Agilent 4352B VCO/PLL Signal Analyzer: working!

After a short xmas vacation, several spare parts arrived, including, 10 amp solder-in fuses, and thermal glue (704 silicon glue).

The glue is needed to mount the defective/blown thermal fuse to the power resistor. This resistor usually stays cool but will heat up in case of a power supply failure.

The fuse protects the primary of the switchmode transformer, it is a 10 Amp fuse, and it took a while to find it – it is located in a hidden place underneath the transformer.

Now, with the fuse installed, the thermal fuse glued to the resistor, and the two drive mostfets replaced, the Artsyn 24 Volts supply is starting up just fine. All self-tests passed!

Next step, let’s update the firmware, and do some tests.

The firmware version 2.11 is the latest one available, but it needs to be loaded from a 3.5 inch floppy – I have a USB floppy drive here, and one single disc which I purchased from Sri Lanka. Took a few attempts to convince the 4352B to read the disc and load the firmware. But finally, success!

Many tests could be done, here just a simple test with a 15 MHz signal from a 3585A vs. a 8642B generator. Seems to work well, and easy to use.

Now we can close the case, and use the device for VCO characterization, phase noise measurement, etc.

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