Old VTVM

[jcdammeyer]

I was thinking about what to do with some of my older equipment. So I went onto EBAY to see if meters like mine were being offered for sale. OMG. $100 plus shipping.

Not sure what my Gould OS1100 30MHz scope is worth now.

 

[Susquatch]

NICE! A real gem from days long gone. But only a collector would pay that for that. Would you actually ever use it?

 

[djberta]

Heathkit still has a pretty big following. Its hit or miss on what is worth something and others just junk. I would love to find a simpson 260 in good shape for a decent price. The problem for me is my decent price and what others want is definitely different. As well as ebay you should look at etsy for pricing. My other love to find is wood boxed test equipment, but some time ago they all priced out of my range.

 

[Susquatch]

I would love to find a simpson 260 in good shape for a decent price.

Me too. I had a nice one, but a buddy blew it up testing 220V on the amp setting....... It was a great meter. There is just something special about looking at a needle vs digits.

 

[terry_g]

I see the occasional Simpson 260 on Kijiji I picked up one that needed some love for $35.
It works well once I repaired it.
There are people looking for old test equipment.

I sold this scope for $160 plus postage to Vancouver Island.

I sold this one for $100 plus postage to Quebec.

 

[ChazzC]

Other than geeks like us, few are interested in vintage test gear: the current equipment can provide a lot more data simultaneously on one screen and save to files for later analysis (plus smaller & lighter). The advantages of analog meters is that you can quickly see fluctuations around a target value.

 

[Susquatch]

The advantages of analog meters is that you can quickly see fluctuations around a target value.

The other advantage I've written about many times is that an analog needle is much less likely to lie.

People read a digital number and believe it just cuz they can see the number right there in front of them. But that number is typically the result of A/D conversions, counting, frequency drift, lost digits, significant digits, truncated digits, programming errors, and the list goes on.

I like analog.

 

[JustaDB]

I like analog.

This.

 

[JustaDB]

I'm going to have to have a look at some of the old gear I have. Coupla old Starkit oscilloscopes, a few Rohde & Schwartz PUC's, an old DEC Pro 350, some other old test gear.

 

[slow-poke]

I agree analog meters have their place, but.... accuracy is simply not comparable.

I have a numerous older HP-Agilent-Keysight 34401A (LM399 reference, 0.0015%) meters not as old as your VTVM but once they are aged, the calibration is incredibly stable. These are my trusted go to meters. I have calibration equipment as well and I can connect them all up simultaneously and they all agree to < 90 day specified drift year after year after year.

DC accuracy on my old pair of Fluke 8842A's (LTFLU-1 reference also 0.0015%) is also quite stable and track the 34401A's very well.

The 34401A has selectable 10G Ohm input resistance, so 10-100x better than a typical VTVM.

I agree for some situations analog meters are nice to use. VTVM's true strength is high frequency measurement. When it comes to accuracy those old VTVM's are many orders of magnitude less accurate (typically 3%) than either of the above unless you happen to be measuring ac signals in the MHz range that's where a good VTVM shines.

The newer 7-8 digit meters with the LTZ1000 reference are another step up. Used 3458A's are tempting, but the calibration cost is a killer, now that's a deep rabbit hole!

Don't get me started on timing accuracy, that's another rabbit hole, I did go so far as acquiring a rubidium clock;-)

 

[Mcgyver]

imo, for a lot of it, oscilloscopes etc, the attraction isn't the analog but rather the quality of build for the price. My 465b, probably 50 years old, just keeps on trucking. My not so cheap Owon China scope gave it up after two years. Sure there are $30,000 scopes that you'd hope are built well, but that's not exactly in the hobby budget ..... so instead its a magnificent 465b for me ..... usually for <200. And have you ever been inside this old test equipment? Beautifully made and serviceable. On some, even the transistors are in sockets.

 

[ChazzC]

imo, for a lot of it, oscilloscopes etc, the attraction isn't the analog but rather the quality of build for the price. My 465b, probably 50 years old, just keeps on trucking. My not so cheap Owon China scope gave it up after two years. Sure there are $30,000 scopes that you'd hope are built well, but that's not exactly in the hobby budget ..... so instead its a magnificent 465b for me ..... usually for <200. And have you ever been inside this old test equipment? Beautifully made and serviceable. On some, even the transistors are in sockets.

Transistors? What do you think the "VT" stands for? OK, I have an FETVM and most of my older items are "real" discrete components (as opposed to transistors of a chip), up until about 20 years ago a significant percentage were tube-based.

The green-outlined items are HeathKits that I built, the red is a purchased HeathKit Sweep Function Generator and the others are purchased commercial equipment. The HeathKit IM-2320 DMM in the top row was placed there for completeness of the HK equipment (I also have a Fluke plus a number of other small handhelds like LCR, clamp-on ammeter, etc.). The tube-based equipment included a small O'scope, VectorScope and some signal generators.

 

[Susquatch]

so instead its a magnificent 465b for me

Magnificent is a great way to describe those old scopes! I bought one for the company back when I was designing test equipment and then bought a used one for myself on an ebay auction years later! It is a drop dead amazing machine! Pretty sure I have the service manual for it if you ever need it.

I also have its next Gen sibling, the 2465B, which I love too.

FWIW, I am still impressed by that $200 Ali scope I acquired from a neighbour - FNRSI 1014D. They are even free fast shipping right now. It prolly won't last more than 5 years, but I have to say that it's a lot of scope for 200$. I've been using it almost non-stop lately. It's not a Tektronix, but.....

FNIRSI-1014D Digital Oscilloscope 2 In 1 Dual Channel Input Signal Generator 100MHz* 2 Ana-log Bandwidth 1GSa/s Sampling Rate

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

a.aliexpress.com

 

[Bandit]

I don't have much gear, enough to get me in trouble, LOL. Found a scope at value village a while ago, 2 channel. Not that I use one, mostly volt/ ammeters. Mostly, do I have power there or not, and how much, in hand with can I work on this or not.
My mother gave me my first meter for Xmas, when I was 12?, along with a soldering iron, and then taught me some basics and how to solder. She had been a radar tech in the Air Force.
She once said, that a senior officer had came with some little objects in his hand, said " Hey, guess what these are, these are going to change everything very soon!" They were diodes, everyone was amazed, they were so small, and didn't need extra power hookups. I think everything was still all tubes at that time, 1954?

 

[Susquatch]

I think everything was still all tubes at that time, 1954?

Yup, all tubes in 1954. Don't ask me how I know.

The transistor was actually invented in 1947, but like most inventions, it took 10 years to see any significant use in the market.

 

[Mcgyver]

dude that is so non-fungible!

Here's one that's a bit more than 200, like $134,800 more, and US$ .... because of who supposedly touched it. As mentally deranged as NFT's, but someone thinks there's a sucker out there and was bold enough to put the 135,000 price tag on it.

Tektronix 465 Oscilloscope by COMPUTER HISTORY, APPLE, ATARI, STEVE JOBS, AL ALCORN on Manhattan Rare Book Company

“Used to design Pong and lent to Woz to design Apple II” –Al Alcorn, written on this oscilloscope“In early 1970 Tektronix introduced a portable, powerful and transistorized version of their large vacuum tube oscilloscopes called the 465. These oscilloscopes became the standard instrument for...

www.manhattanrarebooks.com