You should be able to any unit repaired by Agilent as long as all the parts are there for the $3000 flat rate repair and calibration charge.
On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 5:59 PM, J. L. Trantham <[email protected]> wrote: > Paul, > > The 'value' of a 3458A is based on several issues, not the least of which > is > supply and demand. You only have to look at theBay to get an idea of what > units are selling for, both working and non-working. The fact that the > unit > passes it's 'Self Test' is not a guarantee that it would be able to be > calibrated to published performance specs. > > Tha Agilent website is very useful in determining an 'upper bound' on the > value. The 3458A is currently orderable and currently supported. A new > 3458A (without options) is available at $9,085 and would come with a fresh > calibration and warranty. > > Repair Per Incident is available for $2,660.64. This means that if you > have > a complete unit, they will repair it for that price. That also comes with > a > fresh calibration. I don't know if that price includes all recommended > upgrades as listed in the Service Notes, of which there are 20, 6 of which > list 'Modification Recommended' and one of which lists 'Modification > Available'. Perhaps someone on the forum knows the answer to this. > Certainly Gary Biermann at Agilent can answer this. > > The fact that your unit does not have a serial number sticker but instead > 'MTG PROTO 27' would be concerning as to whether Agilent would consider > this > a 'complete 3458A', and thus a candidate for repair, or, rather, a > 'prototype' or some other descriptor that would imply that it looks like a > 3458A but is really not a 3458A. > > Both new and newly calibrated units are candidates to add a Repair > Agreement, available for $178.68 per year with up to 5 year blocks > available > for purchase. > > I note you mentioned firmware REV 2,1. The current firmware is 9,1. > Therefore it would appear that you have a rather old and probably not > 'updated' unit. That plus the 'stored in an attic' history would be > concerning about the ability to repair the unit without changing several > assemblies, etc. > > Assuming you could get the unit repaired and updated by Agilent, complete > with a fresh calibration, then the maximum value would be $9,085 minus > $2,660.64 minus what ever value you place on 'new' over 'old'. > > Then you are left with an older unit, made in the USA, with no (or perhaps > a > reduced) warranty as opposed to a new unit, made in Malaysia, with a > warranty. The question of whether a 'new' Malaysian unit or an 'old' > American unit is better is the subject of further discussion and > speculation. > > If the unit cannot be repaired by Agilent, then, in my opinion, the value > goes down and approaches the value of the hardware, transformer, etc., with > serious questions about the state and reparability of the assemblies, > particularly given the 'stored in an attic' history. > > Gary Biermann would be very helpful in getting the history and reparability > of the unit. He would be worth contacting about these issues. He works at > the Loveland Calibration Facility. > > Hope this helps. > > Joe > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of Paul Fox > Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2013 8:54 AM > To: Discussion of precise voltage measurement > Subject: Re: [volt-nuts] HP3458a available (was Re: hp 3458a advice) > > part of me hates to do this, but... there have been some rule-breakers > that ignored the "under $350" limit, and now they've ruined it for > everyone. ;-) > > clearly the research i did into prices for "HP3458a, needs repair" was > woefully inadequate. > > i guess the easiest thing to do is to simply remove the "under $350" > part. that way everyone's working under the same assumptions. again, > sorry. local buyers still get preference. (and, if you'd like to chew > me out for being a bozo, that's fine, but please do it privately. maybe > i should have used ebay in the first place. lesson learned.) > > paul > > i wrote: > > resurrecting a somewhat older thread -- > > > > it's now clear to me that i have little interest in (or time for) > > resurrecting my 3458a. several people on the list were interested in > > it when i first brought it up, and you were all very helpful. i'd > > rather not go through the ebay hassle, and i'd rather make it > > available to one of you folks first in any case. > > > > i've put up a small set of pictures, along with a short video of > > the startup sequence at http://www.foxharp.net/hp3458a . re-reading > > my original list message (below), i see that my startup video didn't > > capture an error message i saw back in october. so in addition to the > > "110, Calibration required -- ACAL" message in the video, i guess we > > should assume that it sometimes gives "204, "Hardware Failure -- > Flatness > > DAC Convergence: 198" > > > > i haven't opened the unit, and wasn't really planning on it. if > > there's something that you'd like to know that will be clear from just > > looking, and if it might appreciably change the unit's value for you, > > let me know and i'll find a screwdriver and take some more pictures. > > > > i have two original (i believe) copies of the manual. no service > manual. > > firmware version is "REV 2,1". > > > > so how about this: best offer (by private mail) under $350 gets it, > > shipping not included (it looks like shipping will be in the $40 to $80 > > range, once i find a box). for obvious reasons, a local-to-boston > > transaction will be given a lot of preference. > > > > i'll wait until next wednesday evening (i.e., about a week -- feb 13) > > before choosing a lucky recipient, since i hear some people don't read > > their mail as continuously as i do. > > > > paul > > > > i wrote: > > > thanks joe, and to the other couple of people who responded > privately. > > > > i need to figure out how much of a project i want this to be, and how > > > it ranks against all the other projects that i also don't have time > > > for. :-) > > > > > > i have the full users manual (two copies!), but i don't have anything > > > else that speaks GPIB. i'll play with some of the front panel > > > commands you've suggested, while i think about what to do. thanks! > > > > > > paul > > > > > > j. l. trantham wrote: > > > > Paul, > > > > > > > > First, the meter is worth something if nothing other than parts. > It is > > ... > > > > Good luck. > > > > > > > > Joe > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On > > > > Behalf Of Paul Fox > > > > Sent: Monday, October 15, 2012 9:50 AM > > > > To: Discussion of precise voltage measurement > > > > Subject: [volt-nuts] hp 3458a advice > > > > > > > > hi -- > > > > > > > > i'm not a volt-nuts regular, and not even a precision measurement > nut > > > > at all, but given past discussion in the list archives, i think > you > > > > folks might be able to help. > > > > > > > > i was recently given an HP 3458a multimeter. the donor thought it > > > > worked when he last used it, but that was quite a long time ago, > and i > > > > think it was stored in an attic for some time, so i'm not too > > > > surprised that it now doesn't pass self tests. :-/ he mainly > wanted > > > > it out of his house, along with a bunch of other vintage (sadly > mostly > > > > non-working) equipment he'd accumulated over the years. > > > > > > > > the self-test error is: > > > > ERRSTR 204, "Hardware Failure -- Flatness DAC Convergence: > 198" > > > > > > > > judging from past list traffic, repairs on these units are > > > > expensive, and it would still need recalibration to be useful, and > > > > there are may be other parts (eeproms?) that may not be good > > > > any more. i'm not really interested in pursuing any of this > > > > myself. > > > > > > > > what's worse is that the unit doesn't have a serial number. (i > assume > > > > the s/n would normally be obvious on the rear of the unit.) it > bears a > > > > sticker on the back that says "MTG PROTO 27". i think the unit > came > > > > from a place that themselves produced reference standards, and > they > > > > may have gotten a very early model from HP to work with. that's > > > > conjecture. i haven't opened the unit, so i don't know if there > are > > > > other clues to its age inside. > > > > > > > > so: is this machine useful to anyone? given the error message > above, > > > > are there any measurements at all that it might still get correct, > in > > > > it's current state? > > > > > > > > paul > > > > =--------------------- > > > > paul fox, [email protected] (arlington, ma, where it's > 63.1 > degrees) > > > > > > > > =--------------------- > > paul fox, [email protected] (arlington, ma, where it's 30.0 > degrees) > > _______________________________________________ > > volt-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] > > To unsubscribe, go to > https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volt-nuts > > and follow the instructions there. > > =--------------------- > paul fox, [email protected] (arlington, ma, where it's 19.2 > degrees) > _______________________________________________ > volt-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe, go to > https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volt-nuts > and follow the instructions there. > > _______________________________________________ > volt-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe, go to > https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volt-nuts > and follow the instructions there. > -- John Phillips _______________________________________________ volt-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volt-nuts and follow the instructions there.
