Path: ...!weretis.net!feeder8.news.weretis.net!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Phil Hobbs Newsgroups: sci.electronics.design,sci.electronics.repair Subject: Re: Favourite Test Equipment Date: Sun, 7 Apr 2024 09:38:42 -0000 (UTC) Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 186 Message-ID: References: <9k7j0jlnbhs8qfg5m17pium0835meean83@4ax.com> <7r901j139ac3124qmpu7gcthadb9ura30g@4ax.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Date: Sun, 07 Apr 2024 09:38:42 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="576497a6991c3874317bce3a50b5f0fb"; logging-data="2857436"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX19fcauPt6mBUK3zAvkSOpqf" User-Agent: NewsTap/5.5 (iPhone/iPod Touch) Cancel-Lock: sha1:3wTtiHU3NahD/UR5+nSY5qfasJM= sha1:QY6Wtq9wb/SPKHVDE/I3eO6kCoc= Bytes: 10560 Cursitor Doom wrote: > On Sat, 06 Apr 2024 14:48:38 -0700, John Larkin > wrote: > >> On Sat, 06 Apr 2024 22:21:45 +0100, Cursitor Doom >> wrote: >> >>> On Fri, 05 Apr 2024 10:15:43 -0700, john larkin wrote: >>> >>>> On Fri, 05 Apr 2024 17:33:12 +0100, Cursitor Doom >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> On Fri, 05 Apr 2024 07:49:30 GMT, Jan Panteltje >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> On a sunny day (Thu, 4 Apr 2024 11:56:23 -0000 (UTC)) it happened Phil Hobbs >>>>>> wrote in >>>>>> : >>>>>> >>>>>>> Klaus Vestergaard Kragelund wrote: >>>>>>>> On 01-04-2024 09:01, Jan Panteltje wrote: >>>>>>>>> On a sunny day (Sun, 31 Mar 2024 18:41:18 +0100) it happened Cursitor Doom >>>>>>>>> wrote in <9k7j0jlnbhs8qfg5m17pium0835meean83@4ax.com>: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Hi all, >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> I'm starting to get a bit fed up with having my test equipment blow up >>>>>>>>>> just when it's needed. This is the drawback with vintage gear; if it's >>>>>>>>>> not used frequently then it can go *bang* the next time you switch it >>>>>>>>>> on. It makes for good practice in repairing stuff, but wastes a lot of >>>>>>>>>> time which could be better spent doing other things. >>>>>>>>>> I think it's time I modernised my test gear. I was just wondering if >>>>>>>>>> anyone has any recommendations they can share. Is there a particular >>>>>>>>>> piece of test equipment you couldn't live without? Something you're >>>>>>>>>> particularly impressed with? I'd be interested to know so I can >>>>>>>>>> perhaps acquire said item and thereby reduce the number of explosions >>>>>>>>>> I experience. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Thanks, >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> CD. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> My 10 MHz Trio dual trace analog scope is from 1979 or there about, I >>>>>>>>> blew up a channel once myself in the first week >>>>>>>>> when I accidently touched a booster diode in a TV I was repairing with >>>>>>>>> it, fixed it locating the problem with the other channel. >>>>>>>>> Later I cracked the graticule when a soldering station fell on it from >>>>>>>>> the table (scope stands on the ground) >>>>>>>>> Made a new graticule. >>>>>>>>> So, and still working perfectly, OK for all things I build with micros. >>>>>>>>> For RF to about 1.6 GHz I use RTL_SDR USB sticks and the spectrum analyzer I wrote. >>>>>>>>> and for AC DC measurements I have some made in China digital >>>>>>>>> meters and an analog one. >>>>>>>>> also a Voltcraft clamp-on meter for current when you do not - or cannot >>>>>>>>> interrupt things with the meter impedance. >>>>>>>>> Also have a Voltcraft soldering station. >>>>>>>>> Blew up one of my digital meters a while back (volts on the resistance >>>>>>>>> scale) but fixed it again (replaced resistor). >>>>>>>>> Many other test equipment I designed and build, like amplifiers LF and >>>>>>>>> RF, SWR meter, radiation meters, gamma spectrometer, >>>>>>>>> GHz stuff for satelite, transmitters low and very high power, what not, >>>>>>>>> a frequency converter to use the RTL-SDR sticks and so the spectrum >>>>>>>>> analyzer on higher and lower frequencies. >>>>>>>>> Have a SARK100 SWR analyzer too. >>>>>>>>> Things last forever here... >>>>>>>>> Scope used on a regular basis.. >>>>>>>>> RTL-SDR stick 24/7. >>>>>>>>> Digital meters used every day. >>>>>>>>> Use my self designed lab power supply every day.. >>>>>>>>> What more do you need? >>>>>>>>> Learn to use the stuff, understand what's important, and that is it >>>>>>>>> When I started in electronics as a kid I did not even _have_ a >>>>>>>>> meter, still stuff worked. >>>>>>>>> Build my own scope at some point back then when I somehow got the parts >>>>>>>>> Not much pocket mony as a kid. >>>>>>>>> UNDERSTAND your systems, what electrons do. >>>>>>>>> Showing of with boat anchors may impress people, especially the clueless... >>>>>>>>> But it does not help you one bit. >>>>>>>>> Anything with an accuracy better than 1 percent in most cases is just >>>>>>>>> like apes screaming load trying to impress other apes. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Very true about specifically the 1% statement. Sidebar, at an earlier >>>>>>>> employment, we needed to equip a new lab. Guys wanted GHz scopes. When >>>>>>>> asked if the ever looked at edges faster than 1ns, no one did. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> It’s true that there are a lot of relatively undemanding jobs in >>>>>>> electronics. You can get on fine with a 200-MHz scope if all you’re doing >>>>>>> is PIC and Pi and ham radio and analog TV. >>>>>> >>>>>> Bull, >>>>>> I have been using my Trio 10 MHz dual channel for digital TV too >>>>>> see >>>>>> https://panteltje.nl/panteltje/raspberry_pi_dvb-s_transmitter/ >>>>>> GHz output.. >>>>>> >>>>>> Its is about UNDERSTANDING the systems >>>>>> You cannot repair a TV set in a short time if you do not UNDERSTAND >>>>>> every part of the circuit and its function, the whole system >>>>>> neither with a 10 MHz or with a 10 GHz scope. >>>>>> Fault finding had been my job most of the time, sometimes with 'the show must go on' >>>>>> or rocket must launch or whatever. >>>>>> >>>>>> In an environment a million times more complex than your back-room with boat anchors. >>>>>> And always delivered.. unlike some that dropped out or broke down. >>>>>> It is indeed about what is between the ears as you mentioned. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>> It’s also true that you can often make do with what you have—the most >>>>>>> important test instrument is the one between your ears. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> In the before times, doctors were much better with stethoscopes than they >>>>>>> are now. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> But I’d sure prefer a cardiologist who could use tomography and ultrasound >>>>>>> over the best stethoscope guy. >>>>>> >>>>>> Only useful if you can read the screens, these days they train AI to >>>>>> find cancer in the scans..... >>>>>> Yes I worked in an Uni hospital too. >>>>>> How many people die each year because of medical errors? >>>>>> https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/22/medical-errors-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-america.html >>>>>> Remember Jim Thompson stating 'they are giving me ... but I had a >>>>>> warning I was not supposed to get that' >>>>>> Few days later he was dead. >>>>> >>>>> Jim had pancreatic cancer, which is notoriously tricky to diagnose due >>>>> to the misleading symptoms it gives rise to. >>>> >>>> He talked constantly about wine. That can kill your pancreas. >>>> >>>> There are people who drink bottles per day. >>> >>> Oh yes, he loved his wine alright. As I recall, you sent him several >>> cases of the stuff over the years. But no amount of peace offerings >>> could placate Jim if he felt you'd disrespected him. Anyway, all >>> credit to you for at least trying to heal the rift, even if it came to >>> naught. >> >> I think I sent him two bottles of Frog's Tooth, not cases. >> >> I get the Frog's Tooth free. The vintner is also our sales rep for >> pick+place gear, and he throws in a bottle or a case with every big >> order. >> >> JT was a little touchy at times (never me!) but we didn't actually >> have a rift. I think that serious electronics designers always get >> along pretty well. Circuit design is a sport that we play. >> >> I miss JT. He was fun. I often drive on Thompkins Street and it >> reminds me of him. > > I think the passage of time has mellowed your recollections, John. > Shortly after he died, you called him a crabby old man! There was > something about you he clearly didn't much like. No idea why, since > you've never come across as anything but well-mannered and helpful as > far as I can tell. > Jim gave me a hell of a rough time when I first arrived here back in > '96. He didn't suffer fools gladly and boy did he let me know when he > believed I was one. But that did me a huge favour. He did have a point > inasmuch as my fundamental electronics knowledge needed a lot of > remedial attention. So he forced me to sit down and go back through > all the stuff I should have known before I came here and I became much > better for it. And when I finally did, he praised me for it. Praise > from Jim was praise indeed! He was a GIANT of this group and I miss > him terribly, too. > ========== REMAINDER OF ARTICLE TRUNCATED ==========