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- HP-Agilent-Keysight-Equipment
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HP 5363B Time Interval Probes & HP 8002A Pulse Gen FS
Bill Perkins
I'd like to see $US150.00 for the 5363B Time Interval Probes and $US100.00 for the 8002A Pulse Gen. Manuals for both are available.
I've had the probes for some time and they were fine the last time I used them. Not that they needed it but, puttering one evening, I pulled them apart and cleaned them, no issues were seen. The 8002A is a U of Calgary shelf queen I've had running into a 'scope the last about week and everything responds in the expected manner. I pack -well- and haven't a shipping issue in 20-25 years. PayPal is good. Best, Bill Perkins PEARL, Inc. 3020a Erlton St. SW Calgary, AB T2S 2Y6 + 587 578 4434 Cell' and text |
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Re: Seeking advice on a precision DVM
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýFor precision nothing beats a 3458A, 8.5 digit, but it¡¯s expensive. The 3456 is the better of the 3455/3456 pair. ?Our standard bench meter is a 3478A. Should be relatively cheap and they seem to be accurate and hold cal well. Downside is a 300V max input.?My 2 cents worth. Regards, ? Stephen Hanselman Datagate Systems, LLC On Apr 9, 2020, at 10:29, Daniel Koller via groups.io <kaboomdk@...> wrote:
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Re: Seeking advice on a precision DVM
I'd vote for the HP3455A and HP3456A. I have about three of each, and I did have to repair some of them initially (which is why they were quite cheap) - mostly the usual bad power supply cap replacement. I prefer the 3455A user interface, even though the 3456A is supposedly a little newer and better.
If you're moving from 4.5 to 6.5 digits, it will be like a breath of fresh air. You? may be able to just not worry about calibration yet, since even if old, they will likely still be much better than your old gear. During a design, you can probably get by with less than ideal equipment, and no standards to compare. For the time being, it appears you mostly need more resolution, not necessarily absolute accuracy. As you get to the end, then you can worry about the exactness. BTW I have one old DMM that's very cool, I think, because of its exceptional resistance measurement capability. It's a DANA 5900, which at first glance is just another old 1970s lab grade DMM, with 5 digits plus 60% over-range. What's cool is that it utilizes those digits well - it includes 100 meg and 10 ohm FS ranges, which are outside those of typical DMMs. Indeed, they're out of its own auto-ranging capability, and have to be selected manually. At the high end, it tops out at 160 megs with 1 k ohm resolution. At the bottom, it can read to 16 ohms with 100 micro-ohm resolution. I picked this up years ago at a flea market for somewhere around free to five bucks, as I recall, and it worked when I checked it out. I was considering junking it out, since it's old and beat up, and I have plenty of DMMs, until I discovered the ohms ranges. I saved it set it aside just for high megohm use. I recently had need to use it, and found it had crapped out. I've been working on it on and off over the last couple of months, trying to save it. It's almost OK now. If not for those ohms, it would be long gone. This goes to show that even if you have good, working stuff, it can still let you down, resulting in repair or replacement projects. This will of course tend happen when you need it the most. Anyway, I'd recommend not looking for "a" new DMM, but "some" new DMMs, if it's for a mission-critical need. I keep the HPs on the shelf in reserve or for high grade measurements, my bench DMMs are old Fluke 8400As (5+ digits), but mostly I use my pile of Harbor Freight freebie DMMs. Ed |
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Re: Craigslist HP 8566B Indianapolis
Oof!? That's a heavy one, in case somebody's not aware; 112 lbs, IIRC.? Lest you try to ship or lift one.? The display portion and the synthesizer portion do come apart, in nearly equal volume and weight halves, so that makes it a bit easier to move.? You won't want to do that often, though. Jim Ford
------ Original Message ------
From: "wallydoc via groups.io" <wallydoc@...>
Sent: 4/9/2020 8:07:41 AM
Subject: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Craigslist HP 8566B Indianapolis Not mine, but I thought someone might be interested |
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Re: Seeking advice on a precision DVM
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýBut you can buy 34401A displays fairly readily and for not too much cost, whereas the Keithley ones are like hens teeth and very many show which segments have been lit longer than others.I have a 3456A, 3465A, 34401A, Datron 1271 and a Keithley 2000 and have to say I prefer the Datron and Keithley displays the best - apart from the 3465A (lower class of DMM) there isn¡¯t much to choose from the others for what I need. From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Mark Bielman <mbielman@...>
Sent: 09 April 2020 19:26:59 To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Seeking advice on a precision DVM ?
I'm not a big fan of the LCD's HP used for a while. Hard to read at times.
The vacuum florescent displays are nice until they die. I prefer LEDs. The 34401A looks nice. Beware of failing displays! Mark |
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Re: Seeking advice on a precision DVM
The?HP34401A DVM is a very good choice, and I have see them go for very reasonable prices. I bought three of them locally a couple of years ago for a low price. They are very stable and small. The don't contain much magic, so they still can be serviced. Documentation is excellent.
I have a very stable 10.000000 volt test source, that I bought new on eBay and had rechecked after a year. I also have a Fluke AC calibrator and a couple of DC calibrators, so I can test with good confidence. My reality check is a pair of Fluke 8506A DMMs. These can often be found at very low prices, along with their near twin, the Fluke 8505A. They however are much larger meters. Stuart K6YAZ Los Angeles |
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Re: Seeking advice on a precision DVM
On 2020-04-09, at 20:24, Bruce <bruce@...> wrote:
Yes. Needs good front lighting though, as the display is an unilluminated LCD. But then, it doesn¡¯t degrade like the VFDs on newer instruments. (This is all mostly moot if you collect the measurements on a PC via HPIB.) As long as you have reasonable lighting and no vision problem, the 3457A is a slam dunk. (Like all meters, it does have some weak points, but it is exceptionally long-term stable; a 20-year-old calibration may still be < 10 ppm off.) One more problem with this vintage of HP equipment: The Schaffner IEC inlet with the famous RIFA madness (actually WIMA in this case). Some assembly required if you don¡¯t like things in your lab to explode at night. (Explosion more likely in 230-V-land.) This is true of a lot of instruments from the late 1980s. 3456A is a bit on the upward curve of the reliability bathtub by now; if you have 20 meters, it makes a good 21st, but I wouldn¡¯t use it as one out of two. I love the LED display on it; it does drift about way more than the 3457A though. (I don¡¯t have experience with the 3455A, but that seems to have left the bathtub already.) If you don¡¯t need 3000000 counts of the 3457A, the 3478A also is a nice meter. Outside the HP range, but cheap and 6 digits+, look for Solartron 7150 (incidentally, same Schaffner issue) or Philips PM2534/2535 (now, that display is actually a bad example for LCD). Gr¨¹?e, Carsten |
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Re: Seeking advice on a precision DVM
Majority of working 34401A units usually sell for $160-$290 which is really not greatly more expensive than 3457
That's why I decided to keep mine and not sell it! yes, some people also paid >$350 for it but those are rare and they will not be able to sell it at that price. just look at the completed items on ebay... dont pay too much attention on asking prices...but you may need to be a bit patient calibration of 34401A is usually not expensive. Once I got a quote from local tektronix lab here in Toronto and I think it was around $120-$150 Canadian $ and they keep their calibration for really long long time ... I never calibrated mine and it is still excellent except on low range AC current |
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Re: Seeking advice on a precision DVM
I recmmend the HP 3457. Good voltmeter and relatively inexpensive -
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less expensive to ship (lighter) - and more reliable than the 3456. Cheers! Quoting Paul Amaranth <paul@...>: The 3456a is probably the best deal you can find. I haven't ever had a |
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Re: Seeking advice on a precision DVM
The 3456a is probably the best deal you can find. I haven't ever had a
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problem with mine and it's 6.5 digits. It's not really hard to find them under $100 in working condition (I paid $75 for mine and have seen references for as low as $20). The only complaint is it does take up a little space. As for serial data, here's a thread on eevblog about building a serial adapter: Not the world's smarted gpib adapter, but trivial to implement and it gives you the serial data through a USB connection. A proper gpib connector will cost you more than the processor, but the picture in the post shows a cringe worthy budget approach. Calibration of any 6.5 digit meter on a hobbiest budget is a challenge, but if you have access to a recently calibrated 6.5 digit or better meter you can at least compare it and get an idea of how close it is. This is starting to get into volt-nuttery and I'll leave calibration advice to those who know more than me. Suffice it to say I have an ongoing project restoring a Keithley 2001 7.5 digit meter to tell me if my other meters are close to spec (note this one cost me $500 for a broken, maybe repairable example, jury's still out on that). Paul On Thu, Apr 09, 2020 at 05:28:53PM +0000, Daniel Koller via groups.io wrote:
Hi All, --
Paul Amaranth, GCIH | Manchester MI, USA Aurora Group of Michigan, LLC | Security, Systems & Software paul@... | Unix & Windows |
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Seeking advice on a precision DVM
Hi All, ? I am wondering what sort of DVM the collective wisdom here might suggest for precision work. ? I am working on a project for work that involves designing a precision voltage controlled current source.? But due to the current pandemic, I am working from home and assembling and testing stuff in my own well equipped basement shop.? ?The current source is more or less a design out of Horowitz and Hill's "The Art of Electronics".? ?I am working to keep the full scale and linearity of this current source to within 0.1% or better.? ? ? My current best DVM is a Keithley model 173 DMM "4 and 1/2" digit, 4-wire meter (the leading digit reads to 3).? It's accurate to ~0.009%+1 digit over 24 hours on the V scales and ~0.035%+1 digit on the Ohms scales.? ?I think it's good enough for what I need, but it has a few limitations, and I am wondering if it is not time to upgrade to a real bench instrument. ? ?First of all, my DVM probably hasn't been calibrated in decades.? ?How do I know it's correct without some externally calibrated transfer standard?? ?It *may* be a possibility for me to use a meter at work (sent regularly to calibration services) and calibrate a portable voltage reference and bring it home.? ?But I don't have a resistance standard.? ? ? The other problem is that even with 4 wires on the lowest Ohms setting, I don't have enough resolution to measure a 0.100 Ohm sense resistor to within 1%.? ? ? ?So, I think I could use a better meter.? ?The HP34401A DVM seems like a nice meter to have.? It's even used as a circuit design example in H&H's text.? But they seem to go for several hundreds of $$ on e-bay.? ?Remember, this is coming out of my hobby budget. ? So, I looked at the? HP3455A / 3456A on e-bay.? These seem to be significantly cheaper, and I love vintage instruments.? BUT, do I want to take up a new project?? How reliable are these old beasts?? Are they easy to repair and calibrate?? ?What tends to go wrong with them? ? ?Even though it's more expensive, one major strong point of the HP34401A is in addition to GPIB, it's got a SERIAL interface on the back!? That is a whole different ballgame in terms of interfacing to a PC or laptop (and a whole lot easier for me, for sure).? But I do think I want to have a meter I can use, rather than one I will have to repair.? ? ? Are there any other models I am missing?? ?Are there any that come standard with an RS232 interface?? Please let me know and thank you in advance for your suggestions. ? Dan ?? |
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HP Equipment for sale
Greetings all,
I need to make some room in my lab again (happens too often) , so I have the following equipment for sale:
I do not want to ship these beasts, so please be prepared to pick these up locally in Houston. In order to clear space, I will also donate some pieces of test gear to anyone who purchases one of the above instruments locally. I also have the following refurbished instruments
Please inquiry at my email address: joecline5747@..., not to the group, please. Thanks and regards, Joe, KN5U |
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Re: Anyone out there fix a partially working 334A I need desperately to get it up and running!
I have both of those models as well that I purchased very inexpensively at an estate sale a few years ago and this conversation has prompted me to drag those out and see the operational status of both.
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My 334A seems to work well enough (although the balance controls need some TLC as they've gone "scratchy"); however, I did check the PS rails and both were extremely close to +/- 25VDC. The AUTOMATIC function doesn't appear to work correctly. If I switch to AUTOMATIC, the meter starts to drift off of "balanced" so something may be wrong there. I haven't checked too much else on it. My 652A's EXPAND function does not work and I intend to investigate that soon. The A3 board is certainly in a convenient place to check that so maybe I can get that functional without too much trouble. Thanks, Barry - N4BUQ ----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve" <roadkill71@...> |
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Re: Anyone out there fix a partially working 334A I need desperately to get it up and running!
Not that it means anything but I do see a neon glow from the photo cells and it appears to be glowing bright. It looks as if someone has worked on this thing at some point because wire positions are written in pencil on the inside chassis. Also, I'm supposed to have 2 volts on one of the first two test points but it's not there. I do have an adjustable positive power supply but the negative is low and will not adjust in either direction. Man, I'm putting way too many irons in the fire at the moment, I also have an Hp 652A that needs some work. The 652 may be simple in it's engineering and circuitry but it's baffling the heck out of me. I had to replace 6 of the 3904's in the power supply to get it to work and the expand WAS working now the expand operation is dead again. I wonder if these two would make either good door stops or boat anchors? If good door stops that would at least make for a good conversation piece!
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Re: HP54603B Software Gremlins
Hi Andreas, There is two different Non-volatile/zero-power ram chips in the module. Both have their own internal backup battery. So the battery in one of them is probably bad. I would replace both, as the other one probably don't have much time left. From the manual: Saving Traces Hint "For traces 1 to 3, the trace is saved in the non-compressed state. For traces greater than 3, the trace is saved in 64 Kbytes of nonvolatile trace memory with data compression. After a compressed trace is saved, the available area (in percent) is displayed." In my 54657A, there is one Dallas DS1244Y-120 (32kbytes) and a ST M48Z128Y-120PM1 (128kbytes). see picture. So I would guess that its the ST part in yours that the battery is bad. BR, Askild On Thu, Apr 9, 2020 at 12:00 PM Andreas Zilker via <dg7rbn=[email protected]> wrote: Hi Matthew, |
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Re: HP54603B Software Gremlins
Hi Matthew,
the self test menue has an explicit function that tests RAM and it runs thru without error messages. The problems seem to occur in the nonvolatile memory of the HP54657A module. The clobbered screen display vaguely shows the original image tilted to one side. It looks more like a classical programmer's bug (wrong increments of an adress pointer while copying data). Regards????????????? Andreas |
Steve
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