Re: [Amateur-repairs] Old test eqpt? Chuck it? Refurbish it?

Hello again Alan. I suffer from CRS disease. That's when I   Can't Remember Sh**  "stuff" lol. I forgot something. The Sencore was not the last one. I had forgotten that I bought a B&K precision 35 mhz scope at a hamfest for $5.00. It would not power on. Got it home and removed the top cover. Soldered 1 of the wires to the power switch that had broken off and then I had a working scope. Along with a little parts cleaner sprayed into pots and switches and presto, good to go. Craig 

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On Saturday, June 28, 2025, 2:34 PM, Craig Rowling KY4PI via groups.io <crowling63=verizon.net@groups.io> wrote:

Alan. Yes I agree. Both can be true at the same time. Both have their advantages. The last scope I bought was in the late eighties. A Sencore SC-61, that was considered top of the line THEN with digital read out for vpp,dc, and frequency along with 60mhz "usable" to 100mhz. Most scopes used back then that were affordable for repair shops were of the 20th z variety. The Sencore model made it possible to read a lissajous pattern from CD lasers that a 20mhz was impossible. That was a must back then as CD was relatively new and laser replacements were more expensive than the CD player. Now a fully adjusted complete with motors & laser is $6 !!  In the 1980's at a price of over $3,000+ one could buy a decent used car yet it's now on fleabay for $70 lol. My point is I can by a new scope for thousands $$$  less with more features and higher bandwidth but I still love my vintage oscilloscope. Maybe my original post didn't settle well or explain what I meant. I never meant older equipment was not valuable. Quite the opposite. It's just as you said, vintage electronic equipment needs knowledge to use versus push button results. I had a late friend who absolutely refused to use an oscilloscope because he didn't know how to measure peak to peak and that embarrassed him. However when I showed him the sc-61 he learned how to use the grid lines on the crt overlay since it had the digital readout above the crt and thus gave him confidence. Hopefully he is an example of how a push button, easy to operate, piece of equipment has some advantage over just needing knowledge to operate it. I wish you the best  of luck finding new homes for your gear. Craig 

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On Saturday, June 28, 2025, 12:47 PM, Alan Majeski via groups.io <arcadiaresearchgroup=gmail.com@groups.io> wrote:

Craig

I see your point, but…. It reenforces a typical stereotype that old equipment is not as useful or as good as newer equipment, which I am sure many people here will disagree.

New equipment has less hours and most is microprocessor controlled which is nice if you want to just push a button and let the machine figure it all out. Older equipment required at least a basic understanding of the process, valuable back then to old timers like myself, but apparently, not so much to the younger generation.

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Alan

AK6MF