[time-nuts] Re: HP105B
Another one that might make the half century is the 3458A 8.5 digit multimeter which is 33 this year. It's just had an update and is still competitive in its own right, not just for legacy reasons. Angus. On Mon, 17 Jan 2022 07:23:17 -0800, you wrote: >Louis, > >Keep an eye on the 5071A. It was introduced in 1992; now 30 years old, >still in full production, showing no signs of being retired. Same >product number, same instrument, same parts, same manual. It also >survived corporate name changes: hp -> Agilent -> Symmetricom -> >Microsemi -> Microchip. So give it a few more years and it will beat >your 33 year hp 105B number. > >It's maybe cheating to allow all the variations in the evolution of the >original 200A audio oscillator, as Magnus mentions. In that case you may >also allow the evolution of the original 5060A cesium standard: hp 5060A >-> 5061A -> 5061B -> 5071A. The 5060 came out in 1964, so that's 58 >years, and counting. > >If you're playing product history games also look at the hp 100 -> 101 >-> 103 -> 104 -> 106 -> 107 -> 105 quartz oscillators. That covers 1943 >(100A) to 2000 (105B), also 58 years. > >/tvb > > >On 1/16/2022 1:18 PM, Louis Taber wrote: >> The HP 105B is in the HP catalogs for a 33 year period, 1968 through >> 2000. That is a 33 year run. Is this an HP/Agilent/Keysight record? > >On 1/16/2022 2:25 PM, Magnus Danielson via time-nuts wrote: >> No, not for HP. The HP200A through D products where separate products >> for 8 years, then the 200A and 200B was merged to the 200AB and the >> 200C and 200D merged into 200CD that was running for 37 years, >> totaling in 45 years of continuous production. >___ >time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an >email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com >To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] Re: HP105B
What about the HP 5087A Distribution Amplifier? When did that start and end? It's gone through all of the "color" changes over the years. And then there is the 355 attenuator: https://www.hpmemoryproject.org/timeline/art_fong/hp355_01.htm They report it was in the HP catalog from 1958 through the 2006 Agilent catalog, 46 years. On 01/16/2022 04:18 PM, Louis Taber wrote: Hi All, The HP 105B is in the HP catalogs for a 33 year period, 1968 through 2000. That is a 33 year run. Is this an HP/Agilent/Keysight record? Does anyone know how the newer units were fabricated? It is just barely mentioned in the year 2000 catalog. The price went up from $1800 to $9700 in 26 years. About 5.5 times the original price. I wonder what the price was in 2000. I was looking at the old HP catalogs at http://hparchive.com/hp_catalogs for the HP105B Quartz Oscillator. The 1967 catalog has the 106A and 107AR/BR on page 538, but no 105A/B 1968 $1800 p594-597 1969 $1800 p648-651 1970 $1800 p624 1972 $1950 p237 1973 $2145 p284 1974 No catalog or supplement published 1975 $2470 p287 1976 $2725 p276 1977 $2950 p274 1978 $3250 p300 1979 $3500 p282 1980 $3750 p284 1981 Not listed 1982 $5750 p307 1983 No price p281 1984 No price p275 1986 $5800 p257 1987 $6400 p340 1988 $6800 p467 1989 $7500 p487 1990 $8600 p491 1991 $9000 p510 1992 $9500 p556 1993 $9700 p498 1994/5/6 No catalog on the site. 1997 No price p493 1998 No price p503 1999 No price p508 2000 "The HP 105B quartz frequency standard uses the HP 10811D and is available as a complete standalone instrument." p 491 ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] Re: HP105B
Hi If you look at the original 105, it is a *very* different beast than the “final” version. They look similar (but not identical) from the outside. The insides changed multiple times over the years. Bob > On Jan 18, 2022, at 9:41 AM, Louis Taber wrote: > > Thanks for the HP history lesson! > > I find it all pretty impressive. I guess I have always thought great > things about the instrumentation side of HP anyway. Their engineering has > always been great. But, maintaining not only parts inventory, production > capability for any product that has lasted over decades in the fast moving > world of electronics is amazing to me. > > I do wonder how much the product changed internally. It has been a long > time since anyone has used as much point-to-point wiring as was common with > tube circuitry. > > On Mon, Jan 17, 2022 at 8:31 AM Tom Van Baak wrote: > >> Louis, >> >> Keep an eye on the 5071A. It was introduced in 1992; now 30 years old, >> still in full production, showing no signs of being retired. Same >> product number, same instrument, same parts, same manual. It also >> survived corporate name changes: hp -> Agilent -> Symmetricom -> >> Microsemi -> Microchip. So give it a few more years and it will beat >> your 33 year hp 105B number. >> >> It's maybe cheating to allow all the variations in the evolution of the >> original 200A audio oscillator, as Magnus mentions. In that case you may >> also allow the evolution of the original 5060A cesium standard: hp 5060A >> -> 5061A -> 5061B -> 5071A. The 5060 came out in 1964, so that's 58 >> years, and counting. >> >> If you're playing product history games also look at the hp 100 -> 101 >> -> 103 -> 104 -> 106 -> 107 -> 105 quartz oscillators. That covers 1943 >> (100A) to 2000 (105B), also 58 years. >> >> /tvb >> >> >> On 1/16/2022 1:18 PM, Louis Taber wrote: >>> The HP 105B is in the HP catalogs for a 33 year period, 1968 through >>> 2000. That is a 33 year run. Is this an HP/Agilent/Keysight record? >> >> On 1/16/2022 2:25 PM, Magnus Danielson via time-nuts wrote: >>> No, not for HP. The HP200A through D products where separate products >>> for 8 years, then the 200A and 200B was merged to the 200AB and the >>> 200C and 200D merged into 200CD that was running for 37 years, >>> totaling in 45 years of continuous production. >> ___ >> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send >> an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com >> To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there. >> > ___ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an > email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] Re: HP105B
Thanks for the HP history lesson! I find it all pretty impressive. I guess I have always thought great things about the instrumentation side of HP anyway. Their engineering has always been great. But, maintaining not only parts inventory, production capability for any product that has lasted over decades in the fast moving world of electronics is amazing to me. I do wonder how much the product changed internally. It has been a long time since anyone has used as much point-to-point wiring as was common with tube circuitry. On Mon, Jan 17, 2022 at 8:31 AM Tom Van Baak wrote: > Louis, > > Keep an eye on the 5071A. It was introduced in 1992; now 30 years old, > still in full production, showing no signs of being retired. Same > product number, same instrument, same parts, same manual. It also > survived corporate name changes: hp -> Agilent -> Symmetricom -> > Microsemi -> Microchip. So give it a few more years and it will beat > your 33 year hp 105B number. > > It's maybe cheating to allow all the variations in the evolution of the > original 200A audio oscillator, as Magnus mentions. In that case you may > also allow the evolution of the original 5060A cesium standard: hp 5060A > -> 5061A -> 5061B -> 5071A. The 5060 came out in 1964, so that's 58 > years, and counting. > > If you're playing product history games also look at the hp 100 -> 101 > -> 103 -> 104 -> 106 -> 107 -> 105 quartz oscillators. That covers 1943 > (100A) to 2000 (105B), also 58 years. > > /tvb > > > On 1/16/2022 1:18 PM, Louis Taber wrote: > > The HP 105B is in the HP catalogs for a 33 year period, 1968 through > > 2000. That is a 33 year run. Is this an HP/Agilent/Keysight record? > > On 1/16/2022 2:25 PM, Magnus Danielson via time-nuts wrote: > > No, not for HP. The HP200A through D products where separate products > > for 8 years, then the 200A and 200B was merged to the 200AB and the > > 200C and 200D merged into 200CD that was running for 37 years, > > totaling in 45 years of continuous production. > ___ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send > an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there. > ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] Re: HP105B
Louis, Keep an eye on the 5071A. It was introduced in 1992; now 30 years old, still in full production, showing no signs of being retired. Same product number, same instrument, same parts, same manual. It also survived corporate name changes: hp -> Agilent -> Symmetricom -> Microsemi -> Microchip. So give it a few more years and it will beat your 33 year hp 105B number. It's maybe cheating to allow all the variations in the evolution of the original 200A audio oscillator, as Magnus mentions. In that case you may also allow the evolution of the original 5060A cesium standard: hp 5060A -> 5061A -> 5061B -> 5071A. The 5060 came out in 1964, so that's 58 years, and counting. If you're playing product history games also look at the hp 100 -> 101 -> 103 -> 104 -> 106 -> 107 -> 105 quartz oscillators. That covers 1943 (100A) to 2000 (105B), also 58 years. /tvb On 1/16/2022 1:18 PM, Louis Taber wrote: The HP 105B is in the HP catalogs for a 33 year period, 1968 through 2000. That is a 33 year run. Is this an HP/Agilent/Keysight record? On 1/16/2022 2:25 PM, Magnus Danielson via time-nuts wrote: No, not for HP. The HP200A through D products where separate products for 8 years, then the 200A and 200B was merged to the 200AB and the 200C and 200D merged into 200CD that was running for 37 years, totaling in 45 years of continuous production. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] Re: HP105B
Hi, On 2022-01-17 08:42, Poul-Henning Kamp wrote: Magnus Danielson via time-nuts writes: No, not for HP. Somewhere on one of the HP memory webpages there is a presentation where somebody claims the longest lived HP product is a particular microwave gadget, I seem to recall it being a directional coupler. There is several such gadgets that very well can be the longest HP (/Agilent/Keysight) product, but I raised the one they highlighted themselves, and it has a lifetime longer than mentioned for the 105. I think one should be careful to separate measurement instruments and gadgets, nothing wrong with either, but the former tends to have shorter life-cycle than the later can have. I have a pair of HP200CD, really enjoy them for what they are, but they rarely come to use. Cheers, Magnus ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] Re: HP105B
Magnus Danielson via time-nuts writes: > No, not for HP. Somewhere on one of the HP memory webpages there is a presentation where somebody claims the longest lived HP product is a particular microwave gadget, I seem to recall it being a directional coupler. -- Poul-Henning Kamp | UNIX since Zilog Zeus 3.20 p...@freebsd.org | TCP/IP since RFC 956 FreeBSD committer | BSD since 4.3-tahoe Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] Re: HP105B
Since I have the 1994 and 1995 catalogs, I'll add that data: 1994 $10200 p499 1995 $10400 p227 Regards, John ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] Re: HP105B
The clip on vacuum tube ammeter might be in contention. Rick N6RK On 1/16/2022 2:25 PM, Magnus Danielson via time-nuts wrote: Hi, No, not for HP. The HP200A through D products where separate products for 8 years, then the 200A and 200B was merged to the 200AB and the 200C and 200D merged into 200CD that was running for 37 years, totaling in 45 years of continuous production. Not bad for a tube-based oscillator. The numbers are from the top of my head, but was featured in an HP PR-article, where they where proud of this fact, even after breaking out Agilent. Someone can probably do the research and correct details, but I distinctly recall the 45 total years. Cheers, Magnus On 2022-01-16 22:18, Louis Taber wrote: Hi All, The HP 105B is in the HP catalogs for a 33 year period, 1968 through 2000. That is a 33 year run. Is this an HP/Agilent/Keysight record? Does anyone know how the newer units were fabricated? It is just barely mentioned in the year 2000 catalog. The price went up from $1800 to $9700 in 26 years. About 5.5 times the original price. I wonder what the price was in 2000. I was looking at the old HP catalogs at http://hparchive.com/hp_catalogs for the HP105B Quartz Oscillator. The 1967 catalog has the 106A and 107AR/BR on page 538, but no 105A/B 1968 $1800 p594-597 1969 $1800 p648-651 1970 $1800 p624 1972 $1950 p237 1973 $2145 p284 1974 No catalog or supplement published 1975 $2470 p287 1976 $2725 p276 1977 $2950 p274 1978 $3250 p300 1979 $3500 p282 1980 $3750 p284 1981 Not listed 1982 $5750 p307 1983 No price p281 1984 No price p275 1986 $5800 p257 1987 $6400 p340 1988 $6800 p467 1989 $7500 p487 1990 $8600 p491 1991 $9000 p510 1992 $9500 p556 1993 $9700 p498 1994/5/6 No catalog on the site. 1997 No price p493 1998 No price p503 1999 No price p508 2000 "The HP 105B quartz frequency standard uses the HP 10811D and is available as a complete standalone instrument." p 491 ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] Re: HP105B
Magnus is correct. One additional bit of trivia: HP’s last tube-based instrument was the 428B DC Milliameter. It was made for another year or so after the 200CD was finally dropped. So many military and industrial contracts were written specifying these instruments that customers insisted they stay in production, so the contractors didn’t have to re-qualify (or whatever the procedure was) their whole contract. HP said, hey, if you wanna pay… On Sun, Jan 16, 2022 at 2:35 PM Magnus Danielson via time-nuts < time-nuts@lists.febo.com> wrote: > Hi, > > No, not for HP. The HP200A through D products where separate products > for 8 years, then the 200A and 200B was merged to the 200AB and the 200C > and 200D merged into 200CD that was running for 37 years, totaling in 45 > years of continuous production. Not bad for a tube-based oscillator. The > numbers are from the top of my head, but was featured in an HP > PR-article, where they where proud of this fact, even after breaking out > Agilent. Someone can probably do the research and correct details, but I > distinctly recall the 45 total years. > > Cheers, > Magnus > > On 2022-01-16 22:18, Louis Taber wrote: > > Hi All, > > > > The HP 105B is in the HP catalogs for a 33 year period, 1968 through > > 2000. That is a 33 year run. Is this an HP/Agilent/Keysight record? > > Does anyone know how the newer units were fabricated? > > > > It is just barely mentioned in the year 2000 catalog. The price went up > > from $1800 to $9700 in 26 years. About 5.5 times the original price. I > > wonder what the price was in 2000. > > > > I was looking at the old HP catalogs at http://hparchive.com/hp_catalogs > > for the HP105B Quartz Oscillator. The 1967 catalog has the 106A and > > 107AR/BR on page 538, but no 105A/B > > > > 1968 $1800 p594-597 > > 1969 $1800 p648-651 > > 1970 $1800 p624 > > 1972 $1950 p237 > > 1973 $2145 p284 > > 1974 No catalog or supplement published > > 1975 $2470 p287 > > 1976 $2725 p276 > > 1977 $2950 p274 > > 1978 $3250 p300 > > 1979 $3500 p282 > > 1980 $3750 p284 > > 1981 Not listed > > 1982 $5750 p307 > > 1983 No price p281 > > 1984 No price p275 > > 1986 $5800 p257 > > 1987 $6400 p340 > > 1988 $6800 p467 > > 1989 $7500 p487 > > 1990 $8600 p491 > > 1991 $9000 p510 > > 1992 $9500 p556 > > 1993 $9700 p498 > > 1994/5/6 No catalog on the site. > > 1997 No price p493 > > 1998 No price p503 > > 1999 No price p508 > > 2000 "The HP 105B quartz frequency standard uses the HP 10811D and is > > available as a complete standalone instrument." p 491 > > ___ > > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe > send an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com > > To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there. > ___ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send > an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there. > -- Jeremy Nichols Sent from my iPad 6. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] Re: HP105B
Hi, No, not for HP. The HP200A through D products where separate products for 8 years, then the 200A and 200B was merged to the 200AB and the 200C and 200D merged into 200CD that was running for 37 years, totaling in 45 years of continuous production. Not bad for a tube-based oscillator. The numbers are from the top of my head, but was featured in an HP PR-article, where they where proud of this fact, even after breaking out Agilent. Someone can probably do the research and correct details, but I distinctly recall the 45 total years. Cheers, Magnus On 2022-01-16 22:18, Louis Taber wrote: Hi All, The HP 105B is in the HP catalogs for a 33 year period, 1968 through 2000. That is a 33 year run. Is this an HP/Agilent/Keysight record? Does anyone know how the newer units were fabricated? It is just barely mentioned in the year 2000 catalog. The price went up from $1800 to $9700 in 26 years. About 5.5 times the original price. I wonder what the price was in 2000. I was looking at the old HP catalogs at http://hparchive.com/hp_catalogs for the HP105B Quartz Oscillator. The 1967 catalog has the 106A and 107AR/BR on page 538, but no 105A/B 1968 $1800 p594-597 1969 $1800 p648-651 1970 $1800 p624 1972 $1950 p237 1973 $2145 p284 1974 No catalog or supplement published 1975 $2470 p287 1976 $2725 p276 1977 $2950 p274 1978 $3250 p300 1979 $3500 p282 1980 $3750 p284 1981 Not listed 1982 $5750 p307 1983 No price p281 1984 No price p275 1986 $5800 p257 1987 $6400 p340 1988 $6800 p467 1989 $7500 p487 1990 $8600 p491 1991 $9000 p510 1992 $9500 p556 1993 $9700 p498 1994/5/6 No catalog on the site. 1997 No price p493 1998 No price p503 1999 No price p508 2000 "The HP 105B quartz frequency standard uses the HP 10811D and is available as a complete standalone instrument." p 491 ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an email to time-nuts-le...@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there.
