What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[TerraHertz]

OK, this time for sure...
An old lathe. Big enough to do some parts I need to make. No 'sale fell through' this time. It's at my place already, though the space for it isn't quite ready.

My 'buying a lathe' story is updated, here: http://everist.org/NobLog/20171004_buying_lathe.htm#macson

It's older than I am. Circa 1947 I think.

There's a single phase motor (roughly) fitted, but the original 3-phase motor, mounts and controls came with it. The big motor needs cleaning up, hopefully the windings are still OK. If it can be restored I'll use it, then add a variable frequency drive. The old controls are really only of historical interest. Cloth-insulated wiring...

[Dubbie]

I hope you got a bargain there TerraHertz! That thing looks like it has done a few trips to the moon and back worth of cutting!

[tautech]

@THz
 
Man, you have had some fun getting her home. 
I'm sure it's gone to an excellent home...enjoy. 

MACSON Model 17-17, it's not even listed on Tony's lathe index. 
http://www.lathes.co.uk/page21.html
I'm sure he'd be very interested in any details you can offer if you can find time to drop him a line.

[Rbastler]

Bought a Maynuo 9710, because the DL3021 sucks so much.

[Johnny10]

Worked on that Century CT-1 In-Circuit Condensor Checker I purchased.

Changed some bad caps, replaced the 2mm with new 4mm connectors.
New neon bulb and...

[Vgkid]

@Thz , that was a great read. Hope it works out for you.

[McBryce]

Bought a Maynuo 9710, because the DL3021 sucks so much.

I (cautiously) bought a Maynuo 9710 last year and I am very impressed with it, can't compare it to a DL3021 because I've never owned one, but the Maynuo does everything I need and a little more. Very happy with it.

McBryce.

[ChrisLX200]

Bought a couple of these cheap 8-digit frequency counters. They came without instructions (as usual) and strange things happen when you press the buttons :-) I'll figure it out eventually. Powered with 12v DC and fed with a 10MHz sine (1v p-p) from my Siglent SDG1025 (which I fitted with an upgraded TCXO) the output reads 10.000.000.51 on my Racal-Dana 1998 (fitted with an OCXO). On the first example I tried I got a readout of 10.000.015Hz, but the second was closer with 10.000.001Hz. There are no less than 4 trimmers on the tiny PCB so I assume it's possible to callibrate them somehow.

ChrisH

Edit: Left eveything to warm up for an hour and now example 2 is reading pretty much blob on @ 20MHz...

[Specmaster]

Yep, they never have any instructions, but they are pretty accurate , especially when you factor in the price,

[Specmaster]

Just ordered on fleabay the following.

[jmelson]

OK, this time for sure...
An old lathe.

Oh, well, if machine tools are included, then I have this :
http://pico-systems.com/sheldon.html

That's a 15" Sheldon R-15 lathe, all 3500 LBs of it!  I did a massive restoration project to bring it up to optimum condition.

And, my CNC'd Bridgeport mill :
http://pico-systems.com/bridgeport.html

(Sorry, these are not really recent purchases...)

Jon

[BU508A]

I've bought this as a christmas gift for a friend of mine:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262408120679

[bjcuizon]

Not bought today but delivered just today...
RTL-SDR V3 Dongle

[ChrisLX200]

Also delivered today, some nice BNC plugs and a cheap Chinese Pickit clone. Be interesting to see if it works...

[ChrisLX200]

Quote from: Specmaster on Today at 02:23:33 AM

Yep, they never have any instructions, but they are pretty accurate , especially when you factor in the price,

I found a 'manual' online and it covers all the options. The trimpot closest to the xtal is used to adjust the readout (as expected) but it only managed to compensate for half the error at minimum (so the one that read 10.000.015 now reads 10.000.007 for a 10MHz input). So in terms of accuracy that's a fail compared to the other unit I bought with it. It draws ~100mA at mid-brightness setting and gets what I would call 'warm' - but I can keep my finger on it (the 7805) no problem. However, I'm machining a compact alloy case to hold these two and there's not going to be much free space inside, so I cemented heatsinks onto the 7805 regulators and now they run 'barely warm (technical description :-) ). I expect the alloy case itself will conduct any excess heat away that may build up inside. I think. Cost/Performance-wise these counters have to be a bargain though.

[woody]

Keysight test leads

[Specmaster]

Quote from: Specmaster on Today at 02:23:33 AM

Yep, they never have any instructions, but they are pretty accurate , especially when you factor in the price,

I found a 'manual' online and it covers all the options. The trimpot closest to the xtal is used to adjust the readout (as expected) but it only managed to compensate for half the error at minimum (so the one that read 10.000.015 now reads 10.000.007 for a 10MHz input). So in terms of accuracy that's a fail compared to the other unit I bought with it. It draws ~100mA at mid-brightness setting and gets what I would call 'warm' - but I can keep my finger on it (the 7805) no problem. However, I'm machining a compact alloy case to hold these two and there's not going to be much free space inside, so I cemented heatsinks onto the 7805 regulators and now they run 'barely warm (technical description :-) ). I expect the alloy case itself will conduct any excess heat away that may build up inside. I think. Cost/Performance-wise these counters have to be a bargain though.

Cool, could you paste the link to the instructions on here please?

[neo]

In great contrast to the frugal nature of the post above me i made a decision and purchased an oscillosope. There MIGHT be an argument it was a unilateral decision and unwise but any such argument can be wholly dismissed as blasphemy.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/tektronix7704A

Fully loaded Tektronix 7704A with 7B53A, 7A18, 7A26 & 7BA85 and a video showing traces on the screen.
Shipping was bloody murder but it is in proper contrast to the price it went for, i won uncontested.

Following up my last impulsive decision i made another, a lot of 4 Tektronix probes. 2 with read out; 1 with hook, readout,  ground clip and 1x/10x option.
So really at used Tektronix probe prices, just one nice probe with 3 free ones. 

P6106 10X
P6010 10X
P6047 10X
and finally the one great one...
P6063B 1X/10X probe.

[ChrisLX200]

The manual, such as it is, is here: http://www.cwtd.org/frequency/RF%20Signal%20Frequency%20Counter.pdf

Nearly completed the enclosure, rather tricky to get the hole spacings correct - electronic PCBs are not an exact science it seems and unlike engineered bits dimensions can vary :-)  So it was tricky transferring relative positions to a chunk of metal. Anyway, the basic thing is done - I'll make some nice captive button caps and when the BNC panel plugs eventually turn up they will go on the LH side. I'll install a power switch on the front and a 2.5mm DC input jack on the back. In one of the pics you can just see the heatsinks I installed.

[bsudbrink]

These arrived from Elecrow last night.  They are my first design (reverse engineer) using KiCad.  I'm generally pleased with how they turned out, for a "first cut".  I'll let people guess what they are for a day and then put up a picture of the other sides which will give it away.  A couple of hints: they are designed to "live" in a Pomona 3301 enclosure, the originals were marketed in 1975.

[thm_w]

Also delivered today, some nice BNC plugs and a cheap Chinese Pickit clone. Be interesting to see if it works...

It works, and its better than the official version as they are thoughtful enough to include a programming cable.
Mike did a review of the ~$200 ICD4, and it doesn't have a 5 pin header cable either .

[thm_w]

These arrived from Elecrow last night.  They are my first design (reverse engineer) using KiCad.  I'm generally pleased with how they turned out, for a "first cut".  I'll let people guess what they are for a day and then put up a picture of the other sides which will give it away.  A couple of hints: they are designed to "live" in a Pomona 3301 enclosure, the originals were marketed in 1975.

They all sit in the one enclosure? Was wondering if that was a DB9 to the outside world or a board to board connection.. hm

[ChrisLX200]

Quote from: thm_w on Today at 09:43:09 AM>Quote from: ChrisLX200 on Yesterday at 10:01:18 PM

Also delivered today, some nice BNC plugs and a cheap Chinese Pickit clone. Be interesting to see if it works...

It works, and its better than the official version as they are thoughtful enough to include a programming cable.
Mike did a review of the ~$200 ICD4, and it doesn't have a 5 pin header cable either .




I can't communicate with this one    DeviceManager (Win7-64) sees the device and lists it as a Pickit3 but there is no driver. The genuine Pickit 3 lists as an HID device (from what I;ve read) so Windows provides its in-built driver. MPLab doesn't see it, neither does mikroC Pro, so it's pretty useless at the moment. Did a web search but found nothing..

[bsudbrink]

They all sit in the one enclosure?

Yes.

Was wondering if that was a DB9 to the outside world or a board to board connection.. hm

The 9-pin connection on the rightmost board is a DB-9 to an S-100 interface card (the outside world).  The 9-pin pads on the other boards are board to board.  All three boards act as a single unit.  I'll give you another hint.  There is a threaded hole in the enclosure as well, .625 inch, 32TPI.

[thm_w]

I can't communicate with this one    DeviceManager (Win7-64) sees the device and lists it as a Pickit3 but there is no driver. The genuine Pickit 3 lists as an HID device (from what I;ve read) so Windows provides its in-built driver. MPLab doesn't see it, neither does mikroC Pro, so it's pretty useless at the moment. Did a web search but found nothing..

Check this site under "Using The PICkit 3 Clone With The MPLAB X IDE": http://www.sinistercircuits.com/pickit3_clone01.php
Or maybe some hints here, about holding the button before plugging it in: https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/pickit-3-issue.120312/

It could have an older FW on it.

Also try another USB cable just to rule that out, although it shouldn't be the problem as it is showing up in device manager.