All of these nice labs with sturdy shelves are inspiring me to finally set up some shelves of my own. I would like to move the power supplies up and free up a little more space on the bench. Also try to get the DMMs and RF power meters up at eye level too.
?
Jim
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I don't know if I would label them as redundant. Some are hot standby spares and in other situations multiples are required. In a prototype RF circuit three mixers in a downconversion chain will require three signal generators. Same for simultaneous power and spectrum observations; 2 or three spectrum analyzers or two RF power meters save needless swapping of one instrument dozens of times around different test points.
?
Jim
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Re: HP-IB connector screws
The email address made of random charactors seems to be immune to harvesting and has remained spam-free.
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Good point, and one I go by.
I notice too many of these benches have redundant gear stacked close to the user. Not much point in that. Keep the few instruments you commonly use nearby, the rare ones in farther storage. The ones you never use, sell those off, there's no point in it.
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I notice too many of these benches have redundant gear stacked close to the user. Not much point in that. Keep the few instruments you commonly use nearby, the rare ones in farther storage. The ones you never use, sell those off, there's no point in it.
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Wow. Sorry, y'all, but Yves takes the cake. And not only because?he's the only one to have *posibly* better metrology stuff than I do... :) Yves - if you're ever considering letting go of some of your cal standards... You know where?to find me.?
I'm also impressed to see what I think is a portable air conditioning unit (?), which I see as another sign of how careful you handle what you're doing. I also have one such unit in my lab (out of camera range), and its duty is providing a controlled environment for my metrology endeavors. But like Jim F says - I don't think you live in Southern?California! (where me and him are located) 136sq. ft. of lab space is a pretty generous allocation. Especially if not shared in some way, and contiguous?with circulation space, like a garage corner (in my case), or a garage side (as in Jim's), but instead within its own four walls.?
I'm always conflicted on whether I should envy those having super-neat benches, or feel good that my not-so-neat is just a sign of "effervescence!..." I've decided I'll lean heavily on the latter... Ha!?
Jim F - I'm a bit weary of magnetic tool holders, making all tools heavily magnetic. There's things and actions where I don't want that... Just my 2c as to why I always preferred?mechanical holding of tools. In addition to using a wide range of plastic, ceramic, carbon fiber, etc. toolsets, which I love. Great for adjustment and alignment of many things. I have attached "mechanical holders" to just about all shelving I have around my lab.? Radu.?
On Wed, Sep 18, 2024 at 6:57?PM Bob Weiss via <bobweiss1967= [email protected]> wrote: Yves:?
Great eye identifying some of those items!??
?
?Yes, I still get a lot of use out of the analog video gear, as one of my major hobby activities is repair and restoration of vintage TV and video equipment.? The agile modulator and multiple video sources also do "double duty" as a low power TV station, broadcasting content to a few antique sets in the rest of the house, as well as a AV system for watching/listening while working in the lab.
?
73,
Bob Weiss N2IXK
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Yves:?
Great eye identifying some of those items!??
?
?Yes, I still get a lot of use out of the analog video gear, as one of my major hobby activities is repair and restoration of vintage TV and video equipment.? The agile modulator and multiple video sources also do "double duty" as a low power TV station, broadcasting content to a few antique sets in the rest of the house, as well as a AV system for watching/listening while working in the lab.
?
73,
Bob Weiss N2IXK
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Yes, there is some Heathkit equipment I built myself; one is a metered power line Variac. I suppose that dates me! But, that stuff is just very useful and continues to run fine. That wall-mounted Xcelite nut driver set I got myself 70 years ago!
Best wishes,
Larry McDavid W6FUB
Anaheim, California (SE of Los Angeles, near Disneyland)
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On 9/18/2024 5:20 PM, Yves Tardif wrote: Hi Larry,
Modest but very well-organized lab.
My tools are not so well organized, maybe I should take an example from you.
I admit that sometimes, it's total chaos in my lab.
The choice of your equipment is varied and offers a lot of possibilities.
You have HEATHKIT equipment, it reminds me my uncle had bought some HEATHKIT equipment, and it was me who repaired them... I liked it when he came to see me for that... memory.
Yves
*De?:*[email protected] <[email protected]> *De la part de* Larry McDavid
*·¡²Ô±¹´Ç²â¨¦?:* 18 septembre 2024 19:37
*??:* [email protected]; lmcdavid@...
*Objet?:* Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Introduction
This has morphed into an interesting thread! Here is my modest shop, built into the sliding-door closet of my home office. Close the door and it is out of sight. I see lots of familiar HP and Tek equipment in others' photos.
Larry
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S10
-------- Original message --------
From: Jeff Anderson <jca1955@... <mailto:jca1955@...>>
Date: 9/18/24 3:40 PM (GMT-08:00)
To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Introduction
Great to see others' labs!
Here are my two labs -- the first (my main lab) is in my garage here in Silicon Valley.? Besides what you see, there's a whole bunch of "gee, maybe I could use that in a project," or "that'd be fun to get working," stuff filling every available surface, picked up at various swap-meets and the local surplus stores (now sadly vanished) over the years.? I'm about to hit 70 and have realized that I'll never use a lot of it in the time remaining -- tempus fidgits, after all.? And so I've been carting it off to the local swap-meet to sell.
The second image is my more recently assembled home-away-from-home lab, again, in a corner of that house's garage.? ?(On the bench is an HP 3430A Nixie-tube DVM that I'm working on).
- Jeff, k6jca
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I'll look into that for the tools, because sometimes it's discouraging. I have projects that are quite intense sometimes, and the tools are everywhere... it will be a good idea to have this magnetic tool holder. Thanks for the suggestion. ? On the pictures I sent you can't see the instruments under the tables, but as you suggest, I also have a 10 MHz reference (rubidium) distributed by a hp5087A to all the instruments sensitive to this precision... very useful. ? Two of my 11713A and 11713C attenuator controllers are on the tables, and my other two are in storage. There was a time when I used 3 attenuators commonly. Now I use them less frequently. Maybe I should remove my 11713A and make room for another instrument more used. ? A lab requires a lot of maintenance when you want to keep it 100% functional. ? Yves ? ? Yves, one thing I have that greatly helps keep my tools organized is a magnetic tool holder.? I mounted it under the shelf above my bench so that it keeps all my hand tools off the benchtop but close at hand.? Anything beyond the tweezers, pliers, cutters, scalpel, torque wrenches, scissors, screwdrivers, etc that I use all the time are in toolboxes farther away in the garage.? I think I paid around $5 for the magnetic tool holder at Harbor Freight - money well spent.? ?Jim Ford? ? ?P.S. Also under the shelf are mounted (left to right) a distribution amplifier, a Leo Bodnar GPSDO, spools of wire and solder, and HP 8495H and 8494H programmable attenuators.? Can't spare any bench space for those! ?
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On Wed, Sep 18, 2024 at 5:21 PM, Yves Tardif Hi Larry, ? Modest but very well-organized lab. My tools are not so well organized, maybe I should take an example from you. I admit that sometimes, it's total chaos in my lab. ? The choice of your equipment is varied and offers a lot of possibilities. You have HEATHKIT equipment, it reminds me my uncle had bought some HEATHKIT equipment, and it was me who repaired them... I liked it when he came to see me for that... memory. ? Yves ? This has morphed into an interesting thread! Here is my modest shop, built into the sliding-door closet of my home office. Close the door and it is out of sight. I see lots of familiar HP and Tek equipment in others' photos. Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S10 -------- Original message -------- Date: 9/18/24 3:40 PM (GMT-08:00) Subject: Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Introduction Great to see others' labs! Here are my two labs -- the first (my main lab) is in my garage here in Silicon Valley.? Besides what you see, there's a whole bunch of "gee, maybe I could use that in a project," or "that'd be fun to get working," stuff filling every available surface, picked up at various swap-meets and the local surplus stores (now sadly vanished) over the years.? I'm about to hit 70 and have realized that I'll never use a lot of it in the time remaining -- tempus fidgits, after all.? And so I've been carting it off to the local swap-meet to sell. The second image is my more recently assembled home-away-from-home lab, again, in a corner of that house's garage.? ?(On the bench is an HP 3430A Nixie-tube DVM that I'm working on).??
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Re: HP-IB connector screws
A standard D series standoff should work.
The threads may possibly be metric or asa.
Glenn
On 9/18/2024 3:45 AM, Joel Setton
wrote:
Hello everyone,
?
I am trying to find the screw/nuts which are used to mount
the HP-IB connector on the back panel of instruments, and which
also secure the cable to the connector (a photo is attached). I
can't find a source, looks like a typical "unobtainium" part.
Would anyone have a couple of spares, maybe from an old?
"parts-only" instrument ? If so, please send me a PM.
?
Thanks !
Joel Setton
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Glenn Little ARRL Technical Specialist QCWA LM 28417
Amateur Callsign: WB4UIV wb4uiv@... AMSAT LM 2178
QTH: Goose Creek, SC USA (EM92xx) USSVI, FRA, NRA-LM ARRL TAPR
"It is not the class of license that the Amateur holds but the class
of the Amateur that holds the license"
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Hi Bob, ? Great Lab, ? I notice you have a video equipment bay on the right, is this equipment useful to you today. I ask because I used to work in CATV, and at the time I used a TEK 1910 generator like you have, a BlonderTongue modulator, you also have a Tektronix 1780R NTSC Video Measurement Set if I'm not mistaken. ? Yves ? Here's a shot of my home lab, complete with lots of HP goodness....
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You guys have some spaces a novice like me aspire for! Yves I like your setup with literature close by (whether that be manuals or theory textbooks).??
?
-Frank
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Yves, one thing I have that greatly helps keep my tools organized is a magnetic tool holder.? I mounted it under the shelf above my bench so that it keeps all my hand tools off the benchtop but close at hand.? Anything beyond the tweezers, pliers, cutters, scalpel, torque wrenches, scissors, screwdrivers, etc that I use all the time are in toolboxes farther away in the garage.? I think I paid around $5 for the magnetic tool holder at Harbor Freight - money well spent.? ?Jim Ford? ? ?P.S. Also under the shelf are mounted (left to right) a distribution amplifier, a Leo Bodnar GPSDO, spools of wire and solder, and HP 8495H and 8494H programmable attenuators.? Can't spare any bench space for those!
On Wed, Sep 18, 2024 at 5:21 PM, Yves Tardif <yves_tardif@...> wrote: Hi Larry, ? Modest but very well-organized lab. My tools are not so well organized, maybe I should take an example from you. I admit that sometimes, it's total chaos in my lab. ? The choice of your equipment is varied and offers a lot of possibilities. You have HEATHKIT equipment, it reminds me my uncle had bought some HEATHKIT equipment, and it was me who repaired them... I liked it when he came to see me for that... memory. ? Yves ? This has morphed into an interesting thread! Here is my modest shop, built into the sliding-door closet of my home office. Close the door and it is out of sight. I see lots of familiar HP and Tek equipment in others' photos. Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S10 -------- Original message -------- Date: 9/18/24 3:40 PM (GMT-08:00) Subject: Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Introduction Great to see others' labs! Here are my two labs -- the first (my main lab) is in my garage here in Silicon Valley.? Besides what you see, there's a whole bunch of "gee, maybe I could use that in a project," or "that'd be fun to get working," stuff filling every available surface, picked up at various swap-meets and the local surplus stores (now sadly vanished) over the years.? I'm about to hit 70 and have realized that I'll never use a lot of it in the time remaining -- tempus fidgits, after all.? And so I've been carting it off to the local swap-meet to sell. The second image is my more recently assembled home-away-from-home lab, again, in a corner of that house's garage.? ?(On the bench is an HP 3430A Nixie-tube DVM that I'm working on).??
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Re: Free to good home, HP 5423A system + manuals and spares
The 5423A system has now started on its way to Dave's museum. Or should I say, toward...
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Yes, it's always interesting to see how other people arrange and manage their workspace. I'm quite envious of the overall room size some of you guys have, but I'm not so keen on the way some of you manage the space you have. There seems to be a common pattern of cramming in as much test gear and tools and parts as possible at the expense of the space left to do useful work. We are all different in the way we work, but I really couldn't live with some of your work spaces because of the way they are set up. Lots of test gear stacked really high and wide with little work bench space left. Some of the benches are really shallow because of this, yet you had much more room area than me to start with.
?
Presumably some of you also have GPIB or LAN cables routed at the rear. I regularly need access to the various I/O signal ports at the rear of my test gear so that's another reason I couldn't live with the integrated setups shown here. To me, they look more like shop windows with the merchandise stacked high and wide. Maybe an octopus with long tentacles could reach it all without moving :)
?
Many years of working in a busy RF lab surrounded by other engineers has forced me to adopt a different approach both at work and here at home. Space is always at a premium at work and the best solution is to try and keep the main workbench as clutter free as possible. For me, having lots of available bench space is really important. I only have a small work room at home but I've managed to fit three decent benches into it and these offer lots of space to do work. Nearly all my test gear and tools and components are stored away like sardines in a storeroom leaving the workbenches as clear as possible. This makes for a very versatile work area. It's rare for me to not have enough free bench space even though the work room is quite small. I try and fetch and return test gear as required and this is how it is done at work too. Some items do remain on the bench all the time but they are all up at one end of the room. These are typically 19" boat anchor items like old analysers and sig gens.?
That's how things are done at work too. If I put all my test gear and tools and parts in the workroom I'd end up with no space left for me! I think the human factors are much more important than having every item of test gear stacked 6 or 7 high for maybe 10 feet or more. I think it's reasonable to declare oneself as the most important thing in the workroom, so I make sure I own and use as much of the workspace as possible and the space is not owned 24/7 by the test gear and tools etc.
?
However, I guess it's harder to make a huge mess if there's only a limited amount of remaining bench space to start with... I have to do regular tidy-ups to stop all three benches becoming cluttered with cables and miscellaneous RF 'stuff'. So I probably have to tidy up more often because of this. But having a large and versatile work area on the bench is important for me. So I have to try and stop it getting too messy. I have to accept this and I don't think there's an ideal solution to any of this.
I'm curious how some of you manage the off/standby status for your 'wall' of test gear if it is all built into racks or shelves? Once the room is powered up, does it all run in standby or do you have a system that lets you turn some items fully off when you are working with just a few pieces of test gear? To save on standby power when I'm working at the bench, I try and turn off as much of my unused bench gear as possible at the rear rocker switch if it has one. Due to limited access, only a couple of sig gens and a VNA are left in standby all the time that the workroom is powered up. I do turn everything off when the room is not in use, but I also try and minimise how much of it sits idly in standby when the bench is powered up. The fact that most of it is sat in storage helps a lot here.?
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Here's a shot of my home lab, complete with lots of HP goodness....
?
&3,
Bob Weiss N2IXK
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Hi Larry, ? Modest but very well-organized lab. My tools are not so well organized, maybe I should take an example from you. I admit that sometimes, it's total chaos in my lab. ? The choice of your equipment is varied and offers a lot of possibilities. You have HEATHKIT equipment, it reminds me my uncle had bought some HEATHKIT equipment, and it was me who repaired them... I liked it when he came to see me for that... memory. ? Yves ? This has morphed into an interesting thread! Here is my modest shop, built into the sliding-door closet of my home office. Close the door and it is out of sight. I see lots of familiar HP and Tek equipment in others' photos. Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S10
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-------- Original message --------Date: 9/18/24 3:40 PM (GMT-08:00) Subject: Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Introduction Great to see others' labs! Here are my two labs -- the first (my main lab) is in my garage here in Silicon Valley.? Besides what you see, there's a whole bunch of "gee, maybe I could use that in a project," or "that'd be fun to get working," stuff filling every available surface, picked up at various swap-meets and the local surplus stores (now sadly vanished) over the years.? I'm about to hit 70 and have realized that I'll never use a lot of it in the time remaining -- tempus fidgits, after all.? And so I've been carting it off to the local swap-meet to sell. The second image is my more recently assembled home-away-from-home lab, again, in a corner of that house's garage.? ?(On the bench is an HP 3430A Nixie-tube DVM that I'm working on).??
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Yeah, Larry, my wife would love the "close the door and it's out of sight" aspect!? Great use of limited space.? You don't happen to be in Southern California, too, do you?
Yves, you are blessed to have even a narrow space, all that great gear, and the passion and time to use it.
Thanks for sharing, guys!? ? Jim Ford?
On Wed, Sep 18, 2024 at 4:47 PM, Yves Tardif <yves_tardif@...> wrote: Jim, ? My lab is 16 feet deep by 8? feet wide. The problem is more the width. And there is indeed a lot of equipment, I just counted them, I have 76 HP/Agilent/Keysigh equipment, and 14 Tek/B&K/R&S/Krohn-Hite/Huntron. I had never counted all that, that's for sure, I'm crazy. ? But all this equipment has been used for my work, I was self-employed for 27 years as a sr. RF & Analog Designer and before that, 22 years for a cable company. When the company decided to close, they made me an offer to sell me a lot of equipment at a ridiculously low price. I decided to accept and take advantage of this opportunity to try my luck as a self-employed person, and it was a very good decision. I was able to work on extremely diverse and very enriching projects. ? In short, in 2023 I had decided to retire, and finally in 2024 I accepted a one-day-a-week job in instrumentation, the same job when I started my career. I wanted to become a Geologist (Exploration Geology), but finally chance would have it that I worked in the field of electrical engineering. ? A lab is never big enough for passionate people, so we take up all the space we can ? ? Yves ? ? Wow, I'm impressed, Yves!? You certainly have a lot of space, and a lot of gear to fill it up!? ? ?Jim Ford? ? On Wed, Sep 18, 2024 at 2:16 PM, Yves Tardif Hi Jim, ? Here is my lab when it is not too messy. I have another section containing about ten instruments near my work desk. Small space, but enough to have fun. ? 
 ?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 
? ? ? ? I'd love to see other benches! On another forum I've seen some "benches" that were to die for personal warehouses of wonderfully organized storage and spacious workbenches. Some of the minimalist benches were exceedingly clever uses of small spaces and very inspirational too.
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Re: HP-IB connector screws
OK, so you're Ian, but your "handle" on this group is unpronounceable.? Why is that?? ? A curious Jim Ford, Laguna Hills, California, USA?
On Wed, Sep 18, 2024 at 4:31 PM, dbztuzujdhgtrjzthxh via groups.io <dbztuzujdhgtrjzthxh@...> wrote: Hi Joel, as above, these nuts are available in Metric and Imperial.?
Fortunatly HP (might have been industry standard) made it easy to tell apart: ? Black = Metric ? Silver = Imperial
Taken from the 5334 manual
73 ian
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Jim, ? My lab is 16 feet deep by 8? feet wide. The problem is more the width. And there is indeed a lot of equipment, I just counted them, I have 76 HP/Agilent/Keysigh equipment, and 14 Tek/B&K/R&S/Krohn-Hite/Huntron. I had never counted all that, that's for sure, I'm crazy. ? But all this equipment has been used for my work, I was self-employed for 27 years as a sr. RF & Analog Designer and before that, 22 years for a cable company. When the company decided to close, they made me an offer to sell me a lot of equipment at a ridiculously low price. I decided to accept and take advantage of this opportunity to try my luck as a self-employed person, and it was a very good decision. I was able to work on extremely diverse and very enriching projects. ? In short, in 2023 I had decided to retire, and finally in 2024 I accepted a one-day-a-week job in instrumentation, the same job when I started my career. I wanted to become a Geologist (Exploration Geology), but finally chance would have it that I worked in the field of electrical engineering. ? A lab is never big enough for passionate people, so we take up all the space we can ? ? Yves ? ? Wow, I'm impressed, Yves!? You certainly have a lot of space, and a lot of gear to fill it up!? ? ?Jim Ford? ?
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On Wed, Sep 18, 2024 at 2:16 PM, Yves Tardif Hi Jim, ? Here is my lab when it is not too messy. I have another section containing about ten instruments near my work desk. Small space, but enough to have fun. ? 
 ?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 
? ? ? ? I'd love to see other benches! On another forum I've seen some "benches" that were to die for personal warehouses of wonderfully organized storage and spacious workbenches. Some of the minimalist benches were exceedingly clever uses of small spaces and very inspirational too.
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Frank Mashockie
Precaud