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Re: HP-8443A Tracking Generator Problems
lothar baier
have you ever considered a 5345A ? they are cheap, and they go to 500MHz
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The marker does not really say anything, most of the time markers are blanked in on the sweep trace not on the RF level, i havent looked in the manual but thats how most generators and sweepers are doing it, the fact that you see a marker blip without the RF output of the generator beein connected to the SA input supports this. one possibility is to build a pre-scaler for your counter to extend the frequency range, the other one is that i could loan you a 500MHz counter so you can do the testing "David C. Hallam" <dhallam@...> wrote: I don't have the test equipment you outlined. My counter is a HP-5245L and limited to 50 MHz. I have been looking for additional plug-ins to extend its range but at the moment I don't have any. My scope is a TEK 465 which has a bandwidth of 100 MHz. Since my interest is in the HF (3-30 MHz) portion of the ham radio spectrum, I just never saw the need to have extended range test equipment. I did what I will call a quick and dirty test. I connected the 30 MHz calibration signal from the 8552B IF section to the RF input of the 8553B RF section. At a 30 MHz setting on the 8553B frequency dial, I get the signal peak on the 141T screen along with the marker from the 8443A. I can turn the 8443A on and off and the marker pip also goes on and off. The 8433A display reads all 0's. If I set the 8443A to the external (counter) mode, it will correctly display the frequency of a signal from my signal generator. Rightly or wrongly, what do I conclude from all of this? 1 The counter portion of the 8443A is working correctly 2 The tracking generator working correctly 3 The no display problem in the tracking mode is related to counting of the signal output of the tracking generator rather than a signal generation problem in the tracking generator. David -----Original Message-----
From: hp_agilent_equipment@... [mailto:hp_agilent_equipment@...]On Behalf Of microwaveengineer1968 Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 9:31 PM To: hp_agilent_equipment@... Subject: [hp_agilent_equipment] Re: HP-8443A Tracking Generator Problems This is the link for a manual for the 8443A Now down to the bone my friend, i have looked at the manual and compiled some preliminary checks for you to do, this assumes that you have acess to a counter to 500MHz and maybe a powermeter or scope with appropriate bandwidth. First off you need to verify the operation of the tracking generator portion of your unit, dont worry about the counter for now, basically the 8443 receives three signals from the 8553 and 8552 units, those signals are mixed together sequentially to form a 0-110MHz signal which is then amplified and leveled, the manual has a nice block diagram in it btw ! The first signal is a 200-310MHz which is basically the 1st LO of the 8553, the amplitude is supposed to be -6dBm, the next signal is a 150MHz fixed LO @ -2dBm and the third Signal is a 47MHz fixed lo @ - 7dBm First connect your counter to the RF output of your 8443A, set the attenuator to 0dB and then set the analyzer to zero span and tune the frequency and see if the counter indicates a frequency reading in accordance to your analyzer scale, if you dont get any indication you will have to verify the presence of your LO signals, you may just have a bad interconnect cable to your analyzer, measure the 150MHz signal on A11 J1 (you have to remove the cable and then measure the signal coming out of the cable) , measure the 47MHz signal on A13 J1 (once again measure whats coming out of the cable) and the 3MHz fixed LO on J3 (cable) then move on to A9 J1 on this cable you should be able to measure a signal from 200-310MHz the frequency should be tuning when you turn the tuning knob on your RF Section. Do those tests and let me know the outcome. --- In hp_agilent_equipment@..., "David C. Hallam" <dhallam@...> wrote: issues. The nixie tube display shows all 0. I believe the tracking generatoris still working because the marker is on the screen of the 141T. I canconnect the RF output of the 8443A to my HP-5245L counter which will displaythe marker frequency. I can move the maker with 8533B frequency control andthe display on the 5245L will change with the movement of the marker.external mode and use it as a frequency counter.reach the end point where it says to repair A5. However in the service sectionfor A5, I get oscilloscope displays from each of the 6 test points on A5 thatmatch the photo in the manual which leaves me wondering. I don't have thevoltages, etc. at the points indicated on the repair table.conclusion that the tracking generator portion functioning properly logical?My skill level as an electronics technician is not that great withinstruments like this. --------------------------------- Be a better pen pal. Text or chat with friends inside Yahoo! Mail. See how. |
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