What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[tautech]

Does getting my first analog oscilloscope and The Art Of Electronics 3rd ed count? Just upgrading my home lab a bit this summer..

Pics?

[signal]

Laboratory Manual for The Art of Electronics
National Instruments myDAQ complete with LabView and MultiSim licenses

[signal]

And also A few Elenco projects, the Resistor Substitution Box and the XP-720K Power Supply.  I also followed some other members advise and picked up some really nice pots and knobs for the power supply and I will be picking up some low ESR high quality caps to use when I build it.

[Mr.B]

Just ordered today... Recommendation by tautech.
http://www.smarttweezers.com/

[Halcyon]

Not so much a purchase, rather a rescue from the garbage believe it or not!

2x 24-port Cisco Catalyst 3750 v2 POE Switches complete with a set of stack cables and 4x 1Gbit multimode fibre GBIC modules. Both work perfectly, just erase the config and off they went.

The copper ports are only 10/100 but still more than adequate for most purposes (including HD video).

[signal]

Wow, I can't believe someone would toss a 3750G with PoE.  Great catch, I would be returning to that dump for sure!

[Halcyon]

Wow, I can't believe someone would toss a 3750G with PoE.  Great catch, I would be returning to that dump for sure!

It's fairly common among big enterprise and Government departments. When they do a network refresh, especially if they've sat inside a protected network, rather than being erased and reused or sold, they just bin or shred them (literally). They don't care. The cost of disposal is factored into their budgets.

It pays to be friendly with IT guys :-)

[Mr.B]

It's fairly common among big enterprise and Government departments. When they do a network refresh, especially if they've sat inside a protected network, rather than being erased and reused or sold, they just bin or shred them (literally). They don't care. The cost of disposal is factored into their budgets.

Not just Big Enterprise and Govt.
We are fairly small by those standards and we simply destroy the equipment and bin it.
It costs too much to erase securely and then go to the trouble of selling, or even giving it away.
Desktops and Laptops are way more hassle than things like switching equipment, but we just do the lot.

[lapm]

Does getting my first analog oscilloscope and The Art Of Electronics 3rd ed count? Just upgrading my home lab a bit this summer..

Pics?

No pictures yet sorry, need to clear out space for my corner for it first. After that i will consider posting in home-lab picture thread.. But its Hitachi V665 60MHz, 2 Ch.. Arrived this morning and had it run throw usual tests, passed all with flying colors. Had to buy probes separately, so had to calibrate those as well.. Not bad priced considering i live in Finland where everything is usually expensive. Old piece of gear, but still fully working.

[lincoln]

A copy of my first o-scope, with out the cart though:

[smjcuk]

Nice! Proper scope. Can we get some teardown photos please - the older Tek stuff is marvelous inside.

[Circuitous]

Just ordered today... Recommendation by tautech.
http://www.smarttweezers.com/

Those are great.   I also got the curved tips,  which make it a lot easier to pick up and place SMDs for me.
I did a short video on it,  as part of a series on tweezer LCRs.


One nice feature is being able to change the display to be lefthanded.

[signal]

Menda 6oz ESD safe alcohol dispenser.  I use to use these in the military, you basically can just dip your acid brush in them and clean away at your PCB.  Isopropyl Alcohol is what I plan to put in mine.  A bit pricy but good quality:

[lincoln]

Nice! Proper scope. Can we get some teardown photos please - the older Tek stuff is marvelous inside.

I will see what I can do, It definitely needs some cleaning inside. 

[tautech]

Nice! Proper scope. Can we get some teardown photos please - the older Tek stuff is marvelous inside.

I will see what I can do, It definitely needs some cleaning inside.

Several links to cleaning methods used in this thread:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/vintageclassic-renovation-techniques/msg592523/#msg592523

For you OLD Tek fans:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/vintage-tek-restoration-pictures-by-martin/

[nanofrog]

Menda 6oz ESD safe alcohol dispenser.  I use to use these in the military, you basically can just dip your acid brush in them and clean away at your PCB.  Isopropyl Alcohol is what I plan to put in mine.  A bit pricy but good quality:

FWIW, I found that Kleen Strip's SDX Denatured Alcohol is a cheaper alternative (~50/50 mix of ethanol & methanol; denaturing agent, MIBK, is also a solvent). Locally, it runs $15.98 per gallon in Home Depot.

[Deathwish]

Several links to cleaning methods used in this thread:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/vintageclassic-renovation-techniques/msg592523/#msg592523

For you OLD Tek fans:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/vintage-tek-restoration-pictures-by-martin/

Unless it has been sandblasted inside and out it aint clean...

[BFX]

Something new to lab 

[robrenz]

A copy of my first o-scope, with out the cart though:

Nice scope but the Hardinge HLVH in the background is even nicer. Mine has made many video appearances on my channel below

[Mr.B]

Smart Tweezers arrived yesterday afternoon.
Accurate, fast and very easy to use.
Very pleased with them.

[mtdoc]

After missing the first round of closures, my local "Shack" got put on the close list a couple of months ago.  I ponied up for one of their component cases but had to wait until it had emptied out before picking it up. They called me yesterday so I stopped by to get it .  That thing is heavy!  Definitely made to last.

While there, with everything 70-80% off, I couldn't help buy some uneeded things, including 2 of their "top of the line" multimeters.  6000 count true RMS and PC interface for $21 each (marked down from $70).  The last thing I need is another multimeter but for the price I couldn't resist.  One will probably end up as a Xmas present for my 9 year old son, but the other? --  I haven't decided yet.

[signal]

So how much did the shack let that thing go for?  Any idea on how to find out which ones are closing, what are the tell-tale signs?

[mtdoc]

So how much did the shack let that thing go for?  Any idea on how to find out which ones are closing, what are the tell-tale signs?

$175   I hemmed and hawed about the price but I do think it is worth it. It is one of those lasts-a-lifetime pieces of gear - likely passed on to my kids.

Tell-tale signs?  Well, in the case of the store here a large sign appeared outside saying  "Store Closing".

I've been stopping by once a week or so since they announced it. Each week or so new signs show up on the windows -- 30-50% off then 40-60% and so on until now 70-80%.

I've picked up a few things along the way as the stock was whittled away.  The exact close day is top secret but the manager told me that they'll but a sign up that says "last 10 days" when the time comes.

I've got my eye on a few more things if prices drop more, I'd love to pick up a boat load of rechargable NiMH batteries. They've go a ton of them in stock but at 70% off their still a bit pricey.

[Carl_Smith]

I've picked up a few things along the way as the stock was whittled away.  The exact close day is top secret but the manager told me that they'll but a sign up that says "last 10 days" when the time comes.

The manager at my local Radio Shack says they will be open until the end of the month.  There isn't much left but a ton of batteries and headphones (mostly ear buds).  Oh, and HDMI cables.  A wall full of HDMI cables.  He also said that for their last 10 days they plan to have a bag sale.  Buy a bag for $10 and stuff it full of anything that fits.   I'm wondering what will be left and if I should stuff the bag with things for myself or things I can unload on eBay like cell phone cases and phone batteries.  I'm thinking I'll have to be there on the first day of the 10 days to get anything good.

With as many ear bud headphones as I have had go bad, the wire breaking at the plug, I should fill a bag for myself and quit spending time on re-soldering the plugs.

As for my purchases, last time I got a crappy clip on smartphone microscope that doesn't even work.  Shows an image about the size of a dime in the middle of my 5 inch phone screen.   Previous trip I picked up 4 rolls of kynar wire wrap wire and a tube of somewhat conductive ink for less than $10.

[smjcuk]

I just finished "Calculus For the Practical Man" after a year so to reward myself with more toil, I bought Feynman Lectures on Physics volume 1, some 0.5mm Rotring leads and The Songs of Distant Earth (CD version) by Mike Oldfield.

The most fun you can have for £30 these days.