Reclaiming Surplus Test Equipment
by Dennis L. Feucht
Innovatia Laboratories
Laboratory-quality personal electronics is affordable as aging but quite functional test instruments. They are increasingly available through surplus electronics dealers and Web auctions. E-Bay has extensive trading in used electronics laboratory equipment. The reduction of trade barriers brought about by Web auctions has allowed many sources to divest their surplus equipment inexpensively. The result is a buyer's market.
These older instruments have some advantages not found in newer equipment that make them worth salvaging. First, because they are free of custom-programmed parts, they are completely (a) knowable, and (b) repairable. Their service manuals divulge all essential technical details. Before about 1980, it was assumed that the customer would want to have technical knowledge of a purchased instrument for maintenance and repair. It was also a time when field repair of electronics was eased by the inclusion of IC sockets. These instruments are of a low enough complexity that complete understanding of the entire instrument takes only a modest amount of effort.
One such unit is the DC505A counter/timer of the Tektronix TM500 line of plug-in instruments that were first introduced to the market around 1970. This article uses the DC505A as an example of the kinds of problems that are typically encountered in refurbishing older test equipment. They are usually surmountable and the effort can be more than rewarded by the functionality achieved at surplus prices.
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