Warning about HP5065A on ebay

[5065AGuru]

Hi, There is an HP 5065A on ebay right now that must be a scam!
Item 404011176065 from the UK.
I happen to have the exact same unit under repair on my work bench right now!
So don't bid on it!

Cheers,

Corby

[ledtester]

This seems to be the auction:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/404011176065

Seller has 0 feedback ratings, no feedback comments and was created on Nov-22-22.

Oddly enough, the "View items for sale" link doesn't list any items:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/alcar_4062/m.html

I found another hi-res picture of a 5065A on this page:

https://bmisurplus.com/product/hewlett-packard-5065a-opt-002-rubidium-vapor-frequency-standard/

Direct link to pic:

https://d2pxk6qc9d6msd.cloudfront.net/65302_1.jpg

but it has a different serial number.

[5065AGuru]

Looking through my records shows the unit sold on eBay back in August. I suspect that is where the pictures were obtained.
eBay has been notified, will see if they take it down.

Cheers,

Corby

[DavidKo]

I have checked their rules and anyone can use your pictures from ebay to sell his stuff. I don't want to say that it is OK, but that was the status cca 1 year ago.

[coppercone2]

it might be real, people are MAD lazy

and its in your favor, if you don't like it, you show that the pics did not match, the seller should like verify that the pictures are a accurate depiction of the object for sale

Like the cheap one for a power drill to turn it into a right angle driver, but a very small compact version

[Stray Electron]

Looking through my records shows the unit sold on eBay back in August. I suspect that is where the pictures were obtained.
eBay has been notified, will see if they take it down.

Cheers,

Corby

   I just looked and the auction listing has disappeared. So it appears that E-bay did decide that it was fraudulent and didn't just end the auction but removed it completely.

[rubidium]

Also, a lot of 5061A's and B's, and 5071A's - all from the same seller and all "Acquired from a reliable source, a high end hobbyist private lab." Sounds a bit dubious. If they are legit, I suspect they were all unloaded when the CBT's "ran dry".
Jim

[thinkfat]

Also, a lot of 5061A's and B's, and 5071A's - all from the same seller and all "Acquired from a reliable source, a high end hobbyist private lab." Sounds a bit dubious. If they are legit, I suspect they were all unloaded when the CBT's "ran dry".
Jim

That depends. They might actually be legit. There was an email on the time-nuts mailing list on Oct. 15th about instruments out of Tom McCormicks estate being sold on ebay by "solantotraders". The emails said to look for "TC" in the title. You might be looking at genuine offerings here.

EDIT: If the listing is not from "solanotraders" but for the same item, it is most obviously a scam, though.

[rubidium]

Yea, I did go back and check on these, and they do indeed have a *TC* indicator in the title. So they apparently are legit offerings. Still, there's not much to go on regarding their working order. Some clearly have missing tubes, while for the others there's no telling the condition of the tubes or the units in general. Oh well ...

(edit) I went back and checked all of the *TC* listings. A pretty bizarre collection of stuff, from multiple cesium standards, through old Heathkit stuff, Nixie-tube HP frequency counters, all the way down to a sheet of memo pad signed by Glenn Seaborg.  What doesn't sell can be used to start a museum.

[5065AGuru]

Yes those items were from Tom McCormicks estate.
I had the opportunity to look the items over a year or so and many of the Cesium units did have "good" tubes.
I was helping find a buyer when the whole pile was sold to an auction house.
The really nice cesiums have not showed up on eBay yet and I wonder if they got "cherry picked" and sold already.
I emailed and offered to advise on how to get the best price on them but never got an answer.
For instance letting the 5071A units run and see if they locked and show the 3 signal levels and the em voltage. This would allow bidders to get an idea of how the tube looks. Same for the 5061A/B, let them run and get them locked, and also provide the signal to background level for the tube.
All these require no technical expertise and can be determined from the front panels.

Anyway it was lots of stuff and they will eventually get it all sold.

Cheers,

Corby

[rubidium]

I agree. It's hard to be inspired, given the respective prices, by a few post-it notes hanging on gear. These cesiums should be powered up. When I acquired my PRS-50 a couple of years ago, first having the seller power up the unit and report its behavior not only told me that the unit didn't lock, but gave me some pretty good hints as to why not.