List your test equipment "scores" here!

[AF6LJ]

Not to Apex yet...
Maybe soon, we shall see....
My friend and I are talking about making the Claremont swap meet, it is supposed to be at least as good as TRW

Oooh...  I didn't know about that one.  I could conceivably make that if I'm out that way on an appropriate weekend.  Sweet!

Thanks for the tip!

-Pat

Don't quote me...
But I think it is on the thrid Saturday of the month.

[Cubdriver]

It is indeed the third Saturday of the month.  I googled Claremont Swap Meet.  This doubles my chances of having places to get in trouble (places besides Apex, of course!) on any given visit to CA!   

-Pat

[TheSteve]

Speaking of swaps, there is a ham swap in the greater Vancouver BC area next Sunday May 7th - I'll be there. Anyone else local going?

[1Ghz]

I got this Lecroy J-250 (1Ghz, 16GS/s) for 629 USD include shipping.
The screen was partially dim. But after I remove CCFL reflector, it's fixed!

[tautech]

I got this Lecroy J-250 (1Ghz, 16GS/s) for 629 USD include shipping.
The screen was partially dim. But after I remove CCFL reflector, it's fixed!

Nice, bet it's what you always wanted.....1GHz has got a 1GHz. 

[AF6LJ]

I got this Lecroy J-250 (1Ghz, 16GS/s) for 629 USD include shipping.
The screen was partially dim. But after I remove CCFL reflector, it's fixed!

Nice Score..

[AF6LJ]

It is indeed the third Saturday of the month.  I googled Claremont Swap Meet.  This doubles my chances of having places to get in trouble (places besides Apex, of course!) on any given visit to CA!   

-Pat

We are at the talking about going stage..
Looking forward to it though...

[macboy]

I got this Lecroy J-250 (1Ghz, 16GS/s) for 629 USD include shipping.
The screen was partially dim. But after I remove CCFL reflector, it's fixed!

Very nice score! That's basically a WavePro 950 scope with the JitterPro software enabled. I paid twice that for a WavePro 960 2 GHz with JitterPro, which I thought was a great score, but I think you got the better deal. Thanks for the tip about the screen, mine also has dark spots, and I didn't imagine it was as simple as a reflector that is (I assume) wrinkled and not doing its job quite right. I'll need to have a look at mine. Any tips on how to open the thing? It wasn't obvious. PM me.

For anyone who is curious, above he is displaying a 1 GHz differential signal, probably a clock. Third trace "A" is the waveform reconstructed from the two inputs, and the forth trace "B" is one representation of the jitter. Here it shows a histogram of the frequency per cycle, with a horizontal scale of 10 MHz per division. This is one of many ways to visualize the jitter on these scopes.

[1Ghz]

Any tips on how to open the thing? It wasn't obvious. PM me.

PM'ed.

[bitseeker]

I got this Lecroy J-250 (1Ghz, 16GS/s) for 629 USD include shipping.
The screen was partially dim. But after I remove CCFL reflector, it's fixed!

Wow, what a great score! What was up with the reflector?

[nctnico]

I got this Lecroy J-250 (1Ghz, 16GS/s) for 629 USD include shipping.
The screen was partially dim. But after I remove CCFL reflector, it's fixed!

Nice score!

[wkb]

HP storage scope.

For free on a local hamfest as it seems to have a "does not always powerup" problem.  Sofar I have not reproduced that.

It is going as a hand-down to the oldest son of the XYL.  Kinda special to own a scope roughly twice as old as he is 

[AF6LJ]

Nice for the price.  

[Cubdriver]

It is indeed the third Saturday of the month.  I googled Claremont Swap Meet.  This doubles my chances of having places to get in trouble (places besides Apex, of course!) on any given visit to CA!   

-Pat

We are at the talking about going stage..
Looking forward to it though...

This of course means that my future visits out that way will undoubtedly wind up timed to encompass the first or second weekends of the month...   

-Pat

[AF6LJ]

It is indeed the third Saturday of the month.  I googled Claremont Swap Meet.  This doubles my chances of having places to get in trouble (places besides Apex, of course!) on any given visit to CA!   

-Pat

We are at the talking about going stage..
Looking forward to it though...

This of course means that my future visits out that way will undoubtedly wind up timed to encompass the first or second weekends of the month...   

-Pat

[Geoncic]

I'm not sure if it is a great deal, but I just got a Hitachi V-1150 delivered for $125. The Ch1 trace seemed to not be able to keep vertical position (kept dropping) and it kept failing two internal tests.

Buut, after opening it up and cleaning all of the rotary switches with contact cleaner, it has worked flawlessly! Now I'm just not sure what to do with it, I'm just starting to dig into electronics, and don't really have any ideas of projects I should work on. I'm a mechanical engineer by trade. Any ideas?

What are some of the first things you did when you got your first scope?

[james_s]

I got my first scope at a garage sale when I was around 12, one of the first things I did was hook it up to my stereo and watch the patterns from the music.

I also poked around in every electronic device I found and looked at the various waveforms it produced. If you're a ME with no electronics hobby I'm not quite sure what you'll do with a scope but if you get into electronics in any capacity it's wort taking the time to learn how to use it properly.

[Nx-1997]

Not exactly a test equipment per say but I picked up a JBC soldering station for less that $100.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/142369950206

[tablatronix]

Nice, I have been checking for a deal on those JBC, there were some really bad shape ones a few months ago, but they were cheap, this looks pretty good.

[Johnny10]

They are very hard to find for low price.
 

[MudMan]

I don't know if it was a bargain, a 34410A for 466,-€. Good condition, no scratches, consistent VFD. All measurements, compared to my other meters, are more or less bang on. Last calibration in June 2011 by Agilent.

[bitseeker]

Sounds good to me. 34410A and 34411A often go for double that.

[usagi]

I don't know if it was a bargain, a 34410A for 466,-€. Good condition, no scratches, consistent VFD. All measurements, compared to my other meters, are more or less bang on. Last calibration in June 2011 by Agilent.

Decent. Check that GPIB and RS232 are working though. GPIB was completely blown out on the one I got. Selftest doesn't test it.

[MudMan]

...Check that GPIB and RS232 are working though....

LAN and USB are working fine....there are no RS232 on the 34410A and I haven't a GPIB interface

[james_s]

I wonder how they blew the GPIB interface? I would bet it's probably fixable, they generally have a transceiver IC. It's not a feature most hobbyists are likely to need anyway though.