List your test equipment "scores" here!

[Cubdriver]

Thanks Pat...
I'll pass on the brass, That is a bit pricey for me. 
The castings have my interest.....
Thank You.

 Glad to help, Sue - I wanted to get a set of the brass ones for mine just in case, then found that they'd cost more than I'd paid for the generator including shipping.  I decided at that point that I'd take my chances, and learn to cast if and when the time came.

-Pat

[GreyWoolfe]

Scored one of the ITT GW-Instek DMMs.  Should arrive on Monday.  Can't wait.

[Ysjoelfir]

I wrote to the guy selling the GW Instek DMMs from the ITT thing - very grumpy (and damn expensive) if you ask for shipping overseas... or was it just because I am one of those nasty germans? ._. Asked my relatives overseas how much the shipping would be - less then a third the seller wanted... so ne GW Instek cheapy for me

[VK5RC]

A slightly silly question,  as I collect quite a bit of gear,  I find it difficult to keep the 'accessories'  with the test gear eg manuals,  probes,  plug-ins etc,  I like a 'tidy stack'  and keep them plugged into a power board, which I only plug the power board  in to the mains when I  try to fire them up approx once a month or so.
How do you guys store your accessories and keep the link to the gear?
Nice stack Sue!
Regards Rob VK5RC

[nctnico]

I usually keep equipment specific stuff in a plastic or cardboard box with some writing (or a label) on it which says to which piece of equipment the box belongs.

[Ysjoelfir]

I have to admit that I don't keep every piece of accessory at the specific device. I rather prefer a single location where I store all the wires and probes and another place where I keep my documents. For wires I have accessory hangers from a local dollar store and the manuals are just sitting on a book shelve...

[guenthert]

[..]
the DVM part is a tad off compared to my FLUKE meter but seem to be able to measure voltage on the other input channels that go to 100Mhz , I wonder if it really measures AC at that frequency, that would be pretty slick... Time to RTFM i guess. [/size]Now only if this thing wold not take up a quarter of my bench.... But that may be solved by letting it to take off and fly .. it sounds like a jet plane ready to take off .

Not sure about the B, but the HP5328A's DVM is DC only and yes, it's chief purpose is to aid in setting the trigger level.  While it's 6 digits, it drifts quite a bit (perhaps a better voltage reference would fix that?). 

Mine is annoyingly loud as well, so that I turn it on only when I know I'll need it.  Allegedly there are military versions, which are *really* loud.

[Berni]

I find that i don't have a lot of accessories that are strictly for one piece of equipment. But if i remove something from a instrument such as handles(for rack mounting) or perhaps extender cards for repairing it i will put it in a zip lock bag and write what equipment its for on the bag.

[Vgkid]

[..]
the DVM part is a tad off compared to my FLUKE meter but seem to be able to measure voltage on the other input channels that go to 100Mhz , I wonder if it really measures AC at that frequency, that would be pretty slick... Time to RTFM i guess. [/size]Now only if this thing wold not take up a quarter of my bench.... But that may be solved by letting it to take off and fly .. it sounds like a jet plane ready to take off .

Not sure about the B, but the HP5328A's DVM is DC only and yes, it's chief purpose is to aid in setting the trigger level.  While it's 6 digits, it drifts quite a bit (perhaps a better voltage reference would fix that?). 

If it is like the one used in the 5335, then it implemented a voltage to frequency converter. Checked the 5328B's manual, yep.

[nctnico]

I got myself a Lecroy LC584AL (1GHz, 2Gs/s 1Mpts) scope from the broken test equipment asylum called Ebay. According to the seller it doesn't show a picture so it was cheap after making an offer. The display not working is not a problem because I'd replace the CRT with a TFT screen anyway. One of the reasons I got this old scope is that I want to sell my other (more expensive) Agilent scope but didn't want to be left without the 1GHz ability, some other features and last but not least: a second working scope. Unlike many scopes before the USB era the LC584 has a PCMCIA slot which should be able to hold a PCMCIA to compact flash adapter with a compact flash card. The compact flash card is equally usefull as a USB stick so file transfer between my PC and the scope should be painless.
This is the picture from the Ebay listing:

If my wife doesn't kill me when this thing arrives I'll take some pictures of the inside and (if the scope works) the TFT conversion.

[macboy]

I got myself a Lecroy LC584AL (1GHz, 2Gs/s 1Mpts) scope from the broken test equipment asylum called Ebay. According to the seller it doesn't show a picture so it was cheap after making an offer. The display not working is not a problem because I'd replace the CRT with a TFT screen anyway. One of the reasons I got this old scope is that I want to sell my other (more expensive) Agilent scope but didn't want to be left without the 1GHz ability, some other features and last but not least: a second working scope. Unlike many scopes before the USB era the LC584 has a PCMCIA slot which should be able to hold a PCMCIA to compact flash adapter with a compact flash card. The compact flash card is equally usefull as a USB stick so file transfer between my PC and the scope should be painless.

A CF to PCMCIA adapter works well with my Wavepro 960, but the scope is limited to a 500 MB partition regardless of card size.
(edit:) The optional PCMCIA slot on the Wavepro 960 supports both memory cards and PCMCIA/PCCard (ATA) hard drives. A CF card in a PCCard adapter looks like a hard drive, so the scope must support those for this to work.

[bitseeker]

I got myself a Lecroy LC584AL (1GHz, 2Gs/s 1Mpts) scope from the broken test equipment asylum called Ebay.
...
If my wife doesn't kill me when this thing arrives I'll take some pictures of the inside and (if the scope works) the TFT conversion.

I hope you survive its arrival as I look forward to seeing the TFT conversion!

[elecdonia]

I picked up a very nice HP 3456A 6.5 digit multimeter on eBay.  Price was $22.50 (+ $60.00 for premium-grade packing and shipping).  I was surprised to win this auction!  I had expected the price to get well above my $150 limit.  But there was only one other bid.
The 3456A was in great shape physically and was partially functional right out of the box. Unfortunately it was rather inaccurate measuring +10V ( it read about 10.3V).  Oddly it was quite accurate with -10V.  After a bit of research I decided to check the power supply section and immediately located several dry electrolytic capacitors.  After replacing them the unit is working great.
Now I will need to get something calibrated:  My Geller SVR reads 10.00275 on this meter.  So that is a 275 ppm error.  But I've had the SVR for 10 years and it's never been calibrated.  I live near a big state university and know some people in their Electrical Engineering department.  Hopefully they have something more accurate (perhaps a 3458A), that I can check and adjust the calibration of my Geller SVR with.  After I confirm my SVR is generating 10.00000V then I'll tweak the 3456A.
But overall I am delighted!

[xrunner]

I picked up a very nice HP 3456A 6.5 digit multimeter on eBay.  Price was $22.50 (+ $60.00 for premium-grade packing and shipping).  I was surprised to win this auction!  I had expected the price to get well above my $150 limit.  But there was only one other bid.

Sweet grab there!

[Vgkid]

I picked up a very nice HP 3456A 6.5 digit multimeter on eBay. 
Sweet grab there!

I agree, it is my most beloved bench dmm. You got your for a great price. I paid almost 10x for mine.

[scopeman]

I got myself a Lecroy LC584AL (1GHz, 2Gs/s 1Mpts) scope from the broken test equipment asylum called Ebay. According to the seller it doesn't show a picture so it was cheap after making an offer. The display not working is not a problem because I'd replace the CRT with a TFT screen anyway. One of the reasons I got this old scope is that I want to sell my other (more expensive) Agilent scope but didn't want to be left without the 1GHz ability, some other features and last but not least: a second working scope. Unlike many scopes before the USB era the LC584 has a PCMCIA slot which should be able to hold a PCMCIA to compact flash adapter with a compact flash card. The compact flash card is equally usefull as a USB stick so file transfer between my PC and the scope should be painless.
This is the picture from the Ebay listing:

If my wife doesn't kill me when this thing arrives I'll take some pictures of the inside and (if the scope works) the TFT conversion.

Hi,

The front PCMCIA slot on this scope will only work with a battery replaceable type SRAM card (max capacity 4MB). Unfortunately CF cards of any type will not work. Now if you are lucky the scope has the HD01 option installed in the back of the instrument which will accept PCMCIA ATA up to 512MB flash cards or a SDCard with a PCMCIA adapter. This series of LeCroy scope is basically a souped up 93XX series in a different cabinet with a color (Sony Trinitron type) CRT and a PowerPC based CPU card.

It used the same main acquisition card as the 93XX series. It was much faster and could sport a larger amount of processing RAM than the 93XX at the expense of a much larger and heavier cabinet. Still a great scope. When you are working on this scope do not run it without providing additional cooling if you have the covers off. Also do not be tempted to install a "quieter" fan unless it equals the same CFM as the one you are removing. If you overheat the A/D's and other LeCroy heat sinked parts there is no hope to find replacements as these scopes are long out of support.

Typical problems:

There is a thermal cutout switch in the power supply that is known to be an issue.

The power connectors that plug into the Main Acquisition PCB overheat

The usual bad capacitors in the PS. Replace with good quality Low ESR Nichicon, United Chemicon or Equiv. Watch out for the one that is on the printer board. Something like 3000uF. It's across the 5V supply (a blue Philips part) and if shorted the power supply will not power up. Replace it even if it looks good. I have seen many of them fail.

There is also a circuit in these scopes that had the design intent of automatically switching from 120/240. That circuit is problematic. There is a service note on this that can be found in the files section of the Yahoo! LeCroy_Owners_Group on Yahoo! Groups (please join).

Manuals and PS schematics can either be found there or in the LeCroy Manuals section at www.ko4bb.com/getsimple

Watch out for conductive dust!

I hope you get the scope in good condition and have great success with it. Also conversion to an LCD may not be too hard if you can find one that fits as the interface to the internal Sony monitor is achieved with a standard internal VGA DB style connector.

Sam
W3OHM
Owner and Moderator of the LeCroy_Owners_Group on Yahoo! Groups and the back up group
LeCroy Owners Group on Groups.io

[TAMHAN]

And here is one of my recent purchases . Seller said the Display was not working, didnt have time to Slovakize it yet (230V bridge is INSIDE the unit). Also, I will likely throw the D1 to storage and do something else...but that is for a rainy day.

( taken from my Instagram, at https://www.instagram.com/tam.hanna/ )

[elecdonia]

Wow!  A real curve tracer!  Wish I had one!   What is maximum collector current and voltage?  The jacks for connecting the DUT look pretty big and serious.

[nctnico]

I got myself a Lecroy LC584AL (1GHz, 2Gs/s 1Mpts) scope from the broken test equipment asylum called Ebay. According to the seller it doesn't show a picture so it was cheap after making an offer. The display not working is not a problem because I'd replace the CRT with a

The front PCMCIA slot on this scope will only work with a battery replaceable type SRAM card (max capacity 4MB). Unfortunately CF cards of any type will not work. Now if you are lucky the scope has the HD01 option installed in the back of the instrument which will accept PCMCIA ATA up to 512MB flash cards or a SDCard with a PCMCIA adapter.

That doesn't sound promising! I just have to wait and see what I get since I have not seen a picture of the rear.

Typical problems:

There is a thermal cutout switch in the power supply that is known to be an issue.

The power connectors that plug into the Main Acquisition PCB overheat

The usual bad capacitors in the PS. Replace with good quality Low ESR Nichicon, United Chemicon or Equiv. Watch out for the one that is on the printer board. Something like 3000uF. It's across the 5V supply (a blue Philips part) and if shorted the power supply will not power up. Replace it even if it looks good. I have seen many of them fail.

There is also a circuit in these scopes that had the design intent of automatically switching from 120/240. That circuit is problematic. There is a service note on this that can be found in the files section of the Yahoo! LeCroy_Owners_Group on Yahoo! Groups (please join).

Manuals and PS schematics can either be found there or in the LeCroy Manuals section at www.ko4bb.com/getsimple

Watch out for conductive dust!

These are usefull tips. I was already aware of the power supply voltage range issue so I'll look into the power supply before powering the scope up. I'm in 230V territory and the scope comes from the US so if it is hardwired it will be wrong for me. Unfortunately it wouldn't be the first time I got bitten by that 

I hope you get the scope in good condition and have great success with it. Also conversion to an LCD may not be too hard if you can find one that fits as the interface to the internal Sony monitor is achieved with a standard internal VGA DB style connector.

Aha. Actually I'm hoping the scope has a connector for a TFT panel on the CPU board which has some useful signals on it. I went through schematics in the LC574 service manual and in there is shows a connector for a TFT screen. I rather do a direct-digital connection instead of going through an extra A/D converter board. Also the mechanical part will take some work in order to make the bezel flat.

BTW: is there a file for the option GAL available? I have GALs (somewhere) and I have a programmer so all I'd need is the right file.

Anyway many thanks for your tips & tricks. It is highly appreciated  This will be my first Lecroy DSO. I'll open a new topic in the test equipment section once I get going with this scope.

[mtdoc]

GWInstek GPD-3303S  programmable power supply for $129+$22 shipping..

Thanks to the ITT auctions , there's a ton of these on eBay and prices have come down. Most are going for between $140 and $160 shipped.

Got this one from an individual selling only one - so not sure if it's from the ITT auction but I like that the cosmetic condition is known versus some of those sold by sellers with multiple units.

Nice thing about this versus most modern PSUs is that the service manual, complete with schematics, is available online.

Did I need another PSU?  Of course not!  But none of my vintage HP and PD supplies are programmable -  so there's that...

Now, off to TEA to confess my sins.

[Johnny10]

Tamhan
Like your curve tracer!

[sorenkir]

@mtdoc:
you are right, really tons of them: http://www.ebay.com/itm/132053507425 
Michel.

[PaulAm]

Tamhan
Like your curve tracer!

They can be quite useful.  Unlike the 576 the crt is easily replaceable since the D1 and D2 displays were used in some of the 5000 series scopes.  Swapping to storage shouldn't be a big deal.

I've been told the 577 had a larger screen, but that may have been special order.  My 577 screen is the same size as the 5000 series scopes I picked up for parts

[vtp]

They can be quite useful.  Unlike the 576 the crt is easily replaceable since the D1 and D2 displays were used in some of the 5000 series scopes.  Swapping to storage shouldn't be a big deal.

I've been told the 577 had a larger screen, but that may have been special order.  My 577 screen is the same size as the 5000 series scopes I picked up for parts

Being useful is understatement of the year. Out of the several hundred HP and Tek boxes the 577 is probably the most useful I have. D1 storage tube is also one of the best features of this instrument, it is very useful in plotting power device curves in pulsed mode and sweeping the traces on to the screen with collector supply knob. Anyone thinking of ditching the storage must be braindead .

The larger screen you refer to is likely option 25 which provides 12 x 10 grid. Highly desirable feature but be aware that calibration instructions are written for 10x8 grid so they can be confusing.

...

On the subject, I got TLA7012 for free, 7AA4 for $60, 7BB4 for $50, 4 x P6860 (new) for $50 each. And recently a 8563E in immaculate and very well working condition for $300.

[bitseeker]

On the subject, I got TLA7012 for free, 7AA4 for $60, 7BB4 for $50, 4 x P6860 (new) for $50 each. And recently a 8563E in immaculate and very well working condition for $300.

Woah. You are a master of scores.