Woohoo! The Keithley 171 was found by UPS and delivered!

Yaay! The missing Keithley 171 showed up this morning. Thanks are due to our regular UPS driver who has spent the last few days undoing the mess caused by a temp driver who covered for him recently while he was out having a pacemaker fitted.

Yes, this is a lot more life detail than would normally be expected from a UPS guy, but under the circumstances I am very grateful to him for his help in tracking this down.

Keithley 171 Multimeter with Nixie Tube display

I gave it a quick power up out of curiosity. It needs a little work — the power switch is broken (you can see that in the photo actually, so it wasn’t a surprise), and the case is kind-of sticky, probably old residue from labels. It looks like there is some label residue on the display filter too. None of this is very hard to deal with. I think I probably have a suitable replacement power switch in with some of the parts I amassed for my super sekrit upcoming steampunk project, so my next video blog will probably be a teardown, repair and calibration of this little beauty.

Did I mention that though it seems to just be 4.5 digit, it seems to have 100 picoamp resolution, and certainly measures down to microvolts. This is no slouch of a meter despite its age.

Oh, and that display is mesmerizing. Photos don’t do justice to the 3D-ness of Nixie tubes.

Please note: this was cross-posted from my main blog at http://www.mageofmachines.com/main/2014/10/03/woohoo-the-keithley-171-was-found-by-ups-and-delivered/ -- If you want me to definitely see your replies, please reply there rather than here.

#Uncategorized

Gina's latest podcast with Tanesh Watson Nutall is a *MUST HEAR*

I’m proud of my wife’s work, but I can say with absolute honesty that this episode blew me away. Tanesh is the TransSaints Chaplain and transgender minister at City of Refuge UCC in Oakland, CA.

Tanesh has survived more than most of us can possibly imagine, yet she has an intense love of life and drive to help others that is truly humbling.

If you are a podcast listener, grab this one right away. If you don’t normally listen to podcasts, listen to this one anyway. You can do so right from the web page without needing to install anything.

Rev. Gina Pond (photo: Chuck Fry)

TWIH Ep 16: The Power of Prayer: A Life Testimony with Tanesh Watson Nutall

Please note: this was cross-posted from my main blog at http://www.mageofmachines.com/main/2014/10/03/ginas-latest-podcast-with-tanesh-watson-nutall-is-a-must-hear/ -- If you want me to definitely see your replies, please reply there rather than here.

#Gina

High-res photos of the HP and LeCroy 3D-printed knobs

I was asked elsewhere for high res photos of the knobs in situ for comparison with the originals.

Yep, not much comparison, but that wasn’t ever the point! I could probably have faked lookalikes, but this would have been a CNC machining job and a LOT of work. I could have done it using the 4th axis on the Sieg milling machine, but it would probably have taken me a couple of days at least. Sure, I could have made quite a few knobs once the CNC program was written, but for a one off, and particularly when I don’t really care much what the knobs look like, they just have to work, this was enough for me.

High res closeup of replacement HP knob

High res photo of replacement LeCroy knobs

Please note: this was cross-posted from my main blog at http://www.mageofmachines.com/main/2014/10/03/142/ -- If you want me to definitely see your replies, please reply there rather than here.

#3Dprinting, #Electronics, #MakerCulture, #TestGear, #Uncategorized