The hunt was good today ... - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 04:10:39 am
content: 66309D Mobile comms source with full option -fixed-66311b mobile comms source full option -fixed but needs some more TLC , parts ordered (front panel busted) ... -66312A dynamic source -on operating table now, blows fuses ... -34970A Multiplexer with DMM -fixed-E3631A power supply - to be diagnosed -E3632A power supply - to be diagnosed -6632A power supply - to be diagnosed -16702A Logic analyser -fixed-16902B Logic Analyser -fixed-16720A pattern generator with pods -works-16715A acquisition board with 4 megapoints -works-54831A infiniium scope 500MHz 4Gs/s 4Megapoints per channel -fixed-Keithley 619 Electrometer with twin channels and GPIB -fixed-Keithley 220 Current Source -fixed-Keithley 485 picoampere meter - to be diagnosed -Rohde Schwarz APN04 with voltmeter option -fixed-all defective and deemed BER (beyond ecenomical repair)some of em are already up and runningteardowns / repair guides to follow later ...I spent a 3 figure number in the mid-range for the whole lot... And 3..2...1: queue the crying ..

author: Electro Fan
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 04:25:37 am
content: Looks like Christmas came early. Congrats!The lowest price eBay shows for any 16902B (current or previous listings) is just about $10k.... !

author: resistor
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 04:58:12 am
content: Now I feel stupid for living in the same area as you and not being able to find amazing deals like this...

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 05:18:45 am
content: QuoteWowQuoteYep

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 05:26:14 am
content: Nice score!Keeping all of it or looking to adopt some of them out to good homes?

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 05:38:24 am
content: Son of a...Auction from where? Company, Military, University?

author: Paul Moir
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 06:00:00 am
content: BER = Beyond my skill to repair...EDIT - OK, sometimes beyond my perseverance..

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 06:04:49 am
content: Cal lab ... They were destined for the scrap yard. Some of these machines have little residual value. Some of em are plain stupid faults...Rohde and schwarz generator : it powers up with all the lights on but nothing on the display. There are no service manuals for the thing. It is reasonably old has little value. So -> trash. I looked at it. Big yellow sticker in the back ' this unit is set for 240 volt' ...slip the voltage selector to 120, powers up fine. Works . Backlight of lcd display is bust. I ordered two new lightbulbs (grain of rice type little solder-in lamps).66309d. U sellable is a 240 volt unit. Came from a well known phone maker that was sold and then resold. Sat on the shelf for two years. Brand spanking new. Not a speck of dust inside. No voltage switch. Well, download service manual. The friggin wiring diagram is in the manual... A pair of pliers a piece of wire and two solderjoints later : unit set now for 120 volts. Works perfectly fine.16702b doesn't boot... Boot screen clearly states a mouse needs to be plugged in. Now, this is one you need to know. It ONLY works if you connect an old BUS mouse. 2 buttons and a ball. Three button mice or mice that can do both usb amd ps2 do not work . It needs an old skool bus mouse. Not even a ps2 mouse. Foind one in my box of miscellaneous assorted bits. Machines boots perfectly fine. I upgraded the hpux and app software to the latest build . Ran all selftests. Works perfectly fine. This machine came with the pattern generator and the acquisition board. All tests pass. That pattern generator alone is worth 1000$ on ebay.16902b. Doesnt boot. Sometimes it boots but windows crashes. It uses an older style ide harddisk. Celeron motherboard. Runs win xp. Comfig was wrong. New coin cell. Reset defaults, follow setup procedure in service manual , new harddisk (well a used one). , restored from the recovery disks. Upgraded to latest firmware . Recovered licence files from old harddisk. Machine works fine.Keithley electrometer. Stuck at boot. Shows firmware version and line frequency then hangs. Gpib was set to talk only ... Now machine responds to buttons but hangs further in selftest. 5 volt isolated rail was 1 volt. Unolugged all isolated boards. 5 volt rail is now 12 volts. One recycled lm309 later : machine works perfectly fine.Current source . Does not power up. Fan spins , nothing on display. Machine was probably dropped. No clock. Crystal flopping around on one leg inside ... Soldered in a new crystal for the cpu. Works fine. It's even still in spec !66311 dropped. Front panel cracked, disllay glass missing, circuit board knocked off pegs. I had to grind i to the cover. I could not remove it from the case. The display was pushed in and pulling the cover off would have risked breaking the little glass vacuum seal tip off the display. So i cut the front plastic. I ordered a new front panel, knob and disllay cover from agilent 107$.. Machine works perfectly fine.34970a . Dead battery. Corrupted ferro memory. Battery swap : boots fine. Restored ferro ram. Needs calibration now. When plugging inmultiplexer card : continuously reboots. One bent pin in the connector shorting out the 5 volt line. FixedInfiniium scope : boots but does not find acquisition board. Pci card defective. As all these machines use the same acquisition pci interface board and i have a few laying around. : swap board, boots fine now. Ran self calibration. Full pass and within spec. Ill upgrade the motherboard and os. Its an old pentium 2 at 150 mhz with win 95. I ll swap for a newer motherboard with a K6 at 550 MHz and install win xp and latest scopeware.The 66312 keeps blowing fuses in the main regulator block. Probably a fried downprogrammer. Needs further investigation.I don't know whats wrong with the other stuff. They are all rejects.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 06:34:09 am
content: Ill post pictures later this week including teardowns and repair. I documented everything.

author: calmtron
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 06:35:42 am
content: Lucky bastard!

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 06:43:56 am
content: Now i need to spend more money buying more shelving to put all this stufff. Ah well i'll toss out some older stuff. The 16702a goes on ebay as well as my 16702b. I now have two 16900s. One headless and the new 16902b. Too bad some of the cards i have for the 16700 don't work in the 900.At least the pattern generator works in the 900.

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 10:31:29 am
content: It seems you are living in the right area and have the right connections.Nothing like this happens here.Congratulations!

author: Terabyte2007
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 05:47:16 pm
content: Very cool. On rare occasions, I run into a small treasure but not to this extent!

author: Zucca
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 06:22:24 pm
content: I hate you and love you at the same time. I will be on vacation till 3rd September. If you need help with the repair after that date PM me. I would love to help you out for free.

author: G0HZU
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 09:09:17 pm
content: It's interesting how many items were set incorrectly for voltage. I recently bought a HP85644A tracking generator on UK ebay as a cheap non runner and it was because someone had set the input voltage selector switch incorrectly and blown the (hidden) fuse. I'm assuming it was imported from the USA like this and someone forgot about the voltage selector. So when it went bang they put it on ebay as a dead item for a very low pricehttp://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb/pdf/85645-90020.pdf

author: lowimpedance
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 10:55:24 pm
content: It is curious that some gear was set for 240 and not 120, did this 'cal lab' know what they were doing !.Down here at the back side end of the world this kind of thing never happens either, and local ebay is a wasteland of shite.BTW did you also pick up some good glass balloon (with the scrap metal inside of course) driven gear too

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 11:40:54 pm
content: The rohde and schwarz is pretty much without value so i guess they didn 't bother with it too much,the other machine needs physical rewiring inside. it's not just a simple switch to flick. you need to read the service manual.the back plate clearly reads : 240 volt. there is no marking it can even run on 110. so they tried selling it as 240 volt for a while, nobody wanted it so it went in the pile to be sold for the value of scrap metal.The place i got this from is not exactly a cal lab. They provide most cal services through third party. they can only do simple things like multimeters. they are box-movers for used test equipment. they buy pallets of surplus stuff , do a power up test , clean it , cal it or have it cal'd and shove it back out the door. they don't have a tech of their own. they can swap a fuse and that's about it.Glass balloons are not compatible with my car. it gets lumped in together with that other dinosaur technology called 'internal combustion engine'

author: mrflibble
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2014, 11:59:03 pm
content: Congrats!you bastard.

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2014, 07:49:28 am
content: Quote from: free_electron on August 12, 2014, 11:40:54 pmI was always under the impression that Agilent used only a simple transformer with one primary winding for the specific market either 110 V or 220V on the older PSU. So the only way to change the input voltage requirement was to exchange the transformer. I do have an older HP E3611A that is set to 110V and I have tried to change it to 220 V but there are no additional wires on the transformer. My guess was that Agilent wanted to save weight on the already heavy PSU'sBased on your experience, it seems there are some Agilent PSU's with extra windings.Very interesting.Thank you !

author: macboy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2014, 12:18:01 pm
content: Quote from: HighVoltage on August 13, 2014, 07:49:28 amE3620A of the same era/series has selectable voltage 100/115/230 by a pair of slide switches inside. That makes it usable even in Japan (100 V), which is uncommon.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2014, 02:35:14 pm
content: Quote from: HighVoltage on August 13, 2014, 07:49:28 amThe expensive machines are switchable. Either with physical switches or with jumper links. Those communication power supplies are like 3000$ + machines. They have a very fast response, can simulate a battery (to test the charger) and they can record current and voltage plots with a high dynamic range. You can see the cell phone power yp , go in to sleep , dep sleep , wake, receive, transmit etc. that is what these supplies are built for. To test mobile devices like cell phones smart phones tablets etc. you can monitor the current drawn in various operational states of your design and you can also verify the design of your charger.

author: pascal_sweden
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2014, 02:39:22 pm
content: How much do you ask for the 16902B?

author: firewalker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 26, 2014, 06:57:59 pm
content: Any news (photos/videos)?Alexander.

author: mimmus78
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 26, 2014, 07:04:56 pm
content: Please stop posting this argument (video and written type) ... no way to do this here in Italy

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2014, 11:10:18 pm
content: since i have a week off prior to starting my new job i am digging into the pile485 picoamp meter : fixed. range switching jfets fried.

author: lpc32
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2014, 12:55:37 am
content: Damn. Is this a regular occurrence?

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2015, 04:55:00 am
content: Had another hunt today...E3611a power supply : wonky voltmeter meter : swapped icl7106 : worksE3611a power supply ( second one ) : leaked caps. this one will need deep cleaningE3615a : drifts to be diagnosede6611c : doesn't power. set to 220 inside : switched over , works great.e6611c : dead gpib : swapped witrh controller card from a dead 6632 : works fine after calibration6051A load with 60501b load module : fan shorted kept blowing fuses .. pulled fan out. needs new one. works fineThree 6632b : to be diagnosedTwo E3631a to be diagnosedone e3632 to be diagnosedKeithley 181 nanovoltmeter : missing buttons , doesnt power up : to be diagnosedKeithley 220 precision voltage source : doesnt power to be diagnosed.i was too late to grab two ifiniium scopes .. some other dude walked out with those half an hour before me ( i was late ). ah well they were only 4 chan 1 GHz , probably 520's or 525's. he took em because they worked. x there was some other telecoms stuff for bluetooth ( anritsu ) but that bid very high ...nobody bid on the pile of broken stuff. so two freshly printed 20$ bills and a tenner ( bidding started at 50 ) and they were in my 'frunk'

author: Vgkid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2015, 05:21:46 am
content: I wish I could get that lucky.