[volt-nuts] hp 3458a advice

Tue Oct 16 18:43:23 UTC 2012

Any details on this USB adapter?

________________________________
From: m k <m1k3k1 at hotmail.com>
To: volt-nuts at febo.com
Sent: Tue, October 16, 2012 11:30:58 AM
Subject: Re: [volt-nuts] hp 3458a advice

I recently bought a cheap module from Australia that converts from GPIB to 
USB...

> To: volt-nuts at febo.com
> From: pgf at foxharp.boston.ma.us
> Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2012 11:31:49 -0400
> Subject: Re: [volt-nuts] hp 3458a advice
> 
> thanks joe, and to the other couple of people who responded privately. 
> i need to figure out how much of a project i want this to be, and how
> it ranks against all the other projects that i also don't have time
> for.  :-)
> 
> i have the full users manual (two copies!), but i don't have anything
> else that speaks GPIB.  i'll play with some of the front panel
> commands you've suggested, while i think about what to do.  thanks!
> 
> paul
> 
> j. l. trantham wrote:
>  > Paul,
>  > 
>  > First, the meter is worth something if nothing other than parts.  It is
>  > quite a meter and you should at least open it up and see what it might take
>  > to get it operational again.  I am sure there are folks on this list
>  > (including me) that would love to have the meter if you want to part with
>  > it.
>  > 
>  > It is still in production, still supported and you can get the manuals from
>  > the Agilent website.  The assembly level repair manual should be able to
>  > give you an idea of where the problem is.  The CLIP is available and you
>  > might be able to find the specific part (or parts) that need replacing.
>  > 
>  > I don't know of a way to get the serial number if there is no sticker on 
the
>  > back.  You can open it and look at the date codes on the chips, etc., and
>  > get an idea of when it was manufactured.
>  > 
>  > You can enter some queries from the front panel to get some other
>  > information.  I can't remember what they all are but if they end in a '?',
>  > it will return the data.  Things like 'OPT?' will tell what options are
>  > installed, '1' being extended memory and '2' being the high stability
>  > reference.  You can tell how many times it was CAL'd, what version of
>  > firmware it has, etc.  I think version 9 is the latest and version 8 is 
'out
>  > there' somewhere, IIRC.  If you just start with shift A and scroll down the
>  > list, you can see what questions you can ask.
>  > 
>  > Agilent offers a 'repair service' for about $1900 (IIRC) that will put it
>  > back in operational condition, up to specs, and with a fresh calibration.
>  > However, I don't know if that service requires a serial number or not.
>  > 
>  > There is a guy at the Agilent calibration center in Colorado, Gary Bierman,
>  > and he is 'the man' when it comes to that meter.  I have spoken with him in
>  > the past about other 3458A questions and he was most helpful.  I suspect he
>  > would be more than willing to talk to you about the meter and what it might
>  > take to get it up and running.
>  > 
>  > I think his contact information is in the archives if you would like to
>  > pursue that.
>  > 
>  > Good luck.
>  > 
>  > Joe
>  > 
>  > -----Original Message-----
>  > From: volt-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:volt-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
>  > Behalf Of Paul Fox
>  > Sent: Monday, October 15, 2012 9:50 AM
>  > To: Discussion of precise voltage measurement
>  > Subject: [volt-nuts] hp 3458a advice
>  > 
>  > hi --
>  > 
>  > i'm not a volt-nuts regular, and not even a precision measurement nut
>  > at all, but given past discussion in the list archives, i think you
>  > folks might be able to help.
>  > 
>  > i was recently given an HP 3458a multimeter.  the donor thought it
>  > worked when he last used it, but that was quite a long time ago, and i
>  > think it was stored in an attic for some time, so i'm not too
>  > surprised that it now doesn't pass self tests. :-/  he mainly wanted
>  > it out of his house, along with a bunch of other vintage (sadly mostly
>  > non-working) equipment he'd accumulated over the years.
>  > 
>  > the self-test error is:
>  >     ERRSTR 204, "Hardware Failure -- Flatness DAC Convergence: 198"
>  > 
>  > judging from past list traffic, repairs on these units are 
>  > expensive, and it would still need recalibration to be useful, and
>  > there are may be other parts (eeproms?) that may not be good
>  > any more.  i'm not really interested in pursuing any of this
>  > myself.
>  > 
>  > what's worse is that the unit doesn't have a serial number.  (i assume
>  > the s/n would normally be obvious on the rear of the unit.)  it bears a
>  > sticker on the back that says "MTG PROTO 27".  i think the unit came
>  > from a place that themselves produced reference standards, and they
>  > may have gotten a very early model from HP to work with.  that's
>  > conjecture.  i haven't opened the unit, so i don't know if there are
>  > other clues to its age inside.
>  > 
>  > so:  is this machine useful to anyone?  given the error message above,
>  > are there any measurements at all that it might still get correct, in
>  > it's current state?
>  > 
>  > paul
>  > =---------------------
>  >  paul fox, pgf at foxharp.boston.ma.us (arlington, ma, where it's 63.1 
degrees)
>  > 
>  > _______________________________________________
>  > volt-nuts mailing list -- volt-nuts at febo.com
>  > To unsubscribe, go to
>  > https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volt-nuts
>  > and follow the instructions there.
>  > 
>  > 
>  > _______________________________________________
>  > volt-nuts mailing list -- volt-nuts at febo.com
>  > To unsubscribe, go to 
>https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volt-nuts
>  > and follow the instructions there.
> 
> =---------------------
>  paul fox, pgf at foxharp.boston.ma.us (arlington, ma, where it's 48.4 degrees)
> 
> _______________________________________________
> volt-nuts mailing list -- volt-nuts at febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volt-nuts
> and follow the instructions there.

_______________________________________________
volt-nuts mailing list -- volt-nuts at febo.com
To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volt-nuts
and follow the instructions there.