Opinion getting  AGILENT / HP 4284A  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: eevblogfan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 24, 2013, 04:53:19 pm
content: HeyWe have one old in the storage and the boss might give it to me as my next salary*what is you'r opinion about that oppertunity ?*how much does one like that worth ?I mean : the total money you think I may offer for such ...I now have ~1.2K$ and my salary is unknown yet ..assuming the boss tells me to pay extra money for that ( lets say my salary is 500$ ) , How much shall I offer extra ?I have checked on ebay and the only one sold was the winning bid rated at 1.7K$ , while the one now are 4K$ and more ..I am pretty sure he will tell me that worth the 5K , and I will argue it is only the asking price on ebay , and I am gonna show him that 1.7K action , so as far as I know , he may ask for 1.5K$before the Criticism , yes I am aware of me collecting T&M gear and not preforming any other practical project , I am learning all day long from reading here , and watching dave's video blogs ,and A bit from repairing stuff at work . I am collecting Gear only because I have the chance now , not that it is partly your business , I am just saying ....for the ones who follow , I ended up getting 2X HP34401A's . plus the GENRAD decade resistance box , witch drifts by 0.013% or so on fair amount of the resistors( I am going to open a thread just on that .. )please kindly tell me what is your Humble opinion ..

author: echen1024
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 24, 2013, 09:17:02 pm
content: Hm. Not that familiar with LCR meters, but I'm going to say a new, handheld like this one:http://www.ebay.com/itm/AGILENT-TECHNOLOGIES-U1733C-Handheld-LCR-Meter-/330957166723?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d0e959883may be more reliable than an old clunker. Just my 2 cents.

author: eevblogfan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2013, 02:42:44 am
content: Heythank youIf I were to buy one , It would have cost me 630.84$ , plus unknown Vats and penalty it can be as high as 200~350$ in here ...Although it is agilent handheld meter . I have the confidence that this "old clunker" will live for the next decade at least . unless someone who's familiar with him can seriously correct me here ( I hope one will if that's the case )I still don't know if the unit is fine . I hope it is but afraid it might not be . assuming it isn't . I may buy it for few hundred of $'s and try and repair it myself . I am aware it might not be repairablein terms of band per buck , 800~900$ for the handheld agilent at 100Khz ? or 1.5K$ for the 1Mhz old HP ?I know the HP is many many times more accurate , plus he has got 4 wire connection witch involved with the guard up next to the end of the leads . Just some kind point ..the opinion I was referring here is more like , if you know any notorious problems with the device , and perhaps if they are costy to repair .

author: rf-loop
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2013, 07:10:19 am
content: Quote from: echen1024 on July 24, 2013, 09:17:02 pmThis HP4284A is really superior if compare to some handheld as this.If I can easy get this high class "old" HP with this low price and it is in sure trusted working condition (and in this case he can see it with his own eyes - it is not "ebay" raffle ticket. In this case example I do not need one second to make decision between this and what ever handheld soap box even if its name is Agilent or what ever. Exept if I need "hand held" and this feature is highest place in priority list.This old HP beats these new and old handhelds just 10-0 in all things exept if need keep in pocket or on the hand. Also ( this is only I believe) longevity is perhaps (yes, all can fail) much more than this hand held. What is mean equipment is new... are they more reliable than these littlebit older.accuracy/resolution is ... nothing to compare...they are totally in different class. In longevity, reliability, accuracy, functions/features (and weight).Agilent 4284A precision LCR meterTest frequency 20 Hz to 1 MHz over 8610 selectable frequenciesMeasurement range1|Z|, R, X :0.01 m? to 99.9999 M?|Y|, G,B :0.01 nS to 99.9999 SC :0.01 fFto 9.99999 FL :0.01 nHto 99.9999 kHD:0.000001to 9.99999Q :0.01 to 99999.9Basic accuracy |Z| , C and L:0.05%D:0.0005If it have also option -001 it is nice. (tests with bias)There is no competition at all if portabilitys is not question.This old HP is serious laboratory equipnment... this hand held is for "TV repairman" pocket.Both works in they class.

author: grego
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2013, 02:31:40 pm
content: Quote from: eevblogfan on July 24, 2013, 04:53:19 pmI think it's out of your price range. That $1700 one on ebay was as-is with known problems and not in a "tested good" condition. Known good models on ebay all list at $4k and up.

author: echen1024
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2013, 03:31:43 pm
content: The customs fees will probably kill you, and upon closer research, the old clunkers do seem to be quite good. However, the prices on eBay US are all around the 4-5k mark. Try offering a very low price and see what your boss does.