Teardown, Repair and Experiments with a Tektronix RSA 6114A Real-Time Spec. Anal - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: Hugoneus
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2017, 05:05:10 pm
content: You can watch the video here: [1 hour & 5 minutes]youtu.be/30VxmTnhvfQMore videos:The Signal Pathwww.TheSignalPath.comwww.YouTube.com/TheSignalPathwww.Patreon.com/TheSignalPath

author: Hugoneus
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2017, 07:40:10 pm
content: I just realized an unfortunate character limit on the title...

author: PA0PBZ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2017, 07:42:23 pm
content: Quote from: Hugoneus on January 22, 2017, 07:40:10 pmI didn't even notice

author: TiN
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2017, 08:11:34 pm
content: just SA would be ok, I'd expect.Thanks!

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2017, 09:08:38 pm
content: Nice, thanks for sharing.You can still edit your first funny ending title

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2017, 09:16:12 pm
content: Just a few thoughts.Do not make them shorter, show us all those interesting paths you go down, even those that are wrong. The reasoning is a lot more educational than always having the right path shown, and not omitting those that were wrong shows how you get good deductive skills in your repairs. Makes for a more interesting video when you go off on a logical path, but eventually realise it is wrong, and why, and how you got to the right one.With that programmable divider, if you put a thick thermpad there just above the device ( I know they are available that thick, though are really inefficient but at least better than air) would that not make it run marginally cooler, and give it a better life with all the toasting it gets from below. Might be a stock fault on these systems, and a quick repair for the next one.

author: Co6aka
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 23, 2017, 12:31:44 am
content: Quote from: Hugoneus on January 22, 2017, 07:40:10 pmNever let a dirty mind go to waste.

author: bitseeker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2017, 06:39:39 am
content: Funny post title. Funny self-test insinuation. You're on a roll.An amazing adventure this was, Shahriar. An E-ticket ride/repair, for sure. I wouldn't change the presentation format. It's good to be able to follow the thought processes and hypotheses, for better or worse, rather than jump straight to the solutions.

author: Radio Tech
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2017, 01:07:22 pm
content: Shahriar,I like the real time repairs you do. Please keep this format. It is like being right there with you watching the novel unfold before our eyes.Also good to see the humor in the videos. Like "The Signal Path" and cat scan. You make your videos so interesting.Thanks

author: TheSteve
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 23, 2017, 07:03:52 pm
content: Great video. I wouldn't have minded even more detail into all of the troubleshooting you did. Repairs like this one are a bit of a treat for many of us because you break out some big gun test equipment that very few home labs will ever have.The Signal Path certainly does get a "pass" !

author: bitseeker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2017, 08:19:59 pm
content: Quote from: TheSteve on January 23, 2017, 07:03:52 pmI second Steve's point here. Equipment like this is beyond what I would have ever seen in person let alone bought with the intent to attempt to repair. A treat, indeed, and every bit is interesting.

author: kcbrown
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2017, 01:15:34 am
content: Shahriar, your repair videos are always excellent, but this one was a real tour de force!I, too, will echo the sentiments here: keep the mistakes, the false starts, etc., in these videos. They're immensely valuable because they show the various ways one can follow the wrong path and how to eventually correct that.If anything, I would have loved to see a bit more of the checking of intermediate components/subsystems that you did (there's an awful lot going on with this LO board, perhaps more than most, so I think it would have been interesting to see how you tested the various parts of it), but I realize that these videos do get long and there's a balance to be struck between the length and the content.Also, I'm just astounded by your ability to examine circuits such as these and determine how they work and how they interact with each other.My hat's off to you, sir!

author: Hugoneus
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2017, 02:54:34 pm
content: Thank you all.There are a few reviews I must do and I am also looking to see what to repair next.

author: KE5FX
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2017, 01:30:16 am
content: Great video, maybe a bit slow in places but the reward was well worth the journey.That was an enviable find for $2700! And it looks like a beautifully-engineered instrument, something that you can keep going indefinitely without a lot of custom ICs to worry about. I want one now.Bummer that no schematics are available, but looking at the LO board, the circuit almost jumps out at you. The built-in diagnostics look very helpful. Now that it's working, I guess job #2 is to find a way to back up that elderly hard drive.If you're taking requests, I'd say add a couple of slow pans at high resolution to every board you examine, so we can see what the parts are. Not a real problem with the RSA 6114A video, but I thought the MSO4000 teardown was frustratingly short on detail.