On Sun, 28 May 2017 09:12:06 -0500, Foxs Mercantile
wrote:

On 5/28/2017 8:57 AM, Ralph Mowery wrote:

You really need to buy one of the used service monitors.

Like this for example:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/272688535932

Overpriced. Look at the prices of the sold listings:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=Motorola%20R2001&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold =1

I have two R2001D boxes parked in my palatial office waiting for the
mythical "spare time" needed to fix them. One has most of the red
LED's on the right bashed in by someone dropping something heavy on
the front panel. The other has a very weak CRT display, which is
probably an HV power supply problem. Both have lock problems, which
means it's time for a tantalum transplant. They've been sitting there
for about 3 years. If I wait long enough, maybe the owner will forget
I have them.

I have a few other service monitors. There are three SSI/Wavetek 3000
series service monitors in this photo, plus one more I recently
acquired. Typical cost was $300/ea:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/home/slides/BL-shop5.html
In the middle left, is an IFR-1500 service monitor (with an
intermittent power supply). I paid $1500:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/home/slides/test-equip-mess.html
There are several cell phone specific service monitors hidden in
various corners.

Yep, service monitors are a good thing to have an use, especially in
the field or on mountain top radio site. It has everything that you
might need to work on radios including a counter. All have TCXO or
OCXO reference oscillators for accuracy. At home, I have a home made
GPSDO for even more accuracy.

However, there's a catch. All the stuff in the photos is from the
1980's which means that components are starting to fail. It's a
continuous battle to keep these things running and usable. If you
decide to invest in an older service monitor, be prepared to
occasionally dive in and do some repairs.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558