What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[nanofrog]

Sad to hear that TerraHertz. 

Hopefully something suitable will come along in time for you to meet your deadline.

[VK5RC]

Bugger THz, more fish in the sea!
Re 3458, you have to keep in mind the new price is an eye watering 13k AUD! But a lot of experience/parts and still supported by by Keysight.
Rob

[Bendba]

Well, what I didn't buy today, is that lathe I mentioned. Dammit.

Despite having paid a $200 deposit, having a signed agreement of sale and price, and the remainder of the cash in my pocket while trying to arrange a meeting to pay him and start collecting the gear, today the seller back-slid.
I can only assume he decided to accept a higher offer. It's now showing as 'sold'. Though he lied about it to my face, and made feeble excuses.
He did return the deposit, but arranged the meeting to do that on false pretext.

So, if anyone was considering dealing with this guy: https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-seller/NICK/31359368
I'd advise against it. He's shifty, dishonest, unprincipled and very difficult to deal with. Quite far on the odd side.

Bugger 
Well, I guess that wasn't meant to be. There will be something else coming up, maybe even better.

[daqq]

I am based in Bratislava and have a HP 4195A which works well except for aging caps. If you need some reference measures done, let me know.

Thanks for the offer, I may take you up on that some day.

[TerraHertz]

Thanks for the sympathy everyone.
It was a bad day. First the lathe-guy arranges for me to go there, supposedly to pick up the accessories, then surprises me by handing back the deposit then driving off with nothing sensible to say for himself. So, no lathe.
Then my son leaves for overseas again (Panama), this time likely for a long while. He's set himself up as an Amazon seller, doing well, and decided he likes the traveling life. Then while driving him to the airport, while stopped on the M5 due to slow traffic, a semi-trailer rolls gently but irresistibly into the back of our car. Driver distracted, took foot off brake. Minimal damage, but a nuisance.

Oh well. At least in anticipation of the lathe I'd moved a lot of accidentally accumulated junk out of my 'forge shed' to make space for it. So it's now feasible to get that whole stalled building project back on track. And yes, there will be other lathes. Though I rather suspect I'll be lucky to find another with a set of faceplates of all sizes up to huge. That I can afford.

There's no 'deadline' as such. Just a vacuum system project that was stalled for years due to lack of some required (very expensive if bought) parts, that I now have. So now I'm eager to proceed.

[Oldtestgear]

I managed to buy an HP 8405A vector volt meter plus accessory kit for £40 delivered last week. Sold as untested, for parts or repair. Tested it today & it works well. Measures a 1degree phase difference & gives credible voltage readings as a bonus. Well pleased EXCEPT I am supposed to be making space not buying interesting but relatively pointless toys. If only I had a bigger workshop!
 I have real difficulty ignoring interesting but slightly unloved old test equipment. 

Phil

[frozenfrogz]

I got a Testo 830-T2 IR thermometer today.
It has 12:1 optics with dual laser indicator for the measurement area and K-Type probes can directly be connected at the bottom of the "pistol grip".
It has some weight to it that does inspire confidence to be decently built for the price, the housing is only ABS and the display + back-light are not be considered top notch though.

The device can be set to sound an alarm if the measured temperature leaves a defined threshold. Also, the emissivity [epsilon] can be pre-selected from 0.10 to 1.00 in 0.01 increments in IR mode.
Update rate is 0.5 seconds, so it can be used for slow sweep scanning.

(image taken from Testo site)

[Mr. Scram]

I got a Testo 830-T2 IR thermometer today.
It has 12:1 optics with dual laser indicator for the measurement area and K-Type probes can directly be connected at the bottom of the "pistol grip".
It has some weight to it that does inspire confidence to be decently built for the price, the housing is only ABS and the display + back-light are not be considered top notch though.

The device can be set to sound an alarm if the measured temperature leaves a defined threshold. Also, the emissivity [epsilon] can be pre-selected from 0.10 to 1.00 in 0.01 increments in IR mode.
Update rate is 0.5 seconds, so it can be used for slow sweep scanning.

(image taken from Testo site)

It's funny that despite all the progress made in material science, weight is still an important part of the perception of quality.

[frozenfrogz]

It's funny that despite all the progress made in material science, weight is still an important part of the perception of quality.

That is how human perception and psychology works
There are a lot of scientific studies that try to find out how we perceive values like "quality" and what way these are connected to something like muscle memory and learning (for example estimating the density of things by touch).

[Specmaster]

I managed to buy an HP 8405A vector volt meter plus accessory kit for £40 delivered last week. Sold as untested, for parts or repair. Tested it today & it works well. Measures a 1degree phase difference & gives credible voltage readings as a bonus. Well pleased EXCEPT I am supposed to be making space not buying interesting but relatively pointless toys. If only I had a bigger workshop!
 I have real difficulty ignoring interesting but slightly unloved old test equipment. 

Phil

I think you and I are alike in that respect. I justify it on the basis that B does this or that which A cannot do etc, if only there was some equipment reasonably priced that did it all and a Doctor Who type tardis for a workshop, I'd be very happy.

[Specmaster]

I know, I need help but I just bought another 2nd hand bench meter on Ebay, is was a Buy it Now or offer, so I made an offer and again I was surprisingly accepted. I figured that the price I offered, the leads that came with it would cost that much on their own to buy so was worthwhile gamble.

Its been beaten up a bit by the look of it but is supposed to working perfectly, so a little more TLC and cleaning might work wonders on it, just have to wait and see. 

[xrunner]

I know, I need help but I just bought another ...

You are not alone - go to the link in my signature and meet the rest of us (test equipment anonymous group therapy). 

[bitseeker]

I know, I need help but I just bought another 2nd hand bench meter on Ebay, is was a Buy it Now or offer, so I made an offer and again I was surprisingly accepted. I figured that the price I offered, the leads that came with it would cost that much on their own to buy so was worthwhile gamble.

That's OK. At least two bench meters is a good thing to have. The curved "bar" graph is interesting. I haven't seen that before. Otherwise, it looks like the innards of a handheld living in a bench enclosure. When you get it, have a look inside to see if that's what they did.

[Specmaster]

That's OK. At least two bench meters is a good thing to have. The curved "bar" graph is interesting. I haven't seen that before. Otherwise, it looks like the innards of a handheld living in a bench enclosure. When you get it, have a look inside to see if that's what they did.

Haha 2 bench meters?, make that 4 now, along with 4 handheld digitals, 4 analogs and a valve voltmeter to boot. I'll certainly look inside it when I get it, I always take a peek inside to see if anyone has been playing around inside before.

I don't think it is a handheld stuffed into a bench case, but it could be. What attracted me to it was the MIN/MAX feature, could be useful if checking a suspect power supply for fluctuations etc., it certainly isn't upto the standards of my Philips PM 2521 or the HP 3466A, the latter even has gold plated tracks on the PCB and looks mint inside. Only issue is the the lead acid battery has seen better days so I have sourced a suitable replacement and just need to extend the leads to it and provide some extra insulation  around the negative terminal to prevent it shorting on the metalwork bracketry that holds it in place as the terminal arrangements are different to the original.

[tautech]

Small Aliexpress splurge to keep a growing list in check.

SMA cables and joiners
Laptop battery
63V caps
Relays
Briggs voltage reg
Paslode nail gun battery
GC7137AP display drivers
74HCT244D buffer IC
Acer projector colour wheel

[bitseeker]

That's OK. At least two bench meters is a good thing to have. The curved "bar" graph is interesting. I haven't seen that before. Otherwise, it looks like the innards of a handheld living in a bench enclosure. When you get it, have a look inside to see if that's what they did.

Haha 2 bench meters?, make that 4 now, along with 4 handheld digitals, 4 analogs and a valve voltmeter to boot.

The more, the merrier! I don't keep track anymore.

[noidea]

Actually I bought it last week, but it only arrived today.

[djos]

Because I'm great at breaking drill bits, I bought this fine set of Chinesium bits from fleabay and they arrived today!

$19.95 delivered and in a freakin metal case! 

[Circlotron]

Actually I bought it last week, but it only arrived today.

Portability!
Visibility!
Storability!
Grizzed Lightnin' !
😂

[AF6LJ]

Bought one of these last night at our club auction....

The one I have has the 11 meter band in it and is likely as old as I am.
85LBS of love....

[Specmaster]

Bought one of these last night at our club auction....

The one I have has the 11 meter band in it and is likely as old as I am.
85LBS of love....

It will also double up as a room heater too no doubt 

[AF6LJ]

Bought one of these last night at our club auction....

The one I have has the 11 meter band in it and is likely as old as I am.
85LBS of love....

It will also double up as a room heater too no doubt 

Yes it will 19 tubes two of which are rectifier tubes, sure will be nice on those cold winter nights.

[Panourias]

I have a Moulinex mixer and the sales representative denied repair service to me.Ok then i said i don't need you,i will do it by my self and i purchased this.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tektronix-AM-503B-Current-Probe-Amplifier-amplificateur-pour-sonde-de-courant-1/382204486727?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

I have (almost) no idea how this thing works but i have the manuals and time!

 

[Bendba]

I have a Moulinex mixer and the sales representative denied repair service to me.Ok then i said i don't need you,i will do it by my self and i purchased this.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tektronix-AM-503B-Current-Probe-Amplifier-amplificateur-pour-sonde-de-courant-1/382204486727?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

I have (almost) no idea how this thing works but i have the manuals and time!

 

Why do you need a current probe to fix that?

[AF6LJ]

Any excuse to buy a tool is a good excuse.