SN clarification Was: Re: Semi-OT: Question about HP 130C O-scope

From: Christian Fandt <cfandt_at_netsync.net>
Date: Fri Feb 26 19:37:57 1999

Upon the date 06:58 PM 2/26/99 +0000, Joe said something like:
>At 05:21 PM 2/26/99 -0500, Chris wrote:
>>Upon the date 12:40 PM 2/26/99 -0800, Sellam Ismail said something like:
>>>
>>>Does anybody know when Hewlett-Packard made the Model 130C oscilloscope?
>>>Its tube based. The serial number is 503-03353.
>>
>>Sometime just after the 3rd week of 1965.
>>
>>Rule for deciphering HP SN's in the above format as tought to me by a
>>couple of different HP service engineers and other written sources:
>>
>>Take the numbers preceding the hyphen and add 6000. Result gives the first
>>two digits as the year
>
> Add 6000? that would mean it was (will be?) built in the year 6005! No,

The result obtained after adding 6000 must not be construed as still being
a calendar year date. 6000 + 503 still equals 6503 or the 3rd week of 1965.
6000 + 1834 equals 7834, 34th week of '78.

60 is the number to add to the first _two_ digits of the four digit number.
I should have said to use the 60 thing which is the other way we were
instructed how to decipher the date.

>add 1960 to the first two digits of a four digit prefix or add to the first
>digit of a three digit prefix. That means it was built in 1965.

1960 added to the first two digits is the number stated in an HP document I
recall from way back when which is yet another way HP instructed customers
how to decipher the SN.

>
>and the second pair is (usually) the week of
>>production. Numbers after the hyphen are the serialized number.
>>1834A-xxxxxx is some unit built around 34th week of 1978, for example.
>
> That's ALLMOST true. Actually the dates on most (all?) items are offset

The week digits are the week date the number was assigned to the production
item.

Regards, Chris
-- --
Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian
Jamestown, NY USA cfandt_at_netsync.net
Member of Antique Wireless Association
        URL: http://www.ggw.org/awa
Received on Fri Feb 26 1999 - 19:37:57 GMT

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