It wasn't so long ago that you were being treated rather badly around here. Seems unwise to start doing things that might get people going at it again.
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That is always good news, John. Would you mind posting some pics for
us? They do come along from time to time and it's always nice
to find gear like this.
Sadly, I found one that I don't think was ever used, it showed up on
fleabay and the meter still had the blue ink on it and readable.
It must have been kept away from light sources as it didn't fade away like 99.99 percent of them do.
Why sadly?
I forgot about it until too late. I think it went for less than $100.
Any way if you are interested in what Richard might do with your
other HP339A it might be included in my blog about it here:
HP339A Blog
Happy reading,
Fisher E E S
I couldn't help myself after reading about the Sony ES.
Well maybe about 10 years before, Sony ES link, 2005,
I got this little Fisher EES 1 Bit Personal Compact Disc Player
PCD-PML. This was a freebie given away by Marlboro.
I used it quite a bit and lost it for a while. So I bought another
one, thinking Sony was good stuff. It didn't last until the warranty
ended and when I called and spoke to the Sony people, they wanted
$150.00 to fix it.
At about the same time I found the Fisher and was about to throw
it away, thinking heck the good Sony didn't last, this is only a
Fisher freebie. I'm glad I didn't because it still works to this day.
Pix at Six.
Cheers,
I couldn't help myself after reading about the Sony ES.
Well maybe about 10 years before, Sony ES link, 2005,
I got this little Fisher EES 1 Bit Personal Compact Disc Player
PCD-PML. This was a freebie given away by Marlboro.
I used it quite a bit and lost it for a while. So I bought another
one, thinking Sony was good stuff. It didn't last until the warranty
ended and when I called and spoke to the Sony people, they wanted
$150.00 to fix it.
At about the same time I found the Fisher and was about to throw
it away, thinking heck the good Sony didn't last, this is only a
Fisher freebie. I'm glad I didn't because it still works to this day.
Pix at Six.
Cheers,
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Thanks Markw4 for reminding me. I have been insulted so many times and for so many years that I just talk back sometimes.
Sync, yes I like to keep a standard Thd meter on my bench, but for serious measurements I use my SR-1. The HP339, (when it is in good condition) can serve very well for general circuit development. I use it with an HP3563 to give me an FFT of the harmonics. So long as I don't want to work below -110dB or so, it is OK.
I find the SR-1 to be quite a bargain, compared to its competition, but it isn't perfect, unfortunately, yet I can get print outs that will curl your hair! (or at least mine) However it is relatively slow, when I am optimizing something and the HP339 is ideal for real-time adjustments of an amp. Like so many here, the HP339 suffers from broken knobs (plastic) and can go out of wack where it will not null properly. I have faced the same sort of problems with the ST1700B, 1701, 1710 etc. In fact I have a whole pile of semi working ST's all over my apartment. Some were left here by Demian, who is welcome to pick them up if he so desires. Thanks Demian for your help when I needed it.
Sync, yes I like to keep a standard Thd meter on my bench, but for serious measurements I use my SR-1. The HP339, (when it is in good condition) can serve very well for general circuit development. I use it with an HP3563 to give me an FFT of the harmonics. So long as I don't want to work below -110dB or so, it is OK.
I find the SR-1 to be quite a bargain, compared to its competition, but it isn't perfect, unfortunately, yet I can get print outs that will curl your hair! (or at least mine) However it is relatively slow, when I am optimizing something and the HP339 is ideal for real-time adjustments of an amp. Like so many here, the HP339 suffers from broken knobs (plastic) and can go out of wack where it will not null properly. I have faced the same sort of problems with the ST1700B, 1701, 1710 etc. In fact I have a whole pile of semi working ST's all over my apartment. Some were left here by Demian, who is welcome to pick them up if he so desires. Thanks Demian for your help when I needed it.
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John,
For your older HP3563, just down the road from you, can breathe some new
life into that piece of _ _ _ _, (gear) as shown here:
New Life for 3563
Hope that helps.
The plots you posted good stuff. I'm trying to just do a simple
dBv vs. frequency plot and it's giving me fits. I guess I just need
a spectrum analyzer with a tracking generator would do the trick.
or as Demian Suggests, a Bode 100 and related gear.
Link
Thank you, Demian, glad you are buying today!
Let's see that is a cardable site and your magic
CCNumbers are...with Next day delivery,
to the house down the street that's for sale.
Yes, welcome my friends to the show that never ends.
Cheers,
For your older HP3563, just down the road from you, can breathe some new
life into that piece of _ _ _ _, (gear) as shown here:
New Life for 3563
Hope that helps.
The plots you posted good stuff. I'm trying to just do a simple
dBv vs. frequency plot and it's giving me fits. I guess I just need
a spectrum analyzer with a tracking generator would do the trick.
or as Demian Suggests, a Bode 100 and related gear.
Link
Thank you, Demian, glad you are buying today!
Let's see that is a cardable site and your magic
CCNumbers are...with Next day delivery,
to the house down the street that's for sale.
Yes, welcome my friends to the show that never ends.
Cheers,
Or, for a fraction, an Analog Discovery with free software.
And if you have a student or educator ID it gets down to $ 99!
Jan
And if you have a student or educator ID it gets down to $ 99!
Jan
The Bode 100 is the wrong tool for this. It looks like an analog network analyser with a computer control. Agilent and others have these stripped down instruments now that use your computer for the display, etc.
I did the twin-tee tuning thing on my Discovery in 10 min flat including getting it off the shelf and plugging everything together.
I guess that I am 'out of phase' with whatever some of you guys are trying to measure, and the cost of test equipment today.
I realize that test equipment has become more affordable and bargains abound out there with the aid of the computer.
My life experience was different. I started with Heathkit and Eico tube test equipment, and finally got to use 'real' test equipment like Tek oscillocopes and HP analyzers about 50 years ago, when I started working in industry. I was in awe ( and am even still) of the big time Tek and HP equipment that cost 1/2 the price of a new home and did wonderous things.
I didn't get to use HP, Tek, and B&K analyzers for real audio research until I was given a lab in Switzerland in 1974. That is where I started to make real progress in some of the subtle problems with IC's, passive parts, TIM, etc. The problem with sophisticated equipment is that there is such a long learning curve. You seem to take more time learning how to use the equipment than making the measurements with it.
Today, I am used to that 'exotic' test equipment of the past, so I can easily use it, and that is why I prefer an HP339 and an analog Tek scope on my test bench, with a Quantek noise analyzer and a 577 curve tracer at the ready in another room.
Now what about the rest of you out there? I realize that this equipment is now 'affordable' but you are not used to it. Often computers are your best friend, so an inexpensive add-on to your computer is more practical. Go for it, but don't get bogged down in the interface problems over actually measuring something and learning about the trade-offs that make audio design improvements. I have such an add-on device on one of my computers, but I have never used it. My SR-1 is just easier, and better for the task to optimize my audio circuit designs.
Just remember that it is the insight gained from the measurement is more important than the test equipment itself is, in itself.
I realize that test equipment has become more affordable and bargains abound out there with the aid of the computer.
My life experience was different. I started with Heathkit and Eico tube test equipment, and finally got to use 'real' test equipment like Tek oscillocopes and HP analyzers about 50 years ago, when I started working in industry. I was in awe ( and am even still) of the big time Tek and HP equipment that cost 1/2 the price of a new home and did wonderous things.
I didn't get to use HP, Tek, and B&K analyzers for real audio research until I was given a lab in Switzerland in 1974. That is where I started to make real progress in some of the subtle problems with IC's, passive parts, TIM, etc. The problem with sophisticated equipment is that there is such a long learning curve. You seem to take more time learning how to use the equipment than making the measurements with it.
Today, I am used to that 'exotic' test equipment of the past, so I can easily use it, and that is why I prefer an HP339 and an analog Tek scope on my test bench, with a Quantek noise analyzer and a 577 curve tracer at the ready in another room.
Now what about the rest of you out there? I realize that this equipment is now 'affordable' but you are not used to it. Often computers are your best friend, so an inexpensive add-on to your computer is more practical. Go for it, but don't get bogged down in the interface problems over actually measuring something and learning about the trade-offs that make audio design improvements. I have such an add-on device on one of my computers, but I have never used it. My SR-1 is just easier, and better for the task to optimize my audio circuit designs.
Just remember that it is the insight gained from the measurement is more important than the test equipment itself is, in itself.
John, I understand. It is all good stuff.
Hope you didn't take offense at my piece of gear post.
Currently I'm doing a basic filter measurement and was
trying to do it here (link).
BTW, I'm in the generation just behind you and
as I've don't other "things" with my life, I realized
that a life long goal was working with electronics.
So, I'm approaching retirement soon, I have a little girl
and I'm back in college working on EET and Manufacturing
degrees...and I'm giving my profs a hard time when necessary.
@ Jan, Scott, will these units do a filter's response curve for a
bandpass filter? Also, thanks for the heads up on the Discovery...
student/prof pricing...looks good.
Back to the bench to see if I can properly map out my filter response curve.
Cheers,
Hope you didn't take offense at my piece of gear post.
Currently I'm doing a basic filter measurement and was
trying to do it here (link).
BTW, I'm in the generation just behind you and
as I've don't other "things" with my life, I realized
that a life long goal was working with electronics.
So, I'm approaching retirement soon, I have a little girl
and I'm back in college working on EET and Manufacturing
degrees...and I'm giving my profs a hard time when necessary.
@ Jan, Scott, will these units do a filter's response curve for a
bandpass filter? Also, thanks for the heads up on the Discovery...
student/prof pricing...looks good.
Back to the bench to see if I can properly map out my filter response curve.
Cheers,
I buy test equipment used when it appears to be in good condition. So far I've accumulated an HP339A, a Keithley 2015 THD multimeter, a Quant Asylum QA401, and I just ordered a JensH RTX6001 (new). I also fool around with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 USB sound card + ARTA software, and will purchase Jan D's AutoRanger when it is available.
Also own an Audio Precision System Two (2300 series) strewn about in several boxes, which I've never powered on and don't know if it works.
Also own an Audio Precision System Two (2300 series) strewn about in several boxes, which I've never powered on and don't know if it works.
my hardware experience with these high gain loop shapes is with headphone/line driver monolithic op amp composites where the ouput Q ft is GHz for the CFA DSL line drivers I use for output
but with discrete power amp circuits a thing to watch for would be power output Q ft, parasitics variation with current, Vout
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/soli...ve-selfs-blameless-50w-amp-5.html#post5054809
and next post showed alarming variation with output V even in sim
John, while audio bandwidth has remained essentially locked (shocking, given humans haven't evolved new abilities to listen in the past 30-40 years), test equipment has moved on a comparable rate to Moore's Law, given its IC nature and usage patterns. Thus, bandwidth, sensitivity, and linearity once reserved for $100k test equipment is now available in a $99 student version (<$300) USB-connected unit.
I just bought for my lab a nearly entry-level scope that has 4x 200 MHz analog channels in a comfortably portable package. I honestly don't even know how much that would cost in 1990, nor the size of said tool. (I'm betraying my lack of age here) Obviously this is more bandwidth, even with healthy derating for even the widest bandwidth power amplifiers (I'm ignoring some of the wackier DSL line driver based amplifiers with GHz BW for the moment), but was less than the unit cost of some of your more expensive Parasound offerings. I'm not saying anything about the latter's cost, but simply that test equipment, as needed for analog audio, is pretty modest. And usually DSO modules are available for diagnosing digital streams, especially at the data rates of audio.
As far as that elusive audio-design improvements, I'll leave it alone. But having feedback on your feedback is a nice thing.
I just bought for my lab a nearly entry-level scope that has 4x 200 MHz analog channels in a comfortably portable package. I honestly don't even know how much that would cost in 1990, nor the size of said tool. (I'm betraying my lack of age here) Obviously this is more bandwidth, even with healthy derating for even the widest bandwidth power amplifiers (I'm ignoring some of the wackier DSL line driver based amplifiers with GHz BW for the moment), but was less than the unit cost of some of your more expensive Parasound offerings. I'm not saying anything about the latter's cost, but simply that test equipment, as needed for analog audio, is pretty modest. And usually DSO modules are available for diagnosing digital streams, especially at the data rates of audio.
As far as that elusive audio-design improvements, I'll leave it alone. But having feedback on your feedback is a nice thing.
It does transfer functions, real or complex, out to 10MHz or so, displaying in Bode, Nyquist or Nicholls charts. It is fantastic!
I am repairing a TEK 475 200MHz this days but this little thing has made me wonder, WTF !
12bit vertical resolution 200KHz bandwidth, spot on to it’s volt & freq measurements, reliable from 1Hz to 240KHz, in kit form, for 24Euro.
George
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