I am weak, look what I just got today !
I saw it a week ago, decided not to buy it as I don't feel attracted to these scopes, and it was defective, and at 50 Euros thought it was not economically viable to try to fix it.
But then ShakalNokturn later out of the blue, pointed me to this scope again... I said no, have already made my mind.
But then I changed my mind... because I am weak, that's all.
- I looked on Ebay and realized these scopes command much higher prices than I thought, even defective ones. So I thought OK maybe I can fix and make a few buck profit, and if not, could still sell it broken and STILL make a bit of profit ! So not much to lose...
- Front panel looked brand new, super clean
- Was an IBM branded one, not a mundane "general consumption" one.
- Even came with some IBM branded paper work, for some memorabilia...
- Came with 3 probes
- Came with the front cover
-.... and also, well mostly, for a change, it was LOCAL to me, literally a 10 minute drive !
![Scared :scared:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/scared.gif.pagespeed.ce.oZptHNcbsD.gif)
So I thought, not much to lose...
So, I contacted the guy, offering 40 Euros not 50.. hoping he would tell me to get lost and I would not have to buy it. But, he accepted my offer !
So, 40 Euros for a pristine IBM one, I guess I had not much to lose... so went to pick it up a couple hours ago.
So here it is... a 453 scope. 2x50MHz + dual time base.
It's missing all 4 feet both at the bottom and at the rear ! I gather it's a common disease on these scopes.. hence why I saw people on Ebay selling 3DP reproductions of these feet....
The blue covers have giant black marker writings on them as you do, and the pain looks tired. So repainting them would not hurt.
Other than than it's brand spanking new inside out.
Everything on the front panel look new. All the BNC and bright work are clean smooth and shiny. All the knobs are brand new, shiny, and super clean, and when you operate them the feel and sound brand new as well. Inside, pristine too. Not a speck of dust or corrosion or discoloration of the wires insulation or the colour stripes on them. It looks like this scope has ever or rarely been powered up...
The construction of it is luxurious. Old gold plated PCB, sockets for all the trannies. The cabinet is made of thick cast aluminium plates front and back, and matching side beams. Inside, the usual fold aluminium sheet chassis.
Linear power supply, big transformer in the thing.
all in all explains why this compact scope weighs so much !!
![Scared :scared:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/scared.gif.pagespeed.ce.oZptHNcbsD.gif)
The 3 probes are all Tek :
x10 P6054A
x10 P6010
x1 P6011
Also came with a plastic bag full of little accessories. Have the 3 ground leads but they look useless : they are terminated not with the usual alligator clip, but instead with a thread ! Some of the accessories look like they are meant to screw on these threads but, and that they are meant to plug onto male pins/test points... weird.
Came with a couple BNC- single binding post adapters. Like new. Guess I can make use of these.
Anyway I am fucked now : I didn't like these scopes before, but now I have a brand new one on my bench, in the flesh, that I see how nice it is, I can't get myself to sell it ! Even for a profit.
Luckily cost me only 40 Euros and zero shipping so it's not a huge expense.
As for fixing it, not sure it can be fixed, but I will keep it anyway....
Guy said he knew nothing about scopes, a 70+ yo chap, said he got it from his mother in law (which therefore must have witnessed the construction of the Titanic ! ). Said he powered it up, he saw a trace on the screen, then after 30 minutes or something the trace disappeared.
I tested the scope, you can get a trace no matter whzat you do. I guess the CRT HV transformer just gave up the ghost, probably, and good luck finding another one of those, never mind at a price that makes sense. Will try and probe around a little just in case I get lucky and it's some discrete component instead, but I am not too hopeful !
![Face Palm :palm:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/xfacepalm.gif.pagespeed.ic.EBDwh1hCfo.png)
Will only do it for the fun of working on it, but zero hope as far as I am concerned....
![ThumbsDown :--](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/icon_thumbsdown.gif.pagespeed.ce.D027Y9gZ7m.gif)