Test Voices

• 5060-9436

  Brad Thompson, Contributing Technical Editor, May 1, 2012
  That’s the Hewlett-Packard part number for the front-panel push-button key switches used in the nonworking HP-8656B 0.1–990-MHz signal generator I recently added to my collection of obsolescent test equipment.  More

• String ‘em up!

  Brad Thompson, Contributing Technical Editor, March 21, 2012
  If you’ve never peered inside the cabinet of a 1950s-vintage radio, you may have missed seeing one of the most frustrating and diabolical technological innovations of the electronic age—the dial-cord drive.  More

• One-inch wonders

  Brad Thompson, Contributing Technical Editor, March 1, 2012
  Introduced by RCA in November 1936, the 913 CRT (cathode-ray tube) created a minor stir in the electronics community. RCA initially priced the 913 at $5.60 (approximately $87 today when adjusted for inflation), which was a bargain, considering that RCA’s 3-in. 911 CRT cost four times more.  More

• Old dog, newer trick

  Brad Thompson, Contributing Technical Editor, January 20, 2012
  A recent series of messages in Yahoo’s TekScopes forum inspired me to explore what’s needed to plot tube curves within the limitations imposed by the Model 575 curve tracer's transistor-specific capabilities.  More

• Further adventures with the U1733C

  Brad Thompson, Contributing Editor, December 15, 2011
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• Robert Burns, test engineer?

  Brad Thompson, Contributing Technical Editor, October 1, 2011
  Had all gone according to plan, this column would have compared and contrasted the capacitive equivalent-series-resistance measurement capabilities of a 60-year-old Sprague TO-4 Tel-Ohmike with a modern handheld multifunction component-measurement meter.  More

• Automation keeps RFICs in spec

  Martin Rowe, Senior Technical Editor, September 1, 2011
  NXP Semiconductors' Andy Street works with design engineers and production engineers to characterize RFICs and to ensure that the company’s industrial test facilities are ready on time.  More

• The Tel-Ohmike

  Brad Thompson, Contributing Technical Editor, August 1, 2011
  I can’t prove it, but I’ll wager that capacitors are near the tops of everyone’s component-failure Pareto charts. Consider the counterfeit-electrolyte outbreak of a few years ago, the sensitivity of voltage-regulator circuitry to capacitors’ parasitic parameters, and the inevitable deterioration of capacitors’ characteristics over time.  More

• Measurements demonstrate transceiver quality

  Martin Rowe, Senior Technical Editor, July 1, 2011
  Ousama Hage provides technical support to engineers who design systems with Xilinx FPGAs that include from four to 96 serial links with data rates from 100 Mbps to 28 Gbps. Hage demonstrates the serial links to customers by making signal-integrity measurements.  More

• Click, click, click…

  Brad Thompson, Contributing Technical Editor, June 1, 2011
  Are we about to see a resurgence of interest in personal radiation-detection instruments?  More

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