Agilent Power Supply Fever

[Gandalf_Sr]

After watching Dave add binding posts to his Agilent 6643A on the same day that I (yet again) had issues with my switch-mode Extech supply, I started taking a look the Agilent 66XXA supplies and saw that they are seriously awesomely built.  Anyway, I have now bought 3 on eBay: a 6642A, a 6643A, and a 6623A, all apparently working and all at reasonable cost.  I must be crazy but I guess I can sell them for around what I paid.  Here's what I'm thinking:

6642A and 6643A - Clean up, add missing parts (knobs and feet), maybe add binding posts.
6623A - I was unaware of these until today, they have 3 dual-range outputs that scale between a high and low range so, for example, one of the outputs can run 7V at 10A or 20V at 4A, if you go over 7V it auto-shifts up to the 20V range but then is limited to 4A. All the outputs are isolated from each other and ground.  Apart from the rear terminals, the biggest issue with the 6623A is that it has no rotary encoders on the front so you have to enter any changes to voltage and current from the keypad.  However, there's apparently an RS232 input on the back from which you can control everything so how's this for a neat conversion idea.  Add 3 sets of binding posts, 3 rotary encoders and 3 buttons.  Now add a microcontroller and program it so that it sends the correct signals to the serial port when the buttons and encoders are operated?

[Gandalf_Sr]

So far I received the 6642A and the 6623A.  The 6642A is really nice, it's small, has 2 encoders, and the inside oozes quality.  The 6623A is just a bit too big, it's 20 inches deep which makes it awkward to put on a shelf, I like the triple output but it's just BIG.

I cleaned up the 6642A, did a repair on the encoders which were coming apart. I've ordered some beefy binding posts and plan to do the conversion to front outputs like Dave did.  I'll do the same for the 6643A when it arrives.  Not sure what to do with the 6623A yet.

I'll post some pictures next week.