EEVblog #455 - Auction Bonanza

[EEVblog]

[marmad]

Nice! Love the megohm bridge and the decade resistor!

[nicknails]

Nice find!  How do you find out about auctions like this?  Probably totally different here in the states though.

[eevblogfan]

Dave I am jealous at you 

lols I need some good 2000W UPS , can you sell it for me ?  no need for battery ( all the weight )  I have 6 12V 12AH batteries so no need for that , but the UPS ,  how much ? 

for that money you are happy camper man 

[PA0PBZ]

Nice score Dave! That is, apart from the probably dead 100Kg of SLA batteries. The frequency standard looks great, I'd love to have a play with it 

[ddavidebor]

all for 260$?

your're an auction master!

[ecat]

Dave sounds soooo excited, tehe .... he must be a pain the arse at Christmas

So many new toys, and I do wonder what is in the server apart from lots of serial ports. Yes I'm jealous.

[menimitz]

I can't believe how cheaply stuff like this goes for.  I guess it was worthless to them so any income was a plus.

I was also interested in how you find a sale like this.  I mean I am sure they publicize them to get the best crowd they can, but where?

[Winston]

$260 for all that.  What a steal!

For those asking how to take part in auctions like that, in the US, one source is here:

http://www.govliquidation.com/auction/search?cmd=results&query=Lf2yeUwp22VV&sort=relevance&ascending=1&_per_page=200

The inventory of items on auction varies tremendously over time.  Slim pickings right now.  BTW, the various auction locations do not ship this stuff to you if you win the bid.  It must be picked up very soon after winning.  I suspect there are services that might do this for you.

[vaualbus]

Look up this guys, it seem to be an interesting network analyzer (not come up with screen buto for 50$ it is a good purchase) http://www.govliquidation.com/auction/view?auctionId=6158299&convertTo=USD

[EEVblog]

all for 260$?

No, sorry. $260 was the UPS stuff, counter, rubidium, & industrial PC.
The decade boxes were separate, as was the Keithley.

[mikeselectricstuff]

IME at 'real world' auctions like this, the only bargains are in "the weeds" -  boxes of random stuff, custom-made test jigs etc.
Anything resembling decent stuff tends to go for silly money.
Once buyers commission & VAT are added, I've seen stuff go for close to retail.
Not been to one for a long time - I doubt Ebay has improved matters, and many on-site auctions have internet bidding as well now, so more idiots to run prices up.

[ddavidebor]

all for 260$?

No, sorry. $260 was the UPS stuff, counter, rubidium, & industrial PC.
The decade boxes were separate, as was the Keithley.

Still a fantastic price!

[mgregg]

Dave, in my server room here have 6 of those UPS's.

Those are quite high end.

I believe I have the software for them here if you would like a copy of them before you ebay them.

Also, if you pull them apart for a look, APC connects the batteries in series, and the battery packs run at something above 100VDC.

ie, the can be hazardous to take apart, be careful if and when you do pull them apart.

As long as those battery packs are good, those ups's are really nice to have.

[NickS]

That looks like a fantastic UPS. A teardown would be very interesting to see what APC does inside them.

[EEVblog]

IME at 'real world' auctions like this, the only bargains are in "the weeds" -  boxes of random stuff, custom-made test jigs etc.
Anything resembling decent stuff tends to go for silly money.

Yes indeed.

This pallet of "unserviceable gear went for over $7500 for example + GST + 13.5% commision:
Plus it was won by someone in Victoria who would have to ship it.

Pallet unserviceable test equipment including 1 x Digital Multi Meter Agilent Model 34401A, 1 x Frequency Calibrator HP 11613B, 1 x variable attenuator, unbranded, 5 x Amp Meter Connectors, 6 x Measuring Receivers, HP Model 8902A, 1 x microwave frequency counter HP Model 5350B, 1 x Rohde and Schwarz RF Step Attenuator, 1 x Electric Standards Calibration Kit, Agilent Model 85054D, 1 x DMC Crimping Tool, 1 x Variac Power Transformer, 1 x Alternating Measuring Standards Unit, Datron Model 4920M and 1 x Dot Matrix Printer, HP 82906A (Note: Unserviceable for various reasons - inspection recommended)

[amspire]

I am most interested in hearing about the Keithley bridge. How do they do it? Just doing some quick calculations. At 1000 TOhms, 1 fempto amp of leakage into the null detector when balanced would cause an error of 1V. So with an 1000V supply, this means either the 10¹² range switches in a 1 TOhm resistor for the low part of the bridge, or the alternative is the null detector leakage is way below 1fA. 1 attoAmp leakage would allow the top range resistor to be a much more comfortable 1GOhm.

These are just insane numbers! The designers of this stuff must come from another planet.

Is the 8 decade decade unit accurate to 8 digits or is it just 8 digits to provide the range? If it has a true 8 digit decade accuracy, it is something to bow down before. We are not worthy.

As far as the decade box goes, they probably have solid silver contacts. Before you touch the switches internally, the first thing you have to do is turn the switches end to end 10 times to knock off a bit of the surface tarnish. If they have been sitting in a store rack for several years before they were checked for calibration and the contacts were not exercised, they will definitely read high.

A very exciting buy. Lots of unobtanium in this lot.

Definitely get the UPS batteries charged as soon as possible, and sell it while you can. Just replacing the batteries will cost a fortune.

Richard.

[mswhin63]

That what happens when you live in Perth, miss out on all the good stuff. Damn

[vk6zgo]

The IRT distribution amps on the frequency standard box look a lot like the IRT Vision Distribution Amplifiers we used to use in
TV site installations back in the day,as do the associated power supplies.
As far as I know,IRT was an Australian manufacturer----their stuff looks a bit "HMV/EMI-ish",so I wonder what their history was.

[lowimpedance]

This pallet of "unserviceable gear went for over $7500 for example + GST + 13.5% commision:
Plus it was won by someone in Victoria who would have to ship it.

Pallet unserviceable test equipment including 1 x Digital Multi Meter Agilent Model 34401A, 1 x Frequency Calibrator HP 11613B, 1 x variable attenuator, unbranded, 5 x Amp Meter Connectors, 6 x Measuring Receivers, HP Model 8902A, 1 x microwave frequency counter HP Model 5350B, 1 x Rohde and Schwarz RF Step Attenuator, 1 x Electric Standards Calibration Kit, Agilent Model 85054D, 1 x DMC Crimping Tool, 1 x Variac Power Transformer, 1 x Alternating Measuring Standards Unit, Datron Model 4920M and 1 x Dot Matrix Printer, HP 82906A (Note: Unserviceable for various reasons - inspection recommended)

 I was watching this auction and was just floored by the amounts the pallets of 'unservicable' gear went for, surely none of will ever end up ebay. I guess who ever had that much cash to spare would have buyers in the industry in mind. (hopefully the gear is not that unservicable) .
 The cal lab this and other gear came from was closed last year.   

[NiHaoMike]

A teardown of the UPS would be quite interesting. If it still works, it can be pretty useful with your new PC.

BTW, a UPS with a 192V (nominal) or so battery is quite valuable even if the batteries are bad since it can be used as a really powerful inverter for allowing a hybrid car to work as a backup generator. (And don't forget that even bad batteries are worth something. In the US, they're worth $12 each although I'm not sure if it's possible to get that without buying new batteries.)

[EEVblog]

I was watching this auction and was just floored by the amounts the pallets of 'unservicable' gear went for, surely none of will ever end up ebay. I guess who ever had that much cash to spare would have buyers in the industry in mind. (hopefully the gear is not that unservicable) .

I'm betting it's one of the major surplus dealers in VIC. I think there are two of them, one was formally Macservice.

[lowimpedance]

Ahh yes forgot about them, that would make sense.

BTW I posted a link to the time and frequency page of the NMI in the other thread for blog #456.
Tells you what the time and frequency standards being maintained are (Hydrogen Maser's and caesium beam)

[ddavidebor]

IME at 'real world' auctions like this, the only bargains are in "the weeds" -  boxes of random stuff, custom-made test jigs etc.
Anything resembling decent stuff tends to go for silly money.

Yes indeed.

This pallet of "unserviceable gear went for over $7500 for example + GST + 13.5% commision:
Plus it was won by someone in Victoria who would have to ship it.

Pallet unserviceable test equipment including 1 x Digital Multi Meter Agilent Model 34401A, 1 x Frequency Calibrator HP 11613B, 1 x variable attenuator, unbranded, 5 x Amp Meter Connectors, 6 x Measuring Receivers, HP Model 8902A, 1 x microwave frequency counter HP Model 5350B, 1 x Rohde and Schwarz RF Step Attenuator, 1 x Electric Standards Calibration Kit, Agilent Model 85054D, 1 x DMC Crimping Tool, 1 x Variac Power Transformer, 1 x Alternating Measuring Standards Unit, Datron Model 4920M and 1 x Dot Matrix Printer, HP 82906A (Note: Unserviceable for various reasons - inspection recommended)

This thing don't worth 7000$! Epic fail....

[Ed.Kloonk]

Please contact me before you ebay the UPS stuff. I have posts elsewhere that indicate I am done with the garden variety UPS here.

Prepared to pick up.