10pcs New LJ12A3-4-Z/BY Inductive Proximity Sensor Switch PNP DC6-36V
Sep 24, 2018
Excellent price, good quality, handy PNP outputs
These proximity sensors are exactly as described, and work flawlessly. Make sure you take note of the 4 mm sense distance - it might extend to 5 mm, but not beyond that.
The PNP outputs are often easier to integrate into a system than NPNs - I connect them directly to PLC inputs, with no logic inversion necessary in the ladder program.
I haven't had them in the field long enough to judge their reliability, but they all worked right out of the box, and since there aren't any moving part, I expect they'll probably be pretty reliable.
HEATHKIT IT-1121 SEMICONDUCTOR CURVE TRACER
Nov 19, 2018
Most of a Tek 575, for a fraction the cost (and weight)
With this gadget and almost any *analog* oscilloscope (a digital one won't do - they're just not very good at X-Y plotting), you've a good first approximation of a Tektronix 575 - without the 40 or so vacuum tubes. After cleaning it up and calibrating it (an easy operation well-explained in the manual), it works great generating the curves for any 2- or 3-terminal semiconductor device. I find it considerably easier to use than the 575, too.