[Milsurplus] Sig gens

[hwhall at compuserve.com]

Sounds like a practical viewpoint.  When we're restoring old warhorses, are we really shooting for right-out-of-the-factory performance or is it sufficient to get them operating reasonably well?  And wouldn't monitoring the sig gen input with a scope give good enough numbers for sensitivity measurements, anyway? (Asks the guy with only "toys" on the workbench.)

WayneWB4OGM

-----Original Message-----
From: CL in NC via Milsurplus <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
To: Milsurplus <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Fri, Mar 20, 2020 12:09 pm
Subject: [Milsurplus] Sig gens

I've pretty much found that as long as they are being used for general service work at the ham level, and are stable, most sig gens including Eico/Heath/Allied will give good service, and those low end units are better than nothing.  Alignment of the generator by the book will bring them almost to spec'd accuracy, but to expect the attenuator to still be accurate without sending it to a cal lab  is a bit much.  Any sens reading is relative.  A millivolt meter can do a cross check when comparing signal out at freqs maybe up to 10MC, and seeing if it coincides with the attn dial, that will perhaps require the attn to be set in the tens of millivolts, but then how it does at 1uv, or on VHF is a different story.  The HP608 series are great for lying to you without regular calibration, and even then, I remember hunting for a calibrated, but 'liberal' 608 when I had a receiver that was just impossible to get fully up to snuff.  Some gear built on hangover Monday, or can't wait to g
 et off work Friday could be mysteries to solve even years later, regardless of what QC mark was put on it.

Charlie in NC
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