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#25 Reply
Posted by
xwarp
on 21 Apr, 2014 14:46
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I've never tried to "score" with a piece of test equipment. That's taking the fetish a little too far, IMO.
I think I'd rather try "scoring" with a variac than that bird in your picture.....
Geez! Aren't you weird!
Well, maybe, but then again, at the time of the post, you had a picture of a bird.
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#26 Reply
Posted by
GreyWoolfe
on 21 Apr, 2014 16:28
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From the same hamfest-Tek 2235 for $40 and a Fluke 1952A for $10, both working,. The price for the FLuke was $15 but there was 2 of them, myself and another ham were interested in both so the wife of the seller said $20 for both. The husband didn't argue with his wife on the price and neither did we
You have to love SWMBO, even when she isn't yours.
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#27 Reply
Posted by
echen1024
on 21 Apr, 2014 16:36
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You have to love SWMBO, even when she isn't yours.
You'd be getting more of a "bargain" than you asked for in that case, eh?
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#28 Reply
Posted by
KJDS
on 21 Apr, 2014 16:59
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Not test equipment, but was at my mates car lot years ago when another trader turned up looking to sell a Suburu WEX, except he didn't realize it was a WRX. I quickly paid him £2500 for a £6000 car and had just finished sorting the paperwork before anyone else realized what a bargain I'd bought.
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#29 Reply
Posted by
nanofrog
on 21 Apr, 2014 19:08
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Brymen BM857 for ~$78 shipped, new
Agilent U1252B for $300 (due to a rebate, new)
Power Designs TP343B ~$90 shipped
The rest of my T&M gear wasn't horribly priced, but not huge scores by any stretch of the imagination, such as a Tek2445B for $280 shipped.
Non T&M would be a Weller WD1001 ~$240 new for example, getting new Tronex cutters or other name brands for $20 per or less, barely used Ideal-Tek tweezers for ~$8 per types of things. Most recent would be a 2 layer rubber ESD mat on clearance from All-Spec (~$22 for a 30"x60" size before shipping and the rest of my order).
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#30 Reply
Posted by
haoleboy
on 21 Apr, 2014 20:08
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Refurbished Rigol 1052e from Rigol with 1 year warranty for $180. Advantest R6441B free due to slight damage during shipping.
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#31 Reply
Posted by
retrolefty
on 21 Apr, 2014 20:20
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About 10 years ago I scored a really cool HP 8601A sweep signal generator for about $80. Really cool unit dating from the I think late 60s. I did a tare down and the internal construction is very impressive. The output attenuator assembly is very accurate and the unit still functions great. It was designed for servicing of TV, FM and AM radios.
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I got a fluke 87v on eBay for £160 I bided on it with 3 seconds to go
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#33 Reply
Posted by
Mandelbrot
on 21 Apr, 2014 21:47
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I bought a Tektronix 2225 in perfect condition with a lab cart for $100. The cool thing is that the cart had a drawer that was full of cables, probes and adapters. I think there were about 10 Tektronix oscilloscope probes in that drawer as well as a logic probe, a temperature probe, and some other things I still haven't figured out.
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#34 Reply
Posted by
Skimask
on 21 Apr, 2014 21:57
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55" Samsung 1080p LCD TV with a bad power board for free.
Cost me $90 to get a new power supply board, but it's going on the wall as an output for the Owon o'scope and the microscope!
And the occasional EEVBlog video of course...
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#35 Reply
Posted by
nanofrog
on 21 Apr, 2014 22:12
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I think there were about 10 Tektronix oscilloscope probes in that drawer as well as a logic probe, a temperature probe, and some other things I still haven't figured out.
Meh. That stuff is just junk.
I like junk though, so if you're willing, I can PayPal you for shipping to send it my way.
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#36 Reply
Posted by
Sbampato12
on 22 Apr, 2014 02:34
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The best deal I did so far was a 87-V, about US$ 180~200 (but here a new one is about US$ 1200,00). Looking perfect, with the tests leads. It only likes a good deal here, but it is for me.
And a agilent E3649A power supply, new unit, by about US$ 300,00. Local prices for a new one is about US$ 2500,00. I still don't know why, but they told me by this value, and I bought.
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#37 Reply
Posted by
mj21
on 22 Apr, 2014 10:48
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best score.
tek 2445 (150Mhz) for £100. needed re caping on the main filter caps.
tek 2467b (400mhz) for £170. changing a stupid resistor made the scope work again.
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#38 Reply
Posted by
N2IXK
on 22 Apr, 2014 15:01
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Tektronix 7904 mainframe full of plugins. $15 at auction.
Tektronix 1720/1730 NTSC Waveform Monitor/Vectorscope. Free from local Craigslist ad.
HP 3312A Function Generator. Free from dumpster.
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#39 Reply
Posted by
oldway
on 22 Apr, 2014 15:28
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Fluke 87 V Ex for 200€ (used but in good shape)
Not a test equipment: MARANTZ receiver 2285B as good as new (only a few lamps to replace) for 35€
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#40 Reply
Posted by
PaulAm
on 22 Apr, 2014 16:05
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I generally look for broken equipment and fix it, so most of my lab equipment cost less than $100.
Let's see
HP 3456a $50 - working
HP 4262a LCR meter $100 - needed a button cap
HP 5004a Signature analyzer - $20 - needed a filter cap
HP 3325a function generator - $50 for 2 nonworking units - still working on this one, it's about 90% working now
HP 6236b triple output power supply - $50 - needed 2 filter caps
HP 16534 2Ghz 2 channel DSO scope plugin $80 - needed a selfcal
HP 16533 1GHz 2 channel DSO scope plugin $20 - new, in box
Tek 465 with cart and probes - $50, needed filter caps
3 Tek 7603 scopes with various plugins - free
Tek 2432a DSO - $50, had a shorted tant and needed a couple diodes
Tek 422 - $35; it's a cute antique, I keep it out in the shop with the CNC stuff.
I prefer free, but $50 is a good price point.
There's other stuff, but those were the best deals.
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#41 Reply
Posted by
xwarp
on 23 Apr, 2014 08:35
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I generally look for broken equipment and fix it, so most of my lab equipment cost less than $100.
<snip>
Tek 422 - $35; it's a cute antique, I keep it out in the shop with the CNC stuff.
I prefer free, but $50 is a good price point.
There's other stuff, but those were the best deals.
There is a local liquidator that I sometimes visit to see if they have "broken" equipment.
I've picked up some good stuff for cheap.
And of the scopes that I have:
2 ea. Type 422's, one ac p.s. and the other is an ac/dc - battery pack,
1 VU Data PS-935,
1 Tek 2246a
I use the 422 the most for what I mess with at home.
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#42 Reply
Posted by
Dr. Frank
on 23 Apr, 2014 08:58
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From an US liquidator, including taxes and customs duties:
HP8082A, 250MHz fast pulse generator, 182€
needed repair of power switch, replacement of a burnt 2W resistor for the current source, and cleaning.
HP5335A, opt. 010, 030, 040: universal counter 200MHz / 1ns, OCXO, extended GPIB capabilities, C-input 1.3GHz , 330€
needed repair of power switch button, and cleaning.
Frank
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#43 Reply
Posted by
Mr. Coffee
on 25 Apr, 2014 13:50
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HP400C for $12 plus $15 shipping.
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I got a fluke 87v on eBay for £160 I bided on it with 3 seconds to go
I got one of those for £123 with 3 seconds to go
A nice mint one too. Auction ended in the middle of a weekday afternoon.
About a month after that one, an 87V E2 Combi kit appeared - brand new and complete (the kit comes with a nice C35 case, the Tpak hanger, and modular test leads). It was just £150 BIN! I sat on my hands for a good half-hour, hoping someone else would snap it up, but in the end I couldn't help myself
I was pretty pleased with a mint Fluke 45 for £78. Sometimes on eBay you get lucky. Other times, you walk away...
That said, most of my stuff has been free. Normally needs repairing, of course, but that's half the fun. It would be vulgar to list it all, but rest assured that it's all used and cared for here...
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#45 Reply
Posted by
madshaman
on 25 Apr, 2014 16:04
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Aprox. $100 CAD for a "broken" Tek 7104 with a great CRT. What was wrong with it?
The cooling fan was shorting out against the chassis ;-)
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#46 Reply
Posted by
macboy
on 25 Apr, 2014 16:59
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I found a Keithley 199 in good looking condition listed on ebay as not working. The display showed only "------". I happened to have one 199 already, so I knew a thing or two about how they work, and I had a hunch that it might be user error. When it arrived, I tested it and sure enough it displayed "------", so I pushed the trigger button, and it started taking measurements perfectly.
I paid $20.
Almost exactly the same situation a year later with a Keithley 2001, 7.5 digit bench meter. Displayed only "------" and was listed as not working. I scored that for a really nice price with make-an-offer. Again, I "fixed" it by pressing the trigger button.
It has a fault measuring ACI but all other measurements are spot on.
So, sometimes when they say "It doesn't seem to work and I don't know how to test it" they are telling the truth. But not always.
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#47 Reply
Posted by
w2aew
on 25 Apr, 2014 18:56
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I once picked up an HP 1741 100MHz dual channel scope, including the accessory pouch, cover, manuals and probes for $25. I was at an automotive swap meet (Raceway Park, Englishtown, NJ). It was sitting under a guy's table. I asked him about it, he said it was his son's and was taking up space in his garage, so he brought it to get rid of it. He was asking $50, and I talked him down to $25. When I got it home, I cleaned it up and checked it out. All functions worked perfectly, and it had a nice clean trace. I brought it into the cal lab at work, and everything was still in spec. I later sold it for $300.
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#48 Reply
Posted by
true
on 25 Apr, 2014 19:05
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Fluke 27 II, meter only but brand new / unused milsurp with fresh cal and plastic still on the screen, $90.
Tek 2465A, with probes, adapters, front cover, all the extra bits... had a bent handle... $105 shipped to my door. Fixed the handle, works like new.
I don't ever get test equipment for free... I get TVs, AVRs, speakers and other stuff like that though, old or new, good or bad...
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#49 Reply
Posted by
N2IXK
on 25 Apr, 2014 20:10
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So, sometimes when they say "It doesn't seem to work and I don't know how to test it" they are telling the truth. But not always.
I got an HP frequency counter cheap that way once. Seller showed it powered up but said it was broken due to a displayed "No Osc" error message. And of course, the rear panel photo showed the switch set for an external timebase.
Deals like that help balance out the times you take a gamble on an "as-is, no return" item, and find it has been cannibalized for internal parts...