[time-nuts] Looking for the hp Standard

[Dr. David Kirkby]

n Mon, 25 Mar 2019 at 10:03, Tom Van Baak <tvb at leapsecond.com> wrote:

> Some of you know that I'm a pack-rat for vintage instruments, books,
> documentation, and publications about atomic clocks. Especially anything by
> Hewlett-Packard. I've enjoyed all the time-nuts posting by Rick Karlquist
> and Hugh Rice, et al.
>
/tvb
>

I generally find the old documents  / manuals much more informative than
the modern ones. To take just one example, I have an HP 16453A  fixture
that measured permittivity of dielectrics.

https://www.keysight.com/en/pd-1000000508%3Aepsg%3Apro-pn-16453A/dielectric-material-test-fixture?cc=US&lc=eng

I wanted to use it on an LCR meter, but its not so easy as the the plates
are small, so finging capacitance can't be ignored. It is designed to work
with instrument that have the firmware to handle it. There are no equations
in the manual, nor any of the modern instruments designed for use with
this. But if you look back at much older manuals, all the equations are
there, which take into account the fringing field.

For the last couple of decades at least, everything is considered
interlectual property (IP) and is closely guarded by Keysight. But a search
of older manuals, for equipment one does not own, often bears useful
results.

-- 
Dr David Kirkby Ph.D C.Eng MIET
Kirkby Microwave Ltd
Registered office: Stokes Hall Lodge, Burnham Rd, Althorne, CHELMSFORD,
Essex, CM3 6DT, United Kingdom.
Registered in England and Wales as company number 08914892
https://www.kirkbymicrowave.co.uk/
Tel 01621-680100 / +44 1621-680100