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Re: General opinion on 180 series scopes?

 

Mike was correct of being on guard with the
capacitors. Heat is the biggest killer of electronic
components.
While it's true that electrolytics and heat don't mix all too well, I'd stay
away from such broad "heat is the killer" statements. Reading some Bob Pease
and trying things out convinced me that in most cases making things run cool
often does zilch for performance. In the end you have to measure worse
performance to claim that heat is the enemy. There are some well known things
such as leakage currents that scale bad with temperature, but those are
either designed-in or other precautions are taken. While I admit that
excessive operating temperature in power supplies is typically a sign of a
novice or misunderstanding designer, this doesn't equally carry on to other
parts of the circuitry. Disclaimer: Modern high integration CPUs are a
different story and I won't go into that.

Cheers, Kuba


Re: General opinion on 180 series scopes?

 

I have had two 180A scopes in regular use for many years including a
range of plug ins
and have not had a single breakdown in all that time.
One is populated with an 1803A (bought new in the 70's for BIG bucks) and
the other scope with the
GP vert amp 1801A
I also have the service extenders which Ive never used yet, but now that
Ive posted
this I will probably have to use them soon!
The only hassle Ive had is with the 4 channel plug in I used to use on a 184
The sync take off is after the vertical

Very reliable scopes


Re: 180A Question

 

Hi Bruce
Cant find mention of a H03 Option for 180A in my 77 thro 82 HP catalogues
(incomplete)
Nearest I can find is Option 003 (no probes) and H49 (remote programming)
for a 181
Where did you see option H03 quoted?
Rgds John

-----Original Message-----
From: hp_agilent_equipment@...
[mailto:hp_agilent_equipment@...]On Behalf Of BSugarberg
Sent: Monday, 22 January 2007 7:30 AM
To: hp_agilent_equipment@...
Subject: [hp_agilent_equipment] 180A Question


Hello,

What is Option HO3 on a 180A scope?

Thank you,

Bruce WA8TNC


Re: General opinion on 180 series scopes, now exchanging electrolitics?

Geoff Blake
 

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007, Harke Smits wrote:

Hi Geoff,

Do you really suggest to exchange ALL electrolitic
caps? Indeed many faults can be cured by changing
caps, according to my own experience (I own a lot of
affordable so old hp equipment). But what about the
glass-sealed silver-colored cilindrical tant's I've
always considered extremely reliable? Please advise.
I'm currently trying to repair a HP86222b unit that
produces a strange sweeping spurious 40 dB down around
the otherwise clean centre signal.
Hmm, IIRC the 86222B is a hetrodyne 10MHz to 2.4GHz(ish) sweeper
which uses fixed and sweeping oscillators. If your sweeping
spurious is that far down I wonder if it is a 2F1-2F2 type signal,
which really cannot be avoided. The spec. for non-harmonic spurii
is => -25dBc or -30dBc depending on the frequency, so you may not
have a fault.

However, to answer your question, I would not expect electrolytic
capacitor problems would cause a fault as you describe at uwave
frequencies.

Also IMO the type of capacitor you describe have been the most
reliable, but I have had them go s/c and o/c in the past.

73 de Geoff
--
Geoff Blake G8GNZ located near Chelmsford, Essex, U.K.
Please reply to: geoff (at) palaemon (dot) co (dot) uk
Using Linux on Intel & Linux or NetBSD on Sun Sparc platforms

Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
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Re: General opinion on 180 series scopes?

Paul Jacobson
 

(I could not find specs.
right away on the HP10008A).
I think I might have had A's on the brain - they are infact HP10008B's which according to the result of a search on the Agilent site are a 1:1 voltage passive probe with 1.8M leads.

Thanks all for the incredibly informative responses to my query...The response was much more than I hoped for and I feel like I'm going into this purchase far better prepared that I would have otherwise.

cheers
Paul


HP 8552B Question

Robert Hagenbach
 

Hi,

I have a HP 8552B that the full number is 8552B-H23.
What does the H23 mean?

Bob Hagenbach
Largo, Fl


Re: General opinion on 180 series scopes, now exchanging electrolitics?

 

--- Geoff Blake <geoff@...> wrote:

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007, Thomas Hejl wrote:

[much snipped]
Hi Geoff,

Do you really suggest to exchange ALL electrolitic
caps? Indeed many faults can be cured by changing
caps, according to my own experience (I own a lot of
affordable so old hp equipment). But what about the
glass-sealed silver-colored cilindrical tant's I've
always considered extremely reliable? Please advise.
I'm currently trying to repair a HP86222b unit that
produces a strange sweeping spurious 40 dB down around
the otherwise clean centre signal.

Best 73 de Harke, PA0HRK


Geoff Blake G8GNZ located near
Chelmsford, Essex, U.K.
Please reply to: geoff (at) palaemon
(dot) co (dot) uk
Using Linux on Intel & Linux or NetBSD on Sun
Sparc platforms

Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint
attachments.
See
<>
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HP 1661C, Comments

Tomas Larsson
 

Thinking of getting a HP 1661C Logic Analyzer.
Any comments on this one.
Going to use it while developing micro-controller cirquits

With best regards

Tomas Larsson
Sweden



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Re: General opinion on 180 series scopes?

Geoff Blake
 

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007, arthurok wrote:

dipped epoxy tants normally are good or measure close to a dead short
i use an esr meter + multimeter to check caps
"i also have a sprague to6 2 megohmeters and capacitance meters + bridges
leakage can be checked in circuit normally.
What I am suggesting Arthur is block replacing electrolytic
capacitors whilst the instrument is apart, is a good investment.
The cost of the capacitors is usually quite small compared with
fault finding time, and improves the reliability of the instrument
markedly. It often clears often difficult to diagnose 'marginal
faults.

Geoff
--
Geoff Blake G8GNZ located near Chelmsford, Essex, U.K.
Please reply to: geoff (at) palaemon (dot) co (dot) uk
Using Linux on Intel & Linux or NetBSD on Sun Sparc platforms

Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
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Re: General opinion on 180 series scopes?

 

dipped epoxy tants normally are good or measure close to a dead short
i use an esr meter + multimeter to check caps
"i also have a sprague to6 2 megohmeters and capacitance meters + bridges
leakage can be checked in circuit normally

----- Original Message -----
From: Geoff Blake
To: hp_agilent_equipment@...
Sent: Monday, January 22, 2007 3:01 AM
Subject: Re: [hp_agilent_equipment] General opinion on 180 series scopes?


On Mon, 22 Jan 2007, Thomas Hejl wrote:

[much snipped]

> So changing capacitors (in the power supply at least)
> is a wise thing to do. Whether they are tantalum's or
> electrolytic's it might save aggravation in the
> future. As for changing ALL the tants I counted about
> 20 per plug-in on the ones I have in my shop. It is
> going to be a task, so weigh your time, effort and
> cost vs. probability of their failure.

I have worked in the repair/calibration business most my working
life, I now own the business....

As to replacing electrolytics, be they aluminium or tantilum, I
have a well supported view. For example:

We had a batch of instruments come in for refurbishment, about 20
years old, but with no modern equivilent. Most failed calibration
by being out of the adjustment range. A few had faults.

On investigation of the faulty units, some faults were traced to
s/c tantilums. I decided that we would replace ALL the
electrolytic capacitors, about 300 in each unit. It is not a too
difficult a task, all plug-in boards except the power supply which
was easy to remove anyway.

Replacing the capacitors cured most of the faults (there are still
two to find!), and brought all of those failing calibration back
within adjustment range.

This is only one of many examples I could quote. I would not like
to suggest that one capacitor manufacturer is better or worse than
another, nor is there one instrument manufacturer better/worse
than another, but what I would suggest is, whilst you have a
twenty year old instrument apart, and thus have the opportunity,
consider replacing ALL electrolytic capacitors.

Another good tip, which all the 'old hands' here will know, is if
you are experiencing a fault which has no obvious cause, and
affects more than one area or function, thoroughly check the power
supplies......

Geoff

--
Geoff Blake G8GNZ located near Chelmsford, Essex, U.K.
Please reply to: geoff (at) palaemon (dot) co (dot) uk
Using Linux on Intel & Linux or NetBSD on Sun Sparc platforms

Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
See <>
----------------------------------------------------------

This E-mail and any attachment(s) are strictly confidential
and is intended solely for the addressee(s). If you are not the
intended recipient please notify <postmaster(at)palaemon.co.uk>
and the sender by return and permanently delete the message.

You may not disclose, forward or copy this E-mail or any of its
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Re: General opinion on 180 series scopes?

 

a 465 non b version is a good choice
im into mostly tek scopes
the early 2213 and 2215 scopes wernt that good
the triggering on the 180 type scopes is alot better then 465/475 triggering
alot of the older 180 scopes have weak crts.
the 465 is a 100 mhz scope and was built in huge numbers
stay away from the 465m modular / military scopes.
the 180/182 is a plug in scope like 7000 series
hp never made scopes in the quantities that tek did

----- Original Message -----
From: Thomas Hejl
To: hp_agilent_equipment@...
Sent: Monday, January 22, 2007 2:21 AM
Subject: Re: [hp_agilent_equipment] General opinion on 180 series scopes?


Paul,

According to list and description of the 180 series
scope that you gave, the 180C would appear to be the
best buy. Most probes are of the passive type (they do
not need an external additional power source to
operate). The X10 or 10X probes that I mentioned
should be passive as well. Check with the seller on
the specifications of them (I could not find specs.
right away on the HP10008A).
If you are on a budget (as most of us are), then there
are still other scopes that may perform as well and
are less expensive. A few in mind are the Tektronix
2213 and the 2215 at 60MHz and the 465 at 50MHz. These
are rather inexpensive, non-modular and are newer
machines than the 180's (which were made around 1987).
If the only choices you have are the 180's then stay
with the 180C (The 184 might be overkill).
Mike was correct of being on guard with the
capacitors. Heat is the biggest killer of electronic
components. More heat is generated from the units
power supply then probably anywhere else. It is these
capacitors that need the most attention.
Tantalum caps are both inexpensive and stable. That is
why manufacturers use them so often. When a circuit
requires stabilization in performance, tants are caps
of choice. Their biggest draw back is when they fail.
(In particular the dipped ones.) There will be no
warning. Some will simply short out internally and
work one day but not the next. Others will go like a
fire cracker sending carbon smoke throughout the unit
with the sound of a pop.
Electrolytic caps will give some warning sometimes.
They may start to bulge out. Performance gets weaker
due to poor ESR. See samples here at:


(If you ever do decide to replace any cap., make sure
it is made from a reliable manufacturer. Dell Computer
had a problem with caps a few years back due to the
purchase of bad caps from a poor source.)
So changing capacitors (in the power supply at least)
is a wise thing to do. Whether they are tantalum's or
electrolytic's it might save aggravation in the
future. As for changing ALL the tants I counted about
20 per plug-in on the ones I have in my shop. It is
going to be a task, so weigh your time, effort and
cost vs. probability of their failure. As far as
plug-ins go, I have not had one fail yet. The power
supply I would not take any chances on, replace them
at least.

Keep in Touch,
Tom

--- Paul Jacobson <pj@...> wrote:

> Tom,
>
> thanks so much for such an informative response.
> in regards to the digital what i *think* i need is
> to be able to view
> two clock pulses simultaneously to ensure their
> timing alignment with
> each other is correct. so if I understand right the
> 180's with 50mhz
> vert/horizontal plugins would be sufficient.
>
> what is available is:
> 180A with 1801A, 1821A (approx $280AU)
> 180C with 1801A, 1821A (approx $320AU)
> 184C with 1805A, 1825A (approx $480AU)
> all of these units come with 10008A passive voltage
> probes, so I
> think i'd need to factor in buying x10 probes?
>
> The 184C is pushing the boundaries $ wise. The 180C
> looks be in the
> better condition cosmetically of the 180's as the
> plugins on the 180A
> don't appear to align quite right in the mainframe.
>
> Checking the 180C service manual d/l'd from BAMA, it
> appears to be
> all discrete componentry, which is a bit reassuring
> if something does
> break.
>
> I've been advised to replace all the tantalum caps
> on units of this
> age. Is that reasonable advice?
>
>
> cheers
> Paul
>

__________________________________________________________
8:00? 8:25? 8:40? Find a flick in no time
with the Yahoo! Search movie showtime shortcut.


Re: General opinion on 180 series scopes?

Geoff Blake
 

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007, Thomas Hejl wrote:

[much snipped]

So changing capacitors (in the power supply at least)
is a wise thing to do. Whether they are tantalum's or
electrolytic's it might save aggravation in the
future. As for changing ALL the tants I counted about
20 per plug-in on the ones I have in my shop. It is
going to be a task, so weigh your time, effort and
cost vs. probability of their failure.
I have worked in the repair/calibration business most my working
life, I now own the business....

As to replacing electrolytics, be they aluminium or tantilum, I
have a well supported view. For example:

We had a batch of instruments come in for refurbishment, about 20
years old, but with no modern equivilent. Most failed calibration
by being out of the adjustment range. A few had faults.

On investigation of the faulty units, some faults were traced to
s/c tantilums. I decided that we would replace ALL the
electrolytic capacitors, about 300 in each unit. It is not a too
difficult a task, all plug-in boards except the power supply which
was easy to remove anyway.

Replacing the capacitors cured most of the faults (there are still
two to find!), and brought all of those failing calibration back
within adjustment range.

This is only one of many examples I could quote. I would not like
to suggest that one capacitor manufacturer is better or worse than
another, nor is there one instrument manufacturer better/worse
than another, but what I would suggest is, whilst you have a
twenty year old instrument apart, and thus have the opportunity,
consider replacing ALL electrolytic capacitors.

Another good tip, which all the 'old hands' here will know, is if
you are experiencing a fault which has no obvious cause, and
affects more than one area or function, thoroughly check the power
supplies......

Geoff

--
Geoff Blake G8GNZ located near Chelmsford, Essex, U.K.
Please reply to: geoff (at) palaemon (dot) co (dot) uk
Using Linux on Intel & Linux or NetBSD on Sun Sparc platforms

Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
See <>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This E-mail and any attachment(s) are strictly confidential
and is intended solely for the addressee(s). If you are not the
intended recipient please notify <postmaster(at)palaemon.co.uk>
and the sender by return and permanently delete the message.

You may not disclose, forward or copy this E-mail or any of its
attachments to any third party without the prior consent of the
sender.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Re: HP 1631D Acq Error

 

Ive got a pair of 1631D units
ie 2channel cro with 43 channel logic analyser and heaps of pods.
One has an analog offset error on both channels, if you select
an offset of more than +12 then a 5v signal goes off screen
on the 25v range, or something like that, has been a while...

If you get your errors with all pods unplugged then might be
ack board inside unit, otherwise overvolt damage to pod
interface ie digital inputs seems common, though they should handle
up to 18v I understand at least. Heard of an acquaintance that
fried a trigger input on one pod, was quite easy to fix, dont recall
details as it was some 15 years ago, cheers

mike


At 01:56 PM 22/01/07, you wrote:

Hello,

I have a 1631D with the following error on selftest:

Acquisition Error: 0F 07 FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00
Which - according to the service manual means:
- Incorrect Acq data
- Meas complete true when should be false
- Meas complete IRQ true when should false
- Words remaining.

If I pull the master state all together - Acq error shows
0F 87 same
Which alsmost sounds like the board is not responding...

I checked all connectors, and the LA did pass in the past. I don't
know when it stopped passing this test.
Any troubleshooting ideas? I don't have access to a HP 5005B signature
analyzer, neither another 163x LA to do a board swap. And I guess the
1630/31 Analyzer support package is no longer available :-(
I do have another LA - a 1652B - so I can start plugging along that way...

Maurice

Regards

Mike

* GMC/VK/VL Commodore & Calais FuseRail that wont warp or melt !
* High grade VL/Skyline milspec ignition driver electronics now in development
* Twin tyres for most sedans, trikes and motorcycle sidecars


Re: HP 1631D Acq Error

 

Maurice,

When the 1631D goes through its self-test, does it
include the pods as well? Does the service require a
HP 5005B or can a HP 5004 do as well?
Using the 1652B to trouble shoot the 1631D might be
your best way for now unless you can have a friend
with a HP500x. I say "for now" until I can my 1631D
out of storage and take a quick look at it.

Tom

--- MauriceS_65 <maurice002@...> wrote:

Hello,

I have a 1631D with the following error on selftest:

Acquisition Error: 0F 07 FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00
Which - according to the service manual means:
- Incorrect Acq data
- Meas complete true when should be false
- Meas complete IRQ true when should false
- Words remaining.

If I pull the master state all together - Acq error
shows
0F 87 same
Which alsmost sounds like the board is not
responding...

I checked all connectors, and the LA did pass in the
past. I don't
know when it stopped passing this test.
Any troubleshooting ideas? I don't have access to a
HP 5005B signature
analyzer, neither another 163x LA to do a board
swap. And I guess the
1630/31 Analyzer support package is no longer
available :-(
I do have another LA - a 1652B - so I can start
plugging along that way...

Maurice




____________________________________________________________________________________
Looking for earth-friendly autos?
Browse Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos' Green Center.


Re: General opinion on 180 series scopes?

 

Paul,

According to list and description of the 180 series
scope that you gave, the 180C would appear to be the
best buy. Most probes are of the passive type (they do
not need an external additional power source to
operate). The X10 or 10X probes that I mentioned
should be passive as well. Check with the seller on
the specifications of them (I could not find specs.
right away on the HP10008A).
If you are on a budget (as most of us are), then there
are still other scopes that may perform as well and
are less expensive. A few in mind are the Tektronix
2213 and the 2215 at 60MHz and the 465 at 50MHz. These
are rather inexpensive, non-modular and are newer
machines than the 180's (which were made around 1987).
If the only choices you have are the 180's then stay
with the 180C (The 184 might be overkill).
Mike was correct of being on guard with the
capacitors. Heat is the biggest killer of electronic
components. More heat is generated from the units
power supply then probably anywhere else. It is these
capacitors that need the most attention.
Tantalum caps are both inexpensive and stable. That is
why manufacturers use them so often. When a circuit
requires stabilization in performance, tants are caps
of choice. Their biggest draw back is when they fail.
(In particular the dipped ones.) There will be no
warning. Some will simply short out internally and
work one day but not the next. Others will go like a
fire cracker sending carbon smoke throughout the unit
with the sound of a pop.
Electrolytic caps will give some warning sometimes.
They may start to bulge out. Performance gets weaker
due to poor ESR. See samples here at:


(If you ever do decide to replace any cap., make sure
it is made from a reliable manufacturer. Dell Computer
had a problem with caps a few years back due to the
purchase of bad caps from a poor source.)
So changing capacitors (in the power supply at least)
is a wise thing to do. Whether they are tantalum's or
electrolytic's it might save aggravation in the
future. As for changing ALL the tants I counted about
20 per plug-in on the ones I have in my shop. It is
going to be a task, so weigh your time, effort and
cost vs. probability of their failure. As far as
plug-ins go, I have not had one fail yet. The power
supply I would not take any chances on, replace them
at least.

Keep in Touch,
Tom


--- Paul Jacobson <pj@...> wrote:

Tom,

thanks so much for such an informative response.
in regards to the digital what i *think* i need is
to be able to view
two clock pulses simultaneously to ensure their
timing alignment with
each other is correct. so if I understand right the
180's with 50mhz
vert/horizontal plugins would be sufficient.

what is available is:
180A with 1801A, 1821A (approx $280AU)
180C with 1801A, 1821A (approx $320AU)
184C with 1805A, 1825A (approx $480AU)
all of these units come with 10008A passive voltage
probes, so I
think i'd need to factor in buying x10 probes?

The 184C is pushing the boundaries $ wise. The 180C
looks be in the
better condition cosmetically of the 180's as the
plugins on the 180A
don't appear to align quite right in the mainframe.

Checking the 180C service manual d/l'd from BAMA, it
appears to be
all discrete componentry, which is a bit reassuring
if something does
break.

I've been advised to replace all the tantalum caps
on units of this
age. Is that reasonable advice?


cheers
Paul



____________________________________________________________________________________
8:00? 8:25? 8:40? Find a flick in no time
with the Yahoo! Search movie showtime shortcut.


HP 1631D Acq Error

MauriceS_65
 

Hello,

I have a 1631D with the following error on selftest:

Acquisition Error: 0F 07 FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00
Which - according to the service manual means:
- Incorrect Acq data
- Meas complete true when should be false
- Meas complete IRQ true when should false
- Words remaining.

If I pull the master state all together - Acq error shows
0F 87 same
Which alsmost sounds like the board is not responding...

I checked all connectors, and the LA did pass in the past. I don't
know when it stopped passing this test.
Any troubleshooting ideas? I don't have access to a HP 5005B signature
analyzer, neither another 163x LA to do a board swap. And I guess the
1630/31 Analyzer support package is no longer available :-(
I do have another LA - a 1652B - so I can start plugging along that way...

Maurice


Re: hp 9100/ 9800 series calculator wanted

 

I have a 9830A. Any interest? Contact me off list.

Dave

Dave Novotny
Applications Engineer
Agilent Technologies
719-531-4494

-----Original Message-----
From: hp_agilent_equipment@... [mailto:hp_agilent_equipment@...] On Behalf Of arthurok_2000
Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2007 9:48 PM
To: hp_agilent_equipment@...
Subject: [hp_agilent_equipment] hp 9100/ 9800 series calculator wanted

im looking for a hp 9100 or 9800 series calculator
working or not
peripherals too or maybe even an hp85




Yahoo! Groups Links


Re: General opinion on 180 series scopes?

Paul Jacobson
 

Tom,

thanks so much for such an informative response.
in regards to the digital what i *think* i need is to be able to view two clock pulses simultaneously to ensure their timing alignment with each other is correct. so if I understand right the 180's with 50mhz vert/horizontal plugins would be sufficient.

what is available is:
180A with 1801A, 1821A (approx $280AU)
180C with 1801A, 1821A (approx $320AU)
184C with 1805A, 1825A (approx $480AU)
all of these units come with 10008A passive voltage probes, so I think i'd need to factor in buying x10 probes?

The 184C is pushing the boundaries $ wise. The 180C looks be in the better condition cosmetically of the 180's as the plugins on the 180A don't appear to align quite right in the mainframe.

Checking the 180C service manual d/l'd from BAMA, it appears to be all discrete componentry, which is a bit reassuring if something does break.

I've been advised to replace all the tantalum caps on units of this age. Is that reasonable advice?


cheers
Paul

On 22/01/2007, at 3:15 PM, Thomas Hejl wrote:

Paul,

The 180 series of scopes will do just fine for your
basic audio applications. It is the "some digital"
that you mentioned that has me offering a suggestion
or two.
If you wish to just analyze the timing of the DAC
signals, than the 180 series will do. If you wish
however to see any relationship of that timing to
other aspects of your digital signal, than another
option might be considered.
Most scopes will give you a voltage indication, which
is vertical, in reference to a particular time period
base (or frequency), which is horizontal. These
voltages may be analog (as in a sine wave audio
signal) or digital (with a constant pulse of one,
stepped pulses or no change from base - zero). If you
wish to analyze the digital signal (a series of ones &
zeros) to a series of timed events that may be in
constant change, or a one time event that might too
quick or fast to notice, than you might get the
feeling that something is missing.
If you ever wish to more in depth analyzing of digital
signals then consider a unit that does both. Two such
are the HP1631D (primarily a Logic analyzer with a 2
channel scope included) or a HP54201D (a digitizing
scope with a logic analyzer included). These will give
you logic (digital) analyzing that can have timing and
signal inputs for comparisons. They have the ability
to stop recording waveforms (since they are digital,
they use RAM to store info) on a glitch (or digital
noise).
As for your application, the 180 series should do
well. The 181 (50MHz)& 184 (100MHz) have screens with
persistence (a type of screen hold to freeze your
display). Some of the vertical plug-ins are the 1801A
(50MHz), 1805A (100MHz), 1808A (75MHz), (which are all
2 vertical channels) and the 50MHz 1804A (which has 4
vertical input channels). Be sure to use X10
oscilloscope probes as to not load your signal under
test and therefore you will get truer readings.
Some of the pros: Other available options for the 180
series are spectrum analyzer plug-ins (to analyze band
pass and/or harmonics). They are inexpensive compared
to more modern equipment. Since they are modular, if a
plug-in does fail, purchase another and replace.
Some of the cons: The units are getting on in age. The
CRTs are going to get harder to find if needed to be
replaced. Finding a repair facility might be difficult
as well. (Some places will try to sell a newer unit
altogether.)
As what might be your first oscilloscope, you could do
worse than a 180 series unit. For a beginner who might
be on a buget, a 180 series should do you well.

Good Luck,
Tom

--- Paul Jacobson <pj@...> wrote:

In complete contrast to the discussion on the nature
of scientific
knowledge, I have a couple of fairly prosaic
questions.

I'm new to the list, and to scopes in general and
I'm currently
looking at buying a 180 series scope for doing basic
audio work, with
some digital. Digital would primarily be checking
alignment of 16Mhz
clock signals in an audio DAC.

Will a 180 mainframe with 50Mhz plugins be up to
this kind of work?

Can someone give an idea of what the pro's & con's
of the 180A, 180C
and 184A mainframes are?


thanks
Paul



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hp 9100/ 9800 series calculator wanted

 

im looking for a hp 9100 or 9800 series calculator
working or not
peripherals too or maybe even an hp85


Re: General opinion on 180 series scopes?

 

At 01:07 PM 22/01/07, you wrote:
I've been advised to replace all the tantalum caps on units of this
age. Is that reasonable advice?
Yeah Toms dissertation is really good, some of us might forget that
there are visitors here who are not into electronics as a long term career !

I would have thought it best to replace all electrolytics as priority
especially those in or near any heat source such as in power supply,
tantalums I would have thought were much more reliable, esp the
"solid" type tantalums, I have a few of 20 yr vintage which are still
good today !

Incidentally one can see which electrolytics to replace first if there is
any sign of leakage or even slight bulging at the top of vertical mounted
units, but given the cost of those parts these days and since you might
have unit open anyway best to replace all,

The question arises though that as the esr ratings these days are so
much better then are there any negatives in replacing old (high) esr units
not just those that get higher esr due to age but from original design
and then what to do about ESL too ?

rgds

mike
esr = equivalent series resistance
esl = equivalent series inductance

At least the old cros had less chance of suffering from alzheimers when the
eprom bits get hit by stray cosmic rays, or even flip back and forth a few
times during the years !! ;)



cheers
Paul

On 22/01/2007, at 3:15 PM, Thomas Hejl wrote:

Paul,

The 180 series of scopes will do just fine for your
basic audio applications. It is the "some digital"
that you mentioned that has me offering a suggestion
or two.
If you wish to just analyze the timing of the DAC
signals, than the 180 series will do. If you wish
however to see any relationship of that timing to
other aspects of your digital signal, than another
option might be considered.
Most scopes will give you a voltage indication, which
is vertical, in reference to a particular time period
base (or frequency), which is horizontal. These
voltages may be analog (as in a sine wave audio
signal) or digital (with a constant pulse of one,
stepped pulses or no change from base - zero). If you
wish to analyze the digital signal (a series of ones &
zeros) to a series of timed events that may be in
constant change, or a one time event that might too
quick or fast to notice, than you might get the
feeling that something is missing.
If you ever wish to more in depth analyzing of digital
signals then consider a unit that does both. Two such
are the HP1631D (primarily a Logic analyzer with a 2
channel scope included) or a HP54201D (a digitizing
scope with a logic analyzer included). These will give
you logic (digital) analyzing that can have timing and
signal inputs for comparisons. They have the ability
to stop recording waveforms (since they are digital,
they use RAM to store info) on a glitch (or digital
noise).
As for your application, the 180 series should do
well. The 181 (50MHz)& 184 (100MHz) have screens with
persistence (a type of screen hold to freeze your
display). Some of the vertical plug-ins are the 1801A
(50MHz), 1805A (100MHz), 1808A (75MHz), (which are all
2 vertical channels) and the 50MHz 1804A (which has 4
vertical input channels). Be sure to use X10
oscilloscope probes as to not load your signal under
test and therefore you will get truer readings.
Some of the pros: Other available options for the 180
series are spectrum analyzer plug-ins (to analyze band
pass and/or harmonics). They are inexpensive compared
to more modern equipment. Since they are modular, if a
plug-in does fail, purchase another and replace.
Some of the cons: The units are getting on in age. The
CRTs are going to get harder to find if needed to be
replaced. Finding a repair facility might be difficult
as well. (Some places will try to sell a newer unit
altogether.)
As what might be your first oscilloscope, you could do
worse than a 180 series unit. For a beginner who might
be on a buget, a 180 series should do you well.

Good Luck,
Tom

--- Paul Jacobson <<mailto:pj%40cutlerco.com.au>pj@...> wrote:

In complete contrast to the discussion on the nature
of scientific
knowledge, I have a couple of fairly prosaic
questions.

I'm new to the list, and to scopes in general and
I'm currently
looking at buying a 180 series scope for doing basic
audio work, with
some digital. Digital would primarily be checking
alignment of 16Mhz
clock signals in an audio DAC.

Will a 180 mainframe with 50Mhz plugins be up to
this kind of work?

Can someone give an idea of what the pro's & con's
of the 180A, 180C
and 184A mainframes are?


thanks
Paul



__________________________________________________________
______________
Bored stiff? Loosen up...
Download and play hundreds of games for free on Yahoo! Games.
<>



Yahoo! Groups Links


Regards

Mike

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