Moving Option 004 from one HP Spectrum Analyser to another

[numbersix]

Hi folks,

I've had an HP 8594E Spectrum Analyser for a while, but have only recently been able to use it because of a faulty PSU which needed to be repaired. Now I've had that sorted out I am starting to get to grips with it a bit and have found out to my surprise that it actually has the tracking generator option in it which makes it considerably more useful. The charity that I run (we restore a Cold War era nuclear bunker with computer/radio kit from the 60s-90s which we repair/maintain) was also recently given an HP 8591C Cable TV Analyser to use for spares (it has a good screen, PSU etc) which came with option 004, 101, 130 and a couple of others related to TV functions. Using other forum posts here I was able to move the option 130 board over to my 8594E and that's working nicely. I moved option 101 over as well.

What I was wondering though is what's involved in moving the option 004 precision frequency reference option parts over from the 8591C to the 8594E. I can't find a lot from Google other than finding that option 004 was available as a retro-fit option from HP.

Any help would be gratefully received.

Regards,

Gavin.

[Miti]

Welcome to the forum!
I did exactly that not too long ago. Just move the OCXO to the recipient instrument, then plug the connectors. When you power it up, you’ll get the “Oven cold” for 5 minutes and the option shows up in the list. It’s plug and play. You’ll loose the electronic adjustment, adjust it manually if needed.

[numbersix]

Awesome, thank you. I've just moved it over and it seems to be working nicely. Undoing/doing up the last nut right next to the ribbon cable connector on the card reader was a bit of a pain because my 5.5mm nut driver wasn't slim enough, but loosening the card reader PCB just let me get around to it.

I've been through and written down all my calibration data and the next job is to try and replace the battery without losing my cal data.

Now if only I could find a GPIB/parallel interface board for it!

[Miti]

If you wrote the numbers down, there’s nothing to worry about.

[numbersix]

I did, I used the paper form in the manual and even typed it up into a spreadsheet to be sure I won't lose it.

[Miti]

If you have option 103 you may be interested in this post:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hp8590e-series-option-103-driver/