Agilent n5181a Software Upgrade / Hack

[ua4yhz]

Why do people wait that long to post it?

The manufacturer will be very displeased and will force the forum administration to delete our guru's account and all his posts.
Better for him to be with us than with anyone else.

[ua4yhz]

I still couldn't find the salt.

[khanda]

If anyone need options for mxg plz pm me your model and sn )

[Rubo]

Pardon my ignorance, but are the A3 RF boards the same between 1, 3 & 6GHz models and they only need the coresponding option installed (501, 503 or 506)?

Thank you in advance.

[khanda]

Pardon my ignorance, but are the A3 RF boards the same between 1, 3 & 6GHz models and they only need the coresponding option installed (501, 503 or 506)?

Thank you in advance.

Yes, But like N5181A  upgrade 501 to 503.After 1G, the indicators will exceed tolerance due to lack of calibration data.

[Rubo]

Yes, But like N5181A  upgrade 501 to 503.After 1G, the indicators will exceed tolerance due to lack of calibration data.

So, in theory, if I get a 1GHz unit, it can be "upgraded" to 6GHz and all I would need to do is perform a calibration on it?

What about the low phase noise option? Surely that would need to have a different hardware inside, right?

[khanda]

Yes, But like N5181A  upgrade 501 to 503.After 1G, the indicators will exceed tolerance due to lack of calibration data.

So, in theory, if I get a 1GHz unit, it can be "upgraded" to 6GHz and all I would need to do is perform a calibration on it?

What about the low phase noise option? Surely that would need to have a different hardware inside, right?

calibration->yes  LPN->Nope

[Rubo]

calibration->yes  LPN->Nope

Thank for the clarification, khanda. If I get my hands on one, I'll be PM-ing you for those codes 

[khanda]

calibration->yes  LPN->Nope

Thank for the clarification, khanda. If I get my hands on one, I'll be PM-ing you for those codes 

My pleasure.

[stellar]

Hello khanda, Could I trouble you for similar assistance with my N5181A? I purchased this unit second hand to have another around the lab, but Keysight will not sell me the feature codes; I'm required to buy a new model to enable analog modulation. I would PM you, but as a new forum member, I don't think I have enough karma to do so. Perhaps I can reply if you PM me.

Eventually I find the N5181A Signal Generators will fail with a Frac-N PLL fault. But that tends to happen after many years.