Products > Test Equipment
Old'ish vs New'ish test equipment
joeqsmith:
--- Quote from: Finderbinder on February 04, 2023, 10:18:15 pm ---My job is to repair electronics, mainly TVs, but other consumer stuff too. Indeed I don't badly need any serious equipment to get job done, but as a techie a like to use one or another.
--- End quote ---
Surprised with the disposable products like TVs and the high cost of repairs, that making a living this way would be an option. Seems like if the repair required more than a very basic meter and possibly a scope, it would be ready for scrap. An hour of service time may be half the price of a new TV.
So, in your case, I tend to agree with you. You lost me when you brought up an 8.5 digit meter. There is certainly uses for it but it's not for TV service.
xrunner:
--- Quote from: Finderbinder on February 04, 2023, 09:02:25 pm ---Is there a serious reason to pack valuable space with a high level but bulky and heavy old benchtop test equipment (like 90' HP, Agilent, Keithley and so on)? :popcorn: Besides that, old equipment have a less informative displays, consumes more electricity, is less compatible with nowadays technologies.
Finally mentally it makes you feel stuck in the past :scared:
Or... I am wrong? :-//
--- End quote ---
It's not a simple thing to answer (of course right?).
You say "bulky and heavy old benchtop test equipment (like 90' HP, Agilent, Keithley and so on)". well it's not all "bulky / heavy" stuff. 90's test equipment isn't all like that. In fact some of it is the same size as much modern stuff. In the pic you see two 90's hp kit alongside a very new Siglent scope (SDS2202X-E). The hp kit is an hp 5385A 1 GHz frequency counter, and an hp 437B power meter. The older stuff works fine and isn't expensive compared to brand new equipment of the same type, isn't bulky, and doesn't use megawatts of power.
However, an older CRO of that era would be bulky (depth) and use a lot more power, and for the price point, wouldn't have the bandwidth of the SDS2202X-E (opened to 400 MHz). So you see these different generations of equipment alongside one another.
In the second pic you see two units of the bulky / heavy class of which you speak. The Agilent 8648A RF generator cannot be replaced with a new item of the same caliber of design for the same money. You'd have to spend a whole lot more for brand new so I make room for that. Below it is an hp 5334B frequency counter. It can be replaced with a smaller unit (which I already showed). However, some of these things are items I used in my career and I choose to have them out for sentimental reasons (but they do work very well).
Fungus:
--- Quote from: tggzzz on February 06, 2023, 12:46:15 pm ---
--- Quote from: Fungus on February 06, 2023, 10:46:42 am ---Do you own a smart phone? Do you find the user interface "too modern"? What do you suggest as input instead of a touch screen?
--- End quote ---
No; a smart phone would be useless as I am deaf.
--- End quote ---
Smartphones are perfect for deaf people. You can do text messages with them...
--- Quote from: tggzzz on February 06, 2023, 12:46:15 pm ---As for GUIs, I do hate the "modern" flat GUIs since they give
* no indication of what is a clickable link and what is a graphics designer's idea of "pretty"
* no indication of state. For example, if you see a black rectangle with white characters "ON", is that an indication that it is already on and/or that you can click it to turn something on? Answer: it varies depending on the GUI designer
--- End quote ---
I agree with that but I don't see what it has to do with touch screens. My Windows laptop is touch screen and I can't imagine going back to non-touch/trackpad.
tggzzz:
--- Quote from: Fungus on February 06, 2023, 01:54:19 pm ---
--- Quote from: tggzzz on February 06, 2023, 12:46:15 pm ---
--- Quote from: Fungus on February 06, 2023, 10:46:42 am ---Do you own a smart phone? Do you find the user interface "too modern"? What do you suggest as input instead of a touch screen?
--- End quote ---
No; a smart phone would be useless as I am deaf.
--- End quote ---
Smartphones are perfect for deaf people. You can do text messages with them...
--- End quote ---
I send/receive text messages with my phone.
If you give people/companies a phone number, they tend to presume they can contact you on the phone. That's perfectly reasonable, of course.
--- Quote ---
--- Quote from: tggzzz on February 06, 2023, 12:46:15 pm ---As for GUIs, I do hate the "modern" flat GUIs since they give
* no indication of what is a clickable link and what is a graphics designer's idea of "pretty"
* no indication of state. For example, if you see a black rectangle with white characters "ON", is that an indication that it is already on and/or that you can click it to turn something on? Answer: it varies depending on the GUI designer
--- End quote ---
I agree with that but I don't see what it has to do with touch screens. My Windows laptop is touch screen and I can't imagine going back to non-touch/trackpad.
--- End quote ---
You asked about a 'user interface [being] "too modern"':
* pixels are part of the user interface
* most graphical user interfaces aren't touch
The only good user interfaces where touch is important are safety critical, e.g. nuke power plant controls and aircraft controls. There the touch gives you a vital clue as to whether you are about to operate the right control :)
Fungus:
--- Quote from: tggzzz on February 06, 2023, 02:24:40 pm ---
--- Quote from: Fungus on February 06, 2023, 01:54:19 pm ---
--- Quote from: tggzzz on February 06, 2023, 12:46:15 pm ---
--- Quote from: Fungus on February 06, 2023, 10:46:42 am ---Do you own a smart phone? Do you find the user interface "too modern"? What do you suggest as input instead of a touch screen?
--- End quote ---
No; a smart phone would be useless as I am deaf.
--- End quote ---
Smartphones are perfect for deaf people. You can do text messages with them...
--- End quote ---
I send/receive text messages with my phone.
--- End quote ---
You're missing out on sending/receiving photos?
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