[woodchips]

I don't really understand the comments about how expensive and risky these CT160's are being bought from auction.

They are stone age technology, if the meter is toast then it is now a trivial problem to replace with an amplified less sensitive meter, similarly the setting pot, it is a mechanical thing after all. It is far more dangerous to buy a signal generator or spectrum analyser because if they are toast then can't fix it at all. Anything Chinese and you take your life into your hands, there are no service manuals or any information. In fact other than the large manufacturers like Philips anything made by European manufacturers never comes with any servicing info. Anything by HP etc in the last 30 years has lots of custom chips, try and buy spares for them.

An auction is for regulars, not one off purchasers looking for a bargain. If you continually buy from auction then the good and the bad average out. In my experience the stuff is ok, but you do need to know your auctioneers to know if they can be trusted, also their little foibles. As anyone who tried to use Equipnet last year will know only too well.

If Jacmusic are selling MkIV testers for, I think, 1500 euro, then £600 looks a bargain for something pretty similar.

And, no, they are not mine, I am not bidding, not interested. Got my CT160 from Ramco 10-15 years ago, can't remember. My guess is that these are from someone like me who has been slowly buying from Ramco over the years and is now cashing in.