In an effort to get things back on track before we go TOO far off into the weed(s) (poor pun intended), let's get back to the addiction that is the inspiration for this thread. Here are some quick pics of the additions to my ever lengthening repair queue that have added their mass to my long suffering floor joists over the past month or two.
A very old HP 350B distortion analyzer. This one is pre-1960 as it has the old style serial number. I believe that it's actually old enough that the wooden case is its factory enclosure, but haven't yet opened it up.
You forgot the warning.
Haha - my first thought was "it's not that much of a boat anchor", but I just grabbed the bathroom scale and put it on and discovered it's around 40 lbs, so I guess it does kind of qualify in that regard... (Though I'm not yet sure how much of that mass id either mud dauber or mouse nests - some crap that didn't come from the factory trickles out the holes when it's moved around and turned upside down or on its side. Blechh! At least what's coming out is dry as dust.)
An old US Navy wigglescope, originally made by Hickock Instruments:
Did Jack Ganssle do a random draw on one of those earlier this year? Maybe not the same model.
That I cannot answer. I snagged it at the VRCMCT swap meet last week for $10. Thought it was cool enough to drop a ten spot on it.
An HP 4350A High Capacitance Meter:
Wow, up to 600V bias.
Yeah, I don't recall ever seeing one of those and found it while poking about on our favorite auction site a few weeks ago. I need to STOP visiting there!
A 3734A Counter. I hate people/companies that engrave instrument faces.
Yeah, that's pretty wicked. Right up there with scraping stickers off with a screwdriver. Nice choobs, though.
Indeed - it has the big round ones. Seeing that it has an engraved front panel, maybe I'll get really ambitious and try doing a complete strip and refinish of it after sanding the offending scratches out. In my 'spare' time.
A rather forlorn looking 6205B dual power supply:
That'll probably look pretty nice after cleaning the face and polishing those screw heads.
That is my hope. Some Windex, Goo-Gone, IPA, methanol and elbow grease and I think it'll look a lot better.
A 6051A Electronic Load - been watching these for a while, but kept either missing them or they went for too much $$:
Yeah, a lot of HP gear goes for a lot of $$. The 6051A is a nice size. It bigger brother is quite a monster. I have the middle child, 6060B.
I'd like to have gotten its bigger brother, but those REALLY go for stupid $$. I figure it will come in handy for testing all these power supplies I now find myself with.
And lastly, another one that's been ridden hard and put up wet - an 8654B signal generator. The innards are mostly tuning cavity:
How are those for general use? Still in spec and stable after all these years? They're yet another piece of the modular enclosure line.
That remains to be seen - have to fix the power button for a start, and it looks like the output connector is missing a leaf on the center contact. Not a showstopper for initial testing, but it will have to go once it's fixed.
-Pat