Oh, dear. I fear deeply for my immortal soul. I just bought a factory refurb MSOX3104T with all SW options from Keysight's eBay store. The sales tax alone was enough to give me heart palpitations. I'd have offered less if I'd realized it would be taxed.
So take this as a warning and do not venture on the paths of temptation lest you too should fall from grace.
lordy lordy lordy! if you were gonna' backslide down the wrong path that sure was the way to do it.
now i have a jones for a modern mso........but YOU are the new poster boy for TEA.
next time temptation raises it's ugly head i will think of you.....and observe a moment of silent contemplation in your memory.
*Backs slowly away from those who've been irreversibly contaminated by the new shiny*
mnem
Don't forget the SquareTrade on that monstrosity...
The *really* bad part is that it started out innocently enough. @cellularmitosis gave me 3 basic-lm399 reference kits and suggested getting a 3478A, which I did. But then I found an 8560A with a TG. Then @cellularmitosis offered me a 34401A and I bought an 8648C, 5386A, 438A with 8481D and 8482A calibrated. and then a second 34401A a few minutes after the MSOX3104T. Fortunately I don't have room for a 3458A. Or much of anything else.
So watch out for that small stuff. Before you know it you'll be in real trouble. I got rid of my adult supervision quite a while ago, so I have no one to protect me now. And beware of @cellularmitosis bearing gifts and good deals.
Jason had sniped a 34401A that I had looked at and passed on for fear it had issues. He offered it to me on an "if it doesn't work, I'll buy it back from you". It arrived completely wonky. A quick inspection revealed a 1 cm splatter of flux around an LF357 which had been replaced. A quick cleaning with a soft brush and IPA (the kind you *don't* drink) and it reported my DMMCheck Plus calibrated to 1 ppm a few weeks earlier as 5.00000 VDC with similar results on the other readings. So now I have a 2nd 34401A in transit.
Now I have to sell the Instek MSO-2204EA I bought last fall. There's just no room for all this stuff in my 7' x 10' closet.
There is one purchase I made that was more gratifying than the 3104T. A 5 MHz recurrent sweep Heathkit IO-18 I got at a yard sale for $75 about 40 years ago.
...I got rid of my adult supervision quite a while ago, so I have no one to protect me now...
Aha! Now I understand how such a purchase is possible.
You guys are whipped. A 15000 dollar scope is a much more sane purchase than a 200 quid haircut.
Depreciates less percent too
Yup, I'm keeping shtum about something (I find) exciting too. You can't be too careful, you know. The walls have ears.... eyes... because reading, obviously.... but they also have Ebay accounts!
Hmm, me too. That makes three of us. Let's hope it's three different items or there will be tears before bedtime.
Those'll be my tears, then!
Oh, well, even at the bargain basement price it maintained up until the last minute it was ill-advised and someone else has picked themselves up a Bobby Dazzler Dactron1061 LOL (A.k.a: Datron 1061A with all the options).
I wont buy anything unless they offer this service;
You guys are whipped. A 15000 dollar scope is a much more sane purchase than a 200 quid haircut.
Depends on whether you use it for your livelihood or not.
mnem
...and that applies to BOTH purchases.
Aliexpress added to shit list. Just threw three hours down the shitter. This is TEA related as I found the old frequency counter I built years ago and am making a new front end for it as the old one had random impedance. Also need to stuff it in a new case.
So I’m using a 1mH axial inductor as part of a Pi filter to stop digital spikes getting into the front end.
Powered it up. Nothing. Hmm.
Poked around with DMM. No 5v supply to RF section. Hmm.
Eventually traced this to the inductor being open circuit. Must have damaged it via soldering.
Stuffed another one in. Same outcome. Fucks sake. Must need heat sinking.
Stuffed another one in with heatsink clips on the legs. Nope still dead.
Get DMM out and test it. Open circuit!
Get pack out and test a few unused ones. Open circuit! Fucks sake.
Cracked one open with a pair of pliers and what did I find?
NO FUCKING WIRE in them.
Well done China!
Those'll be my tears, then!
Oh, well, even at the bargain basement price it maintained up until the last minute it was ill-advised and someone else has picked themselves up a Bobby Dazzler Dactron1061 LOL (A.k.a: Datron 1061A with all the options).
Ah, not mine. That just leaves me and BD139 giving each other the side-eye.
Talking of TEA things that tempt me but I'm not going to bite on, there's a
FLUKE 5440B Direct Voltage Calibrator going as a buy it now for £450 on ebay UK if anybody's interested. Start your own home cal lab!
Those'll be my tears, then!
Oh, well, even at the bargain basement price it maintained up until the last minute it was ill-advised and someone else has picked themselves up a Bobby Dazzler Dactron1061 LOL (A.k.a: Datron 1061A with all the options).
Ah, not mine. That just leaves me and BD139 giving each other the side-eye.
Talking of TEA things that tempt me but I'm not going to bite on, there's a FLUKE 5440B Direct Voltage Calibrator going as a buy it now for £450 on ebay UK if anybody's interested. Start your own home cal lab!
Weighs 34kg. Make sure you have medical insurance.
Aliexpress added to shit list. Just threw three hours down the shitter. This is TEA related as I found the old frequency counter I built years ago and am making a new front end for it as the old one had random impedance. Also need to stuff it in a new case.
So I’m using a 1mH axial inductor as part of a Pi filter to stop digital spikes getting into the front end.
Powered it up. Nothing. Hmm.
Poked around with DMM. No 5v supply to RF section. Hmm.
Eventually traced this to the inductor being open circuit. Must have damaged it via soldering.
Stuffed another one in. Same outcome. Fucks sake. Must need heat sinking.
Stuffed another one in with heatsink clips on the legs. Nope still dead.
Get DMM out and test it. Open circuit!
Get pack out and test a few unused ones. Open circuit! Fucks sake.
Cracked one open with a pair of pliers and what did I find?
NO FUCKING WIRE in them.
Well done China!
That's almost as good as the baggie of LM7808s I bought last fall that arrived with the legs and tabs all sawed off (No, not some goofy QFN-type package; yes, you could see actual saw marks).
Meh; I gave $2 for them and refused payment almost a month later. Cost me more than it was worth in hassle sending AliEx a pic, but I wasn't going to let those parasites suck my blood on GP. Besides; you gotta file a complaint or they keep selling garbage.
Too bad there weren't enough of them to tile my bathroom sink or somesuch...
mnem
Also, poot!
...I got rid of my adult supervision quite a while ago, so I have no one to protect me now...
Aha! Now I understand how such a purchase is possible.
Yay for lack of adult supervision!!
Hmmm... On second though, perhaps some adult supervision might be a good idea...
Nahhh, screw it. That ship has sailed. Off to the bay of evil!!
-Pat
What about this one https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F173300322403
Decapitated baby head, eyeballs on a stick, tasty tasty lead all in a children’s toy.
Those are actually a thing... and
good examples are quite collectible.
£1,200!!!
The eyes were a popular gimmick of ~100 years ago; the lead weight made them look askance if you moved them from side to side. Similar to the "sleepy eyes" dolls that were all the thing in the '50s. Most examples now are incapable of moving; the mechanism relied on rubber bands which of course didn't have a design life in the range of a century.
Not that I'm into this stuff... but I learned about a lot of this stuff from my mother when we took a great detour for a few years in my youth doing the antique circuits up & down the Eastern seaboard. You don't have to suffer from the affliction to appreciate the art.
mnem
*Sigh* Miss you mom...
Nice score of gear Cubdriver. Looks like a good bit of HP gear , with some Fluke and Tek gear thrown in. What is the huge piece of Fluke gear in the back?
Does the 575 Still work , We still use one at my college.
That is quite a pile of gear.
So how much of it works or is that your equipment repair queue. If you have enough old gear the repair queue can get longer without even buying anything.
Nice score of gear Cubdriver. Looks like a good bit of HP gear , with some Fluke and Tek gear thrown in. What is the huge piece of Fluke gear in the back?
Does the 575 Still work , We still use one at my college.
That's a few years worth of accumulation - it seems to collect in the living room. I'm guessing that the 'huge piece of Fluke gear in the back' you mention is the 5440B DC Voltage calibrator in the stack next to the fireplace.
I snagged that a few years ago out in CA; the display was not working so I gambled for $350 IIRC (plus another c-note to ship it home; the friggin thing weighs around 75 pounds!). It turned out to have two bad electrolytic caps in the display driver circuitry; it was all of about $3 in parts to bring it back to life. I lucked out on that one!
And yes, the 575 does still work. That one was an evilBay find; a pick-up only in MA, so I got a good deal on it as well. It just involved a four hour round trip to get it, but it is a Mod 122C model, so I felt it was worth it. It's a fine old boatanchor (and space heater in winter!)
-Pat
That is quite a pile of gear.
So how much of it works or is that your equipment repair queue. If you have enough old gear the repair queue can get longer without even buying anything.
I would hazard a guess that about a third of it is functional to some degree; possibly more. A lot I haven't plugged in yet because I haven't yet looked it over to make sure there are no major weak spots where the magic smoke might get out. And yes, I have an ugly repair queue. Somehow that doesn't prevent me from adding to it when something piques my interest. Some are strays from the museum I volunteer at; stuff that doesn't sell at swap meets and might otherwise hit the dumpster often follows me home, and things that look like they may only bring a few bucks at the swap meets I often preemptively buy, giving them more than we think they'd sell for - the two ancient HP generators on the hearth joined the fold that way.
Now to find the spare time (so called because I seem to have so little of it!) to dig into this stuff!
-Pat
Aliexpress added to shit list. Just threw three hours down the shitter. This is TEA related as I found the old frequency counter I built years ago and am making a new front end for it as the old one had random impedance. Also need to stuff it in a new case.
So I’m using a 1mH axial inductor as part of a Pi filter to stop digital spikes getting into the front end.
Powered it up. Nothing. Hmm.
Poked around with DMM. No 5v supply to RF section. Hmm.
Eventually traced this to the inductor being open circuit. Must have damaged it via soldering.
Stuffed another one in. Same outcome. Fucks sake. Must need heat sinking.
Stuffed another one in with heatsink clips on the legs. Nope still dead.
Get DMM out and test it. Open circuit!
Get pack out and test a few unused ones. Open circuit! Fucks sake.
Cracked one open with a pair of pliers and what did I find?
NO FUCKING WIRE in them.
Well done China!
Can't believe that you never checked them before soldering them in, even a cheapo crappy LCR meter would tell you if they were O/C or anywhere near the right value. I always thought that didn't trust the Chinese so you checked thing before installing them, well I bet you won't make that mistake again