In some cases they have been cough having some one bid up the price. Bert Kehren In a message dated 1/9/2012 11:05:01 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, ed_pal...@sasktel.net writes:
On 1/9/2012 7:21 AM, gandal...@aol.com wrote: > Hi Roy > > There's some very good stuff coming out of China via Ebay, but some does > come with confusion attached and it's probably best never to place too much > reliance on descriptions unless for items reasonably well known or with > relevant documentation available. > > Just to add to the confusion, quite a few sellers seem to use multiple IDs, > sometimes blatantly obvious but sometimes not, and also exhibit almost > paranoid behaviour at times when it comes to not sharing information with > those considered to be local competitors. The paranoia, of course, might be > well founded:-) One other aspect of their paranoia is that many of the Chinese sellers make all their auctions private. It makes me wonder what they're hiding. Maybe their paranoia is a bit contagious. :-) Private auctions really annoy me because if I see some negative ratings, I can't tell what item they were complaining about. Maybe it was the item I was interested in, maybe not. But since I can't tell, I'm likely to take my business elsewhere. > Probably best not to assume either that any of these sellers are too well > informed electronically. I asked one of the Fe-5680A sellers if his unit had the 1 PPS output on pin 6. If he had been testing the units, it would have been trivial for him to check. I never received a response from him. I won't be buying anything from him in the future. > If you think it can be confusing with the surplus commercial gear, just > wait until you see what they can do when they start to dabble with design, > either their own or those "borrowed" from elsewhere:-) > > The FE5680A has certainly been one of the confusing items, firstly just > because there are a number of variants that aren't publicly documented but > not helped again by some sellers providing incorrect information. I've noticed that they often copy their competitor's information - particularly amusing when you know that all of them are wrong! Ed > I wouldn't necessarily describe the current batch of cheaper FE5680As as > basic though, or even non programmable. > They provide both 10MHz and 1PPS outputs, I've identified a well defined > 1uS 5V pulse available on pin 6 despite doubts in some quarters, and are > programmable to the extent that the output frequency can be trimmed under > computer control with a fair degree of accuracy and without any of the possible > longer term problems sometimes associated with variable resistors. > They certainly beat at least one of my FE5660As, an FRS-C compatible unit, > where the internal trimmer fell off the PCB in transit:-) > > regards > > Nigel > > > > > In a message dated 09/01/2012 11:57:22 GMT Standard Time, > phill...@btinternet.com writes: > > Nigel > Thanks for your information. The data given by Bert seems to be getting > more > sensible, and I think you will agree that of all the items that have been > purchased and discussed on "Time-Nuts", this one is hands down for > confusion. One of the reasons for my trusting and buying from Bob (Fluke > I) > is that he is well informed, , has good electronic knowledge and has > always > provided good items of gear. It would seem that the number of Chinese > sellers has increased in the recent past and many of them would seem to > have > little knowledge of the products and even less English to answer > questions. > Again it would seem that if you buy the "cheapies" then you probably have > the basic, non programmable model. I guess the guys at FE are all falling > about when they see our predicament ! > _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.