a good 'ol soaking.
BTW, probably cast steel and not iron which is much more brittle.

[mnementh]

Grand-dad swore by a mix of old motor oil and #2 diesel/heating fuel*; had a big old egg basket and a lidded 55 gallon drum 1/3 full in the corner of the tractor shed. Sometimes would add other reclaimed oils like hydraulic fluid, ATF, etc.

I have a Chinesium one already, which proved to be every bit as bad as expected, and took significant Dwagon-level tinkering to start working reasonably. I have better hope for this.

Yeah, that's due to their tendency to use cheapest possible threaded rod wherever possible instead of a square or buttress thread as one would normally use on a vise. You can get away with it if you use a properly machined full-contact standard thread as Ridgid has done on this one; quite a different story if you use threads that are poorly machined/undersized/cut with worn out taps& dies as is common with cheap Chinesium toolery.

Threads on that don't look too terribly boogered up. A little wire-wheel abuse on the shaft should clear that up quickly; then brute-force turn it til you get to cleaned threads, and you can clean up the threads that were inside the casting. After that a smear of molybdenum grease on the threads and she love you long time.

mnem
*Nowadays there'd be 6 different regulatory agencies up his butt for that single infraction...

[Cubdriver]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I typically do use the 50/50 acetone/ATF mixture for penetrating oil after reading about it many years ago, and find that it does work quite well. The thing I quickly learned was not to store it in one of those HDPE laboratory-style squirt bottles with the dip tube without leaving the top loose - if it’s tight, as the acetone evaporates it pressurizes and squirts the stuff out the nozzle and onto the bench or shelf.

I’d tried building a little dam around the lead screw hole with RTV to hold the penetrating oil in, but it didn’t seal well enough and still leaked out.

I’ll give diesel or #2 fuel oil a crack - never thought of that. It did spend a month or two last year in a 5 gallon bucket of Evaporust, but as it’s stuck at about the halfway point was too big to sit flat and could only be partially submerged. Need to get a cheap baking tray to hold it flat, and never think to when out and about.

Good point about it likely being cast steel - it’s relatively small, and in use would be more in tension than compression.

-Pat

[mansaxel]

I have a Chinesium one already, which proved to be every bit as bad as expected, and took significant Dwagon-level tinkering to start working reasonably. I have better hope for this.

Yeah, that's due to their tendency to use cheapest possible threaded rod wherever possible instead of a square or buttress thread as one would normally use on a vise.

Actually, the Chinesium one does use some ACME thread lookalike, and that is not the actual problem. The issue was more one of the sliding upper jaw getting itself wedged in the tracks all the time. Took some serious filing and greasing to get it borderline acceptable . Also, the China stuff is definitely cast iron, not steel. It files very castly, for lack of a better expression.

[vk6zgo]

Pat, take the bottom left bolt out and drop the threaded upper portion into a bucket of diesel, throw a lid on it and forget about it for a few weeks. Should shift easy after a good 'ol soaking.
BTW, probably cast steel and not iron which is much more brittle.

The stuff we call Mineral Turpentine in Oz is a good contender, too.
"Turps" is my "go-to", especially since Coles substituted a couple of bottles of it for what I ordered, which was Methylated Spirit.
(Where do they find these people?)

I second the advice about "leaving it for a few weeks".