Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tautech]

I am so fucking pissed off at the moment. Did a 50 mile round trip to pick up two scopes and the capital toss wank had already sold them.

Alas two nice big Telequipment D83 mainframes are not mine

Yep, that would get me going too. 

Bloody nice scopes they are too, a poor mans Tek if you like.
By the time the D83's came on the scene Telequipment was owned by Tek.

If you get one sometime I've got some cross/ref files, manuals and notes I can send if you want them.

Indeed. My mother actually worked at the Telequipment factory back in the late 1960s and early 1970s on the production line as well so there was some sentimental value at least.

Wow, nice bit of family history. 

They are marvellous scopes for the money. They actually have the same tube as the 7603’s but without readout and not quite as good a final amp. Can still get differential plugins as well. I owned a D83 for a couple of years around 2000 that I paid £5 for so I was hoping to get rid of sellers remorse a bit

I'm remorseful too, it was my first scope and despite it giving me a good amount of grief I learnt one hell of a lot about CRO's keeping it going. I got it pretty reliable then like a mug I sold it when I got my first DSO, a Tek TDS2012B. I bought, fixed and traded CRO's for a while before Siglent days and none had such a nice display as a D83. I reworked most of the 2750V EHT and the traces were soooooo sharp and clean it was delight to use.

I do hope you get to stumble across one if only for mums sake.

Anyway I shall not lament that loss any further.

I will take you up on any documentation offers if I get my hands on one again - thank you appreciated.

The plan was to refurb one working unit and then develop a custom pair of plugins with an HF band spectrum analyser based on the numerous ARRL / W7ZOI designs out there.

When I was given mine (broken)  there were zero manuals online and I had to get a paper copy from a guy in your part of the world and ~20yrs ago and I was as nervous as hell about online payment but my cousin was in London working and she popped over and grabbed them for me then posted them back. Sadly they went with the scope when I sold it because by that time manuals were available free online but a little tricky to find so I uploaded what I had found to the EBAMAN repository where 2 parts of the D83 manual still are. The third part I still have in my archives and I should retry uploading it as I how have much better internet connection than I had back then that gave me gawd knows how much grief at the time.
The crossrefs I have are for the many unobtainium transistors and with an EE mate checking my substitution choices I made a list of easy to get equivalents.
Crossref attached as a teaser.    See if you can make sense of it. 
The 3 other manuals are 14, 15 and 19 MB that cover the D83 MF, S2A dual sweep and V4 dual trace amp.
I whipped up a extender cable for the plugins.....this I still have but it's piss easy to make one if the IIRC .15 pitch card socket is available along with some PC IDE ribbon cable and a strip of blank SS PCB with fingers etched to the right pitch.
Just PM me your email and I'll shoot it all through to you. No catches, no BS.

[Cubdriver]

Where do you put the coal in that? 

In the container by the quarter[emoji23]

    [emoji23]

Actually, the coal goes into the boiler firebox at the power plant! 

-Pat

[Specmaster]

That's what I love about this forum, its full of kind, honest and generous people who offer genuine support and advice freely to help each other out and as an added bonus is also ram jammed solid with humour, always manages to make me chuckle on a daily basis, Long Live EEVBlog Forum and its members. 

[bd139]

I am so fucking pissed off at the moment. Did a 50 mile round trip to pick up two scopes and the capital toss wank had already sold them.

Alas two nice big Telequipment D83 mainframes are not mine

Yep, that would get me going too. 

Bloody nice scopes they are too, a poor mans Tek if you like.
By the time the D83's came on the scene Telequipment was owned by Tek.

If you get one sometime I've got some cross/ref files, manuals and notes I can send if you want them.

Indeed. My mother actually worked at the Telequipment factory back in the late 1960s and early 1970s on the production line as well so there was some sentimental value at least.

Wow, nice bit of family history. 

They are marvellous scopes for the money. They actually have the same tube as the 7603’s but without readout and not quite as good a final amp. Can still get differential plugins as well. I owned a D83 for a couple of years around 2000 that I paid £5 for so I was hoping to get rid of sellers remorse a bit

I'm remorseful too, it was my first scope and despite it giving me a good amount of grief I learnt one hell of a lot about CRO's keeping it going. I got it pretty reliable then like a mug I sold it when I got my first DSO, a Tek TDS2012B. I bought, fixed and traded CRO's for a while before Siglent days and none had such a nice display as a D83. I reworked most of the 2750V EHT and the traces were soooooo sharp and clean it was delight to use.

I do hope you get to stumble across one if only for mums sake.

Anyway I shall not lament that loss any further.

I will take you up on any documentation offers if I get my hands on one again - thank you appreciated.

The plan was to refurb one working unit and then develop a custom pair of plugins with an HF band spectrum analyser based on the numerous ARRL / W7ZOI designs out there.

When I was given mine (broken)  there were zero manuals online and I had to get a paper copy from a guy in your part of the world and ~20yrs ago and I was as nervous as hell about online payment but my cousin was in London working and she popped over and grabbed them for me then posted them back. Sadly they went with the scope when I sold it because by that time manuals were available free online but a little tricky to find so I uploaded what I had found to the EBAMAN repository where 2 parts of the D83 manual still are. The third part I still have in my archives and I should retry uploading it as I how have much better internet connection than I had back then that gave me gawd knows how much grief at the time.
The crossrefs I have are for the many unobtainium transistors and with an EE mate checking my substitution choices I made a list of easy to get equivalents.
Crossref attached as a teaser.    See if you can make sense of it. 
The 3 other manuals are 14, 15 and 19 MB that cover the D83 MF, S2A dual sweep and V4 dual trace amp.
I whipped up a extender cable for the plugins.....this I still have but it's piss easy to make one if the IIRC .15 pitch card socket is available along with some PC IDE ribbon cable and a strip of blank SS PCB with fingers etched to the right pitch.
Just PM me your email and I'll shoot it all through to you. No catches, no BS.

Thanks for this - appreciated! Will drop you a PM.

When I got my last one it didn't work either and was missing the mains lead and it has a funny connector on it. I removed the old socket, snipped off an IEC cable and cable tied it to the back of the unit (I was poor then!). Also the vertical didn't work (shorted capacitor) and the power supply was shot (diodes open, probably caused by the capacitor). Then, glorious sharp trace. One of the best scopes I've used in that department.

The only really unobtainium parts or difficult to find is the front end FETs which is why I was hoping this deal would pull through as it had two vertical plugins across two scopes. I have for example a large bag of BSX20's here already which are about the fastest transistors in it. Also the final amp ones are a little difficult to find. Thanks to ebay that's not so much of a problem now. No more dragging myself half way across London to Cricklewood Electronics to get shafted for £10 a transistor, then to have to go and do the same thing the day after.

I may settle for a smaller D75 if one turns up: takes the same plugins but has a smaller tube. Might annoy SWMBO less as well

Edit: turns out mouser stock the FETs still. Excellent!

[tautech]

Thanks for this - appreciated! Will drop you a PM.

When I got my last one it didn't work either and was missing the mains lead and it has a funny connector on it. I removed the old socket, snipped off an IEC cable and cable tied it to the back of the unit (I was poor then!). Also the vertical didn't work (shorted capacitor) and the power supply was shot (diodes open, probably caused by the capacitor). Then, glorious sharp trace. One of the best scopes I've used in that department.

The only really unobtainium parts or difficult to find is the front end FETs which is why I was hoping this deal would pull through as it had two vertical plugins across two scopes. I have for example a large bag of BSX20's here already which are about the fastest transistors in it.

I may settle for a smaller D75 if one turns up: takes the same plugins but has a smaller tube. Might annoy SWMBO less as well

Edit: turns out mouser stock the FETs still. Excellent!

No problem.
All three are in cyberspace on their way to you.
EDIT. Your reply indicates you have them. 

Also the final amp ones are a little difficult to find. Thanks to ebay that's not so much of a problem now. No more dragging myself half way across London to Cricklewood Electronics to get shafted for £10 a transistor, then to have to go and do the same thing the day after.

After repairing quite a few CRO's I found that final plate amps are typically the same as in TV's and BF259 is a very good substitute with additional voltage headroom to ensure longevity. I mention them at the bottom of my crossref for HV usage where they're typically push-pull and working with ~150V. When you do some homework for subbing CRO plate output transistors they're not normally given much V headroom and as they're a not so common point of failure when they cark it I use BF259's.

All good, enjoy. 

BTW I'll come and scrag you if you don't post a healthy thread on a D83 when you get one.   

[bd139]

Thanks again

I fully intend to get a healthy one online this year. There have been a number I've missed on ebay by the looks going for nothing.  From a technical perspective, this was the last good scope made in the UK. Some glory shots so people know what all the fuss is about:

D83 mainframe:



Slightly cleaner D83 mainframe:



Differential plugin (This went for £30 recently, new in box. Wish I'd bought it!):



And the more compact D75 (also known as D755 and post office type something or other). This was portable, but the same architecture and was used for general purpose stuff and issued to MoD and post office (British Telecom precursor for the non natives ):



Gah I've probably got competition now on ebay 

They also sold curve tracers as described here: http://www.amplifier.cd/Test_Equipment/other/CT-71.html

The only really weak point on these is the timebase knobs which disintegrate. There was some effort to make a replacement for these in another forum but I can't find the link now.

Just to note the screen on the D83 is much larger and sharper than most scopes. The lower bandwidth of the amps (50MHz) compared to the Tektronix 7603 makes the traces stupidly sharp.

[Specmaster]

They have some really nice and sharp traces alright, especially the D75

[beanflying]

New old cheap expensive. Use it like you stole it 

Scary but I think the $10 one is actually closest to right 

Old HP Counter is mid surgery 

[Cubdriver]

We had Telequipment scopes when I was in high school in the early 80s.  Think they might have been D61s, but would have to dig out the drawing I had to do of the damned thing's front panel (for a lab report) to be certain.

-Pat

[tautech]

So does D75 use same plugins and has same display so it's a flat format D83 ?

Mine was a lot tidier than that D83 pic but not as pristine as the D75 pic.
Yeah you goofed on the differential amp. 

Yep, for those that have never seen one in the flesh, pics don't do the size of the screen justice  they're monstrous for a CRO.

[tautech]

They have some really nice and sharp traces alright, especially the D75

Yep. that's what my D83 looked like but as you probably know photos of traces on a CRO never come out as fine as viewed "in person". 

[bd139]

The photos above are fuzzy as hell - not great.

Yes the D75 takes the same plugins. It also has the same CRT as a Tektronix 465 as well

The D83 screen is indeed huge. It's the same as a Tektronix 7603 which is also huge!

[tautech]

The photos above are fuzzy as hell - not great.

Yes the D75 takes the same plugins. It also has the same CRT as a Tektronix 465 as well

Yes, see that now after a triple take. 
D75 screen smaller than plugins while D83 ~same size as plugins.

[TheUnnamedNewbie]

Bleh, shipping fun!

Orderd my HP 8657A on the 21st of December, was shipped on the 22nd. After ''Arrived at USPS Regional Facility '' in Portland it has only got "In Transit to Destination" as status. At first I thought nothing of it, but after it not changing for days I googled, and from what I can tell, "In Transit to Destination" is a status that is shown when the parcel (or container the parcel is in) doesn't pas a scanner for 18 hours. In other words, it would appear that nobody at USPS has seen or heard of my package since the 22nd of december...

Contacted the seller to check if this was common, but they just said "look it says in transit to destination so nothing to worry about", but I am starting to get worried. I would have expected it to at least pass an international shipping facility by now? Original shipping estimate stated that it should be here in belguim between 4th and 8th of december, iirc. USPS also states that the Priority International Package should take 6 to 10 working days to get to destination (depending on customs) which matches the eBay prediction I think.

I am quite confident I'll just get my money back if it is indeed lost, but that doesn't make me feel any better about this matter...

Here is the tracking link: https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction?tRef=fullpage&tLc=2&text28777=&tLabels=CJ543059395US%2C

[Specmaster]

Bleh, shipping fun!

Orderd my HP 8657A on the 21st of December, was shipped on the 22nd. After ''Arrived at USPS Regional Facility '' in Portland it has only got "In Transit to Destination" as status. At first I thought nothing of it, but after it not changing for days I googled, and from what I can tell, "In Transit to Destination" is a status that is shown when the parcel (or container the parcel is in) doesn't pas a scanner for 18 hours. In other words, it would appear that nobody at USPS has seen or heard of my package since the 22nd of december...

Contacted the seller to check if this was common, but they just said "look it says in transit to destination so nothing to worry about", but I am starting to get worried. I would have expected it to at least pass an international shipping facility by now? Original shipping estimate stated that it should be here in belguim between 4th and 8th of december, iirc. USPS also states that the Priority International Package should take 6 to 10 working days to get to destination (depending on customs) which matches the eBay prediction I think.

I am quite confident I'll just get my money back if it is indeed lost, but that doesn't make me feel any better about this matter...

Here is the tracking link: https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction?tRef=fullpage&tLc=2&text28777=&tLabels=CJ543059395US%2C

Nothing to worry about, that is pretty normal with international shipping, it hasn't been handed over to the airline as yet has it?

I had a package sent to me in the UK from USA and I had the same issues, I could track via UPS all the way from the seller though various UPS depts which took about 6 days to reach Erlanger and there it seemed lounge for ever before clearing customs and placed into an international bonded warehouse awaiting transferring to a airline for the hop across the pond which also took around 4 to 6 days IIRC before it showed as reaching international destination, another few days awaiting custom clearance and being allocated to a carrier and once that happened, 2 days later I got my parcel. So, have a little more patience and I'm sure it will be OK.

[bd139]

Finally got around to looking at my TF930's power supply situation this evening (until all that Intel shit kicked in). Well I can see why it was discarded. Mine won't charge at all from the AC adapter. It does however power up. Quick measure of the cell voltages shows a rather worryingly low 700mV, 0mV and 65mV per cell. I don't fancy leaving EOL cells in it so I've consulted the service manual and the installed cells and ordered some from CPC (GP 250AFH 2500mAh NiMh). £15 more spent!

THERE ARE ONLY 6 CELLS AVAILABLE FROM CPC AFTER I BOUGHT MINE. GET IN QUICK IF YOU WANT THEM

I will run a quick test once the cells have been removed to see if it will start up and operate without them present. This might be an option for anyone who wants them in a lab setting.

I would suggest any purchasers crack the case open and check the cell voltages once the unit is discharged. If they are under around 800mV or so and/or cell voltages are vastly different it's probably worth removing or swapping them out for new ones. Only do the entire set at once! I want mine with batteries so I've opted to replace. I'll stick a "check batteries by X" sticker to it and make X 5 years.

You can get the service manual here which describes the battery replacement and test process:

http://www.ko4bb.com/getsimple/index.php?id=download&file=06_Misc_Test_Equipment/Thurlby_TTi/Thurlby_TF930_TF960_Service_Guide.pdf

Edit: NOTE - as it says in the instructions if you do this, don't desolder the cells, cut the tabs then remove, seal and discard.

[mnementh]

Holy F*&%ing a%$crackers man, that thing sure IS special... like Special Ed. 

Isn't that the iron they used to wire up the Titanic? Not the SAME AS the iron... but the VERY iron..? 


mnem
- .... .- -     - .... .. -. --. ·----· ...     -... . . -.     .- .-. --- ..- -. -..     ... .. -. -.-. .     -.-. .... .-. .. ... -     .-- .- ...     .. -.     -.. .. .- .--. . .-. ... ·-·-·-

The iron that sunk with the Titanic.

At last, the truth finally comes to light. For over a century, icebergs have been getting a bum rap. 

Pfft.  Get a real soldering iron!   


(U.S. Quarter, 0.95"/24.1mm dia)



-Pat

Pfffft... you and your wussy electric-powered irons; my momma used to use one just like that every day   No seriously; she was a stained-glass artisan, among about a dozen or so other amazing talents. 





A REAL iron is coal-powered like this one! Somewhere in my garage full of stacked 40-gallon bins there's one just like this. Not only that, but I've actually USED it (and several of its brothers) to fill body seams while restoring my '55 Nomad; my grand-dad showed me how.

A different process, yet still familiar; apply powder or stick flux, apply heat with the iron until it liquefies and wicks into the joint, then  stick the iron in your coke oven and grab another one, apply heat and solder from a bar of lead about 2 feet long & 1/2" x 3/4" diameter. You get enough heat to work about 3-4" of seam at a time before you need to grab another iron.

Grand-dad says this was the source of the phrase "Too many irons in the fire", meaning you had so may irons going you didn't know which ones were hot and which ones you'd just put in. I know common wisdom is that this phrase goes much further back to ancient blacksmithing, but history does tend to be very revisionist from one generation to the next, and his version does have an authentic ring to it since he was actually using the tools in a factory at the time the phrase was in common usage.

Finally got around to looking at my TF930's power supply situation this evening (until all that Intel shit kicked in). Well I can see why it was discarded. Mine won't charge at all from the AC adapter. It does however power up. Quick measure of the cell voltages shows a rather worryingly low 700mV, 0mV and 65mV per cell. I don't fancy leaving EOL cells in it so I've consulted the service manual and the installed cells and ordered some from CPC (GP 250AFH 2500mAh NiMh). £15 more spent!

THERE ARE ONLY 6 CELLS AVAILABLE FROM CPC AFTER I BOUGHT MINE. GET IN QUICK IF YOU WANT THEM

I will run a quick test once the cells have been removed to see if it will start up and operate without them present. This might be an option for anyone who wants them in a lab setting.

I would suggest any purchasers crack the case open and check the cell voltages once the unit is discharged. If they are under around 800mV or so and/or cell voltages are vastly different it's probably worth removing or swapping them out for new ones. Only do the entire set at once! I want mine with batteries so I've opted to replace. I'll stick a "check batteries by X" sticker to it and make X 5 years.

You can get the service manual here which describes the battery replacement and test process:

http://www.ko4bb.com/getsimple/index.php?id=download&file=06_Misc_Test_Equipment/Thurlby_TTi/Thurlby_TF930_TF960_Service_Guide.pdf

Edit: NOTE - as it says in the instructions if you do this, don't desolder the cells, cut the tabs then remove, seal and discard.

Mmmhmmm...

It appears these are an "A" size cell; 17mm x 50mm. I see no reason they can't easily be replaced by a commonly available "AA" Cell that measures 14.5 x 49-51mm; there is some variation due to so many manufacturers making them and inclusion of (+) button. Of course that wouldn't be properly "restored", but on the other hand you probably would be guaranteed of getting fresh stock as opposed to possibly getting cells that have been sitting on a shelf for 6 years... or worse, a mix of 2, 4 or 6 year old cells.

Just take the spent cells to your local hardware or Warehouse store; every one of them should have a "battery recycling bucket" or standee somewhere. Or at least they do here in the States...


mnem
I'll gladly solder your iron, but I will NOT iron your clothes.

[Mr. Scram]

Just a quick check: if two items in the same eBay order have issues, do I need to open two disputes or is one enough?

[mnementh]

Just a quick check: if two items in the same eBay order have issues, do I need to open two disputes or is one enough?

If they're both the same auction ID, you can only open one dispute. Itemize the faults carefully. If they're two different auction IDs, you should file separate disputes, especially if they're from different sellers. If two items lost by carrier from two different listings but in the same package (same tracking number) I'd STILL open two different disputes just to CMA.


mnem
We sell only fleas of quality.

[Specmaster]

Finally got around to looking at my TF930's power supply situation this evening (until all that Intel shit kicked in). Well I can see why it was discarded. Mine won't charge at all from the AC adapter. It does however power up. Quick measure of the cell voltages shows a rather worryingly low 700mV, 0mV and 65mV per cell. I don't fancy leaving EOL cells in it so I've consulted the service manual and the installed cells and ordered some from CPC (GP 250AFH 2500mAh NiMh). £15 more spent!

THERE ARE ONLY 6 CELLS AVAILABLE FROM CPC AFTER I BOUGHT MINE. GET IN QUICK IF YOU WANT THEM

I will run a quick test once the cells have been removed to see if it will start up and operate without them present. This might be an option for anyone who wants them in a lab setting.

I would suggest any purchasers crack the case open and check the cell voltages once the unit is discharged. If they are under around 800mV or so and/or cell voltages are vastly different it's probably worth removing or swapping them out for new ones. Only do the entire set at once! I want mine with batteries so I've opted to replace. I'll stick a "check batteries by X" sticker to it and make X 5 years.

You can get the service manual here which describes the battery replacement and test process:

http://www.ko4bb.com/getsimple/index.php?id=download&file=06_Misc_Test_Equipment/Thurlby_TTi/Thurlby_TF930_TF960_Service_Guide.pdf

Edit: NOTE - as it says in the instructions if you do this, don't desolder the cells, cut the tabs then remove, seal and discard.

Oh dear, I thought you had sorted your charging out, hmm, both of mine are charging OK, the first one has GP cells installed, the second, TBH I have no idea, tomorrow I'll check and see, but I'll measure both sets of cells at the same time. If you don't fancy soldering the replacements in, you could always mount battery holders on either side of the power board and get normal AA rechargeables and wire them to the tags where the others came from. There are stand off pillars on the base that could be used to mount the holders and then its possible to cable tie the batteries to the holder to prevent them being shook loose if used as a portable device?

EDIT UPDATE:
Checked both of mine, they are both fitted with GP cells and the lowest voltage is 1.3598V on them so they are good for a while yet. Both are charging OK

[Mr. Scram]

Just a quick check: if two items in the same eBay order have issues, do I need to open two disputes or is one enough?

If they're both the same auction ID, you can only open one dispute. Itemize the faults carefully. If they're two different auction IDs, you should file separate disputes, especially if they're from different sellers. If two items lost by carrier from two different listings but in the same package (same tracking number) I'd STILL open two different disputes just to CMA.


mnem
We sell only fleas of quality.

They're two separate items and auctions from the same seller. I've opened two disputes. I haven't had to deal with issues like these before, so I'm curious what the other side will say.

[Mr. Scram]

The seller responded almost immediately. He fully refunded both items, and I can keep the items. I can't help but feel sorry for the seller. He's been nothing but courteous from beginning 'til end and just got problems in return. I really wanted this deal to work out. Plenty of bastard sellers who actually deserve issues like these, but not this one.

I can see whether I can maybe repair the items. Obviously, I won't quite trust them like I would trust other gear just with an expired calibration, but they might be useful in the lab. I'm not really eager for projects other than my actual projects, but just chucking them in a corner seems a bit wasteful too.

[mnementh]

Be sure to leave positive feedback; it is good for other potential buyers to know a seller has good communication, and that s/he resolves issues quickly. If the issue was shipping related, make sure to let folks know that too. Try to keep your review text brief and factual; a concise description of what was wrong and how the vendor failed or succeeded is much more useful than "Dis guy sucks bunge, don't buy anything from him EVAR!" or "Super Seller!"

If the seller packed well and shipped quick, that's important to let folks know. If they communicated well or quickly, let folks know that too. if they didn't communicate well or shipped slow but otherwise you're pleased, post positive review but knock points off in the appropriate category.

Details are not as important as letting folks know you are satisfied with how the vendor resolved your issue, however; and try to use judgement as to how much you let folks know. If you say "I got a scratched model car and the vendor refunded all my moneyzz!" it invites the scuzzballz who deliberately game the system to dogpile on him and try to take advantage.

"Item damaged in shipping; vendor made it right right away.TYVM!" or "Class act all the way; minor issue, vendor was right on it. Happy customer, WGDBA!" is much better for other eBayers and for the seller.

Of course, if you're really annoyed by a vendor, maybe you WANT to invite said scuzzballs in JUST such a fashion. 

If you get a vendor who packed improperly, AND they don't want to do anything about it, you can demand that they initiate a shipping damage claim with the carrier. If they refuse, escalate to PayPal and use their channels to pressure the vendor. They will usually comply; most don't want to be arsed to do the back & forth required to actually initiate and follow through with a shipping damage claim; they're time & money ahead to just refund.


mnem
*Veteran eBayer since nineteen-mumblety-mumble*

[beanflying]

In the last week

My 11RU rack arrived with a cracked Acrylic window after I removed the film. Seller rang me and messaged me within 20 minutes of me sending them a message with pic.  Entire new door coming my way 

BS stories from Aliexpress and Evilbay too having to drag them kicking and screaming for a refund after 3 1/2 months for one and 55 days ex Hong Kong which should be 10-15 days for non arrival of goods. Had to get Paypal onto the last one. 

Neutral feedback 2 days ago for the tosser who sent me 3 fine finned 100x80 heatsinks in just a plastic bag. The bent bits can be straightened and they are for my own use but that sort of sh1T is bordering on Negative.

Truthful feedback always and if a seller goes above and beyond then I state it and look to use them again.

[TheUnnamedNewbie]

Bleh, shipping fun!

Orderd my HP 8657A on the 21st of December, was shipped on the 22nd. After ''Arrived at USPS Regional Facility '' in Portland it has only got "In Transit to Destination" as status. At first I thought nothing of it, but after it not changing for days I googled, and from what I can tell, "In Transit to Destination" is a status that is shown when the parcel (or container the parcel is in) doesn't pas a scanner for 18 hours. In other words, it would appear that nobody at USPS has seen or heard of my package since the 22nd of december...

Contacted the seller to check if this was common, but they just said "look it says in transit to destination so nothing to worry about", but I am starting to get worried. I would have expected it to at least pass an international shipping facility by now? Original shipping estimate stated that it should be here in belguim between 4th and 8th of december, iirc. USPS also states that the Priority International Package should take 6 to 10 working days to get to destination (depending on customs) which matches the eBay prediction I think.

I am quite confident I'll just get my money back if it is indeed lost, but that doesn't make me feel any better about this matter...

Here is the tracking link: https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction?tRef=fullpage&tLc=2&text28777=&tLabels=CJ543059395US%2C

Nothing to worry about, that is pretty normal with international shipping, it hasn't been handed over to the airline as yet has it?

I had a package sent to me in the UK from USA and I had the same issues, I could track via UPS all the way from the seller though various UPS depts which took about 6 days to reach Erlanger and there it seemed lounge for ever before clearing customs and placed into an international bonded warehouse awaiting transferring to a airline for the hop across the pond which also took around 4 to 6 days IIRC before it showed as reaching international destination, another few days awaiting custom clearance and being allocated to a carrier and once that happened, 2 days later I got my parcel. So, have a little more patience and I'm sure it will be OK.

Yep, this morning they got updated. The parcel got to San Fransisco. I still wonder if they will make their advertised 6-to-10 days. We will see!