SCORE! Bought a bunch of stuff on a pallet sale

[tkamiya]

I just picked these up.  They are mostly the RF sections of HP8568, along with some older stuff.  I don't really know what to do with THIS many RF sections.....  Spare parts for life?  Anyway, I just wanted to gloat.

[Fungus]

This post is useless without a pricetag.

[tkamiya]

Well....  I'm not selling them....  yet.

At some point in future, I'll probably some up for sale.

[Bicurico]

No, no!

In order for you to goat, we need to know your purchase price!

[bsfeechannel]

I think what he means is how much did you pay for that "score"? If you paid 50,000 bucks, that's not a score, is it? If you paid, say, 50, now we're talking.

[Fungus]

I think what he means is how much did you pay for that "score"? If you paid 50,000 bucks, that's not a score, is it? If you paid, say, 50, now we're talking.

Yep, that's what I meant.

I'm not sure how happy I can feel about this.

[tkamiya]

I'd rather no say the exact amount.  But I can say this much.  I'm pretty happy.  Now, I have no idea if any of them work.  All it was said was, they have not been cannibalized. 

Tell you guys what.  After I go through with what's here, I'm going to take ones that doesn't work, try to get them to work, and if that was going to be too much work, there will be parts boxes.  I don't mind parting them out.  They are just so DARN heavy to ship them in whole.

[Mechatrommer]

If you paid, say, 50, now we're talking.

50 of what? 50 of paperweights? nah! we are not talking.

[tkamiya]

OK guys....  I paid $300 for the lot.

[bsfeechannel]

If you paid, say, 50, now we're talking.

50 of what? 50 of paperweights? nah! we are not talking.

A 6kg boat anchor is worth $135 on ebay.

OK guys....  I paid $300 for the lot.

Not bad. I guess.

[tkamiya]

Yes, but 8568B isn't 6kg.  Feels like 30Kg'ish to me.


Thanks for the idea though.  I'll advertise it in boating goods section.

[Terry01]

Surely out of all those units you can get a couple that are "tip top" buddy? You better look in a couple too, make sure they aren't filled with bricks or something.
If you get a couple fixed up to 100% then part out some bits or whatever you should get at least your money's worth back right?

I don't even know where to start on things like that.

[tkamiya]

Right.  I would be skeptical if this was an Ebay deal.  I don't think I'll do site unseen.  But what I didn't say before was I have a relationship with this business already, and I trust its staff and owner. 

I've gone through 7 of 8568B and few had issues.  So far, 5 out of 7 are perfectly good.  I still have about the same number to go through, so I'll just have to see.  Calibration appears to be pretty much spot on.  I'm doing this for fun, so I'm pretty pleased at the moment - and that's a big deal for me at this juncture.

Little off to the side and out of photograph is, there is a R&S signal generator.  It has some issues so I'm looking for a service manual.  It's great when money and carrier is not riding on it. 

[bsfeechannel]

Thanks for the idea though.  I'll advertise it in boating goods section.

Boat anchor is the humorous, but by no means derogatory, name that we give to vintage, and usually heavy, equipment. There's even kind of a "museum" for boat anchors  http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/ with many manuals reproduced with permission of Keysight/Agilent/HP/Whatever.

If you decide to inspect/repair/calibrate/tear down those units and post photos, that will give us an interesting thread. 

[tkamiya]

Yes, I know.  You were kidding so I responded in kind....  I am a ham radio guy and I love stuff from 80s.

I made my first path.  Cleaning and checking basic functions.  Made sure cal signal is received and looks right.  YTO locks and is stable.  No strange errors.  Out of 14, 10 were good or only required minor fixes.  2 are seriously dead and will become source of parts.  2 are project boxes - likely fixable but why....?  So the results were amazingly good.  Amazingly, most of them held calibration.  Some are dead on and few were 2 db or so lower.  Good enough for me.

Now, what do I do with THIS many spec analyzers?  I only have 2 display sections and 2 pair of cables.  Maybe I will place them in circle, sit in middle of them, light candles, and meditate.  I hear electric magnetic fields are good for meditation. 

[TERRA Operative]

Keep the best one, fix the rest, sell them off and use funds to acquire more gear!

[tkamiya]

Ah....  recursive loops.  I LIKE IT.

[bsfeechannel]

Yes, I know.  You were kidding so I responded in kind....   

 Phew!   People with a sense of humor is getting rare these days. You never know when a light joke will disturb a distant galaxy.

Anyway, I was wondering, quite naively I'm sure, why all these analyzers came without their displays. I mean, is there a use for a "headless" spec analyzer? Other than a spare, perhaps?

[nctnico]

OK guys....  I paid $300 for the lot.

Somehow I get the feeling someone is very happy that his/her trash got hauled away and the person picking it up even paid for it.  But then again: one man's trash is another man's treasure. 

[glarsson]

Anyway, I was wondering, quite naively I'm sure, why all these analyzers came without their displays. I mean, is there a use for a "headless" spec analyzer?

A couple of weeks ago I noticed two auctions on eBay. One was a pallet of about ten headless analyzers. The other auction was a pallet of about ten displays for the analyzers. Perhaps someone didn't win both auctions and then sold of the "win"?

[tv84]

Anyway, I was wondering, quite naively I'm sure, why all these analyzers came without their displays. I mean, is there a use for a "headless" spec analyzer?

A couple of weeks ago I noticed two auctions on eBay. One was a pallet of about ten headless analyzers. The other auction was a pallet of about ten displays for the analyzers. Perhaps someone didn't win both auctions and then sold of the "win"?

Or now, the displays prices will show up "upgraded"! 

[tkamiya]

Yeah, I wondered about that, too.  The business I bought these from bought them from some other company.  I don't know what the agreement there was, but there were whole bunch of RF sections and just a few display sections.  So this is a pallet sale of a palate sale.  It may "recurs" some more.  Most of them are 8568 and few were 8566.  On Ebay, there are more RF sections than display.  Our sets, NONE came with cables, of course.  I have 2 extra pairs but that's it.

I can't believe how much people charge for those!  I bought some connectors and will be making display interconnect cables soon.  Coax ones are easy.  But data-bus one is not, since connections aren't 1 to 1.  I'm thinking a small PCB with crossed traces may be useful to take care of complexities, and then use a flat ribbon cables with compression fittings.  Still some work to be done here.  I will come back here and repost if that ever becomes a reality.

When I was a young ham in 80s, owning a spectrum analyzers were just a dream.  Even used ones back then cost a fortune.  Now, I have 10 working and 4 not.  Amazing how technology advanced and at each stage, huge amount of test equipment become obsolete and sold off as junks.

I often kid around saying I have over a million dollars worth of test equipment <pause> in 1980.  Too bad it's 2018 today.

[tkamiya]

Oh, over this sale, I also got a R&S SMIQ03, 300Khz to 3.3Ghz signal generator.  Almost pristine look but it does not work.  I will have to work on these shortly.

[tv84]

Oh, over this sale, I also got a R&S SMIQ03, 300Khz to 3.3Ghz signal generator.  Almost pristine look but it does not work.  I will have to work on these shortly.

You did good. But you'll have to work on the "recursive loop"!

[tkamiya]

Well....  discussion is ALREADY in progress.  Another pallet.  Soon, I'll have to buy a forklift and build a bigger workshop.

Just recently, I relocated my bed from master bedroom to a smaller room.  The master bedroom became my lab.  But it's already filling up.  Some spilled over to living room.  Any time now, my girlfriend will complain....