S J Birkill / RWT / G8AKQ : RF Electronics Garage Sale, Sheffield, December 15th 2013
Sale now over — see updates below
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I'm disposing of most of the contents of my lab at RWT, acquired from 1978 to 2013: analogue, digital, RF and microwave radio & TV test equipment, prototypes, evaluation boards, databooks, satellite LNAs, LNBs, downconverters, receivers, set-top boxes, TVs, VCRs, DVRs, DVD recorder, coaxial and waveguide components, dishes, mounts, positioners, feeds, cables, antenna hardware, equipment rack, power trunking, power supplies. Most items in good clean working condition, but a few incomplete or needing attention.

Items priced at "Free", £0.50, £1.00, £2.00, £5.00, £10.00, £20.00, £50.00, £100.00, £200.00 or "offers".
Most are <£10, so bring a bag of pound coins!
Non-working or unknown-condition items will be clearly identified as such.
One day only! Cash only please. Informal sale — not an auction.

Location Sheffield, date to be decided but will be at a weekend this winter (December 2013 to February 2014).

Date and time now set !  :  Sunday December 15th at 11:30

Callers only, no shipping: goods available only on the day — after gates open it's first come, first served!
Some items may be withdrawn before the sale, (for example this unit is currently advertised on eBay) but others will be added.
Items not offered a good home on the day will be recycled .

Please register your interest (no obligation) by e-mailing me — <sale@clusterphone.com>.

Stephen J Birkill

Update 04.12.13:

I've been asked to list the major items, as not all will be recognisable from the photos. This won't be a complete list, but here goes:

Rohde & Schwarz MPEG-2 Measurement Generator DVG (price to be reduced if withdrawn from eBay sale);
Philips DVS Mediaguard Integrated MPEG-2 Program Decoder DVS3853/27 (price to be reduced if withdrawn from eBay sale);
Philips PM5690 TV Multichannel VHF/UHF Converter;
Broadcast Technology DVB-T Professional Monitor Receiver DTVM-2000(T);
PTV OFDM (DVB-T) Modulator PT5775 (IF output OK but VHF/UHF upconverter needs attention);
Adret (Marconi) Signal Generator 7100, 100kHz - 1.3GHz (intermittent fault);
Tektronix analogue TV Pattern Generator 1411;
Grundig PAL TV Pattern Generator with VHF/UHF modulator FG7;
System Video dual waveform monitor & vectorscope with line select module;
Hewlett-Packard 8410C Network Analyzer mainframe with 8412B phase/magnitude display;
Hewlett-Packard 8418A Auxiliary Display Holder with 8414B polar display;
Hewlett-Packard 8745A S-Parameter test set, 0.1 - 2GHz;
Hewlett-Packard 8743A Reflection/Transmission test unit, 2 - 12.4GHz;
Hewlett-Packard 8750A Storage/Normalizer;
Hewlett-Packard 182T Display with 8558B 1500MHz Spectrum analyzer plug-in;
Hewlett-Packard DesignJet 200 large format (A1) B&W inkjet plotter w/ Ethernet adaptor;
Iwatsu 350MHz Oscilloscope SS-7635 (EHT fault);
Marconi Instruments Absorption Frequency Meter TF1026/4M, 2 - 4GHz;
Scientific-Atlanta B-MAC Decoder;
TechniSat Digital Satellite Radio receiver ST5000;
VideoLogic audio separates DAB receiver DRX-401E;
Panasonic DVD + HDD digital video recorder DMR-HS2;
DigiFusion Freeview PVRs (3 prototypes, will make 1 good unit);
AVCOM COM-66T analogue satellite TV receiver;
Eddystone 770U rack-mount VHF/UHF receiver;
Sony U-Matic PAL/SECAM/NTSC VCR VO5630, suspect failed in storage;
Sony Betamax PAL VCR SL-HF950 with new external PSU;
Sony Betamax PAL/SECAM VCR SL-F30, red;
Sony Betamax PAL/SECAM VCR SL-T7ME, 3 units for cannibalisation;
Sony stereo AM/FM Receiver/Amplifier STR-KSL40;
Sony 14" Trinitron PAL TV KV-M1420U (2 units);
Panasonic VHS PAL VCR NV-FJ615;
Panasonic VHS PAL VCR NV-HD100;
Daewoo SetPal VHS Freeview VCR;
Pye 14" B&W 405/525/625-line studio CRT monitor;
Analogue & digital satellite receivers/IRDs/decoders/STBs, various;
Wegener Panda-I audio subcarrier encoder;
DVB-T/Freeview set-top boxes, various;
RS Components A2 fluorescent artwork light box;
RS Components 6-foot open rack cabinet with bearers, shelves, hardware;
Swedish Microwave offset multi-focus fibreglass Ku-Band dish 1.65 x 1.11m with all hardware, new;
Prodelin offset fibreglass 1.2m Ku-Band dish with mount, hardware & 12-GHz feed (2 units);
HamcoStar/JRC/Nitec Robot az-el antenna positioner EPR-203 with control unit EPS-103, handles 2.5m dish with 0.2° resolution;
Houston Tracker Systems (etc.) dish positioner controllers, various;
LNAs, LNBs, LNCs, waveguide & integrated feed horns, polarisers, S-Band, C-Band, Ku-Band, various;
Waveguide & co-ax RF & IF amplifiers, relays, filters, circulators, connectors, adaptors, trays of 'em;
RF & TV, analogue & digital semiconductor device, tuner & module evaluation boards, too numerous to list;
Antenna mounting hardware, mast clamps, stainless steel fittings -- a selection;
40-element long Yagi, 2.6GHz (S-Band downlink);
Power supplies: equipment, bench and plug-in types;
Bench power distribution trunking, electrical fittings, 13-amp distribution blocks, IEC mains leads;
Semiconductor data & application books 1978 through 2005, a great many;
Huge collection of journals going back up to 50 years; well cared for:
        WW, PTV, RadCom, CQ-TV, IBE, EBU, Cable & Satellite, MWJ, Microwaves, MSN, RF Design etc.

Once again, please don't take this as a guarantee that any particular item will be available on the day, but I am adding to the stack all the time.

Update 05.12.13:

I decided against placing an ad in RadCom (RSGB) due to uncertainty over publication date, and concern over numbers. Instead I have posted a link to this page in the BATC Web forum, and alerted the UK Microwave Group secretary in the hope he can spread the word to interested members. I've also been in touch with the local Amateur Radio Club in Sheffield.

I had hoped that, through these channels, I would find sufficient interest to set a sale date for mid-December. However, response has so far been disappointing (six e-mails to date — thank you all), so I will have to think again. Please let your friends know if you think they might be interested, and urge them to e-mail the address above. If I can get perhaps 20 expressions of interest, and assume that as many as half of these might translate to actual visits on the day, I'll be happy to go ahead. Remember, I'm giving most of this stuff away!

Update 07.12.13:

Turnaraound! Thank you all for getting in touch — we've had an excellent response over the past couple of days. Thanks to promotional efforts by Brian, Trevor, Ian and others I already have a list of 25 enthusiasts who'd like to come along.

Accordingly I've decided to fix the date for next Sunday, December 15th, so we're all clear before Christmas.

I appreciate that some of you will be disappointed, having made weekend plans that are difficult or impossible to change — this is always the case with short-notice events — but I sincerely hope all of you will do your best to attend if you possibly can.

The location is [Deleted 15.12.13 now the sale is over]

Gates Open time is 11:30 AM. I'd like everyone to be able to look at the gear before we take apart the stacks — there's a fair bit of stuff in a small space — and start selling things off, so please arrive on time if you can.

Keep checking back and refresh this page for any further updates.

I look forward to seeing you on the 15th.

Update 15.12.13

Sale now ended. About a dozen visitors — we would have had 20-ish, but quite a few respondents had mailed to say they couldn't make it — other commitments on this pre-Christmas weekend. Commiserations to all. Still we cleared a good haul of stuff, equipment and components: not much interest in analogue or digital TV, but quite a bit in microwave parts and general electronics.

Thanks to those who came, and bought. I hope you are all enjoying your purchases. Now to organise that skip for the leftovers!

Stephen

Below are photos showing some of the gear in situ before we dismantled the lab. Please note — not all items visible in these shots are available for sale!