Stabilock 4010 problem - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: PA0PBZ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2017, 07:08:44 pm
content: Hi,I got myself a Stabilock 4010 test set, mostly because I always wanted one and this thing was cheapAccording to the previous owner the magic smoke escaped and indeed when I picked it up it smelled like a campfire. After a good hour with screwdrivers, eyes and nose I found that theonlytantalum cap in the whole instrument disintegrated, and of course it was hiding behind some screening:After fixing that I tested the thing and only found one problem. It has 4 frequency bands: 0.1-40Mhz, 60-100Mhz, 140-180Mhz and 420-480Mhz, the lowest band is created by mixing down the 140-180Mhz one. The output is fine but the built-in frequency counter displays 140Mhz too high. According to the service manual a signal is created that indicates if the frequency is below 40Mhz:This is fed to the output stage so it knows when to mix down, and it is also fed to the counter to subtract 140Mhz from the input:The only thing is... the counter in my 4010 does not have this circuit, and the 'below 40Mhz' signal is not connected to the counter. So I have no idea how it should work, and I could not find any documentation showing the counter I have. It's a long shot but does anyone have documentation that matches the 4010 I have here?The documentation I used is available in several places and the best copy I found is here:https://doc.xdevs.com/doc/SOLARTRON/stabilock%204010-4011-4020-4022.pdf(Warning: 70MB!) The counter pcb is at page 48, my pcb is missing D13, D14 and D15 and the layout is different too.

author: PA0PBZ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2017, 07:10:44 pm
content: Since I have no down mixer on the counter board and the signal for the counter comes from the synthesizer (they call it decade) I decided to open that up and see if maybe it is hiding in there. Unfortunately not, the whole thing corresponds with the documentation. However I did make an interesting find. While I'm quite sure the synthesizer has not been opened for 40 years, well, look at the picture. Unfortunately no empty sockets so I wonder what happened in production...

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2017, 07:20:03 pm
content: I've seen that before in an old Heathkit counter. There was some old sticky tape floating around too. The conclusion I came to is that the original owner had blown the prescaler IC up before and bought two spares. The left over spare he taped inside the chassis. This was dislodged by transporting it over time.

author: PA0PBZ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2017, 08:08:17 pm
content: Quote from: bd139 on August 02, 2017, 07:20:03 pmI can imagine that, but in this case it's an ordinary 7400 so I don't think it was ment to be a spare.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2017, 09:52:52 pm
content: Interesting mystery then. Probably an answer we'll never know. Wondering if it's like a wishing well? Chuck an extra 74xx in for luck

author: PA0PBZ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2017, 08:21:05 am
content: Alright then, I found a users manual for the 4010:Note: Over the range 10 KHz . . . 40Mhz the counter displays 140Mhz too much, since it is indicating the non-demixed oscillator frequency in this case.I guess they corrected this in later models, thanks SchlumbergerAt least I now have a lot of knowledge about the working...

author: fozzyvis
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2023, 06:59:11 am
content: Hi PA0PBZ,Any chance you could send me the manual?I've got a 4010 coming over (in unknown condition) and couldn't find a user manual, only the service manual. The link to xdevs is dead, and their listing don't show that manual anymore either.Thanks,Dieter ON4DD

author: PA0PBZ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2023, 09:18:04 am
content: Hi Dieter,I checked my archive and apart from the service manual I have one other manual that seems to be a combination of a user and technical manual.It can be downloaded here:https://nvhrbiblio.nl/schema/Schlumberger_4010_usr.pdfI hope your German is up to the task

author: fozzyvis
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2023, 11:54:01 am
content: Ah right, I did find that document, but I thought there might have been a complete user manual available somewhere.TBH my German is *very* rusty but "Flemish" is somewhat related to German so I should be able to figure some things out...Thanks!

author: PA0PBZ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2023, 01:22:43 pm
content: Hi,I have a dead tree version of the 'operating manual', it's like 100 pages double sided, not sure if I want to scan that manually