What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[Housedad]

It's interesting how things work.  I decided to get back into electronics so I would have the test equipment to verify a moderately complicated VFD control panel I designed and built for the Bridgeport.  My heart is in the iron and steel.   Electronics study is a means to the end.   

 

[scorched]

Finally made the leap to get an oscope, having learned on Tek in the military, but worked at HP had an affinity to Agilent.
But first I want to thank many people on here, I read a lot but never post, and I saw many positive comments on the 54622D video Dave did, and found a good deal.  Acquired the unit seen in the pic for $250 on ebay, including 1 probe and the associated logic analyzer cable.  It's flawless, no damage, and recently calibrated, so quite the score in my opinion.   I am excited to get back into some deeper design work and troubleshooting.

Cheers!

[frozenfrogz]

Help, I'm not only cursed with TEA, I also have VIA (vintage iron addiction) 

These old machines are just beautiful (if you have the space)! I own a small lathe and am desperately looking forward to getting an old Weiler, or Schaublin as soon as I can move into something bigger These things tend to be so much more affordable as soon as heavy moving equipment is mandatory.

For today, I could not help but give in to my gear acquisition syndrome once more.
This NOS Voltcraft 6010 was too good of a deal to pass! That is the model my dad still uses today and it is the same age as me - little nostalgia here...

Here is an article (German!) on the 6010.
Curious enough, the following model from 1984 (model 7905) looks almost identical to the Fluke 8020B that was also built from 1984 onward and I wonder if there is a connection between Fluke and the Conrad Electronic label / brand Voltcraft.

If you are interested I will do a tear down as soon as the beauty arrives.

(picture credits: the eBay seller)

[capt bullshot]

Here is an article (German!) on the 6010.
Curious enough, the following model from 1984 (model 7905) looks almost identical to the Fluke 8020B that was also built from 1984 onward and I wonder if there is a connection between Fluke and the Conrad Electronic label / brand Voltcraft.

I remember having had one of these. Died black blob of death on the LCD, but no Fluke inside. AFAIR it was HC (Hung Chang) marked inside.

[slurry]

Got my self a old Sitemaster today, S113B for 5-1200MHz range, can be useful 

[Gyro]

I remember having had one of these. Died black blob of death on the LCD, but no Fluke inside. AFAIR it was HC (Hung Chang) marked inside.

Yes, I still have an identical one, marked BTC. The display is still in good shape despite kicking around in the boot of the car at times but a bit drifty. Definitely oriental in origin, ICL7106 based.

[dimkasta]

I just got these from probemaster.

Such a nice quality. I really love the silicon cables

[bitseeker]

Curious enough, the following model from 1984 (model 7905) looks almost identical to the Fluke 8020B that was also built from 1984 onward and I wonder if there is a connection between Fluke and the Conrad Electronic label / brand Voltcraft.

If you are interested I will do a tear down as soon as the beauty arrives.

Yes, a teardown would be interesting, especially in comparison with the Fluke.

[ProBang2]

I just got these from probemaster.

Such a nice quality. I really love the silicon cables

May I can ask: Where do you bought this set ?

[Nick1296]

A new multimeter, some small clips, better leads for the multimeter (The ones that meter comes with are questionably loose with mine), extra fuses (RS doesn't sell the 12A 250V fuses ) and jumper leads. This isn't the last time I'm going back, but I'm burned out right now .
The new leads aren't what I would call substantial, but I trust them to stay in the meter, compared to the ones it came with. That has to be the only downfall with the 2200087 meter, if mine just isn't bad luck.

[moz]

More at the budget end, I just got a couple of 7 decade resistors and a 5 decade capacitor from Gerry Sweeney. Affordable and arrived pretty promptly, after seeing them mentioned here. They look just like the pictures on his website



They're not for anything very specific, they'll just go in the bin of "better than a pot" solutions for those times when I'm playing with multiple parameters at the same time (too much time spent trying to get noise, power consumption and usually frequency all in the right zone).

Also, I got my second 24V submersible water pump yesterday. I ordered a 10A/12V solar regulator from "ledsolar" on eBay but the delivery turned out to be a pump. So I sent it back. "ledsolar" re-shipped the correct item from their local warehouse... which turned out to be another water pump. I have cancelled and asked for a refund. Now I'll order a not-quite-as-good regulator in the hope that it will actually be a regulator...

[dimkasta]

May I can ask: Where do you bought this set ?

Here you go

http://probemaster.com/8000-series-standard/

I got the full kit

Dave has a video somewhere testing them

[capt bullshot]

Eventually there's now a decent analog scope in my lab. Also got a 7A13 and a 7A22.

[tautech]

Eventually there's now a decent analog scope in my lab. Also got a 7A13 and a 7A22.

Looks in nice nick. 
Keep the brightness down and any waveform totally on the display so not to stress the output stages and it will serve you well.

[capt bullshot]

Eventually there's now a decent analog scope in my lab. Also got a 7A13 and a 7A22.

Looks in nice nick. 

Yes, it's in good shape. There's a few issues to fix inside - apparently most of these buddys suffer from their age. Apart from noisy pots, this one has occasional flickering on horizontal, looks like output stage or power supply, not yet investigated.

[TAMHAN]

Parts for a DIY Kelvin test set for my HP 4262A:


Not perfect, but it works quite fine so far. And, what do you want for like 6 bucks or so...could have reduced the cost even more by not buying so long cables, most of which I now stock for a rainy day.

[VE7FIM]

Purchased a $22 HDMI switcher with picture-in-picture. It came with a power brick and an IR remote.



Pretty amazing, considering that these used to be > $1000 not that long ago...

Taking a look inside, it's based around a Silicon Image (now Lattice) SiI9687A, with a small STM8S00 SK6T6C MCU, and some discretes, connectors & two VRs.



The specs for the device say full 4K HDMI, but the chip specifications only support 4K at 4:2:0. Not too bad.

The MCU communicates via I2C. The 9687A comes with "pre-programmed HDCP keys and Key Selection Vector (KSV) stored in the on-chip non-volatile memory”, according to the data sheet. Has quite a few features that can be controlled over I2C, but the "Programmer's Reference" isn't as easy to find... Of course, the basic functions could easily be sniffed off the bus.

HDMI is such a ground loop disaster. I’ve actually seen someone draw an arc off the shield when plugging in an HDMI connector.

It's amazing that they actually can make a profit off this for $22. Take a look at the mis-alignment of this SMT transistor. Wonder what their rework percentage is fresh off the line...



No EMI gasket on the metal enclosure, so I’ll bet this doesn’t pass Part 15.

Can’t say that I’m anywhere near as impressed with the power brick that came with the HDMI switcher:



Got to love that PCB-trace “fuse”. At least they have a fairly wide isolation between AC/HVDC/LVDC. Looks like they’re taking line AC & putting it through a bridge rectifier. At 240V in, they’re dealing with almost 350 volts DC on this PCB! At least the cap immediately after the bridge rectifier is rated for 400V.

Looking inside these cheap power bricks always makes me nervous.

[djos]

I just ordered 5 ISA XT IDE boards and all the components to build them.



https://www.lo-tech.co.uk/product/lo-tech-isa-compactflash-pcb/

Should be a fun build, I only need one and will prolly sell the other 4 to my retro mates. Mines going in a Tandy 1000ex so I'll have to build a plus to ISA adaptor which it's pretty easy.

[BravoV]

Finally, after waiting for years  , scored an used but genuine Hakko 936 controller about $10.

Stacked above my old one, looks nice isn't it ?

[dimkasta]

Santa just arrived... Better late than never...

[dimkasta]

Christening them



Soooooo happy

[Vgkid]

What is the board you are probing. I see that huge axial cap.

[dimkasta]

It is a BA3 amplifier front-end by Nelson Pass

I made my own pcbs and I am testing them for issues and proper biasing/operation.

Measurements are voltages across current limiting resistors to get the current through the two push-pull mosfets (Uni-Ts) and output offset (little flukey).

[Gary350z]

Christening them

Is this the kitchen or bathroom? 

[dimkasta]

Is this the kitchen or bathroom? 

That would be kitchen

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/whats-your-work-benchlab-look-like-post-some-pictures-of-your-lab/msg1161173/#msg1161173