List your test equipment "scores" here!

[nctnico]

On the subject, I got TLA7012 for free, 7AA4 for $60, 7BB4 for $50, 4 x P6860 (new) for $50 each.

That is very nice! I'm looking for a 7BB4 module myself but no luck so far.

[james_s]

I snagged a nice condition HP 1660C logic analyzer locally for $25, of course I'll spend several times that on probes but it's still a tiny fraction of what it cost new. It's a fairly old instrument but the classic arcade boards I'm working on are even older and with 136 channels I can watch a lot more at once than the 8 bit analyzer in my Bitscope. It's not something I'm likely to use a whole lot but it's such a cool looking piece of gear, seemed like a fun toy to have.

[elecdonia]

Has anyone seen something like this US military decade resistance box? 
I've had this for so long that I can't remember where I got it.

Recently I acquired an HP3456A multimeter (6.5 digits) so I decided to measure the resistance of every resistor in this box.  Every value was pretty close!

[james_s]

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.

Why replace the CRT? It looks like a nice clean tube with little or no burn. It's nice and original, a TFT won't save you any space since there will just be an empty cavity in the instrument. If you weren't on the other side of the world I'd buy the tube and yoke from you, nobody is making CRTs anymore and supplies are dwindling fast.

[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.

Why replace the CRT? It looks like a nice clean tube with little or no burn. It's nice and original, a TFT won't save you any space since there will just be an empty cavity in the instrument. If you weren't on the other side of the world I'd buy the tube and yoke from you, nobody is making CRTs anymore and supplies are dwindling fast.

A man needs to have an odd hobby  Mine is getting rid of CRT and (D)STN LCD screens and replacing them with TFT screens. Ofcourse I'll try and see if I can bring the CRT back to life with a quick fix. Either broken or working it will go onto Ebay to recoup some money.

[james_s]

Fair enough. I've just seen too many people rip out perfectly good CRTs and throw them in the trash. I really like CRTs, they have a nice look, much better contrast and viewing angle than most LCDs and the HV/evacuated glass aspect has appeal. I'm in the minority for sure though.

[skylinrcr01]

Work gave me a fluke 85 with a busted display for free, just needed new elastomers for the LCD. 

[Vgkid]

Has anyone seen something like this US military decade resistance box? 
I've had this for so long that I can't remember where I got it.

Recently I acquired an HP3456A multimeter (6.5 digits) so I decided to measure the resistance of every resistor in this box.  Every value was pretty close!

Nice decade resistor.
Upon first glance I was thinking it was a Shallcross decade. Seeing the nameplate gives the maker, Tech Labs. I didn't know that they built decade resistor boxes. I know they made switches.

[tautech]

Work gave me a fluke 85 with a busted display for free, just needed new elastomers for the LCD. 

A while back a member got a heap of these from a manufacturer, I can't remember who but a search might find  the posts. IIRC ~2 years back.

[tautech]

Work gave me a fluke 85 with a busted display for free, just needed new elastomers for the LCD. 

A while back a member got a heap of these from a manufacturer, I can't remember who but a search might find  the posts. IIRC ~2 1 year back.

For skylinrcr01, some links:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/old-fluke-multimeters/msg381305/#msg381305
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/elastomer-strips-for-tektronix-la-probes/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/fluke-87-display-repair/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/lcd-displays/

[lmester]

An Instek GSP-810 spectrum analyzer.

Very likely from the ITT bankruptcy. Seems to be working OK. I put in a clean 10MHz sine and got a reasonable looking output. Cosmetic condition is good. A little yellowing of the plastic. I'm happy and sad at the same time about this. I'm happy to be getting cheap used test instruments. I'm sad because a large number of instructors and staff lost their jobs when ITT died. Even worse, I'm sure that some students got part way through an ITT degree and now have nothing but a student loan bill to pay.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of my GSP-810.

[lmester]

A GPC-3020 power aupply.

This showed up on EBay as a damaged but functional item. For $40 total including shipping I couldn't resist. I was able to recalibrate everything except for one of the voltmeters. The zero adjust screw won't bring the needle down to the zero position. It's about 1V high. Possibly the big smash that cracked the case also messed up the meter movement.

I might just give this power supply a meter upgrade. For $20 I can replace the analog meters with cheap Chinese digital meters. It would be an easy upgrade since the power transformer has two extra outputs to provide isolated supplies for the ammeters. This power supply had an option for digital meters. It looks like they used the same transformer for both models. I'll have to think about this. It's functional now. It only cost me $40. Add another $20 for digital meters??? Maybe just put a note by the bad meter to remind me that it reads 1V high...

This instrument is a really old design with generic components. The only IC's that I saw were 741 op amps! Other than the custom transformer, I'd have no problems finding replacement parts. Even after an hour long full load test, the transformer was only warm. Instek also produced a 3A version of this power supply. They may have used the same transformer for the 2A and 3A version. If that's the case, the transformer in my my 2A version should last forever. Besides, how often do you run your power supply at full load?

Finally, the last time I was on Ebay there were still a few of these damaged power supplies for sale for $40. You might want to get one before they're gone.

[TAMHAN]

Well, I dont dislike CRTs in general, first of all. But they, sadly, are no longer being made - so to keep instruments alive, one will need to go LCD one day. Also, less weight, less heat dissipation and stuff

[AF6LJ]

Good deal on both the power supply and the spectrum analyzer.

[skylinrcr01]

Work gave me a fluke 85 with a busted display for free, just needed new elastomers for the LCD. 

A while back a member got a heap of these from a manufacturer, I can't remember who but a search might find  the posts. IIRC ~2 1 year back.

For skylinrcr01, some links:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/old-fluke-multimeters/msg381305/#msg381305
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/elastomer-strips-for-tektronix-la-probes/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/fluke-87-display-repair/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/lcd-displays/

Those are some  good links, much appreciated!

[JenniferG]

Was looking for some little 3.3v voltage regulators and on ebay the cheapest price was $2.82 plus $2.00 shipping.  It had a Make Offer button.  Never clicked it before but I will from now on!  I offered $2 instead of $2.82 and they agreed to it.   From now on I am going to ask for 30% or so less on every one that has a Make Offer button .. despite them being the lowest price overall on ebay

[james_s]

A GPC-3020 power aupply.

This showed up on EBay as a damaged but functional item. For $40 total including shipping I couldn't resist. I was able to recalibrate everything except for one of the voltmeters. The zero adjust screw won't bring the needle down to the zero position. It's about 1V high. Possibly the big smash that cracked the case also messed up the meter movement.

I might just give this power supply a meter upgrade. For $20 I can replace the analog meters with cheap Chinese digital meters. It would be an easy upgrade since the power transformer has two extra outputs to provide isolated supplies for the ammeters. This power supply had an option for digital meters. It looks like they used the same transformer for both models. I'll have to think about this. It's functional now. It only cost me $40. Add another $20 for digital meters??? Maybe just put a note by the bad meter to remind me that it reads 1V high...

This instrument is a really old design with generic components. The only IC's that I saw were 741 op amps! Other than the custom transformer, I'd have no problems finding replacement parts. Even after an hour long full load test, the transformer was only warm. Instek also produced a 3A version of this power supply. They may have used the same transformer for the 2A and 3A version. If that's the case, the transformer in my my 2A version should last forever. Besides, how often do you run your power supply at full load?

Finally, the last time I was on Ebay there were still a few of these damaged power supplies for sale for $40. You might want to get one before they're gone.

You might try to pop the face off the meter and see if the calibration crank has popped out of the place it goes in the lever or maybe the pointer is bent near the base. It's hard to find nice analog meters these days, I actually like a good analog meter better than a cheap digital one in most cases. You generally don't really need super high accuracy in the meter on a power supply.

[lmester]

Well, I dont dislike CRTs in general, first of all. But they, sadly, are no longer being made - so to keep instruments alive, one will need to go LCD one day. Also, less weight, less heat dissipation and stuff

CRT's are certainly a problem. Unfortunately, not the biggest problem. You at least have a chance of getting a NOS or used CRT for a replacement. For some high end equipment, LCD retrofits are available now. Do an internet search for "NewScope LCD kit".

The big problem is one that's been happening for years. Older equipment quite often had ASIC's and other parts that are no longer available.  Now we have a lot of equipment with FPGA's and microcontrollers. The problem is now custom firmware.  A replacement IC may still be available. You'll have little chance of getting the firmware to program it.

I hope we don't have more "ROM rot" problems like some of the old HP equipment. After 30 years, the data in the PROM's starts to fade away. It'd be really nasty if FPGA's data started to go poof!

In the future we'll be doing more and more repairs by stripping parts from donor equipment.


Also, I bought another power supply. I'll post some pictures after it arrives. I'm going to need to join the TEA thread before I'm too far gone It might already be too late 

[james_s]

FPGAs are not really the problem, the configuration data is internally loaded into static RAM at powerup, the bitstream is stored in an external configuration ROM and that is a concern over the long term. Then again, if the FPGA fails and you can't get the source that produced the configuration bitstream then it will have to be replaced with an identical FPGA. ROM rot in microcontrollers that are locked to prevent firmware extraction is going to be a real issue I think. ASICs are an even bigger problem, I'm reminded of the Tek scopes with the custom hybrids that fail.

[Ysjoelfir]

Lets do a guessing game Last week I scored a nice piece of vintage equipment at ebay for 30€ + pickup around 25km away.
What have I got?

Shouldn't be too hard to guess, even the model could be somehow easy.

[Vgkid]

Lets do a guessing game Last week I scored a nice piece of vintage equipment at ebay for 30€ + pickup around 25km away.
What have I got?

Shouldn't be too hard to guess, even the model could be somehow easy.

Your pictures aren't loading. So no clue

[sorenkir]

Invisibility Cloak (in good working order) !

[Ysjoelfir]

  Correct, an invisibility cloak! (*mumbles* stupid apple egg tablet crap thing, never does what I want... *tries uploading again*)

edit: seems to have worked now...

[bsudbrink]

Yup.  Definitely a cloaking device.  Of the type Captain Kirk first stole from the Romulans.  You can tell by the Dilithium crystals in those little glowing canisters.   

[nctnico]

That looks like an old Tek scope. I never knew such machines had a spool of spare solder inside. Cool