Knock-off Agilent 53131A option -003 prescalers - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: Jwalling
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 14, 2017, 06:48:53 pm
content: Has anyone ever played or tested one of these?http://www.ebay.com/itm/332141807029?Do they meet HP/Agilent/Keysight specification for sensitivity?Specification is:-21dBm @ 2.7GHz to 3GHz-27dBm @ 100MHz to 2.7GHz.EDIT: Corrected model # in subject line.

author: TheSteve
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 14, 2017, 07:39:59 pm
content: I have one of the clones, can't say for certain it is the exact one linked. If it isn't it is very very similar though. It works great and meets spec.

author: technogeeky
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 02:35:13 am
content: Jwalling:This looks almost exactly like the product that Shahriar ofThe Signal Pathcharacterized, tested, and installed in his 53131A frequency counter. Maybe the board he used looks a little better, maybe it has some more vias, but it looks essentially the same.Let me know if the video is helpful.

author: Jwalling
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 11:48:41 am
content: Thanks for the link technogeeky. Very useful.

author: bingo600
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2017, 05:17:46 pm
content: I have one from a Polish seller , works fine/BingoPs: Also got one for my PM6680B , from same seller

author: TheSteve
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 17, 2017, 02:54:05 am
content: BG7TBL has another variation of the clone on ebay now - this one claims to go to 8 GHz. It is the same price as the 3 GHz.

author: Jwalling
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 17, 2017, 09:26:02 am
content: Quote from: TheSteve on May 17, 2017, 02:54:05 amNot seeing that one, Steve. Do you have a link?Or is this the one:http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-AGILENT-53131-53132-53181-8G-Simple-Option-Frequency-Counter-Input-100M-10GHz-/262740237472?hash=item3d2c89dca0:g:MKcAAOSwA3dYXNM0

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 17, 2017, 10:07:38 am
content: I have bought a similar one when I fixed my 53132A counter and it still works perfectlyhttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/agilent-53132a-repair-(and-possible-upgrade)/

author: TheSteve
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 17, 2017, 08:02:09 pm
content: Quote from: Jwalling on May 17, 2017, 09:26:02 amThat is the one. I almost bought one for testing but already have the 3 GHz version. Still it is tempting, guess I could resell my 3 GHz model. I have an 8.4 GHz signal gen so it would pair nicely.

author: Nuno_pt
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 17, 2017, 08:50:41 pm
content: This one would be a good addiction to my HP 53181, instead of the polish 3GHz version.

author: Jwalling
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 17, 2017, 09:14:23 pm
content: Quote from: TheSteve on May 17, 2017, 08:02:09 pmI don't know about that one...QuoteDoesn't meet specification (for -030 anyway).QuoteOK.QuoteI would imagine it's not very stable. Not a big deal.QuoteNot sure what they're saying there...I should probably have mentioned at the beginning that this one has a genuine Agilent -030, but it starts to crap out (unstable) at -15dBm with a 3GHz input. Maybe it's repairable?Thanks.

author: TheSteve
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 17, 2017, 09:19:31 pm
content: Likely is, it's only amplifiers and divider or two. One amp could easily be weak.

author: B1nary
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 14, 2017, 08:32:39 pm
content: On the off chance anyone is monitoring this thread . . . I am a newbie (yes I know),but, i have one of the 8G Opt 30 boards from BG7TBL. It has proven to be totally unreliable. It is also not the most sensitive clone board. Mine has died and all I can get from the seller is that it uses a HMC363 chip in a 8 pin dip package (something I already knew). All my requests for help have gone unanswered and I'm certainly not expert enough to know what wrong with the thing. I can feed it a signal at varying strengths -15dBm up to 0dBm but the counter just continues to read 8.2Ghz (apparently that is normal but it happens to be the only reading the counter shows on Ch 3). If I feed 600Mhz to pin 4 of the HMC362 I don't get anything out of any of the other pins. I tried having the seller send me a schematic so I could blunder my way around but that request has been ignored as well. If any of you here can suggest a method I can try out to verify the HMC362 chip is OK then I can go look for a problem elsewhere. I'll certainly understand if if this is too much of a newbie question to answer but thank you in advance if anyone does help. It's the only way I'm going to learn.

author: TheSteve
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 14, 2017, 08:52:26 pm
content: I guess you don't have an RF probe to verify the signals going in and out?Maybe start a thread in the repair section and post some good pictures.

author: Jwalling
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 14, 2017, 09:19:54 pm
content: I completely forgot about this thread. Turned out that it was the MB510PF prescaler chip that was bad. I bought a replacement from hkutsource, and it worked fine.

author: B1nary
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 14, 2017, 10:19:46 pm
content: No I don't have an RF probe (another 'tool' for my to buy list). I used the scope to measure the in/output for the HMC362 chip. and my DMM to see if I had any voltages on it at all. I am suspicious the chip has died. I have 5V on Pins's 1,3, and 4 but nothing anywhere else. The scope shows the input RF signal on pin 4 but again I don't see anything on any of the other pins.I'll go over to the Repair Thread and see what I can find.I really appreciate your reply.

author: texaspyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 15, 2017, 12:17:06 am
content: I have the 3 GHz and 8 GHz (supposedly counts to 10 GHz) ones. Both seem to work, but I can only generate up to 4.5 GHz. I only tried the 8 GHz one once when it came in. The 8 GHz ones are not very sensitive (I've seen mention of -10 and -15 dbm). It was only $60.

author: jadew
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2018, 12:02:21 am
content: I just started selling a variant of this 3rd channel options as well. Better sensitivity in the higher ranges than the clones (and the original) and with warranty:https://cojotech.com/hpo-030. There's also a datasheet there, if you want to compare numbers.I'll soon have a 6 GHz version, but the sensitivity specifications will be different (and the price).

author: blackbird
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2019, 08:50:52 pm
content: Quote from: jadew on August 01, 2018, 12:02:21 amAny update on the 6GHz version?

author: jadew
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2019, 11:42:11 am
content: Quote from: blackbird on June 20, 2019, 08:50:52 pmHello blackbird,It has taken me longer than I expected to get it done, but it is ready. I was actually supposed to release it 2 weeks ago, but due to delays introduced by the PCB house and DHL, I haven't. Right now I'm waiting for the customs proceedings on the final revision PCBs.I expect to have them for sale starting with next week (I doubt DHL will delivery them today).Cheers!Edit: Btw, one of the reasons for the many delays is that I decided to market it as an 8 GHz option too, because I expect a bit better than -20 dBm sensitivity at 8 GHz (the working prototype on my bench does -25 dBm at that frequency). Anyway, don't rely on these numbers too much, since I might not specify it to these levels - I'll have to build several boards and extract a typical value first.Edit 2: To put a bit of distance between my version and the Chinese one, I'll make a direct comparison between their specified sensitivity and the sensitivity I get on my current prototype (again, don't take them as final numbers, the final numbers may be worse):| Frequency | Chinese (dBm) | Cojotech (dBm) || --------- | ------------- | -------------- || 100 MHz | | -14 || 200 MHz | -5 | -26 || 500 MHz | -12 | -34 || 1 GHz | -20 | -39 || 2 GHz | | -41 || 3 GHz | | -40 || 4 GHz | | -38 || 5 GHz | | -34 || 6 GHz | | -31 || 7 GHz | | -27 || 8 GHz | -20 | -25 |

author: blackbird
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2019, 09:53:29 pm
content: I've seen the Chinese 4.2 and 8 GHz variations online but nowhere can I find reliable data and reviews. So these go to the 'if nothing else can be found' list. Hence I'm interested in the sensitivity results of your final design, of course the price of the product matters.

author: jadew
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 25, 2019, 04:36:21 am
content: With a bit of luck, I'll have a datasheet ready today and possibly a presentation video. I'm at the mercy of DHL, which seems to have a bottleneck these days in the customs department (people on vacation maybe?).Edit:Quote from: blackbird on June 24, 2019, 09:53:29 pmI've looked for information on those too, but I couldn't find much either. What I did find, were one or two threads on the forum with complaints about the quality.Edit 2: Just got word on my package, it's going to be delivered tomorrow. I'm almost tempted to just use my previous boards, since this run was for cosmetic reasons only.

author: jadew
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2019, 08:06:07 pm
content: @blackbird,https://cojotech.com/media/datasheets/HPO-080%20-%20Datasheet.pdfThey're up for sale, and I'm running a promotional discount of 15%. Unfortunately, I can only offer them with the SMA to BNC cable atm (more options will be available in the future).http://cojotech.com/hpo-080