Max,
I grew up on Heathkit and built a few kits before they went under the first time. I recall building a HW101 HF transceiver, 20 MHz scope, HW2016 2-meter transceiver (my first fully synthesized rig), and a morse code keyer (u-matic). There was also the digital weather station and a digital clock for the ham shack. My dad also built a few Heathkits pieces of test gear i the 50's and 60's. It was all good inexpensive stuff that worked reasonably well.
The first time I used a Hewlett Packard frequency counter as an Electronic Technician back in the 1970's, I fell in love. I also appreciated the Fluke digital voltmeters and Tek scopes. But mostly, I dreamed one day of owning the Rolls Royce of test equipment.
Well, today, it is used and older technology, but it still has the wonderful quality that HP built into most every piece of equipment they engineered and constructed.
Best of luuck with the upgrades. I hope to join you in retiremnent in a few years!
Regards,
Joe
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--- In hp_agilent_equipment@..., "Max Robinson" <max@...> wrote:
Thank you Joe. I'll give it some thought. I do have a well equipped lab
but my frequency counter is a Heathkit. I'm retired so I have lots of time
and experience. As the price of HP gear has come down I am in the process
of replacing my Heathkit gear with HP.
Regards.
Max. K 4 O DS.
Email: max@...
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----- Original Message -----
From: <jcline01@...>
To: <hp_agilent_equipment@...>
Sent: Saturday, March 16, 2013 5:51 AM
Subject: [hp_agilent_equipment] Re: counter
Hi Max,
I have refurbished many of the 5335A, and several 5334A/B models over the
past several years. There is good news and bad news on how repairable
these models may be. The bad news is that these are getting fairly long in
the tooth, and some parts are reaching the "unobtainium" stage. The good
news is that there are many of these counters still on the market, and if
one shops well, one may find a good "donor" or two to fix the first unit
for not too much money. This method is actually how I got started
refurbishing HP gear. I bought a 5335A Counter for my setup, and the odds
were against me in that it did not work. The needed parts were not
available through normal suppliers such as Mouser. So, I boughts another
unit, and it worked! It took two or three more units to find one that did
not work, so that I could make it a donor unit. By that time, I had a
pretty good inventory of spare parts accummulated...
My experience is that only about 10% of the 5335A counters work out of the
box. The most common trouble has been the A3/A12 boards with bad Schmitt
amplifer ICs and signal relays. You need to be able to work on densly
populated circuit boards to repair these. Another common problem has been
the power supply switching relays overheating on the older models. Later
designs cured this by changing from a 120 VAC fan to a 24 VDC fan along
with diode protection from the inductive load switching. I can go on for
many pages about other issues I have found in the 5335A models and
repaired, but will spare you and the group. I you want more information,
please contact me offline.
The 5334A models have their share of issues, but because of simplicity and
somewhat newer design, the only real issues have been the signal relays on
the main board becoming stuck in one position or the other. This is easy
to fix with a soldering/desoldering station and parts that are currently
available from Mouser.
Now the real issue is that you need some basic test equipment in order to
align these counters once you get them working. When there are no
defective parts, they work pretty well, but severe alignment problems will
stop them, and you need to be able to align your counter to ensure that
your measurements are accurate. For that, you will need a two channel
oscilloscope, signal generators, such as a 3325A/B for the low
frequencies, 8657A or similar for the high frequencies, pulse generator
(8082A), and a good frequency reference, such as Rhubidium Oscillator or
GPSDO (Z3801A or Thunderbolt). You may need some additional gear for
Channel C such as a 8657B (1300 Mhz), a power meter/sensor, and a 50 ohm
splitter.
These are great counters and do a remarkable job, especially considering
their age. I truly enjoy working on them and refurbishing for others to
enjoy. Choose a reliable seller - many of the "Top Sellers" will send you
garbage and will not pack the equipment properly, but that is a whole
separate topic. Best of luck with your decision.
Regards,
Joe, KN5U
--- In hp_agilent_equipment@..., "Max Robinson" <max@>
wrote:
If one gets one of these and it doesn't work, how repairable is it?
Regards.
Max. K 4 O DS.
Email: max@
Transistor site
Vacuum tube site:
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funwithtransistors-subscribe@...
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Gottlieb" <hpnpilot@>
To: <hp_agilent_equipment@...>
Sent: Friday, March 15, 2013 9:54 PM
Subject: Re: [hp_agilent_equipment] Re: counter
The 5334 and 5335 also have reciprocal counting, so keep an eye out for
all of
them. Last 5334B I got I paid $40 and it was mint. It didn't have the
good
timebase oscillator but I use a rubidium distributed around so didn't
need
it.
These prices are insane for what you get.
On 3/15/2013 6:06 AM, adrian_microwave wrote:
Paul,
if you want to measure low frequencies with high resolution, you will
definitely want a counter with reciprocal counting. Otherwise you're
waiting
for ages, especially with audio signals.
The 5315A (w/o HPIB) and 5316A/B (w/HPIB) are the best bang for the
buck,
IMO.
They are powerful tools, small, come without a noisy fan and can be
had
for
stunning little money if you are a little patient.
Adrian
--- In hp_agilent_equipment@...
<mailto:hp_agilent_equipment%40yahoogroups.com>, "Paul Kraemer"
<elespe@>
wrote:
I am beginning to shop for a better frequency counter for my test
bench
I don't need uhf or even vhf but I do want something HP that I can
rely
on
10mhz and below
Something basically simple but not a toy. I have a couple of those
already.
Compact size and latest gee whiz item is not so important as budget,
reliability, serviceability. OK, I'd like cheap if that is possible.
I
don't
mind fixing ebay finds if it isn't going to be impossible to get it
calibrated.
So many models I thought I'd start here
Thank-you
Paul K0UYA
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