Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

So who would like a "Tektronix 7603 Oscilloscope 7A18(2) and 7B53A" for £1. The picture shows a clean 7633 storage scope with 4 traces.

It is only 10 miles from bd, and will be easy to transport in a car.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/hobbies-collectibles/tektronix-7603-oscilloscope-7a18-2-and-7b53a/1434985945

I doubt it is just £1. Yes the headline says that and is a common ploy on these types of sales platforms, but read a bit further on and it reads thus.

"Description

Tektronix 7603 Oscilloscope 7A18(2) dual trace amplifiers and 7B53A dual time base.

All working. Available to serious considerations, don't be shy.

Ad ID: 1434985945"

The £1 is safe to say, is like the opening bid in an auction, but when I see that last bit mentioned, I switch off and move on.

The "Available to serious considerations" puzzled me, but your explanation is plausible.

Two other things puzzled me. The bloke knows how to turn it on and gets 4 traces but thinks it is only worth £1, and he confuses 7603 vs 7633.

So then... did you get them for the £1 as advertised or not??

[Vince]

But this week I saw this ad :

https://www.leboncoin.fr/bricolage/2171536160.htm

Title just says " various oscilloscopes" and the full description/body of the ad just says :  " A couple Tek and one HP, in working order ".

What's in the box ?

Well OK... I just received my cheap HP 54645D MSO..... let's open it together...

First questions that need to be answered, given that the only pic we have shows nothing but the front panel :

1) Is there any cosmetic or physical damage to the cabinet / cover ? Do we have a cover to begin with ? You just can't tell from the pic.

2) Is the plastic rear cover cracked or... well plain missing, we can't know.

3) Does it come bare bone or is there a module attached to the back of it, if so which one ?

4) Picture shows life on the CRT but it's blurry... is the CRT actually having problem or is it fine and it's just the picture that's blurry ?

5) Display shows a couple traces, that's a good start, but can it actually display input signals ? Does it work ? We just don't know.

6) Is the front panel cracked, was it dropped, is the main board cracked and the scope doing all sorts of random weird stuff ?!

7) Of course by far the most important question of all : what Easter egg does it come with ! 

So let me unpack this thing and report. In the meantime you can place your bets...

[Specmaster]

You have to put a price in on gumtree.

It’s what it is in the picture. Nothing more. No description should be considered.

Hmm, but Gumtree are not very good at policing anything are they.

[xrunner]

More mugs, and more mugs ...

[Specmaster]

But this week I saw this ad :

https://www.leboncoin.fr/bricolage/2171536160.htm

Title just says " various oscilloscopes" and the full description/body of the ad just says :  " A couple Tek and one HP, in working order ".

What's in the box ?

Well OK... I just received my cheap HP 54645D MSO..... let's open it together...

First questions that need to be answered, gtiven that the only pic we have shows nothing but the front panel :

1) is there any cosmetic or physical damage to the cabinet / cover ? Do we have a cover to begin with ? You just can't tell from the pic.

2) is the plastic rear cover cracked or... well plain missing, we can't know.

3) does it come bare bone or is there a module attached to the back of it, if so which one ?

4) picture show life on the CRT but it's blurry... is the CRT actually having problem or is it fine and it's just the picture that's blurry ?

5) Display shows a couple traces, that's a good start, but can it actually display in put signal ? Does it work ? We just don't know.

6) is the front panel cracked, was it dropped, is the main board cracked and the scope doing all sorts of random weird stuff ?!

7) of course by far the most important question of all : what Easter egg does it come with ! 

So let me unpack this thing and report. In the meantime you can place your bets...

Straight off the bat, that box does not fill me with confidence that it has been well packed. 

[bd139]

Hmm, but Gumtree are not very good at policing anything are they.

No they don't care about what is listed. Buyer beware. Not bothered about that.

So then... did you get them for the £1 as advertised or not??

Haven't contacted him yet. Been working all morning so not had the time. On lunch now so on it.

Just got the post through. The Knipex'es are joined by the cheap ass Xcelite 170M's as I'm not worth spending Lindstrom money on 

[Cerebus]

Then please kiss it and make it better. 

That might just be worse than that picture of the 80 year old stripper 

No, I've NEVER seen anything worse than the geriatric stripper.     (And please, you clowns, DON'T take that as a challenge - it's simply an observation.    )

-Pat

Oh I have. If anybody wants a salutary safety reminder google "hydraulic injection degloving injury" on an empty stomach.

[bd139]

Seen that. Unimpressed.

I'm the guy who was thinking about cornish pasties and feeling rather peckish when my ex wife was mid c-section and I could smell, hear and see it and had a blood covered newborn in my arms

Have messaged scope dude.

[Vince]

But this week I saw this ad :

https://www.leboncoin.fr/bricolage/2171536160.htm

Title just says " various oscilloscopes" and the full description/body of the ad just says :  " A couple Tek and one HP, in working order ".

What's in the box ?

Well OK... I just received my cheap HP 54645D MSO..... let's open it together...

First questions that need to be answered, gtiven that the only pic we have shows nothing but the front panel :

1) is there any cosmetic or physical damage to the cabinet / cover ? Do we have a cover to begin with ? You just can't tell from the pic.

2) is the plastic rear cover cracked or... well plain missing, we can't know.

3) does it come bare bone or is there a module attached to the back of it, if so which one ?

4) picture show life on the CRT but it's blurry... is the CRT actually having problem or is it fine and it's just the picture that's blurry ?

5) Display shows a couple traces, that's a good start, but can it actually display in put signal ? Does it work ? We just don't know.

6) is the front panel cracked, was it dropped, is the main board cracked and the scope doing all sorts of random weird stuff ?!

7) of course by far the most important question of all : what Easter egg does it come with ! 

So let me unpack this thing and report. In the meantime you can place your bets...

Straight off the bat, that box does not fill me with confidence that it has been well packed.

You bad mouth, to the contrary it's one of the nicest package I have ever received from sellers on that website !
It feels solid and when I shake it there is not the slightest of feel of the scope or any small part moving around. Nothing feels loose at all.

British packing standard are clearly two orders of magnitude higher than French ones ! 

[bd139]

British packing standard are clearly two orders of magnitude higher than French ones ! 

Hell no. We are the worst.

[tggzzz]

So who would like a "Tektronix 7603 Oscilloscope 7A18(2) and 7B53A" for £1. The picture shows a clean 7633 storage scope with 4 traces.

It is only 10 miles from bd, and will be easy to transport in a car.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/hobbies-collectibles/tektronix-7603-oscilloscope-7a18-2-and-7b53a/1434985945

I doubt it is just £1. Yes the headline says that and is a common ploy on these types of sales platforms, but read a bit further on and it reads thus.

"Description

Tektronix 7603 Oscilloscope 7A18(2) dual trace amplifiers and 7B53A dual time base.

All working. Available to serious considerations, don't be shy.

Ad ID: 1434985945"

The £1 is safe to say, is like the opening bid in an auction, but when I see that last bit mentioned, I switch off and move on.

The "Available to serious considerations" puzzled me, but your explanation is plausible.

Two other things puzzled me. The bloke knows how to turn it on and gets 4 traces but thinks it is only worth £1, and he confuses 7603 vs 7633.

So then... did you get them for the £1 as advertised or not??

Didn't even consider it: too big, too far, don't like Tek 7k series' reliability, already have a surprisingly useful DM63 dual-beam analogue storage scope complete with manuals and card extender.

[Specmaster]

Sorry, I was getting confused there, the scope was BD, the Solartron meters, how did you get on there?

[Specmaster]

But this week I saw this ad :

https://www.leboncoin.fr/bricolage/2171536160.htm

Title just says " various oscilloscopes" and the full description/body of the ad just says :  " A couple Tek and one HP, in working order ".

What's in the box ?

Well OK... I just received my cheap HP 54645D MSO..... let's open it together...

First questions that need to be answered, gtiven that the only pic we have shows nothing but the front panel :

1) is there any cosmetic or physical damage to the cabinet / cover ? Do we have a cover to begin with ? You just can't tell from the pic.

2) is the plastic rear cover cracked or... well plain missing, we can't know.

3) does it come bare bone or is there a module attached to the back of it, if so which one ?

4) picture show life on the CRT but it's blurry... is the CRT actually having problem or is it fine and it's just the picture that's blurry ?

5) Display shows a couple traces, that's a good start, but can it actually display in put signal ? Does it work ? We just don't know.

6) is the front panel cracked, was it dropped, is the main board cracked and the scope doing all sorts of random weird stuff ?!

7) of course by far the most important question of all : what Easter egg does it come with ! 

So let me unpack this thing and report. In the meantime you can place your bets...

Straight off the bat, that box does not fill me with confidence that it has been well packed.

You bad mouth, to the contrary it's one of the nicest package I have ever received from sellers on that website !
It feels solid and when I shake it there is not the slightest of feel of the scope or any small part moving around. Nothing feels loose at all.

British packing standard are clearly two orders of magnitude higher than French ones ! 

Opened it up yet?

[bd139]

Didn't even consider it: too big, too far, don't like Tek 7k series' reliability, already have a surprisingly useful DM63 dual-beam analogue storage scope complete with manuals and card extender.

I'm not sure how you can possibly mention Tektronix 7k series reliability issues and Telequipment being useful in the same sentence without causing a universe destroying paradox

[tggzzz]

Sorry, I was getting confused there, the scope was BD, the Solartron meters, how did you get on there?

Picking them up tomorrow

[tggzzz]

Didn't even consider it: too big, too far, don't like Tek 7k series' reliability, already have a surprisingly useful DM63 dual-beam analogue storage scope complete with manuals and card extender.

I'm not sure how you can possibly mention Tektronix 7k series reliability issues and Telequipment being useful in the same sentence without causing a universe destroying paradox

Experience with Tek 7k >40 years ago and a Tek464 a couple of years ago, plus lack of experience of Telequipment

Plus dual beam, not dual channel - which is important for capturing two one-off traces that are too fast for chop mode.

[Specmaster]

Sorry, I was getting confused there, the scope was BD, the Solartron meters, how did you get on there?

Picking them up tomorrow

Good, they have to be well worth it, even for spares of eBay flips, they must be worth a magnitude more than the asking price  We want photos as well.

[Cerebus]

Nah I want a couple of 7000 series plugins and this is a convenient mainframe for them as it’s storage based.

And the modern LCD instrument isn't ? 

Yeah got one of those 

But it doesn’t take 7000 plug-ins 

I have a large hammer and some chisels...

[Specmaster]

Didn't even consider it: too big, too far, don't like Tek 7k series' reliability, already have a surprisingly useful DM63 dual-beam analogue storage scope complete with manuals and card extender.

I'm not sure how you can possibly mention Tektronix 7k series reliability issues and Telequipment being useful in the same sentence without causing a universe destroying paradox

Experience with Tek 7k >40 years ago and a Tek464 a couple of years ago, plus lack of experience of Telequipment

Plus dual beam, not dual channel - which is important for capturing two one-off traces that are too fast for chop mode.

Yeah, I liked my old dual beam Cossor.

[Specmaster]

Nah I want a couple of 7000 series plugins and this is a convenient mainframe for them as it’s storage based.

And the modern LCD instrument isn't ? 

Yeah got one of those 

But it doesn’t take 7000 plug-ins 

I have a large hammer and some chisels...

That made me laugh 

[Cerebus]

So who would like a "Tektronix 7603 Oscilloscope 7A18(2) and 7B53A" for £1. The picture shows a clean 7633 storage scope with 4 traces.

It is only 10 miles from bd, and will be easy to transport in a car.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/hobbies-collectibles/tektronix-7603-oscilloscope-7a18-2-and-7b53a/1434985945

On it 

Once I’m off the bloody phone 

Its a big old boat anchor that you will also have to move to your new flat whenever that is.

How will you handle future boat anchor purchases if you get rid of your car?

Hello Uber? 

Phone "Hire a Chinhook^*?"

^* The helicopter, not the type requested by "chinstrapped" squaddies.

[Cerebus]

Seen that. Unimpressed.

I'm the guy who was thinking about cornish pasties and feeling rather peckish when my ex wife was mid c-section and I could smell, hear and see it and had a blood covered newborn in my arms

Have messaged scope dude.

In my late teens/early twenties I used to regularly sit down to dine with a bunch of working nurses* who, as one does, discussed their working day over dinner. I have a good imagination, I don't need pictures. Consequently it's very difficult to put me off my food with gore.

* One of whom, Jacqui, used to work on the same wards/shifts as the comedian Jo Brand. Consequently I saw some of Jo's very first few gigs when she was still billing herself as "The Sea Monster". Also used to serve her a pint or two of snakebite in the Union bar most evenings.

[EEVblog]

While I do appreciate the irony of being bitch-slapped with my own emojis... I do have to say just once: I'm really getting tired of being blamed for it when med decides to be a dick to me. If I let it slide, he gets away with it. If I call him on it, then I get blamed for it just as bad as him. It's a lose-lose situation for me.

I really thought we were better than the usual 12-year-old playground politics of Furkbook and the like.

Cheers,

mnem
I'm all out of pithy comments.

I tried to ask nicely, don't push it.
Simply don't respond to people, don't call anyone on anything, don't blame anyone for anything, just stop it ok?

[Vince]

What's in the box ?
Well OK... I just received my cheap HP 54645D MSO..... let's open it together...

Opened it up yet?

YES ! Just done uploading the pics to the computer, here they are.

It is a perfect example of what I was trying to explain to Papa Smurf skepticism about ads that don't tick all his boxes. How it's not just how people think here.

So, case at hand : that HP MSO scope with just a single blurry shot of the front, zero info other than "in working order", not "even stating the model number, for only 100 euros... what do we get once unpacked ?

1) Top notch packing sorry Spec.... with 80mm of foam to protect the front panel and also the back of the scope. 40/50mm foam on the sides. It is unheard of in French territory. If your average joe in your country is better than that, lucky you. For France, it's 5 start packing.  And the scope did survive the shipping just fine.

2) Pic was showing the scope for dead on, zero glimpse of the covers. Trying to hide missing or damaged cover then ? No. cover is there, and in perfect mechanical and cosmetic condition. Rear cover is there too because well... you know why. Unlike my old Tek scopes with a metal cover and seperate plastic rear cover, the HP has one single buig plastic molding cover that includes the rear as well. Just one huge piece  of plastic.

3) No pic of the back and no specs stated... trying to hide the lack of module at the back ? Nope, I DO have a module at the back !!!    It's a serial and // module, cool, I can have a lot of fun with that 

4) See what' on the scope ?.... yes a looooovely HP clothe pouch ! That was NOT to be seen on the picture in his ad ! So I even get bonus stuff that was not even advertised !

5) Pouch is empty for sure, you say !? See for yourself....

- Power cord

- Thick paper copy of the user manual, also include instructions on how to tweak the guts of the scope to calibrate it.

- x2 original x10 HP probes , model HP 10074B. One is missing the grabber,how shocking will ask my money back 

- The FREAKING DIGITAL CABLE /probe is there !!!!!       
even has ALL its mini grabbers, 17 of them not 16, even have one spare ! Actually have THREE spares : there is also a couple Tek branded grabbers in the lot !

Do you think guy thought of stating all the above in his ad, and taking pics of it like I just did ? No ! Just a single pic of a blurry front panel, zero information not even the scope model number, not even showing the pouch on top !
Vince once again took a gamble and was EXTREMELY WELL rewarded !

Just like my HP 33120A HP counter the other day, from an ad that DID look extremely fishy even by my standards, cost only 100 Euros instead of 500 Euros going price here, and turned out to work 100% perfect and with a healthy VFD and even have the best time base / OCXO option which was "of course" not even specified in the ad !

I hope this illustrates my point with regards to French sellers. If you expect them to act logically and think the worse every time.... you just don't understand the psychology of people here and miss on superb bargains. So I will keep following my instinct and populate my lab with cool stuff for much cheaper on Leboncoin.fr than I could get them on Ebay.


OK so now for the damage, all I can see from the outside see below, is a small crack on the top right corner of the front panel. Not on the edge though, but on the back edge. Not done during shipping.
I think it was probably due to some guy trying to pry the scope open, not knowing how to take it apart. The tiny knob at the bottom left of the front panel, that controls the CRT brightness, was partially dislodged. I pushed a bit on it and it went back into position.

So I think the guy took it apart and was a bit of a monkey / cave man with it, as most people are sadly. So there might be monkey damage inside. Also if he opened it in the first place, it's probably because there was something wring with the scope, one can plausibly assume.... so the future is still uncertain...

But looking at the outside, can't see any blatant sign of it being dropped. Now let's crap it open for quick a sanity check, then power it up.... stay tuned...

[mnementh]

   

Holy sheepdip, Vince... you got the whole kit and two caboodles there. Good score! 



EDIT: IIRC, you should be able to plug that unit into your prehistoric LaserJet or a compatible plotter and print waveforms directly from it.

Here's that manual:

mnem
*toddles off to do something constructive*