HP 204C

[MED6753]

Another Facebook Marketplace find. hp 204C Sine Oscillator. Bargain priced at $25 USD and it works. It will be going into the project queue. Somewhat dirty on the outside but won't require paint. It will be getting my standard electrical restoration.



Quick peeks on the inside. It's built like a tank.

[MED6753]

Well that was easy. 15 minutes with some cleaner and the exterior is done. Electrical restoration at a later date.

[25 CPS]

Nice find! $25 can't be beat for a working HP oscillator.

Any thoughts on replacing the missing HP logo? Those little badges look like they were prone to falling out and going missing over time with that build style for whatever reason. Brittle plastic breaking or adhesive not standing up over time? I don't know what the cause is but it looks like a frequent occurrence with that era of instruments.

[Zenith]

Junk HP equipment beyond hope and plugins turn up from time to time. Things like power meters without the probe are worth very little, but are good for feet, knobs, screws and other bits and pieces. The style and size of those logos may have changed over the years, but it should be far from impossible to find a replacement, even though it might take time for one to turn up.

[MED6753]

Yep, if I had a junk unit I'd replace the logo but for now it will be naked.

[nixiefreqq]

hey med

nudity is not appropriate on this forum.

pm me your new address and i will pop this one in the mail.

we dont need no stinking badges.JPG

edit do not spray paint it blue.

[MED6753]

hey med

nudity is not appropriate on this forum.

pm me your new address and i will pop this one in the mail.

we dont need no stinking badges.JPG


edit do not spray paint it blue.

PM sent.

[Cubdriver]

Somewhere in the æther there is a pocket that's full of old style Clement cabinet feet and those tiny badges, as they so frequently are missing...

-Pat

[Zenith]

I've found those little HP badges are stuck on very well. I've never tried removing one, but it doesn't seem easy.

However I'm convinced there is an alternate universe into which some of my socks disappear and some socks from there appear here.

[nixiefreqq]

hey med

a small envelope was dropped off at the post office this afternoon.

was gonna put it in a small box.....but the word in the Commonwealth of PA is that new yorkers typically use small boxes to mail tarantulas to their enemies.

felt you would be more comfortable with an envelope.

[MED6753]

hey med

a small envelope was dropped off at the post office this afternoon.

was gonna put it in a small box.....but the word in the Commonwealth of PA is that new yorkers typically use small boxes to mail tarantulas to their enemies.

felt you would be more comfortable with an envelope.

LMAO.

Thanks!

[AVGresponding]

Somewhere in the æther there is a pocket that's full of old style Clement cabinet feet and those tiny badges, as they so frequently are missing...

-Pat

A bag of 15 or so went on ebay for about 30 currency units a few weeks ago...

[Zenith]

hey med

a small envelope was dropped off at the post office this afternoon.

was gonna put it in a small box.....but the word in the Commonwealth of PA is that new yorkers typically use small boxes to mail tarantulas to their enemies.

felt you would be more comfortable with an envelope.

Tarantulas are docile, slow moving things and have to be provoked to bite. I worked with a woman who kept them. I would have thought a Black Mamba, or a Gaboon Viper, or a Malawi Spitter, would be better unpleasant unexpected gifts.

[nixiefreqq]

hey med

a small envelope was dropped off at the post office this afternoon.

was gonna put it in a small box.....but the word in the Commonwealth of PA is that new yorkers typically use small boxes to mail tarantulas to their enemies.

felt you would be more comfortable with an envelope.

Tarantulas are docile, slow moving things and have to be provoked to bite. I worked with a woman who kept them. I would have thought a Black Mamba, or a Gaboon Viper, or a Malawi Spitter, would be better unpleasant unexpected gifts.

nope. I have always been fond of snakes, and will try to move them off the road when they are sunning themselves in a dangerous spot. have saved black snakes, ribbons, eastern water snakes, tiny ringed necks, corn snakes, copper heads and rattlers. they are my friends and have always behaved themselves.

no way would I send one to med and risk them winding up tek blue. (spiders are a different story.....never liked the eight legged bastards)

[tggzzz]

nope. I have always been fond of snakes, and will try to move them off the road when they are sunning themselves in a dangerous spot. have saved black snakes, ribbons, eastern water snakes, tiny ringed necks, corn snakes, copper heads and rattlers. they are my friends and have always behaved themselves.

no way would I send one to med and risk them winding up tek blue. (spiders are a different story.....never liked the eight legged bastards)

I've seen the UK snakes in the "wild".

Grass snakes are beautiful, the last one I saw being about a metre long and slithering along the boundary between grass and the wall of the building I worked in in Cambridge.

Vipers/adders are very variable in appearance, with the diamond (not zig-zag) pattern being the tell-tale that they are the UK's only venomous animal. Almost trod on one in the New Forest. (For left pondians, the New Forest was proclaimed almost 950 years ago).

Slow worms are actually legless lizards. I've seen them a few times in my garden, a most beautiful salmon colour and definitely not cold/wet/etc.

Spiders? Useful creatures, eating things I'd rather not have around. Nothing remotely venomous here, except those imported on bananas. Since I don't like bananas, I'm safe.

[nixiefreqq]

no doubt you guys will scoff at me......but in my 20's and 30's, when out on the trail I sometimes would smell a snake before anyone would see it. it didn't happen that often, but often enough that my fellow hikers would pay attention when warned that something smelled "snakey".

what does a snake smell like? hmmmmm. its hard to describe. (it smells like a damn snake). to me it is sort of metallic. one of those smells that you almost taste more than smell.

sat down in tall grass on the side of a trail once and it smelled really snakey. jumped up - poked around and sure enough.....was sort of on top of the cutest little 6 inch long ring necked snake. he was pretty upset after being under my fat ass.... and am guessing that made him extra stanky. was relieved that he seemed unhurt and scooted off.

at almost 70 my nose and taste buds do not seem to work these days. have not detected one of my buddies that way in years.

[Zenith]

Not at all. Some people have unusual talents and sensitivities.

[Zenith]

nope. I have always been fond of snakes, and will try to move them off the road when they are sunning themselves in a dangerous spot. have saved black snakes, ribbons, eastern water snakes, tiny ringed necks, corn snakes, copper heads and rattlers. they are my friends and have always behaved themselves.

no way would I send one to med and risk them winding up tek blue. (spiders are a different story.....never liked the eight legged bastards)

I've seen the UK snakes in the "wild".

Grass snakes are beautiful, the last one I saw being about a metre long and slithering along the boundary between grass and the wall of the building I worked in in Cambridge.

Vipers/adders are very variable in appearance, with the diamond (not zig-zag) pattern being the tell-tale that they are the UK's only venomous animal. Almost trod on one in the New Forest. (For left pondians, the New Forest was proclaimed almost 950 years ago).

There are three native British snakes. The Adder, the Grass Snake and the Smooth Snake. I haven't seen an Adder for years. Grass Snakes I've seen fairly recently. The Smooth Snake is very rare and only found on a few heaths along the South Coast. There's another which has become naturalised, the Aesculapian snake. There are three areas with breeding populations, one in London and two in Wales.

Spiders? Useful creatures, eating things I'd rather not have around. Nothing remotely venomous here, except those imported on bananas. Since I don't like bananas, I'm safe.

There's the False Widow, which is spreading across the country. That's bitten a few people and caused problems. Your dislike of bananas isn't a guarantee.

Man, I don't dig spiders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_fp86lgXyg

[MED6753]

Interesting off topic and I'll contribute. As a youth I was always bringing home snakes, turtles, frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, tadpoles, etc. I did at one time consider a career in herpetology. In New York State there are 2 poisonous species of snakes....Northern Copperhead and Timber Rattlesnake. I was never properly trained in the correct handling of these snakes so I left them strictly alone. I have personally seen the permanent injury to a forearm of a so called "expert" who got careless and was bitten by a Timber Rattlesnake. It ain't pretty and that was even after receiving proper treatment. And Marco is correct. Most snakes have a "musky" smell due to glands similar to that of a skunk. They release the musk when captured as a defense.

Spiders? Don't like them. They belong outside. Any found inside meet a quick end. But if I found a tarantula or one of those big spiders they have in Oz I would napalm the house.

[MED6753]

Thanks to nixiefreqq world order has been restored.

[nixiefreqq]

my work here is done.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCO6smQrjJ8

[Zenith]

One of those things. It doesn't affect the operation of the device in any way, but it's obvious and irritating when it's not there. I've got a couple of bits of uncoverable HP kit with them, including the remains of a plugin for a VNA. Some HP kit from that era doesn't have them. It could be a general change, or more likely that some HP divisions were determined to go their own way.

Such is the perverse way of the world, that if you have a really nice piece if HP kit that ought to have one, it may well have dropped off, but if you have a piece of junk where the only recoverable thing is the badge, it will be impossible to remove it without damaging it.

Anyway, nixiefreqq has produced the goods and all is well with the world.

[Cubdriver]

Such is the perverse way of the world, that if you have a really nice piece if HP kit that ought to have one, it may well have dropped off, but if you have a piece of junk where the only recoverable thing is the badge, it will be impossible to remove it without damaging it.

Apparently one of Murphy's Laws for Test Equipment. If the badge is present, the instrument will look like it was dragged through a quarry behind a truck; if the instrument is otherwise pristine the badge's adhesive will dry out and the badge will depart the instrument and enter a worm hole.

One nice thing about the 60s era stuff is that the logo is engraved in the faceplate for a lot of those, so it CAN'T depart the device. (Though on those you'll likely get the one where the asset tag was removed by a gorilla with a sledge hammer and a cutting chisel.)

As far as the badges go, I like the little blue/black one used here over the chrome-and-black badges used on later gear. I think the colored ones just look classier.

-Pat

[MED6753]

With the 211A project on hold awaiting parts I decided to break this unit down, check it over, and prepare the order for replacement capacitors. It took a while to figure out how to get it apart since the manual is totally mute in this area.

[Zenith]

HP gear from that era was beautifully made. They didn't skimp anything.

The only real exception I've come across is the damned plastic gears on the 8640A/B. They've almost always cracked and they could have used brass for very little more, considering what the instrument cost when it was new.