That works out to $118,480 in 2012 dollarettes. http://www.westegg.com/inflation/
Dave > -----Original Message----- > From: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com > [mailto:time-nuts-boun...@febo.com] On Behalf Of Mark C. Stephens > Sent: Saturday, June 15, 2013 13:46 > To: Perry Sandeen; Discussion of precise time andfrequency measurement > Subject: Re: [time-nuts] HP and other equipment failure > > Hi Perry, I was browsing a 1988 HP catalogue tonight.. > The 8566B came in at a cool 62 thousand dollars new. > Wow! > > > -marki > > -----Original Message----- > From: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com > [mailto:time-nuts-boun...@febo.com] On Behalf Of Perry Sandeen > Sent: Friday, 14 June 2013 2:48 PM > To: time-nuts@febo.com > Subject: [time-nuts] HP and other equipment failure > > > > All, > > There has been an on and off discussion of equipment failure > so Id thought Id add my experience. > > First Ive been repairing HP equipment since 1976 before many > of you were born. > > I now have over 16 pieces of HP test equipment and several > units now need repair. > > In my experience, the vast amount of failures are > electrolytic caps with some aggravated by heat. > > Someone floated the notion of not repairing HP equipment but > cannibalizing it for parts. > > Please bear with me on my long story. > > After WWII there were all sorts of surplus stores selling > everything in the mid-fifties. I even remember an add in > popular Mechanics magazine for a Norden bombsite for $29.95. > Much of my allowance was spent on mysterious wonders like a > IFF receiver. Hams reveled in B-29 prop pitch motors for > rotating beam antennas. Since it was 28 volt stuff it was > far, far cheaper than commercial equivalents. > > Then it all gradually disappeared. Now people want $75 or > more for a cruddy > ARC-5 receiver. > > Now this is > how it applies to us today. > > If one peruses the Ebay adds for HP test equipment one > frequently sees a statement like *removed from a place that > went out of > business* or something similar. > > True, the equipment we are buying is 20 years old or older. > But it is going away never to return. I saw an old Ebay invoice from > 12 years ago where I won a working HP 3586B for $50. The > shipping cost me more! Now a non-functional unit sells for $400. > > These prices are only going to continue to rise as the supply > continues to diminish. > > But this equipment is repairable unlike the questionable test > equipment from China. Doing preventative maintenance on this > equipment is not optional if you want it to continue working. > All electrolytic caps should be replaced, except for > tantalums. That will be more on a case by case business. > > This is equipment you can repair. This is not very true for > the newer stuff. > > On the HP 3586B for example, there are a dozen or so of TVA > atoms. When I do mine I expect it will then lock below 500 > KHz as it is specified. The HP 5370B needs far more cooling > than provided. I have even given thought to adding > additional resistances to the pass transistor collectors on > the outside by the heat sink. I found on my two that the > mother board was scorched from overheating by rectifier > diodes. This will have to wait until after we have moved. I > will also add EFC to the 10811 oscillator. > > (Why that feature was omitted can be answered by Ric). > > There are two long standing truths about electronic > equipment. One you cant have too much filter capacitance. > Two, you cant cool too much. (Please spare me the liquid > nitrogen or submarine battery > comments.) > > Regards, > > Perrier > > > ________________________________ > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, > go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to > https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.