Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[TERRA Operative]

But we aren't all here because we are rational..... 


Today's delivery was a Wellon VP-299 chip programmer sourced from Aliexpress.
I bought this one to supplement my XGECU T76, as it will program Dallas DS1486 and DS1286 timekeeper NVRAM's that the XGECU programmers can't do, so now I am able to properly backup and restore these Dallas NVRAM's from TDS scopes and other equipment. yay!

Tomorrow I'll head to Akihabara to grab a power adapter that is compatible with Japanese outlets, and is better made than the cheapest one that the manufacturer could find to bundle with the programmer.....

[BILLPOD]

Good Morning Dazz1,  I loved the story of the white elephant, you are a good story teller.  Your new Wiltron 6409 is quite a large, (and I'm sure heavy), piece of T.E.    You sure jumped through a lot of hoops to get it home.   I wish you the best and am looking forward to your thread in 'Repairs'   

[dazz1]

Good Morning Dazz1,  I loved the story of the white elephant, you are a good story teller.  Your new Wiltron 6409 is quite a large, (and I'm sure heavy), piece of T.E.    You sure jumped through a lot of hoops to get it home.   I wish you the best and am looking forward to your thread in 'Repairs'   

The Wiltron 6409 is actually quite light.  It is the little brother of the Wiltron 360.  The 6409 is only a Scalar Vector Analyser and "only" goes up to 2GHz.  It is also the subject of a repair thread.  It is my current project on the bench.  The 6409 guided me to a path that led to the 360. 

In comparison, the 360 is the beast that scares beasts.  The main VNA unit (top one with the CRT display) weighs in at an obese 25kg.    The naked Wiltron rack is 80kg. 

Photos of the 6409 attached.

[tautech]

Hi
The latest addition to my collection is a vintage Wiltron 360 VNA,  now in it's new home.  My home.
................
The price of genuine Anritsu parts is just eye watering.  Even reasonable quality 3rd party 2.92mm fittings are expensive.
.............

Aren't these just a different higher frequency SMA ?

[Hydron]

Lol you really did keep digging that Wiltron hole. At least you got a nice day down in dunners, and escaped the wrath of the missus to tell the tale!

[dazz1]

................
The price of genuine Anritsu parts is just eye watering.  Even reasonable quality 3rd party 2.92mm fittings are expensive.
.............

Aren't these just a different higher frequency SMA ?

Yes, 2.92mm, 3.5mm and SMA are all compatible.  That isn't the reason for using expensive versions.  Cheap connectors can be out of tolerance and destroy more expensive connectors. 
Also loose tolerances have a huge effect on the reliability and repeatability of VNA measurements.    The sensible thing to do is use high quality connectors and cables.

For a 2.92mm to 2.92mm F-F Calibration Grade Adapter, DC to 43.5 GHz, K(m) - K(m), 50 Ω, Anritsu quoted me $NZD 2,210 (about $USD1,280).
The same type of connector from Aliexpress  $NZD 62.00 (including 15% tax).

I can practically hear people screaming at their computer monitor that anything from Aliexpress is crap.  I have purchased a lot of stuff from Aliexpress over quite a few years.    The one rule I apply is to buy the most expensive version of what I want.  I have found that price is closely correlated to quality.  I can pay as little as $0.75 for a F-F SMA connector, but there is no way I would risk mating that with a $2,200  Wiltron/Anritsu connector.  I would be OK mating a $54 Aliexpress connector to a Wiltron/Anritsu connector.

I am currently making a pin depth gauge set to measure N-type connectors to ensure they are in tolerance.  Commercial gauge sets are very expensive.

I have a similar problem with cables.  The 360 came without any cables.  Anritsu quoted $3,890 for one pair of cables.   I can buy a pair of Gore cables from Aliexpress for "only" $430.  There are lots of cables on ebay, but that is a gamble.

Keeping the 360 fed and watered is going to be expensive, plus I still need to buy a spectrum analyser to replace the one I shouldn't have sold with the perfect clarity of hind sight.  The list of recommended test instruments includes a 100GHz spectrum analyser, 40GHz power meter and a 40GHz frequency counter.

The 360 definitely fits the definition of a great white elephant. 

[dazz1]

Lol you really did keep digging that Wiltron hole. At least you got a nice day down in dunners, and escaped the wrath of the missus to tell the tale!

I rescued a vintage Wiltron 360 from the inevitable trip to e-waste.  SWMBO got mall time. 

[dazz1]

...
Today's delivery was a Wellon VP-299 chip programmer sourced from Aliexpress.
I bought this one to supplement my XGECU T76, as it will program Dallas DS1486 and DS1286 timekeeper NVRAM's that the XGECU programmers can't do, so now I am able to properly backup and restore these Dallas NVRAM's from TDS scopes and other equipment. yay!
...

I made a nvRAM reader specifically to read/write to Dallas chips.  The Wiltron 360 is fitted with Dallas nvRAM so I will get to use the reader/writer again.

[TERRA Operative]

Ooh! Details please!

I was thinking to make one like yours for a while, but I went with the path of least resistance and bought my programmer as I'm not much of a software person.... haha

[wkb]

He has proven that there is still no bottom to be found when you fall down the TEA hole. 

Wrt bottoms falling out, it probably helps to be in NZ? 

[dazz1]

Hi
I have created a new topic in the Repair section to cover the Wiltron 360  repair/refurb located here:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/wiltron-360-500mhz-to-40ghz-vector-network-analyser-repair/msg6238093/#msg6238093

[Robert763]

I have an HP3200B too, so thank you so much Gertjan for taking yours apart and sharing with us... so that I don't have to risk doing the same on mine ! 

Mine works fine so luckily I don't really have a reason to poke inside.

I like it very much because it's compact, goes up to 500MHz which is good enough to test the B/W on all my 40+ scopes bar one. Plus, I got it for free.
However it's got its downfalls and I keep dreaming that one day I will be able to buy something a bit more modern and practical.

I would like something with the output at the front rather than the back, and not having to mechanically adjust the piston at the rear to set the amplitude, to start with...
A levelled output would be beautiful too.

A more modern / accurate time base, and an external 10MHz ref input would be great too.
A synthesised signal would be cool too.

I know, day dreaming is cheap... 

How about a Marconi 2022A......

Had to look that one up... hmmm yeah something like that indeed. Not into Marconi stuff though, the brown stuff (like the old Keithley) is not my cup of tea at all, and it's too "exotic" which is not good for maintenance, finding good service manuals, on-line support, spare parts and what not.  I prefer to go with something more mainstream like HP, and slightly more modern.

I have a soft spot for this style / generation of RF gen, pictured above.  Don't know much about them other than they are popular / available, which is good. Looks like most of them go up to 1GHz, which is the bare minimum I would want if I were to invest money in a "modern" RF gen (no I don't plan on getting 20 of them to start a new collection....I just want one, but one that I really like and does everything I want). However I did a quick search on Ebay and I found the odd variant of this instrument, that could go up to 2GHz or even 3.2GHz like the one pictured above, which would be ideal for me, since my fastest scope is a TDS694C which is supposed to go up to 3GHz.

Plenty of manuals and support for the 2022A. Mostly standard components. They do use some Mullard / Philips OMxx thick film hybrid amplifiers. These tend to fail due to an open circuit resistor but an external resistor across the pins fixes that. Or you can scrape the coating off and do "open heart" repairs. Other failures are mostly electrolytics.

Robert.

[Vince]

Ah OK, good to know. Will keep that in mind. Not in the market right now anyway, maybe in 2 or 3 years at best, by the looks of it... it's very low in the list of priorities indeed...

[Robert763]

TE incoming...
Just won an ebay auction for a TEKTRONIX NetTek Y350. Whild not listed in the auction this comes with the YBA250 and YBT250 modules. So a portable 2.5 GHz spectrum analyser and cable / antenna analyser. Basically Tek's answer to the SiteMaster
Seller previously had it as a BIN or best offer. I offered £100 (what was I thinking!) which was declined. Relisted as auction. Only one bid so I got it for just over £10 (£17.44 including postage <$25 US) . It does have a touch screen fault but hoping a mouse will work for now. I'll be looking out for a Y400 (later main unit with a faster imbedded PC) at a bargain price now.
Not that I need another portable SA / antenna tester...

Robert.

[TERRA Operative]

Well, I just won a bid on a ScanPro 2000 microfilm scanner (the older type that uses firewire instead of USB). Got it for 5000yen in total with shipping.
Bought it just for fun, I have no microfilm so I don't know what I'll do with it yet...

Now I gotta grab a firewire PCI card for the Retro PC, and find something microfilm to scan...

[Cyclotron]

Well, I just won a bid on a ScanPro 2000 microfilm scanner (the older type that uses firewire instead of USB). Got it for 5000yen in total with shipping.
Bought it just for fun, I have no microfilm so I don't know what I'll do with it yet...

Now I gotta grab a firewire PCI card for the Retro PC, and find something microfilm to scan...

Sounds like an opportunity to buy spy camera and start making some microfilm images of all your TE.

[m k]

Well, I just won a bid on a ScanPro 2000 microfilm scanner (the older type that uses firewire instead of USB). Got it for 5000yen in total with shipping.
Bought it just for fun, I have no microfilm so I don't know what I'll do with it yet...

Now I gotta grab a firewire PCI card for the Retro PC, and find something microfilm to scan...

You should have bid on microfiche reader.
Now you still need a PC add-on card and what not software before you can work with your non exist films.

[TERRA Operative]

Well, I just won a bid on a ScanPro 2000 microfilm scanner (the older type that uses firewire instead of USB). Got it for 5000yen in total with shipping.
Bought it just for fun, I have no microfilm so I don't know what I'll do with it yet...

Now I gotta grab a firewire PCI card for the Retro PC, and find something microfilm to scan...

You should have bid on microfiche reader.
Now you still need a PC add-on card and what not software before you can work with your non exist films.

I got the required Firewire card on the way, and I have the software from the manufacturers website. 

[Addicted2AnalogTek]

Well... I unexpectedly won an auction on a starting bid yesterday for a Tektronix THS730A, full kit with 2x P6117 probes. That puts me at 54 days between TE purchases if you don't count the pack of leads I scored for the 16058A test fixture / HP 4145B.

However, this time it is a tool that won't be a bench ornament and will be going out into the field with me. I'm already aware that I'll be needing to sort the battery replacement situation and have some spares in tow. I've seen that there's loads if info on this forum and also that Terra has done a bunch of work with these handhelds, so now that I own one, I'll make some time to find it again and get some orders placed.

All this, and I still have the Tek 485 inverter board out and have only halfway completed the re-restuffing of my recently restuffed can capacitors that I RP'd.

[TERRA Operative]

Hit me up if you need any pointers etc with the THS scope.

I'm currently slowly redesigning the LED conversion driver board, as I wasn't happy with the previous design (It wouldn't power down properly in the non A or P suffix models).

[armandine2]

Sometime ago (40 years +) I bought an unused electron tube from a surplus/electronics shop in Norwich (UK).

Can anyone here identify what TE it could be used in?

[tautech]

Sometime ago (40 years +) I bought an unused electron tube from a surplus/electronics shop in Norwich (UK).

Can anyone here identify what TE it could be used in?

Mr Google found this in seconds:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/5cp1a-sylvania-oscilloscope-tube-4642173982

[srb1954]

5CP1 is a 5 inch CRT. It is not a very high performance type so would have been used in low cost oscilloscopes, probably less than 10MHz bandwidth.

Such oscilloscopes would have most likely been produced prior to the 1960s when oscilloscope specifications started to improve considerably, requiring more sophisticated CRT tubes.

[Roehrenonkel]

Hi armandine2,
 
you can build a "scopeclock" or a XY-display for audio "stereoscope" with it.
Diheptal-socket is availabled, but the anode-connector snap-on is tricky.

Best

[factory]

Sometime ago (40 years +) I bought an unused electron tube from a surplus/electronics shop in Norwich (UK).

Can anyone here identify what TE it could be used in?

5CP1A was used in the first oscilloscopes made by Tek, eg 511 & 514, used from 1947 to 1953;
https://vintagetek.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Tek-CRT-History-Keller-June-2006.pdf

David