I'm super stoked today, because I received not one, not two, but three TEA items in one fell swoop.
From top: Lucent RFTG-m-XO RFTG-m-RB frequency standards, in a dual rackmount chassis. I need to do the 10 MHz output modifications and get an appropriate power source. Next is a basically new condition HP 8405A vector voltmeter. Not only does it look nearly new, both probes are not burned out and it came with an almost complete and hard to find 8405A accessory kit. And the printed manual. Last, is an oscillator I've been hankering for for a long time, the classic 8640B. Also in great shape, front panel not broken, and comes with the extended frequency range option and the printed manual.
I'm super stoked today, because I received not one, not two, but three TEA items in one fell swoop.
From top: Lucent RFTG-m-XO RFTG-m-RB frequency standards, in a dual rackmount chassis. I need to do the 10 MHz output modifications and get an appropriate power source. Next is a basically new condition HP 8405A vector voltmeter. Not only does it look nearly new, both probes are not burned out and it came with an almost complete and hard to find 8405A accessory kit. And the printed manual. Last, is an oscillator I've been hankering for for a long time, the classic 8640B. Also in great shape, front panel not broken, and comes with the extended frequency range option and the printed manual.
Triple score! All of a sudden there's been a lot of TEActivity. What fun!
So, what are you going to use the vector voltmeter for? I've never had one.
The 8640B is so cool, especially with the dot display. Your speciment looks pristine. I always worry about its notorious gears, though.
The case is really nice. It’s just flat sheets which are painted and connected together with the metal blocks.
Engineering is excellent. When you screw it together it fits ridiculously well. Am very impressed with quality. I genuinely wish they made test gear like it.
Yeah, I assume the first one. Some sellers imply that there are 2018 and 2019 versions of it. Is that true? All the photos I've seen are dated 2012 (electrolytic caps) or 2016.Yes I think the 2016 is latest version.I also saw this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/5M-1-5GHz-RF-Noise-Source-Signal-Generator-Spectrometer-Tracking-Source/132179263729Interesting, I wonder if it really do +-0.5dBm flatness.
There's also this one that supposedly is 1 – 3500 MHz instead of a couple hundred K to ~1.5 GHz. https://www.ebay.com/itm/SMA-noise-source-Simple-spectrum-external-tracking-source-Analyzer-dc-12v/282102993483
...they have this Pokemon Starter Box Set... a whole row of them mispriced for $13, and it's the latest release.
I go up to the cashier and she says they're supposed to be $41.99. I show her a pic of the shelf, and she goes and gets a floor manager, who says he can't authorize it for that price, but he can do it for $20....Sooo...Wally World floor managers can give you 50% off.
About halfway through my liver cheese & onion sandwich, I noticed a funny texture...
mnem
It's the "Circle of Life", but with magic smoke and wrinkled-up-nose-face.Where's the onion gone???
Top ten excuses from my playbook to avoid marmalization:
1. It was free and too good to let go in the skip.
2. I found it on the side of the road. You’d save a puppy if you saw it on the side of the road right?
3. It’s not as big or as expensive as your shoe collection.
4. I swapped it for something else that never existed because you pay no attention to what I have.
5. Look it has festive LEDs/neons/nixies.
6. It will look nice as a centre piece in the living room especially with a scope on top of it.
7. I’ve signed up for ebilling on my credit card so you can’t see the bill because it’s your birthday soon.
8. It also filters the air in the room.
9. It’s cheaper than the gas central heating.
10. I want a divorce.I think we need to take a look at the master John Belushi from Blues Brothers - and use his excellent techniques to avoid the wrath of SWMBO after indiscretion
Esp from 1:40 onwards
Who's got a nixie fetish ?
NIXIE TUBES NL-841 six NOS USA NZ$ 100
https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/radio-equipment/vintage/listing-2061289518.htm?rsqid=844bcdecb9d0498d8fc9390952b23b0f-002
Heaps of old radios from the same seller too.
Wellington NZ
Some more here too:
https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/radio-equipment/vintage/listing-2148214012.htm?rsqid=844bcdecb9d0498d8fc9390952b23b0f-002
Looks suspiciously like the same seller but 2 different locations.
Yeah, I assume the first one. Some sellers imply that there are 2018 and 2019 versions of it. Is that true? All the photos I've seen are dated 2012 (electrolytic caps) or 2016.Yes I think the 2016 is latest version.I also saw this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/5M-1-5GHz-RF-Noise-Source-Signal-Generator-Spectrometer-Tracking-Source/132179263729Interesting, I wonder if it really do +-0.5dBm flatness.
Yeah, all the ones I saw were marked 2016 Noise (or Nose ) Source.
That second one does make some pretty impressive claims... but I dunno that I feel it is 8x better. Maybe 4x better, which would reflect the typical cost of the first one with a cheap extrusion enclosure. MAYBE.
There's also this one that supposedly is 1 – 3500 MHz instead of a couple hundred K to ~1.5 GHz. https://www.ebay.com/itm/SMA-noise-source-Simple-spectrum-external-tracking-source-Analyzer-dc-12v/282102993483
Judging by the SMA location, it's probably the one inside the enclosure on this model. eBay auction: #173532270063
Who's got a nixie fetish ?
NIXIE TUBES NL-841 six NOS USA NZ$ 100
https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/radio-equipment/vintage/listing-2061289518.htm?rsqid=844bcdecb9d0498d8fc9390952b23b0f-002
The NL-841 is a little small for my taste at approx 5/8" digit size.
Both seem pretty expensive to me; the NL-12A/B have a 3/4" digit size (this is what I consider a minimum usable/worth my time building size) and are commonly sold as a set of 6 NOS for $18-22 shipped from Russia to pretty much anywhere. Of course, they almost ALWAYS use the inverted #2 cathode die for #5 as a cost-cutting measure.
Top ten excuses from my playbook to avoid marmalization:
1. It was free and too good to let go in the skip.
2. I found it on the side of the road. You’d save a puppy if you saw it on the side of the road right?
3. It’s not as big or as expensive as your shoe collection.
4. I swapped it for something else that never existed because you pay no attention to what I have.
5. Look it has festive LEDs/neons/nixies.
6. It will look nice as a centre piece in the living room especially with a scope on top of it.
7. I’ve signed up for ebilling on my credit card so you can’t see the bill because it’s your birthday soon.
8. It also filters the air in the room.
9. It’s cheaper than the gas central heating.
10. I want a divorce.I think we need to take a look at the master John Belushi from Blues Brothers - and use his excellent techniques to avoid the wrath of SWMBO after indiscretion
Esp from 1:40 onwards
As I mentioned before the best way to avoid marmalization is to stay single. So says someone who for some reason woke up at 0030 and is currently slithering around the living room and kitchen being quiet while the lady copper sleeps peacefully in my bed that I'm not used to sharing with someone. I'll catch up here plus a few other sites then go back to bed. By that time she'll probably be diagonal in the bed and I'll have to carefully move her so I can crawl back in.
It's only until Sunday.
... and the daft girl there goes "Oh, we don't have any of those. They took them and never brought them back..." How is that an excuse for not having the one basic tool of your job? Just grab a new one and "Store Use" it for eff's sake...
And then there Men's skivvies... if I ever meet the marketing fuckbubble that dreamed up Boxer-Briefs, I'm gonna roshambo him so hard he sneezes pubes for a week. The worst aspects of BOTH, and of course they take the shelf space out of BOXERS stock, so I can NEVER find them in my size.
Question on the 'missing' late 60's early 70's HP Logo. It may not have been an official HP Logo but it way used a bunch on front panels and bits of HP gear from that era. There is some minor variation of the stroke length of the h and p back toward the earlier logo but none as tall as it was.
Anyone got a clean large format one? Or feel free to scrawl or critique this hack of mine, the P doesn't look quite right. As best as I was able to use several of them I own they share the 13 degree HP Rake on the text but due to their smaller scale some of the other bits are guess.
... and the daft girl there goes "Oh, we don't have any of those. They took them and never brought them back..." How is that an excuse for not having the one basic tool of your job? Just grab a new one and "Store Use" it for eff's sake...
Every organization, once it gets beyond some magic size, implements policies that make purchasing anything for the business, even if the purchase is notional, a right royal pain in the arse. The 50 billion market cap telco I'm contracting for at the moment is a case in point. We needed two software licenses, each costing about what I'm charging them for an hour of my time. They took three months to get ordered, which included about six hours of my time negotiating the purchasing process and chasing the glacial progress of the same. Add the cost of the time all the other people involved in the process and I reckon that we spent about ten times what it would have cost if I'd just paid for them on a credit card and expensed it or billed for a couple of hours extra. That sane course of action would, of course, have been procedurally impossible...QuoteAnd then there Men's skivvies... if I ever meet the marketing fuckbubble that dreamed up Boxer-Briefs, I'm gonna roshambo him so hard he sneezes pubes for a week. The worst aspects of BOTH, and of course they take the shelf space out of BOXERS stock, so I can NEVER find them in my size.There's your problem, you were looking in the wrong place. For your size you needed the chandlery section. [Fx: starts running away]
Dang, that looks good.
I take it you inspected the packaging well?
I can't remember the last time I've seen a measure in a shop, other than at home improvement places.
As I mentioned before the best way to avoid marmalization is to stay single. So says someone who for some reason woke up at 0030 and is currently slithering around the living room and kitchen being quiet while the lady copper sleeps peacefully in my bed that I'm not used to sharing with someone. I'll catch up here plus a few other sites then go back to bed. By that time she'll probably be diagonal in the bed and I'll have to carefully move her so I can crawl back in.
It's only until Sunday.