Author Topic: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay  (Read 83996 times)

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Offline SeanB

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #25 on: July 25, 2013, 05:50:23 pm »
There is a nice Telequipment scope at the scrappie I go to, slightly used, slightly burnt and slightly busted. I got 2 Mullard ECF80's out of it though for free.......
 

Offline mtdoc

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #26 on: July 25, 2013, 06:55:22 pm »
In the US, it's worth checking the local Goodwill thrift stores regularly. I recently got a perfectly good BK 40Mhz scope for $10 ;D

 

Offline TerminalJack505

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #27 on: July 25, 2013, 07:14:44 pm »
Pallets of test gear are very rare here in Oz, but I've heard a dime a dozen in the US if you know were to look.
There were some at auction a few months back (I got the rubidium and counter + keithley stuff), mostly broken and "unserviceable" gear that were going for $8K a pallet. Crazy. I was willing to go as high as $900 on one of them, and I thought that was a real stretch.
Clearly a couple of surplus dealers out bidding themselves and hoping they's be able to fix a couple and flip a profit.
They often have some good deals but the dealers make it hard to get deals unless it is something they already have too much in stock.
Right now they have several  lots with Tektronix 2465B, either 1 or 2 in the lot category A or A4 so working or like new.  As well as stacks of HP power supplies. 


16 fluke mdl27 meter in the case with HV probe, stickers still on the meter.
http://www.govliquidation.com/auction/view?auctionId=6372504&convertTo=USD

Dang.  Looks like it's going to be a buyer's market for Fluke 27s and Tek 2465Bs.  I counted over 100 Fluke 27s and 30 2465Bs on that site.  I'm sure a person won't be able to get one of those scopes for $50 but $200 might be possible.
 

Offline Computeruser

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #28 on: July 25, 2013, 07:33:08 pm »
In a slightly higher cost bracket, I picked up a 7704a Tektronix mainframe with 4 working plugins for about $450 on eBay. That machine worked well for me for nearly 10 years before I took it out of service to get a new digital scope. I was able to get cheap plugins on eBay to extend the usefulness of the machine.

I recall talking to the vendor on the phone and he guaranteed me a working machine or it could be returned. I never had to do that.

... C
 

Offline Stonent

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #29 on: July 25, 2013, 08:13:02 pm »
but I grew up in Hungary (for the geographically challenged, that is Eastern Europe).
:-DD :-DD
You made my afternoon!

If Hungary invaded and conquered Turkey, would the resulting country be named "Full" ?
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Offline c4757p

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #30 on: July 25, 2013, 08:16:00 pm »
*groan*

:-DD :-+
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Offline KJDS

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #31 on: July 25, 2013, 08:42:31 pm »
but I grew up in Hungary (for the geographically challenged, that is Eastern Europe).
:-DD :-DD
You made my afternoon!

If Hungary invaded and conquered Turkey, would the resulting country be named "Full" ?

There's a town in England called Sandwich. Nearby is a village called Ham

Offline dfmischler

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #32 on: July 25, 2013, 08:53:03 pm »
There's a town in England called Sandwich. Nearby is a village called Ham

So I take it that means there is a Ham-Sandwich road?
 

Offline c4757p

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #33 on: July 25, 2013, 08:55:23 pm »
Much more in line with typical British humo(u)r to just leave Ham and Sandwich on the map and leave drawing the connection to the individual. Ham-Sandwich Road is how we'd do it.
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Offline timelessbeing

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #34 on: July 25, 2013, 09:03:33 pm »
I picked up two CROs and two variable power supplies from a local ham radio club member for $10 (a formality really). He was just thrilled to have the extra space in his garage, and pass the equipment on to someone who will make good use of it. :)

Bonus: you get to talk to friendly old-timers with great stories. He showed me his computer radio rig which he claimed could pick up "DC to daylight", and he talks to the ISS with it.
 

Offline lewis

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #35 on: July 25, 2013, 10:14:30 pm »
Big foot Italy kicked little Sicily,
right in the middle of the Mediterranean sea.
Along came the Germans,
they were rather Hungary,
so they had a slice of Turkey
dipped in Greece.
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Offline dentaku

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #36 on: July 25, 2013, 10:40:10 pm »
I recently e-mailed someone near me who inherited 3 oscilloscopes and advertised them with "make me an offer".
I asked him what brand/models they where and he said he'd e-mail me back but so far I haven't heard from him. I'm going to e-mail him for the third time tomorrow (I don't want to be annoying) or maybe call because he gave me his number. His father had other stuff so maybe I can find a function generator or something.

Anyway... I was wondering ???

What's the simplest way to test out an old oscilloscope if you're somewhere with no equipment to test it with?

Can I simply plug an audio cable into my MP3 player and connect the tip and sleeve of the connector to the probes and see if it can at least work at audio frequencies?
 

Offline elliott

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #37 on: July 25, 2013, 11:33:54 pm »
What's the simplest way to test out an old oscilloscope if you're somewhere with no equipment to test it with?
There is a probe calibration signal on the front of every reasonably modern scope. It is usually a 0.5V 1Khz square wave. You don't even need a probe, just run a wire to it from the center of the BNC.
 

Offline dentaku

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #38 on: July 26, 2013, 12:29:32 am »
That's good to know. I'll have to check it out.

even knowing that... Will probing the tip and sleeve of a TRS connector plugged into an MP3 player work though?

What's the simplest way to test out an old oscilloscope if you're somewhere with no equipment to test it with?
There is a probe calibration signal on the front of every reasonably modern scope. It is usually a 0.5V 1Khz square wave. You don't even need a probe, just run a wire to it from the center of the BNC.
 

Offline c4757p

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #39 on: July 26, 2013, 12:35:26 am »
Sure, it'll work, but it's not a stable signal, so it'll do jack shit for testing the trigger, which you should do.
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Offline elliott

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #40 on: July 26, 2013, 01:12:13 am »
I've never tried it, but maybe you could get a file that is a constant tone that would make it output a sine wave. Though, the MP3 player probably does some processing to the output that would make this method unreliable.

I know there are signal generator applications for smart phones, I've tried them and they can work decently, but I don't think I would use one to test an oscilloscope. I had to find a sweet spot with my phone to get a clean signal, without a trusted oscilloscope you're not going to know where that sweet spot is.
 

Offline edy

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #41 on: July 26, 2013, 03:22:36 am »
It's neat that they have $50 oscilloscopes on eBay. However, when you look at the shipping cost + any duties/taxes and "brokeage" fees, it adds up to a heck of a lot!!! While a first appealing, it quickly loses the charm...

Take for example the $49 oscilloscope shown here:

eBay auction: #360688783474

I live in Canada, and the item is shipping from Florida. The shipping is about $60 + about $15 for duties and taxes, maybe some other "surprise" fees when delivered at the door (couriers often pad on extra "handling" or "brokerage" fees). Seems a bit high to me, but maybe the weight is making it so expensive. So we are guaranteeing about $120-130 minimum cost, for a used, no warranty product.

Compare for example to this:

eBay auction: #300846840560

This is a brand new Rigol 50Mhz (versus the 20 Mhz item above) digital storage scope, small footprint, software capable, and miles ahead technologically with 3 year warranty, for about $360 (which includes shipping).

I would definitely consider these <$100 analog oscilloscopes from eBay if they were TRULY under $100 *WITH* shipping. But when you compare it to a modern Rigol with memory storage, output capabilities, and so many other options it is hard to waste the $100 on the old scope, which has no guarantees. If I were to gamble then I'd need these old used scopes to either be really really CHEAP on eBay, or somewhere local at a shop in town where I could turn it on, play with it and see it functioning to know everything is checked out.
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Offline calin

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #42 on: July 26, 2013, 04:57:15 am »
I wold not get extremely excited about govliquidation  - I watched the prices things go. Yes the final sale price it is lower than on  ebay . But read the small print .. 10% Buyer Premium + Taxes + Pickup & Shipping. I know because I bid on a Tek 2465 a while ago .. did not got it but for shipping from Oklahoma to Phoenix  i was quoted 195$. The thing ended up being sold for something  close to 250$ , now add in top of that 10% plus 8% in taxes... and ... 

For shipping they work only with few companies, and these are really expensive - 200$ for one scope delivered is insane.

Now if you are in the area or have a good friend around there and you can pick it up .. then yup .. good deal. Otherwise .. I won't be very excited.

 

Offline jonwilhelmjr

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #43 on: July 26, 2013, 05:13:07 am »
I would like to start off by saying thank you Dave for all your great advice on electronics. I can almost say I have watched every one of your videos. Every one of your videos has in some way helped me through college thus far. With that being said leads me to my question. I will be graduating soon and won't have access to all the nice new test equipment. I am really excited to use this soon to be acquired EE degree but I lack the equipment. I am sure you have answered this thousands of times, possibly did a video over it. So with out further a due, how should I evaluate my decision making process. I understand price is always a factor but what about brand, specs, or even age. So looking at brand, I feel like I am buying my first car again. What is the best bang for my buck as they say? I am trying to compare all the bells and whistles to the bottom of the barrel equipment. Then how about the age of the equipment. Are the oscilloscopes like wine in the fact one year is better than another. I personally would prefer a digital scope over an analog. (Forgive me, I am young and for all those analog fans out there Dave has a video comparing them) With that being said when it comes done to it if the price is right, I could settle for an analog scope. Would any one like to shine some light on this matter. WHAT SHOULD A YOUNGSTER LIKE MY SELF GET FOR HIS FIRST SCOPE? Or just in general for test equipment, cheap eBay special or brand new from the company, top of the line or a backyard wounder made out of a cardboard box, analog or digital, for digital new or old, and lastly loaded with features to learn or bare minimum enough to call it a scope. I greatly appreciate any advise you have for me and at the very least to keep me at bay, a link or video will work too. Thank you in advance for your support.

Robotics extraordinaire,
Jon
 

Offline Psi

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #44 on: July 26, 2013, 05:27:43 am »
There's quite an art to shaping your auction auto-search entries so they pickup the good deals.

Stuff that goes cheap is often in the wrong category or labeled/misspelled and falls through the cracks of other peoples auto-searches.
Something that often happens when it's listed by a non-engineer.

Crafting your auto-searches to pickup this sort of stuff is a good idea.

For example, you might have two auto-searches setup for osilloscope and osciloscope to catch any oscilloscopes listed with incorrect spelling.

If the search system includes the main auction text you can search for quoted strings that indicate the person may not know what the item is or does.
eg,
"no idea what it"   (works for "is" or "does")
"cleared out the"  (works for lots of things, garage, shed, house etc.


It's pretty easy to end up with 100's of auto-search entries.
« Last Edit: July 26, 2013, 05:32:00 am by Psi »
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Offline Bored@Work

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #45 on: July 26, 2013, 05:44:20 am »
What's the simplest way to test out an old oscilloscope if you're somewhere with no equipment to test it with?

Dave made a video about this. You have to dig through his older stuff.
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Offline ve7xen

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #46 on: July 26, 2013, 05:54:02 am »
I live in Canada
Yeah, Canada is kind of a crappy market for used test equipment. If you live near the border (most of us do), there will be receiving companies in the US-side border town that will receive packages for you for a nominal fee. It's time consuming to cross the border and back and the customs people will sometimes give you a hard time, but the shipping will be way cheaper, no brokerage, and usually you won't pay GST/HST if the item is < $200. I don't normally bother unless it's a smoking deal or something I really want and can't afford new, but if your budget is slim or you prefer to spend time than money, it's a worthwhile option. I use a company called Hagen's of Blaine. I've also used a company called TSB Shipping in Point Roberts. Costs < $10 for pretty much any package if you pick it up within a week.

Quote
and the item is shipping from Florida. The shipping is about $60 + about $15 for duties and taxes, maybe some other "surprise" fees when delivered at the door (couriers often pad on extra "handling" or "brokerage" fees). Seems a bit high to me, but maybe the weight is making it so expensive. So we are guaranteeing about $120-130 minimum cost, for a used, no warranty product.
Yep. I pretty much will only buy things if they ship by USPS. Canada Post on this side doesn't normally charge me GST (they do sometimes) and there are no hidden fees, but many sellers won't ship that way for some reason, so I don't buy. UPS and FedEx are both exorbitant in their brokerage fees (it's like $19.45 on a $40 item at UPS, for example), or you can use their 'express' service where it's included.

Final option is to self-broker. I've never done this, but apparently it is possible to 'intercept' your package at the UPS/FedEx entry point and take it to Canada Customs yourself to clear it, then return it to UPS for final delivery. Or something, I'm not clear on this, but might save you if you want to import stuff.

Really though, patience. It's not a great place to try to hunt for 'good' deals, but cheap scopes and decent multimeters and other common stuff comes up often enough that if you wait, you'll find something in-country for a reasonable-ish price. Probably more than $50, but you should be able to do under $100 delivered.

And yes, of course paying 3-4x as much money gets you a much better scope. It's 3-4x as much. If you can afford that at all, even at a stretch, do that instead, it's a much better option. But for the high school student living on a 10h a week minimum wage job, there are options.

e.g. Someone scored this, quite nice actually, 4CH, 150MHz Tek 2445 scope for $120 delivered: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Tektronix-2445-150-MHz-Oscilloscope-e-w-Manual-/190868924967?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item2c70acaa27 . But this is not common, you need to be patient and committed.
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Offline k2k

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #48 on: July 26, 2013, 07:03:01 am »
I would just like to add, I picked up a Tek 468 for 220 on ebay Australia. I think it was a bargain...  it is huge and cumbersome but I love it..
« Last Edit: July 26, 2013, 07:11:37 am by k2k »
 

Offline vk6zgo

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Re: EEVblog #498 - How to get a $50 Oscilloscope on Ebay
« Reply #49 on: July 26, 2013, 07:48:12 am »
Being over in West Oz, some of the eBay Aust deals are not so great after you add postage/freight.

Another thing is that some of the best sounding deals are "pickup only",though I'm told many people forget to delete that when  posting their ad,so it is still worthwhile asking if they will ship it.

I usually end up buying stuff at Hamfests.
 


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