Article: 95778 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Asimov" Subject: Re: Identifying a mystery diode Message-ID: References: <4XBtf.1549$tJ1.82@trndny01> Date: Sun, 01 Jan 2006 11:21:02 GMT "Dan Halbert" bravely wrote to "All" (31 Dec 05 20:34:08) --- on the heady topic of "Re: Identifying a mystery diode" DH> From: Dan Halbert DH> Xref: core-easynews rec.radio.amateur.homebrew:90419 DH> You could apply power it to as you would an LED (using a DH> current-limiting resistor), and take a look at it in a digital DH> camera's display. Digital cameras are somewhat sensitive to IR, even DH> though they usually have a built-in IR cut filter. Try it with an IR DH> remote control to see what I mean. DH> Dan, KB1RT IR LED makes quite sensitive IR receiver. Just power up the mystery diode near it and measure the voltage across the leads using a DMM. A*s*i*m*o*v ... Curiousity didn't kill the cat, I got him with the mower! Article: 95779 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "boners" References: <1136084951.368056.242220@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Subject: Re: RARE admission by Radio Mart L@@K Date: Sun, 1 Jan 2006 08:45:00 -0500 Message-ID: There is no scam. Radio Mart is a legetimate e-Bay reseller of refurbished ham radio equipment and accessories. There is no difference between how Radio Mart does business and other retailers like HRO, AES and others. The problem here lies with a few usenet knuckleheads and cheap bastard hams who pontificate about all so much 'sour grapes' over them. (most or all of em' being ex-hamfest dealers who just don't like e-Bay!) Something, in perspective, so common of the minority of cheap ham radio op's we all used to see at the hamfests years ago. The hams that used to walking around in dirty 10 year old clothes who never had a good word for anything or anybody so they cast their bile on that which they could or would not simply walk away from because the radio on the table was "too expensive" for them. In short it's cheap-assed cranky old men who act like spoiled 8-year-olds. If they don't like Radio-Mart you'd think they'd just go buy new stuff at HRO and AES. R-M has to be doing something right as it appears each and every auction they put up ends with someone bidding on something. I say more power to them, and if someone don't like how they do business, they can go down the street to the next corner Deli on the block and get a pastrami-on-rye from them instead. "Lenny" wrote in message news:xaidnWk3T_SCRSrenZ2dnUVZ_t6dnZ2d@comcast.com... > So, what exactly is the Radio Mart scam? > Lenny > > "Unrevealed Source" wrote in message > news:FrQtf.5665$nj1.4013@fe06.lga... > > BDK - you must be new here. (Welcome). > > > > The Radio-Mart scam is well-known to most regulars of this newsgroup. > > Most of us have him filtered out of our eBay searches. > > > > > > "BDK" wrote in message > > news:MPG.1e212285ba924974989ca4@news.buckeye-express.com... > >> In article <1136084951.368056.242220@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>, > >> miso@sushi.com says... > >>> "This receiver has not been recently or completely restored by By CHUCK > >>> RIPPLE, and $900 plus has not been spent restoring it." > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >> > >> > >> Hmm, 97.3% favorable feedback on 3600 transactions... > >> > >> What exactly is your problem with him? > >> > >> The real story...please. > >> > >> BDK > > > > > > Article: 95780 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "n9zle" Subject: No link attitude! Message-ID: Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2005 04:30:26 GMT No link attitude! http://www.n9zle.com/forum/ What is it with this no-link to other site attitude? Years ago when the internet was in its infancy just about any site would add your site as a link from theirs. In return you would do the same. But now it has come to NO-LINKS. Not even in the forums. I have had a website located on tripod for about 9 years over those nine years I had a link to qrz dot com That site received over a million hits. And many users went from that site to qrz and on-to Icomamerica dot com. I have always supported Icom. They have never given a link on their site to mine. I have always supported qrz. But of course he(AA7BQ) never put a link on his site to mine. Well you may say that "I never asked". And that is true. But recently I have noticed he has been deleting my posts. ALL OF THEM. He never contacted me telling me why. AA7BQ just deleted them. I build CIV cables and sell a few of them every week to amateur operators who want them. When I posted one on his site. I found he deleted the post soon after it was placed there. My beliefs are. 1. QRZ AKA AA7BQ no longer has the amateur radio attitude. 2. AA7BQ has gone fully commercial but calls his site "The Ham Radio Super Site" 3. AA7BQ does not have your best interest in mind. I can also prove what I am writing here. For one if he claims he is nothing but a commercial site then why does he ask for donations? If he is not a commercial site than why will he not allow me to post my CIV cables on his site? That takes care of number 2 Now for number 1 and 3. If some one knows the truth about something but keeps it from you he is a liar. No mater how you put it, he is a liar. On the QRZ site Fred is there to help you renew your license. Or so he leads you to believe so. He charges you for it. Mr. Lloyd has never revealed it to any amateurs that you can renew your license or do an address change at the fcc.gov web site for FREE. Yes TOTAL FREE at the FCC web site. The forms at the FCC web site or no harder to fill out than his. His CD. He charges 24.95 plus tax and shipping. On that CD is data he obtained from the FCC and got it for FREE, he sales it to you. Also he has software, created by programmers like MYSELF. And MODS that have been made available from the manufactures and other HAMS like ME! I have been contributing to Amateur Radio community for greater than 10 years, and have received very little for software I created. Never complained when it was copied. I have performed and created several of the MODS for various transceivers. Never asked a penny for it. I never commercialized HAM RADIO. And NEVER took money from some one for something they could get FREE else where. I am sure many of you would like to ask me "what I am going to do about it?" Here is my answer. I have created an open forum on my web site http://www.n9zle.com/forum/ There you can post a link to your own site even if it is a commercial site. You can post any ham radio equipment you have for sell on the site. You can do a callsign lookup at my site from the FCC database, not that stupid qrz thing. I will soon put together an open source database that I will sell for the price of the CD plus the true cost of shipping. About two bucks total. Once you install the database on your system, you will be able to download updates for FREE. I will make drivers available to programmers to access the database in several different languages and operating systems. I will also attempt to make the database available on the internet for FREE to download. I only ask for a little help from other HAMS like myself. I need a few elmers that are willing to moderate some of the forums. It is easy and you will find it fun. If you have any suggestions on new forums or sections please logon to my site and make a post. 73s N9ZLE Article: 95781 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: novatech@eskimo.com (Steven Swift) Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: 1 Jan 2006 21:00:17 GMT Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> "Too_Many_Tools" writes: >I need to replace an oscilloscope that has gone to the Great Test Bench >in the sky. >What Tektronix scope do you prefer? >I have always like the 7000 series...would you recommend these or >another series? >Thanks >TMT I use the new Tek DPO scopes for most work, but keep 7904 (500MHz) with high speed plug-ins and samplers for the times I need analog. You can get 7k scopes for almost nothing. The DPOs will cost a bunch. Steve. -- Steven D. Swift, novatech@eskimo.com, http://www.novatech-instr.com NOVATECH INSTRUMENTS, INC. P.O. Box 55997 206.301.8986, fax 206.363.4367 Seattle, Washington 98155 USA Article: 95782 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: 1 Jan 2006 16:17:13 -0500 Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Too_Many_Tools wrote: >I need to replace an oscilloscope that has gone to the Great Test Bench >in the sky. > >What Tektronix scope do you prefer? > >I have always like the 7000 series...would you recommend these or >another series? The 7000 series is hard to beat. It's stable, it's not that hard to work on, and there are plenty of useful plug-ins available at reasonable prices. That said, I still have a 545 on my bench at work. The calibration contract just went over to a new company and the new cal guys aren't really sure what to make of it.... --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." Article: 95783 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew Message-ID: <43B847AF.1D169241@hotmail.com> Date: Sun, 01 Jan 2006 21:20:47 +0000 From: Pooh Bear Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Scott Dorsey wrote: > Too_Many_Tools wrote: > >I need to replace an oscilloscope that has gone to the Great Test Bench > >in the sky. > > > >What Tektronix scope do you prefer? > > > >I have always like the 7000 series...would you recommend these or > >another series? > > The 7000 series is hard to beat. It's stable, it's not that hard to > work on, and there are plenty of useful plug-ins available at reasonable > prices. > > That said, I still have a 545 on my bench at work. The calibration contract > just went over to a new company and the new cal guys aren't really sure what > to make of it.... Goodness. I had to get rid of a couple of 545s years ago ( no room to keep them ). My current scope at home is a 465. Basic but nice. Graham Article: 95784 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Ignoramus32654 Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Message-ID: Date: Sun, 01 Jan 2006 22:04:57 GMT I am very happy wuth my 2445A. I still have the 475, which is like a Kalashnikov of oscilloscopes -- very simple and sturdy and has high voltage ability. I will sell the 475 though, two scopes is too much. i On 1 Jan 2006 12:49:22 -0800, Too_Many_Tools wrote: > I need to replace an oscilloscope that has gone to the Great Test Bench > in the sky. > > What Tektronix scope do you prefer? > > I have always like the 7000 series...would you recommend these or > another series? > > Thanks > > TMT > -- Article: 95785 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "James F. Mayer" References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Message-ID: Date: Sun, 01 Jan 2006 22:58:33 GMT "Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message news:1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com... >I need to replace an oscilloscope that has gone to the Great Test Bench > in the sky. > > What Tektronix scope do you prefer? > > I have always like the 7000 series...would you recommend these or > another series? > > Thanks > > TMT > I like the TEK2465, Personally I don't think that it can be beat for an analog scope. Article: 95786 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Dino Papas Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Message-ID: Date: Sun, 01 Jan 2006 18:05:21 -0500 I finally sold off my great Tek 475 and picked up a Tek 2440 -- nice to be able to "save" the display and then be able to make measurements on the signal at your leisure. Especially nice when looking at the slew rate of the slower op-amps. Dino KL0S/4 In article , "James F. Mayer" wrote: > "Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message > news:1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com... > >I need to replace an oscilloscope that has gone to the Great Test Bench > > in the sky. > > > > What Tektronix scope do you prefer? > > > > I have always like the 7000 series...would you recommend these or > > another series? > > > > Thanks > > > > TMT > > > I like the TEK2465, Personally I don't think that it can be beat for > an analog scope. Article: 95787 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Ken Scharf Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Message-ID: <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> Date: Sun, 01 Jan 2006 18:10:16 -0500 Too_Many_Tools wrote: > I need to replace an oscilloscope that has gone to the Great Test Bench > in the sky. > > What Tektronix scope do you prefer? > > I have always like the 7000 series...would you recommend these or > another series? > > Thanks > > TMT > Do you prefer Analog or Digital? Do you have room for an old tube mainframe scope, or prefer a "portable"? I have a Tek 454 that I got at a company auction years back where I used to work (paid $150 for it). The 453,453A,454, 454A series are easy to work on, and parts are available from many sources (the nuvistor tubes in the front end and the tunnel diodes in the sweep circuits can be a bit hard to find, but are available). The 485 is a look a like that is all solid state with higher BW but many do not consider it as good a scope design. I would not turn one away if it were cheap enough though, when working they do a good job. The 453,454,485 scopes have a good CRT that will give years of service. I've been told that the 465-475 series (larger tube) will suffer from CRT burn-out eventually, the 453-454-485 scopes rarely need a new crt. (The company where I got the scope from had bought spare parts to keep all their scopes going, they NEVER replaced a 453-454 crt but used up all their 465-475 crt spares). Article: 95788 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Bill Turner Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Sun, 01 Jan 2006 15:00:45 -0800 Message-ID: <66ngr1hin5creudun4004eqgp2862945ul@4ax.com> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> ORIGINAL MESSAGE: On 1 Jan 2006 12:49:22 -0800, "Too_Many_Tools" wrote: >I need to replace an oscilloscope that has gone to the Great Test Bench >in the sky. > >What Tektronix scope do you prefer? > >I have always like the 7000 series...would you recommend these or >another series? > >Thanks > >TMT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Depends on what you want to use it for. If you want an older, inexpensive, general purpose 100 Mhz scope, I think the 465B (not the 465) was the best Tek ever made. They sold for about $2500 back in the '70s and were worth every penny. Ok, I'm a bit prejudiced because I worked on the production line for both models for three years, testing and calibrating. In that time I did about 2000 of them. They have been out of production for more than 20 years now, but a good one can still be had. Shop around. Tek built them to last. 73, Bill W6WRT p.s. Actual quote from a Tektronix customer: "I gave my purchasing people instructions that they can buy any kind of scope they want, as long as they are blue and come from Beaverton, Oregon." Article: 95789 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Telamon Subject: Re: RARE admission by Radio Mart L@@K References: <1136084951.368056.242220@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <1136134407.334669.143990@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com> <11rg63gkmnagm45@corp.supernews.com> Message-ID: Date: Sun, 01 Jan 2006 23:25:38 GMT In article <11rg63gkmnagm45@corp.supernews.com>, "basfm6" wrote: > The "private" sales stem from many folks here contacting his bidders > warning them about his supposed questionable character. One or two > folks here found his online auctions and started calling him a crook, > then many more folks who have never had a single dealing with him > joined the bandwagon. Radio-Mart isn't doing anything different than > the normal used gear seller... he just doesn't hide his practices as > well. Millions of salespeople use these tactics all day long. If true > problems develop Ebay will pull his registered status or kick him > off, but he's far from being that bad. The situation concerns him, > his buyers, and Ebay... everyone else is either jealous, enjoys > causing trouble, or can't afford his stuff. If you don't like his > practices, then don't bid. > > wrote in message > news:1136134407.334669.143990@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com... > > > If Radio-Mart(RM) was an honest broker, then there would be no need > > for the private sales. "Radio-Mart isn't doing anything different than the normal used gear seller... he just doesn't hide his practices as well. Millions of salespeople use these tactics all day long." Nice justification. I'll be sure to ignore your advice in the future. Radio-Mart is into buying radios on Ebay and then turning around and selling them on Ebay for a higher price and pocketing the difference. It makes perfict sense to look for radios that are undervalued and then resell them. I and most other people have no problem with that. The problem is he does not tell the truth about where he got the radios and the condition of the radios. I don't understand why he is compelled to do tell stories about the radios he sells but it does not generally cross the line into outright fraud and treads around in a grey area so he will continue to be controversial topic in the news group. Going "private" will further take his sales into the grey area and apparently that and the story telling are risks he is willing to take. Buyer beware. I have not contacted nor am I aware of anyone else who has contacted bidders about Radio Mart auctions. They may have read about him on Usenet, which would eliminate any reason to contact them. I don't care one way or the other about Radio Mart but people that buy >from him should be informed about the way he conducts his business. -- Telamon Ventura, California Article: 95790 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Chas" References: <1136084951.368056.242220@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <1136134407.334669.143990@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com> <11rg63gkmnagm45@corp.supernews.com> Subject: Re: RARE admission by Radio Mart L@@K Message-ID: Date: Sun, 01 Jan 2006 23:28:14 GMT Yeah, right! I've been ripped off by that bastard too(along with numerous others). Claimed the radio was near perfect, found it had been repainted (not discernable from poor photo) and it smoked after I got it out of the box. Lets not forget the Shill Bidding he does from his gottahaveit account!!!!!!! Don't try to defend him, he keeps getting the same negatives after all these years which shows us, he's still playing the same games with some defective gear and covering himself with the "Private Sales". "basfm6" wrote in message news:11rg63gkmnagm45@corp.supernews.com... > The "private" sales stem from many folks here contacting his bidders > warning them about his supposed questionable character. One or two folks > here found his online auctions and started calling him a crook, then many > more folks who have never had a single dealing with him joined the > bandwagon. Radio-Mart isn't doing anything different than the normal used > gear seller... he just doesn't hide his practices as well. Millions of > salespeople use these tactics all day long. If true problems develop Ebay > will pull his registered status or kick him off, but he's far from being > that bad. The situation concerns him, his buyers, and Ebay... everyone > else is either jealous, enjoys causing trouble, or can't afford his stuff. > If you don't like his practices, then don't bid. > > wrote in message > news:1136134407.334669.143990@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com... > >> If Radio-Mart(RM) was an honest broker, then there would be no need for >> the private sales. > > Article: 95791 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "john jardine" Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Sun, 1 Jan 2006 23:36:27 -0000 Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> "Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message news:1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com... > I need to replace an oscilloscope that has gone to the Great Test Bench > in the sky. > > What Tektronix scope do you prefer? > > I have always like the 7000 series...would you recommend these or > another series? > > Thanks > > TMT > Until last month I'd treasured my Tek 7633. Cost the eqiv' of only $60, yet gave 5 years continuous, unremitting, troublefree service. Lovely bit of kit. Looked right, felt right and offered a vast, soul pleasing array of buttons and knobs. Switched on with the fan purring away, I knew that I was at one with the world. Sadly, the display character generator started to fail. Even bought a service manual and had a poke about. Joy was not to be, a Tek chip was giving up the ghost. I knew then it's life was drawing to an honourable close and another Tek scope would have to be sought. I'd previously fancied the more modern Tek 2445, so downloaded a service manual. Shock-horror!, perusal of the circuitry revealed that there is nothing in them other than a few special Tek chips. Ended up buying a 100MHz Hitachi scope (equiv of $160). It does much more than my old Tek, having benefit of modern uP aided cursors and measurements etc. It's also smaller, lighter and repairable. I love using it but I can't help feeling there's something missing that's really crucial. Something that raises an instrument from the status of 'nice' to that of 'beloved'. (probably the Tek fan :). Obviously I need to get out more. regards john Article: 95792 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: James Sweet Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Message-ID: <87_tf.3536$aB1.2558@trnddc02> Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 00:05:24 GMT Too_Many_Tools wrote: > I need to replace an oscilloscope that has gone to the Great Test Bench > in the sky. > > What Tektronix scope do you prefer? > > I have always like the 7000 series...would you recommend these or > another series? > > Thanks > > TMT > I love my 465B, depends on what you need in a scope though. Article: 95793 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Paul Burridge Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 00:12:47 +0100 Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> On 1 Jan 2006 12:49:22 -0800, "Too_Many_Tools" wrote: >I need to replace an oscilloscope that has gone to the Great Test Bench >in the sky. > >What Tektronix scope do you prefer? Tek 475. I have fancier scopes that do fancy stuff, but the 475 is an all-time *classic* par excellence. I love it so much I also use it as a decorative centrepiece for the dining room table. -- "What is now proved was once only imagin'd" - William Blake Article: 95794 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew Message-ID: <43B870FB.F6590F0C@nospamers.com> From: Rube Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 00:17:00 GMT Here is a link to the Tek forun on Yahoo, lots of great info on new and older models. perhaps you can make a few bucks parting out the older scope. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TekScopes/ Article: 95795 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: John Larkin Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Sun, 01 Jan 2006 16:20:59 -0800 Message-ID: <53sgr1l9of9o6dgv5cq6i9gq1i5c9r6jfl@4ax.com> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> On 1 Jan 2006 21:00:17 GMT, novatech@eskimo.com (Steven Swift) wrote: >"Too_Many_Tools" writes: > >>I need to replace an oscilloscope that has gone to the Great Test Bench >>in the sky. > >>What Tektronix scope do you prefer? > >>I have always like the 7000 series...would you recommend these or >>another series? > >>Thanks > >>TMT > >I use the new Tek DPO scopes for most work, but keep 7904 (500MHz) with >high speed plug-ins and samplers for the times I need analog. > >You can get 7k scopes for almost nothing. The DPOs will cost a bunch. > >Steve. 7104 is an even nicer analog scope, with its phenomenal writing rate. A used 11801 or 11802 and a sampling head will get you a 12 or 20 GHz dual-trace digital scope for under $2K, a *much* nicer sampling system than the 7000-series stuff. My everyday scope is a TDS2012, which is great for most things. You can take beautiful photos of the color screen for engr notes, manuals, or test procedures. Great plugin: 7A22 (or 1A7A, for the 547) which has switchable bandwidth and differential input down to 10 uV/cm. John Article: 95796 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Mike Andrews" Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Mon, 2 Jan 2006 00:44:08 +0000 (UTC) Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <43B847AF.1D169241@hotmail.com> In rec.radio.amateur.homebrew Pooh Bear wrote: > Scott Dorsey wrote: >> Too_Many_Tools wrote: >> >I need to replace an oscilloscope that has gone to the Great Test Bench >> >in the sky. >> > >> >What Tektronix scope do you prefer? >> > >> >I have always like the 7000 series...would you recommend these or >> >another series? >> >> The 7000 series is hard to beat. It's stable, it's not that hard to >> work on, and there are plenty of useful plug-ins available at reasonable >> prices. >> >> That said, I still have a 545 on my bench at work. The calibration contract >> just went over to a new company and the new cal guys aren't really sure what >> to make of it.... > Goodness. I had to get rid of a couple of 545s years ago ( no room to keep them > ). > My current scope at home is a 465. Basic but nice. Tek 465M (465B plus digital meter stuff) is my favorite of the ones in the shop. Next fave is a non-Tek: Phillips PM3055. -- Mike Andrews W5EGO 5WPM mikea@mikea.ath.cx Extra Tired old sysadmin working on his code speed Article: 95797 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Arthur Harrison" References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Message-ID: <%Q_tf.214981$qk4.114848@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net> Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 00:54:19 GMT My favorite for LF analog work (<200MHz) is the is the Tek TAS485 They stopped making this, along with all their analog scopes, which is a cryin' shame, since digital really isn't good for everything. -Art "Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message news:1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com... > I need to replace an oscilloscope that has gone to the Great Test Bench > in the sky. > > What Tektronix scope do you prefer? > > I have always like the 7000 series...would you recommend these or > another series? > > Thanks > > TMT > Article: 95798 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Jim Yanik Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: 2 Jan 2006 01:50:43 GMT Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <1136164871.509477.182630@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com> "Too_Many_Tools" wrote in news:1136164871.509477.182630@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com: > Does anyone have a history of the 7000 series? What you want is the book "Winning with People;The First 40 Years of Tektronix",by Marshall M.Lee,published by Tektronix,10/86 There's no ISBN number,though.Maybe you can find a copy on Ebay. It's a fantastic story about Tek from start to the late 1980's. Unfortunately,it does not cover the decline of Tek. > The newer > scopes are reaching the point of throw away status with no parts > available and if by chance they are, the price prevents a reasonable > repair. That is the new TEK. -- Jim Yanik jyanik at kua.net Article: 95799 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew Message-ID: <43B88AF8.7D07133B@hotmail.com> Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 02:07:52 +0000 From: Pooh Bear Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <66ngr1hin5creudun4004eqgp2862945ul@4ax.com> <4de2aa6286dave@davenoise.co.uk> "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote: > In article <66ngr1hin5creudun4004eqgp2862945ul@4ax.com>, > Bill Turner wrote: > > If you want an older, inexpensive, general purpose 100 Mhz scope, I > > think the 465B (not the 465) was the best Tek ever made. They sold for > > about $2500 back in the '70s and were worth every penny. > > Yup. Does everything most need from a scope. But in the UK, they still > fetch decent money. You'll find them regularly on ebay btw. I'd rather like a 2465 though. They do indeed fetch quite a fair price still. Graham Article: 95800 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Bill Turner Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Sun, 01 Jan 2006 18:05:09 -0800 Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> ORIGINAL MESSAGE: On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 00:12:47 +0100, Paul Burridge wrote: >I have fancier scopes that do fancy stuff, but the 475 is an all-time >*classic* par excellence. I love it so much I also use it as a >decorative centrepiece for the dining room table. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now there's my kind of guy!! 73, Bill W6WRT Article: 95801 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Spehro Pefhany Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Sun, 01 Jan 2006 23:47:45 -0500 Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 18:05:09 -0800, the renowned Bill Turner wrote: > >ORIGINAL MESSAGE: > >On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 00:12:47 +0100, Paul Burridge > wrote: > >>I have fancier scopes that do fancy stuff, but the 475 is an all-time >>*classic* par excellence. I love it so much I also use it as a >>decorative centrepiece for the dining room table. > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >Now there's my kind of guy!! > >73, Bill W6WRT He's crocheted the nicest doily and 'scope cosy for it too. Best regards, Spehro Pefhany -- "it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com Article: 95802 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Robert Baer Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Message-ID: Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 06:38:03 GMT Scott Dorsey wrote: > Too_Many_Tools wrote: > >>I need to replace an oscilloscope that has gone to the Great Test Bench >>in the sky. >> >>What Tektronix scope do you prefer? >> >>I have always like the 7000 series...would you recommend these or >>another series? > > > The 7000 series is hard to beat. It's stable, it's not that hard to > work on, and there are plenty of useful plug-ins available at reasonable > prices. > > That said, I still have a 545 on my bench at work. The calibration contract > just went over to a new company and the new cal guys aren't really sure what > to make of it.... > --scott Well, you *could* earn consulting fees to train them... Article: 95803 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Bill Turner Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Sun, 01 Jan 2006 22:19:18 -0800 Message-ID: <2ehhr1177a399sv3eildusvc9hnfb4jt32@4ax.com> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> ORIGINAL MESSAGE: On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 23:47:45 -0500, Spehro Pefhany wrote: >He's crocheted the nicest doily and 'scope cosy for it too. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. :-) 73, Bill W6WRT Article: 95804 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: john_c@tpg.com.au (John Crighton) Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 07:08:18 GMT Message-ID: <43b8cb5f.32800902@free.teranews.com> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <66ngr1hin5creudun4004eqgp2862945ul@4ax.com> On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 15:00:45 -0800, Bill Turner wrote: > >If you want an older, inexpensive, general purpose 100 Mhz scope, I >think the 465B (not the 465) was the best Tek ever made. They sold for >about $2500 back in the '70s and were worth every penny. > >Ok, I'm a bit prejudiced because I worked on the production line for >both models for three years, testing and calibrating. In that time I >did about 2000 of them. Hello Bill, you specifically say "465B (not the 465) was the best Tek ever made" Can you elaborate a little bit more there Bill. As a Tekscope enthusiast, I am just interested to know what the improvements were to the 465B over the 465 to make it more highly sought after. Regards, John Crighton Sydney Article: 95805 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: john_c@tpg.com.au (John Crighton) Subject: Re: 6v & 90v DC Power supply Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 08:25:53 GMT Message-ID: <43b0e5c3.11480811@free.teranews.com> References: On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 02:02:15 GMT, "James F. Mayer" wrote: > I need to generate 6v DC and 90v DC from a 12v DC automotive electrical >system to power an RT-70A/GRC surplus military radio. I need about 250 mA >at +6 volts and about 75 mA at +90 volts. I was thinking about using the >guts from an old battery back up but it would be a bit of a kluge. Are >there any 90 volt regulators in the 78xx series? How do I get the voltage >up to where I can get something that I can get the 90 volts from. Getting >the 6 volts doesn't seem to be a problem. A 7806 off the battery should >work for that unless any of you can see a problem doing that. Maybe the >common common would be a problem. Right now I'm running it off of an HP6299A >and an HP6236B with commons jumpered. I'd like to be able to go portable >with it. > > Hello again James, I just came across this site while looking for something else. http://web.telia.com/~u85920178/use/tubepsu.htm Look at the the 6V AC from 12 V DC. Nifty! Here is another http://www.i4at.org/lib2/inverter.htm You want DC out so you will have to fit a bridge rectifier and filter capacitors to the output of the transformer just like Harry Lythall's circuit above. Regards, John Crighton Sydney Article: 95806 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: john_c@tpg.com.au (John Crighton) Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 08:24:23 GMT Message-ID: <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 18:10:16 -0500, Ken Scharf wrote: >I have a Tek 454 that I got at a company auction years back where >I used to work (paid $150 for it). The 453,453A,454, 454A series >are easy to work on, Hello Ken, I also have a Tek 454. I bought that model because I read on groups like this that it is "easy" to work on. I must respectively disagree with you. My 454 is "not easy" to work on and yet I see people saying that it is. I am just wondering if you are repeating what you have read on the internet supporting a Myth that the 454 is easy to work on or speaking from practical experience. I would like to clean the switch wafers of the main timebase switch. My 454 is put together like an onion. How do I "easily" gain access to this switch, which is buried in the heart of the onion? Slip the covers off your instrument, yes that is very easy, a matter of seconds. Now have a look and tell me how to clean the timebase switch? How many hours would it take to remove the soldered wiring off the boards so that they can be removed to gain access to the switch and then solder the wires back with nice factory quality solder joints, not with quick blob soldering with insulation peeling back off the wires. Quality work only. Several minutes work would be easy if there was connectors on the boards but not in this scope. When we talk about "hours" we are in a different category......pain in the butt/difficult. How long would it take you, Ken, to clean the switch >from woa to go? Scope back up and working? How long would it take you to remove the fan, fan wiring tag strips and fan mounting brackets? How do you get your screw driver on the screws holding the brackets when there are modules covering them up? Just have a quick look then come back and tell me if you still reckon this scope is easy to work on, in the inner sanctums. Regards, John Crighton Sydney Article: 95807 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Spajky Subject: Re: Antenna gain vs. isotrophic (teorethical) one Message-ID: <8962r1931akpn3quae86g0el86n643l6sp@4ax.com> References: <11r1fveeaps4ib8@corp.supernews.com> Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 11:42:41 +0100 On Mon, 26 Dec 2005 20:15:41 -0800, Roy Lewallen wrote: >hat a thin half wave dipole in free space >has a gain of about 2.15 dBi. If you make the dipole shorter, the gain >decreases slightly ...... >...has dropped to 1.76 dBi. ... > The gain of a lossless quarter wave dipole in free space is about 1.84 dBi.... >Over a perfect ground plane of infinite extent, the gains of antennas >typically increase by about 3 dB compared to free space. In the case of >a free space dipole vs. a quarter wavelength antenna over a perfect >ground plane, the difference is exactly 3 dB. This is because they have >exactly the same radiation pattern (except of course, that the half >pattern of the vertical below the ground plane is missing), but the same >amount of power is being concentrated in half the volume. Consequently, >the gain of a 1/4 wave vertical over a perfect and infinite ground plane >is about 5.15 dBi. This also can't be achieved in practice because there >isn't any such thing as a perfect ground plane of infinite extent. Roy, thanks for detailed explanation :-) I got now some stuff clarified even more than enough! :-) (btw, the old book I mentioned was written 20y ago from a "local" radioamateur [prof.& dr.] one, I use it much. & there I saw the comparision chart of different type of basic antennas; so must be kind of a mistake there like it looks, the reference of 0dB was set as halfwave dipole there...) Roy I have also another 2 quick questions for short answers: - if I connect to a 50ohm TX out a cable of 75ohms (w/o "perfect" Z transform add_on there), I can aspect approx. 1: 1,5 SWR [50:75] & because of Z miss-match I will loose no more than 0,5dB (that same my book states for that SWR in some diagram); yes I know that is in "ideal" conditions & TX is only 50mW ... could you confirm me briefly that? - next : twin-lead/symetric cable of only half wavelenght (or 3x,5x etc. half wavelenghts, shorted by a velocity factor sure) mirrors the input Z to its end; does a coaksial cable do the same at the same lenght or for that is a different simplified formula? TIA! -- Seasons Greetings & Regards , SPAJKY ® mail addr. @ my site @ http://www.spajky.vze.com more than 3y - "Tualatin OC-ed / BX-Slot1 / inaudible setup!" Article: 95808 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Paul VK3DIP" References: Subject: Re: Identifying a mystery diode Message-ID: <%A6uf.166743$V7.71130@news-server.bigpond.net.au> Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 09:43:23 GMT Hi, Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I tried putting 5 mA through it ( approx 1.6v forward voltage) and examining it closely with a camera that I tested as being good at seeing IR and nothing showed. I am leaning towards the high voltage theory of two series silicon diodes in the one package. Anybody know a manufacturer of these sorts of things or even what the package type is called? Paul. "Allodoxaphobia" wrote in message news:slrndrdauk.21g6.bit-bucket@shell.config.com... > On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 00:05:28 GMT, Paul VK3DIP wrote: >> Hi all I recently purchased a bag of unmarked supposedly diodes and I am snip it is the top one >> in this picture. >> http://www.users.bigpond.com/pmcmahon/mysterydiode.jpg >> > > Don't count it out as not being an LED. Some opaque-to-the-human-eye > packages are, in fact, quite clear in either the IR or UV range. > It could be an IR LED. (There's been many cases where light-sensitive, > 'ordinary' diodes caused 'problems' in circuits on a well lit workbench. > The 'thing' would work one way in a buttoned-up case, and another way > under test.) > > HTH > Jonesy > -- > Marvin L Jones | jonz | W3DHJ | linux > Pueblo, Colorado | @ | Jonesy | OS/2 __ > 38.24N 104.55W | config.com | DM78rf | SK Article: 95809 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Winfield Hill Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: 2 Jan 2006 02:50:58 -0800 Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> John Crighton wrote... > > I would like to clean the switch wafers of the main > timebase switch. My 454 is put together like an onion. > How do I "easily" gain access to this switch, > which is buried in the heart of the onion? I hope you're giving a hypothetical example, because if you really do need to "clean" a Tektronix scope switch, your scope may already be a lost cause. Time to move on. -- Thanks, - Win Article: 95810 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Bill Turner Subject: Re: 6v & 90v DC Power supply Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 06:38:49 -0800 Message-ID: <6fk2r11b5k6kt71t6f3r5m2p7p92e99c26@4ax.com> References: <43b0c4ec.3072303@free.teranews.com> ORIGINAL MESSAGE: On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 05:58:18 GMT, john_c@tpg.com.au (John Crighton) wrote: > >Hello James, >Speaking as a cheapskate ham/hobbyist, how >about salvaging parts from a computer power supply. >Find a dud power supply for free at computer >shops/dumpsters/rubbish tips/roadside etc. >Salvage the TL494 integrated circuit that can >be found in many computer power supplies. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Excellent info, John. Thanks!! 73, Bill W6WRT Article: 95811 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "RST Engineering" References: Subject: Re: 6v & 90v DC Power supply Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 08:16:42 -0800 Message-ID: Do it the way the original radio did it -- dynamotor. You can still find them in the back room at a lot of military surplus electronics junk stores. Jim Article: 95812 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Alan Holmes" References: <1135241252.682964.182400@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <1135242601.245634.261180@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <1135245362.058528.81080@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com> <1135370509.748923.7290@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com> <1135374846.000671.83930@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com> <1135418934.958101.120670@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <1135437521.218168.19780@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <1135442972.756328.21500@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com> <43ae73b8$0$23286$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk> Subject: Re: The infantile and abusive public face of Wood & Douglas Message-ID: Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 16:20:57 GMT "DieSea" wrote in message news:43ae73b8$0$23286$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk... > >> >> ROTFL! >> >> 73 de Wlat >> >> -- > > Pot calling Kettle me thinks Somehow I think you have missed the point, try reading the article again. I thought it was funny as well. Why is it crossposted to so many groups? Alan > > > > Happy Christmas All > > > > DieSea > > Article: 95813 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Alan Holmes" References: <1135342081.128309.88930@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com> Subject: Re: A Merry Solstice To All Our Readers Message-ID: Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 16:33:14 GMT "Galen, W8LNA" wrote in message news:MvSqf.193$qg.182@news02.roc.ny... > Pierian Spring wrote: >> Now that the onslaught of rather silly and infantile >> tirades from the closet CBers... > > Sorry for the delay, I was over on the LinRadio console actually doing ham > radio (it's sunrise here) instead of provoking what could be described as > the 21st century version of Inspiration for the Sex Pistols. > > Where were we? Oh yes, > > If you were a real ham radio op you'd be on the radio instead of playing > Lord of the Gnats. Wasn't one posting enough for you? Alan > > Twit. > -W8LNA Article: 95814 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Bill Turner Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 07:07:38 -0800 Message-ID: <23gir1t52clig3039ng97i7jrmfjj2mj94@4ax.com> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <66ngr1hin5creudun4004eqgp2862945ul@4ax.com> <43b8cb5f.32800902@free.teranews.com> ORIGINAL MESSAGE: On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 07:08:18 GMT, john_c@tpg.com.au (John Crighton) wrote: >Hello Bill, >you specifically say "465B (not the 465) was the best Tek ever made" > >Can you elaborate a little bit more there Bill. As a Tekscope >enthusiast, I am just interested to know what the improvements >were to the 465B over the 465 to make it more highly sought after. > >Regards, >John Crighton >Sydney ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In spite of having the number in common, the 465 and 465B are completely different scopes. Their performance specs are nearly identical but inside the box, their circuitry is completely different. The "B" is much easier to calibrate and uses soldered-in transistors instead of socketed ones, a great advantage especially when the scope gets old and sockets start to get cranky. I wouldn't turn down a 465 if that was the only thing available, but all us calibration techs greatly preferred the 465B. 73, Bill W6WRT Article: 95815 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Bill Turner Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 07:12:25 -0800 Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> ORIGINAL MESSAGE: On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 08:24:23 GMT, john_c@tpg.com.au (John Crighton) wrote: >I also have a Tek 454. I bought that model >because I read on groups like this that it is "easy" >to work on. I must respectively disagree with you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John is right. Tek scopes are not "easy" to work on, at least not the solid state ones. My first day on the job as a 465 calibration tech I went home with a headache and almost called in the next day and quit. I had done TV repair for 20 years but had never seen such complicated, unfamiliar circuitry or construction. Fortunately I stuck it out and came to appreciate them for what they were: The best scopes in the world. 73, Bill W6WRT Article: 95816 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Bill Turner Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 07:21:22 -0800 Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> ORIGINAL MESSAGE: On 2 Jan 2006 02:50:58 -0800, Winfield Hill wrote: > I hope you're giving a hypothetical example, because if > you really do need to "clean" a Tektronix scope switch, > your scope may already be a lost cause. Time to move on. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If Tek scopes of that vintage have one Achilles heel, it's the tiny fork-shaped switch contacts used in many places throughout the unit.. Rarely do they need "cleaning", but rather the contact presssure needs to be increased slighty. If you know how to do it, it's a quick, easy fix, but if you don't you can easily destroy the contact. Because the "fork" of the switch was designed to press against gold plating, they made the contact pressure as light as possible to prolong the life of the relatively soft gold. In some cases, it is just too light and erratic operation is the result. Here's how to do it right: With a small screwdriver, gently push against the "U" of the fork, just a tiny amount. The idea is you want to bend the fork down WITHOUT bending the spring it is attached to. Under no circumstances try to bend the spring or you will almost certainly destroy it. Bend only the little gold fork, and bend it only a very small amount. Done right, it works every time. 73, Bill W6WRT Article: 95817 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "DrDeath" Subject: Re: A Merry Solstice To All Our Readers Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 20:15:23 -0600 Message-ID: <11r3t9s73hmdsbc@corp.supernews.com> References: <1135342081.128309.88930@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com> <20a51$43b1be11$d1cc7923$32224@snip.allthenewsgroups.com> "Uncle Bobbolink" wrote in message news:20a51$43b1be11$d1cc7923$32224@snip.allthenewsgroups.com... > The folllowing is from the URL: http://www.fuckchristmas.org/ > snipped of stupidity My kids school no longer has x-mas plays. They are not allowed to pray in school. In her religion class, they do not study any form of Christianity. Bill O'Reilly was cleared of the sex allegations,and if you would have kept up with that bit of the news, you would know that Bill O'Reilly's lowers WANTED them to release the alleged tapes because there were none. I could go on, but it would be a waste of bandwidth and your going to believe what you want no matter what I say. Article: 95818 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Spajky Subject: Re: Antenna gain vs. isotrophic (teorethical) one Message-ID: <9833r1ll6os644jtvhktj10pomtr9m1dvo@4ax.com> References: <1135696463.832106.44160@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 20:02:26 +0100 On 27 Dec 2005 07:14:23 -0800, "Saandy , 4Z5KS" wrote: >quarter wave vertical over ground plane has 0.13 dBi gain. >a dipole IN FREE SPACE!!!! has a gain of 2.15 dBi. >a 5 eights wavelength vertical has a gain of 3 dBi. >so now you have them set up in correct order. >just add the lower gain from the higher one to get the difference. also thanks to you & Merry Hollidays+Happy new year! :-) -- Seasons Greetings & Regards , SPAJKY ® mail addr. @ my site @ http://www.spajky.vze.com more than 3y - "Tualatin OC-ed / BX-Slot1 / inaudible setup!" Article: 95819 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Bart Rowlett Subject: Re: 6v & 90v DC Power supply Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 08:19:23 -0800 Message-ID: References: On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 02:02:15 +0000, James F. Mayer wrote: > I need to generate 6v DC and 90v DC from a 12v DC automotive electrical > system to power an RT-70A/GRC surplus military radio. I need about 250 mA > at +6 volts and about 75 mA at +90 volts. I was thinking about using the > guts from an old battery back up but it would be a bit of a kluge. Are > there any 90 volt regulators in the 78xx series? How do I get the voltage > up to where I can get something that I can get the 90 volts from. Probably the easiest is to obtain one of the original power supplies. Most installations using the RT-70 were in conjunction with an RT-66/RT-67 or RT-68 and an audio distribution amplifier. A separate vibrator power supply was supplied those cases where the RT-70 was used 'stand alone'. One approach to homebrewing a vehicular power supply is to mimic the original vibrator supply. Provide the heater supply through dropping resistors and emulate the vibrator supply by building an inverter using a pair of switching transistors and a junk 60 Hz power transformer. Regulation isn't necessary if you get the right transformer. The only thing the least bit tricky with this approach is properly snubbing the primary leakage inductance to prevent destroying the switching transistors. Probably the most compact approach is to build a flyback supply with both a six and 90 volt output. Regulate the 6 volt output and let the 90 volt output track. The advantage of the flyback supply is that it can be designed to operate over a wide range of input voltages while maintaining a regulated output. In addition, the overall size will be much smaller due to the high switching frequencies (300 kHz typical) used by modern flyback controller chips. >Getting > the 6 volts doesn't seem to be a problem. A 7806 off the battery should > work for that unless any of you can see a problem doing that. Maybe the > common common would be a problem. Right now I'm running it off of an HP6299A > and an HP6236B with commons jumpered. I'd like to be able to go portable > with it. Article: 95820 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: PaulCsouls Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 17:53:28 GMT On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 07:21:22 -0800, Bill Turner wrote: > >ORIGINAL MESSAGE: > >On 2 Jan 2006 02:50:58 -0800, Winfield Hill > wrote: > >> I hope you're giving a hypothetical example, because if >> you really do need to "clean" a Tektronix scope switch, >> your scope may already be a lost cause. Time to move on. > > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >If Tek scopes of that vintage have one Achilles heel, it's the tiny >fork-shaped switch contacts used in many places throughout the unit.. > >Rarely do they need "cleaning", but rather the contact presssure needs >to be increased slighty. If you know how to do it, it's a quick, easy >fix, but if you don't you can easily destroy the contact. > >Because the "fork" of the switch was designed to press against gold >plating, they made the contact pressure as light as possible to >prolong the life of the relatively soft gold. In some cases, it is >just too light and erratic operation is the result. > >Here's how to do it right: With a small screwdriver, gently push >against the "U" of the fork, just a tiny amount. The idea is you want >to bend the fork down WITHOUT bending the spring it is attached to. >Under no circumstances try to bend the spring or you will almost >certainly destroy it. Bend only the little gold fork, and bend it only >a very small amount. Done right, it works every time. > >73, Bill W6WRT I just had a 485 go flaky. I had to push on the front cover to get it to work. Is there a web site or a book that would help me get it going again? Thanks PaulC Article: 95821 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Rich Grise Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 19:07:21 GMT On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 12:49:22 -0800, Too_Many_Tools wrote: > I need to replace an oscilloscope that has gone to the Great Test Bench > in the sky. > > What Tektronix scope do you prefer? > > I have always like the 7000 series...would you recommend these or > another series? > > Thanks > > TMT If Tektronix scopes are still as good as I've always known them to be, then the only consideration should be your budget. Then get the toppest-of-the-line you can afford. Have Fun! Rich Article: 95822 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Paul Burridge Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 20:21:03 +0100 Message-ID: <06vir11bgn46e0vsjcveg3ub8oe8psqr14@4ax.com> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 08:24:23 GMT, john_c@tpg.com.au (John Crighton) wrote: >On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 18:10:16 -0500, Ken Scharf > wrote: > > >>I have a Tek 454 that I got at a company auction years back where >>I used to work (paid $150 for it). The 453,453A,454, 454A series >>are easy to work on, > > >Hello Ken, >I also have a Tek 454. I bought that model >because I read on groups like this that it is "easy" >to work on. I must respectively disagree with you. I came across this on the 'net, which may or may not be useful in your particular case, John... How to FIX the Fuzzy/Wide Trace on Your Tek 465 or 475 Scope! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cleaning the Volts/Div Attenuator Switch Contacts in Tektronix 4XX Oscilloscopes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It might work wonders for your classic Tektronix 400-series scope. And you can probably do it yourself, even if you've never opened a scope, before! (C) Copyright 2004, by Thomas P. Gootee -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is a copy of the procedure that I sent to a guy with a Tek 475 that had a fuzzy trace, and "distorted" when he adjusted the volts/div knob. His original email is below, followed by my reply. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------- Original message -------- From: "Mike D" To: "tomg@fullnet.com" Date: 01-30-03 08:41 Do you repair scopes? I have a tek 475 that powers up but is very fuzzy and distorts when adjusting the volts/division knob. I don't know if its worth repairing or if you can reccomend a better scope from your stock for a comparable price. Thank You Mike -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike, Yes. I do repair *lots* of oscilloscopes. I do it mainly for in-house instruments that are to be resold. But, I also do it occasionally on a fee-for-service basis. The symptoms you describe sound familiar and it sounds like a pretty easy repair job, which I could complete for $50. However, depending on your location, if you are in the continental USA, the shipping could be $20 to $30 or more, each way. So, let me tell you what I would try first and maybe you can do it yourself. (I'd hate to see someone spend more than $100 for something that they might be able to do in less than 30 to 60 minutes.) Without seeing the scope myself, I could easily be wrong. But, from your description, my opinion is that, most-likely, the switch contacts in the volts/div attenuators (and/or also in the trigger-view and bandwidth-limiter) are dirty or oxidized. They are very easy to get to and to clean. And, although it might sound a little daunting to a first-timer, it really isn't difficult at all, requires only very-basic tools and supplies, and will probably work wonders for your scope's performance. Here is the basic procedure: Unplug the scope and place it on a large, flat, smooth surface, such as a table or floor. Remove the scope's case: Start by removing the four screws in the rear panel's cord-wrap feet. They may be either Phillips-head or "star" (Torx) types. The feet may come off along with the screws. There are usually also two other screws, near the top and bottom of the rear panel, in the center. Remove them, too. After all six of the screws have been removed, rotate the carry-handle up and out of the way of the front panel, probably to the "straight up" position. It is recommended that you stand the scope on its front panel end and pull the case up and off. But, if you DON'T have a front panel COVER, you can either try it anyway, hopefully on a padded surface (and carefully!), or else just leave the scope sitting on its feet. >From the rear of the scope, with your fingers on the sides of the case, push on the rear panel with your thumbs. If the scope is not standing on its front panel end, you will need to be very careful, as the scope slides out of the case, to also support the front end, keeping it up, so the bottom front edge of the case does not damage any of the internal parts of the scope by scraping against them. Note that if the scope's CASE is DENTED, especially if it's dented on a corner-edge, it could be *VERY* difficult to remove the scope from its case! It might then require *QUITE* A BIT of brute force, pushing on the rear panel (or pulling on the edges of the front panel) and pulling on the rear edges (or pushing on the front edges) of the case. (Sometimes, in that situation, it helps to alternate between trying to move the left and right sides; and maybe even also to alternate between moving the top and bottom.) After the scope is out (whew!), see the note in the next paragraph, and then carefully stand the scope on its SIDE, so that the vertical board, on the side of the scope, behind the v/div knobs, is facing UP. NOTE! I usually try to lift and move the scope's internal assembly ONLY by the edges of the front panel (or CRT bezel) and rear panel, or other solid structural/steel parts. And be careful not to set the scope on any objects or uneven surfaces that might touch any of the internal components. Just behind the volts/div knobs, inside the scope, there are two silver, metal "boxes", which house the attenuator/switch assemblies. Remove all of the necessary screws to open the top of one of the boxes. (Do only one box at a time.) Inside the box, there are four little rectangular, plastic "attenuator modules", each usually labeled with "somenumber X" (e.g. "4X"). Using a longnose pliers, or something similar (or whatever works), grasp one of them and pull *straight* up, to remove it. I'm not sure if they're static-sensitive, or not. But, just in case they are, I would lay it either on an all-metal part of the scope, or on a piece of aluminum foil, or something like that (i.e. on bare metal), with the pins facing down. I usually only remove one attenuator module at a time, just so I don't get them mixed up. But you could do two at a time, if it's more convenient (which it often is). While looking at the area of the circuit board where the attenuator module came from, rotate the corresponding v/div switch back and forth, until you can see which positions raise and lower the tiny gold U-shaped double-contact sets, up and down, from/to the circuit board. Cut a small piece of clean, white paper, as lint-free as possible, into a thin strip, a little wider than one set of contacts, and long enough for you to handle/manipulate (probably something like three or four inches long and 3/16"-or-so wide?). Do not use cloth, which might snag, or anything abrasive. (You may need to cut new pieces, periodically, as you go through this procedure.) Turn the volts/div knob, to raise the set of contacts that you're about to clean, up and away from the board. Carefully slide one end of the paper under the contacts. Apply a drop or two (or three) of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol to the paper, under the contacts. It's OK to get it on the contacts, board, etc, too. I assume that the more concentrated the isopropyl is, the better. But I've had good results using the plain 70% drugstore type, and the 90% drugstore type. (The results would probably be even better if you use Caig's "De-Oxit" product, for the cleaning, followed by Caig's "Pro-Gold". They're available at Caig's Website.) Immediately turn the volts/div switch so that the contacts are lowered against the paper and then (carefully!) pull the paper *straight* out >from under the contacts. This should probably be repeated several times for each set of contacts. Be careful. If you bend the contacts, you may be in trouble. And they are *quite* fragile. But, it should be fine as long as you try to pull the paper as parallel to the board as possible. Certainly, don't ever pull straight *upward* on it, and not even more upward than sideways. Also, NOTE that a couple of the contact-pairs, the two that are nearest to the front of the scope, are raised and lowered by the AC/GND/DC lever-switch, instead of by the volts/div switch. When all of the visible contacts have been cleaned that way, replace the attenuator module, carefully, by pushing its pins back into the holes in the circuit board and then pushing it all the way in. (It might not hurt to also clean the attenuator module's pins, although I've never needed to, nor tried to.) [If you *DO* happen to have some of Caig's "De-Oxit" product, it might be good to apply a tiny amount to each pin of each attenuator block. I usually also apply it to the metal shield, wherever it makes contact with the screws or their mountings (and the the screw-posts/mountings themselves), and wherever the shield makes contact with any other metal surfaces, and also on those metal surfaces themselves. And the screws themselves should also be treated, as should any nearby "ground" screws (i.e. loosen, treat/clean, and re-seat). ALSO, make sure that you treat the grounding "spring" that protrudes up from one of the screws, where the crew touches it, and on its top where it touches the scope's case (and also do that part of the inside of the case). You can often SEE the difference in color of the metal, as the oxidation is removed, especially if you use the concentrated form of De-Oxit that comes in the small plastic "needle-dropper" bottle.] Replace any attenuator modules that won't be in the way, any more. Then, remove the next attenuator module(s) and repeat the above procedures, until you've gotten to all of the switch contacts in the "box". When one whole channel's switches are done, replace the metal cover over the attenuator/switch assembly and do the second channel in exactly the same way (or, what the heck, maybe *better*, if that was your first time...). [NOTE that the "fingers" that may be on one side of the shield/box need to go back into the same position that they were in before the top was removed.] Now that you know what the tiny, gold switch contacts LOOK like, you will be able to much-more-easily find the SIMILAR ones that are on the SAME circuit board, but are toward the REAR of the scope, near the middle of the board. There is no cover over them. So they're MUCH easier to get to. There should be one group of four of them and another group of two of them. Moving the Bandwidth-Limiter and Trigger-View controls, on the front panel, will raise and lower them. Clean them in the same way as described above, for the attenuator switch contacts. One OTHER thing to check: (I'm not sure, at the moment, if this is only for the 465 model, or if it also applies to the 475:) JUST behind the metal attenuator/switch shield "boxes", there may be a screw that connects a metal piece of the box/shield to the circuit board. If that screw is loose (which I have seen on about a third of the 465 scopes I've worked on!), or if it doesn't make good contact, you may see very noticeable effects in the trace(s), such as fuzziness or distortion, and may see trace-distortion effects when adjusting the trigger-level control (possibly especially-so at the highest frequencies), and possibly other triggering problems. If cleaning the switch contacts doesn't fix the problems you're having with the "fuzzy" or wide trace, and the attenuator switch anomalies, further diagnosis and repair may be necessary. Let me know if you try this, and how it works. If you would still like me to work on your scope, just let me know. And let me know if I can be of more help. Thanks again! Best regards, Tom Tom Gootee tomg@fullnet.com http://www.fullnet.com/u/tomg -- "What is now proved was once only imagin'd" - William Blake Article: 95823 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Phil Hobbs Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 15:41:26 -0500 Message-ID: <43B98FF6.8080307@us.ibm.com> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <53sgr1l9of9o6dgv5cq6i9gq1i5c9r6jfl@4ax.com> John Larkin wrote: > > 7104 is an even nicer analog scope, with its phenomenal writing rate. Seconded. That microchannel plate CRT is a thing of great beauty. I used to use one with the Polaroid film plate on the front when I was a grad student. They had a pretty nice analog storage scope whose number I forget--it was a portable and looked a lot like a 485. > > A used 11801 or 11802 and a sampling head will get you a 12 or 20 GHz > dual-trace digital scope for under $2K, a *much* nicer sampling system > than the 7000-series stuff. I have an 11801A that I use all the time, with the 40 GHz sampling head. I got it for about a fifth of the cost of the overpriced modern version. LeCroy is selling a 100 GHz sampling scope, which uses the Picosecond Pulse Labs 100 GHz sampler. Used to be that LeCroy made nice user interfaces but couldn't build a vertical amplifier to save their lives. Cheers, Phil Hobbs Article: 95824 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: boB_K7IQ Subject: Re: Building a "Robinson Crusoe" Battery Date: 2 Jan 2006 15:25:02 -0600 Message-ID: References: <1136229191.768561.62190@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <43b98fda.772495@news.clear.net.nz> I have thought about this before. I would hope there was at least some wire to hook up the battery. How would you make wire ? Maybe this island has some metal of some sort on it for both purposes. boB On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 21:06:02 GMT, phoneme@025379386.for.email.address (Eric Sears) wrote: >On 2 Jan 2006 11:13:11 -0800, "Too_Many_Tools" > wrote: > >>Reading the thread on the Voltaic pile in sci.chem.electrochem.battery, >>I started considering what would one have to do to build a "Robinson >>Crusoe" battery to power equipment in an emergency. >> >>Assuming a battery of 12v and respectable current to power >>communications equipment, how would you do it? > >I wonder what you envisage as "respectable"? I guess 0.5 to 2 amps >might be useful. You would certainly want to minimise power usage in >an emergency situation. > >> >>What materials would you use? >> >>How would you charge it? > >I guess it mostly depends on what you have available. >Your assumption seems to be a "rechargeable" battery - but I suspect >that a primary battery would be easier. >For a rechargeable - a lead cell would be simplest provided you can >find some. If you cannot get acid - sodium bicarbonate works tolerably >well (it works quite well in a number of cells and does not cause the >"chlorine" problems of cells that use salt solution as electrolyte). >Other than having a few solar cells lying around (there are heaps of >them in garden lights in NZ), you might need to rig up some sort of >hand-cranked generator. > > >Primary cells using large areas of "plate" could provide some current. >I would say use a plastic buckets for each cell, or something of >similar size. Two litre milk bottles with the tops cut off might be >big enough, provided you can stuff enough connected plates in each, >using paper or plastic seperators. >The most common materials for the plates might be aluminium and either >tin plate (food cans), or roofing iron. > >However, in the end I suspect that unless I were cast away on a desert >island with no batteries, I would be endeavouring to FIND something >that already works. There are batteries in many items these days - >from cellphones to garden lights to toys. > >Much more important is how to keep them charged. This is where a large >primary battery (supplying a small current at sufficient voltage), >could be used to charge the NiMH and other batteries that are commonly >found. > >Just my tuppence worth. > >Eric > Article: 95825 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Joerg Subject: Re: 6v & 90v DC Power supply References: Message-ID: <7lisf.6077$oW.2140@newssvr11.news.prodigy.com> Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 21:27:31 GMT Hello Rich, >>I restored an old Hammond organ. These generate the tones in a similar >>manner. A motor (plus a start motor) and over a hundred pickup coils on >>the long secondary shaft. 20 hours of hard work got it going again but >>we have accepted the fact that some of the bearings are pretty much over >>the hill. So it needs 2-3 starts to coax it to run without that mild >>screeching in the background. Getting spare parts from a company that >>went out of business 30 years ago just isn't going to happen. > > So, put the cam thingie on some sort of spindle, with some kind of > depth gauge thingie, (maybe a slide pot and a stick), and map the > disks, and just make the same waveform from ROM? > That has been tried many times. Several rather expensive electronic organs have come out claiming to emulate a Hammond. So far the real enthusiasts do anything to get their hands on the real thing, knowing that there will come a day when the last one croaks. IIRC it was Paul Shaffer (the guy who makes the music at david Letterman's show) who spent the equivalent of a luxury car to have one restored. Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com Article: 95826 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: john_c@tpg.com.au (John Crighton) Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 21:45:53 GMT Message-ID: <43b98f53.4708397@free.teranews.com> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> On 2 Jan 2006 02:50:58 -0800, Winfield Hill wrote: >John Crighton wrote... >> >> I would like to clean the switch wafers of the main >> timebase switch. My 454 is put together like an onion. >> How do I "easily" gain access to this switch, >> which is buried in the heart of the onion? > > I hope you're giving a hypothetical example, because if > you really do need to "clean" a Tektronix scope switch, > your scope may already be a lost cause. Time to move on. > > >-- > Thanks, > - Win In the 1960s Tek did sell a switch servicing kit for the large dog kennel size 500 series models with wafer style rotary switches. I remember a pouch containing several bightly coloured pencil sized applicators of oil, grease and various cleaning fluids. "Time to move on" Oh no! I would never get rid of an instrument for the want of a bit of effort. My 454 is now on the reserve bench as back up scope number 3 behind a couple of 465 scopes. My 454 has a nice clip on metal cover to protect the front panel. This is the scope I am more comfortable with lending to friends, knowing that the front panel is not going to get bashed in transit in the back of a car. The slight intermittent problem with the timebase switch is minor, I can live with that. My 454 from the late 60s has big wafer switches just like the big 500 series scopes so cleaning these big wafer switches is easy providing you can get access to them. Access is the problem in the 454. Bill Turner mentioned the U shaped contacts in the 465. Yes that was tricky tending to them but they are getatable. I would never dump a piece of test gear because of dodgy switches. I just don't have the heart to dump any test equipment. I should try and be stronger but I can't. Being a test equipment nut is a life crippling disease. :-) Regards, John Crighton Sydney Article: 95827 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew Message-ID: <43B99F5E.E54DC3CC@nospamershere.com> From: Rube Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 21:47:10 GMT > Here is a link to the Tek forun on Yahoo, > lots of great info on new and older models. > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TekScopes/ > > > I just had a 485 go flaky. I had to push on the front cover to get it > to work. Is there a web site or a book that would help me get it going > again? > > Thanks > PaulC Article: 95828 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: 2 Jan 2006 16:56:05 -0500 Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> John Crighton wrote: > >My 454 is "not easy" to work on and yet I see people >saying that it is. I am just wondering if you are repeating >what you have read on the internet supporting a Myth >that the 454 is easy to work on or speaking from >practical experience. Everything is relative. If you think the 454 is hard to work on, you should just SEE the insides of the 7000. Likewise the 7000 is a whole lot easier to work on than the latest generation of digital scopes. >I would like to clean the switch wafers of the main >timebase switch. My 454 is put together like an onion. >How do I "easily" gain access to this switch, >which is buried in the heart of the onion? If the switch wafers really are bad, the easiest thing to do is to use Cramolin with a very long spray tube. You can get it into very small places without having to do as much dissasembly. But make sure the contacts are tight, first. I don't see contact cleaning needed on the scopes of this era, although some of the older ones did. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." Article: 95829 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew Message-ID: <43B9A1F2.8483141@nospamershere.com> From: Rube Subject: Re: Building a "Robinson Crusoe" Battery References: <1136229191.768561.62190@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 21:58:12 GMT http://www.science-projects.com/RedoxPot/RedoxPotentials.htm http://latteier.com/potato/ Article: 95830 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: John Larkin Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 13:58:13 -0800 Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <53sgr1l9of9o6dgv5cq6i9gq1i5c9r6jfl@4ax.com> <43B98FF6.8080307@us.ibm.com> On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 15:41:26 -0500, Phil Hobbs wrote: >John Larkin wrote: > >> >> 7104 is an even nicer analog scope, with its phenomenal writing rate. > >Seconded. That microchannel plate CRT is a thing of great beauty. I used to >use one with the Polaroid film plate on the front when I was a grad student. > >They had a pretty nice analog storage scope whose number I forget--it was a >portable and looked a lot like a 485. >> >> A used 11801 or 11802 and a sampling head will get you a 12 or 20 GHz >> dual-trace digital scope for under $2K, a *much* nicer sampling system >> than the 7000-series stuff. > >I have an 11801A that I use all the time, with the 40 GHz sampling head. I >got it for about a fifth of the cost of the overpriced modern version. When you start getting powerup timebase errors, which you will, call me. > >LeCroy is selling a 100 GHz sampling scope, which uses the Picosecond Pulse >Labs 100 GHz sampler. Used to be that LeCroy made nice user interfaces but >couldn't build a vertical amplifier to save their lives. > I'm still mad at Walter for a dirty trick he pulled about 20 years ago. I built an ff&f equivalent of his 4208 Camac 1 ns TDC module, at a customer's request. So he cut his price in half the next time he bid, specifically to kill me. The customer, bless his heart, disqualified LeCroy on "technical grounds." John Article: 95831 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: 2 Jan 2006 17:21:25 -0500 Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <53sgr1l9of9o6dgv5cq6i9gq1i5c9r6jfl@4ax.com> <43B98FF6.8080307@us.ibm.com> On the basic Tektronix thread, I still have this Tek 650HR with a luminance problem. It appears to be the "PLRT INV & TRIG PICK-OFF" chip, which is a Tektronix 155-0216-00. Earlier revisions used a Tektronix 155-0032-00. Tek says support for the monitor (and probably for the rest of the Group 26 products) was discontinued in 1996. They can't tell me what the original manufacturer's part number is, or even who the original manufacturer of the chip was, and the service manual lists only the house number. Any Tek technicians happen to have some of these in the junk box, or know what the real part number is? The input that takes the base comparison voltage from the aperture pot is pulling the input way down. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." Article: 95832 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: The benevolent dbu Subject: Re: Reliable Inexpensive Electronic Weather Instruments References: <1136238218.674982.221060@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com> Message-ID: Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 22:28:26 GMT In article <1136238218.674982.221060@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>, "Too_Many_Tools" wrote: > I am looking for any suggestions as to reliable inexpensive electronic > weather instruments. > > With several units that I have tested from places like Target, Walmart, > Radio Shack I find that they are not repeatable, readings drift and > will die when the weather gets cold. > > Has anyone found a source or brand that they have had good success > with? > > Any leads or links to building your own instrumentation? > > Thanks > > TMT If you want something reliable and accurate you will have to spend some money. Check out Maximum for wind gauges. Do a google or click here: http://www.maximum-inc.com/ -- "Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit." Vince Lombardi Article: 95833 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Jim Thompson Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <53sgr1l9of9o6dgv5cq6i9gq1i5c9r6jfl@4ax.com> <43B98FF6.8080307@us.ibm.com> Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 15:28:54 -0700 On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 13:58:13 -0800, John Larkin wrote: [snip] > >I'm still mad at Walter for a dirty trick he pulled about 20 years >ago. I built an ff&f equivalent of his 4208 Camac 1 ns TDC module, at >a customer's request. So he cut his price in half the next time he >bid, specifically to kill me. The customer, bless his heart, >disqualified LeCroy on "technical grounds." > >John > I've had that happen once. A competing company with nearly 20 staff quoted 1/3 what I quoted for a design job. The potential customer said, "Something's fishy", and gave the contract to me. ...Jim Thompson -- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food. Article: 95834 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Roy Lewallen Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 14:49:23 -0800 Message-ID: <11rjbfkmhc57t17@corp.supernews.com> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <53sgr1l9of9o6dgv5cq6i9gq1i5c9r6jfl@4ax.com> <43B98FF6.8080307@us.ibm.com> Scott Dorsey wrote: > On the basic Tektronix thread, I still have this Tek 650HR with a luminance > problem. It appears to be the "PLRT INV & TRIG PICK-OFF" chip, which is > a Tektronix 155-0216-00. Earlier revisions used a Tektronix 155-0032-00. > > Tek says support for the monitor (and probably for the rest of the Group 26 > products) was discontinued in 1996. They can't tell me what the original > manufacturer's part number is, or even who the original manufacturer of the > chip was, and the service manual lists only the house number. > > Any Tek technicians happen to have some of these in the junk box, or know > what the real part number is? The input that takes the base comparison > voltage from the aperture pot is pulling the input way down. > --scott Parts with numbers beginning with 155 are Tek designed and made - they had their own IC design and production facility. So that's the "real" part number. I don't know of any Tek made ICs for which anyone else makes an even roughly equivalent part -- if they did, Tek would have bought them instead of designing and manufacturing their own, which cost a small fortune. Roy Lewallen, W7EL Article: 95835 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "amdx" References: <1136229191.768561.62190@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Subject: Re: Building a "Robinson Crusoe" Battery Date: Mon, 2 Jan 2006 18:05:06 -0600 Message-ID: <2dc55$43b9bfbc$18d6b488$19937@KNOLOGY.NET> "TimPerry" wrote in message news:GtmdndXKbejaLiTeRVn-sg@adelphia.com... > > "philo" wrote in message > news:Goednf0gfr84NCTeRVn-hg@athenet.net... > > > > "Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message > > news:1136229191.768561.62190@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com... > > > Reading the thread on the Voltaic pile in sci.chem.electrochem.battery, > > > I started considering what would one have to do to build a "Robinson > > > Crusoe" battery to power equipment in an emergency. > > > > > > Assuming a battery of 12v and respectable current to power > > > communications equipment, how would you do it? > > > > > > What materials would you use? > > > > > > > > > a "Robinson Crusoe" battery must be one you'd make if stranded on an > > island... > > so you'd have plenty of sea water. > > you could use electrodes of copper and zinc > > > > get a bunch of coconut shells. place an electric eel in each. wire in > series. make odd numbered cells male eels and even numbered cells female > eels. that way you should have alternating currents :) > That's no fair, you saw the professor do that, Then Gilligan ate the eels! Article: 95836 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Jim Yanik Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: 3 Jan 2006 00:18:02 GMT Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> <1136224229.374708.216830@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> "Too_Many_Tools" wrote in news:1136224229.374708.216830@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com: > Actually this raises the next question that I was going to ask...."What > is the easiest Tek scope to work on?" T921/22 or T932/35,hands down. No TEK-made ICs,simple switches,low parts count,all solid-state. (excluding CRT,of course) Easy to access all parts of the scope,better than any other TEK scope.. -- Jim Yanik jyanik at kua.net Article: 95837 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Jim Yanik Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: 3 Jan 2006 00:23:24 GMT Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Rich Grise wrote in news:pan.2006.01.02.19.07.27.215209@example.net: > On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 12:49:22 -0800, Too_Many_Tools wrote: > >> I need to replace an oscilloscope that has gone to the Great Test Bench >> in the sky. >> >> What Tektronix scope do you prefer? >> >> I have always like the 7000 series...would you recommend these or >> another series? >> >> Thanks >> >> TMT > > If Tektronix scopes are still as good as I've always known them to be, > then the only consideration should be your budget. Then get the > toppest-of-the-line you can afford. > > Have Fun! > Rich > > > Just do not plan on repairing or calibrating them yourself. Their "service manuals" have NO component-level schematics or parts lists. Calibrations are done by PC-based software,and may call for test equipment you don't have. Power supplies are purchased-parts. The TDS scopes are engineered to be module-exchange repair only. -- Jim Yanik jyanik at kua.net Article: 95838 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Uncle Bobbolink" References: <1135342081.128309.88930@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com> Subject: Re: A Merry Solstice To All Our Readers Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 16:14:40 -0500 Message-ID: <20a51$43b1be11$d1cc7923$32224@snip.allthenewsgroups.com> The folllowing is from the URL: http://www.fuckchristmas.org/ This is a F-N MASTERPIECE. ENJOY you mother-fucking assholes. (grin) ------------------------ Oh man, fuck Christmas. Seriously – are you kidding me with this “There’s a war on Christmas” bullshit? FOX News wasn’t raking in enough cash already from all the Christmas commercials for Kill ‘em All Barbie and Girls Gone Wild Brand Toddler Gear? They had to start publishing books about some bogus attack on Christianity? And who did they pick to lead this particular charge? John fucking Gibson. This guy has wiener written all over him. Bill O’Reilly gets all the credit as the biggest nutcase in FOXville, but Gibson really deserves his own special wing in the happy house. This motherfucker’s embedded assignment reads “Up Karl Rove’s ass.” What makes him such a dick? I mean, besides making a fortune by screaming hysterically about how oppressed Christians are by the other twenty percent? How about advocating bombing countries that don’t vote the way we want in their own elections? Way to encourage democracy, fuckhead. And maybe he was kidding when he wished, on air, that the French had gotten the 2012 Olympics instead of the Brits so the terrorists would “blow up Paris,” but it might have been just a touch over the top to call for it again on the day of the London train bombings. Classy move, asshole. And really? That’s just scratching the fucking surface. Anyone remember who was responsible for the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma City? John does: Iraq. And speaking of Iraq, Gibson thinks Rove deserves a fucking medal for outing that CIA agent. And, like any good reporter, he wanted to burn the Florida ballots after his buddy Bush got “elected” rather than, I don’t know, count them? “Is this a case where knowing the facts actually would be worse than not knowing?” That right there is why sometimes it’s useful for journalists to go to, what do you call that fucking place? Oh yeah, journalism school. And now he’s all worked up about Christmas being stolen. What is this, the fucking Fairytale Network? It’s a national fucking holiday and we’re spending gobs of our hard-earned tax dollars on wreaths and lights for your special Santa day. But these bastards are all “But they call them Holiday trees!” Here’s a clue: no, they fucking don’t. Ok, maybe in a couple places, like on FOXNews.com and at the White House, but if Christmas is under attack, I’m Kris fucking Kringle. And guess who’s stealing Christmas, according to Gibson. Go on — guess. “A cabal of secularists, so-called humanists trial lawyers, cultural relativists, and liberal, guilt-wracked Christians — not just Jewish people.” (Emphasis mine. Pure, unadulterated anti-semitism, his.) A cabal? Are you fucking kidding me? Could we try to be a little more fucking original with our Jew-hating? Speaking of Jew-hating, Pat Buchanan has joined the hype-a-thon of the supposed Attack on Christmas, too. Or, as he put it, “What we’re witnessing here are hate crimes against Christianity.” Sorry? We’re not so hot on paying for an inflatable camel for your goddamn nativity scene and suddenly we’re Slobodan fucking Milosevic? Fuck you. Get some goddamn perspective, you little prick. When they start hunting Christians in the streets, it’ll be time to start yelling “Hate crime.” And no, it won’t count when they start chasing you with the torches. That’ll be called “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” And Bill O’Reilly, Gibson’s cellmate in the silly shack, is doing his part to save Christmas, too. He’s been going after New York’s Mayor Bloomberg (that Commie) because he says the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center has been renamed a “Holiday Tree,” and “No Christian Christmas symbols are allowed in the public schools.” The only problem? Neither of those things is even remotely fucking true. It takes some super-sized balls for O’Reilly to get all lathered up about sinners and their fictional anti-Christian crusade. Every fucking person on the planet has hard and fast evidence that Bill is a world-class pervert, but still he feels totally justified lecturing the rest of us on our moral inferiority. How fucked up is Bill O’Reilly? Pretty fucked up. Everyone got so crazyfaced about him confusing a sponge and a Middle Eastern snackcake (pretty fucking funny, mind you), that they missed the scary bit: what he meant to say. Old Bill wanted to get all funky on his intern like this: (you’ll excuse my foul language, I’m quoting an award-winning newscaster here) “I’d take the other hand with the [loofah] thing and put it on your pussy.” loofah (lū’fə) noun. A natural exfoliating sponge. exfoliate (ĕks-fō’lē-āt’) verb. To remove (a layer of bark or skin, for example) in flakes or scales; peel. That’s right. Bill O’Reilly, fount of morals, is super familiar with the female anatomy. So much so, that he knows how good it feels to have one’s pussy exfoliated. We’re talking h – o – t, Hot. That’s exactly who I’m going to for my life lessons. Sorry, where were we? Oh yeah, fuck Christmas. Can we back up just a couple steps here? At what point did a basic understanding of the separation of church and state become a fucking war on religion? And how did we get to the point where you can call an organization set up to defend our civil liberties “Terrorists” on national television and no one fires your ass? Enough. Fuck all of you lying little shitheads who wish the world was out to get you so you could play the poor oppressed victims. Wake up assholes — you’re the cowboys, not the fucking Indians. “But we want to display our Christmas tree on city property!” You can, go right ahead. “They’re stopping us from praying in school!” They’re not, so fuck off. “We’re not allowed to say ‘Merry Christmas’ anymore!” Are you fucking kidding me? Knock yourself out. Say it at work, scream it in your high school lunch room, hell, tattoo it on your fucking g-ddammed slooped forehead for all we care. Guess who’s gonna be there defending your right to do every one of those things? The fucking ACLU. One of these days you bastards are going to drive those fuckers out of business, and then you’ll see some actual attacks on your religious liberties. I thought conservatives were supposed to be all proud and independent? When did they turn into a bunch of fucking crybabies? Let’s back up even fucking further, shall we? Can anyone tell me how old Christmas is? Anyone? Two thousand years, give or take, right? Gee, who’s been reading their No Child Left Behind History Textbooks? Try fucking four thousand years. Huh. Twice as fucking long as your little baby king has been around. How could that possibly be, unless. . . waitaminute. . . Christmas isn’t fucking Christian. Ok, now we’re talking. That’s right, that Yuletide cheer you’re spreading? What exactly do you think Yule is? It's the fucking Pagan celebration of solstice. And those “Christmas” traditions? They’re not just *like* Pagan rituals, they fucking *are* Pagan rituals. Way before your Jesus got all magical with the bread and fishes, the Romans were celebrating the birth of Mithra on . . . guess? Go on – guess. December fucking twenty fifth. What a weird coincidence, eh shithead..? Practically the whole thing is ripped off from the fucking Druids and the Romans. Twelve days? Check. Exchanging gifts? Check. Mistletoe? Check. And you’d better fucking believe that those decorated trees that Gibson and Co. are so bent out of shape over are as Pagan as the Rune and Crystal Shack at Pentagramfest 2005. You might as well be building miniature fucking Stonehenges in your den or rec room alongside the bar. And don’t you read your own goddamn Bibles? Jesus was born when? In the middle of winter? Lot of Shepherds out watching their flocks around that time of year in Bethlehem? No, because they’d be freezing their fucking asses off. Tell you what – y’all go figure out which one of the different Bible stories about the birth of Baby Jesus® you want to believe, and then we’ll argue about whether it fucking happened like that or not. Christians just stole a bunch of traditions from other cultures, slapped them together, stuck a fucking tinfoil star on top and called it the Most Important Holiday of the Year. Modern American Christmas makes Michael Jackson look positively organic. But you boys at FOX still freak out every year about how everyone's out to get your special trees. This is really the most important thing you have to talk about? Whether Target says Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas? Here’s a brainstorm: there’s a fucking war on. Our soldiers are out there dying in an Islamic shithole Country while you guys do your 14th live feed of the day from WalMart to show us what good little consumers we are. What Would Jesus Do? He’d jump over that newsdesk and kick your ass for that shit. Are you sure you want to hang your journalism credentials on a story about what some guy calls a tree? They should break one of the branches off and shove it up his arse raw and with the splinters still intact. Well we’ve fucking had it. You want to play bullshit games and scream about how God’s fucking judgment is gonna come raining down on us if we don't start watching our vocabulary? Go right the fuck ahead. But let me clue you in on something: fire and brimstone ain’t no deterrent for us. We’re not going to hell, assholes, we’re fucking in hell. We live with you. And fuck Easter too, you fertility–rite–celebrating, whiny, self-righteous, don’t–know–the– history– of–your–own–religion assholes. Fuck off. : ) "Alan Holmes" wrote in message news:e1esf.50941$7p5.3027@newsfe4-win.ntli.net... > > "Galen, W8LNA" wrote in message > news:MvSqf.193$qg.182@news02.roc.ny... > > Pierian Spring wrote: > >> Now that the onslaught of rather silly and infantile > >> tirades from the closet CBers... > > > > Sorry for the delay, I was over on the LinRadio console actually doing ham > > radio (it's sunrise here) instead of provoking what could be described as > > the 21st century version of Inspiration for the Sex Pistols. > > > > Where were we? Oh yes, > > > > If you were a real ham radio op you'd be on the radio instead of playing > > Lord of the Gnats. > > Wasn't one posting enough for you? > > Alan > > > > > Twit. > > -W8LNA > > Article: 95839 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Chuck S." Subject: Rockwell GPS recievers Message-ID: Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 00:48:45 GMT This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0029_01C60FD5.8BD153C0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Has anyone used the Rockwell gps boards to lock a 10MHz oscillator? If = so, where can I get one cheep? --=20 Yours truly, Chuck=20 WA3IAC FN20la http://www.qsl.net/wa3iac/ ------=_NextPart_000_0029_01C60FD5.8BD153C0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Has anyone used the Rockwell gps boards = to lock a=20 10MHz oscillator? If so, where can I get one cheep?

--
Yours truly,
 
Chuck
 
WA3IAC
 
FN20la
 
 
 
------=_NextPart_000_0029_01C60FD5.8BD153C0-- Article: 95840 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: qrk Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Message-ID: <29ijr15923pim2ih03vovp4rsr3mea6ihl@4ax.com> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 00:48:55 GMT On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 22:04:57 GMT, Ignoramus32654 wrote: >I will sell the 475 though, two scopes is too much. Don't you mean "not enough"? Two is sort of a minimum working level. 3 or 4 is nice to have! Can't beat the 465, 475, and 7000 series. Also use the 305x series when I need storage, math, or documenation. --- Mark Article: 95841 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Jim Yanik Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: 3 Jan 2006 00:33:48 GMT Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <53sgr1l9of9o6dgv5cq6i9gq1i5c9r6jfl@4ax.com> <43B98FF6.8080307@us.ibm.com> kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote in news:dpc915$do8$1@panix2.panix.com: > On the basic Tektronix thread, I still have this Tek 650HR with a > luminance problem. It appears to be the "PLRT INV & TRIG PICK-OFF" > chip, which is a Tektronix 155-0216-00. Earlier revisions used a > Tektronix 155-0032-00. > > Tek says support for the monitor (and probably for the rest of the > Group 26 products) was discontinued in 1996. They can't tell me what > the original manufacturer's part number is, or even who the original > manufacturer of the chip was, and the service manual lists only the > house number. 155-xxxx-xx and 234-xxxx-xx ICs were made **BY TEK**(they should have told you that),and they sold off the IC manufacturing unit to Maxim,who turned around and stopped making them,as TEK did not buy in the volumes Maxim wanted. NO other company makes those 155 or 234 prefixed ICs. > > Any Tek technicians happen to have some of these in the junk box, or > know what the real part number is? The input that takes the base > comparison voltage from the aperture pot is pulling the input way > down. --scott > > The one good thing is that the 155-0032-xx was used in a lot of TEK products.You can find them in 465's,IIRC,on the trigger PCB. Try Ebay,or search electronic salvage companies that sell used TEK products. I worked for TEK for 21.5 years as a service tech in their field offices,repairing and calibrating scopes,TM500,and TV test equipment. -- Jim Yanik jyanik at kua.net Article: 95842 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: john_c@tpg.com.au (John Crighton) Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 00:55:30 GMT Message-ID: <43b9c718.18987073@free.teranews.com> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> <06vir11bgn46e0vsjcveg3ub8oe8psqr14@4ax.com> On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 20:21:03 +0100, Paul Burridge wrote: >I came across this on the 'net, which may or may not be useful in your >particular case, John... Hello Paul, thanks very much for sharing those gems. I have stored them away. I had a good laugh at your dining room table centre piece admisssions and the follow up doily and scope cosy remarks. Heh Heh heh..... I must admit when I first got my 465 I just couldn't keep my hands off it and I had it covered up with a tea towel in between playing with it. When you have lusted after something for decades and you finally get it. Oh what a feeling! Regards, John Crighton Sydney Article: 95843 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Ignoramus16356 Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <29ijr15923pim2ih03vovp4rsr3mea6ihl@4ax.com> Message-ID: Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 01:25:10 GMT On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 00:48:55 GMT, qrk wrote: > On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 22:04:57 GMT, Ignoramus32654 > wrote: > >>I will sell the 475 though, two scopes is too much. > > Don't you mean "not enough"? Two is sort of a minimum working level. 3 > or 4 is nice to have! Can't beat the 465, 475, and 7000 series. Also > use the 305x series when I need storage, math, or documenation. When would I need two scopes? What kind of practical situation? I am not desperate for money, but I am short of space. I am open minded regareing this issue. i Article: 95844 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Ken Taylor" References: Subject: Re: 6v & 90v DC Power supply Message-ID: Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2006 15:01:15 +1300 "Bart Rowlett" wrote in message news:pan.2006.01.02.16.19.23.430358@wb6hqk.ampr.org... > On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 02:02:15 +0000, James F. Mayer wrote: > > > I need to generate 6v DC and 90v DC from a 12v DC automotive electrical > > system to power an RT-70A/GRC surplus military radio. I need about 250 mA > > at +6 volts and about 75 mA at +90 volts. I was thinking about using the > > guts from an old battery back up but it would be a bit of a kluge. Are > > there any 90 volt regulators in the 78xx series? How do I get the voltage > > up to where I can get something that I can get the 90 volts from. > > Probably the easiest is to obtain one of the original power supplies. > > Most installations using the RT-70 were in conjunction with an RT-66/RT-67 > or RT-68 and an audio distribution amplifier. A separate vibrator power > supply was supplied those cases where the RT-70 was used 'stand alone'. > One approach to homebrewing a vehicular power supply is to mimic the > original vibrator supply. Provide the heater supply through dropping > resistors and emulate the vibrator supply by building an inverter using a > pair of switching transistors and a junk 60 Hz power transformer. > Regulation isn't necessary if you get the right transformer. The only > thing the least bit tricky with this approach is properly snubbing the > primary leakage inductance to prevent destroying the switching transistors. > > Probably the most compact approach is to build a flyback supply with both > a six and 90 volt output. Regulate the 6 volt output and let the 90 volt > output track. The advantage of the flyback supply is that it can be > designed to operate over a wide range of input voltages while maintaining > a regulated output. In addition, the overall size will be much smaller due > to the high switching frequencies (300 kHz typical) used by modern flyback > controller chips. > > >Getting > > the 6 volts doesn't seem to be a problem. A 7806 off the battery should > > work for that unless any of you can see a problem doing that. Maybe the > > common common would be a problem. Right now I'm running it off of an HP6299A > > and an HP6236B with commons jumpered. I'd like to be able to go portable > > with it. > Here's a reference to 'Silicon Chip' magazine, who ran some articles about these devices. http://www.siliconchip.com.au/cms/A_30674/article.html I recall seeing a commercial unit which was a semiconductor equivalent of the vibrator, two AC132 transistors (IIRC) as a multivibrator running into a transformer. The article above gives enough hints to be useful though. Here's some other useful links: http://www.radios.freeserve.co.uk/vibrators/vib.htm Woops, here we go, found the one I was after: http://www.vmarsmanuals.co.uk/newsletter_articles/vibrator.pdf Circuit for the solid-state vibrator. Cheers. Ken Article: 95845 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: john_c@tpg.com.au (John Crighton) Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 02:03:23 GMT Message-ID: <43b9cdbd.20688672@free.teranews.com> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> On 2 Jan 2006 16:56:05 -0500, kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote: >John Crighton wrote: >> >>My 454 is "not easy" to work on and yet I see people >>saying that it is. I am just wondering if you are repeating >>what you have read on the internet supporting a Myth >>that the 454 is easy to work on or speaking from >>practical experience. > >Everything is relative. If you think the 454 is hard to work on, you should >just SEE the insides of the 7000. Likewise the 7000 is a whole lot easier >to work on than the latest generation of digital scopes. Yes I agree everything is relative. An easy to repair comment should be defined a bit better, perhaps against time or compared against something else say removing a hard drive from a home conputer. Half a dozen screws and the cover is off, Pull two connectors and remove two or four mounting screws and the hard drive is out. I would call that easy. A job that takes less that 15 minutes I would say is easy. >>I would like to clean the switch wafers of the main >>timebase switch. My 454 is put together like an onion. >>How do I "easily" gain access to this switch, >>which is buried in the heart of the onion? > >If the switch wafers really are bad, the easiest thing to do is to use >Cramolin with a very long spray tube. You can get it into very small >places without having to do as much dissasembly. But make sure the >contacts are tight, first. I must admit I have never come across Cramolin. I will ask around. If it is available in Sydney, I'll find it. > I don't see contact cleaning needed on >the scopes of this era, although some of the older ones did. >--scott Oh, I do! Going by the dates on the boards, I am guessing that my 454 was built around 1968 and has spent many years in someones backyard tin shed. The aluminium metal work is slightly pitted meaning it has been in a damp area. There was no filter for who knows how long, one or two decades maybe longer, so the insides are quite dusty. Two years shy of forty years of age and the scope still works. Bloody marvellous! Switches in that environment of damp and dust can't be expected to remain clean and reliable. I am just amazed that my 454 scope works as well as it does even with its dodgy switch. Regards, John Crighton Sydney Article: 95846 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Ken Scharf Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> Message-ID: Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 21:26:08 -0500 John Crighton wrote: > On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 18:10:16 -0500, Ken Scharf > wrote: > > > >>I have a Tek 454 that I got at a company auction years back where >>I used to work (paid $150 for it). The 453,453A,454, 454A series >>are easy to work on, > > > > Hello Ken, > I also have a Tek 454. I bought that model > because I read on groups like this that it is "easy" > to work on. I must respectively disagree with you. > > My 454 is "not easy" to work on and yet I see people > saying that it is. I am just wondering if you are repeating > what you have read on the internet supporting a Myth > that the 454 is easy to work on or speaking from > practical experience. > > I would like to clean the switch wafers of the main > timebase switch. My 454 is put together like an onion. > How do I "easily" gain access to this switch, > which is buried in the heart of the onion? > > Slip the covers off your instrument, yes that is > very easy, a matter of seconds. Now have a look > and tell me how to clean the timebase switch? > How many hours would it take to remove the soldered > wiring off the boards so that they can be removed to > gain access to the switch and then solder the wires back > with nice factory quality solder joints, not with quick > blob soldering with insulation peeling back off the wires. > Quality work only. > > Several minutes work would be easy if there was > connectors on the boards but not in this scope. > When we talk about "hours" we are in a different > category......pain in the butt/difficult. > > How long would it take you, Ken, to clean the switch > from woa to go? Scope back up and working? > > How long would it take you to remove the fan, fan wiring > tag strips and fan mounting brackets? > How do you get your screw driver on the screws holding > the brackets when there are modules covering them up? > Just have a quick look then come back and tell me > if you still reckon this scope is easy to work on, in the > inner sanctums. > > Regards, > John Crighton > Sydney > My comment was based on what I have read. I have the service manual for the 454 and it is a well written book. The 454 is a a well designed scope, and parts are available. Fixing ANY high tech scope is NOT a job for the faint of heart, but at least the parts in the 454 are not so small (surface mount) that you need an electron microscope to see them! The older tube based tek's are what you want if you want to restore a scope yourself. However, if you want to buy a scope in working condition that you COULD fix yourself (OK substitute the word POSSIBLE for EASY) then the 45x series is about as "modern" as you want to go. Article: 95847 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: none Subject: Re: Building a "Robinson Crusoe" Battery Message-ID: <7kqjr1tj1t623qteoo6q3s7ku25qcalr0r@4ax.com> References: <1136229191.768561.62190@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <2dc55$43b9bfbc$18d6b488$19937@KNOLOGY.NET> <1136253284.049770.150510@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 21:09:01 -0600 On 2 Jan 2006 17:54:44 -0800, "Tony Wesley" wrote: > >TimPerry wrote: >> how come the professor could make a thermopile out of coconuts but couldn't >> fix a 2 foot hole in a boat? > >He could have fixed the boat but he didn't want to. He was hoping to >get somewhere with Mary Ann. Hey.. We All wanted to get some where with Mary Ann.(And damn if that Dawn Wells doesn't look just as good today as she did then.) Article: 95848 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: budgie Subject: Re: Rockwell GPS recievers Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 13:44:26 +0800 Message-ID: <9p3kr1peg342dg34u8fp7dn17t7ng57ena@4ax.com> References: On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 00:48:45 GMT, "Chuck S." wrote: >Has anyone used the Rockwell gps boards to lock a 10MHz oscillator? Yep > If so, where can I get one cheep? Found mine on ebay. Article: 95849 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Samuel Hunt" Subject: BF981 substituting BF964? Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2006 07:14:55 +0000 (UTC) Message-ID: I've found that the BF981 is lower noise than the BF964. Does anyone know if it works as a direct substitute, or would I be asking for trouble if I decided to do this? Sam Article: 95850 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: john_c@tpg.com.au (John Crighton) Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 08:02:52 GMT Message-ID: <43ba2f95.45740294@free.teranews.com> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 21:26:08 -0500, Ken Scharf wrote: >John Crighton wrote: >> On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 18:10:16 -0500, Ken Scharf >> wrote: >> >> >> >>>I have a Tek 454 that I got at a company auction years back where >>>I used to work (paid $150 for it). The 453,453A,454, 454A series >>>are easy to work on, >> >> >> >> Hello Ken, >> I also have a Tek 454. I bought that model >> because I read on groups like this that it is "easy" >> to work on. I must respectively disagree with you. >> >> My 454 is "not easy" to work on and yet I see people >> saying that it is. I am just wondering if you are repeating >> what you have read on the internet supporting a Myth >> that the 454 is easy to work on or speaking from >> practical experience. >> >> I would like to clean the switch wafers of the main >> timebase switch. My 454 is put together like an onion. >> How do I "easily" gain access to this switch, >> which is buried in the heart of the onion? >> >> Slip the covers off your instrument, yes that is >> very easy, a matter of seconds. Now have a look >> and tell me how to clean the timebase switch? >> How many hours would it take to remove the soldered >> wiring off the boards so that they can be removed to >> gain access to the switch and then solder the wires back >> with nice factory quality solder joints, not with quick >> blob soldering with insulation peeling back off the wires. >> Quality work only. >> >> Several minutes work would be easy if there was >> connectors on the boards but not in this scope. >> When we talk about "hours" we are in a different >> category......pain in the butt/difficult. >> >> How long would it take you, Ken, to clean the switch >> from woa to go? Scope back up and working? >> >> How long would it take you to remove the fan, fan wiring >> tag strips and fan mounting brackets? >> How do you get your screw driver on the screws holding >> the brackets when there are modules covering them up? >> Just have a quick look then come back and tell me >> if you still reckon this scope is easy to work on, in the >> inner sanctums. >> >> Regards, >> John Crighton >> Sydney >My comment was based on what I have read. I have the service manual >for the 454 and it is a well written book. The 454 is a a well designed >scope, and parts are available. Ken, Remove the covers from your 454 scope and take a look >from the point of view of access to the inner assemblies. I wonder if you still say that it is well designed?. Deliberately threading bunches of wires (small loom) through round holes in brackets or sub panels is weird. Why not slot holes to the end of brackets/ sub assemblies/metal panels so that the cable loom or wires can be slipped out of the slot if a subassembly has to be moved. Threading wires through round holes in small bits of metalwork so that they are tied in, I don't like that sort of design. No thought for the non Tek trained serviceman. >Fixing ANY high tech scope is NOT a job >for the faint of heart, but at least the parts in the 454 are not >so small (surface mount) that you need an electron microscope to see them! Agreed. >The older tube based tek's are what you want if you want to restore a >scope yourself. However, if you want to buy a scope in working condition >that you COULD fix yourself (OK substitute the word POSSIBLE for EASY) then >the 45x series is about as "modern" as you want to go. I settled on the 465 myself. The first was a goer with problems. The little U shaped contacts that Bill Turner spoke off. The second was cosmetically very nice but dead. Shorted tantalum on the 15V suppluy. The third was partly robbed of bits. Even had an IC fitted back to front. All three are working nicely now. I enjoyed repairing them. You can get access to most of the 465s innermost parts. Not a nightmare like the the 454 and yet the 454 gets a great right up on many websites. I don't know why! Sorry Ken if I appeared to jump on you. In regard to the old tube monsters, I gave two of those away to another enthusiast. 533A and 549. Tubes cost a lot of money, I just could not afford to restore them but the other chap is dead keen to get them working. He has contacts in the US who will send him parcels of junk picked up from ham field days and trash and treasure markets. He has put in his list of wanted items to his friends. All good fun! Regards, John Crighton Sydney Article: 95851 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: James Sweet Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <29ijr15923pim2ih03vovp4rsr3mea6ihl@4ax.com> Message-ID: Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 08:17:23 GMT > > > I just tracked down an intermittent in my 2467B's CRT supply, a process > that would have been a lot tougher if I hadn't had both my 485 and 2430A > clipped to various points. Scopes are cheap these days... you want at > least three. > Scopes are cheap, however space is not, at least not here. I've got two scopes, a 465B and an ancient but beautiful condition 531A. I'd get rid of the 531A but I need to find a good home for it, it's in great shape and works perfectly. Article: 95852 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Rich Grise, but drunk" Subject: Re: 6v & 90v DC Power supply Message-ID: References: <7lisf.6077$oW.2140@newssvr11.news.prodigy.com> Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 23:19:39 GMT On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 21:27:31 +0000, Joerg wrote: > Hello Rich, > >>>I restored an old Hammond organ. These generate the tones in a similar >>>manner. A motor (plus a start motor) and over a hundred pickup coils on >>>the long secondary shaft. 20 hours of hard work got it going again but >>>we have accepted the fact that some of the bearings are pretty much over >>>the hill. So it needs 2-3 starts to coax it to run without that mild >>>screeching in the background. Getting spare parts from a company that >>>went out of business 30 years ago just isn't going to happen. >> >> So, put the cam thingie on some sort of spindle, with some kind of >> depth gauge thingie, (maybe a slide pot and a stick), and map the >> disks, and just make the same waveform from ROM? >> > > That has been tried many times. Several rather expensive electronic > organs have come out claiming to emulate a Hammond. So far the real > enthusiasts do anything to get their hands on the real thing, knowing > that there will come a day when the last one croaks. IIRC it was Paul > Shaffer (the guy who makes the music at david Letterman's show) who > spent the equivalent of a luxury car to have one restored. > Well, tastes vary, but really! Who wants a music box that makes it sound like you're at a skating rink? ;-P cheers! Rich Article: 95853 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Joerg Subject: Re: 6v & 90v DC Power supply References: <7lisf.6077$oW.2140@newssvr11.news.prodigy.com> Message-ID: Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 23:53:50 GMT Hello Rich, > > Well, tastes vary, but really! Who wants a music box that makes it > sound like you're at a skating rink? ;-P > Ok, I am not much of an expert on instruments or music in general. But a Hammond organ can fill a living room with a sound that, with the eyes closed, you'd think you are sitting in a cathedral. And lots of rock bands wouldn't use anything else. That is why a lot of Hammonds have been "sawed in halves" so they can be transported to the next gig. You could even buy split versions built into professional transport cases. Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com Article: 95854 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Kevin G. Rhoads" Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 13:13:12 +0000 Message-ID: <43BA7868.84231FFF@alum.mit.edu> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> >That said, I still have a 545 on my bench at work. What plug-ins? Article: 95855 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Ignoramus29795 Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> <43ba2f95.45740294@free.teranews.com> Message-ID: Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 14:14:15 GMT Yep. A 2445 lets me do very nice things, like built in "caliper" kind of thing, triggering on selected signal, blah blah. It is a great all around scope for a dude like me. i Article: 95856 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew Message-ID: <43B1EAEB.A80723C4@earthlink.net> From: "Michael A. Terrell" Subject: Re: 6v & 90v DC Power supply References: <7lisf.6077$oW.2140@newssvr11.news.prodigy.com> Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2005 01:31:31 GMT Joerg wrote: > > Hello Rich, > > > > Well, tastes vary, but really! Who wants a music box that makes it > > sound like you're at a skating rink? ;-P > > > > Ok, I am not much of an expert on instruments or music in general. But a > Hammond organ can fill a living room with a sound that, with the eyes > closed, you'd think you are sitting in a cathedral. And lots of rock > bands wouldn't use anything else. That is why a lot of Hammonds have > been "sawed in halves" so they can be transported to the next gig. You > could even buy split versions built into professional transport cases. > > Regards, Joerg > > http://www.analogconsultants.com They have a Hammond B3 at my church, with the Leslie speaker. There is another model Hammond in storage that needs a lot of work. Someone had it on their screened in porch and the finish is ruined, but it still plays. -- Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to prove it. Member of DAV #85. Michael A. Terrell Central Florida Article: 95857 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew Message-ID: <43B1EB9E.613886E0@earthlink.net> From: "Michael A. Terrell" Subject: Re: 6v & 90v DC Power supply References: <7lisf.6077$oW.2140@newssvr11.news.prodigy.com> Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2005 01:34:30 GMT "Rich Grise, but drunk" wrote: > > Well, tastes vary, but really! Who wants a music box that makes it > sound like you're at a skating rink? ;-P > > cheers! > Rich People like the old Hammond organs like the B3 because the can't go out of tune. The mechanical tone generator makes sure of that. They only sound like a skating rink in, get this, A SKATING RINK! -- Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to prove it. Member of DAV #85. Michael A. Terrell Central Florida Article: 95858 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: szekeres@pitt.edu (GregS) Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 16:48:52 GMT Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> <43b9cdbd.20688672@free.teranews.com> <1136301771.166855.147160@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> In article <1136301771.166855.147160@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>, mkim54@aol.com wrote: >I use DeoxIT, works better and comes in a variety of applicators. In >Sydney you can get it from http://www.caprina.com.au/catp.html or see >Caig website for info and other locations, www.caig.com. >I use the deoxIT D5 and DN5 and their proGold products. Great stuff. >Mike I worked on an old Nicolet The switches were terrible, most all of them. I spent weeks trying to clean all the switches, mostly the rotary ones. I had to use all my toughest cleaners. The hardest part was getting into the partly sealed switches. I used my best cleaners, alcohol, Contaclean, Alcohol-Cramolin, Bufffrog cleaner. Over and over. I didn't use Deoxit, because I ran out. Cramolin is no longer sold as Cramolin. Its called Contaclean by the Cramolin Co. a German company. Available from InOne, Farnell. >John Crighton wrote: >> On 2 Jan 2006 16:56:05 -0500, kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote: >> >> >John Crighton wrote: >> >> >> >>My 454 is "not easy" to work on and yet I see people >> >>saying that it is. I am just wondering if you are repeating >> >>what you have read on the internet supporting a Myth >> >>that the 454 is easy to work on or speaking from >> >>practical experience. >> > >> >Everything is relative. If you think the 454 is hard to work on, you should >> >just SEE the insides of the 7000. Likewise the 7000 is a whole lot easier >> >to work on than the latest generation of digital scopes. >> >> Yes I agree everything is relative. An easy to repair >> comment should be defined a bit better, perhaps >> against time or compared against something else >> say removing a hard drive from a home conputer. >> Half a dozen screws and the cover is off, >> Pull two connectors and remove two or four >> mounting screws and the hard drive is out. >> I would call that easy. >> A job that takes less that 15 minutes I would say is easy. >> >> >> >> >>I would like to clean the switch wafers of the main >> >>timebase switch. My 454 is put together like an onion. >> >>How do I "easily" gain access to this switch, >> >>which is buried in the heart of the onion? >> > >> >If the switch wafers really are bad, the easiest thing to do is to use >> >Cramolin with a very long spray tube. You can get it into very small >> >places without having to do as much dissasembly. But make sure the >> >contacts are tight, first. >> >> I must admit I have never come across Cramolin. I will >> ask around. If it is available in Sydney, I'll find it. >> >> >> > I don't see contact cleaning needed on >> >the scopes of this era, although some of the older ones did. >> >--scott >> >> Oh, I do! >> Going by the dates on the boards, I am guessing that >> my 454 was built around 1968 and has spent many >> years in someones backyard tin shed. The aluminium >> metal work is slightly pitted meaning it has been in a >> damp area. There was no filter for who knows how long, >> one or two decades maybe longer, so the insides are >> quite dusty. >> >> Two years shy of forty years of age and the scope still >> works. Bloody marvellous! Switches in that environment >> of damp and dust can't be expected to remain clean and >> reliable. I am just amazed that my 454 scope works as well >> as it does even with its dodgy switch. >> >> Regards, >> John Crighton >> Sydney > Article: 95859 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Samuel Hunt" Subject: Re: BF981 substituting BF964? Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2006 17:59:18 +0000 (UTC) Message-ID: References: <1136307102.361054.226120@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com> What substituted the BF981? Sam "Leon" wrote in message news:1136307102.361054.226120@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com... > The BF981 is obsolete. > > Leon > Article: 95860 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: 3 Jan 2006 13:54:39 -0500 Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <29ijr15923pim2ih03vovp4rsr3mea6ihl@4ax.com> Ignoramus16356 wrote: >On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 00:48:55 GMT, qrk wrote: >> On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 22:04:57 GMT, Ignoramus32654 >> wrote: >> >>>I will sell the 475 though, two scopes is too much. >> >> Don't you mean "not enough"? Two is sort of a minimum working level. 3 >> or 4 is nice to have! Can't beat the 465, 475, and 7000 series. Also >> use the 305x series when I need storage, math, or documenation. > >When would I need two scopes? What kind of practical situation? I am >not desperate for money, but I am short of space. I am open minded >regareing this issue. When one of your scopes breaks. How will you fix it, without a second scope? --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." Article: 95861 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Rich Grise, but drunk" Subject: Re: 6v & 90v DC Power supply Message-ID: References: <7lisf.6077$oW.2140@newssvr11.news.prodigy.com> <43B1EB9E.613886E0@earthlink.net> Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2005 02:18:15 GMT On Wed, 28 Dec 2005 01:34:30 +0000, Michael A. Terrell wrote: > "Rich Grise, but drunk" wrote: >> >> Well, tastes vary, but really! Who wants a music box that makes it >> sound like you're at a skating rink? ;-P > > People like the old Hammond organs like the B3 because the can't go > out of tune. The mechanical tone generator makes sure of that. They > only sound like a skating rink in, get this, A SKATING RINK! Well, being the insufferabley pedantic researcher that I am, I came up with a page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammond_organ that about a third of the way down, says: "... Accurate imitation of the Hammond sound with simple electronic circuitry was difficult, because the subtly-changing phase relationships between tonewheels could not be easily replicated...." OK, fair enough. :-) I guess a piano is even harder - they don't even reproduce well from a live recording! :-) Cheers! Rich Article: 95862 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Paul Burridge Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 20:53:01 +0100 Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <29ijr15923pim2ih03vovp4rsr3mea6ihl@4ax.com> On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 01:25:10 GMT, Ignoramus16356 wrote: >When would I need two scopes? What kind of practical situation? I am >not desperate for money, but I am short of space. I am open minded >regareing this issue. If you part with that 475, then sooner or later you'll be very, very, very sorry. -- "What is now proved was once only imagin'd" - William Blake Article: 95863 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Ignoramus29795 Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <29ijr15923pim2ih03vovp4rsr3mea6ihl@4ax.com> Message-ID: Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 21:03:29 GMT On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 20:53:01 +0100, Paul Burridge wrote: > On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 01:25:10 GMT, Ignoramus16356 > wrote: > > >>When would I need two scopes? What kind of practical situation? I am >>not desperate for money, but I am short of space. I am open minded >>regareing this issue. > > If you part with that 475, then sooner or later you'll be very, very, > very sorry. I changed my mind. I will not sell my 475. Now... I have little interest in homemade radio or audio stuff. So far my little forays into electronics centered around power electronics. Given that... Is there any possible reason to keep a spectrum analyzer? i Article: 95864 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Richard Henry" Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2006 13:08:44 -0800 Message-ID: <4207ftF1gkspgU1@individual.net> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <29ijr15923pim2ih03vovp4rsr3mea6ihl@4ax.com> "Ignoramus29795" wrote in message news:BEBuf.1497$1_1.725@fe67.usenetserver.com... > On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 20:53:01 +0100, Paul Burridge wrote: > > On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 01:25:10 GMT, Ignoramus16356 > > wrote: > > > > > >>When would I need two scopes? What kind of practical situation? I am > >>not desperate for money, but I am short of space. I am open minded > >>regareing this issue. > > > > If you part with that 475, then sooner or later you'll be very, very, > > very sorry. > > I changed my mind. I will not sell my 475. > > Now... I have little interest in homemade radio or audio stuff. So far > my little forays into electronics centered around power electronics. > Given that... Is there any possible reason to keep a spectrum > analyzer? Emissions compliance testing. Article: 95865 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "daestrom" References: <1136229191.768561.62190@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <4de328dd98dave@davenoise.co.uk> Subject: Re: Building a "Robinson Crusoe" Battery Message-ID: Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 21:16:17 GMT "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message news:4de328dd98dave@davenoise.co.uk... > In article , > philo wrote: >> a "Robinson Crusoe" battery must be one you'd make if stranded on an >> island... so you'd have plenty of sea water. you could use electrodes of >> copper and zinc > > Plenty of that on the average desert island...;-) > Well, if you were shipwrecked, you might pry the anti-corrosion zincs off the hull, and along with the bronze/brass fittings, you might get some potential. Of course, once you've used up the zincs, I think you're pretty much done. daestrom Article: 95866 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: novatech@eskimo.com (Steven Swift) Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: 3 Jan 2006 21:46:03 GMT Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <1136160323.896346.250500@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com> "John-Del" writes: >I have used a 7603 for about 15 years for general troubleshooting, and >it's my favorite scope. It's rock solid, and bright and sharp. I >haven't been able to find a horiz plug-in with TV sync, but the trigger >is so good I can get it to lock on video anyway. Only problems are the >huge Mallory capacitors in the power supply that will open without >warning. Replace all of these and you'll have no trouble at all. >John The 7603 is very nice. I use them for the spectrum analyser plug-ins as the bigger CRT helps. But for normal trouble shooting, I much prefer the 7704A as the basic scope. The same plugins work, but you get a bit more bandwidth-- up to 200MHz and the fourth slot lets you do some interesting things with delaying timebases. For smaller units, I prefer the 475. Nice and solid. To complement the Tek 3052B digital scopes, I use 7904 with high speed plugins (like 7A19 and 7B92). The 7904 is the stand for the 3052B. I use SC502 and SC504 in the TM500 racks when I want to watch something on the bench without taking up space. Steve -- Steven D. Swift, novatech@eskimo.com, http://www.novatech-instr.com NOVATECH INSTRUMENTS, INC. P.O. Box 55997 206.301.8986, fax 206.363.4367 Seattle, Washington 98155 USA Article: 95867 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "noexqs" Subject: Re: BF981 substituting BF964? Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2006 23:09:04 +0100 Message-ID: <11rltfrkguap74e@corp.supernews.com> References: <1136307102.361054.226120@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com> BF981 is substituted by BF991 of BF996S. both DG fets are SMD package SOT143 :( BF981 is still widely available, but production stopped. Regards, Willem PE2WDO "Samuel Hunt" schreef in bericht news:dpee1m$r1r$1@nwrdmz01.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com... > What substituted the BF981? > > > Sam > "Leon" wrote in message > news:1136307102.361054.226120@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com... >> The BF981 is obsolete. >> >> Leon >> > > Article: 95868 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew Message-ID: <43BB212E.E574999A@wrenchman.com> From: Noone Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> <06vir11bgn46e0vsjcveg3ub8oe8psqr14@4ax.com> <43b9c718.18987073@free.teranews.com> Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2006 01:11:53 GMT John Crighton wrote: > On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 20:21:03 +0100, Paul Burridge > wrote: > > >I came across this on the 'net, which may or may not be useful in your > >particular case, John... > > Hello Paul, > thanks very much for sharing those gems. > I have stored them away. > > I had a good laugh at your dining room table > centre piece admisssions and the follow up doily > and scope cosy remarks. Heh Heh heh..... > > I must admit when I first got my 465 I just couldn't > keep my hands off it and I had it covered up with > a tea towel in between playing with it. > > When you have lusted after something for decades > and you finally get it. Oh what a feeling! > > Regards, > John Crighton > Sydney Now in my mid 50's, I am reminded of something my father said. He had always said, that ever since 1957 , he wanted a Cadillac. In the later years of his life, hefinally got his wish - he bought a 1957 Cadillac. For years I have been collecting and restoring the iconic untouchables of my early days in Engineering. Scopes are like boats, you can never have too many. But they are useful. My particular weakness has been the HP 141T family of Spectrum Analyzers. What was 20K + then, is now cheap. Winter nights are spent re-Cap-ing, calibrating, and restoring these remnants of the last great Analog Spectrum Analyzer. Like restoring the automobiles of one's youth, these are tangible links to our own past. Any good tool, kept in working condition is valuable. To see these Cadillacs of the past brought back to their former glory is reward enough. As John said so well, Oh what a feeling! Blakely Blakely LaCroix Minneapolis, Minnesota. USA From clarence at snyder dot on dot ca Fri Jan 6 21:47:27 EST 2006 Article: 95869 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: clare at snyder.on.ca Newsgroups: sci.chem.electrochem.battery,alt.energy.homepower,sci.electronics.repair,rec.radio.amateur.homebrew,alt.energy.renewable Subject: Re: Building a "Robinson Crusoe" Battery Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 20:30:27 -0500 Reply-To: clarence at snyder dot on dot ca Message-ID: References: <1136229191.768561.62190@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <2j6mr1hpht7vnfjhc6m3p1on0a7mm4nisl@4ax.com> X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.91/32.564 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 25 NNTP-Posting-Date: 04 Jan 2006 01:24:01 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 72.140.145.66 X-Complaints-To: abuse@nntpserver.com Path: news1.isis.unc.edu!canoe.uoregon.edu!newshub.sdsu.edu!newsfeed.news2me.com!newsfeed2.easynews.com!easynews.com!easynews!pink.octanews.net!news-out.octanews.net!canary.octanews.net!statler.nntpserver.com!hydra.nntpserver.com!not-for-mail Xref: news1.isis.unc.edu sci.chem.electrochem.battery:14969 alt.energy.homepower:82472 sci.electronics.repair:359428 rec.radio.amateur.homebrew:95869 alt.energy.renewable:80223 On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 19:44:50 -0500, Someone wrote: >On 2 Jan 2006 11:13:11 -0800, "Too_Many_Tools" > used recycled pixels to say: > >>Reading the thread on the Voltaic pile in sci.chem.electrochem.battery, >>I started considering what would one have to do to build a "Robinson >>Crusoe" battery to power equipment in an emergency. >> >>Assuming a battery of 12v and respectable current to power >>communications equipment, how would you do it? >> >>What materials would you use? >> >>How would you charge it? >> >>I look forward to your contributions. >> >>TMT > >With an emergency (assuming no electricity) you can forget about >"charging it". What you want to do is generate it in my opinion. The carbon/iron/saltwater cell is a "primary" cell - and not rechargeable. Article: 95870 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: qrk Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <29ijr15923pim2ih03vovp4rsr3mea6ihl@4ax.com> Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2006 02:08:42 GMT On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 01:25:10 GMT, Ignoramus16356 wrote: >On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 00:48:55 GMT, qrk wrote: >> On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 22:04:57 GMT, Ignoramus32654 >> wrote: >> >>>I will sell the 475 though, two scopes is too much. >> >> Don't you mean "not enough"? Two is sort of a minimum working level. 3 >> or 4 is nice to have! Can't beat the 465, 475, and 7000 series. Also >> use the 305x series when I need storage, math, or documenation. > >When would I need two scopes? What kind of practical situation? I am >not desperate for money, but I am short of space. I am open minded >regareing this issue. > >i 1. As others have said, when you need to fix your other scope. My 465 just took a dump a couple weeks ago. Used the 475 to troubleshoot it. One of the HV ceramic caps has excess leakage :( At least it's a replaceable part. 2. It's also nice to have a spare when the other scope goes down. 3. Sometimes you just need two scopes to do the job, especially when your project is divided up between two racks of equipment. 4. Sometimes you need multiple scopes because your events are asynchronous. 5. Some scopes are better at doing certain tasks like those nifty microchannel plate intensified scopes. 6. Sometimes you have multiple projects going and it's nice not having to disassemble your test setup. 7. You may have a 7000 mainframe, but need a portable scope like the 465. 8. It's also nice to have a modern digital scope for slow events, math functions, and documentation. But, keep those analog scopes around as they convey more information about the signal at a glance than any digital scope I've used. You also mentioned something about spectrum analyzers. Extremely handy for certain types of work. Depending on the anlyzer, they are great for characterizing filters, amplifiers, noise in low-level amplifiers, EMI issues, unwanted oscillations, impedance, and a host of other things. --- Mark Article: 95871 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: - exray - Subject: Re: Harry E. Landsberg, Jr., CIA Maltese Falcon: Kennedy assassination, Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2006 02:46:48 -0400 Message-ID: <11rmrqqi0abj90b@corp.supernews.com> References: <1135568602.102362.228660@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <1136352411.244080.108670@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Laura wrote: > The United States, satanic, has been in communication/trade with the > Dog Star System, the Plieades, Saturn, Pluto, Mercury and Venus (and > possibly just outside the Milky Way.) > > Bonnie, from Mercury, supervises mind control for that world. I knew it, I knew it! Now it finally comes out! You can't hide the truth. How did Art Bell miss something so obvious? > > John (former Apostle) supervises mind control for Venus. He has worked > with actor Bill Murray (DOD, civilian military) on a virtual reality > program, "the ritual abuse experience." I knew that Murray guy was weird! *** Bye Laura, take your meds. Article: 95872 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew Message-ID: <43BBE16F.24D75A5@nospammers.com> From: Rube Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2006 14:53:37 GMT Hi Caig has DeOxit in 5% and 100% formula, the 5% works most of the time. You can get it in standard aerosol (hazmat ship fee ups) or the pump can D5P (no hazmat fees) www.caig.com www.mcmelectronics.com has it in stock > > If the switch wafers really are bad, the easiest thing to do is to use > Cramolin with a very long spray tube. You can get it into very small > places without having to do as much dissasembly. But make sure the > contacts are tight, first. I don't see contact cleaning needed on > the scopes of this era, although some of the older ones did. > --scott Article: 95873 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew Message-ID: <43BBE1F1.50AA4F92@nospammers.com> From: Rube Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2006 14:55:47 GMT DeOxit is standard issue for Xerox service staff, our service lady told me about it, she is also a amateur radio operator like me. Article: 95874 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Skipp says welcome Subject: yahoo rfamplifiers group Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 22:14:17 +0000 (UTC) Message-ID: A yahoo group for people with interest in RF and AF Amplifiers. Please feel free to join in... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rfamplifiers/ hope to see you there. cheers, skipp Article: 95875 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Skipp from never never land Subject: Re: HF Linear Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 22:21:16 +0000 (UTC) Message-ID: References: <439de12d_4@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com> : Paul M0EME wrote: : Im building a HF linear using four PL519's. Can i use 2oz : copper PCB for the base to fit the valves too?????? as : Im not very good at cutting and messing with metal. : Thanks and 73's de Paul M0EME Hi Paul, The work has already been done for you. Simply buy the Replacement Dentron GLA-1000 conversion to the el-509/519 PC Boards cheap from FAR Circuits. If you keep air moving in the chassis, you should not have any problems. Sockets are available from a place in Florida selling on line. You might also consider joining the yahoo rfamplifiers group. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rfamplifiers/ cheers, skipp Article: 95876 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Joel Kolstad" Subject: Re: Ground Plane construction vs pre-printed "protoboards" Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 15:36:32 -0800 Message-ID: <11ron37q9oon055@corp.supernews.com> References: <1135963945.852450.121160@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com> <1135968723.415737.192060@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com> <11rb2fn95g8dv39@corp.supernews.com> Hi Dave, "Dave Platt" wrote in message news:11rb2fn95g8dv39@corp.supernews.com... > One of the recipes for making stable, friendly, and reproducible > designs at RF seems to be to minimize the impact of parasitic > reactances. Certainly true, although my feeling is that 'ugly' construction above a ground plane creates _well controlled_ parasitics that tend not to change much based on, e.g., waving your hand above the PCB, mounting the PCB close to a metal chassis, etc. Article: 95877 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Bill Turner Subject: Re: yahoo rfamplifiers group Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2006 15:47:37 -0800 Message-ID: References: ORIGINAL MESSAGE: On Wed, 4 Jan 2006 22:14:17 +0000 (UTC), Skipp says welcome wrote: >A yahoo group for people with interest in RF and AF Amplifiers. > >Please feel free to join in... > >http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rfamplifiers/ > >hope to see you there. > >cheers, >skipp ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Feel free to try it out, but the heavy hitters hang out at http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/Amps Everyone is welcome to join, but no CB stuff please. Amateur Radio only. 73, Bill W6WRT Article: 95878 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: budgie Subject: Re: Rockwell GPS recievers Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2006 10:32:55 +0800 Message-ID: <7v0pr1pr8evrtpdl3o94gp9if8k808fivo@4ax.com> References: <9p3kr1peg342dg34u8fp7dn17t7ng57ena@4ax.com> <0hZuf.3732$QI6.1436@trnddc07> On Thu, 05 Jan 2006 00:02:17 GMT, "Chuck S." wrote: >OK, one more question, do you need the RS-232 port if you only want to lock >a vcxo to the 10kHz? My guess is no, just +5 volts and ground, and take the >10kHz from pin 20 of the connector. No you don't need to concern yourself with the data port (*)(**) for a frequency reference. Just make sure you have the appropriate 0v/5v on the appropriate lines as per the data sheet to get the bootup mode correct. * Without parsing the $GPRMC sentence you can't tell if you have a valid fix. And that is the ONLY sure way to know your 10kHz is actually locked to the sat source(s) and not derived from the rx oscillator free-running. It's pity one of those N/C pins doesn't have a "valid" flag on it - would save the need for a downstream processor. ** I presume you are (also) talking Rockwell/Conexant Jupiter board. Article: 95879 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: MetalHead Subject: Re: Rockwell GPS recievers References: <9p3kr1peg342dg34u8fp7dn17t7ng57ena@4ax.com> <0hZuf.3732$QI6.1436@trnddc07> Message-ID: Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2006 03:12:07 GMT Chuck S. wrote: > OK, one more question, do you need the RS-232 port if you only want to lock > a vcxo to the 10kHz? My guess is no, just +5 volts and ground, and take the > 10kHz from pin 20 of the connector. I have used the older Rockwell GPS stuff and they seem to need to have a recent almanac transferred to them before they will get a fix. Rockwell used to distribute a freebie software package that would help you deal with all the setup stuff. It was called something like Lab_10 or Lab_X or somesuch. The newer stuff may need less handholding. Good Luck, Bob Article: 95880 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Roy Lewallen Subject: Re: Ground Plane construction vs pre-printed "protoboards" Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2006 20:04:14 -0800 Message-ID: <11rp6m125kf6p9e@corp.supernews.com> References: <1135963945.852450.121160@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com> <1135968723.415737.192060@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com> <11rb2fn95g8dv39@corp.supernews.com> <11ron37q9oon055@corp.supernews.com> Joel Kolstad wrote: > Hi Dave, > > "Dave Platt" wrote in message > news:11rb2fn95g8dv39@corp.supernews.com... > >>One of the recipes for making stable, friendly, and reproducible >>designs at RF seems to be to minimize the impact of parasitic >>reactances. > > > Certainly true, although my feeling is that 'ugly' construction above a ground > plane creates _well controlled_ parasitics that tend not to change much based > on, e.g., waving your hand above the PCB, mounting the PCB close to a metal > chassis, etc. My experience is that the most common and troublesome parasitic reactance in modern solid-state circuitry is, by far, the inductance of the ground system. And that's just where "ugly" construction shines -- it makes that inductance as small as possible. Roy Lewallen, W7EL Article: 95881 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew Message-ID: <43BCB1D1.4020800@worldnet.att.net> From: Atsunori Tamagawa Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> <43b9cdbd.20688672@free.teranews.com> Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2006 05:42:45 GMT John Crighton wrote: > > Half a dozen screws and the cover is off, > Pull two connectors and remove two or four > mounting screws and the hard drive is out. > I would call that easy. I own some scopes. Though, my favorite is not one of Tek ones, but HP-1741A storage scope. Anyway, I realized that when I troubleshoot my scopes or fix something with them, I always got extra screws left. It is a bit annoying experience because I know those extra screw were being used somewhere. I think that test equipment are made of way too many extra screws. > Two years shy of forty years of age and the scope still > works. Bloody marvellous! It's probably a matter of total operating time instead of how old it is. I heard a story from an old analog engineer saying that when storage scopes were new, they were SO EXPENSIVE that you just couldn't keep them turned on, but only when you need to take a vital measurement you were allowed to turn it on. If that is true, I think some old storage scopes are actually bargains instead of to-be-avoied. Switches in that environment > of damp and dust can't be expected to remain clean and > reliable. I am just amazed that my 454 scope works as well > as it does even with its dodgy switch. I owned one 454, and later used one 454A. The 454 seemed to comsume much more power than 454A. In winter, having the 454 closer was nice. Atsunori Article: 95882 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew Message-ID: <43BCB4F9.C559BBE4@REMOVE-TO-REPLYconfidential-counselling.com> From: quietguy Subject: Re: Reliable Inexpensive Electronic Weather Instruments References: <1136238218.674982.221060@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com> <1136338025.108271.227050@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com> Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2006 05:56:49 GMT You might like to have a look at the Silicaon Chip website - they published a weather station not so long ago - I read the articale at the library so don't have a copy, but a search of their site should find it - the windspeed/direction part looks very neat and should be reliable and cheap David Too_Many_Tools wrote: > Thanks for the leads so far.... > > Has anyone actually built any of this designs and hooked it to a > laptop? > > If so, I would love to hear about it...links and pictures would be > great. > > If you look, you will find very few sites talking about actual efforts. > > TMT Article: 95883 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "John A" Subject: Re: Identifying a mystery diode Date: Thu, 5 Jan 2006 12:19:57 -0000 Message-ID: References: Hi Paul, That sort of "mini-L" packaging is often used for vhf components, e.g. tuning diodes, hot carrier diodes and PIN diodes - and some of these have forward volt-drops of more than one volt. You can investigate that suggestion that it is a high-voltage rectifier by applying, say, 200v reverse voltage via a 1Mohm resistor and measuring the breakdown (if any) voltage of the diode, or what current flows. Any of the other suggestions - including mine - will break down. Are there definitely no markings? John A "Paul VK3DIP" wrote in message news:cXjtf.136133$V7.93540@news-server.bigpond.net.au... > Hi all I recently purchased a bag of unmarked supposedly diodes and I am > trying to figure out what they are. The clues so far are normal diode > action on a multimeter (ie conducts one way but not the other) but the > forward voltage is high at about 1.4 - 1.5 volts. The packaging is a small > square black plastic box with flat axial leads one of which has a small > cross > piece on it. This packaging suggests small signal or at least low power. > > If anyone wants to look at the mystery diode it is the top one > in this picture. > http://www.users.bigpond.com/pmcmahon/mysterydiode.jpg > The bottom one is a normal glass 1N914 just for scale. > > There is nowhere for the light to come out (or in) so they are not LEDs > which is the only other diode like component I have come across with that > high a forward voltage. Could it be two silicon diodes in series? > > Any suggestions or even just identifying the case outline would be > appreciated. > > Thanks > Paul VK3DIP > > > Article: 95884 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: budgie Subject: Re: Rockwell GPS recievers Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2006 20:39:45 +0800 Message-ID: <0f4qr1dfp7utbeoikpvi829qams9u300pg@4ax.com> References: <9p3kr1peg342dg34u8fp7dn17t7ng57ena@4ax.com> <0hZuf.3732$QI6.1436@trnddc07> On Thu, 05 Jan 2006 03:12:07 GMT, MetalHead wrote: >Chuck S. wrote: >> OK, one more question, do you need the RS-232 port if you only want to lock >> a vcxo to the 10kHz? My guess is no, just +5 volts and ground, and take the >> 10kHz from pin 20 of the connector. > >I have used the older Rockwell GPS stuff and they seem to need to have a >recent almanac transferred to them before they will get a fix. Rockwell >used to distribute a freebie software package that would help you deal >with all the setup stuff. It was called something like Lab_10 or Lab_X >or somesuch. The newer stuff may need less handholding. That's an interesting observation, Bob. I was watching the NMEA output from power-up on the Jupiter I am using doing a "frozen start" out of the box without an antenna. One sentence showed it checking each sat in turn. When it finds one (which it obviously doesn't do with no ant) it assigns a Rx channel# to it. When I finished play mode on the pooter end and connected an ant, it went through each bird in turn, about one per second. So within a minute it had acquired a set of birds and began processing. As I am using no form of backup, the Jupiter starts from ROM each time and does a similar "frozen start" i,e, factory almanac). It consistently achieves a full fix in under 3 minutes. Article: 95885 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Richard Henry" Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Thu, 5 Jan 2006 07:48:52 -0800 Message-ID: <424tgaF1h9oseU1@individual.net> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> <43b9cdbd.20688672@free.teranews.com> <43BCB1D1.4020800@worldnet.att.net> "Chuck Harris" wrote in message news:v4edneO2SYsvtCDenZ2dnUVZ_tqdnZ2d@rcn.net... > Atsunori Tamagawa wrote: > > > I own some scopes. Though, my favorite is not one of Tek ones, > > but HP-1741A storage scope. > > Hmmm? I cannot imagine what you like about the 1741A, but different > strokes for different folks. > > Be very careful with that grey horizontal timing switch knob. HP cut two > (or was it 3?) slots that each cover 175 (115?) degrees through the body of the knob. > They did that so that you could see the light mounted on the panel through > the knob. Well, when the switch's lubrication gets a little sticky, > and you get a little enthusiastic (and lord knows the plastic is already > at least 18 years old), you will snap those thin little bits of plastic, > and your knob will be gone, and your scope will be unusable. Forget about > gluing it, as there was barely enough strength with the virgin plastic. > > We had dozens of that family of HP scope, and they all went into scrap because > the knobs were unavailable. > > Tektronix did the same thing with their horizontal knobs, but they > knew enough about materials engineering to make the body of the knob > out of aluminum, and make the grip surface of the knob out of plastic. I never had a HP scope that I liked, or would use unless there was no Tek scope available. Article: 95886 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Mike Subject: Building a DAB radio Message-ID: Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2006 20:03:57 GMT Hello, has anyone come across any projects or info on building your own DAB radio. This is my (limited) understanding: How it's sent: The audio (or whatever) signal is split and sent using Quadrature Amplitude Modulation over many narrow band carriers (each carrier at a different frequency): Ie it's spread spectrum. Error correction Coding is also used, etc. To decode it: This is where I'm confused; Can I build a receiver which will receive the whole collection of narrow band carriers, then feed it into a computer that will do some FFT? Not really sure how to move forward; any ideas would be fantastic. Thankyou all! (PS It's good to see there's a newsgroup on this topic). Mike Smith Article: 95887 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: dplatt@radagast.org (Dave Platt) Subject: Re: Building a DAB radio Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2006 21:13:21 -0000 Message-ID: <11rr2vhnic0794c@corp.supernews.com> References: In article , Mike wrote: >Hello, >has anyone come across any projects or info on building your own DAB radio. > >This is my (limited) understanding: > >How it's sent: The audio (or whatever) signal is split and sent using >Quadrature Amplitude Modulation over many narrow band carriers (each >carrier at a different frequency): Ie it's spread spectrum. Error >correction Coding is also used, etc. >To decode it: This is where I'm confused; Can I build a receiver which >will receive the whole collection of narrow band carriers, then feed it >into a computer that will do some FFT? Yes, that's usually how it's done. The approach I've seen is to grab the whole slice of the RF section, downconvert to a convenient IF (via superhet or direct conversion), then feed the whole signal into something which can use DSP to detect and demodulate the individual carriers. A common approach for Digital Radio Mondiale broadcasting (which has a relatively narrow RF bandwidth) is to use a single-sideband receiver architecture of some sort, downconverting the DRM signal from RF to a same-width slice of audio spectrum, then feed it into a PC via the PC's sound card, and doing the DSP work using the PC's CPU. The commercial high-fidelity DAB systems used in the US may very well have a bandwidth too wide to allow this simple approach to be used (I haven't studied them in any detail) but the same basic principles would apply. Block-convert the RF range you want to an easily-captured IF range, do an A-to-D on it, and do the rest of the processing digitally in a CPU or dedicated DSP chip. Take a look at http://www.gnu.org/software/gnuradio/ for a look at some open-source software-radio techniques. -- Dave Platt AE6EO Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads! Article: 95888 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Chuck S." References: <9p3kr1peg342dg34u8fp7dn17t7ng57ena@4ax.com> <0hZuf.3732$QI6.1436@trnddc07> <0f4qr1dfp7utbeoikpvi829qams9u300pg@4ax.com> Subject: Re: Rockwell GPS recievers Message-ID: Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2006 22:36:17 GMT Thanks budgie, I was talking about the Jupiter bd. Another thought was will it work without an antenna? I guess it will. I will be using it outside on hill tops so should not have a problem a set of birds to lock on. I see an output on pin 19 that is mark Epps that may be use to show a lock condition. "budgie" wrote in message news:0f4qr1dfp7utbeoikpvi829qams9u300pg@4ax.com... > On Thu, 05 Jan 2006 03:12:07 GMT, MetalHead > wrote: > >>Chuck S. wrote: >>> OK, one more question, do you need the RS-232 port if you only want to >>> lock >>> a vcxo to the 10kHz? My guess is no, just +5 volts and ground, and take >>> the >>> 10kHz from pin 20 of the connector. >> >>I have used the older Rockwell GPS stuff and they seem to need to have a >>recent almanac transferred to them before they will get a fix. Rockwell >>used to distribute a freebie software package that would help you deal >>with all the setup stuff. It was called something like Lab_10 or Lab_X >>or somesuch. The newer stuff may need less handholding. > > That's an interesting observation, Bob. I was watching the NMEA output > from > power-up on the Jupiter I am using doing a "frozen start" out of the box > without > an antenna. One sentence showed it checking each sat in turn. When it > finds > one (which it obviously doesn't do with no ant) it assigns a Rx channel# > to it. > > When I finished play mode on the pooter end and connected an ant, it went > through each bird in turn, about one per second. So within a minute it > had > acquired a set of birds and began processing. As I am using no form of > backup, > the Jupiter starts from ROM each time and does a similar "frozen start" > i,e, > factory almanac). It consistently achieves a full fix in under 3 minutes. Article: 95889 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: MetalHead Subject: Re: Rockwell GPS recievers References: <9p3kr1peg342dg34u8fp7dn17t7ng57ena@4ax.com> <0hZuf.3732$QI6.1436@trnddc07> <0f4qr1dfp7utbeoikpvi829qams9u300pg@4ax.com> Message-ID: Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2006 23:27:41 GMT budgie wrote: > On Thu, 05 Jan 2006 03:12:07 GMT, MetalHead > wrote: > > >>Chuck S. wrote: >> >>>OK, one more question, do you need the RS-232 port if you only want to lock >>>a vcxo to the 10kHz? My guess is no, just +5 volts and ground, and take the >>>10kHz from pin 20 of the connector. >> >>I have used the older Rockwell GPS stuff and they seem to need to have a >>recent almanac transferred to them before they will get a fix. Rockwell >>used to distribute a freebie software package that would help you deal >>with all the setup stuff. It was called something like Lab_10 or Lab_X >>or somesuch. The newer stuff may need less handholding. > > > That's an interesting observation, Bob. I was watching the NMEA output from > power-up on the Jupiter I am using doing a "frozen start" out of the box without > an antenna. One sentence showed it checking each sat in turn. When it finds > one (which it obviously doesn't do with no ant) it assigns a Rx channel# to it. > > When I finished play mode on the pooter end and connected an ant, it went > through each bird in turn, about one per second. So within a minute it had > acquired a set of birds and began processing. As I am using no form of backup, > the Jupiter starts from ROM each time and does a similar "frozen start" i,e, > factory almanac). It consistently achieves a full fix in under 3 minutes. This surprised me also. As I mentioned earlier, these two system that this showed up on were very old, 5 channel receivers. Sitting outside, with a clear view of the sky, the receivers would search through one sat at a time and find one occasionally, but they would lose them after several minutes. After a couple of hours, they had not acquired and held enough SV's to get a fix at any time. I loaded up an almanac through the tool and either receiver would get a fix within a few minutes and hold it for the half hour that I left them to run. I am assuming that these receivers were running out of ROM as well. Some GPS systems put an almanac in ROM to improve the cold start fix time, but I don't know if these are among them. As for the original poster's other question about needing an antenna, I would say that unless there is one on the Jupiter board, then yes. Bob Article: 95890 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew Message-ID: <43BDB11D.40F42684@earthlink.net> From: "Michael A. Terrell" Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> <43b9cdbd.20688672@free.teranews.com> <43BCB1D1.4020800@worldnet.att.net> <424tgaF1h9oseU1@individual.net> Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2006 23:52:41 GMT Richard Henry wrote: > > I never had a HP scope that I liked, or would use unless there was no Tek > scope available. Microdyne had shelves full of HP scopes, but most of the techs would grab one of the beat up Leader 508A scopes. -- Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to prove it. Member of DAV #85. Michael A. Terrell Central Florida Article: 95891 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: budgie Subject: Re: Rockwell GPS recievers Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 07:56:59 +0800 Message-ID: References: <9p3kr1peg342dg34u8fp7dn17t7ng57ena@4ax.com> <0hZuf.3732$QI6.1436@trnddc07> <0f4qr1dfp7utbeoikpvi829qams9u300pg@4ax.com> On Thu, 05 Jan 2006 22:36:17 GMT, "Chuck S." wrote: >Thanks budgie, I was talking about the Jupiter bd. Another thought was will >it work without an antenna? I guess it will. I will be using it outside on >hill tops so should not have a problem a set of birds to lock on. I see an >output on pin 19 that is mark Epps that may be use to show a lock condition. Mine has 1pps (one pulse per second, time mark) on pin 19. "Epps" sounds excitingly similar. The one I have is: www.gpskit.nl/documents/rockwell/jupiter_v230.pdf which shows pin assignments and gives fairly good guff on the ROM-based start. Article: 95892 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: budgie Subject: Re: Rockwell GPS recievers Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 08:03:53 +0800 Message-ID: References: <9p3kr1peg342dg34u8fp7dn17t7ng57ena@4ax.com> <0hZuf.3732$QI6.1436@trnddc07> <0f4qr1dfp7utbeoikpvi829qams9u300pg@4ax.com> On Thu, 05 Jan 2006 23:27:41 GMT, MetalHead wrote: (snip) >>>I have used the older Rockwell GPS stuff and they seem to need to have a >>>recent almanac transferred to them before they will get a fix. Rockwell >>>used to distribute a freebie software package that would help you deal >>>with all the setup stuff. It was called something like Lab_10 or Lab_X >>>or somesuch. The newer stuff may need less handholding. >> >> >> That's an interesting observation, Bob. I was watching the NMEA output from >> power-up on the Jupiter I am using doing a "frozen start" out of the box without >> an antenna. One sentence showed it checking each sat in turn. When it finds >> one (which it obviously doesn't do with no ant) it assigns a Rx channel# to it. >> >> When I finished play mode on the pooter end and connected an ant, it went >> through each bird in turn, about one per second. So within a minute it had >> acquired a set of birds and began processing. As I am using no form of backup, >> the Jupiter starts from ROM each time and does a similar "frozen start" i,e, >> factory almanac). It consistently achieves a full fix in under 3 minutes. > >This surprised me also. As I mentioned earlier, these two system that >this showed up on were very old, 5 channel receivers. We obviously have different receivers. Mine is a 12-channel unit. www.gpskit.nl/documents/rockwell/jupiter_v230.pdf >Sitting outside, with a clear view of the sky, the receivers would >search through one sat at a time and find one occasionally, but they >would lose them after several minutes. After a couple of hours, they had >not acquired and held enough SV's to get a fix at any time. With a "sufficient" antenna (I am using a 27dB patch) mine doesn't lose any SV's unless they drop below the elevation mask. Once it has one, you keep seeing it in the sentence. >I loaded up an almanac through the tool and either receiver would get a >fix within a few minutes and hold it for the half hour that I left them >to run. > >I am assuming that these receivers were running out of ROM as well. Some >GPS systems put an almanac in ROM to improve the cold start fix time, >but I don't know if these are among them. Mine certainly is, but with the 3 minute TTFF from obsolete ROM it's fine for my time/frequency purposes. >As for the original poster's other question about needing an antenna, I >would say that unless there is one on the Jupiter board, then yes. Confirmed. I tried a number of improvised passive antennae on my workbench (where I get good fixes with a Garmin II+ on its standard antenna) and it never found a single SV. Never tried outdoors ona passive, went straight to an active patch on the windowsill ;-) Article: 95893 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Chuck S." References: <9p3kr1peg342dg34u8fp7dn17t7ng57ena@4ax.com> <0hZuf.3732$QI6.1436@trnddc07> <0f4qr1dfp7utbeoikpvi829qams9u300pg@4ax.com> Subject: Re: Rockwell GPS recievers Message-ID: Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 00:58:19 GMT I made a type-O :-) it is 1pps "budgie" wrote in message news:f7crr1dh4uf2ms78lt637q6coto71da8ge@4ax.com... > On Thu, 05 Jan 2006 22:36:17 GMT, "Chuck S." > wrote: > >>Thanks budgie, I was talking about the Jupiter bd. Another thought was >>will >>it work without an antenna? I guess it will. I will be using it outside on >>hill tops so should not have a problem a set of birds to lock on. I see an >>output on pin 19 that is mark Epps that may be use to show a lock >>condition. > > Mine has 1pps (one pulse per second, time mark) on pin 19. "Epps" sounds > excitingly similar. > > The one I have is: www.gpskit.nl/documents/rockwell/jupiter_v230.pdf > which shows pin assignments and gives fairly good guff on the ROM-based > start. Article: 95894 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Heytubeguy" Subject: FA:MORE AIR VARIABLES + STUFF Message-ID: Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 01:19:15 GMT I will be listing ~35-45 air variables in the next month in addition to = ones already listed on Ebay. So, pse check back frequently. Trying to = clean out stuff. Some new ones are listed now and the mostly used ones = (receive & transmit) will be added a few each day or every other day. = Tnx for stopping by: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZheytubeguy 73 Joe, heytubeguy Article: 95895 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Mike Subject: Re: Building a DAB radio References: <11rr2vhnic0794c@corp.supernews.com> Message-ID: Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 02:06:27 GMT Dave Platt wrote: > In article , > Mike wrote: > >>Hello, >>has anyone come across any projects or info on building your own DAB radio. >> >>This is my (limited) understanding: >> >>How it's sent: The audio (or whatever) signal is split and sent using >>Quadrature Amplitude Modulation over many narrow band carriers (each >>carrier at a different frequency): Ie it's spread spectrum. Error >>correction Coding is also used, etc. >>To decode it: This is where I'm confused; Can I build a receiver which >>will receive the whole collection of narrow band carriers, then feed it >>into a computer that will do some FFT? > > > Yes, that's usually how it's done. The approach I've seen is to grab > the whole slice of the RF section, downconvert to a convenient IF (via > superhet or direct conversion), then feed the whole signal into > something which can use DSP to detect and demodulate the individual > carriers. Yeah, that's the sort of idea I thought might work. > A common approach for Digital Radio Mondiale broadcasting (which has a > relatively narrow RF bandwidth) is to use a single-sideband receiver > architecture of some sort, downconverting the DRM signal from RF to a > same-width slice of audio spectrum, then feed it into a PC via the > PC's sound card, and doing the DSP work using the PC's CPU. That's a good idea! I think DRM has more potential than DAB at least >from a technical standpoint, as it will go further (less retransmission, less power needed). But I'm not really an expert. > The commercial high-fidelity DAB systems used in the US may very well > have a bandwidth too wide to allow this simple approach to be used (I > haven't studied them in any detail) but the same basic principles > would apply. Block-convert the RF range you want to an > easily-captured IF range, do an A-to-D on it, and do the rest of the > processing digitally in a CPU or dedicated DSP chip. (Sorry, I should have mentioned that I'm in the UK). I've just found a bbc 'paper' linked to from wikipedia, but now hosted on web.archive.org at: http://web.archive.org/web/20040401020811/http%3A//www.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/papers/paper_21/paper_21.html that says a DAB station would occupy up to 1.54MHz of the spectrum, with the individual carriers spaced 1kHz apart. I was hoping a PIC might be able to decode it. Most seem to be able to manage 40MHz, which might not be fast enough... although a pair of them sharing the task (one getting the raw 1s and 0s, the other doing stuff with them) might work. > Take a look at http://www.gnu.org/software/gnuradio/ for a look at > some open-source software-radio techniques. Thanks for the hints and advice, this is the first time I've used a public newsgroup for years and I'm pleased by a) how helpful it's been and b) that it's still alive and well. I'll try to help someone else in return. Thanks Dave! (Your reply's really been helpful!!) Mike Smith lionfish _A_T_ uwcs.co.uk Article: 95896 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: - exray - Subject: Re: Building a "Robinson Crusoe" Battery Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2006 22:37:01 -0400 Message-ID: <11rrluecmg5be60@corp.supernews.com> References: <1136229191.768561.62190@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> WA5OES wrote: > > What would Robinson need the battery for? To crank the generator, silly. -Bill Article: 95897 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Mark Moulding" References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> <43b9cdbd.20688672@free.teranews.com> <43BCB1D1.4020800@worldnet.att.net> <424tgaF1h9oseU1@individual.net> Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Message-ID: Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 03:02:39 GMT I've had a 545 (military version), and it was quite good, although it had some calibration issues that I never really got resolved. Most of the time, though, I just used my 475, up until a couple of years ago. I got rid of the 454 (space reasons), and picked up an HP 54201D digital scope with logic analyzer-type triggering. Although I haven't needed the fancy triggering yet (though it would have been really helpful a couple of times in the past), the scope itself has now become my main scope. It's good to 300MHz (though I rarely need anything that fast), and I find I'm using the on-screen measurement capabilities and storage abilities quite a lot. Of course, the 475 is still sitting right on top, and in fact I used it to fix a faulty input channel in the 54201D when I first bought it. But really, the 475 rarely gets turned on now. Oh - the best part was that the 54201D only cost me $50 at a Ham swap meet... -- Mark "I prefer heaven for climate, hell for company." "Richard Henry" wrote in message news:424tgaF1h9oseU1@individual.net... > > "Chuck Harris" wrote in message > news:v4edneO2SYsvtCDenZ2dnUVZ_tqdnZ2d@rcn.net... >> Atsunori Tamagawa wrote: >> >> > I own some scopes. Though, my favorite is not one of Tek ones, >> > but HP-1741A storage scope. >> >> Hmmm? I cannot imagine what you like about the 1741A, but different >> strokes for different folks. >> >> Be very careful with that grey horizontal timing switch knob. HP cut two >> (or was it 3?) slots that each cover 175 (115?) degrees through the body > of the knob. >> They did that so that you could see the light mounted on the panel >> through >> the knob. Well, when the switch's lubrication gets a little sticky, >> and you get a little enthusiastic (and lord knows the plastic is already >> at least 18 years old), you will snap those thin little bits of plastic, >> and your knob will be gone, and your scope will be unusable. Forget >> about >> gluing it, as there was barely enough strength with the virgin plastic. >> >> We had dozens of that family of HP scope, and they all went into scrap > because >> the knobs were unavailable. >> >> Tektronix did the same thing with their horizontal knobs, but they >> knew enough about materials engineering to make the body of the knob >> out of aluminum, and make the grip surface of the knob out of plastic. > > I never had a HP scope that I liked, or would use unless there was no Tek > scope available. > > Article: 95898 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Mark Moulding" References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> <43b9cdbd.20688672@free.teranews.com> <43BCB1D1.4020800@worldnet.att.net> <424tgaF1h9oseU1@individual.net> Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Message-ID: Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 03:08:59 GMT Oh, and servicing the HP 54201D scope was pretty easy. It came apart in obvious ways, and the boards were big, double-sided (not multi-layer), and gold plated. There were a couple of scary-looking custom IC's, but the problem in my case was just a burned-up 100 ohm resistor. I eventually bought (rented and copied, actually) the operator and service manuals for it, from W J Ford, who were quite easy to deal with and had a *really* large stock of old manuals. -- Mark "I prefer heaven for climate, hell for company." Article: 95899 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: budgie Subject: Re: Rockwell GPS recievers Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 13:34:06 +0800 Message-ID: References: <9p3kr1peg342dg34u8fp7dn17t7ng57ena@4ax.com> <0hZuf.3732$QI6.1436@trnddc07> <0f4qr1dfp7utbeoikpvi829qams9u300pg@4ax.com> On Fri, 06 Jan 2006 00:58:19 GMT, "Chuck S." wrote: >I made a type-O :-) it is 1pps >From my observations - and not contradicted by available documentation - that gives a 1pps from powerup. Yes, even masking that output until a valid fix would have been nice. Article: 95900 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Don Lancaster Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2006 22:38:35 -0700 Message-ID: <426e2rF1gra3aU1@individual.net> References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> <43b9cdbd.20688672@free.teranews.com> <43BCB1D1.4020800@worldnet.att.net> <424tgaF1h9oseU1@individual.net> <43BDB11D.40F42684@earthlink.net> Michael A. Terrell wrote: > Richard Henry wrote: > >>I never had a HP scope that I liked, or would use unless there was no Tek >>scope available. > The HP 130C was an excellent oscilloscope. It has been stadily downhill from there. -- Many thanks, Don Lancaster voice phone: (928)428-4073 Synergetics 3860 West First Street Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552 rss: http://www.tinaja.com/whtnu.xml email: don@tinaja.com Please visit my GURU's LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com Article: 95901 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: James Sweet Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> <43b9cdbd.20688672@free.teranews.com> <43BCB1D1.4020800@worldnet.att.net> Message-ID: <%Invf.20506$If.14477@trnddc05> Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 06:01:31 GMT Chuck Harris wrote: > Atsunori Tamagawa wrote: > >> I own some scopes. Though, my favorite is not one of Tek ones, >> but HP-1741A storage scope. > > > Hmmm? I cannot imagine what you like about the 1741A, but different > strokes for different folks. > > Be very careful with that grey horizontal timing switch knob. HP cut two > (or was it 3?) slots that each cover 175 (115?) degrees through the body > of the knob. > They did that so that you could see the light mounted on the panel through > the knob. Well, when the switch's lubrication gets a little sticky, > and you get a little enthusiastic (and lord knows the plastic is already > at least 18 years old), you will snap those thin little bits of plastic, > and your knob will be gone, and your scope will be unusable. Forget about > gluing it, as there was barely enough strength with the virgin plastic. > > We had dozens of that family of HP scope, and they all went into scrap > because > the knobs were unavailable. > Scrap? Surely a machinist could make a suitable replacement knob for less than the value of a good scope. Article: 95902 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: Rich Grise Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> <43b9cdbd.20688672@free.teranews.com> <43BCB1D1.4020800@worldnet.att.net> <424tgaF1h9oseU1@individual.net> <9qGdnSBcZLnC6SDeRVn-ow@comcast.com> Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 18:46:40 GMT On Thu, 05 Jan 2006 14:30:07 -0500, Dave Edwards top-posted: > Still using the 275Mhz hp1726A that was given to me when I started working > for HP in '83. > I keep it covered when not being used, so it still looks like new. Perhaps > some day it will crap out, and I'll try a Tek!! > Every now and then, one lucks out on a HP scope. For the most part, the HP scopes I've used have been pretty marginal. There was one that was an absolute nightmare, but that was a special case, because it was military, and it was in a special case. The knobs all had little waterproof rubber skirts, which had backlash that makes ordinary backlash look like nothing at all. You had to go _WAY_ past the setting you wanted, and hope that when the knob sprang back it would land on the setting. I remarked to a coworker: "It probably wouldn't even be a good boat anchor, because it would float." I _did_ once use an HP that was tolerable. But If I'm the one who signs the check, my first choice, of course, would be a Tek. :-) Cheers! Rich > > "Richard Henry" wrote in message > news:424tgaF1h9oseU1@individual.net... >> >> "Chuck Harris" wrote in message >> news:v4edneO2SYsvtCDenZ2dnUVZ_tqdnZ2d@rcn.net... >>> Atsunori Tamagawa wrote: >>> >>> > I own some scopes. Though, my favorite is not one of Tek ones, but >>> > HP-1741A storage scope. >>> >>> Hmmm? I cannot imagine what you like about the 1741A, but different >>> strokes for different folks. >>> >>> Be very careful with that grey horizontal timing switch knob. HP cut >>> two (or was it 3?) slots that each cover 175 (115?) degrees through >>> the body >> of the knob. >>> They did that so that you could see the light mounted on the panel >>> through >>> the knob. Well, when the switch's lubrication gets a little sticky, >>> and you get a little enthusiastic (and lord knows the plastic is >>> already at least 18 years old), you will snap those thin little bits >>> of plastic, and your knob will be gone, and your scope will be >>> unusable. Forget about >>> gluing it, as there was barely enough strength with the virgin >>> plastic. >>> >>> We had dozens of that family of HP scope, and they all went into scrap >> because >>> the knobs were unavailable. >>> >>> Tektronix did the same thing with their horizontal knobs, but they >>> knew enough about materials engineering to make the body of the knob >>> out of aluminum, and make the grip surface of the knob out of plastic. >> >> I never had a HP scope that I liked, or would use unless there was no >> Tek scope available. >> >> Article: 95903 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Rich Grise, but drunk" Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> <43b9cdbd.20688672@free.teranews.com> <43BCB1D1.4020800@worldnet.att.net> <424tgaF1h9oseU1@individual.net> <43BDB11D.40F42684@earthlink.net> <426e2rF1gra3aU1@individual.net> <1136567805.111748.68830@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 18:48:15 GMT On Fri, 06 Jan 2006 09:16:45 -0800, Too_Many_Tools wrote: > "The HP 130C was an excellent oscilloscope. > It has been stadily downhill from there. " > > I agree. > > Why do you think that happened? > > TMT Because an oscilloscope isn't a Wein (Wien?)-bridge oscillator? Thanks, Rich Article: 95904 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew Message-ID: <43BEBFDA.2050907@worldnet.att.net> From: Atsunori Tamagawa Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> <43b9cdbd.20688672@free.teranews.com> <43BCB1D1.4020800@worldnet.att.net> <424tgaF1h9oseU1@individual.net> <43BDB11D.40F42684@earthlink.net> <426e2rF1gra3aU1@individual.net> <1136567805.111748.68830@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 19:07:10 GMT Rich Grise, but drunk wrote: > >>"The HP 130C was an excellent oscilloscope. >>It has been stadily downhill from there. " >> >>I agree. >> >>Why do you think that happened? >> > > Because an oscilloscope isn't a Wein (Wien?)-bridge oscillator? No, they became short of CRT's because of their success in network analyzer business, perhaps. It seems that more people are having trouble with HP scopes than I thought. One has to treat scopes gently, just like treating women's body. Instead of "pushing" buttons, one has to "touch" them. Atsunori Article: 95905 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: phatty mo Subject: Re: Building a "Robinson Crusoe" Battery References: <1136229191.768561.62190@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <1136516117.111999.263150@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com> <1136568708.369005.217670@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <43c1b6aa.18751690@localhost> Message-ID: Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 11:16:41 -0800 Harry Chickpea wrote: > "Too_Many_Tools" wrote: > > >>How about some more wild ideas...Crusoe is getting sick of eating >>coconuts. ;<) > > > Electric eels. > Look around,You might find some "litter" for the cells..old tin cans,rods,bars,nuts+bolts,fish hooks,whatever.. Maybe you'd get lucky and find a wrecked(,or parts of a) boat or plane,or get really lucky and find parts from the boat/planes electrical gizmos to play with. Maybe wire up some lights,or a simple (spark gap) transmitter,and send out an SOS.Dunno if anyone would see the lights,or what you'd use for an antenna...anything you can find,I guess. Or just touch the eels together,Spark-gap and arc-light all on one! Article: 95906 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "Tim Williams" References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <6hZtf.3293$vL4.3204@bignews1.bellsouth.net> <43b8d277.34617210@free.teranews.com> <43b9cdbd.20688672@free.teranews.com> <43BCB1D1.4020800@worldnet.att.net> <424tgaF1h9oseU1@individual.net> <43BDB11D.40F42684@earthlink.net> <426e2rF1gra3aU1@individual.net> <1136567805.111748.68830@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <43BEBFDA.2050907@worldnet.att.net> Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Message-ID: Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2006 13:57:27 -0600 "Atsunori Tamagawa" wrote in message news:43BEBFDA.2050907@worldnet.att.net... > One has to treat scopes gently, just like treating women's body. > Instead of "pushing" buttons, one has to "touch" them. Well, no duh...I mean, which of these looks more like a 'scope? http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/Images/Man-Woman.jpg Tim -- Deep Fryer: a very philosophical monk. Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms Article: 95907 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "M. J. Powell" Subject: Re: Favorite Tektronix Scope Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2006 17:22:18 +0000 Message-ID: References: <1136148561.946351.257400@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> In message <39KdnZtLUbvICiDeRVn-iQ@rcn.net>, Chuck Harris writes >Dave Edwards wrote: >> Still using the 275Mhz hp1726A that was given to me when I started >>working for HP in '83. >> I keep it covered when not being used, so it still looks like new. >>Perhaps some day it will crap out, and I'll try a Tek!! > >I haven't seen that reliability is a problem with the 1726A. They go and >go... Drift is a bad problem, the zero goes all over the place, and needs >constant diddling. It is all but impossible to adjust so that the variable >volts/division knob doesn't shift the zero (and have it stay adjusted). The >horizontal time knob is a really bad problem, as I discussed in an earlier >note. If you haven't taken your scope apart, and oiled that switch's shaft, >and replaced the grease on the ball detent, I would strongly suggest that you >do so. When the knob breaks, it is end of game. May be relevant. When a plastic eyepiece on my father's WW I binoculars shattered I found a company that made an exact copy from the other eyepiece which I sent them. This was some twenty five years ago. I don't know what the plastic was, possibly some form of Bakelite or Ebonite. Mike -- M.J.Powell Article: 95908 of rec.radio.amateur.homebrew From: "void * clvrmnky()" Subject: Re: Building a "Robinson Crusoe" Battery References: <1136229191.768561.62190@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <4de328dd98dave@davenoise.co.uk> <43bb28f8.467386@localhost> Message-ID: <5GAvf.8623$43.8388@nnrp.ca.mci.com!nnrp1.uunet.ca> Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 15:45:53 -0500 On 03/01/2006 8:41 PM, Harry Chickpea wrote: > "daestrom" wrote: > >> "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message >> news:4de328dd98dave@davenoise.co.uk... >>> In article , >>> philo wrote: >>>> a "Robinson Crusoe" battery must be one you'd make if stranded on an >>>> island... so you'd have plenty of sea water. you could use electrodes of >>>> copper and zinc >>> Plenty of that on the average desert island...;-) >>> >> Well, if you were shipwrecked, you might pry the anti-corrosion zincs off >> the hull, and along with the bronze/brass fittings, you might get some >> potential. >> >> Of course, once you've used up the zincs, I think you're pretty much done. >> >> daestrom >> > > You mean going down with a zincing ship? You've certainly proved your mettle with that one.