[time-nuts] 5071B - and next a 5081A?

[Tom Knox]

I think there was a growing requirement for a ROHS 5071A, and Microchip needed to act or lose international sales. And with an instrument as widely accepted as the industry standard 5071A a major concern/fear is any radical departure could risk missing the target of the existing customer base. I think now that Microchip has a ROHS 5071B to support their base this is the time to start development of the next generation "5081A" and when complete release it alongside the 5071B. Once/If the new 5081A achieves 5071B acceptance then phase out the 5071B over the next decade.
My question to all of you, is if you were leading development of the next generation 5081A what design changes would you implement and what new features would you employ?
Perhaps we can get Microsemi to have a contest, and give a new 5081A to the winner for the best ideas. We can always dream.
Cheers;.
Tom Knox
SR Test and Measurement Engineer
Phoenix Research
4870 Meredith Way Apt 102
Boulder, Co 80303
Formerly of:
357 Fox Lane
Superior Co 80027
303-554-0307
actast at hotmail.com

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/marshall-fire/superior-man-moving-forward-after-losing-dream-research-lab-during-marshall-fire

"Peace is not the absence of violence, but the presence of Justice" Both MLK and Albert Einstein
________________________________
From: Tom Van Baak via time-nuts <time-nuts at lists.febo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2023 9:23 AM
To: time-nuts at lists.febo.com <time-nuts at lists.febo.com>
Cc: Tom Van Baak <tvb at LeapSecond.com>
Subject: [time-nuts] Re: 5071B

I've attached a 5071B photo from the web. Quite nice looking. Same specs
(except now RoHS).

They kept the yellow-green LCD, which looks more out of place now both
in color and tech era. Maybe OLED isn't reliable enough yet. They didn't
mess with the red LED display. I converted one of mine to green and
amber. However, the prize goes to Tom Knox for his all-blue version:

https://febo.com/pipermail/time-nuts_lists.febo.com/2023-May/107772.html
https://febo.com/pipermail/time-nuts_lists.febo.com/attachments/20230513/46a02b23/attachment.jpeg

The new black theme follows Keysight 'scopes, 3458A, and frequency
counters that I've seen recently. Still waiting for space gray to show
up in the T&F world. Does anyone know what a new 5071 costs these days?
I miss the era of the annual hp catalog. I'm heading to Home Depot for a
can of matte black spray paint to turn a parts-unit 5071A into a B.

/tvb