A Surprise Telephone Call From China

Golden_HVAC wrote:



Thanks for helping along the electronics industry! Back in the late 60's my dad built a Heathkit ocilloscope from a kit, that cost something like $750. When you could buy a 2 year old car for $750 back then. That thing weighted a ton! I think it was about 50 pounds, and had a 4" green scope on it.

Fred.

My Dad started selling and servicing Sylvania TVs back in the late 60's as a side job. He did that up until 1972-73 when Sylvania had a rash of bad tuners in the TVs and he ate the labor cost on the ones he sold..

Recently I brought home his old Sencor O scope with 4" CRT screen and some other items he had on his work bench.. Had to rescue the stuff before my sisters got the chance at putting all that stuff in the trash..

Dad will be 88 coming up next month and hasn't touched that stuff for 30 plus years..

Golden_HVAC wrote:
...
Thanks for helping along the electronics industry! Back in the late 60's my dad built a Heathkit ocilloscope from a kit, that cost something like $750. When you could buy a 2 year old car for $750 back then. That thing weighted a ton! I think it was about 50 pounds, and had a 4" green scope on it.

I built my first color TV in the late 1960's - Heathkit GR-295.

In that same time frame, Veterans were getting Uncle Sam to pay for Heathkit Electronics Correspondence Courses that included the Heathkit Oscilloscope as a project.

Also, Vets were training to become commercial pilots by taking Flight Instruction in small planes... footed by Uncle Sam.

I was eligible for both but never used any of my GI Bill entitlements.

Hi,

I have been using 3.7 volt LI battery for many years, rated at between 3,000 ma and 5,000 ma. The size is 18650 or 18 mm diameter and 65 mm long. 26650 is also a common size, and 4,000 ma to 7500 ma capacity. I have recently seen 14500 (I think) battery that is said to be the same size as the AA batter but rechargeable 3.7 volt LI battery.

The LI battery that I have been buying is 'rated' at 5000 ma, but in reality, I don't think it meets more than about 75% of the rating that is printed on the battery. Why they don't just call it what it is, and say it is rated at 4,000 when lab tests show it is good for 'about 4,000' or anything between 4,000 and 4,200. Instead they label them at 5,000 when lab tests might only show capacity of 5,000 on a few rare batteries. Most are in the 3,900 range in the field.

It would be nice to have a reliable 5 ah to 10 ah battery in the 3.7 to 6 volt range, for use in emergency back up exit lights! I really don't care if the battery is the diameter of a 'D' battery and 4" long. It is still much smaller than a typical 6 volt or 12 volt lead acid battery in use today.

I wonder how the guy in 1996 got his mind around the concept that they would be producing over a billion LED lights in 20 years if they built white ones. And a 1,000 Billion was mind blowing at that time. Now it is just the monthly output of a few machines in a factory.

Thanks for helping along the electronics industry! Back in the late 60's my dad built a Heathkit ocilloscope from a kit, that cost something like $750. When you could buy a 2 year old car for $750 back then. That thing weighted a ton! I think it was about 50 pounds, and had a 4" green scope on it.

Fred.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
2140 hours my cellular rang...

It was Lin.

After exchanging pleasantries he arrived at the crux of the call.

A manufacturer is contemplating mass production of a hand-held meter referred to as a Scope Meter. A small hand-held oscilloscope. These things are available now but their cost is high. I asked that the proposed meter have a rechargable lithium battery and come with charging adapters for both 120vac and 12vdc

And cost a hundred dollars or less, retail.

I would love to see 100-mHz but 15 is more realistic.

In 1996 I was solicited for my opinions regarding a niche industry for China. I emphatically told them "white Leds". I told Lin at the time that production would amount to "trillions" in 15 years. They were flabbergasted at that estimate.

I shall await the fate of my scopemeter recommendation.

I also griped about the inferior quality of Chinese fasteners and electrical such as wire and terminals. Declaring wire to be a certain AWG when it is far smaller.

Seventeen minutes. The call must have cost a small fortune. From the sound of the connection and me wearing headphones it sounded like many connections were listening in.

Interesting to say the least. Expect large size lithium batteries after this coming December.

Pocket ones are already out there..

HERE is one for $67 but looks like maybe good up to 1 Mhz..

Also can get a USB scope which 40 Mhz bandwidth that adapts your PC to a scope for $92..

HERE

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:


Seventeen minutes. The call must have cost a small fortune.

Using VoIP, the call would likely have not cost more than a few pennies per minute.