Keyboard Shortcuts
ctrl + shift + ? :
Show all keyboard shortcuts
ctrl + g :
Navigate to a group
ctrl + shift + f :
Find
ctrl + / :
Quick actions
esc to dismiss
Likes
- HP-Agilent-Keysight-Equipment
- Messages
Search
Re: Suffering from RIFA anxiety!
On Sun, Sep 11, 2022 at 03:41 PM, Tom Lee wrote:
Linear vs. SMPS would not be expected to matter, in any case.Sure, as to whether the devices fail. I was speculating that the instruments with linear supplies would need less high frequency filtering on the mains.? (but I have a fairly small sample size of instrument types to judge that on) |
Re: Suffering from RIFA anxiety!
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýNearly all of my blown RIFA caps have been in instruments with purely linear supplies. Indeed, a fair fraction of them have been in linear supplies!Linear vs. SMPS would not be expected to matter, in any case. The problem is one of moisture ingress. The encapsulant shrinks and cracks over time, letting moisture in. At some point the capacitor breaks down and you get a multimedia spectacular. None of those processes is particularly sensitive to what circuitry lies downstream. --Cheers, Tom -- Prof. Thomas H. Lee Allen Ctr., Rm. 205 350 Jane Stanford Way Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305-4070 On 9/11/2022 15:34, vk2bea via
groups.io wrote:
On Sun, Sep 11, 2022 at 01:08 PM, Dave McGuire wrote: |
Re: E4406A firmware update failure
Following up...
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
I think it was a firewall issue, though it mysteriously went away after checking the settings without (consciously) changing anything. After that, the update completed successfully. The only problem is that I appear to have lost cal constants as a result of the earlier update failure -- at power up I get a "no synthesizer cal coefficients -- using defaults" message. I would like to ignore that, but there is a strong spur at about +300 kHz from the center frequency that wasn't there before. Still scratching my head what to do about that. John ---- On 9/11/22 14:08, Sven Schnelle wrote:
John Ackermann N8UR <jra@...> writes:On 9/11/22 13:42, Sven Schnelle wrote:Ah, ok. Yes, than it's very likely that the Updater program providesI would think that this bootloader is very similar to the PA-RISC HP-UXThanks, Sven! I was wondering about the autosearch, but since I had |
Re: Suffering from RIFA anxiety!
On Sun, Sep 11, 2022 at 01:08 PM, Dave McGuire wrote:
Are you perhaps conflating the Rifa capacitor problem with the bad electrolyte formula problem?Well no, since I asked the question in the first post. I may be off with the time frame though. No one seems to have answered that question yet. Presumably this is an issue with SMPS instruments. My 80's HP gear has (AFAIK) almost all linear supplies.? |
Re: Suffering from RIFA anxiety!
If you can't be pretty, may as well be lucky!
All I can say is in 4 decades of designing, using, and repairing electronic equipment, I haven't seen a Schaffner filter blow up. Tomorrow may be the day that I may see a dozen... The goodness of the whole idea of putting several safety caps, which are designed to blow without catching the instrument on fire, in a can full of tar eludes me. -Chuck Harris On Sun, 11 Sep 2022 12:40:50 -0400 "Dave McGuire" <mcguire@...> wrote: On 9/11/22 11:53, Chuck Harris wrote:Mostly the failure rate of RIFA paper dielectric safetyThat's nowhere near true in the field, unfortunately. I've |
Re: Suffering from RIFA anxiety!
On 9/11/22 15:57, vk2bea via groups.io wrote:
HP 3403CAre you perhaps conflating the Rifa capacitor problem with the bad electrolyte formula problem? Most of the Rifas I've seen blown up have been from the early 1980s. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA |
Re: Suffering from RIFA anxiety!
I have had a Schaffner filter (on a Phillips counter) fail, and have had a few instruments where they had cracked but not failed explosively.?
But I've had two problems with domestic equipment - a fan and a sewing machine. The manufacturers may wish consumers would change devices more often but the truth of it is that they'll be changed for fashion or failure? : they can't generally claim the equipment is obsolete and no longer useful, like they might with commercial equipment. |
Re: Suffering from RIFA anxiety!
My HP 3403C True RMS Voltmeter's cap went with a bang and a nasty smell some years ago - at 245 Vac we are right at the top end of the UK "nominal" 230 Vac line voltage in this part of West London UK though so not overly surprising.
At the moment it is bouncing up and down by several hundred mV and the frequency is also jiggering about too, which is not reassuring. |
Re: E4406A firmware update failure
John Ackermann N8UR <jra@...> writes:
On 9/11/22 13:42, Sven Schnelle wrote:Ah, ok. Yes, than it's very likely that the Updater program providesI would think that this bootloader is very similar to the PA-RISC HP-UXThanks, Sven! I was wondering about the autosearch, but since I had DHCP + TFTP. Have you check your Windows firewall settings/logs, maybe the packets get dropped? 'boot lan' should also be possible to explicitely trigger a boot from lan. |
Re: E4406A firmware update failure
On 9/11/22 13:42, Sven Schnelle wrote:
I would think that this bootloader is very similar to the PA-RISC HP-UXThanks, Sven! I was wondering about the autosearch, but since I had no idea what it did, was hesitant to mess with it. I'm not sure just what the procedure is, but the "manual" process with the HP E4406A firmware updater is to enter the MAC address in the program, then tell the E4406A to boot from LAN; from that I would gather that the updater program on the PC sets itself up as a TFTP server listening for the MAC of the VSA. I'll give the autosearch option a try when I get a chance to get back downstairs. Thanks! John |
Re: E4406A firmware update failure
"John Ackermann N8UR" <jra@...> writes:
I was attempting to update my E4406A from an earlier firmware versionI would think that this bootloader is very similar to the PA-RISC HP-UX machines. Lan paths are only listed if there's a DHCP server returning a ip + bootserver + bootfile, and the TFTP server is responding. So make sure that the network setup is properly working. Also enable the autosearch flag. I think you can also say 'search lan' which would query the network regardless of the autosearch flag setting. |
E4406A firmware update failure
(I also posted this to the eevblog test equipment group because there's been E4406A discussion there. I hope that doesn't result in too many of you seeing it twice.)
Hi -- I was attempting to update my E4406A from an earlier firmware version and the process failed. I think it was due to the firewall on the Windows XP virtual machine I was using. After the update, the system goes through the entire boot process and brings up the X windows background then stops with: Exec: load error: 8. Process killed. /users/arcturus/.xinitrc: 68 killed Hostname is VSA Firmware Exit, cycle power The OS seems to be OK because it gets as far as the arcturus login before exiting. I got my hands on an actual, physical WinXP machine and tried the manual update process per the instructions using a hub between the two devices. I can't complete that because the SEA command returns only: Path Number Device Path P0 FLASH So there is no LAN path to boot to. The "boot information" screen shows primary boot path as "255.0" and alternate boot path as "SESCSI .6.0". The IO information screen shows the LAN device is present. The machine address info shows what seems to be a valid MAC address, which is what I used for the manual update attempt. The memory command shows 4 64MB units, total 256MB. The Warnings screen shows no errors other than that fastboot is enabled. In the BOOT INFORMATION screen the top 3 options (Autoboot, Autosearch, Autostart) are all turned off. Could the "Autosearch" setting be related to finding a network boot host? Is there something I need to do to get the firmware updater and the E4406A to talk to each other? Or is it possible to get to a shell that would allow me to configure the network via ifconfig or /etc/network? I'm stumped; any help would be appreciated. Thanks, John |
Re: Suffering from RIFA anxiety!
On 9/11/22 11:53, Chuck Harris wrote:
Mostly the failure rate of RIFA paper dielectric safetyThat's nowhere near true in the field, unfortunately. I've replaced two 250VAC RIFA capacitors run on 120V in the past week alone. These blow up *all the time*. Storage in a humid environment dramatically accelerates the failure of RIFAs. Or so says my 40 years of experience as an engineer, with neverYou've been lucky. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA |
Re: HP 5342A Microwave Counter and 5344A Source Synchronizer for sale
This is a reminder that the rare HP 5344A Source Synchronizer is still available.
Selling cheap! US$100 + shipping. PayPal, check (must clear before shipping) or cash okay for local pickup in San Diego, CA or Los Angeles.? Contact me off list for local pickup. Details are here: Note, the HP 5342A is not for sale at this time. |
Re: Brand New Storage CRT for Hewlett Packard HP 141T Spectrum Analyzer
Reminder that the brand new CRT for the 141T is still available.
Double-boxed and ready to ship or pick up locally in San Diego, CA or Los Angeles. (contact me off list for local pickup) US$167.00 plus shipping. PayPal, check (must clear before shipping), or cash okay for local pickup. More details and pictures here: |
to navigate to use esc to dismiss