Phil,
I'd definitely ask in the hp_agilent_equipment discussion group, at
http://www.yahoogroups.com . I'd also ask in the TekScopes group,
there (with a polite apology for being OT), since that group is older
and better-established and has some "extremely*-knowledgable people who
frequent it.
If you wanted to find an identical, used unit, or several at once,
possibly dirt-cheap, and anywhere from "unused" to DOA with no
foolproof way of knowing before you bid, you'd start scanning
http://www.govliquidation.com , and hope that any available ones are
within a half-day's drive, or (especially if you're not in the USA and
not near one of their foreign sites) that someone you know can pick
them up and ship them to you. I think the minimum bid has been raised
to $45. But that might be for more than one unit, depending on which
site they're at and which warehouse manager makes up the lots. (Or, of
course, they may not be dumping many/any of those, at this time.)
Other possibilities include
http://www.ebay.com (go to My Ebay and
initiate an "auto-search", or whatever they call it, so you'll be
automatically emailed whenever anything matching your search comes up
for auction), and, as a long-shot, periodically check
http://www.labx.com .
Another pretty-good possibility:
If you can get the official HP part number off of the drive, someone
with several gigabytes of downloaded HP service manuals (e.g. me) could
automatically search all of the PDF files and, with any luck, give you
a partial list of other HP equipment that used the identical part, so
that you might have an easier time finding another unit from which to
scavenge one.
You could also check for service manual(s) at places like
http://bama.sbc.edu/hp.htm , and at
http://www.agilent.com . And there
is a (more-or-less) searchable archive of MANY complete older
test-equipment catalogs, in the Reference Library section, at
http://www.testmart.com/advice/advicetmp.cfm, where you might be able
to get some clues about what equipment used that drive.
And yet-another possibility:
If you have the HP part number of the drive, someone with the Federal
Logistics (FedLog) database (e.g. me) could check to see if there is
any cross-reference information, possibly with the original supplier's
or manufacturer's name, and their part number. (Chances might be slim,
in this case. But if it has any info at all, it'll probably have more
than you want to know.)
I'd be happy to do those two searches (i.e. PDF HP manuals and Fedlog
database) for you, if you post (or email me) the HP part number (My
email address is tomg at fullnet.com .). If possible, also include ALL
other indentifying info that might be on the drive, and on its PCB.
Good luck!
- Tom Gootee