More expensive than gold? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: jimjam
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 01:28:27 pm
content: Why are these things so expensive?http://www.ebay.com/itm/Agilent-N2752A-PREMIUM-USED-InfiniiMode-6-GHz-Active-Differential-Probe-/171336701906

author: FreudianSip
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 01:32:43 pm
content: QuoteNearly $4k for that probe is low-cost??

author: jlmoon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 01:36:40 pm
content: something to do with the first letter A.. and the number 6..

author: Fsck
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 01:42:12 pm
content: hard to build, tiny market = expensive.did you look at the cost of the scopes with that kind of bandwidth?

author: krivx
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 01:45:39 pm
content: Quote from: Fsck on June 26, 2014, 01:42:12 pmI think this was the breakdown someone (free_electron?) made the last time some expensive Agilent accessories were brought up. These probes probably cost a few % of the cost of the scope they will used with. This makes them roughly as expensive as 50MHz cheapies used with a 50MHz scope.

author: ixfd64
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 05:19:18 pm
content: Same goes with thermal cameras. They're not that expensive to produce, but they have a high price tag due to the low supply.

author: jlmoon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 05:29:47 pm
content: Quote from: Fsck on June 26, 2014, 01:42:12 pmthose scopes are "insanely expensive"

author: rob77
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 05:35:09 pm
content: actually the price of that probe is peanuts compared to a corresponding scopeso, yes it's low-cost

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 05:46:24 pm
content: I ordered aircraft power supplies once, and they came in at the equivalent of a solid platinum brick. Each. I had ordered 10. They came ordinary parcel post, no POD no signature, just sent to an address in a padded envelope.

author: tmbinc
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 06:48:02 pm
content: They are very specialized devices with customsiliconSiGe chips and extensive factory calibration. It doesn't justify all of the price, but it's simply another realm than the average mass-produced piece of electronics.http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=744andhttp://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=862has a teardown of a similar one (Tektronix 5Ghz diff probe).

author: Galaxyrise
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 07:09:14 pm
content: Quote from: krivx on June 26, 2014, 01:45:39 pmThat last discussionwas for the 33GHz accessories... add a zero to the end of everything.

author: M4trix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2014, 07:31:10 pm
content: Like Peter would like to say, it's audiophoolery or in this case, Gigaphoolery!

author: echen1024
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2014, 12:35:13 am
content: Quote from: M4trix on June 26, 2014, 07:31:10 pmIt's not. They charge this much for it because they can. If you are really needing to measure 33GHz, it's not likely that cost is of major concern to you. These things are not mass produced, and many man hours go into their design.

author: VK5RC
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 27, 2014, 12:53:13 am
content: Check out the specs, well less than 0.3dB flat till the GHz range then appprox 1dB till max freq, 700fF input, I wouldn't want to make one.

author: ConKbot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2014, 12:52:18 pm
content: Quote from: rob77 on June 26, 2014, 05:35:09 pmPersonally, I'd love to be able to pay 5% of my scopes price for a differential probe rated for the full bandwidth of my scope!