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From resistors to antique radios, swapfests have it all

June 29, 2022 By Martin Rowe 5 Comments

Test equipment

There’s always plenty of test equipment for sale at the swapfest, much of it comes from HP and Tektronix. This time, a power supply with the Agilent name made an appearance. Agilent split off from HP in 1999. That seems too recent for an Agilent product to appear here, but it did. Don’t expect to see any Keysight-branded equipment here for at least another 15 years.

Tektronix 545A oscilloscope
A Tektronix 545A oscilloscope.
tube tester
A B&K Model 607 tube tester. If you’re here to buy tubes and don’t have a tester, now is the time to get one.
Signal Generator
An unknown signal generator. Can you identify it?
unknown spectrum analyzer
An unknown spectrum analyzer. Who is the manufacturer?
Fluke 8120A multimeter
A Fluke 8120A multimeter, one of the first that Fluke produced. The display is made of nixie tubes. Fluke is still making bench DMMs, mostly high-end models.
Agilent 66311B
An Agilent 66311 power supply, the first product with the Agilent name I’ve seen at a swapfest. Agilent split from HP in 1999. Go to a trade show and you’ll still see Agilent (and even HP) test equipment used in demos.
Hitachi oscilloscope
Hitachi 20 MHz analog oscilloscope. Did you actually expect to find a digital oscilloscope here? They are far to new.
Heathkit VTVM
Healthkit vacuum tube voltmeter

Page 1 Audio equipment from reel-to-reel tape recorders to racks of equalizers.
Page 2: Components from connectors to vacuum tubes
Page 3: Computers and networking gear
Page 4: Radios, some older than your grandparents
Page 5: Test equipment, including something brand new by swapfest standards
Page 6: Hand tools and unidentified objects
Page 7: What I bought


You Might Also Like

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7

Filed Under: Amplifiers, audio, Components, Consumer, Covid-19, Featured, Test and Measurement Tips Tagged With: fluke, keysight technologies, tektronix

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Retro Computer Enthusiast says

    July 1, 2022 at 3:17 pm

    Great peek inside the MIT Swap and not being within 500 miles makes it a bit hard to make it.

    I would like to make a comment about the caption that you have on the old TSR-80 computer. Sure it’s only $100 but “…Good luck finding software to run on it.” There are hundreds of retro computer enthusiasts online. The one thing that drives most of us is the preservation of systems and software for these retro computers. Search twitter for #retroComputing or #retroGaming since most of the time the things we want to preserve are the games from our youth.

    In the TSR-80 niche you can find nearly every piece of software ever published for the machine at The *HUMONGOUS* TSR-80 Software Archives http://cpmarchives.classiccmp.org/trs80.php Another great resource for retro software is Archive.org which depending on what system you’re looking for has just about everything.

    Also the item on page 6 which you ask “what is this thing anyway?” is a tacking iron for foam core mounting. You can see new ones here (google image search) https://bit.ly/3uhlL38 Anyone who’s worked at a print shop with a vacuum mounter will know what this is. I have the burns to prove it too!

    Log in to Reply
    • Martin Rowe says

      July 1, 2022 at 4:49 pm

      Thanks for pointing out the large repository of TRS-80 software. I should have known better.

      Burns? I have one on my left arm from a wave-solder machine. I worked in a printed-circuit factory after school. I was 17 at the time.

      Log in to Reply
  2. Martin Rowe says

    July 1, 2022 at 4:54 pm

    My biggest purchase from one of these MIT swapfests was a roofing tool used to remove slates. I use it in the winter to chop ice. It helps prevent ice dams.

    Log in to Reply
  3. rwin73 says

    July 5, 2022 at 2:54 pm

    Morse code is still alive and strong on the amateur bands. A lot of QRP (low power) folks use it because an extremely low power transmitters and simple receivers can establish worldwide communications. There is a company that makes a transceiver that sends machine generated code and can decode the code from other similar radios. Kind of like using Morse code for test messages. Take a look at https://morsecode.world/keys.html or similar sites and you’ll find a lot of interesting tidbits about old keys, keyers and the latest new stuff that’s available.

    Log in to Reply
  4. jackon Miller says

    December 5, 2023 at 6:40 am

    Thank you for sharing! It’s fascinating to see Morse code thriving in the amateur radio community, especially with the use of QRP setups for global communications. The technology advancements, like machine-generated code and decoding capabilities, add a modern twist to this timeless communication method. I’ll definitely check out https://www.morsecode-translator.com/ to explore more about the diverse world of Morse keys, keyers, and the latest innovations. Appreciate the insight into the vibrant Morse code community! 📡🔍

    Log in to Reply

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