Author Topic: Do you guys have GAS or you buy only the gear you really need for your job?  (Read 4920 times)

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Offline bob91343

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I can sum up my situation easily.  I buy whatever is a bargain.  I worry later if I can use it.  I even buy multiple instruments if the price is right so I can have a backup or at least a standard of comparison.

I very much enjoy test equipment.  I like using it and just playing with it.  I makes me feel good.
 

Offline Berni

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I can sum up my situation easily.  I buy whatever is a bargain.  I worry later if I can use it.  I even buy multiple instruments if the price is right so I can have a backup or at least a standard of comparison.

I very much enjoy test equipment.  I like using it and just playing with it.  I makes me feel good.

Yep i do this a lot too.

If i see a cool piece of equipment for a really good bargain price i tend to buy it even if i don't really have an immediate need for it. Eventually when working on just the right thing you find a use for it.

This is pretty much how i ended up with a 300A 7V or 10kV 10mA lab power supply. Didn't have a need for it, but turns out the 300A supply is really nice for testing high current shunt resistors. and the 10kV supply i nice for calibrating multimeters since it goes to +/-1000V in small steps. Yet both of them so cheep that i think shipping cost more than the actual PSU.

Then there are other cool things like Electrometers that can measure down into the femto Apmeres or use that to measure resistance into tera Ohms. High freqency equipment like synthesizers, spectrum analyzers, or sampling scopes that reach 20 GHz. Stuff that back in the 80s and 90s cost a fortune to get into, but is now accessible to home hobbyists since all that fancy gear was thrown out and picked up by the used market. Sure sometimes the super cheep bargain piece of equipment bought sight unseen might end up to be broken and not even power on at all, but fixing it and making it work again is part of the fun. You get excellent service manuals to help you do it, the old gear uses mostly standard parts and its feels really satisfying when you get it working again.
 

Offline EEVblog

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If i buy an used 34401 i imagine i'd need to send it for calibration just to be sure it is still accurate. I have no other high end gear to compare it with.
But adding the price of a calibration to the cost of the meter it would be almost as expensive as a new meter that came already calibrated.
Am I missing something?

These meter rarely drift out of specification. If you buy one and it reads the same as your other (lesser) meters, then you can be pretty confident that it works and will be within specification.
And a 6.5 digit meter has many uses just by nature of it's resolution. It could be out of specs an still be incredibly useful.
You can buy really cheap voltage references on ebay, which whilst not good enough for serious calibration, are good enough to give you confidence it's within spec.
e.g. if the unit measures 10.000xxV then that gives you reasonable confidence it's good to at least 0.01% and likely meets spec. i.e. the odds of the unit being out by say 0.1% and the meter just happening to read out by the same 0.1% to give you a reading within 0.01% of 10.000V is bordering on zero.
A couple of different references might only cost $50.
 

Offline ercapocciaTopic starter

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You've come to the right place for group therapy  ;D

You don't need an expensive bench meter for a repair lab. An old 2nd hand 34401 will only cost a few hundred.
This seller in China has 30 of them for $260 each.
https://www.facebook.com/sherry.li.313371

I ask for a price and a 34401A shipped is $530 + customs fees. I'm not sure it is a good deal. I'm not an expert but i think i'll not be able to deduct all taxes with the reverse charge.

A brand new DMM6500 would be around $670 out of my pocket because i can deduct all taxes and lower the taxable amount (not sure how to translate)
« Last Edit: August 17, 2020, 01:23:01 pm by ercapoccia »
 

Offline Mr. Scram

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I ask for a price and a 34401A shipped is $530 + customs fees. I'm not sure it is a good deal. I'm not an expert but i think i'll not be able to deduct all taxes with the reverse charge.

A brand new DMM6500 would be around $670 out of my pocket because i can deduct all taxes and lower the taxable amount (not sure how to translate)
The 34401A is a wonderful piece of kit but at those prices the DMM6500 is a no brainer.
 

Offline EEVblog

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You've come to the right place for group therapy  ;D

You don't need an expensive bench meter for a repair lab. An old 2nd hand 34401 will only cost a few hundred.
This seller in China has 30 of them for $260 each.
https://www.facebook.com/sherry.li.313371

I ask for a price and a 34401A shipped is $530 + customs fees. I'm not sure it is a good deal. I'm not an expert but i think i'll not be able to deduct all taxes with the reverse charge.
A brand new DMM6500 would be around $670 out of my pocket because i can deduct all taxes and lower the taxable amount (not sure how to translate)

Why can't you claim the 34401A as a tax deduction? Is it because it's 2nd hand?
 

Offline ercapocciaTopic starter

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It's because it is extra-EU.

I need to ask my accountant, but from what I've read part of the customs taxes and tariff can't be deducted.
For sure is easier and more convenient buying inside the EU.

When you buy from big store like Mouser or Farnell they import the goods from USA through an europen office, for the end-customer is the same as buying from an EU country with no extra feeds. Also Banggood offer this kind of service.
 

Offline ercapocciaTopic starter

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I need to investigate more about this topic. It not so easy.
 

Offline SilverSolder

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I need to investigate more about this topic. It not so easy.

Other than paying customs duty and VAT on an import, what else is there?
 

Offline ercapocciaTopic starter

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It is not easy to calculate how much i have to pay and how much i can deduct.

Few years ago i bought some components from digikey, it was €40 and i had to pay €86, i could not deduct the extra €46 that were customs tariff and taxes. This was with company tax code.

Another time with my personal tax id, i bought an rc elicopter from china, it was actually €80 but i had to pay taxes for €220, because they calculate taxes on the estimated value instead of the real value.

From my previous experience i don't feel confident to buy an expensive piece of equipment from china until i'm sure about the rules that will be applied.

 

Offline SilverSolder

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It is not easy to calculate how much i have to pay and how much i can deduct.

Few years ago i bought some components from digikey, it was €40 and i had to pay €86, i could not deduct the extra €46 that were customs tariff and taxes. This was with company tax code.

Another time with my personal tax id, i bought an rc elicopter from china, it was actually €80 but i had to pay taxes for €220, because they calculate taxes on the estimated value instead of the real value.

From my previous experience i don't feel confident to buy an expensive piece of equipment from china until i'm sure about the rules that will be applied.

Surely there must be a way to appeal that kind of thing?  - they can't just make up a charge, if you have an invoice that shows the actual cost...

E.g. I sent a present to someone in an EU country recently, they got dinged for a lot of taxes, but got all the money back after documenting the value of the item and proving it was a present...

 

Offline ercapocciaTopic starter

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It is not easy to calculate how much i have to pay and how much i can deduct.

Few years ago i bought some components from digikey, it was €40 and i had to pay €86, i could not deduct the extra €46 that were customs tariff and taxes. This was with company tax code.

Another time with my personal tax id, i bought an rc elicopter from china, it was actually €80 but i had to pay taxes for €220, because they calculate taxes on the estimated value instead of the real value.

From my previous experience i don't feel confident to buy an expensive piece of equipment from china until i'm sure about the rules that will be applied.

Surely there must be a way to appeal that kind of thing?  - they can't just make up a charge, if you have an invoice that shows the actual cost...

E.g. I sent a present to someone in an EU country recently, they got dinged for a lot of taxes, but got all the money back after documenting the value of the item and proving it was a present...

Customs and burocracy in general are not what in Italy we do best.

If you google  for "packge lost customs italy" or similar you will read many horror stories about packages lost, stolen or just left there for months :)

Sorry for the off topic
 

Offline olkipukki

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I'd buy for my professional repair lab, that is about 10/20% of my company income but it would be really an overkill for my needs, i'd just like to play around with it. :o |O
Do you mean revenue or net income?


I really want the DMM6500, it has been sitting on the cart with a nice probe master kit for few weeks, i could not find yet a valid reason to justify the purchase with myself.
Write down all possible scenarios, indirect benefit is a driving force as well.

If not much use later (aka game over) and it start to collect a dust only, you can sell it.
You would be better be familiar upfront with depreciation and write off accounting methods - what loss (if any), taxes and any complications.
Who knows you might get it for "free" personally once its become "unusable"...   :P

The gadget doesn't lose a lot value and kept in a pristine condition will sell quickly for a right price.
Once done, you can move on and reinvest something else.

Also, out of interest, you can find out how much it will cost to rent rather  than buy "to play around with it"

How do you guys manage the budget for buying new equipment?
Most important don't regret later if you have decided go ahead.
« Last Edit: August 18, 2020, 09:00:37 pm by olkipukki »
 

Offline KedasProbe

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Why not ask if you can have a try-out for a week.

I don't ever expect a return in money of measure equipment but I do like them for whatever I want to figure out, so the return is in satisfying curiosity, there is no price on that.
Not everything that counts can be measured. Not everything that can be measured counts.
[W. Bruce Cameron]
 


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