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General => Contests & Events => Topic started by: Keysight DanielBogdanoff on September 27, 2017, 08:11:05 pm

Title: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Keysight DanielBogdanoff on September 27, 2017, 08:11:05 pm
Hi everyone, the power supply folks recently kicked off a contest and are giving away an E36312A every week through January.

Here's a link to enter:
http://rfmw.em.keysight.com/promotions/powerupyourbench.html?cmpid=Rdt_puyb0917 (http://rfmw.em.keysight.com/promotions/powerupyourbench.html?cmpid=Rdt_puyb0917)

To enter:
Quote
Power Up Your Bench with a power supply solution that can help identify and address problems early in the design process.

You can win this new power supply for your own bench! Just tell us what you would do with your new bench power supply, and you could win a new Keysight E36312A triple output power supply!

1. Upload a video, story, or story with a picture telling us how a new Keysight power supply will help you ‘Power Up Your Bench’
2. Submission must be related to and/or contain a power supply
3. Submission must include a title for your story

Winners will be selected weekly by a panel of judges and entries will be accepted from August 28, 2017 through January 26, 2018. Check back to view entries and submit another story - multiple entries are allowed!

I'm not gonna lie, the odds are looking pretty good for anyone who enters ASAP with a decent submission.

And the eligibility from the T&Cs:
Quote
Promotion Description/Eligibility. No purchase necessary. This promotion is limited to specific countries and is only open to entrants aged 18 years or older at the time of submission who are legal residents of, and physically located within, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada (excluding the Province of Quebec), China*, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States (excluding Arizona). Government agencies and institutions (including public universities), and their employees, are not eligible to participate or receive prizes, nor are individuals who appear on the U.S. Government Department of Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals List.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: buck converter on September 27, 2017, 09:20:10 pm
New York was not in Scope Month, glad to see that things have changed. :-+
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: MK14 on September 27, 2017, 10:01:19 pm
Thanks. This looks like an interesting competition.

For reasons that I'm not quite sure about. The UK (and probably Europe), does not seem to have/use many of the top professional HP Keysight and other makes, power supplies. Especially in the last few decades.

Maybe it is because (especially decades ago) the UK had a rich variety of other, rather good power supplies, at reasonable prices. So the tradition built up to buy ones like Farnell, Thurlby Thandar (TTi) etc ones, instead.
Apparently this is why second hand/used ones (HP Keysight etc), don't appear often in the UK (on ebay), sadly.

Because I prefer the high quality ones. You can then develop your circuitry, with one less thing to go wrong (i.e. little PSU noise/instability/inaccuracy, or even catching on fire (rumors) if we are talking about the cheap/nasty Chinese ebay PSUs).
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Keysight DanielBogdanoff on September 27, 2017, 10:16:43 pm
New York was not in Scope Month, glad to see that things have changed. :-+

Yeah, there are a lot of legal nuances between contests and sweepstakes, and prize size can also be a factor.


For reasons that I'm not quite sure about. The UK (and probably Europe), does not seem to have/use many of the top professional HP Keysight and other makes, power supplies. Especially in the last few decades.


In my experience travelling through labs around the world, power supplies (more than any other piece of bench gear) seem to be dominated by local brands. It would make an interesting thesis/research project for any economics grad students out there.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: lukier on September 27, 2017, 10:24:32 pm
Great news. Maybe'll enter but I need to give it a bit of thought. I already have two E3631A and two 6632B power supplies - excellent products. E3631A analog specs are very similar to E36312A, so I need to find the differences that would "Power Up my Workbench".

GUI and modern connectivity are obvious, but not that interesting project wise. Maybe the introduction of sensing connectors and uA readouts.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: buck converter on September 28, 2017, 01:53:06 am
honestly, would a teenage hobbyist have I chance? I don't have a bench power supply, but is considering buying one since my current solution is a USB power bank.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Brumby on September 28, 2017, 03:00:24 am
Very nice prize - but my power supply requirements are extremely modest.  While it would not go astray on my bench, what I have has been adequate ... so far.

It's that unknown future which won't let me pass this by - but it also questions whether I will ever have the need.... which makes it a little bit of a challenge to put together a worthy entry.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Brumby on September 28, 2017, 03:21:18 am
I was just curious why we weren't given a 'heads up' before this...

Was it a matter of - let the contest run for a couple of weeks - and then see the entries skyrocket once mentioned on the EEVblog?

I'd be interested in the stats on that ...  ;)
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on September 28, 2017, 03:46:54 am
Thanks for the heads up, Daniel.

By the way, I don't see anything but the page title, "See the Entries", when going to the Entries page, even though there have been two winners already. Is the page broken or is my browser being temperamental?
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Brumby on September 28, 2017, 04:01:04 am
By the way, I don't see anything but the page title, "See the Entries", when going to the Entries page, even though there have been two winners already. Is the page broken or is my browser being temperamental?

Same for me.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: ElektroQuark on September 28, 2017, 06:07:45 pm
Submitting video...

Lets see what happens :)

Thank you for the heads up.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Keysight DanielBogdanoff on September 28, 2017, 06:07:59 pm
honestly, would a teenage hobbyist have I chance? I don't have a bench power supply, but is considering buying one since my current solution is a USB power bank.

It would be worth a shot, but I'd check the age restrictions. You may have to get a parent to be the official entrant.

I was just curious why we weren't given a 'heads up' before this...
Was it a matter of - let the contest run for a couple of weeks - and then see the entries skyrocket once mentioned on the EEVblog?
I'd be interested in the stats on that ...  ;)

I wish I was that clever :) The contest is being run by a different team and I simply wasn't involved in any of the planning or implementation. So, they just now have asked me to help give the event a little traction. And, of course, I'd like to see members of this forum take home the lion's share of the supplies :).

Very nice prize - but my power supply requirements are extremely modest.  While it would not go astray on my bench, what I have has been adequate ... so far.
It's that unknown future which won't let me pass this by - but it also questions whether I will ever have the need.... which makes it a little bit of a challenge to put together a worthy entry.

At this point, if you can put something together in a short-ish time frame I'd still recommend giving it a shot. The fact that you use a power supply makes you eligible. I haven't seen any of the entries, but my understanding is that the competition is not fierce as of today.

I don't see anything but the page title, "See the Entries", when going to the Entries page, even though there have been two winners already. Is the page broken or is my browser being temperamental?

I'll let the web folks know, I suspect it's something on our end.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on September 28, 2017, 06:48:17 pm
Thanks for relaying the issue to the web folks.

Daniel, I have a question about your mentioning that we can enter for each week's drawing. What is the intent there? If you don't win, just re-submit your story the following week for another chance? Or does each submission have to have a completely different story (with the drawings continuing for many weeks, that's a lot of power supply use stories for one person)?
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Cerebus on September 28, 2017, 07:10:15 pm
I just had a look at the data sheet for this and, making allowances for digital setting and readback, the critical performance parameters are almost identical to my old HP 6236B, a direct ancestor, dating from week 38 1984. The voltage and current limits are higher, but that's about it; load regulation, PARD, transient response etc. are all the same.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bd139 on September 28, 2017, 07:59:17 pm
The 6236B has no fan too.

If I won this, which I won't, I'd probably sell it and buy a 6236B. Beautiful power supplies. I lament the day I sold mine.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: nelsonm on September 29, 2017, 03:42:24 am
I love that it's not beige, and if one could pick it up for a good story it would be a nice tool!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Cerebus on September 29, 2017, 12:10:37 pm
I love that it's not beige, and if one could pick it up for a good story it would be a nice tool!

Yes, but given the Goth colour scheme, let's just hope that these supplies aren't obsessed with the "die young and leave a beautiful corpse" idea.  :)
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on September 30, 2017, 12:01:23 am
If it dies young, harvest the innards! :-DD
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: ElektroQuark on October 01, 2017, 08:51:05 am
No confirmation after submission, no a single email.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Fred27 on October 01, 2017, 09:09:13 am
I had some fun making a video to enter this. It made my wife roll her eyes and call me a geek, but it might make you guys smile.

I also found there was no confirmation of entry and "view entries" showed nothing. The list of winners shows only two. Was there a winner for the other two weeks? (The week five deadline has only just passed.) It's a great contest but maybe this could explain the apparent lack of entries.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on October 02, 2017, 01:24:53 am
It appears that they're using the same service to collect entries for this contest as for scope month. Not sending a confirmation was set as the modus operandi during scope month in order to prevent the submission page from being turned into a mail relay for spam.

Daniel sent a message to the appropriate folks regarding the problem of entries not appearing. Hopefully, that gets fixed soon.

I look forward to seeing your video, Fred!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Keysight DanielBogdanoff on October 02, 2017, 07:02:21 pm
I can confirm that there's no e-mail confirmation - which is something that should be different for Scope Month 2018 (yay!).

For the "winners" list, I've been told by our legal department that we aren't allowed to announce the winners until we get some form signed by the winner. So that explains the delay. You can also see a write up from the first two winners here: https://community.keysight.com/community/keysight-blogs/general-electronics-measurement/blog

I'm still looking into why the entries page is blank.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on October 03, 2017, 02:08:28 am
Thanks for the update, Daniel. I'd be happy to pre-fill a winner's form to avoid future delays. ;D
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: rsjsouza on October 04, 2017, 04:10:51 am
YYYYYYEEEEEESSSSSS!!!! My bench was Power Upped! I received the e-mail half hour ago and, obviously, already sent the forms. (shut up and take my signature!)

Now, on to viciously guard the door for the arrival of the postman.

Thank you very much for the heads up Daniel, and thanks to the organizers of this event. You can be sure the 36312A will be properly reviewed in my channel (in portuguese, but I may open an exception and create english captions! :) ).
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: capt bullshot on October 04, 2017, 05:35:48 am
Winner winner, chicken dinner! Yippie-Ya-Yeah!
Checked my email, found a winner notification from Keysight.

Guess there weren't too many entries until now, so we've got two winners for this week

Good luck to all others!

As soon as the new supply arrives (guess I have to fetch it from the local customs) and I can find the time to do it, I'll try out and document the results of my story using the new supply and link to it here (at the eevblog forum)

Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Ice-Tea on October 04, 2017, 05:55:16 am
Belgium is in the list!!

(https://wall-street.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/july-4-main-pic-2017.jpg)
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: nctnico on October 04, 2017, 05:56:58 pm
Dang. I didn't win then  :'( I had the Keysight rep on the phone today about this power supply and told her I never win anything so I guess I just have to pay for one. Maybe I'll get the 160W version. BTW the rep didn't knew about the contest.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: ElektroQuark on October 04, 2017, 06:01:12 pm
Another "loser" here.
It looks like my electronic projects are boring... I don't thing so as I enjoy them very much  ;D
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: rsjsouza on October 04, 2017, 07:40:28 pm
Congratulations, capt bullshot!

Nico, EdoNork, from what I read it seems any entry is considered from week to week until the end of the promotion period - you are probably still in the race.

Good luck to everyone!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on October 04, 2017, 07:58:31 pm
Congratulations, rsjsouza and capt bullshot!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Fred27 on October 05, 2017, 10:41:13 am
Congratulations, guys! Nice to see some eevblog winners. Nothing for me - it seems the judges were no more of a fan of my humour than my wife was!

Maybe I'll do a more serious entry now that I've seen the first two winners. (The week #1 winner didn't seem to make a lot of sense when talking about asymmetric rails. Not sure how that would damage two separate supplies.)
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on October 05, 2017, 06:47:09 pm
So, do non-winning entries remain in the pool throughout the giveaway period or just for the week it was submitted?
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Bicurico on October 05, 2017, 07:16:52 pm
Why is Portugal not bit eligible for this contest? We are EU members just like Spain, France, Germany, etc.

This really makes me sad. It looks as if Keysight doesn't consider Portugal a country of commercial interest...

Should Portuguese prospects move on and look for other brands?

Regards,
Vitor
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Cerebus on October 05, 2017, 09:51:37 pm
Why is Portugal not bit eligible for this contest? We are EU members just like Spain, France, Germany, etc.

This really makes me sad. It looks as if Keysight doesn't consider Portugal a country of commercial interest...

Should Portuguese prospects move on and look for other brands?

Regards,
Vitor

As always with these things, it'll be some aspect of Portuguese law or tax law with regards to lotteries, contests and the like. I mean, is it likely that Keysight would go out of their way to annoy you by excluding you? Especially if your 'chippiness' about this is typical, I mean are all Portuguese as quick to take offence before they've established the facts? I doubt it.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Bicurico on October 05, 2017, 10:14:38 pm
I figure it is more down to the importance that Keysight gives to the Portuguese market. I am not aware of any different law in Portugal, that would make a giveaway problematic.

And as such I complained. I don't see anything wrong with my post.

As an example, The Pie Hut (they sell Raspberry Pi and addons) did not ship to Portugal (they did to any other EU country).
I complained and got a reply with some silly response.
So I complained again.
And I figure that many other Portuguese did complain, because now they do ship to Portugal.

If we live in an economic union, it makes no sense for companies to segregate at their own will.

Regards,
Vitor

PS: And guess why Ice-Tea posted the fireworks a few posts above...
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Cerebus on October 05, 2017, 11:07:30 pm
Well, a previous Keysight contest excluded New York state because of state law about contests, but according to you it must have been because New York state is economically insignificant as far as Keysight is concerned. New York state is, quite obviously, not an economic backwater. In the past, 20 years or more ago, the UK was excluded from a  lot of contests like this because previous UK law treated contests like this as lotteries under gambling laws; those laws have changed.

Which is the more likely explanation, local law you're unaware of or Keysight thinking that Portugal is an economic backwater just like New York state? I don't know why you're trying so hard to be offended when there's a much more rational explanation available.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Brumby on October 06, 2017, 03:11:26 am
If we live in an economic union, it makes no sense for companies to segregate at their own will.
Portugal is a sovereign nation.  It has its own laws.  Those laws set it apart - not Keysight.

The economic union does not override those laws - which is what you are suggesting.

Well, a previous Keysight contest excluded New York state because of state law about contests, but according to you it must have been because New York state is economically insignificant as far as Keysight is concerned. New York state is, quite obviously, not an economic backwater. In the past, 20 years or more ago, the UK was excluded from a  lot of contests like this because previous UK law treated contests like this as lotteries under gambling laws; those laws have changed.

Which is the more likely explanation, local law you're unaware of or Keysight thinking that Portugal is an economic backwater just like New York state? I don't know why you're trying so hard to be offended when there's a much more rational explanation available.
Well said.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Cerebus on October 06, 2017, 08:25:22 am
The economic union does not override those laws - which is what you are suggesting..

Actually in some subject areas EU law trumps national law, and in some other areas national law trumps EU law, that's just the way that the Treaty of Rome and its successors works. The details are complex, and seem designed to confuse the 'man in the street'. Part of the deal in joining the EU is giving up absolute sovereignty on some areas. Generally the principal area where EU holds sway has been economic matters where it affects competition, equality of opportunity for trade in and between member states - free movement of labour, state subsidies and so on.

One of the areas where sovereignty has been reserved to the individual states are what you might call 'moral' law where the individual countries' judgements on such matters tend to be strongly held. So, it would be illegal for a member state to restrict free movement of workers, but not illegal to restrict the free movement of sex workers. Gambling, although an economic activity, tends to fall into the area of 'moral' law reserved to the individual states and in most places it usually seems to be gambling law that has governed prize competitions.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Fred27 on October 06, 2017, 11:10:42 am
Let's not drag yet another competition thread into the same "why isn't my country included" direction. Everyone must know by now it's down to local laws and how many individual ones the competition organiser and their lawyers want to get tangled up with. It's great that companies do these giveaways - don't give them a hard time about it.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Cerebus on October 06, 2017, 12:46:25 pm
Let's not drag yet another competition thread into the same "why isn't my country included" direction. Everyone must know by now it's down to local laws and how many individual ones the competition organiser and their lawyers want to get tangled up with. It's great that companies do these giveaways - don't give them a hard time about it.

Amen to that.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: katzohki on October 06, 2017, 07:36:57 pm
Thanks for relaying the issue to the web folks.

Daniel, I have a question about your mentioning that we can enter for each week's drawing. What is the intent there? If you don't win, just re-submit your story the following week for another chance? Or does each submission have to have a completely different story (with the drawings continuing for many weeks, that's a lot of power supply use stories for one person)?

I would also like clarification on this
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on October 06, 2017, 08:36:21 pm
Yeah, it'd be nice if someone directly involved in the Power Up giveaway could join the forum to clarify things.

Daniel's participation really made a difference as the Scope Month events were running not only to clarify things, but also to relay issues and resolve problems. I don't think Scope Month would've been as good without him.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Fred27 on October 06, 2017, 09:09:45 pm
Agreed. Some clarification would be good. I read the rules but it's not obvious. We all want to maximise our chances of winning, but don't want to spam you. I hope all entries are kept in the draw - because otherwise the week it was promoted on here was the very worst week to enter!

I also agree that Daniel is the man when it comes to promoting these giveaways for Keysight.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Deridex on October 08, 2017, 07:58:26 am
Let's not drag yet another competition thread into the same "why isn't my country included" direction. Everyone must know by now it's down to local laws and how many individual ones the competition organiser and their lawyers want to get tangled up with. It's great that companies do these giveaways - don't give them a hard time about it.
Gotta agree here !

Thanks for relaying the issue to the web folks.

Daniel, I have a question about your mentioning that we can enter for each week's drawing. What is the intent there? If you don't win, just re-submit your story the following week for another chance? Or does each submission have to have a completely different story (with the drawings continuing for many weeks, that's a lot of power supply use stories for one person)?
Yeah, a clarification would be nice as i don't want to spam storys  ;)

Edit: Also congratulations, rsjsouza and capt bullshot  :-+
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on October 17, 2017, 02:33:33 am
Is the contest still going? It appears to have died on the vine after the first two weeks. Hopefully, there are still opportunities to power up our benches!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Fred27 on October 17, 2017, 08:54:33 am
I can confirm it is still going - because I just got an email telling me I'm the week 7 winner! Woohoo!

I must admit that beforehand I was wondering the same thing though. There's nothing on the Keysight website to indicate that the competition is still happening. No confirmation of entry, list of entrants, updated list of winners.

Keysight have run another great competition, but are not really making the most of it.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: capt bullshot on October 17, 2017, 09:00:45 am
Received my E36312 yesterday, see https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/keysight-e36312a-first-impressions/ (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/keysight-e36312a-first-impressions/) (might have been the wrong place for the post).
They did a good job in terms of shipping and tax/customs declaration, it was delivered without issues to my doorstep. Got a shipment notification with tracking ID in advance.

And - congratulations, Fred27!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: rsjsouza on October 17, 2017, 12:16:56 pm
Fred, congratulations!

capt bullshot, I also received my E36312A yesterday.

Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: JPortici on October 17, 2017, 01:41:43 pm
And the eligibility from the T&Cs:
Quote
Promotion Description/Eligibility. No purchase necessary. This promotion is limited to specific countries and is only open to entrants aged 18 years or older at the time of submission who are legal residents of, and physically located within, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada (excluding the Province of Quebec), China*, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States (excluding Arizona). Government agencies and institutions (including public universities), and their employees, are not eligible to participate or receive prizes, nor are individuals who appear on the U.S. Government Department of Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals List.

I'll keep all my amazing ideas for myself >:D

But I really like this contest idea, a lot! (I know i'm late, but i just saw the topic)
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: ElektroQuark on October 17, 2017, 01:49:06 pm
Received my E36312 yesterday, see https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/keysight-e36312a-first-impressions/ (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/keysight-e36312a-first-impressions/) (might have been the wrong place for the post).
They did a good job in terms of shipping and tax/customs declaration, it was delivered without issues to my doorstep. Got a shipment notification with tracking ID in advance.

And - congratulations, Fred27!

Congratulations!

I'm the perpetual loser here ;)
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on October 17, 2017, 06:33:53 pm
I can confirm it is still going - because I just got an email telling me I'm the week 7 winner! Woohoo!

Awesome! Congratulations, Fred.

Quote
I must admit that beforehand I was wondering the same thing though. There's nothing on the Keysight website to indicate that the competition is still happening. No confirmation of entry, list of entrants, updated list of winners. Keysight have run another great competition, but are not really making the most of it.

Yeah, it's quite a contrast from Scope Month. Hopefully, Daniel can visit the power supply group (I don't know if they're in the same location or not) and share all the learnings from the past Scope Month events.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: HighVoltage on November 01, 2017, 11:56:51 am
I have just received an email, that I am a winner of this contest.
WOW!

Thank you so much Keysight and Daniel for pointing this contest out to us.

I will make a writeup to share my experience, once I get it.
Thanks again Keysight !!!



Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Evan.Cornell on November 01, 2017, 04:05:10 pm
Do the odds of winning improve if the same story is submitted every day? Or are unique entries only accepted as multiple entries?
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: capt bullshot on November 01, 2017, 04:24:53 pm
Congratulations, High Voltage!

For the records, here's my story and what I made of it:
http://wunderkis.de/E36312A/index.html (http://wunderkis.de/E36312A/index.html)
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on November 01, 2017, 05:40:42 pm
I have just received an email, that I am a winner of this contest.
WOW!

Awesome! Congrats, HV!

Do the odds of winning improve if the same story is submitted every day? Or are unique entries only accepted as multiple entries?

No one from Keysight has come back to provide any clarification on how the contest works. We keep asking, but there have been no official answers.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: TheSteve on November 01, 2017, 08:13:33 pm
Very nice indeed. Congrats HV !
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Cerebus on November 01, 2017, 08:44:41 pm
Do the odds of winning improve if the same story is submitted every day? Or are unique entries only accepted as multiple entries?

I don't think so. The contest is drawn no more frequently than weekly, so submitting more often is quite possibly going to penalize you rather than help.

The outstanding question, which still hasn't been answered, is whether weekly entries roll over to judging in later weeks.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: rsjsouza on November 01, 2017, 09:06:17 pm
I have just received an email, that I am a winner of this contest.
WOW!

Thank you so much Keysight and Daniel for pointing this contest out to us.

I will make a writeup to share my experience, once I get it.
Thanks again Keysight !!!
Congratulations HighVoltage!!!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Mr. Scram on November 01, 2017, 11:51:07 pm
I have to remember to enter this one. I think I can make some more room ;D
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: nihtila on November 02, 2017, 08:36:29 am
Congrats! When did you send your entry? According to the rules they should draw every Friday. Just wondering as I sent my entry in the beginning of this week but no-one has checked it yet (it is an unlisted video on Youtube). Hope someone checks by Friday  :-[
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: nihtila on November 09, 2017, 10:20:11 am
I reply myself, they check the entries on Tuesdays (or Monday US time?) - I am the winner of this week!  :scared:

Could get used to this - will go next to my MSOX3104T Scope Month scope! :P

And yes, big thanks to Daniel again for pointing this out! Obviously not so many people know about this contest.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: rsjsouza on November 09, 2017, 06:03:59 pm
Congratulations nithila!

I am really loving not to have to use up to six DMMs on its outputs to measure V/A - its built-in meters are quite good!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on November 09, 2017, 07:26:35 pm
Congratulations, nihtila!

I'm still unsure if mine are actually going through. Upon submitting a story, I see a brief animation below the text box with the file name, then a white page with a link to go back to the form. Does that mean it's successful?
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: capt bullshot on November 09, 2017, 08:13:05 pm
Congratulations, nihtila!

I'm still unsure if mine are actually going through. Upon submitting a story, I see a brief animation below the text box with the file name, then a white page with a link to go back to the form. Does that mean it's successful?

I'd guess, yes it was. I did not get any positive confirmation, in fact none at all when I submitted my entry. Once I submitted for last scope month, I got an error message saying "it isn't next day yet" or the like, otherwise none.


Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: HighVoltage on November 09, 2017, 09:20:29 pm
Congratulations nithila!

Great to see more eevblog members winning this contest.
I also had no confirmation after hitting the send button.


Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on November 09, 2017, 09:22:04 pm
OK, thanks. I'll just keep trying.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: metrologist on November 10, 2017, 04:18:14 pm
When I submit mine, I see mostly a white screen. If I scroll up there is a thank you for entering kind of message.

I need to enter again today - at least I think this is the last day to enter for this week. I am not sure of the cut-off time. I was trying to enter on Thursday's to be sure, but I ran out of time last week and had to wait fill Friday after work - and again this week...

It seems most of the winners so far are from outside US/Japan?

Looks like there is stiff competition brewing here... I wonder if adding some kittens would help? Everyone loves kittens  :-DD

Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: AndyC_772 on November 10, 2017, 04:46:42 pm
It didn't help me. I entered a few weeks ago with a lovely photo of my cat "helping" in the lab. Didn't hear anything back at all :(
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: MK14 on November 10, 2017, 04:55:11 pm
I reply myself, they check the entries on Tuesdays (or Monday US time?) - I am the winner of this week!  :scared:

Could get used to this - will go next to my MSOX3104T Scope Month scope! :P

And yes, big thanks to Daniel again for pointing this out! Obviously not so many people know about this contest.

I didn't enter, because It appears, that I would get a HUGE customs tax bill, of many hundreds of pounds, if I entered.
As nice as these power supplies, may well be. I'm not really happy, to pay £350 (or whatever it comes to), because of their huge list price, and the way import duties work.

Or am I mixed up or missing something ?
(It's possible that people with companies, can reclaim the VAT, maybe that is the magic trick ?. Assuming the PSU is for company business use.).
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: metrologist on November 10, 2017, 05:55:22 pm
I'm entering as an individual, but for the company information I am entering the place where I work. There would be no affiliation between this contest award and my employer. I hope my employer is not being considered a factor as that would likely be a detriment to my chance of winning. It's a required field so I felt better using a real company rather than making one up...

I'd gladly pay whatever tax is due as I'm probably going to buy a decent power supply, eventually... There is no dumpster dives where I am. Hard to buy anything at all for a deal around here as everyone has money and snaps everything up and relists it on ebay or CL for a ransom.

Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: MK14 on November 10, 2017, 06:08:14 pm
I'm entering as an individual, but for the company information I am entering the place where I work. There would be no affiliation between this contest award and my employer. I hope my employer is not being considered a factor as that would likely be a detriment to my chance of winning. It's a required field so I felt better using a real company rather than making one up...

I'd gladly pay whatever tax is due as I'm probably going to buy a decent power supply, eventually... There is no dumpster dives where I am. Hard to buy anything at all for a deal around here as everyone has money and snaps everything up and relists it on ebay or CL for a ransom.

I think the UK, would add VAT, at 20% of the total maximum list price + delivery charges, plus a percentage for import duties (depends on what is bought, and how much). Which, came to about £350 for it, from memory. Which is approaching $500.
To put it another way. If I was to win a competition. I would want to get the item for "free", and not have to pay huge tax/duties/VAT for it. E.g. Get Keysight UK** (**substitute applicable country of residence here) to give the winner the item, then I believe it would be "free".
EDIT:
I forgot to say, but the delivery company, can add on big charges as well, if there are charges to be made. So it can come to a worrying amount.
E.g. for cheaper items, the delivery charges on top of the normal charge, so that they can perform the customs charge, can be as high or even bigger, than those charges. I.e. for some things it can cost +50% more, on top of the purchase price. For expensive items like this threads PSU, it is probably an extra percentage of the total of about 6% to 12% + £20 or something like that.
These various add ons, can add up to a rather unpleasant surprise. Easily doubling the charges, for cheaper items. So £15, costs £30 total, etc.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: metrologist on November 10, 2017, 06:33:15 pm
I do not know how UK taxes work, but that would be a good deal.

I am expecting to have to claim the $1550 prize value as income and pay federal and state taxes, which combine to 38.5%, or $597USD (% depends on your fed tax bracket and local state tax).

Maybe one of the US winners can clarify that if I'm wrong. I do not believe I will have to pay state use tax (like additional sales tax of 9%).
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: nihtila on November 10, 2017, 06:36:02 pm
It is a bit of guess work. I did not pay anything for my MSOX3104T (delivered from the UK) but my friend paid £110 for the DSOX1102G (delivered from Malaysia) this year. Where did that £110 come from, no idea. There was no value written anywhere in the paperwork or any reference how DHL came up with that number. As it was lower than could have been, was just better to pay it without asking.

I am not too worried about taxes on this PSU (unlike my scope which had a list price of £10k+) but I do hope it will be significantly less than £350 as that is almost a price of a Rigol DP832 or similar. As this PSU is new, it is possibly it comes directly from Malaysia. Anyway, your £350 sounds high as the price of this PSU is around £1000. AFAIK, there are no import duties on electronics and there will not be delivery charges for us either. Unfortunately delivery companies' stupid charges are real. After all, I stay confident it would be max £200. I will keep you informed.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: MK14 on November 10, 2017, 06:41:05 pm
I do not know how UK taxes work, but that would be a good deal.

I am expecting to have to claim the $1550 prize value as income and pay federal and state taxes, which combine to 38.5%, or $597USD (% depends on your fed tax bracket and local state tax).

Maybe one of the US winners can clarify that if I'm wrong. I do not believe I will have to pay state use tax (like additional sales tax of 9%).

Deleted response. Sorry, I'm straying way too much off-topic.

That sounds like a lot for you in the US.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: nihtila on November 10, 2017, 06:46:18 pm
There are no income taxes and NI on prizes in the UK, at least that is what I have been told by many.

So it is about the courier company that takes the money before delivering your parcel. And that is VAT plus their own charges (afaik no import duties on electronics).

I am also not 100% sure but quite sure this is how it goes in practice.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: MK14 on November 10, 2017, 06:49:02 pm
There are no income taxes and NI on prizes in the UK, at least that is what I have been told by many.

So it is about the courier company that takes the money before delivering your parcel. And that is VAT plus their own charges (afaik no import duties on electronics).

I am also not 100% sure but quite sure this is how it goes in practice.

Sorry, I strayed off topic (re:taxes).
Yes, I agree, what you just said, it sounds about right.
There USE to be import duties on top of the VAT, but that was recently removed for electronics to make Europe more competitive with China (or so I heard).
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: MK14 on November 10, 2017, 06:53:46 pm
It is a bit of guess work. I did not pay anything for my MSOX3104T (delivered from the UK) but my friend paid £110 for the DSOX1102G (delivered from Malaysia) this year. Where did that £110 come from, no idea. There was no value written anywhere in the paperwork or any reference how DHL came up with that number. As it was lower than could have been, was just better to pay it without asking.

I am not too worried about taxes on this PSU (unlike my scope which had a list price of £10k+) but I do hope it will be significantly less than £350 as that is almost a price of a Rigol DP832 or similar. As this PSU is new, it is possibly it comes directly from Malaysia. Anyway, your £350 sounds high as the price of this PSU is around £1000. AFAIK, there are no import duties on electronics and there will not be delivery charges for us either. Unfortunately delivery companies' stupid charges are real. After all, I stay confident it would be max £200. I will keep you informed.

Thanks, I'm VERY interested. As it tends to dictate how interested I am, with these various competitions.
I did not even enter the Keysight scope competitions, because I was too scared I would get landed with a huge bill, of thousands of pounds. Even though it was an amazing, dream worthy scope.

You did really well, getting it from Keysight UK, as that must have saved you a fortune.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: HighVoltage on November 17, 2017, 12:57:46 pm
Yesterday I got shipping notification by email and today the package was already received from Keysight Malaysia with the new E36312A.

What a great power supply!
And it is much heavier than I had expected it to be.

Hmm, I can not say that I dislike the new black color but it probably takes a few weeks to get used to it. My Lenovo Laptop is also black and I like it a lot in that color, so its probably just a mindset.

Ok, I will have some fun with a new PSU now.
Thanks again to Keysight and Daniel.

Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on November 18, 2017, 12:52:34 am
Looks great, HV! I'm still keeping my hopes up for one.  :)
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Krampmeier on November 28, 2017, 06:24:24 pm
Another contest winner greeting the horde here! I got the email from Kim this morning, and still can't stop grinning like a cheshire cat  ^-^

A big THANK YOU to the Keysight team for holding this contest, and especially to Daniel (I would have missed the contest without this thread)  :clap:!

Of cause, I will also report about the good and odd things I find on this very promising power supply in the "Test Equipment" subforum, and share the progress on the project I am planning to do using the new workhorse...

Good luck to all fellow EEVblog members who join the competition!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: capt bullshot on November 28, 2017, 06:58:58 pm
Another contest winner greeting the horde here! I got the email from Kim this morning, and still can't stop grinning like a cheshire cat  ^-^
Congratulations!

BTW, I've noticed some of the winner entries popped up at: https://community.keysight.com/community/keysight-blogs/general-electronics-measurement/blog
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: rsjsouza on November 28, 2017, 07:06:39 pm
Congratulations Krampmeier!

Thanks for the link capt bullshot!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: HighVoltage on November 28, 2017, 07:09:50 pm
Congratulations to you, Krampmeier!
Nice to see another winner here at eevblog
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on November 28, 2017, 10:36:29 pm
Congratulations, Krampmeier! I'd be grinning like a Cheshire cat if I were you, too. :-+
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Krampmeier on November 29, 2017, 09:14:11 pm
Thanks!
I also noticed that the first few stories are online already, and I am waiting for more!
For those who are still trying to score, make sure to check the contest rules:
Quote
Judging criteria:
• [Innovative/Creative way in using the new power supply: 40%]
• [Beneficial factors in the new power supply that help you in your design work: 40%]
• [Clarity of story or video presentation: 20%]
I think the innovative and creative aspect is the one that can make a story stand out, so I'd try to put the emphasis there...
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: metrologist on November 30, 2017, 01:32:28 am
My only hope is that everyone goes on vacation and forgets to enter  :-DD

The first one is killing me. It's a programmable power supply. Great for all kinds of stuff.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on November 30, 2017, 01:53:59 am
Yeah, my uses for a power supply are pretty boring. It moves electrons through my circuits. :-DD
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: nihtila on November 30, 2017, 09:00:25 am
The fact is also that these have been going quite easily as there has not been many entries. As Daniel also said. Probably now a lot more than in the beginning though.

My use case is also nothing innovative or creative - I will use it to power my audio circuits when developing and testing. I made a video of that (my first ever video btw) so possibly got some points from presentation. Beneficial factors were more significant in my case, these PSUs tick many boxes beneficial in audio testing: triple output (dual analog plus digital), linear and low noise/ripple, acoustically quiet as Keysight has pointed out, also good UI as you have large enough display to show all channels unlike those old Agilent supplies showing only one channel at a time. I pointed out all those beneficial factors in my story.

I should get my PSU on tuesday.

Good luck for the upcoming weeks!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Krampmeier on November 30, 2017, 06:55:37 pm
I also have the impression that the competition is not terribly fierce in this case, especially when compared to the Scope Month.

I actually posted two "stories" after I found that I really suck at making videos, and it would have taken me dozens of takes to stutter something halfway consistent.

The first one was about two topics - constructing a dual PWM DAC and powering it from the new Keysight unit (similar to Nihtila, symmetrical analog plus digital rails), and using the supply for things that are usually done using a Sourcemeter / Source Measure Unit, like semiconductor characterization. Of cause, it has only one quadrant, but with the high setting and read-back accuracy and µA range it could supposedly still be useable for some parts. Why not let it do some sweeps and record the curves via Ethernet?

The other "story" is related to my job and is actually titeled "Why we will not use the E36312A in our new standard test system" and describes exactly that, plus several suggestions fo improvements in the next version / member to the Keysight power supply family.

I don't know which contribution eventually made it, but I know from other contacts with Keithley staff that they are quite open to suggestions - much more so than some other brands.

I could imagine that someone else will have some crazy ideas on what to do with the "step" mode. With a minimum dwell time of 10 ms, is it fast enough to simulate power glitches for automotive stuff? Or for developing new battery charging algorithms?
There may also be unorthodox ideas for using the digital I/Os...

Other winners, did you get any feedback from Keysight after sending in the signed tax documents?
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: capt bullshot on December 01, 2017, 07:48:35 am
The programming / step mode could be significantly improved if one could specify to "ramp" between the set points instead of jumping. If you look at my use case: http://wunderkis.de/E36312A/index.html (http://wunderkis.de/E36312A/index.html)
I've had to enter around 30 steps for my measurement, could have been two steps if the supply would ramp automatically.

Yes, I've got a short notification my paperwork was OK, and then later a shipment notification including a tracking number. Delivery was to my doorstep at no cost, all customs / paperwork done by Keysight.

Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on December 01, 2017, 08:04:32 am
What's the minimum dwell time on a step? The documentation shows a potential resolution of 1ms, but I didn't see an actual spec on how fast it can go.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: nihtila on December 01, 2017, 10:15:22 am
Other winners, did you get any feedback from Keysight after sending in the signed tax documents?

I did not hear anything after sending the documents. Only yesterday, so around 4 weeks later I got an sms from DHL regarding scheduled delivery. Based on the Scope Month, it is normal not to get any update and it may take some time to get the prize. One month is not too bad.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: HighVoltage on December 01, 2017, 10:20:37 am

Other winners, did you get any feedback from Keysight after sending in the signed tax documents?

After sending the tax papers and legal documents back, I got an email that they had received them and that they would contact me again when the package is ready for shipment.
Finally the mail came that it was shipped and I received the package the next day.
No hassle with German customs, somehow Keysight took care of this completely.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: rsjsouza on December 01, 2017, 11:27:02 am

Other winners, did you get any feedback from Keysight after sending in the signed tax documents?

After sending the tax papers and legal documents back, I got an email that they had received them and that they would contact me again when the package is ready for shipment.
Finally the mail came that it was shipped and I received the package the next day.
No hassle with German customs, somehow Keysight took care of this completely.
The same happened to me.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Krampmeier on December 01, 2017, 06:54:22 pm
Quote
What's the minimum dwell time on a step? The documentation shows a potential resolution of 1ms, but I didn't see an actual spec on how fast it can go.

Programming guide, page 63:
Code: [Select]
The command specifies the dwell time for each list step. A comma-delimited list of up to 100 steps may be
programmed. Dwell time is the time that the output will remain at a specific step. Dwell times can be programmed
from 0.01 through 3600 seconds with the resolution of 1 millisecond.

Seems like the minimum dwell time is 10 ms. The slew rates are much slower though. It does not look like the supply has a current sink at the output to enable faster ramp-down times - it needs 150 ms to ramp down without load, and 45 ms with full load. 20 - 50 ms for ramp-up, depending on the load. Probably way too slow for transient simulation.
I suppose the digital I/Os are faster and could be abused fro driving a FET via a TLP591B or similar... I think they could also be used to actuate a polarity reversal relay or similar hacks for special applications,eg. simulating a 2-quadrant supply :)

[edit: clarified and added data from the spec sheet]
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on December 01, 2017, 09:29:52 pm
Thanks, the only other thing I saw was the command response time, but it wasn't clear if that was only for commands received over a particular interface or the internal programming as well.

Upon finding the slew rates, I immediately questioned the implied resolution of the dwell time. I guess the supply doesn't have a down programmer since slew down is really slow when not fully loaded. However, the slew isn't necessarily a bad thing if you want the voltage to change smoothly between steps and don't need really short dwell times.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: nctnico on December 02, 2017, 01:55:47 am
Thanks, the only other thing I saw was the command response time, but it wasn't clear if that was only for commands received over a particular interface or the internal programming as well.

Upon finding the slew rates, I immediately questioned the implied resolution of the dwell time. I guess the supply doesn't have a down programmer since slew down is really slow when not fully loaded. However, the slew isn't necessarily a bad thing if you want the voltage to change smoothly between steps and don't need really short dwell times.
I already played a bit with this power supply and also did some tests on the switch on/switch off behaviour. I wrote a short review:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/e36300-series-programmable-dc-power-supplies-(e36311a-e36312a-e36313a)/msg1259142/#msg1259142 (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/e36300-series-programmable-dc-power-supplies-(e36311a-e36312a-e36313a)/msg1259142/#msg1259142)

I'm pretty sure this power supply has some kind of current sink (down programmer) to discharge the output capacitors. I don't think I have a HP/Agilent power supply without it and I suspect Keysight continues this 'tradition'.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on December 02, 2017, 04:51:25 am
OK, so 100-150ms is how long it takes with a down programmer. If anyone tries out the output sequencing on their newly won power supply, it'd be great to see what it can do stepping up and down voltages.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: adamgreig on December 02, 2017, 05:42:27 am
Happy to oblige!

This is an unloaded output of ch1 into high impedance scope input. The smallest programming step on the list mode is 10ms, which is about as good as you can get by programming remotely, but perhaps you could step faster with a digital IO driving the list. Each test is the psu list first, then scope captures.

You can see these two chunky 200R on ch1 (which has 470u output capacitance on the front panel, and maybe a bit more elsewhere), while ch2/ch3 have just one 200R and 100u output capacitance. More or less matches up with the discharge times.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: nicalitz on December 02, 2017, 10:45:48 am
Hi everyone, the power supply folks recently kicked off a contest and are giving away an E36312A every week through January.

Here's a link to enter:
http://rfmw.em.keysight.com/promotions/powerupyourbench.html?cmpid=Rdt_puyb0917 (http://rfmw.em.keysight.com/promotions/powerupyourbench.html?cmpid=Rdt_puyb0917)

To enter:
Quote
Power Up Your Bench with a power supply solution that can help identify and address problems early in the design process.

You can win this new power supply for your own bench! Just tell us what you would do with your new bench power supply, and you could win a new Keysight E36312A triple output power supply!

1. Upload a video, story, or story with a picture telling us how a new Keysight power supply will help you ‘Power Up Your Bench’
2. Submission must be related to and/or contain a power supply
3. Submission must include a title for your story

Winners will be selected weekly by a panel of judges and entries will be accepted from August 28, 2017 through January 26, 2018. Check back to view entries and submit another story - multiple entries are allowed!

I'm not gonna lie, the odds are looking pretty good for anyone who enters ASAP with a decent submission.

And the eligibility from the T&Cs:
Quote
Promotion Description/Eligibility. No purchase necessary. This promotion is limited to specific countries and is only open to entrants aged 18 years or older at the time of submission who are legal residents of, and physically located within, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada (excluding the Province of Quebec), China*, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States (excluding Arizona). Government agencies and institutions (including public universities), and their employees, are not eligible to participate or receive prizes, nor are individuals who appear on the U.S. Government Department of Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals List.

No South Africa? :( .. even entry level equipment is already seriously expensive on a South African salary (the shipping costs to our somewhat isolated location definitely doesn't help). On top of that, we don't really have a second hand market for equipment like this either. Would be great to have an opportunity to enter such competitions as well. Hopefully next time
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on December 02, 2017, 08:15:53 pm
Happy to oblige!

This is an unloaded output of ch1 into high impedance scope input. The smallest programming step on the list mode is 10ms, which is about as good as you can get by programming remotely, but perhaps you could step faster with a digital IO driving the list. Each test is the psu list first, then scope captures.

You can see these two chunky 200R on ch1 (which has 470u output capacitance on the front panel, and maybe a bit more elsewhere), while ch2/ch3 have just one 200R and 100u output capacitance. More or less matches up with the discharge times.

Thanks, Adam. Nicely done. You can definitely see the impact to the steps on the way down. It's not too bad until that last step from 1V to 0. Makes you want to experiment with the output circuitry (if it wasn't brand new).
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: nihtila on December 07, 2017, 12:17:34 am
I got my box! And follow-up to some discussion a page or two back, I did not need to pay anything. Although it was shipped from Malaysia. So this was handled some different way again to those two example cases I mentioned before. Anyway, happy winner without any tax bills! But it is definitely not clear when you win something how things are gonna end up. But then again, if expenses occur you have signed up to take care of them.

Thank you Keysight - again!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Fred27 on December 08, 2017, 10:15:20 pm
I'm loving my power supply and really appreciate Keysight running yet another great competition.

For those of you who are happy that you didn't have to pay any tax, I may have some bad news for you. My PSU arrived about 6 weeks ago and it seemed like they was no tax to pay. Today I had a demand from DHL for tax and import duty. That's all fair enough and I'm happy to pay it - especially as the declared value was a fair bit less than retail.

The only problem I had that as it was delivered to my work address the demand came to my employer and there was a bit of confusion. My boss knew nothing about it and wasn't happy about a tax demand for something the company hadn't ordered. I had a call from DHL that *so* sounded like a scam that I hung up on them. All a bit messy!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: adamgreig on December 08, 2017, 10:49:30 pm
For those of you who are happy that you didn't have to pay any tax, I may have some bad news for you. My PSU arrived about 6 weeks ago and it seemed like they was no tax to pay. Today I had a demand from DHL for tax and import duty. That's all fair enough and I'm happy to pay it - especially as the declared value was a fair bit less than retail.

You should check with Keysight before paying - I think they intended to have paid the import tax, for the UK shipments at the least, so it's worth double checking...
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Fred27 on December 08, 2017, 11:00:18 pm
I've got no problem being responsible for the tax - unless Keysight have already paid it and DHL are trying to play both sides. I probably wouldn't put that past them!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: metrologist on December 08, 2017, 11:22:22 pm
If they declare the value as COGS, etc. I'd be loopy if I won...
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: nihtila on December 11, 2017, 09:46:00 am
I'm loving my power supply and really appreciate Keysight running yet another great competition.

For those of you who are happy that you didn't have to pay any tax, I may have some bad news for you. My PSU arrived about 6 weeks ago and it seemed like they was no tax to pay. Today I had a demand from DHL for tax and import duty. That's all fair enough and I'm happy to pay it - especially as the declared value was a fair bit less than retail.

The only problem I had that as it was delivered to my work address the demand came to my employer and there was a bit of confusion. My boss knew nothing about it and wasn't happy about a tax demand for something the company hadn't ordered. I had a call from DHL that *so* sounded like a scam that I hung up on them. All a bit messy!

Oh ok, good to know. And be prepared.

I don't have problems paying taxes on these if that is the case but those courier companies are just a bunch of scumbags, especially DHL (same experience in two countries I've lived in). Sometimes they have huge fees and no way to avoid. I also think they just make up those value numbers for VAT (which luckily can be an advantage as well) as I am often seeing so round numbers that cannot be result of any calculation. For example, if you need to pay £100 VAT it may be £50 VAT and £50 fees - so they deliberately use very low value? But you don't even get any cost breakdown unless you ask. And as the VAT cost for you is still lower than it could be, you don't want to ask more questions. Clever eh?

Sending VAT invoice afterwards sounds a bit odd as they usually don't release the parcel before they get the VAT money as they need to pay it themselves. Hard to believe they would really try to bluff that bad though..

Something related to the topic as well - this PSU seems to have lots of bugs and UI quirks (for a Keysight product)! I really hope they put some effort on fixing these. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp3YUBcCbDo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp3YUBcCbDo)
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Krampmeier on December 11, 2017, 10:05:28 pm
I got a call from DHL Express today - the parcel with my unit was stopped at the German customs because they thought it would be a commercial shipment. I had to send them a declaration that this is a private shipment to my private address, and originates from winning an idea contest - we'll see if / how much they want me to pay in the end...
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Krampmeier on December 13, 2017, 07:36:04 pm
I got my unit today  :-+ ! Keysight spared no expenses and shipped it via DHL Express international - I am really impressed by their generosity! I did not have to pay anything, as everything was taken care of by Keysight.
I did not have much opportunity to play with the power supply yet, but for now I am a happy camper. Some parts for the next project also arrived as well, so there willl be enough opportunity to use the new toy!

The signs of immatureness of the firmware, which are pointed out in the video linked by nihtila, are nothing compared to the downsides of my old power supply... I hope they will be fixed soon though!

I wonder if we'll eventually see some custom firmware for this unit, and maybe hardware hacks as well (eg. constant current discharge circuit instead of bleeder resistors)!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: nctnico on December 13, 2017, 08:27:02 pm
Congrats! You actually won twice. You got your unit for free and you got it quick. I ordered the 160W version but I have to wait another 6 weeks for it to arrive  :'(
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: HighVoltage on December 14, 2017, 08:03:29 am
Nice, that you got your PSU, Krampmeier

I had not even noticed many of the firmware problems pointed out in the video above and I totally agree, that the positive aspects of this E36312A are much higher than some of the software shortcomings.

What I like the most is the keypad, that I can just enter the desired values.
That is something I have always been missing in Agilent power supplies.
 
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: nowlan on December 14, 2017, 08:21:07 am
How to win this?

1. Show my lab powered by lemons?
2. Show how LXI would benefit me?

Or is it just show off what you're currently using?
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Mr. Scram on December 14, 2017, 08:34:23 am
How to win this?

1. Show my lab powered by lemons?
2. Show how LXI would benefit me?

Or is it just show off what you're currently using?
If we knew, we'd all have a new supply!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: nihtila on December 14, 2017, 09:36:50 am
I do agree it is a huge improvement over the old Agilent supplies but was still a bit surprised by the amount of bugs and oddities shown in that video. And he has some very nice suggestions there as well, e.g. showing energy instead of instantaneous power for small-power applications.

I use those old Agilent triple output ones at work and they are not very user-friendly. Small display showing only one output at a time, no numpad, cumbersome setting between voltages and current limits, etc... So yes these major flaws have been fixed in these new ones along with loads of new features added.

We also have one of those big N6705 supplies at work, these E36300 have clearly borrowed loads of features from there.

Power output is not very high on this smaller model and sense lines are only on rear connectors but doesn't bother me. Although I may make some kind of cable distribution block from the back using the sense lines as well.

I also like how it is very quiet. Although I usually have my scope on as well which is a lot louder. But nice to have a quiet PSU as I mainly do audio stuff.

I still don't understand keeping the fan on when the unit is powered off though! But not an issue as I switch off power completely from my bench when not in use.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: nihtila on December 18, 2017, 10:12:19 am
I hope I win one of these supplies-- I desperately need one and I cannot afford to buy a new one.  If not, I will be forced to buy a refurbished Rigol 832-- but that is a "plastic toy" compared to the Keysight supply...

I actually just bought a Rigol 832 a year ago (which I may consider selling now, will see). I wouldn't call it a toy, it is heavier and maybe sturdier unit than these lower power Keysight's although the quality of finish may not be the same. It has similar informative display and while it is missing some features you can get a lot by hacking it. It also has three times higher current on the higher voltage channels. It certainly had loads of issues but they have been fixed over time so it is the way to go for a hobbyist with limited budget. Nevertheless, I wish you luck on winning a Keysight one!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: TheDane on December 20, 2017, 06:34:15 pm
I got my unit today  :-+ ! Keysight spared no expenses and shipped it via DHL Express international - I am really impressed by their generosity! I did not have to pay anything, as everything was taken care of by Keysight.


Congratulations!
- it has been one of the reasons why I have not entered the Power Supply Contest.
Customs... Duties (Like, I don't have enough on my mind already, and not enough in the bank...)

Sad thing though, my only power supply is not that good any more.  :bullshit:

Real life, periodically when turned on - (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/i-smell-bullshit-overunity/?action=dlattach;attach=380494;image)

Fortunately I'm about done with my way to long things-to-do-list, and it's soon time to start on my ESR meter project, and get that malfunction fixed. A better PSU, tripple outputs  :P
Hmm.. through January?


Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Magnificent Bastard on January 01, 2018, 09:13:57 pm
I just submitted my application... I teach kids introductory electronics, and this supply would really help with that!  I am perpetually low on funds for equipment and supplies, and there would be no way to buy one of these supplies outright.  It would be a way to get a lot of eyeballs of budding engineers on Keysight equipment.  I hope I win!   :)
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: HighVoltage on January 01, 2018, 09:50:25 pm
I just submitted my application... I teach kids introductory electronics, and this supply would really help with that!  I am perpetually low on funds for equipment and supplies, and there would be no way to buy one of these supplies outright.  It would be a way to get a lot of eyeballs of budding engineers on Keysight equipment.  I hope I win!   :)
Wasn't the contest limited to the end of 2017?

Oh, I see, it is still running to Januray 2018
Great that you still could submit and good luck!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Magnificent Bastard on January 01, 2018, 10:49:27 pm
I just submitted my application... I teach kids introductory electronics, and this supply would really help with that!  I am perpetually low on funds for equipment and supplies, and there would be no way to buy one of these supplies outright.  It would be a way to get a lot of eyeballs of budding engineers on Keysight equipment.  I hope I win!   :)
Wasn't the contest limited to the end of 2017?

Oh, I see, it is still running to Januray 2018
Great that you still could submit and good luck!

Well, when I submitted the form-- it went to a blank page, and I was never sent a confirmation email...  Is that what it did for everyone else?
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: HighVoltage on January 02, 2018, 09:48:20 am
Well, when I submitted the form-- it went to a blank page, and I was never sent a confirmation email...  Is that what it did for everyone else?
Yes, that is correct. I had the same.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: nctnico on January 02, 2018, 02:26:22 pm
Well, when I submitted the form-- it went to a blank page, and I was never sent a confirmation email...  Is that what it did for everyone else?
Yes, that is correct. I had the same.
Me too and I didn't win anything!  :'( As usual  |O
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: HighVoltage on January 02, 2018, 03:43:07 pm
Me too and I didn't win anything!  :'( As usual  |O
Same here, I usually never win anything.
This time was a very nice exception.

But I think you can enter the contest again until Jan. 26

 
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on January 03, 2018, 01:08:56 am
Well, when I submitted the form-- it went to a blank page, and I was never sent a confirmation email...  Is that what it did for everyone else?
Yes, that is correct. I had the same.
Me too and I didn't win anything!  :'( As usual  |O

I share your pain.  :'(
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: sixtimesseven on January 03, 2018, 12:50:56 pm
Hi everyone, the power supply folks recently kicked off a contest and are giving away an E36312A every week through January.

Here's a link to enter:
http://rfmw.em.keysight.com/promotions/powerupyourbench.html?cmpid=Rdt_puyb0917 (http://rfmw.em.keysight.com/promotions/powerupyourbench.html?cmpid=Rdt_puyb0917)

To enter:
Quote
Power Up Your Bench with a power supply solution that can help identify and address problems early in the design process.

You can win this new power supply for your own bench! Just tell us what you would do with your new bench power supply, and you could win a new Keysight E36312A triple output power supply!

1. Upload a video, story, or story with a picture telling us how a new Keysight power supply will help you ‘Power Up Your Bench’
2. Submission must be related to and/or contain a power supply
3. Submission must include a title for your story

Winners will be selected weekly by a panel of judges and entries will be accepted from August 28, 2017 through January 26, 2018. Check back to view entries and submit another story - multiple entries are allowed!

I'm not gonna lie, the odds are looking pretty good for anyone who enters ASAP with a decent submission.

And the eligibility from the T&Cs:
Quote
Promotion Description/Eligibility. No purchase necessary. This promotion is limited to specific countries and is only open to entrants aged 18 years or older at the time of submission who are legal residents of, and physically located within, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada (excluding the Province of Quebec), China*, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States (excluding Arizona). Government agencies and institutions (including public universities), and their employees, are not eligible to participate or receive prizes, nor are individuals who appear on the U.S. Government Department of Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals List.



Thank you DanielBogdanoff for making me aware. It just won me a late christmas present  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: HighVoltage on January 03, 2018, 01:29:12 pm

Thank you DanielBogdanoff for making me aware. It just won me a late christmas present  ;D ;D ;D

Congratulations, sixtimesseven
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on January 05, 2018, 03:04:25 am
Congrats, sixtimesseven! A nice present indeed. :-+
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: rsjsouza on January 05, 2018, 04:38:34 pm
Congratulations sixtimesseven! It is a very nice power supply.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: TiN on January 07, 2018, 03:42:37 pm
Congratz..

I've got home and finally unpacked my E36312A today.

(https://doc.xdevs.com/doc/HP_Agilent_Keysight/E36300A/img/e36312a_1.jpg) (https://doc.xdevs.com/doc/HP_Agilent_Keysight/E36300A/img/e36312a.jpg)


Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Ryl on January 25, 2018, 06:42:17 pm
Hi guys,

Did any of you also get a blank screen after submission on the website?
There is thus no confirmation that the submission was received (no email sent either).

Thanks,
Ryl
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: metrologist on January 25, 2018, 08:15:22 pm
yup, but if you'd scroll up you'd see a thank you message...
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on January 25, 2018, 09:36:50 pm
Yeah, I don't know why they made the page scroll down below the text you're supposed to see. :palm:
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Ryl on January 25, 2018, 11:26:17 pm
Thank you!
And shame on me for forgetting to scroll the page... :palm:
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Brumby on January 26, 2018, 04:19:33 am
I put in an entry fairly early about how such a supply would be useful with a project I am working on - but that was in the early design and construction phase ... and the arguments weren't particularly compelling.

But then I got into the testing and debugging phase - and man, would I have loved to have that beastie on my bench!  The trouble is, I didn't have the time to revise and submit my new entry - and now the contest is drawing to a close.

I don't know if I will be able to try for one last Hurrah ... but I am thinking about it.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: metrologist on January 26, 2018, 02:22:23 pm
I guess this is the last chance...
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Brumby on January 26, 2018, 10:14:20 pm
Well, I've thrown my last hat into the ring.  Even though it's the morning of the 27th here, it's still the afternoon of the 26th in the USA - so I hope it's within the time limit.  I did get the "Thank you" page after submission.

It's just a text only entry - but is comes from a current experience (no pun intended) where the E36312A would have made life a heck of a lot easier.

I'm not holding my breath - but, hey, you've gotta be in it to win it.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on January 26, 2018, 10:36:41 pm
Good luck, Brumby!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Warhawk on January 29, 2018, 07:11:20 pm
Well, I've thrown my last hat into the ring.  Even though it's the morning of the 27th here, it's still the afternoon of the 26th in the USA - so I hope it's within the time limit.  I did get the "Thank you" page after submission.

It's just a text only entry - but is comes from a current experience (no pun intended) where the E36312A would have made life a heck of a lot easier.

I'm not holding my breath - but, hey, you've gotta be in it to win it.

Brumpy, good luck. I also submitted on 26th later in the evening. However, in the general terms and conditions they mention:

2. Promotion Period. This promotion begins on August 28, 2017 at 12:00 Noon PST and ends on January 26, 2018 at 4:00 pm PST, (“Promotion Period”), before which all entries must be received.

What puzzles me more is that they don't list any winner after the 18th week. Nobody applied?  ::)

Anyway, it is really great that they are doing this. Some years ago nobody would talk to hobbyists. Now every second company makes arduino shields, promotions and competitions. That's perfect  :-+.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Brumby on January 30, 2018, 01:49:11 am
Brumpy, good luck. I also submitted on 26th later in the evening. However, in the general terms and conditions they mention:

2. Promotion Period. This promotion begins on August 28, 2017 at 12:00 Noon PST and ends on January 26, 2018 at 4:00 pm PST, (“Promotion Period”), before which all entries must be received.

I worked it out that my submission was around 2pm PST, so I should have made that deadline.  Double check if you like - it went in about 10-15 minutes before my post above.

Just wondering how long one should wait before uttering that last sign of resignation....
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on January 31, 2018, 05:33:10 am
What puzzles me more is that they don't list any winner after the 18th week. Nobody applied?  ::)

Hard to say. This contest was a bit of a black hole as far as communication goes. It felt more like a secret mission than a new product promotion. Hopefully, if they do another one, it'll be improved.

Although Scope Month was a bit bumpy in the beginning, there was significant interaction with the community and corresponding improvement. Last year's Scope Month was fun even if you didn't win anything.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: PixieDust on February 06, 2018, 03:26:12 am
How do you do multiple entries? Just enter again the following week? Do you need to change the entry from week to week or can you send the same entry again?
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Brumby on February 06, 2018, 05:02:54 am
The point is moot.  This competition finished more than a week ago.

As far as I am aware, you could submit as many entries and as often as you liked.  Each would be assessed on its merits.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: PixieDust on February 06, 2018, 05:16:23 am
Doh! For some reason I thought we were in Jan still :-DD.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Brumby on February 06, 2018, 05:52:16 am
It's later than you think!   ;D
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Mr. Scram on February 06, 2018, 03:21:43 pm
I made a final attempt too, but at this point it seems I will have to accept my entry didn't appeal to the judges. I do appreciate the contest though, and hope Keysight will do this more often. It was nice that almost everyone could participate, without any limitations in regards to the country of origin.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: wes on February 08, 2018, 03:20:26 pm
I'll only believe it when I have it on my bench, but I'm the winner of week #21.

One more amongst EEVblog viewers/members. :)

I'll post some pics when I receive it. They said it could take a few weeks though.. :(

Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Mr. Scram on February 08, 2018, 03:24:06 pm
I'll only believe it when I have it on my bench, but I'm the winner of week #21.

One more amongst EEVblog viewers/members. :)

I'll post some pics when I receive it. They said it could take a few weeks though.. :(
Congratulations! It's nice to see more members win.

What week is week #21 on the calendar?
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: wes on February 08, 2018, 03:29:00 pm
Thanks :)

Hmm, it was just before the last week of the contest, so I believe 12th~19th of Jan.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: bitseeker on February 08, 2018, 07:13:26 pm
Congrats, wes, and welcome to the forum!
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Brumby on February 08, 2018, 10:40:01 pm
Thanks :)

Hmm, it was just before the last week of the contest, so I believe 12th~19th of Jan.

Congratulations and welcome....

Just one question, if I may - When did they notify you of your win?
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: jasonbrent on February 09, 2018, 06:42:52 pm
I put in a hail Mary at the last moment myself... at least I think I got it in at the deadline. Don't expect to win one though.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: wes on February 09, 2018, 09:33:19 pm
Thanks for the warm welcome guys :)

Been a long time fan of EEVblog (both forum and yt channel), thought I'd say hello because I'd know a lot less about EE if it weren't for EEVblog.

Just one question, if I may - When did they notify you of your win?

24th of Jan, then I had to fill the paperwork, etc.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Brumby on February 09, 2018, 11:23:50 pm
Thanks for that.  I only asked so I know when to stop wondering ...

Seems like now is that time.
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: metrologist on February 09, 2018, 11:26:49 pm
I think unless they are having trouble with acceptance and need to select an alternate winner, you can stop wondering now...
Title: Re: Power Supply Contest! Free E36312A
Post by: Brumby on February 09, 2018, 11:31:26 pm
Yeah.  I figured that out about 8 minutes ago.