Test gear catalogues

[eggplantUK]

When acquiring new bits of test gear, I often find it handy to have the manufacturer's catalogue to hand.  They can show you at-a-glance what exactly a particular model is, the specs, what years a model was produced, what the various add-on options for a model were... and so on.

Unfortunately, old catalogues were often thrown away when they became out-of-date.  This makes some rather scarce nowadays.  Consequently, dealers tend to list them on eBay at very high prices.  I can't afford to be spending hundreds on catalogues - nor can I afford to be cluttering up the place with piles of catalogues!

Fortunately, some kind souls have scanned in some old catalogues - often with the permission of the manufacturer.

My personal poison is Philips test gear (which, of course, merged with Fluke who later bought them out).  I've not seen a Philips catalogue - although I have seen one or two Fluke/Philips catalogues from the late Eighties.  Would anyone have any Philips catalogues?  If so (copyright permitting, of course), I would be most interested in seeing a scan!  Some Avo catalogues would be interesting, too.  I know Megger allowed an Avo data book to be scanned and put online, but required a copyright statement embedded in it - so it might be worth asking in their case.

I have a few Fluke catalogues, a handful of more recent B+K Precision catalogues, a couple of Racal catalogues and a Simpson catalogue, all downloaded at various times.  Then there are the big online collections:

Tektronix - most catalogues up until the turn of the century (I have some short form catalogues from 2009-present, too) - http://w140.com/tekwiki/wiki/Tek_Catalogs

HP/Agilent - most catalogues to date (again, I have the later ones for the most part) - http://www.hparchive.com/hp_catalogs.htm

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated - hopefully there are like-minded people who find these catalogues as interesting as I do!  I don't see any rule prohibiting catalogue upload, but feel free to remove if it's not allowed.  I did do a search, but couldn't find much - a couple of Australian catalogues was about it. 

[Wuerstchenhund]

I'm also often looking for catalogs, but I'm not into antiques so I'm more interested in those from 2000 and later. And these catalogs are often difficult to find in electronic form (much more difficult than it is for pre-2000 catalogs).

The other thing is that for those that can be found, the scans are often poor quality. Unfortunately, aside from needing a good scanner, a catalog will have to be cut off and all pages removed (so essentially destroyed) to get decent scans.

[radiomog]

cool, thank you for sharing.

I have a collection of HP Hardbound catalogs from the 90's and a few from the 2k's
and one or two Keithly.

[sorenkir]

Hi,
There used to be a huge catalog repository there :
http://www.testmart.com/advice/mfgcatalogtmp.cfm
accessible after registration.
But since a few years, every page is marked "Page being processed. Please come back soon.".
Does anyone know what has happened to this database/site ?
Michel.

[eggplantUK]

A shame to hear about testmart.  I know that one of the US dealers has links to "datasheets" which are often the product catalogue, or page from the main catalogue.  I forget which one, though!

I guess my interest is considered "vintage" now!  I'm more into 70s-90s gear, I guess.  Damn... makes me feel old!!

From the 2000s, I have:

Agilent Technologies Test & Measurement Catalog 2000
Agilent Technologies Test & Measurement Catalog 2001
Agilent Technologies Test & Measurement Catalog 2003/4
Agilent Technologies System & Bench Instruments Catalog 2005
Agilent Technologies Test & Measurement Catalog 2011/2
B+K Precision Catalog [2003?]
B+K Precision Catalog [2005?]
B+K Precision Product Catalog Test Instruments & Accessories [2008?]
B+K Precision Test & Measurement Solutions Product Catalog [2010?]
B+K Precision New Products Catalog 2013
B+K Precision 2013/14 Product Catalog
B+K Precision 2015 New Products Catalog
Fluke Test Tools Catalog Volume One, 2007
Fluke Test Tools Catalog 2010/2011
Fluke 2015-2016 Test Tools Catalog

The following are, more often than not, short form catalogues:

Tektronix Product Catalog 2008: Volume 2 [main title says 2009!]
Tektronix Product Catalog 2009: Volume 1
Tektronix Product Catalog 2010: Volume 1
Tektronix Product Catalog 2012: Volume 1
Tektronix Bench Products Catalog 2012, Volume 7
Tektronix Bench Products Catalog 2013, Volume 1
Tektronix Product Catalog 2014, Volume 1
Tektronix Bench Products Catalog 2014, Volume 3

If anything would be of interest, let me know!

As for destructive scanning, I would recommend going down the book scanner method.  Apparently (in America, at least) they have community centres with book scanners that can be used.  If not, you could build one yourself - in its simplest form, it's a V-shaped cradle with glass (V-shaped, preferably) to press the pages flat.  There's a bracket for a camera, which keeps it parallel with the page(s) - two cameras can be used to photograph both sides simultaneously.  There are even plans available to build one that moves the parts into place!

http://www.diybookscanner.org/

[Wuerstchenhund]

From the 2000s, I have:

Agilent Technologies Test & Measurement Catalog 2000
Agilent Technologies Test & Measurement Catalog 2001
Agilent Technologies Test & Measurement Catalog 2003/4
Agilent Technologies System & Bench Instruments Catalog 2005
Agilent Technologies Test & Measurement Catalog 2011/2

I'd be interested in all of them - in electronic form though 

As for destructive scanning, I would recommend going down the book scanner method.  Apparently (in America, at least) they have community centres with book scanners that can be used.  If not, you could build one yourself - in its simplest form, it's a V-shaped cradle with glass (V-shaped, preferably) to press the pages flat.  There's a bracket for a camera, which keeps it parallel with the page(s) - two cameras can be used to photograph both sides simultaneously.  There are even plans available to build one that moves the parts into place!

The problem with book scanners is that you have to turn the pages manually, which with some catalogs exceeding 700 pages isn't fun.

The other thing is that they seem to be pretty rare to find these days (at least in the parts I'm around), probably because of fear of copyright issues.

As to the selfmade units, it's quite difficult to built one where there's no distortion because of the glass, the optics or how it is mounted, and if there is distortion then the scans won't be really good.

I still think the most sensible way would be to sacrifice a single copy of a catalog and scan it properly.

[eggplantUK]

They're all the original PDFs from the manufacturers' websites.  Here you go:

https://mega.co.nz/#F!18l3HBhR!_cae2JBSTMfFGlATLDZHYw

Book scanners have as much legal implication as a photocopier - that's not the issue.  You're allowed to copy a part of a book, anyway, for research.  The main issue is cost - even the kit one would cost hundreds.  Especially if you count the camera(s) in it.

Actually, you CAN get book scanners that turn pages, usually with a suction device.  However, that adds expense and potential damage.  I wouldn't bother, personally.  A decent book scanner would basically be a "lift - click - turn page - repeat" operation using two cameras.  Sure, a 700 page catalogue might take half an hour to scan like that... but hey, you could sell the original after and save shelf space ;-) lol

If anyone has any missing manuals in PDF format, I'd love to see them!

[eggplantUK]

As I missed this post on BWD catalogue scans, I thought I'd link it here, too!

I've got one or two more catalogues.... when I've got round to scanning them in, I'll update again for those interested.