RF signal generator?

[Tallman]

They are not stable on any one freq; they drift madly. They cannot regulate the output amplitude of that signal either. Which is also very critical to have stable./QUOTE]

I don't know where you got that they were unstable. I keep mine plugged in and in stand by. It is rock steady. The oscillator is in a well insulated crystal oven.

The signal output is steady both in amplitude and frequency. These are close to being Laboratory Grade equipment. They have to be plugged in and on standby, they are not instant on types of equipment.

You might have had a bad one or it had been damaged in some fashion.

I'm not going to tell you that it arrived in good calibrated, stable condition. I went through it with a fine tooth comb, several times.

 

[Robb]

I don't know where you got that they were unstable. I keep mine plugged in and in stand by. It is rock steady. The oscillator is in a well insulated crystal oven.

The signal output is steady both in amplitude and frequency. These are close to being Laboratory Grade equipment. They have to be plugged in and on standby, they are not instant on types of equipment.

You might have had a bad one or it had been damaged in some fashion.

I'm not going to tell you that it arrived in good calibrated, stable condition. I went through it with a fine tooth comb, several times.

Not referring to your unit. TruckerKevin showed a picture of the Instek/B&K version. Never, ever seen a tcxo in one of these:

It DID make an excellent doorstop - tho.

 

[Tallman]

Not referring to your unit. TruckerKevin showed a picture of the Instek/B&K version. Never, ever seen a tcxo in one of these:

It DID make an excellent doorstop - tho.

Mine is a big double console and takes up 1/2 of my current work bench.

 

[TruckerKevin]

If anybody is still watching this thread, I am also in the market for an oscilloscope. There are some dirt cheap on eBay. Like $50. I had heard that an old analog one of 20 MHz is just fine for what I want to do. But should I spend any more and get a little bit better of one? I am not sure what the sweep function is yet or if I even need it.

I have no problem paying an extra $100 to get something better than to regret what I might buy cheap on these

 

[Robb]

If anybody is still watching this thread, I am also in the market for an oscilloscope. There are some dirt cheap on eBay. Like $50. I had heard that an old analog one of 20 MHz is just fine for what I want to do. But should I spend any more and get a little bit better of one? I am not sure what the sweep function is yet or if I even need it.

I have no problem paying an extra $100 to get something better than to regret what I might buy cheap on these

Nope. 30mhz - or greater.

 

[Low_Boy]

2050 Will be drifty. My opinion

 

[TruckerKevin]

I have 2 of these and gave about $60 for them. Below are some fun results from a quick test I performed on one of them the Instek just to see how stable if may be as I have found them to be pretty solid for all they cost and certainly more than acceptable for working on CB AM and of course Broadcast band radios as is being suggested. Not promoting them in any way I have used $15000 gens and of course, I would choose that over these in a heartbeat, But the test below shows they are pretty good alternative for the "Beer bottle pocketbook"

THE FIRST IMAGE WAS TAKEN AT 4:02 PM
THE SECOND WAS TAKEN AT 5:02 PM


View attachment 22675

You are referring to the instatek right?

I wonder if one of these will just suffice for now. Or if I would be better off sending a signal from another radio to get my adjustments I need. I have about 5 radios that need receiver aligned. I have been watching eBay and made a couple offers which were declined for better equipment.

I shudder at the thought of paying $300 for a 1977 HP that may or may not work so being sold as is.

 

[OldTech03]

Not referring to your unit. TruckerKevin showed a picture of the Instek/B&K version. Never, ever seen a tcxo in one of these:

It DID make an excellent doorstop - tho.

Here is a quick and dirty bench check on the INSTEK shown as I have 2 of these.

I hooked it up to the Spectrum analyzer and the frequency counter for 30 minutes and below are the results. This gen will work just fine for Kevin for what he needs it to do.

As you can see after 30 minutes it is only of by .004 cycles not bad... When working on old radios you will simply have to operate the Gen and adjust it as needed.

The first image is at 4:02 PM and the 2nd Image is at 5:02 PM

 

[TruckerKevin]

I didn’t realize those were old as well. I thought they were brand new from China. I’m tempted to buy one just to get by for now. I have several radios that need aligned badly

 

[OldTech03]

I didn’t realize those were old as well. I thought they were brand new from China. I’m tempted to buy one just to get by for now. I have several radios that need aligned badly

If you are referring to the Gens manufactured under the names Elenco, Instek, Rca and a few other names that these were sold under then yes they can be old and some are still being offered as new. These gen's have been around for a long time. I have an Elenco I would be willing to let go of if you are interested. And will test it and clean and align it before I ship it.

I didn’t realize those were old as well. I thought they were brand new from China. I’m tempted to buy one just to get by for now. I have several radios that need aligned badly

If you are referring to the Gens manufactured under the names Elenco, Instek, Rca and a few other names that these were sold under then yes they can be old and some are still being offered as new. These gen's have been around for a long time. I have an Elenco I would be willing to let go of if you are interested. And will test, clean and align it before I ship it.

 

[TruckerKevin]

If you are referring to the Gens manufactured under the names Elenco, Instek, Rca and a few other names that these were sold under then yes they can be old and some are still being offered as new. These gen's have been around for a long time. I have an Elenco I would be willing to let go of if you are interested. And will test it and clean and align it before I ship it.


If you are referring to the Gens manufactured under the names Elenco, Instek, Rca and a few other names that these were sold under then yes they can be old and some are still being offered as new. These gen's have been around for a long time. I have an Elenco I would be willing to let go of if you are interested. And will test, clean and align it before I ship it.

View attachment 22680

I’ll send you a message we can talk it over

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Here is a quick and dirty bench check on the INSTEK shown as I have 2 of these.

I hooked it up to the Spectrum analyzer and the frequency counter for 30 minutes and below are the results. This gen will work just fine for Kevin for what he needs it to do.

As you can see after 30 minutes it is only of by .004 cycles not bad... When working on old radios you will simply have to operate the Gen and adjust it as needed.

The first image is at 4:02 PM and the 2nd Image is at 5:02 PM

Ummmmm..........that's four KILOHERTZ not 0.004 Hz. You were off by a factor of a million. 4 KHz is significant.

 

[OldTech03]

Ummmmm..........that's four KILOHERTZ not 0.004 Hz. You were off by a factor of a million. 4 KHz is significant.

Yes I miss spoke as they say, But that being said When working on old AM broadcast radios this gen will more than be okay as I said you have to re-set the gen and 4kc over a 30 minute period on the bench is a lifetime, this level of drift isn't an issue unless you don't have a counter then it becomes an issue. That is why they have counter monitor outputs on them I have used nearly every kind of generator you can imagine going back to the 60's even had nixie tube counters that were not even remotely this stable and still managed to repair old broadcast radios and without an issue. The moral here is you must be an operator sometimes be in control of the equipment especial if you can't afford equipment that meets the new age purist standards. Anyway sorry for the error and happy to see you are all on the ball it's good to know my mistakes won't go unnoticed.

Update after 4hrs it has drifted a total of 10 Khz that's 4 lifte times

And just so we understand that I understand I would not recommend this Gen for alignment of PLL radios, cb's, especially SSB I'm responding to the idea of using this on 40's thru 60's vintage tube radios .

 

[TruckerKevin]

Yes I miss spoke as they say, But that being said When working on old AM broadcast radios this gen will more than be okay as I said you have to re-set the gen and 4kc over a 30 minute period on the bench is a lifetime, this level of drift isn't an issue unless you don't have a counter then it becomes an issue. That is why they have counter monitor outputs on them I have used nearly every kind of generator you can imagine going back to the 60's even had nixie tube counters that were not even remotely this stable and still managed to repair old broadcast radios and without an issue. The moral here is you must be an operator sometimes be in control of the equipment especial if you can't afford equipment that meets the new age purist standards. Anyway sorry for the error and happy to see you are all on the ball it's good to know my mistakes won't go unnoticed.

Update after 4hrs it has drifted a total of 10 Khz that's 4 lifte times

And just so we understand that I understand I would not recommend this Gen for alignment of PLL radios, cb's, especially SSB I'm responding to the idea of using this on 40's thru 60's vintage tube radios .

Okay this is where I am getting confused. Your not recommending this for use on cbradios, but just am radios? I am restoring old cb radios. I don’t mess with any other radios, just old base stations like the Washington’s, cobras and Navaho.

So this still will get me by, or no?

 

[Robb]

Okay this is where I am getting confused. Your not recommending this for use on cbradios, but just am radios? I am restoring old cb radios. I don’t mess with any other radios, just old base stations like the Washington’s, cobras and Navaho.

So this still will get me by, or no?

4khz error is not going to work for you - no.