What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[sleemanj]

I bought an Aneng AN8002 from eBay a few days ago as a result of an EEVBlog video.  My initial reaction was it a very nice multimeter for the money.  However, mine arrived defective, not too surprising given the low price and origin.  The defect was that mV range failed to zero.  Instead, it continually increments with no probes attached. 

You have floating high impedance inputs in your most sensitive range, this is not a valid measurement situation, one should not expect it to read zero (especially in the most sensitive range) when you are not making a valid measurement which would produce zero.

Some meters are less susceptible than others to displaying these effects, the 800x range isn't one of them.  Not that it really matters, because, as above, it's not a valid measurement.

If it didn't zero (measuring volts) when you touch the probes together you would have a problem.

[McBryce]

I bought an Aneng AN8002 from eBay a few days ago as a result of an EEVBlog video.  My initial reaction was it a very nice multimeter for the money.  However, mine arrived defective, not too surprising given the low price and origin.  The defect was that mV range failed to zero.  Instead, it continually increments with no probes attached.  The other ranges and functions seem OK but I did not do much additional checking as I immediately requested a return for exchange from the vendor.  The vendor insisted that I send pictures or a video so they could evaluate the problem!  All that for a $17.00 meter!  I did take a video of me turning on the meter and switching thru V, mV, Ohms and Hz.  I am waiting to hear their response. 

I am awaiting delivery of a Bryman TM235.   Other equipment includes an isolation transformer, an old Staco Variac (about .7kVA), a Tek TDS 210 digital scope, another old analog Tek scope (4Ch, 150MHz), an HP 5316A counter, a couple of power supplies (Universal model 6050A, a GW Instek GPC-3020), an LCR meter (M4070), an Agilent U1731B LCR Meter, ($40 at a hamfest), a Blue ESR Meter (kit), and a bunch of dud Ham radios to be repaired (oldies but goodies) and miscellaneous dud scopes the I'd like to get running after I finish my lab and restock my brain.  I also have a few old multimeters that Dave would have no respect for and I am glad I watched his reviews.  Otherwise, I am sure I would have blown myself up at some point.

I am an (semi) retired old timer on a limited budget trying to assemble a usable test equipment lab on a shoestring budget.

My intention is to be able to do repairs on old equipment that I can resell.  I am pretty well versed on old technology but am interested in getting up to speed on SMD and other new technology as far as I can wrap my old brain around.  I recently obtained an Amateur Extra ticket (after a 40 year lapse).  My background was in engineering (mostly mechanical) and for the last 25 years, a PC computer programmer/developer, mostly self-taught (BS - Physics).  I did quite a bit of homebrewing analog ham radio equipment prior to going off to college, which few current hams are interested in.  I should have gone into EE or computers but that wasn't where my ambitions lay (unfortunately).


'An old dog learning a few new tricks'

It was the Aneng AN8008 that Dave recommended and specifically warned not to mix it up with the lesser AN800x models.

McBryce.

Gesendet von meinem Motorola DynaTAC 8000x mit Tapatalk

[URI]

"Heavy system profile" means that there's (necessarily) only the slots not being filled with aluminium:

Is it bad that the first thing that came to mind was "that is a nice open eye"? The other day I ordered a pizza and thought to myself when I was taking a slice that they didn't V-score it right.

Depends. I only see mushrooms and arrows..   

[Specmaster]

I bought an Aneng AN8002 from eBay a few days ago as a result of an EEVBlog video.  My initial reaction was it a very nice multimeter for the money.  However, mine arrived defective, not too surprising given the low price and origin.  The defect was that mV range failed to zero.  Instead, it continually increments with no probes attached. 

You have floating high impedance inputs in your most sensitive range, this is not a valid measurement situation, one should not expect it to read zero (especially in the most sensitive range) when you are not making a valid measurement which would produce zero.

Some meters are less susceptible than others to displaying these effects, the 800x range isn't one of them.  Not that it really matters, because, as above, it's not a valid measurement.

If it didn't zero (measuring volts) when you touch the probes together you would have a problem.

Even when shorting the leads together you can sometimes get a very low reading as the leads themselves will act as aerials and will pick up stray signals from nearby mains cables etc and  my 6.5 digit meter will often display around 7mV and maybe more, with the leads shorted if I move them closer to an cable carrying mains voltages and these voltages have to zeroed out on the meter so it will ignore that amount when actually using the mV range.

[nanofrog]

Depends. I only see mushrooms and arrows..   

So you're thinking about bow hunting and want to cook what you bring home with some mushrooms?   

[YU2]

Just bought this:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/RD-DPS3012-Constant-Voltage-current-Step-down-Programmable-Power-Supply-module-buck-Voltage-converter-LCD-voltmeter/32685179404.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.RcR8yi

[cdev]

Thats not a bug, its a feature..

All my good meters as well as my scope in the lower ranges do that too. Those voltages are actually present at the inputs.

One interesting phenomenon is the fact that LEDs generate microscopic voltages when light shines on them. (A colored LED will be most sensitive at the same frequency range it emits) I don't know if the Aneng would be sensitive enough to detect that but it may be. Give it a shot!

I bought an Aneng AN8002 from eBay a few days ago as a result of an EEVBlog video.  My initial reaction was it a very nice multimeter for the money.  However, mine arrived defective, not too surprising given the low price and origin.  The defect was that mV range failed to zero.  Instead, it continually increments with no probes attached. 

You have floating high impedance inputs in your most sensitive range, this is not a valid measurement situation, one should not expect it to read zero (especially in the most sensitive range) when you are not making a valid measurement which would produce zero.

Some meters are less susceptible than others to displaying these effects, the 800x range isn't one of them.  Not that it really matters, because, as above, it's not a valid measurement.

If it didn't zero (measuring volts) when you touch the probes together you would have a problem.

Even when shorting the leads together you can sometimes get a very low reading as the leads themselves will act as aerials and will pick up stray signals from nearby mains cables etc and  my 6.5 digit meter will often display around 7mV and maybe more, with the leads shorted if I move them closer to an cable carrying mains voltages and these voltages have to zeroed out on the meter so it will ignore that amount when actually using the mV range.

[cdev]

Today is 11.11 in the US so Chinese online vendors are running sales, except - Ive been told its a gimmick and they just jack up their prices beforehand and lower them for the 'sale' That may be true as I havent seen any great deals so far.

So I have them when I need them I'd like to get a small book or similar of marked SMD capacitors and similarly resistors of decent quality, stuff like that.

[URI]

Just shot a Fluke PM6681 Counter on ebay for a reasonable price.   
It'll be an upgrade for my Philips PM6680 in means of resolution, sensitivity and memory.   

[IRFP460]

Just bought a scintillator probe from Scionix Harshaw with interchangeable scintillators, one NaI, one BF3 in Ethanol and another liquid scintillator I couldn't find any information about.

[Kilo Tango]

Just arrived from the States today, for a very reasonable price. Now all I got to do is figure how to make it work !.

I think they were used in the HP 8672's so hopefully I can pick up some hints from the service manual.

Ebay shipping express shipping, well its fast but .......

Ken

[djos]

It was the Aneng AN8008 that Dave recommended and specifically warned not to mix it up with the lesser AN800x models.

McBryce.

Gesendet von meinem Motorola DynaTAC 8000x mit Tapatalk

It was indeed, I just grabbed one for $21.51 AUD for mucking about in the study and my BM235 can stay in the workshop were it's needed most.

[bitseeker]

Today is 11.11 in the US so Chinese online vendors are running sales, except - Ive been told its a gimmick and they just jack up their prices beforehand and lower them for the 'sale' That may be true as I havent seen any great deals so far.

Kind of like furniture stores in the US. They're always in one of two states of "everything's on sale": Grand Opening or Going Out of Business.

[mjwallin47]

I bought an Aneng AN8002 from eBay a few days ago as a result of an EEVBlog video.  My initial reaction was it a very nice multimeter for the money.  However, mine arrived defective, not too surprising given the low price and origin.  The defect was that mV range failed to zero.  Instead, it continually increments with no probes attached. 

You have floating high impedance inputs in your most sensitive range, this is not a valid measurement situation, one should not expect it to read zero (especially in the most sensitive range) when you are not making a valid measurement which would produce zero.

Some meters are less susceptible than others to displaying these effects, the 800x range isn't one of them.  Not that it really matters, because, as above, it's not a valid measurement.

If it didn't zero (measuring volts) when you touch the probes together you would have a problem.

Thanks, I hadn't considered that as I never had a meter with a mV scale.  Just today, my friend who is a solid state fabrication technician suggested the same thing. The range does zero out so I guess the meter is OK.
Modify message

[mjwallin47]

I bought an Aneng AN8002 from eBay a few days ago as a result of an EEVBlog video. 

It was the Aneng AN8008 that Dave recommended and specifically warned not to mix it up with the lesser AN800x models.

McBryce.

Gesendet von meinem Motorola DynaTAC 8000x mit Tapatalk

   Oh crap!  I'd better pay more attention to the model numbers.

[TMM]

Fluke 27 with leads, new in opened box for a reasonable price as the seller thought that "one of the setting may not be working properly". Every range/function works perfectly...  

[Cubdriver]

Today is 11.11 in the US so Chinese online vendors are running sales, except - Ive been told its a gimmick and they just jack up their prices beforehand and lower them for the 'sale' That may be true as I havent seen any great deals so far.

Kind of like furniture stores in the US. They're always in one of two states of "everything's on sale": Grand Opening or Going Out of Business.

Are you suggesting that the local furniture store that's had 'Lost our lease, huge sale' signs up for the last ten years is lying?!!

 

-Pat

[GreyWoolfe]

Not a buy but another freebie.  5 Acopian power supplies. From bottom to top:
VA50MT207, 50 VDC 2.7A
VA015MX500, variable 15 VDC 5A
TD15-250, OP AMP dual +/-15VDC 2.5A
B15G100, 15 VDC, 1A
B9G100, 9VDC, 1A

They all work and have low ripple.  Not sure what I will do with them but I do have a project that the OP AMP dual power supply will work great for.

[Mr. Scram]

Are you suggesting that the local furniture store that's had 'Lost our lease, huge sale' signs up for the last ten years is lying?!!

 

-Pat

I don't even think you'd be allowed to do that around here. It's not even a subtle lie either.

Although, they might be referring to a lease on another property or their previous store, in which case it would technically be true if they also had a huge sale. The very fact that they would continually have a huge sale makes it impossible to establish whether they ever actually had a sale to begin with.

[Specmaster]

Are you suggesting that the local furniture store that's had 'Lost our lease, huge sale' signs up for the last ten years is lying?!!

 

-Pat

I don't even think you'd be allowed to do that around here. It's not even a subtle lie either.

Although, they might be referring to a lease on another property or their previous store, in which case it would technically be true if they also had a huge sale. The very fact that they would continually have a huge sale makes it impossible to establish whether they ever actually had a sale to begin with.

Sadly there are a lot of shops that are always having a sale, one in particular is a bathroom store, part of a large chain of bathroom stores and right opposite a large police station and they have had a permanent sale of one sort or another ever since they opened and thats been about 6 years now and they seem to get away with it.

[Mr. Scram]

Sadly there are a lot of shops that are always having a sale, one in particular is a bathroom store, part of a large chain of bathroom stores and right opposite a large police station and they have had a permanent sale of one sort or another ever since they opened and thats been about 6 years now and they seem to get away with it.

I don't think having a continuous "sale" would be prohibited, though they're obviously being a bit creative with the truth there, but saying that you lost your lease when that's not the case could be seen as false advertising. Though this might obviously vary wildly between jurisdictions and countries.

Saying you're having a sale, with prices actually being the same as before when you didn't have a sale is actually prohibited in a lot of places, but I guess the grey area is when you're never not having a sale.

[Mr. Scram]

This eBay Global Shipping Program is killing me. If things were to shipped normally, you would be able to recover the VAT paid when importing the goods. However, under the terms and conditions of the Global Shipping Program you're only allowed to participate as an individual, therefore making it impossible to recover any VAT. That vastly increases the price of many objects. I guess it's some clever accounting trick which makes eBay money somehow, but it's driving me nuts.

I'm also seeing a few HP listings with everything in order, except the title being something like "HP Printer Cartridges model no something something". The rest seems to check out, and shouldn't provide the seller an escape if he ships you a few printer cartridges, but I'm not sure. Is this some sort of known scam?

[Cubdriver]

Are you suggesting that the local furniture store that's had 'Lost our lease, huge sale' signs up for the last ten years is lying?!!

 

-Pat

I don't even think you'd be allowed to do that around here. It's not even a subtle lie either.

Although, they might be referring to a lease on another property or their previous store, in which case it would technically be true if they also had a huge sale. The very fact that they would continually have a huge sale makes it impossible to establish whether they ever actually had a sale to begin with.

I figured that maybe they'd misplaced (lost) the paper detailing the lease terms - in a very pedantic sense such a thing could be considered 'losing your lease'.  Regardless, I don't shop at such places.  More furniture = less room for other acquisitions.   

-Pat

[Mr. Scram]

I figured that maybe they'd misplaced (lost) the paper detailing the lease terms - in a very pedantic sense such a thing could be considered 'losing your lease'.  Regardless, I don't shop at such places.  More furniture = less room for other acquisitions.   

-Pat

You can always fashion a nicely heated chair by strategically stacking boatanchors. Just make sure you don't have any HV exposed.

[nanofrog]

I figured that maybe they'd misplaced (lost) the paper detailing the lease terms - in a very pedantic sense such a thing could be considered 'losing your lease'.  Regardless, I don't shop at such places.  More furniture = less room for other acquisitions.   

-Pat

You can always fashion a nicely heated chair by strategically stacking boatanchors. Just make sure you don't have any HV exposed.

True, but in the meantime, a heating pad could suffice.  Regarding HV however (mains in the case of a heating pad), the same warnings apply...

So make sure you're at least wearing underwear.