Strategies for Buying Test Equipment off Ebay

Use the scope to fix the signal generator. Then use the signal generator to fix the scope, of course.

Yes, Don, I am aware that the A needs to be there. THere never was an unsuffixed 8444.

However, I find it interesting that ebay doesn't have a smart search feature. If I needed a King KX170 and wasn't too concerned whether it was an A or a B, you'd think that searching on KX170 would include the A or the B but it just brings up the original 170 plain. Same for Cessna 170 A and B versions. Same for ANY suffixed part.

Or am I missing something there also?

Jim

-- "If you think you can, or think you can't, you're right." --Henry Ford

I do have faith in repairing faulty test equipment. There's only so much damage that can be done. For example, it could only be 1% failure out of 99% functional. It's 100% failure if you receive let's say... a pile of ashes. Like the test equipment accidentally fell into an incinerator. :P

Like somebody posted.., It can swing from stupid easy to fix.. to impossible.

You gambled on the price...just one more gamble to go and that's the repair.

If the item is super cheap, I'd be tempted to fix it. If the item is very expensive...I'd be more inclined to return it. D from BC

Don't be a fathead. Nobody likes a fathead.

John

Le Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:29:01 -0700, RST Engineering \\(jw\\) a écrit:

Yes. Search for KX170*, or if it gives too much hits (kx170A,kx170B) with the parenthesis and without blanks.

RTFSH (read the f..... search help :-)

$300 doesn't seem unreasonable.

OOOh, yeah. "I'm not a tech, so I powered it up and the on light came on. No warranty that it works; as is where is."

I've got a frikkin ROCK I'll sell you under that sort of warranty.

Try again.

Jim

I might be a ebaytard, Bartoli, but I ain't a technotard. The * "any character match" didn't work. Nor did the f3&k!N@ search help.

jim

Well, though I don't have an HP141T to check it out with, I did put the appropriate signals into my HP8444A, and the right thing came out, level controllable from the front panel. But I gotta say, you didn't really seem very interested in it when last I mentioned it. Since I now understand what all is inside it (a set of modules useful in their own right), I'll probably just hang onto it to use as a signal source.

Cheers, Tom

Wait a while, keep watching, and the right one will come along.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Well there's your dilemma.

You don't want to pay a broker for a tested and guarantied unit and you don't want to gamble $300 on one that will probably work.

I guess you're just going to have to do without....

Use esnipe.com. They charge 1% of your winning bids only, and they start you with some free points, I think.

That way it's like a sealed-bid type of auction, which is perfectly honest, and serves the buyer's interest rather than the seller's.

You bid your max, and you're not tempted to increase it.

Most big retailers pack all their boxes with all the protection on one side. Pisses me off when I open an expensive box and see that. Ebay sellers pack better on average.

That would be better for sellers but I don't know why a buyer would want that.

you may want to look at:

A free sniping tool. From what I've seen, works like esnipe and no 1% charge. You just need to keep your computer on.

-J