What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[FrankT]

24.42kg of enamelled copper wire (0.6mm self-bonding).  28g spool shown for reference.



Probably nothing special for the big builders on the forum, but for a hobby hacker it was a big deal. 10 times more than I need, but that was the smallest spool my local supplier had.  For my custom magnabend (based on http://aaybee.com.au/Magnabend/Building%20Your%20Own%20Magnabend.html)

[Cubdriver]

I just watched the video on the Magnabend page - that thing is sweet!  Want!!!  Keep us updated on your construction progress, please!

-Pat

[Johnny10]

Gary350z
Beautiful Probes !

[slurry]

Got miself one of those old chinese Wel Hong Dong oscilloscope,
at least i think it is because it has lost it's stickers, it may also be a GW instek..
It seems to work anyhow so i'm gonna check it out before i give it to my young cousin who's getting interested in electronics...hmm...i wonder who's fault that might be

[TheSteve]

10 MHz everywhere!

[ChrisG]

Bought (yesterday sorry) 10PCS IC GAL22V10D DIP-24 LATTICE GAL22V10D-15LP. From China and hopefully they are the real deal (ahum).

[xrunner]

Nice collection of bedtime stories. 

[bitseeker]

10 MHz everywhere!

Wow, that's a lot of 10 MHz.

[Cubdriver]

Bought it last week; it arrived today.  Yet another boat anchor that I need like a hole in the head, but I didn't have one yet, have been watching for a year or more, it's interesting and it has glowing orange numbers.  And the seller packed it perfectly - easily the best e-bay packing job ever - immobilized in the box with ethafoam blocks that were glued in place.  I had to open the top, flip it upside down and wiggle/lift the box off of it - there was no way I was lifting it out without someone else holding the box down.

May I present (drumroll.........)

the HP 312A Wave Analyzer/Selective Voltmeter (it went by both names during its lifetime):

(and yes, it took a few minutes of playing with the fine frequency adjustment to get it to read 12.34567 MHz)

And the shipping box:

The impressions left in the foam by the side castings are visible, as are those left by the feet (all five of which were present)on the bottom blocks.  The loose cardboard with the flat blocks on it was placed atop the instrument to space it away from the box top.  The flaps were also spot glued with hot melt to add rigidity to the box.  Best evilBay packing job ever!

Lab Cat approved:


-Pat

[frozenfrogz]

Neat!

Just stumbled upon the operation and service manual from 1971 hosted by Keysight - scan quality is aweful, but I guess its better than to have no service manual at all
Also the HP site has some vintage articles on this:
HP Journal Vol.14, No.5-6, Jan-Feb. 1963
HP Journal December 1968 (on the 3590A referencing the 312A)

[AF6LJ]

Bought it last week; it arrived today.  Yet another boat anchor that I need like a hole in the head, but I didn't have one yet, have been watching for a year or more, it's interesting and it has glowing orange numbers.  And the seller packed it perfectly - easily the best e-bay packing job ever - immobilized in the box with ethafoam blocks that were glued in place.  I had to open the top, flip it upside down and wiggle/lift the box off of it - there was no way I was lifting it out without someone else holding the box down.

May I present (drumroll.........)

the HP 312A Wave Analyzer/Selective Voltmeter (it went by both names during its lifetime):

(and yes, it took a few minutes of playing with the fine frequency adjustment to get it to read 12.34567 MHz)

And the shipping box:

The impressions left in the foam by the side castings are visible, as are those left by the feet (all five of which were present)on the bottom blocks.  The loose cardboard with the flat blocks on it was placed atop the instrument to space it away from the box top.  The flaps were also spot glued with hot melt to add rigidity to the box.  Best evilBay packing job ever!

Lab Cat approved:


-Pat

Nice piece of HP Iron, and they did a great job of packing.
Good to see the box passed the Dual CatScan

[frozenfrogz]

Nice piece of HP Iron, and they did a great job of packing.
Good to see the box passed the Dual CatScan

Actually it seems more like a Cat III rated box xD

[BravoV]

125 C rated, going to do some re-caps.

[fcb]

I see it has USB..

[mmagin]

the HP 312A Wave Analyzer/Selective Voltmeter (it went by both names during its lifetime):

Nice.  I have the 312D with an LED display and those funky Western Electric jacks (had to buy a couple BNC adapters).  I need to actually go over it and make sure everything is working right with it.

[bitseeker]

the HP 312A Wave Analyzer/Selective Voltmeter (it went by both names during its lifetime):

(and yes, it took a few minutes of playing with the fine frequency adjustment to get it to read 12.34567 MHz)

Very cool! Mirrored meter, Nixie tubes, and lots of knobs. A trifecta of test equipment goodness.

[mtdoc]

Yep, a beautiful bit of test gear there cubdriver! 

In addition to my test gear score, while in Portland I visited a closing Radio Shack and picked up a few things to fill out the parts drawers. Even at 60% off,  the passive compoments and most ICs where overpriced - but I did pick up some bridge rectifiers, knobs, IC sockets, and binding posts for cheap.

I also stopped at a Fry's to check on their Keysight closeout deals. I ended up picking up a U1177A module for $29 to connect up my eBay U1252b to my iOS devices.

[bitseeker]

From afar, those binding posts look a lot like the HPAK ones. When you get a chance, could you post a closeup?

[Cubdriver]

From afar, those binding posts look a lot like the HPAK ones. When you get a chance, could you post a closeup?

That was my first thought, too!  Might have to visit the local soon-to-be-departed Rat Shack here...

-Pat

[Cubdriver]

Neat!

Just stumbled upon the operation and service manual from 1971 hosted by Keysight - scan quality is aweful, but I guess its better than to have no service manual at all
Also the HP site has some vintage articles on this:
HP Journal Vol.14, No.5-6, Jan-Feb. 1963
HP Journal December 1968 (on the 3590A referencing the 312A)

I already have a copy of the original HP manual on its way.  The scans are nice (when they're legible), but nothing beats the 8 foot long fold out schematics in the factory manual.  Thanks for the other links; I'll check them out later.

-Pat

[Cubdriver]

The radio & communications museum had a swap meet today, but I didn't wind up buying much because I spent most of the morning taking the Technician and General Ham license tests - managed to pass both, too, so will soon be joining the ranks of the radiators here on the board.  (Just what I need, right?  ANOTHER pastime that presents impetus and opportunities to obtain even more boatanchory equipment!!)

Anyway, the vendors were mostly cleared out by the time I finished, so all I actually bought was a B&K 520B Transistor Tester (complete with pilot's operating handbook) from the museum.



-Pat

[Cubdriver]

I then saved two things from the dumpster (for one I literally dumpster dove as it had already been tossed - we have one guy there who's inclined to toss anything that isn't nailed down, and when gear on the swap meet table doesn't sell, he's ruthless.  I rescue more of it than I probably should...)

The first, simply fished from the trash can prior to its walking the green mile is a Robinair temperature tester.  I think it's a piece of HVAC test gear; it has three temperature sensors and a meter that can be switched to read each of them.  Could be interesting to use for measuring inlet and outlet temps of instrumentation or my heating system.

It was of course immediately subjected to a rigorous inspection by the QA department.






The second was an old, ratty looking GenRad 1231B Amplifier/Null Detector.  This one was already in the dumpster, but I figured even if it's beyond repair, it could be parted out and has some good knobs, a meter movement and other things.  (Yeah, I know, I'm pathetic.)


-Pat


 

[Cubdriver]

And lastly, I've been meaning to try playing with some surface mount stuff, and a chance to get a soldering iron that should serve that purpose nicely presented itself, so I grabbed that as well.  (We decided to call it an 'accessory' to the transistor tester and include it in what I paid for that.)

Beauty, eh?

(Yes, that's a US quarter! )




(and that's my thumb)



Hopefully that'll put out enough heat to work with 0603 and 0805 parts...

-Pat

[fubar.gr]

And lastly, I've been meaning to try playing with some surface mount stuff, and a chance to get a soldering iron that should serve that purpose nicely presented itself, so I grabbed that as well.  (We decided to call it an 'accessory' to the transistor tester and include it in what I paid for that.)

Beauty, eh?

(Yes, that's a US quarter! )




(and that's my thumb)



Hopefully that'll put out enough heat to work with 0603 and 0805 parts...

-Pat

You can desolder the whole board at once with that one!

[BravoV]

Not strong enough to restrain after got offer for these two (not one) boxes of genuine Hakkos at $130. 

The rotten boxes as they're stored for probably > 10 years in the warehouse, mint conditions.

Unboxing and details inspection of the Hakko 474 and 850 attached below.