1957 Digital Technology Using Tubes! Will It Still Work? Let's Find Out!

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

To learn electronics in a very different and effective way, and gain access to Mr Carlson's personal designs and inventions, visit the Mr Carlson's Lab Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/MrCarlsonsLab

[@vovan8547]

С наступающим новым годом. Рпивет из Украины.

[@vovan8547]

Hello from Ukraine. Happy New Year. Thanks for your channel. I always look with pleasure. I wish you good health.

[@hottinroof7159]

@@vovan8547 dobryi dyen

[@TimoNoko]

In 1975 this same counter was still quite usable counting execution cycles on RCA 1802 microprocessor. This was the only debugging tool we had at Helsinki Polytech. At least we knew how many instructions it did until it the program halted.

[@trainliker100]

Ah yes. The 1802 "Cosmac". I designed many a product using it. Back in the day, for a CMOS processor there was only this and the Intersil 6100 (emulating a 12 bit PDP-8) while other manufacturers kept saying "we will have our CMOS version 'next quarter''" And the "next quarter" turned out to be a couple of years I think. Rather unique architecture with any of the sixteen 16 bit registers assignable as the program counter or stack pointer. And no "call" or "return" instruction making you having to write your own if you wanted nested calls. And you could single step it and stop and start the clock if you wanted. In one product, where speed wasn't needed, we ran it from a 32,768 Hz watch crystal that was otherwise used for time keeping. The 1802 was an early processor for military operations in a militarized version.

[@richardbrobeck2384]

Timo that is amazing HP built some really good test equipment in the day !

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks for sharing your story Timo!

[@MLX1401]

I wonder how long these digital counters were continued at HP? The original spare-part module I have is mfg'd in 1965 so apparently there was quite steady demand, even though this counter must have been a very costly unit to purchase. Or maybe they just kept providing spares? There must be an issue of HP Journal covering these questions, I'll see if I can find it :D

[@TimoNoko]

@@MLX1401 Army maintained tube-run lab equipment very long time until 1980s. They were supposed to be nuclear and EMP-proof. And especially when dubious semi-soviet country like Finland could not get MIL-hardened stuff from Murica.

[@CuriousMarc]

Ooooh, aaaaaah. So much HP goodness!

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks for stopping by Marc. Happy New year!

[@OC35]

In 1964, at a NASA satellite tracking station, I worked on equipment that used a later version of those HP decade counters. It used neons connected to the anodes of the double triodes to shine on a matrix of light dependant resistors. They were arranged to decode the binary to decimal and feed Nixies!

[@richardbrobeck2384]

Cool !

[@trainliker100]

This is actually one of the small HP tube type counters. Hewlett Packard considered it "The First Portable and Low Cost Frequency Counter". It came out shortly after the big 8 digit bench version Model 524 that also accepted plug-ins for higher frequency measuring. (I have used a 524 and it is sort of fun to watch them work.) In the mid 50's, the big 524 was about $2500 and the "portable" one about $500. Back then, many pretty large items, such as maybe a 21" TV, or a big tape recorder with swing-out speakers, was considered "portable" just by attaching a handle to the top.

[@hotpuppy1]

$500 would be $4700 in today's money and $2500 is $23,500!

[@jimmomary]

Online inflation calculator says $500 in 1957 is equivalent to $4795 today. Pricey bit of gear back when.

[@stevem.1853]

Yep, "portable" meant "probably won't take more than one person to move it" 😂

[@trainliker100]

@Larry Butler Actually, I found something that did beat the "self-lighting" florescent tube (although at a transmitter site I worked at, we did that, too). We had many AN/FRT39 (Technical Materiel Corporation GPT-10K) 10 KW transmitters. If you let an interlock open, a shorting bar in the high voltage section dropped down on a huge filter capacitor. And if that final stage was under power, it made a heck of an explosive "craaaack" sound. We had some supremely obnoxious officer "inspecting" our facility and he was being guided down a pathway between the backs of two rows of these transmitters. So I pulled out one of the exciter drawers on one that was on, but not currently being used. It was pretty effective. At a cal lab I worked at, they had a good solution for humidity. They had a large air conditioning unit running 100% of the time, and then heating coils in front of it to regulate the room temperature as needed.

[@bruceh4833]

Some more numbers. BLS online calculator says $2500.00 in 1957 is equivalent to $24,728.47 in 2021. I knew a guy that worked for the railroad in the 1960's at $12/hr. (1965 @ $12/hr. × 2000 hrs. = $24,000/yr.; adj. for inflation 782.4% in 2021 @ $105.88/hr. x 2000 hrs. = $211,760.00/yr. with full benefits, a decent retirement and alcohol vending machines ;))) He paid $8,000 for a new 1500 sq. ft. home with full basement and 2 car garage that he was still living in until he passed. The housing market reflects the inflation rate far more accurately than wages after 1970 when Nixon destroyed the partial Bretton-Woods gold standard for Rockefeller oil (that's why O.P.E.C. happened and Carter's austerity measures). JFK saw it being planned. There was plenty of oil for refinery worker families while everyone else waited in rationing que lines. My friend's home cost 1/3 of one year's wages plus he got all the extra benefits that the corporations dumped during the Reagan administration. College tuition for pre-med school was $3,000 a semester in 1982, but wages and jobs and credit scores screwed up the wage rate confusion about the increased speed of the dollar decline from puppet 1970 Nixon. Wages fell way behind for entry level labor and then in the 1980's for a lot more of blue collar labor after Reagan fired the picketing air traffic controllers. $8,000 in 1965 adj. 782.4% inflation is $70,589.97 in 2021. Do we see those kind of new home prices today? We absolutely do not for a new 1500 sq. ft. home with real lumber, good roofing, solid hinges, windows and doors anywhere even in the most rural stretches of America because the dollar has an on-purpose failing foreign capacitor with new wet currency generating shorting through most of the circuitry. See what I did there? Ha. 1957! When they built the best Chevy ever with standard interchangeable door hinges that flipped upside down for either side of the car, standard round headlights and room to walk thru past the back seat. There have been major improvements since then and a lot of tradeoffs like better passenger crash survival and air conditioning, more quiet and less stinky to plastic doors that crack in the winter from a kick, no real bumpers and the idiot engineer that thought taking door bumpers off and reducing parking space size was good for car door finishes. But, VW's in 1969 with carburated 4 cylinder engines did 85 m.p.h. and made 35 m.p.g. without all the electronic gadgetry. Today's average cars make less than 30 m.p.g. and usually have an electronic malfunction that puts them in the weeds. Thought you'd like to see my honest perspective over surviving those days in actual dollar equivalents of one of the phases in the fall of the American rust belt that led to today.

[@darrellpalmer]

1957 is the year my dad went to work for HP. By the time he retired, he was the manager of their microwave standards lab in Palo Alto. That tube with the yellow label is almost certainly a later replacement as I can't imagine any calibration lab that would have been sent to using anything other than HP tubes. That counter has been well taken care of.

[@jamesharrison2041]

''''opening up a piece of vintage electronics is like opening up a vintage bottle of wine''''except better'''''''1957 was a very good year''''''''73's.

[@billmcdonald2436]

My how technology has changed. Cool piece of history here.

[@MVVblog]

5:00 WOW!!! This is XXX . Happy 2022

[@mrcasey69]

As mentioned many times before, your channel is a KZbin treasure.

[@loughkb]

You've got one heck of a gem of a collectible item there! All original and unmodified, and so clean it's like you went back in time to grab it.

[@retroattic4647]

Fantastic - 65 yr old equipment working pretty much the same as the day it was built. Thanks for sharing this.

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@cristianstoica4544]

Mr. Carlson, props to your sound quality! I wanted to tell you this for a long time. 20 and some years ago I used to be awed to the entrance of some Roxette CD piece that seemed to start of nowhere. Your sound quality reminds me of those moments!

[@joetaylor5078]

When I'm feeling down all I have to do is hunt for a Mr Carlson's Lab video to bring my spirits back up. Words simply cannot describe how logic and common sense can conquer the problems we encounter in repairing some pieces of gear. Repair it correctly without cutting corners the first go around. Always inspiring to be able to watch someone repair something completely removing not only the original problem but something possibly unseen that could rear its ugly head in the future. I must admit that I was almost wanting a problem to pop up in this video simply so I watch the fix. Thank you again and may you and your family have a great New Year.

[@alirio128]

Got my hands on an HP 523B last summer and can't wait to have it come back to life again. And now you're making a restoration video on a similar unit! Thanks for showing this great piece of tech.

[@stevefoudray487]

That unit looks a lot like the counter we had in HS electronics back in the 70’s. It was the size of a mini fridge. Love the modular construction of the unit you have.

[@cornwallonline]

I'm nearly as old as that beauty and in all my years of engineering, that has to be my favourite piece of test gear to date! If only all my functions were still as reliable! Thanks for sharing and a Happy New Year to you and yours

[@rwl-pj4kh]

All those tubes glowing is beautiful. The engineering, thought and dedication to make these things work is a lost art. Keep it up Mr Carlson. Love the vids and the vintage electronics

[@bamaxrvfr786]

“You know as much as I do at this point” No, I don’t, but I love learning!

[@antraciet]

:-) same here.

[@InsideOfMyOwnMind]

I always laugh when he says that.

[@markoszouganelis5755]

I have born 1957! 💚The view with all its tubes lit, is spectacular! Happy new years! 🎄🎄🎄🎄

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Happy new year!

[@kevinmonceaux2101]

Wow!! Those glowing tubes are a thing of beauty. I wish stuff today was built to last like stuff back then.

[@joshhoman]

It is neat watching that device work. With all those tubes, it looks like a good way to heat your house in winter!

[@n8ux1963]

This brings back some memories. In 1982 I befriended a state coordinator for Navy M.A.R.S. who gave me a bunch of old equipment (scopes, freq counters, even a couple R-390 receivers!). He had a basement full of the stuff. I parted out three of these counters. To this day I still have boxes of HP 5963 tubes I salvaged, along with the front panel lamps, switches, and I think I even still have a couple of those fans.

[@clayp6415]

Love the information on this channel. I took electronics in trade high school for 3 years and worked as a system technician for 6 years. I ended up switching trades to HVAC (for pay reasons) but I chose electronics originally because it always fascinated me. Much more enjoyable as a hobby then a career. Never really had anyone that could explain in depth to me the operation of circuits this well, including teachers and other seasoned technicians. Appreciate the videos and thoroughly enjoy learning from your vast knowledge. Thank you, keep up the great videos!

[@JCWise-sf9ww]

Wow, makes you wonder how HP managed to get all those tubes in a small cabinet. Every piece of HP test equipment I seen are one of the best engineered and assembled pieces of gear ever made. Thanks Mr Carlson for showing this one.

[@BryanByTheSea]

Stunning.... what a work of engineering in the day. Thanks for showcasing these pieces of history.

[@paulkocyla1343]

Nice, this thing is real art of engineering. They tried to not leave any room for failures, and the design is so clean - compared to radio sets from this time. I love it! Happy new year!

[@Kellen6795]

Not to mention those early circuit boards are a thing or real beauty!

[@shadowflash705]

It depends on where those radios were made and price range. Radios made in Germany, France, USSR for example at least had a transformer and had no live chassis (especially when case had metal parts in contact with the chassis). And obviously cheap radios were made... cheap, compared to this quite expensive piece of test/lab equipment. More expensive radios were rather well designed too, just way less complex.

[@josephrogers5337]

@@shadowflash705 The transformer less radios were known as ac/dc radio's. They could operate on 120 VAC or 120 VDC. so for a remote cabin with no VAC they would just line at 10 car batteries in series and still listen to the radio. One big disadvantage could be the hot chassis, or in any one of the tube filaments went out not radio! on some of those AC/DC radio was even the dial line was in the series with all the tubes. You could tell the freq counter in this was later in the 50's with all the miniature tubes.

[@garyallsebrook3493]

I love all my vintage HP stuff and its all still working! I have a 130B that functions flawlessly and is untouched.

[@keithyinger3326]

What a perfect video to put out around Christmas time. That little thing was the best electricians Christmas tree. I mean look at all those little glowing tubes. You are right, that was a thing of beauty.

[@brucenadams1]

Trip down memory lane. Worked for HP. HP means High Price, but the products were spot on accurate and ran forever. The reason it is so clean inside is they were used in calibration labs. Clean environment. Bought a surplus 521C and used it on amateur radio equipment. Also bought a surplus nixie counter made by HP. Yes, quality lab instruments made today will run in 2122. All the high failure components have been engineered out of modern instruments. Good luck finding replacement IC's for 100 year old units.

[@qzorn4440]

o-my, on a cold shop day this will keep you nice and warm as you are troubleshooting. 🥳 thanks a lot. 🙂

[@trainliker100]

Hewlett Packard for many years was what is called an "Engineering Driven Company" as opposed to "Market Driven". If market driven, the company is responding to demands from the marketplace, what others are doing in the marketplace, and perhaps making "me too" products. An engineering driven company internally comes up with ideas that the market hasn't yet asked for, but they could probably use. You take your new and innovative product to the marketplace and say, "Look how much better you could do your job if you had one of these!" It is VERY hard to be a successful engineering driven company. You've got to be scary smart, as HP was. At some point, with a CEO change, they moved toward becoming market driven, but that's another long tale.

[@rjkee5157]

Yes it is very sad to see what was once a quality company go down hill so far.

[@pjaj43]

@@rjkee5157 Yes, back in the day we used to equip our labs with HP, Tek, B&K, R&S, etc kit, all "Engineering Driven" - where are most of them now?

[@heinzk023]

@@pjaj43 Fortunately, Rohde & Schwarz (R&S) still exists.

[@pjaj43]

@@heinzk023 As are Brüel & Kjær ( B&K ) but their range of equipment seems to be different from what I remember using in an acoustics lab back in the 1970s.

[@pqjim]

The philosophy lives on at Keysight Technologies. The same divisions, Santa Rosa (RF/uW), Loveland (DVMs, function generators, etc). and Colorado Springs (digital oscilloscopes and logic analyzers). Many of the same people. I just retired in 2021 after 42 years and many of the engineers there have been there since the 1970s.

[@LJJKD1947]

Wow this is like overdosing on vacuum tube technology in a small package ,thank you for sharing this,have never heard or seen anything like this!:)

[@coriscotupi]

10:51 - Yes, a thing of beauty. And as another famous youtuber (who incidentally lives upside down) would put it: *_"Thing of beauty, joy forever"._*

[@johnshaw359]

That HP company deserves some sort of award for general services to mankind. Fantastic in 1957 and still impressive today.

[@barryf5479]

I retired from what as once Hewlett-Packard Company. Back in the "old days", the HP boxes had printed on them "An Extra Measure of Quality". They were correct. We always had the best quality components we could find in our designs. Additionally, the analog engineers of HP were pure genius in their designs and sometimes, design simplicity, starting with Bill Hewlett's HP01 audio oscillator design.

[@nevellgreenough404]

I owned a 524D and plug-ins in the late 1970s. It stayed in my bedroom because it was just *too* heavy to get down the basement stairs to my shop. It was easier to bring the projects to the counter! And... it doubled as a space heater! 73s, N2GX

[@volvo09]

That is so beautiful inside! That tube shot and that fan reminds me of being a kid and laying on the floor looking inside my Dad's Tektronics vacuum tube oscilloscope at all the tubes glowing.

[@preiter20]

You find the most interesting equipment! Wishing you and your family a safe and Happy New Year. I'm excited to see what Mr. Carlson has in store in 2022!

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Happy new year!

[@donmoore7785]

In the 1970's, a friend of mine gave me a home made timer for auto racing that his father either built or got somewhere. It had similar displays to this one, and ten to twelve digits. I really don't recall its internals - been too long. This brings back memories.

[@RocRizzo]

Simply amazing! Back in the day when quality mattered, and planned obsolescence was not so much a thing. Thanks for that Paul, and a Happy New Year to you and yours.

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Happy New Year Rocco!

[@shadowflash705]

In 50s and earlier planned obsolescence wasn't a thing at all. I have a fan that was made two years after WW2 - it works perfectly and only things that were done with it on my memory - it was oiled twice, first time, second - in 2016, also old plug was replaced with modern one. Even a power cable is still perfectly fine after all those years. Almost 75 years of running 2-5 months a year, often 24/7. In very late 60s they started to cut the corners but it wasn't true planned obsolescence yet, they were just making stuff cheaper to make more money. And things were still very reliable.

[@larrybud]

It's only "planned obsolescence" since better things come out. I mean, you can still buy and use flip phones, but few do.

[@tonybeckett3542]

Hi Paul - Tecktronics, HP, Barker-&- Williams & Racal + a few others built excellent test gear. Not surprised she came-up. Very interesting how the early engineers solved some really complicated needs. Nice one, thank you. Cheers, Tony in S-Africa

[@guyh3403]

The quality is from beyond this universe. Wow, what a beauty!

[@laser31415]

I love that it included an air filter. I've not seen that in any of my vacuum tube equipment. That to me was the 1st sign of quality build.

[@lorencing]

WOW! That is a see of tubes, amazing. And it came as a shock when you said "digital technology", would have never called it digital by looking at those 44 tubes, you could bake bread in this machine ... and what a cool machine it is.

[@Indiskret1]

This counter blew my mind. What an interesting and beautiful device!

[@bradford2177]

I admit you're much smarter than I will ever be, I'm lost most of the time when you're talking about these old radios, what I've learned is to not mess with them if you don't know what you're doing. Always been a big talk radio fan and an old time radio fan though and have bought a few restored vintage radios, and I just love seeing these beautiful old radios and other vintage gadgets being brought back to life.

[@artiem5262]

Holiday parties at HP Labs in Palo Alto started out the same way -- "Thank you Bill, thank you Dave!"

[@darrenthompson3696]

That was fantastic to see that frequency counter working. Was amazed at its accuracy of measurement.

[@floeki-jekker]

a happy new year ! it is 7:00 in the morning 01-01-2022 (NL) here looking to the first KZbin video with a coffee.

[@DavidTipton101]

A beautifully built piece of equipment Mr Carlson, very nice.

[@americanmultigenic]

Naturally, your final question was purely rhetorical :-) A very pleasing device from HP! Thanks for the great video & look forward to the restoration on this boy.

[@simonbeasley989]

I must admit I was rather excited to see inside and it didn't disappoint!!!

[@Wolf_K]

I love 1950s build quality, component layout, and design. The aesthetics are really nice.

[@MadScientist267]

That's a very nice sample there. If only all vintage could be that clean. A reel to reel I recently acquired would have sat right next to it. Not as old, '75 vintage Akai (GX-280D) but just as clean and polished inside. Very nice score indeed. And I'm sure worth a pretty penny.

[@fredfabris7187]

Neat machine! Thanks for showing it off! I must confess I am missing your diagnostic and repair videos.

[@WalterGreenIII]

Freaking cool! Digital with neon and vacuum tubes! I have seen some stuff in 1970s "Popular Electronics" where they had a few "digital" pieces of test equipment using 10 lamps and transistors. The were multiple rows of lamps each laid out similar to the layout of those neon bulbs, they showed how to build the "displays" in one magazine and in later issues showed how to build the circuitry for each piece of equipment. Same principle for a display, just transistors instead of tubes.

[@trainliker100]

The February 1968 Popular Electronics issue was probably the first one where they had such an article, and PC board layout, for making a decade counter board with 10 incandescent lamps. It used Motorola RTL integrated circuits. I'm quite familiar with it because a friend and I etched a number of boards based on the design (while stationed in the Navy on Midway Island) but modified it to drive Nixie tubes which we were able to scrounge. We made 12 boards. He made a counter from his six boards. And I added a little circuitry to do the necessary resetting of decades to make a 6 digit clock. Back then, a Texas Instruments TTL decade counter was about $10 and a decoder driver for Nixies was about $15. A lot of money. We couldn't afford that. That's why we jumped on that article with its less expensive Motorola IC's.

[@russellhltn1396]

Yes, that was quite a series.

[@greendryerlint]

It is only a small lateral move from being steampunk.

[@dashcamandy2242]

The inside of this machine was truly beautiful to look at - both with and without power applied! I'm not surprised that the counter still works - it's easy to see that the assembly line used top-of-the-line components and took a great deal of pride in their job. I am, however, pleasantly surprised at its accuracy over all this time, and as all of us here, we're itching to see the restoration. Admittedly, it doesn't need much in the way of restoration, but I'd love to see how far beyond specs you can push it after restoration.

[@NoPegs]

Happy New Year, Mr. Carlson!

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Happy new year!

[@Oldbmwr100rs]

Unbelievable that on top of working still, it's also still accurate. Very cool demonstration.

[@deltatango5765]

Freese frame at 8:35 and you'll see what was rolling around inside, on the mat. This is incredibly clean for something so old, especially considering that it has a fan inside. I've opened computers at work after a few years' use, and the dust looks like a wool blanket.

[@mrb.5610]

Love to know what the power consumption of that beast is - any chance of plugging into a Watt meter please Mr Carlson ? !

[@gregholloway2656]

I was thinking exactly the same thing. Time for a Kill-a-Watt.

[@johnnytacokleinschmidt515]

Probably 200 watts... Hmmm?

[@mrb.5610]

@@johnnytacokleinschmidt515 Could probably do a fairly accurate guesstimate from the heater draw plus a few ma for the HT supply .... assuming they're ECC83/12AX7) But easier to get a meter on it !

[@davelowets]

@@johnnytacokleinschmidt515 More than that...

[@paulbione5267]

What an excellent unit. It looks new! A really good acquisition for you and thanks for showing it. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to see the resto. Thanks Paul.

[@22222Sandman22222]

It's 2AM, I thought this video lasted for max 10 minutes and 18 minutes just flied past. Such an interesting machine and in what a good condition!

[@michaelalberson126]

I absolutely appreciate and enjoy your videos as when I was a kid I used to walk behind our new 1956 sears Silvertone console black-and-white television. And I would marble and all of those glowing amber lights inside of the back of the TV set and of course eventually it had to be serviced and I got to watch the technician work on it I thought that was marvelous and the technology and 1957 even though it’s analog and tubes was marvelous. I was three years old at the time and we replace that television with a Sears Silvertone console Color television or first color set and being the only kid on the block with a color set in 1967 all of my friends wanted to come watch their favorite cartoon shows I was only 11 years old still lots of tubes inside that television the old black-and-white set had a picture tube replaced and now the second one had failed so it was time to upgrade I can still remember all these things so well and how I have been fortunate to live to be 67 years old I was born in 1955 and see all of the amazing things take place man on the moon transistors microwave ovens and computers and now the digital age it’s amazing what will it be like in 200 years.

[@mackfisher4487]

Beautiful construction Mr. Carlson thank you for preserving what may be obsolete by today's standards but is a work of art.

[@rty1955]

I agree! I restore old broadcast 2" video tape machines, and after perish, no one will have an interest in these machines all will be lost and left for the history books im afraid. How sad. Even in museums, they are usually static displays and not fully functional like it was back in the day, when they were working 24/7

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

You are very welcome!

[@rsattahip]

Tube technology had a certain beauty to it. Thank you, this was fascinating.

[@arthurc.3747]

English is not my native language but German. Therefore, I appreciate your videos, as your pronunciation is very clear, at a pleasant pace of speech. The content and the quality of the topics is of course out of this world. Many tips and tricks I can implement very well in my (HAM-Radio)-workshop. Many thanks and greetings from Munich!

[@neilgillies6943]

Can't belive this, I used one of these in the late 60s early 70s as a young technician - used it to tune diy organ oscillators - complete bag of nails iirc lol 😁😁

[@faxcapper]

Oh thank God....snowed in and a new Mr. Carlson video. Ok....back with a mug of hot coffee. :-)

[@pjczuba]

Mr Carlson's Lab - Wow 5:35 min. of video , such a nit , clean, no wire mess build !!! I didn't expected that well clean build inside , without a mess with wires all over the place. All best for You and Your Family in New 2022 Year !!!

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks! Happy New Year!

[@rubusroo68]

It's HP. All their equipment was well built.

[@pjczuba]

@@rubusroo68 - sadly HP now days does not do the great job like they did at the past !!! All Best in New Year !!!

[@jimreineri6166]

I have a very similar HP522B. Same display and same 5digits. Case is wider. I am inspired to get it working.

[@pauliedweasel]

I remember seeing a few of these coming into the HP service center in Fullerton, CA when I first started working for HP repairing the HP35 calculator in 1973.

[@Angelmountain]

I remember calibrating this counter while in the AF calibration course in the early '70's

[@LarryDeSilva64]

I have never seen one like this before especially with all of those tubes. Made in 1957 so 7 years younger than me and it still works amazing. Thanks Paul for showing this unique piece of test equipment. Happy New Year to you and your family.

[@DinoDiniProductions]

How can you not smile when looking inside that beauty

[@davetelling]

That is so stinkin' cool! We had counters that used the same display back at GTE-Lenkurt in the mid-70's. I don't recall the brand (might have been Beckman??), but they were referred to as "EPUT (events per unit time) Meters" by the ladies who did the testing, rather than "counters". What I found interesting is that, at one point, I changed the controls so that instead of showing the counting on the displays during the gate time, it would just update the display when the gate was over. The ladies did not want this! They liked watching those individual digits run up and down. Along with the HP 200C oscillators, it was quite a setup!

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks for sharing your story Dave!

[@scotty3114]

I used a rack-mount 10 digit HP counter almost exactly like this one in USAF in the 60's. Ran fine. Also used Tektronix 535 "portable" scopes. 😊

[@colinlark6715]

Wow Mr Carlson, I love how you are so up-beat and excited about these old gems. I wonder how many people would prefer to get their hands on all those high quality matched twin-triodes for their audio gear? Not gonna happen, this thing is sacred territory.

[@vancouverman4313]

Why would someone want those matched twin triodes when you can still buy new ones? These are probably 6/12AX7's, 6/12AU7s or 6/12AT7s. All still manufactured.

[@gregorythomas333]

This was a really awesome piece of equipment...so beautiful...and still functional after all these years!

[@AlejandroLopez-qd3xm]

That's a beautifully preserved hp gear!. Some months ago Usagi analized and get to work a single decade of a similar counter. I got to see a military version still in use in 1978, on a electronic lab in the argentinian army, were I was an enllsted man!

[@hestheMaster]

It is as if it just came out of the box. That's shows how great HP products were made back then. Have a great New Years and to many more learning about electronic devices in future videos Mr. C! Steve

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Happy New Year Steve!

[@Murgoh]

Now that's quality! Still working after all these years and, what's even more incredible, still accurate! Also, what a beautiful construction. Back in the day they made things the best they could, nowadays they make them as cheap as they think they can get away with. For example I like film photography and have several mechanical cameras, the oldest one was built in the USA in the late 40:s or early 50:s, still taking great pictures. I also have a Japanese one with an electronically controlled shutter made in the 70:s, also still perfectly functional, accurate and a joy to use. Nowadays most of the things you can buy are cheap plasticky pieces of junk that will last some 5 years, 10 if you're lucky. Of course the old things are big, clunky and heavy and don't have as many features but they still get the job done and I kind of like using analog stuff without dozens of unnecessary and unpractical "clever" functions you try once and never use again.

[@cuban9splat]

I remember the old EPUT meters we had for counters. EPUT = Events Per Unit of Time. They were really nice in their day. Thanks for sharing this classic counter with us.

[@krnlg]

Beautiful piece of equipment. I just love the way tube devices come to life gradually as they warm up. Almost organic! Then the sudden Snap reset to digital precision!

[@algorithminc.8850]

Thanks ... really enjoyed this one ... Says something for the reliability of the old ways ... Happy New Year ...

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Happy new year!

[@DennisSantos]

What an engineering work of art!

[@jaycronen]

Wow! That was really a lot of fun! I was betting that it would work and sure enough! Tubes rule!

[@ianbertenshaw4350]

I could sit there all day staring at the display 🤣 I would love to know what they cost new - bet they weren’t cheap ! I think the people who assembled it took great pride in their work ! I’m amazed that after 65yrs it is still working let alone still accurate across its range !

[@camhyde9701]

that's the most beautiful display of any test instrument ever

[@dl7majstefan753]

This is one of the most impressive units i´ve ever seen. And what a beauty in the dark! Let them glow!

[@graemebrumfitt6668]

Oh my Paul when you switched the lights of, it was a thing of beauty like you said! TFS, GB :)

[@alpcns]

Stunning piece of (top quality) equipment. Gotta love those tubes - would make a great space heater, too, likely. What a great ending to a otherwise rather horrific year. Thank you, mr. Carlson, for this treat, and Happy New Year!

[@RocRizzo]

Space heater! You could probably cook dinner on it!

[@randomviewer896]

The inside of that thing is absolutely beautiful.

[@donl1846]

Wow, what a piece of electronic history and all those tubes !! Thanks Professor Carlson for taking us along with this HP-521C. Happy New Year to you and your family.

[@pqjim]

Of course it still works! -- it is an HP instrument from when that name meant something. (The current HP is not the same company, the closest would be its spinoff -- Keysight Technologies). I have an HP202A low frequency function generator that fell off a shelf above my lab bench during California earthquake and hit a cement floor. Not a problem, still working after 70 plus years!)

[@jeanmorin4580]

Thanks for the video! Interesting! I always enjoyed HP gear: calculators, oscilloscope, power supplies, servers...

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@thomasmaughan4798]

That's amazing; I had one of those counters that I bought at a flea market. Among other uses, I used it to discover the duration of a xenon flash lamp used for photography.

[@espenbgh2540]

Impressive collection of old equipment

[@tedvanmatje]

The electronics gods are smiling on you again Mr C. This bit of kit is a thing of beauty! Have a happy new year and thanks for the years of brain food.