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On 12/24/2021 12:10 AM, guy232 wrote:
Found this group and my enjoyment of Tektronix equipment a couple years ago while fixing my 2213A.
My repair bench doesn't have a power supply, signal generator, counter etc. I find myself needing a power supply and was wondering if the TM500 system would be something reasonable for me to get or if it would potentially be a nightmare as a novice (such as needing difficult to find parts/becoming a constant project due to sudden failures)
According to what i've read on here and in posts, the PS503A would likely be as much as i'd need for repairing vintage stereo receivers and other random projects, or may I be mistaken?
The TM500 series is older, and generally does not have a microprocessor in it.? The TM5000 series has a microprocessor, HPIB interface (which can be ignored if you don't need it now), and much more of a push button interface.?? The 500 frame has unregulated linear supplies, the 5000 frame has regulated (when needed) supplies and a fan.? Most (but not absolutely all) TM500 series plugins will work in a TM5000 frame.? No TM5000 plugin will work in a TM500 frame (the HPIB/IEEE-488 interface connectors have no matching connector), unless you severely mutilate the TM5000 plugin.?? Even then, results not guaranteed.
I've got most of the plugins, but certainly not all.
Power supplies:? 0-20 volts bipolar and 4-5 volts at 3 amps or so.? This is the typical op/amp 7400 series TTL supply.? While that's a good supply, for development work it lacks meters, so you'll need some.? I find that 0-30 volts at about 3 amps (not TMxxxx) is a better range for my projects.? If you ever go to 3.3 volt logic, you'll end up having to build in regulators in the project and feed the boards from 5 volts (I do).
The signal generators are decent, the low distortion sine wave generators are nice for audio testing, and the AA series audio analyzer is very good for distortion analyzing.? The combination is highly sought after by audiophiles who drive up the price. There's an equivalent in the TM5000 series.
Meters are somewhat useful, but most useful if you need multiple 3-4 digit meters.? I use a 6 digit DMMs, but only one or two of them.? Anything otherwise has less precision.
Pulse generators are good if you need them.
Function generators are just that.? They are not low distortion sinewave sources.
Frequency counters are good, there are quite a few.? Generally limited to 200 - 250 Mhz, although there is a 1 Ghz model.
Of particular note are the PG506 and TG501.? Those are specifically designed for oscilloscope calibration and have outputs in the 1-2-5 input sequence used in the older Tektronix scopes.? They're a bit harder to find, but if you have more than one oscilloscope and are interested in such, can be recommended.
There are oscilloscope plugins, which can be used to create a portable (TM515) measurement system.? Most are about 10 Mhz in bandwidth with a maximum of 80 Mhz for the SC504.
There are many many other specialized plugins, some of which are quite rare, and most of which I don't have.
There are some cases when a plugin in the TM500/TM5000 frames could be better replaced by a plugin in a 7000 series frame.
The 7CT1N is a low power transistor curve tracer, much sought out by audiphiles to match transistors, and often needed when trying to replace matched pairs of transistors in some Tek equipment. Expensive, though.? There are other alternatives.
The 7D12 is a digital plugin that has, amongst others, a gated sampling peak reading DC voltmeter.? Feed it a B gate, and as you slide the B gate around (A intensified by B mode) you get an accurate reading of that voltage.
the 7D15 is a 225 Mhz counter that uses the scope's readouts to display the count.? I generally keep one in the A horizontal slot and a 7B92A in the B horizontal slot.
I've shifted mostly to TM5000 series where possible, simply because I intend to automate some tasks.
I have a labcart3 and the TM504 appears to be the largest mainframe able to connect to the bottom bracket.
Thank you for any insight, gentlemen.
Yep, you might find using a TM504 for the cart, and perhaps a TM506 or TM5006 for the bench.
Harvey
