9 Jul
2004
9 Jul
'04
2:29 p.m.
My question, though, is what's the alternative to PC-based test equipment?
Completely self-contained proprietary stuff?
--
I'm of the Tony Duell school here.. Document as much as you can if you care
about using it in the future.
The PC stuff is 'proprietary' as well, with the exeception of a few card
vendors, you can't find out from them how it works (or doesn't...)
Any instrument with a microprocessor should have its ROMs read and backed
up. I got VERY lucky and was able to get my 16500B analyzer going again
because I had access to another unit, was able to read the eprom, and was
able to reprogram the part that had gone bad (a bit had gone to a '1' and
could be reprogrammed to '0')
The entire CPU board is a FRU, it's cheaper to find an entire chassis on
eBay than trying to find just the processor board.
9 Jul
9 Jul
7:28 p.m.
In message <20040710022945.C7F423D35(a)spies.com>
aek(a)spies.com (Al Kossow) wrote:
I'm of the Tony Duell school here.. Document as
much as you can if you care
about using it in the future.
I'm of the "If it's too expensive or
you can't get a service manual, build
your own" school. I'm currently working on a fairly simple dual-channel
linear power supply with GPIB interface, with commands conforming to
IEEE488-2. Thankfully Agilent were nice enough to leave a scanned copy of
HP's "A Tutorial Guide to the GPIB Bus" on their FTP site.
The idea is, you can control it from the front panel fairly easily (e.g.
press CH1, then VOLTAGE, then, say, 12.0 <ENTER> to set the voltage to 12V).
Just another spare-time project - at least digital meters don't jam (I've got
a Farnell L30B with a jammed left voltage/current meter).
The PC stuff is 'proprietary' as well, with
the exeception of a few card
vendors, you can't find out from them how it works (or doesn't...)
I found
that with the HP 1650B. Dead CPU? Replace the whole board. Dead
resistor on the acquisition board? Replace the board!
Unfortunately the three words "Proprietary and confidential" seem to have
basically stopped manufacturers giving away schematics. That applies to Tek
and HP/Agilent especially - their service manuals are basically just bits of
paper telling you which board has which part number and what to swap.
My Tek 466 Service Manual not only covers the operation of the scope, it also
contains full schematics, with the waveforms and voltages at various points
shown on the diagram.
I still think the only reason Tek got away with calling the 466 "portable"
was the fact that it's got a handle. Not that I care, it does its job and it
does it well.
Later.
--
Phil. | Acorn Risc PC600 Mk3, SA202, 64MB, 6GB,
philpem(a)dsl.pipex.com | ViewFinder, 10BaseT Ethernet, 2-slice,
http://www.philpem.dsl.pipex.com/ | 48xCD, ARCINv6c IDE, SCSI
... "Bother", said Pooh, as he failed the dope test.
9:54 p.m.
On Sat, Jul 10, 2004 at 08:28:20AM +0100, Philip Pemberton wrote:
Thankfully Agilent were nice enough to leave a
scanned copy of
HP's "A Tutorial Guide to the GPIB Bus" on their FTP site
Is it easy to find?
I have lots of docs from the PET era about basic IEEE-488 details, but
when I'm fiddling with HP gear, newer information will probably be needed.
-ethan
--
Ethan Dicks, A-130-S Current South Pole Weather at 10-Jul-2004 09:50 Z
South Pole Station
PSC 468 Box 400 Temp -85.7 F (-65.4 C) Windchill -129 F (-89.5 C)
APO AP 96598 Wind 12.8 kts Grid 042 Barometer 666.7 mb (11131. ft)
Ethan.Dicks(a)amanda.spole.gov http://penguincentral.com/penguincentral.html
10 Jul
10 Jul
11:44 p.m.
In message <20040710095455.GB27135(a)bos7.spole.gov>
Ethan Dicks <dickset(a)amanda.spole.gov> wrote:
On Sat, Jul 10, 2004 at 08:28:20AM +0100, Philip
Pemberton wrote:
It is if you know where to look :)
ftp://ftp.agilent.com/pub/callpub1/ddt/misc/HPIB_Tut.pdf
Thankfully Agilent were nice enough to leave a
scanned copy of
HP's "A Tutorial Guide to the GPIB Bus" on their FTP site
Is it easy to find? I have lots of docs from the PET era about basic
IEEE-488 details, but
when I'm fiddling with HP gear, newer information will probably be needed.
The
PDF on Agilent's FTP site ("Tutorial Description of the Hewlett Packard
Interface Bus") seems to be undated, but it mentions IEEE 488.1, which was
first released in 1978, IIRC.
I did find the patent HP had on three-wire handshaking - assuming patents are
still only valid for 20 years, then it's long since expired. I found the
patent in question - US3,810,103; a.k.a. GB1394646. I was going to grab a
copy of the patent off GB-esp@cenet, but it was down for maintenance earlier
and is still playing up.
Later.
--
Phil. | Acorn Risc PC600 Mk3, SA202, 64MB, 6GB,
philpem(a)dsl.pipex.com | ViewFinder, 10BaseT Ethernet, 2-slice,
http://www.philpem.dsl.pipex.com/ | 48xCD, ARCINv6c IDE, SCSI
... SEGA and Nintendo are combining, they call it Windows NT
9:44 a.m.
In message <20040710022945.C7F423D35(a)spies.com>
aek(a)spies.com (Al Kossow) wrote:
Me too!. Actually, I often build my own stuff for fun anyway...
I really don't understand why almost nobody builds their own electronic
stuff, using the excuse 'you can buy it cheaper'. But plenty of people
make mechanical clocks from scratch, and the result, although a beautiful
piece of machinery, is a worse timekeeper than a 5 quid/buck quartz
clock. The same should apply to electronic devices (although in most
cases the homebrew version has better perfomance!)
-tony
I'm of the Tony Duell school here.. Document
as much as you can if you care
about using it in the future.
I'm of the "If it's too expensive or
you can't get a service manual, build
your own" school. I'm currently working on a fairly simple dual-channel
7422
days inactive
7424
days old
4 comments
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aek＠spies.com -
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
dickset＠amanda.spole.gov -
philpem＠dsl.pipex.com