XPost: sci.electronics.design
From: user@example.net
On 4/4/2024 9:12 PM, Phil Hobbs wrote:
> bitrex wrote:
>> On 4/4/2024 7:56 AM, Phil Hobbs wrote:
>>> Klaus Vestergaard Kragelund wrote:
>>>> On 01-04-2024 09:01, Jan Panteltje wrote:
>>>>> On a sunny day (Sun, 31 Mar 2024 18:41:18 +0100) it happened Cursitor
Doom
>>>>> wrote in <9k7j0jlnbhs8qfg5m17pium0835m
ean83@4ax.com>:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm starting to get a bit fed up with having my test equipment blow up
>>>>>> just when it's needed. This is the drawback with vintage gear; if it's
>>>>>> not used frequently then it can go *bang* the next time you switch it
>>>>>> on. It makes for good practice in repairing stuff, but wastes a lot of
>>>>>> time which could be better spent doing other things.
>>>>>> I think it's time I modernised my test gear. I was just wondering if
>>>>>> anyone has any recommendations they can share. Is there a particular
>>>>>> piece of test equipment you couldn't live without? Something you're
>>>>>> particularly impressed with? I'd be interested to know so I can
>>>>>> perhaps acquire said item and thereby reduce the number of explosions
>>>>>> I experience.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> CD.
>>>>>
>>>>> My 10 MHz Trio dual trace analog scope is from 1979 or there about, I
>>>>> blew up a channal once myself in the first week
>>>>> when I accidently touched a booster diode in a TV I was repairing with
>>>>> it, fixed it locating the problem with the other channel.
>>>>> Later I cracked the graticule when a soldering station fell on it from
>>>>> the table (scope stands on the ground)
>>>>> Made a new graticule.
>>>>> So, and still working perfectly, OK for all things I build with micros.
>>>>> For RF to about 1.6 GHz I use RTL_SDR USB sticks and the spectrum
analyzer I wrote.
>>>>> and for AC DC measurements I have some made in China digital meters and
an analog one.
>>>>> also a Voltcraft clamp-on meter for current when you do not - or cannot
>>>>> interrupt things with the meter impedance.
>>>>> Also have a Voltcraft soldering station.
>>>>> Blew up one of my digital meters a while back (volts on the resistance
>>>>> scale) but fixed it again (replaced resistor).
>>>>> Many other test equipment I designed and build, like amplifiers LF and
>>>>> RF, SWR meter, radiation meters, gamma spectrometer,
>>>>> GHz stuff for satelite, transmitters low and very high power, what not,
>>>>> a frequency converter to use the RTL-SDR sticks and so the spectrum
>>>>> analyzer on higher and lower frequencies.
>>>>> Have a SARK100 SWR analyzer too.
>>>>> Things last forever here...
>>>>> Scope used on a regular basis..
>>>>> RTL-SDR stick 24/7.
>>>>> Digital meters used every day.
>>>>> Use my self designed lab power supply every day..
>>>>> What more do you need?
>>>>> Learn to use the stuff, understand what's important, and that is it
>>>>> When I started in electronics as a kid I did not even _have_ a meter,
>>>>> still stuff worked.
>>>>> Build my own scope at some point back then
>>>>> when I somehow got the parts
>>>>> Not much pocket mony as a kid.
>>>>> UNDERSTAND your systems, what electrons do.
>>>>> Showing of with boat anchors may impress people, especially the
clueless...
>>>>> But it does not help you one bit.
>>>>> Anything with an accuracy better than 1 percent in most cases is just
>>>>> like apes screaming load trying to impress other apes.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Very true about specifically the 1% statement. Sidebar, at an earlier
>>>> employment, we needed to equip a new lab. Guys wanted GHz scopes. When
>>>> asked if the ever looked at edges faster than 1ns, no one did.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> It’s true that there are a lot of relatively undemanding jobs in
>>> electronics. You can get on fine with a 200-MHz scope if all you’re doing
>>> is PIC and Pi and ham radio and analog TV.
>>>
>>> It’s also true that you can often make do with what you have—the most
>>> important test instrument is the one between your ears.
>>>
>>> In the before times, doctors were much better with stethoscopes than they
>>> are now.
>>>
>>> But I’d sure prefer a cardiologist who could use tomography and
ultrasound
>>> over the best stethoscope guy.
>>>
>>> And it’s a lot easier finding gigahertz oscillations if you aren’t
limited
>>> to a 10-MHz
>>> scope with scale marks in cuneiform.
>>>
>>> Good boat anchors make capability like that very affordable. My lab is full
>>> of top-of-the-line gear (over $2M at list price), for which I’ve paid
about
>>> 2-3 cents on the dollar. (Not counting a few very helpful donations early
>>> on.) Of course I have some good newer stuff, such as a two-channel arb, a
>>> NanoVNA2, and a logic analyzer with protocol decoding.
>>>
>>> It’s a bit old-school-looking, so it doesn’t impress visitors unless
they
>>> actually know something, and that suits me perfectly well.
>>>
>>> But by all means don’t buy any, so it’ll keep being cheap for me. ;)
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>>
>>> Phil Hobbs
>>>
>>
>> My most useful old machine dollar for dollar is my 8012B pulse generator!
>>
>>
>>
>> $50 "not working." It was just a burned-out pilot lamp and dirty controls.
>>
>
> I used to have an 8013B, which is the dual channel version.
>
> Cheers
>
> Phil Hobbs
>
Looks like it was designed in the late 60s! From the date code I believe
mine is a 1982 model. It's still listed in the 1987 HP catalog for a
list price of $1750. The 8013B is listed at $1650, maybe those prices
are swapped. I wonder when they finally stopped selling it. It's quite a
bit cheaper than the fully-programmable HP-IB equipped 8112A which
listed for $4775.
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