Author Topic: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes  (Read 12059 times)

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Offline Johnny10Topic starter

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #25 on: September 24, 2016, 05:31:26 pm »
I will do that.

Also I have a HP5340 on the way for repair.
Yikes!
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Offline Cubdriver

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #26 on: September 24, 2016, 10:54:07 pm »
I will do that.

Also I have a HP5340 on the way for repair.
Yikes!

And so it begins.....    :-DD :-DD :-DD >:D

-Pat
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Offline bitseeker

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #27 on: September 25, 2016, 01:57:00 am »
Also I have a HP5340 on the way for repair.
Yikes!
And so it begins.....    :-DD :-DD :-DD >:D

That it does. :popcorn:
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Online TheSteve

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #28 on: September 25, 2016, 04:20:47 am »
I will do that.

Also I have a HP5340 on the way for repair.
Yikes!

So much hardware to enjoy, what is wrong with it?
VE7FM
 

Offline bitseeker

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #29 on: September 25, 2016, 04:35:16 am »
Nothing wrong here. Johnny's joining the club. :-/O
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Offline Cubdriver

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #30 on: September 25, 2016, 04:50:46 am »
Come to the orange glowie side - we have cookies!    ;)

-Pat
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Offline Johnny10Topic starter

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #31 on: September 25, 2016, 05:09:44 pm »
 :-+

TheSteve, I don't know what problems on 5340.
I do know it is from first year 1973 !
I see you just bought one, we will have to compare when mine comes in next week.

I see the nixie tubes just keep multiplying. Have to watch out for that !
« Last Edit: September 26, 2016, 02:25:18 am by Johnny10 »
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Online TheSteve

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #32 on: September 25, 2016, 11:44:53 pm »
:-+

TheSteve, I don't know what problems on 5340.
I do know it is from first year 1973 !
I see you just bought one, we will have to compare when mine comes in next week.

I see the nixie tubes just keep multiplying. Have to watch out for that !

Very nice, it is truly a first class machine. My 5340A works perfect but I am still considering a possible re-cap. I haven't looked in detail but it does smell a little of old capacitor when first turned on.
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Online TheSteve

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #33 on: September 29, 2016, 03:56:42 am »
Replaced the 6 electrolytic power caps in my 5340A today - no more odor when it powers up. All of the original caps measure OK but they are clearly the source of the funk. Also one of them does show some signs of leakage near one of the terminals. Not enough to leave any kind of mark on the PCB.
Btw the caps all screw in to place - gold plated board and stainless steel hardware to bolt the caps in. You can still get replacements that screw in that are close in value but the cost is insane. So I opted to solder in some snap caps(1/5th the price) even though it hurt to solder to the gold PCB where the screws went. It had three voltage/capacitance values originally, I replaced them all with 50 volt 4700 uF.

When you do receive your 5340A I'd check the caps/power supply before connecting power.
 
VE7FM
 

Offline Johnny10Topic starter

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #34 on: September 29, 2016, 11:48:00 am »
My unit should be here tomorrow or Monday.
Refurbished an old Heathkit Cap checker a few months ago that you couldn't stand the smell of the electrolytic capacitors.
Left them outside for a week and you could pick them up and still they smelled bad.

Does this unit have the same HP decoder and buffer storage IC's as the 5216A?
1820-0116 and 1820-0092.
Guess I am going to buy a parts unit rather than individual chips.
The best I have found are between 8-15 dollars without shipping.
I emailed the seller with 3 sets for $30 but those were his last ones.

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Offline bitseeker

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #35 on: September 29, 2016, 06:56:29 pm »
You can still get replacements that screw in that are close in value but the cost is insane. So I opted to solder in some snap caps(1/5th the price) even though it hurt to solder to the gold PCB where the screws went.

Solder the cap terminals to bolts (probably cut the heads off) and then install into the PCB?
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Online TheSteve

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #36 on: September 29, 2016, 08:08:03 pm »
You can still get replacements that screw in that are close in value but the cost is insane. So I opted to solder in some snap caps(1/5th the price) even though it hurt to solder to the gold PCB where the screws went.

Solder the cap terminals to bolts (probably cut the heads off) and then install into the PCB?

Too late, they got soldered in. On the plus side I ran the counter all night without any issues, it is still happily counting a sweeping input.
I had considered making a few PCB's that the snap caps would solder to that also had nuts soldered to them so they could be screwed in place. I would have also needed to make spacers so the caps were properly supported. In the end I accepted the soldering and am very happy with the results. I really want a whole stack of gear of a similar vintage now.
VE7FM
 

Offline Cubdriver

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #37 on: September 29, 2016, 09:26:15 pm »

<snip>

Too late, they got soldered in. On the plus side I ran the counter all night without any issues, it is still happily counting a sweeping input.
I had considered making a few PCB's that the snap caps would solder to that also had nuts soldered to them so they could be screwed in place. I would have also needed to make spacers so the caps were properly supported. In the end I accepted the soldering and am very happy with the results. I really want a whole stack of gear of a similar vintage now.

 :-DD :-DD

And another one bites the dust!   ;D  Welcome to the club!!

-Pat
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Offline bitseeker

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #38 on: September 30, 2016, 05:25:37 pm »
Solder the cap terminals to bolts (probably cut the heads off) and then install into the PCB?

Too late, they got soldered in. On the plus side I ran the counter all night without any issues, it is still happily counting a sweeping input.

Yeah, I saw that the deed had been done, but was just thinking out loud in case someone else in a similar situation came along. It might even be something I'll have to do at some point. So, thanks for the conceptual confirmation.
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Offline Johnny10Topic starter

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #39 on: October 01, 2016, 12:07:23 am »
Although this thread was about the HP 5216A and it slowly started drifting towards the 5340A I will just say...
Received my new 5340A Option 001 unit today and all the nixies light and the 10-250mhz is working fine but when I plug into the rightmost input I get nothing.
000.0 .

Will have to check that out tomorrow.
I have read about the input limit and the irreversible damage it causes.

Will I be lucky or not?

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Online TheSteve

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #40 on: October 01, 2016, 12:11:46 am »
Although this thread was about the HP 5216A and it slowly started drifting towards the 5340A I will just say...
Received my new 5340A Option 001 unit today and all the nixies light and the 10-250mhz is working fine but when I plug into the rightmost input I get nothing.
000.0 .

Will have to check that out tomorrow.
I have read about the input limit and the irreversible damage it causes.

Will I be lucky or not?

Yeah, the 5340A drift is my fault - why not start a new thread for yours. There is far too little info on them on the forum right now anyway.
VE7FM
 

Offline Johnny10Topic starter

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #41 on: October 01, 2016, 12:20:47 am »
I have to say mine is a bit funky smelling also.
Since this is first year or thereabouts unit 1348A
I thought it might have the same display chips as the 5216A but no. And I forgot 5216A is from late 50's
Different IC chips.

When I open it up will do some photos.
And make a new post.
Unless it miraculously recovers and then what would I post.  :-//

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Offline bitseeker

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #42 on: October 04, 2016, 12:21:17 am »
If it recovers, then give it a general teardown thread. Those are still good and folks will talk about theirs or ones they've used, etc.
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Offline Cubdriver

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #43 on: October 04, 2016, 12:30:17 am »
I have two with the same issue (a failed custom part) that I've hopefully gotten working a replacement for.  I'll take photos when I dig into the repair.  It's been on the back burner for a while now...

-Pat
If it jams, force it.  If it breaks, you needed a new one anyway...
 

Offline anachrocomputer

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #44 on: October 09, 2016, 10:31:35 pm »
Reading this thread prompted me to dig up my HP 5216A which I bought for £10 at Hanney's electronics shop in Bath in about 1996. It worked then, but has since suffered a failure whereby one Nixie digit is stuck at '8'. Also, it no longer lights the 'gate' lamp and hence will not measure frequency (it seems OK measuring period).

Photo here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/anachrocomputer/30125695561

Has anyone found a source of better-scanned schematics for the 5216A?
 

Offline Cubdriver

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #45 on: October 09, 2016, 11:55:57 pm »
I always try to get paper copies of the manuals when possible, but if I'm in a hurry or no paper copy is easily available, for good PDF scans Artek Manuals is hard to beat. They list a scan of the 5216A for US$12.50, and it is typically downloadable fairly quickly once purchased (I'm not certain, but I believe that they manually approve the purchases, thus the delay).  A link to the download is e-mailed once things go through.

-Pat
« Last Edit: October 09, 2016, 11:58:30 pm by Cubdriver »
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Offline bitseeker

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #46 on: October 11, 2016, 02:01:48 am »
Reading this thread prompted me to dig up my HP 5216A which I bought for £10 at Hanney's electronics shop in Bath in about 1996. It worked then, but has since suffered a failure whereby one Nixie digit is stuck at '8'. Also, it no longer lights the 'gate' lamp and hence will not measure frequency (it seems OK measuring period).

That's a nice one as well, John. It's as if they're just coming out of the woodwork now. ;D
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Offline Johnny10Topic starter

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #47 on: November 05, 2016, 11:50:45 am »
Update:

Received the new HP 1820-0119 IC today and couldn't wait to solder the new chip into the 5216A.

I ended up buying 2 chips on eBay for 17 dollars. Yikes!
They were HP stamped but not gold plated as are the rest of the chips.

Now all tubes are working properly and also all Frequency and Sensitivity knob positions.

Measuring 10Mhz from the back of my new ovenized 5335A shows 10.00002 / 10.00003 pretty good!
 
« Last Edit: November 05, 2016, 01:15:03 pm by Johnny10 »
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Offline Johnny10Topic starter

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #48 on: November 05, 2016, 05:18:10 pm »
Anachrocomputer

I followed the 9 and 8 pin on the  1820-0119 chips. These pins connect each chip in series.

When I reached the 6th chip there was wrong voltage.
Checked the BCD code and chip 6 was outputting the code for "8".
Did not change no matter the input.
Following the pinouts through to the last driver chip all 1820-0092 they all had proper high and low signals.
Only the one chip showed a problem.

Of course took a few hours to decipher all the reverse signal levels through to each nixie tube.

I would check that Decade counter chip for the nixie tube showing "8".
Pin 9 feeds pin 8 of the following chip. This is where the error showed up on mine.
I then eliminated the Buffer Storage chip and the Decoder driver.
By following the BCD Code between chips using the A4 Main Board Schematic page 3 of 3.
The manual also has individual pin layouts and notes on each of the chips in the driver circuit.

Good Luck,








 
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Offline bitseeker

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Re: HP5216A 12.5MHZ Counter Nixie Tubes
« Reply #49 on: November 06, 2016, 02:56:23 am »
Received the new HP 1820-0119 IC today and couldn't wait to solder the new chip into the 5216A.
I ended up buying 2 chips on eBay for 17 dollars. Yikes!
Now all tubes are working properly and also all Frequency and Sensitivity knob positions.

Yeah, they are rather pricey. Congrats on the successful repair. She lives! :clap:
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