WTB: HP3478A or similar

[Harvs]

Want to put my hands on a HP 3478A or similar bench multimeter, would be nice if in Oz, however happy to pay for shipping at a reasonable price.

If no one does have one, can anyone give me a clue as to why there is a wide range of prices for them on eBay?  For working meters with option of calibration from what looks like reputable sellers seem to range from about $140-$600USD without any reference to why they are that price (e.g. no figures on age, all look they same, all work, all can pay a bit extra to have Cal).

[alm]

$600 (US) is way too much for a 3478A, you should be able to get an HP 34401A for that. $140 (ex. calibration) sounds about right. If you don't plan to invest in a GPIB interface, you may also want to consider the HP 3468A, apart from the lack of GPIB it's almost identical, and often significantly cheaper. Some Keithley models (195, 195A, 199) sometimes go for cheap (around $100).

[Conrad Hoffman]

Remember, the 3478 is only a 5.5 digit meter. It's nice enough (I use one on the bench), but no way would I pay more than $200USD for one. It has hardly any features compared to the 34401 types, though it does do well for low resistance 4-term measurements and it has HPIB. I use the inexpensive Prologix interface from Sparkfun to talk to it. It also has no illumination, which can be annoying depending on the lighting. No doubt things cost more down under, but $600 would be crazy for this quite old design!