Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[BU508A]

The Fluke/Philips PM6654C is actually a very nice counter. Both of mine have the high stability timebase. Here's a photo of the counter and some of its friends.

This pendulum is looking very similar to my Fluke PM6681:

[med6753]

Oculus....your PM inbox is full, tried sending you this msg:

"My package to you seems to have dropped into a black hole. Last scan was yesterday in Memphis, TN with a delivery date of today which seemed like a bunch of BS considering it's last location.

But now, no delivery date and recent scan.  "

[0culus]

Oculus....your PM inbox is full, tried sending you this msg:

"My package to you seems to have dropped into a black hole. Last scan was yesterday in Memphis, TN with a delivery date of today which seemed like a bunch of BS considering it's last location.

But now, no delivery date and recent scan.  "

Hmmm. I've had USPS packages show up out of the blue way faster than I expected...will let you know if I get it. I deleted some old messages.

[tonyalbus]

The Fluke/Philips PM6654C is actually a very nice counter. Both of mine have the high stability timebase. Here's a photo of the counter and some of its friends.

This pendulum is looking very similar to my Fluke PM6681:

those look so cool..

[tonyalbus]

It's spread all over the place so I will consolidate it all. Three notes:

1. There's a RIFA hiding in it. Usually across the output terminals. This is not the end of the world scenario but it needs removing on principle.
2. Also there is no reverse protection diode across the output or across the pass transistor so if you're using it to drive something which can shove current back into the supply (capacitors, batteries) it'll blow the shit out of the pass transistors if the line supply fails or is switched off by someone using the vacuum cleaner . Stuff a fat diode across the output and the pass transistors.
3. The push switches get a bit dicky. They are unobtainium so you will have to get creative with mounting a toggle switch or something alternative. Plus there is mains on the main board so be careful.

Action shot:



Inside. Whole thing breaks in half in the middle with an edge connector.



Front panel with new RIFA replacement, new output cap and additional diode:



Pass transistor diode (on rear heatsink)



I rather like 'em when they're working.

Yours might be a later one with some of the issues fixed. There were about 5-6 revisions.

Edit: oh watch out for the voltage reference diode and resistor. They run hot! Burned myself on the bugger.

Thanks for this!
You happen to have schematics or which pot does what on the board?  i could not find any yet on the net.

[BU508A]

Looks like that I have a sweet spot for R&S PSU      

There is another one on the way to me, a NGT 20:



It will fit nicely with my NGB 70/5 and NGB 32/10 (once this is repaired)

[Ice-Tea]

The Fluke/Philips PM6654C is actually a very nice counter. Both of mine have the high stability timebase. Here's a photo of the counter and some of its friends.

No argument from me. It oozes "engineer built" and not "marketing driven". More like some engineers having a coffee in Eindhoven going "oeeehh! Let's add this too".

Anyways, broken unit is going to the Captain. The other one is still on the Bay.

[mnementh]

   So... it would appear I have a new assistant. 

Went Thrifting today since the boi wanted to; who found and decided that "I needed Emmet"... he was only a few dollars, and I always had a soft spot for the daft little nebbish, m'self... so I agreed.  Also found a right proper Scholastic-type globe for the education/office area; it's exactly the same as the ones I remember in every classroom when I was in school. Could be that old too; It has the Post-Soviet States/CIS still labeled as the USSR/Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic; so definitely pre-1991.

Don't care; it'll still be useful in general. If there's discrepancies, that'll give the boi a reason to use Google and do... gasp.... research. 

mnem
*toddles off to ded* 

Awesome 

Everything. Is. AWESOME...!

mnem
when you're living in a dream...

[Mr. Scram]

(Attachment Link)

Excellent late-night TV.

[BU508A]

(Attachment Link)

Excellent late-night TV.

You are watching "Bernd das Brot" on Kika? 
Whoa, didn't expect this.

But I'm watching it, too.   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernd_das_Brot

[FransW]

They share equal ancestry.
Made originally in Sweden: Philips Scientific.
OCXO's have a long history which started with the PM660x series.

[mnementh]

What the hell is that acid trip worthy thing? 

Gumby and Pokey didn't play in the UK?

Nope

I had GUMBY growing up... 

mnem
I remember when SNL was funny too...

[ArthurDent]

The Fluke/Philips PM6654C is actually a very nice counter. Both of mine have the high stability timebase. Here's a photo of the counter and some of its friends.

This penduluum is looking very similar to my Fluke PM6681:

No, no, no. It's the other way round. Your Fluke PM6681 is looking very similar to my Pendulum CNT-81 ! 

[mnementh]

Oh sweet cheese and crackers...   

mnem
 

[med6753]

The Fluke/Philips PM6654C is actually a very nice counter. Both of mine have the high stability timebase. Here's a photo of the counter and some of its friends.

This penduluum is looking very similar to my Fluke PM6681:

No, no, no. It's the other way round. Your Fluke PM6681 is looking very similar to my Pendulum CNT-81 ! 

At least Fluke updated their industrial design when they aligned with Philips 

(This was before I repainted the case. The blue helped but not much)

[BU508A]

The Fluke/Philips PM6654C is actually a very nice counter. Both of mine have the high stability timebase. Here's a photo of the counter and some of its friends.

This penduluum is looking very similar to my Fluke PM6681:

No, no, no. It's the other way round. Your Fluke PM6681 is looking very similar to my Pendulum CNT-81 ! 

What a nice bunch of counters there in your lab!     

[ArthurDent]

The Fluke/Philips PM6654C is actually a very nice counter. Both of mine have the high stability timebase. Here's a photo of the counter and some of its friends.

This penduluum is looking very similar to my Fluke PM6681:

No, no, no. It's the other way round. Your Fluke PM6681 is looking very similar to my Pendulum CNT-81 ! 

At least Fluke updated their industrial design when they aligned with Philips 

(This was before I repainted the case. The blue helped but not much)

The Fluke 7260A is just plain UGLY and no matter how well it worked, I wouldn't own one. Plus they wouldn't stack well which is a requirement of mine. .  One old Fluke counter I always liked was the 1953A. 

[Mr. Scram]

Oh sweet cheese and crackers...   

mnem
 

What's going on with your images? I've seen several where the thumbnail doesn't match the actual picture, including thumbnails of what looks like a family photo you didn't seem to intend to post. Are you renaming images or using sketchy software perhaps?

[Robert763]

That was mostly aimed at Robert, I guess. I'm not trying to push it down your throat. I've dangled it in front of you, if you don't bite I'm not gonna chase you 

Not sure why you think the reason it's not being bought is the heritage. I agree that's a big reason people don't buy stuff, but this *is* an HP machine 

 
My bad, I was biased by the two Anritsu.

Quick update regarding the R&S NGB 32/10:
Today I pulled out the power module and checked the semiconductors. All good, except for D203. This one should be a 1N4006 but for some reason I've found a GI826 
I measured the Uf and found a value of around 0.25V, reverse was okay. Checked the datasheet and found that the Uf is starting at around 0.6V (as usual for a silicone semiconductor) and 1.05V@5A. I removed the GI826 and replaced it with a 1N5408 which is imo the much better replacement for a 1N4006.

I will put it together tomorrow and see, if the fuses will blow again. Will also check the capacitors but I need to order the replacements.

Pictures will follow.

Anyway, bed time....

Time zones and work delaying responses :-(
The biggest problem with the 8922x is that - it's BIG. and while the SA works I would not call it full featured or high accuracy. Only 10MHz to 1015MHz, fixed span/bandwidth, very limited maximum span (4MHz, 10MHz overrange)  <70dB dynamic range, 2.5dB accuracy etc). The signal generator is CW only too. Yours is an S so not even FM demodulation.  Better than nothing, but a R&S CRTU will give a full featured  SA to 2.7GHz (same 10MHz lower limit), colour display, full function signal generator (100kHz to 2.7GHz) 50W input capability and power meter in a smaller, lighter box for a similar price.

[Robert763]

Which boat anchor? The one Tony linked to or this one ->



If you're talking about mine, the TL;DR is that it listed for 600€. This included eBay and Paypal, so outside eBay 525€ through a bank transfer. 500€ round would be OK for me. Still includes 21% belgian VAT so if you are VAT registered ex VAT price is 425.

if i knew about the 425,- .. i would not have bought the Ansitsu but this HP  one for sure... if that helps you to make a choice...it has a TG!

Err no, the 8922x does not have a tracking generator. It has a CW signal generator. The pseudo tracking generator Scalar network analyser software for the similar vintage 8924C (and 8920B) does not work on the 8922x as is. You might be  able to write your own though.

[nixiefreqq]

The Fluke/Philips PM6654C is actually a very nice counter. Both of mine have the high stability timebase. Here's a photo of the counter and some of its friends.

This penduluum is looking very similar to my Fluke PM6681:

No, no, no. It's the other way round. Your Fluke PM6681 is looking very similar to my Pendulum CNT-81 ! 

At least Fluke updated their industrial design when they aligned with Philips 

(This was before I repainted the case. The blue helped but not much)

The Fluke 7260A is just plain UGLY and no matter how well it worked, I wouldn't own one. Plus they wouldn't stack well which is a requirement of mine. .  One old Fluke counter I always liked was the 1953A.

it is ok to think "what an ugly baby".

but you don't say it out loud when the proud mom is standing right there!


edit  full disclosure.......i DID own a 7260a.

edit 2  further disclosure.......i sent it to med.  only because it was just begging to be blue.

[AVGresponding]

One old Fluke counter I always liked was the 1953A.

I should get on with repairing mine, maybe then I'd like it too...

[Ice-Tea]

Time zones and work delaying responses :-(

What, you get sleep at night?? 

The biggest problem with the 8922x is that - it's BIG.

Ah, it's actually less wide, less high and slightly deeper than a CMU200/CRTU

.. and while the SA works I would not call it full featured or high accuracy. Only 10MHz to 1015MHz, fixed span/bandwidth, very limited maximum span (4MHz, 10MHz overrange)  <70dB dynamic range, 2.5dB accuracy etc). The signal generator is CW only too. Yours is an S so not even FM demodulation. 

Granted. Still makes sense if you don't want to spend too much and are looking for a single instrument to cover a lot of bases.

Better than nothing, but a R&S CRTU will give a full featured  SA to 2.7GHz (same 10MHz lower limit), colour display, full function signal generator (100kHz to 2.7GHz) 50W input capability and power meter in a smaller, lighter box for a similar price.

No argument there. Even though there's a marginal added value in some of the audio features.

EDIT: it doesn't have an HP sticker though. That seems to matter a lot to a lot of people. 

[Ice-Tea]

Update on the 4265 stack. Recapped a PSU of a unit that doesn't have a trace. Racapped about 90%, couldn't find the small caps so went with it. No change. Then took that PSU to another unit that mostly works but has a jittery readout. When opening up that machine, it was obvious someone already worked on this machine. Fan was replaced by a regular axial fan. Some caps have already been replaced.



This part of the board has clearly seen heat. In addition, the diodes are clearly corroded. Looks like a previous owner has already replaced the offending caps (didn't bother to get them flush with PCB though).



He also replaced some RIFAs but he didn't bother with the ones under the shield.



Other side of the board. Left upper corner has been hot, clearly. At the bottom its clear RIFAs have been replaced. Anyhow, plugging in my recapped board



The red and black caps are new, the blue ones original (can't find the Farnell envelope  ).

The readout is actually no longer jittery, just dim. Works fine otherwise. Unfortunately, the trace cuts out for a fraction of a second from time to time when you leave it running. So close, yet so far away 

[med6753]

The Fluke/Philips PM6654C is actually a very nice counter. Both of mine have the high stability timebase. Here's a photo of the counter and some of its friends.

This penduluum is looking very similar to my Fluke PM6681:

No, no, no. It's the other way round. Your Fluke PM6681 is looking very similar to my Pendulum CNT-81 ! 

At least Fluke updated their industrial design when they aligned with Philips 

(This was before I repainted the case. The blue helped but not much)

The Fluke 7260A is just plain UGLY and no matter how well it worked, I wouldn't own one. Plus they wouldn't stack well which is a requirement of mine. .  One old Fluke counter I always liked was the 1953A.

it is ok to think "what an ugly baby".

but you don't say it out loud when the proud mom is standing right there!


edit  full disclosure.......i DID own a 7260a.

edit 2  further disclosure.......i sent it to med.  only because it was just begging to be blue.

Yes, And I greatly appreciate that. It is my most accurate counter and it has a prominent location on top of the 7904.



And a coat of blue paint DID help....somewhat.