Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[AVGresponding]

Excuse me, how much?!?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124431104146

[Wolfgang]

Do you still need conventional heating?

[tonyalbus]

I am not an RF guy, yet I have a RigLOL DSA815-TG which is collecting dust most of the time.
What do you think to get rid of it and buy the NanoVNA latest and greatest (V2 Plus4)?

...another smart idea to waste money with TEA... 

Zucca i know a guy who can dust it off and is also a RF guy

[McBryce]

I am not an RF guy, yet I have a RigLOL DSA815-TG which is collecting dust most of the time.
What do you think to get rid of it and buy the NanoVNA latest and greatest (V2 Plus4)?

...another smart idea to waste money with TEA... 

A NanoVNA won't give you what the DSA815-TG can. Even if you aren't an RF guy, a decent SA can be very useful, especially with the tracking generator. Also, depending what you originally paid for it, you will incur a considerable loss by selling it.

Instead of letting it gather dust, why don't you do some small projects with it, like making a few low/high/bandpass filters and learn what the SA can do for you?
Or make yourself a few nearfield probes and check what interference your latest PCB is transmitting.

McBryce.

[med6753]

Excuse me, how much?!?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124431104146

I paid something like $60 USD for my fully functional 8050A. That appears to be a special model with the nicotine yellowed case which demands a higher price. 

Edit.....Also, it has the dead battery option. 

[BU508A]

Excuse me, how much?!?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124431104146

I paid something like $60 USD for my fully functional 8050A. That appears to be a special model with the nicotine yellowed case which demands a higher price. 

Edit.....Also, it has the dead battery option. 

I was told a while back that such things happen, when the seller doesn't want to sell the unit and does not want to close the ebay offer for any reason. 
No Idea, why this should be a good idea. Perhaps some of the semi-professional sellers here do know some reasons.

[tonyalbus]

I am not an RF guy, yet I have a RigLOL DSA815-TG which is collecting dust most of the time.
What do you think to get rid of it and buy the NanoVNA latest and greatest (V2 Plus4)?

...another smart idea to waste money with TEA... 

A NanoVNA won't give you what the DSA815-TG can. Even if you aren't an RF guy, a decent SA can be very useful, especially with the tracking generator. Also, depending what you originally paid for it, you will incur a considerable loss by selling it.

Instead of letting it gather dust, why don't you do some small projects with it, like making a few low/high/bandpass filters and learn what the SA can do for you?
Or make yourself a few nearfield probes and check what interference your latest PCB is transmitting.

McBryce.

What was your plan with it, when you bought it?

[capt bullshot]

I was told a while back that such things happen, when the seller doesn't want to sell the unit and does not want to close the ebay offer for any reason. 
No Idea, why this should be a good idea. Perhaps some of the semi-professional sellers here do know some reasons.

I'm not a seller anyway. But once upon a time, I bought some items from a (semi) professional seller by a telephone call after having seen the unit on the bay. After agreeing on the price, he mumbled something like "Now I'll raise the price on the bay so no one will buy it until the regular end of the auction. If I remove too many items prematurely, evil bay will complain."

[hulk69]

Maybe he used the wrong manual range on the price
press 200 range => $39.99

Even at that price i would not buy this antique

[Robert763]

Excuse me, how much?!?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124431104146

I paid something like $60 USD for my fully functional 8050A. That appears to be a special model with the nicotine yellowed case which demands a higher price. 

Edit.....Also, it has the dead battery option. 

I was told a while back that such things happen, when the seller doesn't want to sell the unit and does not want to close the ebay offer for any reason. 
No Idea, why this should be a good idea. Perhaps some of the semi-professional sellers here do know some reasons.

The seller has decided not complete the sale  (probably sold off ebay) Ebay tracks how many listings you end early to detect fee avoidance. They will take action if you do it repeatedly.  Putting the price up is a way around this. Some sellers of new items will put the price up when out of stock so they maintain their listings.

[Zucca]

A NanoVNA won't give you what the DSA815-TG can. Even if you aren't an RF guy, a decent SA can be very useful, especially with the tracking generator. Also, depending what you originally paid for it, you will incur a considerable loss by selling it.

Instead of letting it gather dust, why don't you do some small projects with it, like making a few low/high/bandpass filters and learn what the SA can do for you?
Or make yourself a few nearfield probes and check what interference your latest PCB is transmitting.

McBryce.

What was your plan with it, when you bought it?

Learn RF, it was a cheap-ass and reasonable good spec SA. I am still counfsed with all this RF jazz. For example I never touched the difference between a SA with TG and a simple VNA like a Nano VNA.
In my mind they are just two boxes that generate an RF signal and read back the result from the DUT. Well to me a VNA is superior because it can get the vector back, not just the amplitude (See I told you I am not an RF guy). I have even a nearfield probes set (cheap ass in pure chinesium), but never used it because I never had issues in that direction.

Yes McBryce, it would be not the first time I waste money with TEA.

[Cerebus]

I was told a while back that such things happen, when the seller doesn't want to sell the unit and does not want to close the ebay offer for any reason. 
No Idea, why this should be a good idea. Perhaps some of the semi-professional sellers here do know some reasons.

I'm not a seller anyway. But once upon a time, I bought some items from a (semi) professional seller by a telephone call after having seen the unit on the bay. After agreeing on the price, he mumbled something like "Now I'll raise the price on the bay so no one will buy it until the regular end of the auction. If I remove too many items prematurely, evil bay will complain."

Ah, that's the first sensible, truly plausible explanation for that phenomenon that I've seen. So, it's just a way of gaming the system, a broken system as its intent can be nullified by gaming it.

That phenomenon, and all the unsatisfactory half arsed guesses at why it exists has been niggling me for a while. It's very satisfying to finally get a good explanation. I feel slightly wiser now, and that's always a good thing.

[Cerebus]

Maybe he used the wrong manual range on the price
press 200 range => $39.99

Even at that price i would not buy this antique

[Fx: Foghorn Leghorn voice] "Kid, I say kid. You're in the wrong, I say wrong, place to go sayin' that sort of thing."

[Robert763]

I am not an RF guy, yet I have a RigLOL DSA815-TG which is collecting dust most of the time.
What do you think to get rid of it and buy the NanoVNA latest and greatest (V2 Plus4)?

...another smart idea to waste money with TEA... 

A Spectrum Analyser with Tracking Generator (SA/TG) and a Vector Network Analyser (VNA) are not the same thing. and do not replace each other. SA/TG does not give phase information.It's primary function is signal analysis not component (network) analysis. A VNA does not analyse signals.  The addition of th TG to a SA makes it a form of Scalar Network Analyser. Which is a a swept amplitude measurement device.
You need to decide what you want to do with the equipment. It might be that a Software Defined Radio (SDR) https://www.sdrplay.com/rsp1a/ and a NanoVNA would do everthing but with less accuracy.
If you don't do RF work then a VNA is only decoration. A SA or SDR is useful for detecting interference and listening to the radio. 

I do do some RF stuf and have 4 SAs (two with TGs) and 2 VNAs (all professional units)  if I could only have one it would be a SA/TG.

[Robert763]

I was told a while back that such things happen, when the seller doesn't want to sell the unit and does not want to close the ebay offer for any reason. 
No Idea, why this should be a good idea. Perhaps some of the semi-professional sellers here do know some reasons.

I'm not a seller anyway. But once upon a time, I bought some items from a (semi) professional seller by a telephone call after having seen the unit on the bay. After agreeing on the price, he mumbled something like "Now I'll raise the price on the bay so no one will buy it until the regular end of the auction. If I remove too many items prematurely, evil bay will complain."

Ah, that's the first sensible, truly plausible explanation for that phenomenon that I've seen. So, it's just a way of gaming the system, a broken system as its intent can be nullified by gaming it.

That phenomenon, and all the unsatisfactory half arsed guesses at why it exists has been niggling me for a while. It's very satisfying to finally get a good explanation. I feel slightly wiser now, and that's always a good thing.

The system is not broken. When a seller puts an item on ebay they enter into a contract with ebay. A condition of that contract is that they sell it on ebay and pay the fees (there are exceptions e.g. classified ads for vehicles). By selling the item off ebay they are in breach of contract and ebay have the right to do somethng about that.
I dislike sellers who end early either because they did not get the price that they wanted or because of an off-ebay offer. It's not fair to other bidders.

[FransW]

Excuse me, how much?!?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124431104146

The eBay uplift is more than the value of this item.

[mnementh]

I was told a while back that such things happen, when the seller doesn't want to sell the unit and does not want to close the ebay offer for any reason. 
No Idea, why this should be a good idea. Perhaps some of the semi-professional sellers here do know some reasons.

I'm not a seller anyway. But once upon a time, I bought some items from a (semi) professional seller by a telephone call after having seen the unit on the bay. After agreeing on the price, he mumbled something like "Now I'll raise the price on the bay so no one will buy it until the regular end of the auction. If I remove too many items prematurely, evil bay will complain."

Ah, that's the first sensible, truly plausible explanation for that phenomenon that I've seen. So, it's just a way of gaming the system, a broken system as its intent can be nullified by gaming it.

That phenomenon, and all the unsatisfactory half arsed guesses at why it exists has been niggling me for a while. It's very satisfying to finally get a good explanation. I feel slightly wiser now, and that's always a good thing.

Well... there's also several illegitimate purposes for crazy auction and Craigslist, Kijiji, etc listings as well. Some are just plain drug deals. Some are insurance fraud.

On Craigslist, etc, some are deliberately lowball to take advantage of recent legislation that allows insurance companies to just pull some rando posting off Craigslist and use THAT as a value basis for your vehicle or other valuable property; I had to sue my insurance company over a total loss on that one. They tried to use a bogus listing on Craigslist that was 4K below Bluebook, and THEN use the mileage & features deduction tables on top of that. Then another such listing... and another.

Where I caught them up was "Did you call the seller? Were you able to confirm that this car was available to buy at that price? Because I did. 10 calls over 3 days."

"We called, but didn't get any answer..." multiple times, multiple different listings.

Turns out this is a huge ongoing scam, perpetrated by crooked auto body shops and mostly skeevy independent insurance agents, but the entire insurance industry knows aboot it and takes advantage.

IMO, if they're going to use these private listings as a value basis, they should have to buy the car for you, and have it delivered. That is what "replacement cost" insurance SHOULD mean, FFS. 

mnem
Current mood: tangential.

[bd139]

I was told a while back that such things happen, when the seller doesn't want to sell the unit and does not want to close the ebay offer for any reason. 
No Idea, why this should be a good idea. Perhaps some of the semi-professional sellers here do know some reasons.

I'm not a seller anyway. But once upon a time, I bought some items from a (semi) professional seller by a telephone call after having seen the unit on the bay. After agreeing on the price, he mumbled something like "Now I'll raise the price on the bay so no one will buy it until the regular end of the auction. If I remove too many items prematurely, evil bay will complain."

Ah, that's the first sensible, truly plausible explanation for that phenomenon that I've seen. So, it's just a way of gaming the system, a broken system as its intent can be nullified by gaming it.

That phenomenon, and all the unsatisfactory half arsed guesses at why it exists has been niggling me for a while. It's very satisfying to finally get a good explanation. I feel slightly wiser now, and that's always a good thing.

The system is not broken. When a seller puts an item on ebay they enter into a contract with ebay. A condition of that contract is that they sell it on ebay and pay the fees (there are exceptions e.g. classified ads for vehicles). By selling the item off ebay they are in breach of contract and ebay have the right to do somethng about that.
I dislike sellers who end early either because they did not get the price that they wanted or because of an off-ebay offer. It's not fair to other bidders.

Slightly more complicated than that. If you have a powerseller rating and want to go on holiday then they punish you if you don't dispatch in a certain amount of time so you can't just remove the items. They also charge you to relist if you end them. So it's better to knock your prices up and leave them there.

[tggzzz]

For example I never touched the difference between a SA with TG and a simple VNA like a Nano VNA.

An SA+TG is a scalar network analyser - amplitude only.
A VNA is amplitude+phase.

[tggzzz]

It might be that a Software Defined Radio (SDR) https://www.sdrplay.com/rsp1a/ and a NanoVNA would do everthing but with less accuracy.

I've used an SDR dongle plus noise generator as a poor-man's SA+TG. It works, with limitations related to dynamic range and harmonics introduced by non-linearities.

[Zucca]

For example I never touched the difference between a SA with TG and a simple VNA like a Nano VNA.

An SA+TG is a scalar network analyser - amplitude only.
A VNA is amplitude+phase.

So far so good, that's why I get confused when I read

A NanoVNA won't give you what the DSA815-TG can.

but Robert763 gave us a fair explanation.

[Cerebus]

The system is not broken. When a seller puts an item on ebay they enter into a contract with ebay. A condition of that contract is that they sell it on ebay and pay the fees (there are exceptions e.g. classified ads for vehicles). By selling the item off ebay they are in breach of contract and ebay have the right to do somethng about that.
I dislike sellers who end early either because they did not get the price that they wanted or because of an off-ebay offer. It's not fair to other bidders.

The system is broken. EBay obviously put something in place so that they are notified of 'too many' early ending listings, obviously to catch 'off eBay' sales, but that can be circumvented by the 'price hike' tactic. The mechanism can be subverted, so does not achieve its aim, therefore is broken.

[bd139]

Just spent a two hour head scratching session working out why my PC suddenly sounds like a frog every few minutes. Turned out to be the GPU fan spinning up occasionally (it's usually off). Have set the fan curves to run at 20% until it hits 65oC. So much for silent fans! 

[Specmaster]

Add to that, laptops are hard to keep cool as they have inferior cooling compared to a desktop so the fan will audibly cut in far more often if they are used for extended periods. I notice that with my laptops, much prefer the desktop PC.

[Kosmic]

Same on my Lecroy. Got 10-90% (rise) and 20-80% (r20-80%) in the auto measurement.



Can also specify my own level by voltage or % (r@level)

I know you can specify the levels and that they are indicated. What I don't see is an indication of what the scope is using as the 100% and 0% levels.

Yes, you're right. I missed your point.