Re: Agilent 3458A Troubleshooting
You can get the clip from Artekmedia. The first step is always to
check all the low voltage power supply voltages. The calibration
on the 3458a just needs a precision 10 volt reference and an
accurate 10 k resistor. It is a wondeful instrument but repair and
cal Keysight is a bit painful. It is still in production.
Regards and good luck.
On 3/18/2022 10:30 PM, Labguy wrote:
I am trying to restore an HP3458A DVM and I need a little help.
I acquired this unit on ePay some time ago and I finally found
some time to check it out. The outside and inside are both neat
and clean. The build date is 1988, but someone has maintained over
the years, because it has the latest firmware ROMs fitted (Rev 9).
The Dallas NV RAMs are 2012, so they are nearing end of life. It
is fitted with Option 002? Improved DC reference stability 4
ppm/year(!). The Cal sticker says it was last calibrated in 2013.
A visual check of the PCBs revealed nothing obvious, so after
setting the mains switch to 230V I decided to power it up. I was
greeted with a sizzle and an acrid smell. I have been there before
with other old test gear - the Schaffner mains filter kacked
itself. So I ordered a new one and replaced it.
When I powered the unit on again, I was greeted with a short BEEP
and the first rectangular block of the green electroluminescent
display flashes ON and OFF. That's as far as it gets. I have
searched the Agilent manuals, all the info I could find on the
internet and watched some excellent Youtube clips on repairing and
calibrating 3458A's. I cannot find any troubleshooting reference
for a flashing single character block on the display.
I am thinking there may be something wrong with the firmware code
in one of the EPROMs that is causing it to hang while booting. I
have an EPROM reader/burner, but I am reluctant to go there until
I am sure I have to. I would be most grateful for any advice
anyone may care to offer.
Cheers,
George
|
|
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
|
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Re: Agilent 3458A Troubleshooting
On a quick note - just wanted to congratulate you for the score - assuming you didn't pay an arm and a leg for it (as they tend to go for, last I checked).? Good luck with the repair! I'm certain this group will help to reach a positive resolution. Radu.?
On Fri, Mar 18, 2022 at 7:32 PM Labguy < georgg@...> wrote: I am trying to restore an HP3458A DVM and I need a little help.
I acquired this unit on ePay some time ago and I finally found some time to check it out. The outside and inside are both neat and clean. The build date is 1988, but someone has maintained over the years, because it has the latest firmware ROMs fitted (Rev 9). The Dallas NV RAMs are 2012, so they are nearing end of life. It is fitted with Option 002? Improved DC reference stability 4 ppm/year(!). The Cal sticker says it was last calibrated in 2013.
A visual check of the PCBs revealed nothing obvious, so after setting the mains switch to 230V I decided to power it up. I was greeted with a sizzle and an acrid smell. I have been there before with other old test gear - the Schaffner mains filter kacked itself. So I ordered a new one and replaced it.
When I powered the unit on again, I was greeted with a short BEEP and the first rectangular block of the green electroluminescent display flashes ON and OFF. That's as far as it gets. I have searched the Agilent manuals, all the info I could find on the internet and watched some excellent Youtube clips on repairing and calibrating 3458A's. I cannot find any troubleshooting reference for a flashing single character block on the display.
I am thinking there may be something wrong with the firmware code in one of the EPROMs that is causing it to hang while booting. I have an EPROM reader/burner, but I am reluctant to go there until I am sure I have to. I would be most grateful for any advice anyone may care to offer.
Cheers,
George
|
Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
Definitely true for garden-variety FR-4 board material.? For serious microwave work, say >6GHz, you'd want a more stable material, like those made by Roger's, Isola, etc.
Jim Ford
Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
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-------- Original message -------- From: Dave McGuire <mcguire@...> Date: 3/18/22 7:22 PM (GMT-08:00) Subject: Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
On 3/18/22 22:19, Lothar baier wrote: > If you do edge coupled microstrip filters or directional couplers than the accuracy of the gaps is very important but another aspect that has to be considered is the roughness of the edges ?? Yes.? There's a great deal of activity in building replacement boards and modules for instruments like ours (trying to bring this further on-topic), so if the results there are adequate, this does open up some possibilities.? One thing that causes trouble with the more affordable board houses is that sometimes they change substrate compositions, so the published dielectric constant isn't always something you can count on. ??????????? -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
|
Agilent 3458A Troubleshooting
I am trying to restore an HP3458A DVM and I need a little help.
I acquired this unit on ePay some time ago and I finally found some time to check it out. The outside and inside are both neat and clean. The build date is 1988, but someone has maintained over the years, because it has the latest firmware ROMs fitted (Rev 9). The Dallas NV RAMs are 2012, so they are nearing end of life. It is fitted with Option 002? Improved DC reference stability 4 ppm/year(!). The Cal sticker says it was last calibrated in 2013.
A visual check of the PCBs revealed nothing obvious, so after setting the mains switch to 230V I decided to power it up. I was greeted with a sizzle and an acrid smell. I have been there before with other old test gear - the Schaffner mains filter kacked itself. So I ordered a new one and replaced it.
When I powered the unit on again, I was greeted with a short BEEP and the first rectangular block of the green electroluminescent display flashes ON and OFF. That's as far as it gets. I have searched the Agilent manuals, all the info I could find on the internet and watched some excellent Youtube clips on repairing and calibrating 3458A's. I cannot find any troubleshooting reference for a flashing single character block on the display.
I am thinking there may be something wrong with the firmware code in one of the EPROMs that is causing it to hang while booting. I have an EPROM reader/burner, but I am reluctant to go there until I am sure I have to. I would be most grateful for any advice anyone may care to offer.
Cheers,
George
|
Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
Laser toner wont work for microwave circuits for a variety of reasons¡..
The way i did my boards was to plot out a layout magnified 10:1 , then dad took the thing to work and used a repro camera to scale it and create a negative film , the film was put on a photo resist coated board , exposed and developed.
Once developed the bare copper showed where the traces would be , the board then went into a plating tank and was gold or silver plated , once the plating was done board was stripped and etched.
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On Mar 18, 2022, at 21:19, Lothar baier <Lothar@...> wrote:
?If you do edge coupled microstrip filters or directional couplers than the accuracy of the gaps is very important but another aspect that has to be considered is the roughness of the edges
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 18, 2022, at 21:04, Dave McGuire via groups.io <mcguire@...> wrote:
?On 3/18/22 21:57, Bryce Schroeder wrote:
Yes, it can hold 50 micron / 2 thou trace separation. I am in the
(slow) process of preparing a complete tutorial and open-source tool
chain. (It works, but actually using it at this point is quite an
undertaking for software reasons. I only just last year reverse
engineered the proprietary protocol used by the engraver:
) The calibration process is also
somewhat involved, but it's important (I imagine especially if you are
doing microwave filters and other things where the dimensions are
highly critical to be accurate not just precise.) Nice! I'll look forward to your tutorial.
The engraver I'm using is an inexpensive (relatively) Chinese one.
They don't really have a brand name, but the control board is Beijing
Golden Orange (Bejing JCZ) and the laser source is usually JPT or
Raycus. A 20W one will work fine though 30 or 50 W should be faster.
They cost $2-3 grand, though, so this may be cost prohibitive if you
don't do a lot of PCBs. I design probably twenty PCBs per year, so in-house prototypes would be a big deal here. I just try to interleave my tasks so OshPark's two-week delay doesn't impact me too much, but every now and then clients demand faster service. $2-3K would be difficult right now, since production runs have basically stopped due to component availability issues, but hopefully that will clear up before too long.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
|
Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
Sure, Dave, I'll send you an email off list to request the address. Thanks!
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On Fri, 18 Mar 2022 at 22:20, Dave McGuire <mcguire@...> wrote:
On 3/18/22 22:14, Lothar baier wrote:
Would be interesting to look at the edges of the traces under a Microscope or SEM and compare against etched boards I have an SEM in my lab. Bryce, if you can send me over a small
sample, I'd be glad to do some imaging.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
|
Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
I've looked at the laser'd traces from above a lot, tested their
isolation with a megger, etc and found them all satisfactory, but I
don't know how the roughness is side-on. It would be interesting to
investigate. The laser is fundamentally a pulsed device, but the pulse
rate is in the 10s of kHz (up to maybe a MHz depending on the
particular kind of laser) and cutting through even ordinary half oz
copper is a lot of individual passes. Definitely something to
investigate.
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On Fri, 18 Mar 2022 at 22:19, Lothar baier <Lothar@...> wrote:
If you do edge coupled microstrip filters or directional couplers than the accuracy of the gaps is very important but another aspect that has to be considered is the roughness of the edges
On Mar 18, 2022, at 21:04, Dave McGuire via groups.io <mcguire@...> wrote:
?On 3/18/22 21:57, Bryce Schroeder wrote:
Yes, it can hold 50 micron / 2 thou trace separation. I am in the
(slow) process of preparing a complete tutorial and open-source tool
chain. (It works, but actually using it at this point is quite an
undertaking for software reasons. I only just last year reverse
engineered the proprietary protocol used by the engraver:
) The calibration process is also
somewhat involved, but it's important (I imagine especially if you are
doing microwave filters and other things where the dimensions are
highly critical to be accurate not just precise.) Nice! I'll look forward to your tutorial.
The engraver I'm using is an inexpensive (relatively) Chinese one.
They don't really have a brand name, but the control board is Beijing
Golden Orange (Bejing JCZ) and the laser source is usually JPT or
Raycus. A 20W one will work fine though 30 or 50 W should be faster.
They cost $2-3 grand, though, so this may be cost prohibitive if you
don't do a lot of PCBs. I design probably twenty PCBs per year, so in-house prototypes would be a big deal here. I just try to interleave my tasks so OshPark's two-week delay doesn't impact me too much, but every now and then clients demand faster service. $2-3K would be difficult right now, since production runs have basically stopped due to component availability issues, but hopefully that will clear up before too long.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
|
Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
On 3/18/22 22:19, Lothar baier wrote: If you do edge coupled microstrip filters or directional couplers than the accuracy of the gaps is very important but another aspect that has to be considered is the roughness of the edges Yes. There's a great deal of activity in building replacement boards and modules for instruments like ours (trying to bring this further on-topic), so if the results there are adequate, this does open up some possibilities. One thing that causes trouble with the more affordable board houses is that sometimes they change substrate compositions, so the published dielectric constant isn't always something you can count on. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
|
Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
On 3/18/22 22:14, Lothar baier wrote: Would be interesting to look at the edges of the traces under a Microscope or SEM and compare against etched boards I have an SEM in my lab. Bryce, if you can send me over a small sample, I'd be glad to do some imaging. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
|
Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
If you do edge coupled microstrip filters or directional couplers than the accuracy of the gaps is very important but another aspect that has to be considered is the roughness of the edges
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Mar 18, 2022, at 21:04, Dave McGuire via groups.io <mcguire@...> wrote:
?On 3/18/22 21:57, Bryce Schroeder wrote:
Yes, it can hold 50 micron / 2 thou trace separation. I am in the
(slow) process of preparing a complete tutorial and open-source tool
chain. (It works, but actually using it at this point is quite an
undertaking for software reasons. I only just last year reverse
engineered the proprietary protocol used by the engraver:
) The calibration process is also
somewhat involved, but it's important (I imagine especially if you are
doing microwave filters and other things where the dimensions are
highly critical to be accurate not just precise.) Nice! I'll look forward to your tutorial.
The engraver I'm using is an inexpensive (relatively) Chinese one.
They don't really have a brand name, but the control board is Beijing
Golden Orange (Bejing JCZ) and the laser source is usually JPT or
Raycus. A 20W one will work fine though 30 or 50 W should be faster.
They cost $2-3 grand, though, so this may be cost prohibitive if you
don't do a lot of PCBs. I design probably twenty PCBs per year, so in-house prototypes would be a big deal here. I just try to interleave my tasks so OshPark's two-week delay doesn't impact me too much, but every now and then clients demand faster service. $2-3K would be difficult right now, since production runs have basically stopped due to component availability issues, but hopefully that will clear up before too long.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
|
Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
Would be interesting to look at the edges of the traces under a Microscope or SEM and compare against etched boards
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Mar 18, 2022, at 21:01, Lothar baier <Lothar@...> wrote:
?There are different reasons for this , first of I use AWR MWO to design and simulate circuits so in order for the simulations to match or come close to the actual build you need to have defined tolerances and you have to be able to do the through holes in a consistent manner , even if I were to set up at home I would not be able to do this effectively defeating the purpose of using simulation tools .
The second and probably most important reasoning though is that I have a 5 year old granddaughter who has been my shadow since she arrived in this world spends a lot of time at our house and takes a keen interest in anything opa does a curiosity I intent to foster and encourage so having any nasty chemicals around the lab or fumes is not a good idea
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Dave McGuire via groups.io
Sent: Friday, March 18, 2022 8:54 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
Just yankin' your chain.. ;) I've done ferric chloride etching too, way back when, and got yelled at by my grandmother about holes in my jeans. Now I send my Gerbers off to OshPark for prototypes, and get production boards made by the big board houses. There are plenty of nasty chemicals in my mostly-electronics lab, but no PCB etchants.
-Dave
On 3/18/22 21:51, Lothar baier wrote:
I still design circuits , I build them and I test them so I am still
doing about 80% of the work
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
<[email protected]> On Behalf Of Dave McGuire
via groups.io
Sent: Friday, March 18, 2022 8:41 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
On 3/18/22 21:04, Lothar baier wrote:
I stopped doing it years ago mainly because the materials I mostly
use ( Rogers 4350,6010) are not available with photo resist coating
and if you send them out for coating than the lot charge is quite
high ,also the process for plating through at home is not easy to do
and requires quite nasty chemicals so I resort nowadays to just have
the boards made by a board shop Hey wait, weren't you the guy who was just complaining that nobody
does anything anymore? ;)
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
|
Re: HP83595A/B (HP 8350) ROM firmware required
If you don't need version 7 specifically, version 9 for 83595 is available from the KO4BB archive:
-Dave
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On 3/18/22 22:02, Yves Tardif wrote: Hi, I have 8350B ver7 with 83595A with version 3, have you found firmware V7 for plugin 83595A ?
Is there a version 7 for this plugin?
*De?:*[email protected] <[email protected]> *De la part de* Yue
*·¡²Ô±¹´Ç²â¨¦?:* 8 novembre 2021 22:22
*??:* [email protected]
*Objet?:* [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] HP83595A/B (HP 8350) ROM firmware required
Hello!
Any one has an 83595 plugin (HP 8350) with firmware rev.7 ? I need the U1 U2 ROM contents to make it work with 8510B. At this moment I only found the rev. 4 on KO4BB, and seems only the rev.7 work with 8510B.
If you got an 83595 with firmware rev.7 please upload the ROM content to KO4BB, and/or let me know.
Thanks lot !
p.s? to check the plugin firmware revision:? switch 8510B on [ shift ] [ 99 ]. Look the number shows on the plugin display.
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
|
Re: HP83595A/B (HP 8350) ROM firmware required
Just out of curiosity why dont you upgrade your 8510B to a C ?
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On Mar 18, 2022, at 21:02, Yves Tardif via groups.io <yves_tardif@...> wrote:
?
Hi, I have 8350B ver7 with 83595A with version 3, have you found firmware V7 for plugin 83595A ?
Is there a version 7 for this plugin?
?
?
Hello!
Any one has an 83595 plugin (HP 8350) with firmware rev.7 ? I need the U1 U2 ROM contents to make it work with 8510B. At this moment I only found the rev. 4 on KO4BB, and seems only the rev.7 work with 8510B.?
If you got an 83595 with firmware rev.7 please upload the ROM content to KO4BB, and/or let me know.?
Thanks lot !
p.s? to check the plugin firmware revision:? switch 8510B on [ shift ] [ 99 ]. Look the number shows on the plugin display.
|
Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
Actually, I don¡¯t use photo resist. I am using the laser toner method of making PCB's still need an etchant but all you need is bare copper, a laser printer (NOT A BROTHER) and a laminator. When I am out of ferric I am thinking about switching to cupric chloride as in theory I should not have much of a waste product.
Zen
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-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] < [email protected]> On Behalf Of Lothar baier Sent: Friday, March 18, 2022 10:01 PM To: [email protected]Subject: Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns! There are different reasons for this , first of I use AWR MWO to design and simulate circuits so in order for the simulations to match or come close to the actual build you need to have defined tolerances and you have to be able to do the through holes in a consistent manner , even if I were to set up at home I would not be able to do this effectively defeating the purpose of using simulation tools . The second and probably most important reasoning though is that I have a 5 year old granddaughter who has been my shadow since she arrived in this world spends a lot of time at our house and takes a keen interest in anything opa does a curiosity I intent to foster and encourage so having any nasty chemicals around the lab or fumes is not a good idea -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] < [email protected]> On Behalf Of Dave McGuire via groups.io Sent: Friday, March 18, 2022 8:54 PM To: [email protected]Subject: Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns! Just yankin' your chain.. ;) I've done ferric chloride etching too, way back when, and got yelled at by my grandmother about holes in my jeans. Now I send my Gerbers off to OshPark for prototypes, and get production boards made by the big board houses. There are plenty of nasty chemicals in my mostly-electronics lab, but no PCB etchants. -Dave On 3/18/22 21:51, Lothar baier wrote: I still design circuits , I build them and I test them so I am still
doing about 80% of the work
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
<[email protected]> On Behalf Of Dave McGuire
via groups.io
Sent: Friday, March 18, 2022 8:41 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
On 3/18/22 21:04, Lothar baier wrote:
I stopped doing it years ago mainly because the materials I mostly
use ( Rogers 4350,6010) are not available with photo resist coating
and if you send them out for coating than the lot charge is quite
high ,also the process for plating through at home is not easy to do
and requires quite nasty chemicals so I resort nowadays to just have
the boards made by a board shop Hey wait, weren't you the guy who was just complaining that nobody
does anything anymore? ;)
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
|
Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
On 3/18/22 21:57, Bryce Schroeder wrote: Yes, it can hold 50 micron / 2 thou trace separation. I am in the
(slow) process of preparing a complete tutorial and open-source tool
chain. (It works, but actually using it at this point is quite an
undertaking for software reasons. I only just last year reverse
engineered the proprietary protocol used by the engraver:
) The calibration process is also
somewhat involved, but it's important (I imagine especially if you are
doing microwave filters and other things where the dimensions are
highly critical to be accurate not just precise.) Nice! I'll look forward to your tutorial. The engraver I'm using is an inexpensive (relatively) Chinese one.
They don't really have a brand name, but the control board is Beijing
Golden Orange (Bejing JCZ) and the laser source is usually JPT or
Raycus. A 20W one will work fine though 30 or 50 W should be faster.
They cost $2-3 grand, though, so this may be cost prohibitive if you
don't do a lot of PCBs. I design probably twenty PCBs per year, so in-house prototypes would be a big deal here. I just try to interleave my tasks so OshPark's two-week delay doesn't impact me too much, but every now and then clients demand faster service. $2-3K would be difficult right now, since production runs have basically stopped due to component availability issues, but hopefully that will clear up before too long. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
|
Re: HP83595A/B (HP 8350) ROM firmware required
Hi, I have 8350B ver7 with 83595A with version 3, have you found firmware V7 for plugin 83595A ? Is there a version 7 for this plugin? ? ? Hello!
Any one has an 83595 plugin (HP 8350) with firmware rev.7 ? I need the U1 U2 ROM contents to make it work with 8510B. At this moment I only found the rev. 4 on KO4BB, and seems only the rev.7 work with 8510B.?
If you got an 83595 with firmware rev.7 please upload the ROM content to KO4BB, and/or let me know.?
Thanks lot !
p.s? to check the plugin firmware revision:? switch 8510B on [ shift ] [ 99 ]. Look the number shows on the plugin display.
|
Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
There are different reasons for this , first of I use AWR MWO to design and simulate circuits so in order for the simulations to match or come close to the actual build you need to have defined tolerances and you have to be able to do the through holes in a consistent manner , even if I were to set up at home I would not be able to do this effectively defeating the purpose of using simulation tools .
The second and probably most important reasoning though is that I have a 5 year old granddaughter who has been my shadow since she arrived in this world spends a lot of time at our house and takes a keen interest in anything opa does a curiosity I intent to foster and encourage so having any nasty chemicals around the lab or fumes is not a good idea
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] < [email protected]> On Behalf Of Dave McGuire via groups.io Sent: Friday, March 18, 2022 8:54 PM To: [email protected]Subject: Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns! Just yankin' your chain.. ;) I've done ferric chloride etching too, way back when, and got yelled at by my grandmother about holes in my jeans. Now I send my Gerbers off to OshPark for prototypes, and get production boards made by the big board houses. There are plenty of nasty chemicals in my mostly-electronics lab, but no PCB etchants. -Dave On 3/18/22 21:51, Lothar baier wrote: I still design circuits , I build them and I test them so I am still
doing about 80% of the work
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
<[email protected]> On Behalf Of Dave McGuire
via groups.io
Sent: Friday, March 18, 2022 8:41 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
On 3/18/22 21:04, Lothar baier wrote:
I stopped doing it years ago mainly because the materials I mostly
use ( Rogers 4350,6010) are not available with photo resist coating
and if you send them out for coating than the lot charge is quite
high ,also the process for plating through at home is not easy to do
and requires quite nasty chemicals so I resort nowadays to just have
the boards made by a board shop Hey wait, weren't you the guy who was just complaining that nobody
does anything anymore? ;)
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
|
Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
Yes, it can hold 50 micron / 2 thou trace separation. I am in the
(slow) process of preparing a complete tutorial and open-source tool
chain. (It works, but actually using it at this point is quite an
undertaking for software reasons. I only just last year reverse
engineered the proprietary protocol used by the engraver:
) The calibration process is also
somewhat involved, but it's important (I imagine especially if you are
doing microwave filters and other things where the dimensions are
highly critical to be accurate not just precise.)
The engraver I'm using is an inexpensive (relatively) Chinese one.
They don't really have a brand name, but the control board is Beijing
Golden Orange (Bejing JCZ) and the laser source is usually JPT or
Raycus. A 20W one will work fine though 30 or 50 W should be faster.
They cost $2-3 grand, though, so this may be cost prohibitive if you
don't do a lot of PCBs.
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Fri, 18 Mar 2022 at 21:42, Dave McGuire <mcguire@...> wrote:
On 3/18/22 20:59, Bryce Schroeder wrote:
I've started "etching" PCBs with a fiber laser engraver. The bog
standard 1064 nm ones can do it, which somewhat surprised me. Glad to
not have to coat PCBs in photosensitive goo anymore since the laser
can remove copper and solder mask selectively. (Well, I still need goo
for silk screen, but that is much less critical.) Sounds interesting for prototyping. Most of my designs make use of
TQFP and LQFP packages with 0.5mm pin pitch; can the process and
equipment you're using handle those? Which engraver are you using?
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
|
Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
Just yankin' your chain.. ;) I've done ferric chloride etching too, way back when, and got yelled at by my grandmother about holes in my jeans. Now I send my Gerbers off to OshPark for prototypes, and get production boards made by the big board houses. There are plenty of nasty chemicals in my mostly-electronics lab, but no PCB etchants.
-Dave
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On 3/18/22 21:51, Lothar baier wrote: I still design circuits , I build them and I test them so I am still doing about 80% of the work
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Dave McGuire via groups.io
Sent: Friday, March 18, 2022 8:41 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
On 3/18/22 21:04, Lothar baier wrote:
I stopped doing it years ago mainly because the materials I mostly use
( Rogers 4350,6010) are not available with photo resist coating and
if you send them out for coating than the lot charge is quite high
,also the process for plating through at home is not easy to do and
requires quite nasty chemicals so I resort nowadays to just have the
boards made by a board shop Hey wait, weren't you the guy who was just complaining that nobody does anything anymore? ;)
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
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Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns!
I still design circuits , I build them and I test them so I am still doing about 80% of the work
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-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] < [email protected]> On Behalf Of Dave McGuire via groups.io Sent: Friday, March 18, 2022 8:41 PM To: [email protected]Subject: Re: BS, was Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Spread the word -- Swap Meet Returns! On 3/18/22 21:04, Lothar baier wrote: I stopped doing it years ago mainly because the materials I mostly use
( Rogers 4350,6010) are not available with photo resist coating and
if you send them out for coating than the lot charge is quite high
,also the process for plating through at home is not easy to do and
requires quite nasty chemicals so I resort nowadays to just have the
boards made by a board shop Hey wait, weren't you the guy who was just complaining that nobody does anything anymore? ;) -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
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Dave McGuire