What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[ChristofferB]

Christmas came late!

Look what I scored! It was destined to be turned into scrap aluminum and pcb dust. For something like 50$!

It's a NIM bin / NIM rack! "Nuclear Instrumentation Module" - the standard analog instrument system for particle accelerators and reactors alike! I have found pictures of some of these exact modules from 70's CERN photos!

I think this setup has been used for some kind of energy /pulse height spectroscopy, likely gamma spectroscopy.

Super high quality amplifiers - AND A VARIABLE 0-3 KV DC PSU - and a dual 0-1000V!

Unfortunately no ADC or multichannel analyzer. Oh well. I'm happy as a pig in mud!

[Mortymore]

What is your opinion about that Ohto Super Promecha, they look like they also have lead rotation like the Uni Kuru Toga right? Don't know that brand to be sincere.

The Super Promecha doesn't have lead rotation. What can be controlled is the amount of lead to be exposed with each clik, and the extension of the tip (tube lead protection). About this latest feature, only the oldest "S" series as a wheel up front to pre-select a fixed amount of tip exposure. The newest doesn't have that feature.
The currently available Promecha 500P has no selectors, the Promecha 1000P has only the basic feature of rotating the grabber to expose or protect the tip, as have all the Super Promecha, and the latest 1500P has the wheel above the grabber (middle of the body) to select the amount of lead to be dispensed with each click. I find this feature useful for thin leads as 0.3 or 0.4mm. I have a Staedtler REG 925-85 that has this feature also.



All this Promechas are made of aluminium. I don't like the 500P because it's to light weight for me, and love the 1000P because of the mass distribution towards the tip. It has a thick grabber and light body. The other Super Promecha because of the lead dispenser selector, are prone to body breakage if not cared (dropped or bent can ruin them). Though the tips of those mechanical pencil can be protected (500P excluded), and supposedly make then good for caring around or to be inside a shirt pocket without stabbing the owner, I wouldn't recommend them for that, because of all those "twist and turns" don't make them a very robust mechanical pencil.
But hey!... Someone that has a Rotring 600 should know that because of his weight, at the first fall, most likely the tip will be bent. Unless you place a foot under it to prevent a direct hit to the ground, and end up with a shoe pierced, a stabbed toe... and a 600 tip bent anyway. 

A note about the lead holder you recommended for wood work: I highly subscribe the choice. First, the best option is to go for a thicker lead, or the lead will be breaking all the time. But the Staedtler model you recommend has a feature that distinguish it from the traditional lead holders. It wont free fall the lead at a click, like the traditional lead holders does. It behaves like a mechanical pencil, exposing a millimetre of lead with each click. I have one of those but find it very fancy for wood working, for me, so I use a Rotring Tikky 1mm.  But if I was a Pro, I would go for that Staedtler 925-25 2mm
EDIT: I'm thinking now that the Promecha 500P 0.9mm could be an option for this also.

[Black Phoenix]

The Super Promecha doesn't have lead rotation. What can be controlled is the amount of lead to be exposed with each clik, and the extension of the tip (tube lead protection). About this latest feature, only the oldest "S" series as a wheel up front to pre-select a fixed amount of tip exposure. The newest doesn't have that feature.
The currently available Promecha 500P has no selectors, the Promecha 1000P has only the basic feature of rotating the grabber to expose or protect the tip, as have all the Super Promecha, and the latest 1500P has the wheel above the grabber (middle of the body) to select the amount of lead to be dispensed with each click. I find this feature useful for thin leads as 0.3 or 0.4mm. I have a Staedtler REG 925-85 that has this feature too.

(Attachment Link)

All this Promechas are made of aluminium. I don't like the 500P because it's to light weight for me, and love the 1000P because of the mass distribution towards the tip. It has a thick grabber and light body. The other Super Promecha because of the lead dispenser selector, are prone to body breakage if not cared (dropped or bent can ruin them). Though the tips of those mechanical pencil can be protected (500P excluded), and supposedly make then good for caring around or to be inside a shirt pocket without stabbing the owner, I wouldn't recommend them for that, because of all those "twit and turns" don't make them a very robust mechanical pencil.
But hey!... Someone that has a Rotring 600 should know that because of his wight, at the first fall, most likely the tip will be bent. Unless you place a foot under him to prevent a direct hit to the ground, and end up with a shoe pierced, a stabbed toe... and a 600 tip bent anyway. 

I asked about the tip rotation because I saw the aparatus near the tip on this photo, so I was thinking it was automatic or manual tip rotation:



I didn't had the time to search into detail regarding the functionalities of this mechanical pencils (I didn't even know the brand to be sincere).

A note about the lead holder you recommended for wood work: I highly subscribe the choice. First, the best option is to go for a thicker lead, or the lead will be breaking all the time. But the Staedtler model you recommend has a feature that's distinguish it from the traditional lead holders. It wont free fall the lead at a click, like the traditional lead holders does. It behaves like a mechanical pencil, exposing a millimetre of lead with each click. I have one of those but find it very fancy for wood working, for me, so I use a Rotring Tikky 1mm.  But if I was a Pro, I would go for that Staedtler 925-25 2mm

EDIT: I'm thinking now that the Promecha 500P 0.9mm could be an option for this also.

I know the Staedtler model because one of my friends is a freelancer for American Comics, he worked for Marvel and now he his working for DC Comics, and that Staedtler is his most used lead holder, and that functionality of working as a mechanical pencil were it grabs the lead and exposes enough like a mechanical pencil was something than my lead holder, one I used for school, the cheapest available (Koh I Noor 8201) didn't had that, if I didn't put my finger in the lead exit it would slide out and fall on the floor.

[Black Phoenix]

Mitsubishi Kurutoga series have automatic tip sharpening.

Kuru(くるくる)=rotate
Toga(とがる)=sharpen itself

Thank you for that, but in a post before the one you quoted I made exactly that exclamation:

What is your opinion about that Ohto Super Promecha, they look like they also have lead rotation like the Uni Kuru Toga right?

[daqq]

I think this setup has been used for some kind of energy /pulse height spectroscopy, likely gamma spectroscopy.

Super high quality amplifiers - AND A VARIABLE 0-3 KV DC PSU - and a dual 0-1000V!

Unfortunately no ADC or multichannel analyzer. Oh well. I'm happy as a pig in mud!

Don't be sad, I've seen vintage multichannel analyzers - they are a large box, with inferior performance to something you can whip up today using off the shelf part. I can't find it at the moment, but I seem to remember someone did an MCA using a sound card. You can also in theory use a scope with a height histogram (such as MDO3000).

[ChristofferB]

I think this setup has been used for some kind of energy /pulse height spectroscopy, likely gamma spectroscopy.

Super high quality amplifiers - AND A VARIABLE 0-3 KV DC PSU - and a dual 0-1000V!

Unfortunately no ADC or multichannel analyzer. Oh well. I'm happy as a pig in mud!

Don't be sad, I've seen vintage multichannel analyzers - they are a large box, with inferior performance to something you can whip up today using off the shelf part. I can't find it at the moment, but I seem to remember someone did an MCA using a sound card. You can also in theory use a scope with a height histogram (such as MDO3000).

Yeah true. I did get some kind of digital interface in a NIM box along with it, but it's undocumented, built on veroboard and the ribbon cable has just been cut so yeah, might not be feasable. Certainly isnt, i'd think. But the empty box with backplane connector is nice for own DIY's.

[GregDunn]

Not particularly exciting, but found in an unusual place: a housewares thrift store.  When was the last time you found a Weston milliammeter in with the credenzas and hassocks?   

And yes, it works - I tested it with my HP calibrator.

[exor]

Some ADCMT / Advantest equipment. There is some fault in R6144 and might be also in TR5834 which was sold as is, not tested. Lets see what will I get

I’m not sure if I need pulse jitter counter that often but one can use it as a frequency counter with pocket calculator

Sellers pictures:

[Falkra]

Very nice units, congratulations ! 

[exor]

Very nice units, congratulations ! 

Thanks! 

[PTR_1275]

Is that the unit with a faulty 1v range? If so there is a thread on here about units with the same fault.

I looked at it but decided I don’t need it. It might be worthwhile adding your repair to that thread to update it for future users

[exor]

Is that the unit with a faulty 1v range? If so there is a thread on here about units with the same fault.

I looked at it but decided I don’t need it. It might be worthwhile adding your repair to that thread to update it for future users

Yes it is. Thanks for the tip, I will add my findings to that same thread.

[Rémi]

Got a nice birthday gift from my wife. Finally the bench will be more organized 😂

[thm_w]

The molded carry case has a lot of internal structures intended to hold just this grinder, cord and accessories. Which make the case useless for anything else. I never use them, and in the past have always thrown out the cases immediately, as they are a waste of space.

I tried to recycle one and they wouldn't even take the plastic. Those things are a total waste of resources.

[bitseeker]

Not particularly exciting, but found in an unusual place: a housewares thrift store.  When was the last time you found a Weston milliammeter in with the credenzas and hassocks?   

And yes, it works - I tested it with my HP calibrator.

They may not be exciting, but I still like old panel meters. I grab any I come across that aren't exorbitantly expensive. Nice find.

[BravoV]

Not particularly exciting, but found in an unusual place: a housewares thrift store.  When was the last time you found a Weston milliammeter in with the credenzas and hassocks?   

And yes, it works - I tested it with my HP calibrator.

They may not be exciting, but I still like old panel meters. I grab any I come across that aren't exorbitantly expensive. Nice find.

Really glad have friends here, especially on this type of appetite. 

Some eyes candies on what I've scored recent years, and the appetite keeps stronger. 

[lukego]

Eakins autofocus camera. I shouldn't have because it's really extravagant for a newbie like me, but I did.

Seeing that it works with my existing trinocular scope is what convinced me. That almost halves the price and means it won't take up any desk space. Stumbled on this possibility on a YouTube video at https://youtu.be/8eqj632svDM

[coppercone2]

https://www.wago.com/us/tools/variocrimp-16-crimping-tool/p/206-1216

[Helix70]

Picked up a Hewlett Packard 6612C System DC Power Supply from eBay for a very good price (delivered to Australia). Cleaned up very nicely, display is a bit dim. Being able to source and sink, I am going to use it for battery charge/discharge using SCPI command scripts in Python. Did a voltage cal and it is bang on, need to take it to work for a current cal.

[rdl]

Bought a few things this morning, this is one of them. Seemed like a good deal on sale for 31% off.

https://www.newegg.com/western-digital-blue-1tb/p/N82E16820250088




Also bought a Wiha canvas pouch in an order from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Wiha-91118-Green-Canvas-positions/dp/B000T9UK8Y/

[Messtechniker]

Also a good idea - see pic -, since my bones
ain't becoming more flexible these days.

Driven by the move from W7 to W10
involving cloning the SSD and retaining W7 just in case.

[technix]

Bought a few things this morning, this is one of them. Seemed like a good deal on sale for 31% off.

https://www.newegg.com/western-digital-blue-1tb/p/N82E16820250088

SSD can almost always blow new life into older PC's, and the higher capacity a SSD is the faster. Just use it as your boot drive if you don't have an NVMe drive in your machine. (I have switched all my machines, even my old 2004 Dell Latitude D620, to SSD boot devices. Older devices like that D620 and two thicc MacBook Pros use SATA SSD, and all other computers use NVMe for something even faster.)

[HighVoltage]

Picked up a Hewlett Packard 6612C System DC Power Supply from eBay for a very good price (delivered to Australia). Cleaned up very nicely, display is a bit dim. Being able to source and sink, I am going to use it for battery charge/discharge using SCPI command scripts in Python. Did a voltage cal and it is bang on, need to take it to work for a current cal.

These are one of the best power supplies ever built by HP
The displays always have been more dim than on other instruments, it seems normal on the 6612C
 

[technix]

I bought a Qi wireless charging pad today, for my iPhone 8 so I can ramp down the Lightning port usage.

[TerraHertz]

Two HP 3478A 5.5 digit DMMs.
Yes I know they are old, and the displays could do with hacking to add a backlight.


Here are some resources I've found, are there any other good ones?

  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/3478a-cal-ram-readout-idea/
  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/newbie-precision-reference-calibrated-with-the-3478a-dinosaur/
  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/hp-3457a-lcd-backlight-mod-%28also-for-3478a%29/
  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/diy-calibrating-a-hp-3478a/
  youtube.com/   watch?v=9v6OksEFqpA[/url]   Teardown of 3478
  http://k6jca.blogspot.com/2017/12/save-and-restore-hp-3478a-calibration.html
  https://www.keysight.com/main/techSupport.jspx?cc=AU&lc=eng&nid=-536900193.536897126&pid=3478A%3Aepsg%3Apro&pageMode=OV