Picked this thing up today. It looks a little worse for wear, but more critically, it *feels* terrible! It's completely covered in some sticky, dusty, oily substance. Not sure if owned by a chain smoker or used in some dirty environment, but this thing needs a thorough restoration! Inside and outside. I was told it was working, but I have no idea how they verified that, considering the control knobs, for the most part, are so gummed up that you either can't feel the detents, or, can't move the knobs at all! At least, I don't dare put enough force on them to turn them in their current state.
This thing is really heavy. Not sure why they need that huge massive transformer, but, there it is! Lovely vintage HP construction. Plug-in-boards all around, over engineered to the hilt. That's why I love these things! I have an old 5215A frequency meter, also a beauty with lots of individual plug in boards and loomed wiring. Same style outer shell as this one.
Hope to get this one restore to mint, or close to it. I do use these instruments, but they are in large part also a collection, so I really like getting them to a pristine condition. The "physical" condition of this one is very good which is why I bought it. No big dents or scratches. Very dirty, but, dirt can be removed!
Just started taking the panels off and washing them. Will post more as I go deeper....
I haven't started to dig into the service manual yet, but,
here it is. I didn't even know these types of instruments existed until I stumbled over them on eBay. They seem quite rare.
Kepco seems to be the biggest, and most current, manufacturer, and they call them "Operational Power Supplies" - very neat units, there's a bunch of Kepco units on eBay. Although they are quite expensive, and usually very large and heavy, so cost a fortune to get shipped.
They don't go up to very high frequencies if used as amplifiers, but, they are rather neat regardless. And there's always room for a bipolar power supply or two on the bench...