Reverse Engineering a Wavetek OCXO Board
I bought a Wavetek OCXO board a long while ago. My original plan was to remove the onboard crystal oven to replace the broken OCXO in my HP 5350B. But since I later managed to fix the original OCXO ,…
Category: Electronics
Building A Tracking Generator
In this blog post, I will show you how to build a 0 to 5.8 GHz tracking generator for the HP 8566B 100 Hz to 22 GHz spectrum analyzer using off-the-shelf components for under $100. Although this tracking generator is…
Tracing Filter/Oscillator Frequency Response Using Spectrum Analyzer and Signal Generator
In this blog post, Let’s take a look at how to measure a filter’s frequency response using a spectrum analyzer and a signal generator. Typically, a tracking generator is preferred for this kind of scalar network analysis as its center…
AM/FM Demodulation Using HP 8566B Spectrum Analyzer
In my previous blog post, I did a quick teardown of my HP 8566B spectrum analyzer. In this post, I will discuss how to use a spectrum analyzer like this to demodulate an AM or a FM signal. A video…
Some Pictures of My HP 8566B Spectrum Analyzer
The latest addition to my lab is an HP 8566B spectrum analyzer. This isn’t just any spectrum analyzer, it was perhaps the best spectrum analyzer money could buy back in the late 80’s. While it was discontinued in 1997 and…
ESR Measurement Using Multimeter and Function Generator
Capacitor ESR (Equivalent Series Resistance) measurement is very useful in diagnosing issues with power supplies. In linear power supplies, a high ESR filter capacitor may cause excessive ripple current on the voltage rails and can cause the capacitor to overheat…
Exploring the Battery Option of the EDC/Krohn-Hite MV216A DC Voltage Standard
In my previous blog post, I did a teardown of the EDC/Krohn-Hite MV216A DC voltage standard and measured the temperature coefficient of its reference Zener diode. And as I promised, this time I will explore its internal and external battery…
EDC/Krohn-Hite MV216A DC Voltage Standard Teardown and Tempco Measurement
In this blog post, we are going to take a look at Electronic Development Corporation’s (EDC, acquired by Krohn-Hite in 1998) MV216A battery/external powered DC voltage standard and also measure its voltage reference’s temperature coefficient (tempco). A teardown video is…
The Spectrums of Three Cheap Laser Pointers
A couple of months ago, I converted my EP200Mmd monochromator into a scanning monochromator and tested the spectrums of quite a few light sources. This time, I will take take a look at the spectrums of three cheap eBay laser…
Direct Measurement of the Speed of Light using a Cheap Laser Diode – II
In my previous blog post, I discussed the basic TOF method for direct measurement of the speed of the light. In order to measure the time of flight accurately, we need to be able to both generate and detect very…
Direct Measurement of the Speed of Light using a Cheap Laser Diode – I
Speed of light c in air can be measured either directly or indirectly. There are many ways to infer c with indirect measurements. For instance, we can measure the propagation delay of a signal through a coaxial cable (or an…
Testing Unknown Transformers with Function Generator
Last week, I posted a YouTube video explaining how to use a function generator to test an unknown transformer. I have received quite a few questions since so I thought I would explain this topic a bit more in detail…
Keithley 706 Scanner Teardown
I bought this Keithley 706 scanner on eBay a while ago. This scanner can take up to ten different scanner cards and is typically used in an automated testing environment. In this blog post, I will show some of the…
Yet Another Scanning Monochromator Build
A while ago, I saw a video on the signal path in which Shahriar modified his Verity EP200Mmd monochromator/detector and turned it into a scanning monochromator. Inspired by his work, I decided to do something similar. Since I do not…
LM2596 DC-DC Converter Module Testing
LM2596 based step-down DC-DC converter modules can be bought on eBay quite cheaply for around a dollar each. But how do they perform? Is it safe to use it to power your design? Let’s find out.