2425+6517=?

[nikonoid]

What do you do when you have a Keithley 2425 with blown display and Keithley 6517a with blown transformer?

You make them "interface":


With just a small connection cable they are pin compatible and even most of the buttons on front panel work ok!

One thing I really like about Keithley gear is how much they are sharing between different instruments, sometimes produced 20 years apart.
What you have learned on one instrument is applicable to others. Many parts are shared and can be interchanged. Beautiful!

Beside the VFD, some part on feedback circuit is damaged in 2425. I plan to post the repair here as soon as I have some free time.

[TiN]

Now you can see why I like Keithley's. Older ones also have rarely custom parts or FPGA magic, so are relatively easy fixable even w/o schematics. We'd like more of photos eventually

And there are a LOT of caps in 2425... As of EM xfrmr, I'll see what I can do for you.

[Zucca]

Posts like this makes me happy.

[coromonadalix]

yess an franken meter    hope it works for you

[don.r]

I noticed this even on my 80's Keithley gear. The cases are all the same and interchangeable whether they be bench DMM, voltage source, switch frame, etc. The UI is also consistent which is great if you have 5 or 6 pieces of gear.

[SirAlucard]

Now you just need to slap a 8942 over the 6517a in a skewed fashion to complete said project.

[nikonoid]

I noticed this even on my 80's Keithley gear. The cases are all the same and interchangeable whether they be bench DMM, voltage source, switch frame, etc. The UI is also consistent which is great if you have 5 or 6 pieces of gear.

I totally agree. I think it is all intentional. I know first hand that plastic molds can be very expensive. And custom ASIC is even more so. When you procure components, like VFD display, the quantity you buy in makes a huge difference. Using same part on many instruments helps to bring prices down. Another example is expandability of instruments, like expansion slot that is shared between 2000, 2001, 2002, 2010, 6517. Reusing some of firmware and keeping UI similar also helps.

Keithley being in competition with much bigger HP had to do these things to stay competitive on the market.

In contrast, if you watch Dave's video #1032 with John Kenny of HP you can hear how different instruments were designed by different people in different locations. He is talking about his role now being to share design elements and components between instruments and engineering groups. HP is now doing things that Keithley HAD TO DO 30 years ago.