What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[VK5RC]

Pat, that 312 is gorgeous, serious admiration here! Lovely.
Rob

[McBryce]

And lastly, I've been meaning to try playing with some surface mount stuff, and a chance to get a soldering iron that should serve that purpose nicely presented itself, so I grabbed that as well.  (We decided to call it an 'accessory' to the transistor tester and include it in what I paid for that.)

Beauty, eh?

(Yes, that's a US quarter! )




(and that's my thumb)



Hopefully that'll put out enough heat to work with 0603 and 0805 parts...

-Pat

My very first attempts at SMT looked like I really did use an iron that size to do it

McBryce.

[AF6LJ]

And lastly, I've been meaning to try playing with some surface mount stuff, and a chance to get a soldering iron that should serve that purpose nicely presented itself, so I grabbed that as well.  (We decided to call it an 'accessory' to the transistor tester and include it in what I paid for that.)

Beauty, eh?

(Yes, that's a US quarter! )




(and that's my thumb)



Hopefully that'll put out enough heat to work with 0603 and 0805 parts...

-Pat

To quote Tim The Toolman Taylor....
"That is a MAN'S Soldering Iron"...

[mtdoc]

From afar, those binding posts look a lot like the HPAK ones. When you get a chance, could you post a closeup?

Here ya go. While not identical in color, I've found these RadioShack binding posts to be a pretty good match for old HPAK gear.  That's why I hoard them when I find them. 

[mmagin]

Bought a cheap loaf pan and made myself a simple tube testing jig.  Will probably also build a uTracer3 later on, though I have enough bench equipment for improvised if tedious small signal DC testing.  This will make it a little less tedious/dangerous than clip leads all over

(Yes, I have a ton of blue banana jacks due to a weird eBay auction.)

[bitseeker]

The radio & communications museum had a swap meet today, but I didn't wind up buying much because I spent most of the morning taking the Technician and General Ham license tests - managed to pass both, too, so will soon be joining the ranks of the radiators here on the board.

Congrats, Pat! That's been on my bucket list for quite some time.

  (Just what I need, right?  ANOTHER pastime that presents impetus and opportunities to obtain even more boatanchory equipment!!)

Well, at least you've got some gear to test and repair your upcoming radio purchases, among other things.

[bitseeker]

From afar, those binding posts look a lot like the HPAK ones. When you get a chance, could you post a closeup?

Here ya go. While not identical in color, I've found these RadioShack binding posts to be a pretty good match for old HPAK gear.  That's why I hoard them when I find them. 

Yeah, a little different, but pretty good indeed and includes the holes for bare wire. As long as you replaced all of them on an instrument, it'd be convincing.

[Cubdriver]

The radio & communications museum had a swap meet today, but I didn't wind up buying much because I spent most of the morning taking the Technician and General Ham license tests - managed to pass both, too, so will soon be joining the ranks of the radiators here on the board.

Congrats, Pat! That's been on my bucket list for quite some time.

Thanks!  You should go for it - it wasn't as difficult as I feared it would be.  I went to the museum Ham Club meeting last month and met one of the guys who is very active in trying to draw new people into the hobby.  (Several of the regulars at the museum have been after me for a few years to get a license.)  He corralled me after the meeting to encourage me, and the following week left a copy of the ARRL's Technician License Manual for me.  After reading that, I got my hands on the General and Extra License Manuals and had gotten most of the way through the General when I found out they would be doing an exam session at the swap meet.  I spent a few hours Friday night taking practice exams for the Tech and General until I was passing them consistently.  Most of the difficulty for me at least was memorizing the operating rules and that sort of thing - the electronics part I pretty much had down.

Get your hands on those manuals and study them for a while, and with the background you seem to have I bet you can pass the exam(s) without too much difficulty.  The extra is going to take some more work, but I hope to take a crack at that some time in the summer.

  (Just what I need, right?  ANOTHER pastime that presents impetus and opportunities to obtain even more boatanchory equipment!!)

Well, at least you've got some gear to test and repair your upcoming radio purchases, among other things.

Very true.  And an excuse to venture more into RF gear.   

-Pat

[mtdoc]

Yeah, a little different, but pretty good indeed and includes the holes for bare wire. As long as you replaced all of them on an instrument, it'd be convincing.

FWIW I just noticed that you can order them on sale for $1.80 a pair from Radio Shack's web store Free shipping on orders over $20 too!

Get em while you can...

[Cubdriver]

FWIW I just noticed that you can order them on sale for $1.80 a pair from Radio Shack's web store Free shipping on orders over $20 too!

Get em while you can...

Thanks for the heads-up - I just ordered a dozen sets, and some neon panel indicator lamps.

-Pat

[bitseeker]

Most of the difficulty for me at least was memorizing the operating rules and that sort of thing - the electronics part I pretty much had down.

Get your hands on those manuals and study them for a while, and with the background you seem to have I bet you can pass the exam(s) without too much difficulty.  The extra is going to take some more work, but I hope to take a crack at that some time in the summer.

Yeah, that's the tough part, operating rules and the specifics related to them. The electronics usually goes fine on the practice tests I've done. I'll get there in time.

Good luck on the extra exam.

[bitseeker]

@mtdoc: Thanks for the heads up on getting them online. They have other binding posts on sale too.

[artag]

A laser cutter. Broken, of course.

It's only one of those fabulously awful K40 machines, but is at least shiny and unused : the original buyer had plugged it in and it went Bang. So it was half price and had the additional benefit of a fault to fix.

The seller was quite correct : the only visible problem was a black mark on the PSU pcb where the fuse had terminated with extreme prejudice. Magic smoke was left all around. It turned out to be a short-circuit bridge rectifier and was replaced with a similar part from a faulty wall-wart power supply. I think it took longer to locate a part and some suitable fuses than diagnose the problem.

A few hours later, it's running and charring things. Now I can spend happy hours fitting all the features that the cost-reduction engineer took off.

[frozenfrogz]

Friggin lazers!!!

Very nice! Beware to not run the machine unattended, there will be a fire you did not anticipate. That is more or less guaranteed (at least all the people I know owning a lasercutter have to deal with that from time to time).
Also, arrange for proper venting for the sake of your own health

[artag]

Hah, yes - I've seen enough pics of the aftermath to be very wary of that!

[djos]

I just ordered a bunch of PLCC sockets for some TiVo Series 3 PROM modding. 

http://au.rs-online.com/web/p/plcc-sockets/7019427/?searchTerm=7019427&relevancy-http://au.rs-online.com/web/p/plcc-sockets/7019427/?searchTerm=7019427

[technix]

I got a STM32F407 kit. It even came with 1MB SRAM, 16MB SPI NOR Flash, 128kB I2C EEPROM for such a cheap kit.

Oh and PIC micro chips.

[gamalot]

Yokogawa 700926 Isolator arrived this morning. 

[BravoV]

Yokogawa 700926 Isolator arrived this morning. 

Damn, I hate you ... nice score ! 

[McBryce]

Scored a brand new Fluke 87V for €230 delivered on fleabay

McBryce.

[gamalot]

Yokogawa 700926 Isolator arrived this morning. 

Damn, I hate you ... nice score ! 

Mini tear down here    https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/yokogawa-700926-30mhz-isolator-mini-teardown/

[MrW0lf]

And the runner-up for cutest tech delivery package prize is....



...envelope with some LNAs from Janilab.  Lovely thing to open by the morning coffee cup <3

[VK5RC]

Most of the difficulty for me at least was memorizing the operating rules and that sort of thing - the electronics part I pretty much had down.

Get your hands on those manuals and study them for a while, and with the background you seem to have I bet you can pass the exam(s) without too much difficulty.  The extra is going to take some more work, but I hope to take a crack at that some time in the summer.

Yeah, that's the tough part, operating rules and the specifics related to them. The electronics usually goes fine on the practice tests I've done. I'll get there in time.

Good luck on the extra exam.

Jeez you guys have gotta pass that - hell I did - and I 'no' nothing! 

The regulations are usually the harder part.    I still don't know what an "Urgency Call" is !

It is quite hard getting your first harmonic 60dB down in home-brew gear.
VK5RC making QRM since 1997    (ex VK5FRAC, VK5LRC, VK5CRA - our Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced callsigns have a distinct structure)

NOW Microwave gear REALLY gets the TEA going - even the connectors are cool.
A whole new world opens
Adaptors
Attenuators - fixed variable
Directional Couplers
Power Sensors - both diode and thermistor!
Heliax
Of course the 'basics' of a Spectrum Analyser (Aus spelling), Microwave Freq Counter, Noise Figure Meter 
Rob

PS One of the most bizarre bits of equipment I own is a from-new Keysight Noise source - crazy money for such a small gizmo that just makes noise.

[AF6LJ]

The radio & communications museum had a swap meet today, but I didn't wind up buying much because I spent most of the morning taking the Technician and General Ham license tests - managed to pass both, too, so will soon be joining the ranks of the radiators here on the board.

Congrats, Pat! That's been on my bucket list for quite some time.

Thanks!  You should go for it - it wasn't as difficult as I feared it would be.  I went to the museum Ham Club meeting last month and met one of the guys who is very active in trying to draw new people into the hobby.  (Several of the regulars at the museum have been after me for a few years to get a license.)  He corralled me after the meeting to encourage me, and the following week left a copy of the ARRL's Technician License Manual for me.  After reading that, I got my hands on the General and Extra License Manuals and had gotten most of the way through the General when I found out they would be doing an exam session at the swap meet.  I spent a few hours Friday night taking practice exams for the Tech and General until I was passing them consistently.  Most of the difficulty for me at least was memorizing the operating rules and that sort of thing - the electronics part I pretty much had down.

Get your hands on those manuals and study them for a while, and with the background you seem to have I bet you can pass the exam(s) without too much difficulty.  The extra is going to take some more work, but I hope to take a crack at that some time in the summer.

  (Just what I need, right?  ANOTHER pastime that presents impetus and opportunities to obtain even more boatanchory equipment!!)

Well, at least you've got some gear to test and repair your upcoming radio purchases, among other things.

Very true.  And an excuse to venture more into RF gear.   

-Pat

Congratulations and welcome to amateur radio...

[AF6LJ]

Most of the difficulty for me at least was memorizing the operating rules and that sort of thing - the electronics part I pretty much had down.

Get your hands on those manuals and study them for a while, and with the background you seem to have I bet you can pass the exam(s) without too much difficulty.  The extra is going to take some more work, but I hope to take a crack at that some time in the summer.

Yeah, that's the tough part, operating rules and the specifics related to them. The electronics usually goes fine on the practice tests I've done. I'll get there in time.

Good luck on the extra exam.

Jeez you guys have gotta pass that - hell I did - and I 'no' nothing! 

The regulations are usually the harder part.    I still don't know what an "Urgency Call" is !

It is quite hard getting your first harmonic 60dB down in home-brew gear.
VK5RC making QRM since 1997    (ex VK5FRAC, VK5LRC, VK5CRA - our Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced callsigns have a distinct structure)

NOW Microwave gear REALLY gets the TEA going - even the connectors are cool.
A whole new world opens
Adaptors
Attenuators - fixed variable
Directional Couplers
Power Sensors - both diode and thermistor!
Heliax
Of course the 'basics' of a Spectrum Analyser (Aus spelling), Microwave Freq Counter, Noise Figure Meter 
Rob

PS One of the most bizarre bits of equipment I own is a from-new Keysight Noise source - crazy money for such a small gizmo that just makes noise.

Your homebrew gear doesn't have to meet that spec.
Besides over here the FCC is ineffective in enforcing their regulations.
I am not talking about the CB mess I am talking about it taking over fifteen years to get a jammer into court.. Add to that no real teeth in our emission rules when it comes to radiation from switchers and such.