[volt-nuts] HP3458a available (was Re: hp 3458a advice)

[Paul Fox]

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: volt-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:volt-nuts-bounces at febo.com] 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, pgf at foxharp.boston.ma.us (arlington, ma, where it's 63.1 degrees)
 >  >  > 
 > 
 > =---------------------
 >  paul fox, pgf at foxharp.boston.ma.us (arlington, ma, where it's 30.0 degrees)
 > _______________________________________________
 > volt-nuts mailing list -- volt-nuts at febo.com
 > To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volt-nuts
 > and follow the instructions there.

=---------------------
 paul fox, pgf at foxharp.boston.ma.us (arlington, ma, where it's 19.2 degrees)