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Re: First post - Hello and a question

J Forster
 

From: Kuba Ober

The original question was about a scope for audio and tuner alignment.
Given that IIRC the OP doesn't have a spectrum analyzer, you'll want to
get
step or pulse responses of the audio gear you're testing. I can hardly
see
that going all too well with an uncalibrated scope.

Audio "alignment" is essentially calibration work, and I can't see doing
that
with a scope that I know nothing about.

Cheers, Kuba



Have you ever ACTUALLY aligned a receiver? The most primitive scope
suffices. A 503 is overkill. Suggesting that it's akin to calibration is
audiophoolery. I guess you'd say you need a TDR to check your speaker
wires too.

All you have to do is get the IFs properly tuned (think diode probe flat
from 10.6 to 10.8 MHz) and get the RF stage (if any) to track the
oscillator properly. The trickiest part is the stereo circuitry and that
requires a special generator. A decent generator is FAR more important
than the scope.

-John


Re: First post - Hello and a question

Bill R
 

Kuba Ober wrote:
Kuba wrote:

Well, if all you care about is *basically working*, then I agree. But then you don't need a 7603 either. A random 7603 with random plugins will *basically* work, but most of the time it doesn't really perform as a dependable 100MHz instrument. Maybe it's my luck, but 90% of the plugins that I bought in lots on eBay showed signs of being seriously miscalibrated, and two of my mainframes (7603 and a 7633) were quite miscalibrated as well; their pulse response was completely off limits and you need the standardizer for that.

Cheers, Kuba
Kuba,

The origin of many instruments on eBay are government surplus, or surplus acquired by someone with no calibration skills. In the first case, metrology (instrument calibration) technicians in gub ment would screw up an instrument they are trying to dump (or are instructed to do so) so it gets tagged "unusable". The other case results from uneducated people trying to fix something that ain't broke.

Bill Roberts





Re: First post - Hello and a question

Kuba Ober
 

A newbie may well not discern when someone is kidding and when not, and
may be too shy or something to ask for clarification. I prefer to be
straight forward than send someone off on a wild goose chase. YMMV.
I'd rather think that advising a newbie to buy an uncalibrated, unknown 7603
is sending him/her on a wild goose chase. A newbie will not have enough
experience to easily ascertain whether something is a scope issue or the DUT
issue.

Heck, I'd be uncomfortable using an off-eBay 7603 where all there is to test
it out is a 1kHz calibrator square wave.

Said newbie would do well to get some equipment to at least partially check
out the 7603, which really means a TM503 loaded with the amplitude
calibrator, time mark calibrator, and the levelled sine wave generator. Plus
requisite plumbing and attenuators. That's really the most basic setup. And
will cost approx. $500, depending on luck. The $1000 was a rough order of
magnitude.

Cheers, Kuba


Re: First post - Hello and a question

Kuba Ober
 

The original question was about a scope for audio and tuner alignment.
Given that IIRC the OP doesn't have a spectrum analyzer, you'll want to get
step or pulse responses of the audio gear you're testing. I can hardly see
that going all too well with an uncalibrated scope.

Audio "alignment" is essentially calibration work, and I can't see doing that
with a scope that I know nothing about.

Cheers, Kuba


Re: First post - Hello and a question

Kuba Ober
 

I would recommend the 7603 with a 7B53 Time Base and a couple of 7A18
Vertical Amps. You can get that combo for $125 or less. With the plethora
of other plug-ins available you would have a versatile system that is
easily repairable
Assuming you have approx. $1000 worth of other test equipment needed to
recalibrate said 7603 :)

It's an easily snowballing hobby.
NONSENSE: You can easily verify that a 7603 is basically working using
it's internal calibrator. and a length of wire For most work....
including the genesis of this thread... you don't need a lab quality
calibration. In fact, a 60 year old AC coupled DuMont would work just
fine.
Well, if all you care about is *basically working*, then I agree. But then you
don't need a 7603 either. A random 7603 with random plugins will *basically*
work, but most of the time it doesn't really perform as a dependable 100MHz
instrument. Maybe it's my luck, but 90% of the plugins that I bought in lots
on eBay showed signs of being seriously miscalibrated, and two of my
mainframes (7603 and a 7633) were quite miscalibrated as well; their pulse
response was completely off limits and you need the standardizer for that.

Cheers, Kuba


Re: AM501 Stuff (op-amp references)

Kuba Ober
 

On Monday 05 February 2007 23:41, you wrote:
Beside collecting TM500 plugins, anyone actually usem, in particulars,
the AM501. Just got two of em.

I'd like to use a FG504 & FG501A plus other signal generators to
create all different types of waveforms. Integrating,
differentiating, ...

Any suggestions? Any neat experiements?

Specificatioins of the AM501? Comparisons with modern OP-Amps?
Anything that has got banana jacks on it *may* perform poorly for anything
above a few kilohertz due to parasitics, unless you put the feedback path next
to the chip. It does have a place to solder components inside, BTW. The
op-amp inside of AM501 can be replaced by a more modern chip, if you wish so.

The plugin itself was designed for teaching op-amps, and has little utility
beyond that methinks.

For source of great op-amp circuits, download this *excellent* book:

Applications Manual for Computing Amplifiers for Modeling, Measuring,
Manipulating & Much Else.


Then you'll want to get Troubleshooting Analog Circuits by Bob Pease, which
has an excellent section on real life op-amp behavior.

All in all, a good source of experimentation data is
, which has tons of analog computation
applications etc.

Cheers, Kuba


Re: 7704A Z axis board

aobp11
 

Hello Chris,
On A41 there is a chain from GND to +50V: R177 (35k7) - R176 (2k
trim, Shield Voltage) - R175 (12k7). The slide of R176 is decoupled
by C175 (0.01uF) to ground. Location R176 is what you said.
Calibration 9A Adjust Shield Volts:
a) Short vert.defl. leads together
b) DC meausure voltage on defl. leads.
c) remove short
d) DC measure pin 4 of P41U on the Z-axis board
e) Adjust R176 for approx. same reading as in b)
Success.
Albert

--- In TekScopes@..., "Christopher Hilton-Johnson"
<chj@...> wrote:

Greetings etc



I have a late model 7704A & an earlier manual. BAMA is no help.

Z axis board is suffix 01, my manual is for suffix 00.

Suffix 01 board shows an additional trim pot immediately below
R171, the Geometry trimmer.

Additional trim pot obscures the screen printed board ID, but I
think it is a variable version of R175 fixed @ 2k2 on the suffix 00
board.



Naturally my manual is silent on incorporating this variable into
the calibration process.



Can anyone help please?



Chris HJ


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Re: CRT differences

Chuck Harris
 

Chris Johnson wrote:

Personally, I've always thought that the graticule should be an
overlay that's application specific and the CRT face is always clear,
so one tube type can be used in many products. But Tektronix tends
to go for the optimal solution for a given product rather than one
that's a little bit of a compromise. The integral graticule IS better.
If you go with an external graticule, the marking will be at least 1/4 inch
away from the phosphor. That leads to a rather nasty parallax problem.
Internal, or electronically drawn graticules are really the only way to go.

-Chuck


Re: CRT differences

Chris Johnson
 

A lot of Tek CRTs are different only in how the graticule is marked.

For example, if it weren't for the fact that the graticules are
different, I could swap the pristine, very low hours CRT from my OF150
optical TDR into my 492 if I needed to. Fortunately, the 492's CRT
is in excellent shape. And I COULD do the swap, but the OF150's
graticule is graduated to 8 divisions by 8 divisions and the 492's
graticule is graduated in a 10 by 10 division pattern, and the
reference markers are different. It would be either very confusing
or you'd have to totally change the calibration of the analyzer if you
were to use the OF150's tube...if you wanted to be able to rely on the
graticule for any information, that is.


Personally, I've always thought that the graticule should be an
overlay that's application specific and the CRT face is always clear,
so one tube type can be used in many products. But Tektronix tends
to go for the optimal solution for a given product rather than one
that's a little bit of a compromise. The integral graticule IS better.



--- In TekScopes@..., <bhaskins@...> wrote:

I have often wondered about the actual differences in Tektronix CRTs.
Within a basic class the tubes appear to be identical except for the
part number.
Please cut me lots of slack on the word appear.
Just for example take the 465/a/b/m, 2213/3a/15/15a,and many others.
Quite some time ago, I got a nice 465B for almost nothing and it had
a dead crt.
I had almost nothing to lose so I tried a jug from a 465M which had
a badly
broken case.
It has been running fine for about four years now.
Any thoughts?


Re: First post - Hello and a question

 

I'd agree with this. I used to have a 465M and it was a pretty good
scope. You can get them dirt cheap on Ebay. For the original
poster, if you're comfortable designing, building, and debugging
audio stuff, you shouldn't have much trouble fixing any issues on a
465M. The horizontal and vertical sections are easily removed
(unlike the other 460-series scopes). The only problem mine had,
which I've seen other people post similar symptoms for, was the
sweep trace was horizontally compressed. The problem was with a
capacitor in the power supply causing one of the DC supply rails to
be both too low, and not DC.

Dan

--- In TekScopes@..., <bhaskins@...> wrote:

For a real bargain look at a 465M, much better that either of
those two, I've owned both, and much more portable than
the 76 series.
The 465M is a real sleeper... a great scope except when you want
to sell one.
I like my 7623a very much except when I need to carry it
somewhere.

This is my first post to this group. I build DIY audio for
myself and
the more I read/talk to individuals it seems like an Oscope
should
definitely be on my list of things to purchase. Honestly, I
can't tell
you why I would need a 4-channel vs. a 2-channel scope other
than 4 is
greater than 2. But I would be interested in your comments. I
am
interested in the 2465B but it seems like prices range from
$150 -
$1200. If someone can point me in the right direction, I would
really
appreciate it. BTW, I'm guessing that all of you would
recommend that
buying an Oscope from eBay (as my first Oscope) would not be
recommended. :) Please let me know if you disagree. Also, my
budget
is between $200-$300.


Re: Completely free stuff, tek and others, but you have to pick it up.

 

Oh no... it just so happens my wife and I are traveling to
Vancouver next week, but I'm sure she would not be interested in
taking a day from our vacation to drive to Kelowna to pick up old
electronics parts! :-)

Maybe some people in the Seattle area will be interested in driving
up there.

--- In TekScopes@..., "wshawlee2" <walter2@...> wrote:
I don't have time or desire to pack and ship it, but for anybody
thinking of trip up this way to beautiful BC (Kelowna), let me
know,
and I will start a pile for you. contact me off list for more
details. even with thousands of feet of space, and two storage
buildings, we are just out of space, so some stuff has to die.
This is
the moment.


Tek 453 Fan pinouts

john baranowsky
 

Hello:
I need to verify the wiring to the fan on the Tek 453 which I just
acquired as first scope. Works fine, but fan bearings were dry. Got it
going but cannot verify with certainty the solder points for the green
and black fan leads. There is a broken solder point at the forward most
of two contacts just to the left as viewed from the front. Behind this
is another contact where blue and blue/white are soldered.

I am assuming (no manuals yet) that green and black leads broke off
from the front most contact. Naturally, I would like to verify this
before re-soldering.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

John


Re: Tek 492 SA experts, can you answer these questions?

Chris Johnson
 

I tried that today and it works quite well once you know what to do.

Connect vertical output to line level input of a regular stereo
receiver or amplifier, plug in the headphones.
Digital storage OFF. Get in close to the signal of interest, changing
spans as you get closer, switch to manual sweep, and at suitably high
resolution modes, tune in on the signal. Going to manual sweep
makes this fast and easy, and you don't even have to go to zero span,
but of course, going to zero span and entering oscilloscope mode can
assist you to get optimized signal quality, not clipping on either
the top or the bottom of the waveform.

I went signal hunting in several ranges and started with the local FM
radio stations for a wideband signal introduction, then went to the
VHF weather radio station at 162.55 MHz, then went into the aircraft
band (108-136 MHz) to try to track down some aircraft transmissions
with limited success, and then went down to the AM radio band, and
then found some amateur radio traffic around 14.3 MHz, voice and CW
both. And a few assorted international stations in various parts of
the HF bands, too. Switching the bandwidth filters allowed me to
get good recovered audio quality on every signal I tuned in. Having
very good headphones and a nice amp certainly didn't hurt.


I'd guess there are some limitations on what you can get out of the
video output. I can't imagine that it really has the bandwidth
necessary in order to, for example, be usable as a video source
with an external output. (Say I tuned in a TV station at the
appropriate bandwidth setting.)


CJ





--- In TekScopes@..., "Stan and Patricia Griffiths"
<w7ni@...> wrote:

Hi Chris,



I used to demo the 492 as a "receiver that looks like a scope".
This made
it much easier for the average person who was not familiar with spectrum
analyzers to quickly grasp how it worked. I used the video output
to drive
a Radio Shack telephone amplifier by plugging the video out directly
into
the suction cup microphone input on the amp and I think the levels
are just
fine. The Radio Shack telephone amp is powered by a 9 volt battery
so it is
portable and cheap. Use zero span and slope detection for FM
signals and
peak detection for AM signals. At shows where I was exhibiting more
than
one spectrum analyzer, the 492 provided the audio for a TV signal
and the
2710 provided the video. For those of you who may not know, you can
actually get a TV picture to display on the screen of a 2710 spectrum
analyzer. The biggest complaint about this was that it was not in
"color".
My response was that "green is a color".



Stan



Re: CRT differences

Don Collie
 

Aaaah.... empirical design. This always works.

----- Original Message -----
From: bhaskins@...
To: TekScopes@...
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 4:15 AM
Subject: [TekScopes] CRT differences


I have often wondered about the actual differences in Tektronix CRTs.
Within a basic class the tubes appear to be identical except for the part number.
Please cut me lots of slack on the word appear.
Just for example take the 465/a/b/m, 2213/3a/15/15a,and many others.
Quite some time ago, I got a nice 465B for almost nothing and it had a dead crt.
I had almost nothing to lose so I tried a jug from a 465M which had a badly
broken case.
It has been running fine for about four years now.
Any thoughts?





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


No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.17.29/673 - Release Date: 2/6/2007 5:52 PM


Re: First post - Hello and a question

Stefan Trethan
 

On Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:33:21 +0100, J Forster <jfor@...> wrote:

My reading was the guy was looking for a first scope for audio. I think
it would be an error to get a 7A22 instead of a 7A18 or 7A26.

Maybe if it was a "instead" question it would be an error, but luckily it is only "what first", standard PIs are cheap.

I would expect the MF will come with some useful plugins (or it may not if it is a bargain, i recently saw a 7603 with a logic analyzer inside go for coins, in the US). The rest of the PIs will have to be bought as needed.

If it was a normal scope, you'd be stuck with the simple inputs you got. Let's go and worship our 7k scopes a little, they deserve it. Maybe another capacitor offering is due ;-)

ST


7704A Z axis board

 

Greetings etc



I have a late model 7704A & an earlier manual. BAMA is no help.

Z axis board is suffix 01, my manual is for suffix 00.

Suffix 01 board shows an additional trim pot immediately below R171, the Geometry trimmer.

Additional trim pot obscures the screen printed board ID, but I think it is a variable version of R175 fixed @ 2k2 on the suffix 00 board.



Naturally my manual is silent on incorporating this variable into the calibration process.



Can anyone help please?



Chris HJ


--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.17.25/669 - Release Date: 04/02/2007 21:58


Re: 11K Series question, is there anything other than 11A plug ins?

Denis Cobley
 

Hi Walter

The 11K vertical plug ins are not simple.

Most will give you 1% or much better accuracy.

The plug in data and cal info is read by the mainframe on power up so
you need intelligent plug in's

Tek only made various vertical amps 11A52 & 71 are limited in use as
they were the first units available.

If I was buying a system I would want a DSA602A with 1 x 11A72 (2ch 1GHz
50 ohm), 1 x 11A33 (full differential to 200MHz) and a 11A34 (400MHz 4ch
1M ohm/50R)

This would give you maximum flexibility in a system.



The early mainframes has poor digitizing rates (10MS/s),(11401,11402)

If you want a 2467 in a mainframe buy a 11301/2/A (can't see much value
personally).



Sampling was available in 11800/CSA series - a lot better than the 7K
systems which can be a pain to trigger.



Only vertical amps were available as specan's and samplers have their
own sweep/timebases.



You can run a 7K vertical in the 11K - just cut off a plastic protrusion
at the rear of the plug in.

You also need to tell the mainframe that you have a module in a specific
slot as it can't see the module (no smarts).

You also don't get vertical scaling - it reads U (units) - only really
useful for 7K standardisers during cal (you need 3 modded to -10)



I have a nice 11403A/11A81 in my home workshop - it is good to 3GHz and
can take the other modules.

It's probably the newest mainframe too.



Major downside to 11K is they take up a large area on the bench and are
a two man lift to be safe.



Still they are very useful and we use a DSA602A every week in the
workshop for cal of video gear and other high bandwidth/accuracy work.

Does a great job on serial digital video data streams.





As for the 2505/10 - have nothing and have not seen one for 10 years -
you can buy a USB NI module now with 16 bit analogue I/O for about $700
so most people have gone that way.



Personally any of the Tek gear with computers dates fast and is
difficult to support - one advantage of the older gear is it still works
and performs decades after it was built - can't see a TDS7000 being any
value after 10 years (if it will still work)



Regards,



Denis

________________________________

From: TekScopes@... [mailto:TekScopes@...] On
Behalf Of wshawlee2
Sent: Wednesday, 7 February 2007 3:36 AM
To: TekScopes@...
Subject: [TekScopes] 11K Series question, is there anything other than
11A plug ins?



I have never seen one, but I can't help but wonder, does any plug in
exist for the 11K series of frames OTHER than a simple vertical
11A-series unit?

sweep is internal to the frame, so I can't see any use for a sweep,
but curve tracer, logic analyzer of spectrum analyzer, maybe? Has
anybody run 7K plug in there with much luck? I have noted some
earlier postings with comments that they do function, but with no
remote control or readout.

Anyway, I got a few 11K frames and plug ins, and am going to start
tinkering, so I'm happy to hear from anybody that has experience with
these.

ALSO, still trying to find 2505 software and 25A series plug-ins, if
you can help, please let me know,
all the best,
walter
sphere research

<>


Re: First post - Hello and a question

arthurok
 

i have 2 t932a tek scopes that are excess to me
they came from the university of california
both are repaired now, the tubes are in perfect condition and i have a pdf of the service manual.
where are you located ??
im in chicago and ship ups ground
i will even guarantee the scope for 30 days
$75 plus shipping??
a 40 mhz dual trace scope with 2mv div sensitivity

----- Original Message -----
From: toobr02b
To: TekScopes@...
Sent: Monday, February 05, 2007 5:50 PM
Subject: [TekScopes] First post - Hello and a question


Hi everyone,

This is my first post to this group. I build DIY audio for myself and
the more I read/talk to individuals it seems like an Oscope should
definitely be on my list of things to purchase. Honestly, I can't tell
you why I would need a 4-channel vs. a 2-channel scope other than 4 is
greater than 2. But I would be interested in your comments. I am
interested in the 2465B but it seems like prices range from $150 -
$1200. If someone can point me in the right direction, I would really
appreciate it. BTW, I'm guessing that all of you would recommend that
buying an Oscope from eBay (as my first Oscope) would not be
recommended. :) Please let me know if you disagree. Also, my budget
is between $200-$300.

TIA

Stephen


Re: old fashioned 535 - first start after 35 years

aobp11
 

Hello Michael,
Also measure the unregulated voltages at the filter caps. (Values on
the schematics are only crude indications). Low values might
indicate bridge faults or open filter caps or a very high load
somewhere.
I suppose you can first of all set -150V to the correct value? (Does
no harm to try this.)
I would start with the deviating +124V since this fault has the best
isolated cause: +100V is not stacked upon one of the other supplies,
the *positive* deviation cannot be due to a wrong unreg. voltage, or
a leaky bypass cap C750 or a bad regulator tube V7488. Also no load
at the +100V output seems unlikely(?). Remains specifically (I hope
to make no mistake!) the divider resistors R750/R751 and a bad V742.
The grid of V742 should be several volts negative. Also check the
voltages at the ends of these resistors are indeed the same as on
the "-150V" and "+100V" test points. When suspect, you might
exchange the 6AU6 with one of the other (say +225V) supplies.
Albert

--- In TekScopes@..., Michael Petereit
<michael.petereit@...> wrote:

Stan,

I checked the voltages:
+100V = 124V
+225V = 203V
+350V = 306V
+500V = 464V
-150V = -144V

A lot voltage is below the limits. The main supply is switched to
234V,
the current standard voltage is 235V on the power line.
I assume the rectifier might be broken. Since the hartley
oscillator is
powered by the +350V line and coupled with the +340V line according
schematics the tube might not run as expected. The frequency must
be
aroung 50kHz but I do not have a AM receiver to check ans again
the dirt
inside the scope is expecially around the HV and this oscillator
horrible.

Any other ideas about the lower voltages ?

BR,
Michael


Stan and Patricia Griffiths said the following on 05.02.2007 22:02:

Hi Michael,



If the relay is opening again after closing, it is not getting
coil
voltage from its own contacts. If you burnish (clean) the relay
contacts, it will probably hold in until the power switch is
turned off.



It is not usually necessary to check the +8650 volts on the CRT
anode. If the -1350 is present, then the +8650 will be OK. All
of
the other power supplies must be working properly before you
bother to
measure the -1350. The other supplies are: -150, +100, +225,
+350,
and +500.



Stan



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


Re: First post - Hello and a question

J Forster
 

I repeat, a 7603/7A18/7B53 or 465 will do just fine.
I happen to agree with you, with the proviso that a 7A22 is darned
useful
for audio.

My reading was the guy was looking for a first scope for audio. I think
it would be an error to get a 7A22 instead of a 7A18 or 7A26.

But lighten up a little is all I'm saying!

Craig

A newbie may well not discern when someone is kidding and when not, and
may be too shy or something to ask for clarification. I prefer to be
straight forward than send someone off on a wild goose chase. YMMV.

-John