What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[Belgarion]

Intel NUC6i5SYH, that will become my new main computer.
My old i7 920 based desktop is a bit too power hungry (150W idle) to run 24/7, and will become my gaming box from now on (which means it will only be running for an hour or two per month..).
The NUC has a much more reasonable power consumption at 19W idle.

I can also report that it works nicely with three high resolution monitors using both the HDMI port and an Displayport MST Hub.
Connected as follows:
NUC HDMI -> HDMI on left 2560x1440 monitor (in portrait mode)
NUC Displayport -> Displayport MST Hub -> Active Displayport to dual-link DVI adapter -> DVI on center 2560x1600 monitor
                                      |-> Active Displayport to dual-link DVI adapter -> DVI on right 2560x1440 monitor (in portrait mode)

[TerraHertz]

Some USB 3.0 toys, for my 'camera on microscope' project.
Yesterday:
 - Touptek L3CMOS05100KPA 5MP c-mount USB 3 camera. http://www.touptek.com/product/showproduct.php?lang=en&id=70
   (also 3 different magnification microscope tube to c-mount adapters. Only one needed for this camera, the others for use with other things.  Plus a calibration slide - it has a tiny little ruler.)
TNT got that package from the factory in China on Monday, to my door on Wednesday. A day earlier than their own estimate. I'm impressed.

Today:
 -  A 5m USB 3.0 cable. (the one that came with the camera is only 1.8m.)
 - Three USB 3.0 PCIe cards. None of my PCs had USB3.0 ports, they will now.

Getting those things today was a lot more hassle than the items from China. First I drove from East Hills to the Auburn MSY store, expecting to buy them there. Common item, in their catalog...
Nope, they were out of stock. None till next week, not even sure about that. And no they can't check stock at their other stores. I got the address of the MSY shop in Ultimo, since I've never been there and had no idea where it is.
My car has no aircon, and it was already hot. Drove to the city on Parra Rd. Finding a parking spot wasn't too hard, but then finding the store...

Back in Auburn, the shop guy had read the address out to me off one of their own pricelists. The ones with tiny, tiny print.
He'd said "sixty eight slash fifty five A Jones St", which I wrote as 68/55A.  Wasn't sure what that actually meant, but thought it would be clear enough when I got there. In Ultimo, I walked the entire length of Jones St and there's no such address. Nor any sign of the store. Eventually asked in UTS, fellow showed me a google maps marker in a building at corner of Jones and Mary Ann St. Complete with street view of the shop front. Try again.
At that corner there's nothing like the streetview image. Seemed the only possible building was another of the the UTS buildings. Went in, no shop. Asked some people in a computer lab. Got directed to the park across the road.
Ah ha! The MSY shop front is in a kind of lane walkway facing the park. And the correct street number is 558, shop 68.
The shop front also bears no resemblance to the google street view image.

After all this drama I was expecting them to be out of stock too. But no, they had 3 left. I bought them all.
Then the M5 was choked, so I took the long way home. Those USB 3 boards took pretty much the whole day, and I'm buggered.

[bills]

I just received A BK 3010 function gen.
Only problem it only outputs square wave (that part works fine) change on switching the mode switch.
sine and triangle  wave  makes no change. on both of my o scopes)
I have contacted the ebay seller no response yet.
Does any one have any ideas why?
BTW I am a o scope dummy.
I want to use this to make a hf gen to get the next door neighbors dog to quit barking.
Yes I am an evil person.

I plan to use a 16 khz. triangle wave turn on whenever the damm dog starts barking with a 60watt amp and a tweeter.
This dog is driving my wife and I crazy it starts at 7:30 am and does not stop.
I considered shooting it but that does not seem to be a good option.

The neighbor is trying to help but it is not working.
Short of shooting it does any one have any ideas
bill

[bitseeker]

Well, there's always this: https://www.grc.com/tqc/TheQuietCanine.htm

[bills]

thanks for the link.
I did not see anything that I have not seen before.
60 watts @16khz. should do the job.
I tried the dog whistle app. It did not work to well until it was amplified.
The problem is my phone is needed for other uses like phone calls.
the amp with a sound activated switch will work well as soon as I am able to produce the 16khz triangle wave.
   

[Back2Volts]

Tektronix 2235.   It may need some tender care, but I am ready to give it a good home when it arrives.   This is my second oscilloscope, more than thirty years after getting rid of the first one.

Back2Volts

[FlyingHacker]

Tektronix 2235.   It may need some tender care, but I am ready to give it a good home when it arrives.   This is my second oscilloscope, more than thirty years after getting rid of the first one.

You really can't go wrong with vintage Tek!

[MrSlack]

Tell that to someone who has a duff tunnel diode 

[FlyingHacker]

Tell that to someone who has a duff tunnel diode 

Many Russian ones are available NOS. But, yes, occasionally parts can be an issue.

[fantis1337]

Brand spanking new Edge S7 

[hydrogen maser]

Datum FTS 4040A Cesium Frequency Standard
   

[KermitDK]

The UPS guy delivered a Rohde & Schwarz HMC 8012 for me today :-)

[KJDS]

Four microscope heads in various states, and four bases, just started making up the stands for them

[Vgkid]

Datum FTS 4040A Cesium Frequency Standard
   

Does it work, if so  .

[hydrogen maser]

Datum FTS 4040A Cesium Frequency Standard
   

Does it work, if so  .

Danno, I will find out next week. Supposedly it was working when removed from service, will it work when I get it? That is the fun part of buying used equipment, it is like playing roulette. 

[rrinker]

 My HP E3610A arrived today. Definitely a company that knows how to handle instruments - in addition to foam in place packing, they had 2 layers of cardboard wrapped around the unit itself, which was also wrapped in plastic and had a large piece of foam taped on the front (of the plastic packaging, not on the body of the unit itself) to protect the knobs and binding posts. Definitely used, but very clean - just a few paint chips on the heat sink. Also this has to be an older unit, since it is HP branded, not Agilent. Too bad most of the other stuff they list on ebay is microwave and high frequency RF splitters, attenuators, and the like. Now I gotta get my bench built. Hopefully this weekend - so my next purchase should be lumber and other building material.

[NivagSwerdna]

I probably shouldn't but I bought some 60s junk

[bitseeker]

Definitely a company that knows how to handle instruments

Sounds like they do know how to pack. Which seller was it? Always good to buy from those with some shipping skills.

[TerraHertz]

This dog is driving my wife and I crazy it starts at 7:30 am and does not stop.
I considered shooting it but that does not seem to be a good option.

The neighbor is trying to help but it is not working.
Short of shooting it does any one have any ideas

You're lucky it isn't during early hours of the morning, which some of the dogs around here do. One guy keeps a kennel of greyhounds, and those routinely have a collective fit around 4am for some reason. Not so much lately, thank god.

There was a thread on here a while ago along the lines of "Who does not love dogs?"
Full of people who have apparently never been forced to live with unbearable dog barking noise nuisance, or having their own pets torn to pieces by escaped vicious neighbor dogs (happened to me twice.)

Anyway... have you looked into your local government's noise nuisance regulations? I'd suggest starting to make full-day audio recordings of what you are suffering. Buy a little pocket MP3 player that also has a record ability (ideally to WAV, on a uSD card.) At the start and end of each recording speak the date and time into it, for the record. Put the recorder out in your yard, under rain and wind cover, and leave it alone so it's a fair representation of the situation. ie it wasn't you provoking the dog to bark. For the wind cover, I use a short (~150mm) length of 100mm dia PVC pipe, one end open and the other end covered with a bit of thin cloth. Lay it horizontally and just put the recorder in the middle. This stops most of the 'wind flutter' sound you get if you leave the recorder exposed. Most recorders these days can run for a day on a new AAA battery. Start the recordings before the dog gets going, so you have a record of the ambient noise level 'before' and to show the dog is just barking for no reason.

Accumulate a series of these recordings on your PC, to show it's a continual problem not a one off.
When you have a week or two, make a formal complaint to the council (or police, if you can trust them not to kill everyone in sight.) If you want to produce a visually clear document, get a sound file editing utility that can show waveform profiles. Dog barking shows up very prominently as a series of spikes. So you can include immediately comprehensible pics of how the barking goes on all the time during the day, how it clusters in bursts, etc.

If a complaint isn't likely to achieve anything, then maybe start playing back the barking records very loudly between midnight and dawn, for your neighbor's education.

Other than that, I could only suggest responses that are probably not legal. Shooting it isn't one of them. Not subtle enough. But ultimately, my experience with nuisance dogs is that the only real solution is for it to not be there anymore.
Peace and quiet in your own home is a fundamental right. Some exceptions now and then, like loud parties and dog barking for a good reason, fine. But continual stressful noise that is ruining your life - it's a form of assault.

[rrinker]

Definitely a company that knows how to handle instruments

Sounds like they do know how to pack. Which seller was it? Always good to buy from those with some shipping skills.

 Seller was Alltest in New Jersey. Among other things they offer calibration services, maybe I should see how much they would charge to calibrate my Fluke 45, 8060, and 8012.  Thought he 8060 and 45 are well within specs compared to the calibrated standard I bought that does AC and DC V and I and has a series of precision resistors. I have them saved as favorite seller in case the have some other nice gear that I need - I still wouldn't mind a nice analog scope, and at some point I will need more than a single power supply and/or one that goes over 15 volts. But, next step is actually get this all set up on a bench so I can start having fun.

 Edit: their ebay name is express_test. Also they have another E3610A for the same $85 that mine was, on which they accepted my offer of $75.

[bitseeker]

Thanks, rrinker, for sharing your positive experience. I recognize the name and will remember they're a good one to buy from.

[MrSlack]

Cheap ass HY1803D power supply for a hot wire cutter (not using my TTI one for that!)

[crazyjim30]

I bought a BK Precision 4011A 5 MHz Function Generator. I'll post some pictures after I have it in hand.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Cubdriver]

A very dusty old HP (well, technically Dymec) 2401C Integrating Digital Voltmeter.  It will be an interesting challenge to try to restore this beastie to its former glory.



More images here:
https://pmanning.smugmug.com/Electronics/HPDymec-2401C-Integrating

Sorry for the crappy iPhone pics; it's all I have handy at the moment.

-Pat

[nanofrog]

A very dusty old HP (well, technically Dymec) 2401C Integrating Digital Voltmeter.  It will be an interesting challenge to try to restore this beastie to its former glory.

Wow, it's certainly dirty, but it should clean up pretty nice (cosmetically speaking). Hope you get it up and running again. 

Good luck.