After being in the hobby for 44 years and in electronics professionally for 36 years, one tends to build quite a collection of equipment, parts and tools. I have three scopes allowing everything from battery-operated work at 1MHz to 500MHz lab stuff. Trouble is, I haven't had time to mess with my hobby over the past several years, so some of the equipment is going to seed from lack of use -- yes, it's true: If you don't use it, you lose it, and that's definitely true for test and measurement equipment. I've had a Tektronix 212 scope and Tektronix DM501 DMM go sour on me from lack of use. I turn the Tek 7904 on every few weeks just to keep the capacitors formed, for I don't want to lose that one. I still have and use the Knight-Kit KG-620 VTVM that I first put together back in 1963 ... it's never needed a repair.
You can't imagine all of the specialty tools (designed for one job on one particular model of equipment) that I've made. How about a special, long, thin-shank, insulated screwdriver made especially for adjusting the frequency on an AN/URQ-10 frequency standard? Or the Craftsman 5/8" box-end wrench that's been ground down to engagement ring dimensions for getting to the BNC nuts on some Tektronix gear?
I've been collecting parts all that time, too, harvesting most of them from old PCBs. Name the TTL IC and I can supply it. I still have several 74100's ... look those up in your databook.
Eventually, I'll get my hobby back.
Dean