28 August 2011

Scope Sunday 7

When I started these "Scope Sunday" posts two months ago, I thought that I'd have plenty of new material from the upcoming MIT Flea Markets. The recipe was simple: I'd by a scope, or a plugin, or some test equipment, and post about it. I also had planned a trip out to California which included the De Anza Flea Market in Cupertino, so I was sure that I'd be buying too much gear this summer and blogging about it.

The reality of this summer's shopping has been less satisfying. I was at the MIT Flea Market last week, and after a quick walk around, the only piece of Tektronix gear that I saw was a 520A Vectorscope for $30 (guaranteed not to work). No, thank you.


When I was at the De Anza Flea Market two weeks ago, I also found nothing. Nothing! It was very disappointing! Maybe it's just the August doldrums (happens every year), but I really was expecting to find more oscilloscopes and test equipment to choose from.

After a deeper search of the MIT Flea Market last week, I did find some additional gear at some unreasonable prices: a 465B for $275 and a broken function generator for $150. You know, these "Scope Sundays" posts are going to become impossible if I don't get some better luck. Maybe I'll go back to trolling Craigslist (or should it be described as "trawling"?). Maybe it's just a sign that I need to fix some of the gear that I already own, rather than acquiring more gear. (Nah, can't be.)

I did, however, purchase an HP 3400A true RMS voltmeter at the MIT Flea, but I'm going to save that until after App Note 61.

Looking forward to September!

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