HP Agilent 53131A 53132A 53181A 12.4 GHz option

[jadew]

   Thanks Colby!  One question, can the 1.5 be upgraded to 12.4GHZ by SW alone?  I thought that the 1.5 and 3 GHZ models used one prescaler board and the 5/ 12.4 GHz prescaler used a different board.  Or is the only difference between the boards RF input connector? (type N instead of BNC).

Unfortunately, no. You are correct that the boards are different. The one in the 1.5 GHz and 3 GHz counters goes only to 3 GHz.

Edit: Grammar.

[charlyd]

What about an EIP  545A /548A or better 575 / 578 .. serious good counters for good prices   >18GHz >26.5GHz

[Stray Electron]

What about an EIP  545A /548A or better 575 / 578 .. serious good counters for good prices   >18GHz >26.5GHz

   What about them?  I have about 6 of the 545As left.  They ARE seriously good counters but they are full rack mount size and weight about 30 pounds apiece. 

    I really don't need a small portable counter like the HP 53181 but it SO tempting! If I could upgrade it for a reasonable price (like $0) to 12.4 GHz,  I'd be on it on it like a duck on a June bug!

[jadew]

They're back in stock.

Limited qty. available, and the discount is gone.

I also made a little video showing the limitations outside of the 10 GHz range, for anyone interested in performing measurements there. Keep in mind tho, that operation above 10 GHz is not guaranteed at all.

Edit: Below the frequency region that exhibits these limitations, operation above 10 dBm is possible, but I can't test it as part of the production process, which is why the maximum input sensitivity is specified at 10 dBm.

[tchiwam]

I will post it here, as this thread has a lot of interesting information that is still relevant.

I have :
 53181A Option 010 124  SN: KR9120XXXXX Made in Korea
 53132A Option 012         SN: 3546AXXXXX   Made in USA

I wanted to move the 12.4GHz card to the 53132A, but I 1, cannot find the R334 on the 53132A, I did find it on the newer 53181A near J6

I tried it, and the Channel 3 can be selected, but there is no counting being done on the Channel 3. Any idea of the pin or signal jumped By R334 ? 

Oscilators :  This might also be of interest:
Option 010  Crystal 10811-60160
Option 012  Crystal 10811-60211

Jumpers are at the same place, and board seems to be the same. So I guess that someone with a 010 can find the 012 oven alone and make the swap pretty straight forward.

[tchiwam]

One more bit of information....

   If I get this right, the purpose of the R334 0 ohm is to bring 5VDC to J7 pin 7 ?

My 53132A does not have that 5VDC at pin 7

Also the J7 Pin 7  seems to be connected to 53132A-R241, which is totally not connected to the same as my newer 53181A

Anyone here knows how to make the old 53132A take the option 124 ?

 

[tchiwam]

A bit of probing later:

With R334 0ohm on the 53181A

J7 Pin Pin 53181A 53132A 5 +12V +12V 6 +12V +12V 7 +5V 0 8 -12V -12V 9 0V 0V 10 Pull up 5V Pull up 5V Pulled down when Option 124 is present Channel 3 detect ? I am tempted to switch the pin 7 and 10... I will come back to it tomorrow and probably try it.

Edit Pin 10 probably a pull up...

[tchiwam]

And one more update, I found this document 9018-01593.pdf

Pin 7 is the 5VDC and R334 is R335 in the part list...



Seems I have the Rev C of the board, but an early one... 53132-60001 where the R334 seems not to exist...

J7 Pin 9 and 10 are both code to tell the main board what prescaler they have, I assume...