How old os the HP 5335A Universal counter?

[USMCPMEL]

Just curious we still have one here that we calibrate and it holds its cal great and works fine but seems like it has to be ?? 80'S??

[griff61]

First one came out in 1979 or 1980 I think

[CalibratorJ]

The manual on Agilent's site is from October 1980. Thing is probably older than I am, maybe 1979 or early 1980....

[USMCPMEL]

You a young in calibrator J. That is what I thought my friend and I were discussing it and I guessed 1979 he thought somewhere in the mid 80's although I guess it probably did have a couple year run so maybe they did make some in 1985??

[CalLabSolutions]

And they are still going strong.  This is why when I recomend hardware for a Calibration Lab I alway see what Agilent have to offer.

Second on the list is the Agilent 53132A. 

[CalibratorJ]

Yes USMC, I am young, but up and coming 

It's amazing, some of our NIST standards are as old as I am with some of them almost twice as old as I am, with the decades of data to back them up........ they definitely don't make TMDE like they used to... (or calibrators either)

[Bryan]

We have 3 of the 5335A counters, 2 w/serial # prefix 3145A and 1 w/2626A. Supposedly those indicate mfr dates 1991 & 1986.  One of
3145A prefix has all manual keys in the input section, that is they cannot be controlled via gpib, they are actually mechanical buttons, don't know why that is.  They are decent counters.  As for me I keep a 5345A nearby, it's got at least one burned out lamp and one of the input impedance switches is stuck on 50 ohm, doesn't have bells & whistles but if you know what it is you are trying to measure and can visualize it, it's good to go.  I tell the younger guys the 53132/5334/5335 are kind of like a BMWs or similar but the 5345A is like a Shelby Cobra, no A/C, no power steering, just brute power.

[Duckbutta]

Bryan is correct. With HP units you take the first two numbers of the serial number and add that to the year 1960 to get the date of manufacture. I read that in an old HP manual a long time ago. Same rule applies with Agilent items. As for when a particular model made it's debut I coudn't answer that, but the above mentioned rule can tell you when your paricular item was made.

[MRD]

To add even more, it's actually the date of the engineering revision.

Example:

2512A16273

1960 + 25 = 1985

12 = 12th week of 1985

A = America

16273 = the number of the series made

They kept the same sequence when they changed it from A to US and moved it to the front of the serial number.