Dave shows you how it's not that hard to find that mythical $50 analog oscilloscope on ebay. At least in the US and UK.
I've been trying to get one since I saw that first video.
Here in Brazil, the closest I got was a 15 MHz Tektronix 922, for around $200. I'll keep trying, anyway...
Yes, as Dave said, not going to work everywhere. I am sure that here in Chile it would be almost impossible. If I did find something here I would not pay a cent for it until I saw it working. Used here usually means totally worn out and not worth anything.
I got an 3 channel 100 Mhz LBO-516 few weeks ago for 19.99 (+ 25$ shipping) .. it was dinged badly on one side and not really working. But I said that the worst risk is one week without Starbucks so ... got it in, and the only fix I had to do has involved a hammer
- simply the outer case was bent and it was shorting a board. After the required banging and cleanup i have an really nice scope ... The only problem is that now I am feeling guilty to spend 10-15$ on some probes.
I agree iith you guys, in US is easier to get this kind of smoking deals .. with a bit of luck of course and risks.
In case u wanna see it .. here ..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Leader-LBO-516-100Mhz-3-Channel-Analog-Oscilloscope-/161036150846? So it was pretty bent .. but once i got it straight again i have an 100 Mhz scope
On Ebay Aust,Imperial Foxonline,& Industrial Surplus Australia make a habit of asking ludicrous prices for Oscilloscopes.
The former had a BWD 880 High Voltage 'scope for around $600 which is a reasonable price for a specialist instrument of that kind,but in their next ad they were asking $350 for a BWD 502 6MHz single channel thing,which is worth about $5.
The thinking seems to be: "They're both oscilloscopes,right?"
The unfortunate thing is that others see these prices & think these things are worth that much.
There's a HP 180A on at the moment with an opening price of $50 & no bids.
It is shown with both traces on,but apparently they "become dim" after a couple of hours.
Maybe worthwhile,as they are a nice instrument.
There is a lot of surplus oscilloscopes in countries with a large electronics industry. If your country doesn't belong to that group, e.g. because the local electronics industry died before transistors became really popular, you are out of luck.
Locally we have high prices, and it is actually a group of surplus vendors who are very busy trying to keep it that way. They have started to always put a bid in when a brand instrument comes up on ebay locally. A bid high enough to annoy/distract normal buyers. They regularly end up as the winning bidders, but they don't seem to mind as long as they keep market prices high. They'll list them on their own websites with a surcharge for "calibration", warranty, etc. or use them for parts.
I have no idea how long they will able to do that and if they actually lose a lot of money or if it works for them.
I have no idea how long they will able to do that and if they actually lose a lot of money or if it works for them.
I suspect that won't last, mostly a question of educating the potential buyers about the alternatives. You can get a brand new Rigol for about $350, which means that for most people the real value of a decades old 'low' BW analog scope is far below this figure. However, this does require beginners know about the other options.
As for more recent medium cost models, then I don't understand what is going on. When the resellers ask more for a 10+ year old DSO than a comparable new model cost, then something is up. Yet I would assume potential buyers for these models would be sufficiently well educated to know about their options.
For instance I have been keeping an eye out for a better scope for my home lab for a bit, just to consider my options. While I could occasionally use 4-500MHz bandwidth, maybe from an old scope, I also have to consider that the list price of a brand new 200MHz DSOX-3024A is about $4700. This comes with a 5 year warranty, says 'Agilent' on the front and is VAT/tax deductible. That makes paying several thousand for a 10 year old dual channel instrument, perhaps even without a proper VAT receipt, a complete no-go.
The US may soon have a glut of used test equipment on auction sites. The
budget sequestration is going to cut pretty hard into the defense portion of the budget.
This will likely ripple down to defense contractors and they will need to tighten their belts. Some of these guys have been on the gravy train for so long that they likely have excess equipment (not to mention employees) that they'll send packing.
$50 Oscilloscope ... yeah right ... maybe if I was born in Australia or in the USA ...
But Dave, I can't get an Infiniium 90000 for £3.50 in the UK, what are you talking about?
Jousting sticks? Whaddya want with jousting sticks darl? They don't come up much...
Dave! What have you done! Sellers won't sell $50 scopes anymore
Dim screens are one of the banes of used CRT equipment. I don't bid on units where the screen photos are obviously taken in the dark, like that first Hitachi.
I've spent probably $35k on eBay in the last few years, averaging about 3 cents on the dollar compared with list price. (My faves are my Tek 11801C and TDS694C.)
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
Dim screens are one of the banes of used CRT equipment. I don't bid on units where the screen photos are obviously taken in the dark, like that first Hitachi.
I've spent probably $35k on eBay in the last few years, averaging about 3 cents on the dollar compared with list price. (My faves are my Tek 11801C and TDS694C.)
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
Dim screens
are a problem.--The brightest CRTs I've seen are on the BWD 'scopes,but they have other problems,like triggering faults on the older 500 series.
The HP 180A which I saw on EBay Aust apparently has a fault,causing the display to dim after a few hours.
That is not normally due to a low emission CRT,so it might be worthwhile.
I've seen a few Spectrum Analyser plugins for the 180A over the years,but mainframes are rare.
The US may soon have a glut of used test equipment on auction sites. The budget sequestration is going to cut pretty hard into the defense portion of the budget.
This will likely ripple down to defense contractors and they will need to tighten their belts. Some of these guys have been on the gravy train for so long that they likely have excess equipment (not to mention employees) that they'll send packing.
The problem with defense related stuff is that they have changed the sales method. In the past you could go to the actual military base and it was auctioned off that day, you paid cash and took stuff home. Now the process is done by govliquidation.com and they often don't allow bids below $50, also frequented by the large used equipment resellers that can afford to spend $200 on a chance you make $500 . Really a shame they changed the way sales are done.
The problem with defense related stuff is that they have changed the sales method. In the past you could go to the actual military base and it was auctioned off that day, you paid cash and took stuff home. Now the process is done by govliquidation.com and they often don't allow bids below $50, also frequented by the large used equipment resellers that can afford to spend $200 on a chance you make $500 . Really a shame they changed the way sales are done.
Pallets of test gear are very rare here in Oz, but I've heard a dime a dozen in the US if you know were to look.
There were some at auction a few months back (I got the rubidium and counter + keithley stuff), mostly broken and "unserviceable" gear that were going for $8K a pallet. Crazy. I was willing to go as high as $900 on one of them, and I thought that was a real stretch.
Clearly a couple of surplus dealers out bidding themselves and hoping they's be able to fix a couple and flip a profit.
Pallets of test gear are very rare here in Oz, but I've heard a dime a dozen in the US if you know were to look.
There were some at auction a few months back (I got the rubidium and counter + keithley stuff), mostly broken and "unserviceable" gear that were going for $8K a pallet. Crazy. I was willing to go as high as $900 on one of them, and I thought that was a real stretch.
Clearly a couple of surplus dealers out bidding themselves and hoping they's be able to fix a couple and flip a profit.
They often have some good deals but the dealers make it hard to get deals unless it is something they already have too much in stock.
Right now they have several lots with Tektronix 2465B, either 1 or 2 in the lot category A or A4 so working or like new. As well as stacks of HP power supplies.
16 fluke mdl27 meter in the case with HV probe, stickers still on the meter.
http://www.govliquidation.com/auction/view?auctionId=6372504&convertTo=USD
One just need to go to their local ham club, and there is very likely some oldies that want to you one.
Currently I live in the US, but I grew up in Hungary (for the geographically challenged, that is Eastern Europe).
I can completely relate to the people complaining about low supply in certain areas of the world... However, that doesn't mean you're out of luck.
- If you're European, and have a car, consider taking your significant other for a vacation in Germany. As a side, you can go and personally pick up a cheap used scope you scored on ebay.de.
- Ebay isn't too big in all parts of the world, but that doesn't mean there are no scopes. Look at local hobby electronics sites, they might have a buy/sell arena with scopes.
- Try finding a good used electronics retailer. I don't thing there's a city without them, though finding one might be tricky. They usually look like something out of Harry Potter, full of unidentifiable wares, dusty shelves of components, with the thick smell of old electronics, and a scrumpy old wizard-like guy selling the swag.
- If you're studying or teaching at a tech-oriented university, ask around. You just might be able to buy or get one, universities are usually drowning in the things.
- Find a radio amateur club, get active and start attending offline meetings. Someone is bound to do an upgrade sooner or later, and that means an old scope will become available for purchase. Sometimes freeing up the desk space is more important to the seller than getting the most money for it.
On another note, I wonder what kind of maintenance these analog scopes need. I guess it might be beneficial to sometimes take them to be cleaned out and calibrated... What kind of shops can one trust with such a job? Usually how much does that cost? Can it be worth it, compared to buying a new scope for $400?
I've still got a few tested hitachi V-552 50MHz scopes and a pile of kikusui 100MHz that I've not yet tested. I'm happy to sell to EEVBlog readers at £60 for the Hitachis and £90 for the Kikusuis once I've tested those. Shipping at cost, which is likely to be reasonable in the UK and to Western Europe, but not so further afield.
I still prefer analog scopes for measuring analog stuff.
I got my Hitachi V222 for about £70 on ebay. Could probably have got something better if I'd tried, but that's still pretty good.
Do I get the impression that Dave doesn't like Telequipment?
Yes, it's possible. I have on old RFT service-oszillograf EO 1/71 ex DDR thing. Don't know the bandwith of it. I even have the manual, and the 'garantieurkunde' (the warranty)). It's dated to may 1964, it's three times older than i am, and if you turn it on it still works but have not been able to measure a signal with it, bought a few month's ago almost for free (cost mee 2 local beers). On modern scopes there's a knob for the vertical and one for the horizontal, but on this old one there are many knobs and i don't know there function.
So if there's anyone who also have such old equipment and knows how to control it, let me know!
And another question, why is it so difficult to find digital scopes on auction sites (for more than 50€); or am i using the wrong search terms?
(and my 10th message here on the forum! something special)
Pallets of test gear are very rare here in Oz, but I've heard a dime a dozen in the US if you know were to look.
There were some at auction a few months back (I got the rubidium and counter + keithley stuff), mostly broken and "unserviceable" gear that were going for $8K a pallet. Crazy. I was willing to go as high as $900 on one of them, and I thought that was a real stretch.
Clearly a couple of surplus dealers out bidding themselves and hoping they's be able to fix a couple and flip a profit.
They often have some good deals but the dealers make it hard to get deals unless it is something they already have too much in stock.
Right now they have several lots with Tektronix 2465B, either 1 or 2 in the lot category A or A4 so working or like new. As well as stacks of HP power supplies.
16 fluke mdl27 meter in the case with HV probe, stickers still on the meter.
http://www.govliquidation.com/auction/view?auctionId=6372504&convertTo=USD
How did I not know about this website? This is fantastic! Thanks!
but I grew up in Hungary (for the geographically challenged, that is Eastern Europe).
You made my afternoon!
Yup... that's someone who has lived in the US.
I have a friend who goes through govliquidation, and the bids get pretty insane on a lot of things. Around here, the stuff you can get a good deal on is anything that takes a forklift to move (including forklifts.) Most people don't have forklifts, and the people that do usually just take it for scrap value. Anything electronic commands a premium simply because it plugs in. Occasionally you can buy a toolbox for toolbox prices, but it'll be full of tools.
With the economy the way it is, a good place to find stuff is businesses going bankrupt (like where I got laid off from last November.) I picked up some Galil and Siemens automation equipment, eBayed it, and bought a Keithley 2000 with it.
Ever since EEVBLOG#498 some assholes bought up $50 scopes on Ebay!