[R-390] RE: Surplus Equipment

[Richard.McClung@Dielectric.spx.com]

The visit from the DLA Investigator went well.

To start with he did not have the serial number of the instrument t.  The 
only thing he  was a printout of NSN's for items he was to find in the 
hands of us civilians. You needed to have 10 inch thick handbook to look 
up all the codes.

Let's cut to the chase:

What I thought I had was an HP 105A Quartz Oscillator described as:

6625-00-480-8675;  Calibrator, Frequency; Unit Price: $2,259.87; CECOM, 
Stock funded, Repairable item, DLA/GSA managed item that cannot be 
identified to any specific Army weapons system/end item.
FSC 6625 Is TMDE Testing, Measuring and Diagnostic Equipment

What they have it identified as:

4931-01-020-4514; Generator, Signal;  Unit Price: $7,146.00; AMCOM 
(Missiles, missile material), Telecommunications equipment, repairable 
item, Calibration.
FSC 4931 is Fire Control Maintenance and Repair Shop Specialized 
Equipment.
DEMIL B (requires DOD release to sell overseas).
DEMIL Q (requires DOS release to sell overseas).

I'm the third hand party. The original purchaser bought a pallet of 
assorted electronic components, with no detailed list of items, for $45.00 
from DRMO at Hill AFB, UT.  The second party bought it from him for 
$50.00.  I traded some electronic items for it. The only reason he could 
find me is because the three of us know each other and knew the chain of 
custody.  If the chain was broken the last possessor would have to make a 
sworn statement as to the disposition of the instrument.

The HP 105A is an HP 105A. No special components or ruggedized case. One 
agency spends 2.2K$ for it and another spends 7.1K$ for the exact same 
thing. The government sells it for less than $45.00 and then spends 
thousands of dollars to make sure an item that can be bought from most any 
surplus electronic dealer in the W O R L D isn't sold overseas without 
DOD/DOS release.

I showed him print outs from WWW sites of dealers in the US and Germany 
that had HP 105A's for sale.

Oh yeah, He parted by saying that the events of 9/11 has caused more 
interest in the monitoring of DRMO sales and that he would be contacting 
me in three months to see if I still have the SIGNAL GENERATOR.... 

RICH  @B> }

FYI
I just got off the phone with a DLA Investigator.
He wants to see a piece of equipment that I have that was purchased thru 
DRMO.
It is an HP 105A Frequency Standard. 
The reason is it is on the DEMIL Q list and can not be shipped overseas 
without a release.
So you see it's not just state of the art electronics they control but 
even this older stuff. 
So Thursday he will come over and look at it.
RICH  WA6KNW