Am I the only one? Mr Grumpy writes...

[EC8010]

I saw this today on ePay:

AVO VCM 163 valve/tube tester in good cosmetic condition. This unit came from a working environment about fifteen years ago. I never had time to learn to use this instrument, so it has been in storage since then. When powered up, fed with a VI103 (magic eye) valve and the settings (for the equivalent Y63 valve) as described in the manual are applied then the valve gives a reassuring green glow on some settings (see rather blurred photograph) and the meters seem to respond correctly. That is as far as I can test the unit considering my limited knowledge (and a little fear) of valves/tubes.

Never had the time to learn how to use it? My eye! I am sick to my back teeth of seeing this sort of get-out clause whereby the seller claims to be ignorant of electronics as an excuse to avoid making a clear statement as to whether the kit works or not.

I note that the seller is knowledgable about the various ways of accepting money from other people...

[Netlist]

It’s simply one of the many ways to advertise. Ever seen (some) consumer electronics salesman at work?

/Hugo

[jleaman]

Originally posted by Netlist
It’s simply one of the many ways to advertise. Ever seen (some) consumer electronics salesman at work?

/Hugo

Ya i have.. they tell you that you need the latest grates thing for it to work. Ie..


a old lady that needs probably a celleron 1.8 to browse and check her email. and rthe sales man sells her a dual for 2.5gig with 1gig ram dvd burner and 19" lcd with a 256mb video card etc etc all the bells. she pays about humm 2700$ and then brings it in the next day because she has it with viruses.. HImm sales men SUCK!!


Yes i was the tech that had to fix it.

[rdf]

Originally posted by EC8010
I am sick to my back teeth of seeing this sort of get-out clause ...

My favourite is "NOS tube appears to be new and unused. Since it doesn't fit my tester it's being sold as is...". Eek-Bay permits NOS to be abused to such an outrageous degree it no longer has any meaning. What part of 'new' in 'NEW Old Stock' was confusing? As recently happened to me, a transmitter tube then arrives with a getter the size of a pea, its 'deadness' obvious to anyone with a marginal familiarity with the devices. Since it was $10 + $9 shipping, I guess I could return it for a refund minus shipping.

[jleaman]

Originally posted by rdf


My favourite is "NOS tube appears to be new and unused. Since it doesn't fit my tester it's being sold as is...". Eek-Bay permits NOS to be abused to such an outrageous degree it no longer has any meaning. What part of 'new' in 'NEW Old Stock' was confusing? As recently happened to me, a transmitter tube then arrives with a getter the size of a pea, its 'deadness' obvious to anyone with a marginal familiarity with the devices. Since it was $10 + $9 shipping, I guess I could return it for a refund minus shipping.

I would.

[Geek]

My pet peeve is $30 shipping for a bleedin' videogame that'll fit in an small bubble envelope

[arnoldc]

hah, beat this-

Have you seen the "Invisible Man" being sold at eBay?

There's a picture of the forest, and the description said something like.

For sale, one invisible man. About 6' tall, with clear eyes.

There was even a red oval mark beside the tree to indicate the "presence" of the "invisible man"



ps.

I bet he's holding an invisible NOS tube as well

[ThSpeakerDude88]

and possibly a mcintosh 275... have you seen the ones on ebay with $300 shipping from china that have pics that all look alike and were copied from other auctions from ones that wre in mint shape for one that is not, and they say something like this : " good amp.. no corrode, cheap, sound glisten beautiful. If you bid you have good luck."

[Miles Prower]

AVO VCM 163 valve/tube tester in good cosmetic condition. This unit came from a working environment about fifteen years ago. I never had time to learn to use this instrument, so it has been in storage since then. When powered up, fed with a VI103 (magic eye) valve and the settings (for the equivalent Y63 valve) as described in the manual are applied then the valve gives a reassuring green glow on some settings (see rather blurred photograph) and the meters seem to respond correctly. That is as far as I can test the unit considering my limited knowledge (and a little fear) of valves/tubes.

Bet this guy sells used cars for his day job. "...And the previous owner was a little ol' lady who drove it only to church on Sundays".

[EC8010]

Talking of used cars, many years ago (when I was student) a friend offered to collect an oscilloscope I'd bought on his way to driving his car to the scrapyard. We got 50 yards down our road when the floor below the accelerator gave way and the car stopped. I bodged up a bit of floor out of a piece of plywood and and a new accelerator pedal out of another. The hinge was a scrap of jeans nailed between the two. The cable was secured with a bit of Meccano. It worked (well it got the 'scope home).

When I finally get around to selling stuff on ePay, my sales spiel will be so entirely different as to stand out. All valves will have clear descriptions and measurements as to their status. And if I ever sell my VCM163, it will be clearly described as being in full working and calibrated order other than some switch positions being a little dirty and needing a nudge to get a proper reading.