OT: current value of a Tek 2236 scope?

Several years ago, I bought a used Textronix 2236 oscilloscope
from eBay through a friend in the US. I paid $385 and it came
with five good quality Tek probes.

Someone else's query about oscilloscopes made me curious about
the current value of the scope and, in an idle moment, I looked
it up on eBay. I expected it to have devalued significantly from
the $385, but was surprised to see that they are still asking up
to $1400 for it (though there's at least one offered for $300).

What value would you put on a used scope of that class? I'm not
thinking of selling it. I'd just like to know what you, those
involved in electronics, think it's worth. The design is from the
early 80s, perhaps even earlier. For those not familiar with this
model, these are the main specs:
100 MHz dual trace analog
2mV/div, 5ns/div
integrated 7-digit freq counter and timer (uP based)
integrated autoranging 5000-count DMM

pimpom wrote:
> Several years ago, I bought a used Textronix 2236 oscilloscope
> from eBay through a friend in the US. I paid $385 and it came
> with five good quality Tek probes.
>
> Someone else's query about oscilloscopes made me curious about
> the current value of the scope and, in an idle moment, I looked
> it up on eBay. I expected it to have devalued significantly from
> the $385, but was surprised to see that they are still asking up
> to $1400 for it (though there's at least one offered for $300).
>
> What value would you put on a used scope of that class? I'm not
> thinking of selling it. I'd just like to know what you, those
> involved in electronics, think it's worth. The design is from the
> early 80s, perhaps even earlier. For those not familiar with this
> model, these are the main specs:
> 100 MHz dual trace analog
> 2mV/div, 5ns/div
> integrated 7-digit freq counter and timer (uP based)
> integrated autoranging 5000-count DMM
>

I've seen them going for $250 to $500, sometimes with a 30 or 60 day
warranty from the used equipment dealer.

I have only worked with its bigger brothers but some of the DMMs built
into Teks had a tendency to overheat. Since you live in India that might
be a concern. I don't know whether they can go bad if that happens, ours
came back after turning it off for a while and then using the scope
near an open window in summer. Hey, remember those offices where one
could actually open a window?

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

Joerg wrote:
> pimpom wrote:
>> Several years ago, I bought a used Textronix 2236 oscilloscope
>> from eBay through a friend in the US. I paid $385 and it came
>> with five good quality Tek probes.
>>
>> Someone else's query about oscilloscopes made me curious about
>> the current value of the scope and, in an idle moment, I
>> looked
>> it up on eBay. I expected it to have devalued significantly
>> from
>> the $385, but was surprised to see that they are still asking
>> up
>> to $1400 for it (though there's at least one offered for
>> $300).
>>
>> What value would you put on a used scope of that class? I'm
>> not
>> thinking of selling it. I'd just like to know what you, those
>> involved in electronics, think it's worth. The design is from
>> the
>> early 80s, perhaps even earlier. For those not familiar with
>> this
>> model, these are the main specs:
>> 100 MHz dual trace analog
>> 2mV/div, 5ns/div
>> integrated 7-digit freq counter and timer (uP based)
>> integrated autoranging 5000-count DMM
>>
>
> I've seen them going for $250 to $500, sometimes with a 30 or
> 60 day
> warranty from the used equipment dealer.
>
> I have only worked with its bigger brothers but some of the
> DMMs built
> into Teks had a tendency to overheat. Since you live in India
> that
> might be a concern. I don't know whether they can go bad if
> that
> happens, ours came back after turning it off for a while and
> then
> using the scope near an open window in summer.

Thanks, Joerg. That scope is still going strong after several
years. I do live in India, but India is not as uniformly hot,
humid and overcrowded as most outsiders picture it to be. I'm in
a hilly region near Burma where we have a very nice climate. We
seldom cross 85 deg F in summer and the lowest I've recorded this
winter is about 57 F at 3 am.

I belong to one of the minority tribes in India. We have our own
state with a population of less than 1 million, and have very
little in common with mainstream India - language, customs,
religion, tastes, even physical appearance. We're 100% Christian
(at least in name), our alphabet is a close adaptation of the
English alphabet, and very few of us know more than a smattering
of Hindi. We're crazy about soccer and most think cricket is a
silly game. If you saw us elsewhere, you'd probably think we're
Koreans or some other Asian race. Nobody wears a sari or a turban
here. Surprised? :-)

> Hey, remember those
> offices where one could actually open a window?

I still work and live in such a place. In fact, I've worked at
home most of my adult life in a one-storey, tin-roofed
wood-and-tile house in a nice residential area. The house has
bars only in the bedroom (put in a decade ago). In the summer, I
just open the windows to my office and lab, and let the cool
breeze in.

On Tue, 9 Feb 2010 22:51:53 +0530, "pimpom" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:


>Thanks, Joerg. That scope is still going strong after several
>years. I do live in India, but India is not as uniformly hot,
>humid and overcrowded as most outsiders picture it to be. I'm in
>a hilly region near Burma where we have a very nice climate. We
>seldom cross 85 deg F in summer and the lowest I've recorded this
>winter is about 57 F at 3 am.

Wow sounds like a tropical paradise. I cant go outside without
throwing a parka on,mitts and boots. Currently -8C and sunny.

I don't know why my ancestors came here from Italy. Having visited the
nice towns on the Adriatic and the nice half naked women on the
beaches and the nice weather, I really wonder why?

Ontario Canada

>I belong to one of the minority tribes in India. We have our own
>state with a population of less than 1 million, and have very
>little in common with mainstream India - language, customs,
>religion, tastes, even physical appearance. We're 100% Christian
>(at least in name), our alphabet is a close adaptation of the
>English alphabet, and very few of us know more than a smattering
>of Hindi. We're crazy about soccer and most think cricket is a
>silly game. If you saw us elsewhere, you'd probably think we're
>Koreans or some other Asian race. Nobody wears a sari or a turban
>here. Surprised? :-)
>
>> Hey, remember those
>> offices where one could actually open a window?
>
>I still work and live in such a place. In fact, I've worked at
>home most of my adult life in a one-storey, tin-roofed
>wood-and-tile house in a nice residential area. The house has
>bars only in the bedroom (put in a decade ago). In the summer, I
>just open the windows to my office and lab, and let the cool
>breeze in.
>

Hammy wrote:
> On Tue, 9 Feb 2010 22:51:53 +0530, "pimpom"
> <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
>
>> Thanks, Joerg. That scope is still going strong after several
>> years. I do live in India, but India is not as uniformly hot,
>> humid and overcrowded as most outsiders picture it to be. I'm
>> in
>> a hilly region near Burma where we have a very nice climate.
>> We
>> seldom cross 85 deg F in summer and the lowest I've recorded
>> this
>> winter is about 57 F at 3 am.
>
> Wow sounds like a tropical paradise. I cant go outside without
> throwing a parka on,mitts and boots. Currently -8C and sunny.
>
Could use a little GW, eh? :-)

> I don't know why my ancestors came here from Italy. Having
> visited the
> nice towns on the Adriatic and the nice half naked women on the
> beaches and the nice weather, I really wonder why?
>
> Ontario Canada

The women probably weren't half naked then - at least not in
public.

On Tue, 9 Feb 2010 22:51:53 +0530, "pimpom"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

><snip>
>I do live in India, but India is not as uniformly hot,
>humid and overcrowded as most outsiders picture it to be. I'm in
>a hilly region near Burma where we have a very nice climate. We
>seldom cross 85 deg F in summer and the lowest I've recorded this
>winter is about 57 F at 3 am.
><snip>

My vague memory of what little geography I can recall says
that Bangledesh lies between India and Burma. Something
vague remains about Bengal (and tigers) but I'm not sure,
anymore. I'm very much impressed by the 57-85 range! That's
so narrow it almost _has_ to be ocean-moderated, it seems to
me. And it really sounds nice.

I live in western Oregon in an area where temperatures rarely
range over 85 F, as well. However, in winter they commonly
reach freezing, and slightly below, 2 or 3 different periods
a year. The freezing does mitigate against certain insects
and also some vegetables, which cannot withstand it. Rainfall
had changed somewhat in my lifetime. Used to be some 55
inches, nearly evenly distributed around the year with
significant portions during the summer as well. A day would
routinely include perhaps 1/8th inch, for example. One
summer, I clearly remember about 3 decades back, we had no
overcast skies just 3 days. It was unusual, but cloud cover
is and was quite common here. Rainfall is still around 55
inces a year, but we get more precip in the winter now and
decidedly less in the summer time.

I remember a story in Scientific American, some years back,
about Bangledesh and India. There were some _political_
difficulties discussed, because India would open their damns
during peak monsoon periods to protect them. With the
results that Bangledesh would be horribly flooded out. And I
gathered that those in Bangledesh were not very appreciative
and felt the decisions in India were being made without
balancing in Bangledesh's interests well enough.

Okay. I suppose that exposes my provincialism enough.

And thanks, by the way, for all your help. It's been very
much appreciated.

Jon

Jon Kirwan wrote:
> On Tue, 9 Feb 2010 22:51:53 +0530, "pimpom"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> <snip>
>> I do live in India, but India is not as uniformly hot,
>> humid and overcrowded as most outsiders picture it to be. I'm
>> in
>> a hilly region near Burma where we have a very nice climate.
>> We
>> seldom cross 85 deg F in summer and the lowest I've recorded
>> this
>> winter is about 57 F at 3 am.
>> <snip>
>
> My vague memory of what little geography I can recall says
> that Bangledesh lies between India and Burma.

Broadly speaking, that's true. A bit like saying that the US lies
south of Canada and north of Mexico. If memory serves me right, I
think Florida and parts of Texas lie south of northern Mexico.
There's a fair sized chunk of India to the north, east and
north-east of Bangladesh, joined to the rest of India by a narrow
strip of Indian territory. My state is at the southern end of
that chunk, sandwiched between Bangladesh and Burma.

> Something
> vague remains about Bengal (and tigers) but I'm not sure,
> anymore. I'm very much impressed by the 57-85 range! >

Well, that 57-85 range doesn't cover the extremes. I don't know
what the official records are, but the highest temp I ever read
on my thermometer was about 95 F in the late 80s on a sizzling
summer afternoon. This winter has been quite mild. Some years it
occasionally dips down below 50 F in the small hours. The time I
clearly knew it to be that cold was in the mid 90s. Anyway, one
plains Indian posted to my state once remarked that the whole
state is air-conditioned.

> That's
> so narrow it almost _has_ to be ocean-moderated, it seems to
> me. And it really sounds nice.

No, it's completely landlocked.


> I live in western Oregon in an area where temperatures rarely
> range over 85 F, as well. However, in winter they commonly
> reach freezing, and slightly below, 2 or 3 different periods
> a year. The freezing does mitigate against certain insects
> and also some vegetables, which cannot withstand it. Rainfall
> had changed somewhat in my lifetime. Used to be some 55
> inches, nearly evenly distributed around the year with
> significant portions during the summer as well. A day would
> routinely include perhaps 1/8th inch, for example. One
> summer, I clearly remember about 3 decades back, we had no
> overcast skies just 3 days. It was unusual, but cloud cover
> is and was quite common here. Rainfall is still around 55
> inces a year, but we get more precip in the winter now and
> decidedly less in the summer time.
>
> I remember a story in Scientific American, some years back,
> about Bangledesh and India. There were some _political_
> difficulties discussed, because India would open their damns
> during peak monsoon periods to protect them. With the
> results that Bangledesh would be horribly flooded out. And I
> gathered that those in Bangledesh were not very appreciative
> and felt the decisions in India were being made without
> balancing in Bangledesh's interests well enough.
>

I know nothing about that, but it's probably true. One of the
things my wife nags me about is that I have too little interest
in the news. My stock answer is that she tells me the important
bits anyway. That both annoys and amuses her. :-)

I do pay attention to really major events. For example, I stayed
glued to the TV throughout your nation's 9/11 ordeal, fuming with
impotent rage. If I were a comic book character, I would have had
smoke coming out of my ears.

> Okay. I suppose that exposes my provincialism enough.
>
> And thanks, by the way, for all your help. It's been very
> much appreciated.
>
You're welcome. I'll post in your threads when I think I have
something useful to say. My ISP was down for some time and I just
got to see your Vbe thread not long ago.

John O'Flaherty wrote:
> On Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:49:53 -0800, Jon Kirwan
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>
>> I remember a story in Scientific American, some years back,
>> about Bangledesh and India. There were some _political_
>> difficulties discussed, because India would open their damns
>
> - as the Bangladeshis called them -
>
I noticed that too :-)

On Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:38:37 +0530, "pimpom"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>John O'Flaherty wrote:
>> On Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:49:53 -0800, Jon Kirwan
>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>>> I remember a story in Scientific American, some years back,
>>> about Bangledesh and India. There were some _political_
>>> difficulties discussed, because India would open their damns
>>
>> - as the Bangladeshis called them -
>>
>I noticed that too :-)

Oh, well. I'll see if I can improve my spelling, too.

Jon

pimpom wrote:
> Joerg wrote:
>> pimpom wrote:
>>> Several years ago, I bought a used Textronix 2236 oscilloscope
>>> from eBay through a friend in the US. I paid $385 and it came
>>> with five good quality Tek probes.
>>>
>>> Someone else's query about oscilloscopes made me curious about
>>> the current value of the scope and, in an idle moment, I
>>> looked
>>> it up on eBay. I expected it to have devalued significantly
>>> from
>>> the $385, but was surprised to see that they are still asking
>>> up
>>> to $1400 for it (though there's at least one offered for
>>> $300).
>>>
>>> What value would you put on a used scope of that class? I'm
>>> not
>>> thinking of selling it. I'd just like to know what you, those
>>> involved in electronics, think it's worth. The design is from
>>> the
>>> early 80s, perhaps even earlier. For those not familiar with
>>> this
>>> model, these are the main specs:
>>> 100 MHz dual trace analog
>>> 2mV/div, 5ns/div
>>> integrated 7-digit freq counter and timer (uP based)
>>> integrated autoranging 5000-count DMM
>>>
>> I've seen them going for $250 to $500, sometimes with a 30 or
>> 60 day
>> warranty from the used equipment dealer.
>>
>> I have only worked with its bigger brothers but some of the
>> DMMs built
>> into Teks had a tendency to overheat. Since you live in India
>> that
>> might be a concern. I don't know whether they can go bad if
>> that
>> happens, ours came back after turning it off for a while and
>> then
>> using the scope near an open window in summer.
>
> Thanks, Joerg. That scope is still going strong after several
> years. I do live in India, but India is not as uniformly hot,
> humid and overcrowded as most outsiders picture it to be. I'm in
> a hilly region near Burma where we have a very nice climate. We
> seldom cross 85 deg F in summer and the lowest I've recorded this
> winter is about 57 F at 3 am.
>

That sure sounds like paradise to me.


> I belong to one of the minority tribes in India. We have our own
> state with a population of less than 1 million, and have very
> little in common with mainstream India - language, customs,
> religion, tastes, even physical appearance. We're 100% Christian
> (at least in name), our alphabet is a close adaptation of the
> English alphabet, and very few of us know more than a smattering
> of Hindi. We're crazy about soccer and most think cricket is a
> silly game. If you saw us elsewhere, you'd probably think we're
> Koreans or some other Asian race. Nobody wears a sari or a turban
> here. Surprised? :-)
>

No, I know quite a few people from India and that always gave me the
impression that it must be a huge and diverse country. I have never been
there but my wife has.


>> Hey, remember those
>> offices where one could actually open a window?
>
> I still work and live in such a place. In fact, I've worked at
> home most of my adult life in a one-storey, tin-roofed
> wood-and-tile house in a nice residential area. The house has
> bars only in the bedroom (put in a decade ago). In the summer, I
> just open the windows to my office and lab, and let the cool
> breeze in.
>

So do I, but in August/September all that comes in is a warm breeze :-)

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.