What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[thinkfat]

Today I bought a GPSDO with a Symmetricom OCXO on Ebay. 80€ delivered from China. With some luck it will be here before Christmas. Two weeks ago I bought two defective Efratom LPRO, both are now working again.

[Black Phoenix]

I would personally prefer Holtek HT42B534 over FTDI or Prolific though, as that chip implements a proper USB CDC ACM protocol stack.

Just as curiosity, do you know any brand that manufactures using that controller or is only DIY route too?

[bsfeechannel]

Aspirin.

[GreyWoolfe]

Mrs GreyWoolfe got me to a neighborhood yard sale and among other things, I got an old Craftsman Band saw with 1/3 HP motor/stand and a Craftsman 15" scroll saw for a total of $50.  Both work very well and I got extra blades for both.  The bonus was that the owner put the band saw on wheels which makes it easier to store when not in use, like I did to my table saw and miter saw.  Everything is on wheels so I can store them against the wall but easily move them out into the garage proper or the driveway for use.  Also got a self contained commercial HVLP paint sprayer, no compressor needed; a Chicago Electric rotary hammer with chisels and a bunch of hand tools/clamps in good shape.  I really thought when I went from a 26" tool chest to a 61" tool chest, it would take a long time to fill.  I apparently was being overly optimistic.  I never did realize how much stuff I had scattered around the garage that didn't fit in the old box.  It is awesome to have everything in one place, organized to make sense in my pea sized brain.  Any more stuff and I will have to take back the old tool chest from the son-in-law that lives with us that will never use it but Mrs GreyWoolfe said to give it to him when I wanted to sell it.

Mrs GreyWoolfe got a cooler that will fit between the seats of the van, a nice heavy wooden low table for the TV/electronics in a stain she liked and a free rusty frog for one of the flower beds in front of the house.  I think she loves the frog most of all.

[technix]

I would personally prefer Holtek HT42B534 over FTDI or Prolific though, as that chip implements a proper USB CDC ACM protocol stack.

Just as curiosity, do you know any brand that manufactures using that controller or is only DIY route too?

That is a relatively new line of products, so AFAIK there is no brand currently using it in USB to serial adapters. It has internal EEPROM for customization which includes VID and PID, so that makes detection a bit difficult.

[Black Phoenix]

That is a relatively new line of products, so AFAIK there is no brand currently using it in USB to serial adapters. It has internal EEPROM for customization which includes VID and PID, so that makes detection a bit difficult.

I will send you a PM one of this days if I wanted to experiment for you to help me, since it looks like you have more hands on experience that I have on this new solution.

[BravoV]

Indulging my self to replace my almost a decade old desktop P&S Panasonic camera, as P&S has good/decent DOF for close-up shots (smallish sensor), also can be remotely controlled wirelessly thru my android tablet, this helps a lot for my aging eyes, especially peeking thru the small screen when doing close-up shots.

Also handy at bright outdoor occasions, as it will beat the hell out of those so called phone cam  , still pocketable sized, and packed with 30X optical zoom, at 720mm (35mm film cam. equiv.).

[queennikki1972]

Bnc Banana plug connectors

[gamalot]

Advantest R6581T 

[deadlylover]

Advantest R6581T 

Those input jacks are very fragile! The plastic is so brittle on mine that I have to use certain banana plug styles only.

Before you calibrate/adjust it, I'm curious as to what the time stamp from the previous adjustment was (to find out the drift over time). You can access it over GPIB it's in the manual somewhere...I only found out about it after I adjusted it, as you do... 

[gamalot]

Advantest R6581T 

Those input jacks are very fragile! The plastic is so brittle on mine that I have to use certain banana plug styles only.

Before you calibrate/adjust it, I'm curious as to what the time stamp from the previous adjustment was (to find out the drift over time). You can access it over GPIB it's in the manual somewhere...I only found out about it after I adjusted it, as you do... 

It was in 1984. 

[technix]

A few bits and bobs... A pair of NOS Intel P8291A GPIB ICs and a few Samsung 16x2 LCD displays.

It should yield interesting projects.

P8291A... Maybe add an AT90USB1287 in there and you can get a USB to GPIB adapter?

Yeah, that is my intention. Just for familiarity, I would go for a MSP430F6x or a TM4C129, though.

You need to mind logic level compatibility though, as 8291A uses 5V while MSP430F6x and TM4C series both uses 3.3V. The whole reason of suggesting AT90USB1287 is because that is also a 5V chip, allowing use of 74HCT573 and 74HCT245 at 5V for bus latching and buffering with logic level conversion (5V NMOS to 5V CMOS.) Otherwise I would say something like STM32F103ZE or AT91SAM9260. (AT91SAM9260 can run Linux, so it is better to use that as GPIB to LXI than GPIB to USB.)

Another interface chip I ran across is WCH CH367, a PCIe 1.0 x1 to ISA-like bus bridge chip with 5V tolerant I/O pins. You can use that to build an PCIe GPIB card if you disable its DMA features.

[johnh]

Since we are talking about medical items.  I had an angiogram the other day.   Seems I had a silent heart attack 

Health insurance paid for it all

[Muttley Snickers]

Since we are talking about medical items.  I had an angiogram the other day.   Seems I had a silent heart attack 

I never really experienced the "normal" heart attack symptoms either. In fact even the hospitals emergency department conducted some basic tests and initially declared that there was nothing wrong.   

It was only after my friend stated that we were not leaving until they did their job properly that they bothered to hook me up to the ECG, after which I was rushed to theatre for a heart operation.   

We need to find a proper cure for doctors, some really are fucking dangerous.          

[technix]

Since we are talking about medical items.  I had an angiogram the other day.   Seems I had a silent heart attack 

!!!

It was only after my friend stated that we were not leaving until they did their job properly that they bothered to hook me up to the ECG, after which I was rushed to theatre for a heart operation.      

!!!!!!

It is probably a good thing to get regular medical checkups so problems can be caught before it blew up in our faces. It is also a good idea to get health insurance that covers that too.

[FreddieChopin]

We need to find a proper cure for doctors, some really are fucking dangerous.        

Meh, just deal with it. You're not an unique snowflake but a slowly rotting mass of meat like everyone else. If you die without feeling anything... well you're dead. If however you know you'll be crippled or dying of incurable disease then instead of crying about it maybe do something to cause as much chaos as possible before you go?

[BillB]

Another load...

[Addicted2AnalogTek]

I managed to score a Tektronix 067-0587-02 mainframe standardizer for 152 USD all included - and it comes with the service manual!

[Illusionist]

I just bought an Agilent 34410A... I'm so excited! Supposedly in fine condition. Should arrive Wednesday so I'll soon see. Cost £360 total; I think that's a good deal (I hope).

6.5 digits... oh, the luxury!

[xrunner]

Congrats - nice bright display too. 

[Kilrah]

Some old ceramic, quartz and silicon...

[Terry01]

I just bought an Agilent 34410A... I'm so excited! Supposedly in fine condition. Should arrive Wednesday so I'll soon see. Cost £360 total; I think that's a good deal (I hope).

6.5 digits... oh, the luxury!

Nice meter! 

[chickenHeadKnob]

@Kilrah
That D87c51 was fairly expensive back in the day it was new, memories not so much..

[technix]

Some old ceramic, quartz and silicon...

I wonder if it is possible to program that D87C51 using regular SDCC...

[Kilrah]

Most likely, that's one of the things I intend to try...

I have to wait for a cheap eprom eraser from ebay to arrive though, I was hoping the 405nm LED lamp I use to cure my SLA 3D printed parts would work, but nope...

I initially just wanted the 2732's to play with modifying/translating the monitor ROM on an 80s 6809 based teaching computer I have, but got carried away