Test Equipment Anonymous

The first installment which will be a long process of fitting up the new lab.

Contained within this pile is bench 2 and the bottom half of bench 1. Bench 2 will be built up first and occupy this space. Bench 1 will then be built up but unlike the old lab the two benches will not be joined together in an "L" like the old lab. Once the initial layout is done I'll post up pictures.

After those 2 benches are built up I'll be tossing equipment on them temporarily just to give me more room to work. There is stuff scattered all over which will take time to organize.

I'm missing the pink curtains.

Damn. Mounty beat me to it.

mnem

BU508A wrote: ↑Mon May 01, 2023 6:35 pm I'm missing the pink curtains.

Now those are proper pink for sure this time

The title Fit Up sounds ominous whereas just Build sounds much better.
Hoping it's goes like clockwork for you Mike.

Some progress today but had to quit to get other things done.

Bench 2 is now assembled.



That small shelf unit is in place allowing a gap from it to bench 2. I have future plans to expand the width of bench 2 after the majority of the lab is done.



To the left of that small shelf unit are pieces of bench 1 which will be placed there. I hope to have it assembled tomorrow.



And the first incident of damage. A drawer fell on a Tek 475A completely destroying the Trigger Level Switch/Pot. I think I have a replacement in my parts stash.

Looking good Mike, bleeding shame though about the Tek 475A, still, look at this way, you now have a patient ready for the bench once its all completed

Falls under the category of "shit happens". Once I get bench 1 assembled I should be able to get most, if not all, the TE off the floor to prevent any further accidents.

As muh grand-dad said to me many, many times... "If that's the worst that happens tooya before bedtime, it's been a damn fine day."

Enjoy your build... and your rebuild.

mnem
*toddles off to scorch some leftover pizza*

Today's activity.

Got some TE off the floor to give much needed room to work. Did a quick power test of each piece and they survived the move.



Bench 1 assembled before installation of upper shelf assembly. Took over 2 hours to get it to that point.



Upper shelf assembly installed. Bench 1 now complete.



Tomorrow's objectives: Get more TE off the floor and onto Bench 1. Assembly of the large shelving unit that was originally in the bedroom at the old place. Once that's done I should be able to get equipment placed in it's permanent location.

This one's for you, med.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TfWWKHbHrE

It looks like the setup in the new place is coming along nicely!

My sister told me years 10 years ago when I moved into this place that moving always takes longer and costs more than you expect - I hope your move and setup is bucking the trend with that!

More done.

All the Tek TE is now off the floor. For now randomly placed on the benches/shelves for adequate room to work and prevent any further damage.



The large shelving unit originally in the bedroom in the old place is now assembled.



Initially I was going to get rid of the TV stand that was originally in the living room in the old place but I decided to keep it. And I'm glad I did. It fits perfectly under the window. And speaking of the window: it will NOT get curtains. At the very least a blind but that is way, way down the list of priorities.



And here's a shot of the mangled Trigger Slope/Level switch on the 475A.

Nice right up till that very last photo - that one is painful to see. And it got well and truly fooked. Those poor knobs & controls seem to take the brunt of bumps and bangs all too often.

-Pat

mnem
don't read this.

Not much today. After a nearly continuous week of rain the weather has finally turned nice and getting outside.

The boat anchors are now in the lab. Eventual final placement will be the 7904 and the Type 535A on a scope cart. Both carts are currently in our rental provided indoor storage unit. One Type 547 will go on bench 2. The other two Type 547's will currently remain as shown under bench 2.



There is still an enormous amount left to do. The closet in the background is full of non-Tek TE as well as other items such as documents, books, tools, etc. Once they get into their final location these items in front will go into the closet. There are also other items in the beforehand mentioned storage unit for placement too.

Yep try and get everything into a single room won't always work out.....looking as my pile of stock and knowing more is on the way ! <welp>
Good progress Mike. <claps>

It's finally starting to look like a lab.

TV stand and bulk shelving unit now complete.




Bench 1 still in process.



Bench 2 also still in process.




Still much to do. Nothing is wired. Will wait until all equipment is placed. One item that immediately needs to be addressed is the lighting. It's inadequate especially over bench 2. Not sure how I'll fix that just yet.

When I was setting up my bench in the GWN, 2 of these provided unbelievable quality of brilliant floodlighting, plus adjustable angle to account for dead spots and reflections.



This is what held them up; cheap "socket on an cord" light fixtures hung from a hook screwed into a drywall anchor. Easy peasy.

Search terms on Amazon are pendant light fixture for the sockets (sort by price low-hi to avoid all the ridiculous millenial house-fappery) and LED Garage Lights for the bulbs. I think the ones I used were rated 6000 lumens each, but I had to pay ~$5 more from any vendor who had them to get warm white (2700-3000K) instead of daylight/bright white (5000-6000k).

Welcome back to the insanity, med!

mnem
*lit AF*

Thanks for the suggestions. I have some additional desk lamps yet to be placed which should help but I suspect I may need additional. Even during the day the room gets very little natural light. At night it's a dungeon. And of course the code doesn't require bedrooms to have an overhead light. Just a wall switch that controls at least one outlet.

My bench has an outdoor floodlight, 20W LED. It is adequate, but at times I'd wish it to be a bit more multi-directional, so I'll probably aim for more light sources. I'm running the light off the main contactor for the bench, so that I can kill the power for the entire bench, and put the lights out, with one quick twist of the Nockenschalter.

Today's activity.

Finally able to get shelving fitted up in the closet. This is just half the closet. The other half still needs to be cleaned out and items placed. And yes, the top shelf is badly bowed. It was like that when we moved in. Master bedroom is the same. Result of cheap press boards and heavy items from prior tenants.



Bench 2 is essentially all fitted. For now. Once the rest of the lab is complete I will be expanding this bench with additional width and shelving. This will allow me to work on boat anchors without removing all the other equipment off the bench to make room.

I found the pic of my LED Garage Light setup over the bench that I was looking for the other day; this is with just one 6000 lumens-rated unit.

mnem

I've decided that this will go over bench 2 after I complete the modifications.