Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[xrunner]

Well it's Sat night and I was thinking "have I seen all of your benches before?" I just re-arranged some stuff so I thought I'd snap a shot and post it. If you feel like it post yours so we can all drool over each other's test equipment (well not literally of course). I need some ideas as to what to go for on Ebay ...

 

[bd139]

Looking good. Well lit, lots of cool stuff and tidy  .

Which is the diametric opposite of mine  .... Not a lot of test gear out these days. Mainly radio paraphernalia. Test gear mainly goes through. This is all keeper stuff though.

There's a hole where the copy of EMRFD is currently unceremoniously dumped which needs to be filled however. A 34401A might go in there if it doesn't go for stupid money. Also have semi-dibs on an HP SA which will live on top of the drawers to the left and replace the printer currently sitting up there as test gear is far more important than printers. Unfortunately it's an SK sale so I'm betting on everyone else being cheaper than me.



Bench porn always appreciated!

Anyway just seen the time so bed.

[med6753]

Bench pron. A few hours ago it was a mess with a 465 spread out with tools, soldering iron, etc.

[xrunner]

Nice setups guys. Good use of space and decent selection of test equipment. I likes! 

Very interesting to see how people use their space.

[Specmaster]

I wish I had the space you do med6753, here is a couple of shots of my cramped space, the 2 scopes sit on a computer desk to my left with just enough space to squeeze between it and my bench/desk to leave the room. Beneath those 2 scopes, sits a 3rd Hitachi scope and that big arse fan is required to keep me as cool as possible in cramped space it gets over 30C and my main bench is very cramped with just about 18" of space from the edge of the bench to the test gear, if I'm lucky that it is.

All of my many multimeters and signal generators occupy space on other shelves behind the scopes and on the floor in the case of the RF signal generator seeing as its a heavy beast.

[xrunner]

Nice Specmaster. I see some of the same DMMs I have (I have more on another wall).

Good stacks! 

[Specmaster]

Yes xrunner, I can see you have a HP3466A, nice meters.

[med6753]

I wish I had the space you do med6753, here is a couple of shots of my cramped space, the 2 scopes sit on a computer desk to my left with just enough space to squeeze between it and my bench/desk to leave the room. Beneath those 2 scopes, sits a 3rd Hitachi scope and that big arse fan is required to keep me as cool as possible in cramped space it gets over 30C and my main bench is very cramped with just about 18" of space from the edge of the bench to the test gear, if I'm lucky that it is.

All of my many multimeters and signal generators occupy space on other shelves behind the scopes and on the floor in the case of the RF signal generator seeing as its a heavy beast.

Something like a 465 or similar take up almost all the available space. But I can easily move the 2465 twins if necessary. But something like this 7603 would never fit which is one reason why I built the scope cart. I would have to do most of the servicing there rather than the bench. 

[GregDunn]

Yes, it's messy, but I'm in the middle of repairing an amp right now and didn't really feel like putting everything away just to haul it all back out again in a few minutes.     If only the local Fry's had a proper stock of 5% resistors I'd probably have been finished a few days ago.  Say what you want about Radio Shack, they always had resistors and diodes in stock - even at the tiny local stores.

[orin]

Digikey have 1% resistor kits.  I have a few of them.  Even if I've run out of the 'exact' value, the next value up or down will do the trick to replace a 5% resistor.

Shame about the Radio Shack. stores  They certainly were useful at times.

[bitseeker]

I don't seem to find any bargains in the wrong categories these days though, best I had was this HP (Hernia Producer) digital recorder/clock combo listed under antiques a few years back in Austria.

Hernia producer (HP). Looks cool, though.

[bitseeker]

In other TEA stuff. I cleaned up this RCA WO-505A including spray painting the cabinet. Came out pretty good considering it's been beat. Electrically it needs a lot of work.

Enclosure looks great!

...that's a 5KHz square wave at 0.5V p-p. To say it looks shitty is an understatement.

OK, it looks artsy, then.

Holy crap.....got a response...the seller accepted my offer. 

So..........I've got a 465B with DM44 coming. It includes all manuals. It's got some physical damage but I can swap over the parts from mine. I realize the "B" has quite a few changes from the 465 but I can deal with it.   

Awesome! With the DM44, too.

[bitseeker]

I decided some time ago that I had more than enough power supplies, yet somehow I've managed to buy a tiny HP 721A recently and also found this nice Harrison 320V power supply for a price I just couldn't resist, just praying GSP don't stuff it up or lose it.

Cool. The price of old power supplies tends to be proportional to the voltage, even if the wattage is less. Those 300+V ones usually have a premium on them.

[Cubdriver]

I don't seem to find any bargains in the wrong categories these days though, best I had was this HP (Hernia Producer) digital recorder/clock combo listed under antiques a few years back in Austria.

Hernia producer (HP). Looks cool, though.

Yeah, that's beautiful.  I've had my eye out for one of those for a long time now...

-Pat

[GregDunn]

Digikey have 1% resistor kits.  I have a few of them.  Even if I've run out of the 'exact' value, the next value up or down will do the trick to replace a 5% resistor.

Shame about the Radio Shack. stores  They certainly were useful at times.

Yup, I've about decided to get one of those and update my resistor stock.  It's tragic when Fry's has hundreds of resistor slots on their display, and half of them are either empty, mis-stocked, or in a pile of loose packages under the shelving.  The associates clearly don't care about re-stocking or sorting them; I'm not even going to bother looking next time.

They used to have some test equipment such as scopes, power supplies, etc. set up for display.  When I was thinking about a scope, I went to look them over and push a few buttons.  I can be swayed to spend a few extra dollars if I get to handle the gear and verify that it does what I want.  But no, now they just have a few low-end items in sealed boxes at higher prices than I can get next-day shipped from Amazon.  Retail stores are killing themselves.

Radio Shack back in the 70s had all kinds of enclosures, switches, components, and drawer after drawer of piece parts that they didn't want out on display.  A few minutes of searching and you could find something useful for your emergency repair or custom project without having to mail-order a part or drive 50 miles to the next city.  As a college friend once said, "It's the place where you can buy an op-amp on a Sunday afternoon."  Not the cheapest, but sometimes what you desperately needed.  Once they went down the road of cheap consumer electronics, phones and R/C parts, it was inevitable that they'd lose the hobbyist market which sustained them for years.

[med6753]

Digikey have 1% resistor kits.  I have a few of them.  Even if I've run out of the 'exact' value, the next value up or down will do the trick to replace a 5% resistor.

Shame about the Radio Shack. stores  They certainly were useful at times.

Yup, I've about decided to get one of those and update my resistor stock.  It's tragic when Fry's has hundreds of resistor slots on their display, and half of them are either empty, mis-stocked, or in a pile of loose packages under the shelving.  The associates clearly don't care about re-stocking or sorting them; I'm not even going to bother looking next time.

They used to have some test equipment such as scopes, power supplies, etc. set up for display.  When I was thinking about a scope, I went to look them over and push a few buttons.  I can be swayed to spend a few extra dollars if I get to handle the gear and verify that it does what I want.  But no, now they just have a few low-end items in sealed boxes at higher prices than I can get next-day shipped from Amazon.  Retail stores are killing themselves.

Radio Shack back in the 70s had all kinds of enclosures, switches, components, and drawer after drawer of piece parts that they didn't want out on display.  A few minutes of searching and you could find something useful for your emergency repair or custom project without having to mail-order a part or drive 50 miles to the next city.  As a college friend once said, "It's the place where you can buy an op-amp on a Sunday afternoon."  Not the cheapest, but sometimes what you desperately needed.  Once they went down the road of cheap consumer electronics, phones and R/C parts, it was inevitable that they'd lose the hobbyist market which sustained them for years.

I've heard about Fry's several times but never seen or been in one. I guess they are more of a West Coast thing (Los Angeles, etc). And aren't they famous for doing body cavity searches after you check out and before you leave the store? 

Agree about Radio Shack. Not the cheapest, not the highest quality.....but you could usually find something in a pinch to adapt to your needs. The last time I was in one it was 90% cell phones. 

[VK5RC]

X runner Re gear, and limits, I think I am getting pretty close, might sell some of the not so good stuff.
About average state of tidyness.

[Specmaster]

I see that our scammer was back again today on Ebay with a nice Keithley 2000 for a mouth watering £3.75 on BIN. Samo MO as last time but when I went to visit the sale for the second time to report it, it had been taken down. Did Ebay spot it or did someone else report it?

[Berni]

X runner Re gear, and limits, I think I am getting pretty close, might sell some of the not so good stuff.
About average state of tidyness.

That's quite the pile of test gear.

Do i spy a bit of volt-nuttery going in the left shelves?

EDIT: Oh actually it says so on the box of "Voltnut cables" Sitting nicely on top of what look like two HP 3458As

[bd139]

I see that our scammer was back again today on Ebay with a nice Keithley 2000 for a mouth watering £3.75 on BIN. Samo MO as last time but when I went to visit the sale for the second time to report it, it had been taken down. Did Ebay spot it or did someone else report it?

My script is running reporting the bastard so hopefully it’s that

He’s listing the same items over and over again so he’s using a desktop listing tool with cracked credentials by the looks. I’ve reported him 31 times now

[Brumby]

I just showed that photo:

to SWMBO and declared: "SEE!  I'm not that bad!!" pointing to my modest setup.

Her response - "Well, if we pull out all your bits and pieces..."

I plaintively protested: "But that's only his work bench .... !!!" as she was leaving the room.


I'm never going to win, am I?

[bd139]

I did the same. I got one eyebrow which is the “not over my dead body” look 

[URI]

I see that our scammer was back again today on Ebay with a nice Keithley 2000 for a mouth watering £3.75 on BIN. Samo MO as last time but when I went to visit the sale for the second time to report it, it had been taken down. Did Ebay spot it or did someone else report it?

My script is running reporting the bastard so hopefully it’s that

He’s listing the same items over and over again so he’s using a desktop listing tool with cracked credentials by the looks. I’ve reported him 31 times now

I reported four items of that guy just at the top of the list of my search for interesting Test Gear sorted by newly listed) by hand last night, including a Keithley 2000 and an HP 3458.

If your script is working fine now, I'll watch it doing it's job next time.   

Is your script working through ebay.com and other localized sites (e.g. ebay.de) or only through ebay.co.uk?

[bd139]

Keep your eyes peeled if they stay around as my script keeps falling over. I’ve packed a ton of stuff into the $5 VPS it’s running on and efficiency wasn’t considered (I got bored before I got to that stage of the engineering process)

I’m only hitting eBay.co.uk searches at the moment but that appears to scoop up them all. Worldwide is essentially ticked on the search it does.

[Specmaster]

Oh good job done there then, but I wish it was lawful to remove the bastard permanently with a swift surgical sniper shot to the head