HP 53131A Upgrade

Рет қаралды 4,551

7 жыл бұрын

With the counter now working I add a High Stability Timebase from Gerry Sweeney (gerrysweeney.com/update-diy-hp...) and a clone 3 GHz Pre-Scaler from eBay

Пікірлер: 15

@CraigPetersen12f36b Жыл бұрын

I just bought one of these (Agilent 53131A) at a hamfest a week ago for a whopping $25.00! It came with option 010 installed, is in very good condition and appears to work just fine. I am however going to install the 3 GHz prescaler, install the front / rear bumper and handle kit and check the electrolytics just to make sure. It was however serviced in 2013 so it may be OK. *EDIT* I use these same utilities as well, I use the phase noise utility with a HP 70K series SA.

@tgsoapbox Жыл бұрын

Nice - That is an awesome price - I have a new fan that I have to put in mine - You might want to do the same so you can keep it running 24/7 to get the best out of the OCXO

@CraigPetersen12f36b Жыл бұрын

@@tgsoapbox Thanks for the tip, I was a little puzzled as to why the fan is always running. I did notice when I installed the 3GHz board mine had the low aging rate 10811 installed, this I wasn't expecting. I did check the caps and they appear to be just fine.

@tgsoapbox Жыл бұрын

@@CraigPetersen12f36b They're good little boxes - Put the new fan in mine and it's now sitting in its place on the top of the bench warming up and settling down... I used a Sunon MF40201V3-1000U-G99 but really any good quality fan should work - I went with that one as the noise was 16 odd dBA

@TheDefpom 7 жыл бұрын

I suspect the phase noise peak could be due to the faulty caps, allowing 120hz (full wave rectified 60hz) into the unit.

@tgsoapbox 7 жыл бұрын

Great point - I'll try the phase noise again when I recap.

@materialsguy2002 6 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the video. I upgraded my 53132A with the same two mods a while back. Very worthwhile mods, and both work very well. I had better check those electrolytic in the power supply.......

@tgsoapbox 6 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it - Let me know if you ever find a better fan (I leave mine on 24/7) - I got a low noise fan but I think it could be even quieter.

@SidneyCritic 6 жыл бұрын

The Signal Path did those mods as well. What happened with the recap?

@tgsoapbox 6 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching - The recap addressed some of that 60 Hz noise but it was still there. I replaced all the caps but it didn't improve - I think that might just be a design artifact. Gave it to my Dad and he's been using it perfectly well since then.

@yoramstein 6 жыл бұрын

Hello TGSoapbox . I have installed option 3 in my counter. Do I need also to tell the counter (software) it is installed or does the counter recognises op3 by itself?

@tgsoapbox 6 жыл бұрын

It should recognize the pre-scaler by itself and provide you with the ability to measure "Frequency 3" when you hit the Freq & Ratio button.