Keysight 34465A in black - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: manupthehills
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 29, 2020, 08:01:39 pm
content: Just got a new 34465A in my lab and, besides different plastic colors, it also has some internal differences to respect what I can see in the pictures available online.Just curious if anyone has some insights about what changed in the "black" versions.Well, had to replace the fan, that one is still the same whiny one anyone owning one of these DMMs is used to. Now is not dead silent, but at least it cut the noise in a half.

author: razvan784
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2020, 03:10:10 pm
content: Woo, a modboard, nice!I see they replaced the obsolete LM3 micro with the currently supported TM4C.

author: Dr. Frank
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2020, 08:12:06 pm
content: is it still running on WIN CE, or does it boot faster now?The additional board looks like some protection structures.Thanks for showing, maybe you can make pictures from the whole Mainboard w/o shieldFrank

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2020, 08:47:22 pm
content: Which Noctua fan did you use? I replaced the fan in my 34461A with a Noctua fan (5V IIRC) and it makes exactly the same whining sound

author: manupthehills
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 01:37:20 am
content: Still Windows based, 25 seconds to boot up from standby.The main PCB is marked 34460-26541 rev 001, maybe they unified the whole DMM family into using one PCB with different components, adding the small PCBA on the bottom for some versions.Removing the shields would compromise the calibration, not planning to take more pictures for the moment.The fan I used is a Noctua NF-A4x10 5V (4500 RPM, 3 pin connector). It's kept in place by the provided rubber mounts that leave a small gap between the metal deflector and the chassis (the fan and the deflector are in direct contact, but the fan has small rubber feet that provide some kind of mechanical isolation). Noctua has a 40x20mm model that should be slightly less noisy, but I didn't feel like experimenting with a potential different air flow inside the instrument.I have a hard wall 4" behind the instrument reflecting the noise, so the difference with the original fan is not huge; the noise pitch is similar, just a bit quieter, I'd say a half

author: PushUp
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 06:40:53 pm
content: As Keysight doesn't offer pix in black on their HP yet,...https://www.keysight.com/en/pdx-2891457-pn-34465A/digital-multimeter-6-digit-truevolt-dmm?cc=GB&lc=eng...it would be nice to see some from the outer design as well, before you put it into your rack.ThanX!

author: JDubU
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 07:01:24 pm
content: Here are some images:https://www.meilhaus.de/en/34465a.htm

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 03, 2021, 11:00:51 am
content: Thank you for sharing the pictures from the inside.Here are some pictures from the outside.It would be nice to have a full PCB picture in the future.Can you make a screenshot from the info (about) screen?

author: Messtechniker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 03, 2021, 02:06:49 pm
content: Did this Noctua thing on my 34465A a while ago. Was a NF-A4x10 5V. Some insights here:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/keysight-34461a-fan-noise/msg2843508/#msg2843508

author: manupthehills
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 03, 2021, 05:47:48 pm
content: Here the picture of the "about" screen- Thanks Messtechniker, I read about your experiments even before getting the instrument

author: Dr. Frank
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2021, 04:06:44 pm
content: Hello,this additional PCB on the bottom side contains a protection structure, I think for the DCV path, which was before assembled on the top side of the 34465A main board.The previous 34460 main board seemed to be in most parts identical to the latter one, only that some components were not assembled (see review activities when Dave initially made a teardown of the 34470A in 2015).In this security bulletin:https://www.keysight.com/upload/cmc_upload/All/Truevolt_DMM_Product_Declassification_Security.pdfit's mentioned on the last page, that Microsoft Windows® CE 6.0 R3 is used inside these instruments.Support by MS was already finished in about 2018, and EOL is announced probably for next year, like CE 5.0, but I found no official statement yet.That means, that any time soon, KS will not be allowed to sell new devices with these old O.S.I doubt, that KS in between was able to move to direct successor O.S. like Windows Embedded 8 or 8.1, if that would physically possible, actually.Rumors that KS is already in preparation for a new O.S. were already expressed, I think on our MM 2019.Hopefully they get this done in time, as I assume that the whole line of TrueVolt instruments, like also Generators, sources and PSUs may be based on that SW platform.Frank

author: ohmjke
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 02, 2022, 09:38:45 pm
content: Hi everyone!I have recently bought same black version and noticed that part of the components has evident traces of flux.Is it ok for mass production of such a device?Because for me it looks like home-made rework...Though according to seller it is a new instrument (and it has all cables, certificate of calibration etc, and really looks new).Another interesting thing is marking on PCB - "34460-26511 REV 003".It seems KS indeed now using one board for all 344xxA family.And one more thing - text on sticker on PCB starts with "34461-" - it looks weird too.P.S. Fan is reeealy noisy - even UT8805E (4-5 times cheaper) has much less noise. Planning use Noctua too.

author: ohmjke
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 02, 2022, 09:53:21 pm
content: Made some photos for history.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 02, 2022, 10:02:52 pm
content: That area in 1.jpg indeed looks manually reworked.

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 02, 2022, 11:16:49 pm
content: You add some $$$ to have a Win CE license in it .... they should go with an linux port, VxWork anything else than CE ...

author: manupthehills
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2022, 12:19:30 am
content: The components that look manually reworked, are indeed missing in the 34461A, and present in the 34465A.Is that a result of parts shortage?Actually no, that board was manufactured in 2017, week 37

author: Traceless
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2022, 11:38:00 am
content: Quote from: PushUp on January 02, 2021, 06:40:53 pmWhich is super funny because when I explicitly asked for a white one I was told that those were Agilent devices and that there was no such thing as a white Keysight 34465AQuote from: PushUp on January 02, 2021, 06:40:53 pmI always thought the black ones were super common and nothing special, while the white ones were some kind of "accidental Limited Edition", because Keysight changed the color after acquiring Agilent instruments.P.S.: Holy moly I just noticed that the 34465A has become super expensive recently.

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2022, 12:49:27 pm
content: Quote from: Traceless on December 03, 2022, 11:38:00 amYES!I bought my first 34465A for Euro 850Same with all other Keysight and Keithley instrumentsGood old days

author: Traceless
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2022, 01:09:10 pm
content: @HighVoltage: Okay wait 850€, new?At the current pricing level I think it might be time for a shootout 34465A vsHDM3065:

author: skander36
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2022, 08:18:18 pm
content: Quote from: HighVoltage on December 03, 2022, 12:49:27 pmNow it's 2,082 E. It's crazy ...I bought with 1400 E in April.https://www.welectron.com/Keysight-34465A-Benchtop-Multimeter_1