What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[Macbeth]

Nice catch Macbeth..
I keep having this creepy feeling I should upgrade my HP-3478A before the battery dies...
 

Go and keep a lookout for a nice Keithley. You can use it to recal your 3478A after the battery dies    (of course it would be more sensible to just replace the battery while keeping the VBAT supply powered by a PSU but that doesn't give you the excuse for an essential purchase does it )

[artag]

HeNe

[AF6LJ]

Nice catch Macbeth..
I keep having this creepy feeling I should upgrade my HP-3478A before the battery dies...
 

Go and keep a lookout for a nice Keithley. You can use it to recal your 3478A after the battery dies    (of course it would be more sensible to just replace the battery while keeping the VBAT supply powered by a PSU but that doesn't give you the excuse for an essential purchase does it )

I Keithley would be nice
That side of the desk gets turned on for a few hours every other day or so.
I am most likely worrying too much
Speaking of new purchases I should have something to share by the end of the week.

[KJDS]

Yesterday I bought 24 tins of beer.

I must not drink with the army again
I must not drink with the army again
I must not drink with the army again
I must not drink with the army again
I must not drink with the army again
I must not drink with the army again

[BloodyCactus]

The middle one in the picture arrived today. $35 shipped. what was wrong? the contrast on the display was set to 0. I set it to 9 and done, works perfectly. Now I have a PM2811, PM2812 and PM2813! Kind of a shame it has the different case from the other two, but anyway. now I need to finish my front end project for them!

[Sbampato12]

Just out of the box... smells good! 

[AF6LJ]

Just out of the box... smells good! 

That is on my "Need to Get List for 2016".

[Macbeth]

Yesterday I bought 24 tins of beer.

I must not drink with the army again
I must not drink with the army again
I must not drink with the army again
I must not drink with the army again
I must not drink with the army again
I must not drink with the army again

You should watch Dave pouring perfectly good beer down the sink, 'cos SWMBO tells him too, the big wuss!  . I only found out about this crime against humanity when Dave pointed out it was the most hated ever until the Vietnamese Batteriser downvoter shill turned up...

I stopped drinking the devils piss back in January. But I still can't comprehend the waste... 

[nanofrog]

Just out of the box... smells good! 

That is on my "Need to Get List for 2016".

Any particular reason to skip the DER EE DE-5000 LCR meter in favor of the Keysight 1733?

[AF6LJ]

Just out of the box... smells good! 

That is on my "Need to Get List for 2016".

Any particular reason to skip the DER EE DE-5000 LCR meter in favor of the Keysight 1733?

None at this time, wondering about availablity though..

[nanofrog]

None at this time, wondering about availablity though..

Plenty available on eBay from Japanese sellers (here). 

I got a full kit for ~$165 shipped EMS (TL-21, TL-22, and TL-23 test fixtures/leads, AC/DC power adapter, and USB interface). The box even arrived in pristine condition, and others have posted similar reports. If you want just a bare meter, you can get one shipped for ~$93, and one with the 3 test fixtures for ~$121 (both shipped).

The Keysight OTOH, is $437 for the U1733C (bare meter) and $574 for the U1733P (kit). Datasheet.

Similar specs & features at less than half the cost for the DE-5000, so definitely the value leader here. 

[Sbampato12]

Just out of the box... smells good! 

That is on my "Need to Get List for 2016".

Any particular reason to skip the DER EE DE-5000 LCR meter in favor of the Keysight 1733?

None at this time, wondering about availablity though..

For me, price. I've got the U1733C for about (US$ 375, or BR R$ 1500) here. If I buy something that cost about U$170, to my taxes, it would end up to about US$180 at my credit card bill(one tax called IOF) + US$102 import taxes + some US$20 fixed handling taxes for imports. That give me US$302 vs US$375.
I've bought here, in stock, with warranties easier...

Other country maybe I would went for a different option...

Plus, here, if I do not choose some courier (UPS, DHL or FEDEX or similar) the shipping took about 2 to 3 months to arrive in my house (customs delays), and a big chance that the package never reach to me...

[AF6LJ]

None at this time, wondering about availablity though..

Plenty available on eBay from Japanese sellers (here). 

I got a full kit for ~$165 shipped EMS (TL-21, TL-22, and TL-23 test fixtures/leads, AC/DC power adapter, and USB interface). The box even arrived in pristine condition, and others have posted similar reports. If you want just a bare meter, you can get one shipped for ~$93, and one with the 3 test fixtures for ~$121 (both shipped).

The Keysight OTOH, is $437 for the U1733C (bare meter) and $574 for the U1733P (kit). Datasheet.

Similar specs & features at less than half the cost for the DE-5000, so definitely the value leader here. 

Thanks;
I'll give that some very serious thought.

[canibalimao]

For me, price. I've got the U1733C for about (US$ 375, or BR R$ 1500) here. If I buy something that cost about U$170, to my taxes, it would end up to about US$180 at my credit card bill(one tax called IOF) + US$102 import taxes + some US$20 fixed handling taxes for imports. That give me US$302 vs US$375.
I've bought here, in stock, with warranties easier...

Other country maybe I would went for a different option...

Plus, here, if I do not choose some courier (UPS, DHL or FEDEX or similar) the shipping took about 2 to 3 months to arrive in my house (customs delays), and a big chance that the package never reach to me...

Whaaaat? Your government is crazy??? 60% tax???

Yes, brazilian customs love to apply taxes on everything citizens import.

They also create an inspection point side by side the chinese customs to control, right on the starting point, all the packages going to Brazil 

I'm affraid that this is the next step of the portuguese customs as well... At least I could buy from EU without paying more taxes, but that's a shame.

[Sbampato12]

For me, price. I've got the U1733C for about (US$ 375, or BR R$ 1500) here. If I buy something that cost about U$170, to my taxes, it would end up to about US$180 at my credit card bill(one tax called IOF) + US$102 import taxes + some US$20 fixed handling taxes for imports. That give me US$302 vs US$375.
I've bought here, in stock, with warranties easier...

Other country maybe I would went for a different option...

Plus, here, if I do not choose some courier (UPS, DHL or FEDEX or similar) the shipping took about 2 to 3 months to arrive in my house (customs delays), and a big chance that the package never reach to me...

Whaaaat? Your government is crazy??? 60% tax???

Probably more, because I never remember all the tax... As I said, they will tax 6% on the buy, and then all the import taxes... All the taxes with the shipping include, and I forgot, after all this, I have to pay another that is 18% (over that final price with all the other taxes) more for the 'local' state. I is very crazy....

[Mechanical Menace]

Not a purchase but I've just been given a box full of Amiga 600s and 1200s, 2 Atari STEs and a Falcon.

Just a little update, they raised just over £5k and the full auction raised over £35k. The proceeds will be used to buy toys, consoles and games for the 2 local large specialist children's wards and the local children's hospice

[plazma]

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shipping-Universal-Double-Side-Board-DIY-Prototype-Paper-PCB-9x15cm-1-6mm-1-27mm/1895439557.html

Should work better for soic and smd than the regular perfboard.

Sent from my ToughMobile using Tapatalk

[AF6LJ]

To aid in attunating the obscenely high noise level I have on the low bands, I ordered this...
http://www.dxengineering.com/parts/ins-rf-pro-1b
It should be here sometime next week.

[lincoln]

Extron ADA4 300 MX, video amp - built like a "brick dunny" to use as a 10 MHz distribution amp. I keep screwing up measurements because i forget what 10 MHz is daisy chained to what.

SG 503, 250k to 250 MHz leveled signed wave Oscillator, finally found one for less than 100$

3) PS 5004, have no realy need for them but the above seller had them for cheep, probalby check them out and sell a couple...

2) Lagunitas Little Sumpin...... Ya i'm now a light weight,  the wife is picking me up form work...

[TerraHertz]

Not exactly purchases, since everything was free. Recently I had a quite a good day. I'd arranged with an old friend whose health is declining, to drive him from Manly up to Morriset to pick something up. On the way back, in Manly we came across an old Subaru abandoned in the street. Council 'abandoned car, will be removed' stickers, one smashed window, being used by locals as a junk dumping container, has been there for months, etc. Thing is, it's almost identical to my car - 1993 Subaru 4WD station wagon, that I like a lot. Except for the part where the engine needs reconditioning, but I can't afford it. Now extraordinary luck steps in. As I was standing next to the abandoned car, peering in a rear window (it was dusk, light fading) a young guy riding by on a pushbike noticed me. Stopped, and the first thing he said was "Hi, are you interested in that? Do you want the key?"

Ha ha ha... of course I said yes. Turned out it had been owned by a friend of theirs (flat just up the road) who'd been in Oz as a tourist, bought and used the car for a trip up the coast, then went back home overseas. Abandoning the car and leaving the key with his friends. Who weren't into car ownership, and let the rego lapse. So... it's mine now.
Turns out the engine is in great condition, may even have been recently reconditioned. It's identical to my car's engine, exact same class number, swapping is no problem. Even getting the car from Manly to Bankstown area the next day was easy and free. 1st pic is the two side by side (my old one closest.) Given how much I hate cars with engine management computers, and these Subarus were one of the last models ever made without, this is really excellent.

Second windfall: my friend has a long career as a designer of pentium system boards and related stuff. He feels he's unlikely to do any more of that, and is currently living in a small place. After the Morriset drive he gave me a stack of his old tech texts. See 2nd pic. Some of the ones on the left I already have. Anyway, if he does need them again he can get them back. Donating to the TerraHertz tech-archive is better than binning them.

Naturally, the one topic I need texts on atm (Bluetooth) is not among them.

[SeanB]

Nice score, you have spares for all the expensive Subaru parts now.  With the books i doubt anybody is designing ISA bus parts nowdays, except for industrial use where they want to shoehorn a new CPU module into an old ISA backplane to control older plant. Just means a CPU will spend more time in an idle loop than the old 386/486 CPU used to do.

[TerraHertz]

Nice score, you have spares for all the expensive Subaru parts now.

Yep. Starting with the rear hatch gas struts, which are near-new on this car. On mine they are original and completely stuffed. Which I have been coping with via a prop.   Also the great benefit of having two engine-gearbox sets, so being able to work on one while the car is running with the other. It was really tempting to swap both the engine and body, if you know what I mean. Like the axe and handle tale. But no...

With the books i doubt anybody is designing ISA bus parts nowdays, except for industrial use where they want to shoehorn a new CPU module into an old ISA backplane to control older plant. Just means a CPU will spend more time in an idle loop than the old 386/486 CPU used to do.

Ha ha... I know they are mostly obsolete. The interest is historical only for almost all of them. "Windows programming" shudder. Encountering the horrors of windows programming was one of the reasons I quit software mostly, and concentrated on hardware & low level embedded.
I did some ISA cards long ago and one or two plain PCI cards. No PCI express or any other of the high speed differential pairs buses. Last ISA and PCI cards I did in pic. ISA card was in 2001, I forget when the PCI sound card was.
Gray blocks are to obscure company details. Not that I owe them any favors, but I'd like to reserve the right to insult that employer anonymously.

[SeanB]

I will bet they simply took the Crystal audio drivers and did a simple change of name inside the inf files, and probably never updated the driver after that release....... Nice little meander on the clock line though, you must have needed those few extra ns of delay.

[TerraHertz]

I will bet they simply took the Crystal audio drivers and did a simple change of name inside the inf files, and probably never updated the driver after that release....... Nice little meander on the clock line though, you must have needed those few extra ns of delay.

Both these boards were for use in equipment made by that company, in a highly red-tape regulated application that required all code to be submitted to a regulatory authority. Once approved, there was no way anything was going to get updated anyway. Just being allowed to submit binary blobs like driver files was a major battle.
The meander length was as recommended in the reference design from Crystal.
The only special thing about that audio card was the grunty output amplifier. We couldn't find any audio card with an amplifier included. For our application we needed it built in.

[madalf71]

Hi.
LCD remote monitor, ebay cheapie $154AU, 800x400 screen, video, VGA, HDMI input.
Make camera shots easier especially with small viewer cameras, going to  use it on the thermal camera as well.