USA Texas: MASSIVE auction 10x 3458A 12x Keithley 2002 **MORE** Jan 16th

[neverendingstudent]

EDIT 2025-Dec-25: Auction date corrected in the title from Jan 20th to Jan 16th.  I don't know if I typed it in wrong originally or if they changed the auction date.  END EDIT.

I struggled with 'to share or not to share' on this since doing so increases the people I'll be bidding against, but the only reason I was able to get my very first 3458A is because EE54 kindly shared the calibration lab auction in Ohio this past summer (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/us-ohio-calibration-testing-equipment-auction/msg5992791/), and I already have 3 3458As at this point.  It would be greedy and wasteful to not share it with the EEVBlog community, and sharing with the community is a big part of what we're all about.

Link: https://www.bidspotter.com/en-us/auction-catalogues/bscthe-b/catalogue-id-bscthe-b10214

The company handling the rigging / packing shipping is IBE SMT: https://www.ibesmt.com - they also have an eBay store and I've bought from them a couple of times.  Not enough interaction to have a strong opinion, but I never had a major screwup with the stuff I bought from them.  Strongly advise contacting them ahead of time to find out about rigging fees on top of shipping costs.

So, as many of you already know, I buy / refurb/test/clean / sell Test & Measure gear, so I'm always looking for the good stuff basically everywhere.  It probably eats up 2 to 4 hours every day for me.  I came across this upcoming auction in Plano, Texas (USA) - it is the facility closure auction of TT Electronics, they are apparently a semiconductor and thin-film resistor manufacturer.

The sheer quantity of 'The Good Stuff' in this auction is just beyond comprehension.

THEY HAVE SO MANY 8.5 DIGIT MULTIMETERS THAT THEY ARE SELLING A BUNCH OF THEM BY LOTS OF 2.  There are lots of 2 Keithley 2002s, lots of 2 HPAK 3458As, and bundle lots with vast troves of semicon manufacturing specialty hardware.  DO NOT OVERLOOK THE LOTS THAT LITERALLY HAVE K2002s AND 3458As HIDDEN IN THEM BURIED UNDER OTHER TEST GEAR.

By my rough count I have thus far found a total of twelve (12) Keithley 2002s and ten (10) 3458As (and have verified that at least some of them have the 4ppm Option 002).  There's all sorts of other goodies, precision voltage standards, electronics / silicon-specific microscope setups, crap tons of high-end workbenches if you are local, not to mention the 'lesser' finds like Keithley DMM7510s, DAQ6510s, I lost count of how many different SourceMeters they have (including current-generation Keithley 2450 SourceMeters), computerized automated test stations on wheeled carts with K2002/K7001 combination setups, high voltage power supplies and just.... Everything.  Everything.

I want it all - and I'll be lucky to win just a few lots.  It would be greedy and wasteful for me to not share it with the rest of you.  I AM REPEATEDLY TELLING MYSELF THIS AS THE LITTLE LOOT MUNCHKIN IN ME SCREAMS AT ME TO STOP SHARING.

Good luck my Brothers and Sisters (I know there are at least a few) in Electronics.  Let none but us claim this bounty!

[thm_w]

Tons of great stuff, 2450's, microscopes, etc.

Surprised they use this junk at a high end facility though https://www.bidspotter.com/en-us/auction-catalogues/bscthe-b/catalogue-id-bscthe-b10214/lot-c5cccec6-a763-4fa8-9b47-b3ae0119e70b

[neverendingstudent]

Tons of great stuff, 2450's, microscopes, etc.

Surprised they use this junk at a high end facility though https://www.bidspotter.com/en-us/auction-catalogues/bscthe-b/catalogue-id-bscthe-b10214/lot-c5cccec6-a763-4fa8-9b47-b3ae0119e70b

I saw that and figure it's one of those cases where if they don't need to see past level X of zoom and fine detail, and the el-cheapo microscope provides X or greater performance... then you buy the cheap crap?

[mawyatt]

Tons of great stuff, 2450's, microscopes, etc.

Surprised they use this junk at a high end facility though https://www.bidspotter.com/en-us/auction-catalogues/bscthe-b/catalogue-id-bscthe-b10214/lot-c5cccec6-a763-4fa8-9b47-b3ae0119e70b

I saw that and figure it's one of those cases where if they don't need to see past level X of zoom and fine detail, and the el-cheapo microscope provides X or greater performance... then you buy the cheap crap?

We have one of these Andonstars, along with a proper microscope with good hi res camera. The Andonstar is the goto solution most of the time, the image quality is pretty good and it's simple to use.

Best

[KungFuJosh]

Now how do we get this post removed to improve our odds? 

[lowimpedance]

Sigh !
This sort of thing never happens down here in Australia,  it's a test equipment desert full of overpriced fossils.  .
 There's actually a few dead 3458's at work,  but no one wants to pay to have them fixed or dispose of them.  No that's too hard, so they just sit .Monuments to dust collection.   
Basically just buy a new one 

Anyway best of luck to those closer. 

[mendip_discovery]

Sigh !
This sort of thing never happens down here in Australia,  it's a test equipment desert full of overpriced fossils.  .
 There's actually a few dead 3458's at work,  but no one wants to pay to have them fixed or dispose of them.  No that's too hard, so they just sit .Monuments to dust collection.   
Basically just buy a new one 

Anyway best of luck to those closer. 

Just ask the @neverendingstudent to pick them up for you, fly over and take home in your luggage.

[neverendingstudent]

Sigh !
This sort of thing never happens down here in Australia,  it's a test equipment desert full of overpriced fossils.  .
 There's actually a few dead 3458's at work,  but no one wants to pay to have them fixed or dispose of them.  No that's too hard, so they just sit .Monuments to dust collection.   
Basically just buy a new one 

Anyway best of luck to those closer. 

Just ask the @neverendingstudent to pick them up for you, fly over and take home in your luggage.

So, just to be clear, this is NOT me offering anything here, I'm just exploring the idea.  I just created a test label in Pirateship for the size and weight of a 3458A - a 28x24x10 inch box weighing 30lbs (sorry for the unscientific freedumb units) and put in a random address I picked off Google Maps in the Sydney Australia area.  I was only able to declare it as $2500 USD value (I don't know why that limit is there) so I also only selected $2500 of insurance.  UPS Worldwide service came in at a little over $300.  I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT FEES / VAT / TARIFFS / IMPORT TAX ANYONE MIGHT BE SUBJECT TO.  Also I can see any number of ways this could go wrong or have unexpected costs (maybe very high costs) since the only international shipments I've done before have all gone through the eBay EIS system which means I didn't have to handle any of the details - I am NOT experienced in international shipping.  The only time I did it manually was sending a piece of heavy physical metrology gear (a heavy height-micrometer) to the UAE, and I know there was a lot of back and forth figuring stuff out on that.

NOTE to anyone who might look at the example label and think 'is he doxxing someone's address?' - no, that is literally just a random residential address I picked on Google Maps.  I needed any valid address to make the test label.

I also don't yet know what rigging / shipping fees IBE SMT plan on charging, or if they are willing to do things like 'just remove this or those instruments and keep/dispose of the rest' if trying to pick out, say, only a Keithley 2002 and NOT have to pay ~$1.5K freight shipping for a 100 pound wheeled testing station.  Lots of unknowns and, again, just exploring the idea right now.

Maybe the forum members here could just start off by contacting IBE SMT and asking about international shipping and getting some cost estimates?

[Brumby]

..... and asking about international shipping and getting some cost estimates?

We already have a good idea on the answers to that....  $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

In short, not really an economical proposition for the most part.

The only time I stepped out to acquire any TE from the USA was when I picked up a working 3478 for a decent price.  The additional 60% in shipping cost really challenged the wisdom of this, but I'm into HP gear and I wanted four terminal capability.

[TomWinTejas]

I struggled with 'to share or not to share' on this since doing so increases the people I'll be bidding against, but the only reason I was able to get my very first 3458A is because EE54 kindly shared the calibration lab auction in Ohio this past summer (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/us-ohio-calibration-testing-equipment-auction/msg5992791/), and I already have 3 3458As at this point.  It would be greedy and wasteful to not share it with the EEVBlog community, and sharing with the community is a big part of what we're all about.

Link: https://www.bidspotter.com/en-us/auction-catalogues/bscthe-b/catalogue-id-bscthe-b10214

The company handling the rigging / packing shipping is IBE SMT: https://www.ibesmt.com - they also have an eBay store and I've bought from them a couple of times.  Not enough interaction to have a strong opinion, but I never had a major screwup with the stuff I bought from them.  Strongly advise contacting them ahead of time to find out about rigging fees on top of shipping costs.

So, as many of you already know, I buy / refurb/test/clean / sell Test & Measure gear, so I'm always looking for the good stuff basically everywhere.  It probably eats up 2 to 4 hours every day for me.  I came across this upcoming auction in Plano, Texas (USA) - it is the facility closure auction of TT Electronics, they are apparently a semiconductor and thin-film resistor manufacturer.

The sheer quantity of 'The Good Stuff' in this auction is just beyond comprehension.

THEY HAVE SO MANY 8.5 DIGIT MULTIMETERS THAT THEY ARE SELLING A BUNCH OF THEM BY LOTS OF 2.  There are lots of 2 Keithley 2002s, lots of 2 HPAK 3458As, and bundle lots with vast troves of semicon manufacturing specialty hardware.  DO NOT OVERLOOK THE LOTS THAT LITERALLY HAVE K2002s AND 3458As HIDDEN IN THEM BURIED UNDER OTHER TEST GEAR.

By my rough count I have thus far found a total of twelve (12) Keithley 2002s and ten (10) 3458As (and have verified that at least some of them have the 4ppm Option 002).  There's all sorts of other goodies, precision voltage standards, electronics / silicon-specific microscope setups, crap tons of high-end workbenches if you are local, not to mention the 'lesser' finds like Keithley DMM7510s, DAQ6510s, I lost count of how many different SourceMeters they have (including current-generation Keithley 2450 SourceMeters), computerized automated test stations on wheeled carts with K2002/K7001 combination setups, high voltage power supplies and just.... Everything.  Everything.

I want it all - and I'll be lucky to win just a few lots.  It would be greedy and wasteful for me to not share it with the rest of you.  I AM REPEATEDLY TELLING MYSELF THIS AS THE LITTLE LOOT MUNCHKIN IN ME SCREAMS AT ME TO STOP SHARING.

Good luck my Brothers and Sisters (I know there are at least a few) in Electronics.  Let none but us claim this bounty!

Awesome... thanks for sharing!  This is practically in my backyard, about 15 minutes away.  It looks like anything under 100 lbs I can just go pick up myself. 

I've never dealt with a non-eBay auction... do they allow you to inspect items prior to the bidding, or is it all blind?

[neverendingstudent]

I struggled with 'to share or not to share' on this since doing so increases the people I'll be bidding against, but the only reason I was able to get my very first 3458A is because EE54 kindly shared the calibration lab auction in Ohio this past summer (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/us-ohio-calibration-testing-equipment-auction/msg5992791/), and I already have 3 3458As at this point.  It would be greedy and wasteful to not share it with the EEVBlog community, and sharing with the community is a big part of what we're all about.

Link: https://www.bidspotter.com/en-us/auction-catalogues/bscthe-b/catalogue-id-bscthe-b10214

The company handling the rigging / packing shipping is IBE SMT: https://www.ibesmt.com - they also have an eBay store and I've bought from them a couple of times.  Not enough interaction to have a strong opinion, but I never had a major screwup with the stuff I bought from them.  Strongly advise contacting them ahead of time to find out about rigging fees on top of shipping costs.

So, as many of you already know, I buy / refurb/test/clean / sell Test & Measure gear, so I'm always looking for the good stuff basically everywhere.  It probably eats up 2 to 4 hours every day for me.  I came across this upcoming auction in Plano, Texas (USA) - it is the facility closure auction of TT Electronics, they are apparently a semiconductor and thin-film resistor manufacturer.

The sheer quantity of 'The Good Stuff' in this auction is just beyond comprehension.

THEY HAVE SO MANY 8.5 DIGIT MULTIMETERS THAT THEY ARE SELLING A BUNCH OF THEM BY LOTS OF 2.  There are lots of 2 Keithley 2002s, lots of 2 HPAK 3458As, and bundle lots with vast troves of semicon manufacturing specialty hardware.  DO NOT OVERLOOK THE LOTS THAT LITERALLY HAVE K2002s AND 3458As HIDDEN IN THEM BURIED UNDER OTHER TEST GEAR.

By my rough count I have thus far found a total of twelve (12) Keithley 2002s and ten (10) 3458As (and have verified that at least some of them have the 4ppm Option 002).  There's all sorts of other goodies, precision voltage standards, electronics / silicon-specific microscope setups, crap tons of high-end workbenches if you are local, not to mention the 'lesser' finds like Keithley DMM7510s, DAQ6510s, I lost count of how many different SourceMeters they have (including current-generation Keithley 2450 SourceMeters), computerized automated test stations on wheeled carts with K2002/K7001 combination setups, high voltage power supplies and just.... Everything.  Everything.

I want it all - and I'll be lucky to win just a few lots.  It would be greedy and wasteful for me to not share it with the rest of you.  I AM REPEATEDLY TELLING MYSELF THIS AS THE LITTLE LOOT MUNCHKIN IN ME SCREAMS AT ME TO STOP SHARING.

Good luck my Brothers and Sisters (I know there are at least a few) in Electronics.  Let none but us claim this bounty!

Awesome... thanks for sharing!  This is practically in my backyard, about 15 minutes away.  It looks like anything under 100 lbs I can just go pick up myself. 

I've never dealt with a non-eBay auction... do they allow you to inspect items prior to the bidding, or is it all blind?

Some allow inspections, some don't.  I'm not seeing details about inspection on this one, but you could (should) contact them and ask.  The auction has a contact number: "Branford Group 203-488-7020" so I would call that and ask.

And I just realized I have the date wrong in the post title, this is for Jan 16th, not 20th (unless it got moved up since I first saw it).

[bastl_r]

My wife has no idea how lucky she is that we live in Germany!
However, one person's happiness is another person's misery. 😒

[Brumby]

Sigh !
This sort of thing never happens down here in Australia,  it's a test equipment desert full of overpriced fossils.  .

So very, very true, sadly.

There's actually a few dead 3458's at work,  but no one wants to pay to have them fixed or dispose of them.  No that's too hard, so they just sit .Monuments to dust collection.   

I don't have a need for that many digits - besides, when I have to start thinking of the metals in contact with each other, temperature, humidity, EMI sources from a mile away and what I had for breakfast ...     It' just too much.




Actually, I wouldn't mind having one of those just to pop into my rack for eye candy.  If it powers up, even better.  Heck, if it actually was able to do something from its repertoire, even if only a few digits, then that would be amazing.

But mostly for the eye candy. 

[tszaboo]

They have a standard 150mm caliper in one auction, and a dozen 6.5 digit meters in another.
I'm so heartbroken, that those expensive machinery for vacum deposition is probably going to be sold as scrap metal.

[neverendingstudent]

They have a standard 150mm caliper in one auction, and a dozen 6.5 digit meters in another.
I'm so heartbroken, that those expensive machinery for vacum deposition is probably going to be sold as scrap metal.

I see that happen all the time.  Stuff that cost a million dollars or more new, but sits at the trifecta of zero resale value:
1. Highly specialized (small market / number purchased worldwide per year)
2. Physically large, requiring freight shipping and being difficult for the average person to store, let alone transport if all they have is a car
3. Heavy.

[TomWinTejas]

Some allow inspections, some don't.  I'm not seeing details about inspection on this one, but you could (should) contact them and ask.  The auction has a contact number: "Branford Group 203-488-7020" so I would call that and ask.

And I just realized I have the date wrong in the post title, this is for Jan 16th, not 20th (unless it got moved up since I first saw it).

I dug in further and saw they have an inspection day after bidding starts... Monday, January 19th, 9am to 4pm by appointment.

As luck has it, I'm on a cruise ship that whole week.  They're also saying hand carry pickups have to happen by Jan 23rd, but hopefully they have wiggle room with that... the rest of the gear has to be out by Feb 13th.

[neverendingstudent]

I dug in further and saw they have an inspection day after bidding starts... Monday, January 19th, 9am to 4pm by appointment.

Ok, that makes me think they *did* have it set for the 20th originally then.

[bastl_r]

Hi
I have the feeling that the auctioneer has no idea what the devices shown in the pictures are.
Cabinets with contents are being offered that have 2 K2002 plus K2701 installed in them.

[coromonadalix]

until all the talk here  may leak to them if   ... and tips them off   ?

[tszaboo]

They have a standard 150mm caliper in one auction, and a dozen 6.5 digit meters in another.
I'm so heartbroken, that those expensive machinery for vacum deposition is probably going to be sold as scrap metal.

I see that happen all the time.  Stuff that cost a million dollars or more new, but sits at the trifecta of zero resale value:
1. Highly specialized (small market / number purchased worldwide per year)
2. Physically large, requiring freight shipping and being difficult for the average person to store, let alone transport if all they have is a car
3. Heavy.

Yes, very specialized equipment that might have a very low resale value. Because the staff is long gone, the documentation of it is online. You don't know what you are buying is calibrated and comes from the production line or if it was in the corner to be repaired. And the only buyers would be your competitors, who already have their equipment.

Hi
I have the feeling that the auctioneer has no idea what the devices shown in the pictures are.
Cabinets with contents are being offered that have 2 K2002 plus K2701 installed in them.

Very likely. Imagine that if you would need to know about CNC lathes or something. No idea what they do.

[Stray Electron]

Hi
I have the feeling that the auctioneer has no idea what the devices shown in the pictures are.
Cabinets with contents are being offered that have 2 K2002 plus K2701 installed in them.

  I've never gone to any of this auctioneer's auctions but I've been to many other industrial, TE, machinery and other auctions around the US and the auctioneers rarely have any idea of what they're selling.  They'll be selling used clothing from storage locker one day and then stuff like this the next day. And most of the time there will only be two of three auction company employees involved, usually just the auctioneer himself and whoever is tracking the bid amounts and collecting the payments afterwards. The rest of the people that are moving stuff around and consolidating it into "lots" are usually just temporary employees and they have NO idea of what the stuff is or what it's worth. You can tell that by the amount of damage from obvious mishandling on the used stuff that shows up on Ebay. 

  But my guess is that an auction like this that has some very specialized equipment will attract bidders from all over the US.  And that's in addition to the internet bidders that will be out in force and trying to buy the 3458s and the like. 

  "Inspection" generally consist of you and 200 other people getting to walk into a room and look at stacks of TE or gaylord boxes full of equipment for an hour or two. There is no unstacking it to see what's underneath of it or to look at the back of the TE to look at date codes, options codes, etc and no powering it on or attempting to test it. If you're luck they will occasionally have a former manager or employee of the company on hand and they can try to tell you what they know of the equipment but, one, they lie; two, they are from a different department and they don't really know. 

   It's strickly what you SEE is what you get.  So if you buy something like a 3458 be prepared to be disappointed!  A lot of times, the only reason that certain equipment is even still on the premises is because it was broken!  If it had been any good the company would have already sold it or an employee would have taken it. 

   After I retired, I spend several years working for one of the biggest TE surplus dealers in the US just for kicks and if they were still in business I would probably be driving a large truck to Texas and buying up all of the TE and then flipping it on Ebay. 

   And just in case anyone hasn't already realized it yet, the Ebay flippers will be out in droves! 80 to 90% of the buyers at auctions today are people looking to buy stuff cheaply at auctions to resell on Ebay.  So expect to see a lot of local buyers there and a lot of competition for anything that's small enough to be readily shipped. And they will all have have their cell phones with them and they will all know exactly what things like HP 3458s are selling for on Ebay, even if they have no idea what a 3458 is!

   I no longer go to any auctions, I've ended up with too much junk and with all of the added fees, the stuff is just too expensive IMO.

[Rax]

I struggled with 'to share or not to share' on this since doing so increases the people I'll be bidding against

Ay ay ay. I understand why you'd share this auction here (urge coming from a good place) but why on the commercial side of this community? EEVBlog is the largest, by far, global community of TE equipment peeps, and the buy/sell board is watched by literally everyone in the larger ecosystem of TE equipment (dealers, etc). Next time, I'd recommend considering posting on the Metrology board, for instance, as that's where the actual, hard working, hobbyists salivating over their first 3458A are.

This ends up being huge free advertising for the auction house, and much less a service to this community. The number of watchers just raised by orders of magnitude and now I understand why. This is my opinion, and again, I do appreciate your intention. I was hoping to grab my first 3458A or 2002, but this just about guarantees all of these are now out of my reach.

[Rax]

...and the inconspicuous 2002s are out in the wild. What a chance that was!

[tinkerEE]

Rax, I get your frustration on it being visible (and more competition) but there are more fish in the sea than this forum.

Many people search auction sites just for the aspect of reselling, as someone else mentioned. I used to do it in college. Even with my technical knowledge I sometimes didn't know what I was selling. Look up model number on eBay, see last sold price, \ and bid on product appropriately to make profit.

My point, having a link to the auction on this forum will probably not impact your competition as much as you think it will.

[Rax]

Rax, I get your frustration on it being visible (and more competition) but there are more fish in the sea than this forum.
My point, having a link to the auction on this forum will probably not impact your competition as much as you think it will.

YMMV